5 Buddies 😀

Blog

  • (Joel Derry) Who is Cody Rhodes other known as The American Nightmare

    The old version of Cody Rhodes

    Cody Rhodes is a professional wrestler who wrestles in WWE. He is the son of the legendary late great Dusty Rhodes. He originally joined WWE in 2007. Back then he used to be in a faction named The legacy. When he was in Legacy, he learned a lot from his mentor, The viper Randy Orton. He won multiple tag team championships with his buddy Ted Diabase Jr. After his time with legacy, he would go on and win the Intercontinental Title. Once he was fired by Triple H after losing to Randy Orton in 2013. Luckily he got his job back after defeating the Shield with his brother Dustin Rhodes. Later, he transformed himself into Stardust, but didn’t go as well, so he left WWE in 2016, so that he can improve himself. He went to companies like the Indies, NJPW and AEW. When he was in those companies, he became the best version of himself.

    The Story of the American Nightmare

    At Wrestlemania 38, WWE superstar Seth Rollins is supposed to face a opponent of Vince Mcmahon’s choosing and out of nowhere, Cody Rhodes returns with a new persona. He calls himself The American Nightmare. Cody beats Seth in his returns

    After his win at Wrestlemania, Cody had a mission to make his Father proud of him, be the best he’s ever been and make the Rhodes name relevant to everyone. First, he started to feud with Seth Rollins. Cody won the feud 2-1, but did you know he beat Seth Rollins with a torn pec on his chest. Plus, it was a hell in a cell match; That is insane! Cody had to be out for seven months because of his pec. He returned at no.30 at the Royal Rumble, where he would win it all. This is where he would be the first Rhodes ever to main event Wrestlemania and potent. However, he has to beat the most dominant champion in WWE history and his name is Roman Reigns. At this point, a new story would involve, it’s called “FINISHING THE STORY”. This is a story where finally a Rhodes can become a champion and one big title reign finally comes to an end. Sadly for Cody, at Wrestlemania 39, Solo Sikoa would cost Cody by hitting a Samoan Spike to him, and caping it off with a spear by Roman Reigns. With that, Roman Reigns would defeat Cody Rhodes to retain his historic reign as WWE Champion.

    After his loss at Wrestlemania, Cody would go on to cement himself as a big star. He would go on to beat the greatest combat sports athlete of all time Brock Lesnar, not once, but twice. Next, he would feud with a faction called the Judgement Day. He would win the WWE undisputed tag team championships with Main Event Jey Uso at Fastlane. After the match, the champs would be a little drunk. When he was done feuding with them, he was back on his mission to win the WWE Title, and it began at the 2024 Royal Rumble. Cody would be in the final two with CM Punk and get it done by winning back-to-back. After winning, Cody would point at Roman Reigns making it crystal clear that he wants to finish the story.

    At first, Cody would meet Roman but all of sudden said that he is not going to face him, his cousin Dwyane “THE ROCK” Johnson would challenge Roman instead.

    But this when Cody knew he messed up. The fans started a movement called #WEWANTCODY. Next, at wrestlemania press event, Roman would say that he should choose his opponnent at Wrestlemania, and he chose the Rock. With that, The Rock would disrespect Cody Rhodes and the fans. Cody said that he chooses Roman to face him at Wrestlemania, but also Cody would disrespect his family. The Rock snapped and slapped him in the face. That officially makes him a heel.

    After this, Rock lays a challenge to Cody Rhodes to find a partner to face him and Roman Reigns in the most important tag team match in the history of professional Wrestling. His tag team partner turned out to be the World Heavyweight Champion Seth Freakin Rollins who was willing to become his shield at Wrestlemania. However, there we’re some stipulations, if Cody and Seth win, the bloodline would be banned from ringside from Cody’s big match, but if they lost, Cody’s most important match would be a Bloodline Rules Match with anything goes and interferences from the bloodline will be allowed. Crazy things would happen with Cody slapping Rock, Rock blooding Cody and Rock planning to make Cody’s mom cry.

    At Wrestlemania 40 night 1, the four we’re going at it, but sadly they lost. This meant that Cody Rhodes title match is Bloodline Rules, that means anything goes. This made Cody chances of winning that title very hard for him. At night 2, Cody made his entrance with his wife Brandi Rhodes. It was main event time between Cody and Roman for the WWE title. The match starts off with a bang, until Jimmy Uso would interfere. Out of nowhere, Jey Uso prevents his twin to do any heelish stuff by giving him a spear. Next, Solo sikoa would interfere and try to cost Cody once again, but Cody won’t back down. Suddenly, John Cena runs to take revenge on Solo Sikoa. The Final Boss would appear next to stop interfering in bloodline business. The two superstars would have an iconic stare down. Next, Seth Rollins would try to stop the Rock but Roman hits him with a Superman punch. Rock tries to ruin Cody’s moment, but all of sudden, the gong hits and the Undertaker appears. He hits the Rock with a chokeslam. This what everyone calls the greatest five minutes of Wrestlemania. Next, Roman had the chance to hit Cody with a chair, but instead he hits Seth Rollins with the chair, for he wanted to take revenge on him after 10 years. But that distraction would help Cody to hit 3 Cross Rhodes and get the 1 2 3 count to pin Roman Reigns, and to finally get his family a WWE title. This turned to be out to be one of the greatest and most emotional moments in wrestling entertainment history. That is the story of Cody Rhodes.

  • How Super Wings Lost Its Charm

    Edited and Written by: Ryan

    Super Wings is a South Korean animated tv show created in 2013 by Gil Hoon Jung and produced by FunnyFlux Entertainment.

    In this blog, I will explain why I personally believe this show lost its charm. Please note that this is my own opinions and do not take these reviews seriously.

    Warning! Spoilers Ahead!

    Overview

    Ever since discovering this show during the COVID lockdowns, Super Wings became my go-to comfort show during these uncertain times. However, as I grew older and rewatch the show multiple, I soon realized that Super Wings has its flaws, and the more I kept rewatching and revisiting them, I disappointed at the direction this show is currently heading.

    For context, Super Wings is a show about a group of planes called the Super Wings who can transform into robots. The main character is Jett, a red delivery plane who delivers packages to children around the world. In the series, they get to learn about different cultures, languages, and countries while also solving problems along the way.

    The format are usually different between seasons, originally, it is mostly Jett who travels alone to deliver packages and whenever a problem arises, he would call the Super Wings for assistance. From season 4, Jett would be accompanied by a fellow Super Wing for his deliveries and instead of calling for backup, they would call for something called Super Charge, which is basically a power-up. In season 5, Jett would be accompanied by Jett Pet, a boxy, cuter version of himself. Season 6 would be the last time the show follows the original delivery format before switching to the season 4 format.

    Problem 1: Repetitive Format & Poor Story Quality

    The show primarily focuses, or if not, mainly focuses on Jett delivering packages to children around the world. I honestly find this quite repetitive as it is present in nearly every single episode and seasons. While there are some episodes that doesn’t feature a delivery, it still annoys me on how they kept using this concept since day one instead of changing scenes. In season 5, they introduced Golden Boy, the show’s first ever permanent antagonist and a foil to Jett. At first, I thought that this was a great idea as it introduces new problems and challenges unlike the previous seasons where there are no actual opposing forces to confront the characters.

    However, as I lean further into this new format, I became disillusioned at how they treated this new hero vs villain concept, but I will explain this in the next section.

    From season 8 onwards, I genuinely believed that the show fell flat. They replaced a majority of the original cast with new ones. They also change their headquarter format. Initially, they started off with an airport, then switch to a flying airship from season 4 onwards, and finally, in season 8, they set up their new base in outer space, which defies all logic for me. While technically explainable in-universe to manage logistic and efficiency, I really believe this new format ruined the originality of the show.

    They also made several spin-offs of this series, with one notable spin-off series being the Dino Wings. I frankly despise how they incorporate this spin-off into active seasons as filler episodes instead of treating and making it as a different show. Much like how Rubble & Crew is its own show instead of being fused into the main PAW Patrol show. One element in particular in this spin-off that makes no sense is how Jett can travel back in time to assist with the Dino Wings. The Dinos are based in the prehistoric era during the times of the dinosaurs and it just doesn’t make any logical sense to me of how they can contact the future from the past.

    I also noticed that as the show progressed, they seem to detach more and more from their original touch of actually learning and discovering new language and culture to solving problems more often.

    I do believe that they should use the delivery format less often and focus more on the characters and their chemistry instead of just focusing on deliveries.

    Problem 2: Consistent Character Write-Offs, Sidelining, & Poor Character Development

    Oh boy, here is something I can rant about all day. What I notice in this show is the repeated character write-offs they did since season 2 and lack of character development. This really disturbs me because for me, what really matters in keeping a good story is to write consistent characters that are meaningful to a plot and to introduce them with a specific reason.

    This show bothers me so much due to the fact they have a habit of writing off characters every single season since season 2 for no inexplicable reasons at all. Worst of all, most of these characters were only introduced for a single season only to never be seen again. They also gave these characters barely enough screen time and chemistry with others.

    Some of these characters also made zero sense for me at all when they were first introduced. Characters like Sara or Shine. While I do understand it is a children’s show, it just does not fits me that some characters appear without a meaningful explanation to be there in the first place.

    Another factor is how random these character’s abilities and skillsets can be, ranging from the ability to travel through time to a character with literal god-like abilities.

    On the villain side, I can’t fathom the fact that whenever the antagonist gets a new assistant, they wrote them off the next season and replace them with another, repeating the cycle. It really annoys me how the writers sideline these henchmen every single season since season 6 instead of grouping them and make them work together to fight off the Super Wings.

    Season 8 really blew me off with probably the biggest character change ever. Out of the 6 main characters, 4 of them were replaced in this season. In season 10, they wrote off the replacements with the very characters they are intended to replace, which really gets on my nerves.

    I also hate how this show’s poster child is the main character as well as the supporting main characters while the other less frequently use supporting characters were treated as dispensable.

    Problem 3: Following The Toyetic Model

    The Toyetic model is system where movies, tv swhows, or characters are easily translated to marketable merchandise.

    For Super Wings, this show basically dependant on this concept and is a huge contribution to the show losing its touch in my opinions. Because they care more about selling merchandises, they practically follow the demands of the manufacturer over the storyline, leading to mass sidelining of characters and themes that don’t make any sense just to sell merchandise.

    Honorable Mention: Poor Dubbing, Dialogues, & Scripts

    On the technical aspect, the audio and dubbing quality is so bad, especially in the later seasons where the voice actors in the english dub sounds like they do not have any energy to do the voicing and sounds like they even lack the passion and love to voice over them.

    The dialogues are cringe worthy sometimes, contrasting the characters on-screen actions, which doesn’t even fits well in addition to the terrible voice acting.

    Summary:

    To sum up, I truly believe that Super Wings lost its charm lately. However, I still have some hope in this series but nothing can undo my disappointment for the show unless they actually change their storyline and stop writing off characters and introducing meaningless ones.

  • Why SolarBalls is an Underrated Series

    Written and Edited By: Ryan

    WARNING! Spoilers Ahead! Return to Earth To Avoid Spoilers!

    PS: This blog is based on my personal opinions, please do not take this seriously.

    SolarBalls is a British edutainment web series created by Youtubers and animators Alvaro Calmet and Oliver Gilpin. First created in 2022, it has gained a traction of followers and viewers and currently has 3 million subscribers.

    The series is a a spinoff to its sister show, MrSpherical. Unlike MrSpherical, who focuses more on Countryballs, SolarBalls focuses more on the Planetballs fandom, a sub-genre of Countryballs.

    The show features talking planets and celestial bodies as well as an astronaut named Astrodude, interacting with each-other about astronomical facts as well as discussions and dialogues related to the a recurring arc.

    When the channel first began, it started off with short educational skits about astronomical and geological facts before diving into longer episodes and full-on story arcs. Currently, the show has 4 major arcs, with one of them still ongoing and in-progress, and multiple mini-arcs.

    What not many people realize is that the storyline of this series is severely underrated with great character development, story progression, themes, and heartful moments. Here, I will give a summary of each of the major arcs and will explain why these arcs contributed to the series being underrated.

    The Moon Revolution Arc

    SolarBalls first-ever major storyline arc, the Moon Revolution centres around the moons of the Solar System rebelling against the planets. Led by Ganymede and Europa, and formerly Titan, they led and convince the moons to rebel against the planets after the Earth unintentionally offended Titan saying: “Moons should know their place!” This arc has so many great moments and pivotal moments such as Earth’s redemption mini-arc as well as Pluto’s subplot.

    I really enjoy this arc not because it is the show’s first ever major storyline but how it kickstarted future major storylines. I also like the character development in this series. The biggest example is the Earth, whom from the start of the series acted as a pompous and narcissistic planet to a reformed, more kinder one. Titan’s character development is also impressive in this story, he went from an easily manipulated moon to stand up against others and eventually, turning his back against Ganymede and Europa for taking his original plan to the extreme.

    However, the crown jewel definitely has to be handed over to Pluto. Surprisingly, Pluto’s development is unsuspecting, throughout the arc, there is also a mini-arc focusing on Pluto and the dwarf planets. From the get-go, Pluto felt insecure, neglected, and forgotten by the other planets after being demoted from the Planet group back in 2006. He attempted to do a dwarf planet uprising, separately and unknowing of the moon uprising, but was convinced by the other dwarf planets and his moon Charon to accept his current title as a dwarf planet. He and Charon played a part in stopping the revolution from going any further by convincing the satellites using their own background as arguments.

    Planet X Arc

    The second arc of the series. This arc focuses on a vengeful planet from Jupiter’s past who wants to exact revenge on Jupiter for getting him expelled from the Solar System billions of years ago.

    This arc was my favourite arc of all times before being overtaken by the ongoing Rogue Planet Arc. I really enjoyed the backstory segments as well as callbacks to the previous arc. Planet X’s true colours was shown around the second half of the arc and finally broke after being confronted by Proteus. What really stood out in this arc are Ganymede and Europa’s redemption arc, where, from the previous storyline, were ruthless and power-hungry characters. After they have proven themselves in the Solar System Trials and regained the trust of the other moons and the planets, they were still banished by the Sun as punishment due to their actions in the Moon Revolution.

    After hearing about the legend of Planet X, a hypothetical planet, from Makemake, a dwarf planet, both moons decided to agree to find this hypothetical celestial body since they are expelled from the Solar System anyways and actually found him.

    This arc also has an emotional ending to it where Planet X revealed to his former enemy Jupiter that, after seeing how Ganymede evolved from the Moon Revolution to actually becoming a great leader for the Moon Club, he became inspired to become a “Jupiter” somewhere else, before leaving the Solar System.

    Earth’s Origins/Theia Arc

    The Earth’s Origin Arc, otherwise commonly called the Theia Arc, is SolarBalls third storyline. One of the most profound and heartbreaking arc in the series in its history. After hearing Theia’s name for the first time in billions of years, the Earth lost his mind and drifted unconsciously into the Kuiper Belt. Meanwhile, the other planets are also having similar problems, especially Uranus, who now prefers to be called Caelus, the roman equivalent of his namesake, after being persuaded by Planet X. During his trance, the Earth finally got to meet Theia as well as Proto-Earth in a dream-like environment.

    It is revealed that before the birth of the Earth, Theia was in the middle of a love triangle between Proto-Earth and a Proto-Venus. However, the former won over her but were forcefully separated by the Sun, who is in complete disagreement of their relationship. Thousand of years later, they finally reunited and kissed for the first and last time of their lives, as they died from colliding with each other during the kiss scene.

    This arc surely is an emotional one, largely due to the fact it is the first time the series presented a full on-screen death. It is also emotional due to the fact we got to explore Venus’ backstory and character development, as well as the origin of his hotheaded personality and violent personality.

    Rogue Planet Arc

    The most recent arc and still ongoing, the Rogue Planet Arc follows Planet X’s adventure outside of the Solar System trying to find a new home. However, he encountered a mysterious civilization called the Rogue Planet Kingdom, led by SIMP J0136 (presumably). He is initially hesitant to join them but soon agrees after being convinced by SIMP due to Triton and the dwarf planets seeking their help after the Sun went crazy and become overly controlling of the planets and moons.

    Because this arc is still currently ongoing, I will not say much here.

    I really enjoyed this arc and, as stated in the Planet X section, is currently my favourite due to the introductions of so many new characters, from the dwarf planet candidates: Sedna, Quaoar, Orcus, and Gonggong, to the rogue planets like WISE 0855, OGLE-2016-BLG-1928, OTS-44, PSO-J318.5, and others.

    I also like how the Rogue Planets, under SIMP, have a hidden agenda as well as a general vendetta against stars.

    I honestly have such high hopes for this series and could not wait for what they have to offer.

  • Why I’m Excited for the New Michael Jackson Movie

    Written by Matteo

    One movie I am excited about is the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic.

    Michael Jackson is one of the most famous entertainers in music history because of his singing, dancing, music videos, and performances. Many artists today were inspired by him.

    The movie is expected to show different parts of his life and career, including the challenges he faced and the impact he had on music and pop culture.

    I am interested in seeing how the filmmakers recreate famous performances, costumes, and moments from his career. Since I also enjoy movies and storytelling, I think it will be interesting to see how they present his life on screen.

    I think this movie could introduce younger generations to Michael Jackson’s music and legacy.

    Another interesting part of the movie is that Michael Jackson is being played by his nephew, Jaafar Jackson. I think this makes the movie even more interesting because he already has similarities to Michael Jackson in appearance and performance style.

    From the photos and previews released so far, the movie looks very detailed and cinematic. The costumes, dancing, and concert recreations seem very realistic and high quality.

    I am also curious to see how the movie balances Michael Jackson’s personal life, career, and musical achievements. Since he had such a huge impact on entertainment and pop culture, there is a lot that the filmmakers can include.

    Overall, I think the movie has the potential to become one of the biggest music biopics in recent years.

  • Music Artists That Inspire Me

    Written by Matteo

    Music has always been one of my biggest inspirations for creativity and design.

    Some of my favorite artists are Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bruno Mars, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran, Pitbull, and Bad Bunny. I like how each artist has a different style, personality, and energy.

    Elvis Presley and The Beatles are classic artists that changed music history and inspired generations of musicians. Bruno Mars and The Weeknd combine modern music with strong visuals and performances. Pitbull brings a fun party energy, while Bad Bunny has helped make Latin music even more popular worldwide.

    I also used several of these artists and albums in my Music Explorer web project because music is something that connects strongly to my interests and personality.

    Music not only inspires me creatively, but also helps me relax and focus while working on projects.

    HLUCAP53JKCLUUU5BUVOQEO7CA
  • Worst SpongeBob Squarepants Episodes By Anthony

    Worst SpongeBob Squarepants Episodes By Anthony

    SpongeBob Squarepants is a childhood icon and an almost perfect tv series. Though just like every other tv show out there (besides Breaking Bad) there are some straight up awful episodes. Here is the list:

    1. A Pal for Garry

    This season 7 episode in which SpongeBob adopts a new friend for Gary is horrible. Throughout this episode SpongeBob acts out of character and treats Gary like dirt, to put the needs of a literal monster over his own pet. It’s not even funny, you just end up feeling bad for Gary the whole time.

    2. The Splinter

    Does anyone know what the writers of SpongeBob were think when they wrote this episode. In this season 6 episode SpongeBob gets a splinter and his friends try to help him remove it. There is only one word that could describe this episode, GROSS! There is so much nasty close up shots of the splinter, the worst part as the episode keeps going the more disgusting the situations gets. Patrick is also insufferably dumb this episode, could be rewarded for the dumbest doctor ever.

    3. Stuck in the wringer

    There are no words that can describe my hatred for this episode as a child. In this season 5 episode SpongeBob gets stuck in the wringer, and Patrick decides to help by putting SUPER GLUE to make it stuck forever. I’m not joking thats how dumb Patrick is in this episode, and it gets worse as the episode goes on, with Patrick just being an jerk for no reason! Yes, this truly is an infuriating watch.

    4. Big Sister Sam

    Another episode i truly despised as a child. This season 7 episode consists of Patrick’s sister Sam coming over for a visit. Patrick and his sister are horrible in this episode they annoy SpongeBob and Squidward, by destroying their houses and being obnoxious. Once again SpongeBob and Squidward didn’t deserve this treatment. Another poor excuse for an episode, Sam should never be brought back again for an episode.

    5. Choir Boys

    In this season 6 episode Squidward needs to go to the choir to singe with his group, and SpongeBob wants to come. SpongeBob is insufferable in this episode, he constantly is trying to ask Squidward if he can come to the choir and is constantly trying to show Squidward his vocal skills. Throughout the episode Squidward is essentially tortured by being electrocuted by jelly fish and in the end he was overshadowed by SpongeBob’s vocal skills. Squidward who does nothing wrong is once again paying this harsh price. Episodes like this make you wonder why do the writers make it so easy to despise SpongeBob, the titular character. Maybe they just want the show to end already.

  • (Joel Derry)A HEARTBREAKING COMEBACK

    The STAKES

    In game 1 of round 2 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Minnesota Wild we’re facing the Colorado Avalanche. It was game 5 and Colorado was leading the series 3-1, having the chance to move on to the West Finals. On the other hand, Minnesota needs to win this match to stave off elimination, and come back home to play game 6 in Minnesota.

    OVERVIEW

    In the first period, Minnesota scored three goals and the Avs scored none. Nick Foligno scored two goals in one period like what. Next, there was Marcus Johansson who got himself a goal making it 3-0. Foligno’s second goal made it 3-0. After that period, Avs fans we’re starting to lose hope. In the second period, with 9 minutes left, Parker Kelly slaps Colorado’s first goal to put them on the board. This made it a two goal game After that, Nothing important happened after that, but the Colorado defense was clutch to hold Minnesota with no goals. The 3rd period is where things get intense. For 16 minutes, Colorado wasn’t able to score, which made things stressful for the fans. With 03:33 mins left, Jack Drury wrists home a goal to make it a one goal game. This gives a huge chance for Colorado. This is where the entertainment drama happens. With one minute left, Nathan MacKinnon scores a tough angle goal that beats the goalie. This goal ties the game which sends this game to overtime. This raises the stakes for both teams. 4 mins later, Martin Nečas passes the puck to Brent Kulak to score the series-clinching goal to send the Avs to the West Finals. What makes this heartbreaking for the Minnesota is the fact they had such a good team and had a big advantage of taking it to game 6, but they blew it. A chocked lead to costed their season is what is called a heartbreaking comeback.



  • The Problem with PowerCreep

    The Problem with PowerCreep

    Written By Xander Perez

    In certain video games like in live-service games, MMOs, MOBAs, and gacha games, the developers must find a way to make revenue and keep their game alive. For the next updates to come, new gear/characters will be more powerful while older characters/gear will become less prominent and thus forgotten.

    Image by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOHVE50f0Mw

    What is PowerCreep?

    Powercreep is a video game term meant to represent how later weapons/characters overshadow older characters. This term is mainly used when the game reaches it’s first anniversary and the devs want to celebrate by adding an OP character that includes special and unique attacks

    Image by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQE3OFvhZ2M

    Examples:

    • Trading Card Games (e.g., Magic: The Gathering): Older cards like Vampire Nighthawk are rarely used now because new sets introduce creatures that do more for less cost.
    • Role-Playing Games (e.g., Dungeons & Dragons 5e): Newer subclasses often outperform base game options. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced subclasses like Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul, which give sorcerers extra spells, fixing a flaw in older subclasses and making them superior
    • Gacha Games (e.g., Honkai Star Rail & Genshin Impact): Characters like Neuvillette from Genshin and Acheron from Honkai Star Rail completely overshadow all the characters in the game by providing attacks and skills that give One Hit kill effects.
    • MOBA (e.g., League of Legends): Early champions often had zero mobility, relying entirely on positioning. Newer champions (e.g., Yasuo, Irelia, Akali, K’Sante) frequently have multiple dashes, wall jumps, or movement speed boosts built into their kits.

    Why they do it:

    The reason power creep occurs is because developers introduce new, stronger content to keep games engaging and profitable. Including special and more powerful abilities that are meant to be used in the endgame content as well as newer story content where enemies have buffed stats.

    How to fix it:

    A main solution to fix Power Creep in games is to buff the older units/weapons, that way they can be relevant and actually stand a chance against the newer content and characters. In addition to that, balance endgame enemies that way they are massive targets with Health inflation.

  • How a beloved spin-off died due to poor choices.

    How a beloved spin-off died due to poor choices.

    Written by Xander Perez

    Dissida is a spin-off of the beloved franchise, Final Fantasy, It features both the main hero and villain cast from all the previous games. However, during the past year, the series has has a massive decline due to it’s poor choices from the developers.

    Official cover arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissidia_Final_Fantasy

    Created by Square Enix back in December 18 2008, Dissdia was marketed as a 1v1 open arena fighting game where each player chooses a beloved Final Fantasy character spanning from FF1 to FF10. The roster consisted of:

    Heroes:

    • Warrior of Light (FF1)
    • Firion (FF2)
    • Onion Knight (FF3)
    • Cecil (FF4)
    • Bartz (FF5)
    • Terra (FF6)
    • Cloud (FF7)
    • Squall (FF8)
    • Zidane (FF9)
    • Tidus (FF10)

    Villains:

    • Garland (FF1)
    • The Emperor (FF2)
    • Cloud of Darkness (FF3)
    • Golbez (FF4)
    • Exdeath (FF5)
    • Kefka (FF6)
    • Sephiroth (FF7)
    • Ultimecia (FF8)
    • Kuja (FF9)
    • Jecht (FF10)

    Story:

    The story of Dissidia Final Fantasy centers on a cosmic war between two gods—Cosmos (Goddess of Harmony) and Chaos (God of Discord)—who summon heroes and villains from across the Final Fantasy series to fight for them

    Cosmos
    Chaos

    Mechanics

    The game included unique mechanics at the time such as different sets of attacks such HP attacks and Bravery Attacks, the latter which only damages a unique counter on each character.

    Bravery Attacks
    HP Attack

    Furthermore, the game still retains what the mainline Final Fantasy games have such as summons to help you in battle, gear to upgrade your character, and even the headline for each HP attack showing how the UI looks in each characters game (ex. Warrior of Light’s HP attack shows his “Shield of Light” attack with a black bar with white metallic strokes on it, but Cloud (the main character from Final Fantasy 7 will have a different one)

    EX Moves

    Dissidia features a system called Ex, when a character fills up a meter next to their portrait or they collect bells that appear around the battle field, they will enter a EX state, enhancing their attacks to deal more damage and when hitting with an HP attack, allows the character to perform an ultimate attacks that deals massive damage if the player manages to performs ever button prompt correctly that is shown for each character.

    Warrior of Light EX Mode.

    Dissidia 012

    The game even got a sequel called Dissidia Duodecim (Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy) in March of 2011, which expanded the character roster and features a story that is set before the story of the first game, which includes the new line of characters.

    Offical box art

    The roster expanded it’s character which features the (at the time) new characters of the Final Fantasy franchise as well as some character from the previous titles:

    Heroes:

    • Kaine (FF4)
    • Lightning (FF XIII)
    • Tifa (FF7)
    • Vaan (FF XII)
    • Laguna (FF8)
    • Yuna (FF10)
    • Prishe (FF XI)
    • Aerith (Assist only)(FF7)
    • Shantotto (FF XI) (Is a more Neutral character but still sides with the heroes)

    Villains:

    • Gilgamesh (FF5)
    • Gabranth (FF XII)
    • Feral Chaos (Original to Dissidia)

    New Mechanics

    Following the previous game, 012 features new mechanics to spice up the combat and feel of the game as a whole:

    • Assist System: Players can call in allies to assist with combos or disrupt the opponent’s bravery attacks (ex. Aerith)
    • EX Revenge: A new defensive mechanic allowed players to break out of enemy combos and temporarily freeze them when in EX Mode.
    • New Combat mode: Added “RPG Mode,” which allows for automated, menu-based action for players less familiar with fighting games.
    • Character reworks: Many original characters were rebalanced, with characters like Bartz receiving completely new movesets.

    Dissida NT (The start of the downfall)

    On June 2017, Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Dissidia NT, the new upcoming Dissidia game of the franchise. However, as more info on the game comes, the more upset fans of the Dissdia series become. Dissidia NT was orginially an arcade game in Japan that was directly ported into consoles.

    Furthermore, the game has changed many things that the previous titles kept:

    • The format is now 3v3 rather than 1v1
    • Characters and moves are now slower and have less impact
    • Stages are much bigger which is supposed to fit the 3v3 format
    • Characters having completely different movesets that destroy what made them unique and special (Ex. Golbez is now just a zoner who only uses magical orbs to attack)
    • The new story is widely criticized, barebones story mode that is generally considered weak compared to its PSP predecessors

    The overall experience of the game not only completely changes what made Dissdia so loveable, but it also ruined how many people view the series as a whole. Despite many people trying to revive the game, it ended up with a low player count and was quickly pushed into obscurity.

    Potential revival

    Squre Enix has relased the newest Dissdia game to try and revive the franchise, called Dissidia Duellum: Final Fantasy, a mobile gacha game released in March 24, 2026. Though it is still new, the game does seem to have some mixed reviews from fans.

    Overall, this game was not only my childhood but also the game that I would always return to whenever I am bored or want to replay games that I love the most. I am still hopeful that they will remake the original 012 game from the PSP but I will wait until then.

  • Gaming Is Becoming Expensive By Anthony

    Microsoft Xbox Series X and Playstation 5

    Well it’s no secret nowadays that mega gaming corporations aren’t saints. With Nintendo and playstation charging upwards to 1000 dollars for a gaming console whereas in the 2010s a brand new PS4 only costed $340 cad. Over the last few years this price increase as only become more apparent.

    Consoles prices in the past would go down when it gets later into their lifespan. However things have changed, the PS5 and Xbox series s and x have only since their prices continuously go up. With the Xbox series s and PS5 prices going up by 100s of dollars since there release date all the way back in 2020. Recent news also point towards another price increase for the PS5s, which will now cost more and contain less storage!

    Discussion about the prices on reddit in 2024

    Just a few weeks ago Nintendo announced a price increase for the Nintendo Switch 2 which is crazy because the Switch 2 hasn’t even been out for an entire year! The price increase is going to come into effect

    Why are these price increases so apparent now?

    Well these prices are more apparent nowadays, due the rising prices of ram. Ram has become extremely expensive nowadays, thanks to AI. AI uses loads of ram to store data. They need this ram to carry all the data they need to store, which is a lot. Consoles need ram to store data for games since the price of ram is going up, the console prices follow suit.