u/Lopsided-Acadia-3727

Hey everyone, I’m 19 and really want to dive into the Souls genre, but my gaming situation is a bit unique and I need some direction so I don't get overwhelmed

.My Background & Setup:

The Goal: I'm starting a refrigeration job soon and saving up for a Nintendo Switch 2. I need a portable setup I can play in my A-shaped attic room because my brother constantly hogs the family PS5, deletes my game saves (he wiped my 21-hour Persona 3 run), and blocks storage space.

Primary console: I will mostly be playing on the Switch 2 using physical game cards (so my brother can't touch them), but I can still occasionally sneak onto the PS5 about once a week.

Health & Playtime: I have a heart condition where stress spikes my heart rate to 150 BPM. Strangely, hyper-focusing on gaming, reading, and writing actually helps me relax and handle it, but because my schedule will be tight with work, I can't spend forever lost in a massive world. Games like Hogwarts Legacy felt exhausting because of the strict time limits and messy pacing.

My Skill Level: I'm new to RPGs, but I'm NOT bad at action games. I've beaten Resident Evil 4 Remake on Professional 3 times, The Last of Us on Grounded with zero deaths, and RE3/RE7 on Hard mode with no deaths. I take longer than average to finish games, but I have the patience to handle tough combat.

What I'm Looking For: My very first FromSoftware game is actually going to be Armored Core 6 (I bought it for my dad for Father's Day!). Aside from that, I want to ease myself into the actual Souls style. I loved the tight, progression-based pacing of RE4 Remake.

Can you guys recommend 2 games for the PS5 (for my once-a-week sessions) and 2 games to look out for on the Switch 2 that fit a tighter schedule and will help ease me into the genre? Non-FromSoftware soulslikes (like Jedi: Fallen Order or Dead Cells) are totally welcome too! Thank you!

BTW I'm told dead cells is accepted as (wasn't before) a souls lite or like, so try it out. Got netflix so might as well play it. I'm using netdlix often for walking dead and it's spinoffs, anyways​.

Dad is the reason why I didn't give up on gaming. Mainly TheRadBrad and ZackScottGames, but that's besides the point.

Point is, I hated gaming. I mean absolutely hated it. Why? Because growing up, whether or not it was the Wii, N64, GameCube, I wanna say, PS3, Xbox 360, my memory of games are as follows:

Up until the end of the first cutscene for LEGO Batman and LEGO indiana Jones for the Wii, maybe 5 minutes per Mario Galaxy title, 5 seconds of Halo 3. (OK I'm exaggerating. I died 5 times to grunts in the opening and my sisters deicided I suck so it's their turn and got their asses handed to them too and after that dad beat halo 3 by himself.)

I also remember playing maybe 5 minutes of super mario 64 but that I cannot confirm or deny. The longest I spent on a game was batman arkham city with an hour. For granted I got up to after the church segment, but still.

2023 that changed. Because dad got a ps5, hogwarts legacy, resident evil 4 remake, and Spider-Man 2 for us. Thankfully multiplayer games don't exist because the most I put into a game was 90 hours of resident evil 4 remake.

Since then I got almost all the games, most recently 2, 3, 7, 9 for my birthday. Despite the fact my brother whos 12 hogged the ps5 to the point I've went 5 months in 2024 and 2025, 10 combined without playing on it, dad fixed it and will fix it again hopefully because as of rn, I only beaten a total of 4 games out of the 17 games we own.

I wanna return the favor tho, and I wanna know if dad will like armored core 6 because I will see some gameplay for it, but I'm not sure what dad's expectations are.

Resident evil 4 remake dad didn't hate, so I assume dad wouldn't hate a modern armored core. Yes, I know, it's unfair to compare his reaction to a game he had when he was younger (I wouldn't say a kid because he said his first console was the ps1 when he was I wanna say 20) to a game franchise he hasn't played since forever with a sequel.

Sure resident evil he hasn't played since the gamecube but again, that's far from the point.

Anyways, hopefully he will like it because he said so himself a while back in 2024 (one of the only things I remember that isnt important to me 😭 my memory is shit so idk how I remembered this) that he doesn't wanna see much of the game online and wait until he actually gets it but couldn't find it anywhere. So since then, I knew I'd one day wanna get it for him for his birthday or father's day and I'm glad it's father's day because he hates birthdays for past traumas.

Because I don't want his memory of playing armored core for the first time since the ps2 be a memory of pain or something. And I guess he dodged a bullet with resident evil and gran turistmo.

When mom asked me if there was a game dad would want, my mind jumped to three things we didn't already have:

Tomb raider 1-6 remaster collection, which he would appreciate because despite shinier graphics, I think it just turns a ps1 collection into a ps2 or 3 looking game just on ps4.

Twisted Metal but they're digital only snd idk how dad feels about that rn. I'd certainly wanna play twisted metal one day, because I genuinely like the games and love the TV show. I'd buy a ps1, ps2, and ps3 just for those games, not even kidding.

And a more relevant one: armored core 6 because while dad did have tomb raider 2 on the ps1, I assumed he'd like armored core 6 more since he did mention he wanted to find it, and I'd like it, but yeah. I guess it just wasn't out yet.

So i landed on armored core, looked up the history so i was kinda effy on how manu games are considered bad so i wanted to know for sure hed like it.

mom already ordered it and it comes a day before father's day. But I'm just hoping I don't regret it considering the controversy over armored core 4 and 5.

I'm getting my own Playstation since my 12 yo brother deletes my games and won't let me play resident evil unfortunately. I was considering getting more game franchises beyond resident evil after I'm done.

I really wouldn't know where to start and how hard the platinums are. The only first person shooters I got and have played or will play are Resident Evils bioha7ard, VIIIage, and Re9uiem.

What order do I play them in? Thanks!!!

Pls note this is a concept that unless Google was used I wouldn't have been able to make. What characters would you like to see in a hypothetical game?

1. The Internet Myth Gods

• Crazy Harold the Wacky Lunch Sack: Rank #1. An empty paper bag controlling a killer clown.
• The Nokia 3310: Infinite physical defense. Takes zero hit-stun.
• Ultra Instinct Shaggy: Operating permanently at 0.001% cosmic capacity.
• Chuck Norris: The OG icon. His tears heal him, but he never takes damage.
• Bully Maguire: Inflicts severe psychological stagger via finger-pointing and dancing.
• GigaChad: Ultimate posture and jawline composition. Immune to zoning.
• Big Chungus: Bugs Bunny's fabled "cousin" possessing absolute mass control.

2. Unexpected Reality-Warpers

• Katie (Horton Hears a Who): Traps opponents in an inescapable, pink psychological prison.
• The Ant from WordWorld: Creates physical objects out of thin air by joining literal letters.
• The Door Stopper: Completely stationary. Reflects 100% of kinetic impact with a massive BOIIIINGGGGG.
• Josh Hutcherson (Whistling): Flashes a saturated 2014 image, blinding and stunning the player.
• The Sheldon Cooper: Renders areas unplayable by sitting down and screaming BAZINGA!
• Avocado Animations' Birds: Eldritch horror pigeons that open their jaws to swallow hitboxes.
• Kato ("Turn the Lights Off" Guy): Smashes the stage's lighting engine, forcing a pitch-black blind fight.
• Your month your sleep paralysis

3. Wholesome & Deep-Cut Nostalgia

• Forrest Gump (The Arm Wave Guy): Uses high-speed porch-waving to create an impenetrable projectile barrier.
• The LazyTown Cooking Cow: Moves on a permanent, rhythmic, un-stoppable head-bobbing loop.
• Pingu: Devastating acoustic screen-clearing via the almighty NOOT NOOT!
• Pablo (The Backyardigans): Drags the match into localized imaginary dimensions.
• Miss Spider: Passive "Welcoming" aura forces opponents to stop fighting and drink tea.
• Bananas in Pyjamas: Un-peelable twin grapplers who hunt in sync.

4. Legendary Tag-Teams & Duos

• Michael Scott & Dwight Schrute: Michael declares bankruptcy to clear debuffs while Dwight attacks with beets.
• Ross Geller & Chandler Bing: Ross freezes enemy tracking by yelling PIVOT! while Chandler lands critical quips.
• Jedediah & Octavius (Night at the Museum): A 3-inch Roman/Cowboy duo with micro-scale explosive exploits.
• Daryl Dixon & Carol Peletier: Crossbow zoning mixed with sudden, calculated propane tank explosions.
• Greg & Rodrick Heffley: Rodrick inflicts audio damage via Löded Diper, Greg applies the "Cheese Touch" poison.

5. Pop Culture Heavyweights

• Ashley Joanna "Ash" Williams: Too groovy and stubborn to die. Chain-sword and boomstick rushdown.
• Danny DeVito: Compact frame. Pocket strategy involves blasting or offering a nice egg.
• Dom Toretto: Invincible armor as long as his "Family" meter is fully charged.
• The Slasher Pantheon (Minus Ghostface): Immortal, teleporting horrors.
• Ghostface: Rank 0. Banned from high-tier play because a CRT television drops and KOs him instantly.

My birthday is coming up June 9th next week. I'm looking up games I would want to get considering dad fixes the situation where for the 5th time my 12 year old brother is acting like an spoiled entitled brat and won't let me use the ps5 and went as far as stick drifting my controller and deleting my games. But assuming it's fixed thats why I'm going through what my Walmart has.

I know rebirth is a remake of 7 but I heard 7 is an alternative timeline. So idk. That's literally all my walmsrt has apparently. Is it a good start to Final fantasy (I played the first 6 on my nes snes emulator app, and it took me 600 hours due to ff1 mainly because I spent literally a painful 14 hour period trying to get past the first few bosses and 4 and 5 gave me a lot of complications. But past that, I don't think I would wanna experience what I experienced again for a while but now I played the first 6 I want to know if the rebirth remake should be my first modern final fantasy.

The Omniverse Theorem: Corporate Diplomacy and Temporal Mechanics in Modern Media Crossovers

Subject: Media Studies / Narrative Design

Topic: The Structural and Corporate Synthesis of Modern Gaming and Anime MultiversesAbstractModern entertainment operates heavily on the concept of the multiverse. However, what is frequently dismissed as independent, non-canon fan service is, upon closer inspection, a legally and narratively binding "Omniverse." This essay explores how structural narrative loopholes—specifically within Persona 3, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Kingdom Hearts, and Super Smash Bros.—physically unite the intellectual properties of Square Enix, Atlus, Disney, Capcom, and Bandai Namco. Please note I did my research at 3 AM so I didn't get much sleep and I barely know anything about these franchises prior. All I knew of Capcom was Resident Evil and I vaguely knew about Final Fantasy. In fact, this whole "conspiracy theory" if you will, it all started when I tried finding out the definitive timeline for Final Fantasy mixed with Kingdom Hearts.

Furthermore, it examines how real-world corporate diplomacy, such as the historically collaborative relationships between Japanese gaming executives, serves as the ultimate catalyst for bridging mega-franchises like One Piece and Dragon Ball into this shared cosmic framework.

Introduction: The Multi-Studio ConundrumFor decades, media theorists treated intellectual properties (IPs) as isolated islands. A story produced by Square Enix was assumed to have no material bearing on a universe authored by Atlus or Bandai Namco.

However, the rise of collaborative media and official crossover titles has shattered this isolationist model. By analyzing specific structural "glitches" or narrative constants across key Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) and fighting games, we can deduce a single, unbroken continuity. This essay argues that this massive interconnected web exists because the fictional mechanics of time travel and dimensional rifts mirror the real-world boardroom relationships of the executives who govern them.

Part I: The Fiction’s Architecture (The In-Game Catalysts)

To understand how these universes collapse into one another, one must examine the specific games that act as cosmic anchors:

1. The Persona 3 and Shin Megami Tensei Continuity Loop

Atlus's Persona 3 serves as a primary gateway to multiversal canon. Within the broader Shin Megami Tensei framework, reality is defined by the Amala Universe—a canonical, infinite expanse of alternate dimensions and branching timelines. Spin-off titles like Persona Q and Persona 4 Arena explicitly establish that separate game universes exist simultaneously as parallel dimensions. Because characters like Dante (Devil May Cry) canonically cross over into SMT titles, the entire Capcom reality matrix is instantly linked to the Atlus multiverse.

2. Chrono Trigger and the Fragmented TimelineSquare Enix’s Chrono Trigger introduces the mechanic of active timeline manipulation. Rather than treating alternate choices as non-canon "Game Overs," the Chrono series posits that every temporal alteration creates a legally binding, split reality. When a narrative allows for infinite time travel and timeline branching, it creates a mathematical certainty that every potential future or crossover event exists somewhere within that universe's cosmic ledger.

3. Final Fantasy VII Remake and Metatemporal RewritingThe Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy radically shifts the definition of a "remake." Narrative evidence proves the game is not a simple modern retelling, but rather a literal sequel that actively remakes the timeline from within the fiction. Character entities like Sephiroth and Aerith demonstrate memories of the original 1997 game, fighting against "Whispers" (the Arbiters of Fate) to alter history. By establishing that a universe can actively overwrite, branch, or remember past iterations of its own timeline, FFVII Remake provides the missing mechanical link: it legitimizes multi-layered realities within Square Enix's core properties.

4. The Kingdom Hearts Singularity

If Chrono Trigger and Persona provide the theoretical math, Kingdom Hearts is the physical bridge. Directed by Tetsuya Nomura and developed by Square Enix, this series establishes that traveling between entirely separate intellectual properties (such as Disney, Pixar, and Final Fantasy) is a basic physical law of the cosmos. Because Kingdom Hearts is fully canonical to its participating studios, it functions as a universal hub, pulling every Disney property—and by extension, Marvel and Star Wars—into direct contact with Square Enix.

5. Super Smash Bros. as the Ultimate NexusThe Super Smash Bros. series is often dismissed by casual audiences as a non-canon party game. However, the "World of Light" and "Subspace Emissary" campaigns establish a distinct narrative lore: an external cosmic force pulling the absolute, true canonical heroes out of their respective dimensions. When Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Joker (Persona 5), Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII), and Kazuya (Tekken) fight side-by-side, Smash Bros. acts as the ultimate multiversal "fault."

It is the structural intersection where Nintendo, Square Enix, Atlus, and Bandai Namco are forcefully welded together.Part II: The Reality Engine (Executive Relationships and the Shonen Jump Bridge)The fictional architecture described above could not exist without a real-world engine: corporate diplomacy. The cross-pollination of these universes is a direct reflection of the amicable relationship between the leadership teams of major Japanese developers.

Historically, companies like Square Enix and Atlus (under its parent company Sega) have maintained highly collaborative, mutually respectful relationships at the executive level. Rather than engaging in hyper-aggressive Western-style corporate litigation, Japanese CEOs and legendary producers (such as Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase and Atlus's creative leads) frequently coordinate to celebrate the JRPG genre as a collective cultural export. This executive synergy is what allowed Atlus and Square Enix characters to co-exist peacefully in Nintendo's Smash Bros., bypassing immense copyright hurdles.

This boardroom camaraderie directly correlates to the anime industry, specifically through publishers like Shueisha and developers like Bandai Namco. Because Bandai Namco holds the video game rights to Weekly Shonen Jump properties, their positive corporate relationship with Square Enix and Capcom paved the way for massive structural crossovers:

The Akira Toriyama Bridge: The late Akira Toriyama famously served as the character and monster designer for Square Enix's flagship Dragon Quest series while simultaneously authoring Dragon Ball. This dual-loyalty blended the artistic and corporate DNA of both companies from the very beginning.The Shonen Jump Nexus: Because Dragon Ball and One Piece share a canonical universe via official Shueisha crossovers (such as the Dream 9 television special), they form a singular anime singularity.The Jump Force / Project X Zone Loop: Bandai Namco weaponized this by publishing Jump Force (uniting all anime worlds) and co-developing Project X Zone (uniting Capcom, Sega, and Bandai Namco properties).

Through this executive web, a clear chain of custody is established. If Luffy interacts with Goku (One Piece/Dragon Ball), and Goku is a cornerstone of Bandai Namco's catalog, and Bandai Namco shares a tactical universe with Capcom (Project X Zone), and Capcom co-exists with Square Enix (Kingdom Hearts), who in turn shares a temporal fault line with Atlus (Smash Bros./Persona), the loop is complete.

The FFX to Mickey Mouse Connection (The Shinra Ancestry)

This is the ultimate lore bridge that leaves casual gamers completely speechless. Tidus and Yuna (Final Fantasy X) share a timeline with Mickey Mouse.The In-Game Fact: In Final Fantasy X-2, there is a young Al Bhed tech-genius literally named Shinra. In one specific cutscene, he scans the life-force of the planet (Pyreflies) and explicitly notes that this spiritual energy could be harvested to power an entire civilization with electricity.The Creator Confirmation: In the official Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania guide, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima confirmed that this child is the direct ancestor of President Shinra from Final Fantasy VII.

He leaves Spira, space-travels to Gaia, and uses his grandfather’s research to build the Shinra Electric Power Company, harvesting Mako (which is just space-faring Pyreflies).The Mickey Mouse Bridge: In Final Fantasy VII Remake, when you visit the Shinra Headquarters museum, look closely at the old monochrome photo of the company's founders. Right in the center is a man wearing the exact same Al Bhed mask that child Shinra wore in FFX-2.The Loop: Because FFX is officially the prequel to FF7, and FF7 characters (Cloud, Sephiroth, Aerith) physically reside in Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion in Kingdom Hearts, Mickey Mouse is canonically interacting with the direct downstream timeline created by the children of Spira.

Why the "Big Three" Are the Primary CulpritsThe reason Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, and Kingdom Hearts completely shatter canon limits isn't just because they feature cameos—it is because their entire plot structures are built on universal law breaking.1. Chrono Trigger: The "Entity" and Scrapped TimelinesThe Obscure Fact: In Chrono Trigger, time travel isn't a machine glitch; the portals are explicitly stated to be opened by a mysterious, omnipresent cosmic force known only as The Entity.

The Breakdown: When Crono changes history, the game introduces the concept of the "Abyssal Timeline" (further explored in Chrono Cross and Radical Dreamers). Timelines that get deleted by time travel don't disappear; they get dumped into a multiversal trash bin called the Time Devourer. This establishes that any "scrapped" or alternate game world Square Enix makes still exists in the cosmic recycling bin of the Chrono universe.2. Final Fantasy VII Remake: Metatemporal AwarenessThe Obscure Fact: The FF7 Remake trilogy is not a video game remake. It is a canonical temporal war.The Breakdown: The game introduces the Whispers (Arbiters of Fate), entities that exist to force the characters to follow the plot of the original 1997 PlayStation 1 game. Sephiroth has literally traveled backward through time from the end of the original universe to rewrite reality.

By killing Fate at the end of Remake, Cloud and Sephiroth fractured the universe into multiple active, concurrent realities. This means every single fan theory, spin-off, and alternate universe of FF7 is now happening at the exact same time in parallel dimensions.

3. Kingdom Hearts: The Unreality (Quadratum)

An interesting obscure fact: the Kingdom Hearts III and the trailers for Kingdom Hearts IV introduce a world called Quadratum.The Breakdown: Quadratum is explicitly defined by the game's lore as "Unreality"—a world completely outside the reality of Disney and Square Enix. When Sora fades away, he wakes up in a hyper-realistic version of Tokyo. Tetsuya Nomura (the director) designed this world to look exactly like Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a real-life game that Square Enix cancelled years ago. Nomura literally took his real-world cancelled video game and turned it into an official parallel dimension within Kingdom Hearts.

The Elevator Incident: Kingdom Hearts only exists because a Square producer and a Disney executive accidentally got stuck in the same elevator together because their offices were in the same building in Japan. A literal physical elevator ride created a cosmic multi-billion dollar crossover.The Gilgamesh Universal Constancy: Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V has the unique ability to travel through the "Interdimensional Rift."

Square Enix has confirmed that every time Gilgamesh appears in FFVIII, FFXII, FFXV, and Stranger of Paradise, it is the exact same individual guy. He is traveling across entirely different video game discs and console generations via the rift, cementing that all numbered Final Fantasy games float in the exact same multiversal space.

Conclusion: The Corporate SimulationIn summary, the staggering scale of this modern media rabbit hole is neither an accident nor a series of trivial easter eggs. It is the logical conclusion of an industry where narrative mechanics have evolved to accommodate corporate alliances. Through the timeline-splitting physics of Chrono Trigger and FFVII Remake, the multi-dimensional travel of Kingdom Hearts, the psychic multiverses of Persona 3, and the executive handshakes of multi-billion dollar CEOs, the boundaries between separate franchises have effectively dissolved. Ultimately, we do not view separate stories; we view a single, unified corporate omniverse.

NSFW because my 3am binge kinda went wild.

Take into account that if Scooby said, "No way, Norville," and he said Hs instead of Ns. 💀 parents would sue probably.

Now of course, this is where the speech pattern saves him. Assuming anyone were to try to make ai voices of scooby say the n word, it's physically impossible and Scooby might just invent a new word.

But I think because, correct me if im wrong, but Scooby has been known to say H instead of N, sometimes. Meaning if anyone suggested using Norville, in any of the older shows, or present, since Morville is the obvious choice and is even more baffling than Norville, eventually you'd get... well, assuming an animator was drunk, um... yeah... 😭

So it's safe to assume that while Scoobys speech pattern is a roadblock for the fact it's kinda annoying hearing him say certain words, it also prevents him from saying things. So there's a reason why he'd say H**ville instead of Norville, but also not pronounce no as H*.

But then again do we have any proof he wouldn't do this IRL?! ASSUMING that he is a real dog, no amount of editing can make Scooby PG.