This is the first of a series of blogs I'll be doing, chronicling my attempts to suck less at fighting games. The intro is pretty long, but I'll be more concise in the next parts!

I've never been more than a casual player in most fighting games. Like most kids I dumped quarters into Mortal Kombat machines at the arcade because blood is cool as hell, picked up Soul Calibur 2 for Gamecube because Link is a pretty cool guy who bombs Dodongos and doesn't afraid of anything, and messed around with Street Fighter 2 because it was on every console. I think the deepest I got into a fighting game was Soul Calibur 3, which I played consistently for about a couple months but never got *great* at. So since then I can't say I've sunk any meaningful amount of time into a fighting game, definitely not enough to get good.

Last summer, a couple of my friends online were watching the livestream of EVO 2011. Since I was bored and they absolutely refused to talk about anything else but the streams, I checked it out. I'll be the first to admit that I had no idea what the hell was going on in these games. What's a wakeup DP? Why does everyone want that guy to lose so badly? How can you even ascertain what is happening on the screen right now?

(That last one was for Marvel vs. Capcom 3. A year ago, I would not be able to tell what was happening in this screenshot:)



(WHAT IS THIS?!)

So it was entertaining in a way, but I couldn't fully get into it because I didn't know what was happening. The terminology being thrown at me, all the crazy flashing lasers and particle effects on the screen, the completely daunting HUD...I couldn't grasp any of it. I figure it's the type of thing that you spend a LONG time getting familiar with before you can truly appreciate it. So I liked watching EVO, but I didn't really "get" it.

A few days later, I got God Hand. I picked up this game for cheap at a Gamestop, and little did I know this would be a turning point in my understanding of fighting games. God Hand is NOT a fighting game. Or is it?



Well... no it isn't. But I was shocked at how much depth was in this beat-em-up. It wasn't like the old games in the genre where you mash punch until your opponent falls down and flickers out of existence. In many ways, God Hand has the soul of a fighting game. I discovered this quickly after I tried mashing my way through levels and failing miserably. Then, I went on forums and God Hand fansites to find out strategies of how to suck less. I was little blown away by how complex the game was.

You need to predict your enemy's attacks and launch counterattacks. See them winding up for a super long move? Punish them by hitting them with a quick jab and starting your own combo. Learn which of your moves have invincibility frames so you can get yourself out of a tight situation. Manipulate counterhits to do even more damage. These terms- punishing, counterhits, supers..all sounded pretty familiar after watching EVO. So over the next few weeks, I watched streams of fighting games and God Hand videos regularly because I was seeing this strange overlap. I got really good at God Hand, and its deceptively deep systems made it nearly impossible for me to put down. God Hand is my favorite game of all time, but I can't really keep playing one game forever. So why not take a step out of my comfort zone and start playing some honest-to-goodness fighting games?


After watching so many streams of fighting game tournaments in the months that followed, I couldn't really find a game that was for me. Street Fighter IV looked cool but the huge roster of characters was daunting. How could I possibly devote the time to learning all of these characters to find the one I liked? How badly am I gonna lose online until I can get good? More importantly, will this game even have an online community in the near future? It's kinda old now. So I skipped over that game.

I skipped over Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as well partly because I was nowhere near understanding how tag fighters work, partly because the game just looked unfair. Once you get caught in an air combo in that game you're just gonna eat it until you die. And X-Factor makes these guys doing huge damage in combos even MORE powerful? There's no way I'll play that, I'll get annihilated.

There's also the issue of a good amount of characters being (seemingly) worthless, as 4-5 of them dominate the gameplay I've seen and are hands-down better than everyone else. if I can't play Frank West/Dante/Tron because they don't have good synergy or are too low tier, I don't even wanna play! Frank West is awesome.


Best character in ANY fighting game, right there.

The game that sounded like something I could actually get into was Skullgirls. I was interested in it from the beginning due to the fantastic art. I decided I'd definitely get it when I heard that it had a fully-featured tutorial mode that gave newcomers enough learning to really understand how fighting games work. So I followed the streams and videos from the game, and when it came out I downloaded it immediately. Here's my experience with Skullgirls so far, and how the game is helping me suck less at fighting games in general.



What I like:

-The small roster. Like I said earlier, when I'm looking at the character select screen for Street Fighter IV or Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I just don't know what to do. Which of these characters play similarly? What is their style? Which ones are so low tier that they're not worth using?

Skullgirls, having only eight characters, has none of these problems. I've felt no pressure in committing to the "wrong" character because I can get extensive practice with all of them. They're all very different but share enough that switching from one character to another is not like re-learning how to walk.

And the music on the character select screen never gets old.

-The tutorial mode. It cannot be overstated how helpful this is to a newer player of fighting games such as myself. This thing taught me all of those fighting game terms I keep hearing in tournaments. It lays out what they all mean and then you practice them. I had no idea what "hit confirms" were until I went through the "hit confirmation" tutorial. Same with canceling moves into supers, button notation, mix-ups, blockstun...it's just crazy how this game lays out all this terminology so quickly, in such an easy to understand format. Does any other fighting game do this, or are you just expected to know what a delayed hyper combo is and how to do it by messing around in training mode? I don't know, but I do know that this training mode is incredible and more fighting games should include it, instead of just assuming the players know what everything means. Some of us are still new!

-Tough, but fair AI in single player. Every time I finish Story or Arcade mode as one character, I ratchet up the difficulty and try it again to keep my skills sharp. The AI doesn't mess around in this game once you get to Normal mode. Peacock and Ms. Fortune stand out the most, as the former WILL fill the screen with garbage and chip you to death without mercy and the latter WILL relentlessly rush you down and hit you with moves that you can't really tell are high or low. So it's a little rough at times, but if the AI was braindead I'd never get better. I appreciate it.

-Pretty easy inputs. So far I've had the most trouble with Double and Valentine because they have a LOT of moves that have some funky inputs, but for the most part I feel like I can do everything I need to do fine. Most Blockbusters are just quarter-circle-forward (or backward) + two punches (or two kicks). Same with special moves. I have a little trouble doing dragon punch motions, but overall the inputs aren't difficult.

What I didn't like:

-The training mode. It's missing a lot of stuff and the best way I can explain this is by comparing it to a Smash Bros. game. The training mode in Smash Bros lets you manipulate time and set the enemy AI to various states like blocking/jumping/actively attacking you, and is overall pretty good for a not-so-serious fighter. So why can't Skullgirls have all this stuff? I appreciate the blockstun bar and Sparring Mode, but this desperately needs more options.

-AI isn't ALWAYS fair. Maybe it's just me but I have the WORST trouble with Ms. Fortune on every difficulty. I'm consistently playing Arcade mode on Hard now and not having trouble until she pops up. And just to test this, I dropped down the difficulty to the lowest and was getting annihilated by that specific character. Playing against her is the only time where I've felt that the AI is being genuinely unfair and reacting in a way that a human character cannot...but that could just be me.

-Ratio system needs tweaking. Right now I see no reason to use three characters unless your opponent is also using three. The damage you take when you're playing as a team of three is enough to completely put me off three person teams, no matter how good some assists are. It doesn't seem practical.

-Lack of polish. These are just general nitpicks, I know it's a $15 Arcade game but the load times are really long and frequent, the Story mode, while well written, has bad Powerpoint syndrome where characters need to blink off screen and come back with different faces instead of subtly transitioning, there's a strange and frequent (for me) glitch where characters briefly turn into hitboxes, and there's an "Extras" menu that clearly has room for some extra options that just aren't there. The biggest complaint is the lack of an in-game movelist, which is kinda silly when the game is so good at tutorials but lacks a basic feature such as this. And you can see the names of the moves when you program assists so you KNOW it's in there. Stop teasing us. Come on.

Overall, I'd say Skullgirls, specifically the tutorial mode, has given me a significant step forward at not sucking at fighting games. I had some prior knowledge of the genre just from watching so many damn streams and playing so much God Hand, but I really appreciate it teaching me legit tactics and fighting game terminology that I don't have to scour the internet for.

I also got my first arcade stick! It's this one right here:

http://eightarc.com/fusion-ebony

I'm still getting used to it, but I don't regret this purchase at all. It's so much easier to use than a normal 360 controller, and I'm almost never messing up inputs now. It's a little heavy but it also doesn't feel like it's ever gonna snap in half, so that's a good thing. Highly recommended.

I'll be getting Soul Calibur V and writing about that next time. If the giant walls of text didn't scare you off, thanks for reading! I promise it'll be shorter next time!

I don't think that's the conventional "10 Things Blog Picture" because it doesn't show my face, but it's literally the best and most recent picture I have of myself. Anyway, here are some things you don't know about me (I hope)!

1. I'm tiny.
I don't measure my height or weigh myself ever, but I'm pretty sure I have not grown since my sophomore year of high school. The majority of the clothes I bought in high school still fit...
If I were to guess I'm maybe 5-and-a-half feet tall and weigh around 130 pounds. I'm really small. People often say I look like I'm 16-17. I don't know what happened! I ate all my fruits and vegetables ;_;

2. I don't drink or smoke.
I'm not one of those punk rockers who's "straight edge" and whatnot. I'm not cool enough for that. I just don't like smoking because it makes your teeth gross and I don't drink because I've had so many poor experiences dealing with drunken people acting like jerks in my life. No offense to you if you do either! I just don't see the point of either.
I really hope I didn't sound too much like a dick there. And I do realize the Drinky Crow avatar is a little misleading.

3. I'm a Saved by the Bell addict.
This started in high school. Every morning TBS would show several episodes of Saved by the Bell, and I watched it while I got ready for school. Then high school ended and I was STILL waking up at like 7AM to watch 2 hours of Saved by the Bell. I'd still do it, but they moved the show to Sunday mornings, so I just bought the DVDs. I've probably memorized entire scripts for about 75% of the series.

Original series is the best, College Years was good and should've went on longer, and I've never seen The New Class and I don't want to.

Oh, and I dressed up as Zack Morris for Halloween once.



4. I play guitar but I'm not really doing anything with it.
I've been playing the guitar for about 8 years and I'm pretty confident in my abilities. I'm not good enough to write my own stuff, but I'm all right at learning songs fairly quickly. I went to a few guitar recitals when I was younger and even played in my high school's jazz band, but I had such bad stage fright that I screwed up stuff I could play perfectly in front of my friends. Guess I'm never gonna be a famous musician.

5. I collect movie tickets.
Started doing this back in 1999, and now I have the ticket stub from every movie I've been to since then. Apparently, I saw the first Twilight movie. I don't remember that at all.

6. I listen to a lot of Korean pop music.
I don't listen to much music at all, as most of the content on my Zune is movies or podcasts. But if I am listening to music on there, it'll probably be some K-pop. 2NE1 is my favorite.

7. I listen to a lot of Space Jam mash-ups.
I guess you could say I collect them too. I don't know how or why this started, but I just began saving every mash-up of Space Jam on the internet I could find. Those Youtube playlists don't cover them all, I've got a folder with 700+ of them on my computer. I plan on passing this folder down to all my descendants.

8. I had an afro for a year.
I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I grew an afro in like 2000 because I thought it looked cool. But it wasn't fucking cool. It was heavy and made my head really hot. So I'm not doing that again.

9. I cannot stand being barefoot.
I don't know how people do it. The thought of putting my bare feet on the floor, ground, whatever just grosses me out so much. It's dirty! So I wear socks almost all the time. I'm really only barefoot when I'm taking a shower.

10. I committed some vandalism before.
When I was young(er) and dumb(er) my friends and I got a kick out of breaking glass bottles in the middle of the night and smashing car windows and running away. This phase lasted for about a week until we got really paranoid about getting caught and stopped. So if any police are reading this...it was not me.

That's it!

You think you're slow at finishing games? This one took me almost a year!

In April 2011, I found out that an anime adaptation of Persona 4 was being made. The game runs on a calendar that happens to cover the year of 2011, and the anime was starting around the same time.

I thought, "Well, that's pretty cool. Maybe the show will sync up with the anime and get super meta and stuff."

Shortly after that, Strain42, whose hilarious comics can be found on drunkduck.com, said that he would be making a comic series chronicling the events of Persona 4 daily, basically in "real time" along with the game's dates. I had already read his comic "Persona 3 FTW" which did the same for the previous game in the series, so of course I'd be reading that daily along with the game's timeline!

Then I found out that some crazy man was making a Twitter account AS the Persona 4 main character, and would be tweeting the events of the game alongside its timeline!

So why not go through the game once more? It was like, Persona 4 year and there was no better time to play it. And I did it in the best way I could, in "real time".



In 2011 and 2012 I played Persona 4 for a little bit every day. Usually no more than 20 minutes. I'd turn it on, watch the anime opening (yes, EVERY TIME), and just do whatever I wanted for the day.

It was a little weird to play a game that I've already beaten a few times in such small chunks, but I'd say it made me appreciate it a lot more. I talked to people I'd usually just run past, made better choices about what to fuse and what items to buy so I could complete dungeons in one day, and explored places I'd never been to so I could get more out of the experience. After all, this is an experience that could only ever happen once.

What was REALLY weird was when weather forecasts synced up in real life and the game. Not gonna lie, when it rained in the game and in real life, I was actually watching my TV at midnight to see who would appear...



At the end of the day I'd read the day's comics from Persona 4TW, read @NarukamiYu's Twitter (and all the spinoff accounts it started), and catch up on Persona 4 The Animation.

When I look back on it, Persona 4 is a game that really shook up my tastes in games in general. I've played Japanese RPGs a little before, but this was the first one where I was totally engrossed in the world and characters from the first time I played it. I'm at the point in my gaming career where I'm already kinda stuck in my ways, and will generally just buy games based on brand familiarity or liking the genre. Now I'm more into roleplaying games than I've ever been, and this game opened my eyes to a genre I would've gone my whole gaming career without exploring. All because I took a chance on a game I saw on sale at a a Gamestop.

So, ending my 38 week journey with Persona 4 is a little bittersweet. Playing it in "real time" and taking in all the alternate media doing the same thing was such a unique experience that I've never had with another game and might never have again. I can just play it again (and I probably will!) to see the few Social Links I've never finished or finally fill out the Compendium. But it won't really be as special as this time was.

I'm still looking for the next RPG out there to really capture my heart and attention in the way Persona 4 did. Maybe it'll never come, but I'm glad I took a chance on this game in the first place and I'm glad I played it in such a crazy way that made me appreciate it so much more.

Who knows? Maybe I'll do it again when Persona 5 comes out. I'll definitely record it that time!

Recently, SEGA announced that the classic Dreamcast title Jet Set Radio will be remastered and released on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Like most people who remember the game, I got pretty excited!

Jet Set Radio is one of the most beloved games on the Dreamcast, and I have fond memories of playing it. The soundtrack was the biggest reason I'm looking forward to the upcoming port. It's one of the best soundtracks in videogame history, and had a large influence on my musical tastes today.

Then I started getting a little worried about it. There's a lot of LICENSED music in Jet Set Radio. Music that could cost a good amount of money to license, money that they may not be willing to spend. After all, the purpose of this release is to get SEGA some money and if they have to blow too much cash on re-licensing the entire soundtrack, they're not gonna re-license the entire soundtrack. Then I hear murmurs that SEGA is, as of now, doing its best to get the full license for the soundtrack "because that's what the fans want".

Honestly, as fondly as I remember Jet Set Radio, my purchase of the re-release depends on the soundtrack. Because I didn't care for it as a game. The camera was unfairly difficult to control, the graffiti tagging mechanism got overly long near the end of the game, and overall the gameplay of Jet Set Radio was pretty unpolished. Jet Set Radio Future was a better GAME, taking the whole soundtrack and "style" out of the equation.

So SEGA is re-releasing a not-so-fantastic game. I'm fine with that...sort of. I just don't want them to just throw this on the marketplace and be done with it. It's unrealistic at this point, but can I request a new game in the series? One that captures the style of the original Jet Set Radio but updates the gameplay to a modern standard?

I think it's kinda sad that at this point, I'm not expecting SEGA to improve on the franchises they've made with sequels. They're relying on a very small number of key franchises while ignoring some of the better ones that they've created.

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing 2 is official. Look at how many neglected SEGA characters are in that series. Billy Hatcher was a pretty innovative, but slightly clunky game that I'd like to see a sequel for. Shenmue is one of the biggest cult classics of all time but probably won't ever be concluded with a third game. Rhythm games might not be in the best place right now, but I really enjoy the Space Channel 5 series and Samba de Amigo and I think they could be made into pretty cool games with use of the Kinect or Move.

When I thought about All-Stars Racing 2, I imagined all the SEGA characters that could make an appearance, then immediately wondered whey they haven't had games in so long. Ristar was a big one. But why hasn't there been a Ristar game in forever? Sonic Generations has two missions that share the bar swinging mechanics from Ristar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7UEuwd3Yjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anP6SdS3FUQ

Why put these mechanics in a Sonic game for one-off missions? Why not take the time to develop them and build a great new Ristar game?

I'll likely end up buying Jet Set Radio on XBLA. But at this point, I know that sales of the game will not convince SEGA to reboot the franchise and make a great, new Jet Set game. And the fact that I'm so sure it won't happen just makes me kinda sad.

Hey, video games. How are you?

Oh, don't say that. You look fine! I think you were doing fantastic all throughout last year and your future is looking incredibly bright right now. You're putting out some great sequels, some exciting new franchises, and just generally being awesome right now.

...Okay, I'll admit it. I am buttering you up a bit. We really, really need to talk about some of the decisions you've made recently. I like seeing you thrive and put yourself into the limelight even more. But you've done some pretty boneheaded things recently. I mean, I want you to continue your success, so why are you making it so difficult? I'll break it down some more.



Saints Row The Third, not only were you a joy to play, I'll admit it...I'm PROUD of you.
(Stop laughing!)

Yeah, I'm proud. I noticed your potential early on when your series was first starting. Then you amped it up for the sequel. But The Third? WOW. You got that brand new physics and graphics engine and looked sharper than ever. You got a new writer and were funnier than ever. You cut out most of your pointless filler and got more enjoyable to play than ever. I know I chewed you out before for missing things that you had before, but it doesn't change my feeling that you were the best game to come out in 2011. So why haven't I bought you yet? Well, you see....

-That online pass. I don't remember that being there before. In fact, why is it here now? You don't have a multiplayer mode anymore.
...You say I need it to play co-op modes? Well, that seems a bit silly...was this your idea? You know how I feel about online passes, right? I know you might disagree, but I won't support them. I'm already paying for Xbox Live to play online. And what about my friends who want to play with me but can't afford a $60 game, why are they being punished? I don't support the online passes, and as petty as I might sound right now...if I keep "putting up" with the passes, they won't stop. I'm just not cool with that.

-The season pass. Seriously, did someone put you up to this?
You haven't had great DLC in the past...to be brutally honest you've been terrible with it. But now you want me to subscribe to an online pass for three pieces of content? And you're releasing a TON of new clothing, guns, and homies...why aren't those in the online pass? Are you really expecting me to buy all of this stuff separately? When you've got less content than you used to but you're trying to sell more...that just doesn't feel right, you know?

-I won't go over it too much again, but you know what you did. You left out a lot of cool stuff you used to have like mission selection, clothing options, hell, even a good day-night cycle! I want you to succeed but you're making a lot of dumb choices in how you present yourself.


I can't put my finger on why, but I want to play this game!

I didn't care for Final Fantasy XIII that much. The gameplay is cool but the story and characters were not. Call me old-fashioned but not caring about what happens to the characters in a lengthy RPG campaign kills my interest in finishing that game.

Yet, I want to play XIII-2. The gameplay got even better and more complex from what I saw in the demo. Shaking up the way the game progresses interested me too. Even if I still don't give a damn about what happens to these characters...this game looks cool.

-But why isn't it finished?
I'm just speculating here, but I heard you end with a cliffhanger. I hear little rumors like more downloadable expansions being added to "enhance the experience and complement the narrative of FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 with storyline branches for key characters in the story". And adding that little episode with Sazh just makes me believe that might just happen. I hope it doesn't.
By the way, what's up with downloadable costumes? Didn't that use to be a thing you'd just...find or unlock in a game? Why do I have to pay now?


I'll admit that you had a rough start, Mass Effect. Your first outing was...awkward to say the least. Things vastly improved by the second, but you still felt a little strange to control.

But now! You've finally figured it out. You've grown into a perfectly competent shooter with minimal awkwardness and a truly exciting cast and story. I can't wait to reunite with some of my old space buddies for one last push against whatever evil aliens are threatening us this time.

But look...
-Why do you have multiplayer? I know you're trying to appeal to more people, and I'll admit that your systems are much better than I expected. But they're not perfect. In fact, I'm a little bored when I play the multiplayer. It stretches on for too long with no visible end in sight. The maps feel a little cluttered, and the whole experience is more than a little unfair if until you've reached a high enough level...or used a cheesy enough class.
Is this another bright idea to add an online pass? What was wrong with the Cerberus Network? I thought that worked out well, to be honest.

-What's going on with the DLC everywhere? DLC codes on bad figurines, art books, soundtracks, clothes, every piece of Mass Effect merchandise under the sun! Throw in some pre-order DLC and retailer exclusive goodies for good measure? Sure, why not? And if you had so much time to add a multiplayer mode and develop all this bonus DLC...what's up with the Day 1 DLC? Not quite understanding the logic behind that.
To be honest, this massive amount of DLC makes me want to wait for you. Wait until it's all collected in one place so I can experience the "complete" Mass Effect 3. I'm conflicted though. I don't wanna wait because I'm excited about playing. But why would I do that when I can be assured that there will be a ton of cool guns, extra squad members, and expansions available if I just ignore you for other games this year?

So, games. We're still cool. Sorry if I made you think we're not still cool! But all this stuff you're doing, the unnecessary DLC, the pointless season passes, the removal of content to sell later...not cool. I wanna support you and I want you to succeed, but it's just tough when you keep doing dumb things!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting kicked out of Best Buy for talking to these game boxes.

When you hear the phrase "video game hero", what images come to mind? Do you think about a superhero in skintight spandex punching out supervillains? A dark-haired man wisecracking throughout his explorations through the world and through his female companions' erogenous zones? A woman wearing revealing outfits as she kills horrific monsters in the name of feminism?

Of course, these poorly-veiled references to Spider-Man, Nolan North, and Bayonetta (or Lara Croft? Juliet Starling? Whatever.) are heroes in their own way. But a hero greater than all of them is an overweight, middle-aged photojournalist who watches too much professional wrestling.


(Note: listen to this as you read for the full experience. Then go look up the lyrics after you realize you can't understand the vocals.)

Frank West isn't a remarkable man. He's not particularly attractive, is kind of a smartass in the non-endearing way, works a low-paying job, and has an odd affinity for dressing in women's clothing. But all his quirks make his acts of heroism shine even more brightly.

(Our best weapon against the impending zombie apocalypse?)

Frank West's backstory is vague: we know he's a journalist and we know that he allegedly covered wars at some point. What we do know about him is that he is a self-motivated individual: he hired a helicopter pilot to take him to Willamette, Colorado in DEAD RISING so he could report a potentially dangerous situation to the world. He's definitely not the type to rest on his laurels and hope fame and fortune come to him; he goes out and seeks glory himself.

Frank West ends up in an incredible situation: stranded in a city overrun with zombies. Instead of curling up into a ball and crying, he does what most sane people wouldn't do. He continues to seek the truth behind the zombie outbreak with the side goal of saving every living being he can find. Zombie outbreaks will inevitably cast the world into a brutal place where everyone only cares about their own survival. Frank knows this, yet he tries his hardest to keep both himself and every other human being he meets alive and safe.

Even after suffering through events that would make most people lose their minds, like being attacked by psychopathic murders, seeing horrifically mutated humans, and being called every 5 minutes by Otis, he survives and becomes one of the key developers behind the anti-zombification drug, Zombrex.


Whoever puts up with this without killing Otis deserves a medal.

Somehow Frank keeps a cool head while dealing with nearly being killed, escorting a slew of survivors with such immense issues with basic motor skills that they cannot walk in straight lines without getting lost, and pretty much getting no respect for his efforts. It's because he's a true hero that he deals with all of this and saves everyone he can anyway.

Not to mention that he's a badass. This is a guy who's beaten up government-trained secret agents and military commanders with his bare hands. He has no super powers, yet he survived injuries and zombie attacks for numerous days with just good ol' fashioned strength...and use of whatever weapons he happens to find lying around. Oh, and orange juice. Keep drinking that Sunny D if you wanna be like Frank one day!

Frank West is a hero we can all relate to. In the end, he's just a hardworking guy who uses his ingenuity and street smarts to survive in extraordinary circumstances. He shows that you don't need to be rich or superpowered to be a hero, you just need to have the motivation to do the right thing.

Also, he's totally gonna be Mega Man X in the future. That's pretty cool too.