This kind of felt like the Chess equivalent of SDing at 0% while going for an edgeguard tbh. Only I had 30+ minutes to not make the worst decision possible instead of half a second.

I did the initial in-game research on Zelda: BotW's difficulty scaling/hidden exp system before dataminers found it. I actually even found the exact point thresholds for every monster and weapon upgrade right before those values in the code were found.

It's niche, but I had fun doing it.

I don't see him dropping below a top 5 position personally. Just way too consistently good in so many situations. Probably won't end up being a top 2 character because he doesn't have as notable of highs compared to others, but I think he will remain a very reliable and strong pick.

Helps a lot that web slinging has lots of fun niche uses that come up in split-second moments. Always feels like I can optimize its usage just a little bit more.

Since really getting into the flow of the game, I honestly don't think there's been a single time Taranza has felt underwhelming.

Afterthought:

Honestly, most of this was just because I'm a little irritated that such evocative imagery ultimately didn't seem to have any relevance to the plot or backstory of 4. Making a design so blatant and not following up on it is just really deflating when trying to get invested in a world.

But a backstory of a society divided by sudden physical and behavioral differences occuring due to a natural development that eventually fell apart because they were unable to reconcile their established culture with those changes would be way more interesting than the very blah story that we got.

I understand that going down that path could have some iffy implications if the needle isn't threaded correctly, and even if it is, it would still be a hard sell in the current political climate.

(12/13)

Instead, the Grievers are just mindless, basically mutated beasts to be killed without a second thought, the yonic architecture seemingly has no symbolic meaning at all, and green energy is just lamer Phazon.

(11/?)

Instead it would be a symbol likely to be familiar to the player with implications that would subtly foreshadow the physical transformation of the Grievers being due to a hormonal difference rather than a mutagenic influence like Phazon.

(10/?)

This doesn't have to be literally yonic or referring to the Lamorn literally having vaginas within the context of the game world.

(9/?)

After that venture fails, and the "Grievers" shift the dynamic of power into their favor, the yonic design of Chrono Tower, then, could be seen as the Lamorn's last effort to lionize their culture by displaying the most differentiating characteristic they retained that the Grievers lost.

(8/?)

These changes could have been seen as such an aberration that the research center was used to rid "undesirables" of their new traits, with the Lamorn having the power and influence to transport thousands of these "Grievers" to be used as guinea pigs to preserve their preferred way of life.

(7/?)

What if, instead of the generic story we got, green energy was, unknown to the Lamorn, a naturally synthesized hormone that led to heretofore unseen natural physical and behavioral changes to the Lamorn that were immediately rejected and vilified for clashing with their established culture.

(6/?)

But the Lamorn aren't just wild animals. They have a society, culture, art, etc., and the sudden inclusion of yonic architecture in Chrono Tower, the Lamorn's final sanctuary from the Grievers, when Lamorn architecture typically lacked such a prominent design element, feels especially poignant.

(5)

At the moment, axolotl do not naturally undergo metamorphosis when they reach sexual maturity, but if given the necessary hormones, they do undergo a transformation that allows them to live on land which includes an increase in muscle mass.

(4/?)

In fact, this actually parallels one of the inspirations for the Lamorn, axolotl, to an extent.

All the subtle details point to the idea that green energy led to a physical transformation in the Lamorn that their bodies had the DNA to take on but lacked the necessary catalyst to do so, and that's infinitely more interesting.

(3/?)

Given the troubled development cycle, I can understand that a different direction was ultimately taken, but they really just ended up making green, less interesting Phazon in the end.

(2/?)

It is a little funny that as soon as you think you're fighting someone interesting, the game says, "Lol, jk, it's another Psy-bot."