Zodi Plays: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (Furry Crime Adventure)

[Knight9910]

Zodi Plays Sly Cooper 8: Why Zodi Would Never Have Won The Carmen Sandiego Game Show

:p

And yeah, I don't get Muggshot's fight at all. It feels like they came up with the mechanics for the boss fight first and then came up with the character and just tried to mash them together.

[PhantomFox]

Whereas Muggshot's fight wasn't all that, I do really enjoy his pre-fight banter.
"My boys have been yappin' about some mysterious dude crackin' skulls, and.... this is it?! You're the monkey wrench in my operation?! Some scrawny rat with a stick?!"
Yeah, doesn't seem so imposing. But we're a thief, not a bruiser. Makes sense. Also like the fact that Muggshot might have been willing to GIVE his part back if we hadn't done our thing.
"What, are you kiddin'? You break into MY place, steal MY stuff, TRASH the joint... I feel transgressed and violated! Let's rock!"

Also, more Newspaper Clippings:
"Hot stuff with a badge collars canine criminal!
It's the big house for the big boss of Mesa City
Inspector Fox too late to catch mysterious thief"

Will post more fan history sometime else.

[DataNinja]

I like the video name. Made me do a double-take to check back and see if any past ones were like that and I just hadn't noticed.

Switching to 2D's pretty cool.
...keeping 3D controls in it, though, maybe not so much.

Good timing, cutscene.

Ahhhhh. And there's the title. I was wondering if it had something to do with something in this episode.

For someone who doesn't like big words, Muggshot sure uses a lot of them himself.

Yeah, that's a battle that... really doesn't make a lot of logical sense.

[LaZodiac]

Zodi Plays Sly Cooper 8: Why Zodi Would Never Have Won The Carmen Sandiego Game Show

This reminds me of the time a friend of mine showed me the map of Europe and asked me to name specific parts and I got none of them right, and some I guess so wrong that he genuinely wanted to vomit and took me through all of them by hand.

For someone who doesn't like big words, Muggshot sure uses a lot of them himself.

This is one of my favorite types of jokes, I think. Big dumb idiot uses fancy words correctly, but says them slightly wrong.

[Knight9910]

Also something I just noticed rewatching the video where you're first entering Mesa City... Bentley mentions that he used "higher mathematics" to figure out the code... which happens to be "3-1-4" ...as in 3.14, aka pi.

[DataNinja]

Also something I just noticed rewatching the video where you're first entering Mesa City... Bentley mentions that he used "higher mathematics" to figure out the code... which happens to be "3-1-4" ...as in 3.14, aka pi.

Yeah, I mentioned that in my comments while watching. I wonder how many other comments are linked to little jokes like that.

[LaZodiac]

Yeah, I mentioned that in my comments while watching. I wonder how many other comments are linked to little jokes like that.

A couple! You'll see one or two of them coming up in the future, I think. Also yes there is a video tomorrow.

[LaZodiac]

Merry Christmas have a crime time.

Zodi Plays: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus [9] Vicious Voodoo

Video Length: 14:45

Starting off, I show off the thing I missed from Muggshot's stage! We get to hear Muggy talk about how someone's snooping around so he wants his boys to introduce them to their good friend bullet. How rude. But then we ARE breaking into his (illegal) operation and stealing all his stuff.

Anyway, onto the actual meat of today's episode. We're going off to Haiti which is NOT in South America, to face off against the mystic of the Fiendish Five, Mz Ruby. Mz Ruby was always interesting to me in that, her being here means all manner of stuff could exist. Magic is real in this universe and not considered ridiculous or otherwise out of place, which is fascinating to me. Our approach to her swamp fort is fraught with peril, but thanks to Kid Cooper's rail grind and rail walk technique we can now do some basic for the era platforming over those obstacles. Rail grinding was super ubiquitous during this time frame, so it's not a surprise Sly gets in on the action. It's pretty well executed too, the inherent "homing" the thief actions have make it easy to get on the rails and you can jump back up them if you miss something, which is always nice. The one problem with them (and with the regular rail walking) is that it constrains your movements and makes it hard to actually like, hit things that aren't directly at level with you. This will come back to bite us in the butt later, believe you me. Anyway the thing we get for getting all the clues is an addition to our roll move, that lets us generate electricity while rolling. Neato!

Within this one stage, we actually see every enemy that Mz Ruby throws at us barring one. We've got the mosquito's who have...interesting definitions on what counts as a successful hit, we've got spiders that swing back and forth at you, treants that are incredibly annoying to dispatch, and the searchlight guards of this hub are the voodoo weasels that shoot blasts of magic at you. A rarity for the series, the searchlight having guards are probably the LEAST threatening enemy here. Maybe it's just me, but I get messed up in Haiti more than any other world that I recall. Speaking of my thoughts on Haiti...this is probably my least favorite area in the game. It's not that it's bad, though that's arguable, but that it's just...not in line with the rest of the game's aesthetic. This is a game about sneaking into a place and wrecking up the joint, as it where. In Haiti you are exploring a jungle. It's crowded, but in a more naturalistic way, so it feels more like a standard adventure game area instead of "a location you are doing a heist at" which I feel is important to the series. I also think that since it IS a jungle, things get a little to same-y so I get turned around or otherwise confused. Again, I'm not saying Haiti is bad, but it definitely doesn't feel on step with the rest of the game.

That said the next level we go to is a generally terrible minigame so maybe it IS on step with the rest of the game. Riding around a water skiff collecting fish (of which we can only hold five) to power a fish oil fueled flamethrower that shoots in single bursts to light every torch. We have two minutes because...we have two minutes. I will make a note here; I was incorrect on how the rest of the game does minigames. I completely forgot this one was a thing. So yeah. We do that and get our treasure key, woo. Hope you enjoyed! I'll see you all next time for more swamp crimes.

[DataNinja]

Merry Christmas. You spoil us.

...such a cavalier attitude about the summoning of the undead.

I don't have much to say besides, yeah, the jungle is pretty... same-y. Clues blend in with the background. There're much less sense of direction.

[Eurus]

I seem to recall the jungle-y area in Sly 2 being better, but it's been long enough that I'm not totally sure anymore...

[Knight9910]

Man, the swamp skiff level... when Bentley first mentioned that you were getting a flamethrower I was like "aw, this'll be easy then, the tiki torches are packed close together, you can probably get 3 or 4 of them with a single burst!"

Man, was I wrong. That's hardly a flamethrower. They might as well just call it a cigarette lighter. :p

[Lord Raziere]

[B]Zodi Plays: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus [1] Tide of Terror

Because I don't watch your videos enough:

Episode 1:
Hello turtle otacon, I'm racoon snake! Wheres my cardboard box?

The voices in this are horrible though.

no wait Sly having a one-way thing for Carmelita is hilarious and golden and I love it.

but the turtle I'm hating just because of his stupid voice oh my god, Bentley, shut up forever please.

but yeah, this is pulpy goodness all over.

Episode 2:
I like how acrobatic this is all is. I wonder when Foxy Javert will show up again and when the turtle will shut up

Episode 3:
*Sees the barrel* THERES the box! I knew you'd be there.

The rest:

looks like Sly just was fired then somehow started floating halfway towards the cannon, and there was no boom! disappointing.

oh god. "HOT CHICK WITH GUN BUSTS AMPHIBIOUS YUCKMOUTH!!" bad news judgement or what?

yeah, too bad, Muggshot could've been a great athlete, but thats what happens: sometimes your inspiring story of determination makes you villain rather than hero.

well yeah of course Bentley is just saying stuff to sound impressive. he's a stupid turtle with an annoying voice of course he has fake his way into sounding impressive, he isn't actually intelligent, I bet the notes are just jigsaw puzzles of the numbers you have to put in, and he is just like putting them together and lying about how hard it is.

There's Foxy Javert! knew you'd come back! I like the strange relationship they have, Sly constantly keeps trying to hit on her and Carmelita is just being completely no-nonsense about it.

so yeah, merry late christmas, Zodi. seems like a fun pulpy game aside from the stupid turtle and annoying voice.

[LaZodiac]

Unwards, to more swamp crime.

Zodi Plays: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus [10] Snake

Video Length: 16:11

In today's episode we tackle two stages, the first of which is full of ghost cats! The stage is full of these gravestones that generator ghosts, three as a limit, and instantly replenish the ghost supply when one is killed. Or rekilled, as it may be. Smash the gravestone and the ghosts stop coming. Easy enough, and the level has a ton of iterative platforming challenges involving these that I actually kinda like. Taking away from this is the fact that for some reason Haiti just doesn't agree with me, and I get my face knocked off at basically almost every opportunity. It's quite difficult! This stage also has 40 clues again. I knew it wouldn't last but goodness that's a lot of bottles. At least they're hidden rather interestingly, which is something that I appreciate. This stage also features an interesting security feature; rotating pillars with security lasers on it. Not too complicated to deal with, but potentially frustrating. I can see these being a huge trouble when I go to do the Master Thief Sprints... Anyway, the reward for getting all the clues here is a more modern entry, which Bentley can take advantage of! He's upgraded our binocucom so that we can actually see enemy names and information. It's mostly just extra jokes, which I'm always for, and I'll be sure to show them all off when next I can.

The second level is far more constrained and yet still just as vast? It's got 30 clues, and like the last one hides them pretty interestingly (and in plain sight. I have no idea how I missed that one). The most interesting part of this level is that for the most part, it's basically just a rail grinding level. You slide along on the vines and stuff, making forward progress. In other games where it's near impossible to actually climb back up the grind rail this would make collection pretty frustrating, but due to the homing nature of Sly's thief abilities it's incredibly easy to climb back up a grind rail and get stuff. The real problem comes at the end of the stage, where the beast of the swamp appears!

A huge snake begins chasing us, giving us the final mascot platformer trope Sly has yet to hit. Running away with something huge and dangerous following behind you. However, Sly has some things in place that remove a lot of the things that make this type of gameplay feel bad. For one, you're on the rail walkable vines or swinging from hooks and stuff, so your movement is entirely binary. You go forward or backward, so there's no real chance of getting confused and getting run over. Secondly, if you do get run over by the snake you don't die instantly unless you lack a lucky charm. You just get sent flying, which I appreciate. The snake also isn't rubber banded at all, you can easily outrun the snake and not have any degree of trouble with it. The only real concern is that, due to how the rail movement works, it becomes a little harder to hit the clues that ARE here, and if you miss them you have to restart or die. Once we're done with the snake that's the whole level, giving us access to the safe as well as the treasure key. Our reward is the Blueprints...which I'm realizing is a terrible reward given the order I did the levels in. You'll see why next time.

But yeah. With all that said, I hope you enjoyed! See you guys next time for when we delve ever further into the swamp.

[Knight9910]

I was going to say "well, at least that last clue was before the snake so you don't have to do the snake again." Except then the vault was AFTER the snake. :\

And Bentley had to overcome some personal demons to get the vault code, which is 4-4-4. Makes sense when you remember in Japan 4 is the number of death. ...it is a bit unusual since this is an American-made game, but eh.

[DataNinja]

I bet the notes are just jigsaw puzzles of the numbers you have to put in, and he is just like putting them together and lying about how hard it is.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had that thought.

I, uh, don't think that's quite how ghosts work, Bentley. You "generate" ghosts by, I dunno, killing people. Ghost summoner would probably be better, metaphysically speaking.

Yeah, those treant hitboxes look... unwieldy. Hroom hroom.

...why is the computer page in a voodoo jungle???

I guess the serpent doesn't have an entry, then.

Was wondering if it was going to be that or 6-6-6 after the 'personal demons' part. *checks* Huh. It's an American developer who did this.

[Knight9910]

I, uh, don't think that's quite how ghosts work, Bentley. You "generate" ghosts by, I dunno, killing people. Ghost summoner would probably be better, metaphysically speaking.

Unless the "ghosts" are just illusions. Is this Scooby Doo? Is Mz. Ruby an evil real estate developer in a mask?

...why is the computer page in a voodoo jungle???

And I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who thought that. I guess when they were dividing up the Thievius Racoonus amongst themselves maybe they just gave out random pages, as opposed to giving stuff to the people who would make the most use of it. If so then the Fiendish Five clearly aren't that smart.

Was wondering if it was going to be that or 6-6-6 after the 'personal demons' part. *checks* Huh. It's an American developer who did this.

Yeah, I mentioned that. But I guess they were aware of the Japanese myth about 4 meaning death.

[DataNinja]

And I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who thought that.
...
Yeah, I mentioned that.

Great minds think alike. Or something like that.

[Qwertystop]

And Bentley had to overcome some personal demons to get the vault code, which is 4-4-4. Makes sense when you remember in Japan 4 is the number of death. ...it is a bit unusual since this is an American-made game, but eh.

So you're saying Bentley's a weeaboo? ;)

[Knight9910]

So you're saying Bentley's a weeaboo? ;)

Makes sense to me, so sure. :p

[Knight9910]

And I said this on Discord but I thought I'd bring it up here too...

The bosses occasionally coming on the P.A. system to yell at their mooks kinda reminds me of Ratchet and Clank a bit, except where R&C mostly used it for comedy, this game uses it to show how absolutely evil the Fiendish Five really are.

For example going into Mz. Ruby's hideout and she basically just comes on to say "yeah, we're gonna genocide Mexico in order to make an undead army."

[DataNinja]

Aw man, there's a Discord version of this thread, too? I missed that.

I mean, to be fair, there's a difference between evil and competent evil. It's been... however long since the Raccoonus was stolen, and yet Ruby's still languishing around in this swamp, after all.

[LaZodiac]

Aw man, there's a Discord version of this thread, too? I missed that.

I mean, to be fair, there's a difference between evil and competent evil. It's been... however long since the Raccoonus was stolen, and yet Ruby's still languishing around in this swamp, after all.

There isn't Knight is just friends with me and in a chat that I'm also in.

If people want I'll make a Zodi discord. I might make it Patron only though.

I don't imagine a book on thief techniques are gonna help her with her zombie plans.

[DataNinja]

If people want I'll make a Zodi discord. I might make it Patron only though.

I mean, I'm always up for having more places to talk to people. But, that's fair.

I don't imagine a book on thief techniques are gonna help her with her zombie plans.

Well, not if they're all stuff like computer hacking. Shoulda traded it for the water-repellant one or something.

[LaZodiac]

I mean, I'm always up for having more places to talk to people. But, that's fair.


Well, not if they're all stuff like computer hacking. Shoulda traded it for the water-repellant one or something.

My only compunction with making a Zodi Discord is that there isn't a lot of fans of me so it'd feel weird maybe? I don't know. It's something I can think about.

[Lord Raziere]

Episode 10:
Yes, Bentley very haunted. More than regular haunted, but not enough to be super haunted, ultra haunted and we dare not speak about hyper-haunted, or super haunted blue, or Super Haunted Rose Ghost Black.

yeah, if those yellow laser beams were positioned horizontally on that decorative rotating place of sidling, you'd be screwed.

"ok ok this kind of a guess-"-Bently
we're being honest now, are we turtle?

enjoys golf.......in a swamp. you picked a bad location for your hobby dude.

industrial strength voodoo gate? yes, because a consumer strength voodoo gate is too easily broken into, you need to buy straight from the voodoo factory for anything competent, real expensive.

.......Bentley your home is literally a shell you hide yourself in for safety. how can you be claustrophobic!?

enjoys bungee jumping. ok.

enjoys sunday picnics.......because so many people are around to suck blood from in the open?

overcome personal demons bentley? I know thats a lie, because you still have not confessed that your actually just an annoying incompetent turtle.

[Coidzor]

You know, I think this is the first time I've seen Nutria feature as enemies in a video game. So I have to give Sly Coops's team props for that one.

It's a shame that Bentley didn't stick to his guns about not "helping" with this world. Would have been almost peaceful grinding if he had just shut his trap.

[Knight9910]

Now, now. Bentley isn't THAT bad. For the most part you only even have to listen to him if you want to. It's not like, say, Navi.

[LaZodiac]

Happy New Year *toot*

Zodi Plays: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus [11] Swamp Games

Video Length: 16:40

In this video, we head off to the second half of Mz Ruby's hideout after getting some help from mean old Mr Giant Snake. Not what I expected, but it could of gone worse! There are three levels on this side, and um...only one of them is an actual standard stage, though at least it's a fun one with some great art design and interesting (if...slightly confusing at the time) platforming challenges to deal with. Also getting all the clues on this one caused me to die, a lot. This is also the stage where Mz Ruby yells at us about us being here. Unlike the others however, she is ACTUALLY talk to us using mental powers and not an intercom system. Creepy! Enemy wise this stage also introduces the last new one we'll see in Haiti, the skeleton turtle that throws it's own head at you like a bomb and then regrows it's head. The enemies in Haiti are very weird. After getting all 40 clues our reward is the more advanced time slow, letting us keep time slowed for as long as the button is held. Not the best ability by any means, but it has it's uses. We'll see one soon enough, actually!

The second stage today is a minigame of sorts, and perhaps the most obvious a sufferer of "we just didn't have ideas for pages so we made this a minigame" yet. We are riding a skiff with a gun attached, going through what feels like it could of been a reasonably put together sneaking level, shooting our way through ghost generators and turtle skeletons. There isn't really much to talk about on this one as there is no reward beyond the Treasure Key. The third level we do today is even less interesting, in that we just have to beat up a bunch of chickens while avoiding roosters with bombs. This is actually REALLY difficult, but using the time slow power makes it a lot more manageable. It also makes the minigame take way too long in terms of like, time elapsed in real time, so I speed it up to make it more reasonable to watch. Having fulfilled the ghost's desire for gumbo, we get the final treasure key for Mz Ruby's hideout.

All in all Haiti is an interesting place, it's just a shame that it's so heavy with minigames. That plus the fact that this is a jungle which makes it hard to have like, actual sneaking opportunities around, makes it the weakest part of the game, I feel. It's still good don't get me wrong, it's just far less than we've come to expect from the last two hubs. At any rate, this'll be it for today. Join us next time for when we face down Mz Ruby herself! And also go around collecting all the enemy information we haven't seen yet.

------

Okay so I know I mentioned the Zodi Game Awards for 2017 recently, and that's still happening. But it's gonna take a bit to get done video wise because we've hit a snag or two. Not least of which my lovely and wonderful artist's computer being unable to actually record the 2016 video I was hoping we'd get. That's fine, it's perfectly fine and not even remotely a concern, but until 2016's art is done I'm not gonna start 2017's video. Hope you don't mind, and please forgive the delay on this fun silly side thing on top of all the regular Zodi content.

[Knight9910]

You know, at least in the Descent Into Danger level it would actually make sense for water to kill you, considering it's so green and slimy and kinda looks more like pus than water. (And Bentley later mentions it's highly charged ectoplasm.)

[DataNinja]

Um... okay then. Snake.

In a world where voodoo is literal magic, what makes you think physics'll work with it, Sly?

You'd think Bently would comment on the dead turtles, but... nope, of all things, he stays quiet.

What an odd place for a laser skiff.

Chicken game is... a game. Indeed.

And, don't worry about the delays. (Well, I suppose do worry, otherwise nothing'll get done , but don't rush unduly. It's just bonus content, after all.)