The History
of the pitied
The Pitied wasn't even officially named until early 2022. It started as nothing more than a progressing world within my head. That world began all the way back in 2012, with me making short stories and creating my characters in video game custom character creators to help me visualize them. I would daydream up new scenarios almost daily, with some sticking and most leaving. In late 2021, I decided to jot it all down and connect the various dots my mind that have been forming for a decade at that point. Character creators in video games were only getting me so far, so in early of 2022 I decided to learn Blender to better picture who exactly is in my story. The models were created in VRoid Studio, somehow the most customizable and understandable character creation software. I would then modify the majority of them in Blender. Ana's aviators, Henry's mask, Luke's bracelets, and Jace's...JACE. After enough time and enough ugly-looking projects, I created my first visualization of everyone. I've been kind enough to share a lot of those concept/early renders of characters and events. I'm not proud of them, but the potential history down the road could be fun.
Inspirations behind
the pitied
Holy shit what a franchise. It's foundation and core is one thing and one thing only: style.
Snappy, precise controls with an endless list of attacks and abilities that you use to endlessly juggle otherworldly enemies. A soundtrack that fuses metal elements with techno and orchestra, it's beautiful.
Fun fact though: I initially panicked at Nero's robot arm cuz of Jace and a potential similarity, but if you've played Devil May Cry 5, you'll be able to see a difference.
This game made me cry. It was the first game to make me cry. somehow this cult classic on the Nintendo DS made me collapse into tears. I have a tattoo of the player pin too, it was my first one ever.
I dunno, something about this game just makes me love it. The constantly moving city of Shibuya, Japan that you're unable to interact with. The insanely-stylized visuals that makes it immediately pop out. The expressionist influences such as graffiti and great choices of music.
It had an anime and a sequel too...that's cool.
This game is dumb. So am I. Therefore, this is the definition of a cult classic video game that everyone should play. I think a lot of T.P.'s humor originates from Kid Icarus, that snappiness and satirical style that's very hard to emulate. Hell, I don't even think any character-humor I create for this series will ever rival it...and that's okay. That's why it's inspiration.
For the game itself, it's a linear on-rails shooter/3rd person shooter, but you have melee options. It's difficult to explain. There was a difficulty slider that I think is genius. More games need to let the player choose how they experience the game, but on a precise basis. Adaptive difficulty is badass, but let me set the standard.
Guess what? The game's insane aesthetically so obviously there's points awarded for it. Expressive character portraits, beautiful concept art, and the environments. If you love orchestras, you're gonna scream. For freaks like me that enjoy something a bit more...extreme, listen to the song I provided as an example. Imagine a 14-year-old me blasting this out of the 3DS's pathetic speakers. It was great.
THIS GAME WAS MEANT FOR ME, OH MY GOD. IT'S SO GOOD, SO LEMME BREAK INTO WHY YOU SHOULD THINK SO TOO.
The point of the game is speed and precision. Do badass things as fast as fucking possible. It's a 1st person shooter so you REALLY have to be precise with your shots. Every level has shortcuts that you can utilize if you slam your noggin against the monitor for long enough. It's all about the platinum medals.
Characters that are identifiable by color? Maaaan, that's what I was doing. Ana strikes a GOOD resemblance with Neon Purple and Ren shares a similar personality to Neon Yellow. Another really funny coincidence if you ask me, just like Nero's arm.
Oh, you wanna talk about soundtracks? Good GOD does Neon White have one and it is pretty insane. Infamous Breakcore/Drum 'n Bass artist Machine Girl is given the wheel for this one aaaaand...it solidified them as my favorite artist of potentially all time. You gotta listen to their dj mixes/sets sometime. It's loud, it's fast, it's catchy, it's very likely not for you. I'm gonna add my favorites anyways.
The game's $20 USD, buy it and play it if you like what you see.
At least 10% of my being has been defined by this franchise. When you couldn't think the 90's could pump more style and energy, they drop this at the turn of the millennium.
Extreme sports were really popular at the time, I'm sure people are familiar with the various skateboarding games around. This was similar, but had a "fight the man" storyline and a legendary soundtrack.
Hideki Naganuma, you American-lovin' genius, you made some of the most unique music ever composed and has since revolutionized the use of samples within music. Also thank you for quoting me on Twitter, like you'll ever see this!
The sequel is here too and it influenced Pitied just as much. Fun fact: I used to speedrun the sequel! The first video on my YouTube is me claiming what was 2nd in an individual mission speedrun. With that fact though, lemme leave you with a message to take home too...
DO NOT GET INTO SPEEDRUNNING!!!