Scrap Group 1
Something about Seinfeld?
Gameplay for a mid 90's 2D arcade-style beat-em-up/platformer game. Thematically, it resembled 90's superhero comics mixed with horror sci-fi. Most major characters were mutants of some kind, including the protagonists. Cut to the final levels taking place in some fancy, velvet carpeted office building. At the top floor awaited a Frankenstein's monster type character, a brute sewn together with the mismatched limbs of grotesquely mutated humans. On his defeat, he's left in a daze, blood seeping through his orifices. A cutscene follows, in which, a bunch of enemies ambush the protagonists. The boss recovers, captures the heroes and other characters, and leaves them trapped in individual capsules. The vats are filled with chemicals, killing several characters off. The protagonists manage to break free. The enemies taunt the heroes, gloating that their scheme is nearing completion. The bad guys then leave, as the heroes struggle to keep footing.
Dream 1 - Megaman X 4 Minus?
The visuals were slightly blurred. I was playing a 5th gen console Megaman X game.1 At the level select screen, X himself already had all of his armor upgrades and a few weapons. Yet, none of the primary Maverick bosses were defeated, making me question the plausibility of such even at the time.
Cut to the title character in a laboratory/robot factory stage, the constructions blue steel. I test the X-Buster upgrade. It seems as if the max charge shots can interchange attacks from several different titles: the spiral shot from X1, the cross-charge shot from X3, or the plasma cannon from X4. An interesting additional feature was a temporary power-up after using max-charge shots, during which X's primary shots and mid-charge shots get stronger and gain some of the max charge shot's properties. Glittery spark effects made these attacks more visually striking.
I then traverse through the stage, which was much longer than normal. I resort to using air dashes, a dashing weapon attack, and the armor's Nova Charge attack. An exploit allowed me to use the latter more times than it should (the gauge for it was clearly depleted on screen), practically granting infinite flight. This proved necessary when faced with a particularly long spike trap.
Things warp. Now, I gain X's own perspective. From this viewpoint, the factory's walkways looked far more narrow than I'd expected. Anyway, I soon find myself at a long conveyor belt. Just then, a threatening theme sounds, the fanfare indicating a boss fight was ensuing. Instead of just one enemy, a bunch of smaller robots swarm through many chutes pocked throughout the structure. I climbed and jumped at a pillar to avoid most of them. When the enemies were clustered, I used some laser weapon that specifically fired diagonally downwards, the perfect angle to get a number of hits. As this was apparently a Giga Attack, it was limited in use. I then fired some energy burst weapon, appearing as a rising cylinder. Some upgrade allowed me to use this without limit.
Things warp again. I'm now taking part in some FMV cutscene. Now, I had the role of Zero. I was stepping out from some dark place into a large courtyard, appearing much like a greenhouse with many benches. A number of fellow Maverick Hunters were around, though they didn't appear happy. As I understood things, the latest happenings brought heavy losses among the Hunters and civilians alike.
Soon, I meet up with Iris (who happened to be alive during this event), who was especially distraught. She felt guilt for our latest setback, blaming herself for somehow being responsible for all the casualties. I assured her that these tragedies were of no fault of her own; she shouldn't beat her self up for the actions of the unjust Mavericks. But, my words failed to console her. A sullen silence followed.
The dream collapsed soon after.
Scrap Group 2
At some old city built on an ocean cliffside, imposing buildings covering the sun. I traverse up narrow, inclined alleyways.
Dream 2 - TOTY 2022 - DIY Instant Garden
The visuals were mostly clear. I was on a a dirt road in a deciduous wilderness during daytime. Soon, I noticed I was donned with Megaman X's Ultimate Armor upgrade, making me immediately aware. I rush around, enjoying the armor's features, particularly its jet boots and weapons. For some time, I'm content dashing mid-air while I shooting plasma shots at nothing in particular. Some familiar voices then echo in the distance, questioning me on where I should be. "Good question.", I respond. I then launch myself into the horizon.
My surroundings darken as I fly at blurring speeds. Along the way, I try using the Giga Crush attack. A sphere of energy envelopes me, then bursts into an explosion. It didn't cover as much area as I expected, barely creating force past a few meters.
Just then, I noticed the sight of stars all around me. I'd somehow made it well past Earth's atmosphere. This surprise left me in a momentary daze. I opted to continue forward regardless.
Soon, the darkness gives way to a blue sky roiling with thick clouds. I drop down, to land on a snowy hill. Many simple gravestones were strewn beside me on the mounds. Tried not to get too disturbed by the. On the distance to my left was a small village, a collection of plain cottages. To my right, an ocean could be seen at the horizon. Directly ahead was only more snow. I decided to check out the sea.
In an instant, I zoomed near the shores of a rocky beach. The waves were particularly large and turbulant. Wasn't keen on taking a dip in this frigid environment, so I kept a good span away from the water. I hovered by the coastline, following it in one direction. As I did, I thought of tasks. The environment reminded me of the setting for the Dream Base. And so, I looked for such.
Unwavering I dashed beside the beach, blue energy enveloping my armor. In time, the shadows of large buildings could be seen far within miles of the sea. None of these seemed to resemble my destination. I go on for about a minute, when I notice a particularly vast spiral structure complex, much larger than any man-made thing I've ever seen. At its top rested what seemed like a pole, maybe a very large lightning rod. On closer look, it was a pillar of some kind. Squinting harder, I could see what resembled a globe at its tip. Hah! There it is! Curiously, the beacon itself wasn't active. Well, one problem at a time. For now, I had a task to complete.
I launched myself towards the megacomplex, and in a single bound, made it to its base. This time, I was before a singular structure, a stone building of ancient construction that easily spanned an entire mountain range. Each level, roughly a story between each, became narrower the higher it went. From some perspective, this gave it the appearance of a Mayan pyramid, if of infinitely larger proportions. In other viewpoints, it seemed like a staircase for giants. Speaking of stairs, I found no obvious way to elevate the building, nor of any immediate entrance. I resorted to jumping and climbing between each level (I somehow forgot I could fly). I scale all the way to the tenth level, where I finally find a way inside.
Taking a deep breath, I enter. Great anticipation almost made me lose hold of the dream, the surroundings getting darker. I constantly reassured myself I was in the Dream Base, exploring its garden. Things clarify soon. Now, I found myself in a long, narrow room. The constructions here were primarily made of clay, and seemed of Babylonian architecture. On the floor's stone surface was also a number of garden plots, narrow wooden beams forming rectangular templates and filled with dirt of almost pitch black. Bingo!
However, these plots were plainly empty. I haphazardly point around, when suddenly, a number of sprouts grew! Joyfully, I "paint" the dirt with more young plants. Some AR interface gave me an option for a variety of things to grow. For the moment, I opted simply between some kind of berry vine on the plots, as well as a type of decorative fern near the walls. Being terrible at interior decoration, the results ended up looking kinda messy. "No matter", I thought. "So long as something grew."
Once there was not much space to fill, I went to the far end of the room, to find a doorway. I went through, and found myself in a winding hallway, an array of many more doorways opening with no end in sight. I glanced into some of these, to find more narrow rooms with their own garden plots. One of these rooms was unique in that it had no such features. Instead, it appeared to be a squat bedroom. There was just enough room to fit a single bed and a few shelves. The bed's frames, and the other constructions, were made of unfurnished wood. Yet, the mattress itself looked to be of contemporary work. The sight of a pile of split lumber made it obvious this section was still a work in progress.
Wary of getting lost, I made it back to my original garden section. The plants were still no larger than they were before. Feeling impatient, I motioned my finger to create a holographic clock. I turned the hands in the ethereal device rapidly in hopes of speeding up time. Even though it was the intent, I was still surprised to find this spell worked. Before me, I saw the sprouts becoming larger and fuller. In seconds, I was surrounded by berry-filled vines, while ferns of tall, razor-shaped leaves decorated the sides. There was very little room to move around. Again, I blamed my poor decorating skills. But hey, at least I had a garden. Task complete!
Interestingly, several other people wandered inside. They were in awe of the place, perusing every inch like gawking tourists. I entertained the thought to engage with them. But first, I wanted to sample my handiwork. I plucked a berry from the vine. It was bright yellow, roughly the size of a large grape, and shaped like a cherry. I sampled it. I found that although it was quite juicy, it wasn't very appetizing, being extremely tart and bittersweet. I'd the feeling the berries weren't quite ripe yet.
Things began to deteriorate, and the dream collapses.
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