This season was the last of SSQ 1. It is sort of a sad, bitter piece of work. Due to constant rehashing of the same concepts, this season comes off as played out and weak; it requires some first aid to even speak as it is. But now I will do the morbid duty of explaining it. First, let's recap everything that happens.
Plot Summary
Hey there. I've placed the Plot Summary in its own page over here.
Plot Analysis
Yeah, that was long and confusing, right? I don't blame you if you got lost or stopped reading. (Editor's note: Written before I moved the Summary to its own page. May not make sense now that you don't HAVE to read through all that nonsense to get here.) While many SSQ plots are long... ...that one's rather weird.
But take heart, for the plot is actually very simple. I had run out of new ideas for the now limited SSQ world, so I just made a group named Innotek. They were actually Ivantek, and run by shadowy, evil corporate exec types. Along the way it picked up some 'Smash Quester' stuff, in an attempt to make them look tougher by saying they effortlessly killed Quester-analogues in the past.
In the end, it was sorta meaningless. The Questers had fought everything and anything, and they wouldn't be stopped by these guys. The Questers eagerly figured them out and shoved them over.
However, the main star of this season was Dr. Proctor... indeed, he appeared the most. What is he? A representative of me, the GM... reviving dead plots over and over again. It's just a shame he didn't get killed. I didn't let him die, and so the plot which showed me SSQ 1 days were numbered occurred instead. Had he died, perhaps... perhaps SSQ 1 would have shown it was capable of living. Or that I could continue.
Because Dr. Proctor was evil as evil can be, and unrepetently so. He summoned Ivan, but so what? He didn't know he would, and had grandiose plans of playing God. In fact, summoning Ivan helped lead to the apocalypse, so as far as I'm concerned he could be considered the antichrist to SSQ's world.
The real untapped potential centers around Cranky Kong and the MMX scenes. I should have used them both instead. Cranky Kong would make a good vil--er, ally, and the MMX characters provided some new interaction. It'd be fresh, but sort of in a SSQ^2 way. This, and perhaps ignoring or removing the overused plot tokens like Trevor, Doopliss, Gizoid, and Klungo. Sure, they're wacky, but they also mean nothing outside their home seasons.
Take heart from this darkness, however--the worst is over if you are reading this. I have seen the error of my ways--there shall be no repeat. No more plots which consist mostly of Ivan Robotnik and vague 'all powerful' things playing deus ex machina hockey. Of course... there are more seasons to log, which shall probably contain their bad parts... but if I remember correctly, they manage to not end in such a depressing fashion.
The Book... sort of a sad character. After so many plots similar to this one, the plot of SSQ had lost its mind... and now took place in physical form... he is sort of representative of the corruption of the canon by constant retcons and rewrites. Now insane from one retcon too many, he has sworn vengeance and wishes nothing but to repeat the same pattern he has been forced to do before. Inexplicable in appearance, he dies just as inexplicably.
Oh, and that tournament. Shows just how pointless they are; I learned to drop the entire tournament angle after seeing how that one turned out. Good riddance, I say; it never did me much good to delay the RP over individual player characters, after all.
If there's one thing I can say about this season, it would be that its biggest flaw is being too generic. Ivantek and Dr. Proctor are bland and uninspiring enemies who meet their end in a fairly standard manner. Indeed, I hope to have more to say about the next season I log! Otherwise it'd be a bit boring... heh.
A one-dimensional word-cloud for a one-dimensional season. Dragoshi and Julian dominate, alongside Deloth; Metal Man's continuous giving of missions ensures that he, too, is in the foreground. Messing with time and warping around is paramount; Digi, Panzer, Aribar and others take a backseat to such concepts. The Void's name hides even further away, alongside the common concepts of killing and controlling things. Most telling of all: no central villain's name is visible; there is seemingly none. Just a cloud of Quester names and tools... a good summary of how bland and purposeless this season was.
Kamui - Quester - The Stealth-Blowing Guy who Vanished
Aiden - Quester - The Time Knight Who's Always Late
Deloth - Quester - The Witty Bookworm
Dr. Light - Quester HQ Staff - Fatalistic Tech Guy
Donkey Kong - Smasher - Hand Gesture User
Cranky Kong - Kong Leader - Senile Quester Fan
Julian - Quester - The Sandwich-eating Thug-Puncher
Kornelius - Kremlings Sub-Kommander - Probably an Ex-Game Show Host
General Pepper - Cornerian Commander - Helpful Information Person
GUN Commander - GUN Commander - Two-toned eye-owning selfish jerk
King Strider - King of the Strider Robots - Mostly a GUN Experiment
??? #1 - Weird ARK Hologram - Dr. Proctor Hater
Mr. Blonde - Dr. Proctor Revivee - Probably one of Arnold Schwartzenegger's Stunt Doubles
Protoman - 'Smash' Quester - Wheezy Old Loser
Trigger - Quester - The Yelling Surgery Hater
Receptionist - Innotek Worker - Crazy Machine Woman Cyborg
Man 1 - Innotek Worker - Walk Blocker
Man 2 - Innotek Worker - Also a Walk Blocker
Computer Voice - Innotek AI - Some sort of GLADOS ripoff
Guard - Innotek Worker - Prefers Death to Working for Innotek
Dr. Gnorgive - Innotek Scientist - Fleshbag Hater
Mr. Project - Innotek Project - Mr. Dream's Robotic Double
Natalie - Quester - The Writer Is Too Lazy to Describe
Raena - Quester - Foul-mouthed Renamon
Meta Knight - Smasher - Quester Motive Questioner
Pikachu - Smasher - Do-nothing
Kirby - Smasher - Stone Drop Spammer
Mario - Smasher - Silent Protagonist of Another Game
Ice Climbers - Smasher - Devastated by Dragoshi
Star Fox - Smasher - Messed with a Jentanian Wizard
Innotek Computer - Burnt Innotek HQ AI - Plot speaker
Peach - Smasher - A Really Good Cook?
Old Man - Shopkeeper - CAPITAL LETTERS MAN
Toad 1 - Grocery Shopper - Quester Fan
Toad 2 - Grocery Shopper - Quester Air Condit--er, Fan
Dampe - Kakariko Grave Keeper - Grave Digger for Hire
Hammer Brother - Innotek Overkill Pilot - Rich, Mysterious People Hired Him
SECUR DAT - Ivan Robotnik AI - KYAHAHAHA!
NOVA - Module-controlling AI - Disappointed Party Host
Vile - Maverick Second-in-Command - Computer Guard
King Demon - Quester - The Solitaire Player
Robot - Gerald Guard Robo - Intruder Destroyer
Klungo - Unemployed Jerk - Probably still bitter about Grunty
Gizoid - Gerald/Ivan Experiment - Fruit Brick Thrower
Doopliss - Unemployed Jerk - Bored Quester-puncher
Kuja - Ex-Supervillain - The Voice of Plots Past and Future
Dan - X-Zone Freak - Annoying Annoyance
James McCloud - Original Star Fox Team Leader - X-zone Guide
??? #2 - Traitor to Kuja - Possessor of Ancient, Unspeakable Knowledge
Ivan Hologram - Ivan AI - Dire Messenger
Fake Nova - Kuja-Controlled AI - Annoyance from the Past
Pro-Smithy Guards - Smithy Revivalist Group - Annoying Walk Blockers
Hammer Brother - Innotek Overkill Pilot - Not the Other Pilot, he Was Green
Alan Shezar - Innotek CEO - Ethelrad, post-Reconstructive Surgery
Trevor - Smithy Revivalist Group - Time Travelling Cheater
Miner - Innotek Miner - Cowardly Guy
Razorbot - Ivan-built Defense Robot - Guide to Eisnaught's Ruins
??? #3 - Ivan's Weird Assistant - Annoying Guy with White Eyes
Ivan Robotnik - True Ruler of Innotek Ivantek - Guy Behind Everything
Master Hand - Creator of the World - Sad Story Teller
Phantom Goombas - Spectres of the Past - Can't Believe Questers Aren't Mario
Phantom Bowser - Spectres of the Past - Tough Guy with Moves
Phantom Ridley - Spectres of the Past - Fire Beam Shooter
Phantom Dedede - Spectres of the Past - Guy with the hard to pronounce Name
Phantom Zio - Spectres of the Past - Cool Guy Who Accepts Fate
Phantom Denon - Spectres of the Past - Zio-Wannabe
Phantom Doorman - Spectres of the Past - Cold Gentleman
Phantom Dr. Ivo Robotnik - Spectres of the Past - Psycho Attacker
Phantom Grodus - Spectres of the Past - Pensioner in Protest
Kales Brando - Icon of Evil - Fall Guy
The Book - The Entire Plot of SSQ 1 Ever - Omnipotent Tragedy of a Character
Final Notes
This was the first season I logged, and quite a messy one at this. Well, I 'logged' previous seasons, but I did it all weird and will wind up redoing those. I hope you enjoyed or at least partially read this. Thanks goes out to Nick Caligo, who actually GMed the final part of the end to this session. Of course, there is that matter of SSQ Squared's continuation to it... but we'll be talking about that a year or two from now!
So, let us remember what has happened here... so it doesn't happen again. :p
