April Fools 2022 Recap
Introduction
As if 2021's April Fools of Loyal to the Beat (Global 2022 April Fools) was not epic enough, 2022's April Fools was back bigger than ever. I really liked this one for the gaming references and the fact that many operators were involved.
During the morning of 1 April, this Steam shop parody was posted on the official Weibo.
Description:
As part of Rhodes Island,
if you don't play Barrage Fortress! Soldiers Asemble,
it's like not playing first week Risk 18 for Contigency Contract,
not using Spearhead Squad for Integrated Strategies,
forgot the middle, anyway at last,
you will lead a life with a relative lack of advanced combat records.
Below is the image. Thanks to Enkosama#8338 from RIHQ for translating and typesetting!
Actual Steam screenshot for comparison. I am also convinced the colours of Barrage Fortress resembles Stardew Valley. By the way, this is the screenshot also used by Wikipedia.
There are obvious references to other real life games: Potion Craft, It Takes Two, and Elden Ring
In Terra, these games are Perfume Craft, It Needs Three and Leithanien Ring.
Usernames and the operators:
-WinterComes: Zima.
Her name means winter in Russian.
-AostaYouWait: Chiave.
And then his avatar is the cursed 'Fury of Siracusa', which is spaghetti with chocolate. It's a relic in Crimson Solitaire, also mentioned in the March monthly squad.
-KoKoTeamMember: Kroos.
This is a little bit of a tricky one because it's more of a CN pun. In CN it's 酷酷队员 (ku ku dui yuan) which sounds like kkdy and kokodayo. Wonder what will be the actual translation.
-LENA: Perfumer's real name.
-OnTimeOffWork: Earthspirit.
In reference to her onboard line: 'I'm Earthspirit, a geology scholar and Caster, reporting in. I work eight hours each day. Make me work any more and you'll have to pay me extra.'
A mysterious maintenance notice also just says 'preloading of event' along with correcting other errors.
At 4pm after the maintenance, this image was posted with this description:
Ideas and beliefs, skills and art,
Closure + Conviction = 200%!
The first indie game masterpiece by Team "Oil and Art"--
Soldiers Assemble! Barrage Fortress is in closed beta!
On the image, we can also see:
88% Negative Reviews
Not Recommended
Barrage Fortress Gameplay
The gameplay is STG aka bullet hell type. Might be a reference to Touhou, which is one of Lowlight's favourite series.
Besides the gameplay, there is very funny flavour text. Such a low quality game that lacks checking and proofreading. No wonder there's 88% negative reviews.
Thanks Bento#0876 for the translations!
'Drone Dragon Bro (placeholder name)'
'There should be a crazy modified drone king shooting bullets in all directions here. (Polish this line a little for the introduction don't just copy and paste)'
'Sarkaz Lancer Bro (placeholder name)'
'(fill in the introduction here) Lighter than trains! Deadlier than punches! Make sure to prepare an equally powerful Durin as an opponent next time.'
'Insert some text here'
'The introduction given by Conviction exceeded the character limit so I deleted it. Anyway, it's just Super Invincible Cyclone Thunderbolt Enhanced Collection Deluxe edition of Big Ugly.'
Usernames of operators in Barrage Fortress ranking
DISCLAIMER: Some of these are easy to guess. Others are more questionable. For those, I might not be 100% correct.
After clearing every BF stage, there is a ranking which is very interesting. Over here, I will explain who has which username and the reasoning why.
An example of the ranking at BF-3
Rankings for BF-1 to BF-3. I'll explain afterwards.
List is in the order a new name appears.
1. LeaderOne
Closure. This was also her username in the Heart of Surging Flame chatlogs
2. IZUMIKun~
Mizuki. This username is a clever mixture of blending an anagram of MIZUKI and -kun.
3. Player断罪 (PlayerConviction)
4. 绮良攻略中 (KiraraInStrategy)
Note that there are at least 5 different usernames and numbers. In fact, Doctor is the 52nd player and Ifrit is the 53rd. For all we know, most of the accounts might just be Kirara's sub accounts.
5. BFSACT.txt
Ptilopsis? Since she is well, kind of cyborg due to module lore.
Anyway, BFSA is an acronym for Barrage Fortress Soldiers Assemble, while CT is closed test.
6. 红松骑士抱个团 (PinusSylverstrisGatherUp)
Pinus Sylvestris which consists of Flametail, Fartooth, Ashlock, Wild Mane.
7. sogoL
Logos. A mysterious banshee Sarkaz elite operator who is mentioned in lore a lot: W and Mudrock archives along with some Integrated Strategies references. We even play as him in Rewinding Breeze for a while. But he is not playable, and does not even have an appearance yet. Hope he is playable soon.
8. 彼岸穿魂炮 (Soul Piercing Cannon of the Distant Shore)
Sesa, our first gamer whose voice line confirms the existence of gaming consoles on Terra: 'Hmm, is this the Doctor's room? How boring. It looks just like those never-changing hills of Sargon. At least get a game console, will you?'
One of his voiced lines also goes 'I wish to cross over to the distant shores.' And he always talks about souls. Definitely him.
Extra lore: 'Distant shore’ is a Buddhist concept that is also mentioned in voiced lines. ‘This shore’ is the world with life and death, of samsara. ‘Distant shore’ is beyond life and death, and is of nirvana.
If one looks at the Chinese or Japanese text, distant shore is 彼岸, which is paramita in Sanskrit. It has the meaning of 'that has gone beyond' and 'transcendent'. Therefore, distant shore has a double meaning of death and enlightenment.
9. Bena打的 (BenaDidIt)
Bena (and Annie). From Preluding Lights story, it's Annie who is better at gaming.
10. 铃儿响叮当 (Jingle Bells)
Pramanix. Her weapon is a bell. But Suzuran also means bell right? Still, it is definitely Pramanix because Kjera is in this list too. And they come as a pair due to Break the Ice plot.
11. 苹果派不派 (ApplePieOrNot)
Exusiai. You know, that apple pie line.
12. 炎狱 (Purgatory)
Lava. Purgatory really be her gamer name
13. AAA#
There are two possibilities: SilverAsh or Greyy
This is because AAA# is shade of grey if we search the hex code. The colour of silver (ash). But AAA is also a battery size and grey is well, Greyy. I've read the first going around, but I lean towards the second.
14. invisible
Ethan or Manticore. Both can turn invisible.
15. 圣骏堡郊外的夜晚 (The Night in the St. Grifferburg Suburb)
There are two possibilities: Hellagur or Istina
The first is due to the griffin thing and Hellagur is a griffin. Too old? His daughter Neon can play for him.
The second being Istina is because Zima is here.
16. 流水素面 (Flowing Noodle or Nagashi-Somen)
Saga. It's a Japanese food and Saga is famous for shouting food names like Natto Gohan and Abuurage. The noodles flow down cold water in bamboo, so it requires much concentration to catch, which is suitable for the Buddhist theme.
17. 雅儿第一次玩 (YaerFirstTime)
Kjera's real name.
18. EX骑士23 (EXKnight23)
Possibilities: Eunectes / Lancet / Castle / THRM-EX
Not in rankings, but revealed in datamine.
Conviction's costume
When you clear BF-2, you'll get Conviction's costume for free.
Here's the description:
Achievement Star Series/ Super Conviction Friends. A free clothing that comes with the deluxe limited edition of some retro gaming console. Loose and comfortable with a classic colour matching. It can show the player's identity, and can be used daily when going out.
With the costume name, it may refer to Super Mario and with the pixel inspired style.
Do check out the animations of this costume too! I really like the dorm ones a lot.
Hope you've enjoyed this April Fools as much as I did!
