We decided to look back at some of our stories from 2020 and see how they hold up today. This week’s selection spans from cult classics reborn through meme culture to academic perspectives on games and society and live playthroughs done entirely by fish. Yeah, you’ve heard that right.
El Shaddai’s long road back from bizarre meme to a PC revival
Few Japanese games occupy a stranger position in pop culture than El Shaddai. Released in 2011 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the action title developed a cult following for its mythological themes and distinctive visual style. But in Japan, it was the game’s commercials, not its gameplay, that turned it into a phenomenon.
Catchphrases like “Is that really the best equipment?” and “That’s fine. No problem.” went viral for their surreal vibes and deadpan delivery, becoming memes that far surpassed the popularity of the game itself. The lines were quoted, remixed, and repurposed so widely that even people who had never played El Shaddai were able to recognize them.
A decade later, that meme-driven legacy took on a second life. Embracing the fan culture surrounding the title, in 2021, creator Takeyasu Sawaki released the game’s iconic commercial assets as free-to-use materials for creative projects. Thanks to this rather unusual move, the impact reached beyond gaming circles: in the same year, Japan’s Kanagawa Prefectural Police even used the material in an official traffic safety post, repurposing the famous line to remind riders to check their gear before commuting.
Against this backdrop, El Shaddai finally resurfaced in 2021 with a Steam port. The version released with a custom launcher supporting multiple new options, including switching between English and Japanese audio and subtitles. Despite its production being a bumpy ride, and after several long years of silence, the El Shaddai Steam port arrived right in time to celebrate its tenth anniversary. On a related note, the most recent addition to the El Shaddai universe is the auto-shooter roguelike Starnaut, which launched in April 2025.
Can Animal Crossing help people care about the environment?
An actual team of researchers from the UK has published a paper examining whether video games can function as tools for promoting environmental conservation—using Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a case study.
According to the study, elements such as donating insects and fish to the museum, observing seasonal changes, and cleaning up trash could encourage players to think more consciously about nature and biodiversity. The researchers argued that, instead of presenting environmental issues directly, Animal Crossing allowed awareness to emerge organically through everyday play.
Image Credit: Fisher et al. / Could Nintendo’s Animal Crossing be a tool for conservation messaging?
At the same time, the researchers were careful not to idealize the game. The paper raised concerns about how its depiction of animals, specifically when it comes to assigning rarity and value to certain species, might negatively shape players’ real-world perceptions of wildlife. Interestingly, the research also proposed some ideas that could help “expand” the environment-related aspects of the game, including having mechanics like “overfishing of the island waters decreasing catchable fish” and “ensuring that in-game phenomena reflect real-world ecological life histories rather than Japanese cultural associations.”
Ultimately, the study presented Animal Crossing as a compelling example of how games can intersect with education and environmental awareness without sacrificing their primary appeal as entertainment.
Why Animal Crossing’s “Switch” became a “Light Switch” in English
In the English version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, an in-game item originally called “Switch” had to be renamed “Light Switch” due to a tiny overlook made by the localization team, prompting jokes and discussion among players.
The issue stemmed from the existence of two similarly named items – the Switch and the Nintendo Switch. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, both the Nintendo Switch console and a household light switch appeared simply as “Switch” in English, which obviously confused many players who were excited to get the console only to realize that it was a plain light switch all along. In Japanese, however, the two were written differently. The light switch was written as “スイッチ,” in katakana, while “Nintendo Switch” was written simply in alphabetic characters, so the overlap was never an issue. Luckily, this was patched out in April 2020, with the game’s version 1.2.0 update.
Fish beat Pokémon Sapphire after a 3,100-hour journey
In 2020, one of the most unusual Pokémon playthroughs ever recorded finally reached its conclusion after more than 3,100 hours of gameplay, played from start to finish by a group of fish.
Hosted by Japan’s Mutekimaru Channel, the livestream translated the movements of tropical fish swimming in a tank into in-game commands. Progress was painfully slow and unpredictable, yet the stream managed to attract a devoted audience thanks to its oddly soothing pace and the tension of waiting hours (or days) for a single meaningful action.
Post Translation:
[Newsflash] 3,185 hours after starting, the fish have finally reached the Champion, Steven Stone
After roughly six months of continuous streaming, the fish eventually managed to take down the final champion of the Hoenn region, bringing an end to the rather bizarre but endearing playthrough. But don’t worry – the fish weren’t hurt in the process, and the YouTuber made sure to give them plenty of time to rest between the streams.
