G, The April Fool?

Capcom is known not just for their fighting games and Resident Evil. They’re also known for their shooters. 1942, Cannon Spike, Forgotten Worlds, Vulgus, and Commando are some of the gems that Capcom has produced in their over three decade existence. However, this new April Fool game may be one of the most significant shooters they’ve made lore-wise. Yes, it’s an April Fools joke, but it’s one with a lot of meaning.

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The game itself is pretty simplistic shoot ’em up fare. G is the protagonist, and in his word, he is on a mission to “debate” Shadaloo through killing all of their henchmen and eventually the devas themselves. You fight Balrog (Boxer), Vega (Claw), and Sagat in the first three levels (in this game called rounds) and then face the final boss, M. Bison (Dictator). The game is simplistic, but not easy, and I died many times against Balrog in the first level. After finally getting through the first level, I got the hang of the game and breezed past Vega and Sagat easily (thanks, W Shot!). I finally got to the final round, got to M. Bison, and died many more times. His patterns were somewhat unpredictable, but finally, I used my CA bomb as a last resort and finished him off! And… that was it. I got to the congratulations screen and was met with this.

In my playthrough, I didn’t really see anything in the battles that stopped me in my tracks. However, there were some interesting things in the game that have some implications. Let’s start with the instructions.

Looking at the first screenshot, you need to “talk it out” with Earth’s citizens, meaning shooting them and Cyborg Tigers in the face. You also have a “CA Bomb”, CA I assume standing for Critical Art. You can use it to launch a powerful Pangaea Burst to blow up everything on screen at once.

In the second screenshot, you see the power-ups he can acquire: Wide Shot, which shoots three G Bursts at a time; Big Shot, which fires single, more powerful G Bursts; Pow which increases the power of his G Burst; and G Barrier, which protects him from enemy attacks.

“Standard shmup power-ups,” you say. “It’s just a shooting game. Capcom is paying an homage to the type of game they started with. I’m sure there’s nothing-” Yes, but this is G we’re talking about here – the man with so many unknowns that even an April Fools joke can have significant meaning to the lore! So, let’s examine everything we see here.

G sees the Shadaloo henchmen and bosses as “citizens of the Earth.” However, if this is true, why is he killing them? How are their deaths going to benefit G? Simple: the more people he kills, the stronger he becomes. How do we know this? Since this is a shooting game, there’s one common mechanic that lets us know this is the case: his power gauge. Every time you kill an enemy, his gauge fills up. When I was playing the game, I barely even needed the Pows because so many enemies filled the screen at once that it made them nearly irrelevant.

Now let’s take a look at the descriptions of the power-ups. The Wide Shot is “very effective against large groups of Earth’s citizens,” while the Big Shot is powered by G’s “strong intentions.” Combined with the killing of “Earth’s citizens”, it becomes pretty clear how deranged G is in this game: he wants to kill everything and everyone. His Pangaea Burst/CA Bomb has the ability to do that, and the more people he kills, the more he’s able to unleash it.

But that’s just one part. Take a look at the Credit Roll.

Why are the staff developers all called “Sergeant’? Yes, it’s an obvious homage (of a game I can’t find. Anyone know what game this is referencing? My gut says 1942?), but again, this is G. This is more than an homage: it’s a clue. The developers are G’s sergeants, meaning G is planning to create an army (of Qs) to help him on his quest.

But there’s one other thing I need to point out. Look back on the “Congratulations!!” screen.

Whose hand is G shaking? Is it Gill’s? If it is, then he’s the Illuminati project that was written about in the G-File. The answer is no. It’s far more meta: the hand is ***yours***, the player’s, and G has transformed you into one of his soldiers. You were the one giving him commands this whole time, and G accomplished his quest because of you.

You were the fool this whole time!

One last thing: each time you die in the game, the continue screen has little hints on how to beat it. I haven’t compiled these, but if someone out there has, please inform me. There’s likely more clues to G’s nature in them as well.