Pico's School: Love Conquers All (2024)

Goth kids have invaded your school, and it's up to Pico to save the day! - Newgrounds Description

Pico's School: Love Conquers All is a point-and-click Flash game created by Tom Fulp. Originally released on April Fools' Day 2021, it is a re-telling of the original Pico's School, set in an alternate timeline where Pico prevents the school shooting in a more peaceful manner. It would be re-released a day later on April 2, 2021, as its own separate game.

Walkthrough[]

The game begins similarly to Pico's School, but during Cassandra's dialogue as she talks about goth music, Pico reveals he has similar interests to Cassandra. He then convinces her not to shoot up the school and brings her along to redeem her gang of Goth Punks.

Head to the second classroom next door, where Alucard is inside. Pico has a conversation with the psychic, revealing Cassandra's plan and leaving her embarrassed. Alucard then opens up to Pico; he states that his father experimented on him as a baby, which resulted in him gaining telekinetic powers and his father ending up in prison. He only joined the Goth Punks due to feeling as though his father only thought of him as an experiment and not a son. Pico talks some sense into him, and he says he will talk to his father about it. Alucard is then redeemed and gives Pico the school key to the gate.

Leave the classroom and go right. Go right once more to meet Cyclops, who is still found guarding the hallways. His name is revealed to be Cyril and his swastikas are removed. Pico talks to him about their interests and how they are both teased, and reminds Cyril that he is a kind person. They then decide that Cyril will dye his hair orange and Pico will wear an eyepatch, so that their unsightly traits will be swapped, and the bullies will be confused. Cyril is then redeemed.

Go right until you reach the hallway gate. Click on the key in your inventory to raise the gate, then go into the girl's bathroom, where Hanzo can still be found inside. When talking with him, Hanzo states that he actually doesn't want to kill people, but was willing to do so because Cassandra was the only person who was nice to him. He is bullied due to his appreciation of Japanese culture; he also hates it when people think anime is manga and vice versa. Pico gets Hanzo to realize he's been making unfair assumptions, and he is redeemed. Hanzo then decides to watch anime with Pico on the weekend. Hanzo is referred to by his real name, Harold.

Exit the bathroom and go right to meet Nene. She'll happily greet Pico, and heads on her way to the bathroom. Keep going right until you reach the end of the hallway. Pico, now proven that humans can be friendly and compassionate, asks Cassandra if she is willing to live on Earth. Cassandra tells him she is still afraid to live with humans due to them being hom*ophobic and Penilians being naturally gay, but Pico shows her that not all humans are anti-gay by introducing her to his boyfriend and saying everyone at school is cool with their relationship. They all agree to take Cassandra to a museum to teach her about culture. However, Cassandra reveals herself to be a furry who enjoys arousing art, leaving Pico and his boyfriend in shocked silence.

Characters[]

• Pico
• Nene
• Darnell (cameo)
• Cassandra
• Alucard
• Cyclops (Cyril)
• Hanzo (Harold)
• Unnamed Teacher
• Classmates
• Students
• Pooping Student
• Boyfriend (debut)

Transcript[]

Main article: Pico's School: Love Conquers All/Transcript

Reception[]

Many were surprised by the release of Love Conquers All, since it is the most recent of official Pico media to be created in 14 years, after the release of 2007's Pico Roulette. Plenty of Newgrounds users responded positively to the humorous, lighthearted nature of the game, as well as the sympathetic portrayal of Cassandra and the Goth Punks; special attention was given to the cameo appearance of Boyfriend and the acknowledgement of his relationship with Pico.

After being re-released as a separate game on April 2nd, it would receive over 600,000 views with an average rating score of 4.69/5.00. Moreover, it was featured on the front page and won the Daily Feature & Weekly Users' Choice awards a few days after. On September 26th, 2022, it was added to the Pico collection from a suggestion by a fan.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• For April Fools 2021, Pico's School: Love Conquers All temporarily replaced Pico's School on Newgrounds. The game's story was replaced with a more light-hearted tone without any blood or violence. This version of the game also includes Boyfriend as a cameo appearance. The original game was restored the day after, and Love Conquers All was re-released as a separate game.
  • Pico's School: Love Conquers All and Pico's School officially exist together as alternate timelines.
• In this game, we learn more about the backstories of the Goth Punks, possibly adding more context to their character in the original game:
  • Cassandra is revealed to be afraid of hom*ophobes, as her race of the Penilians are naturally gay, and she happens to be a member of the furry fandom. She also enjoys the music of the goth subculture, despite her dislike of said group.
  • Alucard actually gained his telekinetic abilities from being experimented on by his father, who was imprisoned by the authorities. He thus developed a hatred towards him and wishes to have a normal life.
  • Cyclops, or Cyril, is a really insecure guy who was bullied for liking punk music and wearing an eyepatch, and acts out aggressively to cope with his self-doubt. Pico reveals that he helped him pick up his books when he tripped, showing that he still is a kind person.
  • Hanzo, or Harold, stands out the most, as he is a fan of Japanese culture who takes his love for said culture seriously, knowing the difference between manga and anime. Though he actively replicates the style of a ninja, he has reluctance towards killing, but goes through with it to not disappoint Cassandra.
• This would be the first time Pico's relationship with Boyfriend would be acknowledged as canon by Tom Fulp, as it was previously only regarded by him as a joke.
• When Pico and Cassandra meet Cyclops, the swastikas on the sides of his shoes are removed.
• In Pico's conversation with Hanzo, he reveals that Nene shares her name with the character Nene Romanova from the OVA series Bubblegum Crisis.

References[]