#…redfall. enough said

[uncontrol-freak]

Obligatory Outsider submission or Jacob :)

sdkkasjdkjdksad okay >:)

Outsider

How I feel about this character the light of my life, the void in my heart. I speak through him to the world. only he can convey things I have on my mind. I love him, in simple words, though it lacks the depth.

All the people I ship romantically with this character obviously Corvo. occasionally Daud, if I feel like.

My non-romantic OTP for this character BILLIE. I'm literally obsessed with their post-doto friendship potential (or maybe I'm just too brainrotten after a few nice fics I've read). I kinda like that this friendship is often considered as Almost Canon.

My unpopular opinion about this character revealing his backstory in dh2/doto was a good move, I don't think he's lost any charm after we've been told he's a former human (though I guess this opinion would be called unpopular somewhere on reddit lmao).

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon. that damned Harvey Smith's commentary where he mentions him having coffee and pastries. it should have been in the game.

(also weird void sex with Corvo) who said that

Jacob Boyer (thank you for letting me ramble about him)

How I feel about this character honestly I feel for him. he's the one out of pack that I oddly resonate with. I want to protect him at all costs (or maybe make him worse). also he looks cool hehe.

All the people I ship romantically with this character to be honest he strikes me as someone barely interested in romantic relationships. I kinda get the appeal of Jacob/Dev though.

My non-romantic OTP for this character OH MY VOID. IT'S REMI DE LA FUCKING ROSA. maybe I'm biased and suffering from duckling syndrome because Jacob and Remi was the first combo I did with my friend but oh void these two have such a fun chemistry. I couldn't get enough of their banter. they give off found family vibes tbh, and this is what I liked the most. Remi saying "everyone knows I'm the daddy" still lives in my head rent free.

My unpopular opinion about this character (Redfall fandom and popular opinions are two never crossing parallels unfortunately) he's a bit of stereotypical 'loner merc' type of character but honestly I don't care much.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon. I would ADORE more interaction between him and Miss Whisper. the gal gave him that eye. for what reason? why it's HIM out of all people?? and she doesn't even control him via that artifact??? I need answers. also yeah I'd love more reaction from him to her death because of the reasons above. like he gets really bitter during Addisson mission but barely reacts when it comes to the one who turned him into a cryptid. hello Arkane??

[irrlicht-writes]

I just was thinking about it and i realize now looking back, that Alastor more hurt then what he let it show, about, Vox cheating on him

at first even I wasn't sure of Alastor love for Vox, but then i began to look at his POV and, he even doubts a lot of Vox love even though he always proclaims love is enough, i just ammmm. . .

and then there's the scene after Redfall where we saw Alastor first mental breakdown showing us that he already though at the time, that he wasn't good enough and see glimpses of Redfall influence

Of course, Alastor doesnt address this problem and Vox doesn't pay any mind to it, or even doubt it ,and of course Vox has ALWAYS been NOT ever been faithful "because he is a manly man, and man need SEX" , we have saw it with Val and Al and his own wife, but. . . Even though what happen to Redfall and Vox was horrified he sayd this. .

AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT IT??? LIKE DUDE ARE YOU OKAY???

but the worst part i think is this one. .

Alastor doesnt think he is good enough for anyone, and all of this thing accumulate and is reaffirming his trauma. . .

HE IS DOING THIS FOR VOX, AND HE NEEDS VOX TO HELP HIM, he doesnt ask but- HE NEEDS VOX THE MOST AND- I WANT TO CRY!!! i even believe if they where getting marriage and Redfall never showed up, VOX WOULDNT HAVE CHANGE FOR SHIT

The worst part is that the tables where turn and now Vox sayd he has always been a liar as alastor always told him.

Am okay, am fine, am super fine, am normal about it. . .

Haha :D

Alastor will rather shoot himself in the face than admitting to a weakness. Back alive, Vox's wife had been completely okay with his cheating - after all, she did it too. So in Vox's defense, that had been his normal for long enough and Alastor never said it bothered him, so... all good, right? He should've asked, but he didn't, so he IS very much to blame. Healthy relationship? Real communication? What's this, candyland? :p

Alastor loves Vox. And now Vox isn't sure if the love he feels is worthy. I kind of wanted to flip their stances :) We'll see where the two end up somewhere at the end of the year :p Stay tuned!

[melchinafan]

Hey wait, I should repost (and elaborate on) my observations and headcanons that I was posting on twitter while the Redfall account was posting promo videos leading up to launch. Leaving out the now-obvious theorizing and cult symbol recognition, it's mostly...no, uh, it's all just Devinder stuff, whoops. (His primary outfit still baffles me in some ways. Also, adding a few things I've noticed in-game so far.)

First, observations:

he's got sharply-square-toed calf-boots (in all his outfits, but especially the default) and I am thoroughly jealous perfect blend of practical with formal vibes, amazing shape without giving up the traction of a good rubber boot sole I NEED THEM

he has three stickers on the back of his phone (in the announcement trailer): one like his UK Cryptid Association patch, one that's a cartoony caped vampire with sunglasses, trying to hide from some bright flashes that says "NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY," and a round one with a simple eye that says "TRUTH SEEKER" along the top (and has a sentence around the bottom, but it's too small and blurry for me to make out, to my eternal lamentations)

his buttons are on the "wrong" side of his shirt when his collar is open (but with the attention to detail otherwise present from the devs, and the fact that they're like that in-game AND the announcement trailer, perhaps it was deliberate and they're magnetic buttons?)

he doesn't appear to be using belt loops in his hero trailer (though he definitely does in the Casual Hunter outfit, so they just probably weren't on that fancy model)

his standard belt is nylon with a quick-release buckle, which is also the buckle style on his backpacks (including the leather one)

his Dapper outfit has a nerdy leather shoulder harness with two pouches, one for his cell phone on his left side, and a paper journal with pen on the right (which would be hidden if he wore a jacket, but per the description of the outfit, "no jacket required")

while there are buckles on the front of said harness, there's also lobster-claw clasps on the back as an alternate release mechanism and very subtle pun

his primary outfit's gloves have a small gold fleur-de-lis printed on the end of the velcro strap, whereas his dapper outfit has driver's gloves with a snap strap

he has orange gloves(?) in his primary outfit, under his leather gloves, which are at least long enough to go well under his sleeves so no skin peeks out (what is this? why does he seem to have layered gloves? are they neat-colored compression gloves? or does he have ballroom-length gloves that match his silk scarf "a gift from [his] parents" awwww, so he can just doff the jacket and leather gloves at any time for a quick dapper look? presumably not, since he removes them for his casual outfit, but I just ??? truly baffling)

attended New College in Oxford doing the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) course (which is apparently a 3-year thing), plus spending "the better part of a decade" cryptid-hunting...if we assume he started hunting after finishing his schooling, and that range being around 7-10 years, he's probably...somewhere between 28-31, maybe? could be younger if there's overlap between them, could be older if he didn't immediately dive directly into each thing

calls his viewers "Dev-iners" how cute is that I love it

seems to be titling his adventures in Redfall as "Delving Into Darkness"

clearly a Doctor Who fan (quotes include "allons-y!" after falling, and "don't blink" when he uses his Blacklight—and his first dapper suit being blue-and-brown could also be a subtle reference along with the fact that he has both a wristwatch and a pocketwatch as a potential "time lord" reference, unless that chain attaches to some other nerdy trinket)

he has written and recorded notes as the descriptions of two legendary weapons (that I've seen), as follows:

Clacker (electric pistol, blue and yellow funky little thing):

Hey Remi! I don't know where you found this thing, looks like it was assembled by an Elwetritsch after a 3 day bender. One of those cultists with more thumbs than sense, no doubt. But I pulled it apart and fixed up a few contacts so the chance of fatally shocking yourself is minimized (note my word choice). Now it's like a little cousin to my Javelin. You know, it's kind of cute now that I'm looking at it. -- D

Snipe Hunter (stake launcher, an unpainted version of what he had in the announcement trailer, with sharpie-scribbled notes in several places on it):

Crousley Tapes (Private) Cortana Suggested Title: "It's a cloudy day and I'm thinking of my mum" [VOICE REC BEGINS] "Note to self, something to file away for later. Whenever it turns foggy like this, like sodden grey cotton, I think of mum. When I was a kid she said that I had a big imagination. Unlike a lot of people, she meant it as a compliment. I saw things, things other people simply missed. But she told me to always trust myself. Sounds easy, but every day since then I've tried to live up to that." [VOICE REC ENDS]

Which leads to: headcanons!

he's the oldest in the group (because Jacob's timeline is fuzzier to me, and Jacob asking "your parents okay with these little field trips of yours?" in Dev's hero trailer is SO much funnier to me if Dev's the oldest)

has chronic pain in (at least) his hands (possibly from piano plus frequent fiddly tinkering, or just General Fuckery that happens for some folks regardless of age—and I assume it's mild to moderate/otherwise fluctuates, since he's clearly not slowing down with tinkering, and is capable of at least short tunes on piano)

specific reasoning/potential evidence for the above includes but is not necessarily limited to: possible compression gloves, quick-release buckles, maybe magnetic buttons, plus the clasps on the back of his nerdy dapper harness (they may be how he does easier release when he struggles with the buckles? assuming his other joints aren't borked, because they're behind him? I'm less clear on if they're actually practical though)

neurodivergent as all get-out (is this even a headcanon, it feels like it's been self-evident from the second he showed up, though the specifics are up to interpretation)

trans/nonbinary because why not, I'm already out here projecting, and he layers enough for the vibe, also "TRANSlocator" puns

bi? ace? monsterfucker? etc.? I don't know, I need to see if anything specific comes up in dialogue at all but he is just so very queer as is the whole cast it's great

he clearly used some research he did into the psychic Nests(/the dream-like Trance) to create his (literally-)dreamy Quantum Kerfuffle decoy (the final Translocator skill), because holy SHIT does that thing draw in every vampire within what I swear is the same radius a Nest covers, it's the most beautiful hazard on the entire island

[sepheraph]

This is something I mostly agree with. Many video games are at least underpriced for the amount of labor that goes into them. Whether they're *worth* said price tag is a little more debatable.

Gamers have been staunchly against video games raising their prices for years now and ironically enough this has pushed the industry into adopting more predatory pricing mechanisms like lootboxes, battle passes, micro transactions, etc. All of which the majority of gamers hate even more, but video games, especially triple A studios are pouring millions of dollars into their games. Too much money is going into these things for them not to make a profit, which is another factor in why we are seeing big titles like Assassins Creed and FarCry chasing industry norms and becoming bland, because they need to appeal to the widest possible audience in order to make the money back.

All that being said, I'm not sure that just because you pour money and time into a game, that makes it better and thus worth more money. Idk, just riding the coattails of the new Gollum game which is embarrassingly bad and asks for 70 dollars, and of course other titles like Redfall, Cyberpunk 2077, and Anthem. These are massive games that took huge amounts of money, but I wouldn't say that they released in a state that makes them worth an $80 price tag, let alone a $100 one.

what is your most controversial video game hot take? 🎮🎮🎮

[docexe-mx]

You know, among the many, many concerns I had about Microsoft’s massive acquisition spree (that got them not only a bunch of studios but also two whole publishers in Bethesda and Activision Blizzard), was the possibility of them repeating the same mistakes they made with some studios they previously owned like Lionhead, where they ended severely mismanaging and ultimately shutting them down.

...Well, it’s sad how the events of the past week ultimately validated some of my concerns.

But the thing that gets me the most is not just how sad and infuriating it is to see studios like Arkane and Tango closing down (even more so considering the later one had delivered a highly acclaimed game in Hi-Fi Rush). The thing that gets me the most is how baffling the whole thing is.

It’s honestly remarkable how, in spite of spending so much money and time in the past few years acquiring so many developers and publishers, Microsoft’s acquisition strategy has ultimately so little to show for it, at least in terms of their position as a platform holder.

The primary objective they had for going into so many acquisitions was to strengthen their first party development resources and pipeline, which had been severely diminished during the final years of the Xbox 360 era and early years of Xbox One era. This would have allowed them to offer a more robust selection of 1st party games to compete with Sony and Nintendo, as the only franchises they had of any renown by that point were Halo, Gears of Wars and Forza.

It would have also allowed them to offer more content for their shiny new subscription service (Gamepass) as well as to increase the sales of their current and upcoming Xbox consoles, and to overall drive forward the growth of Xbox as a brand and as a digital ecosystem that encompassed consoles, PC and the cloud.

Suffice to say, none of that has really gone according to plan.

Very few of the studios they purchased have actually released games exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. Several of the games that they announced years ago have failed to materialize, and some of them like Everwild and the new Perfect Dark have been reported to be in development hell.

Of the games that have actually released, only a handful have been particularly successful, and yet with the sole exception of the Forza Horizon games, none of them had really been notable enough to compete with the major games published by Sony and Nintendo. The rest have been incapable of releasing without some kind of trouble or controversy attached at best, or have been abject disappointments at worst.

Halo Infinite was intended as the equivalent of Breath of the Wild for the Xbox Series consoles, the killer app that was going to put them in the map. It was ultimately delayed beyond the release of said consoles, and despite being acclaimed on launch, it was then heavily lambasted when the developers failed to deliver new content and updates on a timely or satisfactory manner.

Starfield was intended as the “RPG of the generation”, the equivalent of what Skyrim had been back when it launched. Yet it’s general reception seems to have been very lukewarm compared to prior Bethesda games, and was ultimately eclipsed by the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Forza Motorsports was intended as a triumphant return and reboot for the simulation side of the franchise, yet released in an extremely buggy state and lacking in content.

Redfall was a massive flop in every respect.

The end result of all this has been that, as far as console sales go, the Xbox One ended in distant third place behind the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, and the Xbox Series consoles seem destined to the same fate behind the PlayStation 5 and Switch successor, with their sales declining at an even faster rate than even the Xbox One.

Gamepass subscription numbers have also stagnated (to the point that Microsoft don’t even report them anymore), and it’s been evident for a while that it cannibalizes game sales, which has led to some developers and publishers to become increasingly lukewarm on the service.

The plan to expand Xbox gaming to the cloud has hit a snag as it’s clear that cloud gaming adoption has been really slow (and who knows if it will ever grow to the point that it supersedes just playing games natively on the hardware you own). Microsoft has reduced their investment in that area as a result.

Of course, in spite of all of the above, Microsoft’s gaming division is still profitable and now that they own Blizzard, Call of Duty and Candy Crush, it has the potential to be the most profitable it has ever been. However, the unexpected effect of the Activision Blizzard buyout seems to have been some increased scrutiny on the Xbox division from Microsoft’s directors’ board and shareholders.

My general understanding is that, if not for the Activision buy-out, the Xbox division would actually have been in the red in their most recent financial report.

Considering the current economic climate where investors are demanding their money to actually deliver, and that Microsoft spent more than $68 billion dollars on the acquisition and who knows how many in legal fees during the year and a half they spent litigating with trade authorities to get the deal approved… Well, it’s clear that someone among the higher ups demanded some blood sacrifices.

Hence, the closure of studios that had delivered a financial failure (Arkane Austin) or that just happened to not have a new project advanced enough in the pipeline (Tango Gameworks), even if the later one had just delivered one of the most critically and fan acclaimed games Microsoft has published in years.

All of this is just a really ugly spectacle of corporate hubris and mismanagement in almost every respect.

[thelvadams]

Seeing Redfall get absolutely awful reviews is like watching one of your best friends get actively worse because of their possessive partner who isn’t right for them at all

i'm not 100% sure what this ask is trying to say, but i think the implication is that redfall got poor reviews because of xbox?

going by the reviews it's clearly a decline in quality from arkane (although i haven't tried it myself so i can't say that from my own experience), but judging by everything i've seen in the past week, i don't think the blame can fall on xbox here.

jez corden did a great article here that lays things out pretty clearly, but some of the main points i've seen:

redfall's been in development for 5 years - long before microsoft became involved, and back when bethesda were owned by providence and had a big push for Games as a Service (like they also had with Fallout 76).

xbox pretty much let bethesda/arkane work independently on redfall (presumably because it had already been in development for so long already), without much/any input from microsoft.

the game was already delayed a full year (from may last year until now) - i hate to say it, but if that wasn't enough time after already having years of development, i don't think the core game could have been salvaged either way.

phil spencer said in an interview today that internal previews/mock reviews of the game were scoring 70/80%. that might not be stellar to some people, but with that sort of forecast i don't think anyone at bethesda or xbox thought the game urgently needed delaying

all in all, i think the simple truth is that redfall still wouldn't be any better if it had released on playstation or switch. there are definitely some things i think xbox needs to improve on with their first party output, but this feels more like bethesda's mistake to fix.

of course, maybe i'm wrong and xbox did have more of a hand in this game than we thought. but that also probably means they helped bethesda with hi-fi rush, which i think everyone agrees was a great game (that had better win GOTY geoff keighley...)

given how positively that game was received only a few months ago, i don't think it's fair to say that xbox is having a negative effect on bethesda's studios overall. so yeah, tldr: i think redfall's issues have been ongoing for a long, long time - and there's not a huge amount that xbox or anyone else could have done to save it

[nightcoremoon]

Salt & Sanctuary is not good. it’s not BAD. it’s just okay.

the controls are very weak comparative to other games of the genre. metroid fusion, symphony of the night, dust: an elysian tail, bloodstained: ritual of the night. they all have phenomenal controls. blasphemous is serviceable. S&S? mediocre at best, garbage at worst. navigation is especially piss-poor. you slide away from platform edges which is BAD GAME DESIGN FOR A PLATFORMER. grappling in ledges is a coin flip when you have literally nowhere else you’d want to go, and it’s impossible to roll off an edge if there’s a ledge above because your player character automatically vaults it. atrocious. there is no visual clarity between platforms you can jump up through or jump down through, and GOOD FUCKING LUCK DOING EITHER ON KEYBOARD OR A GAMEPAD WITH ACTUALLY GOOD CONTROLS MAPPED TO IT. using a mouse fucks majorly with the inventory because if you exit the screen while your mouse is hovering over something, POOF unequipped.

that would be fine if the enemy attack animations weren’t fucking single digit. and I don’t mean like 8 or 9 which would be reasonable. I mean 1 or 2, IF THAT. it’s like the animations were mapped to the processor speed and not the actual framerate itself. which, if you don’t have a $3K GPU, means that this game which is built around frame perfect dodges is shittily optimized and thus poorly designed. good luck performing parry when you have 8 enemies up your ass at once. there needs to be an adequate ability to tell what attack is coming next. paper mario is the baseline. ARTORIAS gave ten frames warning before his fastest attack, the swirly jump. and his pocket sand did barely any damage. and he’s the hardest boss in the game according to the majority. and sodden knight has zero frames in his second phase with his combo attacks. it’s honestly disgusting and cheap.

the gankfests of bandit pass and smiling village, plus the 4-hit instakill combos, plus the projectiles from off of the screen, plus the 99% phys block shield, are absolutely disgusting. people bitch about dark souls 2 having bits that are maybe half as bad, they go fucking ballistic on reddit, but then this shit shows up, oh it’s ok because it’s something they actually like. what makes it worse is the hitboxes are really really bad. especially for the teleport grabs. oh and forget iframes, you don’t get any at all because fuck you this game is HARD LIKE DARK SOULS even though dark souls, and I cannot say this often enough, is not even that HARD if you’re not a complete idiot who is experienced with JRPGs character action or 3rd person action games that aren’t cheap shitty button mashing hack n slash games like dynasty warriors or bethesda’s steaming piles of dog shit IE skyrim & redfall (which I know is going to be bad even by their standards) because I genuinely believe that skyrim made people too stupid to play the souls games. regardless, dark souls is supposed to be about exploration and environmental storytelling and intelligent decision making skills and paying attention to what the devs are trying to tell you, and every single mystery in it that affects gameplay is solved right the moment it comes up. the Anor Londo rafters and archers killed so many people because they were too stupid to realize oh hey FORCE MIRACLES WOULD SOLVE THIS FOR ME INSTANTLY. you were given plenty of tools to solve any problem. S&S said no fuck that here’s a monster closet, summon help or die.

the final fantasy 10 sphere grid game back rather than a diablo type approach. bad decision bro. ffx was fine but diablo was genius. but whatever it’s fine. cut off player freedom in building their character in a souls game, what a phenomenal idea! SARCASM ALERT! THAT SUCKS!

the art direction looks good until you realize it was made to be aesthetically pleasing on an individual level and not built to make a cohesive graphical layout. the UI is shit already, leaving over half the screen as dead space, why do we need a 4 inch shadow vignette when it’s already dark as shit? I can’t fucking see enemies against the background because the color palette is so muted and there isn’t enough stylistic differentiation between the enemies and the environment. that’s really really bad.

there’s just so many tiny little gripes I have about literally every single possible aspect of this game, and not a single element really stands out to me. it’s just a 2D dark souls clone with edgelord poptropica graphics. thanks.

at least they got the name right. I’m salty as fuck.

[aion-rsa]

15 Underrated E3 2021 Games Not Enough People Are Talking About

https://ift.tt/3vGBozn

Despite being a somewhat quiet year for the show, E3 2021 was filled with so many new titles and updates to previously announced major projects that it’s hardly a surprise that many smaller games featured during the show ultimately went overlooked and ended up being somewhat underrated.

Yet, this is so much more than a list of games that let us celebrate little studios and individual developers. At a time when Covid-19 production delays threaten to push so many major games into 2022 and beyond, these 15 titles (and so many more) could end up working their way into upcoming game of the year conversations just as they remind us that new ideas aren’t dead: they’ve just gone indie.

From wizards with guns and spiritual Thief sequels to cosmic horror punk RPGs and escape room deck builders, these are the 15 underrated E3 2021 games that not enough people are talking about. 

15. Wizard With a Gun

You’re going to see a number of Devolver Digital games on this list, but few E3 titles from any publisher or developer made as good of a first impression as developer Galvanic Games’ Wizard With a Gun.

Described as an “online cooperative sandbox survival game,” Wizard With a Gun looks like a blend of Don’t Starve and Enter the Gungeon. Aside from the incredible name, the thing that stands out most about this game is the ability to combine magic and guns to craft some truly wild weapons. Interestingly, it may actually be possible to push your experiments too far and craft something that will hurt you more than your enemies.

14. Gloomwood

I’m a huge fan of developer New Blood Interactive (probably best known for 2018 horror shooter DUSK), and Gloomwood could just be their best game yet. 

Gloomwood is a stealth survival horror game that, in many ways, effectively serves as the Thief sequel fans have been begging for. The game’s Steam demo showcases its tremendous potential, but the title’s E3 2021 extended gameplay preview suggests that the best is yet to come. 

13. Replaced

There’s a good chance that you actually saw this game considering that it was featured fairly prominently during Xbox’s E3 2021 show, but it’s pretty much impossible to give this project enough love. 

While most people are (understandably) focusing on Replaced’s wonderful pixel art visuals, the few glimpses of action gameplay that we see in the title’s debut trailer suggest that this is going to be so much more than an artist showcase.

12. Bear and Breakfast

Bear and Breakfast was actually quietly revealed last year, but I’m more than happy to use its brief E3 2021 appearance as an excuse to hype up this wonderfully wholesome game with a potentially dark twist.

Bear and Breakfast presents itself as a kind of sim/builder game starring colorful and friendly woodland creatures, but both trailers we’ve seen so far suggest that there’s something darker at play that only reveals itself as you expand your cabin empire and dive deeper into the forest.

11. Harold Halibut

Somewhere between a Wallace and Gromit cartoon and a Wes Anderson movie lies the weird and wonderful Harold Halibut.

This stunningly beautiful project may just win you over with its stop motion visuals alone (which were handcrafted in real life and digitally scanned into the game), but it’s Harold Halibut’s classic adventure gameplay that could prove to be its best feature.

10. Lake

Lake is another one of those games that we actually heard about before E3 2021, but this is one of those projects that just keeps looking better every time we see it. 

If you can get past its Hallmark movie premise (a young woman leaves her big city job to return to her small town home and deliver mail), you’ll find that Lake’s large world, branching storylines, and diverse cast of characters may just make it one of the most compelling narrative experiences on the horizon.

9. The Anacrusis

The most logical reason more people weren’t talking about The Anacrusis after Xbox’s E3 2021 show is that the multiplayer co-op FPS was arguably upstaged by two bigger, somewhat similar titles: Back 4 Blood and Redfall.

Were it not for those titles, I suspect that more people would have instantly fallen for this ‘70s sci-fi-inspired shooter with roguelike and dungeon master elements. The Anacrusis promises to offer hours of replayability, which should make it a perfect addition to the Game Pass library.

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8. Loot River

I understand if your brain is wired to ignore the mention of another roguelike dungeon crawler, but Loot River has already found some ways to distinguish itself from some considerable competition. 

The highlight of this game so far is undoubtedly its level manipulation mechanics which add a compelling puzzle element to what may otherwise be a more standard entry into the genre. Having said that, even as a standard genre entry, Loot River looks like a lot of fun.

7. Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart is another one of those games that weirdly almost suffered from its prominent place in the Xbox E3 2021 showcase as it was flanked by larger titles that garnered most of the attention. 

However, nearly every aspect of this game we’ve seen so far is, at the very least, compelling. Atomic Heart’s physics and power-based shooter gameplay looks like a blast, but it’s the game’s alternate 1950s Soviet Union setting and Fallout vibes it gives off that really has us intrigued.

6. Death Trash

Speaking of Fallout, you probably think that The Outer Worlds 2 and Fallout 76 are the E3 2021 games that will come closest to offering a proper new Fallout experience. However, Death Trash may just be the game that realizes the potential of so many of the little things that make that franchise great.

This cosmic horror punk rock action RPG so perfectly captures the spirit of classic games like the original Fallout titles and Shadowrun that it’s hard to look at it and not wonder how it was possibly assembled by a single developer. This labor of love should absolutely be on your wishlist.

5. Sifu

There just aren’t enough martial arts video games in the world. I’ll never understand why that’s the case, but it’s just one of those sad facts of life. 

While Sifu impressed us when it debuted during a PlayStation broadcast earlier this year, the game’s E3 2021 gameplay trailer ensured it will stay on our radars. Sifu’s intense melee fights and environmental interactions could just make it the go-to experience for starved martial arts fans everywhere.

4. Demon Throttle

Recent years have gifted us with a number of notable retro action games, and Demon Throttle looks more than ready to join the ranks of exceptional experiences like Shovel Knight and The Messenger.

This top-down co-op shooter is currently garnering attention for its physical-only release strategy, but it’s the game’s chaotic action and outlandish humor that will really make you want to add it to your shelf. 

3. Inscryption

The deck builder genre has offered some of the most quietly compelling video game experiences in recent years, but I’m honestly not sure if I’ve ever seen a deck builder as intriguing as Inscryption. 

The creator of 2016’s bizarre and wonderful Pony Island brings us this strange little game that combines elements of the deckbuilding genre with escape rooms and psychological horror. I can’t imagine how all of those incredible flavors are going to be mixed together into something cohesive, which honestly makes me that much more excited to see what this game is all about. 

2. Trek to Yomi

If Ghost of Tsushima didn’t quite give you a full dose of your Kurosawa-inspired video game fix, then you have to check out what Trek to Yomi promises to offer.

Trek to Yomi’s black-and-white visuals and samurai setting are obviously welcome Kurosawa callbacks, but it’s the way the gameplay references everything from Limbo and Mark of the Ninja to Bushido Blade that instantly shot this one near the top of our shortlist of underrated E3 2021 games more people should be talking about.

1. Immortality

With Her Story, Telling Lies, and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Sam Barlow has firmly established himself as one of the most exciting and daring writers in gaming. Now, Barlow returns with E3 2021’s most underrated and overlooked game, Immortality.

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Granted, we don’t know much about Immortality, but between the intriguing (if vague) premise that sees you explore three lost films starring a now missing actress and Barlowe’s outstanding track record, there’s no world in which fans of story-driven games won’t want to keep a close eye on this one.

The post 15 Underrated E3 2021 Games Not Enough People Are Talking About appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3iO9VIT

[irrlicht-writes]

it was going so well. God, it was going so well. Why didn't I stop?

THERE WAS EVEN FALSETTOS!!!😭 THEY WERE SO CUTE WHEN DOING THAT, I SWEAR I WAS SO HAPPY 😭😭😭

but then again, when I read the warnings, I saw the last 'liar' and almost immediately knew what was about to happen. I don't know why, but redfall was still a shock, though. I read the 'incest' warning and was like 'uh?- what' and then redfall showed up and I was like 'fuck this can't be good' and by that moment I completely forgot about the incest tag. Then the chapter ended, and I stared at my phone for ten minutes straight.

this is the part you let us see in one of your posts!!! I remember when you said it was approaching 70k, aaaaaa when I read it I was giggling like a little girl.

I didn't know what would come next.

Alastor was right. He always is, unfortunately. At least they got a night together??? well, Alastor had been roofied, but... I guess that's the most comfort you're willing to let us get. And that's alright! I love angst, I feel like a feral animal every time you upload cause I know there will be a ton.

that would've been a perfect ending. But knowing that there's something more, something else that was bound to happen, AAAAAH I can't live without having closure, and a promise it's not enough.

it's never enough.

Delusional, OF COURSE HE'S DELUSIONAL!

By this point I completely forgot about the warnings. Poor me. Foolish me.

aaaaaaand this was where I was the most shocked. I didn't expect to see Redfall ever again, I thought he was like DEAD or something. surely Vox will be by his side, won't he? He loves Alastor too much to not act...

...oh

I wonder when Vox got together with him. I wonder if redfall talked to him already by that point. I hope we will get to see his Pov, but like you replied to me sometime ago, when scribbles was just getting started, some things are better left unknown.

He promises to kick him out, and the most heartbreaking part is that Alastor believes him. He never believes him, he always calls him a liar, but the one time he starts doing so, he is reminded that he isn't living a fairytale. He's in hell, and people lie, they always do.

Maybe that's his punishment. Maybe he's bound to always be let down once he starts believing someone.

some chapters ago you wrote "Alastor wanted to tell Vox things he had never told anyone. He wanted to tell him about Redfall" or something along those lines.

This broke my heart.

(But hey, that's not at all a bad thing!!! I love angst and my heart, even if it's already in pieces, can still be ran over by a car, get soaked in acid or maybe i will be the poor sinner that gets her heart carved out and esten by Alastor, it can still go through a lot of things really!)

then there were the break downs, Alastor looking for constant reassurance with his wedding band, I was hoping Vox would eventually ask him about Red, but then he saw them kiss. (I didn't take screenshots because I was so pissed at Vox but at the same time so hooked by your writing that I forgot lol)

I wonder what went through Vox's head. I wonder what he thought. But I know it, don't I? it was the same exact thing he thought when fucking Elliot was still around. He must've thought 'oh well I can't have what I want, so I'll screw his father. nothing can go wrong, can it? surely I proposed to him, but hey, I'm a filthy man, and my NEEEEDS need to be fulfilled!!!'. I know he was thinking about Alastor the entire time, but oh, wasn't there a more hidden place to do it?

The worst thing about it is that he didn't even look for Alastor when Redfall arrived. He was there, and then what? They started going at it the second Alastor wasn't looking?

It was only Vox who looked for him after the fight with Adam, only him who cared for Alastor. But that was when he needed him the most, and he wasn't there.

None of the hotel residents looked for him after he went to his room.

Not even Vox.

He knew about Redfall. He knew what a mess Alastor had been. He knew what Redfall could do to him, even if not to the full extent. And still, he was the person he decided to get with.

'He has Alastor's genes.' he must've thought. 'I know him.', 'We've been friends before.'

That's still unjustifiable.

At least I hope it was Redfall starting it. No, I know he was. Vox wouldn't seek him out, would he? yes, he is a man with 'needs', but he wouldn't deliberately seek out HIS FATHER to fulfil them. yeah. it's definitely that. (Yes, I am very delusional, thank you)

At this point, I think Alastor will feel worse in the relationship. No matter if one day they'll be happy, what's done is done. Vox can't undo it. He can't. I'll be so mad if they stay together.

I hope Vox finds out. I hope he finds out what a monster he's been, and I hope he feels like shit. I don't want him near Alastor ever again.

Then there was the sex. How had Vox not noticed? How had he not wondered what could've possibly brought him Alastor to give himself if just the night before he stopped him when he tried pleasuring him? It's heartbreaking. (Remember, that is a GOOD thing, I loathe for hurt/no comfort). Alastor tried doing that before. He tried giving himself to Vox, but then Vod had the decency to stop himself when he sensed something was wrong. Then, though, Alastor hadn't said yes. Now that Vox had his consent, why would he stop to check on him? it's not like Alastor's body wasn't enjoying it. And Alastor truly is a good actor. He was disgusted and grossed out, but how could Vox tell?

He's just a filthy man.

Alastor is the girl in their relationship, isn't he? That's what he always believed, and hey, who cares about the girls, right? They just need to be put in pretty dresses. They need to let the manly man tear the clothing off and let him do whatever he wants. They need to let him break them, use them, and throw them away.

Who cares about the girls?

Vox cares about Alastor, but when he's the girl of the relationship, he almost forgets he does.

Liar.

Liar.

Then there's the next day. I really don't know how Alastor held it all together.

No, wait, I do.

The fear of being alone is far greater than anything Vox could do to him, isn't it? The fear that Vox would abandon him for someone else. The fear that the wedding ring is just another empty promise.

Their relationship is shit. Complete and utter shit. They both need to work on themselves before they get married. IF they get married, because I truly hope they don't. I don't want Alastor to be with him, I don't want him to be trapped in a relationship with someone who, yeah, cares about him, but would still choose to treat him that way.

BTW I love your writing!!! I binged the whole series multiple times, it always makes me cry when I see Alastor's side of things.

Remember, though, that the angst is never enough. Just like love is never enough in your story :)❤️

love your works, dear author, and I hope we will see more of them in the future!❤️

(this took me an hour to write, istg I could spend so much more time discussing your story, it's so great I love it so much I hope you know how much I get excited whenever an update comes out, there are no words to describe how i feel every time i read it)

-💗

Okay now that some time has passed let me answer you! :)

Yes, Falsettos! I hadn't seen the musical before, and my friend showed me this song because of the "What I love I devour" line! And Christian Borle too! I'll never watch the whole musical though bc sob Whizzer

Haha, yeah when *I*, of all people, tell you "here's a good stopping point" then maybe there's a point to that :) Yk the chapter was going to be much worse but then it was so long I cut that part out... it still happens ofc but we don't see it :) Most of the angst I read is way too tame for me... I need it to hurt so I have to provide it myself ugh

We will get Vox's POV! I was way too tired/depressed last week to write anything, but next part is from Vox's perspective, so we'll know what happened! (My note for getting Redfall to stay was literally this: "why does he get to stay?? idk old friendship maybe?? let's see when we get there") And I still firmly believe in "some things are best left unknown"! It leaves more room open for interpretation. Even though now everyone is yelling at me for Vox's ooc behaviour...

Don't worry, Vox will realise what he's done :) Everyone will be so very thrilled! A heart-wrenching end, even! It's all quite dramatic.

Mhm, yes, the sex was terrible, wasn't it? Took me forever to write, too, because I don't do sex scenes. I've only done them in, like, three instances overall.

I'm glad their relationship is terrible! I've only ever done ones that were (to an extent) good for each other, so it's nice I can get the oposite done too!

And dw, there will be more! I've got the Human AU left to finish up, and then Part 4 too! And I had made some notes on other things but they're iced for the moment (for obvious reasons) My DMs and asks are always open, so feel free to come talk anytime 👉👈