#(no I also need to finish sound design and soundtrack)

[rawliverandgoronspice]

where we stand right now :>

[emilywaters]

So I just finished watching arcane season 2 act 3 and I have Thoughts.

Act 3 spoilers below

(I apologise for any spelling/grammar mistakes and if it all sounds wack. It's like late and I needed to empty my brain)

So I'll start with what I absolutely loved.

Seeing that Vi is actually the 'jinx' bcs in the timeline she dies, everyone else lives. And along this line is her saying, "I always choose wrong."

Lesbian Sex.

Canon Lesbian Sex.

The JaVik space marriage.

The casual representation of a very huge amount of demographics (queer, disabled, POC, etc)

The art style, animation, soundtrack, voice acting, character designs, set designs, fight scenes, the casual representation, all of those were absolutely beautiful. It was clearly a labour of love, and I have so much respect and appreciation for every single person involved.

Next, I do have some neutral points, where there are questions I'm not sure were answered, but it could also be me missing something.

These include,

The actual motive of the black roses,

What Ambessa did to piss them off,

Why Maddie was with Ambessa,

The consequences of going beyond the 4 second limit,

And potentially more. If there are answers to these questions that I have simply missed, please do tell me and disregard any points I make surrounding them.

Okay, so if nearly everything was perfect, where do I find fault? Tragically, the plot.

I watched season 1 quite a while back, so I'm drawing on my murky memories of it when I reference it.

In season 1 our main conflict was the undercity, with Jink, Silco, Sevika, versus the rich and affluent Piltover. Rich girl realizes the people of Zaun are suffering and two scientists try to solve problems in their own way.

This theme carries over into the first act of season 2, and somewhat into the 2nd act as well. However, this storyline, which has been a very important one, seems to almost be completely discarded for the Hextech-arcane plot line.

The undercity Vs the rich feels like it was solved too easily. How does a city that has suffered immensely at the hands of the rich and successful turn around so quickly to help them. And how does a city sending polluted air into an already crumbling city, ignoring their poverty and calling them filthy animals, simply turn around and accept them. It feels like that theme was shoved into a drawer, with having Sevika and others joining the council added as a consolation prize. There was no justice for their dead. And those in power suffer no consequences.

As I so crassly put it in my fervent texts to my friend, "Season 2 looked like it was going to be rich bitches Vs poor on steroids with police brutality." That's how the first act started out. We were going to see how the effects of grief, manipulation, hatred and privilege so quickly blur out all the innocent collateral of your rampage.

Then these seemed to minimize within the second act and vanish almost entirely in the third act. Additionally, the other minor plots feel underdeveloped, with a lot of potential, but too many spread too thin.

I saw some people talking about how Arcane was rushing the plot too much at the start of season two, and I do see what they mean now.

The inherent theme of the story, which was about liberation, equality, the guilt of the rich, felt like it shifted in act 3 into, again, as crassly put by me, "true peace is hive mind oh wait no imperfections are good thing."

Of course, I could be completely wrong and missing the mark entirely, so if I am please do enlighten me, preferably without insult, as I've been known to be careless.

The Undercity's rage requires more justice and I feel like it was discarded for a flashier prize.

I feel like the first arc and some of the second could've been a season by itself. They could've tied up the undercity Vs rich plot, with some form of stalemate or some other conclusion, and shift the focus to the Hextech-arcane plot line, with Jayce's whole speech about unity.

Then the latter half of act 2 and the third act would be a season 3, giving more time and weight to that battle and the factors surrounding it, while also showing the results of the previous parts.

I do wonder if there was an ultimatum where we get one season with lesbians or no lesbians and more seasons, where the former was chosen, but that's just conspiracy and speculation.

All in all, it's a beautiful show that had a lot of potential, but rushed and botched something they could've milked for one more season, for the money's sake, if not for good plot. If my points are dissuaded by any things I missed, please do let me know.

I did enjoy the show immensely and it was a good time overall. I'm in love with the characters and their dynamics and the setting and the art and animation, the soundtrack, it may have not made sense, but by god was it beautiful.

[smash-64]

2024 Game of the Year Countdown Honorable Mention: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch, 2023

I feel like I’ve played this game before…oh, right! I did! It was 2018 and the game was called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 

Now that at least one person is furious with me, I have to say that I did not hate my time with Tears of the Kingdom. I just don’t think it lived up to the immeasurable hype that I heard from critics, websites, YouTube, and friends. I don’t think I heard a single person say a single negative thing about this game for two months after it came out. I even heard people singing its praises multiple times on NPR, one of the last platforms where I’d expect to hear video game reviews. 

So, let’s start out with the things I liked after the cut, because this is going to be a super long review, for those interested.

I adored exploring the Gerudo Desert, as I did in Breath of the Wild. The Gerudo are a really fun and interesting group, and I spent significantly more time here than anywhere else. It was nice to see Link welcomed into town as the one male with a hall pass, since that meant I didn’t need to make sure to always don the disguise outfit. (Although it’s silly to put on the full Yiga Clan garb and get tossed into jail!) The addition of a subterranean area in Gerudo Town was also cool and helped add to the lore of the Gerudo having a long history. The bright colors and designs of the town, clothing, and the equipment were also still present and welcome. And seeing Riju grow into her role as leader was both cool, as she packs a wallop with her thunder attack, and reassuring as she was fairly self-conscious and unsure of herself in Breath of the Wild. 

The Yiga Clan are also still around, and I found them more interesting than in BotW. I wish we had a little more from them, but they’re supposed to be in disarray after we crushed them in BotW, so it wouldn’t make a ton of sense from a narrative standpoint.

Music was generally pretty good, especially in the more plot-centric sequences. The classic Zelda swells and melodies bring emotion to the forefront, most notably nostalgia. The credits music ties the whole experience together. Can’t really go wrong with a Zelda soundtrack, although it was a touch less subtle than Breath of the Wild.

Tulin was a really refreshing character that somehow struck a balance between over-eager young bird with skills, and annoying kid. In fact, he’s one of the only kid characters I genuinely enjoyed from start to finish in any game. He’s determined to help his village, prove himself, work as a team with Link, and follow through with his new role once you complete the Wind Temple. 

Finally, the characters themselves all seem to have had a bit of a glow-up, design-wise. Everyone looks great. There’s also a focus on making characters stand out more, with more unique designs and more plot relevance. Some have more of a part to play than others, but there were seemingly fewer one-off interactions in TotK. Many sidequests have multiple parts to them that occur across the map, so expect to see characters popping up more than once.

Something that has undoubtedly stood out thus far in my review is how often I have referenced Breath of the Wild. It is fully unavoidable to review Tears of the Kingdom on its own. It looks, sounds, feels, and plays like Breath of the Wild. I have heard criticisms of Majora’s Mask from some people who claim they couldn’t enjoy it as much as Ocarina of Time due to the reuse of assets, claiming it was too similar, or even lazy (which just proves they don’t know the actual history of Majora’s Mask, but I digress). But even those critics have to recognize that Majora’s Mask shares little beyond the reuse of assets as the game is fundamentally different on so many levels. 

Tears of the Kingdom is so similar to Breath of the Wild, I find it hard to not look at the whole game as anything other than a massive DLC. We’re on the same map. We’ve got towers and shrines all over, and while they’re not in exactly the same spots…they’re not that different and serve the same purpose. Zelda needs rescuing. Ganon(dorf) is the bad guy. Enemies are the same. Controls are the same. It felt like I was playing the same game, maybe just a different post-game story. 

The addition of the sky islands and the ill-lit underworld were so underwhelming to me that I never felt compelled to explore beyond a few minutes, aside from when I was forced to do so. I just didn’t find anything interesting about them at all. It was difficult to even get to the sky islands in the early game, and once I finally made my way there, I was expecting unique weapons and enemies, or powerful ingredients for cooking. I got neither, so I don’t really see the point. Perhaps I missed some massive highlight, but I have yet to hear about anything that would make me seek out some special, far-flung sky island for amazing content. 

The same goes for the dark abyss area, which I heard was this hugely fun land to explore. When I got there, it was just…dark. I couldn’t even see anything off in the distance to entice me into exploring, and the light seeds you get don’t travel very far, nor do they light very much of the area around you, so you’re still stumbling around and hoping to just chance upon something. As a result, I didn’t do much of anything down there at all. 

The Zonai tech was a huge letdown, too. I didn’t exactly adore the magnetism, bombs, stasis, etc. from BotW, but it was serviceable. This new stuff in TotK was downright not fun. When I see people building these huge, elaborate devices with fans and batteries and whatnot, I honestly cannot fathom the enjoyment they’re getting out of it. It got to the point where I just never did any shrines ever again. I’d find one and activate it as a warp point, and never go inside because they were annoying chores. 

The new tech felt gimmicky at the best of times, too, and I was disappointed that the developers clearly focused so much time and effort on it instead of…anything else. Being able to throw random objects onto a sword isn’t as interesting as discovering well-crafted weapons that have a bit of lore or culture behind them. Instead, we just get a couple of very basic weapons and are expected to combine them with random monster parts to make stronger ones, but they always end up looking held together with paper clips and bubble gum.

Perhaps my time playing games from Falcom’s Trails series has bled over and corrupted my ability to fairly assess the storytelling and writing in other games and series; and while there was definitely a bigger focus on story in TotK than BotW, I still found the story to be lacking. Maybe it was just my disinterest, but it came off as very underwhelming to me. I liked individual moments, like Riju standing on her own or Zelda actually playing a part in the plot, but the overall story just didn’t click with me. It all felt like something I’d already done before.

I found the difficulty in this game to be a bit of a mixed bag. I welcomed some of the more difficult enemies and the increase in the number of boss fights, in general, but the final gauntlet was such an enormous leap in difficulty that it was ultimately the thing that made me put the game back on the shelf for about five months. I was getting bored with the game, skipped both the Goron and Zora areas, and was forced to fight their bosses at the end of the game as a result. This was definitely a difficult surprise since I had no tips from the respective champions, and while I did manage to scrape through, I never felt a sense of accomplishment, only frustration and annoyance. I appreciated the option to skip Divine Beasts in BotW, but this felt like a harsher punishment in the endgame.

Even in BotW, I was never one for “proper” Zelda combat, with parries and such, not to mention being moderately underpowered. So brute forcing it was kind of my MO, and TotK very clearly doesn’t want you to do that. As I’ve gotten older, I enjoy Hardcore Gamer Moments™ less and less and I think my favorite thing to happen to video games is the difficulty slider that allows me to choose the type of experience I have. Work and life is stressful and I don’t generally want my games to be the same. Or, at the very least, I’d like the option to choose.

Now, I must admit that when I got frustrated and put the game back on the shelf, I wasn’t really intending to ever return to it because I wasn’t having fun. However, after five months, something changed and I was open to making another attempt. The water and fire temples were extremely unenjoyable experiences, with the very long, drawn-out quests for the Spirit Sage and Master Sword being only slightly less chore-like, and this has essentially always been the case with Zelda dungeons for me. I almost never enjoy them, which explains why the list of Zelda games I like is shockingly short. I actually gave up on the Master Sword quest because it involved expanding my stamina gauge, which meant completing shrines and I hated shrines in this game, so I said screw it.

However, I did beat the game. I sought out the temples I originally skipped, finished them, and headed back to Ganondorf for a second attempt. It was definitely easier, but still a jump in difficulty compared to the rest of the game. I didn’t feel satisfied with the fights, only annoyed that I had to be troubled to finish them at all. 

My last real gripe is just how this game is essentially one massive roadblock. Every single thing you want to do will be locked behind having to complete some OTHER quest first, which is supremely annoying and a complete break from what Breath of the Wild was. I found myself just wishing I was playing Breath of the Wild instead, which cannot be a glowing endorsement for Tears of the Kingdom.

I can’t say I regret playing TotK and I didn’t hate every minute I spent with the game, despite some of my grumblings. It didn’t reach the heights of BotW, but I did spend over a month playing it, when it’s all said and done. I still like the open world Zelda aspect and the art direction is still top notch. Nintendo always puts their A Team on Zelda projects, so it’s never a franchise you can ignore, even if individual games don’t do it for you.

[aotopmha]

I have finished Dawntrail!

I will have a spoiler-free post (this one) and a spoiler-y post (probably one of my following ones) of my very general thoughts.

If there's a wish to avoid even this kind of post, then the warning is here.

For spoiler-free impressions, I will say that I did notice a bigger inconsistency in terms of the voice work.

The final boss had straight-up flat delivery that didn't exist in most cutscenes for ALL voice actors.

Everyone is also mostly fine when talking normally, but when yelling or stronger feelings are needed, especially the newest actors feel strangely off.

Wuk sounded absolutely fine and consistent in 6.55, but there were points where she just sounded really flat in the actual expansion.

I'm also in the camp that the credits theme sounded off. The chorus was fine (and the same track was completely fine when used in a couple of other cutscenes), but the main vocalist sounded really off. It took me out of what was otherwise a very solid final stretch of story. And the singer has done some great stuff before!

It's all really odd and I didn't think I would have these complaints ever again after A Realm Reborn because the voice work since then has ranged from good to amazing.

I'm really curious about what's going on behind the scenes.

FF14's vocal tracks have been weak at points to me, but not once have I felt a vocalist sounded absolutely awful.

Otherwise this expansion is up there in terms of the soundtrack, might be my favourite so far. Incredibly strong all the way through aside from the vocalist in this single track.

The graphics update has done wonders to endear me to the world and this will be the first expansion I will absolutely max out the FATEs for perhaps even just this reason alone. It's a miracle how much more strongly you can sell a world with better lighting and just a little bit more object density.

The content itself is also absolutely fantastic - if the story really bores you, I at least recommend skipping through it to do the dungeons and trials and maybe go back for the story via New Game+. The encounter design is refreshing, from a whole bunch of new mechanics to more interesting fodder enemy usage.

The class changes, while feeling relatively minor have felt like really good smoothing out of awkward elements.

I especially feel this with Dragoon, and as much as I miss Plunge, Dark Knight's new ability animations alone go a long way to add to that smoother feel, as well.

i also adore Viper, which I think is my favourite melee out of the ones I've played. Simple, but speedy and satisfying to play.

I will absolutely still remain a DRK main in a general sense, though.

Will be running dungeons to get everyone along all of the game.

Finally, I think the story came together really nicely by the end, with some interesting threads left behind.

It is much more simple than Shadowbringers and Endwalker, but I think it was still effective. As I've said in previous posts, it's just really thematically strong and followed that strength right to the end, even if I have varied opinions on all of the characters.

In terms of immediate impressions, content-wise (dungeons and trials in particular), as far as base expansions go, I'd place it above ARR, Heavensward and probably Endwalker (Endwalker's solo duties rocked and narrative and gameplay integration is still unmatched, but the encounter design itself isn't as distinct).

Story-wise I'd probably place it above A Realm Reborn and Stormblood because it has a similar spirit of exploration with much better pacing within its individual areas. Every time I felt the story started dragging in its own ecosystem, it moved on and the answers by the end were satisfying and made sense while ARR and StB actually didn't have that many mysteries to even think about, so had much less impetus to at least seek those out.

It had no Labyrinthos, Ruby Sea, Moogle quest or Mt. Gulg setup. But it wasn't as complex in terms of character writing as Endwalker, Shadowbringers and to some extent even Heavensward and Stormblood.

Though, as said, this is only speaking in terms of the base expansions, the only comparison I can make. Because the patch content did amazing narrative things for both Heavensward and Stormblood in particular in my eyes.

(I actually have no idea what to expect from the Dawntrail patches. Which is, once more, both super exciting and scary because the threads left behind are pretty much a complete mystery.)

So in a general sense, I'm an early Dawntrail defender. I enjoyed it a lot. It truly felt special as my very first on-content expansion, too.

Now on to the optional dungeons!

(Have heard some great impressons on them!)

[sirignatius]

My thoughts on Persona 3 Reload

I recently finished Persona 3 Reload and it has definitely been a journey. I wanted to sort out some of my personal experiences with the game and share a few details that stuck with me. Spoiler warning if you keep reading! I included some thoughts on certain parts of the game, including some clips of the ending cutscene, so keep that in mind if you haven’t finished it yet!

Persona is such a dear series to me. After finishing P4 and P5, P3 was the last one I needed to play to complete the modern Persona lineup. So, when Persona 3 Reload released on February 1st, I was really excited to play it, but I had to hold off since I was right in the middle of finishing my thesis.

March was just absolute chaos for me: I went through some personal hardships and, finally, turned in my master’s thesis. Easily one of the most stressful periods of my life. Thankfully, I had some incredible friends by my side, supporting me through every step, then and now. I honestly couldn’t have made it through without them.

In the meantime, I figured it’d be better to hold off on P3R for a bit, partly because of its heavy atmosphere and the darker themes, but also because I honestly wasn’t in the best mindset to enjoy it.

For the record, I’m just obsessed with the Persona OSTs, but I wanted to stay away from the new P3 soundtrack so I could experience it in-game. But of course, ONE song managed to sneak past my defenses and land in my playlist. On my way to work, Color Your Night came on for the first time, and honestly, my jaw just dropped.

To this day, I still think it’s a beautiful song! I listen to it almost daily, along with a bunch of other tracks from the game. I wasn’t expecting something so intimate yet so upbeat, and it totally blew me away. Thinking back, I honestly think it gave me that extra push to finish my thesis so I could finally start the game.

This is not meant to be a full game review, but as I played, I felt like P3R wanted to clearly distinguish itself from the original P3. Where the OG game had this edgy, darker vibe, P3R felt more like a celebration of life in comparison. I haven’t played the original, but I’ve listened a lot to its OST, and you can tell they tried to step away from that feeling while honoring Shoji Meguro’s masterpieces.

The interface design is just chef’s kiss. I'm obsessed with the pause menu. It feels like every time I hit pause, time just stops —a little break from all the stressful thoughts, like looking at the world through a calm water barrier. Can we take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous that menu is??

I love how the designers went all in for the water aesthetic: it’s in the menus, the color schemes, the little effects on the music tracks ( like that bubble sound at the start of Full Moon Full Life, 0:28 if you are wondering :] ). They really nailed it.

Then, there’s the endgame. It hits hard with the “take responsibility for your actions” thing, especially after December 31. Choosing to fight to the end completely changes the atmosphere—the color palette gets less saturated and the music takes a more nostalgic tone (Living with Determination, Memories of School, Memories of the City; I find that last one quite disturbing). It’s like the game is telling you that everything comes to an end. It wouldn’t be as impactful if it didn’t. I feel like these songs are the MC’s memories of all the places he’s been in the past year, knowing things will never be the same.

It’s especially heartbreaking on that last day when the MC talks to all their confidants, and they start sharing all the things they’re planning to do soon. Shoutout to Koromaru-san, the goodest boy of them all ;-;

And then, that final scene with Aigis absolutely destroyed me. I wasn’t ready. I like to think she’s using that moment to show us how she’s found her own purpose, and even though she feels sorrow for the MC, she’s learned how to keep going. It hit me so hard. The moment itself is sad, but the atmosphere feels so calm and gentle, like floating on a cloud. And then, after the cutscene, it’s over, and I’m left in tears—not just because it ended, but because of everything we, as the MC, left behind along the way.

And as the game closes, we get Memories of You. After years of listening to it out of context, I finally realized it was the ending theme all along! If you haven’t heard the English lyrics, please do—they’re beautiful, like a love letter from Aigis, saying she’ll be there to protect and remember you forever.

This ended up being a bit of a brain dump, so I hope it makes sense. Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have about the game if you feel like it! And thank you if you read all the way to the end! Truly, thank you so much.

Final shoutout to my dear friends for all the support they gave me through everything. I hope I can also protect them forever as well.

[viralarcadian]

more golden sun tips

1. the game wants you to keep track of how many djinn a character has on standby when you're gearing up for a summon. you can lose spells mid battle bc you used enough djinn that your character went down a rank and that shit sucks.

ostensibly this is supposed to be a risk v reward thing to prevent you from spamming summons at every boss battle, but in practice this is really only a problem to worry about when you're doing optional stuff like crossbone isle and the endgame superbosses in TLA, and if your designated healer loses their good healing psynergy (eg jenna's basic class loses access to the party-wide aura healing psynergy if more than 4 djinn go to standby/recovery, so if she's your healer you NEED to keep track)

2. i do in fact recommend the optional stuff, especially in TLA because the best summons are locked behind those superbosses.

3. in TLA you're gonna find a bunch of shit like tear stones and sylph feathers that have "forgeable" in their item descriptions and the game does not tell you what this means. i will.

you give these to a character named sunshine in the town of yallam on oseania, after you get the boat. you give these to him one at a time, and he will turn them into weapons and armor for you. what you get is completely random, as several things can be forged from the same material, and it auto saves when you give him the item to prevent save scumming, at least in the original game. the switch has suspend points that you can use to save scum.

sunshine's wife says it'll take a while for him to finish, but leaving town and re-entering or spending a night at the inn will get it done instantly.

there are also several rusty weapons that will always give you the same result when you give them to him.

4. some djinn in both games can be found in the actual overworld map and encountered as monster spawns. the game does not tell you this explicitly. lucky for you, they have very specific areas of the map that they will spawn in. i highly recommend looking up guides with pictures.

5. make getting djinn your top priority, especially in the first game. not only do they give you stat boosts and increase the rank of your class, and not only do you get sick summons and effects from using them in battle, but to get the absolute best summon in TLA you NEED to transfer a save over from the first game with all 28 of those djinn, bc you need those 28 plus the 44 in TLA to even access the dungeon it's in.

6. the superboss guarding the best summon is the cheapest motherfucker on planet earth. he will use your djinn against you and tear you up like tissue paper

But! he is in theory beatable. he follows a set sequence of moves, only differing in very specific circumstances (skipping 'break' if you don't have stat buffs, 'haunt' if everyone is haunted, and using psynergy at all if he's been blocked). he will start the battle from somewhere in that sequence, and then go thru each action in turn

the wiki has an exceptionally good page on him including strategies to beat him and the complete sequence of moves he uses. use it.

7. use that wiki in general. it's the good one that isn't on fandom

8. if you open up the battle mode lobby in TLA and talk the NPC in the southwest corner while holding down either the L or R buttons (she's the one that says "i like my men macho"), instead of her usual dialog she'll say "you have a song request?" and a tiny menu will open up. congratulations! this is the game's sound test menu. if a track has played at least once on the file you used to enter the lobby, you can play it here! even more if it's one that has transfer info from the first game!

this has no use at all but this effectively turns your switch into an mp3 player that only plays golden sun music, and was the only way to listen to the soundtrack before yt and if you couldn't find a site that had ripped it and put it up for download

[sibyl-of-space]

It's time for me to go to bed. And that means everybody gets a Procrastination Essay No One Asked For About Sonic Adventure 1 for the SEGA Dreamcast!

This game is one of my super mega ultra all-time favorites. Every single time I revisit it, I am so afraid that my love for it is entirely nostalgia goggles and it will lose its charm this time around, and every single time, I just have the time of my life because the game really is great. It is so fun. It does some very cool things. It is kind of stupid but it takes itself seriously, and that is very endearing and a million times more interesting than a game that's too afraid of being perceived as cringe to be sincere.

I love basically everything about it. I painted Big the Cat on my Dreamcast and even that is not enough to communicate my vast love for this game.

MANY WORDS BELOW CUT. Visuals, audio, gameplay, I love all of it.

Visuals

The game came out in 1998. It looks like a game that came out in 1998. But the world and character designs are fantastic and the world is so detailed. I could genuinely spend hours just moving around on the Egg Carrier overworld map appreciating all the gadgets and gizmos moving around that are purely 100% set dressing. It makes up for what it lacks in polygons with cool textures and fun trinkets everywhere. The animated CGs genuinely look amazing, and you can forgive the rest of it considering the game came out in 1998.

I also love the splash screens you get after finishing each route. They're so good.

(It goes without saying that the game looks its best on a CRT. There are some really cool lighting effects CRTs just capture better.)

Audio

It obviously has an insanely good soundtrack of just nonstop banger after banger. It also has a very 1998 dub and the sound mixing and implementation are some of the worst you'll ever hear. Eggman has like 5 voice lines that are re-used in every scene he's in. But who can complain about that when they're listening to the likes of "Bad Taste Aquarium"? Literally nobody. Who cares. Every single song slaps.

"But Leo half the time the songs start and stop mid-cutscene because of how the game handles loading" who cares. I can forgive just about ANYTHING a game does in terms of audio implementation if it has a song as good as "Bad Taste Aquarium" in its soundtrack.

Narrative

Setting aside the fact that the story is kind of stupid, I really think we need to appreciate the way it tells it. The way this game has you play through the same story from everyone's different perspective, and how the scenes that overlap actually play out differently depending on who you play as, is so big brain. You don't get the full picture of what's happening until you've played as everybody, and there is no "big group of heroes collectively take on the bad guy" until the very very end Super Sonic story... until then, it's just different people having wildly different journeys that overlap here and there and are all part of a single, bigger story.

That's just cool ass storytelling. Everyone loves to bitch about my good friend Big the Cat but the entire point is that this extremely chill guy who loves to fish and just wants to save his friend was caught up in this Adventure, and he was a small but vital part of it, and it affected him differently than it affected everybody else because he had a different reason for being involved. But that goes for everybody! Everyone's story has an arc with a start and a finish, and most of them don't come close to being involved in the whole thing. Even SONIC doesn't see everything (he doesn't have a Hot Shelter level at all). Knuckles's story ends on a really cool note, with him going "I may never know the full story of what happened here, but maybe it's better that way." Or something close to that.

I also just love the concept of benevolent protector water god goes apeshit at people, as well as the concept of a ghost from thousands of years ago trying to right ancient wrongs. Chaos and Tikal are great.

Gameplay

The thing I love about Sonic Adventure is that every single character is really fun to play. This comes at the "cost" of what you might call "balance," in that half of the characters are broken as fuck and you can just disregard the very concept of platforming with most of them. I couldn't really care less about that because I just enjoy how fun it is to play as everyone.

Sonic Adventure 2 understandably put Tails in a mech because outside of it he is too damn broken. Sonic Adventure 1 lets you play as him anyway, and it rules.

The ONLY gripe I have about the gameplay is that Big the Cat does not have the means to harm robots (because he is too nice and chill to do that), but as a result he is unable to collect animals to give the chao. I cannot think of a single character in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe who would be better suited to raise chao than Big the Cat, but Big the Cat is unable to give them animals to power up. This is a tragedy.

Overall

Sonic Adventure is a masterpiece. Every time I play it I'm like "this is the greatest game that has ever been made." The parts of it that are clunky, awkward, kind of dumb, or very dated are still endearing because it tries to do so many things that you really just have to respect it. This is the kind of game that is fantastic whether you sit down and play it straight through from plot point to plot point or you spend three hours throwing that statue around Station Square into oncoming traffic.

Of course it's not polished. It tries to do way too many cool ass things all at once to be polished. It is WAY too ambitious to be polished. That's what makes it so good. It's perfect exactly the way it is and the fact that people will play this incredible game and go "lol, 3D Sonic sucks" is a good reminder that gamers will bitch about anything and you should never care about what gamers have to say when making games.

Big the Cat has glow-in-the-dark eyes. Game of all time.

[destinedarts]

Congrats to TDP Season 6 teaser reaching one million views today! Conveniently found the soundtrack same time as well!!

Ahhh!!! Had been looking for the soundtrack for a few months and finally found it!! 😭😭😭 This was one of the hardest soundtracks to find. The other one is Season 4's series trailer soundtrack, which I'm still searching for.

🎵 Anyways, here's the soundtrack — not available on streaming platforms unfortunately — and the trailer down below if you want to compare. 🎶

Notes

The soundtrack was made by Pennybank Tunes! They do not upload to streaming platforms so it's difficult for the various software I've been using to search for it. I've mostly finished up finding all the music used in @dragonprinceofficial's trailers, teasers, and other promo videos. Perhaps, I'll be able to get that list out soon if I can find the last song needed. 😢

Usually, soundtracks we get from them are more alive, fast, and hyper. 🔥 This is definitely one of the slowest tracks TDP has added to their collection and the music gets a little funky/scratchy? later on so it might not be fitting to your style. It's also pretty old, released in 2014. (⊙ˍ⊙) They most likely found it with all the keywords in the tags, especially our totally favorite word: "mYstERioUs" but strangely, it's also in the "ocean" category with "documentary" in the distributors' stores. 💙 But seriously, finding the s6 trailer music better not be as hard as this one. 🩵

Media

Appreciate any reshares on this or spreading the news. I updated this on TDP Wiki already.

Instagram

Twitter

BlueSky

[blackvelvetmuffin]

I’ve been hearing much about Hazbin Hotel coming out this summer except...it didn’t. With news of WGA Strikes and the Actors Guild joining them, it would make a lot of sense for the show to be delayed. 

However even that news feels extremely suspect out of these facts.

1. Hazbin Hotel season 1 finished production nearly six months ago - meaning its ready to be marketed with a trailer not far behind it except...

2. It still doesn’t have a platform to air from and...

3. Despite the completion, it had little to no marketing whatsoever which for me, is a VERY BIG red flag. With mini pics, character redesigns, and 1 sec gifs from the show to hype up the audience.

But how the hell does Vivziepop ever expect for her show to be successful on a mainstream platform if she’s only showing teasers and speaking with her little club house of fans that is a very small minority on twitter?

I understand being presumedly gagged by a company you sold your rights too out of fear of violating a contractual legal agreement but come on...

Everyone wants to deny it but I’m gonna say it.

There’s a lot of smoke from this. 

It was back in 2020 that A24 bought the rights and property of Hazbin Hotel with the big fallout of the entire VA cast being replaced with those that are a part of a union and with some hoping that the show didn’t need the helping hand of ANY corporate middleman or assistance so the show would remain an indie project from start to finish. 

Most projects are marketed at completion with a trailer out at least a season away from release. This level of silence and underexposure and sending just GIFs and design work is just extreme BIZARRE, even more so, from the creator herself! 

We should have gotten interviews from the new VAs, a TV opening, a trailer, a soundtrack, ANY SOUND OR HUMAN INVOLVED OR ATTACHED TO A GIF with the project especially with the release date being this summer! None of what is happening with Hazbin Hotel is making sense on any realistic or creative level. 

We haven’t even gotten any word of WHO IS VOICING the cast this close to scheduled release with radio silence from both A24 and BentoBoxAnimation about it, that is also a big red flag as its listed as current work but they aren’t bringing attention to it with it so dangerously close to scheduled season release. 

Everyone has a right to be concerned about HH by this point but blaming the delay on the strikes seems more like a very convenient excuse and cover by this point as Vivziepop said the season is finished....or is it?

It makes me wonder if all the social media selfies with her merch is covering up a very probable fire involved that she doesn’t want anyone catching on too. The lack of VAs involved or exposed almost makes one wonder if she even managed to hire any union VAs to voice her cast in time, let alone getting voices recorded and OST made for the show. It makes one wonder she only managed to complete the animation part of the season to make room for finding VAs to cast later to finish up at the last minute. 

But that would be crazy right? It would be utter batshit on a stick. No creator, let alone a professional production team, would be THIS crazy to do a reckless career and reputation killing move as to do false advertising on a half-finished product to keep the hype and traffic moving on said product and keep moving the goal post on release?

But how else do you explain the near radio silence on HH with barely any real marketing or advertising and with the series still not finding a streaming home? 

Now is the time to question Vivziepop’s transparency and credibility as this is truly getting out of hand with the teasers and vagueness and excuses. 

This is not about her personal life or past as I’m completely and utterly uninterested in the drama even though half of which is debatable. This is about her transparency and credibility as a creator in her field as this is not the first time she has been dubious and creative with the truth or avoiding it all together when it comes to her work. 

I see so many flags that it might as well be a crime scene and it feels like a big scam. If my theory holds any water, then Vivziepop is playing an extremely dangerous game with her own fanbase.

[morerandombullshit]

Feeling Dysphoric (Crosshair x AFAB! NB Reader)

Rating: T Pairing: Crosshair x AFAB! NB Reader Word Count: 697 Summary: You're feeling dysphoric about your chest because you haven't gotten top surgery yet so your introverted boyfriend tries to comfort you CW: Dysphoria, also my brain has designated Crosshair a secret softie under the grumpy exterior so here y'all go it's some softie Crosshair Note: As a (sadly) AFAB nonbinary person myself with the same issue (even though I have been called flat a few times but hey, accidental validation?), this felt right to write, and I also need a healthy dose of fluff with Crosshair in it for no reason

Also random thing I was listening to the Undertale soundtrack as I was writing this and that shit's a fucking vibe bro

Every time. Every fucking time you look in the mirror or have to look down at your chest, that long-familiar dread fills you up. 

You'd already consulted a doctor about top surgery, and you were waiting to see what they'd say. For three months. Even at the beginning, your dysphoria had never been this bad. Maybe it's the anxiety about the call being mixed in, but you aren't sure. You're just scrolling through some random feed on your phone when you feel a kiss to the top of your head, and you smile despite your earlier gloom. "Hey. Done with your nap?"

You would've joined Crosshair for his nap—and his cuddling, which despite his grumpiness, he gives really good cuddles—but you're so wired with anxiety that you can't sleep. "Yeah." he mutters, voice taking on a drowsy quality from being asleep for so long as he puts his head on your shoulder. "You should've joined me. Spotter did, and she snuggled up to my side."

Spotter is your guys' cat—a two-year old female calico with amber eyes and a bit of a vocal disposition. She's also really cuddly and despite Crosshair's initial grumbling about getting a cat, you and him both know he loves her to death. "That sounds nice." you reply, a little listless. "You get the call yet?" he asks, seemingly picking up on your gloom. He's been with you every step of the way for this, and has become the number one supporter of your gender identity, unlike the bigots and sycophants from your high school days. 

You sigh a bit as you shake your head. "Not yet." you mutter, a little dejected, before feeling silky fur in your lap. You look down, being painfully conscious of your chest, and you smile as Spotter settles down. Her purring settles you a bit as you pet her soft fur, though it doesn't do much. Crosshair hums a bit and takes his head off your shoulder. "I'm gonna go make us some ramen." He runs a soft hand along your jawline before going to the kitchen. "Be right back."

After about four minutes, he comes back with two packs of ramen (those pre-made containers) of your guys' favorite spicy beef ramen, along with forks. Spotter's still in your lap, so it's a feat to make sure she doesn't eat your ramen. Crosshair hands you your container and you smile a bit, as you dig in and he sits beside you. "Bones marathon?" he asks.

"Bones marathon." you agree. Bones is your guys' favorite show, and you're currently on season 8, episode 6 out of 12 seasons. You grab the remote, he puts an arm around you, and tucks you close to his side. You guys stay like this for a few hours, binging, cuddling—Spotter moves to a space between your bodies where there's the most body heat—and finishing your ramen. When your phone buzzes with a call in your pocket, you pause the episode, grab it and pick up. "Hello?"

"This is Mx. Y/N L/N, right?" the doctor's voice has you almost dropping your phone. "Y—yeah, that's me." you stutter, anxiety ratcheting your pulse up and making your leg bounce. 

"Sorry it took so long to get back to you on your consultation about top surgery, but we have an opening."

Your jaw almost separates from your face. An opening. "F—for real?" you ask, trying to make sure you're in reality right now. The doctor chuckles good-naturedly on the other end of the line. "Yes, for real. When are you available for an appointment?"

After the whole appointment planning stuff, you hang up with end-of-call pleasantries. Crosshair looks at you, a small smile on his face—besides, his smiles are only common for you and for Spotter. "You got it?" he asks. You smile back and nod, and he leans in to press a quick, soft kiss to the tip of your nose. "I'm happy for you, babe." he murmurs, this being one of the rare times he uses a pet name for you.

You hum and put your head on Crosshair's shoulder, petting Spotter as you resume the Bones episode you guys are on.

[blissents]

Devlog #1

Hi hi! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I don't really post often, but I told myself that starting in 2024, I wanted to share what I've been working on! I'm a solo game dev who has been developing a game called Visionaries. It's a romance visual novel that explores grief and loss.

༺✧ STORY ✧༻

"Visionaries": Special individuals with the ability to look into the past. There are a select handful of Visionaries who can also see into the future.

"What happens after we die?" The age-old question with no definitive answer. Many have constructed their own complex theories and stories to try and explain this mystery.

~~~~~

Explore the world of Visionaries as you wake up in an unfamiliar room, unable to speak and move. You're faced with unusual people (who tend to bicker any opportunity they get) only to later discover that they are your assigned Visionaries. These Visionaries have only one task; they intend on looking into your memories.

What is the purpose of Visionaries existing, and why do they insist on looking into your mind?

If you want to read more about the progress I've made on Visionaries, please continue reading below the cut! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

༺✧ ART ✧༻

Most of my time has been spent working on the art! (I can't feel my hand) My main focus is to finish drawing all of the character sprites as well as finish rendering the backgrounds. I've already come up with all the designs and expressions for the characters, they just need to be rendered :,)

I still need to create their little character info sheets (I have no idea what the word is, haha), where you'll learn their names, ages, and all of that fun stuff ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

Below are some of the sprites :-)

The first two are fully rendered, while the other three need to be finished :,)

As for backgrounds, I have 1 that is fully rendered and 3 that still need to be finished! I'll only be sharing 3/4 today since I'm unsure if I'll be including the one background in the demo.

To be honest, I struggled quite a bit when drawing the backgrounds D: There were a lot of things I envisioned, but unfortunately, I didn't know how to fully portray them. I had some trial and error while coming up with the original designs. That being said, I'm glad I was able to come up with something I felt satisfied with! I'm planning for the rest of the backgrounds to follow the red/brown colored theme as seen in the first photo ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

Of course, there will be more backgrounds than the ones I'm currently showing! I already have some ideas/drafts for those, but they might change depending on the way the story plays out.

༺✧ WRITING ✧༻

So far, I've planned for the demo to have a little less than 9k words. I'm unsure if I'll keep it at 9k words, or if I'll expand it some more so that there will be more content in the demo :-) We'll see!

As for the overall game, there will be at least 2 routes. There will also be 2 romanceable options (one being he/him, the other being she/they). I'm still figuring out how I want to script all of this, so these aspects may change in the future!

The game will also have options where you can choose your pronouns and name!

Here's a small snippet of the script!

I wanted to show the dynamic between two of the characters :-)

༺✧ OTHER ✧༻

Besides writing and coding, I've been coming up with some ideas for the GUI! I don't have any current drafts of that to share, but I'll hopefully include them in a future devlog ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I also have plans on creating the cover art for the game, cgs, more backgrounds, and possibly some promotional art (rip my hand, there's so much I need to draw (╥_╥))

I was thinking about composing the music for the game, but I realized I know absolutely nothing about music and wouldn't even know where to start if I had tried :,) So instead, I've compiled a list of some soundtracks and sound effects I might use! Hopefully, I can share that in the future once I've narrowed down which soundtracks I know I'll be using.

༺✧ CONCLUSION ✧༻

My overall goal is to release the demo sometime during this year! Because I'm doing everything myself (art, script, writing, etc.), it might take me a bit longer to get everything done. My apologies for that! (╥_╥)

Besides that, I really just want to start creating and sharing more of my art. Getting over the mental hurdle of being afraid to show my work is honestly pretty terrifying for me. I normally only share the things I create with close friends, but I think it's time to get over this fear of mine! ᕦ(ò_ó)ᕤ

I was able to make significant progress within these past few weeks since I'm currently on my winter break. Classes start back up soon, though, and I'm going to be internship-hunting as well as planning on a big move. I'm still going to try my best to juggle everything so that I can make even more progress on the game! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

At the end of the day, all of this is a fun little project I've always wanted to do. As a little kid, I absolutely loved playing VNs (and I still do!). Creating my own game felt like an unreachable goal, but with enough effort, I think it's something obtainable ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I really just want to create something that others can enjoy!

As a side note, I have some plans to create a little blog (not even sure if it's considered a blog, haha) about the games I've played/want to play! That will be coming very soon!

Thank you to anyone who read this far! You have my eternal gratitude <3

~ bliss ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

[sfsolace]

My thoughts on the Hakumei & Mikochi anime

Having recently finished watching the series again, i felt like giving my opinion on the anime adaptation of "Hakumei & Mikochi".

Warning: this post will contain spoilers for season 1 of the anime, so if you just want a quick overview of what to expect, please check my other post.

(Believe it or not, i couldn't find a decent picture of the cover art. The one on imbd is the english version with the horrible font and the one on myanimelist has approximately 5 total pixels)

So here's my general thoughts on the anime: I like it a lot! It's what first introduced me to the series and i think it's a great adaptation of the source material. They did a bunch of smart things in adapting the manga and created something that can stand on it's own as a season of television. It's still my go to anime to recommend to someone to watch while they're sick or feeling a bit down, since the 12 episodes can be watched in a relatively short timeframe.

I really like the vibe of the anime, everything has sort of a warmness to it. From the sound design to the color palette to the pacing, it all has a soft, warm, homely feel that hits exactly right.

What I also like is that some shots are actual panels, giving it sort of a manga feel. This, together with the vignettes that are always matched to the content of a given scene, is a great choice by the director and adds to the unique style of the anime.

I already talked about the music in this other post, so I won't repeat too much here; but the soundtrack is honestly one of the most varied and creative anime soundtracks I've ever heard. It amazes me how the composer can use this many different instruments while still making it seem unified instead of messy. The soundtrack really elevates the anime and makes the emotional beats hit so much harder.

Plus, the ending is also an absolute jam and i love how they used it to close out the final episode with all of the characters we've met. I'm pretty sure this is one of the original additions to the anime, as I can't find an equivalent in the manga.

Which brings me to my next point: it's awesome that the creators of the show took the episodic nature of the manga and used it to make more of a "greatest hits compilation" of the first five volumes instead of going through the chapters chronologically. This way certain stories/chapters were moved to the same episode, so they form more complete arcs.

The anime lets it all culminate in the final episode, where we get to see the next harvest festival, with all the characters we've met throughout the series being there to celebrate. It's a fun sendoff to the stories that were told in this short season and i think they gave a lot the characters ample time to shine.

I think the anime nails the artstyle of the manga. Sure, a lot of the more intricate drawings from the original are hard to top; but the creators of the anime focused on getting the characters and general feel right, which should be the top priority.

The voice acting also makes a huge difference when comparing the story on page and on screen. The original japanese dub just has amazing performances all around. I especially like Jada's voice, because it adds such a unique touch to her character. When she appears in the manga, i instantly read the lines in her voice.

On this recent rewatch i watched the english dub for the first time (didn't know there was one) and I gotta say: It's pretty good! Hakumei and Mikochi are pretty well cast, Conju and Iwashi are great; however, a few characters feel like safe/uninteresting choices. Also the translation and voice acting is a bit "uneven" at times.

I don't think that's the fault of the team that did the dubbing, a lot of these moments feel like they just needed another pass over the script or another take for a scene and simply didn't have enough time for it. I can defnitely recommend the english dub to people who don't watch anime with subs.

All in all, I think the anime is a wonderful adaption and even if you don't follow the manga, it is a nice 12-episode anime to watch and recommend. The team behind it seems to have passion for the story and used the limited resources they had to make something really special.

I don't think we're gonna get a season two, since the anime didn't perform too well; but I'm very grateful to have found this anime before it disappeared from streaming.

If this was at all interesting to you and you like cozy anime: please give it a watch! It's only 12 episodes and it's something really special.

Thanks for reading! <3

[woebegonepod]

Sorry to assault your inbox again but I just need to keep gushing, the storytelling was already so good but it's still somehow getting better and better, and it's like ambrosia for my brain. I think the fact I was on episode 84 yesterday and am about to finish episode 107 speaks for itself.

Whether you're an EVIL genius the way this podcast plays with our emotions may be up for debate but you are 110% unequivocally some kind of genius.

I never get tired of the satisfying crunch whenever a callback to something of prior importance snaps into place, or when a nearly forgotten idiosyncrasy suddenly makes sense just after another plot twist.

101 has been hands-down my favourite episode so far and THE SCARIEST most horrifying horror that has ever horrified me (speaking as someone who has listened to over a dozen longstanding horror podcasts start to finish, some of which have been running for a decade or more- thousands of short stories as well as series).

Well, okay, the post-credits piece about "biscuits and gravy" may be a close contender for scariest thing in the world, but that's an entirely different kind of fear. 🤔

I can't get over how, like, literally no aspect of this podcast is average, every metric I can possibly think of ranges from "very good" to "phenomenal." Thematic flavour, narrative structure, character crafting, voice acting and casting, sound design- and the soundtrack is auditory candy to boot!

Lastly, I wanted to mention I first gave WOE.BEGONE a chance during a time when I was reluctant to try anything new, due to the recommendation from the makers of Wrong Station (whose taste I trust immensely for the superb quality of their own work). Your partnership with them has won you at least one very fanatical fan!

Glad you're enjoying the show! I've definitely learned a lot about all aspects of show running since the beginning of the show, but narrative structure most importantly. I do think that I'm only getting better at telling a story both within an episode and across multiple episodes.

Also cool to hear that you found me through Wrong Station! It's a cool show and I'm glad the ads are creating some crossover.

[agentnico]

The Substance (2024) review

Right, so that was one of the most disgusting films I’ve ever seen. Like I’ll never eat shrimp again, just saying.

Plot: Elisabeth Sparkle, renowned for an aerobics show, faces a devastating blow on her 50th birthday as her boss fires her. Amid her distress, a laboratory offers her a substance which promises to transform her into an enhanced version of herself.

It’s fair to say that 2024 hasn’t been a particularly memorable year for films thus far. In fact outside of Dune I haven’t been truly amazed by any of the releases, and as such have been diving deeper into discovering older movies, mainly through boutique labels like The Criterion Collection, BFI and Indicator. Which don't get me wrong has been wonderful, but I’ve missed seeing decent films at the cinema. However we’re now in the fall movie season which is when all the indie fare that has finished their film festival circuit run now get released to us the regular audience, as well as films that are fighting for a chance to contend at the upcoming award ceremonies. So fingers crossed these last few months redeem 2024, and if The Substance is anything to go by then I thinks movies may truly be back!

The Substance is the type of movie that is made to shock and unsettle an audience. There’s a lot of disturbing imagery, with blood and gore and body horror, very reminiscent of horror films of David Cronenberg like The Fly and Naked Lunch. The final 30 minutes especially are so fun to watch with a crowd of people in a packed theatre, as it’s a kind of visceral and grotesque experience that is at the same time disgusting, horrible yet funny. Let’s not even sugarcoat it - the final 30 minutes are so f-ed up and it was a thrill to experience that with an audience, hearing the gasps and squirms from fellow moviegoers. Definitely up there as one of my favourite cinema trips.

Demi Moore is fantastic here, giving a truly brave performance that carries a lot of commentary in itself. She ends up doing a lot of the emotional work through her eyes, especially to the end of the film, and I must say I can’t recall seeing a performance from her as powerful and memorable as this. She really throws herself into the extremism of this movie, however it is one of the quieter scenes where she really delivers, where her character is getting ready to go on a date but can’t leave the house because of how ashamed she is of her ageing body. It is in this moment where I felt an earnestness that really struck a chord, and a welcome one, as overall this is a pretty campy horror comedy. I say comedy as this movie is really funny, even in the more horrific parts, as the film is aware of its ridiculous premise and satirises the idea of beauty and fame. Oh, and the presence of an over the top Dennis Quaid only added to the parody nature of it all, even though I have read that Quaid’s role was originally meant for Ray Liotta before his unfortunate passing, which makes me wonder of what could have been. Margaret Qualley rounds up the cast as “perfect version” of Moore’s character, and she did fine, though her role was primarily to be eye candy, so I’m reality could have been played by anyone.

We need to also discuss the sound design - it’s impeccable! You hear every crunch, breath and slimy move, so much so that I’m certain this movie would be the biggest turn on for fans of ASMR. The soundtrack too is full of heart-pumping beats, and overall it felt like the director wanted you to FEEL every part of the movie as if you were partaking in the substance yourself.

The Substance is a wonderful and absurd time at the movies, and as long as you’re not too squeamish you’ll have a grand time. Just make sure not to eat anything beforehand, especially not shrimp. Like genuinely I’ve now witnessed some of the most obnoxious chewing ever! Thanks Dennis Quaid!

Overall score: 8/10

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2023-11-20

Sci Fi Week

Listening: Put on various soundtracks while working on Computer Shit over the weekend. Detective Arriving On The Scene from Disco Elysium:

Reading: Ted Chiang's The Story of Your Life, which I finally read. It really is as good as people say. This is probably a little bit of the deeper insight you get from reading something twice but it genuinely is fantastic. The book spends much more time on the rest of her life after the heptapods, whereas the movie is actually pretty light on that.

There's some interesting changes that were made for the movie. Most obviously just how much detail is given to everything, the movie gives the scenes from her daughter's life much more of a dreamy ethereal quality whereas here it's given almost as much weight as the present. The other thing is of course that the daughter dies at like 25 from a rock climbing accident. I guess they figured child disease death is more obviously tragic. This one is much more subtle but gives the flash-forwards a much more varied tone that I like.

Watching: I finally checked out Hbomberguy, after a friend mentioned him. Watched the Roblox OOF video and also the Deus Ex one. So this is why everyone goes apeshit over this guy, I see. I think I did watch one of his earlier videos.

Playing: Finished In Other Waters. Incredible bit of sci-fi. Does a really good job of making use of a very limited game design that was clearly optimized so that one guy could make 80% of the game.

Great writing, both from a narrative side and a worldbuilding side. Fun xenobiology adventures with you and your human, because you are a mostly-mute AI that runs a research base and submersible exploration suit on behalf of Ellery Vas, research biologist whose job was until this point to verify that planets had no life on them so mining companies could get permission to mine there. Ellery is following the trail of an old research associate and has landed up on the only other planet known that has life, and that somehow is still a secret from Earth.

Manages to create some astounding tension with its very simple UI and excellent sound design. You can see your fuel reserves ticking down as you cross a brine pool at speed and the crackling of the brine corroding your suit urges you on. Or you'll be trying to balance collecting new samples of alien species while also retaining enough material to convert into oxygen while you operate in an anoxic deadzone, and all the while it looks like this:

Also, impeccable score

Making: Working through rustlings, the rust exercises. Very useful as a way to quickly encounter a lot of design patterns, which I needed after I got frustrated with my lack of familiarity while trying to write a rust IRC bot.

Tools and Equipment: Interchangeable bit screwdrivers are good to have, but a robust set of long-shafted screwdrivers will always be necessary because some designer will put a tiny screw way down at the bottom of a deep shaft in some product.

[dragonchris]

Game Review: Wandersong

I heavily debated reviewing this game. On one hand, I love it. It's an amazing game with a wonderful message and I've been thinking about it constantly. On the other hand, it's fucking buggy as hell and I'd never recommend it to anyone who has patience thinner than a 2x4 or epilepsy.

Welcome to Wandersong, where you play as one of the most bizarre creatures in the world.

An Extrovert.

Story:

The world is ending and you gotta stop it! You're not a brave warrior or a clever mage, but you're a bard with a heart as big as your vocal chords. And by god you're gonna sing to save the world.

This game balances lighthearted goofiness and emotional depth with a good amount of skill. The characters are charming and funny, and the emotional moments are touching and thoughtful. The more you play to save this world, the more you fall in love with it.

Gameplay and Controls:

If the story is the game's strongest point, the gameplay is it's weakest. BY A LONG SHOT.

I'm not gonna beat around the bush, this game is broken. The mechanics don't control very well, the physics of this world are often your enemy, and sometimes the game just will not work with you, which makes some puzzles just slightly more enjoyable than pulling out your own teeth with a crowbar.

In all honesty, I never got to finish the game. Because it Fucking broke halfway through. Fun fact, if you fail at one puzzle enough times because the physics simply refuse to work, the game just DELETES ASSETS FROM THE LEVEL. Have fun playing an invisible character falling through a platform that no longer exists, fucker.

To make matters worse, the accessibility options don't even work. I tried to toggle off the flashing lights option. It did fuck all. I tried to clear my game data to restart the game after it broke on me. The button does nothing. The only thing worse than a game with no accessibility options is a game with options that do jack shit and jill piss.

Sound:

But, to a more positive note, the soundtrack of this game is very good. I do think it's a clever mechanic to use singing as your primary ability. And with a game that relies so heavily on music, it's no surprise that the music delivers, carrying the whimsical and adventurous tone of the story through its soundtrack. You're just a happy little guy singin' your way through this world, and the music does a great job of helping you feel that way. My favorite part was where you controlled a pirate ship with your voice. It's also very rewarding to recognize recurring motifs and see how they represent the overall story.

Art:

The paper cut-out aesthetic of this 2-D game gives it a whimsical charm and a special aesthetic that helps make this game memorable. It just looks so cute. The character designs are all varied and unique, and the levels all have unique visual themes that keep the game vibrant and interesting all the way up until the end.

Playable, Replayable, or Unplayable?

I want to say that it's a playable game. That you should play it. I fell in love with this game and its story, which is probably why its unplayable mechanics frustrated me so deeply. Though I wasn't able to finish the game, I did watch someone else's playthrough because I wanted to see how it ended, and I'm glad I did.

I loved the ending. I loved the way the story progressed and expanded, the themes that it used and the way that the characters developed. There was genuine heart behind the production of this game. If I could rank this game on story alone, I would give it a 10/10.

But for the game as a whole, a lot of things would need to change before I could mark this as an amazing game. The physics need reworking, the accessibility options need to actually function, and perhaps a failsafe like a level selector might be beneficial for people like me who got completely softlocked and would rather go to the beginning of the act rather than start over completely. It has amazing highs and some pretty bad lows, so because of this, I give this game a smack-dab in the middle 5/10.

Steam

Itch.io

Wandersong Official Website