#Been a fan of this game for ages I have the original on ps3

[crimescrimson]

Juliet Starling in Lollipop Chainsaw: RePop! (2024)

[orcelito]

I went to a local game store today, and I experienced AGONY...

And I dreamed I held you in my hands.....

I asked tho and it was $500 😭😭😭😭😭 which... tracks... it's the only main title persona game that I don't own and it's AGONY... but while I Technically would be Able to buy it, it'd be Really irresponsible lmao. I don't even own a ps1 man it wouldn't be worth it.

Someday tho... I will own it...

I DID ask about the other persona games. The psp games, persona 1, 2 innocent sin, and 3 portable. I own those. And 1 and 3 sell for like $100 and 2 IS sells for like $120+. So. Wowza lmao. I'm not selling them but it sure is weird to know how much they are now.

I didn't buy any games. But i Did buy. This!

It'd a gabite but I'm counting it as a garchomp aka one of my fav Pokémon and it's SO CUTE I named it Caesar after my forever Pokémon Caesar. Aka the garchomp I get in every Pokémon game where I can get a garchomp. I love him ❤

ALSO!!!!!!!!! Unrelated to the store, but I ALSO GOT TO SEE! THESE!!!!!!

Jack's sister owns these and is unwilling to sell them (😭😭😭😭😭) but she agreed to let me see them SO. I held them in my hands 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭. Feeling Fulfilled, even if I feel a Longing in my heart to Keep Them....

I'll have the reprint in December but I wanna have the Original print bc I want the COVERS....... I'm thinking about trying to peruse some used bookstores bc I've seen ppl get lucky & I don't wanna have to spend Hundreds just to own them. Maybe Someday...

[itneedsmoregays]

My history with Transformers

So the Transformers franchise is officially 40 years old. It's pretty amazing how an inherently silly concept like alien robots who turn into cars has lasted this long and shaped so many childhoods.

Every fan's introduction to it, young and old, is different so I'd like to share my own story:

I watched a lot of cartoons and animated movies as a kid, quite a few of which had fantastical elements. But for some reason, I was the type of kid who didn't care for superheroes or giant robots. I knew of Transformers from an old VHS trailer for Armada, as well as that McDonald's ad for Hamtaro and Transformers toys, but that was as far as my knowledge of the franchise went.

It wasn't until 2007 when my brother got Michael Bay's Transformers movie for Christmas. I'd seen one toy advert for it but hadn't give it any other thought. When he asked me if I wanted to watch it with him, I shrugged and said: "...Yeah, sure, whatever." So the next day, we sat down and watched it. After it had finished, he found it okay... but I, on the other hand, was completely mesmerized throughout the whole movie.

Everything about it astounded me: the action, the visuals, the distinctive designs of each robot, the way the parts of every vehicle folded into every robot's body. Now I finally saw how neat giant transforming robots could be.

If I remember correctly, my favourite Autobot was a tie between Jazz (the cool guy of the group) and Optimus (the big badass truck with the awesome voice). And my favourite Decepticon was Bonecrusher mainly due to his wicked design with the wheeled feet and that claw on his back, along with the fact he was the only one other than Megatron with the ball bearings to fight Optimus (I was really bummed I couldn't play as him in the PS2 game LOL). Afterwards, the very first Transformers toy I owned was Deluxe Class Wreckage which I bought from a charity shop.

It's pretty safe to say that from that point onward, I was hooked on Transformers (the Bay films at least, before I learned the problems with them later down the line). I saw the two sequels, started collecting the toys, drew the characters, played the tie-in games, and even called Dark of the Moon my favourite movie at one point.

While the fourth film was being developed, I was hungry for some more Transformers content. So I decided to try giving one of the TV shows a chance. I was unsure where to start, until I discovered a clip of Optimus and Megatron fighting from Transformers: Prime which has just finished its first season. My interest peaked, I watched the whole show and found that I loved it even more than the Bay films, finding all the characters, stories, action and humour to be major improvements. At present, it's still my favourite Transformers show. (Arcee's my favourite 'Bot while Knock Out and Starscream are tied for my favourite 'Cons)

In-between Prime's mid-season breaks, I also took the time to watch the original G1 cartoon, including the 1986 movie. It was nice to go back to the franchise's original toyetic and silly yet still adventurous and enjoyable '80s roots. Despite having been spoiled on Optimus Prime's death years in advance, it still got me emotional (that soundtrack kicks ASS).

I even bought and played the War for/Fall of Cybertron games on PS3, loving the epic scale and the robot designs which seemed like a sleek blend of G1 and Prime. It was also my first time playing a Transformers game that took place entirely on Cybertron rather than Earth, which was really cool.

Suffice to say, all this exposure to different Transformers content and having fun comparing them had strengthened my love for it. And despite now knowing full well how nonsensical, repetitive and dull the movies were by comparison, I decided to give Age of Extinction a fair chance once it finally came out... it blew. XD I didn't even bother to watch The Last Knight later, and from what I've read up on it, I didn't miss much.

And since then, my subjection to other Transformers avenues has only grown:

I watched a tiny bit of Robots in Disguise (2015) but didn't find it as engaging as Prime

Watched all of Animated (fun show, really should rewatch it at some point)

Found Bumblebee to be the best live-action movie with a touching smaller-scale story, slicker action and more memorable villains (thank you, Travis Knight)

Got to meet David Sobolov at a convention (really cool guy) and compliment him on his performance as Shockwave

Checked out all of Beast Wars (R.I.P. Dinobot)

Watched the wholesomeness that is EarthSpark (don't care what anyone says, it's great)

Had a fun time with Rise of the Beasts (loved this version of Mirage)

And I may go to TFNation this year to meet David Kaye, Gregg Berger and Kathreen Khavari. Hopefully in the future, I can meet Peter Cullen and Frank Welker as well!

So, yeah, that's my vividly detailed history with Transformers. In spite of the degrading quality of the Bay sequels, I still have a soft spot for the first movie. The effects and action sequences (especially Blackout's introduction, Scorponok's attack and the highway fight) still blow my mind, and it was the movie that struck a chord with me and prompted me to dip my toes into the vast ocean of this franchise.

And I'm incredibly thankful that I did. It's brought me so much joy over the years and I could never imagine my life without it.

[evajellion]

List of Compile Heart and Idea Factory grievances to look out for

Since my post on Madou Monogatari 4/Fia picked up more steam than I thought, I figured as a former fan of their games, I should just make a post about the work from this studio and what to keep an eye out for when the new Madou Monogatari game releases.

Hopefully the new Madou game will be free of these issues, but… even with the original staff, writers, and D4 involved, it's hard to tell. So this will be a mild PSA of sorts.

Extremely tedious grinding and gameplay: Some of the Neptunia games and other titles required RNG/save state nonsense just to get the best ending. Yes, these games often had multiple endings, and you could lock yourself out of them very easily.

Very poorly made dungeon mechanics: Explained in a video about Spectral Tower, known as the worst RPG ever made.

Performance issues or crashing that will make you lose your progress: Most notable in their PS3 era of games, which may have been the fault of NIS America, but their Switch games do still lag quite prominently. I have had the unfortunate, repeated experience of losing progress due to these games being held together with duct tape.

Recycled assets: While it's normal for games such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to use recolored enemy assets or maybe pixel tile sets, CH/IF take it to a whole other level by recycling… entire dungeon layouts with very little differences in color. If you've seen a few areas in one game, then that's the most you are getting for the rest of it. A game that's a sequel to another in a franchise will even use the same assets as its predecessor despite it looking terribly jarring.

Now uh, the rest of this I have to put a content warning for. None of these are gameplay related, but are strictly about the objectification of minors and LGBT+. I know a lot of the bottom half of this list is subjective and some people won't be bothered by it, but some other people are going to be bothered by the extremely outdated humor.

Sexual assault: CH/IF are totally okay with making jokes about SA or using it for shock. It's considered funny when Plutia or CFW Trick harass girls, or when accidental pervert moments happen. Assault also happens in the game Fairy Fencer F, and while the character responsible is a villain he's also just… forgiven by the end.

Predatory depictions of LGBT+: Quite a few characters are the stereotypical, predatory, yandere or gropey lesbian types and one Neptunia game is outright transphobic to a character that is depicted as a stalker of sorts, with the character wanting to be referred to as she/her but the game never does so.

Loli and underage: CH/IF have no issue sexualizing their blatantly implied underage characters in both Neptunia and Mugen Souls. No, being immortal doesn't make these any less creepy and weird. Especially when Nepgear is called a teen before being assaulted. Even Pupuru from Sorcery Saga, who is only 16-17, is lusted after by the ambiguously aged counterpart to Satan, who wants her to "step on him" and frequently nosebleeds.

Erasure of LGBT+: Despite blatantly fetishizing yuri and yaoi, their Otomate division adaptation of HameFura, well-known for its accidental bisexual reverse harem, removed all wlw-related interactions present from the anime. This is something that fans were rightly unhappy about.

Again, I hope that Madou 4 will be free of ALL of these known issues, since a handful of these games are almost over a decade old, it would be wise if CH/IF didn't do anything of their usual shenanigans. In fact, I would be more than elated if Madou 4 doesn't have any of their usual issues.

We'll just have to see.

Sexual assault: CH/IF are totally okay with making jokes about SA or using it for shock. It’s considered funny when Plutia or CFW Trick harass girls, or when accident pervert moments happen. Assault also happens in the game Fairy Fencer F, and while the character responsible is a villain he’s also just… forgiven by the end.

Predatory depictions of LGBT+: Quite a few characters are the stereotypical, predatory, yandere or gropey lesbian types and one Neptunia game is outright transphobic to a character that is depicted as a stalker of sorts, with the character wanting to be referred to as she/her but the game never does so.

Loli and underage: CH/IF have no issue sexualizing their blatantly implied underage characters in both Neptunia and Mugen Souls. No, being immortal doesn’t make these any less creepy and weird. Especially when Nepgear is called a teen before being assaulted. Even Pupuru from Sorcery Saga, who is only 16-17, is lusted after by the ambiguously aged counterpart to Satan, who wants her to “step on him” and frequently nosebleeds.

Erasure of LGBT+: Despite blatantly fetishizing yuri and yaoi, their Otomate division adaptation of HameFura, well-known for its accidental bisexual reverse harem, removed all wlw-related interactions present from the anime. This is something that fans were rightly unhappy about.

[makers-breath]

Ten years. I’ve waited ten years for this game.

Dragon Age Origins was legitimately the first real video game I ever played. I saw a friend play it in high school and fell in love with it. Wrote novels worth of fan fiction before I even got to play it myself.

My high school boyfriend gave me his PS3 because he upgraded (shout out to you buddy, thanks) and I finally was able to play the game.

I’ve played through Dragon Age Origins, this is not a joke, 41 times. I joined the military at 18 to get out of a kinda shitty living situation and when I got to my first base, thousands of miles from home, thousands of miles from anyone I knew, I had Origins to keep me company.

It was actually all I did because I was a sheltered baby who didn’t know how to get internet to my dorm room.

Since that time, I have gotten out of the military, gone to school, been diagnosed with a weird neurological condition that caused sever migraines and temporarily took my vision. Dragon Age has been there through it all.

I can play it over and over again and it still warms my heart. Of course now, it’s the trilogy as a whole.

I’m already so goddamn sentimental over this game and it hasn’t been released yet. I’ve been planning a final play through to set me up for Veilguard, and now that it’s here, we have dates, I feel like crying, shitting, and throwing up.

Fuck I love this series.

[sheikahwarriork]

What other games do you like other than fe3h?

HI ANON!! thank you for giving me the liberty to talk about my fav games :3

consoles note: i have/had the wii and wii u, new 3ds, ps3, ps4, ps5, and switch; i dont play much on my computer bc it's too weak to support big games :']

first of all, i'm a HUGE zelda fan. i dont post much about it anymore, but in 2017 ca i was veeery deep into zelda games (and zelink omg-), i played all of them save for triforce heroes (never got to manage to play multiplayer online, and playing solo is a pain in the ass). i can't pick ONE fav zelda game; i tend to divide them by 2d zelda games and 3d zelda games, and my fav orders are:

3d games

1) ocarina of time, breath of the wild (cant choose sorry)

2) twilight princess, skyward sword (again CANT CHOOSE! theyre too special to me)

3) wind's waker

4) majora's mask

5) tears of the kingdom

2d games

1) link's awakening

2) spirit tracks

3) a link to the past, link between worlds (cant choose ops)

4) echoes of wisdom

5) zelda I

6) minish cap

7) phantom hourglass

8) four swords / four swords adventures (i played both but i consider them basically the same game)

9) oracle of season, oracle of ages (sorry i'm a oracle saga hater 😔 but only because i firmly believe they both could have been MUCH better! so much wasted potential.....)

11) zelda II (the only zelda game i really DID NOT enjoy......)

note that this list is a preference based; i love (almost) all zelda games equally! they're all my babies 🥺

bonus warriors mention: i'm a bitch for musou games, and hyrule warriors was the game i played the most on my 3ds xD age of calamity is nice too. i love musou games!!!!!

another saga i'm really invested in is assassin's creed. yeah i know, a bit basic, but i'm a history and archaeology major so what did you expect :']

my favs are the ezio ones, especially AC2. and as an italian player who doesnt get to see ofter her own country in videogames, trust me when i say playing in florence, rome and venice was SO AWESOME. also ezio is babigirl and i love him a lot.

BUUUUUT, almost even with the ezio games is AC origins. i mean, ancient egypt?! i'm in!!! and bayek is a super solid main character (also daddy) and i loved his arc A VERY LOT!!!

altair (AC 1) is third place; i simply love the first AC game. still solid today imo

i didnt play much the america saga; i could never managed to bring myself to continue play ACIII, i hated it 😭 i tried to play it like, 4 times?, and i never got past the part with connor's dad. i find the gameplay awful and stupidly boring :// BUUUT i played and enjoyed AC rogue, the one where the MC is a templar dude: not bad, interesting plot, i'd say it's a 6.5/10

tbh unity IS NOT THAT BAD?? mind that i first played it in like 2018 so all the infamous cursed bugs were long gone. i dont even remember the face of the MC dude, but i do remember i liked eloise. and omg paris, and french revolution!!!! the gameplay is funny, so it's okay.

about syndicate, i dont remember much about it but i do remember i enjoyed it. it was nice, gameplay 7/10. also the MC girl was hot.

bonus chronicles mention: i never expected to say this, but platform assassin's creed works!! the china story was my fav :3

AC odyssey is a great action game and i enjoyed playing it a lot; but it's a TERRIBLE assassin's creed game. let me explain. you cant give me the multiple dialogue options and different endings when THE WHOLE POINT OF THE ASSASSIN'S CREED MODERN LORE IS THAT I'M RE-LIVING MY ANCHESTORS' PAST. if it's a PAST that someone ALREADY LIVED, you can't give me different dialogue options and DIFFERENT ENDINGS!!!!! note that i love assassin's creed as a saga, but the "present" plot (the one with desmund, the abstergo etc)? i hate it with all my heart, i dont care about it, i dont give a shit about desmond &co, i just want to play a nice story settled in the past!!!! but noooo they HAD to put the weird "templars and assassins are still here today and they're still fighting and here's a machine that reads your DNA and allows you to relive the past" plot, they TORTURED ME for YEARS of games with this stupid ass modern subplot... and THEN they give me a multi endings games?? so the whole "it's the past" shit doesnt mean SHIT?????? oh my god it's so annoying. i hate it. again, odyssey is a nice game, but really whats their fucking problem :// i will forever be mad about it lmao.

i didnt played valhalla and i dont really care about it, but i plan to play mirage asap. also, i can't wait for shadows :333

i have 1200+ hours on animal crossing new horizon. i dont think i need to elaborate further about it.

i played some of the metroid games, and let me tell you, samus did Something to my gender. still not sure what exactly; but something was done for sure. also i lived-watched the infamous nintendo direct where they announced metroid prime 4. AND I'M STILL WAITING

super paper mario was one of my favourite game when i was a child, i used to remember the tippi and count bleck backstory by MEMORY. i want to play it again-

back to fire emblem: i played sacred stones (8/10 game <3<3<3) and all the "new" ones. awakening and echoes shadow of valencia are my fav right after three houses: robin is So Important to me; and i think i'm one of the few people that actually enjoys echoes gameplay xD (and its soundtrack is FIRE!!! i listen to it when i study along with the three houses one!!)

fates? ehhhhh. let's just say i'm grateful for elise and jacob. but. that's it :////

engage? cute, forgot about it the next second i finished it; save for yunaka and ivy. they're my Wives

(lmao i forgot about heroes: of course i play heroes. i can have my army of little dimitris and byleths. i dont care it's a gatcha. it's perfect bc dimileth <3) (also sorry but the heroes plots are often better written and more interesting than the fates games LMAO-)

now a bit of yuzu lore: the first console i ever had was the wii, and it was a christmas gift when i was 12 and my two other siblings a bit younger. i was very excited bc i spent years asking for a nintendo DS (i wanted to play videogames!!) but my father was strictly against it. but then omg! one day "santa claus" finally brought us a wii! i could finally play videogames!!! well, two weeks after my mother asked for divorce to my father. :'] and yes she eventually admitted she bought us the wii to "try to console us" bc she already planned to ask for divorce (idk if it's questionable but it sure did work). anyway the following months were absolutely hell, my father refused to go away and he and my mother fought a lot and yadayada i had my first major depressive episode yadayada, normal stuff for divorced people's kids i guess. anyway my point is: that wii kept me (actually us, me and my siblings) company and helped us bond and stay together during some of the hardest time of our lives. and we played a lot mario kart wii, and some just dance games (3, 4, 2015 in particular). and after all this time, i'm still very attached to these games. when i play any just dance game i remember the days i spent trying to master some choreographies (days where i couldnt manage to go to school due to anxiety, but the Motivation To Master That Specific Song made me wake up from the bed at least); same for mario kart wii: me and my siblings still play mario kart a lot (now the switch one actually:'] ). so i'll count them between my fav games!

similar thing for super smash bros brawl (i mean it was along the Divorce Hell Period Games i played), but it got a very special spot in my heart, more than just dance and mario kart. me and my sibling (4 years younger than me) really bonded over that game at the time, and it was OUR first "big" contact with nintendo games. also my main were zelda+sheik and samus and YES, THEY DID SOMETHING TO MY GENDER. I DONT KNOW WHAT BUT THEY MADE SOMETHING TO ME-

i simply love baldur's gate 3. i played one tav run, and i'm currently working on two different durge runs. karlach is my wife :3

i'm also a huge nerd for monster hunter, even if i only played world and rise. i think i have like 500+ hours on world? man i love that game. my main weapon is the insect glaive: I LOVE JUMPING AROUND AND HAVING A LIL INSECT BUDDY!!!!! i also enjoy using the dual blades and the bow. also my internet nickname, "yuzu", is also the name of my MHworld character i made back in 2018 <3 rise was nice too but i will forever be a world girl. that game allowed me to reconnect with a friend when we were in high school, so it's special <3

i've never really got to play final fantasy until a few years ago. i played the 10th first, then the 8th, i started the 7th, and when the 16th came out last year i played it a bit with my boyfriend. since the 10th is my first, it's also my favourite obv :'] the 8th has a cool story, but here's the deal: i HATE the (original) combat system of final fantasy 😭 in my opinion, it has the worst parts of both action and strategy games: it's frenetic, but you have to select the move?? wtf is this 🤨 i guess that's why i enjoyed the 10th so much, since it's turn based for real, unlike the others. about the 16th: i played it just a bit, BUT I FREAKING LOVE IT!!! the combat system is so fun, and MAN the music!!!! i havent got the time to properly finish it bc "my" ps5 is actually my boyfriend's, and when i can play i prefer to play bg3 xD but i'll get to it one day or another :'] i'm curious to play the 7th remake, but i want to play the original first. i also started playing X-2, but after seeing the yuna idol scene, i turned off my playstation. i mean, what have they done to my girl ._.

bonus mention to skyrim (one of my first videogame on playstation), and horizon zero dawn <3

okay i cant think of anything else, but i'm sure i'll come up with something more as soon as i post this reply xD

again thank you for the ask anon! if you'd like to suggest me anything based on my reply, i'm all ears <3

[lexintothenex]

Today - the 4th of November, 2022 - marks the 20 year anniversary of the Ratchet and Clank franchise. I wanted to draw something for the occasion, but I’ve been working on art trades and other personal stuff and unfortunately didn’t have enough time. In the absence of art, I will instead get sappy and sentimental over a videogame franchise. This is a love letter to my favourite gaming series of all time. 💌

I’m sure I’m one of the younger R&C fans - I was born nearly exactly one year after the first game had been released. As a kid in the mid-late 2000’s, I got into videogames past the PS2’s prime era, instead having one of my first proper gaming consoles be the next-gen PS3. As a little youngin’ at the age of 7 in 2010, I had my first ever adventure with Ratchet and Clank - the demo for A Crack In Time. And when I tell you I *loved* it, I absolutely mean it directly from the heart. I played that demo over and over again - fighting Agorians on Planet Lumos and spending every minute of my time finding hidden Zoni and Constructo upgrades over and over again. I never got tired of it.

In 2011, for what I believe was my birthday, my grandmother got me the full game. English is not my first language, and at 8 years old, though I did know a large deal of English (when you’ve been playing videogames for so long, you pick up on some things), a lot of the game was essentially gibberish to me. And yet that never deterred me. I loved it all the same. I’m sure I misinterpreted a large deal of the game as a kid (I distinctly remember thinking Alister was Ratchet’s dad, heh) - but nevertheless, I had so much fun, even with the language barrier.

My next game in the franchise was Quest for Booty (yes, I played Tools of Destruction last - so I essentially played the Future series backwards, haha.) This game, along with Tools, I got to play in my native language - becoming much more acquainted and familiar with the story and lore than I was beforehand. I only fell in love with the franchise even more as time went on. Heck, the first ever fanart I made of a pre-existing franchise was of Ratchet and Clank (had it not unfortunately been thrown out years ago, I would have shown it here).

And so the years went by. And I played the original trilogy. And I played the spin-offs. I played All 4 One, I played QForce, I played Nexus. I played Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale to get to play as Ratchet.

Sure, as I got older, my interest in videogames declined a slight bit - I never got a PS4 nor a PS5 because I knew I wouldn’t get much use out of them - but my love for Ratchet and Clank never faded. So I watched letsplays, I watched 100% completionist videos of the games I didn’t have the opportunity to play for myself. I watched display showcases of every type of armour and weaponry you could buy. I know the ins and outs of games I have never touched in my life.

It has been nearly 12 years since I played my first Ratchet and Clank game. And I am forever grateful I was introduced to this franchise. It was what singlehandedly got me into gaming when I was young, it was what got me into fanart, and heck, my dream job of being a concept artist stemmed from all of the amazing concept art behind the scenes of these games.

Thank you to Insomniac. For everything. Happy 20th anniversary, Ratchet and Clank. 🧡💙

[thewhitefluffyhat]

Bernkastel

What is this guide?

<< Previous (Witches and Fragments in Umineko)

Reading List: Highlights

Umineko Episode 2/Turn “??? Tea Party” [ Video / Text ]

Bernkastel explains some of her origins. And does Rika’s “nipah~”

”The Witches' Tanabata Isn’t Sweet”  [ Video / Text ]

Lambda cajoles Bern into granting a wish, which Bern does in her own way. (A good introduction to Bern’s personality.)

Umineko Episode 6/Dawn "Logic Error Backstory" scene

Video [Scene starts roughly 16:04, stop before 28:07]

Text [Skip the first two scenes by searching on “Erika, who wanted to savor the memory of her perfect victory”. Scene continues to end of the page.]

Lambda explains her and Bern’s origins to Erika. (This one scene contains the majority of information we have on all three witches’ connections to Higurashi.)

Umineko Episode 8/Twilight “Tea Party”  [ Video / Text ]

[Spoilers for several characters' fates at the end of Umineko, though not the solution to the core mystery.] Bern and Lambda in the aftermath of a hard-fought game. (A look at what the witches are like when not actively playing a role in a game.)

Reading List: I want it all

”Whose Tea Party?” [ Video / Text ]

Bern gets invited to a tea party. (A simple and silly scenario, but also a window into the differences in how Featherine and Lambda think of Bern.)

”Bernkastel’s Letter” [ Video / Text ]

Bernkastel writes a letter to (maybe) Featherine, explaining what she’s discovered about the rules to Beatrice’s game. (This is a bit of a strange one - to me it feels like some details of Bern’s relationships in this early work were retconned by the time of Umineko Episodes 6-8.)

Brief appearances/mentions in “Memoirs of the ΛΔ”, “The First and Last Gift”,  and “Jessica and the Killer Electric Fan”

All of Umineko, but particularly Umineko Chiru.

07th Theater and the Last Note of the Golden Witch from Umineko Saku.

Like Higurashi, Umineko has a questionably-canon fighting game (Golden Fantasia). Bern has playable routes and dialogue there.

If you really want to be thorough, and consider Higurashi’s Rika to be the same character as Bernkastel in Umineko, congratulations! All of both Higurashi and Umineko are now on your reading list. You should probably toss Ciconia on the pile just in case too. Good luck~!

(Also, I know there’s a Rika/Bern lookalike in pretty much every Ryukishi07 work, but unless someone tells me otherwise, then for the sake of everyone’s time I’m going to assume lookalikes are different characters.)

Wiki Links

https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Bernkastel [Not recommended: major Umineko spoilers!]

Quick Facts

-The Bernkastel of Umineko is heavily implied to be the same character as the “Frederica Bernkastel” in Higurashi. You can theoretically construct a reading where she isn’t but… now you have two Bernkastels in the same Sea of Fragments.

Here’s Ryukishi07’s comment on the matter:

Q: What is the relationship between Rika and Frederica Bernkastel? A: Bernkastel is composed of all the negative emotions and memories from the Rika that endured 100 years of torment in Higurashi. On a side note, he mentioned that Rika was BT’s favorite character, so he greatly enjoyed making Rika evil to see BT’s reaction.

(Source: ACen 2015 07th Expansion Panels) [Warning: major Umineko spoilers!]

-In Umineko, the character always goes by her last name or a shortening thereof; the "Frederica" part is only ever referred to indirectly in some PS3 art and as the author of a poem in “Bernkastel’s Letter.” (This was actually true in Saikoroshi as well.)

-Physically, she has same eye/hair color as Rika, though her eyes lack highlights and she seems slightly older.

(Bern and her piece Erika share several physical similarities, and in Umineko Episode 5, Erika is described as a high schooler who looks more like a middle schooler. So that description may be true for Bern’s “age” as well.)

Personality

-Bern has completely dispensed with the cutesy Rika act - she’s all dark Rika, all the time. At her best, Bern is as cold and cynical as Rika after she's given up on a timeline.  At her worst, she's  a vicious and abusive bully, arguably even more sadistic than Takano.

There are some interpretations you can take that soften her behavior, but she is not, under any stretch of the imagination, a good person.

(When people say "maybe Gou is a Bernkastel origin story!" this abrupt change to her character  may also be what they're referring to - not just the story behind where Bern came from, but potentially the story behind "when and why did Rika turn evil?")

-In the present of Umineko, Lambda is repeatedly noted to be Bern’s only friend. (More on their relationship in Lambda’s section.) Part of that is, well, the above bullet points, but the second part is that she just tends to avoid other people. She’s mostly retreated back to being an observer, not an active participant on the stage. (Another difference from Rika.)

-Bern’s relationship with Featherine is less affectionate than that of Rika and Hanyuu. Bern is much harsher and more disrespectful towards Featherine, but on the other hand, Featherine isn’t bothered by it and instead appears amused by her antics.

-Despite all these differences, Bern does keep some of Rika’s minor quirks -  her love of extreme foods, her narration’s fondness for odd and/or longwinded metaphors, and of course her trademark emo poetry.

-Still, Given Gou Episode 19, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a bit of a gap between Rika’s tastes and Bern’s.  Bern acts more reserved/refined, she’s more often seen drinking tea than wine, and her “home” (in as much as she has one) is in a giant library.

I’d previously chalked these differences up to merely the change in aesthetics between Higurashi and  Umineko (all witches love their fancy tea parties), but now...

That being said, in Umineko, Bern’s just as scornful of high society markers as she is everything else. Champagne tower bowling, anyone?

Abilities

-Bern’s title is the “Witch of Miracles,” and she has the power to “cause success without fail, 'as long as the odds are not zero'.”

-What exactly that means in practice is hard to define. Could Bern use miracles to cause someone to, say, die of a lightning strike? Probably. But what she’s actually doing is sifting through millions of Fragments until she finds a world that matches what she wants. It’s a power that functions at the meta level.

(So your guess is as good as mine as to whether she could pull off Rika’s “I literally caught a bullet barehanded while inside a Fragment” miracle at will.)

-Bernkastel and Rika are both associated with black cats. Unlike Rika, Bern can and does literally shapeshift into one. She and Featherine also use black cats as messengers.

-In magical battles, Bern usually fights with a black scythe and summons hordes of aforementioned black cats. She also really loves her teleports and that “dodge via interposing magical duplicate” trick.

-When acting as Featherine’s miko, Bern is able to grant “Theatergoing authority” (basically the ability to compel and watch other characters’ significant flashbacks) to pieces on a game board.

-Bern can kludge multiple worlds together into one Franken-Fragment, a perhaps less elegant version of what Hanyuu does to create the Matsuribayashi Fragment.

-In the silly 07th Theater crossover stories, Bern is also shown to use the “power of voyage” to pluck pieces from one game and place them in others. (If you thought Featherine was unlikely in Gou, note that technically, even Beatrice has been to Hinamizawa!)

Next (Bernkastel’s Umineko Origins) >>

[blazehedgehog]

What was the honest reaction to Sonic 06 back in 2006?

It was a long time ago, so I can only really speak to my own perspective.

Sonic 2006 was the time that Sega’s marketing department really started cranking the hype train really, really hard. Sonic 2006 was announced as a fresh start. A soft reboot. Sonic Team said they were treating it like “the first Sonic game on the Sega Genesis.” You still had Tails, and Knuckles, and Shadow, but it was the start of a new era. A new type of Sonic the Hedgehog. More serious, more realistic, more “epic.”

At this point, there was no reason to necessarily distrust any of that. Yes, Sonic games had been slipping in quality, and yes, Sega was still more or less pretending that everything was “okay.” But that was always in the typical, “we’re trying to sell a video game and not go bankrupt” sense. This felt like a tacit acknowledgement that things weren’t so great and they were going to start over and refocus. Set things right.

Early gameplay footage looked rough. I distinctly remember a Gametrailers hands-on where they were demoing the Mach Speed Zone in Kingdom Valley, and the Sega representative was very clear and upfront that the game wasn’t done yet, and all of the empty space Sonic was running through would be filled in later. (It wasn’t.) There was also the typical debate over the TGS 2006 “Bringing it Home” playable demo, where people argued then, too, that the game wasn’t done yet, and not to judge things too harshly. The final version will be better.

The final version also wasn’t done yet. So, y’know.

I had effectively bought an Xbox 360 for this game. I was broke as per usual, but I’d gotten lucky and won a Gametrailers video competition, which landed me $1000 in Gamestop gift cards. I bought a PS2, a Nintendo DS, and an Xbox 360, plus more than a dozen games between the three platforms. I knew there would be more Xbox 360 games besides Sonic 2006, and I’d even originally wanted a 360 primarily for Elder Scrolls Oblivion, but the simple fact is that once the money was in my hands and I spent it, Sonic 2006 was the only actual Xbox 360 game I owned.

Or was going to own, anyway. I think I’d won the contest in September or October of 2006, when Sonic came out in November. So I bought the 360 a few weeks early with some original Xbox games, and spent the interim with Spider-man 2, Ninja Gaiden Black, and the copy of Halo 2 I borrowed from my cousin.

Sonic 2006 was the first game I’d ever pre-ordered. The second game, pre-ordered on the same day, was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Gamecube. I still have the tiny pre-order statue that came with Sonic. His gloves and socks, once white, have begun to yellow with age, and the skin tone on his face and body is turning an ashy gray.

Even 72 hours before launch, there was not a clear picture what Sonic 2006 actually was. Sega was deliberately obfuscating certain features; early in development they’d sworn up and down that there were only three playable characters in the game, something that blatantly wasn’t true. Perhaps it was miscommunication from Japan, but it meant they were now going out of their way to hide how many other playable characters were actually in the game. I naively distrusted most (if not all) professional reviewers back then, and the earliest scores for Sonic 2006 were all over the map.

As a Sonic fan, you kind of had to know how to read between the lines on the more negative reviews, because we were definitely in the era where it felt like critics were starting to dogpile on the Sonic franchise now that Sega was a third party developer. There weren’t a lot of professional reviews you could trust regarding Sonic games, or at least, that’s what it felt like. This was the rise of the podcast, and snarky hosts were taking whatever low hanging fruit they could get.

I remember waking up on launch day -- friends had gotten up early and picked theirs up in the morning, when I’d rolled out of bed somewhere closer to noon (or maybe even afternoon). I had plans to pick up my copy later that evening, after sunset. My friends did not sound happy, but again, there was always this vibe of “Wait and see.” They had only just started the game. First impressions were still too fresh to really call.

But I had this moment, this cold spot in the pit of my stomach, where I thought “Maybe I can cancel the pre-order and get Gears of War instead?” Reviews for Gears seemed pretty good. I’d probably be happy with it instead of Sonic.

I couldn’t let myself do that. I was a Sonic fan. This was the first big Sonic game of a new generation. A new start. I bought the console for this. First game I ever pre-ordered. The second Sonic game in the history of the franchise I’d bought on launch day. This was it. This was the event. No backing down. Besides, Sonic 2006 was a big 15th Anniversary celebration game. They wouldn’t make such a big deal about the anniversary without just cause, right? Sonic 2006 was going to be great. I just needed to calm down.

So we drove out to Gamestop -- and it was the sort of thing where I think we couldn’t do the pre-order at my local Gamestop for some reason, so this one was a town or two over. It was a journey. I was nervous the whole way there. Something told me I was making a mistake. But I had to do this.

I think it may have been starting to rain as we rolled up on the store. It was around 8pm, and people were starting to camp out on the sidewalk. Literally camp out, tents and all, because of the rain. Today was the launch date for Sonic 2006, but tomorrow was the launch of the Playstation 3. These guys were here for Gamestop’s “Midnight Madness” launch event. They were going to be some of the first to get a PS3. I was probably the last person to pick up a Sonic 2006 pre-order.

Sonic 2006 might have been the first Sonic game to ever make me angry. I’d had a lot of internet debates on how I felt about Sonic Adventure 2, but most of those amounted to splitting hairs about things that felt disappointing when compared to the original Sonic Adventure. I was not angry then, I was simply let down. I was similarly let down when I finally got a chance to play Sonic Heroes. But again, not angry. Baffled, maybe. A little sad. But not angry.

With Sonic 2006, I slammed head first in to all of my excitement and uncertainty at 200mph. This was a Sonic game unlike anything I’d ever played before, and in all of the worst possible ways. Enough has been said about the quality of the game that I don’t need to describe anything that’s wrong with it -- also because literally everything was wrong with it. Perhaps the first video game I’d ever played, ever, on any platform, that actually fought back against your efforts to play it. A disaster in every sense of the word. A broken nightmare. After finishing Sonic’s story, I was mad. How could they let this happen? What was wrong with them?

I was less angry after having finished Shadow’s story. Shadow had even buggier gameplay than Sonic, but it also felt more complex, more action-oriented. His story was better, too -- instead of the sappy Princess love story, Shadow’s story was about how the world was against him, and the crossroads that brought him to: rise above his past and strive to be a better person, or give in to the temptations of evil? It was still dumb as heck, but it was less dumb than Sonic’s story.

By the time the credits rolled, I had accepted the fact that this game was a mess. More of a mess than any Sonic game ever had been before. It was clearly a deeply unfinished game. Friends theorized maybe they could patch the game, because that was a thing games could get now. Sonic 2006 could still be saved. The PS3 version wouldn’t be out for another month, surely that means they’re working on a fix, right? Some were even theorizing over an achievement called “Nights of Kronos” -- it mentioned a “complete ending to the last hidden story.” Perhaps that meant there was going to be more? Maybe we got the bad ending, and a better, more finished ending was waiting for us on the disc somewhere?

There wasn’t. And no patch ever fixed the game. That was Sonic 2006 -- the kiss, the loading screens, the strange mannequin NPCs, the stiff controls, the glitchy physics, the empty overworlds, the bizarre dialog, the plotholes and time paradoxes, that’s just what the game was, and was always going to be, forever.

Before Sonic 2006, you could say that 3D Sonic games were bad, but there was always a place to defend them from. They had problems, but they were never irredeemable. Sonic Heroes may have had frustrating controls and repetitive level design, but it had great art direction, nice music, and fun concepts. They were always trying, dang it, and it was obvious to see that.

Sonic 2006 felt irredeemable. Offensively terrible. A failure on such a level that it was hard to comprehend. Beyond simply “a new low” for the franchise. This felt like rock bottom. It was the kind of bad that spread like a virus. Even good games, like Sonic 2 on the Sega Genesis, felt notably tarnished by the existence of Sonic 2006. It threatened to ruin the entire franchise by proximity alone. For some, it probably did. I definitely had a moment where I wondered if I would ever enjoy a Sonic game in the same way ever again. They were all tainted now. Infected by memories of Sonic 2006, the game that was supposed to save the franchise, but condemned it to the lowest pits of hell.

In isolation, that might have been the end for me. I might have continued to drift away, bit by bit, until I found greener hills outside of the Sonic franchise.

I’ve said this before, but what saved me was getting hired to write for TSSZ News. Now, suddenly, I was paid to play and write about Sonic games. It was a duty. And it helped that the first Sonic game I reviewed for TSSZ ended up being Sonic Unleashed, a game I continue to openly gush about to this day, more than a decade after its release.

But never forget that Sonic 2006 was such a disaster that it nearly made me give up Sonic the Hedgehog. It really was that bad.

[belliesandburps]

Followup with MGS4 Peace Walker and 5?

History has a funny way of repeating itself. :P

This one's actually gonna be long, so I'll cap it here to spare those uninterested in non-kink posts the burden of having to scroll past this fanboy rant. 'XD

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

3. It's Okay

Soooooo...not a controversial opinion to say that I don't think MGS4 is GREAT. I adored it when it first game out, and I still enjoy replaying it from time to time. But good lord, so many of the interviews shed light on a LOT of this games problems.

Some backstory is required. Hideo Kojima was done with MGS by this point. He planned to move on and leave the series to the younger generation. But then, there was a lot of internal conflict and struggle to determine what MGS4 should be after Fukushima quit (AND was rumored to have been murdered by the Yakuza...how that rumor started...and became a SERIOUS rumor that millions believe, I do not know...). So Kojima came back, course corrected, and the end result was kind of a giant mess.

I'm not talking story because, there's just way too much to unpack. But as a game, MGS4 can't decide what sort of video game it wants to be. It had a brilliant idea that had never been done before with its Battlefield Stealth, which were the best parts of the game. And then they get dropped two acts in, and what gets replaced in their stead is not nearly as fun.

The game had substantially less boss fights than its predecessor, and a lot of them were mechanically simplistic or just didn't let you get creative with how you fought them. And we later learned there were a lot more bosses planned, more gameplay sequences planned, and an entire other PMC group that got canned in favor of the Scarabs so Shadow Moses could be guarded by machines instead.

There's a lot about MGS4 that I love. I think the first two acts are amazing, ESPECIALLY Act 2. I think the mechanics are great. REX vs RAY is criminally fun. The sheer buffet of insane weapons gives the game a good amount of replay value. And the graphics still hold up to this day!

But what I finally realized is that the game juggles way too many ideas and doesn't give any idea the time they deserve to flourish. Battlefield Stealth could've CARRIED MGS4. But it gets dumped before we can get our moneys worth. A disguise sequence could've been really creative, having to juggle different identities with OctoMask every time one identity is burned. But it's only used once and wasted because it's only used for a terrible tailing mission that doesn't let you actually explore the European City. And too many of the action set pieces are kind of bland except the bosses and piloting Metal Gear.

MGS4 should've been MGS4. Not MGS's "Best Hits."

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

1. LOVED it!

I know this is unpopular to say, but I'll say it. Peace Walker is one of the best Metal Gear games ever made. I adored almost everything about it. The gameplay improves on MGS4 in most ways because it doesn't juggle a billion ideas all at once. It's MGS4 stripped down to stealth action from start to finish, and that's all I wanted. The level design is great. The insane volume of guns changes the entire feel of combat in later post-campaign gameplay. The mission select options mean you can jump into all the parts of the game you enjoy the most. There's TONS of bonus missions that are really inventive and fun to replay. And the story is one of the best in the series. It's straight forward, very tight, characterized well, and is the best iteration of Big Boss to date.

Peace Walker's also the FUNNIEST MGS game by Kojima as well. There's so much more personality and levity to everything, to the point where Big Boss often feels like an MCU character. That might sound bad, but it's really not. That corniness fits MGS PERFECTLY, and I'd argue is tonally spot on for this series. MGS doesn't need to be dark, gory or explicit. It's a silly series that's about giant robots, corny bad ass super agents with an anti-nuke message.

The only downsides to Peace Walker are the QTE's and the boss fights. This was a feature that only ever appeared in this game and for good reason...it was fucking terrible. So basically, you had cutscenes that forced you to do various QTE's or else get dinged on your ratings at the end, even if you played perfectly. Fairly minimal, but then, you get to Strangelove's torture. And this is the single most rage-inducing part of any MGS game ever made. It's an insanely physically painful button mashing sequence that will leave your fingers raw and your PS3 triangle buttons jamming. And the ONLY way you can replay one of the best missions in the game (the prison escape where you have no items) is by redoing that sequence over and over. And the boss fights? While inventive, they're all just grindy bullet sponges with no personality, no stealth tactics, and no room for creativity the way you can get creative with every other MGS game's bosses. This was the biggest disappointment for me because the stealth and combat mechanics of PW are great and would've been SO good against human enemies like what Portable Ops had. Instead, every boss is a mini-Metal Gear all voiced by the VOCALOID AI from the mid 2000's, and each one takes forever to destroy. It sucks because PW had a TON of bosses, but only a few of them are any fun, and that's only if you have weapons that are strong enough that they don't take ages to destroy.

But asides from the bosses, the REST of the game is so damn good that I don't even care because that's just one element to a much larger, grander game. Which is even more impressive when you consider PW was originally on the PSP before the PS3 port. And this game has more content and replay value to it than most games I've played since.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

1. LOVED it!

Hooooooookay...so, I've rambled about my storybook romance with MGSV for YEARS now. (Just ask @twistedtummies2, he's been subjected to my fanboying of this game more than anyone in existence XD) But there's a reason I regard this game as one of my all time favorites and the best MGS game to date.

It's REALLY freakin' fun.

Kojima had been re-energized by the time he got to MGSV. He'd been working on the game around the time he finished Peace Walker in 2010. He KNEW it was his final MGS game and wanted to do something completely different...

...He wanted to make a game where the central focus was on...waaaaait for it...the gameplay...

MGSV was designed to be, what he described, as a toybox. You have these missions that all take place in structurally unique outposts like any level in MGS. And the missions are designed with the structure needed so that they all feel different, but all remain so open ended that you can play them countless different ways.

MGSV's game model is everything GTA SHOULD'VE been. It fully embraces the open world freedom and incorporates that into the missions flawlessly. And it plays in such a way that stealth and combat both feel like they were the primary point. In MGS, combat is usually a last resort. But with MGSV, you can fly into an outpost blasting away on your helicopters mini-gun, shoot up the bad guys, rescue your target, throw them back into the chopper and fly away while "The Final Countdown" blares on your choppers loud speakers.

Every method of gameplay is valid and the controls, the enemy AI responsiveness, it's all, bar none, the best I've experienced in ANY video game. Sneaking around feels tight and tense and combat makes you feel like Jack Bauer on adrenaline. (I mean, he IS the voice of Venom Snake)

And I really like the story for the most part too. Its weaknesses are really glaring. Namely, the "Fun" of MGS is completely devoid in the story (which is really odd since it's FRONT AND CENTER in-game). Venom Snake only has maybe six minutes of dialogue in the entirety of this 30+ hour long game. And the way Skull Face gets completely undercut right at the home stretch is something I have NOT stopped bitching about for almost six years, and my friends can personally attest to that.

That and the ending feels too abrupt.

We know that Kojima got fired by Konami's VP and said VP scorched the entire production company after that and made a series of dickheaded decisions that pissed off a LOT of fans, burning much of the good will Konami IP fans had towards the company. But that had nothing to do with MGSV's abruptness. That was the plan from the start because only Kojima would think to end the entire series on a plot twist like that.

And I think the issue isn't the twist at all. In fact, I LOVE the twist. The issue is that the game should've continued beyond it so Venom Snake could cope with the truth and realize how badly he'd been screwed. I think even people who hated the twist could've been won over if there was a little more to the games epilogue than Episode 46.

Also, the games boss fights were a tad underwhelming. Not the fights themselves, I LOVED all five of the games bosses.

Oh? There were twelve?

No. I meant what I said. Because so many of the games bosses are rematches against the same bosses. All MGSV has is the Skulls, Quiet, Eli, The Man on Fire, and Metal Gear. They're great bosses that do everything the best MGS bosses always did; give you tons of options, incorporate combat AND stealth, have varied attacks AND even have multiple methods to sneak around the boss and avoid the fight completely. But for a game as long as MGS, you need more variety. And frankly, the bosses NEED more personality. Skull Face should've had more XOF assassins acting as the bosses in the game along with the ones we have. Elite assassins like Quiet, with their own powers and specialized weaponry so the fights feel completely different from the ones we have. And oh yeah, SKULL FACE HIMSELF SHOULD'VE HAD A GOD-FUCKING-DAMN BOSS FIGHT!!!!

Buuuuuuut those issues don't even matter if for all the games issues, I still replay it frequently when it's almost six years old.

So yeah! There's the massive rant you totally didn't ask for! :D

[noddytheornithopod]

top 5 video games?

(For this)

I’m going to list five franchises and list specific games there because I’d feel bad if I let one take up the majority of space here. In no specific order besides maybe how easily they come up in my mind right now:

Danganronpa: No surprise to anyone who’s known me over the past two years. Visual novels watching a dwindling cast of characters as they’re all murdered was not something I ever expected to get into. Even if there’s some very obvious problematic stuff, the engaging story and characters sucked me in completely. The main trilogy of games are all pretty close in terms of how much I love them. Even if I have a very special place in my heart for the original Trigger Happy Havoc (particularly because Kyoko Kirigiri is still probably my favourite character in the series, but also because it had to set up this entire world and has a level of groundedness and realism to it that makes it stand out), my favourite is definitely V3: Killing Harmony. Favourite cast, favourite score, favourite trial (THAT FIRST TRIAL WILL FOREVER HAUNT ME AND BREAK MY HEART), my favourite... almost everything. Some of the art is a bit wonky and there’s of course the usual problematic missteps (*shakes fist* Angie!!!!), and the third trial is ironically one of the weakest for me, but when it hits, it hits HARD. Still not over stuff like the impact of Kokichi Oma and the game’s ultimate twist and what it ended up meaning for basically everything.

Little Nightmares: Anyone paying attention to my tumblr may have noticed this crop up occasionally on my blog. I pretty much got into this on accident, an artist I followed was streaming the first game, and that subsequently reminded me of seeing it on a YouTube I follow and liking how the game looked there. Not one for straight up horror usually, but I appreciate more atmospheric stuff like this. Of course there’s the usual very sus things you expect from the genre (seriously, did a fat person hurt someone at Tarsier Studios???), and I will say that I’m not used to puzzle solving that involves a lot of lateral thinking so that did annoy me sometimes (or maybe I just suck with my aging mid-twenties brain lol), but I’m really happy to have a horror experience that isn’t soft on you but also isn’t overwhelming and indulgent in things like gore and jumpscares. I also like the world that’s been created, especially after Little Nightmares 2, which is easily my favourite of the games. Why? Well, besides just naturally evolving and improving from the first game, the story hits a lot harder. I went into the game expecting scary times, but I came out utterly heartbroken and stunned at the twist at the end and all of its implications. It’s all very abstract, sure, but I think that adds to the power of many of these moments.

Crash Bandicoot: Probably the franchise that’s stuck with me the longest, playing these games is almost like second nature to me. I definitely think the cartoony nature of the games and their wide cast of characters helped draw me in, too. My favourite is probably Crash Bandicoot 2, I feel like it was expansive and varied enough while not going as overboard with stuff like vehicles. That being said, I definitely think Crash Bandicoot 4 is rivaling that position, it manages to keep that classic gameplay while escalating pretty much everything in a way that I appreciate. Also have to say I love Crash Team Racing, I’m especially happy with Beenox remaking the game. The original trilogy and the newest Crash 4 are probably the most polished games for me out of the main ones, but I also have a soft spot for Mind over Mutant, which I know is blasphemous to many fans, but I just really like how the game utilises the characters and humour there for the most part, and it’s surprisingly good at worldbuilding and tying to the rest of the series despite on the surface appearing very different.

Spyro: Yeah, given my interest in Crash it’s not a surprise I like the Spyro games, being a sibling franchise in a sense. The games are just really easy and fun to get into. Well, the original trilogy anyway. Everything after it is... something alright. I actually think the Legend of Spyro games are probably the best we got after the original trilogy, because they at least were willing to do their own thing. Dawn of the Dragon was frustrating to play, but from what I understand it was even more rushed and had more budget issues than even the others in the trilogy so yeah. Favourite Spyro is definitely Year of the Dragon. It’s a nice midpoint between the first two games even if overall it’s basically Spyro 2 but done way better. People see it as a rehash and running out of ideas (and I mean the latter wasn’t true, that’s why we’re playing as a flying penguin and space monkey as part of a larger cast of characters lol), to me Spyro 2 has just a lot of issues that 3 is honestly just what the game would be if it were more polished and thought out. I definitely have a soft spot for the original Spyro the Dragon too, sometimes simple treasure hunting and dragon saving is all you need, and it probably has the most fun exploration to it.

Ratchet and Clank: Spyro came from Insomniac games, so when they dabbled back in platforming, I eventually found Ratchet and Clank too. Hybrid platformer/third person shooter with ridiculous weapons and gadgets? Sold. Favourite game is honestly a hard pick. You can tell in the PS2 era they were trying to figure out what exactly they wanted to be, so the Future games definitely are more polished overall in terms of gameplay. Even with this, I really like the PS2 games, they have a satirical edge to them (well, ignoring whatever 3 thought satire was lol) and the first two games having more platforming is really cool. If I had to pick a favourite it would probably be the second game, it was the first Ratchet game to really lean into the weapons more. Even so I really like the first game being quite unique (and it probably has the best story in this era), Deadlocked while at first was a bit too edgelord for me has really grown on me with really honing in on specific things to focus on, and well Up Your Arsenal even if I find some things about it weird (mainly in terms of story) it’s still a really fun game that solidified what the second created. I’m not as into the PS3 and beyond games from a story perspective, but like I said I do think the games are more polished overall. A Crack in Time is definitely my favourite, mainly because they got the story to work best out of the new space opera tone the Future series was going for (nonsensical time travel rules aside). It also has probably my favourite boss in the series, the final one really surprised me when I first saw it and it still sticks out in my mind. Also have a soft spot for Into the Nexus, which even if it’s too short and probably a bit undercooked (eww low framerate) has a really unique tone to it that I’d love to see returned to someday.

[super-famicom-star-inactive]

Throwback Tuesday

December 29th, 2020

The very last Throwback Tuesday of the year!!

For this week's episode, we will not only celebrate the recent anniversary of Sonic's major outing into 3D but also dive into one of my favorite video game guilty pleasures

Just a heads-up, this will be a two-parter as we will look into Sonic Adventure 2.

May I present

Sonic Adventure (1998)

Production History

Original Release: December 23rd, 1998 (JPN), September 9th, 1999 (USA), September 23rd, 1999 (PAL)

Future Releases: Gamecube (June 17th, 2003, USA), Windows (September 14th, 2005, USA), XBox 360 (September 15th, 2010, USA), PS3 (September 20th, 2010, USA), Steam (March 4th, 2011)

Developer: SEGA

Publisher: SEGA

Director: Takashi Iizuka

Producer: Yuji Naka

Artist(s): Kazuyuki Hoshino, Yuji Uekawa

Designer(s): Takao Miyoshi, Takashi Iizuka, Yojiro Ogawa

Programmers: Tetsu Katano, Yoshitaka Kawabita

Writer: Akinori Nishiyama

Composer(s): Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani, Masaru Setsumaru

Inspiration

Due to the cancellation of Sonic X-treme on the SEGA Saturn, Sonic Team immediately went about trying to develop the first 3D Sonic game. With the release of Sony's Crash Bandicoot and Nintendo's Super Mario 64, they needed a killer app to sell the Dreamcast and tension was high. Production started in 1997 where Sonic Team famously traveled to Latin America to study on the culture and architecture of major cities like those found in Cancun, Guatemala, and Peru to use for the environments in-game.

Story

In this game (a first for the series), you have the option to play six different stories of six different characters: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Big, and E-102 Gamma. When a mysterious humanoid monster made entirely of water shows up out of nowhere, Sonic and the gang team up to retrieve the seven Chaos Emeralds and use their power to halt Dr. Eggman's plans of summoning an ancient water monster Chaos to unleash havoc. Throughout each of the six quests, the characters uncover clues about the origins of Chaos and how Chaos became the most feared monster.

Gameplay

Sonic Adventure is a 3D platformer spread across multiple environments from Station Square to Windy Valley. In between the various maps are hub worlds (like Station Square) where you can talk to NPCs and TV screens to learn tips and tricks. Although the characters differ in story progression, the tracks for the platforming segments are times and your final score is ranked on how fast you complete the track as well as your number of rings and how many enemies you attacked. When you want to take a break, there is a separate hub world called the Chao Garden where you get to raise cute little creatures called Chao and take care of them.

Reception

At the time of release, it was well-received by critics and gamers alike, making it the best-selling title on the Dreamcast. Particular aspects that were praised included the music and the visuals as Sonic Team strove to create the most realistic visuals possible to showcase what the Dreamcast was capable of. Some drawbacks, however, were just as noticeable with the weird camera angles and glitches that were present. The reactions to the voice-acting were mixed.

Legacy

Although the game has received less positive reviews over the years due to it aging poorly, it is still considered one of the best Sonic games to date for its high replay value, music and other extras. It even received a Gamecube port known as Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut a few years later that improved the original version. It is still remembered fondly by Sonic fans to this day.

Thoughts from the Head

Although I didn't play SA1 until recently (I played SA2 first on the Gamecube), the influence that Sonic Adventure had was immense, even a decade later thanks to the Internet. The soundtrack alone is one of the best-remembered OSTs in gaming history and its staying power is a force to be reckoned with in the gaming world. Has it aged poorly? Yes. Is it still worth playing? Also yes. Sonic Adventure is a fascinating game in terms of development history and scope. Sonic Team really did try to show what the Dreamcast was able to do graphically and, while it may have aged, it also carries a certain charm as well that you really can't be mad at it. That all being said, if you have a Dreamcast, Gamecube, or Steam, I would encourage you to give the game a chance. Personally though, it's better to play it either on the original Dreamcast or Steam as the Gamecube version, while improved on the mechanics, is horrendous graphics-wise. Best bet? Play the Steam version as it doesn't require a lot to power to run it and the graphics and glitches have been fixed.

I actually do a Dreamcast copy in my possession, however it is in the dorm so I don't have immediate access to it. I also have the Steam version I bought from a sale a few years ago (as of this post, it is on sale for $1.19 and the sale is good until January 5th. The normal price is $7.99).

Check it out!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #376

“when the wind bends the branch to softly touch me  /  when the band plays your song  /  i feel strong enough to keep dreaming”

If your s/o smoked pot/did drugs would you care? Yes, but for pot that's only because it's illegal here. I also find smoking to be a turn-off, but I'd be able to look past that if it was for actual health reasons. Do people ever call you by your last name? No. Has the last person you dated/fell in love with ever seen you cry? Yes. Where are you going on your next vacation (or where do you WANT to go)? I've got none planned, nor do I know where I'd want to prioritize. Like there's South Africa, but I first need to get healthier before I could handle the heat and trudging through sand. I want to go to Yellowstone National Park to spread Teddy's ashes there (seeking permission of course), but again, I need to be in better shape before I go on a venture of photographing there, as well. I need to be healthier to do a lot of the things I want to... Do you own anything bought in another country? No. Who do you text the most? Sara. Four things you wish you had? Better health (including mental), financial stability, a job, and motivation to indulge more in my artistic hobbies. What was the last thing you cried about? Stress regarding this dog we're stuck with. What is your favorite Elvis song? Probably "You're The Devil In Disguise." Do you think you could be the next American Idol? Ha, absolutely not. Do you prefer reading fiction or non-fiction? Fiction, by a long shot. Does anybody send you money in the mail for your birthday? No. My grampa used to, but he's been dead a couple years. Who is one person you met and automatically didn’t like? I was not a fan of a doctor I once saw for my tremors. She was very rude and just threw the idea of me having Parkinson's or something at what, 17 years old or whatever? My psychiatrist knows her as well and knows she's a whackjob. Heard her name and was essentially like "ew" lmao. What monster would you be most afraid to have in your closet? A male one with a knife, I guess. I really hate knives. And men scare me anyway. Which Adam Sandler movie do you like the most? I don't know, he's in too many to possibly think of one right off the top of my head. Who was one of your first celebrity crushes? Jesse McCartney was my first true love, haha. Have you ever been hit on through text messages? Yes. Do you have to do any yard work? No. Have you ever mowed the lawn? No. Do you get an allowance? No. Did you ever know your great grandparents? I think I knew one? There was this woman from my childhood I knew as "GG" for "great grandma," but I have no recollection of who she was related to or even if she was directly related to me. I remember that I really really liked her, though. Do you like the taste of Tums? It's the texture I really don't like. The candy-like Tums though, y'know, not the chalky ones, I like more than someone should like medicine, haha. How about Pepto Bismol? Omfg no. Do you have a fast or slow metabolism? I have a slow metabolism, but thank Christ it's not as bad as when I was on Abilify. That stupid fucking medicine was the reason I gained so much weight that I haven't been able to lose. What’s your favorite onomatopoeia? (Crash, bang, zoom, meow) I dunno. Do you eat ramen? There's only one specific kind of ramen I've had that I like: Yakisoba's spicy chicken one. Sweet or regular pickles? Regular. I don't like sweet pickles. What kind of dreams do you have most often? Since my nightmares started, violent ones. I'm usually trying to defend myself or lashing out at someone myself. What do you do for personal growth? I try to be a deep thinker, for one. This can way too easily lead to overthinking, but I appreciate that I think it at least helps me learn from my mistakes and work towards making me a better person. I need to start challenging my anxiety more, as that would definitely be massive growth... If you could read anyone’s mind, who would be the first person you’d read? Jason's, only because all I want to know is if he thinks I was emotionally abusive after the breakup or not. But I also don't want to know. Do you have a makeup item or style trick that you feel improves your look significantly and that you feel like you couldn’t go without now that you have it? No. What’s your favourite cereal? Probably Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I like a lot of cereals. Do you prefer red wine or white wine? I don't like wine. Way too bitter. Do you read Reddit? If so, how often and what subreddits do you like? I don't, but I've thought about lurking on a reptile husbandry one or something like that. Might learn some stuff. But at the same time, there are so many conflicting and very strong opinions amongst hobbyists to the point of awful toxicity that I'd rather not read. Have you recently broken up with a significant other or even just a friend? No. Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and left without paying? God no. When was the last time you played a board game? What did you play? Probably Scrabble back when Sara visited. Do you primarily use cash or card for your purchases? Why? Cash, because I don't have a debit or credit card. Do you believe sex should be mandatory in an ongoing dating relationship? Um, no? Some people don't care for it, and that's completely fine. Have you ever recorded yourself doing a cover of a song? No. Any secrets you’d never tell anyone? No matter how close they are to you? Yes. Do you like deviled eggs? NO. FUCK that yolk shit. What career are you most interested in? I still think my first career goal, a paleontologist, would be most interesting and exciting. Like just IMAGINE discovering a new dinosaur. And it's such a job of passion - you have to be so, SO careful and invest so much time in slowly recovering it from millions of years of rock and sand and time. I can only imagine the feeling of accomplishment when an excavation is complete. Have you ever seen a rooster? Yeah? What do you think about religion? Honestly, I personally wish it had never been a thing. It's brought with it so much hatred and bigotry, but I do acknowledge at the same time it's brought great comfort and hope to some people, and that's wonderful. But just all things considered, I feel it's done more harm than good. What’s your favorite sweetheart name (baby, honey, angel, dumpling) Probably "lovely." Has a little kid ever fallen asleep on your lap before? Yes, back when I babysat my neighbor's kid once. Have you ever thrown a grenade? Yikes, no. Have you ever talked face to face with someone famous before? No. Have you ever owned a rocking horse? I don't think so? If you could meet anyone in the world who would it be? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Have you ever wished you were dead? Yes. Is it awkward when people start talking all deep around you? No, I actually like deep convos. Have you ever played the old school Pac Man arcade game? Possibly? Ever played Mario Karts on Nintendo 64? No. Have you ever been scuba diving? No. Can you surf/boogie board? No. Do you like Chinese food, Mexican food, or American food better? American. What’s your favorite thing to order from Taco Bell? Cheese quesadilla and fiesta potatos. Sometimes I get the cinnabon delight thingies, but I avoid 'em with how unhealthy they are. Do you like hot, cold, or lukewarm showers? Pretty hot. Do you like to swing? I LOVED swinging as a kid. I haven't done it in a very long time now. How about jumping on a trampoline? I loved that as a kiddo, too. I haven't done that in years. What are you favorite color eyes? Sapphire blue or like an emerald green. Do you have long arm hair? Nah, at least I don't think so. What third generation console is your favorite? PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii? I loved my PS3. I'm still so bummed mine broke. How often do you like to have sex? I'm not sexually active, but even when I was, I didn't care. Do you have a facial expression you seem to pull a lot? What is it? Not really. I think I look stoic most of the time. Do you always listen to music when you’re online? No; I usually have a let's play or something like that on that I can split my screen and watch while doing something else. If so, what are you currently listening to? I'm listening to "Love Goes On And On" by Lindsey Stirling and Amy Lee right now. Do you ever forget how to do really simple things? Like what? Yes, like how to control the laundry machine and other things like that. There's just so many options that I never, ever remember what to set it to, no matter how many times Mom shows me. That's how my memory is with most things these days, really... Were you born with naturally straight teeth? No; I needed braces. If you were the opposite gender, what name would you like to be called? Uhhh maybe Severin. Do you prefer original or sour Skittles? I love both, but sour wins. What about chocolate or peanut M&M’s? I also enjoy both, but the original are better. Your favourite band: Do you prefer their old or new stuff? That's like... impossible to answer, lol. I just love everything. Do you check to make sure your ear phones are going in the right ear? No. Do you secretly still listen to Ace of Base? I have no idea who that is. Have you ever broken someone else’s bone? No, thank goodness. I'd feel awful. Is it stupid to think you can write a book at thirteen? No?????????? There are incredibly talented writers out there at young ages. Hell, I remember as a kid, I wanted to be the youngest published author way before that age. Are you ever embarrassed about what you dream about? There've been some I wouldn't share. Have you ever had sex with someone as a favor? No, and I never would. Does your mom let you date? I'm 25, my dude. She let me when I felt ready, though. If you had the last person you kissed’s Facebook password, would you go snooping through their stuff? Why or why not? She doesn't have one, but hypothetically, fuck no. Because that's none of my damn business, and it still wouldn't be even if we were still dating. Have you ever fainted? If so, when was the last time? If not have you ever come close? I've fainted once when I was a teen and have come close many other times. Ever take a keyboarding class? Do you type using the skills you learned in class, or how you used to before you took the class? Yeah; it was mandatory for I think one year in middle school. I type how I was taught in there. Do you find your best friend’s significant other/crush attractive? She doesn't have an s/o, and idk who her "real" crush is, as much as she'd love Frieza to be real, haha. What do you do with your clothes that don’t fit anymore or just don’t want? Donate them. Do you cut out coupons? My mom will keep some fast food ones she gets in the mail sometimes. Did you ever breathe in helium and talk funny afterwards? I think I did once at a birthday party, but I'm unsure. Would you ever open your own business? If so, what kind of business could you imagine yourself having? I want to be a freelance photographer so, so badly. I want to specialize in nature and wildlife, but having a boudoir studio would be great to help keep me afloat, plus I adore the art of boudoir. I've shot it once for an old friend, and by god, I loved how empowered it made her feel, especially as a plus-sized woman. She adored the pictures, and I'd just love to help other clients feel like they're gorgeous in their unique body, too. Last type of candy you ate? I had a donut from Starbuck's yesterday. Did you decorate your house for Halloween? If so, how many decorations? Did you go all out, or just put up a few things? Mom and I don't really decorate anymore. :/

[jackdawyt]

Dragon Age: Inquisition is one of my favourite games of all time. I love everything about this game, from the compelling hero’s journey, to the roster of lovable characters, to making the Inquisitor my very own unique protagonist. Few games compare to the experiences and tremendous moments that Inquisition provides, not to mention the Trespasser DLC which revealed the true intention of the game’s villain, and paved the story forward for future titles.  

I think it’s rather telling how good this game is, considering we’re still talking about it nearly 6 years later after launch, discovering new theories and mysterious hidden deep within the lore. Heck, if Dragon Age: Inquisition was a mediocre experience, I don’t think I’d have a YouTube channel today with thousands of recurring views weekly talking about the game, and where the story is going to go since the events of Inquisition.  

However, there is something critical that I feel is necessary to discuss regarding Dragon Age Inquisition’s original marketing demos and the expectations they set for the finished game.  

Following up to the launch of Dragon Age: Inquisition, I used to obsessively re-watch the first original gameplay demo shown at Pax Prime 2013. At the time the game was in its pre-alpha build, however, there were many impressive features and dynamics showing just a glimpse of what we’d come to expect once we got our hands on the game.  

In retrospect, these promises were scrapped before the finished project released.

This post is not meant to be a negative outlook, poking holes at BioWare’s effort, but an investigation and critique into BioWare’s game design, more specifically, the cuts the developers made tackling Inquisition’s complicated release, and how they’ve learned since.  

For the uninitiated, Dragon Age: Inquisition released in November, 2014, a month after the next generation of consoles launched. As the game was jammed in-between two gaming generations, it was designed to ship on both the previous generation of consoles (Xbox 360/PS3) and the current generation (XB1/PS4).

In order for the game to predominantly run on the lower spec consoles, many gameplay cuts, downgrades and setbacks were made to the final project.  

I’m not talking about conceptual ideas in pre-production that were drafted for the game, like The Architect making a cameo appearance in a “Here Lies The Abyss” alternative twist, or the Hero of Ferelden, Hawke and The Inquisitor meeting up in a potential drafted prologue. Of course, there were plenty of ideas, concepts and story threads that were canned and reworked because the developers had better, and frankly more relevant plans for the game.

I’m talking about actual features and mechanics that were incorporated and designed into the vertical slice demo that was shown off to the fans at Pax Prime 2013, and then were removed later on just before launch.

I would like to point out that the gameplay I’m going to show was alpha footage, and the developers made sure we all understood that it could easily change, nobody lied to us. If anything, BioWare were so eager to show off the next Dragon Age game, that perhaps this was the biggest detriment to the project.

I’ll have the full Pax gameplay demo linked for those who want to watch it fully. But without further ado, I’m going to be revealing the Dragon Age: Inquisition we almost got.  

Cut Content:  

The demo starts with a significant cut, originally Dragon Age: Inquisition would’ve featured stunning party member cutscenes when entering new areas for the first time.  We see Varric, Cassandra and Vivienne discussing how prepared they are since the Inquisition formed. Varric banters that he’s outnumbered by the ladies once again.  

We can assume that these dynamic banter cutscenes based on your party members were replaced with Scout Harding’s area report.  

The models and textures for the characters and armours look very different too. Cassandra has a more angled facial structure, like her original concept art. And, the Inquisitor’s armour and textures don’t even exist in the final game, I remember attempting to recreate this look, a thousand times over, however, no fabrics in the game have this orange texture.

Helmets also appear in conversations, which is a huge pet peeve of mine, I’m still upset to this day that we can’t see helmets in conversations and there’s no mod to fix it. However, they added this feature in Mass Effect: Andromeda, so maybe we’ll see it in the future.  

In general, this demo showed that there was going to be a lot more cutscenes when entering new areas, in party banter, and for minor conversations with smaller characters.  

Upon inspecting the gameplay, we can see the camera’s placement was significantly adjusted. The demo had a third-person feel, whereas the game ended up with a pulled back camera, probably to suite the tactical camera for combat. Fortunately, there are mods that actually fix this issue.  

The UI has evolved since the demo, there used to be a Skyrim-esqe navigation compass that was replaced with a radar. And the party member icons are different, but that’s just nit-picking.  

The combat is more or less the same, however, it does seem more reactive and heftier in the demo. Most likely because the camera is more zoomed into the action. There are some tweaks though, the enemies react more to the Inquisitor’s attacks, the stumble, flail and even run away, as opposed to just taking the damage and then attacking you back.  

However, minor these cuts may seem to you; they did change the game a fair amount adding more immersion to the overall experience.  

Even so, the most obvious and upsetting cut when watching this demo regards the entirety of Crestwood, the area has been dramatically reduced in the final game.  

In this demo, the Inquisitor is given a conflict. One of the Inquisition’s soldiers asks the player how does the Inquisitor want to handle their armies' movements throughout the area.  

The Inquisitor could send the Inquisition army to save the town of Crestwood.  

They could lead the soldiers to tend to the nearby wounded.

Or they could bolster every solider to the Keep, leaving both the wounded and the town of Crestwood.  

Each choice had a consequence, and both Mike Laidlaw and Mark Darrah spoke on having multiple ways to approach the situation. For instance, in the demo’s scenario the Inquisitor decides to leave the town while it’s under siege, instead, they find a secret entrance towards the Keep. Using Antivan Fire, they burn the invaders’ boats which would prevent them from escaping after their attack. The Inquisition take the Keep, and head back to the ransacked town filled with newly fresh corpses. A dynamic cutscene of Varric mourning the dead plays out, adding emotional impact and weight to the decision the Inquisitor just made.  

And this was just a side questline...

The demo ends with the developers reiterated the tactical and dynamic approaches when showing the Inquisition taking over the Keep at The Western Approach.  

According to Mark Darrah, you could weaken enemy defences by doing things like drawing out the troops or poisoning their wells.  

Then, once you claimed the keep for yourself, you’d get a quest called ‘This Water Tastes Funny’, in which your Keep's well was poisoned and you’d have to go find fresh water.

The Keep’s themselves were originally designed to have a lot more influence and reactivity throughout the world. Once captured, the Inquisitor could choose a dynamic choice for the Keep’s overall goal, if you had enough Inquisition agents. 

The Keep could be specialised based on the Inquisition’s advisors. You could choose to run your Keep as a Military outpost, boosting fortifications. It could be a Keep of espionage and secrets, for information gathering, or you could make it a Keep of connections and merchants for diplomatic purposes. Each different speciality had a different advantage and aesthetic to suit its purpose.  

Adding more choices and roleplaying values for making the Inquisition your own army, having a say in what aspects it should grow in.  

That sums up the majority of the cuts made since this demo. I will say it’s unfortunate seeing these unfinished features that shaped the game in a completely different direction, that inevitably couldn’t make it into the finished project.  

But I think it’s wrong to pin the blame of this cut content on anyone because the developers were tackling a console generation shift, and they wanted everyone to have the opportunity to play the game without having to get a new console. Can you really blame them for that?  

Perhaps many of these features may be designed into a future title since the developers wanted them so much in Inquisition? And speaking of the future title, at least the next Dragon Age game won’t be coming out in between a console generation, it is being designed strictly for next-gen, so there shouldn't be any console setbacks and limitations.  

Even still, when Dragon Age 4 does eventually get a gameplay reveal, don’t set your expectations in stone based on that reveal. The finished project will look very different. These days gameplay previews aren’t always accurate, and that’s just a dilemma of the entire games industry, not just EA and BioWare.  

Wrapping up on a positive note, BioWare have learned from this experience, and they’re approaching Dragon Age 4 with a “show, don’t tell” strategy. They will be proceeding with caution when marketing and revealing the next Dragon Age game, and that may play a part in why we haven't and won't see anything official for a while.  

I don’t think I could end on a better note then the Narrative Director, John Epler’s message about Inquisition’s development. John said: “A good 90% of 'bad' decisions are, in fact, the best decision at the time. Game dev is all about making the best decision you can at the time, with the resources you have. A lot of stuff you thought was weird or awkward came down to a gut call of 'this is the best I can make this and I trust it's good enough'. Sometimes we're right, sometimes not.”

BioWare decided to make these cuts to Inquisition because they realised it was the right thing to do for the entire project, perhaps they felt they couldn’t deliver these features to their full capacity, or they wanted a change of direction. They believe these decisions were made for the greater good of the game, and I commend them for that.  

Dragon Age Inquisition is an incredible RPG with tons of personality, that not many games can even mimic. Although the game had some minor setbacks with the fair amount of content that was cut, the game is just as amazing without those initial features.  

Like I said, perhaps we’ll see these mechanics in the next game, if not, then at least it has been a learning experience for BioWare, that they can utilise for the development of Dragon Age 4.  

In any regard, let me know your thoughts down below on this gameplay demo relating to the finished game, and don’t forget to check out my latest news update!

[loghainmactir]

Y’all, I dunno what to say anymore.

The thing is, this recent Kotaku article on Bioware isn’t new.

We’ve now had two games with REALLY similar atrocious launches (three, if you count Inquisition). These reports of crunch, terrible management, and overall bad business practices are consistent with the ones that come before it, anonymous sources or not, and we need to start holding Bioware accountable.

Anthem currently has abysmal drop rates, the exact opposite of what a looter shooter should have, was literally killing people’s consoles a few weeks ago, has a terrible storefront that’s insanely expensive for a $80AUD game, and comes littered with bugs to boot. There is little to no dev contact about changes they’re making or where they’re going with it, despite the promise of constant contact pre-launch.

Andromeda had facial animation you’d expect from an indie game, had bugs and glitches for days, and the fact that it had some of the worst management (arguably in the history of game development) was really, really well recorded. There are hour long videos on youtube about it. Seriously.

Inquisition, similarily, had footage of gameplay shown at PAX and similar conventions that wound up being entirely cut. Like, HUGE swaths of content were just removed without warning. It came with leagues of gamebreaking bugs (some of which are 100% still present today), had a multiplayer mode w/ lootboxes tacked on, and its’ PS3/Xbox 360 versions were just abandoned update/DLC wise.

And a lot of people have been brushing all of this off because Bioware is the company that’s made SO many of their comfort games and “We need to cut the devs some slack! These are all anonymous sources, if it’s so bad, why aren’t people with names stepping forward?!”

And I get it. Trust me, I do! Dragon Age: Origins is always, always ALWAYS gonna be my favourite game. Neverwinter Nights is such a comfort game for me it’s incredible. Mass Effect holds a special place in my heart, too.

But these claims that Bioware has dangerously terrible management & employee work conditions have been around for what is now decades. People have been suffering because Bioware can’t get their shit together for years. We cannot let this go on any longer.

The reason these people remain anonymous is so that their entire careers don’t get destroyed in an instant. It is notoriously hard to get a job in game development. There are more game devs out there than there are game dev jobs. EA and Bioware are such huge companies that without unionization, speaking out is dangerous (career wise, at least).

And, yes. Part of this is absolutely EA’s fault. But this also predates Electronic Arts all together. This is a Bioware issue.

Now, you’re probably rightfully asking: what can we do? What can we do to fix this issue? And the answer is... frankly, not much. We can raise awareness of the issue. We can contact both EA and Bioware (through their respective sites and on twitter, of course) to let them know that this isn’t on. We can stop preordering their games and wait until launch to buy them. We can support indie developers and devs speaking out about these issues.

Game Developers themselves? Y’all need to unionize. IMMEDIATELY. This isn’t a joke. Things can’t change unless y’all group together and make a stand for your rights. Much like with Telltale, companies have absolutely no right to treat you like something disposable when you put so much of your heart and soul into your products and then take all of the money and credit for themselves.

But we, as fans, need to recognize that Bioware aren’t the Good Guys we thought they were, regardless of how much they cry “but game dev is hard!” in response to this. Because, yes, game development is hard.

But you know what’s not hard? Treating people like they’re actual human beings, and not conveyor belts made for pumping out games.

[zaggitz]

Top Ten Games of 2020

This year being the shitshow that it was, I ended up playing quite a few games I missed out on last year! First though, my lists from the previous years:

2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019

I like having my actual top ten being games that came out the year of but here's a few games that would have been on my list last year if I had played them:

Control

Really fun gameplay and a great weird world to play around in that scratched that weird cryptid/scp itch in a really satisfying way. I still have the final DLC left but I'm excited to do a full replay of the game at some point down the line

Outer Wilds

This game was worthy of all the praise it got last year and more. Amazingly crafted clockwork world with great lore and characters and an absolute blast to explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and oh damn is that a singularity cool I wonder what happens if I- and then explore and get lost WOAH there's two of me now!

I wish I could forget this game and play it for the first time all over again.

Honorable Mention:

Ghost of Tsushima

This game is an absolute blast to play and has some of the best seamless open world navigation I’ve experienced in the genre. How much I love playing the game is however at odds with how much I LOATHE its absolute horseshit main story. Might check out the multiplayer mode some time since it’s all the stuff I liked and none of the bad stuff.

Now for the actual list:

10. Man Eater

This game scratched a deep PS2/PS3 B game itch that I've had since probably the last Saint's Row game came out. It's nothing special but I had a really fun time with this weird, bite-sized(heh) comedy game.

9. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori 2 is in every way a massive improvement from the first game. The mechanics feel tighter, the level design is a lot more open and freeform, the writing feels sharper and the addition of tons of new characters with lots of dialogue helps flesh out this very beautiful world the designers at Moon Studio have crafted. I played this game on Switch and it played pretty smoothly though it was extremely jarring seeing XBOX GAME STUDIOS upon loading the game up on a Nintendo console.

8. The House in Fata Morgana: Reincarnation

This epilogue to the previous two visual novels did a fantastic job of closing out all the characters personal arcs and rounded out the story in a really good way that didn't choke me up at all, shut up.

7. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Now here's one I didn't expect to get sucked into as much as I did. There are a lot of plot expectations coming into this game from Breath of the Wild and it takes no time at all for HW2 to subvert the shit out of them. It toes the line really well between being both a prequel and a pseudo sequel really well and the combat is that good chunky big musou stuff I love. It also doesn't have any Imprisoned fights so it's immediately better than HW1.

6. Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Speaking of pseudo sequels... This game was just an absolute blast. The combat is hectic and strategic in a really satisfying way. The way it fleshes out all the characters from the early parts of FF7 while also having kicking rad world building and a few(not enough) new areas entirely ruled and much like HW2 it absolutely loves to set up expectations from the original game and flip them on their heads. I can't wait to see this shit go off the rails in the eventual sequel.

5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

I have like 300 hours logged into this game at this point. I've never been much of an AC guy but boy did this game luck out by coming out just in time for me quarantining at home for 7 weeks. I don't really have a lot to say about the game itself, I'm just glad I had it to occupy my time during the start of this hellshow.

4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4

This game has some of the highest highs in the Trails series along with some of the absolute lowest lows. It's an absolute mess especially on the romance side of things but CS4 also wraps up longstanding plot threads from like 7 games prior with surprising amounts of finesse so the pros ended up outweighing the cons for me overall. This series was a core example of scope getting out of hand over and over. In a world where these games are tighter paced and end up being the 2 games they planned instead of 4 I could see this being a top contender. Sadly that wasn't the case. 

Now that the arc of these games is over I'm excited to see if they can return to form with the next one.

3. Hades

Amazing combat, amazing writing, well integrated roguelite elements and plot, dope ass music, this game's got it all baby. The amount of variety and build potential on hand makes me constantly excited to hit up a new run.

2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero

Take all my complaints out of the CS4 blurb and this (finally) fan-translated version of the first game in the second Trails arc is what you get. This game had some of the best worldbuilding in the series due to it taking place entirely in one huge Hong Kong style city. It closed out a major and extremely emotionally satisfying plot thread from the first 3 games and ends on such a fantastic high note of a finale. Trails fans who haven't touched Crossbell yet, don't miss out!

1. Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Why is Yakuza 7 my favorite game of the year? It’s not the brand new, huge city to explore filled with stuff to do. It’s not the shift to JRPG combat that works extremely well in context and gets really fun by the end of the game. It’s not the fact that this is easily the funniest game I’ve played all year, and hell, maybe ever. It’s also not the way the game perfectly closes out the Era of the last seven games while ushering in a new, extremely exciting one.

It’s because the new protagonist, Kasuga Ichiban, is not Kazuma Kiryu.

Let me back-up for a sec. This game’s biggest change above all else is the shift to a new protagonist. Now, for a Yakuza game, having a different protagonist isn’t normally a huge deal; we had new guys in 4, 5 and Judgement. But they all functioned within the narrative framework established by Kiryu.

Kiryu is a character whose core philosophy I feel can be broken down into one sentence: Don’t let anyone stand in the way of you living your life the way you want to live it. Every main story in Yakuza 0-6 revolves around this philosophy, as do most of the substories. Kiryu only gets involved in a game’s main story when he has no choice, because something is threatening the life he wishes he could be living. Hell, if anything, you could argue his ending in 6 is him finally accepting he can’t have the life he wants if he wants the people in it to be safe.

So when RGG studios created a new protagonist, built around a whole new combat style, they also had to change the philosophy behind their storytelling.

Kasuga Ichiban is a character who, after this first game at least, to me has a core philosophy of: Everybody deserves to be alive, to be seen, to be helped and to be understood. The changes this brings to the story are incredible and lead to one of the most emotionally satisfying games I’ve ever played. 

Sure, this is a Yakuza game, with it’s typical conspiracies and crime melodrama, but it’s also a game about the dehumanization of homeless people and sex workers. A game about the rampat mistreatment of immigrants and elderly people. A game about the dangers of rampant puritanical nationalism.

That it manages to be all those things so loudly and proudly is something that could only happen with a loud, rambunctious, heart on his sleeve type of guy like Kasuga Ichiban driving it.

Also the reason it’s a JRPG now is because he’s a huge Dragon Quest nerd, and you get to summon a crawfish named Nancy to kill people. Game of the Year.