#Bloodborne: NPC Project

[katyspersonal]

The best Bloodborne Wiki is a passion project of a single person, is about to get even better + how it can be sustained for years to come!

Hello guys! So like many of you've learned from the post with super good model view of Winter Lantern, recently, on Twitter, Meph announced ( x ) the plan to fill the wiki with very useful, very comprehensive screenshots of the models for bosses, enemies, NPCs and even cut content! The wiki has already been a huge help for lorediggers and artists, but THIS is what we will get:

This page is for Lady Maria and you can check it yourself here: ( x )! It is broken down in the categories of general close-ups of her model, then very high-quality screenshots of every attack during her boss battle and walking, and then raw model!

(I never was able to capture a good look at her using Arcane too like here, for example!)

Winter Lantern page ( x ) is using similar principle!

This is not a secret that very often in Fromsoft games, additional information can be obtained not through descriptions but through visual hints! For example, some people only learned that Winter Lantern's head is made of melted Messengers only now, after a proper look at her model! So, of course getting a proper look at every single character and creature from the game could always be helpful!

This, however, is just a recent highlight for this Bloodborne Wiki! Even prior that, it has been providing invaluable help for the fans! Examples off the top of my head: comprehensive data on what character has what items used or not, great and comprehensive hints and tutorials on upgrades and farming and builds for the players, making every bit of information on Chalice Dungeons and glyphs easily accessible, making datamined NPC sliders of all characters way more accessible and easy to grab and repeat, access to much more obscure models (like Gratia's model), full list of internal filenames and patches progress, making information from physical Bloodborne tutorial book accessible...

There are probably more things to cover that me and others found a great help in, and sometimes we might not even notice! I am sure many people could name at least one way where this wiki has been very helpful, offering raw facts and 100% valid information (and properly sourced whenever someone else helped!) without any speculating, in the most elaborate manner! We should not take it for granted because all this information, found or reshared, was compiled by just one guy out of raw passion for the game! And although this project is not profit-based and Meph is willing to commit to it and pay as much as needed to keep it living, I really still wanted to share the Ko-fi link that exists for anyone who is willing to help sponsoring it!

This is not necessary, and Meph has stated the same, but this project is not only helpful but also really hefty to sustain. The monthly support is only $3 per month, but every little bit not only helps the sustenance, but also knowing how much fans care and simply feeling their support is very significant and sometimes you don't even know how much. Heck, when Meph learned how excited people on Tumblr were about Wiki improving with full compilation of models from every angle.. the reaction was "I am so glad that people still care"! I think everyone who does their best to be useful for the fellow fans needs confirmation that they ARE, for sure, helping!

I just really wanted to get the word out anyways because honestly, none of my super elaborate theories and detailed fanart would've been possible without Meph's Wiki. and also because I am trapped in a clown country where I can't send any international money transfer so the feeling of 'do what I can't' got to me too fsdhfdhs There is no pressure or necessity, but here is the link to anyone who can help and feels the wish to! You've noticed I didn't tag Meph.... since there is no Tumblr account to tag, but again, the Twitter link is also here: ( x )!

[serendark]

2022 illustration I made of Henryk + Father Gascoigne's family for the Bloodborne zine For Whom The Bell Chimes, hosted by Vermillion Zines! This was very challenging but I'm really happy I was able to be a part of the project in spite of my typical art style not being very Bloodborney, haha!

I hope to draw more Bloodborne (and Souls in general) eventually. Henryk was always one of my favorites, I'm a sucker for those minor NPCs you can read into a lot

[wodenscild]

Mmm i wanna ramble for a bit about soulsborne games. I have played through DS1, 2, 3, Bloodborne, & Elden Ring at this point. & all of them have their own unique strengths & weaknesses. I was introduced to the series through DS1 Remastered so I’ll start there!

Honestly? I love it with all my heart! I love the interconnectivity of the world! I love the NPCs! I love the story & atmosphere! How there are still echos of the age of ancients within the age of fire! I love the feeling of getting lost & ending up somewhere like Ash Lake or the back entrance of Darkroot Garden! & OMGS the obtuse mechanics! Like genuinely I love how obscure some of the stuff in this game is! From Vagrants to Grave Lording I feel like there is just a lot of neat things & always more to learn! I think the only things I don’t like are the limited casts on spells & pyromancies! & how you are fully stymied when using estus! I also appreciate how you can just level up at any bonfire, without having to see a specific NPC like you have to in 2, 3, & Bloodborne! It is still my favourite game in the entire series.

Dark Souls 2 is… interesting kdfksk you can tell Miyazaki wasn’t at the helm of this game. People shit on this game a lot, saying it is the worse of the series. I wouldn’t call it the worse, rather than it is just weaker than the others. It doesn’t have that same emotional oomph. What I do like about the game is the introduction of power stancing! Something which doesn’t return until Elden Ring! I do love the maze like map design within each map! I love the enemy designs! I love the bonfire ascetic system! Letting you advance individual areas to the next NG cycle! And cos this game locks certain things behind NG+ & beyond, that is both cool and useful! & I love the Covenant of Champions! &… that’s about all I liked dkckd the big flaws that has stood out to me was estus healing times, enemies stopping being respawned after the 12th kill (which is annoying if you are farming for souls or loot- Cov of Champs does allow them, but idk it is just annoying & it is telling that this covenant is only present in the Scholar of the First Sin edition), statues locked with Fragrant Branches of Yore, the health decreases when hollowed (which I know harkens back to Demon’s Souls, & DS2 is a lot more forgiving with this- but I think the health changes between hollow/human is done best in DS3, where rather than hollowing/unkindling decreases your max HP, & shows that on the health bar- it instead increases your max HP when human/kindled, & that changes the health bar- less emphasis on an item that comes in relatively low supply). Also the enemy AI’s feel weird, the number of areas that are intended for multiplayer is annoying on many levels (glares at the Black Gulch, & the path to the Blue Smelter Demon), & hhh yeah. I will say tho, I am pretty neutral on ADP! I like the concept that you can invest in your iFrames when rolling! & I appreciate how they reworked the level up costs with this stat in mind! & I then also appreciate how they balanced the game around being at higher soul levels cos of how cheap it is! & then implemented soul memory to de-emphasise soul level based match making! DS2 id the awkward teenager of the DS games- you can tell it isn’t made by Miyazaki. It had hella cool concepts! But it also was just annoying to play. It feels weak emotionally, but is still a decent time to play! It is kinda the Subnautica Below Zero of the Dark Souls games FDLSLDKC

Imma talk about Bloodborne next as it is the next to release in the series chronologically! Iirc this is the project Miyazaki was working on while DS2 was being developed! It is also the game that launched Soulsborne into major public consciousness. & it is easy to see why! The vibes & design are just on point! A beautiful hybrid of gothic & lovecraftian horror! The game has so many cool features! Iirc this is the first one in the series to have a stat explicitly influence your discovery stat! Good gods the fast healing with blood vials! THE TRICK WEAPONS! The music! The bosses! & man imo up until this point never has a DLC felt so seemlessly part of the base game! I love the concept of chalice dungeons! ESPECIALLY how there are community dungeons that aid with grinding up blood echos, insight, and blood stones! & Ofc the story & lore of this game is wonderful, & will just leave you asking & wanting more! Tbh I don’t have much to say about what I don’t like- other than needing to see a specific NPC to level up, early access to warp which de-emphasises exploring somewhat- & how this is the first game of the series to not let you upgrade your armours, a feature that has stuck with us up to Elden Ring (which sucks for Fashion Souls lovers who wanna wear gender armour but also have protection too <//3).

DS3 feels like a love letter to DS1. It has that same emotional oomph that DS1 had, & feels like it is part of the same universe. So there is a lot of insight that DS1 can gleem into DS3! I have already mentioned how much nicer DS3’s health management is with their hollowing/unkindling. You can see a lot of influence of Bloodborne in this game! Especially within Irythill, from its design to its enemies! This game iirc is the first to introduce FP! So no more hard limits on the number of times you can cast your pyromancies, spells, & miracles! The game feels a lot more polished! & idk what it is but I feel so much more inclined to explore this world! & this game rewards it so hard! I also love the insane number of mimics here too XD I think I have had more mimic chests than non-mimics! What I find annoying tho about this game is that again you can’t upgrade your armours- which sucks! Cos there are some hella cool armours I would love to wear more! But alas <//3 it is a reflection on the designers wanting to make combat in these games more proactive than defensive. I again am not a big fan of having levelling up tied to an NPC over just at the bonfire. & I am kinda sad too see power stancing (tho we do have paired weapons), ADP & bonfire ascetics leave us behind! Bonfire ascetics would have been a great addition to this game! Especially cos there are items locked behind the later NG cycles! & they absolutely could have used this as an opportunity to include the black phantoms of these later cycles too like DS2 did!

Lastly (cos I haven’t played Sekiro or Demon’s Souls yet) is Elden Ring. The Breath of the Wild of the Soulsborne games! I love this game! It is large! Immersive! Easy to get lost in! Fun! & just- it is an experience! I appreciate how this game lets you level up at the bonfires/graces again! It isn’t as immersion breaking this way & you can just keep on slogging through! The story is interesting! & the number of secrets you can find just by poking around is truely wonderful on so many levels! & I keep coming back to this game! The only other game other than DS1 that I play the higher cycles on! I think the only 2 things I don’t like about this game is again lack of armour levelling, & the lack of multiplayer that just happens to you. Player invasions are turned off unless you have summoned a player, which sorta sucks as someone who always enjoyed being invaded at random & having a goof ball fight (I know you can use the Dried Finger iirc to allow invasions without a summon but it just doesn’t feel the same, ya know?). There isn’t anything like the Grave Lord servants to randomly make your world harder & you gotta invade them to stop the black phantoms. There isn’t anything like the Blue Sentinels or grey spirits to be summoned without a summon sign to help other players. & all of this can make Elden Ring feel a bit lonely. Which is inevitable with open world games, & this sorta stuff would’ve helped a tonne with easing that.

DOFKSKF ANYWAY BIG RAMBLE ABOUT THESE GAMES. THEY ARE ALL PRETTY NEAR REGARDLESS. If I had to rank them it would DS1, 3, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, then DS2 dkdkdksjd all of them are good all things considered! Best lore games are DS1 & 3. Best exploration 3 & Elden Ring. Best combat Bloodborne, 3 & Elden Ring. Best sequence breaking DS1 & Elden Ring. Best NG+ experience DS2 & 3. Best obtuse mechanics DS1. &- yeah that’s it dkfksk

[rawbiredbest]

I wanted to say that also despite the yrs passing your writing of an old man who was uncommonly kind and dreadfully foolish has still gone unsurpassed in characterization to me and I still call his companion Edwin to this day. So thank you again so much you’ve rlly helped to shape the character for me in a way that’s irreplaceable.

Foo! <3 Real talk: sometimes I regret calling that character Edwin because I forgot there’s already a NPC named Edgar (that one guy in the Nightmare of Mensis iirc) and could be misconstrued as derivative. I don’t think I’m going to feel that way anymore. Besides, Bloodborne is all about confusing lore anyway, right? (Maybe there’s a third character out there called Eddy.)

Thank you so much for the kind words!

…aaaaand I’m going to use THIS opportunity to plug a Bloodborne thing I wrote recently! No Djura appearance, but I think this came out pretty well.

[ego-osbourne]

EGO OSBOURNE Reference Sheet

//click for better quality//

[Image Text Rewritten //because tumblr crunch can make this font hard to read//]

EGO OSBOURNE

The SUPEREGO | The flaming mind - morality. The EGO is not present.

The ID | The metal body - instinct. The EGO is not present.

Homespace | A place to rest, reflect on past lives, and find new worlds. Infinite and immortal.

New Worlds | Usually represented as existing media - places of adventure and soul-searching. EGO OSBOURNE inserts themself into these worlds to fulfill a purpose, find a purpose, or simply to create a new life. Whatever becomes of them in this world is up to the discretion of the EGO and their decisions.

The EGO | Alter egos, new lives, personas - the whole. Both the SUPEREGO and the ID are present.

Alter Egos have no memory of Homespace or their pasts. They usually manifest as adult figures and age from then-on. The ID adapts to form into existing materials in the new world, and the SUPEREGO adapts to understand known languages and customs of the new world. Alter Egos are not immortal, and upon death they will return to Homespace as the SUPEREGO and ID.

EXAMPLES: Ego/Moro (Skyrim), O.S./Oz (Bloodborne)

An infinite number of EGOs can/have existed, though only one at a time.

[Extra Info //this might get existential//]

Oh man, where to start. This idea has festered and been reformed many a-time. You can probably find an old reference sheet or two and some old designs of my persona that allude to this idea but didn’t quite hit the mark. I think this is pretty damn close to where I want to be at with my persona :)

The concept draws inspiration from Freud’s idea of the mind being split into three parts: the ID, superego, and ego. The ID acts with primitive, instinctual desires, the superego acts with morality and empathy, and the ego acts as a mediator to balance both out. The ID and superego can’t operate successfully—or at all—without the ego. EGO OSBOURNE is the ID and the SUPEREGO, but not the EGO. They exist in Homespace, a place outside all worlds and reality and acts as nothing but a gateway to other, realer worlds (represented as media like video games, books, social media, etc.). EGO OSBOURNE is essentially non-existent and non-functional until they put themself out into a new world, creating an Alter Ego (AKA: EGO) in the process. This Alter Ego combines all three aspects of the mind (ID, SUPEREGO, and EGO) and creates a whole person. A character. A persona.

The main EGO that I’ve shown on my blog as been my Dovahkiin, aptly named Ego (I’ll reveal why they take the same name in their ref sheet). Another is Oz, from Bloodborne, though I haven’t developed them as much here because I’ve been on a bit of Skyrim craze right now. Video games are the easiest form of media that Alter Egos can be created out of because many of them deal with creating your own character and building their story. However, not all of them work like TES or FromSoftware games, because not all video games give you a blank slate to work with when playing. Games like Portal, Horizon, etc. already have you play as characters existing in-universe with their own pasts and histories (Chel and Aloy, respectively). Even something like Outer Wilds would be difficult to achieve because, even though the playable character is nameless and vague, they still have their own implied history with their world. Therefore, I’m not going to replace an existing character with an EGO. Instead, an Alter Ego can be placed in those universes as an extra side character, like an NPC to the main character. This is also how an EGO would be treated in most other things like books, movies, etc., where a side-character has to be made instead of replacing the main character/narrator.

As for appearing online, on social media, with real people behind the screens, I’m essentially just a separate Ego Osbourne. The EGO projections are their own characters with their own lore tying back to the SUPEREGO and ID, while I am more of a narrative stand-in for the SUPEREGO and ID. I’m just the messenger who takes on the same name. I have all the information. I’m just Ego Osbourne as EGO OSBOURNE.

Sort of confusing, I realize, but hey that’s what I’ve got. This is sort of just a creative, backwards way to show how I (the person) have interacted with some great media and how I think it’s shaped me as a storywriter, creator, and just a person in general. I know a lot of people will think its dorky to think that a video game has changed a person significantly, but hey, I’m not gonna deny what’s happened to me. Hell, this is probably just a cheeky way for me to hide the fact that I’m self-inserting into my favorite medias (that’s sort of been the joke but I promise I’m actually trying to tell a narrative and make the characters unique and interesting and not just me ; this is more experimental than anything but I’m enjoying the ride so far, hope you are too) (not that there’s anything inherently wrong with self-inserts, I just have a different goal in mind).

Anywho, hope this cleared some things up and gave you some info to play around with. For those of you who were wondering why (Skyrim) Ego’s skeleton is made of metal, it’s because they’re an Alter Ego, a projection of EGO OSBOURNE who has the same core (skeleton) and mind, but without the memories. Ego’s skeleton is made of dwarven metal simply because that’s the closest thing that the ID’s would be made of. I’ll reiterate this and try to make it more clear in their ref once that gets finished.

PLEASE ask questions if you have them, 1. I’d love to answer them and 2. I want to clear up any confusion if I can. Okay that’s it wooooooooooooooo

[nerendus]

How Death Works for the Tarnished (theory)

Fromsoft games pretty much all have some system of revival in their games for the mode of gameplay to work—the Undead in Dark Souls, the Dream-touched hunters of Bloodborne, and the Tarnished of Elden Ring.

Despite them being referred to as those cursed with life even after death, they very much can die permanently. I've seen people get frustrated with this since it's never given an answer as to why, but I'm glad it doesn't say why because it forces players to really think about death within the lore and come to their own conclusion. And boy, do I love coming to my own conclusion.

Firstly, I think it's important to get out of the way of things that aren't actually permadeath. Specifically, invaders. Whenever you kill an invader or if you die as an invader, you aren't actually really dead. You are sort of in this astral projection form in another plane to carry out malicious deeds whilst your actually body and soul is actually safe and warm in the real world. This is seen in action when Vyke invades you in Liurnia but then you fight him as a physical boss on the Mountaintops. Which mean that invaders like Edgar, Eleonora, and Okina are very likely to still be alive even after you kill them.

But you still can kill your fellow undead Tarnished in the real world, and unlike you, they die permanently.

My theory as to why this is is based on a comment several Tarnished NPCs make—they can no longer see the guidance of grace. The grace of the Greater Will has left them either due to its own reasons or because those Tarnished (those sent to claim the Elden Throne) have no desire to take the mantle of Elden Lord and therefore have no purpose as a Tarnished other than to be a ruined legacy.

As far as I'm aware, there is only two other Tarnished who are seeking to become Elden Lord—Gideon and Godfrey. But there's a reason for their deaths as well. Mainly, Gideon no longer thinks it's possible (or right) for a mortal to take the mantle of Elden Lord and upon the boss fight he would have lost that grace to guide him. Godfrey is a man that believes respect comes from strength in battle, so his boss fight really is sort of like a gladiatorial fight for honour and the right to rule, and upon his death, he even remarks that your strength is worthy to rule—giving you his blessing to become Lord and rescinding from the guidance of grace and dying as all mortals should.

[n2dori]

Shovelknight DIG tweets a consideration that the game may correspond to the birth of "Shovelknight". I'm having it translated by a translation tool, so sorry if the English is weird.

If you have played Undertale, you may have heard of the game Touhou Project, or at least its name.

The character Koishi Komeiji in Touhou Project is a character who uses the dream of an unborn child inside her mother's womb in the Japanese novel "Dogra Magra" as the basis of her bullet-pointing technique.

It is a metaphor for the way organisms have evolved from microorganisms to fish and then to dinosaurs during the course of evolution.

Microorganisms include mushrooms and other fungi.

Also, Shovelknight DIG has an NPC that you can tell is a parody of Bloodborne; the Bloodborne theme is also a baby.

Based on these, it may be easier to understand the characters in DIG if we think of Spore as a fungus, Mole as a fish, and Rotating Drill as a metaphor for a fetus being born as it rotates during birth.

This is a matter of speculation, but Tinker may be a metaphor for magma as amniotic fluid, and Scrap for the large backpack she is carrying as a metaphor for her mother's belly.

As for Hive, I couldn't think of any birth-related metaphor for the idea I just came up with.

However, there is a meaningful text in the Japanese version of the camp conversation where he is dismissive of mammals and that watching the bonfire seems to reveal the truth.

My guess is that Hive is an insect, so it gives birth differently than mammals. The reason I could not associate Hive with the human birthing metaphor in this discussion is because he is an insect, or my lack of study.

If you have seen the story of DIG, you have seen that the entity at the deepest level was the source of the game "Shovelknight".

This is the "baby" of the "Shovelknight" game. Therefore, I considered Shovelknight DIG as a metaphor for the birth of the game "Shovelknight".

I hope the translation tool has been able to translate my poor musings a little better.I know this was a long tweet, but thanks if you read it.

※This sentence is the same one I tweeted on Twitter.

[cosmicallynightmarish]

NPC: Valtr

Requested by @amarthe.

First Meeting, 24.6.20:

He is seated upon an unseen chair or throne a short distance away from me, facing me directly, wrists resting upon the top of an upright staff shorter than I presumed it would be, kept at an extended distance in front of him, hands hung loosely over it, crossed. His head is lowered in an emotion speaking of something between near-sleep and defiant expression, a sense of age graces him - there is a sense, too, though his face is absent of any features, of a sort of glare speaking of a daring of myself to come any closer. This whole scene has been strangely absent of details, a disconnect between expectation and reality like walking into a closet once heavily used to find it now nearly empty; dark grey shadows, almost black, form the entirety of the scene around him like the dust-heavy fabrics hang in the old churches of the Nightmares. I understand why: He has a certain level of control over this, and so quite a bit of it is purposely hidden from me; he has, too, most interestingly, a certain level of Communion with the Nightmares, enabling him to partially see me in return. Regardless, continuing: There is sense to him, almost, of his consciousness having been nearly asleep, reminiscent, albeit slightly, of Martyr Logarius, but Valtr still maintains his humanity, he has not succumbed yet. It seems he persists through that ‘purpose’ of his, but it is no longer just his own. Purpose is now decorating his throne, I suppose, as much as it was and remains to be decorating himself. Expertly done, the externalisation of purpose mirrors the art of speaking Nightmarish, is in-line with the concept of working with the Nightmares to bring things into existence. The Nightmare around him has reacted and, as he has declared so thoroughly that this is his existence, the Nightmare has shaped itself around him in accordance with his will.. While I say "expertly done", it seems as if this was incidental.

Bestial, though. When I speak of him shaping the Nightmares, I am greeted by another flash that is haloed by the most vivid red of illuminated, freshly-shed blood, a beastly form that shifts once greeted, hence, it says, that it is not a literal form; and he in human form is beneath that in this vision. Both he and this bestial-representation have mouths wide and likely screaming, though the directions the two are facing shift as well, like optical illusions, as I try to grasp them. Now, they steadfastly face away from each other, but before, I could've sworn I saw them facing the same way.. Whilst on the topic, his face, earlier as he looked at me, was hidden almost in the same strange, blurred liquidity and bubbles as my own was in glimpses of my childhood, but I see that, as opposed to being hidden by the Nightmares, he actually hides it himself, since it wavers in effectiveness and reveals his human face if the illusion is tested and pushed. 

He is in a state of mild confusion, slightly, I believe, and is attempting with a certain level of frustration to rid himself of that which most literally haunts him, and, though likely tailored only to this meeting, to escape the eyes of the Church. Like a prodded dog without any implications of belittling, like a human pushed a little too far.. In small flashes, he is indistinguishable from this sandy-coloured beast form, his own form blurs with it - no, it is overlaid atop it and, in sections, moves beneath it, and back above it again. It is metaphorical, but I can see that there is also, within his throat, the snout of this beast, which I see push its way now literally through his own mouth forcing it greatly wide; it wants to exit to snarl, to reach, to bite - more so to grasp with the teeth than to devour. I may be very tired, but I thought for a moment it gave off a distinctly feminine energy. In fact, returning to this piece later to refine it, she has maintained that energy. 

It is strange, he was not as I expected, but I believe the replacement of welcoming attitudes with this settled frustration and anger is more a product of his environment, and my own company. He has aged, sustained now by the Nightmare, sinking somewhat into sleep and being awoken again - or perhaps he is drifting, but not allowed to truly sleep at all - a little dazed, which seemingly comes from his inability to work entirely in-tune with the Nightmare to understand that which can see him, recognised in the movement of swiping at things unseen. There is a sense, too, of being trapped, being tied, now, to this seat. A great, shadow-puppet-esque figure picks him up like a puppy and sits him in this chair where he is, a movement absent of any clearly expressed human emotion or motive, but hinting to Nightmarish gifting of purpose, and this is where he now needs to stay. Reminiscent of Gehrman's chains, but in this case, it seems not to have any ties to punishment nor to a specific Nightmare: he has been chosen, or his call has been heard, and answered. He fulfills a role for the Nightmares that he did not see in life, and does not fully comprehend now. He is relatively still in the beginning stages of this role, whatever it may be. 

It is worth noting that there were many glimpses of images seen whilst investigating, a little frantic, but there was not much to be seen in each; these visions hold within them a distortion of movement, speaking of the fact that they are being pulled away.

[moonlitinsight]

Soulsborne Inspired Character Concept - Aurick the Golden Inspired by Griffith from Berserk (R.I.P. Kentaro Miura) 

[ficfeed]

Been working on a little D&D side project turning Bloodborne into a ttrpg based on 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, and among other things, I’ve been designing custom minis with HeroForge and so far, I think my designs are coming along nicely. There are some things that I’ll just need to use something else to make, like the bosses and some of the more unique enemies, but so far the humanoid enemies and NPCs are looking pretty good to me! From top to bottom: Brick Trolls/Huntsmen’s Minions Hunstmen Variant 1-5 Scourge Beast Large Hunstmen Eileen the Crow Gherman of the Dream Iosefka The Doll(There’s no bonnet on HeroForge, much to my annoyance) Beast Gascoine Father Gascoine Gherman, the First Hunter

[insideapollo]

Three weeks left to order a copy of this Hannigram zine! There are so many Fannibal artists and writers in here including myself. It is brimming with love and blood, please support this project if you can! 🦌🦌💕

Here’s a preview of my contribution to the upcoming Hannigram “Il Mostro” zine organized by @vermilionzines ! 🦌🦌🩸

I’m so excited to see this book in print! There’s a ton of incredibly talented fannibal friends in here, don’t miss out!! Like Hannibal aka The Monster of Florence, the zine is very dark and sexy, expect a lot of monsters and blood! 🙃

Preorders are open now thru September 15! Proceeds will be donated to charity. 🍽️💕

https://vermilionzines.bigcartel.com/

(I will be selling prints in the future if you’re unable to grab a copy! Patrons can see the complete piece now!)

[xenosagaepisodeone]

I've been watching some silent longplays of Shadow Tower: Abyss recently and it's interesting how you can see the bones for the earliest Souls games in it's design (the game even starts off with you having to pick some weapons off of a corpse!). it's ultimately for the best that FromSoft has departed from dungeon crawlers, but I would love to see them tackle a smaller project in the same sort of vein. the game is far more quiet than Dark Souls or Bloodborne, and all you know about the protagonist is that they are on a quest to find an ancient weapon that possesses enormous power. enemies have a lot of character to them and don't seem particularly difficult to fight. when attacked, their limbs will fall off (the earliest of ps1 software limitations attempting to illustrate that yes you are mercilessly hacking your enemies to death) and they let out a high pitched whine before backing away (of course you finish them off regardless). you still do get snippets of lore from NPCs like in other fromsoft games, but they largely appear indifferent towards you and your quest. there are clearly larger mysteries that preoccupy the cast you do see and the land is intentionally warped in ways that suggest a significant history to the land, but it doesn’t come across as intentionally conspiratorial and secretive (like the true nature of the world in dark souls) as it does that the protagonist is simply an insignificant actor in a world observing events that are much larger than him.

[iain-games-firstperson]

Environment research

Genshin Impact: I know very little about Genshin Impact, but from what I can see, the environments look like they were designed to look and feel like a fantasy European city, along with grassy plateaus and forested areas highly reminiscent of Breath of the Wild. This could lend itself to a feeling of freedom and openness which, depending on the style of game they were going for, could really aid with a sense of freedom and being on an adventure. Without having played the game myself, it’s hard to say for sure. I’ll definitely give it a try go, given that it’s free and reviewed pretty well.

Anthem: I personally really dislike the level design in Anthem, and actually Anthem in general. It feels like EA took Bioware, looked at what they were good at and then forced them to make the exact opposite. Everything takes place in one big, empty open world. The world itself is pretty beautifully designed, but you’re never really looking at it. The actual game is just following one glowing yellow icon through the big environment, eyes locked on the next checkpoint. The terrain feels underutilised and thoughtless. There are roads and empty buildings with no thought put into who would be going to them or why. The world doesn’t feel like a living world for the player to explore, it feels like the questing area in an overhyped and underwhelming online looter shooter, which is really disappointing given what the game could have been.

GTA V: The level design in Grand Theft Auto is a little difficult for me to talk about because I’ll quickly get derailed talking about the open world or how the company has an outdated design formula. However, if talking exclusively about the closed ended missions, the environments used in those (outside of commuting to missions in the open world) are curated specifically to railroad players through a specifically curated experience. The environments are tightly focussed and beautifully hand crafted, ending up feeling rich with detail and deliberately believable. I still physically wince whenever I think about the enormous amount of work that must have gone into so much of this game. The environments in the open world, however, can feel a little lacking at times, with large swathes of the map that are hardly used for anything at all, and although they do make the world feel big, it also just serves to put a commute between interesting areas on the map. However, some people would argue that that’s not the point, and the more space there is on the map, the more room you have to incite chaos and make the lives of the NPC’s hell. I would be loathed to argue with that because it sounds about right. I will always say that the minimap and yellow/purple line telling you exactly where to go at all times isn’t great though, as it takes the player out of the immersion, and makes a lot of the finer details in the world disappointingly easy to miss out on.

Subnautica: The environment in Subnautica is excellent for encouraging the player to explore. Most of the game is driven by player curiosity and wanting to conquer the hostile planet they find themselves on, almost out of spite towards it’s sheer hostility. The map isn’t randomly generated, so none of it is ever wasted. Everything has a purpose and something for the player to gain. Generally, the further out you explore from the starting zone, the rarer the resources you discover are. This incentivises progression on the player’s part, because they have to push further out in order to get the next cool bit of tech. This also ties nicely into the games progression, but I won’t talk about that here. The exploration element is also aided by the lack of an in game map, encouraging the player to learn the layout of the world in order to be able to get around. There are pings that get added to your HUD, which are used to push the player in the right direction, or lead them to the next clue in the mystery, but you never get pings about resources or blueprints, so you have to choose to explore and look around to find them. 

Firewatch: Firewatch uses a semi-realistic approach to it’s exploration. You are given a destination by Delilah, and you have to use your map, compass and signs on the trails to find your way there. This is a lot less exploration based, but that works because Firewatch is a very story focussed game. The game does very well at using foliage and lighting to make it clear where the player is supposed to go without holding the player’s hand or coddling them, so when you find your way to somewhere correctly, you do feel like you have successfully read a map and traversed somewhere accurately, which is pretty satisfying, and shows a fair bit of restraint on the part of the developer. 

It’s very easy for developers to worry that the player won’t be able to find their way around and add a bunch of markers and tutorials every step of the way, but both Subnautica and Firewatch are pretty good at just letting the player go and having confidence in them. As a result, these games were a small, but noteworthy influence on me in this project, as I really want to do things like this in my games. I want to strive towards giving the player a genuine feeling of achievement, of having overcome something simple, but tricky, such as reading a map and compass with nothing but landmarks, or choosing to step into a new, scary area and overcoming a fear. The feeling I was hoping to achieve with the first person project was a feeling of having solved a problem with deductive reasoning, but I don’t think I had enough time to fully carry through on that. 

My personal favourite environment I’ve ever experienced in a video game was in Dark Souls. Dark Souls’ world design and cohesion are legendary, and for good reason too. There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you first emerge, blinking at the sunlight, from Blighttown, turn left and take the lift down to the New Londo ruins, and realise you’re at the bottom of another elevator which takes you back up to Firelink Shrine, and after hours of slogging through The Gutter and trying to just get passed those god damn poison dart spitting guys in Blighttown, you’re finally safe. It’s a wonderful feeling, and one of the first times you realise just how truly interwoven the world is. I remember being utterly dumbfounded when I finally beat Havel the Rock, opened the door that he was guarding and stepped out into Darkroot Basin. My favourite thing about Dark Souls’ environments, and this carries through the sequels and Bloodborne, is the way the worlds feel so incredibly correct. It never seems like a stretch to believe that this giant, gleaming palace would house two gatekeepers who would have smashed me into smithereens if I hadn’t stolen one of the weapons the guards were wielding. Yet, it somehow still maintains this painfully oppressive atmosphere of near torture at times. Dark Souls relishes in futility. It will beat you into a tiny, squishable pulp, and you feel it in the environment. It always seems to be when you’re having trouble with a boss that the grunt enemies you have to avoid as a formality on the way get super strong and just start pummelling you, and frustration hits you hard. It’s almost like the game knows. Almost. But then, just as you hit rock bottom, almost ready to give up and go play something else, you finally overcome that challenge. You land that final blow, you swing that perfect parry, or you perfectly time that dodge roll, and it’s all you needed to overcome that obstacle. Once again you’re on top of the world, and the environment has opened up behind the boss to mirror your feelings. You’re on top of the world, so here’s a whole new section of world for you to conquer, but just before you go down there, here’s a shortcut back to your previous bonfire. “Oh that’s where I am!“ You say excitedly, and hurriedly spend your souls so as not to lose them, Dark Souls’ environment amazed me, not only because of they way it twisted and interconnected together, but also in the way that it managed to subtly mirror my own feelings.

[raven-wraith]

StarVIEW Valley (get it?)

I am a gamer of many passions. Most of these passions extend mostly into games that offer numerous ways to brutalize and maim your adversaries (such as Mortal Kombat or The Witcher) or games that have adversaries that brutalize and maim me (such as Bloodborne or Outlast). So when I was finally finished with acquiring every achievement in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice(1), I needed a break from it all. The killing. The being killed. So in an effort to flip the script, I went to the otherside of the spectrum of gaming. That’s where I found one of my new biggest passions to date. That passion is called Stardew Valley.

The game begins with a simple soundtrack and a main menu. A background of green hills, flying birds, and blue skies as the title comes from the top of the screen. There are four buttons. New, Load, Co-op, and Exit. While it’s a small pick of things to do, most main menus are on the first boot. But, immediately, the care to detail is noticed. 

Not on my first pickup or even my fifth did I notice that there is a counter at the bottom of the screen that notifies you on how many times you have logged in. Clicking on things in this screen reveals secret easter eggs, all of which are adorable to look at. I knew I would enjoy this game even since then.

Stardew Valley has surpassed the perception of wholesomeness and has ascended, wait, transcended to a volume equivalent to a playable Bob Ross painting where everyone you meet is a form of Fred Rogers’ mind. I think the most important pieces that make up and come from Stardew Valley is it’s development and the message it sends while you play it. The game handles lots of things impressively well, but the three mentioned topics are the driving factors of gameplay for me.

“The title is made by a multimillion dollar corporation with over four hundred people working on this sole project, all of which was shown at E3 only to have a massive graphics downgrade on release.” That sentence is what I would write if it was true. Stardew was created by one computer science major(2) who decided he didn’t like how Harvest Moon(3) games were going/were being made. So he dedicated his time to making this game, delving into his artistic views to make the game come to life even more.

After some time, he reached out to Reddit and Twitter for his progress updates, to which he was returned with waves and waves of support from the online community. What went from a small project soon turned into his full time investment. Once Chucklefish came on board to help carry the load of publishing the game, Ape went and set his days on polishing the game the best he could before initial release.

And thank goodness he did.

The game was a success. Is a success. With over ten million copies sold by January 2020, ConcernedApe still to this day works on patching bugs, adding content, and discussing the future of the game in online forums. This direction of development was not only eye-opening to me, but it’s admirable in its own right.

The charm from that is enough to be portrayed into the game. Every detail, every spoken word from the NPCs and every pixel on the monsters in the mine was drawn and rendered from one mind. That level of dedication to this craft is so impressive that the weight of that notion carries throughout the gameplay. To know that so many mechanics were programmed in C# by one person astonishes me, and the returns tell us that many others feel the same way.

Next, the message of the game. It’s introspective, it’s mature, it’s prominent but not obvious. Basically:

Fuck Capitalism.

I mean, fuck wasting your life away behind a desk without connecting to those around you in a world where human interaction should not be as forced as it should be welcomed.

From the prologue, prior to your adventure to Stardew Valley, your call to action comes in the form of a letter from your grandfather. Trapped in your cubicle in the fictional company Joja’s office, you have finally grown tired of the stale lifestyle you’ve been leading. Opening the letter, you read about the property your grandfather left you. You head to his home. Once you arrive, your game starts.

This entire exchange of scenery, world building, and story takes place in under ten minutes. However, it is executed perfectly. The theme carries over in town once you realize there are two places to get your groceries, a Joja Market and Pierre’s General Store. The game makes a point of competition between these two establishments and it’s direction is influenced from the player’s involvement to love nature.

I believe that this was excellently done. It all revolves around a place where little fairies live, all of which need your help rebuilding their broken home. Now you can help them find their precious food and crafts or you can buy a membership at Joja like some kind of toxic, stupid, disrespectful, horrible, waste of space human filth that smells bad. I took to helping them with my good nature. I’ve run around, collecting only the most beautiful flowers and harvesting the dankest crops to give to those little bitch fairies to see that center bloom to life.

And I loved it. I loved it so much that when the Joja manager showed up to make a statement after I had repaired the entire establishment, I was gratified to see Pierre duke it out with this man. ConcernedApe took an approach to seeing past business in such an appealing way that I never once thought of it as a chore, let alone as a rebellion against societal standards.

Stardew Valley is a special experience. You can’t just continue to play games without giving this one a fair chance. It’s cute, it’s handcrafted, and I think most importantly, it’s completely unique in its delivery. While influences from other games and works of art are present, it’s safe to say that Stardew Valley goes above and beyond the usual farming simulator or dating RPG. Good job ConcernedApe, I will be returning to that farm almost constantly.

My statement still stands.

Fuck Capitalism.

(1)  From Software’s newest title, a new IP from their universally acknowledged Dark Souls series.

(2)  Nerd.

(3)  A farming simulator released in 1996, which is still continued to be made.

[elfcow]

Ok so! I am happy to explain but it's gonna have to be under the cut because of big spoilers for elden ring (like seriously, literal end of the game spoilers, you've been warned!)

Ok, so!

First off, a ton of characters are trans in Elden Ring, and their transness is essential to the themes their characters help the game tell!

Radagon is transmasc - Radagon was Marika, and transitioned. It is clearly shown that Radagon was unhappy living as Marika and was much happier transitioning, and his transition is integral to the plot and theme of the game.

Radagon embodies the divine act of creation, of transmutation, of reinventing yourself. Marika breaks the Elden Ring, but Radagon attempts to repair it. Radagon banishes his husband and ventures forth as the "champion" Radagon, while claiming that "Marika" languishes within the Erdtree. He fought a war, repented that war, and married Rennala and had kids; he studied sorcery under Rennala and miracles at the erdtree, and "thus did the hero aspire to be complete." That was his aspiration! To get to live a life free of who he had been.

When you fight Radagon, you see Marika crucified against the last remnants of the Elden Ring. She falls... And grabs her hammer. And then runes ignite, and Radagon rises, and rips the hammer off of his anvil, in reverse imagery to Marika's shattering of the Elden Ring, and his body and hair transforms to match his identity. And then he looks over his shoulder at you, a look of weary pride, and the main theme of the game plays...

There are plenty of other trans themes and characters in the game as well - the player character can trans their gender, change their name and body, at any time with the help of magical Relics or Rennala. Rennala herself is potentially trans, since she and Radagon had kids, depending on what Radagon kept and left when he transformed.

That being Marika is depicted as torture, and being Radagon is depicted as heroic, noble, and full of intention and agency - you can project your own gender all you want, but at the end of the day I think the clearest interpretation of the text is that Radagon, God, is transmasc.

Not to mention that when you use the Law of Regression miracle that Radagon invented in front of a statue of him - the statue transforms into a statue of Marika. That turning back into Marika is considered a regression is really all you need to know.

Melania is almost certainly trans - you don't bear 5 kids to term on a military campaign, but you can certainly sire them. The sad joke is of course that by the time you meet her and see her second phase that her dick has rotted off 😔 rip queen

St. Trina is trans - described plainly and simply as so in all of the item descriptions relevant to them. Cut content implies that at one time St. Trina was Miquella's alter ego, but since it's cut we can't take it at face value for now. St. Trina is trans and beloved by many, and that simplicity alone is momentous.

The assassin Ensha is trans - his character model is what most games would typically/unfortunately call the "female" body type. And before you think this is an accident, from soft has had a significant warrior npc using he/him pronouns and a "femme" body type in previous games - the white bow archer in Demon's souls, and the archer Pharis in Dark Souls, just off the top of my head.

All in all, Elden Ring is really fucking trans, in a way that literally can't be missed or extricated from the story. Bloodborne is extremely trans too, in a different way, but that's a post for another time.

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

When I say stuff like Elden Ring or Bloodborne are Trans games. I don't just mean that they have trans characters in them - they do - but that transness is intrinsic to the narrative. You can't understand these games without understanding the self-intentionality, the divine act of self transmutation, the quest for self-discovery that lies at the core of these games.

It's essential to the narrative, it's textual, it's on screen in a way you really can't miss. It's mind blowing to see not just representation but true exploration of transness in one of the biggest games of the decade. It makes me emotional in a way I can't describe.

[chosenundeaad]

Would you guys want me sharing my Dark Souls fan art?

I’m making a huge project for school: I’ll draw fan art of bosses, NPCs and enemies from all the Souls + Bloodborne. Would you want me to share those pieces when I’ll be done?