#Final Fantast XV theories

[u23art]

A Look At Kingdom Hearts 3.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is an epilogue. 

         Kingdom Hearts 3, is sadly not the resolution we, or at least I, had hoped for. I wanted this to be a celebration of all the things that made Kingdom Hearts great, instead we got a Kingdom Hearts title that frankly is missing a few pieces.  Though there were elements in this game that I adored, it sadly doesn’t overtake Kingdom Hearts 2 in terms of the quality the best titles of the series can achieve. 

         The wait was long, the wait was arduous while fans of the series were drip fed morsels of information about the game. I counted down the days until the day of release, and on the day of release I counted the seconds until Gamestop open while I waited beside the door in below zero temperatures. My excitement didn’t cease as in addition my preorder for the limited edition PS4 Pro arrived the very same day, and since I had no internet due to extreme cold conditions I sat myself down for 3 days and played through Kingdom Hearts 3.

The gameplay, is smooth, I had my worries after 0.2 with its overly speedy movement through stages and at times “lumpy” action, but in 3 though Sora moves fast but the stages are wide and vast, and action inputs are responsive and attacks can be sequenced together with ease from keyblade swings, magic and shot lock commands. My only complaint was that I wasn’t given an option like in Kingdom Hearts 2 to turn off some of these activation commands, cause I could have done without Attraction Flow attacks popping up as often as they did.

  One cool additional feature however, was the ability to upgrade keyblades, rather than just switching to the next new keyblade after each world, each keyblade has a unique play style and you can power it up if it suits your approach to combat. I primarily found myself switching between the Shooting Star and Favorite Deputy keyblades.

The best stages to me, were Olympus, Toy Box and Monstropolous, they were wonderful to look at with tons of spaces to explore. The weakest worlds on the other hand, were Arrendale and San Fransokyo. Arrendale is white, Arrendale is covered in Snow, this is annoying when trying to differentiate areas and either find your way or find lucky emblems. San Fransokyo, is a city block, with grey buildings the blur into one another and it’s ESPECIALLY hard to find things like treasure chests. And then there’s Twilight Town, we are allowed ONE area of Twilight Town to mingle about in. Perhaps they should have put resources into making Twilight Town bigger instead of rendering music videos for "Let It Go" and......"Do You Want To Build A Snowman"......

Story wise, Sora is tasked by Yen Sid to achieve the power of waking in order to bring back Ven. Instead of being a teacher, he sends Sora out guided by his heart to various Disney worlds to get stronger and get the power of waking. Riku and Mickey on the other hand, are tasked with dropping into the world of Darkness to find Aqua.

Addressing this first, I was disappointed with the Riku segments, I expected brief adventures but instead we get two fights. I would have accepted reusing stages and assets from 0.2, we’re looking for Aqua anyway, why not go through places she did as we retrace our steps.

Going back to Sora’s story, it feels far too much like a straight line though points A through B and ect. Kingdom Hearts 2 worked as well as it did thanks in part to Hollow Bastion, a world with an expanding narrative to unravel after beating certain numbers of Disney worlds. On top of not having Radiant Gardens available to visit here, there wasn’t a single Final Fantasy character to drive its plot anyway.

I mentioned earlier that this game felt like it was missing pieces, there were signs that this would be the case when it was evident the first world would be Olympus and not an original world for the narrative to revolve around like Traverse Town, Twilight Town or Radiant Gardens. Upon starting up the game, my fears were further affirmed when I played through the entirety of Olympus’s narrative and Phil hadn’t said a single word. After visiting Olympus a second time, I was further saddened that there was no Hades cup or tournament. There are multiple instances of this throughout the game, this gnawing feeling that something is missing. Kingdom Hearts has always been known as an amalgamation of Final Fantasy and Disney, and to not have an FF character beyond some mentions of Cloud and Auron makes the whole experience feel disingenuous to what Kingdom Hearts is instead of celebrating what makes it great. There are MENTIONS of FF things, like some of the gummi ships, a cactuar and Leviathan from Final Fantasy V, but sadly the restoration committee is a no show.

One of the main selling points of this game was that the worlds are vast and seamlessly interconnected with the exception of a few points. This is cool, however without having separate areas and no brief pauses and transitions between them, the campaigns feel like they just breeze on by despite the fact that each one is a little under 2 hours. This creates a similar sort of problem that Final Fantasy XV had, where there was a focus on making vast open areas but sadly there’s no meaty substance to fill them with.

On a personal note, this game could have been fantastic-ish had they just replaced the shallow Frozen and BH6 worlds with worlds from Pocahontas and Treasure Planet.

The story should have enforced the story of Kingdom Hearts 2, which was immensely fun to play, INSTEAD it enforces THE MOBILE game which is not fun to play and personally I had quit after being sick of road blocks that kept me from progressing. Heck, this game actually undoes a lot of good KH2 did for the overall narrative. Union X stopped being especially fun since it had a habit of creating more and more questions without providing answers, a quality that has been passed on to Kingdom Hearts 3. 

Here is a list of questions that this game created without answering them.

What keyblade information did Larxene, Luxord, Demyx and Marluxia divulge to Saix?

Luxord and Demyx had Keyblades?

Axel and Saix became apprentices to Ansem to Wise to find and save a girl? 

Who is this girl, WHO are they talking about?

If Riku’s inner Riku whisked away Replica Riku to heart heaven, how could Xehanort still have the right amount of Darknesses.

When did Roxas leave Sora’s body to enter the replica body?

How did Roxas fly into battle from the sky?

How did the Norts get Xion’s heart from heart heaven to put into a replica?

How did Ansem the Wise get Namine from heart heaven into a replica?

How did Ansem the Wise conduct experiments on children and keep that hidden? That happened?

Where did Xehanort learn about the stupid requirements of 7 lights and 13 darkness to make Kingdom Hearts appear?

Where the H did Demyx go after he dropped off a replica and Ansem the Wise?

Why did Kairi shatter from Xehanort’s strike?

How did Sora save Kairi?

Where is Sora?

What rock are the Final Fantasy characters hiding under?

And most importantly, why was Phil not allowed to utter a SINGLE words the whole 2 or so hours I was at Olympus?

Ultimately I am happy that I finally got Kingdom Hearts 3, but I have a theory that higher interference kept this game hindered from being truly great.

Consider for a moment, have you notice that Kingdom Hearts 3 was announced in 2013 yet Big Hero 6 didn’t come out until 2014? 

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

[sassycassie-s-writing]

The Original Story

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): Final Fantasy XV/Ignis Scientia feat. Noctis Lucis Caelum + Gang

Rating: PG-11 

Original Idea: Listen y’all, the FFXV universe gave me a lot of feels (and the ending broke my fragile heart) so things happen.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) This is the original version of Princess Estelle’s story, where I came up with her character. Bear in mind it has a lot of time jumps but I think y’all will be alright. It’s a mess because it was a bunch of disjointed ideas that helped me get to know Estelle. It also has some timeline issues with the backstory because Estelle’s only about year or two younger than Noctis.

^^^^^

“C’mon, Iggy, you’re a Crownsguard. I’m the daughter of a Crownsguard. You know as well as I do that we’re of the same rank.”

“We are not, princess. Whether you like it or not, King Regis legally adopted you. You are the princess of Lucis and you are Noctis’ sister.”

“Not by blood,” I pointed out. “If something happened to Noc, no one would let me lead Lucis—because I’m not of the line of Lucis.”

“Stop this, Estelle. That’s not true and you know it.”

“It is true!” I exclaimed, flinging an arm out. “I’m not real royalty! I don’t have a drop of royal blood in me!”

Ignis stared at me in silence for a moment. “Have a seat, Estelle,” he said. “I’d like to tell you a tale.”

“Ooooh,” I said as I sat down. “An Iggy story.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “This story began many years ago in the halls of Tenebrae. There, a young prince of Lucis was recovering from an injury with the help of the Oracle at the time—the queen of Tenebrae.

“Not long after, while the boy was still there, a member of the Crownsguard of Lucis brought a small baby to the palace of Tenebrae. The baby was ill and the poor father didn’t know what to do. He begged the Oracle to help him. She did what she could, but nothing seemed to work.

“So, the Oracle communed with the gods, and the Glacian gave her counsel: a single drop of blood from the line of Lucis would revitalize the child and let the baby live.

“The Oracle immediately sent word to the king of Lucis, pleading with him for assistance. The baby was, after all, the daughter of one of his trusted Guard.

“But, the king refused. He said the blood of the line of Lucis was only meant to mingle when an heir had to be born.

“Fortunately, the prince of Lucis was listening outside in the corridor. Once he heard what was happening, he snuck to the princess of Tenebrae—who had become a close, dear friend of his—and told her what he heard. Neither of them hesitated. The princess of Tenebrae found a hairpin and the prince of Lucis found where the baby and her father would be staying the night.

“Once all in the palace had fallen asleep, the children snuck into the room where the baby’s cradle was next to her father’s bed. The princess pricked the prince’s finger and he let a single drop of blood fall into the baby’s open mouth. The infant began to cry and the children fled the room as quick and quiet as they could. But the father knew that his child would live. The Oracle proclaimed it as a miracle from the Six, but she knew what her daughter and the prince of Lucis had done. She took the secret to her grave.

“But, once the prince and princess were out of the baby and her father’s room, they stopped and listened. They only heard him say one thing before fleeing to their chambers,” Ignis said.

“What was that?” I asked.

“‘My precious star,’” he said.

I set one hand on my necklace over my heart. “Star—Estelle,” I said.

Ignis nodded. “Yes. That baby was you. Noctis saved your life without hesitating. You have the blood of the line of Lucis in you.”

“A single drop of blood in my mouth when I was an infant? No I don’t.”

“The cells in that drop of blood worked their way out of your system a long time ago, yes. However, the power of the line of Lucis rests weakly within you, Princess Estelle. Not to the extent that it resides in Noct, but there are vestiges of that power in your veins. The magic of the line of Lucis doesn’t care that your blood and Noctis’ aren’t from the same parents. You are his family. In theory, you could wear the ring without sacrificing something.”

I curled my knees up to my chest and stared at Ignis. “Really?”

“It’s never been tested before, but I don’t see why not.”

^^^^^

“So, are Ignis and Estelle the only ones who drive?” Iris asked.

“I can drive,” Prompto said.

“And so can I,” Noctis added.

“Yeah, they both can, but Iggy and Estelle are the only ones we trust,” Gladio put in.

“And with his little sister in the car, the big guy wasn’t taking any chances,” Prompto said with a small grin. I smirked and glanced at the backseat in the rearview mirror.

“Which is why I’m driving,” I remarked playfully. “Because no matter what the other three might tell you, I am actually a better driver than Ignis and he’d be the first to admit it. He’s a fantastic driver but I’m more cautious. Prince Noctis is messy and Prompto is too reckless.”

“Hey!” Prompto protested. I laughed and guided the car around a rather sharp turn in the road.

“I’m not messy, Estelle,” Noctis said.

“Mmhmm,” I grunted sarcastically. “Hey Iggy, let’s swap out at the next rest stop before we reach Caem so I can sit in the back so the boys won’t be so squished back there and Noc can drive my car.” Iris and I were similar in size, but I was a little smaller. Iris was okay in the backseat crammed between Noctis and Gladiolus, but the boys both looked a bit irritated.

“Sounds like a plan,” Ignis said through the earpiece I had in my ear. He was driving my car right behind us. We’d thought about splitting up with three in each car for more room, but had ultimately determined it was better to stay as close together as we could. Just in case something happened. “However I’m surprised you’re willing to trust your brother with this beautiful machine. It nearly rivals the Regalia.”

“Yeah, well, that thing is tough as an airship. Noctis could smash it headfirst into a mountain and barely dent the front bumper,” I said.

Ignis chuckled in my earpiece.

^^^^^

Ten Years Later...

^^^^^

“Oh, Estelle’s really stepped up while you’ve been gone,” Talcott added to Noctis. “Become a real leader.”

“Has she?” Noctis asked, interested.

“Yeah. The mayor of Lestallum still keeps the city running smoothly and supports the infrastructure; but when people are scared or seeking comfort, they go right to Estelle. She gives comfort and organizes daemon-slaying hunts—sometimes even rescue missions. A lot of people say she’s the closest thing we have to… well. To you, Your Majesty. But others just say she’s the closest thing we have to a queen.”

“Huh,” Noctis said. “They’re not wrong.”

“Yeah… By the way—she and Ignis finally admitted their feelings for each other about a year after you disappeared. With seven people in the room—including myself. We were having a discussion about a search party for a mother and child who’d somehow gotten out of Lestallum and gone missing and Ignis was being a bit protective, saying Estelle should stay behind even though she wanted to go because she was the closest thing we had to you and a monarch. And Estelle… she got mad at him. She made some insensitive comment that maybe he should stay behind instead because he couldn’t see. They kept arguing and he finally shouted that he loved her. She just stood there in stunned silence.”

Noctis chuckled. “I’m surprised Iggy would raise his voice,” he said.

“Well, no one can push your buttons like the one you love, right?” Talcott asked with a smile. “They’ve been semi-together ever since.”

“Semi?”

“Well… they don’t want to be really together because they’ve both said it’d be weird to be happy without you around. But every so often giggles sweep the city because the princess and Ignis were caught kissing behind a staircase somewhere.”

Noctis smiled. “I’m glad,” he said.

“Yeah… I think she’s going with him to Hammerhead. So you’ll get to see her.”

“Good. I need to ask her a favor.”

When they arrived at Hammerhead, four familiar figures were outside waiting.

Prompto. Gladiolus. Ignis. Estelle. They all looked older, more scarred, and just slightly different. Ignis had reflective glasses on to hide his blind eyes and the scar over his left one. He had Estelle’s hand in his. Her hair was longer and bound up in a ponytail. Her eyes were tired but determined. Gladiolus’ hair was bound back as well. Prompto had a goatee.

The moment Noctis was free of the truck with the door shut behind him, Estelle’s face broke out into a smile. “Noc!” she cried, running forward. She slammed into him, hard, and threw her arms around him. “Oh we missed you!”

“I missed you too.”

^^^^^

“Estelle, a word, please?” Noctis asked me. I glanced at Ignis, squeezed his hand reassuringly, and stepped away from the group.

“What’s up?”

“I need you to do something for me. The biggest favor I’ve ever asked of you.”

“Name it, Noc,” I said.

My adoptive brother put his hands on either side of my face to make sure I was listening. “Be queen, Estelle.”

I took a step back. “What?” I breathed.

Noctis tugged me even farther away from our friends. “Listen, the only way to stop this endless night is for me to… to sacrifice myself. To die. When that happens, Insomnia and Lucis will still need someone to sit on the throne. I don’t have an heir so the only person who can possibly take up the throne is you. And I would trust no one else with this.”

“But, Noc, I—”

“Estelle, trust in me. You have much more wisdom and experience leading our people than I do. Just do what you’ve been doing these past ten years.”

“On a much bigger scale,” I said.

“Well… yes. But you can handle it. No one would do better than you.”

“I’m not royal by blood, Noc.”

“I know. But after I’m gone, royal blood won’t matter. The star scourge will be over with and the Ring and Crystal’s purpose will be fulfilled. Besides, Dad adopted you legally. You have a right to the throne. Please, Estelle.”

I sighed and wrapped my arms around my brother. “Okay, Noc. I’ll do it.”

He sighed and kissed the top of my head, his own arms wrapping around me. “Thank you. I know Lucis will be in good hands.”

“I hope so,” I muttered.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Noctis added. He did so in a tone that I knew something teasing was coming.

“What?” I asked.

I felt him grinning. “Please marry Ignis.”

I giggled. “Noc…!”

He chuckled. “I’m serious. You two seem happy together.”

I sighed, forehead resting on his chest. “We are.”

“Don’t be afraid to be happy, Estelle. Even when I’m gone.”

I sniffed. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I know. But I’ve made my peace with it.”

“It won’t be the same without you, Noc.”

“I’m sorry, Stell. But this is something I have to do.”

I sighed and wiped the tears from my eyes. “I know. And our hearts go with you.”

“Thank you.”

I kissed his cheek and we went back to Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio. I took Ignis’ hand. “Get everything sorted out?” he asked.

“More or less,” I said.

“I’m glad,” Ignis said. “Come. We should get the camp set up.”

“Right,” I agreed.

^^^^^

“The four of us around a campfire. How long’s it been?” Noctis asked.

“An eternity,” Ignis said.

“Yeah…” Noctis agreed.

I looked around at them, remembering when they first left on their journey.

*****

“Estelle? Dear?” King Regis asked as Noctis and his friends climbed in the Regalia.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” I replied, turning to the king with my eyebrows raised expectantly. I peeked at Noctis and the others as they drove off, not wanting to miss them leaving.

King Regis smiled at me. “Go after them,” he said. “Give them fifteen minutes, then make your way to Hammerhead.”

I grinned and giggled. “Yes, sire,” I said.

He chuckled. “Take care of them, Estelle.”

“Always, sire.” I bowed to him.

“You’re excused.”

“Thank you, King Regis.” I turned and ran off to pack some stuff up and grab my car.

Once I had some clothes and food thrown in a bag and that bag thrown in my car, I drove out of the city, following signs towards Hammerhead. I’d never liked driving in the city—too much traffic. But out on the open road, I found myself having a good time. Listening to music with no buildings and almost no cars. It was so nice outside.

I was getting pretty far outside the city when I saw a car being pushed down the road by a few people. It was a convertible. A rather familiar one too. The people pushing it were familiar as well.

The Reglia. As well as Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis.

I chuckled and pulled up next to them. “Hey boys. Need a lift?” I called out the open passenger-side window.

“Estelle?! What are you doing here?!” Noctis demanded.

I laughed. “King Regis sent me to make sure you got to Hammerhead alright,” I said.

Noctis sighed. “Of course he did,” he muttered.

“C’mon. Hop in guys. There’s plenty of room for all four of you. I’ll take you to Hammerhead and then you can get a tow truck there to come get the Regalia.”

“With respect, princess, I’m gonna stay here,” Gladio said.

“Not a princess, Gladio,” I said.

“For all intents and purposes, you’re Noct’s sister. I’m calling you princess,” Gladio retorted. I rolled my eyes. “And there’s no way we’re all gonna fit in your car.”

“There’s plenty of leg room behind me,” I said. “I have to pull my seat pretty far up to reach the pedals since I’m so short.”

“It’s not just that, Estelle. Someone’s gotta keep an eye on this gorgeous piece of machinery.”

I shrugged. “Fine, Gladio. Be that way,” I said. “What do you think, Noc? Hop in?”

“Sure. Prompto? Ignis?”

“I believe I’ll stay with Gladio,” Ignis said. “None of us should be alone.”

“Okay,” Noctis and I said at the same time.

Prompto didn’t hesitate to get in my car. Nor did Noctis. We headed for Hammerhead.

“You know Iggy’s not coming with because he can’t be around Estelle without blushing, right Noct?” Prompto teased.

I scoffed.

“Right,” Noctis agreed with a smile.

“Noc!” I protested.

“Oh come ON, Estelle!” Prompto complained playfully. “It’s obvious. Iggy likes being composed and dignified—but he just… can’t around you.”

“Ha-ha,” I said, voice flat and humorless.

I drove them to Hammerhead and met Cindy—or was her name Cidney?—and then followed behind while they took a tow truck back to the Regalia so I could drive everyone except Gladio back to Hammerhead. Gladio elected to ride with Cindy/Cidney, whatever her name was, to keep an eye on the Regalia. Noctis even gave up shotgun in my car to Ignis.

“What a good start,” I muttered once we got back to Hammerhead and they got the car in the garage.

*****

Ten years. It didn’t feel that long ago. Was I really eighteen when all this started? Wow.

And now it was coming to an end.

I looked across the fire at Noc. His friends were right—for all intents and purposes, he was my brother. He’d been my brother since I was six-years-old and my blood father died. My birth mother had never wanted to be a mother so she’d left me with my father. Once he died in service to King Regis, the king took me in. Apparently he’d promised my father he would. A year into warding me, he adopted me. I’d quickly grown a crush on Ignis and a fast friendship with both Gladio and Iris. Prompto came a little later, but he became my friend too.

Noctis had always been brotherly to me. I was going to miss him. And given the way Ignis was acting, I suspected he knew what was coming—that Noc would have to sacrifice himself to bring back daylight.

I knew Ignis better than I knew anybody else—except maybe Noc. I could tell by how reserved he was being that he knew. He either heard Noc and I talking or he’d known longer than I had. Honestly, I favored the latter. Ignis was smarter than me.

^^^^^

“What does he look like? The Ignian?” Ignis whispered.

“He’s sitting on a throne in his underwear and has lots of tangly horns instead of hair,” I replied, clinging to his hand.

“Estelle?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Ignis.”

I let go of his hand to manifest my shortsword. Ignis’ ice blades appeared in his hands. He nodded in my general direction, but not exactly at me. Normally he was pretty good at looking right at me, but I’d moved slightly to get away from his ice blades.

I would have nodded back at him, but what good would it have done?

“Princess, assuming we survive this,” Ignis began as we bent our knees and prepared for battle, “I’ve been intending to ask for your hand in marriage.”

“Iggy can you wait to propose till after we’ve defeated a giant fire god?” Prompto said.

I laughed. “Well, assuming we survive this, I’ll be happy to accept. If a bit sad I don’t have a father figure for you to ask permission from. Because tradition.”

“You could ask me,” Noctis remarked. “As her brother and the king.”

“What would be the point of that?” I teased.

“We all know what your answer would be,” Ignis added, more serious than teasing.

“Hey just because you already know I’d say yes doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask,” Noctis joked.

“I’ll take that into consideration,” Ignis remarked.

The Ignian looked frustrated that we were chatting. He let off a huge blast of fire that threw all of us back. We all gathered behind a raised stone block that probably once served as some sort of bench. Another blast surged across the front of the palace, flickering over the top of the bench. Gladio held us all down.

After a moment, the fire died down. We all peered over the top of the bench.

“Now,” Ignis said.

Noctis didn’t waste time hurling a warp-strike at him.

I glanced at Ignis. Something about that warp-strike felt like the beginning of the end.

Before he could throw himself into the fight, I planted a kiss on his mouth. “For luck---and just in case.”

“It ends tonight,” he promised.

[kkelenca]

FF asks: 7, 16, 22/23, 29, 32, 37, 47, 51

From [This Ask Meme]

7. Favorite antagonist?

I think probably actually Gilgamesh, honestly. I get more excited about seeing him than I tend to be about all the others, now that I stop and think about it. Let us fight like men! and ladies! and ladies who dress like men!

16. Which game had the best cast of characters?

I would actually struggle with this, because a lot of them have very good characters, with a lot of good variety, even within some trope boundaries, but I’m a ho for Celes and Terra and Others so I’m going to just be unsurprising and say VI.

22. Which game’s world would you most like to live in?

Shit, which one is the least fucked? Definitely not VI or X or VII. I haven’t actually PLAYED XV yet, but seeing as they have cars, I’m going to assume they have air conditioning, which I think would put me above any fear of global destruction, especially if it’s not an easily known-about and could have been super avoidable way like Mako energy.

23. Which specific location (e.g. Besaid Island) would you most like to live in?

I take everything I said above back, I want to live in the Feymarch, then I can be a gross potato blob in peace and not mind being ugly and probably adapt in some way to hate being hot less.

29. Favorite summon?

Shiva. I don’t tend to like the phrase, because reasons, but I’m SO GAY for FFX Shiva and that snap from Diamond Dust.

32. Are there any fanon theories/headcanons you just can’t believe?

I’m not sure if there’s any theories I even really know about beyond Daryl being Gogo, which I understand more as an adult being impossible than I clearly did as I kid. I don’t like jokes about Locke collecting women, because it’s a character with trauma, who actually comes to terms with that, handled fairly well??? …this is driving home to me how little I’ve interacted with any sort of Final Fantasy fandom, like, ever.

37. What do you think makes a game a “quintessential” Final Fantasy game? (In other words… some people say the new games don’t feel like Final Fantasy games to them. What FEELS like a Final Fantasy game, to you?)

As An Old™who has been playing these for Some Time and can put my hand on her original FF cartridge within five minutes if I tried, there is definitely some of that “high fantasy with recurring elements” notion ingrained into me too, but like… there was also never the thought that XII and later weren’t part of the series? You can mix and match any of these elements, I think, and I’d get strong FF vibes: crystals, chocobos, cactuars, tonberries, The Summons (shiva, ramuh, etc), the magic system naming conventions, job classes, Cid, moogles, in a fantasy setting. It could be steampunk, or solarpunk, or technopunk, or pre-industrial, as long as it just feel… fantastical.

47. Favorite overworld song?

Ohhhh, that’s hard. III has a good one, and II, I like V, and VI, like honestly so many of them. I guess I have to go with Searching for Friends, because it just does something to me when you pop out of the water and have hope again in the face of a ruined world on the face of death.

51. Favorite non-vocal song?

Home Sweet Home from V. I don’t care that it HAS a vocal version now. It didn’t when in came out.

[kay660games-blog]

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When my brother Max initial asked me about how to make a gaming blog I did not even know where to start. I currently started a couple of gaming blogs in the past: Blogs about Hearthstone, Globe of Warcraft, League of Legends and Counter-Strike. They never ever definitely took off. With new upcoming games like Overwatch we wanted to function on one thing we genuinely cared about: Obtaining very good at video games. From that point on we took months of our worthwhile nights and weekends to produce a gaming blog that is now developing every day. It is now not only paying us a decent amount of pocket revenue but the start of a gaming blog has also grown into one thing incredibly fascinating and fun: A project we can share as brothers.

PlayStation four is an incredibly well known console with a fantastic controller. The reason we're shocked by 12 million is, historically, the PS4 controller has not been treated like a Computer gaming controller. Constructed-in support is uncommon, so players turn to computer software that translates their PS4 controller input into Xbox controller input. This has a handful of drawbacks. For example, a game may perhaps prompt you to 'press Y to jump', when, in reality, you ought to be pressing the triangle button. These mental translations can be a deal-breaker for particular PS4 controller users, and we see evidence that this is occurring in the monthly playtime data.

Want To Boost The GAMING? You Need To Study That Primary

three. Comparisons - You can usually do comparisons on consoles in your gaming blog, for e.g. the differences in between PS three and PS 4. You can also do comparisons on new games and their predecessors, e.g. whether Final Fantasy XV is greater than the earlier installments. Cross-console comparisons are common as nicely, i.e. whether the XBox is far better as a gaming console in comparison with PS four.

For very some time now, Dell has had its own well known brand of gaming PCs, Alienware, which is nicely-recognized for its high-end platforms. This permits them to focus on releasing far more sensible computers through the Inspiron brand, such as the 5675 model. Equipped with a few elements that permit you to play on a 1080p monitor without having too numerous compromises, it is a high quality machine, despite the fact that not exceptional. But thanks to the intense versatility of Dell merchandise, updating the peripherals will not be a dilemma over time.

Outdated blogs lack the possible for maximum growth. If you're a prosperous blogger, then you already know the value of posting consistently. Nothing in the gaming realm remains for also extended. 1 game may well be hot this week, and it is out of the public eye next week. Best game bloggers preserve track of trends and remain up-to-date. Monitoring gaming platforms, such as , is crucial for longevity.

Video games have come to be 1 of the most well-liked types of media more than the previous few decades, with videogame consoles becoming a household staple. One particular of the things that impacted its rapid growth was the emergence of the online. In reality, gaming searches account for a great amount of search queries on a normal basis. With search engines playing a major part in gaming, utilizing Search engine optimisation approaches for gaming sites is 1 of the most powerful strategies to strengthen visibility and authority.

York, PA About Blog A bi-weekly show about gaming of all sorts. Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, Role Playing Games and a lot more. The show will incorporate geek subject discussions, board game stroll through and reviews, gaming community and sector news and function playing game theory topics. Subjects might include Privateer Press, Games Workshop, Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Flight, Spartan Games, Z-Man Games, and so forth.

However you want to go about becoming a game developer, you're going to have to have to have an understanding of as a great deal about the procedure and the market as feasible, which suggests getting the ideal sources for you. We've pulled with each other a collection of some of the greatest sources out there. Ranging from forums, blogs and gaming news to Game Jams, gaming assets and totally free game engines to start out producing your games in, there is something in there for every person.

Hi. My name is Baden Ronie and I live up in bonny Scotland exactly where I was born and raised. I've been gaming for some thing like twenty years now more than a wide variety of platforms. And then some years ago I decided that writing about games produced sense. There wasn't any magical eureka moment that I can remember. There was no flash of light followed by realisation smacking in the face. Nope, I just loved to study, loved videogames and somehow decided that writing about them created best sense. My early operate, in a word, sucked. My present operate sucks, as well, but my initial perform sucked extra.

If you happen to be among the breed of gamers who like to take their action on the go, you will want to verify out the five gaming laptops Lenovo has beefed up with the most current 9th Gen Intel Core mobile processors and the most up-to-date NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 and 1660 Ti GPUs, plus two new laptops—the Lenovo Legion Y7000 and IdeaPad L340 Gaming—the enterprise has added to its offerings.

The greatest query marks with any gaming device are usually about the quantity and quality of the games. Google Play's huge ecosystem of games meant SHIELD transportable had a leg up on traditional consoles. And even though pretty much every single touch-primarily based game on Google Play was playable employing SHIELD portable's touchscreen, they weren't in a position to take full advantage of SHIELD portable's capabilities.

[tearasshouse]

Attack on Backlog 2017 - No. 9 

Final Fantasy XV

Breakdown: PS4 version at 80ish hrs for the Platinum. Plenty of post-game content left undone; plenty of pre-timeskip content left untouched; figure I’ll go back to the game someday (ha ha, not likely) and be like, oh wow, this single-player MMO still has a lot of questing left for me to do, cool (but that won’t happen).

Final Fantasy 15 is a big, beautiful, incomplete, incoherent but ultimately fulfilling and worthwhile experience that won’t disappoint if you have realistic expectations. So, it’s kind of like being in a relationship! Hah. Speaking of relationships, like the ones depicted in this game, and also like my own with the FF series...

TL;DR time! So far I’ve gotten as far as: 

Sephiroth’s fight in FF7 where I parked my characters outside of the crater and went, Nah, putting a stop to that glorious (ly pathetic) summer where I spent my 13th or 14th birthday leveling up Materia or something. Whew. Somehow I just lost the nerve to continue despite grinding for hours upon hours. I didn’t even have KotR, so naturally I skipped Ruby Weapon and that just made defeating Sephiroth kind of... pointless?

disc 3 in FF9, but because I’d neglected and refused to learn Tetra Master up to that point, I pretty much hit a roadblock and could not progress. Thanks a lot! Thanks a fucking lot. I really liked this FF. The soft limits on class specialization, with the way weapons conferred different skills to different party members, but everyone could use pretty much anything, the soundtrack, the characters; a lot of it was great. Ditto about the story tho, wasn’t paying attention ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

fhe first 5 minutes of FFIV on the NDS.

almost 50 hours into Bravely Default, but put it down because the storybeats were just too inconsistently delivered, the grinding, though greatly alleviated with some QoL features, was still a huge grind, and something about the game just... never clicked.

taking a glancing look at copy of FFX/X-2 HD and putting the thing down because I have commitment issues.  

the first 15 minutes of FF Type-0 HD.

and whoa, before I forget, Steam says I have 13.2 hours in FF13. So there’s that. Great music though! Paradigm Shifting is cool in theory too, I guess. But this game is just awful. And now I want to go back and play it. Why do I do this?

All in all a very poor showing from me. FFXV was, comparatively speaking, way easier to dig in. “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers” they say. Well, I’m not sure if I fall into either of those camps. I guess I am a fan? Sorta? I couldn’t tell you about the lore, plot or characters of many of the games, but I do own one of these. And I used to listen non-stop to shitty low-bitrate .mp3s of Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtracks on my Walkman. And I had wallpapers of Rinoa and Yuna, and still own a really embarrassing FF8 wallscroll that was gifted to me?

So! As a casual fan then, I found this one... pretty good. I mean, there’s elements of every past Final Fantasy in its DNA. It feels like a Final Fantasy game, which is to say it feels like the ones which came after 12, which did the most to change up the ATB/turn based combat, and perhaps the composition/interaction of the characters, outside of maybe Tactics or 11. 

There’s so much to like here that I’m willing to forgive its shortcomings and missed potential, even if, by the end, the things it gets right is in equal measure to the things it misses the mark on or flat out lacks. It has so much charm and warmth that I’m willing to forgive Square’s misguided reach for critical mass market appeal what with its numerous marketing tie-ins and cross-promotions, or its divvying up of exposition to tie-in films and DLC. At least it gave us that ridiculous Cup Noodle quest line. At least it gave us that. I’m even willing to forgive Chapter 13, and I didn’t even play Verse 2.

I’ve not followed the game at all, so its understandable the ones who clamoured for something like Versus XIII would be a bit irked. All those amazing tech demos and trailers they’ve released over the years? I understand the pain, but ya’ll only have yourself to blame for buying into the pre-release footage. 

Yes, the Insomnia chapter was wholly underwhelming. Yes the pacing is weirdly rushed after you’ve hit Altissia onwards and becomes hyper linear. Yes Lestallum and Altissia are in general hilariously undercooked, non-interactive, tiny and I haven’t encountered something this disappointing since maybe hitting Markarth in Skyrim, where the magic of Skyrim’s first 50 hours really started to wear thin. We’ve truly hit a point where graphics tech has outpaced the ability and feasibility to render more organic, more reactive and believable AI simulation in towns and cities. Maybe all this increased fidelity strikes a dissonance with how we think worlds should be populated and behave? I don’t know. Witcher 3 looks incredible though, and perhaps that’s the game that shows you can have your cake and eat it too. Meaty, meaningful content that isn’t just throwaway Hunt quests, or helping some asshole with his car troubles for the umpteenth time. I’m of the opinion that all sidequests in RPGs devolve into kill or fetch quests, and the rare exception requires you to talk your way to success or solve some kind of puzzle and mechanically speaking there isn’t a whole lot you can do. So, that’s where good writing comes in. Fallout New Vegas, if I recall had fantastic writing in this regard. More recently NieR Automata had really rudimentary sidequests that were carried along with quirky written snippets that expanded upon the world. Then there’s the Witcher games and to a lesser extent the Yakuza series that construct entire stories around side content. Yes FFXV’s sidequests are... uniformly underwhelming. They’re all more or less MMO-like filler content for the sake of inflating the completion time and giving you some kind of incentive for exploring the world. And yes, Luna and Noct’s relationship is hilariously undercooked; she does her Aerith moment and it’s tits up from that point on. It’s a shame you can’t be with Iris though the game teases this; Aranea only shows up to do her thing and disappears; Cor straight up disappears; Gentiana does her thing and disappears, etc. People just disappear, for no apparent reason other than selling you DLC, or they didn’t know what to do with these characters because they are plot movers, nothing more. Sigh.

But you know what? It’s been awhile since I’ve played something like the first half of the game so yeah, sure, whatever. Throw on a podcast and go about overleveling past the main campaign. Go ahead and throw on that FF13 soundtrack and go pick up nutmeg (such a great soundtrack). 

Speaking of which, I loved the music. I might even call it majestic. I loved oddball world design of mashing what seems to be not-Southwestern & not-Pacific Northwestern USA with not-Venice, briefly not-Rivendell (Tenebrae?) & not-Tokyo. I loved playing grab ass with my boys after camping out in the mornings. I loved Ignis being the mom friend and the my headcanon where the guys store all their cooking and crafting ingredients in the same astral plane where Noctis keeps his weapons. I loved the photography feature and Prompto’s arc. I fucking loved fishing more than I thought would. I loved that there’d always be some kind of incidental dialogue when you’d go exploring or take up a quest. I loved that Bahamut had a creepy human face. I loved how dangerous and crappy the Reglia Type-F is to handle. I loved that Gladio would give Noct shit, even undeservedly at times. I loved that Regis and his crew went on a similar journey all those years ago. I loved that there’d be super high level mobs just chilling in the overworld and that level scaling isn’t a thing, but there would still be things that could one-shot you. I can appreciate a game that helps me with completing its campaign, even if it does so kind of forcibly, since open worlds tend to induce some kind of completion anxiety in me. Will you please go and fucking fight Ardyn already? 

About that fighting: I like it? I briefly tried Kingdom Hearts on 3DS and it was... It was not great. But I like the automation in this that allows for just enough player input where positioning and timing is more important than anything else. It’s not very strategic, and you don’t have much in the way of tactical forethought, but it looks cool! Props to Square’s animation team for blending all of it together into a somewhat coherent whole. It’s mostly flash, with just enough engagement to not be a entirely mindless affair. 

I think at the end of the day we all have some kind of preconception of what we wanted FFXV to be, and we were all left somewhat disappointed that it didn’t turn out to be that figment of our fancy. But it exists, its more than playable, there’s a lot to do and soak in and those post-credits scenes with Noct and the lads, and Noct and Luna with the photo you chose were enough to wash away the cynicism and disappointment. 

It feels like, with the completion of the Episode Ignis campaign and the successful rebirth of A Realm Reborn, Square might finally close the chapter on 13/Versus 13/15 and do things a bit better and more efficiently. Or maybe we’ll be subjected to a mobile hell and more games in 15′s mould, the latter of which wouldn’t be the worst thing? I keep saying it but I never follow through with going back to play the older mainline FF games. Now’s the time! Maybe.

[lunarlapin]

Bajillion Questions Meme

Rules: Answer the questions, add your own, and then tag people.

I was tagged by @pikespendragon67! Thank you!

1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke probably

2. Disney or Dreamworks: I’ve always been more of a Disney fan.

3. Coffee or Tea: Both

4. Books or Movies: Also both. They’re different mediums and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

5. Windows or Mac: As many problems as Windows has, I find it more useful.

6. DC or Marvel: I don’t know much about either, but I know comparatively more about Marvel.

7. XBox or Playstation: Playstation. To be honest, I’ve never had much reason to get an Xbox.

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: I haven’t played either yet, but I have some of the Dragon Age games and can’t wait to play.

9. Night Owl or Early Rise: Night owl

10. Cards or Chess: I’m complete garbage at both, to be honest

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate

12. Vans or Converse: I like the way Converse look better

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar: ???

14. Fluff or Angst: I totally agree on fluff or angst followed by fluff

15. Dogs or Cats: Both, but large dogs (especially German Shepherds) are my favorites.

16. Clear skies or Rain: Clear skies. Nothing against rain, it’s very relaxing, but I’ve been in Scotland the past four years and seen a lot of it.

17. Cooking or Eating out: eating out. I’m a passable cook, but nothing fantastic.

18. Spicy or mild: Spicy, to the point where I should not be trusted to cook for people sensitive to spice because my idea of “not spicy” is so out of whack

19. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Halloween

20. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: Cold, because a little too hot makes you feel almost ill

21. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?: Teleporting is a good one. Psychokinesis is, too.

22. Animation or Live action: Animation. It’s such an intricate art

23. Paragon or Renegade: I don’t really know either

24. Baths or Showers: Showers

25. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: Team Black Panther

26. Fantasy or Sci-fi: Fantasy

27. Do you have three or four favorite quotes? If so, what are they?: Alright, this time I’ll try for a serious answer. Let’s see. “A dragon never yields” is certainly a good one. (Dhurke, why?!) “Pick a god and pray” is a classic. And, let’s see… Actually, Makoto’s entire awakening is a good one.

28. Youtube or Netflix: Youtube

29. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Harry Potter

30. When Do You Feel Accomplished: I feel it the most when I can see someone appreciating what I’ve done, whether they know it was me or not.

31. Star Wars or Star Trek: Both again, maybe slight preference for Wars

32. Paperback or Hardback books: Either, though I appreciate the resilience of hardback books

33. Handwriting or Typing: Typing. My handwriting is such a mess

34. Velvet or Satin: Both

35. Video games or movies: Video games

36. Would you rather be the dragon or fight the dragon: Is “befriend the dragon” a choice?

37. Sunrise or Sunset: Sunset is really my time of day

38. What’s your favorite song: I can never decide

39. Horror movies, yes or no: I like them, so long as they’re not the kind where gore is the appeal (e.g. Saw)

40. Long or Short hair: I definitely like long hair better on myself.

41. Opera or Theater: Both. I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for opera thanks to my violin teacher playing operas all the time and teaching me about them.

42. Assuming the multiverse theory is true and that every story ever told has really happened somewhere, which one of the movie/book/tv show/game/etc worlds would you pick to travel to first: Priam here I come

43. If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be: Sushi, because favorite food. Also I remembered that Iwai can buy you some

44. Older or younger guys: Older

45. If you could delete any show from TV history, what would it be: That one show where people compete for plastic surgery

46. Singing or dancing: Both, though I’m only trained in dancing. Though I really hate the sound of my speaking voice, I might have potential as a contralto.

47. Instagram or Twitter: I don’t use either

48. Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit: Lord of the Rings

49. If you could create either a sequel or bring back any tv show/movie, what would you choose: The World Ends With You 2? Please?

50. Who is your favorite movie/TV character you look up to and why? Oh that’s a hard one. Someone said I look like Agent Carter the other day, so I was thinking of her. She seems pretty great. Also I should mention Dr. Brennan, since my parents already compare me to her.

51. If you were convicted of a crime, what would it be? Made too many Putin jokes

52. Anime- subbed or dubbed? There’s an art to both, and there’s shining examples of both. The dub of Monster is considered a masterpiece and the definitive version, for example.

53. City or countryside: I’m more accustomed to city life

54. What book have you read over and over? EDIT: wow I apparently missed this one earlier, blame being exhausted. Anyway I used to reread Agatha Christie novels a lot. You'd be surprised as to how interesting it can be to reread a mystery you already know the answer to.

55. What is your personality type? ISTJ

56. Would you rather change a moment in the past or have a glimpse in the future: It’s probably better not to interfere with the past.

57. Would you rather have an ex that you hate start dating your best friend, or have an ex that you’re still attached to hook up with someone you revile? Nonono please no

58. Games you want ported for the Nintendo Switch: The ones you’ve already mentioned, but also No More Heroes 1 and 2, and Final Fantasy XV. Maybe the old Harvest Moon games too.

And my question…

59. Say you’ve been turned into a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon-style. What would you be? In the Mystery Dungeon games, I was Charmander. If not Charizard, then Altaria, Espeon, or Oricorio (probably the Sensu form).

I tag, hmm… @ofanimeandbooks, @yoroimikoto, @charlotteswife, @prophetparadox, @etotheoneeyeowl, and @azuremessenger. Good luck!

[randomfandomimagine]

Characters Tags Masterlist Part 2

Add ‘x reader’ to character tags if you want to see the fanfiction posts and avoid ships and other random posts. 

Part 1 of this masterlist

Final Fantasy VII

Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough, Reno Sinclair, Yuffie Kisaragi, Denzel, Vincent Valentine, Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos, Barret Wallace, Biggs, Jessie Rasberry, Leslie Kyle, Tseng

Paper Towns

Quentin Jacobsen, Ben Starling, Radar, Margo Roth Spiegelman

Glee

Glee Club

Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, Kurt Hummel, Will Schuester, Noah Puckerman, Quinn Fabrey, Santana Lopez, Brittany S. Pierce, Tina Cohen-Chang, Mike Chang, Blaine Anderson, Mercedes Jones,  Artie Abrams, Sebastian Smythe, Rory Flanagan, Sam Evans

New Girl

Schmidt, Winston Bishop, Nick Miller

Final Fantasy X

Tidus, Auron, Yuna, Rikku

Back to the Future

Marty McFly, George McFly, Lorraine MccFly, Jennifer Parker, Biff Tannen

Misfits

Nathan Young, Kelly Bailey, Simon Bellamy, Curtis Donovan, Alisha Daniels

Death Note

L Lawliet, Light Yagami, Mihael Keehl (Mello), Mail Jeevas (Matt), Nate River (Near), Touta Matsuda

Uncharted

Nathan Drake, Sam Drake, Victor Sullivan, Chloe Frazer

Musketeers

D’Artagnan, Aramis, Porthos, Athos, Phillippe

Smallville

Bart Allen, Clark Kent (Welling), Oliver Queen (Hartley), Jimmy Olsen (Ashmore), A.C., Lex Luthor, Chloe Sullivan

Witcher

Geralt of Rivia, Cirilla of Cintra, Dandelion, Jaskier (Batey), Yennefer of Vengerberg, Triss Merigold, Renfri

Final Fantasy XV

Chocobros, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prompto Argentum, Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia, Nyx Ulric, Cor Leonis, Aranea Highwind, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Cindy Aurum

Jurassic World

Zach Mitchell, Owen Grady

Marvel/MCU

Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton, Thor Odinson, Natasha Romanoff, Pietro Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Maria Hill, Darcy Lewis, Stephen Strange, T’Challa, Shuri, Loki Laufeyson, Jane Foster, Peggy Carter, Pepper Pots, Peter Quill, Peter Parker, Scott Lang, Carol Danvers, Howard Stark, James Rhodes, Vision

Spiderman

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), (Tom Holland), Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn

PS4 Marvel Spider-Man

Star Wars

Poe Dameron, Finn, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Anakin Skywalker, Rey, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia Organa, Padme Amidala, Rose Tico

Deadpool

Wade Wilson, Vanessa Carlysle, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Nathan Summers/Cable, Yukio

Supergirl

Kara Danvers, Winn Schott, Alex Danvers, James Olsen

Fantastic Beasts

Newt Scamander, Credence Barebone, Queenie Goldstein, Jacob Kowalski, Theseus Scamander

Disney

Hercules, Li Shang, Aladdin, Tarzan, Eric, Jane Porter, John Smith, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Kristoff, Anna, Kuzco, Milo Thatch

Tangled

Eugene Fitzherbert, Rapunzel

Holes

Stanley Yelnats, Hector Zeroni, X-Ray, Zigzag

Fantastic Four

Johnny Storm, Reed Richards

How I Met Your Mother

Marshall Eriksen, Barney Stinson, Ted Mosby

Friends

Chandler Bing, Joey Tribbiani, Ross Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Monica Geller

Malcolm In The Middle

Malcolm Wilkerson, Reese Wilkerson, Francis Wilkerson

Pirates of the Caribbean

Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Henry Turner, James Norrington, Elizabeth Swann, Carina Smyth

X-Men

Charles Xavier, Raven Darkhelmore (Mystique), Jean Grey, Hank McCoy, Peter Maximoff (Quicksilver), Logan Howlett (Wolverine), Scott Summers (Cyclops), Erik Lehnsherr

Life Is Strange

Warren Graham, Nathan Prescott, Max Caulfield, Chloe Price, Kate Marsh

DCEU

Diana Prince, Steve Trevor, Bruce Wayne, Arthur Curry

Superman

Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), Lois Lane

The Big Bang Theory

Sheldon Cooper

Brooklyn 99

Jake Peralta, Rosa Diaz, Amy Santiago, Terry Jeffords, Raymond Holt, Gina Linetti

Baby Driver

Baby, Darling

My Hero Academia 

Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Toshinori Yagi/All Might, Momo Yaoyorozu, Shoto Todoroki, Denki Kaminari, Uraraka Ochako, Mei Hatsume, Iida Tenya

God Of War

Kratos, Atreus, Mimir, Freya, Athena, Sindri, Brok, Faye, Baldur

Others (fandoms I don’t usually write for)

Augustus Waters (TFIOS), Oliver Queen (Arrow)

Part 3 of this masterlist!

[elsinore-and-inverness]

Three Quarters Curiosity

(Takes place during The Girl In The Fireplace. Ships: Ten x Rose, Clara x Rose, Casanova x Louis XV)

51st century spaceship. That wasn’t a first. 51st century spaceship with a horse, on the other hand… Clara turned a corner. A young man and woman were arguing near a fireplace. A fireplace on a spaceship? They were in their early twenties, and the young woman seemed very upset. ‘If that’s what you think, why don’t you go through the magic door thing yourself?’ the man wondered. I seemed a fair question. 'It’s unstable. You can’t tell what point in the time line you’ll end up in. I might show up decades before he’s even arrived.’ So she knew her way around. There was something arrestingly attractive about that. 'You sound just like him, you know that?’ the young man responded sulkily. The way he said the word 'him’ left little doubt as to who he was referring to. 'You could try hotwiring the hyperlink.’ Clara suggested. The young woman turned around, crimped blonde hair brushing the shoulders of her t-shirt. 'Who are you?’ 'It would stabilize this end at least. Prevent it from collapsing for awhile. If I know the Doctor, he’s probably overestimated the-’ 'How did you-’ Clara smiled, 'Just passing through. Helping out.’ 'You know the Doctor?’ Clara was mostly staring at her now. She had the most magnificent amber eyes. 'The… Yes. In theory.’ 'When?’ Clara gave the fireplace a cursory glance, fighting a bizarre impulse to lick the lintel. Where was that coming from? 'At a guess, mid-eighteenth century…’ 'No, I know that. When did you know the Doctor?’ 'Not really sure. It’s a bit hard to keep track. And he lies a lot.’ 'No he doesn’t.’ The young man responded to this with a snort of disbelief. 'Anyhow- Uh… What’s your name?’ 'Rose Tyler.’ Clara’s intake of breath was audible. 'Why? What happens? What happens to me?’ 'I’m not sure… You see, the thing is, I’m not really, well… It’s all a bit complicated.’ 'Would it damage the timeline?’ Clara shrugged. 'Probably. But I really, genuinely don’t know. The only reason I know that-’ Clara frowned. 'Do you ever have something that you know happened, but you can’t remember it at all?’ 'Yes.’ 'Because something’s resonating and I don’t know what it is. I don’t think I should know who you are.’ 'Like a guide. A pull in certain direction.’ 'Exactly. Do you by any chance have a spanner?’ 'What’s that going to do?’ 'It’s-’ Clara ran her finger along where the fireplace met the metal of the ship, 'on some level it can be controlled manually- I mean macroscopically, I mean the quantum delineation is-’ 'You’re gonna tweak the gears.’ 'Yeah.’

—

Meanwhile, in autumn of 1748, a card game was under way. 'Casanova!’ Rienette called. The young man in question seemed rather oblivious. 'Giacomo… Giac, if you’re quite finished ogling the King of France, it’s your turn.’ 'Huh?’ the blue eyed Venetian asked distractedly. 'He’s a bit dull, don’t you think?’ the Doctor asked, leaning his chair back on two legs. 'Mais non. Il est magnifique.’ 'Unlike your French,’ the king’s mistress quipped in perfect Italian. Giacomo smiled indulgently, laying a card down on the table. 'Are you betting anything?’ the Doctor asked. 'Uh…’ Casanova stared paintings on the ceiling, thinking about dinner. He was still a bit hungry, having a tendency to talk too much when he was supposed to be eating. 'How about a chicken.’ 'Done.’ They played until the end of the round in concentrated silence until someone pulled open the drawing room door from the outside. A young woman in a dress the Doctor recognized. A dress he had acquired for Rose Tyler in Paris last Friday. Last Friday a decade and a half in the future. It didn’t fit this young woman, the hem trailed on the floor. He stood up. A chill running through the room as the silence shifted from amiable contentment to trepidation. 'What happened to Rose.’ The young woman shrugged. 'You left her on a spaceship.’ The Doctor’s expression was unreadable. 'I need to go back.’ 'Well, actually I’ve stabilized the hyperlink from the outside, so it doesn’t matter when you go back, it will only be a few minutes either way.’ The Doctor felt as though a weight had been lifted from him. She was safe. Or as safe as she ever would be. He looked around and the table at the French king and queen, the brilliant Parisian and penniless Venetian, He didn’t want to admit it, but there was something in his nature akin to unrepentant hedonism. There was so much he wanted to let go of. He mostly wished Rose was there. She made him feel whole. 'I still think I should go back,’ he decided. Casanova looked back and forth between the small young woman and tall, strangely clad man. Two pairs of intense brown eyes seemed to be boring a hole in the air itself. He looked at the card table again and asked, rather plaintively, 'Could I have the chicken, then?’ Clara’s mind worked fast. She considered that as soon as she allowed the Doctor to go back to Rose they would fly away. Perhaps they would make an attempt to rescue Madame De Pompadour from whatever was causing the strangeness on the ship, but at any rate they would be gone. She would never have the chance to speak to Rose Tyler again or to figure out what was so special. What it was that connected her to the very nature of spacetime itself. Rose Tyler was incredibly important, for reasons far beyond the fact that she had attracted the affection of the Doctor, and she needed to find out why. And besides that, although it was selfish, she rather fancied the notion of speaking to Rose Tyler alone. 'Drinks?’ She asked, looking around the table. Unanimous assent. Rienette rose to go call the head servant. 'You do owe me a chicken.’ The Doctor reached into the pockets of his coat, not with the expectation of finding a chicken of course, but he had taken a leaf from the book of Jackie Tyler’s friend Howard. There should be a piece of fruit squirreled away somewhere. He finally located a banana. 'It’s not a chicken,’ he said, holding it out to Casanova. Giacomo frowned. 'Some kind of tree pod?’ 'It’s fruit. A banana.’ 'It’s a bit phallic, isn’t it?’ Rienette and a servant re-entered with a wheeled cart laden laden with various alcoholic liquids. 'Is there rum?’ the Doctor asked, snatching the banana from Casanova’s hands. He broke the fruit in half. Somehow, it the process of the Doctor constructing his Daiquiri a bit of grated fresh ginger found its way into the drink. Deprived of his prize, Giacomo turned his attention to the king, helping himself to a glass of champagne. 'You know, no painting has ever done you justice, your majesty.’ 'You keep saying that.’ 'It’s true.’ 'That’s very kind of you.’ 'Unfortunately, my talents at the moment do not that way tend. My brother, however, is a painter. He’s been fairly good to me in that regard…’ 'Monsieur Casanova-’ 'I know I’m no beauty, your highness, but it pleases me well to be able to look upon it.’ A pink flush had taken up resistance in the Doctor’s cheeks. 'Did I tell you about Rose Tyler?’ He asked, for not the first time. 'She’s the most wonderful human in the world. It almost scares me how much I-’ he took another gulp of his drink. 'Just really extraordinary. Fantastic.’ Unbeknownst to the party, Clara Oswald had slipped away and passed through the fireplace in an upstairs bedroom.

—

'So what is it?’ Clara asked, ducking through the fireplace. 'How is he?’ 'Inebriated.’ 'How long?’ 'Couple of hours. He’ll be through soon, though. I’ve fixed the link. But I wanted to ask what it was… That force- that compulsion…’ 'Have you ever heard the words “bad wolf”? 'Like the fairytale?’ 'Almost. The bad wolf is the harbinger of the end of days. Leaver of omens. Wanderer of worlds. She appears when situations are at their most dire. She controls the power of all of time, of reality itself, of life and death. The power of a vengeful god granted a conscience and a beating heart. Deus ex machina to end deus ex machina. Pure human will give full rein on the powers of the multiverse….’ 'And?’ 'And she’s me.’ 'And who’s that?’ 'A girl who worked in a shop. A girl who thought the world was empty and that time would wear on, one second into the next. Unchanging. Rain beating against the pavement. Chips and telly and folded clothes and maybe, just maybe, one day something would happen. I lived in the same flat all my life and I tried, I tried to be happy. I tried to be what I needed to be.’ 'I don’t know who I am.’ Clara said, looking at the hem of the skirt she wore as it trailed on the ground. 'I think I might be falling. Something’s calling me and I can’t make out the words. Dust on the wind and death in the air. Falling. Always falling.’ 'I think you want to be needed.’ 'Want to be needed?’ 'You’re a lot like him.’ She nodded towards the fireplace. 'Except I think he has it a bit worse. He needs to be wanted.’ 'What about you?’ 'Pure human will. Like I said.’ 'You know you can’t ever mention me? I’m not sure where that comes from. It’s just a feeling I have. I must be forgotten. Less than a shadow.’ With that, Clara typed a set of coordinates into an oddly familiar vortex manipulator and vanished entirely. She stole my dress, Rose thought. The Doctor had spent hard-earned stolen cash on that dress. What a waste.

—

'Are you going to finish that?’ Casanova asked, indicating the Doctor’s third banana daiquiri. 'What’s that?’ the Doctor asked blearily, unsteadily making his way upstairs, occasionally atonally humming a few measures of various songs, tie wrapped around his head. Casanova took the glass from his unprotesting hand, and sipped it thoughtfully, reflecting on the burn of the alcohol, the sweetness of the rum and fruit and an odd, clean spiciness that caught the back of his tongue.

[recentanimenews]

What We Want Out Of The New Symphogear Season

SPOILER WARNING: This article discusses major plot points from the end of Symphogear AXZ, which is currently being added to the service, and episode 2 of Symphogear XV.

  It's been a long time since I've been this hyped for the new season of an anime, but that post-credit sequence from the last series has me really excited for the possibilities that may await us in Symphogear XV. But while a more prominent role for Miku has been at the top of my wish list for a while, it isn't the only thing I'm hoping to see! So, to make myself look silly when none of this happens, here's what I'd like to see in Symphogear XV!

  1. The Return of Miku Kohinata

  Hibiki and Miku's relationship is unlike any other in the series, and the way it affects both sides of our punchy protagonist's double life is a testament to the bond they share. Miku is undeniably Hibiki's rock; her lasting connection to a normal life, and the one person who can keep her grounded even in a crazy world of magic relics and Illuminati alchemists. I've loved moments both where they're enjoying the bliss of civilian life, and times where those worlds collide - leaving Miku caught in the middle and Hibiki at her most vulnerable, which may be happening soon on an unprecedented scale!

    I've been giddy with excitement since the end of Symphogear AXZ, when Genjuro realized that Elfnein's theory about Hibiki and the Shenshoujin could mean that Miku can also harness divine power. If the Bavarian Illuminati remnants wish to continue Adam Weishaupt's mission, then poor Miku may be in for a rough time. At least this could mean a much bigger part than her already popular role in Symphogear G.

2. Boss Man Throwing His Weight Around

    Most people know Symphogear for the girl who punched through a mountain and suplexed a space shuttle, but there was a time when Hibiki wouldn't have even been able to punch a fly. That strength had to be taught by someone, and that someone is Commander Genjuro Kazanari.

  Remember how he held his own against, and even gut-punched, Finé? Or when he slapped around the entire cast like they were nothing during a training session, even catching Chris' missiles with his bare hands? He may not have a Symphogear, but a love of martial arts movies has turned Genjuro into a dude that you don't wanna mess with. So I wonder why he rarely goes out on the front-lines himself? Maybe he just likes getting others to do his work, or wants to give his enemies a fair chance? Whatever his reasons, as unlikely as it may be, I'd love to see this "normal" human unleash all his natural muscles on an alchemist!

  3. Whatever It Takes

  If Symphogear XV's second episode didn't set a harrowing tone for things to come, then I don't know what will. Millaarc made her villainous presence known in a big way, single-handedly delivering S.O.N.G.'s biggest loss to date. To make things worse, the shocking display echoed the franchise's very first episode, but with one key difference: the Climax Song.

  Had Kanade not sacrificed her life that day, or if Tsubasa had sung that fateful tune, how different would the characters' lives be? Thoughts like that will surely plague poor Tsubasa in the weeks to come, and may inspire the Symphogear wielders to do whatever it takes (as the Avengers say) to avoid a repeat.

    While they're no strangers to singing Climax Songs themselves, the prices paid have yet to be as permanent. While I absolutely adore her, I found Kirika invoking hers to protect Hibiki in Symphogear AXZ to be one of the series' most emotional moments, complete with poignant last words as she lost consciousness. However, a LiNKER overdose saved her life. I mean, I'm glad she survived, but at the same time, it was such an emotional moment, y'know?

  I'm not calling for an Akame ga Kill-esque headcount, but perhaps the growing threat of the Bavarian Illuminati and the God-like Custodians may prompt one of our beloved favorites to remind us why Climax Songs are such a feared last resort? Maybe the series' final scene could even call back to the franchise's very first...

  4. Behind Kirika's Smile

  It's a good thing Kirika did survive, though. If there's one thing I want just as much as Miku drama tearing my heart out, it's to finally learn the backstory of Symphogear's cheerful little buttercup, Kirika Akatsuki.

    While we know the origins of many characters, the pole-dancing princess remains such a joy-filled enigma (She doesn't even know her real birthday!) Like her partner Shirabe, Kirika was an orphan kidnapped by F.I.S. in the hopes of her one day containing Finé's soul, but that's about as far back as her known history goes. Some fans believe character songs suggest she's survived starvation or bombings, but little has been revealed so far.

  It took us until Symphogear AXZ to learn a bit of Shirabe's past, and with public awareness of Kirika at an all-time high thanks to animator Yoshiyuki Okubo's fantastic transformation sequence, hopefully there's still time for the meat-loving girl to stand in the spotlight! So let's see if any of this happens in Symphogear XV, now streaming on Crunchyroll!

  How about you? Let us know what you’d like to see from Symphogear XV in the comments! New episodes are available weekly, as part of Crunchyroll’s Summer 2019 season!

    Josh A. Stevens is a freelance PR with anime industry experience, and a writer at Anime UK News. You can follow him on Twitter @Joshawott.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[ofeliaescuchatodo]

Noticias que impactan

Jason Momoa confesó a DC All Access: “En Man of Steel, cuando Henry Cavill está salvando esa planta de petróleo y termina en la explosión, queda flotando en el océano, así que Zack Snyder dijo que Aquaman lo salvó, así que ellos sí cruzaron caminos en cierto punto. Así que cuando Bruce sale con: ‘¿Has escuchado sobre Superman?’ Y pues sí lo conocí, y cruzamos caminos”.

¿Será que Superman y Aquaman ya se conocían?

La secuela de Animales fantásticos y dónde encontrarlos ya tiene nombre, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald y fecha de estreno.

Nominados para The Game Awards 2017, con los candidatos a 29 categorías diferentes. Nintendo lidera con 23 nominaciones, Sony con 15 y Activision con 7.

¿Quién ganará? 

Juego del año

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Persona 5 (Atlus)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)

Super Mario Odyssey

(Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Mejor dirección en un juego

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games)

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD)

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames /  Bethesda)

Mejor narrativa

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Tameem Antoniades, Elizabeth Ashman-Rowe / Ninja Theory)

Horizon Zero Dawn (John Gonzalez / Ninja Theory)

NieR: Automata (Yoko Taro, Hana Kikuchi, Yoshiho Akabane / Platinum Games)

What Remains of Edith Finch (Ian Dallas / Giant Sparrow)

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Jen Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Bjork / MachineGames)

Mejor dirección de arte

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Persona 5 (Atlus)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Mejor score / música

Cuphead (Kristofer Maddigan)

Destiny 2 (Mike Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C Paul Johnson)

NieR: Automata (Keiichi Okabe, Keigo Hoashi)

Persona 5 (Shoji Meguro)

Super Mario Odyssey (Naoto Kubo, Shiho Fujii, Koji Kondo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata)

Mejor diseño de audio

Destiny 2 (Bungie)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard (Capcom)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Mejor interpretación

Ashly Burch, Horizon: Zero Dawn (As Aloy)

Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (as BJ Blazkowicz)

Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Chloe Frazer)

Laura Bailey, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (as Nadine Ross)

Melina Juergens, Hellblade (as Senua)

El juego más impactante

Bury Me, My Love (The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE / Playdius)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Deck Nine / Square Enix)

Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)

Please Knock on My Door (Levall Games AB)

What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)

Mejor juego continuo

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Grand Theft Auto Online (Rockstar Games)

Overwatch (Blizzard)

Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG. Corp)

Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Warframe (Digital Extremes)

Mejor juego independiente

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)

Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)

Pyre (Supergiant Games)

What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)

Mejor juego móvil

Fire Emblem Heroes (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)

Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh / Sylvain Tegroeg)

Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)

Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)

Super Mario Run (Nintendo)

Mejor juego en consola portátil

Ever Oasis (Grezzo / Nintendo)

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)

Metroid: Samus Returns (MercurySteam / Nintendo)

Monster Hunter Stories (Marvelous / Capcom / Nintendo)

Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World (Good-Feel / Nintendo)

Mejor juego VR / AR

Farpoint (Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios)

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)

Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft)

SUPERHOT VR (SUPERHOT Team)

Mejor juego de acción

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Nioh (Team Ninja / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Prey (Arkane Studios / Bethesda)

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda)

Mejor juego de acción/aventura

Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Mejor juego RPG

Divinity: Original Sin II (Larian Studios)

Final Fantasy XV (Square Enix Business Division 2 / Square Enix)

NieR: Automata (Platinum Games / Square Enix)

Persona 5 (Atlus)

South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft San Francisco / Ubisoft)

Mejor juego de peleas

ARMS (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Injustice 2 (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Ent)

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Capcom)Nidhogg 2 (Messhof Games)

Tekken 7 (Bandai Namco Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Mejor juego familiar

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft)

Sonic Mania (PagodaWest Games, Headcannon / Sega)

Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

Mejor juego de estrategia

Halo Wars 2 (Creative Assembly, 343 Industries / Microsoft Studios)

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Paris + Milan / Ubisoft)

Total War: Warhammer II (Creative Assembly / Sega)

Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games)

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (Firaxis Games / 2K)

Mejor juego de deportes o carreras

FIFA 18 (EA Vancouver / EA)

Forza Motorsport 7 (Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft Studios)

Gran Turismo Sport (Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

NBA 2K18 (Visual Concepts / 2K Sports)

Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (PES Productions / Konami)

Project Cars 2 (Slightly Mad Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Mejor multijugador

Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games / Activision)

Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp.)

Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)

El juego más esperado

God of War (Santa Monica Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)

Red Dead Redemption II (Rockstar Games)

The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Mejor juego Sports

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)

DOTA2 (Valve)

League of Legends (Riot)

Overwatch (Blizzard)

Rocket League (Psyonix)

Mejor debutante indie

Cuphead (Studio MDHR Entertainment)

Golf Story (Sidebar Games)

Hollow Knight (Team Cherry)

Mr. Shifty (Team Shifty)

Slime Rancher (Monomi Park)

[watchingthesuperbowl]

Grading Super Bowl XVIII

What was the final score?

Los Angeles Raiders 38, Washington 9.

How much of the game was close? What was the “edge of your seat factor” like? (20 points)

It was never close. Washington had a punt blocked for a touchdown on its first offensive series of the game and went down 7-0. Washington quarterback Joe Theismann completed one of his first seven throws of the game and went 2-for-10 for 18 yards in the first quarter. Theismann didn’t complete a pass to a wide receiver until the middle of the second quarter. The Raiders were up 21-3 at halftime and 35-9 after three quarters.

It was fairly clear very early in the game how things were going to go. The Raider defense was determined to stop Washington running back John Riggins, who had been the MVP of Super Bowl XVII, and they did so. In theory, this could have opened up the passing game for Washington quarterback Joe Theismann, but a combination of fantastic coverage by cornerbacks and poorly thrown passes from Theismann prevented the Washington passing game from doing much of anything. (Score: 2 out of 20)

Was there any kind of comeback? Was there ever any indication that the team which was trailing had a chance to come from behind and win? (15 points)

No, that wasn’t going to happen. It would have almost been unthinkable, given the level of dominance that Los Angeles displayed.

Any possibility of a comeback was dealt a severe blow when on Washington’s final drive of the first half, down 14-3 and backed up deep in their own territory with less than 15 seconds left in the second quarter, Theismann threw perhaps the most ill-conceived screen pass in the history of professional football. I guess the idea was that the Raiders wouldn’t be expecting it and intended receiver Joe Washington could pop a big play. Even so, the “good” outcomes would have been Washington running 95 yards for a touchdown after catching a screen pass (incredibly unlikely) or Washington catching a screen pass, weaving through the defense and getting out of bounds near midfield with time remaining on the clock, giving Theismann a chance to blindly chuck a ball into the Raider end zone and hope something good happens (even more unlikely?).

The “bad” outcome was what Washington got, though. The Raiders, having seen film of Theismann running this play in this situation, were sitting on it. Linebacker Jack Squirek, ready for the throw almost before running back Joe Washington, jumped in front of Washington and walked into the end zone to make it 21-3.

If Theismann had just taken a knee, Washington could/would have cut the Raiders’ lead to 14-9 when they drove for a touchdown on the first possession of the second half. But he didn’t. And they didn’t. And the game was over. (Score: 1 out of 15)

Did the great players come through with great performances? (15 points)

Marcus Allen had perhaps the greatest performance of any skill position player in any Super Bowl up to this point. Allen ran the ball 20 times for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and added another 18 receiving yards.

On defense for the Raiders, Hall of Famer Mike Haynes and Maybe Should Be A Hall of Famer Lester Hayes utterly dominated the Washington receiving corps, holding wideouts Charlie Brown, Art Monk, and Alvin Garrett to a total of five receptions all day. (And this with a Washington offense in pass-first mode, having been behind all game.) After the game, Washington general manager Bobby Beathard said Haynes and Hayes were the difference between the two teams.

Nobody for Washington had much success. Joe Theismann threw nine passes to eventual Hall of Famer Art Monk and Monk caught one of them. That’s not Monk’s fault, though. He was dealing with the remarkable pass coverage provided by Haynes and Hayes. Running back John Riggins wasn’t terrible, but struggled to make much of an impact, running the ball 26 times for 64 yards and a touchdown.

By and large, the Raiders’ great players were great and Washington’s great players were overmatched and overwhelmed by the Raiders’ great players. (Score: 10 out of 15)

Were the teams historically great? (10 points)

Eh, sort of. I talked a bit about Washington last week, so I’ll nutshell it: They had a great two years surrounded by a bunch of good-not-great performances. Still, if they had won this game, they’d have been back-to-back Super Bowl champions. No matter what happened on either side of those two years, that’s unmistakable greatness.

With this performance, the Raiders won their second Super Bowl in four years and their third in eight years. That’s pretty freakin’ good. (Score: 8 out of 10)

Were there memorable moments that will be talked about for decades? (10 points)

Several of them. Jack Squirek’s pick six at the end of the first half is still one of the more famous plays in Super Bowl history, as is Marcus Allen’s 74-yard touchdown run in the second half. To a lesser extent, LA’s blocked punt touchdown in the first quarter is frequently replayed. Super Bowl XVIII wasn’t a particularly close game, but it had quite a few memorable moments. (Score: 9 out of 10)

How was the quality of play? Were there a lot of penalties, punts, and turnovers? (15 points)

Washington, to put it bluntly, was hot garbage. Theismann was all over the place until the game had already been decided, Riggins and Washington never really got the rushing game going, the offensive line allowed six sacks, the defense couldn’t stop Marcus Allen or Jim Plunkett, and the special teams units allowed two blocked kicks.

Some of that can be attributed to the Raiders playing well in every facet of the game, and the Silver and Black should be recognized for a terrific performance. The quality was half excellent, half horrible, and the grade reflects that. (Score: 8 out of 15)

Are there any other factors that add to the greatness the game? This covers things like weather, story line, rivalry matchup, legacy franchises, unexpected results, etc. (15 points)

Both teams were looking for their second Super Bowl championship of the last several years. (In the case of Washington, it would have been their second title in two years.) The Raiders were in their second season in Los Angeles, having won a legal battle in an attempt to relocate from Oakland.

Washington was favored by two points, having had the top scoring offense and the best run defense in the NFL. On the basis of the betting line, the result was a minor upset, but absolutely nobody expected the kind of domination Los Angeles showed throughout the game. Bonus points for such an out-of-nowhere result. (Score: 11 out of 15)

How does the game grade overall? (sum of all previous categories, 100 points)

49 out of 100. That puts this game in the bottom half of the Super Bowls that I’ve watched and graded, but it was decent enough as a result of the great individual performances and memorable moments.

Ratings and rankings of Super Bowls I-XVIII:

1. Super Bowl XIII - Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31 - 87 points 2. Super Bowl X - Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17 - 80 points 3. Super Bowl VII - Miami 14, Washington 7 - 74 points 4. Super Bowl IX - Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6 - 68 points 5. Super Bowl XVII - Washington 27, Miami 17 - 67 points 6. Super Bowl XIV - Pittsburgh 31, Los Angeles 19 - 65 points 7. Super Bowl XVI - San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21 - 62 points 8. Super Bowl III - New York Jets 16, Baltimore 7 - 58 points 9. Super Bowl VI - Dallas 24, Miami 3 - 52 points 10. Super Bowl I - Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10 - 50 points 11. Super Bowl XVIII - Los Angeles Raiders 38, Washington 9 - 49 points 12. Super Bowl VIII - Miami 24, Minnesota 7 - 47 points 13. Super Bowl XV - Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10 - 44 points 14. Super Bowl IV - Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7 - 43 points T15. Super Bowl II - Green Bay 33, Oakland 14 - 40 points T15. Super Bowl V - Baltimore 16, Dallas 13 - 40 points 17. Super Bowl XII - Dallas 27, Denver 10 - 38 points 18. Super Bowl XI - Oakland 32, Minnesota 14 - 35 points