#Golden Epic Trailer

[the-astral-express-archive]

Honkai: Star Rail | Golden Epic Trailer — "Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes"

Voiceover: EN / JP / CN / KR

[blazingblorbos]

So the Golden Epic Trailer came out.... didn't it?

hmm I have many thoughts. many thoughts. And not all of them are Honkai (Impact 3rd) related, even...

I'll start off with something I've noticed about Star Rail itself (for a long while now). Because it k e e p s being brought back up in my mind every single time they release one of these trailers: The Star Rail team is absolutely INCREDIBLE at, what I'm going to call, "Discontinuous Storytelling".

Hoyoverse as an entire company and artistic team has an unrelentingly powerful streak when it comes to their over-arching storyline trailers.. Genshin's Teyvat Storyline Preview trailer; Zenless's Lore teaser; Genshin's Overture Teaser; Winter Night's Lazzo; the Stonehearts' Myriad Celestia Trailer (even in spite of the fact that these last 2 may have served as a distraction from colorism-related outrages during their respective releases...); ANY!! FUCKING MYRIAD CELESTIA TRAILER, FOR THAT MATTER (FABLES ABOUT THE STARS PART 1 SPECIFICALLY, I AM STILL NOT OVER THAT).... And of course the one that has had perhaps the most profound impact on me to date: The Elysian Realm Concept trailer

And I've noticed for a while now that the stories told in a lot of the Star Rail trailers have felt,, very disjointed from the game's actual story. With any of their other games, even Zenless! now included, their trailers have had direct, VISIBLE connections to the events that played out in the game's actual storyline around the time of the trailer's release. It was a real, well-thought-out, well-crafted, teaser for what was to come [very soon!] for the playerbase in-game. And it's possible that.. maybe the pay-off period is just 10x longer in Star Rail than it has been in any of their other games...

but things like the Ever-Flame mansion and Duke Inferno's family was something that was teased in a Trailer, during a PIVOTAL hype season! and yet-!! was NEVER paid off!!! DUKE INFERNO WAS INTRODUCED TO LITERALLY JUST BE KILLED OFF LMAO (don't get me wrong, he had some pretty banger lines during 2.1 but. dude dropped mayyybe 9 banger lines out of.. what 27? during a flashback and dipped). Constance was the ONLY one of the children to have even a sliver of importance in Penacon'y story, and the sliver is near microscopic at best.

THAT^ was perhaps the strongest offender of this "Discontinuous Storytelling" that Star Rail likes to do. But even before that: there have been so many.. things. just! A bunch of random things!! Select tidbits of information, a mere taste of a specific corner of Worldbuilding lore, that have been dropped on players through a variety of ways that have just,, not been followed through yet!

A screenshot of a conversation between me and my friend that I think helps to contextualize What Exactly I'm Talking About:

anyways. I just hope this Golden Epic narrative is not that.

______________________________________________

Onto the Honkai Impact 3rd brain...

I'd be lying if I said 'I wasn't concerned'. I am. For a couple reasons. One reason being.. yeah.. the much, MUCH wider audience that's about to be introduced to a very Honkai Impact 3rd [from how on to be referred to as simply "Honkai", as I've always done]—inspired set of characters. I'm not toooo concerned about it; it mainly exists as a "Oh boy here we go again" sitting at the back of my mind, and I plan to promptly go about my own business and continue to avoid the circles of illiterate video game players that exist in every fandom .

But the other reason I'm concerned... is because I'm worried over just how much these new Star rail characters are going to parallel the Flame-Chasers and their story. Honkai means a lot to a lot of people, and it will always mean something different depending on who you ask. The Elysian Realm is no exception.

To me, Half the beauty of Elysia and the Realm comes in how their story ended. Emphasis on ended... The reason I love her so much is because she's gone. The reason she had such a lasting impact, is because she's not here anymore. When I played through Elysium Everlasting, I recorded my playthrough. The thing about that though... is that I have still never watched that recording back. For a long, LONG time, I didn't explicitly revisit,, any part of the later half of EE, because (I locked in so hard and) wanted what I took away from that moment to be whatever I remembered of the experience naturally.

The Flame-Chasers' WHOLE THING, was: Here is a recorded history of what we did. YOU are the sole witness to our story. Witness it, remember it, and carry it with you into the future; we are past our time.

The entire fleeting nature of the Realm is something I hold so dear to myself. Their message of us continuing where they left off is the shit that got me crying, bro. Elysia ended the Realm with her and the Flame-Chasers' own 26 hands... because they exist in the past; their only job was to inspire the future, not live in it.

Having Star Rail characters that parallel them is fine, and I'm sure it'll be great! (As long as they don't do what they tried to do with the Seven Shus. Oh yeah. I saw that one. I felt it, I'm not blind. I knew it was there, but I chose to ignore it because 1) it didn't land and 2) paying attention to any traces of it that did manage to land would have ruined what the Shus ALREADY had going for them. Which- for like half of Part 2 wasn't much -- it got better later). It's more than "fine" actually, they can do whatever the hell they want with them! "Honkai" is in the title for a damn reason. I just hope it's in good faith.

Anyways.. I'm interested to see what they do with them.

[b1adie]

Gods descended into madness, and mortals turned their weapons on one another. Yet still, there are heroes who chase the flames, leading the way in the grand undertaking of creation. Most 'Hero's Journeys' in the universe are just dice tosses THEY threw on a whim... Will your answer be any different, Amphoreus?

golden epic trailer ✧ “amphoreus' saga of heroes”

[gandalfsalt]

How Ragnarok Predicts Veilguard Endings

What can the norse myth of Ragnarok tell us about ending of the Veilguard? I think it can predict some major themes and plot developments.

Veilguard’s soundtrack is likely inspired by Richard Wagner and his epic fantasy work The Ring Cycle. Not only are there striking musical similarities, but the album covers use similar symbolism. 

The Ring Cycle is a series of 4 operas based on Norse mythology, and it shares themes and plot elements in common with the Veilguard and Dragon Age more broadly. The Ring Cycle tells the story of the god’s downfall due to their desire for power, corruption, and greed, which is represented by a cursed golden ring of power.

The fourth and final installment of the cycle is the opera Gotterdammerung, which is German for Ragnarok, or the end of the world in norse mythology. Gotterdammerung culminates in the end of the god’s rule and influence, and the emergence of a new world driven by human and mortal choices. The Veilguard is the fourth installment of the Dragon Age franchise, and I think it will also represent the end of an old cycle and the birth of a new era. 

Giant Wolves Eating Gods

A central figure in Ragnarok is the giant wolf Fenrir, who’s name was probably inspiration for Fen’Harel. Fenrir is responsible for destroying the order of the gods. During Ragnarok, Fenrir devours Odin, the all-father and leader of the gods. Solas’s knife that can probably kill gods as well as tear down the veil is referred to as “the wolf’s fang.”

During one of the trailers, we see Solas in his Fen-Harel wolf form leaping up to take a huge bite out of Elgarn’nan. Like Odin, Elgar’nan is the head of the elven pantheon and referred to as the all-father. And like Odin’s counterpart in ring cycle, Wotan, Elgarn’nan becomes a power hungry despot. 

Things do not end well for Fenrir, unfortunately, because even though he’s successful in taking down the gods, after he devours Odin, he’s killed by one of Odin’s children who rips his jaws apart. Are we going to see Ghilan’nain take out Solas? It could be a possibility on one of his paths. 

A Symbolic Spear

As head of the gods, Wotan heads down a path of corruption and destruction in his quest to accumulate power. His rule and the order of the gods, along with its corruption and descent into tyranny, is represented by Wotan’s spear. We know Andruil’s spear is probably going to play a role in the game, and I think it may serve a similar symbolic purpose. 

We see in his new tarot card image that Solas is holding what may be Andruil’s spear - What does it mean that Solas is holding a symbol of the god’s oppressive power and corruption? It could foreshadow a bad path for Solas, or represent how in his quest to save the world from the gods, he has in fact become just like them. Just like the other Evanuris, in his quest to tear down the veil Solas has accumulated godlike power in pursuit of his goals, and he’s willing to make sweeping unilateral judgements and decisions on behalf of millions. 

We know one of the final achievements is called “The Dread Wolf Rises” and we’ll likely be facing off against Solas during the endgame. It’s possible that Solas becomes like the Evanuris no matter what path we choose and we’ll have to face him. I don’t think that means he won’t have a good path or chance at redemption based on our choices, but I think it might not come until the very end. Which brings us to my next point...

Redemption through Self-Sacrifice

In the ring cycle, the curse of the ring is only broken through an act of self-sacrifice motivated by love. The heroine Brunhilde, a valkyrie and former servant of the gods, takes it upon herself to return the ring from where it came, ending its cycle of destruction and corruption. I think the possibility of redemption through love and sacrifice is going to be a big theme in the Veilguard, and we could see it play out with Solas’ and Morrigan’s arcs. Love in this context doesn’t need to be romantic love, it can apply to platonic love, familial love, and companionship as well. I know it’s unlikely we’ll see Keiran, which is really unfortunate, but if we did he could have an interesting role to play here.

Brunnhilde’s sacrifice represents the undoing of the god’s original sin, and marks the end of the gods' reign which allows for the possibility of a new, uncorrupted world to emerge. When I think about Brunhilde’s sacrifice, I immediately think about Morrigan and Solas. This kind of self-sacrifice would be a full circle, cycle-breaking moment for both of them. I personally wouldn’t want to see Morrigan sacrifice herself because Morrigan isn’t complicit in the gods misdeeds, whereas I think Solas is. I do think Solas was probably manipulated and exploited to a certain extent, but I think we’ll find out he’s done a lot wrong of his own volition that he’ll need to answer for. I personally can only see redemption of Solas through his death. 

These are the 3 ways I see Ragnarok influencing the ending of the Veilguard. The Ring Cycle has other influences on Dragon Age and the Veilguard that I see, especially parallels between the blight and the ring’s curse, so if you want me to get into those let me know in the comments!

[maxwell-grant]

Do you have any thoughts/opinions on Batman: Caped Crusader and its trailer? It's already giving me the vibe of "Batman wants to the The Shadow so badly".

(Spoiler for Batman: Caped Crusader, I guess)

Well now that the whole show is out I might as well talk about that instead, and I already wasn't very sold on the trailers. I'm mostly just gonna touch on the show here instead of certain particulars of it like Clayface or Two-Face and so on, which I do have more thoughts on it, but anyway. Regarding you bringing up The Shadow, I don't think this Batman wants to be The Shadow, I think this show is just what happens when you boil Batman back to the basics as much as possible, which inevitably means he's going to be doing what people might think of as Shadow material (and very boring Shadow material at that - again, I'm of the opinion that approaching The Shadow as a "noir" character is a lame idea, and I think that also holds true to a lesser extent for Batman). Problem upfront is, back-to-basics Batman is boring. Pre-Robin Golden Age Batman is just not a very interesting character, certainly not by Batman standards, he lacks charm and identity. It's not a coincidence that Batman started achieving success when he stopped ripping off The Shadow, when he started fighting Dick Tracy villains, when Robin joined in. Batman kinda sucks at being The Shadow, they've made a bunch of books about it even, and honestly, if Caped Crusader had been a Shadow cartoon, I would be incredibly depressed.

See, I love 1940s Golden Age Batman, I love Bill Finger's wisecracking Sherlockian bruiser who solves impossible cases with his fists and peerless trivia knowledge, but people don't love that Batman, people love the 1939 Golden Age Batman they've heard about, they love the idea of a grim and gritty and murderous epic Golden Age Batman that simply did not exist and if it did, was painfully and mercifully short-lived. There are very good reasons why Hugo Strange had to die to make way for The Joker and The Penguin, there are very good reasons why Batman throwback projects are either short, short-lived, or only really start as a throwback before settling on a new identity. Problem is, there is functionally very little difference between Golden Age Batman and Silver Age Batman, so if you adapted that guy, people would call it an Adam West throwback, so yes I get why everyone who says Golden Age Batman just does the first or so year when he gunned down a vampire or cracked a goon's neck against a windowsill and, basically just that. That was the basis they were working off for Caped Crusader, so what did they do with it?

Well, they were very faithful to 1939 Batman, in that the show is also just nothing but a basic skeleton of ideas that can and will be done better elsewhere, if not by other creators then hopefully at the next seasons for this thing. I was not very optimistic regarding Bruce Timm's involvement because I largely don't like Timm's work (although it's a good thing the show had other character designers, which you can tell because the women characters have different body types and facial features amongst themselves). The Greg Rucka episodes are decently written, and despite a truly horrendous start at the pilot, the show does get better and picks up as it heads to the finale.

But it only does so incrementally, never as good as it could be or should be, and the best it has to offer is too often just mediocre and unsatisfying. It's not visually interesting, it is so cheaply animated and presented that you would lose virtually nothing by experiencing this as a radio show on another tab (and at that point, you might as well listen to The Batman Audio Adventures), it's rushing past every plotline and emotional beat it grasps for and yet it moves at a glacial pace, and it doesn't seem to be a show made with any kind of clear intent in mind. I don't imagine any kids getting any enjoyment out of actionless, dull drama, but it's not committing nearly enough to being this dramatic and complex and nuanced show for adults that it keeps presenting itself as. It's terrible at threading the needle between what it wants to be and what it can afford to be. I don't think it's terrible, but I also don't think it's better than any other Batman cartoon other than Beware the Batman, the one nobody talks about. I wouldn't even say this is better than The Batman. At least The Batman took some weird new swings that it had to commit to and had great action and some genuinely really strong episodes, where as thislargely fails to deliver on the action and it's not doing nearly enough work on the writing and drama side of things.

The closest it gets to anything new are in it's new takes on Firefly, Gentleman Ghost, Harley Quinn and Two-Face, and while Firefly I thought a really solid, even great usage of a historically underwhelming half-baked character (and the strongest episode of the show, albeit one that barely features him), and Gentleman Ghost a decent twist on the character to make him more viable as a Batman villain (if still an abject downgrade from the regular character), Harley and Harvey I thought were incredibly unsatisfying and undercooked, the peak example of how much the show fails to deliver as compelling character drama in spite of having some legitimately fresh and strong new ideas at play here. As is, I'd say the best villain is Clayface, because his is the episode that convinced me to keep watching, and because while he is just Golden Age Clayface with not much of a twist on it, he was really fun, and delivered exactly on what was promised, where as the rest mostly range from mediocre and lackluster to outright terrible (again, I hate how dissappointed I am at this version of Penguin - I'm glad you are all having fun making fan art of her, I hope she has a better showing if she comes back, but goddamn man they really fumbled the ball on that episode).

I'd call Caped Crusader like a 6/10, and frankly that's me being generous, the more I talk about it after having watched it, the more I feel like it doesn't deserve past a 5 (but not anything below a 5 either, again it does get better, it isn't terrible, it's just not very good either). There is a good and exciting version of the show, and it is not the one they put on Amazon for me to watch, and frankly, I doubt there was ever going to be a great version of the show. I'm dead sure this is gonna get at least another season and because you guys ask me for Batman opinions, and because I gotta have my Batman, I will watch it, and I will hope it's more satisfying than this one.

[trivialbob]

Six people and five dogs went camping.

A couple two houses down from Sheila and me have a trailer similar to the one we have. Mutual friends also have a trailer and 40 acres of land in Wisconsin. Those people who own the land have it set up with electrical hookups to support RVs. The six of us met there this weekend.

It is a Disney vacation for our dogs. Ella, Oliver and Sulley ran all over, chasing critters in the woods or just going back and forth between the trailers. Our neighbors' tiny dog is elderly, but she loved following the other dogs around and going inside other trailers. The people who own the land have a huge golden retriever that would check on us each morning, coming inside to see what we'd feed him.

At night my dogs had unconscious sleep. At home at least two of the three typically get up and move somewhere else in the middle of the night. This weekend they had all the ambition of stuffed teddy bears after the lights went out.

There is an adorable bunk house on the property. No one used it this time, but If the landowners ever have multiple grandkids there could be an epic fight over who gets to sleep in there.

Near it is an outdoor shower that even has hot water. I like outdoor showers.

The nearby small town has one brewery and some assorted bars and grills. We'd discussed going to the brewery Saturday night. We went swimming in the St. Croix river mid-day. It was so hot that in the evening we stayed at the trailers, playing cards, drinking some beer, and laughing a lot.

[satoshi-mochida]

‘Swashbuckler action game’ En Garde! announced for PC

Gematsu Source

Fireplace Games has announced “swashbuckler action game” En Garde! for PC. It will launch via Steam in August. A demo is available now.

En Garde! began as a student project back in 2018. The reception from the community led the team to establish itself as Fireplace Games and recreate En Garde! from the ground up as a full game experience.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

From the forgotten pages of history, comes Adalia de Volador! Legendary swashbuckler. Dashing adventurer. Hero of the people.

Play as Adalia in her daring escapades full of sword-fighting, satire and shenanigans. Challenge the cruel Count-Duke and oppose tyranny with panache!

Beautifully painted locations, charismatic characters, and an astounding amount of battle banter will transport you to the golden age of swashbuckling comedy!

So, sharpen your sword, grab your boots and hat, and embark on a hilarious, action-packed spectacle!

Key Features

Fencing With Flair – Parry, riposte and lunge your way to victory! Fight with style to fill your Panache Meter and unlock special skills! But you’ll need more than your sword to win the day…

Adapt and Improvise – Challenging, ever-changing fights push you to rely on your cunning and acrobatics to disturb your enemies. Learn their weaknesses to toy with them and express your fighting style.

Experiment with the Environment – Combat areas are playgrounds full of opportunities to create mischief and gain the upper hand. Surprise, stun, or evade enemies with a variety of objects – from rolling barrels to falling chandeliers.

Arena Mode – Unlock zany game-changing modifiers and new fight situations in the arena mode. Play and replay randomized scenarios to test your skill against waves of enemies!

Theatrical Characters – A flamboyant cast dazzles the screen! Adalia and her rivals react to each of your actions, exchanging witty one-liners during the flow of the fight.

Story Episodes – Discover the tales of Adalia, with unique challenges to complete and secrets to uncover. Fight through marketplaces, dungeons and palaces: the world’s a stage for your epic duels!

Award-Winning Passion Project – The game was first prototyped as an award-winning and much-loved student project. The original team has reformed and expanded as Fireplace Games to increase the scope, sweep and grandeur of En Garde!

Watch the reveal trailer below.

Reveal Trailer

[rubywolf0201]

The Amphoreus cast as revealed in the Golden Epic trailer [1]

Aglaea

Said it before shes gorgeous and all but I’m skipping her because I’m on fence on the new gameplay path of Rememberance and I’m also not a fan of her skin tone clashing with the white and gold tbh.

Tribbie

She’s alright I guess. Love the angel/fairy motif but don’t see myself pulling for her in the near future once she’s out.

Anaxa

Ok just gonna say this: He’s hot. Definitely a must pull for me.

Hyacine

She looks utterly adorable and I love the unicorn keychain she has on her. Also love the color scheme too. Another must pull for me.

[wonderfull-star]

Is it just me or did Devsisters completely forgot about the CoD? A year ago, it seemed to me that in the continuation of the main story the main characters would continue to be developed. But with each update I hoped for this less and less. And finally, the long-awaited update that everyone has been waiting for more than a year will soon be released. And no, the trailer with Golden Cheese didn’t seem too bad to me, but I only have one question. Where main villains??? This could somehow be forgiven if this update came out a year ago as everyone wanted it, but certainly not now.

The only plus is that we will see Adventurer Cookie. It's really impressive. Like wow Devsisters decided to give RARE cookies some screen time?? And even despite this, everyone somehow doesn’t care about them anymore, to be honest, since usually for three years now, in every update, only epics have been added to the game, which are then successfully forgotten by everyone. Of course, Rockstar Cookie and Vampire Cookie are the exception, but for some reason they have become epics in the kingdom.

I think many, like me, have long wanted to see the villains we already know. What is the BAD4 doing now? What happened to Dark Choco? What happened in Licorice’s past?

I really hope we see an update with CoD. Seriously, I will soon be allergic to new epics and super epics 🤧

[the-astral-express-archive]

Honkai: Star Rail | The Chrysos Heirs From Golden Epic Trailer - "Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes"

Download: EN / CN (slightly better quality)

[demifiendrsa]

ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree – Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer

Elden Ring downloadable content “Shadow of the Erdtree” will launch on June 21, 2024 for $39.99.

Key visual

Screenshots

New Game Editions/Merchandise

Base Editions

“Shadow of the Erdtree” Expansion – The standard version of the expansion, available digitally on all platforms.

Elden Ring: “Shadow of the Erdtree” Edition – Special packaged bundle including the Elden Ring base game (disc) and the “Shadow of the Erdtree” expansion (digital); physical retail versions are available only for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S; available digitally on all platforms.

Premium Editions

Premium Bundle – Includes the “Shadow of the Erdtree” expansion expansion and comes with digital art book and digital soundtrack bonus content for the expansion. Available digitally on all platforms.

Deluxe Edition – Includes the Elden Ring base game, the “Shadow of the Erdtree” expansion, and comes with digital art books and digital soundtracks for both the base game and the expansion. Available digitally on all platforms.

Collector’s Edition (Limited Quantity)

Elden Ring: “Shadow of the Erdtree” Collector’s Edition – Includes a single voucher code of the selected platform for the “Shadow of the Erdtree” expansion and comes with an approximately 18-inches (46-centimeters) statue of “Messmer the Impaler,” 40-page physical art book, and digital soundtrack. Quantities are limited, and exclusive to the Bandai Namco Entertainment Store (shipping is restricted to the United States and Canada.)

Exclusive Merchandise Pre-Order (Limited Quantity)

Available only in the Bandai Namco Entertainment Store in very limited quantities, pre-orders are now available for the Elden Ring “Shadow of the Erdtree” Helmet of Messmer the Impaler. This exclusive item includes a one-of-a-kind display piece made for the most discerning, distinguished, and dripped out Tarnished. This elaborate replica helmet of the imposing Messmer the Impaler is crafted with precise detail and comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity. This item is available only while supplies last and will ship beginning June 28 (shipping is restricted to the United States and Canada). This is a collectible item only and does not include any game content.

Overview

Winner of hundreds of accolades including The Game Awards Game of the Year and Golden Joystick Awards Ultimate Game of the Year, Elden Ring is the acclaimed action RPG epic set in a vast, dark fantasy world. Players embark on an epic quest with the freedom to explore and adventure at their own pace.

The “Shadow of the Erdtree” expansion features an all-new story set in the Land of Shadow imbued with mystery, perilous dungeons, and new enemies, weapons and equipment.

Discover uncharted territories, face formidable adversaries, and revel in the satisfying triumph of victory. Dive into the riveting interplay of characters, where drama and intrigue intertwine, that create an immersive experience to savor and enjoy.

[j422m1n3]

Golden Cheese Headcanons

Here are some of my thoughts about the most anticipated ancient (for me at least) to celebrate her upcoming release! I started writing this a bit before any leaks came out so don't expect much about them or her new trailer.

This is a lil over 5300 so enjoy about 19 min of content.

Good stuff over the cut!

What We Know

From the bits that she's shown in the game plus some complementary materials like the art book and the kingdom jelly set in ovenbreak, Golden Cheese Cookie is shown to be just a little bit egotistical 🤏 They have an absurd number statues of herself everywhere, has holidays based off of her practically everyday, and exaggerates their achievements She is also a very organized and meticulous cookie and likes to dictate even the smallest details. She gets pretty upset when things don't go her way or when her work is messed with. She shows this through her interest in fashion (like her controlling the cheesebirds’ looks) and her maintenance of her own appearance I have to assume that her fashion style is just being covered head to toe in gold since the wiki says that she’s so bright that it’s actually hard to even look up at her Of course Golden Cheese Cookie also has an interest in gold in general. And when I say interest I mean she has the “cover your entire kingdom and yourself with it” type of interest She's also not the most honest cookie. She lies about her origins like claiming she came from a golden dragon egg when in reality she just kinda gilded an egg they found. In odyssey, Hollyberry shares that Golden Cheese is secretive and has poor time management like always being late for things Kingdom-wise, it seems like most of her subjects are birds with a few cookies which she freed from Cheedas the Mole (maybe the cookies came after Cheedas defeat?) There is conflicting info on whether or not the birds actually like her or just tolerate her. It’s said that they were eternally grateful for her saving them from Cheedas and so gave her the title of queen but it is also said that she gave herself the title of queen and the birds just let her because she is a source of wealth It's also shown that her castle is a labyrinth and is full of what looks like traps and puzzles Finally, it seems like her nation is extremely technologically advanced and it kinda reminds me of Cyber City from Deltarune.

Their Epic Origin Story

I would like to give some context on how I think the ancients met and got their soul jams because I got this idea in my head that I have no clue where I got it from and I cannot find any info that confirms it. I probably made it up, but just roll with it, ‘kay? The ancients all met on the hero’s path (or something with a really similar name, I think it’s an actual place you visit in game) and worked together to get the soul jams which were at the end of these trials. Which makes sense since these are rocks that give you magical god powers, they can’t just leave this crap out in the open. Afterwards they continued adventuring together for a bit to get used to said magical god powers.

Each of the ancients had their own reason to search for the soul jams (reasons that I just made up and that are based off the stories from the Might of the Ancients) Hollyberry wanted the soul jam to help her best the dragon she’s after as well as unify all of the Berry estates Dark Cacao wanted the soul jam to aid him in confronting the Black and White Dragons and to suppress the spread of an "anomaly” which I’m pretty sure is the licorice oozlings Pure Vanilla wanted the soul jam to help nurse and care for his fellow pilgrims(? I’m not really sure about this one) White Lily wanted to study their power and see if it could be used to make cookies stronger Finally, Golden Cheese wanted them because others wanted them. They heard that there was some legendary treasure at the end that they planned to get before anyone else. She didn’t even know that the soul jams were magical. Golden Cheese was the last to join the group and she didn’t join them immediately since she was distrustful and saw the others as competition. “I was here first so I should get the treasure >:[” She was, in fact, the last to arrive Golden Cheese was super childish back then so they taunted the others whenever the group encountered challenges that Cheese could just fly over and occasionally stole their food. Young Dark Cacao hated their ass and Hollyberry, while still somewhat irritated by their petty acts, kinda found their presence funny. Pure Vanilla didn’t really know what to think of them and White Lily always tried to convince them to join their group using facts and logic 🤓. “Logically, it would be very beneficial for both parties if you agreed to join us since together we could-” “my name isn’t logically >:/” Of course, White Lily eventually succeeded and Golden Cheese joined the party. Maybe Golden Cheese needed their help and realized having people around isn’t so bad or Cheese could’ve started helping them because they had actually grown fond of the others. But of course under a facade of them taking pity on the group or something due to her ego. Things would still be turbulent with them and the group, however, because things can never be that easy >;}. Her ass was not helpful 90% of the time. She had to be bribed or forced into doing stuff in the beginning. White Lily and Hollyberry picked up on how to convince Golden pretty quickly so it wasn’t an issue for too long but during that period of time Golden would just shove all their work onto Vanilla (he just seems like the easiest to manipulate to me). Afterwards, everyone warmed up to them minus Dark Cacao because Cacao can hold one hell of a grudge.

Surprise Dark Cacao HC: He can be petty AF and his toxic trait is that he will bring up mistakes made years ago in arguments.

Cheese would originally just ignore him and maybe even continue to mess with him, but the others would try to get those 2 to be friends or at the very least not at each other’s throats. They both refused, immediately too. Cacao didn’t even let Lily finish her sentence before he said no and then subsequently fucked off. Cheese, on the other hand, was not paying attention and just automatically said no. But Golden Cheese eventually agreed because White Lily bribed her. So Cheese begrudgingly went up to Cacao and apologized, in a very rebellious teen esque way and is clearly not sorry. So then… Dark Cacao doesn’t accept her apology and tells her to fuck off 🫢 but really what were we expecting? Golden Cheese was a little bit pissed that Cacao didn’t accept her apology but she didn’t really care outside of that, she still got paid after all After this epic fail the group just kinda shrugs their shoulders and agree to keep the 2 as far apart as possible. Over time Golden would become less selfish and more willing to help the group, without being bribed to do so! We love character development <3. She would actually become more proactive and really start to care for these weirdos. She would also start to care about how they think of her, especially how Dark Cacao thought of her because he still hated her ✨ So Golden Cheese would try to apologize to him again, on her own volition and sincerely this time …And he tells her to fuck off again 😶 Cheese tries again and again to get his forgiveness and show that she had changed but he got the soul jam of resolution for a reason so he denied them at every step. She couldn’t even actually talk to him because would do a 180 every time he saw her. I guess you can say he gave her… the cold shoulder? Ba-dum-tis (you see, the joke here is that he comes from a naturally cold environment and so his distant demeanor towards cheese is reminiscent of his homeland. The ‘cold’ of his cold shoulder is a reference to its harsh weather. You see-) I deeply apologize for my terrible joke, it will happen again. (I have been consuming too much Cyno content) Literally everyone was like “wow cacao, maybe you should give her a chance” and he’ll be like “no <3” This would ultimately blow up into an argument and because Dark Cacao isn’t known for being tactful with his words (mf is harsher than the cold of his kingdom on godddd) he would end up deeply hurting Golden Cheese. He made it very clear he didn’t trust her ☠️, didn’t forgive her ☠️, and didn’t expect much from her ☠️☠️☠️. After this she threw her hands and went “fuck this I’m out” cause who wants to be around that type of energy? White lily, however, will have none of this and would convince Golden to stay saying that she’ll deal with Dark Cacao. With some persuasion (read: time out in the corner) + some help (read: manhandling) from HollyBerry, White Lily got Cacao to agree to have a proper talk with Cheese. It’ll start awkward and slow but eventually Cacao would ask for the reasons behind Golden’s original antagonistic and trickster behavior and she would then allow herself to be vulnerable with him (aka backstory time).

For her past she could’ve gone through a betrayal akin to what Black Pearl cookie went though. Golden Cheese could’ve from a poor background or straight up just didn’t have a n y t h i n g. No family, no friends, no home, nothing. Just them, the birds, hostile moles, and colorful and shiny rocks that they didn’t know the value of. When Golden Cheese first came into existence, like most babies, they had no idea of the concept of wealth so the gold and jewels that surrounded them in their desert were just neat rocks The first time she actually met with other cookies, they talked her into giving them the treasure and in return they’ll be her friends. Of course she agreed and she searched high and low for the biggest and prettiest gemstones she could find. This would go on for a bit until one day they decide to follow them to a nearby town Where they overheard them showing off her gifts and bragging Bragging about how they got some dumb bird kid to give them so much treasure and how they’re going to get rich off of them Safe to say Golden Cheese changed after that Through that incident they learnt that money was the most important thing to cookies And through money you can get anything you want! Food, clothes, toys,… friends But they didn’t want friends anymore, they wanted riches Gold can’t lie to you, but friends can Jewels can’t use you, but friends can And treasure can do some many things cookies couldn’t Cookies don’t shine or sparkle (outside of her of course) so what the point in talking to them! DNI if you don’t shine and/or sparkle So she hoards wealth because it's the only thing she can trust and really the only thing she has. Her distrust towards others deepened because other cookies tried to trick her and when that failed even outright stole from her. And since she was still a kid at the time they took pretty much everything, forcing her to run away from the sands she called her home. This caused her to become a thief herself so she could get her belongings back as well as some extra for revenge. After that she just continued to steal because in her mind it’s a steal or get stolen from the world out there. And I think Dark Cacao would be able to relate to their loneliness and reluctance to associate with others, hell, Dark Cacao probably refused to work with the other ancients at first too Cacao would then explain that he held onto his grudge for so long because Golden Cheese reminded him of the thieves of his homeland who terrorized towns and who he viewed as selfish and dishonorable scum. But now he can tell that she isn’t like those villains and has proven that she has changed. Thanks to this conversation Dark Cacao becomes a little more empathetic to Golden Cheese’s actions, however annoying they may be With this newfound understanding of each other, the 2 reconciled and Golden Cheese was finally fully accepted as part of the group and into a found family …Which eventually fell apart because someone decided to turn into a terrorist 🙄

Their Possible Update

For this section I won’t be including much from the teaser trailer because I don’t really know how to work with it. So this is just going to be what I hope to see in the update

So both Black Raisin Cookie and Adventurer Cookie made an appearance in the teaser which makes sense, Gingerbrave and friendstm probably was sent to look for Golden for the next Council of Heroes meeting by Vanilla who also sent Raisin with them since she knows how to deal with harsh environments. Adventurer being there also makes sense because it’s the mfing Golden Cheese Kingdom, assumedly filled to the brim with treasure of course he was gonna be there. The real question is where the hell is Chili Pepper? The Cookie I really wanted to see there though was actually Dark Choco! I know he’s in some forest near Dark Cacao Kingdom but just let me have this dammit. Imagine this: Gingerbrave and friendstm are on their way to Golden Cheese Kingdom when they hear some arguing. After following the noise they come across a camp with Milk, Purple Yam, and Dark Choco! Purple Yam is shouting about how they’re lost while Dark Choco’s looking at a map and trying to decide where to go. The two groups start talking and Dark Choco explains how Milk Cookie and Purple Yam Cookie happened to find him. Of course, after realizing that Dark Choco was right in front of him Yam immediately challenged Dark Choco to a rematch and in turn Milk tried to stop him. The pair squabbled for a bit until Dark Choco just gave into Yam’s request so he could get back to his peaceful wandering. Since Dark Choco 1: probably hasn’t been training all the much during his travels and 2: most likely relied on the Strawberry Jam Sword for most of his fights as well as to compensate for his poor eyesight and is now considerably weaker without it, he probably lost the fight. He would then try to leave, completely ignoring Purple Yam’s cheers but then paused in his tracks when Purple Yam brought up their previous fight. Confused, Dark Choco would then explain how he doesn’t remember fighting Purple Yam or saving Milk. This, of course, would piss off Yam (because what doesn’t) and he’d try to think of ways to get Dark Choco to remember and Milk would suggest the idea of bringing Dark Choco into their group. Both immediately said no but Milk easily managed to convince purple Yam by saying that if Dark Choco were to join, Yam could always have a strong sparring partner to fight! Dark Choco, on the other hand, was not as easy. It really just boiled down to Milk giving him his biggest puppy eyes and explaining how Dark Choco was his hero. Dark Choco weighed his options, on one hand he doesn’t really want to be constantly asked to fight but on the other these two dunderheads could be his opportunity for redemption. After a moment, he agreed and now he’s stuck with these two for life. When asked what they’re doing here Dark Choco explains that they’re heading for Golden Cheese Kingdom as well! He knows that Dark Enchantress is going to target the kingdom eventually so he wanted to stop her before she got any stronger. The two groups combine and head to Golden Cheese Kingdom together. As seen in the teaser, Golden Cheese isn’t going to be the most welcoming and I feel like she wouldn’t believe Gingerbrave and friendstm when they explain the situation. Fortunately for her, the situation will prove itself when the Cookies of Darkness show up and start wrecking her shit (betting all my diamonds that this is what is going to happen in the update) After all the inevitable shenanigans, I wanna see Golden Cheese and Dark Choco have a heart to heart. I wanna see Dark Choco share his past with her and explain his journey to redeem himself and I wanna see Golden Cheese comfort her nephew god dammit! Dark Choco deserves a hug and Golden Cheese could give him that! After this interaction Golden will make it her duty to get him and his father to reconcile and what better place to do so than at the Council of Heroes. I wanna see Golden Cheese roll up with Dark Choco, I’d think it’ll be neat.

Leftover Thoughts

This part is just random thoughts I have about Cheese (and some of the other ancients) that didn’t really fit in any previous sections

I think Golden is the youngest out of all the ancients with the order from oldest to youngest being Holly, Lily/Vanilla, Cacao, and then Cheese. As the youngest in the group Cacao and Cheese are legally obligated to be at each other’s throats at all times, especially when they were still all adventuring together. She just brings out his immature side. Golden Cheese would do all sorts of stupid shit to antagonize him like the ‘holding their finger right next to your face but not actually touching’ thing and just repeating his name over and over. Dark Cacao could not just ignore her and took all the nonsense they said at face value. When Cacao retaliates he’s always scolded by the other 3 because Cheese has baby privileges. Since he can’t do anything himself he calls for one of the others, especially hollyberry, for help. This poor woman is so tired dealing with these two. They get into these little scraps at least once a day and one of them will always run up to her to tattle on the other She loves those 2 to death but god damn are they annoying. It had gotten to a point where the second Holly heard those two messing with each other she would hide. They always ended up finding her lmao (if you couldn’t tell, i’m pulling from experience here, lil siblings suck :] Despite her wariness of other people, Golden Cheese is a very curious person and used to be easily distractible She often wandered off on her own and unknowingly into all sorts of danger. More often than not, the other ancients would have to save her from some monster and in the end she’s the only one unscathed. So Holly would use this trait to play small pranks on Cheese. One time she made a trail of coins and pointed out to Cheese who happily picked up each one. Little did Golden Cheese know, her bag had a hole in it so she made her own train of coins. This resulted in Golden Cheese following their own trail of coins for a hot minute while Holly did her best not to laugh. Nowadays that would work so Holly just lightly pokes fun at her. One of the many things Hollyberry would tease Golden about was all the embarrassing things they did in the past Mentions of practically anything Golden did when they were younger is the equivalent of a critical hit to her ego

Surprise Hollyberry headcanon: She makes sure to remember all the embarrassing shit her friends do, she even has a journal filled with them. None of the cookies around her can sleep at night because they can’t be comforted by the fact that no one remembers that they called their teacher mom in front of everybody because Hollyberry remembers and will bring it up eventually. She doesn’t (purely) do this to tease her friends, but to record all the special moments she shares with them. And with some true queen behavior, she writes down all of her embarrassing moments too <3

One of the things Holly would bring up would be how when Golden was a wee baby bird she would always try to get out of paying for things They would do things like purposely leaving their money at home so someone else had to pay for food. (this often ended up with them having to wash dishes or just not being allowed to order because the other ancients saw through her plan immediately. Her ass was not slick) Golden Cheese had a also bad habit of… “taking things off other cookies’ hands“ and had chronic magpie syndrome in their younger years She justified it back then because they thought that they could get better use out of whatever she was stealing from someone But now as a fully fledged bird with a fully fledged wallet, she makes it a point to pay for everything. They love flaunting their riches (it helps them forget her cringefail era) and their favorite way is good ol’ retail therapy. Golden Cheese used to go through the markets of her friends' Kingdoms and buy whatever caught her eye, aka the shiny stuff. She also looks for things that her friends would enjoy like new goblets and cups for Hollyberry, interesting weapons for Dark Cacao, soft quilts and yarn for Pure Vanilla, and interesting and rare ingredients for White Lily to use Another coping mechanism of hers is just looking at stuff. Stuff of the particularly shiny variety (Which includes herself of course) Admiring their possessions, themselves, or themselves through their possessions like their reflection in a comically sized coin The mirror is practically a baby sensory video to her and she will be locked in a trance for an indefinite amount of time.

They also spend hours every day just maintaining their appearance and their possessions Golden has her own way of organizing her riches and she categorizes them all frequently. The “ Cheese Index” as dubbed by Hollyberry They take into account the standard stuff like value, size, and luster but there is one standard that is unique to Golden Cheese, taste This was just dumb elaborate way for me to say that it’ll be really silly goofy if Golden Cheese could taste the quality of precious metals and minerals. The higher quality a gem is, the better it tastes to her but all riches taste pretty good. (During their adventuring days, the other ancients had to set aside some coins just for her to snack on so she wouldn’t accidentally eat all of their funds.) When she’s not doing either of the things above, she is just lazing around, probably on top of a pile of coins which they actually find comfortable If left to her own devices, Golden Cheese could honestly spend days, if not weeks like this because they are just not very time conscious. It is also the reason why they’re usually late to things the other ancients have to tell Golden Cheese to arrive at an earlier time so they’re not absurdly late anymore, like days late When they do arrive, whether they’re late or super late, they are always the shiniest in the room In her younger years and when she was first getting into fashion, she equated beauty with how bright something was which meant that all of her first outfits were ungodly bright and hard to look at. hollyberry still teases them about how they practically blinded everyone and even sent “paintings” of their first outfits

Fortunately for everyone’s eyes, she’s developed a less gaudy style She also had even made clothes for the other ancients because there ain’t no way they’re just gonna leave them looking like that 🫣 They don’t only care about their appearance, but also the appearance of those around them and will make sure their friends are looking their best Dark Cacao was the one she would dress up the most Every time they saw him they would pick apart and analyze every aspect of his outfit like a doctor studying a patient. She’ll be like “oh no… oh dear. it's just what I feared,.. Despite the fact that your kingdom has an ocean right next to it, it seems like you completely lack any drip whatsoever. I fear it might be terminal 😔.” She purposefully made Dark Cacao’s outfit super gaudy and revealing to mess with him. He refuses to wear it so now it sits in a closet somewhere for Dark Choco to find and have gain a whole lotta questions about what his father was up to in his younger years. When with Pure Vanilla, Golden Cheese would rant about her say. She shared their worries and strife with him and Vanilla would attentively listen to it all while occasionally giving out some advice. I just imagine the pair in Golden’s personal spa (don’t tell me she wouldn’t have one) and Golden venting about her day or them gossiping about whatever was happening in her friends’ kingdoms. Pure Vanilla would be a source of comfort and reassurance to Golden while Dark Cacao (and sometimes Hollyberry) would be a grounding force for her.

Surprise Pure Vanilla Headcanon: Pure Vanilla is a great listener. He usually doesn't add much to conversation unless prompted to and has just a very calming vibe to him. It makes people feel comfortable enough to share whatever's on their mind with him.

Golden Cheese also spends a lot of time tinkering and engineering, how else could her kingdom look like it was taken right out of a sci-fi movie if it wasn’t her doing? This is the main way they and White Lily bonded and spent one on one time together. Just working on their own projects and enjoying each others’ presence (we love women in STEM <3) Another thing they bonded over were puzzles. Golden would create puzzles just for Lily and in kind, she would bring puzzles from other nations for Cheese. Golden loved to see the other 3 struggle with puzzles as well though Cacao refused to touch one after the first time he failed. I think that White Lily would be the only ancient to know where Golden Cheese’s kingdom is, she probably just happened upon it while looking for some resources in the desert The reason why Golden is so secretive about her kingdom is because they doesn’t really view it as a kingdom They did at the beginning but over time she began to grow self conscious about it. Her kingdom is missing one crucial aspect that all their friends’ kingdoms have: Cookies to rule over I believe that the cookies arrived after the Dark Flour war with no basis whatsoever :3 It just fits with the headcanons. (also because I made this part before the teaser dropped) They love the Cheese birds but they do get a little awkward when they hear about the other ancients dealing their kingdoms’ politics (none of which she understands btw) while she just lays around with her fellow birds all day Whenever one of the others asks about her Kingdom she always says that things are going great while also being incredibly vague and leaves out any specific details.

This did lead to Cacao questioning whether or not Cheese actually had a kingdom not helped by the fact that Golden Cheese announced that she had a kingdom after seeing her friends’, but Lily would confirm that her Kingdom existed Whenever Lily came to the Cheese Kingdom she held little check ups on the cheese birds and even help Golden train them Thanks to Lily, Golden Cheese was able to train 4 of her birds to be messengers/carriers for each of the other ancients. Hollyberry’s bird is chatty and mimics words and sounds all the time. It's also the most active out of the birds and very easily led by food. Its feathers are a pretty rose gold color. PV’s crow is a bit grumpy, an angry bird if you will, as well as pretty old. It spends most of its time sleeping and is paler than the average Cheesebird. White lily’s bird is good at foraging and likes to organize things. It’s the smartest out of all the birds due to both Lily and Golden building little puzzles/toys for it. It is also almost completely white with a bit of an opalescent shine. Dark Cacao’s crow likes to collect shiny things and it preens itself pretty often. It also tries to preen cacao and spends most of its time snuggled on his shoulder. It gives everything it collects to him and is a brownish platinum color. The birds were the best way for all of the ancients to message each other seeing how birds are way faster than couriers and how the birds actually knew where Golden Cheese Kingdom is. Before they relied on Lily to send their messages to Cheese since she was the only one to know where she is but the problem with that is that Lily was always on the move.

Surprise White Lily Headcanon: White Lily used to travel a lot for her research. One moment she would be in PV’s kingdom the next she would be in HB Kingdom’s jungles or in Dragon’s Valley.

Unfortunately, all the birds returned to the Golden Cheese Kingdom after the Vanilla’s kingdom was destroyed which was the main reason why all the other Ancients didn’t talk much after the war.

Now this next bit was also written before the trailer dropped but I’ll share it anyway as a lil bonus:

After the war Golden Cheese was inconsolable after Vanilla sacrificed himself and locked themself away in their castle. The messenger birds tried to bring her out but she couldn’t bring herself to face what happened. She lost track of how many days she spent wallowing in her despair but it was long enough for White Lily to become Dark Enchantress. Since Lily, and therefore Enchantress, was the only one who knew where the Golden Cheese Kingdom was, it was the first place Enchantress went. In the state Cheese was in it wasn’t hard for Enchantress to trick them into believing she was Lily and came to check up on them. Enchantress planned on taking Golden’s Soul Jam and sealing her away but unfortunately she underestimated the strength of the kingdom's citizens. She didn’t have enough power or time to steal the Soul Jam and seal Golden away so she decided to seal Golden with her Soul Jam. This way Golden wouldn’t be able to warn the others of Enchantress’ return, and besides, she could always come back later. Golden Cheese was sealed away in a golden statue that looks exactly like the ones littered throughout her kingdom, unaware of what White Lily had turned into. …Until Gingerbrave and friendstm showed up.

[viviane-lefay]

His physical strength is pretty remarkable, true.

In one of the trailers, he easily blocks Cal (who attacks him with full force, using both hands), and then strikes him down with one massive blow, using just one hand - which is quite something.

These are the scenes I would have loved to see more of, because they really show how damn powerful he really is.

After all this is a knight of the golden age of the Jedi, and one of the best at that, renowned for his outstanding abilities as a lightsaber duelist, as well as in the force. This man has got to be fucking epic!

Other than the above-mentioned scene in the trailer, we have just some short cutscenes in the game, but even there, he really wipes the floor with his opponents.

Judging from those, it is quite obvious that Cal, even with the help of Bode, didn't really stand a chance - hadn't he been aware of Dagan's weakness.

Thing is ... it's just these cutscenes, and not the entire fight - because if the gamer in question is really talented, you might get a bit of a different impression, which kind of skews the picture - unfortunately.

Which is why it is truly a shame that we didn't get to see more of Dagan and his fight scenes - be it the duel with Rayvis, or the battle on Tanalorr - it would have done a great job driving home that he really didn't get his reputation for nothing.

You know - show, not only tell.

-

^ Agreed.

... except for the bit that says that the dark side made him more powerful - no, it did not. If anything it made him more fierce and feral, but not stronger.

As for his power level - I think he is easily on par with Mace.

... and an even better duelist than Vader, skills-wise.

Yeah, said it - and I mean it:

That the latter just happens to be the Chosen One, doesn't automatically mean he excels at literally everything and is basically invincible. We have already seen that this isn't the case more than once.

Besides, it's a canonical fact that Anakin was a bit negligent regarding his training, he even says so himself. Even him trying to catch up on this later as Vader doesn't automatically elevate him to the level of mastery someone as consistently driven as Dagan is at.

If anything, this Chosen One issue just concerns his midichlorian count aka force potential, as well as his individual fate being tied to that of the galaxy, having further reaching implications than that of others, but that is it. Same goes for redemption and the ability to free oneself from the grip of the dark side - that's NOT something exclusive to him. He's not that speshul. Don't make him any more outstanding than he actually is ... It's annoying!

Of course there are other Jedi, which might not have the status as the Chosen One, but are incredibly powerful, nonetheless - and Dagan, imho, is one of them!

[ausetkmt]

PLANET RIZQ| TRAILER 3 | 4K AI SHORT FILM|

Planet Rizq: A Sci-Fi Epic In the distant future, humanity's history is forever changed when several colossal pyramid-shaped ships arrive and position themselves around the planet. These extraterrestrial vessels, unlike anything ever seen before, emit a mysterious, glowing green emerald energy that captivates and terrifies the world.

 The ships remain at a standstill, offering no information or signs of intent. The global population is left in a state of suspense and anxiety, questioning the motives of these alien visitors. Are these beings here to help humanity ascend to new heights, or do they bring with them the promise of destruction and conquest? As the days turn into weeks, humanity is offered a choice—a decision that will shape the future of the planet. 

The stakes are high, and the answers lie within the towering, enigmatic pyramids. The fate of Earth hangs in the balance as the world holds its breath, awaiting the revelation that could either lead to a golden age or a catastrophic end. "Planet Rizq" is a gripping tale of suspense, mystery, and the ultimate test of humanity's courage and wisdom. 

Created by the visionary Jimy Starseed, this epic story blends science fiction with profound questions about our place in the universe and the choices that define our destiny.

[knickynoo]

Music to Write to Master List

I rely very heavily on music when I'm writing and have curated a handful of playlists over the years and discovered several albums that really help me get into Writing Mode and set the scene. I thought I'd put together a post sharing some of my favorite instrumentals. (These sources are also fantastic for wandering around aimlessly while intensely daydreaming, btw. I know this from personal experience)

Everything under a cut, since this will be long. All included links will redirect to Spotify, but I'll include titles and artists so they can be found elsewhere.

I AM CRAFTING AN ENTIRE CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE IN MY HEAD, AND I NEED THE SOUNDTRACK TO BE...

Full of beauty/emotion/hope

• The Musical Journey by Jonas B. Ingebretsen: cannot stress enough how much I love this one. It's the entire hero's journey in a single album. It is PERFECT for sending your little Mind Blorbos on a quest. Highly recommend listening to it in order and all the way through. His recent album, The Musical Journey Pt 2 is also great.

• Pinnacle by Steven Coltart and Marcus Warner: Some gorgeous music in here. In particular, "Stories of Hope" and "Earth" are two of my favorites.

• Coming Home by Soundcritters

• The First Five Years by Denny Schneidemesser

• Emotion by Keith Merrill

• Unfolding Beauty by Stephen Tait & Tom Tideway

• Letters From Earth by Colossal Trailer Music

Tinged with sadness and full of longing

• A Way Home and The Traveler by Omar Raafat

• Disaster is Restless by The Defiant Heart

• Better by Now and Somewhere Else by From Somewhere Quiet

• Drift Ten by The Echelon Effect

• The Stories We Forgot by Andreas Kubler

• Believe by James Paget

Jam-packed with action

• Epic Action: Fight to the Last Ship, Distorted: Rock and a Hard Place, Strength to Believe, and Blaze of Glory by Epic Score: these are just 4 of the over 40 albums they have, so seriously, check them out for all your action and adventure needs. The Rock and a Hard Place one is a top fave of mine.

• Grimoire by Soundcritters

• Time Traveller by Peter Roe

• Future Heroes III by Future Heroes

Rife with crimes/mysteries/secret missions

• Crimescene by Soundcritters

• The Truth Has Been Redacted and Conviction by Luke Richards

• Crime Thriller Score by Dylan Love

• Mission Tension 1 and Mission Tension 2 by Stephen Tait

• Mystery Solved: Film Noir Detective Jazz by Various Artists

Filled with pirates/generally take place on the water

• Drowning Abyss by Colossal Trailer Music

• Set Sail for the Golden Age by Anti Martikainen

• Oceans by Marcus Warner

Whimsical/weird

• Pizz and Pieces 2 and Pizz and Pieces 3 by Thomas Howe, Stephen Tait, and Tom Tideway: Please listen to these, please please they are so delightful and bouncy and perfect for characters Partaking in Shenanigans

• Awkward Comedy Beds also by Stephen Tait and Thomas Howe: I have no idea what that title means but the music is amazing and silly plz listen

• Pomp and Whimsy and Pomp and Whimsy 2 by Howe/Tait (from above) and Alexander Rudd: for when you want silly antics but like...more proper. "Mischief at the Manor" and "A Royal Kerfuffle" delight me.

• You know what? This whole list is from these same artists, so just check it all out. Special shout out to How Very British and Cheeky Beats

Yeehaw! Giddyup! and so on

• High Noon: Vintage Cowboy Music of the Old West by Various Artists

• Vagabond by Gary O'Slide

• Americana Blues and Rock by Thomas Howe and Stephen Tait

Back in Time Babeyyy

• Vintage Jazz Instrumental by Vintage Cafe

• 40s Instrumental Music by 40s Instrumental Music (lol)

• Instrumental Love Songs of the 50s by Various Artists

• 50s and 60s Wild Guitar Instrumentals by Various Artists

• 60s Instrumentals for Dances and Groovers by Various Artists

• 70s Instrumental Greatest Hits by Various Artists

• 80s Instrumental Greatest Hits by Various Artists

Sorry, no 90s because I didn't like any of the instrumental collections

BONUS!

• Music That Hurts by Me: a collection of some of my favorite instrumental pieces that make me feel like I've been punched in the gut and am being turned inside out. But you know. In a good way. Favorites include "Sometimes" by Goldmund, "Places I Remember" by Kristoffer Wallin, and "Stop Everything! It's Snowing" by Good Weather for an Airstrike (that last one in particular is good at making me sob for some reason)

• Writing by Me: This is my gigantic writing playlist that contains a huge mix of some of my favorite "mellow" instrumentals. Many of the above listed artists are on it, but it contains, um...a whole lot more. It's 102 hours long, and has assisted me through many a writing session over the years.

And there you go. I hope that other writers & daydreamers find some things they can take from here and add to their own playlists :)

[satoshi-mochida]

Turn-based RPG ALZARA: Radiant Echoes announced for consoles, PC – a tribute to JRPG classics

From Gematsu

Montpellier-based developer Studio Cemlia has announced ALZARA: Radiant Echoes, a turn-based RPG inspired by classics like Golden Sun, Persona, Final Fantasy X, and Lost Odyssey. It will be available for consoles and PC via Steam in 2026. A Kickstarter campaign seeking €100,000 in funding is now live.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Restore peace to a world torn apart in this 3D turn-based RPG inspired by Japanese classics. Combine the elements to unleash spectacular attacks, solve magical puzzles, and bring the world together.

Key Features

A Vibrant Tribute to the Golden Age of JRPGs – Take control of four heroes as you embark on an epic journey inspired by classic JRPGs across the stunning world of ALZARA.

Harness the Elements – Harness the elemental magic of Kayla and her allies to battle the invading forces of Vedores. Share the magic to overcome puzzles and obstacles during your adventure.

Intense and Strategic Turn-based Battles – Swap between heroes to combine elemental magic and unleash spectacular attacks. Make offerings to gain favors and summon Legends to defeat your enemies.

A Mature, Relatable Story – Restore Peace to the vibrant world of ALZARA, where the mysterious elemental entities known as Zals answer to humans’ prayers. Lead the Resistance against the merciless invasion orchestrated by the neighboring nation of Vedores.

A Collaboration With Japanese Artists – We are honored to partner with two esteemed Japanese artists for this project. Renowned composer Motoi Sakuraba, celebrated for his contributions to iconic titles like Golden Sun and Dark Souls, joins us alongside main character designer Yoshiro Ambe, recognized for his remarkable work on games such as Trials of Mana and Fire Emblem Heroes.

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer