#I DO NOT WISH TO GET INTO ACE ATTORNEY AGAIN. I REALLY REALLY DO NOT WISH TO GET INTO ACE ATTORNEY AGAIN

[cat-madhouse]

This is quite literally the worst time possible for my school to make me study the justice system

[skyefeys]

so fun fact, i'm playing the aa trilogy with a friend right now, and apollo justice with another friend. and second fun fact, i love voice acting. anyway here's a fun little breakdown of ten of my favorite voices to do, in no particular order!

1. cody hackins

i've been told i do a very good young-boy-in-anime voice. it's just very fun! originally he was very back-of-throat and kinda fucked up my voice to do, so i moved it forward more to not kill myself. it sounds virtually the same!

2. dee vasquez

i love the badass, cold woman archetype for voices. i gave dee a lower, vaguely gothic, vaguely transatlantic voice. she's one of those characters who changes tone as she gets mad and lets her demeanor slip, so that was interesting! typically i had her speak slowly and quietly, so when she's worked up, she gets faster and louder, and goes from that low-throat crooning to a more full voice.

3. alita tiala

i made alita vaguely russian, for some reason, but i went with it, because i fucking love accents. this fact will become clearer as this ranking continues. anyway, alita is another character who talks differently as her facade slips. initially, she has a timid, hesitant voice, with a very faint accent. when she gets angry, her voice becomes more stern and confident, and her accent comes out more!

4. lotta hart

accents, man. lotta's especially fun because you can just go fucking crazy with her, there's no restraint on her accent she's so extremely southern. her voice's pitch is pretty regular, so if i were to ever voice nicole, i'd probably give her a slightly higher voice for contrast - and because nicole has a sweeter personality, while lotta is more rough-around-the-edges.

5. olga orly

again: accents!! i literally didn't think i knew how to do a russian accent before her, but then i jumped into it and found out i do, somehow?? anyway, olga's fun because she has two completely different voices. her fake identity is higher pitched and timid, and thickly accented. her regular voice is just a bit higher-toned than my regular speaking voice, and she talks in a much faster and rougher way.

6. truly wright

truly just has a higher, cute voice, and that's fun! hers isn't complicated to do, either; i just pitch up. it's good that she's easy and fun, considering she's around all the time. maya is harder, mostly because she's a delicate balance - i don't want to give her a voice as high as trucy's, but i don't want to give her a voice as low as the one i do for ema. speaking of which...

7. ema skye

i haven't gotten to ema's case in the trilogy yet, but most likely, her voice will be a smidge pitched up from my regular talking voice. as for apollo justice ema, i gave her a lower-toned voice - similar to my own talking voice, maybe a bit lower. this is a nod to not only the fact that she's far more cynical than when she was younger, but also the fact that she can do a CONVINCING impression of kristoph gavin, so her voice must be in the lower range. i think about that a lot. aa4 ema also has a tone to her voice like she's not trying to put up any niceties - she just says what's on her mind. in that sense, she's a bit monotonous - but VERY emotive when she talks about science.

8. miles edgeworth

proZD has a video where he describes the voices he does for every ace attorney character, and he describes edgeworth as "not british, but he wishes he was". this is something i have in mind whenever i voice him. i'm not great with guy voices, since i can't go that low, so i focus on things like intonation and accents. edgeworth doesn't have an accent, per se, but he has one of those vague ways of speaking that i can only really describe as "fancy accent".

9. will powers

i like will's voice because i gave him a pretty unique way of talking as compared to everyone else. i'm self-taught, so i don't really know a lot of vocal terms, so bear with me while i explain this as best i can. will's voice comes from sort of closing my throat, and talking from the bottom half of my mouth. it creates this gentle, shyer, and nasal voice. and speaking of nasal...

10. wendy oldbag

now, i wouldn't say i'm GOOD at oldbag's voice, i could use some practice, but it's fun as fuck to do. it's EXTREMELY nasal, it sits right behind my nose. i find myself scrunching up my face whenever i have to voice her! and as a fun little detail, she's one of those people who pronounces the h first in words like what, why, and of course whippersnapper ;]

bonus: the judge

i don't get to voice the judge a lot, since he's one the three characters my friend has claimed, lol. however, this is my apollo justice friend, so they're not always there for me and my other friend playing the trilogy. my friend does a judge voice that i can only describe as slightly more civilized goofy from nicky mouse. now, i can't recreate perfection, so i went in a completely different direction with my judge's voice. i leaned more towards his anime voice - slightly husky, but not to the extent it is in the anime.

[kittenpinkamations]

The more I think about it (this post talking about Hiccup having a bit of an “I’m always right” ego) the more HTTYD2/3 & even RTTE Hiccup seems so fascinating to me actually. Not a negative critique, I genuinely think with this bit of perspective I can enjoy these movies more than I already do (which is a FEAT for someone as httyd obsessed as me)

Like he feels more believable as a 20 year old person instead of just an older version of his teen self?? If that makes sense??? I think it helps that I like. Kind of managed to make a connection comparing him to Phoenix Wright except AA actually more explicitly addressed Phoenix’s ego.

(For those unfamiliar with Ace Attorney: Phoenix is a very similarly snarky though idealistic protagonist who in the first game establishes himself as a bit of a hero in the legal world and as a defence attorney, serves as a devil’s advocate for the persecuted and proves their innocence through his sheer undying loyalty and faith. But in the second game his “I need to be the hero I’m the only one who can do it” complex comes to bite him in the butt and another character essentially says “Listen to yourself. We’re not heroes, we’re only human you and I” and the message is instead of the defense trying to be the sole hero saving everyone, he has to trust the prosecution and they need to work together for justice to be served, guilty or not.)

And like. Back to HTTYD. One of Hiccup’s defining traits is that he’s stubborn! That is a great boon to him in the first movie when he sticks with his beliefs in the dragons not being monsters, in brains being better than brawn. But after being the one used to being right about certain things when everyone else was wrong for so long, is it really that unbelievable that his fatal flaw is, shown time and time again, not listening to the words of those who care about him until the consequences come to bite him?

The entirety of that Thawfest episode.

Astrid and Dagur in Enemy Of My Enemy trying to get through to Hiccup’s thick skull that he shouldn’t have to do all this alone, that revenge will consume him.

Midnight Scrum where, in return for not wanting to open up and take Astrid’s advice to tell Stoick what’s going on because that means being a burden, Hiccup gets kidnapped and targeted by a bunch of people.

HTTYD2 where it turns out: He cannot just go talk to Drago! His parents were actually right!

HTTYD3 has its flaws but it had this message too!

Hiccup is kind, inventive, empathetic, and optimistic. He is also, knowingly or not, biting the hands that didn’t feed him. Only now the hands are trying to feed him and he’s still biting. (Which. Hooooo sounds more like a trauma response now that I’ve said it aloud) And that is such a fascinating trait to me (affectionate) that I wish the fandom explored more because it makes him more of a balanced character! (And also relatable as someone who was also bullied as a kid then had to gradually learn to let go of my own ego because the world does not revolve around me)

[actualbird]

Hey zak!

Marius is a pansexual mess, how do you think the NXX is going to react when they realize he has a massive crush on Artem's frying pan?

jkjk fdhasjkfhdjaskf

Okay seriously: How do you think the NXX is going to react if they overhear Marius making a flirty comment about them?

For instance: Luke shows Marius a picture of Vyn and Marius makes a comment like "The worst thing about Vyn is how hot he is, it drives me insane."

Not knowing that Vyn was outside the room and heard that.

well first off, i want it known that everybody in the nxx actually probably has a crush on artem's frying pan, and FOR GOOD REASON. artem's kitchen utensils, tools, and appliances are of the Highest Quality and also theyre SEXY. actually, marius has a crush on the pan (artem looks really good flambe-ing stuff), luke has crush on the knives (he loves a good weapon....uh he meant kitchen apparatus, totally), mc has a crush on the pots (love is stored in the SOUP), and vyn has a crush on the stand mixer (NOT on artem, he would like to make that clear) (marius, luke, and mc dont believe him, they think this is vyn being a tsundere about how he secretly wants to hate-kiss artem into oblivion)

......sorry, what was this ask response about again? OH RIGHT

the nxx team's reactions to overhearing marius making flirty comments about them

i wont delve too much into mc because we already know how she'd react given we see it in-game whenever marius says flirty things right to her Face: she gets all blushy -> she gets unimpressed -> "MARIUS! VON!! HAGEN!!!"

and she is so cute for that. frankly, her overhearing comments like this instead of being told it outright (oftentimes with a teasing expression) would make her feel more flattered, because "oh, he really thinks im attractive? it's not just a tease to rile me up? O////O"

which brings me to

-

luke, who i think would have a reaction rather similar to mc's: he overhears -> he gets all blushy -> he mentally backpedals with "OH HES JUST TEASING, HE MUST JUST BE MESSING WITH ME, HAHA, OH MARIUS, YOU JOKER!!!"

but given that this is an Overheard Instance of Flirting, luke's logic would then say "but if hes messing with you, why is he telling someone else instead of You (the person he is allegedly messing with)", to which luke would internally reply with "i dont know!! but theres no way he actually thinks im cute because!! WHAT!!! i-im not cute, im just—not that i WISH he thought i was cute, it's just! yknow!!! //frantic and aimless gesticulating" and then

vyn, walking past where luke is in the nxx hallway: what on earth are you doing there just muttering to yourself and waving your hands around?

luke: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS //pulls out a smoke bomb from nowhere, throws it on the ground, and runs away

-

meanwhile, it takes artem a While to even realize that marius was being flirty in the comment he overheard. like im imagining it was something that, if you were an Ace (as in asexual) Attorney like artem is, the comment was either innocuous or metaphorical enough that it TOTALLY flies over artem's head

until days later when artem mentions it to someone else and it's like

mc: artem. oh my god. that means he thinks youre SEXY

artem: What.

mc: like, marius was making an Innuendo

artem, ears going a bit red: W h a t.

and then he just goes silent as his brain bluescreens VKJHSFSD

-

vyn is the one who would take it most in stride, and also affectionately use this against marius whenever the situation and ambiance permits. like, he'll overhear that exact line u mention in your ask and then vyn will just

stride into the room with a shit-eating grin on his face

vyn: do not let my looks distract you too much, i do need your mind working at some sort of standard of quality during our sessions

marius, mocking vyn immediately bc hes not one to back down from a bitch-off: ohhhhh look at me im vynnn i know im hot shittt~ get over yourself!!

vyn: i dont have to, seeing as you definitely are not getting over me any time soon :)

luke, watching with metaphorical popcorn: ooh, that was a good burn. sorry, man

marius: //screeches into his hands because even when vyn is being a bitch, hes STILL hot to marius. probably even HOTTER

ahh, the trials and tribulations of marius von hagen, in a team of comprised of people who are so infuriating (in different ways) but also so so pretty. VLAKJFSFA

[folkdances]

i really like your recent ace attorney posts, i got into it years ago and fell out of love bc of weird fan experiences and people swearing the women are all boring and written badly so they cant think about them or whatever.. your posts remind me of why i really loved it originally, especially edgeworth as a character removed from the death grip of naramitsu and flanderization.. maybe i’ll finally replay the games before the year ends.!

thank u so much!!! this is exactly the issue i had and still have! so much of the discussion around edgeworth isn't really a discussion at all, i was actually complaining about this a few days ago and i know i knowww that fan spaces are there to have fun more than anything and if more people have fun talking about nart then like that's Fine but it does get grating after a very short amount of time for anyone who wants something different -_- like do not get me wrong i love them so dearly but frankly i am more interested in the actual character presented in the games and not the bizarre, just a little to the left of canon frankenworth that is fanon. and as for the question of the women in the games THAT'S my BIGGEST pet peeve because if you actually bothered to like, play the games with even half of your brain working actively, you would see that almost every single woman in the games is just as interesting as every single one of the men and some of them are lame but like so are the men these games are pretty equal as to the quality of writing between male and female characters 😭

i think people tend to take them less seriously because of the "weirdgirl assistant" trope (again, a crime of fanon) and the fact that a lot of their designs are clearly designed with a fanservicey intent (think mia's blazer) and while i do wish that that wasn't the case, i think that so many people get caught in the trap of literally taking them at face value ie. their designs and then completely ignoring the words that actually come out of their mouths. do you even realize how interesting of a character angel starr is? or ema? or maya? or FRANZISKA. but they always get relegated to inferior to their male colleagues or family members or what have you and it is infuriating!!!!!!!!! the text is right there in the games!!!!! use your brain!!!!!

ok sorry. rant over. i really hope u do replay this is definitely one of those pieces of media where the widely-accepted fan version is Less Good than the original media - these games are so funny and witty and interesting and all of the characters rule! plus it's autumn - primetime for an aa1 replay ^_^

[ritzcuit]

i want.. a fic.. where datz.. and amara talk....sooooooo bad. i know i should write it myself but writing is hard and i cant even decide what theyd talk abt. i just want it. i want them to talk abt Everything.

to me.. their relationship......... entirely unfounded by canon, but i believe it's such a complicated one. and i love to think about it. ofc, my angles are "datz is a gay man who had no romantic feelings for amara, very much had romantic feelings for dhurke, and is not exactly fond of Any sort of royalty at all"

i think her, dhurke, and datz, were all pretty good friends pre-revolution. i think dhurke invited datz to meet amara and datz was like oh boy this woman whos got dhurke all in a tizzy it'd be cool to seeAMARA SIGATAR KHURA'IN???? .....REAL???????but she's like, Cool, and has a sense of humor, and they all get along well. datz is like woah i didn't know someone of the royal family could be this cool. and smart and funny and normal :) and amara's like, it's nice that my boyfriend's freak isn't treating me differently because of my family, it's nice to feel like my age :) yay. he's invited to their wedding it rules.

and then like. um. it all goes wrong. So i rly do think datz was mourning amara too. not nearly as deeply as dhurke, of course, but he was like nooo she was so cool fuckkkkNDSKLNSFG but it goes wrong in several ways, bc now datz is helping raise her kid (!) and now he's living with dhurke (!!) and getting closer (!!!) and oh no

so, requited or not, confessed or not, forever, his love for dhurke is always going to be with an asterisk that says *dhurke is a married man, albeit a widow, and i am A Monster for loving him romantically

and then Um Well amara is Alive. on the surface, datz is celebrating, because this is awesome, until dhurke hits him with the "actually she still thinks i tried to murder her, but i'm gonna get her to trust me--" and datz is already sore because, with apollo gone, things are already dismal, and wtf do you mean she still thinks youre guilty?! whereas datz never doubted dhurke's innocence, so he's offended on dhurke's behalf and hurt because this little niche he's built in dhurke's life is getting shaken up again and3$%^#$^$

BUT THE THING IS, DATZ IS A NICE GUY. AND LIKE. HE LIKES AMARA. or wants to like her, really fucking badly, bc dhurke is so happy that amara is here, right!! so datz wants to be happy for them! amara is not stupid. she's cautious about all of this, and can tell that datz isn't as warm to her as he used to be. she learns all that dhurke has to share and what the two of them have been doing for the past like-eightish-years... she's merciful. amara is a Nice Girl. and she trusts them, but i think datz never really. gets over this.

i think rayfa being born is such a nail in the coffin that datz never gets over that either. esp after sending apollo away... soj implies datz doesnt know abt rayfa but idgaf he knows. i cannot decide as to if datz is good at hiding his displeasure. i think, for the most part, he is, because he tries SO FUCKING HARD to be happy when he's supposed to be happy... but at the same time, i think datz argues about sending apollo away, i think he argues about trying to win amara over, and i think he's very very clearly biting his tongue when he finds out about rayfa.

bc. he's not. like. he has no authority. and he hates scolding, and he hates pretending like he has authority... he hates hates hatessss being against all of this. more than anything, he just wishes he was a better friend who could be happy about all of this, but he's nursing a broken heart that he refuses to admit...

they lose rayfa and amara again... i think datz could take this insanely hard. i think datz can have a streak of blaming himself for things beyond his control, like every ace attorney character (he takes tahrust's death hard, and somewhat implies that he blames himself,) so i think he'll feel like if he wasn't bitter towards amara, he could have protected her. talking about this means he'd have to admit his bitterness, and explaining where it comes from, and admitting his love for dhurke, so he'll never do this...

by the time he and amara can meet again, post-canon, it's just. there's like. there's too fucking much. there's SO MUCH. datz's avoidance is in high gear now that he could, possibly, go visit amara.... i think it's obvious to anyone that he's avoiding that for any number of reasons. like nope. he simply Will Not. and amara knows it, because she's not stupid, and everyone who ever knew she and dhurke has given their condolences and datz barely steps foot in the palace- even to talk to nahyuta- but like,

he raised nahyuta up until he became a prosecutor, right? she's been talking to him and getting to know him, but who does she have to fondly reminisce with now that dhurke is gone? and who will treat her like a person and not some reverent figure? maybe she's lonely, right? maybe she misses an old friend.

and datz could ignore her invitation to a small private lunch, and more than anything, he wants to, which is why he goes. it's confronting that grief and broken hearted bitterness and remnants of anger and frustration from over a decade ago, and all that sadness, and guilt, and shame that he couldn't Be Better... or maybe, above all else, he just doesn't want to look at a widow (for real, this time) and tell her that he's been selfishly in love with her husband for as long as she's been gone.

which, for the record, amara would be like. i know. 😭LMFAO SHE'S LIKE DATZ DO YOU THINK I'M STUPID?

IDK. THERE'S SOOOOO MUCH. but i don't want the fic to just be datz yelling at a traumatized woman, no matter where you set it in the timeline, so it's likeelngfdlnfg Cause i don't think he even COULD yell at her, again, bc behind it all he knows amara was a victim as well.. i don't want the fic to just be amara doing emotional labor trying to coax something out of datz...

i dont know. im crazy. the two of them have a history that no one else would be around for, they're the only peers the two of them have, so it's crazy. bitterness and discomfort and everything. i cant... Exploads

[journalsouppe]

I started and beat this within like 4 days in July 2023, and I just completely forgot to take photos of this spread T-T.

BUT I loved Tunic so much, one of my all time favorite games I've ever played. If this was a Zelda game, it might've been my favorite Zelda game. This was only beat out by Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice bc my aa brainrot is that bad hfjdkal.

All of the stickers come with ordering the physical version of the game on fangamer!! There's also a freebie fox sticker I got from TheLittleBirdeeCo thats below keep reading.

My writing is typed below as well as my game notes. I will not type out my game notes and I also don't recommend looking at them unless you have played the game.

Game notes^ Plus a little blurb after rewatching a playthrough that I won't type out either since these are more just for fun.

Rating: 9.5 Played: Su 2023 Port: Nintendo Switch Favorite? Y Replayable? Y Recommend? Y

Comments

similar opening to links awakening

the start screen is gorgeous

THE POT SHARDS ARE MOVEABLE - i love the clay feel

tons of hidden paths and secrets

oooo you find the instruction booklet in the game

I KILLED MYSELF?

GIANT SKELETON SHOPKEEPER SCARED ME T-T he's chill tho

oooo you can hear the wind chimes

LOVE the mechanics of the draw bridge

what are the small tuner/bells for

i am apparently really good at finding hidden chests

i love that the fairies are stone versions of the oot/mm fairies

ENEMIES CAN FOLLOW YOU INTO NEW ROOMS?

it's hard to get acclimated since I'm so used to 2d zelda strategies and patterns

the statues of the hero perfectly encapsulate my view of oot link, i really love the design

the garden boss is hard T-T

the bell towers are so pretty

THE POTIONS REGENERATE? WISH I KNEW THAT

the west garden is so pretty omg

I FINALLY DID IT T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

IM SO TINY T^T

idrk what to do at the heros grave

the librarian fight reminds me of the links awakening nightmare fight

frogs domain music reminds me of the forest temple

A GUN?

who am i?

why is the cathedral filled with ... me?

the boss rush was fun but hard

I DONT LIKE THAT ELEVATOR WHERE DID THE CRUCIFIED THING GO

i don't think there's a set order to do "dungeons" so i'm not locked to doing only the siege engine

i thought cat man was pissing

why do i have the power to activate the boxes?

librarian's ghost?

COLOR CHANGE?

was the heir me?

Game Notes:

beautiful 3D animation and modeling - very pleasing

wide attacking range - don't just attack straight forward

incredible environmental design and path making

two endings - exploration and collection for good end

diverse attack patterns and learning curve + boss rush

Summary

What a phenomenal game. I loved playing this game so much. It was challenging and I wasn't used to the souls mechanics, but I learned fast and had so much fun fighting the bosses. I love the two endings. The Bad where you replace your former self as the heir, continuing the cruel cycle. The Good where you free the Heir and find out it's you, older, someone who is no longer stuck in the cycle, and you get to be friends together. The music is absolutely gorgeous. I listened to it while falling asleep and was just sobbing from it. I love how mysterious the lore is and how everything still hasn't been answered. I love the designs of the environments and enemies and how the game can go from nice and serene to dark and creepy. I loved how this game was a perfect blend of 2D zelda plus monument valley plus a souls game, it forced me to think outside of the box and use my journal to takes notes on all the little secrets and surprises. I can def see myself play this game again, it's such a charming game that has a lot of nostalgia despite being a fairly new game. I am so happy I bought the deluxe edition, I truly cherish this game so much and love the stickers and artbooks I received. I highly recommend this game to anyone, it is such an incredible journey to go through. I'm gonna be spending a lot of time watching and reading about the lore and digging deeper into this game. Truly what a phenomenal game with such a cute yet tragic main character, ough i love tunic.

[randoimago]

howdy there is it okay if could ask for ace attorney headcanons on how barok susato kazuma and naruhodo would react to finding out their s/o is biracial being mixed race of japanese and British/European parents/descent I feel like the reader kept it a secret from them at first because people can get quite discriminatory towards people of mixed races I just think the readers parents had a case of forbidden love

Fandom: Ace Attorney

Character(s): Barok van Zieks, Susato, Asogi Kazuma, Naruhodo

Note(s): I have had friends of mixed races that talked about quite a bit of discrimination they've met and it's really honestly really gross. I'm sorry that you went through that stuff and I hope these headcanons can offer some comfort.

Barok

Well, he's made some racial comments towards Naruhodo so I feel like when first meeting you, he did the same thing. But then he grew close to you and developed feelings and realized how his words might've impacted you in the beginning. You get apologies for that before he calls you "exotic", thinking it's a compliment to describe your attractiveness.

You'll have to tell him that no, it's also kind of offensive too. Honestly, there's probably a lot of terms that you'll have to have a talk with him about just because of the time period and also how he is. It's very much a learning process as he realizes how his words must have really hurt you and he didn't even know.

He ends up giving you loads of apologies. It's very much a learning process especially since you become his partner and he really doesn't want to do anything to upset or offend you.

If you let him, then he'd like to give you a long hug with many kisses to the top of your head as he murmurs apologies again and again. You can bet that he definitely becomes a huge protector of you after that too with glaring or bringing up ways he could get someone jailed for being rude to you.

Kazuma

He scoffs when he hears you're facing discrimination. The fact that people can be so awful to other people makes him sick.

If you allow him, then he'd pull you into his arms and let you know that he still cherishes you more than anything.

Naruhodo

He already has no issues with pointing out injustices and wouldn't hesitate to point out the racism that you're going through just because you're mixed.

Might argue with you a bit if you don't want him to make a big deal about it, but he'll eventually respect your wishes.

While he doesn't completely understand how difficult things must be for you, he does understand some of the racism.

He was met with quite a bit of it when he did go to Britian originally (honestly, he probably still comes across people that aren't so quiet and asks insensitive questions).

But if he does learn you've had a particularly bad experience one day then he'll gladly take you home and make you some tea.

He's very sweet with comforting you, giving you a small kiss to your temple and even offering you a massage if you want. He doesn't think he's the best at massages though so be ready to tell him if he's being a bit too hard.

Susato

At hearing your story and why you hide your race, she's very upset. Not at you, but at how awful you're treated just because you're not what society wants you to be.

Susato understands the racism as she got a bit of it when she traveled to England, but the fact that you've had it on both sides really annoys her. She'll gladly speak out about it to those that discriminate if you want her to.

And the fact that your parents had to most likely fight to be together to have you, well Susato wants to just toss someone because it's really annoying to know you're going through so much crap because of who you are.

Gladly reminds you that she loves and cares for you. Absolutely would love to hear about your experiences (the good ones) too because she wants to hear how things might've been different in your household compared to what she knows.

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 8 Matsuribayashi pt. 28

Long ago, back around late Onikakushi, early Watanagashi I wondered if there was a website similar to howlongtobeat. I was informed by @ggren-mainz that there are indeed websites for that. I had kind of forgotten about this until just now. And now I'm envisioning someone with their copy of A Dance With Dragons in one hand, and a stopwatch in the other.

An accident at the Shirakawa park

This particular fragment demonstrated to me the hazard of writing down notes, and theories before the section ends.

There is a case in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney where the defendant for the case is accused of killing a man with a .45 revolver. The problem is that the defendant is a small blind child, and the idea that this kid was able to overpower someone who towers over them, wrestle the gun away from the victim and then not just shatter their bones by shooting the victim point blank is kind of ridiculous. Of course this being Ace Attorney the judge, prosecution, and everyone agrees that yes this small blind piano prodigy totally killed this man this way. The accusations being thrown at Satoko, that she was able to overpower and kill both her mother and her stepfather reminded me a lot of this case.

I can’t imagine that being accused of murdering both of your parents is a particularly light mental strain at the best of times. I can only imagine that it would make your terminal mental condition just a hair worse.

What I was not prepared for was the visual novel just going “why yes Satoko did indeed kill her parents.” I imagined that at best it was going to be left up to speculation about whether or not she actually did the deed. Which thinking about it might have been for the best to confirm it outright, because even though there was the red paranoia text in the original Satoko Houjou fragment enough time has passed that it’s entirely possible for the reader to have forgotten it.

My earlier comparison with the Apollo Justice case, I kid you not, was written just one sentence before the visual novel confirmed Satoko was the one who killed her parents. I had a slightly longer thought typed out but the sentence “I’d assumed that her parents’ accident triggered her terminal symptoms.” occurred and so I felt kind of foolish and simply deleted it. Which is a shame because it was a delight to have written out, and I wish I had saved it regardless. I think I’ve demonstrated multiple times throughout the playthrough that I have no problems posting my blatantly incorrect theories and speculations. Oh well, c’est la vie.

I wonder if this thrilled the Mountain Dogs to be able to actually do their assigned duty? It doesn’t really get into the day to day minutiae of the institute’s operations, but I imagine a lot of them were just sort of dying to do anything related to their actual job. Cause outside of the kidnapping in 78 they probably haven’t had much to do.

I will try my best to quit bringing up the same points over and over again, but I once again have to wonder if these Irie narrated fragments were made entirely to try to course correct with his character. Was there a particularly vocal dislike of Irie to the point that Ryukish07 felt the need to try to win back the crowd over his silly lolicon doctor? Circling back all the way back to Tatarigoroshi I wonder if Irie was just putting on an act in front of the various villagers and Keiichi by acting like he wanted to actually marry Satoko. Like he was purposefully being a goofy annoyance to her in an effort to see how she is in terms of her Hinamizawa Syndrome. I freely admit this is probably just my own head canon fanfiction crap, but I just wonder about this more serious buttoned down characterization Irie’s received this chapter.

[oodlyenough]

6-2 magical turnabout

I gotta admit I was deeply skeptical of this one, because it felt weird to jump back to Apollo and Athena and Japanifornia after the tutorial, and I'd heard about the uh questionable way Phoenix and Trucy's relationship is handled, and the Gramarye retcon stuff was a mess ...

but I actually really liked it! At least as much as Turnabout Academy, where I think they are similarly "so dumb it loops back around to being fun" (not a bad place to be for an AA filler case). What gives this one the edge is that SOJ has actual gameplay again. Thank fucking god. I can click things! I can investigate! There are minigames! I have to solve puzzles myself instead of waiting for NPC Athena to do it for me! These are the most basic elements of an AA game and somehow Dual Destinies had none of them, making SOJ feel like a revelation. So I think that makes this my fave case since AA4? Wow

Anyway let's get into it

I like the idea of defendant Trucy. Trucy was so ignored in AA5, and even in AA4 where she was a major player we rarely dealt with how she honestly feels about things. So it was nice to explore that a little more. Being a defendant is a rite of passage for an Ace Attorney character. She's all grown up now.

A magic show as the scene of a murder is a really fun idea also. It just gives great excuses for the shenanigans that take place in any murder case, and the solution feels less contrived bc it is with a perpetrator and a set design where those things are expected and facilitated naturally without a shit ton of contrivances and coincidences.

Apollo and Athena, for all my complaints about how they cannibalize each other's screentime just by simultaneously existing, are a fun team. And this time we actually got a lot of interactive banter because we actually got to CLICK STUFF wow so great much gameplay.

I do really enjoy Athena. I wish this franchise would get out of the habit of creating these interesting but half-baked characters just to park them immediately in the next instalment to create more interesting but half-baked characters. I have the rest of SOJ to go but I don't imagine Athena will have much of a role to play in it, just like how Apollo got shafted in DD to make way for Athena, and Trucy fared even worse. The main cast is so bloated the games can't balance everyone.

I am THRILLED Ema is back. Some of her new sprites are sf cute too. Overall, I have to compliment SOJ's sprites, which are very detailed and have lots of different animations. Many characters have new/more expressive ones, and they look way better than DD's 3D models.

The Gramarye lore is a hot mess. I do not believe the new writer remembered that Trucy is a Gramarye on her MOM'S side, since apparently the "Gramarye creed" was "passed down from my father, from his father", making it... the Enigmar creed. I also, generally, could probably have done without some of the way the Gramaryes were discussed here. They were pretty obviously a toxic shitshow nightmare in AA4, and Phoenix explicitly wants to protect Trucy from the truth of that. Here, we introduce the Jonkler out of nowhere, and have him cursing Magnifi and taking his revenge on ... the toddler... and it's all just a little bit weird. The poster of him being CANCELLED is the funniest thing I've ever seen though so I can forgive a lot of it just for that.

Also where is my man Valant. Why the hell would Trucy invite the Onceler to her show and not him lmao. Justice for Valant!!

I've also never wished Apollo knew his heritage more than in that last bit where Tony Stark was raving about how he defeated the "last" Gramarye lmao.

Nahyuta is ... fine so far. Honestly I know he's so unpopular in fandom but he's kind of fine so far? Not an immediate fave, but not even in my bottom two. The bit where he talks about studying Japanifornian culture made me think of the Dalek that "knows everything" because it downloaded the internet in 2013.

I've been semi-spoiled for Apollo and Nahyuta having a history together, and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised that the game is not concealing this, but teasing it right from the off. I liked that in Apollovision his dialogue box is labelled "Nahyuta" even though everyone in-dialogue is calling him by his surname. I suspect this might be more a game dev limitation (character limit?) than anything else, but even if that's the case, it's a happy coincidence. The real test will be if they manage to stop Nahyuta and Apollo from feeling like a redux of Edgeworth and Phoenix, or Athena and Blackquill. Much of my issue with the end of DD was that it felt like we were just revisiting the trilogy's greatest hits without the same depth. But... whatever. I'm intrigued enough, at this point.

The biggest problem with this case, the elephant in the room, is Phoenix, who is inexplicably not there for his daughter's debut, did not even send flowers (apparently), and does not even talk to her on the phone in the last scene. This is exceedingly stupid and reeks of a total narrative oversight because they're not even trying to make some kind of point about Nick being a bad father. It's just a total lack of thought or effort. But ... anyway I have a whole other post written up about how Trucy and Phoenix's relationship is written in all the games, so, more on that another day, I guess. TL;DR Canon is a liar sometimes.

The "Gramarye[Enigmar] Family Motto" stuff, which is already so similar to the Mia Fey wisdom, could've just been collapsed into one thing: Trucy as a performer adapting that lawyer motto to her own life would be a nice way to show how Trucy is influenced by Phoenix, as well as Apollo and Athena. But uh, well, the game doesn't seem to care much about Trucy and Phoenix, so. I also find the "smile though your heart is breaking" mantra, including the JUDGE telling Trucy to look happy lmao??!?!, is like, kind of weird tonally, to the degree where I wonder if there's a culture gap happening. But I don't know enough about Japan to say.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this case. SOJ is off to an OK start with me so far, at least in comparison to DD.

[saturdaymournings]

DS tour :)

Hiiiiiiii y’all :) I’m finally making this after putting it off for ages! It’s not going to be completely coherent and I don’t care because I’m making it purely for the pleasure of myself and bestie jay xiaomiao on spacehey <2

I have a New Nintendo 2DS XL in white and orange. I’ve had it since September of 2017, making it almost seven years old! It’s held up really well in my opinion, especially seeing as it has been thoroughly abused and enjoyed by me since the age of 11. A particular incident springs to mind that occurred on a school trip— I dropped the damn ds on the floor and it slid around the aisle of the coach I was on until we stopped Dx

This is the top and bottom half of my ds. As you can see she has been stickered to fuck, I have no shame and if you’re going to be like bitches on Reddit and start bitching about it getting all sticky then I’ll have to inform you that 1) you are like bitches on Reddit. Embarrassing for u and 2) I have used alcohol wipes to get gunk off of this fucker a concerning amount of times before and I’ll fucking do it again. Isn’t she beautiful tho don’t we think so

This is my splash screen I just think it’s a vibe don’t u. It is a good reminder to see this pop up every time I open my ds

This is my theme it’s Miku admittedly I’m not big into the miku I like to listen to like three of the songs, simp over kaito and play the 3ds game that’s about it but the theme is cute and it plays one of the three songs I really like

Some examples of my games!!! I originally took pictures of every single game but it was too many files for tumble to handle lol. The games I’m currently like super duper playing are Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (fan translation), miitopia and animal crossing new leaf! Casually tho I will occasionally pick up tomodachi life, project mirai dx and ofc I do my daily wordle on the ds lol.

My Bluetooth headphones broke a while back so I was exclusively listening to music on my disc Walkman, but I managed to get an mp3 player on my ds and now I can use this for all my music! It’s very handy and it works with the clam shell hingey thing shut :) plus because I have the rainbow light mod I can look at the rainbow light while my music is playing it’s kinda silly but it makes me happy idk if the reason is goofy lol. Also admire my sick ass taste in music!!!! You WISH you had as good taste in ska as me

I also have an mp4 player chock full of Dan and Phil and Shelbizleee videos for on the go which is fun especially seeing as I can no longer get YouTube working on my ds because they fucked up the app and the other app and the website :( thirdtube works for a lot of people but not me unforch

I also do most of my drawing on my ds nowadays purely for 1) the gimmick and 2) the chunky glitter pens that I hacked into swapdoodle. It’s nice to be able to do more drawing for fun again because I totally fell off last year and it’s good to enjoy things

BONUS: archive of our own is more than functional on the 3ds browser. It is a thoroughly enjoyable experience to use it on my ds! Purely for research purposes I have also found Pornhub is difficult to navigate but ultimately useable. And for once I haven’t actually been utilising this feature I literally just get curious. Rare lack of perversion from silly girl we ball <2

anyways tysm for reading this! Jay tysm especially for allowing this to happen in the first place, you rock 🎸 peace

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

This may be a mess, and I could very well be viewing this wrong, but here it goes.

I'm not sure if how Apollo's character has been handled in not the best way comes down to the change in writers/gamerunners or not, but I can't think about it for too long without being frustrated.

In AJ:AA, he was at least allowed to be outright resentful towards Phoenix for the bloody ace debacle as well as jerking him around with no regard to his feelings on the matter, which is something Phoenix NEVER apologizes for. Then Phoenix gives that nice little promise to Thalassa on how he'll look after Apollo because he grew fond of him.

And then Dual Destinies happens, which is where the meat of my complaints take place.

Apollo's best friend has been murdered and all the evidence is pointing towards another friend of his. He had serious injuries from the courtroom bombing and then got assaulted not long after. On a way more minor note, everyone's dunking on him and roasting him constantly, and *tinfoil hat moment*, he sees how differently Phoenix treats Athena compared to him. And outside of lipservice comments about what all he's been through, no one outside of Athena and Trucy truly seems worried about him.

Apollo takes his leave of absence, and everyone's reaction is basically the Surprised Pikachu Face meme.

That made me want to hit my head against the wall, because what the fuck did they expect? He's still recovering from his injuries, his BEST FRIEND was murdered, and he doesn't trust Phoenix to help find the truth. What did they really expect him to do? Maybe it was just bad writing, but I'm not sure.

In a similar vein, when Apollo is confronted with Nahyuta and Dhurke coming back into his life, it's treated as yet another thing to make of him about, despite him clearly not wanting to talk about them and having trauma/negative feelings associated with them. He's left in the dark YET AGAIN when it comes to Maya's kidnapping (I do like that he called Athena out on this), Dhurke DIES and no one besides Nahyuta seems to care about how it affects Apollo. Then he decides to leave the WAA for good in SOJ, everyone's clamoring for him not to go, and I'm just like, are you fucking kidding me?

Then Phoenix comes out of fucking nowhere with his "I'm so proud of Apollo" platitude, RIGHT AFTER Apollo found out that Phoenix considered him to be untrustworthy and unreliable. This is coming from a man who has used him and hid so much from him.

I love Ace Attorney, and God knows I love Apollo and his trust issues/trauma, but I wished they were properly acknowledged.

Laid out like that, yeah - most people are major dicks to Apollo most of the time. Props to Beanix for taking that uppercut on the chin - he deserved it - but that's only the beginning.

I think I've complained about how the WAA - Phoenix and Athena mainly - treat Apollo when he announces his leave of abscence. The last case he was meant to be a part of, he was blown up badly enough to need full-body bandages, passed out because of his wounds, then got hit on the head by a rock that could have just as easily killed him... and they still chew him out for leaving. I get that their focus is on him straying from the path of unconditional trust that Phoenix set up. But the man has suffered physically and lost the one person in his life he could confidently say didn't have anything to hide from him (Clay); they should not be surprised or offended in the least!

The "Phoenix treats Athena very differently from Apollo" point I have seen and I do agree with it. I do think it comes from Phoenix seeing a bit of himself in both of them and reacted in opposite directions based on his current situation. Maybe he decided to be softer on Athena because he realised he made a huge mistake with Apollo, but it doesn't seem to translate to treating Apollo that much better until he sets his mind right about Clay's death.

I guess when you've survived falling off a burning bridge into a running river, you forget that people can still be grievously hurt and might need to take time off work to heal!

That could have been an easy way to keep their concern without making them look like dicks. Phoenix could be the one encouraging a leave of abscence for the sake of recovering from the physical and psychological damage Apollo has endured, only to find he's instead fueling his own paranoia while ignoring his injuries. It's the fact that Apollo is practically torturing himself for this that should be the main source of worry, not that he's taking time off from the office at all.

Not that they aren't concerned about his mental well-being, it just comes across that like they're treating "leave of abscence" as a resignation at best and a mutiny at worst (it's neither of those things, Apollo would still be an employee under a leave of abscence).

Yeah. Yeah. The WAA's attitude around Apollo's leave really does bug me.

[alfiely-art]

As much as I love Raincode it's just. So rushed. I really wish they'd taken more time on it, to really make it shine. Because. With what we have I can't really recommend it to anybody except my friends who have to listen to me rave about it anyways

Game-play wise, Raincode reminds me of Danganronpa, Ace Attorney, and Persona 5 and I think the Raincode in my head incorporates stuff from those games. Like for example, imagine if:

We get a few days in-game that pass without us immediately tackling a mystery. Like how Persona 5 has a ton of time separating each palace, you get time to explore Kanai Ward and really get to know it.

While we're not working on the story-mysteries, we can pass the time by hanging out with our fellow detectives and Kurumi- possibly Makoto but maybe not. Or we can hang out with Shinigami!! Similar to freetime events and confidants.

We get more quests that aren't just "go talk to this person and then this person". Maybe we get little mysteries to solve. We could expand on the red rain!! On that wizard!! Why did they include that and then never do anything with it??? Maybe in the beginning we can do simpler cases, like finding lost pets and such! Like how Yakou said his job usually involves.

Can we get more gambling in Raincode actually. I spent a lot of time in DRV3's slots. It's a fun way to pass the time. Maybe we could even pay Halara back their shien

Have the other detectives there for the other cases. Chapter 4 did a good job having everyone involved, but the rest SUCKED ASS at that. In the games I listed above, we always have the remaining students/court members/Phantom thieves. And ofc not everybody is involved each time but it's more than what Raincode gives us (Yuma, helper detective, Peacekeeper, and the suspects + victim)

I just. Man I wanna replay it but it has no replay value for me... I replay Danganronpa every so often because there's so much to do and it's not just the same things over and over again.

[noname-nonartist]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers ♡

Ooooo!!! Hi CC!!! ^w^/

Thank you so much for the asks!!!

Hmm okay! So 5 things that makes me genuinely happy…. Okay! Let’s go!!!

1. Project Sekai!

Atm, it’s my current hyperfixations! An Shiraishi and Mizuki Akiyama has my heart and soullll!!!

2. Drawing!

Whenever I have the energy (and if I ended up liking the drawing enough to post it lol), I do enjoy drawing a lot! It’s like. One of the only hobby I have since childhood tbh lol~

3. My Past Hyperfixations!

This would include Marigolds by Colbub, Persona 5, Baldur’s Gate 3, Jujutsu Kaisen, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact, Ace Attorney, One Piece, and Fire Emblem Awakening!

Of course there are a bunch of other things I got super hyperfixated about (heck, technically I always go back to Pokemon and Digimon since it was like my childhood), but these are the ones I remember being hyperfixated for monthsssss and so much so I would spend hours on ao3 reading fanfics of it!

(The expectation being marigolds since that’s technically an ao3 fic, A REALLY GOOD ONE, but I am in the discord server for that fic. :3c)

4. Cute Plushies (And I guess Merch of my Hyperfixations too lol)

Luckily I don’t really go on a spending spree… that often! (sometimes the AHDH impulse wins, don’t worry, my max is $150, and even then I don’t reach that limit, and I only do it at least every few months) O3O;

But I do occasionally enjoy getting a cute plushie at an arcade, in fact my bed has a good amount of them (mostly from my siblings winning them for me or giving it to me lol).

And now that I’m an adult (Oh god… I’m an adult), I do have a few Merch that I’ve bought! (A few of them were also gifts from friends and family)

The merch being about Jjk, Persona 5, Genshin Impact, Digimon, and Pokemon!

Watch me. I’ll soon get some for Project Sekai too!!! I just keep spending my Project Sekai indulgence savings on the costumes within the game lol. I’m responsible I swear!

5. Friends and Family!!!

I’ve been pretty lucky to have pretty good siblings. Of course, we didn’t always gotten along while growing up and we’re still not perfect, but I do really love them and really appreciate every thing they have done for me. :’3

And I really appreciate my friends too! Both online and in person too!!!

In person due to me being friends with them for so long, (and a few more recent ones too!) who I’ve always enjoyed being around with and makes my day better! ^w^/

And my online friends! While it’s some times hard for me to always DM them/interact with them due to real life stuff (sometimes I be reallly tired from work rippp X-X;), I always cherish our interactions and always wish you all the best days since you all deserve it!!!

Okay! That’s all now it’s time to tag! But since I’m super shy, I don’t wanna tag peeps who had reblogged my stuff. >x<;

So instead, I’ll just tag my online friends who had reblogged my posts in the past! That counts right? :Dc

Again, no pressure!!! ^w^/

@melodiclune (lol yep, ya count too~), @hxhhasmysoul, @himi-wiz, @tinyballerinadancer1, @sabrondabrainrot, @wrathofnature, @majycka, @olasketches, @thedemonreblogs, @blizzardream, @chocodajib

[fire-faerie-nineteen]

So my sister and I have been playing through the ace attorney games since probably like June or July? Anyways we finished the original trilogy and I have ThoughtsTM about Bridge so here’s a list of the way I wish things had gone because I don’t have the brain capacity to write a fic about it. Under the cut because spoilers

In no particular order:

Dahlia should have killed Misty. Thematically, I think it makes way more sense to have Dahlia as the true mastermind of everything, helping Morgan to get back at both Mia AND Maya. Take Maya’s mother away from her so she knows Dahlia’s pain, kill Misty and leave Mia knowing there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Bonus points if Dahlia kills Misty in Maya’s body because…

Godot shouldn’t have been involved with the murder. Godot acting as a representation of yet another of Dahlia’s failures—which she never even finds out about btw!!!—would have been much better imo. Godot as an ally to Phoenix once he realizes Dahlia’s involvement. I think this way I would have preferred it if Misty was the one who opened the letter to Pearl and that’s why she went to Hazakura Temple: to protect Maya and prevent Morgan’s plan.

Another thing with Dahlia, I really wanted her to be involved with the bridge burning. Again, for themes and whatnot, but also because it parallels nicely to how she killed Doug. Phoenix also makes a comment about the support wires being thin enough to cut, so I was assuming for a while that the killer saw Phoenix running and cut the line so the bridge would collapse. Lightning just happening to hit the bridge felt a little cheap.

Franziska should have been the prosecutor. Her arc didn’t get any sort of closure at all!! She doesn’t face off against Phoenix like she teased at the end of JFA, she doesn’t beat Miles when he’s filling in for Phoenix, and she doesn’t even give him the card she found in Gumshoes coat! Her arc could have been resolved so nicely and Capcom really fumbled it.

The book?? Never gets acknowledged???? I really thought it was going to be something with Misty knowing about what Dahlia did to Phoenix/Terry but it just never gets brought up again. Idk how I would work that in but I wish there was something more there.

Why didn’t Dahlia stay in Maya’s body, metaphorically killing her? Why didn’t she stab herself or something, literally killing Maya? It would have been cool to see Pearl or Iris do the spirit severing that Morgan mentioned in the Miney case, rather than just have Phoenix being like “go away no one likes you :(“ and then she does??????

[rachelsnotebook]

A Look Back At The Games of 2023

There's always too many games and not enough hours in a year, but I refuse to let that stop me from celebrating the games that were important to me over the course of 2023.

The Games I LOVED in 2023:

(In no particular order)

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout (released September 26, 2019)

This game spoke to me on so many levels: the lonely childhood, the frustrations at home, the desire to prove myself, the dreams of adventure, a craving to learn, an enchantment with magic.

How could I not fall in love with these characters? I wish this game came into my life so much sooner.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (released October 12, 2001)

Now, this is a game series that missed me entirely. It wasn't until I was an adult with internet access that I was briefly introduced to Phoenix Wright. Right away I knew I liked the style of humor, but I still didn't feel compelled to give the series a try any time soon.

Flash forward to 2023... I picked up the available Ace Attorney games on the 3DS eshop before it died. So, when I found myself on an airplane for the first time I decided to keep the ball rolling. I booted up the first Ace Attorney, and I get it now. This game is an experience. And I love it dearly!

A Date with Death (Dec 7, 2023)

Now, an important note here is that I still haven't played the full game. I had planned on it by the time I finished getting this massive post written, but I put my focus into playing the other submissions in the Velox Turbo Jam.

The demo though... that I played. A lot. The concept, game mechanics, the art, everything is simply amazing to interact with. How do you not fall in love with this game? Grimmy is so funny (and HOT). I'm looking forward to exploring this game fully in the new year!

Sonic Frontiers (released November 8, 2022 & story dlc September 28, 2023)

I've been playing Sonic for as far back as I can remember, and Frontiers might be my personal favorite of the bunch. It was a joy to explore and experiment with the new mechanics. And I know it's far from perfect. I'm not blind, but I'm not heartless either. Sometimes all you can do is laugh and move on. Over the course of my experience playing, every mechanic and level was accessible. That journey was where I fell in love with Frontiers.

The story dlc was everything I wanted. I'm so happy we got to play as Amy, Tails, and Knuckles! The controls again, aren't perfect, but I'm grateful and thrilled that this content exists at all.

Xenoblade 3 DLC Future Redeemed (released April 25, 2023)

Future Redeemed is my personal game of the year. No question.

If you have a spare hour or two, I do highly recommend looking up on youtube the journey and evolution of the Xeno games. The story of creator, Tetsuya Takahashi, is really cool!

But in short: he kept striving to tell an incredibly complex RPG that would span several games and thousands of years of in game lore. He had a vision that publishers just didn't share. That led him to form his own studio, but he couldn't bring his original IP with him. He had to start again, and one more time after that when Nintendo finally acquired his studio.

The Xenoblade Trilogy is actually six games in disguise. The dlc story content for each game exists as it's own game. The campaigns are significantly shorter, but they're games that stand on their own, 100%.

Future Redeemed was released as the finale to the overarching plot (the Klaus Saga), and this marked the first time that Tetsuya Takahashi was able to bring one of his Xeno plots to a close on his own terms. Xenoblade is still going to continue, but this plot can rest easy.

For the most part. FR still left plays with tons of questions, but it did it's job beautifully. It honored the past games and looked to the future, and I loved every piece of it.

And most remarkably, it also kicked the door down for Tetsuya Takahashi's older IPs to return to the story. It's unclear right now how and when, but the future is so very bright for some incredible games to get another chance to shine.

Splatoon 3 (released September 9, 2022)

I spent a lot of time playing Splatoon this year. Am I good at it? No! But I love this game with my whole heart.

Intertwine (released July 2023)

Will I ever shut up about Intertwine? Hopefully no! I highly recommend checking out the post I made going into detail on this game.

Intertwine stole my heart. It's a fun game that feels deeply special. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and most of all... you'll fall in love with Van.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (Mar 31, 2023)

A small team put this game together for April Fools and I owe them my life! This is one of my favorite things that happened this year.

If you missed it, for April Fools Sega dropped an entire Sonic the Hedgehog visual novel. And it's AMAZING.

Coral Island (Nov 14, 2023)

The children who grew up on Bokujō Monogatari are rapidly creating their own farming games. Stardew Valley is the most famous game to come from that group and it's inspiring even more people.

Now, as someone who has likely spent years of their life playing their favorite farming games again, and again... I tend to be picky about what I want from a farming game. I have a clear vision in mind for my dream game.

And Coral Island is really close to that dream! There's a ton of love and careful thought put into the art, the story, and the characters. I can't wait to keep playing and discovering new mechanics and secrets.

Suika game (December 9, 2021)

I love puzzle games! And I was sold on this game instantly.

I may have also bought it from the Japanese eshop some time before it was even announced for a North America release...

Titan Arum (released August 2023)

This game came into my life at a time when I badly needed a distraction. And Titan Arum delivered!

Titan Arum is a visual novel with three love interests, and nothing is as it seems. It's so incredibly cool, and I can't believe that I get to be friends with the devs. This game is a massive home run.

The art, the UI, the story... omg we could be here all day discussing everything. There's a ton to chew on and I don't want to spoil a single thing. Trust me on this, just play it.

Yakuza 0 (released March 12, 2015)

I'm still working my way through this one. Yakuza games are known for their length and I'm not interested in rushing any part of it.

My journey so far has been a ton of fun. There's so much detail injected into the world and the characters that I sometimes find it difficult to put the game down. I love the balance of seriousness and silliness. We need more of that in games.

I can't wait to keep on fighting with Kiryu in 2024.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (released May 12, 2023)

Tears of the Kingdom is easily one of the best games of 2023, and in general. The mechanics they got working are incredible! I'm perpetually in awe by my own puzzle solutions and the clips I've seen of others. It's a truly amazing game.

There's little I can say that others haven't. And to be honest I'm still after all these months, collecting my thoughts on this game. I love TOTK, but I do have a few issues with it. So stay tuned for that post in 2024...

Games that released / released a demo in 2023 that are on my RADAR:

Again, I wish on every star that I had more hours in a day so I could play every game that catches my eye. These are the ones I'm jumping on the opportunity as soon as possible!

-Baldur's Gate 3

Yominokuni

Slay the Princess

Curse Crackers: For Whom the Belle Toils

Thirsty Suitors

In Stars and Time

Dicentra

Little Goody Two Shoes

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - DLC 3

Other Game related media from 2023 that I want to acknowledge:

Sega has been really knocking it out of the park with their Sonic the Hedgehog content:

(There's too much to link to directly so I'm posting my personal favorites)

Tails Tube

Dr. Eggman takes over Lego

Sonic Symphony events

The added Frontiers content:

Sonic Superstars animated content

Sonic Dream Team animation

The incredible announcement for The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

I also must emphasize this praise is for the hardworking teams at Sega. If you haven't been following their unionizing efforts I recommend checking this out:

The IDW Sonic Comics! They're a ton of fun and I look forward to them every month.

Atelier Ryza had a big year of added content. The trilogy wrapped and I'm still emotional watching this video they released to visually recap the story.

Ryza also received an anime adaption of the first game. I'm in North America and I watched all of it on crunchyroll. It was a really well done adaption of the first part of the game. I hope it comes back for a season 2, because there's a ton more I want to see animated.

I'm a huge Fire Emblem Heroes addict and I'm always shocked how much original content in that mobile game flies under the radar. The movies for each new story milestone are often really cool.

[I hit an insert video limit so please copy and paste, and check that playlist out!]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5bIw5CyOLE&list=PLqP2A2xeRzdS3MjLNZvmZnWFYf_zwZqwq&ab_channel=NintendoMobile

I almost made it to the end before I hit the limit!

I can't thank you enough if you made it down to this point. This post spiraled out of control... and somehow this is still it reigned in.

It's almost 9pm on New Years Eve and I just want this post done. So if there are errors, I'm sorry. I tried. I fell into writing as if I'm talking to you directly and I like that level of comfort for a fun post like this one.

Have a Happy New Year!!!