#I’m so glad I waited and didn’t watch any cutscenes or see many spoilers

[sophfandoms53]

GUESS WHO FINISHED FRONTIERS ON THE NEW YEAR AND CRIED A LOT

[katara0524]

Impromptu Ramblings about the NEO:TWEWY Demo

In case y'all weren't aware, I've been a pretty big fan of TWEWY for a couple years now, and with the sequel coming out next month, the excitement I feel for this game is greater than ever :) I played the Demo for the first time yesterday, and following a couple views of some livestreams of others playing it, I felt like sharing my (very ramble-y) thoughts prior to the release of the full game. This post WILL contain spoilers for both TWEWY and NEO:TWEWY, so if you want to avoid those from now on, please block the tags: #twewy spoilers, #ntwewy spoilers, #neo twewy spoilers, #ntwewy, and #neo twewy ^_^ Oh, and if you wanna keep up with any other posts I make about my experience with this game, please refer to the tag "kat plays neo twewy" :)

-First things first: I have not watched the Final Trailer and I don't plan on doing so to avoid spoilers, especially after the pre-release era of KH3 where a lot of the later trailers spoiled a lot of the endgame content. That being said, I've seen some minor screenshots from the final trailer including what many believe to be characters from the original TWEWY, namely Shiki and Joshua. That is all I know about the Final Trailer and I would very much like to remain as blind as possible going into NEO :)

-The very first cutscene was quite ominous in the sense that this game is likely going to be about "changing fate" (a recently common theme in Squeenix games, which I do appreciate), perhaps leading off from the end of A New Day in the OG and trying to stop an Inversion of Shibuya. Also worth noting that A New Day had similar aspects in which the main character experienced "future visions" of tragic events, although in A New Day these events were not able to be changed, while in NEO it seems like one of the main "powers" our protagonist has is specifically to rewrite these events and avoid a "bad ending." Very interesting indeed!

-I really like the revamped comic book style dialogue scenes, it's much more fluid and modern, which is an excellent direction for the series to take!

-I would love to have an actual PokemonGO knockoff of Final Fantasy creatures, please Squeenix that would be incredibleeeeee

-Also the LINE stickers??? Are so cute???

-I would just like to point out that Fret is an absolute treasure throughout this entire demo, he's hilarious and I will protect him with my life

-UHHHH don't like that Fret picked up some Reaper Pins just out of nowhere.....or the fact that they're apparently popular all over Shibuya.............did y'all not learn anything from the OG game or what lmao

-Okay so when I first got the "curry or ramen" scene and heard NPCs talking about the new curry place replacing the old ramen place I became IMMENSELY distressed that Ramen Don was totally cut from the game because....well, Ramen Don is a King okay?? But I'm glad to learn that no, he didn't fall off the face of the earth, he's still in business and he's the one opening the curry restaurant lolol. PHEW, crisis averted!

-.....I don't like the sudden appearance of a Wall Reaper and being able to read NPC thoughts. Wtf happened when they left the ramen place??? Are they playing the Game alive somehow?

-Okay so I have my own theories about this "Swallow" character and what they're up to but considering this is only the Demo and I still Have No Idea What's Happening, I'm just gonna say that I think Swallow intentionally led Rindo and Fret to the Crossing so they could join the Game. I mean, add in the fact that Swallow still communicates with Rindo during the Game and you've got yourself a suspicious character right there lol

-"Hey they're shooting off fireworks!" Fret honey that's not fireworks oof (see also: "*laughs* I'm in danger")

-WOOOOOO way to traumatize Rindo right off the bat like that LMAOO

-The visuals for the intro are VERY GOOD, the song is pretty decent until it gets all "screamo" (which I absolutely cannot stand sorry lol)

-Shoka is every Customer Service employee ever and I respect that

-Susukichi went from being "meh" to "WOW THIS GUY IS FUN" in the span of 10 seconds and I also respect that (he is also built like an Absolute Unit which is hilarious)

-The Wall Reapers (and just Reapers in general) seem.....way nicer and more helpful this time around?? Like in the OG the Wall Reapers were SO RUDE gfhjgjdfkhn and yeah I'm sure we'll get some like that but the juxtaposition of the first Wall Reaper in the OG compared to the first one in NEO is insane.

-The puzzles are quite a bit more entertaining this time around even if it's generally the same "fetch quest" formula lol

-"Rindo's Group" way to go Fret HFKJDGHSDFKJ mans really left the default name in there lmao

-OKAYOKAYOKAY so to those who aren't aware I am a MASSIVE SIMP for Sho Minamimoto, he's my absolute favorite and I think about him daily. HIS INTRODUCTION IS. INCREDIBLE. I LOVE IT SM.

-GOD hearing him actually SPEAK FULL SENTENCES is just SO SURREAL I love this sm

-Also the remix of his theme???? NEO TRANSFORMATION????? IT'S SO GOOD????????? It's like gone from a Boss Theme to a more triumphant sounding theme and I am HERE for it (every version of Transformation is just INCREDIBLE and getting a new one is even better)

-I Love Him, Your Honor

-Also idk how exactly but it's kinda weird seeing Sho in the OG vs NEO, cuz while he's mostly the same Insane Math-Obsessed Catboy, he's.....calmed down quite a bit?? Like OG made a whole point of how poorly he cooperates with others (not to mention just being completely unhinged and trying to kill everyone), whereas here in NEO he's......actually kinda working with others??? HELLO???? Sir what happened to you and Neku during those 3 years I would love to know all about it

-I guarantee you Sho is still probably scheming shite and will likely pull some total insane BS later down the road, and I am very much looking forward to that. Also, is he looking for a certain Pin or something??? Cuz he keeps talking about different Pins and even mentions "this is just another Psych Pin" like he's actively looking for a Pin to do something with. Maybe it also has to do with the "latent powers of Players" thing he mentioned as well??? What is this dude UP TO oml (also is he in contact with Neku at all?? they're both technically fugitives at this point right?? WHAT HAPPENED AFTER A NEW DAY I AM BEGGING YOU)

-I seems like Sho ALSO has an idea of what's going on in this specific game (even if he won't admit it straightforward). Per his quote "The game's 142,857. Factor it out," he's essentially saying, "This game is a neverending cyle, figure out how to get out of it" (or at least that's what I got from his "cyclic number" nonsense lolol)

-I do like how Sho mostly stays out of sight until he's needed for a battle or assisting with a mission, that's kind of on par with his whole "uncooperative" quirk from the OG, plus he might literally have to stay out of sight of other Reapers and Players considering he's likely breaking the rules of the Game (not surprising considering him and Neku broke practically every rule in the book during OG)

-The nicknames for Sho- I can't- They're so FUNNYYYY GFHJSDFKJ

-He goes from being called "Pi-Face" and "Tabooty" in OG to "Mr. Minami" and "M-Teezy" in NEO LMAOO

-(Wowee I just realized I've been mostly talking about Sho oopsies sorry y'all, this is what I meant by thinking about him almost daily he is THAT much of a fav of mine ghfkjsd)

-Okay RIP Fret and Rindo for not getting literally ANY explanation as to how the Game works OOF, that is kinda cringe that whoever gets the Pin earns points, not whoever erases the Noise (which like I understand but also URRRGGHHH I WANNA SEE THE SQUAD SUCCEED)

-"I should be going home now it's getting late" Oh you sweet summer child-

-Also love the mention of parents in this game???? KH you could learn a thing or two from TWEWY (poor Rindo's mom fhgjkdh)

-KUBO IS HILARIOUS I SUPPORT HIM AND HIS GROSS FACE (also thank you Final Trailer thumbnail for spoiling my suspicions about him very cool smh)

-Kaie is a LAD I also support him, go King type those funky texts I believe in you

-FRET PLS STOP SCANNING FHGJKSDHKJFGHFKJ he's like me when I scan in OG during Weeks 2 and 3 and see Taboo Noise coming after me ghfjdshfj

-Also Rindo can you stay off your phone for TWO SECONDS ik you're trying to figure things out but Fret is a jelly boi and I don't want him to be upset with you my guy

-Sho being an actual sorta mentor to the kiddos?? Who are you sir this is so unlike you ghfgskj what happened to the guy who tried shooting children in the face 8 times over LMAO (granted he's probably just using them but it's still nice to see him actually cooperating and sharing knowledge with the kiddos aaaaa)

-EYO EIJI OJI THE TIKTOK INFLUENCER IS BACK LMAO

-hgjkfshgkjf "we aren't glorifying capitalism on my watch" THATS SO FUNNY TO ME GFHJFSDGHJKS (also an all-orange ensemble is disgusting you deserve jail for one thousand years fkn Cheddar Goldfish Cheezit ass woman)

-WICKED TWISTERS NAME DROP EYOOO we love to see it

-gfhsgjf Poor Rindo embarassing himself for the sake of the Game that's incredible

-R e t u r n t o M O N K E. That is all.

-Dialogue during boss battles is HELLA cool i love that

-HHHHH THE KANON SCENE MADE ME A N G E R Y FRET STOP SIMPING MY GUY says the girl with a Literal Simp Encyclopedia and simps for pixels on a screen daily

-Can't wait to see the other Reapers :eyes emoji:

-CAN'T WAIT TO SEE NAGI MY BELOVED YEAHHHH WOOOOOO AAAAND that's about it for the demo lolol, I absolutely CANNOT wait for next month, this game is gonna be INCREDIBLE holy hell Prepare for more simping, more screaming, and more vibing from Yours Truly :) I fully intend on sharing more general thoughts like this on both Tumblr and Twitter so it's not just reblog-retweet-reblog-retweet with the occasional comment fhgskjd

If you wanna witness my insanity up close and personal I have a Square Enix Discord server called Sea Side Dreamers! You can look it up on Disboard, or you can add me on Discord @Katara0524#9244 for a direct link :) We have topics about Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, NieR, and ofc TWEWY (as well as other topics!), so if you want some good ol' chaos and chitchat, you're more than welcome to join!

[coe-lilium]

TroS reaction (1st view)

Necessary premise in bullet points:

- I liked TFA when it came out and still do but as I dug into the franchise/canon (Disney only by choice) my enjoyment of it became more lukewarm. Came out of it dreading a potential Reylo but liking the two charas on their own. 

- went into TLJ worried I’d hate it, came out with it being my favorite saga movie and sold on the Rey-Ren connection, whatever road it would’ve taken. Loved the “Rey’s powerful on her own/bc the Force wants to set Kylo’s wrongs right”. It felt good after two years of being bombarded with “this fucking Mary Sue can have any power only if she’s connected to powerful men of the saga, she has otherwise no right in being powerful” in forums spaces.    

- went into TroS non-spoiled, wary of Palpatine return but relatively hopeful if soured about the “JJ our lord and saviour pleease save us from evil evil Jonhson” (HA!). The rumors about lore from the tv series being featured into the movie had me excited.  

That said, here goes: [SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE MOVIE, ENDING INCLUDED, RIGHT OFF THE BAT]

I didn’t like it. I really hope to warm up to it more in future views, there’s absolutely stuff I liked or even loved, but as it stands now it was overall a massive disappointment on many sides and -worst of all- threatens to retroactively ruin my enjoyment in other previous stories. 

First, the positives: 

- Parentage notwithstanding, Rey was good. Her rage, her fears, her good heart, her commitment to the fight and the training, her longing for guidance… truly, if the bloodline revelation hadn’t retroactively ruined my investment in the character and themes I’d have fully, 100% loved her even if every single other part of the movie had been the same. 

Except for a brief war flashback to Starkiller game abilities (I lolled) I wasn’t even troubled by all the new abilities or their scope. Movies’ been inventing new powers since the beginning and the Force does what the Force wants. Again, fuck the genetics “twist”, garbage stuff. 

- Kylo, next to… 95% that involved him? TLJ did a great job selling him to me and surprisingly this movie added to that instead of retconning it away. More competent but still stupid and petty from time to time. I’m glad he came back, glad he choose right and glad he was allowed more time on the right side than Anakin. I love redemptions and he was portrayed as wavering the entire trilogy, I don’t even really care that it could’ve done better. I’m happy for him and his family, that’s all. The kiss got a laugh out me but not a malicious one, I was kind of running out of reasonable reactions by then. 

I’m just conflicted on how I feel about his death. Back when TFA was released I wanted him to survive to face what Anakin didn’t: justice (the kid-friendly setting prevented a death sentence anyway), atonement and growth from there, I still wish it happened and maintain that a different pacing would’ve allowed it. On the other hand, I’m also kinda okay with him dying. He righted at least a bit of his many wrongs, he saved a person he cared for, that his parents cared for and that could help the galaxy much more than he ever could and he was at peace. It was a good death.      

- Kylo’s vision/illusion of Han. A surprise but a very pleasant, well acted one. Would’ve I maybe liked Anakin more, as Ben idolized him so much and for all the wrong reasons and because I love that disaster? Yes. Does Han work much better in the economy of the movie and trilogy story and do he and Ben have a much rawer relationship and history? Absolutely. I am a teeny tiny bit baffled as  for why Luke didn’t also show up, but the actual scene was good enough I forgive it.  

- Rey and Kylo bond and connection was one of the saving graces of this mess and I utterly loved it. Both actors worked their asses for for all their scenes and it payed off, oh if it payed off. Their DSII duel was perhaps a tad long but great nonetheless (Republic era Jedi jumps!), the hurt and the sense of absolute loss and grief they both conveyed -and shared!- after Leia’s passing was incredible, Rey regretting the near kill and softly going “I would have stayed, had you renounced the dark side”. She cared, yes, but not to the point of ignoring the horrors (something Anakin never quite understood). The “dyad” stuff was a bit overkill, just call it a force bond, we can see it’s freaking powerful, but the Force Skype and sharing of objects that came with the package, that I loved. Surprise lightsaber, Ren fuckers! :D Bet Anakin and Obi Wan were really jealous, that would’ve come in handy during the war.       

- Finn was now fully invested in the cause, at ease, visibly happy to be with his friends, ready to bond and reach out, quick to plan, to act and to adapt to the situation, brave but cautious and calculating. I wish it was given a bit more focus, but I loved he found other young FO defectors. Also fuck yeah, he’s force sensitive and his ability is used, not just thrown in as a useless wink. Jedi Finn in future material, c’mon!

- Poe’s also grown. He was probably going to have more screen time with Leia had Carrie not died but there was nothing to be done for that. I’m not as happy as for previous 3 charas for the backstory retcon I’ll tackle in the negatives.

- Jannah was cool, the addiction of other FO defectors a welcomed one and the scene were she and Finn excitedly went over their “I broke free” moment was adorable. Good bean, I’d read more about her and her company. 

- A bit lot annoyed at Bloodline being kinda tossed outta the window but getting Leia with lightsaber was nice. Give me some ancillary material to deal with the clash and I’ll fully forgive it. 

- Jedi! MY GIRL AHSOKA MY MAN KANAN! I mean, I sure wish they were in a better movie, but hey, recognition for something more than the OT? No slandering of the Order but all of them collectively kicking Sidious ass once and for all? I’ll gladly take it. Anakin, my dude, I’m sorry your sacrifice was next to nullified but it was good to hear you again ;_;  I didn’t hear Ezra’s voice anywhere so I can still hope he’s alive, well and with the Ascendancy teaching all their Navigators. “I am all the Jedi” remains a terrible line. 

And now, oh boi. Here comes the long list of annoying - bad - stinking shit stuff: 

- If I wanted to watch a 2 and half long videogame cutscenes I’d have done that in the comfort of my home without spending money for tickets. Go to level x to retrieve related macguffin, move to next level to get next macguffin and so on and so on. I liked close to everything in the DS II sequences, but what would’ve that dagger pointed at if the wreckage had fallen even a little bit differently?   

In general, many plot points gave me the feeling they were stolen from the tv series and badly executed, like a mockery (or incompetence?). Case in point: Hux betraying the 1st Order out of personal, spiteful hate? Potentially good! The execution? A poor man’s Rebels Agent Kallus, already over in little more than 5minutes. 

- Palpatine himself is a poorly, ridiculously poorly executed Maul resurrection storyline from tcw and rebels. 

Because Maul was 1. explained and 2. got a good, long arc that made you forgive the undoubtably contrived ass-pull it took to bring him back while Sidious is just… there. You gotta accept it because the writer said so. 

How did he survive? We don’t know and fuck you if you expect an explanation (they really had the absolute galls to have him say the iconic/meme line from Rots and apparently it was supposed to be enough?!) How could he “have all Sith reside inside me” when canon’s clear that Sith do-not-get-to-retain-their-individuality-in-the-Force, do not work well together (lmao) and he as an individual never gave a shit about the Sith except when they could serve his own personal desires? His entire approach to the rule of two and other Sith stuff is “fuck that noise, everything in the galaxy exist to serve me”. He’s fine dying as long as “the Sith rule”? Who IS this character, because he’s not Darth Sidious (as presented in Disney’s own canon, mind). Oh, you wanted explanations? FUCK YOU, screams the movie. 

The mess gets somehow salvaged in the end as he comes to his senses and siphon the life out of Rey and Ben to de-rotten/revive himself to rule in person, now *that* was in character. Was he actually lying his ass off the entire time waiting for the moment he could siphon them? Hopefully but who the hell even knows.

In the end it just wasn’t worth bring him back. A holocron, a different Sith, even a hive-mind of old records/tainted wraiths of Sith (perhaps wearing Palps face to buy the old empire aficionados loyalty, idk) would’ve been better than “actually, Anakin suffered nearly his entire life and sacrificed himself for barely more than 25 years of peace and it still wasn’t enough to rid the galaxy of the monster who destroyed his and countless other lives”. But Johnson was the one shitting on beloved characters legacy and accomplishments, uh? Surely at least he’s got company. 

Ian was clearly having a blast, so there was… that? And the initial sequence being legit creepy and the Sith storm or whatever the fuck was that. That can stay, it was cool.     

- Poe, the latino character, got retconned from former Republic pilot (a backstory established before TFA came out and faithfully respected ever since) into a smuggler and gang member. Classy. What does Lucaslfilm have a story group for if not for stopping stuff like this from happening? Bonus Zorii being used for a “no homo! homo? no homo?” wink wink and for generally being a poor man Solo’s Qi’ra.   

- The movie makes you worry for a character death three (3) times in a row only to immediately backpedal on it. The survivors are grieving, the scene is sober… and then suddenly! they’re alive! isn’t it wonderful? let’s insert a comical scene now that we’re at it! Sigh.   

- The whole Threepio stuff was a contrived waste of time in a movie already full of more relevant plot treads that could’ve put that screen time to better use. 

- Rey’s parents apparently aren’t assholes anymore bc they sold her into slavery to protect her from Sidious, which is… supposed to make it alright, a sacrifice in the name of love? If they had been shown trying to give her to a trusted person and then she was kidnapped that wouldn’t had been their fault, just unfortunate, but the movie shows them leaving their 5yo daughter with her in-all-but-name slaver so?? 

- Rey Palpatine… Rey. Palpatine. Gesù Cristo benedetto che minchia mi è toccato di vedere. That hurt. That was so hilariously over the top bad I just…I started laughing. On top of the entire thing, thank you so, soo much for validating all those fucking assholes who demanded Rey be connected to a powerful man in the saga to accept her powers and value, you hack. Jedi were never about power of blood and then you went and reinforced the very opposite. She ain’t powerful bc the Force recognized her as worthy to stop evil and chose to aid her anymore, she’s powerful bc grandfather was. Lovely stuff. Hilariously, now she has a lot more legit “Mary Sue” traits than before. 

- Rose’s sidelining was a blatant bow to her and her actress haters whims. If in VIII she jumped at the chance of action, now she was fearful and “had to stay behind” studying maps. Fuck that noise. 

- Even if she rejected it, underline is that the Skywalker line is wiped out and the Palpatine one thrives. I… just… wtf wtf wtf. A final “Just Rey” would’ve been more powerful -because now it would’ve been reclaimed- and less corny and in poor taste than a Palpatine taking on the Skywalker name. I’m not sure if Sidious is more offended or if he’s laughing his ass off in space!hell. Probably the 2nd. Bad.      

- The final scene on Tatooine. It rang so empty because the planet brings warm memories only to the audience, not the characters. In-universe, that place brought nothing but misery to the Skywalkers: Anakin and Shmi were brought there as slaves and lived as such for years, Shmi was tortured to death and Anakin began his descent into the dark for crying out loud. Luke had to hide and saw his relatives murdered. Leia had no connection whatsoever to the place. The mera idea of burying Anakin Skywalker lightsaber into the sands of Tatooine and considering it a way of paying respect is… I don’t know, hilariously in bad taste? Rey, dear, what did you have personally against the guy? Put those sabers to rest on Naboo! Ah, but we can’t truly acknowledge the PT now, can we? Wack.   

- It’s not TroS complete fault, that “honor” mostly sit at TFA’s feet but for all its omages, copies and almost slavish references, from a in-universe point of view it’s like the OT barely occurred. 

The same evil man has been defeated (until next time?), the Republic must be rebuilt from scratch, a evil military is all over the place and must be dealt with, the Jedi Order has to be rebuilt… it’s depressing. A new evil taking advantage of the empire leftovers would’ve been one thing, but Sidious? He’s been effectively winning nonstop ever since he was elected Chancellor. He had all the power, all the influence, all the control and he maintained it all even as a rotten corpse in exile, the entire galaxy marching on his tune, controlled by his strings. And as the cherry on top of the cake he even managed to wipe out the family that could’ve, should have been his undoing! He effectively destroyed the Skywalkers. He outlived every Jedi, every survivor, every clone. I hate this. It’s sickening. I can’t even be happy Rex was on Endor anymore.      

In general, the best word I can find for this movie is: coward. 

So blatantly desperate to please, to be “forgiven”, to reference every single irrelevant thing -except the PT and the TV series in a intelligent way-, to throw fanservice after fanservice after fanservice no matter how nonsensical from all over that crossed the “corny” to wander into embarrassing territory many times over (Maz giving Chewie a medal outta nowhere? Come the fuck on now). 

The cartoon series had twenty time the guts of this movie and I vehemently wish for Filoni to take the helm of the entire creative team in a very near future.                  

[yo-namine]

Lots of KH3 talk under the cut. This post contains spoilers from the start of the game through the scenes just before Toy Box.

Oh my GOD, those first few notes of “Dearly Beloved.” I just sat and listened to it until the menu trailer started again. It sounds really… romantic? Somehow? I teared up a bit, ngl. 

That opening FMV was a thing of beauty. I'm so glad I didn't watch the full thing when it leaked because it really sets the tone for the game. I love the final shots of young Xehanort eyeing Sora's chess piece and Sora holding Xehanort's. It makes me wonder if this game is going to end with Sora keeping Xehanort's heart in his after all. Also, the part with the Seasalt and Wayfinder Trios standing in the dark and a door opens to the light and Utada Hikaru is chanting backwards (I think) gave me chills. 

I loved the intro tutorial; it was such a nice callback to KH1's opening. I chose the Trinity's "all for one" scene and then Naminé and Sora's pinkie-promise for my playthrough. I'm too scared to google to see if I'm remembering this correctly, but I think that meant I chose balance and the power of the guardian. While making my choices, I had a sick feeling that maybe this game would have multiple endings, and who you saved depended on what you chose during the tutorial. I'm pretty sure if just determines how you level up/when you get certain abilities like in previous games, but idk. 

The Kingdom Hearts II.9 title card was so fucking rude lmao. That paired with the intro to Olympus, with the narrator saying the planets had FINALLY aligned for this momentous occasion was hilarious. 

Herc talking about being with the one he loved was more important than being an all-powerful god… idk, it has me wondering how Sora’s story (where he’s constantly reminded how weak he is) is going to play out. 

Oh God, the DREAD that filled my heart when the game switched over to Riku in the Dark Realm. I was NOT emotionally prepared to see Aquanort, and I was so relieved when he and Mickey decided to leave. I do really like Riku and Mickey’s relationship in this game so far, though. I’m generally not a big fan of Mickey in this series (save for CoM), but so far, his interactions with Riku have felt really organic and genuine, and it makes him more likable. Also, their conversation about how much Riku’s grown over the past couple of years has me really, really concerned that he might die after all at the end of this game… I hope I’m wrong about that. 

The effect on Repliku’s voice inside the demon tide was really cool. I can’t wait to see how his storyline developes. 

Also, I like that you get to briefly play as Riku so early in the game just because it really emphasizes just how much weaker Sora has become. Like Riku's casting thundaga and curaga and warping across the battlefield, keeping up with a fucking demon tide like it's nothing; meanwhile, Sora's out here splashing level 1 water spells at little soldier heartless and hoping for the best. It's kind of like a nod to how Riku saw them both in KH1 when they reunited in Traverse Town, when he was patronizingly telling Sora that he'll take care of everything and that Sora shouldn’t worry his pretty little head. That said, all this talk about how weak and puny Sora is really makes me think they're priming him for a Terra-style storyline, and that's... worrisome. 

I may’ve teared up at the Twilight Town intro. The world is just SO beautiful. 

lmao @ “It hasn’t been that long.” I am seriously loving how self-aware the writing has been so far. In fact, the writing in general for this game has been surprisingly… good? For one thing, I’m honestly getting blown away by characters just casually referencing things from previous titles. And that’s not really something that should be all that impressive on its own, but I can’t help but be surprised because it’s not something that happened that much in past games. A lot of KH feels episodic, where characters will vaguely reference past events occasionally, but rarely does a character just straight-up say, “Hey, remember when we went here and did this and learned this? Let’s build on that.” And just that simple writing change is already doing this game’s story wonders. 

The dusks refer to Roxas as "our liege," and I love it. That was such a genuinely creepy and interesting way to introduce them in KH2. And I can’t get over the fact that Sora understands them.

Sora sounding so sincere when he says Roxas is a cool guy is just adorable. Like you know Roxas is probably in Sora's heart listening to all this and cringing, but he's also lowkey flattered, haha. 

I also like the scene where Sora resolves to bring Roxas back. He mentions that Herc said he would need something to fight for “with all his heart” (and sidenote: I LOVE how relevant the Disney worlds are in this game. They’re not just filler between story cutscenes; the worlds are actually important.), and he decides that saving Roxas is it. 

God, the sheer RELIEF I felt when Sora actually brought up Naminé living in Kairi's heart is indescribable. I was so, so sure Nomura would just forget that in favor of connecting Naminé only to Sora's heart, but I guess I was wrong. I hope he keeps surprising me like this. 

Not to harp on about this, but the dialogue in this game is seriously such a step up. A whole staircase up, actually. I had a bunch of lines I wanted to quote, but there are just too many. The script has so much life and charm to it, and so far I haven't noticed any awkward/stilted lines or forced comedy that was common in the other games. 

And the gameplay! I love it. It’s essentially 0.2′s system, which utilizes the best parts of KH2, BBS, and DDD. I'm always forgetting just how many options I have to take out mobs, lol. I should probably make a list.

Ienzo is so... nice? It's kind of weirding me out, tbh. I just expected him to have a little more edge to him, or to at least be a little condescending, but no. He's just your friendly neighborhood science guy. You think he's ever gonna bring up the fact that Lea murdered him a past life or nah? 

I did like Aeleus’s reintroduction, though, how he just side-eyed Ienzo talking to Sora and kept walking. 

I'm so easily overwhelmed by any mention of Kairi in this game, lmfao, like every time they mention her in passing the fucking room starts spinning a la Mr. Krabs meme. They actually remember her! And talk about her plot relevance! 

Kairi’s letter from the orchestra concert is in the game!!!! I wonder if Naminé’s conversation with Terra will make it in, too? I did really like that scene with Kairi and Lea/Axel in the forest. They’re not super best friends or anything, and you can still sense some awkwardness between them, but you can tell that Axel is genuinely trying to be kind to her, and that Kairi’s open to it. She’s at least comfortable enough around him to talk about her writing, which is something. I’ll admit that I’m still uneasy about Axel potentially only seeing Kairi as a Xion stand-in, but I think I’m willing to give this subplot a chance. I know Nomura’s writing is always a letdown when it comes to Kairi, but given how much stronger it’s been in this game… Would it be that stupid to hope for a decent character arc for her? Not even a good one lmao, just a decent one? I dunno. I’ll just keep playing and see how it goes.

[wakraya]

Hiveswap: The Theorizening

Having finished Hiveswap, there’s a lot of different things going through my head at once, thoughts, theories, characters, so I’ll try to not mix things together! That being said, as theories tend to be, Spoiler Warning under the cut! Also sadly I won’t be able to post images in it quite yet since they’re not too easily available around right now, will probably have to wait until some Youtube Video pops up with the gameplay/cutscenes. Without further ado!

Grandpa Harley - There’s a lot that has been revealed about Grandpa in the first half of Act 1, before moving to Alternia. He’s an absent father, and his absence obviously affects Joey a lot. She doesn’t like to blame herself for him not being there, and thus channels this as well deserved anger towards him, specially as she cannot relate to him in the slightest with his disdain for animal life. However, I noticed a few things Joey mentions. He’s been coming back home less and less ever since his wife died, and having ‘vacations to the Pacific Ocean’. I don’t know what’s going through that moustached head of his, but Jake didn’t come across the Frog Temple by mere chance, he actively seeked it for years before bumping into it. Where did he learn about it? What’s going on? Also the basement is full of Crockercorp Tools, old, but still present there. Is there some mind control and manipulation going on perhaps? Jane had to bear with the Baroness for a long while before she straight up faded, but Jake just ‘left her’, perhaps Crockercorp things reminded him of his departed sister? For all the hoarding and aimless adventuring we always thought he did, it seems like he does have a goal. That being said, the obsession doesn’t excuse his neglect for his family or being a shitty parent and being absolutely crazy but, yeah. There’s something deeper going on with him, and I’ll be glad to explore this facet of him on Hauntswitch.

A. Claire - She’s dead. From the very first moment you start the game, in the very first room, you get heavy clues that she’s already dead. However, while I thought A. Claire was nothing more than ‘Joey’s Mom’ before, after playing through the game I can’t help but feel there’s something more to it. She had the Key. The Key was a ‘Heirloom’ she stored in her jewelry box? Or did it appear there afterwards? Joey heavily associates it to her, and with Grandpa’s obsession of tracking down the Frog Temple growing stronger after she died, I have to wonder if there’s something more going on with her. How did she die, exactly? What was she hiding? Again, something really interesting to have in mind for Hauntswitch.

Tetrarch Dammek - Wow. I don’t think any of us expected him to be such a dick. Look at that name, too- Tetrarch Dammek. Tetrarch is basically ‘one of four rulers’, and I believe Xefros alludes to there being another 3 Tetrarchs within the resistance. With him gone, the power structure of the Rebellion is shaking, and now Trizza will make her move- They have to make do, and they’re very likely going to have to get Joey to help them. Back to Dammek himself though, Tetrarch is ALSO an 8-Letter title, like Adults on Alternia seem to use. The Tetrarch. Along with his ideals and how he treats Xefros, it seems that he’s living a sort of Highblood Power Fantasy of Leadership and Control to bring Trizza down. If we’re supposed to care about him, Jude/Roxy are very likely going to shove him in the right direction. Maybe without his guns and in an alien planet, he shows his true colors, scared, defenceless, with no one backing him up- And he learns to be a better person before going back to Alternia. I sure hope so.

Xefros Tritoh - Sweet cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too PURE. I fell in love the moment Joey started to talk with him, poor thing has been pretty much brainwashed. It puts in perspective just how shitty Rustbloods REALLY have it on Alternia, and makes me wonder if Aradia’s complacency comes from this too. Like... It’s not just that it’s her thing, she was ‘0kay’ with things, but rather just a... Grim outlook on not being able to do anything about her situation. “That’s fine. It’s how things are.” That being said, Joey came to the rescue quite unexpectedly, I didn’t think she’d lash out against Dammek like that and I’m VERY glad she did! I still think Dammek has a chance of redemption on Earth, but what he’s done to Xefros is intolerable, and I’ll be glad to see his confidence AND his psychic skills develop over time as he journeys with Joey through Alternia to bring down the Empress!

Doc Scratch - We have little information about him so far. There was the delivery to Xefros but that’s about it. That was incredibly creepy. Someone also mentioned the Hint System sounded a bit like Scratch- But I’m not quite sure since I never clicked the ? Button, I might check it at a later date. For now, his involvement seems to be pretty tame, but if he’s pulling the strings behind Trizza, it’s been a nice little cameo so far.

Trizza Tethis - What a bitch. I love her. We didn’t see much about her, but we heard more about how awful she is, and got that one last image at the end. “Wish you were here”, what a piece of shit. Who was she saying it to? The other members of the resistance perhaps?

Axolotl - We actually did get a little bit teased about that! The painting in the hallway had what, to me, looked like Aztec representations of the Grimalkin, the Sloth and the Axolotl, which is very interesting. Foreshadowing? Or perhaps something more? There was also a weird tapestry in the Trophy Room I can’t quite remember, but it could be something really interesting to analyse at a later date.

Biggest Fan - I’m assuming Xefros and Joey are going to see Cridea at the end of the game. Maybe? The only other option I can think of is the Rebel Marshall. I believe they said their biggest fan was a ‘she’, unless I’m thinking wrong, otherwise it could be Fiamet too! (Wait is Fiamet a guy? I actually think I just assumed he was a guy because the Axolotl from Animal Crossing is a guy. God dammit, it could really be anyone huh? What a mess). Whoever it is, given he mentioned it’s a ‘Fan’, I doubt it’ll be another Tetrarch.

Tetrarchs - The leaders of the Rebellion. Dammek was one of them. I wonder if Cridea or Fiamet are Tetrarchs too. Who knows, maybe the Canon Fantrolls are Tetrarchs! That would be an interesting plot twist wouldn’t it? I’m assuming Fiamet IS one, merely based on the fact he has the power of the Green Sun on his side. Too valuable and powerful of an asset to NOT be a leader.

Alternia - We’ve gotten a few glimpses at life in Alternia! Lo and behold, it just so happens that Hellworld is EVEN WORSE than I thought from the canon! Even with Trizza being excessive in her killings, it just feels like absolutely no one cares about Rustbloods and lives of the lower bloods can be taken for like, anything at all. Seems like there are contests that can change people’s lives however, like the music one Xefros and Dammek seemed to want to attend, that would either give them a life of ‘luxury’, or death. There was a comment on how it took SWEEPS for Scythian to deliver something to Rustbloods, which means that apparently you MUST register your caste on literally EVERYTHING online. Another interesting fact, aside from the Stickball sports which seems a mixture of Rugby, Quidditch and Pool, Xefros mentions Rustblood Dead Communion, and also Blueblood posh attitude and crushing strength, making it canon that, yeah, those kind of powers aren’t actually genetic oddities but are commonplace among castes! Of course comparing Aradia’s telekinesis with Xefros’, it’s obvious some Trolls may be better gifted than others, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some outright lack them. Still, interesting.

Jude - He’s still convinced that the figures are behind this, but something the previews and trailers didn’t mention is that he believes the figures are after the portal. In the same vein, on Alternia, the interviews said that Trizza wants to get her hands on the portal too, which after driving Joey and Xefros away is incredibly easy. Seems like the villains of both games are after this thing, whatever it is. I thought Jude would be nervous and shaky and scared, but NOPE, he’s fucking ready, he’s been ready all his life to take those things down, and I think that’s kind of impressive. Still a dork though.

Joey - Poor thing knows nothing about Alternia, and it’s hilarious to see how confused and grossed out she is through the game. I wonder if she’ll have to eat bugs at some point. I hope she has to eat bugs at some point. She’s so pure too. I like how at the end, Xefros blushed grabbing at her, but she just flashed a little, comfortable smile. I ship Xefros <> Joey already, and feel like, given how her orientation has been leaning so far with the paintings and statues in the Harley Household, she’s totally gonna fall in love with some blueblood lady. Watch her blush when Cridea enters the scene.

The Portal - God this fucking THING. Up in the attic I tried to see if I could see the God Tier’s symbol next to the portal, but it was too difficult. I think it was somewhat round? It might’ve been Mind? But I might’ve just imagined things too, who even knows. The portal itself though, I did NOT expect it to be artificial. It’s not just a structure someone found. Jude has Blueprints. And on Alternia, the more futuristic looking version is also built and has Blueprints. Xefros calls it a ‘weapon’ but he also obviously has no idea what it does, meaning Dammek likely has some more idea about it, just like Joey does. Did they build it? was it some attempt to contact both words? Can a built structure actually be a Juju? I have so, so many questions about that thing and I hope the game solves all of them eventually. But for now, there’s just not enough information to determine anything. It’s soooo weird.

Those are my thoughts on the lore the game added upon so far. We’ll see how things go as more things about Hiveswap and Act 2 start to pop up!

[cosmiciaria]

Horizon Zero Dawn Review! (Spoiler Free)

So now I'm enjoying Ivar the Boneless beautiful icy blue eyes on Netflix while I write this after finishing Horizon Zero Dawn and watching its credits through the mists of my eyes. And I gotta say, I enjoyed this game more than I expected.

 The combination seems weird at first sight: we're talking about a sci-fi story, set in a really distant future, with machines (who look like… animals?) have taken over the land. Now, that's interesting! Some Skynet level of robots there. But, what is that? People look… primitive? And there are tribes? And those guys look like roman soldiers? And…? And…?

 Well, yes, in this post-apocalyptic future technology (meaning, any kind of machine) has become an enemy, and people had to go back to its primitive roots. We're not fighting the evil with lasers, we're fighting them with bows and arrows. Surprisingly, it works!

 We follow Aloy, a young outcast from the Nora tribe, whose only purpose in life is learning what was of her mother. The Nora worship the All-Mother, and it seems that being motherless is terribly stigmatizing. Aloy had to live her whole life being ignored by everyone in the Nora tribe, and now that she's older, she's hungry for answers.

 The Proving comes across as her solution: a ritual in which the young members of the tribe can participate to earn the title of 'brave'. Outcasts are permitted to enter, and Rost, Aloy's protector and adoptive father, encourages her to and trains her for this opportunity.

 Everything seems to go smoothly: Aloy wins the Proving and is named a 'brave' and an actual member of the Nora, when some masked men who appear out of the blue attack the participants, killing almost everyone, and Aloy, weak and not understanding half the things that were happening, was spared of her life, at the cost of Rost dying in her stead (oh, c'mon, this isn't a spoiler! You knew it'd happen since the beginning! That man had sealed his destiny when he said he lost a daughter at the beginning of the game and was willing to raise Aloy).

 Somehow she falls off a cliff and survives! Hooray for the Hollywood magic- I mean, the industry of videogames.

 After she recovers, she's told the truth about her origins (or, at least, part of the truth). One of the matriarchs explains to her that she's appeared as a baby at the bottom of the All-Mother mountain, at its doors, as an offering of the goddess. Feeling like the whole chosen one bs doesn't suit her, Aloy isn't content with this, and is named a seeker, now allowed to go out of her homeland and explore the whole world.

 This is when the open world begins!

 Now, I have lot to say about this game, its gameplay, the story, and characters.

 If you like Uncharted, or The Witcher, or shooting things endlessly with your arrows and feeling OP af, this game is for you. Well, it can be for you for many other reasons, but the truth is, I found the gameplay to be too similar to those two games I've mentioned. The open world mechanics, the abilities the focus gives the player, the way Aloy interacts with the npc's who give her sidequests and the way she interacts with the environment when she has to investigate, screamed 'Geralt of Rivia' all over the place. Not that I'm complaining! I love The Witcher 3! And all those cliffs to climb… Man, she has nothing to envy of Nathan Drake. Also, she has a rappel. Beat that, Nate…! Wait, he also has one. My bad.

 But the gameplay isn't just about climbing or fulfilling sidequests. The real nitty gritty of the stuff is killing the machines. Now, you have a variety of hostile machines wandering around the open space, and they're all different in shape, size (goddamn some can be huge) and weaknesses. You'll learn everything you need to know about them thanks to your focus, a tiny device of augmented reality that will help you through the whole story. Once you know about the weak points of each enemy, you just have to shoot at it until it dies. The end.

 Or, not so the end. Because every machine reacts differently: some can be really annoying to kill, others will run away from you, and others won't stop chasing you until you defeat them. Some fly, others will be hiding underneath the ground (for real). And, as it couldn't be in another way, you also have at your disposal a set of different weapons that you can choose and change between them on the fly during battles. Depending on your skills or your likes, the gameplay can vary significantly from player to player. And, can I just say that this fricking machines were a real challenge? Damn, those healing herbs were never enough.

 The good news are, you'll learn abilities along the way, which can pretty much break the game if you use them wisely. Something that seemed so difficult at the beginning, became a daily thing in the game towards the end. It's amazing the way the gameplay advances as you gain levels.

 Now, the story - *sighs*. The story. The story is original. There are some twists and turns you'll never see coming. There are some revelations that are huge – but, others, not so much. And despite me loving the approach of the game (the whole message about taking care of nature? Nope? I'm the only one? I think I got it wrong), towards the last act of the game, which takes up one third of the whole story, the pacing and the showcasing of information became boring. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I'll just say that game becomes really linear (I'm looking at you, Final Fantasy XV), and cutscenes consist of holograms speaking and throwing information to the screen and to the player, with a really confused Aloy having to connect the dots. Most of the information is stored in 'datalogs', which are tiny devices scattered across the land, although the vast majority of them will be inside the dungeons you'll be infiltrating. These things are considered optional, but if they're there, it means they must be heard or watched. The worst part is that it looks like they ran out of time making the game towards the end, because for ten hours straight the games seem to occur in the same place, with the same holograms, and that godforsaken violet light- I'm sorry, I digress. It just felt like a lazy way to progress with the story, but maybe there weren't better ways.

 Fortunately, the last mission compensates for all this boredom, and it's refreshing to see all the people we helped during the story joining our battle for Aloy's sake.

 And now that we're on that topic – characters!

 Aloy herself is just great. I just love her wit and her courage, and her will to stand up for herself. She's not afraid of facing others, and it's such an interesting character to follow around, that you'll forget she was an outcast her whole life in the same instant you gain control of her. I just love her so much! I have no complaints.

 One of the best things about her (for all those OTP's out there) is that you can ship her with almost everyone on this game. Varl was my first choice, and I was glad they introduced this character: a black male warrior, son of the war-chief, who would follow Aloy anywhere she leads. Then, Erend appeared, and quickly became a favorite of mine, simply because of his dorkiness and his flirty comments. His storyline was one of those that I enjoyed the most, and I really felt sympathy for him during his last mission. But then I did Nakoa's mission, and, damn, girl, those two can take on an army together! Oh, you thought I was done. Meet Avad, the sun king, who's recently lost her beloved partner and now mourns for someone like Aloy. You think this is the end? Wait for Vanasha to make her appearance, with her dark, shiny skin, and those abs that can break your ribs by just looking at them. And probably more people flirted with Aloy during her journey – wait! Teb! Teb, the boy Aloy saved during the prologue! Girl, get some love, you deserve it, look at all these people who seek your attention. Did I forget someone? Maybe Petra, the blacksmith? That woman has no problem in flirting with you minutes away from the end coming on the horizon! And I almost forgot Nill, the ex-soldier who only wants to get rid of bandits and murder for fun (whom I accidentally killed in his last mission – I didn't know this could happen! It's up to the player! Please DON'T kill him like I did!).

 The point is, the game doesn’t revolve around love or romancing Aloy with anyone, but it implies many, many things that I'm glad Guerrilla Games did include: there are no boundaries for love, and Aloy doesn't (nor do the other characters) judge anyone by their skin tone, their sexual orientation or their gender (which is a BIG deal in this game: I noticed most of the characters are female, and they're not damsels in distress, I must say!)

 Personally I ship Aloy x Erend. And it seems his vanguard ships them too. Go, Erend, kiss her, kiss her!

 I have just one complaint with one character: I did not like Sylens at all. I know he has a big role to play in the story, and actually, most the stuff wouldn't happen if he's not around, but, in my opinion, he appeared a bit too late into the story only to have so much prominence during the final hours. Like it was a little too late for me to like him, and the game tried to make me like him, or at least, to tolerate him, because he does some questionable things, yes, he does. And don't even get me started with – sorry, spoilers. Fact is, I hated his intrusions, and even more because he was present in those missions I've mentioned before, which were dull and repetitive. The whole packaged for me not to like him.

 The ending was beautiful. I have to say it: I cried a bit during the last scene. Let's say… Aloy finally found what she's been looking for her whole life, although not in the way she was expecting. For her, and for the players as well, is as rewarding as tearful.

 The game has some flaws – I'm not fully content with some of the decisions the devs made, but at the end of the day, I'm glad they made this. I'm glad they put a strong girl as a protagonist, and I'm glad this girl came across other strong characters with heavy stories and backgrounds, and I'm glad I can hop on a machine and travel around this beautiful world which, we don't know, can become our world one day.

 Now, I'm going for the Platinum! I just lack those goddamn Blazing Suns… I swear to GAIA if I can't get the Platinum because of those stupid tests, someone's going to wake up HADES once more, you hear me!?

 Play the game. Kill some machines. Save the world. And enjoy the view.

 P.S.: I ABSOLUTELY LOVED the Tallnecks quests. They were like my favorite part about reaching a new area of the map. They were so fun! I just wish there were more of those to climb, just for the lulz.

[breadtastesgood]

After 200+ hours of playing  Breath of the Wild, I have finished my adventure. Here are my thoughts. (Spoilers)

So, almost two months after its release, I have officially completed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and oh boy, do I have a lot to say about this game. I’m a little hesitant to call this a review, I guess, because it’s not organized too well or intent on giving a score or anything silly like that. But considering my love for this series and acknowledging this game as a huge departure from what many have grown used to, its got my head spinning with a whole bunch of thoughts that I just feel like dumping somewhere. This is mostly an art blog, it feels a little weird sticking this here but I honestly don’t know where else I’d put it. I’ll try to organize my brain and keep things as short as possible, but for the most part I’m just gonna jump in.

Ok, let’s get the big stuff out of the way: I like this game. Even if you haven’t played it, if you’ve so much as searched Zelda within the past month, this near universal opinion shouldn’t be unfamiliar to you. You could go anywhere on the internet around its release and see overwhelming praise, 10/10, a “masterpiece” or even “the best game of all time”. I’m kind of opposed to scores and big statements like that because they have the power to label a game as perfect or flawless, even if they don’t mean to; but the acclaim isn’t necessarily undeserved, this is a great Zelda game, and a really good video game in general. One of the biggest reasons for this praise is attributed to how big of a departure it is, it really sets itself apart from past Zelda games; However, that’s also what inclines me to dissect this title far more than any of its predecessors.

Since this isn’t really a proper review, and I’m assuming most of the people reading this have already played the game in some capacity, I’m just gonna quickly summarize what I like about it. If you want more in depth conversations about the positives you should go ahead and find something on IGN...or Youtube or something I dunno, honestly anywhere, this game has gotten nothing but glowing reviews, it’s not too hard to find something better constructed than my stuff.

-It’s gorgeous, the cel shading and overall homage to japanese animated films *cough* Ghibli *cough* is wholeheartedly welcome and beautiful to look at. This is the first Zelda game where I didn’t want to cut the grass because it was just so damn pretty. I’d constantly find myself placing link in compositionally pleasing settings to just watch the world teem with life and wonder.

-The runes and their implementation with shrines and the divine beasts make for some clever puzzles, even if they are a lot of the times maybe a little too easy and kind of short. When the puzzles are at their best, you can’t help but smile.

-I like the basic concept of the story, it’s nice to see Zelda explored as a character. (Though I will say that Link not being as expressive in this title was a bit of a let down, he’s expressive in the world and not in the cutscenes which is odd. I know there’s a canon reason for this but still, I miss the personality from previous titles. I hope they weren’t trying to reel back on his facial expressions for fear of breaking “immersion” or something silly like that, no one I know sees link as themselves, I’d like to think most people really do see him as his own character.)

-The outfits are great.

-Different weapon types are super cool.

-I actually ended up not hating the voice acting, in fact, I feel like there should have been more of it.

-I love how the world is constantly being traversed by characters that always have something funny or useful to say. I remember one guy telling me that his name was Spinch and his horse was named Spinch too; so completely random. You engage with him further and he’s just like: “We’re both Spinch and I don’t even care.” It killed me, and it’s stuff like that that was part of what made exploring fun.

-It acknowledges the series’ timeline and lore in the most direct way yet. I particularly love how they sprinkled Fi’s theme into scenes with the Master Sword, it gave me chills. Makes you feel like all your past adventures really mattered.

-Music is beautiful, the main theme and Hateno village are some of my new favorites and I can’t wait to hear them Live. Gotta love that Dragon Roost callback too.

-Character design is great. Even the most insignificant npcs have great character designs. This particular reincarnation of Zelda is definitely my favorite appearance wise, the developers did a great job with making her look adorable, dignified, and adventurous all at the same time.

-I like the return of character schedules from Majora’s Mask, makes the world feel alive.

-The champions are all great personalities, but it sucks we couldn’t spend more time with them. (more on this later)

- Prince Sidon is hilarious and really charming.

-Paya is disgustingly cute.

- Bolson is the best god damn npc in the game, that gay ass motherfucker.

-Climbing is fun, unless it rains.

- Fighting is fun (until you’re about 50 hours in and it starts being a little less creative. Once you have a ton of money and really good weapons, the incentive to fight and raid camps isn’t really there anymore unless it's fighting for just fighting’s sake. This made be a bit sad.)

-Based on its basic game mechanics alone, Breath of the Wild is, in general, pretty fun. There’s a lot more I could say, but I feel like it’s fairly obvious what the really good things are in this game.

The list goes on and on and on...but these are my main take aways without getting TOO entrenched into a stream of consciousness. I don’t really feel the need to go too in depth about the games positives, because they’re widely discussed and loudly appreciated across the board; I wanted to be brief with my addition to the echo chamber. With that said, I actually have a few fairly substantial grievances with this game that prevent it from being a masterpiece for me.

Saying this feels like betraying a best friend, especially after waiting 6 years for this game. But I think it’s necessary to put these thoughts out there when a game gets universally good reviews, I want Zelda to grow and improve beyond this point. It’s obvious Nintendo won’t see this shit, but it’s good to get a conversation going, especially when every single Zelda game gets widespread acclaim upon release and only a year or so later do people tend to tone it down a little. This is fairly ironic in my case, as Skyward Sword is one of my favorite games and it seems to have the starkest contrast between its initial opinions and those that popped up a year after. I just have some things that really irk me about this game, which sucks because I actually love it a great deal, I’m super torn.

My biggest takeaway from 200 hours of traveling across Breath of the Wild’s world was that its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Nintendo set out to spread its wings and build this immense world that inspires wonder and awe, and it certainly does that, but I feel like that’s mostly all the game is at times.  It’s funny, because as soon as I start to say stuff like this, I can’t help but think, “Wow that’s actually really great, I’m glad the game went this direction.” But I also feel heavily conflicted about that direction’s consequences. This may sound strange and it’s not really bad, but I felt like the world is almost so open ended with itself that its identity is spread a little thin.  

I’m kind of going against my own logic here, because I’ve always wanted a Zelda game with an immense amount of side quests to beef up the experience outside of the main quest. I’ve prayed for a huge world to explore, to really feel the enormity of this land that needed to be saved. And there really is a lot to do, there's a ton, but only a handful of the sidequests outside the shrines have much heft. The game doesn’t really have a set pace as a result, which can be seen as a good thing I guess. I can agree with the sentiment that this choice was necessary as a stepping stone going forward, I think Zelda definitely benefits from the nonlinearity approach, and Nintendo going as far as they did with it this time will help them see its advantages and disadvantages. If Skyward Sword was an extreme in linearity, Breath of the Wild is an extreme in the exact opposite direction. In my opinion, they both still work well in their own regards, albeit in incredibly different ways.

When I say that the game doesn’t have as much of an identity compared to past Zelda’s, I mean that in a way where the identity of the game is largely shaped by the player’s own experience and not by the narrative itself. This can be seen as a huge triumph in player agency, where the power (or in this case courage) really is in the hands of the player. But you can’t curate nonlinearity, at least not entirely. As a result, we tend to lose some of the pacing that made past titles feel “epic”. I guess what I’m getting at is that my main gripe has to do with how the game’s narrative structure comes together.

The developers were definitely aware of a narrative problem, as they needed a way to glue the game together story wise, and the memories were a pretty clever way to do it; honestly, I don’t know how else they could have made it work with their open air concept. But as much as I find the story compelling and interesting, there’s simply not enough of it, which is a real shame because you feel a need to get closer to these characters, especially the champions. Much of this game feels like you are showing up late to the party. There's a weird dichotomy between the past and present as a result. You end up feeling like you need to care more about the champions in the past, but characters in the present end up getting more development, just less emotional weight attributed to them. It’s a weird flip flop, because I loved Prince Sidon as a character, and thought he was the most developed out of all the main quest based npcs, but Mipha kind of steals the climax of the Zora’s Domain story. What sucks about this is that Mipha has, what appears to be on the surface, a tragic and emotionally affecting story, but we don’t get enough time to dwell on it really, so we’re in this weird flux. This past and present problem actually has made me feel the most disconnected from Link than I ever have, and if I was gonna be disconnected I would have at least liked to have seen him show a little more personality, but he only does this in small instances in the present.

This formula disappointed me more and more with each main questline, especially when all the others tended to be less concerned with getting you familiar with or attached to their respective characters. The worst offender is the Rito area, which I swear can be completed in an hour. It really cheats Rivali out of getting any meaningful development, which is a huge missed opportunity because he was funny, quippy, and a nice rival character for Link. Imagine meeting Groose at the beginning of Skyward Sword, except at the end of the tutorial someone pushes him off Skyloft and he straight up dies, the end. Think about how big of a missed opportunity that would be. That’s kind of how this felt.

Now I know that you can argue that Zelda has never been about the story, but honestly I still thinks that’s up to the player, no matter how simple these stories tend to be. It’s mostly less about story and more about how much time is spent on the fun characters Zelda is known for, and the game loses a bit of its heart as a result. A lot of people, like me, are super into the lore and the characters this franchise has to offer; things don’t need to be convoluted like Kingdom Hearts or emotionally complex like the Last of Us. Many players enjoy the adventure of befriending characters, helping them with their problems, and feeling fulfilled by that alone.

Quests that had this fulfillment element were my favorite, such as cooking a rock for a malnourished Goron to help him regain his strength, or building a town from the ground up with a bizarre cast of carpenters that you can’t help but adore. These are rewarding for me, not because of the loot, but because it’s simply just entertaining and makes me feel like I really accomplished something. Once I reached about 90 hours, I didn’t need rupees, or another royal claymore, what I was really looking for was a reflection of how I impacted the world around me. I wanted to suspend my disbelief and truly get absorbed in this world not only for its beauty and sheer size, I wanted to feel like I mattered to its inhabitants too. And the game does this enough to be fairly satisfactory. Though, there are plenty of quests that get halfway there but end up feeling more like fetch quests, which aren’t so bad if they have a nice reward, but they’re still kind of bland and sometimes a chore.

To kind of wrap all this up, I want to say that Breath of the Wild’s biggest and most glaring problem is that its main quest is severely lacking. There is a lot to do in this game, just not a lot of “big” and memorable things. There’s an almost endless list of small challenges, but few end up feeling all that compelling. I know a lot of people have been talking about the dungeons being a huge weakness, and I think that's definitely part of the problem. There really needed to be more substantial dungeons in this game, I’d say there’s about a dungeon and a half in this title. Maybe we can have a discussion about how the shrines make up for that, but I feel like at least for me, most of them were very simple and too many of them were rewards for easy feats or tests of strength. All things considered, the breadth of this game is impressive, but imagine if you fit a main quest from The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess on top of this huge world; imagine big dungeons with a well paced main quest, along with all these sidequests and a beautiful landscape, that would be amazing! I know this comparison has been made a bit too much, but Skyrim found a way to have a good linear main quest packed into a non linear world, you could in fact avoid it altogether and just do “side quests”. Many of its sidequests had significant weight to them that made them feel like they could've been part of the main mission, you weren’t left with a sense of emptiness if you avoided the main route. I think Zelda could learn a lot from this kind of approach to open world games.

Now I will say that there’s a lot to Breath of the Wild’s main quest that I really love (i’ll be doing a lot of fan art because of it!), I just think it needs to be expounded upon a bit more. There’s all the makings of a true masterpiece here, but the center of it feels a bit fragmented. Bigger dungeons, bigger story, more enemy types, more villages etc. I think the game needs more of these large central elements. There's so much I could say about this game, but that would take forever, these are more or less my biggest criticisms. I once again want to reiterate that I like Breath of the Wild and I really love Zelda as a series, I can’t stress that enough. Feel free to disagree with me and maybe start up a dialogue through messages or something, I’m always willing to discuss! I’m not super focused on checking this for structural issues, it’s not really an organized essay, sorry if it was a bit rambly.

Thanks for reading!!!

Sidenote: I’m aware of the story DLC and new dungeon in the future. I’m extremely excited about this and the DLC will hopefully address my grievances with the game.

[gwydionae]

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

(As I literally spent an entire month doing little more with my free time aside from playing this game, I want to get my thoughts out about it. While kind of my own little late and unwanted review, I also just want to ramble about some random things in this game. So here is my one master post of all my BotW thoughts - that way I’m not bombarding everyone with a bunch of things now that I’m back from the tumblr dead. XD

Only very vague spoilers included. ...also this is crazy long. ^_^;; )

Optional Intro:

I have never played a modern open world game outside of Minecraft. They looked like fun, but there was always something that made me go “ehhhh, maybe not...” like the cringy voice acting or the overall look of the game. I was super excited to hear that Zelda would be going back to this, however, since straying from it ever since the very first game. Not that I don’t like the typical Zelda formula - I actually really love it! But Skyward Sword, while it did have its good points, was too linear even for me, so I greatly anticipated them breaking away from that. I tried not to get too hyped, but I couldn’t help it. Luckily, this time the hype was not unwarranted.

End of Game Stats:

Hours Played: 220+ Shrines Found: 120 Korok Seeds Found: 262 Map Completion: 44.58% Side Quests Completed: 69 Main Quests Completed: All Times I’ve Stood Far Above Enemies and Rained Lots of Bombs on Their Heads and Slowly Whittled Down Their Health: too many to count lol

Overall Opinion:

I don’t think I have ever spent so much time playing a game that actually has an end objective! From the minute I got it, I could not put it down. My sleep schedule was ruined within a day, and I have been a living zombie for a month now, all because I kept saying, “I’m just gonna do this one thing, and then I’ll go to sle- OH WAIT WHAT’S THAT??” This game is addicting. There is SO much to see and do, and so many ways to do them. ...not to mention I am a huge wuss and would often run away a lot and waited to do the truly hard stuff until I was a bit OP. XD

That being said, it should come as no surprise that I really, really like this game. A lot. It’s super fun, beautiful, magical, humorous, and engaging. It is still not my favorite game ever nor even my favorite Zelda. But it doesn’t have to be, because what it is is amazing, and I would recommend it to literally anyone, Zelda fan or no. If you haven’t played it and you have the opportunity, take it. Because even just climbing to a tall location and looking around before jumping off and paragliding to a destination far away is one of the best things I have ever done in a video game period. It sounds silly, but it’s true - the scenery is gorgeous, and the climbing and paragliding mechanics are so, so satisfying.

It is not a perfect game, but it doesn’t have to be. The positive elements far and away make up for the negatives.

Criticisms:

Frame Rate Drops - I am not one to really care much about this sort of thing, but, yeah, it’s there. Most of the time there were no issues, but in some places it was consistently pretty low, like the Korok Forest. The only time it was an actual issue for me, though, was in Lockup - I was fighting a Moblin in a tight corner when suddenly the game completely freezes for about two seconds. I swear my heart skipped a beat! LOL Luckily that was the only time it actually was bothersome in all my 220+ hours of playing. Still deserves to be mentioned, though.

Voice Acting - (Note: I am extremely picky about voices, no matter the language - you have been warned!) I cannot WAIT to play this game in Japanese, because I am 100% sure I will enjoy the cutscenes more. It’s not that everyone in English is terrible, but man are some of the voices not good... Decent - Urbosa, Revali, Riju Bad - Mipha, Daruk, Yunobo Worst - Impa Best - Sidon Most Inconsistent - Zelda Urbosa, Riju, and Revali hammed it up a bit at times, but at least they didn’t sound flat, so I give them kudos for that. On top of that, I liked how their voices sounded, so bonus! Daruk and Yunobo, however, were both pretty flat, though at least the sound of Daruk’s fit. Mipha, on the other hand, was trying to act, but it really sounded like she was reaching pitch-wise (like in her final cut scene near the end of the game). On top of that, her accent kept coming and going randomly - if you can’t do it all the time, don’t do it at all. Impa, however, was far and away the worst offender, to the point I wanted to turn the sound off when she opened her mouth. For one, again, it was flat. But on top of that, she had the “younger woman trying to sound like an old lady” voice going on that grates on me like you wouldn’t believe. Some people can pull it off - she can’t. And, again, the coming and going accent. Sidon was the opposite, and the lone true bright point for me. I wish we had heard more of him as I liked his voice, he kept the accent in all his lines, and he sounded enthusiastic in his delivery. I heard him shortly after Impa, so it was quite the whiplash for me, lol. Now for Zelda... there are some points in which I really like her voice, but then there are other times I think she ruins the scene with a flat read. The 17th memory, for instance, is great - she does a wonderful job with it, and I honestly can watch that one many, many times over. The 16th, however, she completely ruins for me. She just does not sound as emotional as she should given the circumstances, and it really takes me out of it. She usually does a good job with the accent, but like Mipha and Impa, occasionally she slips out of it. Overall I am not displeased with her, though. I do wish we would have gotten more of 17th memory Zelda and none of 16th. As for the overall use of voice acting, I am glad it was limited. I, personally, do not care for voice acting in games as I usually find it to be more of a detriment than an enjoyable experience. If done well, yeah, I would have liked a little more - having the voiced characters always speak, for example. But since I was not thrilled with it, I couldn’t be happier that it was limited, and I don’t think my stance on this will change until companies are willing to pay a bit more to have quality work instead of going cheap and not paying it it’s due attention. (Although Link should never speak, in my opinion, and I seriously hope this never changes!)

Story/Characters - They weren’t bad so much as disappointing and underwhelming. Only one character got truly fleshed out, so it was hard to get attached to anyone. I think they did a good job of having a focused story despite the open world design of the game, but the problem was that there just wasn’t much story to be told, and the ending left me with a feeling of, “...that’s it?” Not the way you want to end such an otherwise great experience. I enjoyed what we did get, but I just wanted so much more! I guess this is the trade off for not wanting something as linear as Skyward Sword. SS had amazing characters and a great story while being a chore sometimes gameplay-wise. BotW, on the other hand, is always a delight to play and feels so free and magical, but the characters and story left me wanting more, like I was only getting a small glimpse of the large picture. In a game, I suppose I will take “fun to play, underwhelming story” to “good story, chore to play”, but it would be nice if in future Zeldas I could have my cake and eat it too, lol.

Dungeons/Bosses - Trying not to spoil too much, it’s not that I didn’t like playing them, it’s their designs. They are all designed to look similar. The dungeons are unique and fun from a solving them perspective, but from a visual perspective, I do miss the old “every dungeon has a different theme” from past Zelda titles. I can, however, see why they chose this route for the dungeons, so while it’s disappointing, I have a hard time knocking them for it. I DO have to point out a huge issue I did have, though - THOSE MAPS ARE NOT HELPFUL. Seriously, oh my gosh, I have never tried to use a more infuriating map! It never turned the way I wanted it to, and I could rarely see what I actually wanted to see. These, for me, were simply awful. I hated everything about them, and groaned every time one popped up on my screen signaling that my map would be mostly useless from that point until I was done with the area. The bosses, on the other hand, are a different story. There is no reason they all have to look and act so similar. True, they all have their own gimmick, but I still used basically the same fighting style for all of them. And why the near identical designs? Why not something more interesting? The outside of the dungeons are all interesting to look at, so why not make the big boss at the end reflect that instead? I can see what they were going for, but in this case I feel it doesn’t justify the end result. After boss designs like Stallord and Koloktos, it was very disappointing.

Music - I am going to start off by saying that I do NOT dislike the music - in fact I feel it suits this game very well. I can’t, however, talk about this game’s music without comparing it to previous Zelda games, and there is where it falls short. Whereas previous titles were filled with memorable tracks, BotW is not. It does have some enjoyable tunes here and there, but overall I didn’t really pay any attention to it and never came away with it stuck in my head. Does that work with this style of game which is all about getting sucked into the environment? Yes, absolutely! But if I wanted to listen to some Zelda music on its own, this game’s soundtrack would be one of the last ones I would choose. So what this comes down to is if I were to give the game a score, I would not knock it for the music as I feel it is quite fitting. But if I were giving the MUSIC a score, it wouldn’t be as high as past Zeldas. Underwhelming tracks - Nearly any city/town, the shrine battle music, the dungeons, the more atmospheric tracks with little actual music (in the fields, Temple of Time, in the cold, etc) Tracks I love - Molduga’s theme, the dragons, riding a horse at night, normal battles, just outside Hyrule Castle, memory 17 (I need this track, you hear me!!)

Praise:

Scenery - This game is so pretty, you guys. The designers did an amazing job laying everything out just perfectly, so there is nearly always an awesome view to be had. Pictures do more justice than words.

Character Design - Everyone looks so unique! Even the random NPCs have personality and quirks worked directly into their design, and honestly there are so many outfits I would love to cosplay from this game. XD Some of the characters do suffer from the “Wind Waker large head, gorilla arms, stumpy legs effect”, lol, but I can forgive everyone minus the Gerudo children on this one as most that fall prey to it are not human and do not have to stick as close to normal human anatomy. Still all very colorful and whimsical, and I adore the different styles of Zora! And all of Link’s armor? Pfft, oh man, it’s great. Some of it is hilarious, other stuff is really cool, and a few items are just plain weird. But they all look unique and interesting with a lot of thought put into them, and I always loved finding new stuff. ...I do have to say, though, that I laugh at the guy in the Japanese Zelda interview who said he was having trouble making the green hat/tunic outfit look cool and that’s why it’s not prominent in the game when there are outfits like the Firebreaker (below) or the Radiant gear. I mean, really now?? LOL

Color - Speaking of color, this really does deserve it’s own bullet point! Just... wow. I am so used to seeing games that are dull and gritty and grey and brown, but this one... this one makes me so happy, you guys. They get every color imaginable in here, and they make them all work together in harmony to not only create gorgeous visuals, but landscapes that truly do feel like they have life. “Breath of the Wild” is such an appropriate title, my goodness.

Gameplay - This game is super fun to play!! And this is coming from someone who is terrible at games and died a lot. XD I am far from the most creative individual to play this game - never used my balloons once.. I should go back and try that on more things, lol - but still it was obvious just how many different solutions there were to things, like puzzles or how to take out a large group of enemies. And the physics! I didn’t think this was something I would really care about, but wow! Doing literally anything feels satisfying as the end result is what you would expect it to be - chopping down a tree, rolling a rock down a cliff, watching the wind take a bomb to exactly the spot you thought it would land, etc.

Wildlife - SO MUCH AND SO DIVERSE. Ok, yeah, like, over a dozen different types of mushrooms, but every kind is different. So many birds, bugs, fish, horses, deer, moose, RHINOS, BEARS! Flowers, trees, grass, bushes, vegetables! This world is full, you guys, so full! But never overly so - there are patches with not really anything of note. But it’s never a bad thing. Every quiet patch is like a brief pause, letting you get all the more excited when something does appear. Perfect balance of a lot of things in some places and not so much in others.

Weapons System - Ok, so, maybe I’m an outlier on this, but ultimately I think the whole weapon breaking thing really works. At first I was not thrilled with it as you are given very little inventory space, and I don’t like passing up on cool looking things. But once I realized this could be upgraded, I changed my mind. Would I like to be able to keep all the cooling looking stuff and use them forever, or at least longer? Yeah, but I feel like that might actually take away from the experience. This game is about thinking situations through and using what you have however you want. With your weapons limited, it forces you to think more instead of just, say, spamming the Master Sword on everything. And the fact that you are given the opportunity to upgrade the inventory slots if you want to made me eager to explore more areas to do just that. This game is all about exploration and the experience; I think ultimately this system works to really further that objective.

Puzzles - WOW! The puzzle lover in me was very pleased! All but maybe three times out of 120 shrines and 4 dungeons did I get irritated because of what felt like poor puzzle design. The rest were all fantastic - even if they have a DLC pack where all it does is add more shrines, I’m in, lol. I loved finding these things because I loved solving them. I am a puzzle person at heart, so this made me very, very happy.

Animation - OH MY GOSH, ok, I know everyone knows about cold Link and when he cooks, but did you know that if you stand still after you run out of stamina he eventually does two little fist pumps and grunts like, “Ok! Now I’m ready - let’s go.” when it’s full again? Or how he will wave to people? Or his face when a Great Fairy is trying to kiss him? Or how if you stand still late at night for too long he will start doing the head nod thing where he’s trying to keep himself awake? Or how his body gradually flushes red when he’s chilly, even when simply equipping frost gear, and goes back to normal when he’s comfortable? Or when he eats? Or is hot? Or literally anything??? Because it’s great. I love it. The characters - especially Link - are all very expressive in this game thanks to the great animation.

Miscellaneous:

Favorite Creature: The dragons - I would stand in awe every time one was in the area, just taking in the music and how pretty and cool they were.

Favorite Character: Prince Sidon - I’m pretty sure every fangirl loves him, but, like, he’s so nice and friendly and seems genuinely cool?? lol Easily liked him the best.

Favorite Armor: The one you get when completing all the shrines, lol.

Best Throwback Music Usage: THE ORIGINAL DEATH MOUNTAIN THEME FOR DEATH MOUNTAIN HECK YEAH

Favorite Random Detail: They give an explanation for why Link is so quiet, and it’s a great one. Previous to finding this bit, I was a little torn on Link’s presentation in the cutscenes. I thought he was a bit bland, especially considering how animated he is in game. This changed my opinion completely.

Favorite Sign: “Rest Yer Bones” XD (also I’m pretty sure one says “poops”...)

Part That Made Me Laugh the Most: Risa in the Gerudo “Voe and You” class - I was not always completely cool with how they characterized some of the Gerudo, but my gosh, sitting in on that class and going through all the dialogue options was WORTH IT. XD

Things I Need to Do (More):

Ride a horse (I RARELY did this - I preferred running and climbing everywhere)

Customize a horse

Try to ride literally anything because you’d be shocked at what is ridable

LEARN TO FREAKING PARRY

Experiment more with food - once you know the best recipes, you stop trying new things

Actually use Stasis...

...not to mention Korok leaves

Completely translate the Shiekah and Hylian languages - I can read most every Hylian sign now, but I forgot to write down my Shiekah translations...

Try to translate Gerudo/Yiga (that... might be harder, lol)

Take more screenshots because did I mention how awesome it is that the Switch can do that??

Conclusion:

I’m sure there are things I meant to cover here that I forgot about as there really is just SO MUCH to this game, but this is quite long enough, and kudos if you bothered reading this long already, lol. But I really do love this game, and I had a ton of fun with it. Truth be told, it is not my favorite Zelda game, but it is ONE of my favorites, and honestly it deserves the praise it’s been getting. Is it perfect? No. Would I personally give it a 10/10? No. But do I think the people who are scoring it as such are completely wrong? No - a lot of things I personally had issues with, I know other people did not, and while I do like the general Zelda formula, I can appreciate that others are happy to see it gone. I do hope they fix up some things for future games - better voice acting, more interesting dungeons/bosses, etc - but more in the vein of Breath of the Wild would be fine by me. Because Nintendo created a world I could truly get lost in, and I would gladly lose another month of my life to a next installment, lol.

Thank you, Nintendo. I love this game. <3 And I’m glad so many others are loving it too!

[annakie]

Thoughts on Andromeda, Part Three

*edit* I’m going to just call all my Andromeda text-and-pic posts from here on out Thoughts on Andromeda and remove that “First few hours” since I want to make this an ongoing thing.

I finished the trial, and by that I mean, I played 10 hours.  I did not get to any “end point”, haha.  I game slow and methodically, talking to everyone, scanning every thing, etc.

Spoiler free: I can’t wait to play more.  I’m so mad I can’t finish up what I was in the middle of.  I can’t believe I have to wait until TUESDAY to continue, and even then I have to go to work all day first.  It’ll be torture.

Also, since apparently the trial I downloaded wasn’t the special edition I’d ordered, I didn’t get the items I was supposed to etc. for the edition I ordered.  I uninstalled the trial version I got and am re-installing the correct version now. I’m not sure if I hope I can pick back up where I was or if I’d be cool with starting over.  I’m sure I can make it back to where I was in more like, 6 hours knowing what I know now about where to go, what’s useful and what’s not, knowing what conversations are going to happen where, how to solve some quests, etc.

Did I have more graphics glitches?  Yep.  Were they anything more than minor distractions?  Nope. Am I enjoying the hell out of myself and this game? Hell yeah.

OK enough with the spoiler-free.  Let’s get into it, with abounding spoilers.  And screenshots!

When I left off, I was wandering around Habitat 7, trying to find all the things.  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost as I stopped playing Thursday night, but I was also super tired so, that played into it.   Picking back up finally this morning, I was ready to go.

I quickly appreciated how, although there were a lot of mountains and pits in the area, there were still a couple of routes to get to / from each objective in the area.  I was slightly annoyed that I was pretty far away from the storyline objective when Cora started calling for help, since I still had a couple of other things to get to.  So I put her on the back burner and tracked to the couple of objectives I still needed to get to.  One of which, I’d already been to.  I would have liked some kind of “Hey you’ve seen what you need to see in this location” marker.

Found Cora, helped out, and started at this point to get combat a little better, especially after my first level up and putting some points into some things.  I’d already explored the area where Dad had made his way to, it was nice to get a bit of dialog from Liam mentioning we’d already been there.

I’m going to spend most of this review posting a screenshot and talking about the person or scene in that shot, rather than just big blocks of text.  Incoming!

It was, honestly, a comfort seeing that N7 armor again, even if “I” wasn’t wearing it.  The mission with Dad was a bit reminiscent of ME3′s opening with Anderson, though it was nice to keep both Cora and Liam with me.  The entire charge was hectic, and fun, and I felt like I barely had time to scan things and maybe missed some loot along the way.  

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I’d bumped my graphics settings up to Ultra for this, just to see how my 4gb GTX 960 would handle it. The rest of my system is starting to get pretty dated, though I still am at or above minimum specs, with the graphics card hitting near rec’d specs.  I dropped from 60fps pretty solid at High settings to 30fps at ultra, but nothing else was too bad.  I later bumped back down to High, and couldn’t tell too much difference.  

I super appreciate the already nice textures.  Nothing looked mushy, like most things do in the first three games.  Except for hair, hopefully nothing NEEDS to be re-textured.

I’d been spoiled about Alec Ryder’s fate thanks to not having my spoiler tags set up yet, or maybe just poking my nose into posts where it shouldn’t have been yet, and it was sad, but also a great scene.

And absolutely visually stunning.  It did a great job of setting up mystery.  So far the opening hours have been setting up question after question, every little bit you learn opens up dozens more questions.  

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I would have liked to have a little bit more emotion out of Ryder when learning her father’s fate.  I had been choosing almost all emotional answers... upper right when available, lower right if only the lower options are available, and tried to RP Ryder as being as close as possible to her father, or at least understanding, so I hoped for maybe a little more shock and sadness about her father’s death but... maybe there’s more to come than I’ve seen of that so far.

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I want to just send some love and applause to Natalie Dormer for her work as Lexit T’Perro.  She’s so good I actually forget I’m talking to Natalie Dormer. I’m SO GLAD she’s gonna be on the ship with us full time!

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My heart melted a little when Liam gave this look.  Liking Liam more and more as I spend time with him.  The “shooting the dead thing too much” scene was a little cringe-y, I admit, but way less than some reviewers have lead me to believe.

Still loving his VA.

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This cutscene was... interesting, I feel like we don’t know ANYTHING about the Kett or their motivations so far, but also, let’s give Bioware some time to set up a story.  The Geth seemed to be set up to be the villains of the series when all we had was Eden Prime.

When I was watching the scene I thought “Someday, I’m going to play through the game a second or tenth time and finally care about this scene and understand its motivations.”  Right now it felt like a generic baddie reveal, there to put forth even more questions.

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That said, I was ready to start getting into the meat and potatoes of the game, and was excited when things started progressing and we got to the Nexus.

My heart skipped a little, seeing it so reminiscent of the Citadel, and this scene clearly was made to echo that first, iconic Citadel approach, but with something very, very wrong. I almost could have done with a little more creepy abandoned Nexus atmospheric exploration, but there will be plenty of time for exploring creepy abandoned places, I’m sure.

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It was a fun introduction to this guy, though.

I wonder how many Shakarians immediately went to google to see if he’s romanceable. :)  I admit, I actually wondered. I like him so far.

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The game did a great job of introducing you to the important characters on the Nexus.  My ONLY quibble is that it did the “Oh here’s 4 people to talk to in ANY ORDER feel free to go in any order but if you talk to a certain one of them first the quest completes!” thing.  I had to reload, but just mashed spacebar over the dialog I had to see again.

Oh that’s a neat feature -- if you hit the spacebar once instead of auto-skipping dialog it brings up a small dialog box saying “Press Space to skip” so you get an extra chance to not accidentally skip dialog if you didn’t want to.  That came in handy once or twice.

So anyway... 

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I love her and want to subscribe to her newsletter.  So glad we get a regular female Krogan around again.  Really interested in finding out more about her.  I am kind of torn on their Genophage semi-cure thing, but I am glad they addressed it.  It’s a believable explanation, at least.  I like to think Mordin had a hand in the genetic improvements.

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Not a fan of her, though we’re clearly not supposed to be.  I’m guessing she’s either going to turn out to be evil or your “person you hate but they save your ass anyway” frienemy at some point.

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Look, I want to not like or trust him, because there’s fairly strong echos of Anoleis here, but he’s voiced by Kumail Nanjiani, who I adore so.... I kind of love him already.  

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I know he was just part of a side quest, one I have already finished, but I hope he hangs around.

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I got a little teary-eyed at this.  Glad to see we’re still going to be collecting ships.

And I mean... I totally did get a little choaked up hearing Liara’s letters and log entries.  It was a really great slice of “home”.  Liara is far from my fave (I like her and all, just... not in my Top 8) but... it was great to hear her voice.

---------

I really appreciated Mom-Ryder actually looking like my F!Ryder.  And seeing the Citadel again, even just a small room, and people talking about the council and all, another small slice of home, even one that happened before ME1.

---------

Okay, that’s part 1.  Since we have a long wait til the game unlocks tomorrow, I’ll probably do a Part 2 at some point, because I have so. many. thoughts, and haven’t even finished talking about the Nexus or started on the Tempest or planet scanning or Eos yet.

[thegeminisage]

TODAY’S ZELDABLOGGING, which has ENDGAME SPOILERS (yes i beat it):

all right i got about ~3 hours to get my shield and beat zelda lets fucking do this

the temple of time music is breaking my heart

this is one place where i'm mostly ok with them not using a classic tune for it tbh

like this music has so much grief and tranquility

i used to think the plateau was SO huge and really it's almost miniscule

i know it's a bit of a waste of time but i'm making the final trek on foot, no fast travel, temple of time to the castle

So Many Guardians

i can fight them now but only if theyre in the right place too close or far away and i cant do it

on a side note: yesterday (?) i found a beautiful pink spring i took many pictures of

today i saw that glowing spot on the map and realized i'd never figured out what it was!

dropped a pin bc i was curious, and it's the pink spring

temptation to warp over, check it out, and warp back: astronomical

but i'm on both a mission and a time limit, so it'll have to wait

ok. ok. im Here. its Time. lets go. shield first. that is My Shield, and the stalnox Cannot have it

there's a door i can't figure out how to open :/

ah, i see the stalnox

but i want that door!

google isn't helping me so i guess i have to leave it??

ok, all abilities fully charged, 3 fairies, plenty of food. i can do this. i almost killed one by accident once. that is MY SHIELD.

oh my god its got SWORDS stuck all in it jesus FUCK

my first shot did a lot of damage! but im wearing the atk+ armor which i can't keep on, it's a glass cannon

oh my god that was so EASY?

i kicked its ASS LMAO

YESSSS THERES MY SHIELD OH YES

holy shit when my swoprd strikes something in here it sounds like cannon fire! steady glowing too

i don't think there's one right way to go here so i'm gonna try to explore as much as i can

i've been spoiled by the fact that zelda has a diary laying out somehwere so i wanna find it for myself

ohhh the remains of the red carpet in here

i'm actually next to the tower i climed before, apparently i was just shy of exploring all there was to see up there...i'll see if i can have another look

lol i decide that and it IMMEDIATELY begins with the lightning storm

i found it!!! oh god was this her bedroom ;_;

AAAH SHE TALKS ABOUT LINK

he's quiet and persostent and can't resist a good meal

and it talks about why he never speaks ;_;

I LOVE THIS HE HAS A PERSONALITY!!!!

omg she even talks about her mother ;_;

A WOMAN NOT OF THIS EARTH

the goddess hylia or was it fi?? oh my god.......

WORTH IT!!!

found the guard chambers ;_; this all hurts my heart, so much was just Lost

oh my god no THE BLOOD MOON...

huh. no cutscene here

honestly fighting my way thru moblins in hyrule castle...haha man

ohhhh the library ): i bet zelda loved it here

oh my god they even had docks under the castle!!!

oh NO i found the king's journal

he hated being cruel to her and was gonna be kind when she got back but instead the last time they really saw each other they were fighting!!!

still doesn't give him an excuse tbh but i can find a SLIVER of sympathy now

okay so........now i've explored all the insides. i go out?? i.......fight ?????

oooohh god im scared again ))):

oh shit oh Shit i found it oh god

im looking up a walkthru to read after the fight starts i dont need any more surprises

ZELDA?

OH MY GOD HE'S DISGUSTING HE'S SPIDER LIKE I AM SHRIEKING WHY IS IT ALWAYS SPIDERS

YEAAHH BOY HALF HEALTH FUCK YOU GANON

I HAVE COURAGE!!!!

ooh he has guardian weapons

ok yes walkthru

GOD LMAO if you dont free the divine beasts you have to fight the minibosses here

oh god this is gonna be tough

haha "guardian weapons will break your shield" NOT MY SHIELD

i mean yes it can break but its Highly durable and replacements can be made if it does

OH GOD HE'S GROSS HE'S BUGLIKE WHY WHY

GANON THE MAN WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER

i mean i know. they had us fight a manlike thing in ss AND tp but. i miss him

oooh down to 25%

YES FUCK THERE HE GOES

eeeew

im ready for phase 2 baby

there's gotta be one right there ALWAYS is

YES here we go

AAAH I GOT THE BOW OF LIGHT

oh no i dont have epona though just a different horse im sad i should have left her out

BUT HE LOOKS JUST LIKE GANON THAT I KNOW

OH MY GOD THE FINAL BOSS MUSIC IS THE TRAILER MUSIC

THE MAIN THEME AT LEAST

WE'RE ON HYRULE FIELD NEVER DID I SUSPECT THIS WOULD BE OUR BATTLEGROUND

I DID IT!!!!

ZELDA

BEAUTIFUL SWEET YOUNG BRAVE ZELDA WITH HER MUDSTAINED DRESS

oh my g o d

"may i ask, do you really remember me"

oh my god...oh my god

ANSWER HER?

AND NOW CREDITS? IM DYING

ohhh the credits showed a bit of everybody and despite myself when they played the trailer song and showed the old man/the plateau i welled up we've come so far

HEY THERE'S SHIGERU MIYAMOTO'S NAME HEYYYYYYYY

awww that was the last song of the trailer

A STINGER

THANK GOD

ohh my god 

IF THE SPIRITS OF THE CHAMPIONS AND THE OLD MAN WATCHING LINK AND ZELDA WEREN'T AN OOT NOD....

OH MY GOD ONE MORE SECOND AND ZELDA COULD HAVE MET EYES WITH HER FATHER

jesus christ, old man disappeared last too, my HEART

theyre gonna restore hyrule!! they're gonna travel together again!!

okay i GOTTA load my file and see what's what

awww it's the one i saved right before the battle i thought there was post-game content...?

it does have a little star next to it tho

ah well

that was.......incredible

and i cried

so there's that

man!!!!! im so, so glad

what a good game

honest crit: no, it wasn't PERFECT

i could have stood more classic tunes to punch me in the feels more often and give us more of that old #aesthetic since they changed SO much about everything else - at times it didn't even quite feel like a zelda game, though the reminders that it WAS were always heartbreaking and wonderful

also maybe this was just my playstyle but i feel like there could have been more than just the four dungeons since they were so short...i know the dungeon-y puzzle stuff was spread all around with koroks and shrines, but is One big dungeon too much to ask? even hyrule castle had 1000 ways you could have gotten through

could have stood a little more acknowledgement of who you were and what you were doing as the divine beasts started waking up? like from npcs and shit, not even for Glory or whatever but just because the story felt reeeeeeally spread out, even with the memories scattered everywhere

and again a little bias here but some of the battles once you began getting Up There were a little TOO fake-difficult...i saw white bokoblins in old old places so i know it has to do with You, not your location, and i could have lived w/o it tbh

would have loved some form of new game + or postgame content, but maybe i'm just sad bc i misunderstood a spoiler or w/e it was that happened

things i loved:

the music

the cinematics, holy shit

the voice acting

when they DID use classic tunes it was to INCREDIBLE effect, same with the castle style, the ruins, even the nostalgic armor

obviously the open world gameplay was delightful and addicting, i literally couldn't get enough

the final boss battle wasn't too hard but VERY climactic and wonderful, just difficult Enough - could have maybe been a BIT harder but then i did start with him at half health!!

the dungeons, while there weren't enough of them, were EXTREMELY cool, i felt DWARFED by those beasts, after i saw the first one i never called them jaegers again

actually kind of liked the weapon durability thing bc then i could just pick them up during combat when i was running low and steal them or fight with them, throw them, etc

did not like the BOW durability, all my bows broke VERY quickly, that and running out of arrows always was totally urgh...even with my weapons inventory upgraded i STILL couldn't hold all the cool ones the game threw at me, it needed to be like that for players that favored the bow - more of them that were OP, more arrows, etc

anyway i could go on and on but

i gotta sleep, and

i'm so happy zelda is free

it would have been so cool to have her as a companion in post-game, Somehow

or at least see her reunion with all those who missed her

or see link get his memories back

it ended a bit too soon but it was beautiful and i loved it

goodnight

[sleepymarmot]

MEA liveblog #8

I finished it! I’m free!

Multiplayer

Hell yeah level 9/10 rank I asari adept -- full extraction and top score on a silver APEX mission with bonus to combos! Against outlaws, but still. And I got an outlaw badge for it!

Yoo, two human female vanguard cards! And my Charger is now at X!

Looked up my statistics:

Dialogue:

Interrupts: 11

Casual: 151

Emotional: 187

Logical: 206

Professional: 187

Kills:

Kett: 983

Outlaws: 857

Remnant: 520

Wildlife: 377

Holy shit, the Pathfinder killed almost as many former Initiative members as the Initiative's enemies...

Melee: 276

Assault rifle: 60

Pistol: 135

Shotgun: 100

Sniper rifle: 59

Biotic: 679

Combat? Force?: 0

Tech: 316

Jump: 5

Construct: 35 (wow)

Combos: 777

Hello patch 1.05

Why did they remove the priming icon from Throw? Does it not prime anymore?! 

Good news: Throw still primes. Idk why they removed the button. Like misinforming their players?

Bad news: the game is super laggy. Did I set my graphics too high?

The fusion mod perk is still broken!

No, I don't have a new email, SAM! I got one from Peebee, very cute but referring to I don't know what.

Multiplayer

Kroguard level 7/rank I successfully extracted from Silver!

Maxed out Avenger and Katana, goodbyeeeee

Singleplayer

Fuck, I opened all my reward boxes and then realized the game loaded the autosave with the still-bugged fusion mod support :( Goodbye all my rewards ughh

I lowered the graphics to default but the game still keeps stuttering... I don't understand

Peebee on Voeld: "I should have dressed warmer" Sigh, once again game writers blame their sexist costume designs on female characters who have to wear them...

Finally I got to hear PB&J's conversations about asari reproduction myself...

SAM asked me about my romance and I picked the sappy option because it was the safest...

Journey to Meridian

I don't like how the patch changed my Ryder's face. The lips are too narrow and round now.

Damn, I should have taken Jaal. I knew the spoiler though. Want to know what from? A freaking side romance video I clicked because I was sure something so inconsequential wouldn't have spoilers. Ha!

Peebee says something like "They created life but the Archon wants to destroy it!!" in the most melodramatic tone. Ugh! The tendency to say overly sweet things like this is the worst part of her character.

Ha, screw you ascendant! I'm a bit offended that my rifle doesn't one-shot his orb. Ah well, I'm not wearing any weapon damage bonuses...

Oh, a Destroyer and a Fiend are fighting each other? Good, I'm not going to get involved.

The Destroyer won and came for us but had the decency to open up its chest as it turned to face us lol

I'm overusing Bio-converter + Life Support like hell on this mission lol... Too many bosses

lol nullifiers im not scared of you

Why is my mouth so small! It's bothering me.

Tempest

Lexi doesn't want to talk to me lol. Can't interact with her

Jaal's door is closed, I knew he'd have a lot to say

Well this conversation was saccharine. Jaal are you a positivity machine?!

Don't you "love" how you can go through the entire game not knowing that Gil is gay?! There's even a dialogue option about him "loving" Jill! This entire dialogue tree is a mess. At least everyone on tumblr has ranted about that so I don't have a lot to add. But even if you (try to) set the homophobia aside it's a mess. He talks about fathering a friend's child and you can't even be surprised because usually only romantic couples start families? And you can't even disapprove really, the most negative thing is "it's crazy" said in an awed, surprised tone of voice.

Cora I took you to Meridian and you have nothing to say?

More forum threads! And a shitload of emails!

Aw, Liam is such a good vivid character -- both the conversation and the email are great. I love his email attachments. I mean I'm still angry at him about the stupid, irresponsible, dangerous shit he did in his personal storyline, but he's definitely the most engaging of the male starter companions in ME.

Here's the Movie Night continuation, I was starting to worry it was broken...

The ship's doctor asks me to buy some booze on the Citad--the Nexus, why does it sound so familiar

Let's appreciate the fact that the "golden worlds" are not just inhabited -- they were created for someone other than us! The Initiative has even fewer rights to them than initially thought.

I'm glad Bioware sped up the galaxy map (not surprising after that kind of outrage) but the stupid and vertigo-inducing camera turns and pans are still there.

Btw I preferred my own more abstract interpretation of the Scourge as the Chaos to the Remnant's Order. Now they look even more mundane. As if the mystery and awe didn't already evaporate after about the second vault because they're all the same thing with slightly different puzzles!

Nexus

What?! I don't get to actually play with Drack, Kesh and Vorn?! What's the point then?

Keri where are you? I can hear your voice but it's coming from nowhere.

Oh my god I can see Kandros's purple tongue through the hole between his jaws(?)

Tempest

Well at least I could get Gil a date!

Am I like... supposed to give a shit about Jaal? I mean Ryder is getting all emotional no matter what I choose and I'm sitting here like "idc". And I don't want to bash such a nice person, it feels mean to dislike someone for doing nothing wrong, but that's the problem, he's so bland. From the promotional videos I assumed that Peebee would be the irritating designated best friend/love interest like Liara, but it's mostly Jaal.

Tempest again -- after a week-long break

Why couldn't Bioware add a "take all rewards" button? Why do I have to spend 10 minutes clicking “space”?

Ah yes, Bioware's trademark mashing naked dolls together! When Peebee's eyes flashed black it was pretty creepy.

Movie Night requires one more step... After the main mission, then.

Great, another galaxy map fetch quest -_-

Yoo finally the point of no return!

The final mission

Fine, I'll take you Jaal for plot relevance, though I'll probably miss Cora's Shield Boost...

Playing as my twin is cool, but why is he underpowered? Trying to kill a single mook with no powers and that tiny pistol was torture...

Where's Peebee? On the bridge?

Why open the equipment screen but not let me change the squad? It made sense to take the Science Team PB&J to the Meridian, but not to take back an ark! It makes no sense! I'm on my ship with everyone, but can't choose a new team?

Ah, so it was a romantic goodbye with the LI, and I didn't have to choose the "schmaltzy" version to make it more personal? Damn.

Ughh, so much lag... It's not fun to fight when fps falls below 10 sometimes.

The final fight is so badly designed. Apparently I have to hold ground at the quest marker position, but it's not explained clearly, and the circle doesn't appear until you're almost done. I jumped into the abyss several times because the quest marker was hanging over it.

Ah yes, Meridian, home for the humanity. Despite the fact it was clearly built for the Angara... Ugh!!

I don't get it. We're selecting a representative of whom? The entire cluster? The Nexus? It's bullshit.

Oh, this wheel is confusing. So each candidate is assigned to a "tone", when I first click it it's a question, if I click for the second time it confirms the selection. 

Hmm, my first choice was the Moshae, but maybe Morda?

Went with the Moshae. Thankfully, Ryder said exactly what I wanted to say! Haha, Addison: "That's the point, you colonial wad"

This human woman got a name from Quarian godparents?? That's a thing? Okay.

I don't understand how Ryder could use the Remnant without SAM. Has SAM changed her brain enough that it's now superhuman even without SAM's active involvement?

Oooh, interesting email. I haven't thought of angaran reincarnation as a designed feature to carry extra information in DNA. So they can be genetic hard drives -- again, like the kett? This has got to mean something. And angara "remembering" how to use the Meridian, or being sleeper agents? I demand a big storyline in the sequel about this!

Um. Using the Remnant involves not just a connection, but moving your consciousness into them? Okaaaay. That doesn't sound ominous at all. This entire terminal is like a sequel teaser...

Yeah Jaal, I can't stop joking because everyone is being so sugary sweet and I can't bear it anymore

The Moshae doesn't sound too excited about her new job... :(

The Quarian-Volus-Elcor-Hanar arc! Yoo! Sequel or DLC?

"Seeing you in cahoots makes me all misty" I don't know which is worse, the line itself or the delivery...

Aw, the science team are all in the same lab! ...With the dancers. What?

Tempest

Peebee sent an email saying she wants to explore the galaxy "with or without me". Aw.

Okay, I'm tired, let's leave The World is Waiting and Movie Night for tomorrow.

Watched alternate dialogue choices on Youtube.

I chose the casual option to rally the fleet, but logical is good too. But I think that after watching her brother being kidnapped and tortured, Ryder doesn't have the patience to be inspirational...

The emotional option as you walk out victorious is addressed to your LI! And Peebee's reply made me laugh and clap: "And now they all know you're mine!" And they walk away hand in hand. Aw.

Can’t find logical and professional options for the goodbye with Peebee before the final mission :( Not a fan of emotional and casual.

Oh. I thought Habitat-7 would have something more than one cutscene...

My edition of the Movie Night glitch: Ryder was simply invisible. Peebee was embracing thin air. So much for romance.

The funniest thing, tbh, was that Ryder leveled up when the scene ended.

Aaaaand now I'm free! 92%, 97,5 hours. I still have some sidequests to do, but let's leave them until later.