#I'm not a pc gamer..... I just play on my switch

[urplepurplegurgleturgle]

You ever play Roblox? Or Royale High?

Cuz... Cuz guess who is cringe but is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :³

No I do not have Roblox 😓

[facefullofsadness]

Can I request sub!Sakura x soft!dom!reader? Basically fluff smut (-_-")

sakura unnie being just the submissive bby girl she truly is 🥰

content - loser gamer!sakura (bc she literally is just a loser who happens to be an idol u can't change my mind), smut (cunnilingus, corruption kink kinda but not really inflicted, reader is a lil intoxicated), fluff (I guess? like kinda?)

wc - 2148 (might've gotten carried away...)

sakura is a sensitive girlie.

and this doesn't just apply to in bed but in real life too. when you first met her, she was so shy and jumpy. seeing her at a pc café with the cat ear headphones she brought from home, wearing glasses, gray sweatpants, and a graphic tee way too oversized for her small body.

going up to her because u recognized her from your biochem class, asking if she did the homework yet.

"oh uh, hi, you know my name? uhm, sorry I'm a mess. wait a second, sorry," kura would stumble over her words, balancing her focus between the pretty girl talking to her and the intense league match she had going on.

sigh, how fucking adorable.

the way you grazed her shoulder with the tips of your fingers as you *intently* watched as she tried not to feed the enemy team (failing by the way). your focus was more on the way sakura's body tensed at the gentle contact.

it flicked a switch in your brain watching her bite down hard on her lip, trying so hard not to break in front of you. this only whirred you on, needing to see her desperate. and so you made it your goal to make this girl yours, in every way.

wooing her (easily bc pretty girl) into becoming your girlfriend, making her feel so loved and special, making her feel like you were the only person in the world for her. yes of course you loved her truly, but the switch that was on in your head always shone a light so bright that reminded you of how obsessed you were with the submissive aspects of this girl.

starting tame in your relationship, holding hands, cupping her cheeks and rubbing your thumbs against them, planting soft and gentle kisses on her, giving her sweet cuddles. it would eventually progress into brushing fingers against her sensitive waist, hearing as kura would release shaky breaths at the contact, deep and passionate makeout sessions where she would be breathless and sweaty under you, kissing and leaving dark marks on her neck and across her chest which would have her whining, trying to push you away because god how embarrassing it felt to be so small against you.

seeing her face so flushed pink and eyes dazed after an intimate moment drove you insane. you absolutely just needed to see more. and so when the first time you guys had sex, you had to remind yourself not to take it too far. after all, she's still your lovely sweet loser girlfriend who wouldn't hurt a fly (mostly because she's probably too scared of it).

and by sex, I mean eating out your precious girlfriend while she was gaming. you had gotten a little tipsy that night, drinking by yourself in the living room, dragging your body into kura's bedroom where she was focused in on a match of overwatch. too buzzed to act interested in her game, you pull yourself onto her lap and nestled your face into her neck.

you smiled against her skin as you felt the girl's breath hitch at the sudden gesture, your hot breath hitting her sensitive spot.

"y/n baby, I'm k-kinda busy right n-now..." she'd stutter, losing focus.

you shush her, planting wet kisses against her jaw and neck, "keep playing kura, don't worry about me. just focus."

the cogs in your brain speed and your heartbeat races with the corruptive thoughts running through your head. you feel yourself heat up at the need to feel her fall apart against you, shaking in your hold. hearing her shaky voice make callouts to her teammates over comms, your greedy hands brushing her sides and trailing her abdomen, mouth leaving wet spots across her exposed collarbone.

you moan against her skin, her body so tense when you touch her, exciting you more than you think is possible. though you wanted to be patient and gentle with her when it comes to intimate moments like this, in your drunken state, it was hard to think straight. and so it slips your mind when your hands trail up to cusp her tits, thumbs rubbing her hard nipples in circles.

your brain short circuits when you hear her whimper right against your ear, kissing her on the cheek and grinding down against her core. you push one of the headphone muffs back, whispering in her ear.

"do you like that baby, like when I touch your naughty little body like this? like when I grind against your aching pussy like that?" you rasp breathily, biting the lobe of her ear and chuckling lowly.

one of her hands fly off of the keyboard and quickly mute her mic, bringing her hand to tangle her fingers with your hair.

"ahhh fuck, y/n-ie, I'm.. that feels so.. ahh," sakura can't contain the moans slipping out of her mouth easily as your grinding continues and your fingers pinch at her hardened buds.

you pull your face away from her heaving chest and bring your lips to grace her own lips, "baby, why'd you stop playing? be a good girl and win for me."

how evil, sakura must be thinking in that little head of hers, clouded with lust.

she whines needily against your lips and you kiss her sweetly in response, "c'mon baby, I'll reward you if you listen to me."

and so she gulps and nods, leaning forward against you before unmuting and returning back to the game. hm, how easy it is to control you my love, you think sinisterly.

pulling ur hands away and getting off of her, looking up at her darting eyes, full of nervousness and excitement, you smirk at the sight. you bring your hands up to the waistband of her sweats, untying the knot and slowly pulling them down.

your eyebrows raise when you see how dark her panties have gotten, wet and practically soaked with arousal.

"you DO like this baby, don't you? looks like a little too much, what do you think?" you bite your lip as you drag a single finger across the whole length of her slit, feeling how damp her underwear truly is.

she whimpers uncontrollably above you, clamping her eyes shut and throwing her head back against the headrest, trying so hard to hold back. you just know her hands are gripped tightly into fists as you press your thumb firmly against her clit through the cloth.

"guys please, we're so close," sakura begs her teammates to wrap up the game, almost a double entendre to your ears.

you look up at her sweetly and innocently, "or take your time my love, I can wait."

she peers down to look at you and frowns, eyes welling up and face scrunched with pleasure. aww, my poor baby, she wants you to stop teasing so bad and just let her fucking cum.

you hook your fingers around her panties and pull them down to pool at her ankles with her sweatpants. you pull her to the edge of her gamer chair by her thighs, your strong grip pushing apart her legs.

"you'll get what you need so bad when you win," god you're so mean :(((

she's aching so bad, the way you can physically see her hole clench around nothing, just by your words and the sheer amount of arousal that courses through her. you can't just let her go untouched, so when you throw her panties and sweats off of her ankles and to the side, lifting her legs to rest on top of your shoulders, hearing her squeal at the movement, and hotly breathe out onto her core, you go dizzy. you swear you're probably much more fucking soaked in your underwear than she is by how turned on you were by the effects you had on her.

none of that mattered right now though, all that did matter and the only thing you focused on was sakura. your precious sakura and her leaking hole. you couldn't resist anymore, diving in and sucking her entrance directly, using your tongue to lap at all the juices that she produced messily all over her pussy.

"fuck y/n!" she moaned, not caring about the game and throwing an arm over her face, hiding behind it.

"shhh, play," you'd mumble against her, flicking your wet muscle on her bundle of nerves.

"I-I can't baby..." kura whined, hearing her start to sob.

no no, couldn't have your baby suffer now could you?

"you can do it, go kura, make me proud," you'd caress her legs sweetly, moving away from her center and kissing her trembling thighs.

"we.. I'm almost, d-done," she shakily said.

at that moment, you heard cheering explode from her headphones, sakura throwing them off and muting her mic.

her hands would fly to gripping one of your hands around her thighs and your hair, "y/n, please please please, god please it hurts so bad."

looking up at her pained and desperate expression, you smiled again, "don't worry, I'll give you your reward my good girl."

diving in greedily finally, thrusting your tongue into her hole, making the most graphic wet noises from your needy mouth and her leaking pussy. the girl above you uncontrollably moaning out your name, gripping your hand and hair tightly, it hurt.

it didn't matter to you as the juice on your tongue was so delicious, the whines filling your ears sounded like music, and the body you held was trembling with pleasure. you closed your eyes as you dug your wet muscle into her and brushed your nose against her clit.

"baby ahh! fuck fuck fuck, yes yes, please don't stop, please god, it feels sosososo good y/n, I beg you, your mouth is insane," sakura would ramble mindlessly.

you listened, being crazily pussy drunk, not being able to breathe but not caring, borderline deep throating her pussy with how deep you dug your face into her. being so horny yourself, grinding against the air and panting into her. your fingers gripped painfully against her thighs, forgetting your entire plan to treat her caringly.

not that sakura seemed to mind, her head was thrown back and mouth hung wide open, eyes rolled back and screaming out profanities with your name. her hand in your hair pushed you deeper into her, grinding her hips desperately against you.

you loosened your grip slightly to let her fuck your face. you wanted to see her lose control because of you badly, so you opened your eyes to look up at her, and you swear you could cum on the spot just by how sinful the sight was. you moaned deeply into her pussy, the vibrations making sakura go insane, her body started to thrash and jolt, humping your face even more.

you slurped hungrily at her, losing any thoughts of technique and simply eating her out how you needed to. after all, kura doesn't care and grinds against your face rabidly, everything feels too fucking good to think.

"CUMMING, CUMMING!" she'd scream out, grip on you tightening even more.

"cum for me," you try mumbling as much as you could, airways practically blocked with her pussy.

sakura's body convulses, shaking with a screaming orgasm, juices squirting from her and drenching your face, chest, and clothes. you almost drown at the contact, but drink all the arousal that escapes.

her body stops violently jolting, only jerking every now and then from the aftershocks of the mindblowing climax she just came from. you release your tight grip as she does also, caressing her thighs softly, and kissing all over her sensitive core and legs. poor baby is completely gone, dazed and exhausted. you pull away from her pussy but make your way up to her face, never fully ripping away from her.

cupping her face and looking at her spent figure. chest raising and falling, mouth open, drool leaking out, cheeks stained with tears, body limp, thighs marked red, neck littered with hickies, her eyes half-lidded, and mumbling.

"y/n-ie, I'm can't," you giggle at how fucked out she is.

the throbbing at your core hurts honestly, but you ignore it, carrying your baby girl off of the chair and onto her bed. your clothes were soaked with her juices, looking back at her desk and seeing remnants of it there too. you'd clean it later, what matters is taking care of your girlfriend now.

"you did so well baby, you can rest," you'd whisper comfortingly in her ear, kissing her lips softly.

"do you want me to get you water? I can run the bath for you?" you offer, rubbing your hands sweetly over her red thighs.

"no, need you here," she'd say, pulling you into a cuddle, passing out on the spot.

you smile and place a peck on sakura's forehead, "okay."

need her so bad...

[raccoonscupoftea]

🎮A Gamers profession

Timeskip!Kenma Kozume X F!Y/n

Summary: Y/n and Kenma are a couple, also living together. While Kenma is streaming and struggling with a game, he soon admitted to need help from you, a professional game breaker.

Warnings: Nerd talk, SFW, possible grammar mistakes, cause english is not my native language.

| MASTERLIST | REQUESTS |

//----//----//----//

You love your job. It's fun, well paying and not so stressful. Kenma, your boyfriend, also likes your job, but sometimes he just wants you to stuff your face with a pillow when he's playing, especially when he's livestreaming.

You often get to know the next top game before everyone else. You get information on a game while it's still in the making and you have to play the game for endless hours before it's officiall release.

You're not designing the game or anything. No, you're here to break the game into pieces, testing limits, testing the code, testing AI. If it breaks, then the developers have more work to do. Or they simply just decide it is going to be a 'feature'. It's their choice. You just deliver the bugs to them.

So, then why does kenma want to shut you up sometimes?

Because of your job, you have developed a very good sense for game mechanics, attack patterns and the more advanced stuff on how a game is build. When Kenma encounteres a boss, he just knows you could beat it in a few minutes. He knows you could rush to an over the top overpowered boss and never get hit once, thou it would take longer to beat it.

It's when Kenma's visibly is frustrated, staring at his screen with an unhealthy posture, you then sometimes get up from your couch and take a look at what he's struggling with. As soon as you got into frame the viewers will start to spam the chat with messages about you.

Mostly just spamming your name but others will write absurd things like "mama's here to help" or "the professional is watching"

You just have to stand behind the chair and kenma starts to tell you to not say anything.

"Don't you dare tell me, I want to find it out myself" he complains and you just put up your hands "I didn't do anything, I'm just watching, but tell me if you need help"

So far he never needed help from you. He of course is an intelligent and very good gamer himself. Never have you doubted him.

___

You're currently on your own pc in a separate Office in your and Kenma's home. With a switch controller in your hands and feet up on a footrest, you happily enjoy playing some animal crossing on the bigger screen of your gaming setup.

Today's quiet cold so you're wearing a wearable blanked with a hoodie combined. It looks like a cat. On your table is a steaming hot tea, waiting to be cooled down a little. You were fishing all around the island in game to get the last fish of the museum collection, but the sporadic waves of tiredness are definitely not doing you a favour when it comes to pressing the right button at the right time. The game definitely knows how to get you so relaxed you could fall asleep right then and there in your gaming chair.

Another wave made you a little more tired than the usual waves. This time you had doze off for a few seconds before jolting back awake and continued your fishing spree. Work definitely was a bit to much with the winter holidays coming up and a lot of new games wanting to be released in early spring. Is also added up to your tiredness.

You glanced over to the time on your Pc and realised it's only 4pm, definitely to early to sleep now. You also know that Kenma was streaming for an hour now, since he always starts at 3pm.

Thou you don't learn from your mistake to play animal crossing while nearly dozing off and just continued, but rather than fishing you instead decided to continue to decorate the island.

It went well for the first hour. You made a plan and checked on the internet if there's the suitable furniture for it. The first decorations had been placed on their right spot, paths has been made but just a few minutes after the first hour, the tiredness has claimed you back.

While you were in the office relaxing every bone to a complete flat line, the person in the other office was nearly about to destroy a keyboard. The boss he was fighting was beating kenma every time to 0 HP. Kenma had stopped yesterday's stream in a near rage quit but today he had to beat it to get further in the game. He hasn't got past the boss and was getting more and more frustrated as well as confused. Sometimes he swears the boss just doesn't take damage and gets a massive attack bonus. Chat is convinced the boss wasn't beatable and was begging to kenma to bring out the game breaker, aka you.

Of course, he denied it at first but after an hour of trying and dying he finally gave up. Without a word he placed down his headphones, pushed his microphone back a little bit and walked out of the frame. His viewers were ecstatic and surprised that he'll need help from you.

As kenma was busting open the door to your office, the loud noise of the door made you jolt up from your chair. Your hair went places and the hoodie blanket went all the way up to your chin, telling kenma without a word that you were sleeping in your chair just now.

"I was definitely not sleeping" You stated in your defense with a sleep drunk voice, but Kenma did not believe you and smiled at how cuddly you looked. With a quick glance at the time you asked the streamer "Quit already? You're usually up till late at night"

Kenma placed his hands in the pocket of the black hoodie he's wearing and sighed, remembering why he's here in the first place "I think the game's bugged. I can't defeat the boss. I tried so many times" He slightly looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed about asking you.

At the word 'bugged' you stood up, placed the switch controller on the desk and walked over to him. You slipped your hands into his hoodie and took his hands in your own. "let's see what I can do"

The two of you went to his streaming room, but before you entered, the hood from your blanket hoodie went over your head to hide this atrocious mess of hair on your head. You quickly checked your appearance in the hallway mirror. As soon as the viewers got a glance at you and what you're wearing, they all typed in chat 'You're looking so cozy rn' 'where did you buy it?' 'looks so fluffy' 'I want to cuddle with you'

You waved at the camera to greed the viewers and kenma gestured you to sit down in his chair. You smiled at your boyfriend and placed your feet also on the chair, making you a cozy fluffy blanket ball.

He then quickly explained to you what he was doing and what was happening. Kenma then also pulled over another chair to sit down and watch you. You first tried your best max out attack and defence with his current equipment, but there wasn't even a slightest chance. You voiced out a small "Huh?" Before trying again.

The viewers could see on your face that something was up. You aren't a streamer and wasn't talking while playing the game and kenma knew to not disturb your concentration, but the viewers still seemed to enjoy watching you trying the best you could. It was the first time you were seriously playing a game with the intention to win and they were all very ecstatic as you tried to not get hit. One could tell how everyone was excited at this moment, the chat also was getting slower.

After half an hour, you had placed down the controller. The boss could hit the hero, because they weren't dodging anymore and the player dies in an instant. The question marks around your head were very visible. Something definitely is not right here. As soon as the game went to its pause menu, the viewers knew something serious it about to happen.

You grabbed the laptop from Kenma, booted it up, put in his password without a fail and went to the internet. The website from your work company appeared after a few clicks and at this moment Kenma realised what was happening.

He looked over to his camera and explained laughing "Guys, I apparently found a bug. Stuffs about to get serious now" The chat was then filled with suprised emojis. It didn't took 5 minutes and a donation came in.

Kenma glanced over to the donation site and read out loud "Thank you catlover51 for the..." He stopped a second as he saw the amount that was donated and was clearly surprised "Thank you for the 100$ and you had written down 'For Y/n, a little compensation gor having to work now' again thank you very much. You really didn't neet to donate so much"

As Kenma read the donation out loud you had began to smile behind the laptop sceen. Others then jumped onto the train as well and donated money from a single dollar to a little lager than 50$. Kenma was slightly overwhelmed my the sheer amount of donations that came in and couldn't stop thanking everyone, nearly shutting down the donation site so no one could waste more money on them. It was then you who calmed them down after finishing your research. You looked back to the camera and placed the laptop to the side "You don't need to pay me for this. It's my job and I love doing it. Also I get paid whenever I work, so I'm currently earning my money. But thank you for your concern" you smiled brightly at them before continuing to try out stuff in the game.

After some time nothing came out of the testing and you sighed. You glance over to your boyfriend, looking like a vet having to tell the owner some bad news. "You can't progress at this point, I'm sorry" His eyes widend "That's a joke right?" You just shook your head "Unfortunately not. You have found a very devastating bug, which stops you from killing the boss. As soon as an attack misses, the supposed damage gets stored and well... When the boss does hit you, then all of that stored damage gets released. That explains the bug with the one shot kill. This bug alone is manageable and already a known issue, but combined with the boss not taking any damage" you smiled at him with a sad face. "I'm sorry"

Kenma sighed and ruffled his hair "It's not your fault" he smiled and ruffled your hair as well. "Guess my save is busted then"

You took his hand in yours and looked him in the eyes. He squeezed your hand a little and looked back at you. There's a little spark in your eyes, telling him that there's something you could do "What are you up to?" He asked directly. Your eyes shift away, making you look innocent, scratching your cheek a little "I could force you out of the situation, by glitching you through a wall"

Usually kenma is against using glitches and exploits in his runs, but this is maybe the first occasion he'll consider it. He first looks at you with squinted eyes but then stood up "I'm going to the bathroom. Whatever you'll do, I'll don't know about it"

You're smile got bigger as he finished talking and went outside. He closed the door and after a little happy dance, you pressed onto respawn and forced the player to another part of the map. The viewers were watching your every step and were happy about you breaking a game infront of them.

As you were finished, you quickly saved the game and stood up, ready to leave.

"In my defence" you started talking into the camera a little bowed down to fit into the frame "I did not test this part of the game. Not my fault" You grabbed the open laptop and blew the viewers a goodbye kiss before you exited the streaming room.

On the way back to your own office, Kenma has finished his bathroom break. He grabbed your wrist before you could vanish into your room. He also grabbed the laptop and placed it on a sideboard. One hand of his wandered over to your waist, so he could pull you a little closer to him. "Thank you" he whisperd and gave you a little kiss on your cheek. "I'll make sure to finish today's stream a little earlier. Can't wait to cuddle you with this fluffy hoodie" he then again kissed your other cheek and headed back over to his room to see an alive character on a giant grassy field.

You on the other hand smiled and had to control your inner fangirl to not just scream and jump around. The viewers for sure could hear you if you were to loud.

You quickly grabbed Kenma's laptop and hid in your room, filling out a formula to get the new bug over to the Developers.

[abibeur]

So. I played Side Order (or rather I finished Side Order, aside from a few completion marks that doesn't offer any spoiler stuff!).

I've been seeing stuff on Tumblr, on Discord servers, on YouTube comments by people who were… Not entirely happy with it. Or rather disappointed. "They could have done more…", "This character was underused…", "I preferred the Octo Expansion…", "Let's re-write it for something better…". And let me tell you, I was (and still am) infuriated when reading these. Not because those comments and posts and messages were unfair, unjust and idiotic or anything (well maybe the re-writing thing was uncalled for), but because I actually loved that DLC. I think that's pretty normal to be angry with seeing a thing you love being shit on, even if I get what all of you meant. But I still wanted to share my own thoughts (because why not, I like saying what I think).

First and foremost, let me just say that I have a pretty different relation with Splatoon than most people. I was in since the release of the first game. I didn't play it due to a lack of Wii U, but I watched a lot of videos. And I liked it! I even had Splatoon OCs, I could be considered a fandom veteran at this point! But after some years, I put it at the back of my head as something I loved. When the Switch came out, I didn't have the money for it and no one would buy me one, so I continued to be a PC gamer. And when I saw the news of a Splatoon 2, I dismissed it like it was something silly, "what can you say more about Splatoon!?" I knew there was some new idols, some stuff about a DLC, Callie being kidnapped, but that's all. I dismissed all of this, and as a result I don't have much of an attachment for it. But in 2021, when I saw the news about a third game, I was ecstatic again. And in 2022, when I finally could afford it, I bought a Switch. Not just any Switch, the Splatoon themed one, and I pre-ordered the game. And when it came out, I spent less than a day to finish the story mode, and it was one of the best day of my life, I played Splatoon for 16 entire hours. Splatoon 3 is now my most played game on the Switch, more than 300 hours (that can seem not that much for some of you, but I'm a casual gamer, I don't play every day, so that's still a lot!). I even bought Splatoon 2 and the Octo Expansion after that. Splatoon 2 story mode was incredible, because that's the game I never got to play but more mastered. Octo Expansion was incredible, because it was… incredible. But I still liked Splatoon 3 story mode better. Is it because I've played it before? Because I hadn't the one year of unskippable Off the Hook news to make me like them before the DLC (to be fair I didn't know much of Deep Cut too!)? Because it clicked more on me? Honestly I don't care. It's not important, because it's still my preferences. But let met tell you, when the news of Splatoon 3 DLC dropped, I was roaring. Every crumbs of news and trailers widened my life expectancy. I was finally sharing the hype that you felt for Octo Expansion. And…

Two days ago, I played it. And I loved it. Why? Why did I love it where so many people seem disappointed? This will not be an analysis, I'm not good at those, just… Here's how I see things. Also there will be huge spoilers so if you haven't censored the tags for whatever reason, I will hide it beneath a read more because I'm nice.

First, the gameplay. When I heard it was going to be a roguelite, I was intrigued, because it seemed interesting. I was wondering how it was going to play out, more like The Binding of Isaac, or like Hades… Okay I only played those two. And it was like Hades. But I think the best thing to come out of this gameplay is… Well, the fact is every mission from all other story modes (including octo expansion) are pretty much the same in that they have an intended way to be beaten. Sure, for OE and S3 you have a choice of weapons, and there's probably unorthodox ways to finish them (including speedruns), but it's still organised around a specific way to deal with the levels. You go at one point and there you're done. And that's why I will never re-play the story modes I already finished. I know the ropes, so… Why? But here… The gameplay itself doesn't change much. It's an amalgamation of most Splatoon gameplay since now, Salmon Run, Ranked Match, Octo Expansion levels… But the way you APPROACH this gameplay is different and that's why every thing changes. Because you are now free to choose. You don't want a stage? Choose another one, the cost of a good chip and membux not being that punishing, you want a specific type of chip? Go for it! There is so much fun combos to do, I have fun at every run! They told us it was going to be replayable. And they haven't failed to give. Because when I want to replay a game, then I know it's good. Aside of multiplayer games and games made to be replayable (TBOI, Dishonored…), some of favourite games are Half-Life 2 (my favourite game in general), Hollow Knight and Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story. Once you've finished exploring it all, well there is nothing else. But I still want to experience it again. And again. I have tens and even hundreds of hours on each of them. So yeah. If a game makes me want to replay it, I like it! And also… The final fight. The "phase 2" of the final fight. It was probably the most satisfying gameplay in all of Splatoon. Every path you took? Every path you didn't take? It was there. And you could experience it all together and finally finish your first run, empowered by it, in-game and outside. This was so good. I really wish we will get updates like more stages, bosses or even chips, because wow.

Secondly, the atmosphere. This point will be much shorter, but holy shit this game was incredible to be immersed into. The cold and sanitised atmosphere of the Spire? Amazing. Obvious Portal and liminal spaces vibes, but hey. And the music… Really the music makes a lot of it. The final fight music is absolutely incredible, one more time, and the credits theme is probably my favourite credits theme of every Splatoon game and DLC (that VIOLIN, that heckin' VIOLIN). I wouldn't be able to say which one of Octo Expansion and Side Order's atmospheres was my favourite. I guess I'm less sensitive to childhood memories and such but hey. Both DLC's atmospheres were incredible good.

Finally… The sore point of everything I guess, the story. I guess we expected more. Even myself, I expected something darker, deeper, more mysterious and esoteric… Have I been disappointed. No. I understand that some people were, but I am not. And frankly, I feel like I don't have to be. Like what do we really wished for? More octoling lore? Marina's past uncovered? Mature themes and dark atmosphere? I am just describing Octo Expansion. We didn't need Octo Expansion 2.0. Every theme that I've seen wished for? Octo Expansion tackled them, greatly even. So did we really need to do the same thing again? I feel like Splatoon 3 was the great conclusion of the other games' story modes, where all marine life finally united against the common enemy: mammals, the past of Earth's life coming back for its great revival. And it was a spectacular conclusion. And Side Order was Octo Expansion's conclusion. But it wasn't that bombastic, it was more of a calm conclusion, an epilogue of some sort. Marina wasn't in great danger or anything (well she was but less than we expected), we didn't need to expand the damsel in distress role for confirming Marina and Pearl's relation (which was pretty much hinted on greatly without it lmao), we already knew that. We didn't need some dramatic story about Marina's departure's effect on the one she was close to, like some people predicted for Acht. I think some fan comics explored this way better and Nintendo telling their own version would have been disappointing either for it or for the fan comics' versions! We didn't need more insights on Eight, because once again Octo Expansion ALREADY did this. Eight seems happy with their new name and identity, so why should we uncover more? They already won a lot with Octo Expansion and their sacrifices would have been dull if there were reveals on "who they really are".

Nah. Side Order, how I see it, is a story about fixing the damage made in the Octo Expansion. It's a story about recovery. About finally confirming your place in the world and accepting that everything will not be like you think it will. Acht is not there to expose Marina's errors, Acht is there to show how this recovery can work. She symbolises every octoling Marina left when she quit the army and ESPECIALLY every octoling she swore to help. And she's also there because it would have been less interesting to see an octoling we've never seen before, especially since she is an octoling we knew got Kamabo Co.'d! Every palette is someone we already know, an anchor to the world of Splatoon, and for Eight, an anchor to their memories, as the locker was their palette. As they know more and more people, they know more and more where their place in the world is. And the end of your first run? The start of the final boss phase 2? Yeah the music is Pearl, Marina and Acht's. But it is Eight's pulse that got everything back together. Their heart beating made the world beating again. They found freedom, now they found their place in the world. They're finally complete. Like you complete your palette with every chips at once. Octo Expansion final fight was their last fight for freedom. But I think this was their last fight for identity.

But outside of that, I think Order/Smollusk is more than that. More and more we advance through completing the palettes, we learn that Smollusk is the result of Marina's wish for order in her life (and her fellow octolings') and especially the other octolings developers dreams. And I think that's really important, because after that, we learn that why Smollusk still fights us is because it's… alone. And Acht seemingly understands that. You know why this is? Why it doesn't understand Marina's intentions by "betraying" it? Because Marina, as opposed to the other developers and Acht, found someone. She found her partner for life, the love of her life you could say, she found someone else that could offer her something great. And I think the other developers didn't find that companionship, so they had other goals with the Memverse, and Acht, left behind by Marina, felt this loneliness too, taking refuge in music, so that's why she understood what Smollusk felt. I think Splatoon story is a lot about isolation, solitude and loneliness. The (Inkadian) octolings were chased from the surface, living in the underground, isolated and forced into military life. When they risked survival, they stole the great zapfish and we sent then back into the dark. So they retaliated by stealing it again and also kidnapping Callie, separating Marie from the person she holds dearest (while Callie thought she could offer them company and finally uniting back the two people). Octo Expansion was also about isolation from the surface, for everyone involved and Tartar… Well the mammal (and adjacent) survivors don't really have it well, huh? Judd was made immortal, a great lonely situation for one of the last mammals, even if the professor give him Lil Judd for that (isolating the latter from self expression, oops!), Tartar wanted finally someone who could understand the knowledge he was bearing, and in his final instants was longing to return to the professor and for Grizz… We saw what happened in the logs! But this is not where it ends. The first final Splatfest was literally choosing between the Squid Sister, separating one from the other. And when the Splatocalypse happened, we thought it would be the same, that both option were going to be negative. A endless world of anomy where nothing makes sense against a cold and dystopic dictatorship. But we saw Chaos rather meant a world of differences where anyone can be what they want to be and still be reunited with people. So now we see what Order meant: reuniting people by putting them on equal terms. And at the end, that's what you and Smollusk agreed on! He'd be a difficult final boss and you'd be a formidable opponent for him! Splatfests weren't meant to be divisive or anything, it's just a fun way to see what do people choose in their life. So to face loneliness and meet new and fun people, what will you choose? Chaos or Order?

I guess I understand if it wasn't the story you wanted to see. But I liked it either way, as I also struggle with loneliness and finding my place in the world. And as I also like roguelites!

[animatedjen]

hello animatedjen!! I hope your day has been beautiful 🧡 I've recently moved into an apartment and have decided to get a gaming monitor for my PS5, so I can game at my desk and save some space while still enjoying photo mode sessions. if I remember correctly you play Jedi on PC, so maybe my question for you isn't relevant, but is there a monitor you use & like or would recommend for this purpose? I know these things are expensive and you seemed like a good person to ask about getting my investment right the first time around! especially since I would also use it for professional photo & video editing on occasion, and I know that's relevant to your career field as well. any advice you have on making a flexible set up would be so appreciated! thank you in advance!! I hope this question isn't too bothersome! P.S. I want you to know that you're a micro celebrity amongst my coworker friends because they see your photo mode shots rotate as my desktop wallpapers all day every day haha 😅

Congrats on the apartment!! And I'm very honored to be your work desktop wallpaper 💛 Respawn should be giving you a referral bonus!

Right now I'm using a Gigabyte QHD 34" ultrawide gaming monitor I got secondhand. Good specs for the price, but it's not super color accurate when compared to my Macbook retina screen - it could be calibrated more via software or a physical tool, but for now I use the monitor for gaming, general life stuff, and pre-color editing. I have a DP cable for the PC and HDMI for the Macbook or PS5, so it's easy to switch between devices.

The ultrawide aspect ratio also means I crop my photomode shots to 16:9 to post on socials, since 21:9 photos are very skinny (see above) and people often scroll Tumblr on their small, vertically-oriented phone screens. On the plus side, it's great for video editing since I can see more of the timeline at once. And no black bars during Jedi Survivor cutscenes!

You'll have to decide your budget and what specs are most important to you for photo/video work - I'd recommend a screen somewhere between 24" and 34", with QHD (2K) or UHD (4K) resolution. A higher refresh rate (at least 60hz, if not 120/144/240hz) helps for gaming and video with higher framerates. Color accuracy is tricky, but if you're not creating high-end photo prints or color grading for Netflix, something good (but not perfect) will be just fine. Some monitors will be better for gaming, and some better for photo/video editing, so decide which one to prioritize.

I've seen ASUS ProArt, Dell UltraSharp, and BenQ monitors recommended when I've shopped around before, but I skew towards non-gamer, Mac-friendly tech since more of my client work is on that system and the Jedi stuff is (sadly) not my paid job (yet). But if any other gamer/creative professionals want to drop recs in the comments, y'all probably know more than I do! 🙌

Thanks for the ask and sorry I can't be more helpful. Look forward to seeing the photomode shots from your new monitor :)

[galaxychaos78]

Gamer!boyfriend Trio Headcanons!

lowkey feel like Naruto's a strict console only player. He tried to play on PC, but found it too complicated to use. shit me too Naruto.

absolute GARBAGE at Mario Kart like oh my god he cannot handle anything higher than 50cc

huge Pokemon fan and is a Pikachu fanboy

has broken a few controllers, not out of rage, but because he keeps smashing the buttons thinking it'll make him better at the game

really into fighting games, but also winds down with Pokemon or Sonic games

is a pretty respectable loser and always compliments his opponent on their skills. has made a few friends just from being nice. however if he runs into a shit talker, they're about to get their shit rocked.

likes to make you involved in the games he plays no matter how little.

has you customize and name his characters and picks the stats. He also lets you pick the choices in story based games

he loves playing games while laying back against your lap & having you play with his hair

feel like kiba's also a console only player. he's one of those people who just has an entire bookshelf with xbox and switch games

he really enjoys rouge-like games and pixel indie games (Hades, Hollow Knight)

100% a COD/Apex Legends player

has the biggest fucking ego when he wins, but is a shit talker as SOON as he loses

one of those gamers who camps out stores to get his hands on a new game

has the WORST LUCK on Mario Party. Like literally ends up last no matter what, yet still keeps playing

teaches you how to play Apex and Overwatch and by teach I mean this man literally TRAINS YOU to be good

does not hold back in 1v1's cause "If I hold back you won't get good."

but he's always giving you tips whenever you lose a game and encouragement when you win

cries when you get your first Play of The Game

soon y'all are a feared Overwatch pocket duo. Genji/Mercy, Reinhardt/Ana, Lucio/DVA.

has you sit in his lap while he plays and gives you forehead kisses before every round starts

this man just has a Switch and a PC & has fully fleshed out Minecraft servers on both

to no one's surprise, he's really into Minecraft and Stardew Valley. he likes being able to do things at his own pace.

but also enjoys RPG's like Octopath Traveler and Final Fantasy

the worst person to play Mario Kart with because he knows all of the fucking shortcuts

AN ABSOLUTE DEMON IN SMASH BROS. mains Mii Brawler, Ridley, and Bowser JR

makes the most intricate yet aesthetically pleasing Animal Crossing island

the two of you have shared Minecraft servers and Stardew Valley farms

is the luckiest Mario Party player ever. LITERALLY will have no coins and lose EVERY MINIGAME and still win somehow

really into games like Fallout and Skyrim, but does not care about his reputation. Like he's the type to always pick the fight option no matter what.

takes notes on what games you seem interested in and buys them for you.

will find a way to marry you in any co-op game that allows it and will get mad if you romance any character that isn't him. "I'm the only person you should be romancing."

"Shika, those are pixels."

"A set of pixels that wanna steal my girlfriend."

[marshvlovestv]

I don't think I have ever in my entire life as a gamer had five active playthroughs of five different games going at once. I'm loving them all and at any given time I can't decide which one I should be playing AHH I am overwhelmed.

Another Crab's Treasure is my Switch game, it is a never-ending creative revelation and a feast for the senses but also sometimes it makes me feel homicidal.

Hades II is Hades II. Yeah. I've only had one session with it so far, but god knows if I weren't Let's Playing it I would have like. 50 hours in it already somehow.

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is on its second playthrough, and I'm actually, like. Leaving the colony this time! There are all new mechanics and a drastically altered gameplay loop! It's just like when I leave my house in real life.

Neon White is the only PC game I am not currently Let's Playing. My brother played it so I can talk about it with him, which is awesome, and also I'm genuinely really invested in the story. But they just introduced tripwires so I'm not having fun anymore. They're bad enough as obstacles but why do they have to count as demons too!

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is stupid and ridiculous. I love it. Literally only person is watching my videos of it but they always watch the whole thing so I'm super grateful for that but also. Damn I thought Turnip Boy would be a hit.

[mumms-the-word]

Hi! I found your blog through your post about new DA fans in the tags! So I played through Origins and DA 2 as a mage for the first time and absolutely loved the combat and the gameplay, but I'm really struggling in Inquisition. It feels so choppy and like I have no control over anything, and on PC, you can't even see what the spells do when you hover over them on your toolbar. Do you have any tips or advice or know of any good add-ons?

Yeah I don't think DAI won game of the year for combat reasons, let's be completely honest here.

I can give you some advice but warning it is HEAVILY colored by my personal preferences when playing the game, which I mostly did on console (I only got the PC version a few weeks ago and haven't had much time to tinker around with it because I've been replaying DAO).

I'll put random bits of advice under the cut!!

Controls

First bit of super biased advice: If you're using the tactical gameplay mode and you hate it--just don't use it. Just don't! Unless it's a skill you want to keep pouring into, I'd just abandon it for now. It's terribly configured and I hate it so much. It's moderately better on PC but on console it was super un-fun to me and I think the only time I used it was to move party members out of the way of AOE attacks because their AI is wacky sometimes.

(That said, if you are a micro-manager who is like "No I need absolute control over this team" then the tactical camera IS for you. I am just a lazy gamer who plays DA games on casual or easy most of the time because I dislike the combat and want to get to cutscenes and dialogues faster. From what I remember about using it, though, it's definitely more like a "set up your next attack and then press play, then pause and set up the next attack, then press play, etc" kind of thing, which sucks for big group fights but works for big dragon fights or whatever.)

To me the game plays much better in live combat mode, but that was on console, where all I had to do was hold down the right trigger for endless attacks and then use the shortcut buttons. This is not the case for keyboard and mouse, because holding down a right click or R is tedious and isn't fun after a while.

Having messed around a tiny bit with DAI PC controls (and being a staunch console player for decades) I can say that I hate the PC controls, but I always tend to hate keyboard and mouse controls. I guess my advice here is to either remap the keyboard to suit you, which you should always do anyway for any game where they make that possible, or try playing with a console controller (which is what I'm planning on doing).

Controls aside, my issue with the combat is that if it isn't choppy, due to controls, it's...boring? At least until you get more abilities and specializations. I definitely played on casual for most of my multiple playthroughs because I just couldn't be bothered to learn the combat system forwards and backwards. I was playing the game because I loved the story and the banter and the open world concept, which was new to DA at the time.

The combat DOES get more fun/better once you start unlocking more abilities to use, but that does take a small bit of time. I'm not sure about any mods at the moment to help with the ability descriptions but maybe someone in the replies will know! For me, I think I just got used to memorizing them...which, now that I think about it, is poor accessibility.

Battle Advice

I can come back later with some PC-specific advice but for now, I can say that if you switch to live-combat mode, then it's a matter of playing the game as a damage control strategy. You're going to get hit, because there are no robust evasion options and no blocking at all (from what I remember), so you have to adapt with that knowledge in mind.

Keep up your Barrier and Guard abilities, because the temporary HP they give you is essential to surviving a fight. Potions suck. There is no healing. So it's better to tack on as much temporary HP through Barrier and Guard before enemies start chipping away at your actual HP.

Focus your efforts on crowd control (freezing enemies, stunning them, etc) and taking down distance fighters (archers, mages) first, because like I said, you're going to get hit, and every distance fighter has a near-perfect homing beacon on you with their projectiles. The squishier mooks need to go down first so they don't pester the hell out of you when fighting bigger things. Bigger things are slower, they can wait.

Also, adjust your companion's tactics (this is worth doing in any DA game) so that they use the abilities and spells you want to see more often. Having Barrier set as a preferred spell so your mages use it more often is honestly an essential tactic choice, and I'd say the same for upper-level Guard abilities.

A balanced party can make or break a battle encounter. The AI isn't always great (I guess that's what tactical view is for) but in general you always want a warrior to be up front taking hits while at least one mage and one other distance fighter (another mage, or Varric/Sera as an archer) is staying out of direct damage but still dishing hits and status effects. Your fourth companion (or you) can make up any difference that needs filling after that.

If you're playing a mage, use Fade Step to get out of range quickly and then get used to being the battlefield controller--you can deal damage, but you can also more quickly apply status effects (freezing, burning, etc) than anyone else. Fade Step + Tactical Camera to readjust + see what's going on the battlefield + then make your next move = might end up being your best friend, if you're a tactical mage player lol

Status effects and elemental damage do way more than you think. Way more than you think.

Don't be afraid to use grenades. They're more effective than they seem, and Jar of Bees is just fun in general.

And lastly, keep up with your weapons and armor. Schematics will be your best friend because they allow you to craft and upgrade weapons and armor until they're almost OP for your level. Nothing you find as loot will top a Masterwork version of a high-tier weapon or armor you make yourself.

I don't know if ANY of that helped, but maybe!! Hopefully you'll hit your stride soon and enjoy various aspects of the game!! <3

[lauramkaye]

Disco Elysium For Beginners

So apparently my cunning plan is working and some of my mutuals are interested in learning more about my recent obsession by playing the game Disco Elysium. Great!!! In your honor, and so that I will have more people to talk about the game with, I present to you Laura's Beginner's Guide to Playing Disco Elysium.

What Is It Even About?

Hope, despair, poverty, the human condition, politics, pinball, art, love, loss, communism, experiencing a bisexual awakening in your forties, colonization, dancing, substance use disorders, unions, mental illness, truth, trying to be a good person in a completely broken society, beauty, the end of the world, joy, complicated relationships, kindness, intersectionality, the complex and problematic nature of the profession of police detective, cryptids, juvenile delinquents, PTSD, and falling helplessly in love with Kim Kitsuragi.

Oh wait, did you mean the plot?

You play as an amnesiac detective who wakes up after an apocalyptic bender that obliterated his memories. There is a dead body hanging in a tree behind your hotel, and you are there to find out who killed him with the help of Kim Kitsuragi, a detective from another precinct who has also been put on the case and who will be your partner while you are in town. You can, as the official site puts it, "become a hero, or an absolute disaster of a human being."

Where to Get It

Disco Elysium is available for Mac and PC via Steam and for XBox and Playstation (both current and previous generation) and Nintendo Switch. The current version is "The Final Cut" which includes full voice acting. The Steam version goes on sale pretty frequently - I'd keep an eye on Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales if you're interested in picking it up. The MSRP is $40 but you can often find it for around $20 if you look for a sale - the PS4 version is $17 on Amazon right now (11/15/2022).

I'm Not Really A Gamer, Can I Still Play?

Absolutely! DE does not require any "twitchy" gameplay - you interact with the game by reading/listening to text, selecting dialogue options to talk to people, and clicking things/people to interact with them in some way. It runs very much like a tabletop RPG, where all the uncertain things are decided by skill checks and dice rolls.

Notably, DE is quite replayable even though the solution to the mystery doesn't change, because different character builds will have very different experiences and may even see completely different sidequests and dialogue. Unlike most RPGs, DE makes many checks silently, in the background, and if you don't pass the check you just don't see the relevant content and never know you missed anything. I'm on my third full and sixth partial playthrough and I still find new things.

Mechanically, playing Disco Elysium goes something like this:

Go into a new area.

Look around. You will see little colored circles appearing, either on top of items/people in the environment, or sometimes around your player character's head.

Click on the colored circles to interact with them. You will learn something, do something, or start a conversation.

Doing stuff and talking to people gives you XP! Every time you get 100 XP, you get one Skill Point. You can either use it to increase one of your skills, unlock a slot in your Thought Cabinet, or forget a Thought from your Thought Cabinet. You don't have to spend them right away; you can save them up if you want to.

Once you have clicked everything you want to click and talked to everyone you want to talk to for now, go somewhere else.

Repeat.

What the Hell is a Thought Cabinet?

As you go through the game, you will unlock "thoughts" that you can ponder. You have a certain number of slots in your "thought cabinet" where you can be mulling over an idea; you start with three slots and can unlock more up to a max of 12. Thoughts will have certain effects while you are thinking about them, which might be positive or negative. While you are still thinking them over, you can equip or unequip them at will. Each "thought project" takes a specific amount of time.

Once you have spent the designated time on a thought project, you will see the message "Breakthrough Imminent" and then you will "internalize" the thought. The thought will have effects on the gameplay, which can include skill buffs and debuffs or other effects. Once the thought is internalized, you can no longer unequip it. It will take up that slot permanently unless you spend another skill point to forget it.

So what thoughts should I internalize?

A lot of them are mainly for flavor or role-playing but a few notable ones:

Actual Art Degree gives you bonus XP when you pass a passive Conceptualization check. This is the most common passive check in the game, so AAD is the thought to take if you want to get as many skill points as possible. You unlock the thought by talking about art as much as you can.

Get Jamais Vu as early as you can on Day 1 by talking with Joyce Messier at the dock. It opens up some key dialogue options and skill checks as well as giving you bonus XP whenever you click an orb.

Ace's High or Ace's Low gives you extra Empathy bonuses towards Kim. Which you will want, because Kim is the Best.

Wompty-Dompty-Dom Centre is available starting on Day 3 and will give you $2 and some XP when you pass an Encyclopedia check.

Homo-Sexual Underground. Its only effect is to allow you to talk about sexuality with Kim. Therefore it is the most important thought in the game, because approximately 90% of players will be in love with Kim by the second in-game day.

Okay, What About Skills?

Your character "build" (strengths, weaknesses, abilities, etc.) is primarily determined by two things that you can adjust as the game progresses by spending Skill Points: Skills and Thoughts.

Skills in DE are similar to skills in other RPGs in that they determine how good you are at various things. The main difference is that instead of the more traditional skills like strength, dexterity, or charisma, DE has skills like Savoir Faire, Rhetoric, and Empathy. As befits a game that emphasizes the story and characters over combat, the skills are a lot less about how good you are at punching monsters and a lot more about the state of your character's head. The skills are broken down into four categories:

Blue or Intellect skills - brainy stuff like Logic, Rhetoric, and Encyclopedia.

Purple or Psyche skills - emotional stuff like Empathy, Volition, and Authority.

Red or Physical skills - the condition of your physical body. Endurance, Electrochemistry, and Pain Threshold live here.

Yellow or Motorics skills - how well you use your physical body. Things like Hand Eye Coordination, Perception, and Composure.

There are good descriptions of each skill in the game. At the beginning, you can choose from three predefined archetypes (Thinker, Sensitive, or Physical) or create your own by allocating 12 points between the four skill categories and picking one skill as your "signature."

What Is The Best Skill Build?

There isn't an "best" one! You can play the game equally successfully with any build, but different builds will feel very different to play, especially early in the game.

That said, I would recommend against doing a 3-3-3-3 build because it just won't be as fun. Most skills generally start to really show effects at around a 4, and failing skill checks is often funny and shouldn't lock you out of completing any checks except if you've done something really unusual.

Basically the "best" build for you is whatever is the most fun - pick something that speaks to you and go for it.

In general, Intellect builds will get a lot of worldbuilding and lore and be really good at detecting. Psyche builds will have a better sense of other people and the world and strong intuition. Physical builds tend to be able to punch their way through obstacles but aren't very smart or empathetic and struggle with following their gut instincts/cravings without thinking about it. Motorics builds will find several early-game skill checks a lot easier for them and will be good at skills like shooting, picking locks, noticing stuff, keeping cool under pressure, and talking about cars.

Some key things to consider when deciding on your character build:

Encyclopedia is the skill that gives you lore and worldbuilding information.

If you want to min-max your build to get as many skill points as possible, make sure you have good Conceptualization so you can unlock the thought Actual Art Degree.

Esprit de Corps is similar to Empathy, but it works specifically on other cops. Doing a run with high EDC helps unlock a ton of lore about many of the other key characters in the game.

Electrochemistry will try to get you to drink, smoke, have sex, and take drugs. It will also give you insights into the drinking/smoking/drugging/sex habits of others. VERY high EC will allow you to unlock a leopard-print unitard underwear option for your player character.

You have two health pools, Health and Morale. Health is affected by the Endurance skill and Morale is affected by the Volition skill. If you start a game with only 1 point in either purple or red skills, that can mean you die very easily early in the game. My first playthrough I did a high INT build and I died in the first room of the game from turning on the lights even though I had a terrible hangover. So just be aware.

Shivers is my favorite skill in the game and I'm not alone there. Shivers allows you to have a connection to your city. A lot of the best moments in the game come during Shivers checks and the writing is generally really evocative. Great for atmosphere.

My favorite skills are Esprit de Corps for character knowledge, Shivers for cool atmosphere, and Drama because Drama is just really funny.

What Else Do I Need To Know?

If you seem stuck, go somewhere else and talk to more people OR spend a skill point to level up a skill.

You can zoom in and out. My first playthrough I didn't realize this for a while and kept missing certain characters who were standing somewhere I needed to be zoomed out to see.

A lot of things that are usually part of game menus have to be unlocked. You get a map by buying it at the bookstore. You get your stats and to-do list by finding your police ledger.

Cuno seems horrible but if you gain his trust there's a lot of depth to his character. There is also a potential ending where Cuno acts as your partner during the endgame.

Do the sidequests. They are often the best stories in the game.

Don't be TOO afraid of disappointing Kim. If you avoid being racist/sexist/hurting people, he will usually come around.

That said, if you play as a terrible person he won't be your friend anymore. I don't know how people can take the emotional trauma of that, but some people do!

Save frequently, Just In Case.

Don't be too hasty to reset. Let things play out. Most of the deaths are pretty funny and sometimes you might think you died but really you didn't.

That said, it's fine to reload a save if you messed something up. It's a single player game, it isn't "cheating" to do this if you want to.

If you fail the red check at the church it is extra double okay to reload a save and make that not have happened. (This is probably one of the two highest-stakes skill checks in the game because if you succeed you get one of the best scenes in the game and if you fail you get one of the worst.)

Look at everything and talk to everyone.

I like to keep at least one unused skill point at all times in case I need to unlock a skill check I've failed once.

If you arrest someone or send the body to Processing, Kim will be gone for the rest of the day. There are some things you can only do with him and some you can only do without him, so plan accordingly.

Hope this helps and always feel free to ask if you want more help/get stuck/need hints/just want to scream about the game with me!!

[soulnottainted]

Good Evening and Happy October! I bid you welcome.

Featuring my spooky F/Os from media such as Universal Monsters, Gh//ost, Hall//oween Horror Nights, and other spooky/horror media, some even obscure! Spooky parents rISE!

Hi there! I'm Kelsey, 23, pronouns she/her, a smol asexual, and I'd like to be your friend and talk about our f/os together maybe! I interact via my main blog captainkelsohub. I don't ever post there though so I don't recommend following it.

| My F/Os | MyBYF/DNI | My Writing | My Carrd | My Commissions Offerings |

💀 Please read my BYF/DNI before interacting! I appreciate it.

💀 Current big fixations are Gh//ost, FNAF SB, and Universal Monsters, but other fandoms include Star Wars, the MCU, and Transformers. I also have a BUNCH of obscure F/Os as well. I'm half spooky vibes half sci-fi vibes with a touch of cozy vibes.

💀 Other interests include record collecting, playing games via my PC or Nintendo Switch, roleplaying (have you SEEN how many rp blogs I have??), collecting theme park memorabilia and learning about theme parks themselves, watching videos about theme parks as well as exploring abandoned places and watching gamers do their thing, learning about movie making, collecting antique tea sets, and scrapbooking.

💀 I do have a LOT of self inserts that are just me, but also a lot of them have very detailed backstories of how I fit into the media, so please do ask about them if you have questions!

💀 I am very shy and honestly if I jump into your IMs, that is a huge jump for me. I'm very introverted when it comes to starting conversation, so please come by and say hi! I'd love to talk with you, I hope to interact with you soon, and be friends! The more friends the merrier, honestly!

Stay for a cup of tea, won't you?

[belsaas]

An ode to the iRiver iHP-120

For whatever reason, I've found myself deeply nostalgic for high school as of late. And for me, that is intractable from nostalgia for what is perhaps the peak mp3 player ever made:

The iRiver iHP-120 was released in 2003, my sophomore year of high school, and it changed my life. This thing held an astounding 10GB of music—for comparison, most mp3 players at the time were flash based, and held 128 or 256 MB of music. The only big competitor at the time was the 1st generation iPod, a mac-exclusive device that transferred data over firewire and had to be synced using the fledgling iTunes. Juxtapose that to iRiver, who took what I like to call the "we don't give a fuck" approach:

When you plugged in the iHP-120 with USB 2.0, it just showed up as an external hard drive—you could throw whatever you wanted on there. Naturally, it could read mp3 files, but this thing introduced me to the world of audio codecs and processing in a way nothing could have prepared me. WMA files worked fine (a big deal at the time because of DRM issues, during the heyday of KaZaA and Limewire). You want to play uncompressed .WAV files? No problem, put them on there. FLAC files? Absolutely, let your audiophile freak flag fly. Fucking OGG Vorbis files played on this thing. Hell, you could put text files on here and read them.

(The firmware for these was also basically open-source, and people did even crazier stuff with them. By the time I retired my player, it could do gapless playback, crossfading, 10-band equalizing, normalization and more. I think I also changed the boot screen to a picture of Sailor Moon.)

But the magic didn't end at uploading music to the iHP-120—controlling this thing was more intuitive than any other device around at the time. All of your music was displayed on the player in whatever folder structure you loaded onto the device—navigating the music was as simple as using Windows Explorer. You had your standard play/pause, skip forward/back and volume controls on the front joystick, but what are the other buttons for?

Yeah. This thing was also a portable recorder. At anytime you could just hold down the Rec button and start recording with the onboard mic, or using an external input (more on that later). On the right side, an A-B Interval control. You ever wanted to just listen to one part of a song on repeat to learn the lyrics? Just hold down the button. Lastly a hold switch to disable control inputs while it was in your pocket—no accidentally pausing the music.

Okay, back to the external input mentioned before. The top of the iHP-120 is wild.

The top I/O panel of the iRiver iHP-120, with 4 jacks.

From right to left, you have a 3.5mm headphone jack (naturally), a 2.5mm microphone jack, the remote control port (more on this in a bit), and in white you have Line In/Out jacks which you could use to record as well as just plug in a second pair of headphones for a friend—jacks which support both 3.5mm analog input, as well as 3.5mm TOSLINK optical cables.

The TOSLINK 3.5mm male plug. A plug I only ever encountered on this device and the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium, a sound card I wrote a review of in 2009 which seems to still be up at PC Gamer and reading it now I don't know how any of my writing was ever published, let alone in print.

Chances are good you've never encountered this, it's phenomenally uncommon, and TOSLINK as a whole largely died with the emergence of HDMI—but this fucking mp3 player could both record and transmit fiber optic audio in uncompressed stereo or lossy 7.1 surround sound. In high school, I would plug the iHP-120 into our home theatre and listened to Porcupine Tree's Stupid Dream on repeat (side tangent, I'm pretty sad 5.1 album recording never really caught on, but the Dolby Atmos music format is better in every way, and I'm grateful Apple is bringing it into the mainstream).

"Okay, so we have an music player/text reader/voice recorder with optical audio, and basically every codec under the sun, what else could you go on about Erika?"

-you, the person reading this

THE REMOTE

Let me take you back to 2003. I was a depressed theatre kid teenager who would listen to Rooney on repeat on my Koss UR40s while crying over a girl who wanted nothing to do with me.

The Koss UR40 Headphones I wore like a fashion accessory everyday.

The other thing I wore everyday besides those headphones? Baggy cargo pants (it was acceptable at the time, I swear). Inside the right cargo pocket was my iRiver iHP-120, and clipped to the velcro flap of that cargo pocket was the iHP-115R remote control.

The iHP-120 remote unit

Every function of the iHP-120 could be controlled from this little fucker. Play/pause and stop buttons. Volume, skip track and recording are all here on rocker switches. You could even change the fucking bitrate of playback on this little thing, all without taking the actual mp3 player out of your pocket because the LCD screen on the remote has all the same info you'd get on the main unit.

The remote itself connected to the iRiver with that big plug you can see in the picture above (shamelessly stolen from Nathan Edwards who I worked with at PC Gamer in the late 2000s and only while writing this post discovered has already written a much more professional ode to the beauty of the iHP-120 this year).

You would plug your headphones into the remote, (or in my case you could also plug in your 1988 Chevrolet 2500 suburban's tape deck adaptor and have controls at your fingertips. No more distracted driving).

An image of a 1988 Chevorlet 2500 diesel Suburban. Not super relevant but god I miss my high school suburban. We would take the rear and middle benches out and put a queen-size mattress in the back, which 9 of my friends would ride on as we went to Little Caesar's for lunch. Also, cars just looked way fucking better back then.

I think I'm about done waxing nostalgic, but I really do miss the days of discrete devices—I kind of find myself fighting back against my smartphone. I have a camera I carry around, a pen and paper planner and writing notebook, and a kindle for reading. There's something appealing about not having my phone be my access to music either—rather, having a device that I just threw my music on and it plays it really well was rad. The iHP-120 was really fucking rad.

[uncloseted]

Do you game? I recently got a switch and gaming computer but I'm not sure what games to pick up

I do! I actually just lucked into a Playstation 5 so I'm really excited to see what games are available for that, but here are some of my favorites that are available on Switch or on PC:

Switch:

I think a lot of these you can also find on PC, but I played them first as Switch games, so that's why they're on this list:

Starting out with the classics, all of the Mario games are super fun and Switch exclusive. Super Mario Odyssey is my favorite of the Mario platformers, Paper Mario: The Origami King is a great RPG/puzzle game, and Luigi's Mansion 3 is a super fun action/adventure game. If you want to play with other people, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, and Super Mario Party are great.

Another group of classics are any of the Zelda games. These are action-adventure games where you play as Link, a hero who's trying to save Princess Zelda and prevent the world from being destroyed. I would start with Breath of the Wild, which is widely considered to be one of the best video games of all time.

If you like The Sims or other social simulation games like that, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Stardew Valley are both super fun and you can sink a ton of time into them. In this same vein, I also really enjoyed Wylde Flowers, which has a little bit more of a story than other social simulation games.

If you want something that's just kind of unhinged, We ♥ Katamari and Katamari Damacy Reroll are puzzle-action games where you play as a little alien Prince who has to roll up objects on earth to try and impress his father, The King of All Cosmos. The Katamari franchise also has the greatest soundtrack of any game I've ever played.

If you want to be the most frustrated you've ever been in your entire life, Cuphead is a run and gun game drawn in a really cool 1930s style (it's really fun, I swear).

Okami is a action-adventure game where you play as Amaterasu, a wolf who uses the power of the Celestial Gods in order to save the world. The game is done in a woodcut, watercolor style, meant to look like Japanese ink-illustration, and it's just so beautiful.

My personal favorite game franchise has always been Kingdom Hearts. These games are hack and slash action RPGs where characters from the Final Fantasy Franchise team up with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy from the Disney Animation Franchise to go to different worlds from Disney movies so that they can prevent darkness from consuming the universe (multiverse?). This seems unhinged, and that's because it is. 10/10. As a bonus, I think there's a free trial for the Switch version so you can see if you like it before you buy.

Most recently, I've been playing Disco Elysium, which is a role playing game where you're an amnesiac detective trying to solve a murder mystery. This is also considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made, but I haven't finished it yet, so I'm tentatively recommending it.

Some other games that I've really liked but that are maybe a little less accessible are Chinatown Detective Agency, The Stanley Parable, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Gris.

PC Games:

I'm actually not a PC gamer, but I do have a Playstation, and there's quite a bit of overlap in terms of where games get released, so here are some of my recommendations that you can find on PC.

Inside and Limbo, both puzzle-platformer games where you explore a surreal and monochromatic world. They're really beautiful and tense and are considered some of the greatest video games of all time.

If you want something in a similar vein but not as dark and tense, I really love Planet of Lana. It's a puzzle-platformer, but its design style is inspired by Studio Ghibli, and it has a really nice story about a girl trying to rescue her sister from hostile alien machines that have taken over her world.

For something really beautiful and relaxing, I love Journey, which is a indie adventure game where you are trying to reach a mountain in the distance. What's cool about this game is that even though you can't speak with other players, the game fosters an emotional connection between players. It was designed to evoke a sense of smallness and wonder in the player, and I think it does that really well.

If you want to play a game that - and this is true - sent me into an emotional tailspin for several weeks, Wattam is a puzzle-platformer where you play as the Mayor of a planet that's empty. As the game goes on, you unlock and befriend other inhabitants of the world, including trees, flowers, rocks, toilets, poop, and mouths by holding hands, uncovering secrets, playing minigames, and solving puzzles. It's designed to be a game that "makes people notice how our ordinary life is great".

Life is Strange is an episodic adventure game where you play as Max, a high school student in the Pacific Northwest who can turn back time. The choices that you make change how the narrative goes. Some people find this game kind of cringey and the ending is... kind of disturbing, so fair warning, but I think it's a really well-made game.

I'm sure there are others that I've loved, but these are the ones that come to mind. I'll add to this list if I think of more. Happy gaming! Let me know what you think if you end up trying any of these.

[illbestarryeyedforyou]

so I want to get back into gaming that way I can switch from library visits, group activities, social gatherings, walks in the park, reading, binge watching, arts & crafts, and gaming.

Plus, I kind of miss being able to switch to gaming whenever I just want to stay inside and grounded.

That being said, if there's anyone out there who considers themselves a gamer and wouldn't mind adding me in any of these gaming platforms listed down below, please feel free to do so!! I'm looking for more gamer friends so yeah.

I'm a huge rpg a story gamer, but I'm open to playing any type of game genres!! However, please don't expect me to be a try hard in every game or ever. I'm just looking to have a fun and chill time 😊😊😊

I'm going to save up for a ps5 and a Xbox series X so I will boost this again once I do.

Okay, thank you for your time, happy gaming y'all.

—

Xbox gamertag: Alfonzone

(there's a link attached that supposedly sends you to my profile but I don't know if it works so I'm also including my actual gamertag name.)

Discord: rosecoloredknight

(discord seems pretty useful for chatting via different consoles right? Cross play ? like from PC to Xbox or PlayStation, etc?)

PSN: rosecoloreddork

[fanficfish]

why i love Honkai Star Rail as a visually impaired gamer

Yeah, that new game. So, SPOILERS!

I have quite the visual impairment. Quick movement? SUdden changes in lighting? Badly-marked stairs? Heck no! But I'm still an avid gamer, and I"ve played both Genshin and Star Rail. And I can say I enjoy Star Rail much more. Not because of the lore- well, okay. I'm here because of the cool space train. But I like the lore for both. It's more....of other things. So I'll cover that here, and if you're also a handicapped gamer (or even if you aren't) LMK your thoughts.

Also, I"m a PC gamer. I use a mouse and keyboard. Both with too many buttons.

(totally not self-promo but I'm planning to stream it sometime on my Twitch, "Fintastica", if anyone's interested-)

anyway here we go !

Navigation is clear. I never liked how Genshin Impact had like. A whole giant map. Like, I know it was way mroe open-world, but it was kinda annoying trying to find myself sometimes. My friends can attest to how horrible I was at navigation. With Star Rail, the locations are split into zones and there's even teleportation points that you don't have to do a whole thing to unlock literally everywhere. Places you need to go for missions are marked on the map too, though I think that was also a thing in Genshin? You can also see if you collected all the treasure chests in a zon, by type no less. The maps are vague enough that you still have to explore to find stuff, like the Among Us maps, but I think that works out really rwell, less cluttered. There's a few different maps too. I'll give it a 10/10.

Battling. In Genshin Impact, you kind of...just have to know what moves you're doing and have faith the characters are doign them as planned. While real-time strategy is great and all, it doesn't really work if you often can't tell what the characters are doing (fast movements, again.). In Star Rail, the battling is turn-based. It's a bit of a switch at first, but it's actually really great especially if you've already had experience with that kind of thing. You can see everything, from the enemy's stats to your own, and see when a character is about to be targeted for a loit of damage or what buffs/debuffs they're getting. THere's autobattle and douglespeed modes, too, for faster gameplay. I will say that the moves can be a bit bright, like with the Ultimates (I usually have to close my eeyes for those) but overall I'd say it's been a very easy experience. And no weird button combos- it's all done with a mouse! 8/10 but that might change since the company said they're workign on a fix for the bright lights.

Character leveling / enhancing. Might be because I've played Genshin, but it was very easy to figure out. Character has battle experience level, like with most RPGs, character has item that enhances their abilities that in turn can be upgraded with items and the in-game currency, character has two different "skill trees" (that''s what I'm calling them) that can give boosts to their skills and stuff, and items used from inventory can help give buffs of certain kinds. I haven't gotten to relics yet though, so we'll see what happens with that. So 9/10

Overall game screen. One I actually figured out where stuff was, it was really smooth sailing. Phone, mission board, and tutorial tips in one corner. Stuff to collect mission/daily/whatever rewards, the inventory, character and team selection, and wapr (how you get more new items and characters, Genshin's WIshes equivalant) on the other side with character switches/team lineup not far below. The phone has everything from friends to game settings, and you can also change game some settings in battle. I much prefer pressing a key to activate my mouse and then go around clicking things then having to remember which button on my keyboard opens the Paimon menu. I haven't played Genshin in a while, so I don't remember exactly where everythign was, but I definitely remember having the wiki page open with the list of controls. Probably 8/10, because for a little while I was abit confused on where things were but that's probably just me not realizing that a phone icon means....the phone.

Overall world exploration. Part 2 of the navigation from earlier. Controls make sense (WASD to move, right click to sprint), left click to attack or you can press alt and click some buttons). Items you can take have a tiny icon over them to indicate, be it a hand or a marking when you get close. I definitely like interacting with the closets and trashcans. You can see characters talking (speech bubbles) and then get closer to listen in furthur. Just like with Genshin, everything feels so pretty and awesome, so that's a bonus. But I do miss being able to jump. 9/10.

Lore. According to the TV Troopes page, there's a mention of there not being an option to fastforward dialogue. It's nto too much of a deal though since a lot of the time you'll get invested and want to know more about the world. THere's stuff you can read, and if you need to skip a cutscreen after having to redo a storyline battle you can just fast-forward over it! Very handy. The lore is so cool, and I also love this little feature that lets you hear the voicelines for the characters in this databank on the Express. And you can still explore around, so while you do have to follow more of a storyline it retains the Genshin freedom of exploration.

And that's all I really have for now. A lot of stuff is taken from Genshin, so if you're familiar with that, it'll be a breeze! Might not be as easy if you're new to miHoyo games but it seems pretty intuitive. I really like it so far, my only real complaints would be the ultrabright ultimate moves and the fact that Arlan is the only dark-skinned character (and most of the girl have short skirts, but let's be honest, that was expected wasn't it?). And there's Pom-Pom who's basicaly Paimon, but doesn't hold the entire menu or whatever in their (he? The characters used they for them so I will too-) paws.

oh also warning: your cahracter is naturally a little horny and definitely cracked their head while doing one of the early boss battles. It's the Traveler from Genshin, but slightly more chaotic.

anyways that's my take on it, hope that helps if you're considering getting the game :) aight I'm back to grinding calyxes and debating if I should pull some more characters.

(might update later. Also please remember this is ALL my personal opinion)

part two

[miharuhebinata]

monthly game tag time!

this is going to be a veryyyyy long post, so buckle in

may

1. Hollow Knight

[played on ps4.]

thoughts: i know i literally just replayed hollow knight back in like, what, last august? but i had a strong urge to play it again and after the shitshow that was my life in march/april, i decided what the hell. i'm probably going to be doing a yearly replay anyway, though i won't hold myself to any kind of strict schedule in regards to that. i'll just play it when i feel like it and keep track of when and how it goes with these posts.

but anyway, on to my thoughts (yes, i still have thoughts on this game lmao): the game is definitely getting easier with every replay, which makes me very very happy. don't get me wrong, there are definitely still plenty of challenging bits (looking at you, trial of the conqueror. bane of my fucking existence -_-), but apparently i've managed to memorize a good chunk of the attack patterns for most of the boss fights. hornet and the mantis lords are the most obvious example of this, as i literally beat both on my first try. which was a tiny bit disappointing, just because those fights are so fun, but also extremely satisfying. literally had me feeling like a pro gamer LMAO

2. Princess Peach: Showtime! (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i've been so excited for this game ever since i saw the first trailer, and the demo certainly didn't disappoint! the two levels you get to play, as swordfighter peach and patisserie peach, were very fun, and just everything from the level designs to the gameplay to, of course, the costumes are so cute. i definitely want to play the full game! ....unfortuanately i've heard the game is actually pretty short overall? supposedly it's around 6-8 hours of playtime, which honestly just seems absolutely ridiculous considering it costs fucking $60 for a game i could (theoretically) knock out in a day but hey, that's nintendo for you 🙃 so, yeah. not entirely sure when or even if i'll get to play the full game. which is a damn shame.

3. Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a fun game! although i will say, it was quite jarring to realize it takes place in the modern day. hercule poirot does not look like a character who should know what a smartphone is, i'm sorry 😂 but yeah, i'm definitely interested in playing more, although i'll probably wait for it to go on sale. i liked it but i don't need to play it right now or anything lol

4. NOX

[played on mobile.]

thoughts: a quick little better-than-average mobile puzzle game. tbh i enjoyed the first half more than the second half. by the end i was just like meh, but i guess i still recommend it if you're looking for a decent puzzle game on mobile

5. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

[played on mobile.]

thoughts: i've been wanting to play this for a while, and it did not disappoint! such a fun, silly little game. pretty much my only complaint is that i wish it was longer, but apparently now there's a sequel? so i guess i can always try that! :)

6. Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seemed fun but also the demo was extremely short so idk. i liked the obvious zelda inspiration, but it mainly just reminded me of chrono trigger. honestly i think i'd be more interested in replaying that than in playing this, but who knows. maybe someday!

7. OneShot

[played on pc.]

thoughts: I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS GAME!!!!!!!!! everything about it is so beautiful, from the story to the graphics to the soundtrack (which, if you know me at all, i'm a sucker for a good video game ost and this one DOES NOT DISAPPOINT 🥰). i don't want to say too much, because i really think everybody should play this one for themselves, but i will say it is EXTREMELY meta. which is not a spoiler, as you find this out very early on, but again, the less you know the better. so i'll just say this: make sure the name on your computer matches your real name! i believe the game *does* give you the option to input whatever name you want (i'm not 100% sure, but i think so), but i feel like the story will hit harder if you use your real name. plus, if you've changed your name recently but forgot to update the name on your account (like i had), this is at least a good reminder to do so :)

8. Ib

[played on pc.]

thoughts: while i played the remake, i can definitely see why this is a rpg maker horror classic! like honestly, idk what else there is to say about it that other people haven't said already? it's not super long and though it's not pants-shittingly terrifying or anything, it's got a very strong, creepy atmosphere to it. now that i think about it, it actually reminds me a lot of alice in wonderland.... which is such a huge plus to me, you guys don't even know :3 i especially adored the character design, particularly ib who reminds me of one of my oc's <3

9. A Short Hike

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i want to live in this game <3 seriously, if you're looking for a nice chill game to play this one should be right up your alley! it's not long but i promise it is still so, so worth it. beautiful pixel graphics, lovely soundtrack, and a surprisingly poignant story....yeah i loved this one a lot. my one and only complaint is that the beachstick ball minigame can rot in hell LMAO

june

1. Moonlighter

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: idk about the pc version, but PLEASEEEEEE DO NOT BUY THIS GAME ON THE SWITCH. IT SUCKS ASS. for as enjoyable as the actual gameplay is (which honestly, was not even that fun after the first couple hours), the game is buggy as hell. especially when rolling. do NOT roll near walls, or you risk getting stuck inside them. which is especially annoying inside the dungeons, getting stuck inside a wall on some random floor long before you ever meant to have to leave.... pretty much ruined my whole experience. i could barely even bring myself to finish the game, but i forced myself to do it, because i had been meaning to finish this game for forever, and i just wanted to be DONE with it, and so i did, and i was so SO happy....aaaand then i discovered there was a whole new post-game storyline to play through in new game+. -_- at first i felt obligated to finish that before i could say i completed the game, but after playing a few hours, i just said fuck it. honestly the new game+ stuff wasn't even that bad, but i was just so ready to be done with it by that point. fuck this game. absolutely adorable graphics and a nice soundtrack, but buggy-as-hell gameplay and an anticlimactic story. completed ruined it for me. boo. boooooooo. such a disappointment.

2. Another Code: Recollection (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a very fun game, and i really do want to play the full version! …just not for full price. especially because, after playing the demo, i already had some gripes:

the controls are kind of wonky and by that i mean this just feels like a game that would be better played on pc (yet it's a Switch exclusive).

the (english) voice acting is… definitely not my favorite, to say the least. (that scene of ashley crying as a kid was so fucking annoying, and it went on for wayyyy too long.) ashley does not sound like a 14 year old. which ties into my next point:

okay so i actually FULLY admit this one is mostly on me, but i legit thought ashley was college-age until she explicitly mentioned being 14. like, obviously i understood in retrospect that the story literally said she was 14 long before that (i believe the letter from her father mentioned her 14th birthday?), but because i was pretty tired when i played and also because the character model does not look like a 14 year old girl aside from her being shorter than the adult characters, the voice does not sound like that of a 14 year old, AND she was wearing a university sweatshirt, i thought she was, like, 19-21 and that she for some reason had only recently received her dad's letter? IDK DUDE I'M A LITTLE BIT SLOW 😭

honestly this just kind of made me laugh but i did think it was a bit silly how ashley made a big deal of "yeah sorry D, but i can't help you get your memories back. i've got my own problems. sooooo... yeah, bye." then literally she walks down some stairs, he helps her open a door, and she's immediately like "okay i'll help you and also we're besties, obviously 🤗" like, i'm not saying the game has bad writing (i didn't get to play enough to truly make an accurate judgement) but that felt like the kind of contrived thing i would have written when i was in middle school ngl. but maybe that's the point, since ashley's so young? idk

anyway, i know i've kinda been ragging on it, but like i said, i do still want to play it. the story seems interesting, and i really want to see where it goes! just definitely not for the price of $60 lol

3. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: it was fun! like a mix between immortals fenyx rising, hades, and trine. all of which are right up my alley! but also i was not very good at the combat, which definitely detracted from the experience a bit. i imagine if i was playing the full game i could eventually get used to the combat, but there just wasn't enough time for me to do that in the demo. but i did like it, and i'll definitely consider picking it up if it ever goes on sale for a more reasonable price.

4. Chants of Sennaar (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i enjoyed it so much i actually bought the game. stay tuned for my thoughts on the full game!

5. Growing Up

[played on pc.]

thoughts: so, full disclosure, i only played through one of the routes in this game (richard). when usually i would play through all the route's (or at least more than one) before counting it as finished, honestly i just cannot be assed this time. which isn't to say it's a bad game! it was a very fun game (at first), with interesting stat-building mechanics. i especially enjoy that my previous character + whoever i ended up with become the parents in a new playthrough. however, despite the fact that i had already started having new events when i started a second playthrough, i don't think the gameplay is interesting enough for me to want to replay it multiple times just to see the new events/meet new characters, at least not any time soon. at the very least i wish there was some kind of carry-over bonus. for example, since my character ended up with richard, maybe my current player character could have a boost in empathy? or intelligence, since my previous character's intelligence was so high. something like that.

also the parents sucked, they had nothing to do with anything unless they were giving me their stupid parent expectations goals, which got really annoying by high school age because the goals often took up desperately needed schedule slots. also especially bitter because literally right after i had completed a goal of tutoring 10 times in a row, they gave me a goal of helping out some neighbors (aka buying groceries ten times in a row) and when i had my character be like "will i get paid?" stupid fucking idiot dad was like "omfg why are you so selfish??? 😤" BITCH I JUST TOOK UP A BUNCH OF MY VALUABLE SCHEDULE SLOTS TO DO TUTORING FOR ONE OF YOUR STUPID FUCKASS GOALS????? KYS YOU ANNOYING BITCH OMFG

6. Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: of the few (spoiler-free) reviews i've seen, reactions seem kind of mixed overall, but personally i really enjoyed what i got to play! the art is beautiful and the game mechanic of the augural is definitely unique and interesting. unless the story really starts to branch out though, i don't see there being much replayability; which makes me just a tad reluctant to buy it, even on sale, especially seeing as it's apparently only ~10 hours long. speaking of, i am VERY surprised the demo is as long as it is. hard to put it into hours, since i'm a slow reader, but you get to play 2 out of 5 chapters, i believe?? it certainly got me hooked and invested in the story, but that also just seems crazy, letting you play that much in the demo. so i guess, taking all of this into account, i think i'll just wait for a really good sale. like, i do want to eventually see where the story goes, but not for more than $10 lol

7. AI: The Somnium Files (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a fun game, but also kind of weird. one of the characters blew up a balloon to comical size and the main character's response was something like "i wish your boobs were that big" whshgsjsjlskdj ???????? still planning to play it eventually lmfao but i'm gonna play it on pc. definitely seems like a game that's better on pc

8. Chants of Sennaar

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: ah, what a fun game, and such a beautiful artstyle too (it actually reminded me a lot of sable!); however, while i did really like the game overall, i will say that— as with most people who have played both games— i can't help but compare this against heaven's vault and, personally, even with all the issues i had with it, heaven's vault is definitely the better game in my eyes. while i wouldn't say the translation mechanics in this game are at all easy, it was easier than in heaven's vault. in this game, all you really had to do was match the right glyphs to the right pictures. which, obviously was often a challenge, don't get me wrong, but it was at least somewhat easier than i originally thought it would be: i thought i had to get my guess at the translation right too, but that part of it mainly seems to be so you can remember what the glyph means (or approximately what it means) before you actually verify it. so that was a little disappointing, although it certainly helped make things easier in the long run. which turned out to be a good thing that was actually a bad thing, because i'm not gonna lie, i played the majority of the game over the course of a single day. this was not a good idea (obviously), because it resulted in sleep-deprivation and me hurting my wrists/palms from holding the Switch for so long. clearly this was my own fault, but it did still detract from the experience, unfortunately. the inability to fully concentrate really kept me from fully immersing myself in the latter half of the game, which is likely why the ending fell a tiny bit flat for me. also, i have to mention. there was one puzzle i had to look up a guide for how to solve it, and even now i still don't get it and idk if i ever will. so, i'm kind of bitter about that 😭 but yeah, i don't want to keep ragging on the game, because overall it was great! definitely worth the hype imo. and if the core game mechanics of translating made-up languages sounds fun to you, i definitely recommend checking this one out! just maybe remember to take breaks and get some sleep so that you don't ruin your own experience like i did mine :/

9. The Roottrees are Dead

[played on pc.]

thoughts: if you like mysteries, difficult puzzles, or even just family drama, this is the game for you! it's actually been compared to the likes of return of the obra dinn and the case of the golden idol, and that definitely holds up imo. not in terms of graphics, but just in that you are given a mystery that you need to solve (or an extensive family tree that you need to fill out, in this case) and the game does not hold your hand. i will say, although it's been a while since i played either return of the obra dinn or the case of the golden idol, i think this game was definitely easier than those two (shorter, too). but it was still very rewarding! like i said, it was easier, not easy. honestly i really hope this game gains some traction, because we definitely need more difficult mystery puzzle games like it!!!!

10. Unpacking

[played on pc.]

thoughts: don't really have much to say except that it was a nice chill game 👍

11. Tunic

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i actually started this soon after chants of sennaar, but i finished it last (the roottrees are dead and unpacking serving as breathers). i really REALLY liked this game at first. it was different than i thought it was going to be, but i was still enjoying the challenge even when i wasn't, you know? aaaaand then i kind of hated it, because certain parts of the puzzle you have to solve in order to achieve the true end were extremely frustrating and overly convoluted imo. but overall, after seeing the end credits you get after the true end, i think i left off on a good note. at the very least i would definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a difficult challenge not just in terms of combat, but in solving deep intricate puzzles as well <3

started but not finished yet:

Sea of Stars (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, but only because i decided to buy the full game!

Neo: The World Ends With You (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, because the gameplay just seemed a bit monotonous.

Paleo Pines (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, because the artstyle was not very appealing to me.

Tangle Tower (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, but only because i think i'd prefer to play it on pc.

Who's Lila - started in june. probably won't be finishing, because it just didn't seem like the game for me. which sucks, because i had been looking forward to playing it for a while :(

[turtlemagnum]

there's this online recreation of the sans fight that i played religiously back in middle school before i even owned a device capable of running undertale, still up. i got good enough at it that under normal circumstances, i can usually do it first try. a bit of a banging my head against a brick wall thing, but damn did it eventually break. honestly i think doing that before ever actually playing undertale was a bit like goku training in 100x gravity, except instead of landing on namek to fight frieza he went and fought raditz again and just absolutely wrecked his shit. at least, until i got to undyne, still not great at her. god i love her. adhd, getting distracted, i had a goddamn point i was trying to make. so, notice that i said "under normal circumstances" as a caveat. what i would consider not normal circumstances would be, say, playing with fucked up arrow keys. such as, the ones that seem to be on every goddamn modern laptop where up and down are both collectively taking up the same amount of real estate as a single normal key, because apparently right shift needs that extra fucking space. like seriously who the fuck even uses right shift, top 10 useless keys right there, right next to caps lock and most of the function keys. guess i've just gotta suck it up until i can afford to get an actual gamer laptop and not a budget office clunker that i got for the admittedly nice CPU

honestly like, i think my ideal laptop would be halfway between the Ultra Gucci Gamer shit and what i have now. give me like, 16 gigs of RAM, a decent CPU for emulation, a low end but modern and power efficient discrete GPU, and a big fuckin SSD. no RGB shit, just a power waste, though i do like having backlit keys at times i think the more efficient way to go about it would just paint em with something glow in the dark. is glowstick fluid toxic to get your hands on? i remember hearing about a guy who died because he injected that shit at a rave, but i don't know how much of that is This Shit Is Poison vs Dont Put Things That Arent Blood In Your Blood Sacks You Moron, y'know. for some reason radium popped into my head, but after thinking about it for more than an instant i'm like 85% sure that shit's what done killed marie curie, and now i can't help but imagine that's something elon musk would tell his engineers to do. "yeah. just a, uh, gamer key-board. with, radium paint on the lettering. saves power, good for the planet." what was i saying

anyways yeah like. the only other specs i can think of would be just having as many ports as possible, 1080p screen @ 60hz, y'know the bare minimum in Current Year. i will say that my current laptop has given me problems with screens i've never had on a computer before, there have been times where i see something i know for a fact is a different, more saturated color on other screens and having it be barely different from the background. also? i want that motherfucker bulky god dammit, i'm tired of everything being thin and light and having absolute dogshit battery life. i miss when i could charge my gameboy once a week and have it entertain me the entire goddamn time, y'know. i'm lucky if i get half a day of consistent use out of a laptop or my switch without charging it, y'know. to be honest, you should be able to murder someone with your technology. i could kill a man with a gamecube or the PC my dad left me as a kid, if i tried to bash a man's skull open with my laptop the laptop would take more damage than the skull. like don't get me wrong, it'd fucking hurt, but i'm not sure there's any singular component in this thing less than 95% cheap polymer by volume. a goddamn disgrace, lemme tells ya. back in ancient rome we had the technology to build bridges strong enough to still be used today, there are guns from the world wars that you can shoot to this day, you're tellin me you can't make a laptop sturdier than a saltine cracker? well, i'm pretty sure they're mostly designed by crackers, so i guess i can't blame em too hard for their inadequacies. such is lief i suppose (sic)