#Interactivity in Pokémon Video Games

[nicholasandriani]

Feb 6th: Dear Diary, Mew gave birth… Unveiling Wild Kanto: Celebrating Pokémon Lore & Mew's Legacy on February 6th

Celebrating Mew’s Legacy and the Launch of ��Wild Kanto”: A Journey into Pokémon’s Heart February 6th may seem like any ordinary day to the uninitiated, but to those in the know, it marks a pivotal moment in Pokémon lore: the creation of Mewtwo, one of the most formidable and enigmatic creatures in the Pokémon universe. Born from the genetic material of the mythical Pokémon Mew, this day…

[madscientistmao]

self-indulgent futaba sakura stimboard with themes of rainbows, video games, and age regression!

please don't tag as kin/me/id!

🌈 🎮 🌈

🎮 🌈 🎮

🌈 🎮 🌈

[dioptasesystem]

Seems like my opinions haven't changed too much in the past year-ish.

[pokemonlezbian]

[jaredthebc]

Ngl it’s kinda amusing how for the majority of my life I’ve preferred to hang out with people much older than me because I forget how young I am at times. I find out someone who was born in 2008 is almost a legal adult and I go “DAMN I feel so old, how is this possible. I’m like a decade older than most adults online these days!” Before remembering oh right I was born in 04 not 94, I’m only like four years older than these people I forgot

[gaia-mix-nicolosi]

I tend to listen to classical music usually, maybe whatever music i end up with randomly on YouTube, which often does tend to be videogame music or vocaloid music.

Oh and often it’s like, not classical classical music but more of… eurobeat/songwriter music, often from 20-50ish years ago?

If I'm being completely honest, my taste in music isn't based on genres or artists, it's based on whether a given song could plausibly be on the soundtrack for a story-driven tactical RPG about a wizard with a gun.

[the-architect-of-ferrari]

Just wanted to take a moment to talk about one of my favorite charlos interactions (this whole video is one of my comfort videos) because I was rewatching it and had some Thoughts.

First, the way they’re arguing like schoolboys over their ridiculous game of who has the more powerful Pokémon (with very mature attack names such as fire farts and smooth tornado), and their shared competitiveness means it is SO important to them that they win over the other.

Second, I love Carlos’ sass while arguing.

CL: “how do you touch me with a smooth tornado?” CS: “Well you must be a thing, what are you? A thing”

Third, the way Charles suggests they call it a draw (because he felt like he was losing the argument but didn’t want to admit defeat imo) and Carlos immediately folds and agrees despite how vehemently he was arguing just seconds before.

Finally, the way their unspoken rule of “we must touch every 5 seconds or we die” is still very much in effect and they manage to hold hands shake each other’s hand despite being at opposite ends of the table.

In conclusion, I am very normal about them (no I’m not).

[glamourscat]

Hello hello!

If/when you have the time to do so, it'd be pretty cool to see some headcannons about the type of nerd stuff Tim does/is into. Like what kinds of games and shows he's into, "nerdy" behaviors of his, would he ever cosplay, etc. I personally think that he'd be into Dungeons and Dragons (not sure to what degree though).

Also, as an alternative, you could do headcannons about Tim with a nerdy!S/O who "matches his freak", so to speak.

Anyway, that's pretty much it! Have a nice day/night!

TIM DRAKE NERDY HOBBIES HCS

Tim being into DnD is actually canon! The game he played in the comics was called Warlocks and Warriors

So, to what degree would he play? I think a pretty serious one

Not necessarily every week game night sort of thing, but at least once at month, or when he and his group can regroup to play together

I can see him going deep into the character making. Choosing the name accurately to the ability they have, the powers and so on

He wouldn’t be necessarily into “solving” games, like cluedo, for example. He is a vigilante, it’s a big part of him sure, but he also needs a break you know?

Games that represent too “close” to his real life would be a no no from the get go. Monopoly, cluedo and anything of the sorts

He is the type to prefer table games. Regrouping with his friends and play cards or anything really, just makes his night

In terms of video games I can see him play mini games (?) like small horror, thrilling ones on his pc. Otherwise he enjoys going to the arcade more. 80/90s style games are more up to his liking

Though, something he really LOVES, is Pokémon. He has a Nintendo switch just to play Pokémon games

Guilty pleasure are cooking mama, animal crossing and super Mario

The type to download the sim just to recreate you guys on the game and your love life

Loves legos. Especially the big set ones, he finishes them so quickly

A star wars fan

I see him as someone who really would enjoy watching anime and reading manga

Definitely fantasy ones, especially ones with mythical creatures, aka vampires (?) idk I just get those vibes

But heavy on the type of anime that play mind games. That are filled with mysteries, foreshadows and twists, confusion and maybe dive slightly into psychology too

JJK, blue exorcist (manga), attack of titans, erased, Steins:Gate, detective Conan, the case study of vanitas, odd taxi, psycho pass, the perfect insider, black butler, death note, monster

He would love to go to anime conventions

Definitely the type to lose himself around the stands 24567 times

Buys way too much merch

Has an extended collection of Funko pops, mangas, collectors editions and figures

Very big on graphic novels, comics and fantasy books too!

He is into coding. Something he really enjoys is creating little interactive websites pages for his s/o

Like this one

Collects the most random shit. Like I imagine him travelling for missions, state to state or outside the US and all of the sudden he brought back a collection of the most obscure handmade thing he could find in that place.

Big into astronomy. Hell, he is the type to randomly say in a conversation “today Mars will be visible at so and so degree, so I’m busy tonight” (I don’t even know if that’s possible but that’s besides the point)

Photography, although not as “nerdy”, he loves it. His style is more urban leaning. He manages to capture what he wants in his work perfectly

lastly, HE DEFINETLY COSPLAYS!!! i mean, look at canon

© GLAMOURSCAT (all rights reserved. do not share, modify, translate and re-upload my work outside of tumblr)

[caninecorundum]

On the Pokémon World

This is going to be pretty rambly so fair warning.

When I was in middle or high school, can't remember which, I was up at night on the verge of tears because I so desperately wanted Pokémon to be real. I go through periods of being genuinely distressed over this, searching for "Pokémon IRL"-themed things to watch and read and yearn over. Tonight is one of those nights.

I just need it so badly. I need to walk around and see trainers and their Pokémon walking about. Flying-types in the sky. Grass-types in the bush. Cuddling and riding and battling. A two-part harmony.

I recently confirmed the Pokémon world (like you'd see in the main series games and anime) as a hearthome. One of the deciding factors was taking that memory above, and comparing it to when I asked an online queer chat if breaking down when you learned about how your body would change in pubescence is normal.

It's not, on both accounts.

So I swear on Legendaries and my favorite anime opening is "Pokémon World" because of the lyrics and I was ecstatic over Pokémon GO's announcement and I daydream about scenarios where Pokémon physically enter the world and I get to interact with them as living beings, not just data.

Next morning edit:

I want to take a moment to emphasize how strong the need to be around Pokémon and live in a Pokémon world is. I'm not even talking about taking on the League necessarily (though I'd love that so much), just living with them would make me overjoyed. And although I'd love to visit the unique locales, I'd be fine living in the "real world" if we had physical Pokémon, so the hearthome aspect is sort of feeling at home in a particular lifestyle or... world configuration, I guess, of humans and Pokémon. I desperately want to be living that life.

I yearn for it.

Other things that feel resonant:

- The "welcome to the world of Pokémon" opening sequence from Giratina and the Sky Warrior.

- Fanfics where characters from the real world or other fiction suddenly get Pokémon or go to the main Pokémon world.

- The Detective Pikachu movie.

- The scene in Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!where Ash dreams about a Pokémon-less world (which made me very upset that that was my situation).

- Pokémon IRL blogs and Pokémon roleplay in general.

- Having a friend who I consider my rival in competitive Pokémon, and who considers me hers.

- WolfeyVGC's videos where he's animated as actually going through life events with his Pokémon.

- The Pokémon Company referring to fans as "trainers," especially during Worlds.

- "Real Pokémon" media in general.

- Wearing an old sweatband with a Poké Ball on it as "trainer gear."

[pokemonshelterstories]

Hi, i don't mean to be rude, but Shedinja cannot eat Poképuffs, and are the only fully-evolved Pokémon that can't(there are six other species, but most of them are mid/first stages)

i'm guessing this is in reference to the pic of my sibling's shedinja? i'm perfectly aware that shedinja can't eat. erik just likes looking at things. it stared at that pokepuff for a good thirty minutes.

there are tons of pokemon that can't eat pokepuffs, actually! no food is designed such that the vast majority of pokemon are able to eat them, because their digestive systems are too varied. i don't know where that number came from (i'm guessing from a list of pupal pokemon like metapod, which lack a mouth?) but tons of other pokemon are dietary specialists that can't digest pokepuffs and can actually get quite sick from eating them. unfortunately, some popular shows and video games have depicted pokemon eating pokepuffs that absolutely should not be eating them, which is kind of troublesome as a shelter worker; i've had to explain to many people at the shelter that no, a sunkern can't ever consume anything other than fresh water, and it obtains its nutrients by putting down roots in soil.

it's always important to check what foods are suitable for your pokemon. but even pokemon that don't have the physical mechanisms to eat can get other forms of enrichment by interacting with food items!

[mad0katsuki]

Presentation ૮₍ ˶• ༝ •˶ ₎ა

Hi! Welcome to my blog, you can address me as Mado, I’m 18 years old and I go by she/her and they/them pronouns.

My pronouns.page: Eng/Esp

Some information about me:

•I understand Spanish and English.

•I’m a jirai, I'm still learning about the community and part of j-fashion. I’m pro-recovery, but I’m not in that process.

•I’m possibly neurodivergent/mentally ill (autism and possibly one of the cluster b), I just have never been diagnosed.

•I enjoy reblogging, A LOT. I can be really awkward and annoying sometimes.

•You can ask me stuff or talk if you want to!

•‼️Please don’t send on my ask box/dm requests for donations, no matter of what intentions, they make me feel anxious that I can’t help as well.

•Posic and objectum.

(if some of those things discomfort you just block, don’t report.)

More info below

Stuff that I’m into!

I don’t like to say I’m in fandoms, they discomfort me.

•Portal

•Gravity Falls

•Sonic

•Dungeon Menshi

•Puella magi madoka magica

•Marvel (comics and MCU)

•Pokémon

•Vocaloid (not pjsk sorry)

•Other not specific animes and mangas

•Music! (General but specially pop)

•Video games (general)

•Fashion

•Sanrio

•Robots and related

•Grey’s Anatomy

•Osemanverse books

•Percy Jackson Saga

•Bridgerton

•Lacy Games ARG

•Yume Nikki

•I Love Amy

•Cry of Fear

•Fave YouTubers: Danna Alquati, Luna Martínez, El traje con voz, Nirami, Mexican Lopez, TVNauta and Yoshimitsu Caleon

DNI

•At this point I don’t care who interacts, I’ll block you instantly if you annoy me <3

Personal tags

#mado shenanigans: stuff that happens to me or I think

#mado q&a: ask box!

[zalizam516]

boring introduction.

More things under the cut

Requests are open if your request is sprunki related!

TUNNER ARTISTS PLEASE INTERACT PLEASE PLEASE PLE

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Fandoms

Sprunki

Skullgirls

Pit people

Alien hominid

Undertale

Deltarune

Newgrounds (kinda)

South park

Friday night funkin (base game, not mods)

31 minutos

Shovel knight (thanks to my friend)

Boomerang fu

Happy tree friends

Fav characters (in order)

TUNNERRRR💥💥💥💥💥 (Sprunki)

Squigly (skullgirls) / Magolor (KRTD/KRTDD) / Black Dahlia (skullgirls) / Juan Carlos Bodoque (31 minutos)

Tangerine (LICR)

Julia (TCoAaL)

Noelle Holiday (deltarune)

Mona (Shovel Knight)

Pipistrella (Pit people)

Blacksmith (Castle crashers)

Alien Hominid (Alien hominid/Alien hominid Invasion)

Pink knight (Castle crashers)

Madam mebeer (Shovel Knight)

Rigel (Battleblock theater)

Valentine (Skullgirls)

Knives Chau (Scott Pilgrim)

Kim Pine (Scott Pilgrim)

Green princess (Castle crashers)

Minette (skullgirls)

Gengar (Pokémon)

Scorbunny (Pokémon)

Girlfriend (FNF)

Things i like

Tunner sprunki

My friend lol

Whatever my friend makes :D

My sister's drawings

Terremotos (the drink, a lot)

Coffee

Ginger ale

Noodles

Potatoes

"Weas que pasan" series by Temorinki on youtube

takis

Bodoque.

SEPTEMBER 18 💥💥💥💥💥🇨🇱🇨🇱🇨🇱

fav bands / musical artists

La combo tortuga

Los bunkers

Tronic

Lemon demon

Caravan Palace

Los prisioneros

Jack stauber

Vacations

Mindless self indulgence

Insane clown posse

Green day

Fun facts about me

I can't pronounce the S

I can do tricks with pens

I have a lot of plushies

I can't cook

I can only count to 20 in english

I sometimes make fnf mods

I have light scoliosis

I have a shy guy mask

I pirated many wii games

I have 10+ video game cartridges for the nintendo switch

I like giving people juice boxes

I want to get out of chile

[lemmondrivenbite]

Introductions

[ 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒗𝒂 𝒇𝒖𝒋𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒊 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 ]

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🍋.- helloooooo!!! i'm mod Lemon, i'm fourteen, and i LOVE to write fics and draw fanart!! especially of my favorite ships.... i REALLY like fluff and orange fics, they're probably my favorite!!! i'm super excited to talk to everybody!!!!! my favorite ship is proooobably ghetgio... even if SOMEONE ships cygio!!!

🍋‍🟩.- Welcome everyone ! I am Lime, female, fourteen years old and co-moderator of this blog ! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و

My favorite manga is Househusbands Villains, and my favorite ship is Cygio ! Other of my favorite things is sprite soda, fairy types, pokémon contests, true crime, and the Yakuza series !

I write too just like Lemon-sensei !! (⁎˃ᆺ˂) She's my inspiration ! Hope we get along !!

🍊.- hhhuui,,,,, iim orange. ;v; im just a smol bean lol,, i really like the mcu (stony 4ever) and the manga Help! I’ve Been Turned Into a Pokemon! and also cookie run,,, regionhumans too but please don’t interact if you’re from the fandom. unu. i ship catlovers because cop x criminal is the best trope ever òwó

i have social anxiety so im sorry if I don’t post much. i like video games and books and pokemon battling. and i make edits. i am celesteelakin. kinning ultra beasts is not controversial pplease do not argue with me! ònó

🍎.- Mod Grapefruit here.

16 and female. Artist. Bishonen and BL enthusiast. I also battle as a hobby :)

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DNI

-Doubles -Rocket grunts! -f/m shippers -mean people >:c

WARNING : THESE CHARACTERS ARE FUJOSHIS. THEY WILL ACT LIKE FUJOS.

please do not send overtly sexual/graphic things to this blog.

allowed asks: ic hate, pelipper mail, mystery gift

unallowed asks: musharna malice/mail, magic anons

this is low stakes blog, no horrors, just fujoshis and fun stuff

[drgarrisonandpaul]

The Quincys Around Kids

Again, SUPER open to criticism, discussion, and additions. I love talking to people <3

Quilge: He hates them and he doesn't want to be around them, but he's not aggressive. Just stiff and uncomfortable. Like, maybe they bumble around and show him their toys and he just goes "Ohhhh, wow that's... that's greaaattttt." Honestly, he prefers teens. They can just mutually ignore each other.

Askin: Doesn't hate them, but also doesn't exactly "like" them. They're messy and loud and gross. He'll be a nice wine uncle though, bring them little gifts that their parents disapprove of like fake tattoos and clip-on piercings.

Mask De Masculine: He's the best possible Quincy you could ever leave your kid with. Mask can be gentle but he can just as easily be rough, depending on the kid. Wanna wrestle? Why not. He'll wrestle a three-year-old, but he'll have also have enough restraint to get on their level. Timid kid that just wants to draw? Heck yeah! He'll sit down at your Dora table and draw all day! Though... he might break the matching Dora chairs-

Nanana: Also a pretty chill dude to leave your kid with. He's probably going to sit back and just chill and play video games or board games with them. One of my headcanons is that he's a mathematician at heart because it just sounds awesome paired with his "Morphine Pattern" Grids. He'd be more than happy to help with math homework, whether it be addition, time, or (his favorite) graphing.

Uryu: He's awkward around kids. Like, he likes them, and he has a way with them. However, something about him just DRAWS kids towards him. Kids love this poor man, happy to play and draw and hang out with him, and he just stands there and lets them drag him away like "Uhhhh, okayyyy, where are we goinggg???" and then he's stuck playing barbies for three hours (he loves it)

Giselle: ... ... no.

Gremmy: He's being nice, but also the kids are terrified of him. If he finds a child that ISN'T afraid of him, they'll probably grab a huge box and play rocketship. Gremmy feels like a rocketship-player.

Äs Nödt: Horrendous with children. He's tried being timid, and proceeds to get walked on. He's tried being more intense, and proceeds to scare them. He can't really find a balance in interacting with kids so he simply... doesn't.

Jugram: Please don't leave your child with this man, he will show them around the Silbern and there are things in the Silbern that children should NOT be seeing. Like war things and his collection of knives (he's totally a knife collector)

Ryūken: We see how he is with Uryu. This man cares for almost nothing, he's dull and cold and doesn't really connect emotionally with ANYTHING

Bazz-B: One would think that because of his aggression and punk guy attitude that Bazz isn't good with kids, and they'd be wrong. He's awesome with kids. He'll take them on his motorcycle (he totally has a motorcycle and does donuts in Hueco Mundo), he'll get them some ice cream, and he'll buy them some Pokémon cards. They'll probably play Xbox all day, even if the kid can't figure out the controls

Bambietta: Might scare the kid even if she doesn't mean it, she's pretty intense and explosive, but with a kid that can match her energy? I can see her taking them outside and blowing things up with them, either literally or with little soldier toys, making mouth noises for the explosions

Yhwach: I mean... you COULD leave your child with this man. You shouldn't, but you COULD. Sure, they'd be alive and well and probably happy at the end of the day, since I can definitely see him being calm and level-headed and sweet with a child. But the kid might also have a new little baby Sternritter uniform

Robert Accutrone: He doesn't talk to the kid, since he doesn't know what to really say, however, he does make them pancakes and turn on Bluey or Steven Universe for them. Have a lazy day

[apeekintothepantry]

Happy Pokémon Day! February 27th is the anniversary of the first two Pokémon games’ release in Japan, and it’s a minor holiday in my house, as a fun excuse to make Pokémon inspired food, watch some Pokémon shows or movies (we’re going to watch Netflix’s new Pokémon Concierge this year!), and get excited about upcoming games and releases. This year, we’re making a Pokémon Sword and Shield inspired burger-steak curry and I’m making a dessert from the Pokémon Cookbook by Victoria Rosenthal. It’s one of my favorite fandom cookbooks – all the recipes are vegetarian or vegan, to get around the awkward question of where does the meat in the Pokémon universe come from?

But that’s not all we’re making! Ever since Nicki and Isabel were released, I’ve been dying to do a post about them and Pokémon’s infamous “Jelly Filled Doughnuts”, better – and more accurately! – known as onigiri.

Pokémon was released in the United States in 1998 via two Gameboy games: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. The games quickly caught on to be one of the biggest pop culture phenomenon of the late 90’s and early 00’s, and as a kid at the heart of this explosion, I can’t overstate how much of a big deal it was. One of the great things about Pokémon – and probably why it has such lasting, widespread appeal – is that there are so many ways to interact with the franchise, and the marketing doesn’t skew hugely towards one gender or the other. Cool, tough Pokémon like Charizard got pretty similar billing to cute, pink Pokémon like Jigglypuff, and there were so many options for potential favorites that it was easy for any kid to find some creature to attach themselves to.

One of my petty complaints with Nicki and Isabel’s collection and books is the almost complete lack of mention of Pokémon and other anime that was really popular among kids in 1999. I know AG probably didn’t want to shell out for licensing deals with Nintendo or The Pokémon Company, but their stories just don’t feel accurate without discussing their prized binder of Pokémon cards or begging their parents to take them to see the Pokémon movie in theaters. Maybe the authors were just a little too old to get caught up in Pokémania?

I’ve also always thought its close overlap with the Beanie Babies crazy helped get millennial children like me very into the “gotta catch ‘em all” aspect of the franchise. Is this why I’m such a crazy toy collector as an adult? Who knows.

The Pokémon anime was one of the main ways kids like me got hooked on the franchise, because not everyone was allowed to have a Gameboy of their own (me), and not everyone liked video games, but even if you didn’t like video games, the cartoon might appeal to you. Although it was far from the first Japanese cartoon to air on US television, Pokémon was one of if not the first truly mainstream favorites of the 1990’s. 4Kids, the company in charge of dubbing the show into English, decided that American kids wouldn’t understand or be open to certain aspects of the show that reflected its Japanese roots, and so made a lot of strange choices in rewriting the script. One of the most notorious was deciding Brock’s rice balls were actually jelly filled doughnuts:

Onigiri – also known as omusubi or nigirimeshi – are balls of rice with a variety of fillings inside. They’re often compared to sandwiches, as an easy, quick, cheap meal or snack that combines carbs and other ingredients. While the concept of taking a rice ball and stuffing it full of other tasty treats goes way back to ancient Japan, the triangle shape became popular in the 1980’s thanks to a new machine that automated the filling process. Further developments over the last 40 years have created unique ways to prepackage onigiri without making the nori wrapping sticky. The ones we made were an attempt at recreating the “Hawaiian” (spam and pineapple) rice balls from our favorite food hall back in DC. One of my favorite pandemic indulgences was getting take out from the food hall, which often included a sampler of some of my favorite onigiri, and I haven’t been able to find anything close to similar where we are now. One of the many reasons I’m excited to move!

Even as a kid, I wasn’t convinced the food in the anime was fried dough with fruit jelly inside, because they sure look like rice. I also think 4Kids didn’t anticipate that Pokémon’s widespread popularity would inspire many of its fans – including me – to become absolutely obsessed with Japanese food and culture. I would’ve been more excited if they’d just been straight with me and shown more Japanese food on the show, and then probably begged my parents to make it or take me to a restaurant that made it. While I can’t confidently cite numbers of how many other people were first exposed to Japanese culture and food through Pokémon and franchises like it, I do think it’s a bit of a missed opportunity to highlight how things like this exposed kids like Nicki and Isabel to parts of a culture outside their own!

[alexissara]

What A Year For Games! Top 10 Games of 2023 For Little Lesbians Like me!

I am on and off again with video games often switching between years where I am really into games and years where I am snoozing but I started to dedicate myself to finding and sharing more sapphic art so people can stop saying it doesn't exist lead me to playing tons more games and wow I played so many fucking amazing games this year it was an extremally hard year to pick a top 10 games. Now these aren't a top 10 sapphic games, it's just the best 10 games of the year, on an objective scale because I am the goddess of this world and there for right. Not all of these games will have come out in 2023, it's games I played in 2023 why limit ones self?

These games are roughly in order by how confident I am to put them on this list but each of these games did something different than me so I wouldn't say that a game is "better" rather than what I got out of it at the end of playing felt biggest.

Stray Gods

It's a musical, it's a video game, it's Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical. This game is a really fun little Greek myth story telling experience with an neat interoperation of myth and the characters to provide a fun experience to people with or without attachment to the stories. The dynamic music changing to your choices is a really cool concept although I wish more of the songs were a bop. I also wish the game explored the idea of polyamory like the Greek gods were not monogamous and I see no reason I can't kiss Freddie and Persephone in the same playthrough. What is there though is still compelling, fun, and engaging with a great set of characters across the board romanceable and not.

Pokémon Emerald Rouge

Pokabbie's amazing Pokemon Rom Hack that shows the utterly wild shit possible for Pokemon experiences we could get. It's amazingly fun to do runs of Pokemon where you catch new pokemon, fight trainers and get to then recatch that species to use in later runs. It's a really great gameplay loop that really just uses what's fun about pokemon and allows for a lot of different run customization which leads to the loop not getting stale and makes it easier to find particular pokemon you want. This was my favorite Pokémon experience this year.

Street Fighter 6

Street Fighter 6 has some of the worst monetization to date in fighting games. However, despite that it provided a lot of fun to me this year playing the base game's amazing World Tour mode and in enjoying the greatly designed new characters who I hope become Street Fighter staples. All while making my favorite SF character Juri even better with new interactions, a little bit of progress to her story and more. I hope that World Tour mode encourages a lot of other fighting game devs to step up the single player experiences in Fighting games and I also hope [as seems to be the industry trend] that "modern" controls take over. It was so nice to be able to do all the special moves consistently and more easily feel like I was in control of the game rather than feeling light I was fighting my hands to move out an input.

Drums Of War

I sure do wish a Fire Emblem game came out in 2023, it's been so long since Three Houses and Hopes is amazing but not the SRPG gameplay I came to love. Well if there was a Fire Emblem game I am sure it would have ENGAGED me, wait, there was the amazing Fire Emblem rom hack Drums Of War. Parrhesia utterly killed it with this take on Fire Emblem. The heart of the story being an emotionally damaged lesbian and the dancer with a big secret who fell for her makes for an utterly captivating romance paired with a real "war is hell" story that really does it's best to show you how fucked all sides of this conflict are until the player finally gets to forge their own path forward. Roxelana and Calista would be among my most favorite Fire Emblem lords if I was ranking them alongside all the lords of the series with both characters being utterly delightful and some charming side characters too like Estrelle. The gameplay itself aired a bit on the harder side to what I like but regardless I had a great time with the majority of maps and by the end of it I think I finally managed to get with the curve of the difficulty even if I wish there was an easier mode.

Cassette Beasts

The soundtrack alone would put this game on this list but luckily it has even more than a soundtrack. The whole cast are really charming, I totally fell for Viola and the other characters all have their own special charms. The game has plenty of faults I talked about in my review of it but despite the flaws of the game basically right until the very end where it massively declined for me this was one of the best games in all of monster tamers for me. The DLC was sadly not so great that came out later in the year but I didn't mind giving the extra money to the devs when the core game was so good. The monster taming is fun, the gameplay feels flexible enough for you to find the niche you like to play in and become really good at that niche, it allows for a lot of flexibility from folks who wanna swap partners all the time to people who will find their favorite characters and monsters and stick with them. I really hope the developers keep moving forward with Cassette Beasts and making new strives forward with their concepts because of all the indie monster tamers I've played this is leaps and strides above the rest.

En Garde!

This extremally short little romp is a compelling experience that is just a little bit longer than your average modern block buster. It's a simple and sweet swash buckling game where you play as a bisexual vigilante woman with a big crush on a sexy pirate woman trying to stop the oppressor of the people's evil schemes. Each chapter is like another adventure of Zoro short and puppy, fun and with ever so slight tension but you know the hero will come up on top. It's a really good experience and it has some great accessibility features for folks with reflex issues like me to still be able to enjoy it. The music is staller, the voice acting is fantastic, it's a great package that instead of padding itself out fills every second with greatness.

Luxaren Allure

I am a massive fan of turn based RPGs, I love getting to look at menus and think about my actions, being able to multitask while I play, enjoy a big juicy narrative and so I was very happy to play a JRPG style experience that's all about lesbians. An amazingly fun concept for a JRPG plot where one woman's beloved whom she chickened out of confessing too gets corrupted by an evil power and she is tasked with being the hero to take her out. This gives the interactions and the end goal a sense of uncertainty, will this be a sad case of tragic yuri, will she find joy with someone else, will she be able to save the woman she loves from this evil power, will she submit to the evil herself to be by her side? Everything feels uncertain with just this little angle added to a fairly typical JRPG formula. All while on the side having an adorable romance between a naga and a human girl giving us the good good lesbian sweetness between the dramatic tension.

Baldur's Gate 3

I am so often the contain, the noted hater but not on this day, nay I say, it was pretty fucking fun. The game is flawed, pretty flawed, like it's got a lot or fantasy racism shit I hate, it's tied to an IP I hate, it's got so many bugs that happened on my own run but if there is one game from this list I will probably think of the most and play the most in 2024 and beyond from this year it's probably this game. The games depth of interactivity, the wide breath of options, and the mods, oh the mods, the many many many mods, this game has so much to do and will for a very long time. It's rare to get a truly great multiplayer game and this game also provides that, this is a fantastic experience for playing online with others and makes for really great runs. Then there is the romances, oh the romances are really great, the girls are all fantastic and the side queers are super brilliant too. It's just a really fun video game and it does a good job exploring trauma and different takes on abusive relationships and overcoming [or succumbing] to them.

Thirsty Suitors

What a fucking great game, while the gameplay is mostly quick time events it does an amazing job of making each aspect of the game feel distinct from each other. While skateboarding in general kinda sucks in this game the combat and cooking all feels really great. Then there is the vocal performances and writing which are all fucking stellar. It's really great to see a fully fleshed out and fully real feeling queer woman who has had messy exes of all genders and has done a lot of fucked up things in her time. Jala's road to redemption with her family and exes all feels really great and this is a special story and I realized sometime after there is some level of variance too that I could have seen if I made some different choices. It's really great and even if it's not a dating sim like I thought it might be it's still a really great little thing. Then you factor in all the cool queer brown people in this game and wow, like I felt so scene by this game like the angry mess Tyler is speaks to my little transbian heart, the high fem lesbian struggle with family that Diya has I could feel echoed in my own life, I just, wow, it was great. I am so happy this game exists and I will likely always see this among the best narratives in all video games.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood

My game of the year, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood fucking blew me away. In a shocking twist of fate while I complained about a lot of endings this year I didn't like my original ending for The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood either but then that drove me to go from liking the game to loving it as I ran the game again in spite of it, fueled by spite alone I felt a sense of determination, I would change my fate! This thematic fortune telling game where you make your own cards, help people or end up seeing a fate that only hurts them, I knew how to play it, I knew the systems now, I understood how the cards worked, the truth of my powers and the price I agreed to pay and I'd use all of that to make the happiest fucking story possible for Fortuna aka ME. So I dart through the game, I help the trans woman be herself and happy, I get my hot butch girlfriend, I help everyone out with their life problems crafting only the best cards possible to make sure I can give the best fates possible and then I hit the end point, the time to pay the price. I say no, the game says, you have to, I keep saying no, and then I draw my cards again and shape fate and in that I defied fate, made an ending I could be happy with, a better world for all my fellow witches, and so my story ends with my friends back by my side [probably gonna be a polycule] and a whole lot to look forward to. What a fucking experience, what a cool fucking game.

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