#Myth game with actual gameplay

[rbxl-wanderer]

Traveler's Sanctuary

by Wanderer's Haven

jamming out

[digitalagepulao]

My sincere Black Myth: Wukong review

Full disclosure! This is from a recent but earnest fan of JTTW as the original novel, as well as all the social, cultural and religious layers of it. I've seen my fair share of adaptations and derivative media, from shlocky to silly to grimdark to cutesy. I'm a bachelor in visual arts, with an interest in the field of game development since high school. I am also, white and brazillian, and have talked with other jttw fans, both Chinese and not, on this game. If any of these are for some reason motive to not read further, then fair enough. Hope you have fun and continue to enjoy the game, do not let me or my opinion stop you!

Now to the review proper <3

First things first, let the obvious not remain unsaid. This game, is supremely gorgeous. In every sense of the word, and I mean this fully, it's a work of art. The sound design, the character concepts and execution, the animations, the voice acting, the visual effects, the UI design, the cinematography, the 3D scanning of actual historical artofacts and heritage sites throughout China, and everything beyond and between, are phenomenal, full stop.

This was never a debate, I'm sure, but I don't think I can in good conscience not praise them for their work. It's no news that Asian talent, not just in China either, have been often hired to supplement projects on the West, and we can all agree it's about time they got to shine in their own AAA project. My issues with the international game industry notwithstanding, I hope this brings some much needed acknowledgment and appreciation for Chinese culture and arts, both traditional and modern!

Now, from this point on, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS, so proceed with caution!

(word count: +1.8k)

I also deeply enjoy their choices in arcs to revisit. Some like the Flaming Mountain arc are classic picks to adapt but still a very good match to the whole Six Senses throughline. I don't think you can do a JTTW 2 electric bogaloo without bringing up Niumowang and his family in some way (um, put a pin on that), but the other arcs like Yellowbrow or Black Wind Mountain aren't as explored imo, so it's nice to see them being given a bit of a spotlight.

(speaking of the Yellow Ridge arc, whoever made the executive decision of Lingji Bodhisattva being a Xaanxi singer is, genius!!)

I'm also kind of in love?? with Bajie's design and role in the story overall?? Gameplay wise he sticks around just enough to not feel lonely, but not too long to be a nuisance or overstay his welcome. He's no Atreus (GoW) or Ellie (TLoU) of course, but he doesn't need to be, and most importantly, he isn't trying to be, which I feel is admirable of the devs. Given the visible inspirations from the recent God of War games, it would have been easy to lean a bit too hard on it, but I'm glad they didn't overreach.

Him having a more complex love life is also a nice touch imo. It explores more his womanizer ways in an interesting way, and I appreciate it. I love when people complicate the pig! Also, the way he treats Xiaosheng (Destined One) like a nephew?? The scene on the Huaguoshan throne??? I'M GONNA CRY!!!

I think, I've run out of positive things to say.... time for the spicy takes.

I, kind of detest the premise by default. I'm not a big fan of "Superman is Dead" plots, cus it's usually either done for shock value, or taken so lightly that the weight is totally lost. I have such a love-hate situationship with the introduction cutscene because of this. On one hand, it's phenomenal cinema, and seeing Wukong stand up to the Heavenly armies in glorious 4K high fidelity graphics is delicious. On the other hand, the whole debate they are having has me going "?????", not because I don't get it but just, why?? Why did this have to be the premise?? (put another pin on that)

Also the set up and call to adventure is kind of blergh.

Now is as good a time as any to talk about the gameplay. It's, okay. If you enjoy trying to figure out the most stylish combos, or to mash buttons, then you'll definitely have fun. I was sorely disappointed that I pretty much have been going through the bosses rather easily. Chapter 1 it was mostly the struggle of learning the controls, but I never stuck to a boss for longer than seven tries (Whiteclad Noble, the snakeman that you are). Chapter 2 I only struggled on Tiger Vanguard, because I was sorely underleveled and had missed a pathway to explore before him. After that I second tried him. Chapter 3, I have and I'm not joking, gotten halfway through first or second trying every boss.

Mind you, this is not being some godtier gamer or whatever, I'm pretty average and only a recent player of soulslike games too (maybe playing Lies of P made too OP, but I sincerely doubt it lol). No, this is me saying that if you do explore the game and not rush through it, you won't struggle nearly as much as some people have and still are. Most of the final chapter bosses can be trivialized with the chapter's Obsession Realm gimmick artifact, which isn't in itself a bad thing, just feels like an odd choice personally.

Which leads me to, the level design. So far? Preeeeetty lame! It's very pretty and fancy, but so chockful of invisible walls that it feels stiffling and discourages exploration. I can never tell what is meant to be a path or just fancy scenery, and I never know when a jump will get walled or send me to my death by fall damage. When it's not being confusing, the level design is either a bunch of looping circles, or straight lines. And so far, besides a few interactables and loot, there is not much else to look at. That is, bad level design, plain and simple.

Also, the animations are glorious, but what is the point if I can't see the enemy?? That camera is my true nemesis, and I mean that. the fact that a boss can be beyond my field of vision at ANY POINT when I'm locked on and it strifes sideways, is dreadful. GameScience, FIX IT. It is also, very hard to tell what parts of a boss will damage me if I collide with them or not. The Kang-Jin Long fight was baffling on a design point of view, same for Captain Lotus-Vision. Some clearer hitboxes would be swell.

This is the point where I say my main issue with the game lies: it's very pretty, and adoringly crafted, but it lacks substance design wise. I feel like it needed to cook more, the level design polished more so I wouldn't get lost every five minutes, and clearer.... well, everything. Mechanic explanations, level progression, gimmicks, etc. It all needed to be less murky and convoluted to understand.

It also needed more meat in between bosses. I have yet to run into common enemies that give me actual trouble, so it ends up being just a jolly waltz from boss to boss. Boss rushes are fun and great, but not as the base game experience (for me at least). I had to stop one boss away from completing Chapter 1 cus I was just so exhausted. And I had been playing for like, an hour and a half?? That left a sour taste in my mouth, I'll be honest.

Okay, I'm gonna pick open those pins now.

#1 the Flaming Mountain Arc. I'm gonna be very real here chat, that was so cringe. What do you MEAN, Red Son wasn't Demon Bull King's biological son, and Princess Iron Fan was forced to drink from the Childbearing River??? And Red Son hates him????When I watched that cutscene, I had to pause and walk away for a moment, legitimately. This plotbeat is SO WILD to me, I got nothing to say. Just, why??Soooo bizarre. And that the Flaming Mountain Keeper has such a presence in Iron Fan's life is also, weird?? Not bad weird, just Weird, but that's like a nitpick more than an actual criticism. Ping Ping is fine though, I like that Bull has a daughter with Princess Fair Fox, that's cute and interesting. Wish she was in a better plot and adaptation but lol

And #2, the premise. Now we are getting to the meat of it all.

The underlying premise of the whole plot, including the true ending, is flawed by default. The premise runs on what is sometimes called as a "conspiracy theory plot", as in, "what if the gods were bad actually??". It's reddit movie theory content in very short terms, and while it had a place during the 00s grimdark years pre-Marvel, it's become quite a jaded and boring take nowadays. Now you may say that it comes from a genuine desire to show distrust and critique to insitutions and the powers than be, and I can see that.

There is a hiccup in that though.

In JTTW, Wukong is the Mind Monkey because of the religious text and subtext of the stories. Its interwoven in the whole thing, and makes it cohesive. It still offer critique and mockery to institutions, without entirely invalidating their foundations. Not only for genuine fear of prosecution, but because, shockingly, religion and belief is a major component of human society in general. But going back to my point, JTTW is *already* a critique of institutions and the power that be. Adding further layers into it feel like angst and edginess just for the sake of it, and that feels hollow to me.

To go further, this intent also clashes with their own plot. See, they bring up that Wukong's Mind, his Sixth Sense, died. Thus they need another Mind to guide his other senses and reform him, so that he may be reborn.

For one, that is such a convoluted way to do a reincarnation plot, it feels complicated just for novelty sake. Secondly, Wukong being the Mind Monkey, as I said, implies a tie to the underlying themes of the Journey as a person's path to enlightenment. If enlightenment itself is flawed because the gods are flawed/evil, then both themes are clashing. By making a "what if the gods were evil all along" plot while also going by the laws and order of said gods, then what are we even fighting against? What is the point of this whole rebellion between Erlang and Wukong??

my friend @ryin-silverfish said it best a while back, and I'm paraphrasing here (do pitch in or correct me if needed! <3), but the issue with these conspiracy narratives is the inherent anti-religion of them. They don't believe in anything, and thus they cannot properly retell the story of JTTW through a postmodern lense, because they refuse to engage with the religiosity that runs throughout the story.

It also leaves a sour taste in my mouth, because this game will likely be many people's first genuine experience with the JTTW mythos and story, and I tend to be concerned for how much this will "sour the pot" in the conversation. The novels are sadly innacessible enough as it is; the sheer size of them scare many people away, not even to mention the amount of underlying cultural context you'll miss out without proper footnotes and commentary. Most people will not engage with them directly, and certainly not most gamers.

While the narrative of someone embodying Wukong's spirit is not new in itself, I do find that it coexisting with such a poor premise and spin on it will be a sore first experience for new fans, and I can only hope that them meeting fans of the OG novels won't cause much friction in the fandom (we have enough as it is imo).

It also concerns me that, sadly, people and gamers in particular, get too swept up in the ooh-aah beauty of flashy sfx and highly detailed graphics, and fail to notice some of the underlying issues in game design. As I said, this game is a work of art, but it has flaws, and I don't think people are speaking of them enough. No, the issue is not "lack of diversity" or whatever the hell.

It runs deeper than that, and it's an issue I've come to see in recent movies as well. I'm aware it might just be different cultural expectations of the pacing and span of a story, and it may as well be! But I think if there was more care given to the bones of a media, it would bring much needed longevity and weight to these wonderful artworks.

All this said, I wanna see what acolades this game gets and see what the devs are cooking up with the DLCs (they said at one point the game was supposed to have 12 chapters and my god, that game would be TOO LONG. So glad it didn't get like that!), and further more see how this ripples in the eastern game dev scene. While this is a flawed game with a flawed story, it can be the first on a genuinely wonderful wave of new creations, not just by GameScience, and overall I'm hopeful for what might come next!

[ayeforscotland]

Uhhh... What the heck is the black myth wukong dos and donts document???

So it's fairly common that when you get a review code for a game, it's accompanied by a document on what you can show prior to the game's release.

For example, when I got a early review code for Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, I was asked not to show gameplay after a certain point. This is so creators can't race to film the whole game and release a full playthrough before the game actually launches.

However...Devs behind Black Myth Wukong had some wild stuff in theirs. They are the following:

Do NOT insult other influencers or players.

Do NOT use any offensive language/humour.

Do NOT include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishisation, and other content that instigates negative discourse.

Do NOT use trigger words such as 'quarantine' or 'isolation' or 'Covid-19'.

Do NOT discuss content related to China's game industry policies, opinions, news, etc.

Number one is fairly standard. 2 is highly subjective and for other games tends to more explicit i.e "Do not use any curse/swear words". This is also hugely dependent on the content - Some sponsors don't want to be associated with swearing while an 18+ game wouldn't care.

Number Three is absolutely wild. Not including violence in an already violent game? Saying you can't talk politics? Nudity is often against TOS for most platforms anyway. "Feminist propaganda" whatever the fuck that is.

Number 4 is absolute parody. Nobody playing would have been talking about Covid?

Number 5 is also ridiculous. Of course the Chinese games industry is going to be talked about. It's a game made by a Chinese developer?

Having 3,4 and 5 in the mix actually raises much more questions. No idea who thought it was a good idea to include this in a Dos and Don't document for creators.

[thydungeongal]

https://www.tumblr.com/thydungeongal/769949043465093120/i-often-see-this-when-people-air-out-their

What do “dramatic, personal stakes” look like in tabletop gaming? What games center them in their mechanics and how?

Alright, so there are lots and lots of games out there that do this in very different ways, so this is going to be a very long and meandering answer.

Starting with the most "trad" example, Pendragon, the game of playing knights in Arthurian Britain that freely mixes history and myth, is for the most part a very traditional adventure game, but it also introduced the idea of Passions and Personality Traits to give mechanical heft to characterization. These are effectively measured on the same 1 to 20 scale as regular skills and attributes in the game, meaning that they can be "tested" just like skills, but they also have the potential for putting the player character into trouble. A character with the "Hates Saxons" Passion will have their hate actually manifest in play, whereas a character who is high in Lustful and low in Chaste will find themselves entangled in lots of romantic drama. Character personality will thus actually have concrete game mechanical effects. The Passions system has since been ported into more recent editions of RuneQuest and its descendants, including Mythras.

Fate is a more modern indie RPG that is less concerned with measuring out Exact Statistics and more about modeling narrative convention. Fate characters are, more so than their skills, basically defined by their Aspects, which are effectively narrative tags that define How a character should behave in a story and What sort of stuff should be happening to them. Aspects can be invoked (using Fate points, the game's main meta currency that the whole game operates on) for bonuses on actions that relate to that tag, but they can also be compelled to put the character into trouble in a way that makes sense for their Aspect, thus granting the player a Fate point if they accept the compel. Aspects are pretty much at the core of Fate and they are utilized for much more than just characterization: new temporary aspects can be created on the fly to represent things in the environment, aspects can be used to represent things in the world and the wider narrative, injuries and consequences of losing conflicts are effectively temporary aspects, and so on. This way the game is largely one where the meta resource management game ties heavily into things that matter in the fiction.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy (by @anim-ttrpgs) is another very trad RPG and a game that is very much a "going on an adventure" game (but the adventure is a mystery that needs to be investigated), but the game adds a bit of extra mechanical heft to characterization of make it clear that the game is about regular people investigating mysteries: the Trait system is one of the most important mechanical dials for character customization and Traits are effectively packaged options with both benefits and drawbacks, and those mechanical effects also inform characterization very heavily; Truths are unique to each investigator and are something I would compare to Fate's Aspects but much more precise and personal and less meta, giving investigators minor bonuses on actions in a scene when they are acting according to their Truth; and finally, Tiers of Fear, which are also very personal to each investigator, define how an investigator reacts to various fear stimuli that exist in the world and thus also heavily intersect with the game's Composure mechanic. All of these mechanics interact with an investigative game with a very clear intended gameplay experience to further influence characterization and add personal stakes into the narrative.

Getting back to the more avant garde, Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine is a game that I still struggle to wrap my head around because it's a game for smart people, but as far as I have understood: the gameplay largely revolves around player characters choosing personal goals called Arcs which are further divided into Quests; each Quest is defined as a number of experience points that must be accrued towards the quest for it to be completed, as well as specific actions that characters can do to gain bonus experience on those quests, and then you basically just. Let your characters loose on quests. The important thing is that while quests can be shared among a group (for a more traditional "Group of Heroes Going on an Adventure" narrative, which Chuubo's does also support) they are also personal (so each character will have their own personal quests they will be working towards) and asynchronous (a character may pick up multiple quests over their arc and not complete them in the same order as they started them, as some will be shorter diversions on the path towards victory). Again, this is a very broad-strokes, top-down view of how the game works, because it is a very heady game that I have yet to wrap my head around. If any Chuubo's fans notice any egregious omissions or mistakes here, please let me know.

Finally I'll finish with something a bit broader, the World of Darkness "series" of games, while not having anything quite as in-depth as personality mechanics, do all have various mechanical frameworks for tying characterization into gameplay: the Classic World of Darkness games had their Archetypes, effectively defining a broad personality archetype that the character needs to act according to in order to regain Willpower; the Chronicles of Darkness games have Vices and Virtues, with characters having one of each, once again defining how they regain Willpower; and I'm sure the newer Paradox White Wolf titles also have something to that effect as well. Basically, little carrots dangled in front of player characters to encourage characterization and acting according to a specific archetype. It's neat!

[journeytothewestresearch]

hi again! Please disregard my previous ask, after some digging realized that August 20th 2020 is when the gameplay for black myth first dropped and four years later the game was released on the same day. Most results on CN web saying his ""birthday"" is August 20th are related to BMW, so I assume this is more likely a recent thing that SWK fans adapted as his birthday 🥲😅

No worries. Monkey actually has a number of "birthdays." I've confirmed 1/16, 7/25, 8/16, and 10/12 (lunar) with independent sources. Interestingly, 2/25 (his birthday in Fujian, China) isn't included.

[rustfoxes]

Disjointed DAtVG feelings/opinions

I've played the game for a bit, I'm not too far in yet, and honestly? I hope it gets better. Spoilers & venting below as you might guess.

Everything seems to be tell, don't show. There's very, VERY little trust in the player. Characters happen upon a ruined village? "The village is ruined! There's no one here!" Yes, we can see that. Character looks upset? Text pops up on screen to tell you that IN FACT!! Character is upset. Couldn't have guessed.

Everything is explained out loud immediately, except the arguably actually important things. If I remember correctly, there's no mention of the 10 year (?) timeskip from DAI, everyone just now knows everything about elven magic and the Fade and the Veil EXCEPT FOR THE PLAYER. None of that is explained! New players are expected to just know, which in some games works, but when you throw characters into a magical forest and say it's Arlathan forest, how tf are they supposed to know what Arlathan is.

Why is Varric a brunette all of a sudden

Characterisation of returning characters is fucking wild. Fun, jokey Harding? Massive chip on her shoulder and real aggressive for some reason. Soft-spoken and measured Solas? Yelling, again, for some damn reason. Where is his iambic pentameter? And he hates blood magic all of a sudden?? Did the writers play the earlier games at all? Solas SPECIFICALLY says in DAI that blood magic has no morality to it and is merely a tool.

The game is linear to the extent that I cannot for the life of me see the point of the game asking you to wrap up unfinished business before moving forward. What unfinished business? You've locked us into a small room with 0 exits and 1 chest. There is no business.

So far there's been zero time for any of the story to breathe. There are no story beats, because the drum machine that is the pacing just keeps hammering on. The gravity of the situation has no time to set in for anyone. THE ACTUAL GODS OF MYTH HAVE BEEN BUST OUT OF GOD-JAIL. THIS IS A HUGE FUCKING PROBLEM. "Yeah, well, people would've died if Solas hadn't been stopped from tearing down the Veil." And this is preferable???? What the actual fuck. DAI Solas wanted to rebuild and to safe-guard his people. TWO of the people he wanted to PROTECT EVERYONE FROM are now out. But oh man, that Solas, he would've hurt folks. You think the wondertwins won't? Jesus fucking Christ.

The gameplay more or less just completely scraps character classes. Playing a mage rn and for some damn reason she has separate ranged attacks. What the actual fuck. What is the point of making people choose a class if a damn mage has to stand next to enemies to attack?

So far doesn't feel like an RPG at all. Starts in media res which is fine, but your character is already established as a cool hero and an important figure. Why? Why weren't we along for that ride?

Character movement is janky af, DAI was much smoother 10 damn years ago. Hopefully they'll somehow manage to fix it.

Either they needed better actors or a much better voice director, because holy shit is the dialogue awkward and halting and just... no.

Writers have clearly had shoes far too large to fill. Dialogue wants to be funny and witty and clever. It is not. Specially not with the phoned in voice acting.

Where have my Welsh/Irish elves gone? Wtf happened there? Also why wasn't there anyone around to tell the actors how to pronounce the elvhen words??

Why the fuck is the rogue our healer.

All quests so far have been walking from A to B, collecting some coins along the path, and then fighting 5 or 10 enemies. No variation at all.

Idk man, I really hope the game will find its legs as it goes on, but so far? Massively underwhelming and honestly quite disappointing. Absolutely does not feel like DA. People critisised DA2 for being rushed and DAI for a whole host of shit, but at least I felt like I was playing a Dragon Age game.

[chrysanthemumgames]

Me (finding out that “Persephonysus” and Hades share a common relative): …..okay.

Me (Immediately thinking about the culprit before I read further to confirm it): OF COURSE WE SHARE A COMMON RELATIVE!

But I ultimately gave the Zeus a pass, since it’s most likely he didn’t know about it before the forced marriage and he doesn’t seem like my enemy (at least not in my gameplay), though it always amuses me how he gets so angry, even when my joke at his expense is so trivial (and yes, I’ve tried multiple options). He also has a mega huge ego with all his “We” talk, but the Olympic throne situation and my throne situation in the Underworld—I’m not gonna lie, it made me swoon at first—but then after three more play throughs, I felt so bad for Hera that I made a few changes, and I was surprised at how much I love having Hera as a close friend (from her letter to the entire garden scene which was chefs kiss). I always thought FOA demo Hera was a bit cold and didn’t think too much about her—or Zeus—until I decided to merge two deities into one to form my personality/attributes and until the throne situation wouldn’t leave my head. I feel like a traitor for switching up on Hestia and Aphrodite, lol, but I genuinely love Hera’s bond on the friend route the most out of all the options (though I still haven’t tried the enemy Artemis route). I kind of felt bad initially, knowing the myth about how Hera treats Zeus’s children out of wedlock, but Friend!Hermes handled it way better than I thought he would, if confused, maybe a touch sad, but mostly supportive. True bestie material.

I didn’t think too much during the FOA demo, but since I have done multiple playthrough on Hades’ route, over the past two months, I originally thought Hades’s epic ‘arrival’ in the beginning was just to annoy Zeus…actually that might still be true, but from how I seem to always get immensely, yet thankfully momentarily on Zeus’s nerves no matter what I say (due to my people skills—for the “Nysus” part to my Persephonysus), I noticed that Hades might have done that also as a way to protect me via distraction. Even when we were strangers…Swoon 😂

I also love how we have more scenes with the core 6, but also with Makaria and Kerberos (even Daeira and Empusa). On my next playthrough, I’ll finally work with the fates (after doing every other job) and I’ll finally meet Hypnos—for the first time ever. Safe to say, I started playing the demo back in September 2023, but the finished product is way more than I expected, and I love how little changes can drastically change the gameplay and how all of the branching keeps the story cohesive enough, that even through my multiple gameplays over the last two months, I am still finding new options and dialogues, and I know I’ll find even more when I force myself to get off of Hades’ route to play the others. So far I did the initially scared of Hades route, boldly flirting with hades route, shyly flirting with Hades route, a mix of boldly and shyly flirting with Hades route, Platonic friends who stay married route (lol), etc. but the thing is…I never get bored of it and I still find different ways to play on Hades’s route. The only thing I think I can’t do is the (one-sided) enemies to lovers route with Hades, since I’ll doubt he’d be mean to me and it’ll crush my heart to read his responses to me being mean to him.

I'm delighted you enjoy the game, anon, truly.

I'm a little confused though; I'm not sure what common relative you're talking about. Of course, in the myths there are several relatives in common between almost everyone, but I have broken up the family tree quite extensively here.

If you're talking about Harmonia, Iasion (and thus the PC) are only related to her through her mother, and Hades is only related to her through her father, so I guess in some sense she's a common relative, but there isn't anything untoward about the Hades/PC match because of it, if that was the concern.

[4-the-l0ve-0f-art]

I keep on getting burnout from love and deepspace so here are my thoughts on why I dislike the gacha mechanics in this game so much!!

Now, I KNOW what I signed up for. It's gacha. It's literally a pay 2 play concept but that doesn't stop me from complaining 😔✊

Most of the games ive played long-term are gacha (granted most have been hoyo games which are known to be more f2p friendly compared to other gacha games) but i genuinely dislike LADS in particular for varying reasons

Don't get me wrong, the game is absolutely amazing. The storytelling, graphics, gameplay itself whether it's combat or playing through memories is literal art and they've made their characters come to life unlike any other game. But i hate how quickly infold releases their banners and cycles through events

That in itself wouldn't be a problem if:

There were more ways to get gems. There's literally no way to get gems aside from abyssal chaos (which has limited gems which you get through quickly if you play daily) and daily/weekly commissions. Even the events barely give you anything unless it's a free 4 star log-in event which is great! But there's not much of a game to play there aside from playing through the audio story once you get the card. There's also the gems you get from completing orbits but we'll get to the issue with that later

The amount of time spent grinding for gems or even paying to get the card doesn't seem worth it at all. (I'm f2p so i can't exactly speak for players who spend money on the game but I'm sure there's complaints there too from their own perspective)

Let's say you spent an hour daily on the game, doing daily quests and weekly minigames to get gems/chocolates, or spend lots of money to get a card, for what? A 10-15 minute story with sped up audio and movement in EN? And barely any lore or voiced mc? (What was the voice customization option for if you're not gonna use it?) Varying/inaccurate translations between languages?

The issue with getting gems from the orbit trials:

You need to level up your cards as you get to higher levels in the trials. But there is way less resources available and no way to farm them (locked behind stamina) to actually be able to level up your cards especially once you reach around 60-70 levels

It takes weeks, and i repeat WEEKS to get enough of those bottle thingies to level up your card once you reach level 80. For a single card. Forget about leveling up your cards for all the LIs, you can't even do it for one.

No resources to level up = no way to earn gems. No way to earn gems = no way to pull for cards in a card based game (do you see the problem?)

My 3rd issue with the banners being cycled through too quickly is:

There is no gameplay if you're not able to pull for cards. There is literally nothing to do except wait for the main storyline to update, which took half a year to start expanding into the LI branches since the game released

Even when it did started releasing, the quality of it was just.. Unexpectedly low. It wasn't horrible by any means, but the sped up audio and movement (again? In the main storyline this time?) And no voiced mc (where did that go? Wasn't she voiced in the starting?) And did I mention the quad and solo banners completely unrelated to the main storyline being released at the same time?

So much of their lore is locked behind myth cards. The issue with myth cards is there is no way to get the limited myth pairs once the banners have ended because it's almost been an year and they haven't introduced any rerun mechanism yet. Not to mention you need to upgrade your cards to play through the myth episodes which you can't do if there aren't enough ways to get resources.

That's literally it. The problems are repetitive and interconnected and i love the characters so much but i get burn out easily because of the issues faced which I personally don't think are worth experiencing to literally just play the game 😞

Real footage of me yapping to a wall LMAO

I just like to be greedy with my games atp

[amaryllis-sagitta]

We saw Regret of a god, now time for his Grief

In the gameplay reveal, Neve tells us that Solas's hideout in Minrathous is placed under the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. While in modern Thedas that title belongs to Andraste, the original Lady of Grief and Sorrow was Mythal. According to the Dalish origin myth, she emerged from the Earth's tears when Elgar'nan cast the Sun down into the Abyss, and living creatures all died in the sunless world.

The reveals so far already tell us something about Solas's hideout in Minrathous: we supposedly descend down a complex filled with murals that will tell us more of the story. In today's Game Informer cover, we learn that the location will feel like "going back in time", also reflecting how Tevinter colonized and regurgitated the ancient Elvhenan in the twilight of its days, rising on its ruins. But it also reflects Solas's apparent fixation on the past, which to me is a symptom of a reparative drive in a process of deeply complicated grief. Solas places himself outside the reality that could thrive, no matter how close to feeling at home he gets -- one more hint that he seems to operate from an understanding of turning back the time.

According to The Lighthouse's depiction in the Game Informer cover, the devs highlight Solas's loneliness through a description of a "massive table" that is only set for one. But there's no utility in having something like this if it didn't use to be full. Solas uses it in this specific way to torture himself.

Another location, that doesn't even pretend not to be Skyhold 2.0, echoes the theme of a place that had a purpose and a thriving community but went completely abandoned due to catastrophic events that Solas incited. Once again, he lends his former place to a new team as he continues to dance in the dyad between self-imposed isolation and rebuilding something that he still holds an attachment to. He lends people his old places to restore them to life, and there's an interesting dance in this initiative: in a roundabout way, he might hope to to feel alive again as the place fills with life. At the same time, a part of him seems to insist that he should forever grieve and remain lifeless on the inside.

The Inquisition almost convinced him that he can sit at the table while others are there, not just to reminisce about the void left after what's gone. But when he used the Inquisition for his own goals, he kind of undermined the very idea of restoring a community and locked himself out of it. This time, it appears he will have less agency within the physical world, and my fear is that he will separate himself from the community even further, since Rook and he have reasons not to begin on the best of terms. His conflict with Rook isn't based on merely underestimating someone, as it was the case with Corypheus. Rook and Varric have actively interrupted him, and he has people to blame, even if the is fully responsible for the lack of communication about his plans.

Another thing that caught my attention when looking at the theme of grief in the reveals is how they keep hinting at Solas as some strange symbolic heir to both Mythal's and Elgar'nan, as if suspended between the two possibilities that these gods embody. Wisdom and Pride this and that, his monstrous form in Tevinter Nights is the dragon-wolf with fiery wings that are actually made up of spirits of Justice/Vengeance (the Mortalitasi in the story demonizes them, naturally, but the boundary between these two polarities is not as clear in nature). Fen'Harel portrays himself as a deliverer of a reckoning for the mortals' foolish transgression -- Nemesis against hubris, which would be closer to Elgar'nan's symbolic complex, or to a darker facet of Mythal expressed by Flemythal in DAI. It seems that long ago, he took it upon himself to replace the missing arbiter among the gods, and to bring the Evanuris to justice for Mythal's murder. Now, in a way, he is left as the only arbiter to his own deeds. Who else will judge him for taking the Veil down and the chaos that ensues (other than his own attachment to selected mortals that he might have developed throughout DAI)?

There's certainly a theme of a vicious cycle between destructive envy ("if I can't have something, why should anyone"), retribution, righteous fury, and further misery that is to be explored somewhere in between Elgar'nan, Mythal's possible return in yet another incarnation, and Solas being placed in between. When he developed the Veil, was he tempted to punish them more severely than it was necessary? How much is really necessary? Is it possible that he's unconsciously punishing the world he inadvertently created -- the pinnacle of his complicated grief -- with destruction that is absolutely superfluous and a result of his deflected self-hatred rather than fair judgment? Will he be able to apply compassion in his wisdom (hello, Cole)?

[offeryoucannotrefuse]

So, I'm replaying Tears of the Kingdom, and I am really hyper critical of stuff, I realize that more and more, but god the game is a mixed bag. A really, really good mixed bag

On the one hand, I don't know if I will pick up Breath of the Wild in the next decade because of how much better the gameplay and combat and collectables and ultra hand and god the new enemies are so good. Horrablins are fantastic, just make a Proboscis Monkey evil, and Gleeoks and Frox are great, and of course it just has literally double the content of Botw, and it's just so good and I got the Official companion book (the game guide, not the masterworks) and it's great and I got the MM and Oot amiibo so now my paraglider can be Lon Lon Milk god it's a good game.

But on the other, they ditched breath of the wild faster than they ditched the Virtual boy. Every single shrine and guardian (minus one) has disintegrated, including the shrine of awakening, so now it's just a joke that the yiga hang out in. So they deleted shiekah tech to make the same thing for zonai And while there are freedoms that come with the more magical Zonai tech, Sheikah tech actually has a backstory, and feels older. Calamity ganon was a known quantity to a degree, so the entire world made an effort to end that war before it began, so there was a tech boom, just like in real life. Then, just like after actual wars, there was an arms collection and the government destroyed them. The Zonai just existed, found zonite, made a civilization that never existed in the first game (excusable, but still throws you off),went basically extinct somehow (how the heck is Zelda related to Rauru, and also pick a new name), made a pathetic defense against a much smaller force than Calamity ganon, and lost.

The only people who have a connection to the era of myth (the tapestry battle) are mummified in the shrines in botw, and it's as if their souls are speaking before they go. There aren't robots that still exist and just tell you everything. And it felt like a valid reset with Botw, a unified timeline, where nothing from the previous games can affect creativity, but come on, the second time collecting memories of someone you don't know before they make a novel sacrifice so that you can rescue them does not have the same effect. Also secret stones are really pathetic compared to divine beasts and the champions inherent powers, although I like the modern day sages powers, but having a ghost follow you around feels unnecessary when the method from botw worked so well.

And Ganondorf...

For those who don't know, Ganondorf from Oot, TP, and WW (and all the ganons) is the same individual Gerudo, after different events and timeline splits. And the most interesting appearance of him was in Wind Waker, when he explained that some of the reason he attacked Hyrule was because the desert was just a horrible place to live, and why should there be green field when his people go without water. It's like 2 lines, but it shows more humanity in a villain than any other Zelda game has done, and when I heard they were hiring Matt Mercer to do Ganondorf, I thought they would give him more of that, something beyond generic ruthless villain, a reason this Ganondorf, a separate extremely rare male Gerudo whose a mage and has the powers of evil and a second form he gets using his yellow magic item, was worth using instead of just letting Ganondorf stay dead.

But the writers didn't, they gave more cunning to the giant purple cloud shaped like a boar than the man.

Really, I just didn't like what they chose to keep from the breath of the wild and what they chose to ditch. Dispute that, I think it's my second favorite game on switch now.

[kerubimcrepin]

What do we know about Joris le Sans-Pouvoir (Joris the Powerless)?

Aka, addressing the "cancelled Nintendo DS game"-shaped elephant in the room.

While this blog has gone deep into the show and character dissections, I think it would be remiss to proceed without addressing the elephant in the room — the game, the myth, the legend, the 2007-2009ish cancelled game Joris le Sans-Pouvoir.

There isn't a lot that is known about it, and all the data in this post comes from two developers.

The only videos of it we have available are uhhh......,

...Please say "Thanks Ronik!" for this video in particular.

I spent hours trying to convert these two SWF animation video files, — which demonstrate how the game was supposed to look, — to something actually viewable. There were many issues, with at least seven different programs.

I suffered for crepinjurgenology studies, but I did it.

Instead of recounting the story in my own words and omitting anything on accident, I will simply present to you, what the portfolios of two different developers say (these two pages are the source of all the images, gifs, and gameplay):

Joris Le sans-Pouvoir is the main character from a feature film Ankama due in 2013. It’s a new character IP situated in the DOFUS universe. I had the chance to work on a platform game prototype that was all about delving into of the character’s backstory. We wrote a lot of background and had a lot of fun designing and developping a cute and quirky platformer with a hint of metroidvania elements and a dash of Grow gameplay elements in-between levels. It also was a great opportunity to work with Jono Takeshi-san of Radiata Stories fame who worked with me on the art direction. (SOURCE)

Joris was the first Nintendo DS project developed at Ankama (in partnership with Magic Pockets). I began working on the project as narrative game designer, then took on the role of Lead Designer and Project Manager. Game design on this project involved boss fight, level design, minigame design, UI… I also designed an original collecting system where collectible items were used in a minigame inspired by the “Grow” series. The developpement has been put on hold to match the release of the animated movie with the same character (scheduled in 2013). (SOURCE)

Neither the movie nor the game, survived their development, due to circumstances. (shorthand for: I have no idea what happened, man. Maybe one day I'll write a post about the history of the movie, and truly open that can of worms, but god, not right now. I don't want to spend more time on this.)

Eventually, The Wakfu film turned into three OVAs instead, and the Dofus film changed its plot a bunch of times, and became Livre 1 : Julith.

...For some reason, in some version of it, Joris had a tail. Yeah, I don't know what that's about either. Cool clothes, though!

We don't know anything about its plot, and unlike cancelled projects Dofus Donjons and Welsh et Shedar (which was cancelled for years, until its recent resurrection), the lore of this game carries no relevancy in modern canon.

The name, Joris the Powerless, as well as the log-centric gameplay, both seem to reference the early concept that Joris had log-based powers, — and that without his "magic wand," he couldn't do much.

(Joris and his weird fucking "magic wand" were, in turn, borne out of the idea of a warrior who had a woman's voice. Which makes me chuckle.)

(The following quotes are machine-translated and may contain errors)

(SOURCE)

This is, by the way, the reason why I personally headcanon Joris to be really bad at huppermagic. So bad that he dropped out of the Huppermage Academy, and almost never uses magic in combat. It's a homage to his original idea.

(Yes, there is an actual reason why I headcanon Joris to be godawful at magic, besides just projecting my neurodivergencies onto him.)

I suppose that, even at this time, Joris was meant to be a store owner:

The gameplay loop involves going from boutique, to missions, and so on, while those two pieces of concept art involve the said boutique section, and show a female character saying «Pas mal, boss !».

In my opinion, it might be this character. Proto-Simone, perhaps?

Since the store seems to be the centerpiece, and the Grow-style minigames involved collectibles, I would assume that the plot involved Joris going around and finding artifacts for the store. That would also explain the concept art gifs of him adventuring.

(Though, the adventuring would probably just be the inciting incident/a vehicle for plot development. Nintendo DS games loved using the jobs characters did for that purpose.)

This is the extent of what I can surmise about the plot.

The developer portfolios also included these example documents, but the image quality is too bad for me to make sense of or upscale. I am including them here solely for some French people who are very good at reading blurry text. (If you learn anything, let me know, okay?)

Overall, my verdict is that this game's cancellation was both a blessing (Joris without Kerubim and Atcham is like tea without water and a cup. How am I meant to drink leaves? Are you stupid? Why are you giving me leaves with nothing?) and a curse (THEY CANCELLED A GAME ABOUT MY BLUE-COLORED YOINKY SPLOINKY (who has a THIN, GRABBABLE WAIST)????? FUCK!)

Hope this was a fun read!

[beamattack]

Hi! I wanted to ask you, how you began with your idea about your zelda au? You inspired me in doing a my own one and in a game-like-way, i love your contents in this your idea! (Idk if you already replied a similar question :,I)

What a nice message! I'm so happy when people ask about and enjoy my zelda stuff even when i haven't been able to draw for it for a while, since it's very close to my heart! :^D And i'm so happy to hear that it has inspired you!! Makes my heart worm 🪱 ❤️

As for how I began with it… I can't remember my exact thought process, but I've always found loz-games fascinating both gameplay-wise and story/worldbuilding-wise! I've always loved how different the games are even with their shared elements. The land of Hyrule itself and its creatures vary wildly from game to game and aren't bound by any certain rules, which just adds to its strange myth-like quality which i adore. So I think I just naturally started to play around and thought about what I would do if I made a LoZ game - it's like a giant playground to me! At first I just had vague ideas that I liked: I've always liked Vaati so he'd be the antagonist, I've always wanted to see more of the rarely seen darker fairies so I made one Link's companion, I like drawing fabric moving in the wind so Link got a scarf, I love drawing snow so that would be the main setting, etc.. You see my thought pattern, haha! I drew a couple of concept sketches to get it out of my head, and some years later I revisited it and added to it and formed into what it is today (Zelda, the village, the story, map & locations etc.).

Basically I wanted to create a LoZ idea that could possibly be played as an actual game in the franchise but with my own touches, and picking elements from canon that I really liked (some people have noticed that it feels like it could fit the “Hyrule's Decline” timeline, which is right - I'm super inspired by ALttP/ALBW's maps and Zelda 1 & 2's manuals and feel!). Same with the gameplay elements - so much of LoZ's identity lies in its gameplay, so for me it would be impossible to come up with a Zelda idea without thinking of it as a game, haha! So it's a mix between canon gameplay elements (dungeons, items, enemies & bosses) and just stuff that I personally think would be fun (Link as a stealthy scout, snowy environment hazards, status effects (I'm a JRPG nerd) etc).

Sorry for the long answer! This might be more than you asked for. But I'm glad you asked, thank you! :D I haven't been able to draw much lately because of my studies but here are a couple of sketches I can share! :)

(loz idea masterpost)

[yumeka36]

Black Myth Wukong

I finally finished my (mostly) all-bosses playthrough of Black Myth Wukong. Since a lot of my favorite streamers were playing it, and it looked intriguing from the trailer, I wanted to give it a try once I had my fill of the Elden Ring DLC. It took me a month to beat the game (I only had time to play about 2-3 hours a day).

Overall, I enjoyed the game immensely. Give me a game with really cool and creative monster designs, plus pretty, scenic areas to explore, and I'm happy! The combat is really fun too - the mix of spells, melee attacks, transformations, stance styles, etc, gives you such a variety of ways to play. Plus the fact that you can respec anytime removes the pressure of committing to one build. But honestly, I kinda stuck with the same build the whole game, lol. I focused most of my skill points on health, defense, attack, Immobilize, and Pluck of Many, as well as putting all my Mind Cores into the same, plus mana. This got me through basically all of the game with relative ease. Actually, either I got overpowered or the game wasn't that difficult for me, since by mid-chapter 2, almost every boss was a first or second try victory for me. Only exceptions were the Loongs and few chapter finale bosses and secret area bosses who took a few tries more. Then there was Erlang, who took me at least 30+ tries over 3 hours and was one of the hardest bosses I've fought in any game (coming from someone who's fought every boss in Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and the Dark Souls trilogy). So yeah, don't want to see that guy again anytime soon.

The only time I respeced a bit was to put more points into four banes resistance against Erlang. But I was also dumb and didn't realize there was a Drink to restore Qi, which was what I really needed to get rid of his shields with the fan vessel. But I still died a few times even after figuring this out, so I think he's just a really difficult boss.

While I enjoyed the heck out of the gameplay, unfortunately I couldn't follow the story/lore well at all. Obviously this is because I know close to nothing about Journey to the West or Chinese mythology. So while I understood the basic premise of finding Wukong's relics throughout the land, everything else as far as who the characters were, what their relationship is to Wukong and each other, and why they're doing what they're doing, was totally lost to me. Even after watching a "story explained" video, it's very clear that the game is a true sequel to Journey to the West, and you're guaranteed to be lost about most things if you haven't read the book. But the fact that I still enjoyed the game despite this just shows how fun it is. If I enjoy the gameplay mechanics, not being able to follow the story isn't that big a deal to me. Also, the animated music videos between each chapter were amazing. My favorite is the one for chapter 3, which was so well choreographed but also deliciously horrifying.

Like I do with most games, I wanted to make sure I beat every boss and explored every area the game had to offer. But I also didn't want to follow a walkthrough religiously either (which is something I did in my early days of gaming with the Dark Souls games). Other than look up a boss list and where to find them, I played the game mostly blind until around chapter 4. I was upset when I realized I had missed key things in chapter 3, which was being able to fight the Apramana Bat and Rat Captain bosses, as well as attain the Auspicious Lantern curio from the Lantern Wardens (I did fight a couple of them, but then decided to avoid them once I got yeeted off the cliff, lol). So from that point on I carefully checked IGN's walkthrough as I explored each area. Thankfully those were the only two bosses I missed during the rest of my playthrough. But damn, does this game have so many hidden secrets! I can't imagine anyone finding all the bosses/secret areas without looking it up online.

I guess that's one complaint I have about the game...maybe the secrets are too secret? Like I said, I don't know how a player is expected to figure some of these things out if playing normally. Maybe some more hinting about how to access the secret bosses and areas would have been nice, even if it's just some NPC dialogue or more elaborate item descriptions. I also don't like that they hid an essential thing like armor upgrades behind a questline that's so easily missable. A couple other minor issues I had were forcing cutscenes in the middle of fights and your character being way too prone to stagger with few ways to increase Tenacity, resulting in many wasted mana and focus point attacks (why is Tenacity not part of the skill tree?) But again, these were just minor issues and took little away from my overall enjoyment.

So yeah, I highly recommend Black Myth Wukong if you like fantasy adventure games focused on boss battles and various combat styles.

[tornrose24]

(Curt Connors and Bruce Banner designs belong to @artistcaptainbendy)

Presenting the man, the myth the legend–Tony Stark/Iron Man.

His story is almost identical to that of the MCU, where he outed himself as Iron Man to the world, though he’s getting close to retiring around the time Peter becomes Spiderman. I designed him with a bit of Robert Downey Jr. in mind, but that includes the actor’s actual height so he’s the shortest man in the Avengers. Much like in the MCU, Tony gets along the best with Bruce given he’s the only one who can intellectually keep up with him. I absolutely see Tony as the Kuzco to Bruce’s Pacha, without the jerkassery involved. Also, no, he’s not dealing with alcoholism like in the comics–he’s been trying to stay sober for quite awhile.

And much like in the comics, Stark and Octavius HATE each other, even if they won’t admit it out loud. Otto hates Tony for his show-offness and not taking anyone serious attitude, and Tony hates Otto for not liking/respecting him, as well as the arrogance within the scientist that comes out once in awhile. (Something which of course was going to be amplified when a certain incident happened).

In addition, Tony did hear a rumor that at least one kid somehow managed to impress Otto and he wanted to know who it was. Not wanting to lose Peter to a ‘pompous, idiotic man-child’ out of annoyance (and a bit of jealousy) Otto refused to say anything. Ironically, considering what happens to those who are connected to Iron Man (not to mention certain events in the MCU), Otto might have saved Spidey some trouble.

Also, I saw gameplay of the Insomniac Spiderman 2 game and wanted to recreate a couple of moments involving Curt. I think MJ would have to tell him she’s a friend of Peter and Gwen’s to gain his trust here. Also no, it would not be Kraven’s last hunt–he just wants to fight a giant lizard for the thrill of it.

[felikatze]

thinks abt my many half baked ISAT FE AU stuff again....

siffrin is a manakete that is all good night

uhhh act 5 and twohats spoilers below

joking but. also yes. i was thinking a lot abt what FE classes the cast would have recently so.

Mirabelle is a lord. HOWEVER. she gets to be a fancy lord who also gets staff access. Like Hoshido Noble. could you imagine dragging around a scrublord who only gets good on promo but they had heal utility the whole time. isn't that a dream. imagine if Roy could heal and then still rips in endgame

Odile is very obviously a Sage. Like cmon. If i had to pick any specific sage outfit it would in fact be Awakening sages. But the thought of Odile in the outfit of Engage sages is enough to kill people I think. Though the banana mage gba era would be hilarious on her.

The trifecta of magic is also a nice reflection of her being able to use all types of craft :) esp tellius mechanics are dope for that (and integrated into my silly isat emblems stuff). It could also be very thematically appropriate to make her an Omnyoji instead.

Isabeau just has massive axe bro energy. Yknow how fighters are stereotyped as stupid but then Lot FE6, generic axe bro ever, plays chess and does philosophy? Yeah. From a gameplay standpoint it would also make sense to put him in armor knight cuz he will Protect His Friends. Also he has the highest hp in the cast anyways. He would also have rally skills.

If i had to pick one guy to make a beast unit, it would be him also. Tiger isabeau.

Bonnie is the Transporter. They cannot fight. They cannot die. Bonnie is Merlinus. We are not letting the child on the battlefield. Give Bonnie a caravan and convoy access, you know they gotta.

Sif is. hm.

Like the obvious call is Thief, right? In games that have em, daggers are exclusive to thieves (unless you're fates, and have butlers and ninjas). Dagger classes can also debuff (with engage thieves poisoning, and fates daggers inflicting debuffs) which would be a nice niche. However Siffrin isn't actually a criminal.

From a story standpoint mercenary would be the most appropriate since they're not really here for any particular reason but just bcuz he happened to be in the country when the curse struck.

HOWEVER.... engage has given us a very tantalizing third option. Wolf Knight. They're not associated with crime. They are speedy, dodgy, and use daggers.

Siffrin gets a pet wolf. Do you see it.

TO ELABORATE ON THE MANAKETES THING.... So, if you've seen me talk abt my fucking, fe6 isat au, i cast Idunn as Siffrin. And the idea of someone forgetting their own species is really funny, and also kinda terrifying. And the only other person like you is the guy you have to kill.

Also I think creechur siffrin AUs are great. And dragons in FE are associated heavily with two things. a) going insane. b) amnesia (just look at corrin, and grima, and alear).

Also also dragons love to take naps. WHO ELSE LOVES TO TAKE NAPS?? That's right. Siffrin.

Oh yeah also. Dragon Loop. Wouldn't that be epic. AND. act 5 boss fight siffrin turning into a full dragon.

And the development possibilites. As siffrin learns about the island, also uncovering myths about dragons. And the new strength siffrin is able to master more and more of each loop being bcuz. well. dragon. and growing aware of the ways he's different from the others not just in the growing chasm as they veiw the party more and more as actors, but also the paranoia in physically becoming a monster.

Do you see my fucking vision, here.

SPEAKING OF ENGAGE.... i forgot who. but SOMEBODY. suggested. Emblem Loop. wrgrhr.

and i've thought abt how this would work. And i think it does work, if like... the island (and the divine dragons) all got forgotten because of the emblem's miracle. That somebody thought it was too dangerous and wanted to seal it away forever and used the power of the emblems to make them forgotten. And so Wish Craft would be the emblems' power instead, which only dragons have access to - supposedly. Hey, if a whole country tries out a prayer incantation, would it work?

And. and. this would be really easy to do by. replacing the silver coin with a ring. Siffrin just has this random ring they've had forever. So when Loop wishes to get out, they become the emblem they've been using. You get recursive timeloop questions - who was the emblem that granted Loop's wish in the first place? Was it another Siffrin? Somebody else altogether? Who knows. But isn't the asking really fun.

And like, I mean, Emblem Byleth already exists, we all know what "rerolling missed attacks to hit instead" is. Emblem Byleth is still rewinding time you just can't see that he is.

Do you see my vision. ISAT fire emblem engage AU.

[zhansww]

Next to Stellar Blade, Black Myth Wukong has easily been my favorite game release this year (so far). I couldn’t help but actually sorta compare these two games when I played Wukong cuz the controls are very similar lol

I remember seeing a teaser for Black Myth Wukong years ago and being immediately interested cuz of the aesthetic of it. And oh boy, did they f-cking deliver in that regard. The setting is basically an East Asian fantasy world which I don’t think I’ve experienced in any other game. I did not know how much I needed this. The attention to details in the environment, the armor sets and the weapons never ceased to blow me away. And the effort they put into its lore. I def didn’t understand all of it but it was very obvious to me that this entire project was done with a whole lot of love and passion for the source material. The first chapter is pretty linear but after that, the world opens up more and you can go off the beaten part for hours which the game generously rewards you for, too. The gameplay is super challenging and fun and only gets better the further you go and the more abilities you unlock. I woulda still appreciated a dedicated block/parry/counter button but this is entirely subjective. There were some annoying bosses and I was also rather irritated about all the invisible walls but honestly ott, I have nothing to criticize about this game. Also, the final boss is like the coolest I have ever fought imo. It’s f-cking great from a mechanical standpoint cuz it really challenges you but it’s also super hype from a story standpoint. Best boss ever Is2G. And after finishing the game with the real ending, I got it explained to me on yt. Actually understanding it makes it that much better ofc. Ayy, this game is totally worth experiencing and I’m glad it’s doing as well as it is. It’s absolutely earned its success~