#NO development NO companion quest NO exploration of his character

[allisondraste]

I don’t remember where, but I saw a discussion about how Davrin’s companion quest is “all about Assan” and doesn’t explore Davrin and who he is or allow his character to develop. While I see where people come to that conclusion, I think it’s actually a misunderstanding of Assan’s purpose in Davrin’s story.

Davrin is a monster hunter, he has dedicated his life to fulfilling that role, and he is part of an order where the highest level of honor is earned in sacrificing oneself to kill the biggest monsters of all.

Assan is a Griffon- a legendary beast defined by its hatred of evil and strength of will to do whatever it takes to destroy evil (even if that means self sacrifice). Griffons are known for being so disgusted by the blight that they opted to die rather than be joined (until Isseya used blood magic mind control to soothe them).

Assan serves as a reflection of Davrin through this concept of turlum, oneness, connectedness of intention. Through the development of their bond with one another, realizing that Assan isn’t just a creature designed to fight and kill and die. He can also love and nurture and heal.

Over the arc of his story, Davrin begins realize that he and Assan are both more than tools to fight evil and that they can have futures beyond death in battle.

Assan is not a hindrance to getting to know Davrin. He’s not an impediment to Davrin’s self-discovery— he’s the reason for it.

[bitterbuffy]

every time i think about how dirty x6-88 was done by the fallout 4 writers i get viscerally upset

[dalishious]

(I can’t believe I finished this so fast… I basically blacked out and then it was done lol… Anyway, please remember that this is all just my personal opinion, and if you feel differently, that’s fine!)

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

Objectively speaking, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a fun game that the average player is going to enjoy, especially if that average player is coming in without any prior knowledge to the Dragon Age franchise. I believe this is a good jumping-in spot for people who are curious about the world of Thedas. But in contrast, I have seen a lot of criticism from other hard-core fans that I largely agree with. However, it just so happens that most of the criticism I have is not enough to prevent me from overall enjoying the game. That is to say, for pretty much everything I did not like, there was also something I thought was great… Unfortunately, that makes it a little difficult to give a review. So, I’m going to do my best to keep things as clear and concise as possible by splitting up the “good” and the “bad” aspects of DATV.

The Positive

The best thing to come out of DATV is the new cast of characters that make up your companions and supporting associates. While I do think that some of them could have benefitted from more development time to flesh things out further, just judging what we ended up with, is mostly great. I especially found Emmrich and Bellara to be stand-out examples of strong personalities to grasp onto, whose personal stories really touched me in an emotional way.

DATV also has fun with some returning characters. For example, now that Solas is no longer hiding his identity, we get to see a character that both believably honours his part in Inquisition, while also providing a new, refreshing side to him. There are also a number of characters introduced in Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights that appear in the game, like my personal favourites Teia and Viago, who are an absolute delight to interact with!

I think the three act structure is good, albeit with act three being quite short. There are a few sequences that are an absolutely phenomenal mixture of storytelling and engaging gameplay, like all of Weisshaupt! I also really enjoyed stepping out of the main story every once and a while, and into Solas’s backstory through the Crossroads memories – what ended up being extra special about these is how they mirror Rook’s struggle so well, by the end. They are a nice touch.

The locations are beautifully constructed with smooth interactions of climbing, zip-lining, and essentially parkouring your way around, making them fun to explore! They also came with such distinct flavours and character in themselves that influenced a sense of truly experiencing different parts of Thedas, with different cultures.

The mechanic of building up strength with the different factions, and that actually having a huge impact with the ultimate showdown in the end of the game, makes side quests feel far less inconsequential than in Dragon Age: Inquisition by comparison. That, and they number far less.

I like that the story mode actually feels like a story mode; there were only a couple instances where I really had to worry about death, and even then, I was able to just toggle off the death with the customizable gameplay mechanics and continue on.

Finally, it would be remiss not to say that the character creator for DATV is the best BioWare has ever put out. I’d go as far as saying it’s one of the best in any RPG I’ve ever personally experienced. From the flexibility in morphing a character’s head and body between custom shapes, to the little details like sclera colour, vitiligo, and top surgery scars, makes it a shining example of what RPG’s should strive for. (My only critique here is that it would have been nice to have more skin colours.)

The Neutral

I hated the combat for pretty much the entire first act of the game. I found it too hard to keep up with, and too much like Mass Effect bullshit. I can’t say that it’s completely grown on me yet, but I don’t hate it anymore. It’s fine. So, I’m giving this a special little spot before I get into what I didn’t like all the way to the end.

The Negative

As mentioned above, I do think that there is more that could be done with some of the characters to really achieve their full potential. Davrin and Lucanis—while to be clear I still really enjoy as they are—come to mind first, in terms of those who would have benefited from more development time. Most of Davrin’s screen time just revolves around Assan rather than Davrin himself, and Lucanis is so restrained that it takes a while to really crack him open. Both of these characters have intentional personalities that make them harder to get to know, I understand that, but I feel that it would have been all the more rewarding to have more time dedicated to their company after earning their trust and possibly endearment. Instead, it feels like their romance and friendship with Rook are only half-complete, and then rushed to finish.

There are some companion interactions that are just… cringe. There is no other word for it. Now, this is nothing new for BioWare games, but I feel like the “pulling a Bharv” scene for example, was hitting an entirely new low. (If someone misgendered me and then just started doing push-ups instead of just saying “hey sorry about that, I’ll try to do better” I’d be annoyed, not satisfied.) I also felt like most of the temporary rivalries between companions were artificial in nature, rather than organically part of their characters that actually served a purpose. We already knew Emmrich likes books and Harding likes nature; we did not need a whole cutscene with them bickering about camping. (The exception to this is Davrin and Lucanis, who genuinely had room to grow as people out of their multiple confrontations, not just a one-off scene.)

The music in DATV is, for the most part, forgettable and bland. There is one piece that really stands out, and that’s “Where the Dead Must Go”, which is a real banger. I am not a fan of Hans Zimmer’s OST otherwise; I think it is phoned in, just like most of his work. I deeply wish BioWare would have just stuck with Trevor Morris. The best parts musically in this game are just Morris’s work re-used from Dragon Age: Inquisition.

There are certain parts of disjointedness that separates DATV from the past games that are just… bizarre. This is especially the case when it comes to elven lore. For example, Bellara saying she is afraid that elves will be harshly judged for the Evanrus, or Harding saying that elves are “thriving”… as if modern elves are not deeply persecuted across most of Thedas. It made me question more than once if there just was not time in development to do a proper canon-compliancy check with everything, perhaps?

I want finish this part by bringing up again that the biggest flaw in DATV is that it feels very corporate. To repeat what I said in this post: It is as if a computer ran through the game’s script and got rid of anything with “too much” political substance, in an overcorrection to be “safe”. But now that the edges have been so smoothed down to make a block into a ball, it can no longer support anything.

Conclusion

It’s easy to see a lot of creativity went into the creation of this game… but it is also easy to make assumptions on how that creativity was constrained by development hell and corporate oversight. In the end though, Dragon Age: The Veilguard succeeded in being an overall good time, one that I will no doubt be putting just as many countless hours into as the previous installments in the franchise. 7/10.

[bloodcursecycle-if]

When a person commits a rather horrendous act against others, a karmic-like phenomenon called a Blood Curse is placed upon them and their bloodline. Terrible events occur every generation until someone is able to right the wrong committed. Your twin sister was the most recent victim of the Curse, being poisoned at her own coronation celebration ball. Now it's up to you to figure out how to break this curse before it claims you as well.

The Blood Curse Cycle is a WIP and new interactive CYOA novel. The focus will mostly be on the plotline, characters, and relationships. It's inspired by many JRPGs/RPGs. It's being written in ChoiceScript. While it will have a more story-based focus, there will be stat-based mechanics as well.

This is the revamped version of my first interactive fiction project, Under the Eyes of Themis. The premise is similar, but a few changes have been made.

You play as the youngest member of the Grasslands' royal family. Your family suffers from something called a Blood Curse, a supernatural karmic-like phenomenon placed onto people and their bloodlines for committing horrendous crimes against others. Sufferers from the curse will experience tragedy after tragedy until the Curse is broken or the bloodline ceases to exist.

Your sister is the most recent victim of the curse, dying from poisoning at her coronation celebration ball. Deciding you would like to not die a tragic and/or painful death, you set out on a journey to figure out exactly what your family did and how to break the curse.

Note: Because this is still a WIP, some names of characters or places may change during development.

Genre: Fantasy Adventure, Romance, Mystery

Rating: 18+

Tracked Tag: #blood curse cycle

Status: On Hiatus

Demo || Romance Options || Side Characters || FAQ || Ask Guidelines || Tag Navigation || World Lore || Dev's Main Blog ||

Create and customize your main character. Select their gender, pronouns, appearance, and personality.

Explore the continent of Runnet and its 8 nations, each with different views, cultures, and hidden secrets.

Join and lead a group of other Blood Curse sufferers to find out how to break your curses.

Romance any of your 5 companions: the Prince from the Woodlands, the Knight from the Dustlands, the Scholar from the Palmlands, the Healer from the Fieldlands, or the Assassin from the Floelands.

Choose to help or hinder your companions in their own quests to break their Curses.

Discover leads, find clues, and dig deep to figure out why your bloodline was cursed and how to break it before time runs out.

Alceste Claudius d'Emeraude (he/him) - The Prince of the Woodlands Kingdom. Flirty and laid-back, he tends to not take anything too seriously... including his Curse.

Larisilla Cornaline (she/her) - The Knight from the Dustlands. Serious and blunt, it takes a bit for her to warm up to people. She is the most vocal about getting rid of her Curse.

Dionys Topaze (he/him) - The Scholar from the Palmlands. Kind and intelligent, his main area of study are Blood Curses, the types and how to break them. He is the closest to breaking his Curse.

Somnia Disthene (she/her) - The Healer from the Fieldlands. Shy and helpful, she specializes in treatments that neutralize a Curse's affects. Just don't ask about her Curse.

Enyo Perle (he/him) OR (she/her) - The Assassin from the Floelands. Loud and outgoing, they are eager to help out the group. Although, it's a bit strange that they've never brought up their Curse.

[genshin-impact-updates]

"Summertide Scales and Tales" Version 4.8 Update Details

Dear Traveler,

Below are the details of the Version 4.8 update "Summertide Scales and Tales" and the update compensation.

〓Compensation Details〓

Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300 (60 Primogems per hour the servers are down)

Bug Fix Compensation for the issue whereby Neuvillette could rotate at an unusually high speed when casting his Charged Attack, resulting in an abnormal attack range: Primogems ×100

Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300 (please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)

〓Scope of Compensation〓

Maintenance Compensation: Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2024/07/17 06:00 (UTC+8).

Compensation must be claimed before the end of Version 4.8.

Bug Fix Compensation for the issue whereby Neuvillette could rotate at an unusually high speed when casting his Charged Attack, resulting in an abnormal attack range and other issue fix compensation: Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2024/07/17 06:00 (UTC+8).

Please log in and claim your compensation before 2024/07/20 06:00 (UTC+8).

Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attached compensation in time.

〓Update Schedule〓

Update maintenance begins 2024/07/17 06:00 (UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.

〓How to Update Game Client〓

PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.

iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.

Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen.

PS5™ and PS4™: Highlight Genshin Impact from the Home Screen, press the OPTIONS button and select "Check for Update."

Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue.

〓Update Details〓

I. Limited-Time Area: Simulanka (This area is only available during Version 4.8)

Simulanka

After perusing the book sent as a gift by a mysterious person, you visit a fairytale world named "Simulanka." Like many classic stories, the prophecies of the goddesses were fulfilled one by one with the arrival of visitors from another world. The hero and their companions thus embark on a journey to defeat the evil dragon...

※ As long as you have completed Archon Quest Prologue: Act III "Song of the Dragon and Freedom" and teleport to the limited-time area "Simulanka" through the Story Quest "Summertide Scales and Tales," a Teleport Waypoint will be automatically unlocked in the "Forest of Blessings" located in this area. You'll also receive the Primogem reward for this Teleport Waypoint when it unlocks automatically.

◇ Area Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 18 or above

• Complete the Archon Quest "Song of the Dragon and Freedom"

◆ Simulanka will no longer be accessible after the end of Version 4.8. You will also no longer be able to open treasure chests, gather materials, or earn quest rewards in Simulanka, so grab the opportunity to explore away!

II. New Character

5-Star Character "A Thousand Scents Traced" Emilie (Dendro)

◇ Vision: Dendro

◇ Weapon: Polearm

◇ A Fontainian perfumer, one who bottles secrets.

◆ Elemental Skill: Fragrance Extraction

◆ Creates a Lumidouce Case that fires Puffs of Puredew at nearby opponents at intervals, dealing Dendro DMG. When nearby opponents are affected by Burning, they will give off Scents. The Lumidouce Case collects nearby Scents and after collecting a certain amount, its level will increase, increasing the quantity and DMG of Puffs of Puredew.

◆ Elemental Burst: Aromatic Explication

◆ Stows existing Lumidouce Cases and creates a Level 3 Lumidouce Case. The Level 3 Lumidouce Case will continuously cause Scented Dew to descend, attacking opponents within range and dealing Dendro DMG. When the duration ends, the Lumidouce Case reverts to Level 1, or it inherits the level and number of collected Scents from the previously stored Lumidouce Case.

III. New Equipment

New Weapon (Examples based on Refinement Rank 1)

Lumidouce Elegy (5-Star Polearm)

ATK increased by 15%. When the equipping character triggers Burning on an opponent or deals Dendro DMG to Burning opponents, the DMG dealt is increased by 18%. This effect lasts for 8s, max 2 stacks. When 2 stacks are reached or when the duration is refreshed at 2 stacks, restore 12 Energy. Energy can be restored this way once every 12s. The 2 aforementioned effects can be triggered even when the character is off-field.

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 5-star weapon Lumidouce Elegy (Polearm) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

IV. New Outfits

Nilou: Breeze of Sabaa

◇ An elegant outfit for Nilou, this featherweight dress is seemingly woven of countless flowers, and with it drifts a light fragrance like the east wind at dawn, carrying beauteous blessings from a fairytale land.

◆ Between the start of the Version 4.8 update and 2024/08/26 03:59, Nilou's outfit "Breeze of Sabaa" will be available for purchase in the Character Outfit Shop at a limited-time discount! During the discount period, the price of the outfit is 1,350 Genesis Crystals. The price will revert to 1,680 Genesis Crystals after the limited-time discount ends. The outfit can only be purchased once.

Kirara: Phantom in Boots

◇ Kirara's outfit. The swashbuckling feline of fairytale fame, the crafty courier of dearly-held dreams... is pleased to make your acquaintance!

◆ In Version 4.8, you will be able to get Kirara's outfit "Phantom in Boots" for free by participating in the limited-time "Summertide Scales and Tales" event.

◆ After Version 4.8 is over, Travelers can buy the outfit in the Character Outfit Shop.

V. New Main Story

New Story Quest

Emilie's Story Quest - Pomum de Ambra Chapter: Act I "Floral Debt, Blood Due"

Permanently available after 2024/08/06 18:00

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act V "Masquerade of the Guilty"

New World Quests

New Limited-Time World Quests

"The Lotus Leaf and the Champion," "The Forest and the Princess," "The Answer of the Lotus Leaves and Forest," "Narration Footnotes," "Text's Coda," and "Towards the Lighthouse, or Far Away"

VI. New Gameplay

New Gameplay: Envisaged Echoes

In this gameplay mode, each challenge corresponds to a designated character and has its own independent challenge mode.

To participate in the challenge stages, this corresponding character must be Lv. 90, and their Friendship Level must be at least 8.

After completing "Envisaged Echoes" challenges, you will gain the corresponding character's Echo cosmetic rewards.

◇ Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 35 or above

• Complete and finalize a combat performance in Act 6 or higher of the Imaginarium Theater

For details on the gameplay rules, please see: "Envisaged Echoes" Permanent High Difficulty Challenge Gameplay Details.

VII. Other Update Details

New Recipe:

○ Hotel Debord, Fontaine: Fricassee de Poulet

New Character Specialty Dish:

○ Emilie's specialty: A Fragrant Feast of Flavors

Adds Set 33 of "Paimon's Paintings" chat emojis.

Adds some prompts for loading screens.

New Namecards:

"Emilie: Base Note": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Emilie

"Travel Notes: Fanciful Fabrication": Reward obtained via the BP system

New "Hide UI" function: You can enable/disable it in the "Settings > Other" menu (you can also enable/disable it using specific shortcuts on PC). When enabled, the main interface will hide UI elements such as map and party information.

New functions in the Dialogue Screen:

(1) "Dialogue Review": You can open the "Dialogue Review" interface while playing through the story to view the dialogue records for this segment of the story or listen to the voice-overs again.

(2) "Hide Dialogue Screen": You can hide the dialogue screen while playing through the story.

"Genius Invokation TCG" Gameplay Update:

New Character Cards: Chevreuse, Navia, and their corresponding Talent cards. Corresponding invitation duels and guest challenges have been added to the Player List.

New Character Card: Frost Operative and their corresponding Talent card. The Tavern Challenge has also been added.

New Action Cards: "Ultimate Overlord's Mega Magic Sword," "Prospector's Drill," "Gladiator's Triumphus," "Serene," "I'd Rather Lose Money Myself...," and "Tada!" can be purchased from Prince at The Cat's Tail.

The Forge Realm's Temper is once again available. The theme of this edition is "The Forge Realm's Temper: Endless Swarm":

(1) Defeat endless waves of enemies during the rounds in "The Forge Realm's Temper: Endless Swarm" to accrue score.

(2) After you complete the stage battle, you will gain a score and the corresponding rewards based on the highest score you got in the stage.

(3) Different stages will contain different special rules that grant buffs. Use these rules well to fight more effectively.

Imaginarium Theater

After the Version 4.8 update, the new season of "Imaginarium Theater" will be available on 2024/08/01 04:00.

Required Elemental Types: Hydro, Cryo, and Anemo

Opening Characters: Furina, Barbara, Kamisato Ayaka, Diona, Xiao, and Faruzan

When Imaginarium Theater is open, the corresponding Opening Characters will obtain Fantastical Blessings.

Special Guest Stars: Emilie, Dehya, Nahida, and Xiangling

After the new season of Imaginarium Theater begins, the characters Kaeya, Kaveh, Yoimiya, and Yelan will each gain a new "Thespian Trick" that can be exchanged from the NPC Wolfy.

In addition, in order to optimize the experience of obtaining Principal Cast during the gameplay, after the new season of Imaginarium Theater begins, the following adjustments will be made:

(1) Adjusts the initial Fantasia Flowers provided from 100 to 160 when starting a challenge in Hard Mode.

(2) After completing a performance, you can select one of two characters when obtaining a new Principal Cast (prior to the adjustment, the corresponding mechanic will grant a Principal Cast without providing options in the default state without gaining specific performance buffs).

(3) Optimizes the refresh mechanic of Performance Events.

Spiral Abyss

Floor 11 Ley Line Disorder changed to:

• All characters in the party gain a 75% Dendro DMG Bonus.

Updated the monster lineup on Floors 11 – 12 of the Spiral Abyss.

Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 4.8, the Lunar Phases will be as follows:

Searing Moon

When characters attack Burning opponents, their CRIT Rate is increased by 15% and their CRIT DMG is increased by 30%.

〓Adjustments & Optimizations〓

● Open World

Now, after defeating the boss "Lupus Boreas, Dominator of Wolves," Trounce Blossom rewards not collected will only disappear after he respawns.

Adjusts the respawn time for boss enemies in the open world, with the exception of "Lupus Boreas, Dominator of Wolves," from 5 minutes to 10 seconds (After the respawn timer ends, Travelers need to teleport to another area and return, and the relevant enemies will respawn).

Adjusts the respawn time for certain harvestables from 48 hours to 46 hours.

Adjusts the unlock condition for the "Lower World Level" function from World Level 5 to World Level 3 (you can choose to lower the World Level upon reaching World Level 3).

Adds an option at World Level 3 to 6 to lower the World Level on the relevant prompt interface when all party members are defeated by enemies during exploration in the open world.

● Quests

Reduces the difficulty of the "Anti-Raiden Shogun Training"-related quest objective in the Archon Quest "The Familiar's Path."

Reduces the difficulty of the challenge gameplay related to the Story Quest "License to Glide" and "Mondstadt Glider."

Optimizes the refresh logic for Commission Quests: Commission Quests that have their scenes occupied by other quests will not refresh and appear. However, Commission Quests with unfinished achievements are not affected by this refresh rule and will still appear.

Certain quests that can unlock systems will have a new special icon on the Quest Menu.

● Domains

Adjusts the enemy placements and certain Ley Line Disorders in the Domains "Forsaken Rift," "Cecilia Garden," "Peak of Vindagnyr," "Hidden Palace of Zhou Formula," "Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern," "Hidden Palace of Lianshan Formula," "Domain of Guyun," and "Taishan Mansion" to reduce the challenge difficulty of these domains.

Unlocked Domains can be used as Teleport Waypoints even if Travelers have yet to reach the Adventure Rank required to challenge the Domain.

After Travelers reach Adventure Rank 10 or have completed the quest "Knights of Favonius" of the Archon Quest Prologue: Act I "The Outlander Who Caught the Wind," you can unlock all Domains of Blessing, Domains of Mastery, and Domains of Forgery, with the exception of Midsummer Courtyard (There are no specific unlock criteria for Domain of Blessing "Midsummer Courtyard").

After defeating the "Enemy of Note" in the "Trounce Domain," if Travelers leave without claiming the reward, the game will display a second confirmation pop-up.

● Adventure Encounters

Once you have reached your daily Encounter Point limit, any further Points gained will be converted to Long-Term Encounter Points. Long-Term Encounter Points will not be cleared the next day and can be stored until the next Version x.0.

Travelers can convert accumulated Long-Term Encounter Points into usable Encounter Points through consuming Original Resin.

a. The number of Encounter Points obtained from completing Archon Quests, Character Story Quests, and Hangout Events has been increased.

b The number of Encounter Points obtained from completing World Quests, Story Quests from Limited-Time Events, and collecting event rewards has been decreased.

c. Completing World Quests that begin Limited-Time Events, the Afterword World Quests from Limited-Time Events, and City Reputation: Requests will no longer give Encounter Points.

● System

Adds an interaction using the spacebar on the "Cooking" interface (when using a keyboard and mouse as control devices).

In the "Spiral Abyss" character selection interface, you can now drag characters to adjust their position within the party lineup.

Adds the filter option for "Astral Mark Status" in certain characters' interface.

When you have sufficient offerings to level up offering-related systems (such as the "Statue of The Seven" or "Fountain of Lucine"), clicking on the icon of the relevant system on the map will display an offering prompt.

Adds a new setting in the "General Settings" of the "Artifact Auto-Lock" function. When enabled, for Artifacts with 3 Minor Affixes, the locked plan will consider conditions like "Includes any 2/3/4 of the following Minor Affixes" will be treated as "Includes any 1/2/3 of the following Minor Affixes."

● Genius Invokation TCG

Optimizes the descriptions and previews of related effects for certain cards.

Shortens the display time of some card effects.

Optimizes the description of the Support Card "Kusava": In the description "Discard a maximum of 2 cards with the highest Elemental Dice Cost in your Hand," "cards with the highest Elemental Dice Cost in your Hand" will be adjusted to "cards with the highest original Elemental Dice Cost in your Hand."

Optimizes the Action Phase time calculation logic in Co-Op matches: The Action Phase time limit will no longer be a fixed amount and will be extended depending on how many card effects Travelers trigger.

● Other

Optimizes the text descriptions for certain effects and events in "Imaginarium Theater."

When characters are in the Theater Lobby of "Imaginarium Theater," the Paimon Menu can now be accessed.

After the Version 4.8 update, users who have not used the "Past Quest Resource Management" feature and have mobile devices that have resources that can be deleted will receive a one-time red dot notification.

For some discrete graphics cards that do not support the "Dynamic Character Resolution" visual effect, the "Dynamic Character Resolution" option will no longer appear in the "Settings > Graphics" of the game.

Adds a "Compatibility Mode" option to the "Settings > Graphics" tab on the game login screen.

Adjusts the order of certain quests in "Adventurer Handbook" > "Experience."

Adds a shortcut button to navigate to the Adventurer Handbook on the "Adventure EXP and Adventure Rank" interface.

In the "Battle Pass/Gnostic Hymn" interface, the slider at the bottom of the interface now supports the click-to-position function.

Optimizes the user experience of each list interface:

a. When switching or refreshing lists, the previously selected or scrolled position will be retained.

b. Optimizes the scrolling speed of lists.

c. Optimizes the rules for displaying red dots in lists.

〓Bug Fixes〓

● Quests

Fixes an issue whereby Sorush could not be used in certain locations after entering the "Defiled Chamber" in the World Quest "The Hymn of Tir Yazad."

Fixes an issue whereby the position of character portraits displayed may be abnormal in Clorinde's Story Quest when the text in the text boxes are too long.

● Enemies

Fixes an issue whereby damage numbers had a chance of not displaying when certain skills of Ruin Automatons inflicted damage on Ley Line Monoliths.

Fixes an issue whereby Specters could have 0 HP but could not be defeated under specific circumstances.

● Characters

Fixes an issue whereby characters' skills had no CD and skill performance was abnormal under certain circumstances.

Fixes an issue whereby some characters' recovery time after being hit was abnormal.

Fixes an issue whereby after Arlecchino casts a Charged Attack and moves rapidly after the button is Held, the character would be down abnormally after falling from a low altitude when her Stamina is expended.

Fixes an issue whereby the Wanderer would remain abnormally in a state of levitation after he expends "Kuugoryoku" under certain circumstances.

Fixes an issue whereby Neuvillette could rotate at an unusually high speed when casting his Charged Attack, resulting in an abnormal attack range under specific circumstances.

● Weapons

Fixes an issue whereby there was a chance that the positions of the special effects of the weapon "Uraku Misugiri" would be incorrect after being equipped by different characters.

● Audio

Fixes an issue whereby testing voice-over resources were incorrectly used for some of Sethos's Chinese voice-overs in the cutscene animation of Cyno's Story Quest Lupus Aureus Chapter: Act II "Oathkeeper" (This resource was not recorded by Chinese voice actor Lanling Li).

Fixes an issue whereby there is a chance that the sound effects of character movement would be missing when Clorinde moves in the water.

Fixes an issue whereby the sound effects could be abnormal when Gaming joined the party on the "Party Setup" interface.

Fixes an issue whereby there were errors with the Chinese voice-overs during some quests.

● System

Fixes an image error in the "Raiden Shogun" avatar.

Fixes an issue whereby you are unable to access the corresponding scene if you teleport to the Theater Lobby and select "Leave for Now" during the Spiral Abyss challenge.

Fixes an issue in the Spiral Abyss whereby the skill cooldown of the party in the second half would not reset after selecting "Retry Challenge."

Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode that caused musical instrument gadgets used by guest characters to disappear abnormally under certain circumstances.

Fixes an issue whereby the sorting of Artifacts in the "Inventory > Artifacts" interface would appear incorrectly under certain circumstances after the Version 4.7 update.

Fixes an issue with incorrect Exploration Progress calculation in certain regions. After the version update, Exploration Progress for some Travelers may increase.

Fixes an issue whereby it was possible to use "Thespian Tricks" that had yet to be obtained on the "Photo" interface under certain circumstances.

● Genius Invokation TCG

Fixes an issue whereby the Character Card "Wriothesley" was unable to trigger the effect "If the character has no more than 5 HP" related to the state "Chilling Penalty" during the Action Phase if his HP is 5 or less due to the Combat Status "Burst Scan."

Fixes an issue whereby the Character Cards "Consecrated Scorpion," "Consecrated Flying Serpent," and "Guardian of Apep's Oasis" were unable to use their Talent Cards when frozen.

Fixes an issue with the text description of the Combat Status "Deep Devourer's Domain" of the Character Card "All-Devouring Narwhal" in other languages.

Fixes an issue whereby the Usages of the All-Devouring Narwhal's "Dark Shadow" Summon was incorrectly deducted if your Character Card took damage and was knocked out at the same time.

Fixes an issue whereby the Usages of the Combat Status "Flying Cloud Flag Formation" was not reduced after the Character Card "Neuvillette" casts "Equitable Judgment" to trigger the damage bonus of the Combat Status "Flying Cloud Flag Formation."

● Other

Fixes an issue whereby after completing a performance in the Imaginarium Theater, the finalization screen would only appear after some characters attacked.

Fixes an issue whereby when selecting "Restart Performance" after a successful performance in the "Imaginarium Theater," the selected party lineups will not be recorded.

Fixes an issue whereby a Domain Entrance interaction point would appear abnormally within Mondstadt.

Fixes some text errors in certain languages and optimizes text. (Note: Related in-game functions have not changed. Travelers can view the changes in different languages by going to the Paimon Menu > Settings > Language and changing the Game Language.)

◆ Optimizes inconsistencies between certain voice-overs and the corresponding lines.

◆ Optimizes certain English translations.

〓Genius Invokation TCG Balance Adjustment〓

Adjusts the effect of Event Card "Bonecruncher's Energy Block" of the Character Card "Consecrated Beast": Removes the effect "If your active character is a Consecrated Beast, then they gain 1 Energy."

Adjusts the effect of the Elemental Skill of the Character Card "Consecrated Flying Serpent": This effect will be adjusted to "Deal 3 Anemo DMG and draw 1 card."

Adjusts the effect of the Combat Status "Flying Cloud Flag Formation" of the Character Card "Yun Jin": Removes the effect "Deal +1 DMG."

Adjusts the effect of the Talent Card "Decorous Harmony" of the Character Card "Yun Jin": The effect "When Yun Jin, who has this card equipped, is on the field, and if you have no cards in your Hand, Flying Cloud Flag Formation will cause your Normal Attack to deal +2 additional DMG." will be adjusted to "When Yun Jin, who has this card equipped, is on the field, and you trigger Flying Cloud Flag Formation: If you have no cards in your Hand, this Skill deals +2 additional DMG."

Adjusts the effect of the Combat Status "Burst Scan" of the Character Card "Kaveh": "After this, deal Dendro DMG equal to the original Elemental Dice Cost of the card you Discard +1" will be adjusted to "After this, deal Dendro DMG equal to the original Elemental Dice Cost of the card you Discard."

Adjusts the effect of the Elemental Skill of the Character Card "All-Devouring Narwhal": The effect "Deals 1 Hydro DMG. This character deals +1 DMG for every 3 extra max HP provided by Insatiable Appetite (Max +5)" will be adjusted to "(Max +4)."

Adjusts the effect of the Elemental Burst of the Character Card "Lisa": Adds the effect "attach Conductive to the opponent's active character."

Adjusts the Elemental Burst DMG of the Character Card "Kaedehara Kazuha": Anemo DMG dealt will be adjusted from 3 to 1.

Adjusts the Elemental Skill DMG of the Character Card "Kaedehara Kazuha": Anemo DMG dealt will be adjusted from 3 to 1.

Adjusts the effect of the status "Midare Ranzan" of the Character Card "Kaedehara Kazuha": The effect will be adjusted to "The next time you use Switch Character to switch to the character to which this is attached: This switch is considered a Fast Action rather than a Combat Action. Before you choose an action: If the character to which this is attached is your active character, they immediately use a Normal Attack. The Physical DMG this Normal Attack would deal is converted to Anemo DMG. Once finalized, this effect is removed."

Adjusts the effect of the Summon "Solar Isotoma" of the Character Card "Albedo": The effect "When this Summon is on the field: Your character's Plunging Attack spends 1 less Unaligned Element." will be adjusted to "When you perform "Switch Character" and this Summon is on the field: This switch is considered a Fast Action instead of a Combat Action."

Adjusts the effect of the Talent Card "Descent of Divinity" of the Character Card "Albedo": The effect "When there is Albedo on the field who has this card equipped, if your side of the field has Solar Isotoma, then your characters' Plunging Attack deals +1 DMG." has a new effect "then your characters' Plunging Attack costs 1 less Unaligned Element."

Adjusts the effect of the Talent Card "Dominance of Earth" of the Character Card "Zhongli": The effect "When your active character is protected by a Shield Character Status or a Shield Combat Status, your Summons deal +1 Geo DMG." will be adjusted to "When your Zhongli, who has this card equipped, has at least 7 HP, the DMG dealt by Zhongli and the Geo DMG from your Summons +1."

Adjusts the effect of the status "Pactsworn Pathclearer" of the Character Card "Cyno": Removes the effect "If equal to or greater than 6: Indwelling Level -4." and adds the effect "If Indwelling Level is at least 8, decrease the Indwelling level by 6."

Adjusts the effect of the Elemental Skill of the Character Card "Cyno": Adds the effect "Pactsworn Pathclearer's Indwelling Level +1."

Adjusts the effect of the Talent Card "Featherfall Judgment" of the Character Card "Cyno": The effect "When your Cyno, who has this card equipped, uses Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer while having an even number of level of Pactsworn Pathclearer's Indwelling effect, deal +1 DMG." will be adjusted to "When your Cyno, who has this card equipped, uses Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer while having at least 2 levels of Pactsworn Pathclearer's Indwelling effect, deal +2 DMG. (Once per Round)."

Adjusts the effect of the status "Refraction" of the Character Card "Mirror Maiden": The effect "The character to which this is attached takes +1 Hydro DMG." will be adjusted to "When the character to which this card is attached switches to another character: Elemental Dice Cost +1."

Adjusts the effect of the Talent Card "Mirror Cage" of the Character Card "Mirror Maiden": The effect "will increase the Elemental Dice Cost of switching from a character to which this is attached to another character by 1." will be adjusted to "The character to which this is attached takes +1 Hydro DMG."

Adjusts the effect of the Support Card "Dawn Winery": The effect trigger limit "Once per Round" will be adjusted to "Twice per Round."

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost for the Support Card "Kusava": The Elemental Dice cost will be adjusted from 0 to 1.

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost for the Support Card "Lumenstone Adjuvant": The Elemental Dice cost will be adjusted from 2 Dice of the same element to 3 Dice of any element.

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost for the Event Card "Falls and Fortune": The Elemental Dice cost required will be adjusted from 1 to 0.

Increases the number of Usages of "Undersea Treasure" generated by the Event Card "Underwater Treasure Hunt": Each character can receive healing from this effect once per Round.

Adjusts the effect of the Event Card "Lyresong": During this Round, the effect that will be triggered the next time you play an Artifact card will be adjusted to "Spend 1 less Elemental Die. If you have not played any other Action Cards before playing this card, spend 2 less Elemental Dice."

*This is a work of fiction and is not related to any actual people, events, groups, or organizations.

"PlayStation", "PS5", "PS4", "DualSense", "DUALSHOCK" are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

[jizter]

Persona 5 Royal: A Masterclass in Storytelling And Soundtracks

Diaz, Juliane Cyruz

BSIT - 1A

OVERVIEW:

Ref: TechRaptor - Persona 5 Royal logo

Persona 5 Royal isn't just a game, but its also an experience with a storytelling that captivates the audience and unexpected character developments, and an engaging storyline along with polished gameplay of turn-based strategy. I really appreciate the art style of the game and the animations, along with its really good soundtrack composed by Shoji Meguro himself. The game also packs a rich gaming experience that combines the turn-based combat, intriguing narrative, and the immersive social simulation. In the game time is also crucial, because players have to carefully allocate their days. Basically almost everything in the game requires strategic decision making that enhances the gameplay, because different choices lead to different outcomes, especially the ending variations, time being part of the strategy mechanic adds another layer of intensity to the game, making every moment of the game meaningful.

STORYLINE AND THE PROTAGONIST

The game follows the story of Ren Amamiya (Joker), a high school student who was forced transfer to another school after being falsely accused of illegal acts. Upon his arrival, he discovered something weird, he stumbled upon a hidden realm called the "Metaverse", where the protagonist and his companions face the distorted desires of the corrupted individuals. After discovering the dark truth inside the realm Ren formed a group called "The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, their goal is to make a change on the hearts of those who opposed to exploit others.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AT IT'S FINEST

Well for me one of the best aspects of this game is the character development. Each character from the group has their own personal struggles and backstories, exploring the depth of their characters through confidant interactions, and these quests are no ordinary side quests but it provides insights on the characters and their growths.

UNFORGETTABLE SOUNDTRACKS

Of course the iconic soundtracks of the game can never be forgotten, almost every player find the tracks really cool, some content creators even use the tracks for their background music, composed by the infamous Shoji Meguro, mixing rock, pop, jazz, and funk genre's, making players hyped during combat encounters, and enhancing the emotional beats and energetic moments within the game. I also saved soundtracks from this game and play it when I'm studying, that's how good the soundtracks from this game is.

Here are some of the iconic soundtracks from the game:

For someone who's addicted with the Persona game series, with the game's enriched narrative, character development, beautiful animations, iconic soundtracks, and smooth and polished gameplay mechanics, this game stands as a benchmark within the RPG genre. I can definitely say that this is hands down a masterclass of a game.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

the fulfilled motifs in alhaitham and kaveh's relationship are on my brain!!

- most poignantly, the two coming together to unveil the temple of silence in cyno’s story quest, which parallels their thesis on ancient architecture and runes of king deshret’s era, as the two appropriate the other’s respective signature (alhaitham recognises architectural structures whereas kaveh is struck by the beauty of an emblem) - where the two once fell out due to the disharmony of their viewpoints, they have reconciled them within this quest

- there’s the two working together in the house of daena, where they argued in the house of daena upon meeting them in the archon quest, where they were described to have a ‘terrible’ relationship by the npc geoff, which is mirrored in cyno’s story quest by the two actively working together - as well as paralleling the npc archon quest scene the player has to actively seek out in which the two argue once more, whereas in cyno’s story quest, the two willingly exchange information and are supportive in helping the other

- we have the fulfilment of kaveh losing his family and therefore his idea of ‘home’ through him actively referring to the house he and alhaitham share as ‘home’, and that he wants to return to it together with alhaitham, as a set, and by implication a family, in cyno’s story quest

- by extension, kaveh not concealing his living arrangements by openly referring to him and alhaitham’s ‘home’ in front of his friends, which refers back to when kaveh asks the traveller to keep it a secret upon meeting him officially in alhaitham’s story quest

- kaveh buying wine and coffee beans in the tavern, alhaitham and kaveh sharing wine in their house, which is something they are mentioned to do in the bulletin boards of sumeru as well as in alhaitham's story quest, going hand in hand with the two drinking coffee together in the house of daena, with kaveh mentioning he wishes he had made some for them before leaving the house, which refers back to his 2023 birthday letter where he and alhaitham taste tested coffee beans (i am, once again asking, for an alhaitham mention in 2024....),

for future sumeru quests or events i am thinking of the unfulfilled instances or things that can be addressed??

- whether kaveh accepts alhaitham's research into sachin's influence over his father as closure for his involvement in his father disappearing into the desert, as his reaction differs from whether alhaitham tells him vs when the traveller tells him. since cyno's story quest 2 indicates that alhaitham telling him is what happened in canon, this subsequently betters their relationship. the idea of kaveh's cycle of self-detriment due to his past guilt hasn't been addressed since apop and it remains uncertain as to if kaveh has made steps to forgive himself or if he even wants to. this development of kaveh's character is truly interesting and i would love to see it explored at some point, and also in turn what alhaitham's involvement is in this, as in his newly accepted support of kaveh

- kaveh writing to/visiting his mother in fontaine? or at least a mention of kaveh's mother, as his hangout has a heavy focus on faranak's past relationship with kaveh and her hopes for his future, which we see in her advice to him as a struggling artist being that to found reliable companions. if kaveh undergoes a reconciliation arc within himself, as in he aims to forgive himself for his past guilt, then it would make sense for him to have a reconnection with his mother to talk about the past in order to truly look to the future

- kaveh and alhaitham having a role to play in the exploration of the temple of silence in future events - hints of this may be seen in sethos cautioning cyno that he may only invite people he and lord kusanali deem worthy, for cyno to then tell alhaitham and kaveh upon arriving back in sumeru. To this, kaveh expresses an open interest and cyno tells him that he will have an opportunity to investigate in the future. As alhaitham and kaveh have teamed up together in order to investigate into the temple of silence, and are indirectly connected to it through their thesis of king deshret, it seems they will likely be a part of the role the temple of silence will play in the future

(- i thought that an unfulfilled instance could be kaveh referring to alhaitham as his friend in game as this would be a callback to when paimon asked whether he and alhaitham were friends, to which he replied that they ‘used to be’ but weren’t anymore… but in terms of how alhaitham and kaveh's relationship is handled in-game, i think queercoding plays a big part in having labels such as ‘friends’ continue to be evaded (i have spoken about definitive labels being avoided in the writing of haikaveh here), this is backed up by sethos’ voice line as the two are paired together as “alhaitham and kaveh” and are referenced as a set with “those two”, rather than a definitive label such as ‘roommates’ or ‘friends’ being placed on them. Rather, they are conceived to be something outside of this, as sethos conveys their ‘otherness’ with “something about those two hanging out, you just can’t look away”, so i think, imo, it would fall more in line for them to continually not be assigned definitive relationship status, but if the improvement of their relationship is actually mentioned in-game since it was only shown and not told in cyno's story quest 2, it would make sense for them to say something that indicates they overcame misunderstandings or something vague like that. as there's an air of secrecy around alhaitham and kaveh's relationship, the traveller won't ever be privy to the specific details)

[no-cinnamon-for-synonym]

tl;dr:

The original VA's are in the game

New character named Zeff, a Skywing, is in the game and will be in future seasons. They supposedly use they/them pronouns

New areas to explore that we haven't seen before

New pets that travel with you!

Edit: official sources have stated that the character's name is actually spelled "Zeph."

Having all the original voice actors play their characters means you’ll be able to hear all your favorite voices again. The writers of the game are the same writers from the show.

...

The game also offers new areas and characters to the world of The Dragon Prince, including operators who give players their various quests as they explore this fantasy continent.

...

Players can select anyone from Soren and Rayla to Claudia and Viren to experience the game as, The Dragon Prince: Xadia introduces a brand-new character to the property: the Skywing Elf Zeff. A tank character, the developers reveal Zeff is canonical to the world of the show though they haven’t been seen so far in the series. The developers remain coy on the specific details surrounding Zeff but tease that they will not be alone when they arrive in the story. “We haven’t announced yet who we’ve cast to play them, but it’s an amazing character that we think fans will fall in love with. They’re part of a ragtag group of adventurers,” Santistevan teases. “A lot of the humor and charm that you find in The Dragon Prince comes out. We hope people fall in love with Zeff and we get to tell more stories with them.”

...

More than just Bait and undersea creatures like lobstrosities, there is a whole myriad of pets players can choose from. Richmond expressed a particular affinity for the Crowmaster’s Crow and a pet modeled after his dog while Santistevan has a preference for a cute, fidgety hermit crab.

...

“Not only are there little versions of Pyrrah and other characters that you see in the show, there are also all kinds of new wildlife. We went hog-wild, there are all sorts of new, crazy stuff you see there, which is awesome. They don’t have any abilities, but they’re with you hanging out,” Richmond notes. “There’s an in-game shop that gives you an in-session level-up, similar to Hades or League of Legends. Those are actually run by the pets, they stand there and you give them pet treats that you’ve earned in the game for them to give you the upgrades. It becomes a core part of the gameplay and there are a lot of them. There’s something for everybody in terms of the pet choices.”

[asharaks]

okay so a large part of my issue with halsin is that his character feels inconsistent, right. like larian wanted him to be a wise older man mentor character but then they wanted him to be fuckable, and they wanted him to be a nontraditional/nonmonogamous romance, so they made him sexually experienced and confident and casual, but he's also a romance option, so he talks about having Feelings for the player character. and then he needed to be a quest-giver, so he needed to ask for help. and what we ended up with is "guy who up and abandoned his responsibilities at the first chance of adventure, got captured and needed rescuing, makes all sorts of comments about his sexual experience but loses all self control and wildshapes at the first glimpse of ass, tells you he has feelings for you to get you in bed then leaves at the end of the game, and makes inappropriately sexual comments abt the sexual abuse victim if you're romancing him" - all of which reads as an uncomfortable, unlikeable mess of a guy.

halsin suffers from a lack of focus - he's neither a full romance on the level of the origin companions, nor is he a fling or sub-romance; he got more care and attention than wyll, in some ways, but the writing is flaky and weak and makes him look, frankly, like an incompetent, immature manchild. the bear scene is grossly pubescent (it should've been player choice to initiate that, not have it dropped on you that if he gets too horny there's a risk he'll CAST A SPELL and turn into a literal animal. by mistake. and if that's his reaction to seeing tits what's gonna happen when he cums) and the way he pushes for astarion to join you if you tell him you're in a relationship feels wildly inappropriate.

I know halsin has a history of sexual abuse himself (and I've seen good analyses/critiques of the way that's handled) but again I find it weird that finding out about that is locked behind not just a sex scene but a threesome+ scene - the writers really wanted to drive home that This Guy Fucks to the point where he comes across as pushy, and his trauma is reduced to background noise in a scene where he is essentially a sex object. he is simultaneously objectified by the writers, and in-universe by himself and those around him, but instead of exploring that we're just supposed to go with it; likewise, his lack of commitment and emotional immaturity aren't problems in and of themselves, but it feels like the writers aren't aware that that's the character they've written, and so these things are never appropriately addressed, and his arc and romance don't match up with the other characters' stories about growth and development.

not rly sure where I'm going with this, but it bothers me!! I think it's a nasty mix of the writers' intentions at a cross purpose with the push for fanservice, and the whole thing leaves a sour taste in my mouth t b h.

[myimaginedcorner]

SCALES OF JUSTICE - BETA TESTERS NEEDED

Hi dear readers,

Thank you for your overwhelming trust and support. The opinions that I've collected over the past few days have finally motivated me to put aside my self-criticism and doubt, and to make the next step towards SoJ's release.

Yes, Scales of Justice is now officially in its BETA-test phase!!

If you would like to help me by being a BETA-tester for my book, please, comment under this post, send me a direct message, or message me on CoG's forum. I aim to take around 20 to 30 people, so we can have a big and productive group that nonetheless remains constructive in its feedback.

If you don't have the time or you don't want to be a tester, consider sharing this post, so it can get to as many of you as possible.

I will be working alongside the testers on improving style, grammar, and other minor details that require polishing as the month progresses. Hopefully, by the end of it we'll have an even better version of this book that will be submitted for approval to Hosted Games!

See you all very soon,

Julia xx

BOOK DETAILS:

DEMO DESCRIPTION:

Scales of Justice is a fantasy game situated in another world, far away from Earth. There are plenty of species living together in harmony, but the human race is currently split in two civilisations: the one known as Hero kingdom, which is ruled by ‘heroes’, and the one named Vannais kingdom, controled by ‘villains’. Both nations hate each other and the fight between ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ here is something that happens on a national level. The game is focused on lore, on character development and your own perception of reality: perhaps, your MC just wants to live a peaceful life... or maybe wants to save the world.

Or even rule it, if you’re into such things.

THINGS TO DO IN THIS DEMO:

Set off on a new adventure towards Neutral Lands, to meet a mythic creature of all answers - The Visionary.

Gather up to 3 companions to help you in your quest - befriend, romance or rival them, the choice is yours.

Buy a horse - we know you want one.

Fight, conjure, support, speak or think - choose your way of handling a tricky situation.

Explore the kingdom of Hero up to Menai's shore, in search for someone - or something - to aid you in your journey.

The DEMO version of the book runs up to Chapter 5 and contains 276K words overall. I will be putting up updated versions of the first chapters as I work my way through them, so expect the DEMO version to become a polished reflection of what the final book will look like!

USEFUL LINKS:

If you want to know a little more about this project and read chapters 1-5, I'll leave the link to the game here -> https://dashingdon.com/play/myimaginedcorner/scales-of-justice/mygame/

If you want to discuss anything on CoG's forum, I'll leave the link for SoJ here -> https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/wip-scales-of-justice-new-project-announcement-and-demo-release/101088/16

If you want to send me a more extensive feedback, here's my email -> feedbackscalesofjustice@gmail.com

Any mistakes, concerns or questions you have, feel free to contact me through Tumblr! I am very excited to share this story with all of you, and I want to make it as good as possible with your help!

RO DESCRIPTIONS:

Shoren/Seile -> Heir to the Hero kingdom's throne, right where your journey starts. Also, your old friend who's very attached to you. Likes to read and practices magic, enjoys adventure and heroic deeds. A recognised “hero”, with blonde curly hair, pale skin and a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

Robert/Reina -> Order's Paladin, defender of Hero and Knight of Fate. Brave and honourable, determined to protect the people of the kingdom. Very loyal to friends and very dangerous as an enemy. Has short brown hair, tanned skin and an athletic build.

Valerius/Venis -> An Outworlder, who was caught by cultists from the Wicked Woods. Gracious, elegant and charismatic. Has long dark brown hair with a silver streak, olive skin and golden eyes.

Arion/Aria -> Leader of Vannais, a recognised “villain” who escaped from Hero and now rules the enemy kingdom. Serious, reserved but temperamental. Prefers action over words and so is always present on battlefields and amidst negotiations, even though never in official manner. Has short blonde hair, pale skin and emerald eyes.

Be careful! These characters have their thoughts and opinions on the world and your actions: if you want them to support you, convince them or take their side… or neither. That is your choice after all!

[crossdressingdeath]

Thinking about it having taken some time away, a revenge plot like Karlach's was I think one of the worst possible choices for a BG3 companion quest even before we get into what a half-assed fake drama story it is (why isn't her quest finding a damn Wish scroll, Larian, that would actually be fun and wouldn't cut into Wyll's quest or demand the player choose her ending if they want her to live, there are multiple spells that could fix this and we're given exactly zero explanation for why we aren't even trying to get one, you even brought Wish into the plot as a non-standard game over and then didn't bring it up here when it would be an ideal solution), because it really brings the massive double standard the game's got going on into stark relief. It's most obvious in contrast with Astarion. Like, think about it: the Gur's desire for revenge against Astarion is every bit as justified as Karlach's desire for revenge against Gortash; actually it's more so, given they have a real (though faint) reason to hope that they can actually accomplish something outside of his death, namely getting their kids back. But giving him to the Gur kills him and costs you a companion; it's a failure as far as his character arc goes, and in fact happens so early on he doesn't really get a character arc. All of that potential development is cut short and you have to see his corpse in the ritual and it is in general treated as a bad thing. The much better way of handling the Gur situation is to talk to them in act 3 and drag Astarion into atoning for what he did by trying to deal with Cazador and rescue the kids. This is good! Blind revenge solves nothing, having people pay for what they did by atoning and having to help the people they hurt as best they can is a much better solution! We love to see it!

Now you'd think the equivalent to that would be to dissuade Karlach from her revenge and instead get Gortash to fix the heart (either with his knowledge of the tech involved or—my personal favourite—his power and influence being used to acquire the use of one of the spells that could repair it or replace it with a normal heart because again there's more than one of those and it's stupid that none of them are even brought up as potential solutions), but... nope! Revenge is only bad when those outsiders do it, when it's a companion it's the only real solution! Like, yeah, she's got that thing where she complains that it didn't help at all but... we knew killing Gortash wouldn't help from the start. I don't remember if Karlach herself ever brings it up, but it's hard to miss that killing Gortash will not solve anything Karlach's got going on. And if you don't kill him you don't even get that much acknowledgement that revenge isn't a great solution. And also that's the most basic revenge plot outline, "revenge feels empty" is so fucking common as an ending. But it's just a moment that makes it so clear that Larian wasn't really interested in exploring the themes of the cycle of abuse and how aggressors can also be victims and all that with... anyone except the companions (and even then not always; see their complete unwillingness to ever engage with pre-amnesia Durge as anything but a heartless, crazy murderer despite the game itself including plenty of implications that that wasn't the case). It makes it seem less like a discussion on the cycle of abuse and more like good old-fashioned protagonist-centric morality, where the bad things the heroes do are forgivable because they had a hard life but anyone who hurts them is irredeemable no matter how hard their lives were. And it could've been avoided so easily (in a way that also gave Karlach's quest a more satisfying ending) by having a better ending to her quest that focused less on revenge and more on restitution. But no, heaven forbid we be allowed to engage with the act 3 antagonists in any meaningful way outside of killing them or acknowledge that the main thing separating them from the less moral companions is that no one helped them...

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

Anyways the “essay” about the energy sword to character development pipeline below the cut

Ok so like yea tucker-crunchbite-junior is, obviously, the first instance of the sword-quest-companion theme/trio that im like, rattling in my head rn

Tucker finds the sword, crunchbite shows up and theres the “quest” that challenges tucker both in the false intent (you need to be the hero) and the true intent (SA leading to Junior which is not handled well but it IS important) which is a push against tucker’s character thus far in that he’s the comic relief, make everything a sex joke archetype— he doesnt take it seriously, he doesnt see himself as important beyond getting just enough recognition to be “hot” and now he’s made to be the so called “hero” and the true plot puts him in the one position that he probably never thought could be him. Bc he wants to get laid so… yeah. Pushes his character if you give it like three seconds of critical thinking and not just the standard “haha alien baby bullshit” (that said, i do enjoy fics that explore crunchbite more and play with the potential of the “joke” shitty character into someone less sinister, but im doin my best to stick to canon rn)

And JUNIOR, oh man, because theres the thing that really solidifies this for me like

The dude who doesnt care doesnt bother is all jokes and ‘man whatever’ energy is a dad, and it starts with him trying to avoid it but he really fucking quickly steps the FUCK up for Junior and its the start of his development that people are like “oh he learns to be a leader on chorus” which i mean kinda yeah but he never struck me as a Leader even on Chorus even tho he does decidedly lead, its not the same as when kimball leads or when wash leads or carolina

He’s leads as a dad bc he is a dad

Not always a good one, but he’s trying and yea sometimes that means being the asshole, sometimes that means screwing up but it also means you fucking care and you take responsibility and you put yourself in danger first (the rescue mission, leaving the lieutenants behind)

And that doesnt start on chorus! Its the most evident there sure but

it starts with junior

It starts with him going after tex to protect his son, it starts with him trying to be a diplomat so they stay together, in sending junior away so he is safe while tucker buys time protecting the temple, it STARTS with him looking at church and going ��leave my kid out of this” and yeah the way rvb was written and approached does Not take that seriously bc it wouldnt and if it did it would be a very different show but the implications are there and its acknowledged with tucker’s photograph of junior with his 5th grade basketball team (“i know right? Who carries actual pictures anymore” -tucker) which i could go on about THAT too but suffice to say its very clear that tucker cares so gd much about his kid and yeah his character development isnt super linear but you can basically pinpoint when it starts with the sword and junior

The second run of this trio of things is actually grif which is admittedly, a stretch, a big ol reaching for straws (okay, TECHNICALLY grif is the third run, but i’ll address that in a minute) largely a stretch bc grif… does the pattern backwards

This IS S16 stuff so if ur a shisno paradox hater i respect that, i however am gnawing on it with everything i have and will be going feral so this is your warning thank u for reading the tucker side of it mwah appreciate ya

Anyways

Grif does his plot backwards during timetravel shenanigans

He gets the alien companion/friend who contrasts his character first in Huggins

Grif is a loyal friend, but he is lazy, even after s15’s breakdown and apparent change of tune, he’s still looking to take the path of least resistance, avoiding the call, trying to keep things from moving

Enter Huggins: zippy, full of energy, excitable and just so different in that she is not only so proactive she puts herself in danger (which helps everyone in the long run/plot but its the principle) but shes so fucking lonely

As far as she knows, her family is dead, except for muggins who is so dettached from her, he might as well be a coworker and not her brother

Compared to grif, who has a family even when he tries to push them away (the reds, the blues, KAIKAINA) but hates taking action

Huggins is the start for grif’s arc of “it sucks but someones gotta do it” which in their case is best shown as the trudge across the bottom of the english channel which is so fucking funny to me but it really pushes both of them and puts them firmly in the friends category

Huggins cant zip ahead without grif, grif cant stop moving because huggins wont let him, so they find their little balance of gas vs brakes and together they cruise along p well

The actual push of the “quest” is grif having to be the one who steps up (kinda like tucker but its to the left) he’s the one who starts getting everyone together again across the timeline, even if he is very,,,

Well he’s very Grif about it, but it is still fundamentally, the change in character

Tucker isn’t a always good dad, Grif isn’t always a good instigator of action

But theyre trying and theyre working on it and grif’s arc suffers a Little from being so late in the show and thus not having much of a parallel to pull on but you could argue he gets the parallel from s15 anyways with the refusal of the call (from fake church/loco) and rescue mission but i hesitate to call that a parallel bc its literally back to back but an argument could be made for it which i love

Enter part two: the alien quest giver

“Wait wasnt that huggins”

NOPE huggins was alien companion! The Bestie in grif’s case,

The alien fetch quest comes from atlas, in that stupid wishing sequence but cmon it wouldnt be rvb if the character development wasnt sandwiched inbetween obnoxious gags and stupidity

The quest is less important here admittedly bc again, with grif doing this in reverse its not the challenge to his principle character that it was for tucker, his connection to huggins was the challenge, and this becomes the final push into the development, the “you have a role, now play it” that gives grif the final shove into Doing Things literal!! And his prize? For this character development arc? An alien sword

And thus the inverse version reaches an end, sort of (im pissed that technically he loses his sword, im also ignoring that he loses it in canon bc he fucking earned it okay this is a bit of canon i will ignore and loophole my way around it)

And now we track back to Chorus and to the second iteration of the sword-quest-companion plot

Locus

Now okay i will admit this is conjecture and pepe-silvia-on-corkboard-with-red-string fuckery at this point but hear me out okay!

He gets the sword with Felix’s death. We know this. What we dont know is how the fucking hell he gets off Chorus! We just see him show up later with A’rynasea. The vaguely alien (maybe sentient?? AI? Its implied with the way he addresses her but we literally have her for like two episodes) ship that seems to be the driving force (literal) (bc shes his ship) behind his chosen redemption arc where he pushes himself to help others at no apparent benefit to himself, but because it is, and i quote “the right thing to do”

Arguably, Santa could be Locus’ quest giver, seeing as how he is the one who triggers the whole shift in view for Locus in the first place and that is, technically, what crunchbite does and what atlas finalizes for grif! But the problem is we simply dont have enough of A’rynasea to draw the parallel between her and Locus as personalities, as companions for it to work for me??? But that might just be me overthinking? But it does make Locus’ version is a bit messier depending on who you consider his quest-giver but as far as I’m concerned, he’s still on his quest snd its just up to interpretation if A’rynasea is his companion?? or if theres a secret third alien for Locus that we never wouldve seen even if they planned for that bc its red vs blue and im just delusional about locus and his role in plot and this is just me firing concepts blindly into the sky at this point like - yeah i could still theorize what kind of companion characterization i think locus would work well with bc its more about the wielder than the companion in this sense (sorry junior and huggins i love yall i promise) but thats a completely separate rant at this point and not nearly coherent enough at this exact moment to add it PLUS its ridiculously self indulgent and only marginally canon compliant/adjacent but i will never not be amused by this very specific plot beat happening enough to draw these parallels, as tenuous and vague as the parallels are

[slocumjoe]

Concept for if Bethesda loved the other Companions same as old tricky dick

Gage; a dlc that doesn't kinda suck actually, but also properly explores what being a raider entails, and what kind of people end up as one. I don't think you could actually redeem him, but I'd like that idea to be directly confronted, as least. I've talked about this before but it's wasted potential that you can't make the Nuka Gang confront the fact that Oh Shit The Farmers Are Now Dangerous

Deacon: I don't think he needs his own side quest or even DLC, but I'd like him to have side quests attached to him, a la Nick's detective cases sidequests. He's a spy. Pls let us do spy shit

Piper: Same as Deacon, but I think she actively needs a sidequest. Her character gimmick, her plot purpose, and her actual affinity talks are so unrelated it's painful. Let her journalism actually be content, not just a bit of trivia about her. A set of side quests + a personal quest that addresses Diamond City's Problems with a capital P. Lots of societal issues in that little space and we do nothing with any of it.

Preston: just fix the Minutemen and give this man a goddamn break. The Minutemen just need a rehaul, so as to not have him be the quest giver. And give him other stuff to do! I wanna actually fight the Gunners! Bring up and address the failures of the old Minutemen!!! Please!!!

X6-88: give the bitch something oh my God. Much like Gage, I don't think you can convince him to let go of the Institute, but give us a CHANCE. Emil just seems so scared to ask hard questions and use interesting concepts.

Danse; finish his arc you thots (also I think Fallout 4 really lacks some humanizing/soft moments in the world and I think Danse would be a good. Subject? For them. Like a shelter dog getting to play with ducklings. Idk but I have a vision)

MacCready: they forgot that his whole point was having a whole ass baby. Give him his child wtf.

Strong; delete

Codsworth; stronger plot presence. This robot raised that old bitch let him throw hands. Also, if you wanted to put quests in Sanctuary that spawn up as the town develops, Codsworth would be a great quest giver and tagalong as you try and keep the piece and set up some kind of society.

Curie; I've said it before. I'm saying again. Curies whole deal should have been a major plot point. She's a robot that becomes human and develops human feelings with human biology. This is not important to any faction leader. What on earth.

Cait; yall fuckin know how I feel about Cait but honestly, her personal quest sucks so much I'd rather they didn't. Just give her more and better affinity talks. She needs more time to open up and develop, and 4 conversations is not enough.

Hancock; I have quite a few nitpicks about Hancock but the fact that Micky D getting ganked and being revealed to be a synth DOESNT MATTER is insane. Macdonough's last interaction with Hancock was crucial to his character arc and not letting that circle around is so, so miserable. Also, I want politically-charged quests. Campaigning! Discussions on economy! He's a mayor of this weird little anarchy town, let us play in that space.

[satoshi-mochida]

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land launches March 21, 2025 - Gematsu

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam on March 21, 2025 worldwide, publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Gust announced.

In Japan, the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC versions will cost 9,680 yen, while the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch versions will cost 8,580 yen. The Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC versions are digital-only. The “Premium Box” special edition will cost 13,500 yen for PlayStation 5 and PC, and 12,400 yen for PlayStation 4 and Switch. The “Special Collection Box” will cost 23,700 yen for PlayStation 5 and PC, and 22,600 yen for PlayStation 4 and Switch.

Get the first details below.

■ About

In a world where alchemy has become taboo and is considered evil, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land follows the adventures of Yumia Liessfeldt and her companions as they seek to uncover the truth behind the fall of the Aladissian Empire—which once thrived with alchemy—and the memories of its lost history. Yumia’s quest will take her across a ruined continent, and despite the uncertainties of confronting her past, she will need to create her own path if she hopes to unravel the mysteries behind the cataclysm that destroyed Aladiss. Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land takes players on a journey exploring the theme of memory. Playing as Yumia Liessfeldt, a young alchemist who lost her mother in an accident when she was young, players set out to uncover the forbidden art of alchemy while also learning the true intentions of Yumia’s mother who hid her identity as an alchemist. Along the way, Yumia joins the Aladiss Research Team where she meets Vikto von Duerer and his younger sister, Isla von Duerer. There, they are also joined by an assorted cast of characters including a mysterious woman, a timid demi-human, and a former adventurer with spectacular experiences. Together, Yumia and her companions will travel across the vast continent that was once the Aladissian Empire, where all civilization has perished. Players will have a wide range of actions and items at their disposal throughout the adventure, allowing them to explore a vast open world made up of different biomes as they make their way through these unknown lands gathering materials that can be used to synthesize and craft new items for use in their quest—both during exploration and combat. Not only will fans be able to craft items without having to return to their base thanks to the “Simple Synthesis” feature, but for the first time in the series, fans will be also able to build, furnish, and decorate their own base with the all-new “Building” feature! To help make Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land come alive, Koei Tecmo and developer Gust have teamed up with the brilliant artist Benitama to create the main visual and all of the character designs. Specializing in creating illustrations and character designs for various fantasy game titles, Benitama incorporates references to paintings and reliefs in his work while striving to balance both persuasive depth and cuteness. His design, characterized by a monochrome based style, give a cool impression while bringing out the charm of the Atelier series.

■ Story

Weaving memories and tracing emotions. For the truth that lies ahead. The Aladissian Empire. It once thrived on a certain continent, having achieved remarkable development through alchemy that kept other nations at bay. However, it met its end due to a sudden and mysterious cataclysm. Time progressed, and several centuries later—. Alchemy became known as a “dangerous art that brings destruction,” and considered “evil” and “taboo” in this new era. In this now forbidden and perilous land, a lone alchemist sets foot. Her name is Yumia Liessfeldt. After losing her mother in an accident three years ago, Yumia discovered that she was from a family of alchemists and began to question many things. Why did Aladiss fall? Why did alchemy become “taboo”?… Is alchemy truly “evil”? Believing that all truths lie within the continent, Yumia embarks on a journey to uncover its lost history.

■ Characters

Yumia Liessfeldt (voiced by Wakana Kuramochi)

“I want to push forward. Push forward because I beleive every memory is part of alchemy.”

On a journey to trace memories and uncover lost truths. Due to an accident in her childhood, she lost her mother and learned that she was an alchemist. To uncover the truth behind her mother’s intentions and the forbidden art of alchemy, she joins the Aladiss Research Team. She cherishes her mother’s words: “Learn how to judge what is right by yourself.

Viktor von Duerer (voiced by Makoto Furukawa)

“I won’t waver either. I decided that the moment I saw the chief rush in that day, and I’m sticking to it.”

With his iron stake, he upholds justice. A member of the Aladiss Research Team, he joined the investigation as Yumia’s supervisor. He comes from the influential Duerer family and is also a member of the Order of Eustella. Although he has a strong sense of justice and an honest personality, he can be inflexible. Three years ago, his family fell into ruin due to a massive mana disaster in his family’s domain.

Isla von Duerer (voiced by Kaori Maeda)

“I’ve had enough with losing friends.”

Uncompromising feelings for both fashion and revenge. A member of the Aladiss Research Team and Viktor’s younger sister. She is bright, with high energy and communication skills, and is stylish at heart, never forgetting to be fashionable even during investigations. Her thoughtful nature helps her support her brother with things he can’t handle.

Nina Friede (voiced by Mikako Komatsu)

“Hehe, hehehe… Well then, don’t mind if I do…”

Unquestionable skill and a unique sense. A member of the Aladiss Research Team with a mysterious aura. She always seems to be relaxed, but sometimes it’s unclear what she’s thinking. She has mercenary experience and possesses the skill to conduct investigations alone.

Lenja (voiced by Yoshino Aoyama)

“I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to show that I can be useful.”

The greatest enemy is her own timid self. The only Welleks demihuman in the investigation team. She possesses high physical abilities and mana aptitude. However, she is timid with low self-confidence and frequently apologizes for everything. Welleks live in Aladiss in large numbers, having contributed to its development by producing many alchemists.

Rutger Arendt (voiced by Jun Fukuyama)

“It’s easier for me to act on my own. I’m gettin’ plenty results, so what’s the problem?”

An adventurer who laughs at adversity and forges his own path. A member of the Aladiss Research Team and a seasoned adventurer who loves valuable items. An orphan with no family, he survived by taking on shady jobs in the slums. Having experienced intense hardships, he is not bound to others but lives according to his own aesthetics.

■ World

Embark on a dramatic adventure across a vast land of endless fun and scenery.

■ System

Collect, combat, create—the journey with your companions will be filled with various “experiences.”

Synthesis: Create Items Interwoven with “Mana“

Manipulate the “mana” residing in materials to create new items based on recipes. The items you craft will exhibit powerful effects in various situations, such as exploration and combat. The strength of an item’s power depends on the materials used in synthesis, so select your materials carefully while assessing the power of the embedded mana.

Battle: A Captivating Variety of Actions with “Range” and “Items”

In real-time combat, you’ll be tested on your ability to make split-second decisions. Utilize two types of attack ranges (“range”) and switch between skills to fight strategically. Additionally, synthesized items can transform into shapes such as swords or spears, which can be used to attack. Since these items are reusable, don’t hesitate to deploy them and drive away enemies that stand in your way.

Watch the trailer and 10 minutes of gameplay below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

First Trailer

English

Japanese

Gameplay First Look

English

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land Announcement Special Program

[wild-magic-oops]

I finally finished DATV!

It takes a lot for a game to make me cry but DATV did that a few times. The writing at times is definitely lacking or cringe but ultimately I don't mind a more fluffy YA type of story, so it doesn't matter to me much. But the main story questline is filled with absolute bangers, especially Act 3. I think the majority of the main story questline was the first thing that got done, so it's the most polished. Then some side quests that pack a punch and some of the companions quests (or at least parts of them). Then the rest, so it shows.

But back to Act 3 - fantastic, especially playing as a Shadow Dragon. DA2 tried really hard to make Hawke care about Kirkwall but ultimately it failed to make me care about it or give me a reason for my Hawke to do so. DATV actually made me care about saving Minrathous. My Rook did it once and then it got blighted anyway at the end, which adds to his frustration and helplessness that's been building during the story.

There were so many moments that I wasn't sure whether everyone possible would make it and I absolutely loved the suspense. At the end everyone except Harding survived so I'm pleased with my results. What I really liked is that the exploration, building relationships with factions and companions, actually plays a role in the end. And it's not boiled down to some extra spells I can use in the final encounter (I'm looking directly at you BG3). Companions and factions are actually woven into the final battle and I love that.

Now about Solas - he was one of the reasons I bought the game. I was really curious how his story would go and I have to say I'm very satisfied in that regard. His interactions with Rook were always intriguing to me, and they're delicious in Act 3.

I expected the ending slides to be a disappointment bc that's something that would be probably done at the very end anyway, so no surprises there. I definitely wish there was more. But tbh, the fact that the game came out at all, with no microtransactions, no day 1 paid dlcs that hide important lore, no major bugs (and barely any for me at least), fun gameplay, amazing qol stuff - it's a surprise. And I feel like people who are very disappointed are so bc they went into it with high expectations, which they should've tempered given what was known about the development hell the game went through and about EA. Despite its flaws, the game offers much to fans to enjoy if they actually want to do that and are not obsessed over what it could've or should've been. And that's only taking into consideration the valid criticism. This is the place to say I actually don't care that the game was a soft reboot and ignored previous choices. Ofc it would've been great if it wasn't like that, but I honestly didn't expect much bc bioware always pushed their own canon and mostly ignored other choices or retconned how your previous character felt about certain things. And not to mention how the Divine choice would've been an absolute hell to implement to begin with, unless they once again made certain choices not matter, which would've been worse imo.

I love Mass Effect much more than Dragon Age. And DATV felt like a fantasy ME game, so I liked it for what it is. I honestly don't miss the "but what if oppression is actually excusable and a valid choice ehehe" type of bs from the previous games, I don't miss the South, and I don't miss slurs and xenophobic remarks thrown in my or companions' faces every second conversation bc the game doesn't trust me to really get that smth is wrong without overdoing it and feeding me like a baby. Yes, Veilguard doesn't stress those topics enough, but that's mostly bc it focuses on bigger problems. But they're still there, often in the main questline. And I want to point out that I do in fact love intriguing political knots set in fantasy lands. But in my book DA has not been great at this, so I don't care that they did away with that and focused on an epic save-the-world story instead for this particular game (which fans should've known was the path bc Tresspasser basically tells you that).

Time for a replay now ofc

[kirkwallguy]

it's kind of strange how much GBF woobified Dorian is (I love him with all my heart) cause he's just so cancelableqmhelwhs i mean he fucks up in conversations so bad you just go "honey i know you don't have a bad intent but please shut the fuck up 😭" this is not a dorian bashing tbh i think his character writing makes interesting points to think about!!

coming across to this from solas point of view or lavellan is a whole another thing like imagine a guy from rich magister parents who of course benefit from labour of elves, whom his country enslaved then steal and appropriate a shit ton of their culture and civilization, just starts talking like this (the way he does in solas party banters or weird defensiveness whenever slavery topic comes up. idk if it was writers who fucked it up though. They just didn't do arguments well in that game tbh...)

BUT one thing about that is that i love how Dorian's character shows a person of high class that benefits from exploitation, colonisation etc. can be. Like he's denied all of that he's progressive and thoughtful and a really caring person but just can't shake off the drops of elitism. It really puts a perspective that if you don't question things you can't face them and therefore don't change (i think his defensiveness on slavery came from that because defensiveness as an act in general can be something like that psychologically)

i love them both so much but i think solas deserved to stuck that wand up to his ass the way i think merrill deserved to do it to fenris for their own party banter at some point 😭😭😭

honestly the gbf-ification of dorian is kind of predictable since he's the only gay man (they just pretend the bi men are straight lol), and by definition gbf-ification strips a character of all their personality in order to make them a cute accessory. but it really is SOOOOO funny. girl your designer purse dog is justifying slavery and biting the rest of your companions PLEASE reign him in.

tbh i think dorian sucking is realistic and makes sense, the thought process behind it is really good, but it just doesn't work in dai for so many reasons. you can't meaningfully challenge his views and when you DO attempt to you get disapproval (which just feels like a punishment/setback since the only way to really progress with companions is through approval. even the same feature in dao felt more balanced since you could be strategic with your gift giving), companions get one quest each so no chance of meaningful exploration there, and ofc banter is broken so any character development there never triggers. AURGH. he could've been so interesting