#No black orb is straight up op. In both games

[kjzx]

Omg why did I see people praising the meat grinder as a weapon it's a three hit per attack version of the bone shears from the first game... I guess you can fix that by just wearing glasses but I should not have tried using it for the first time during the heartless one fight omg

[soufre-de-paris]

okay i said this in a tag as a joke but the longer i play, the more i'm convinced i'm right. literally so much is just copy/paste. animations are the most obvious, but also mobs (like the shiny little critters that run away from you but drop neat loot! or the annoying mosquitos that hang out over the lake of rot!) or items like the sacrificial ring/twig and some unique weaponry, so on.

elden ring is a fix-it AU fanfic of dark souls.

i'm not talking mechanics so much as plot/storyline/dramatis personae. so much of what happens in both games feels like the two games are in direct conversation with one another: for example, what does it say to compare Brother Corhyn with Griggs, and therefore Goldmask with Big Hat Logan? (I have a lot of thoughts on these points, actually, but this is long enough as it is.)

spoilers (sort of? i guess?) for both games, though i name no names and don't explain much.

PEOPLE

The Guy Who Traveled This Path Before You is dead. He had a very specific style of armor. You were dead, and awoke in a graveyard, and now set out to blah blah blah.

A young practitioner of certain mystical arts worshipfully over-idealizes a wiser older man. The younger man declares himself a servant of the older man, who is literally just doing his own thing and doesn't seem to even notice the younger man's presence or lack thereof. The older man goes where he pleases, and the younger man struggles to follow.

A practitioner of occult arts wants to know more than is advisable. You help them achieve their goal, and they lose their mind.

A guy with a sharp, bird-like helm and straggly hair flips head-over-heels with a greatsword. He is OP AF. Black corrupted blood follows him as he fights. Long ago, he was something pure and his name was synonymous with righteousness, and he was indefeatable. Then he fell victim to an unstoppable and eternal force, and is now corrupted and (comparatively) weak. He fights in a coleseum-looking hall. A woman mourns him. Or does she?

A guy(s?) decides to fight against you to preserve the status quo, which is fucked up because he's supposed to be on your side.

A Sister waits patiently for the return of her missing Sibling. She doesn't seem to know the Sibling has been transformed into something horrendous, wooden, and unrecognizable as they're unable to leave, so she waits.

An enormous smith works on a comically tiny anvil. Hiding his face is a helm that looks like a straight-sided bucket. He is one of the few true "innocents" in the game.

There is a guy known by the epithet of THE FIRST OF THE DEAD. He lives in a necropolis. He has too many body parts. He is unpleasant to look at.

The icarus man has looked too long at the sun (BONUS POINT: this transitions from the literal to the figurative) and got way more than he was bargaining for, at the expense of himself. He is the closest thing to a male love interest in the game.

The insane leader of an institution of learning has a Daughter who makes her home in a removed mountainous region protected by a huge fucking dragon and inaccessible by non-magical means. The Daughter wears a snowy, furry cloak.

There is a boss that looks like it was taken straight out of Evangelion. It has long spindly, spidery arms that end in orbs. It is the most inhuman looking boss in the game; its existence has long-reaching implications for how Power truly works in this world. Locking onto this boss will get you killed as this fight is about maneuverability.

Sorcerers come from one magical city. eViL aSsAsSiN sOrCeReRs come from another magical city, but their city is eViL and sEcReT. Heretical flame magicians don't get to come from somewhere special.

Black-clothed knights once served the grizzled Leader of a massive city. Now, in this age of ruin, they wander, seemingly lost, still serving his will. They are generally OP, and tend to show up in unexpected places.

PLACES

An enormous city sits empty and dead. The only "living" people there are religious fanatics dedicated to defending the tenets of their faith.

Cities generally have nice pretty circular walls around them.

An enormous kiln the size of a city fills a dead city with its ashes. Parts of that city are melted by dragonfire.

All giant trees hold secrets. Sometimes that secret is a powerful woman. Sometimes that secret is a whole city. Sometimes that secret is a secret heretical sect. Sometimes it's more than one. Sometimes it's all of them.

A city once hosted forbidden magics. For this heresy, the entire city was sealed away, left to fester and die and be forgotten. The colorway of this city is silver and black.

Something very powerful is hidden in the depths of a crystalline cave. One must jump around on huge crystalline platforms to reach it. You will fall, a lot.

A mostly-destroyed blood-drenched fort has the dead on spikes for display. The leader of the fort is not fully human. Some of the leader's servants are afflicted by horrible, infectious rot. The leader can only be accessed by touching a magical portal.

An annoying maze-like Institution of Learning that has been sealed up. Everyone knows the leader has lost their mind. Crystals are the major motif. The mobs use crystals to fight. There are crystals growing out of control everywhere. Some areas are blocked because there are too many fucking crystals. Some practitioners of this magic become more crystal than person.

THINGS

"The ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ Eye Quivers" when near Something which, according to the morality of the "singular" religion, needs to be killed. Whether it does need to be killed or not depends on your opinion of the validity of this religion as a whole.

THEMES

It is important that you go back where you started from with a special key so you can get an important—albeit damaged—item.

"May the ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ Guide You"

One natural consequence of power is being (or becoming!) a tree.

The various duties of peripatetic white-robed maidens include becoming fiery sacrifices.

Someone Is Killing Maidens! Who Would Do Such A Thing?!

A black and terrible occult weapon was once made to kill a god. The truth of this was covered up.

The hunting of dragons is an oft-futile, and inadvisable pursuit. But oh, how beautiful they are! It is the highest level of a warrior's skill, to defeat something like a dragon…

That being said, you can also choose to worship dragons. Dragon body parts are part of these rituals.

You can choose an ending in which you become part of the problem.

"FLAME OF CHAOS" take the world? (BONUS POINT: there is an inversion of what being engulfed in flames means.)

EXTRA

The English Localization Team Really Needs To Learn The Difference Between Thee/Thy/Thine. Please. You're Fucking Killing Me.

FUCKING PATCHES KICKS YOUR STUPID ASS OFF A CLIFF

play dark souls! we have:

big titty goth god girlfriend

a snoring giant snake with floppy beagle ears and absurdly large teeth who carries you in his mouth

the himbo who is in love with the sun says something like "haha i thought you were flirting with me! unless"

[violet975]

Random thoughts.

So i replayed BOTW a while ago for the first time and decided to write down some of the random thoughts that i get while exploring Hyrule, here they are.

… A lot of these things gave me some fanfic ideas and I hope that they will do the same for someone more competent.

It's realty in character that the response to being asked why you took the man's torch is either to bludgeon things to death with it or to be a pyromaniac.

When the tower pedestal shines, Link instinctively leans back for a second before diving right back in because curiosity kills the cat.

The message from the slate/tower is to watch out for falling rocks which either means that 

1: zelda is writing them (and has a fair bit of free reign still).

2: the ancient Sheikah could see the future.

3: Ai to the likes of Fi.

Ganon kinda reawakens when the towers are up so maybe he was resting and building a body until he was interrupted here, which could be why his form later is such a hodgepodge of the Blights?.

Link is not too naive since he kinda clamps up in his answers to the totally unimportant old man.

Did Link briefly make eye-contact with the camera when he got the spirit orb!?

Link is a bit freaked out in his "How did you know!?" Response cas now he knows something major is up when the old man directly mentions the spirit orb.

Again, in character that you can choose to be an impatient brat with the "paraglider please?" Or inquisitive when Roam points out the slate.

Either run out of temper with the "that wasn't the deal!" Or be resigned with "so I need more now?" When the old fart sends you off to the other three shrines.

Ohh, another adrenaline junkie option with the "got it!" Over climbing the tower for a good view or a Deadpan "are you joking?".

"Or so i heard quite some time ago.. I do not know if it actually works as such" so they did not get teleporting to work before? or he just didn't learn how it was done.

So the monks, according to how the Triforce signs they held, apparently associate Power with Magnesis, Wisdom with bombs, Stability with stasis and Courage with cryonis?

The monks dissipate into green specks like Ganon’s soul does under the castle!

I'm not into men but damn if Link doesn't look good in the Warm Doublet.

Oh. My. God, he was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule!!!!!

Link is such a dumbass, you get to ask Kass "are you a ...bird?" As if the man isn't standing right in front of you. No shit Sherlock! What next, is that a recorder?.

OhhohoHO! You either say "no(, i have not heard of them)" or "Ancient songs?" As if you do not initially realize why they are thought to be ancient which either is old memories warring with the now world or Link not realizing what impact The Calamity had on culture.

Another flat-faced sarcastic remark everyone!

When Manny mentions that his job is checking for beauties/sus people you can either be a dumb dunce and ask about the said beauties or a little menace with "sounds though".

Manny is an Incel, talks a big game and puts himself on top of a pedestal alongside being demanding and a creep.

Does Hateno not have a goddess shrine? Just the ~Evil~ one?

There is a pair of rusty knights sword and shield by the leftmost part of the walkway of Fort Hateno. Some knight probably died laying there, watching out over the field of guardians having been/being purged by Zelda.

A traveler (Chelessa) is interested in history and wants to question Impa about it, and is on her way to do so in fact. . Describes her personality as very pleasant, that must be wrong.

The Yiga know exactly how Links first waking moments played out so either they have extensive knowledge about his character and the setup of the Shrine Of Resurrection or Ganon was watching in on Zelda's call and relayed it to a minion in the clan.

"Hero boy" - derogatory.

Arrow in the eye of the bridge at the entrance of Kakariko, the Yiga are petty and I love it.

Piano's (the painter) hair bun thing that is styled like a pencil has paint on the tip... this man painted with his hair.

So the great fairy Cotera makes it sound like she will enchant your gear because you rejuvenated her, not because you bring the materials to do the enchanting.

The levels of enchantment seemingly depends on physical closeness to the Fairy (blow< indirect kiss< kiss < sex)

She can not enchant beyond Lv 1 without her sister's help, so they share power?

Paya specifies that they have watched over the Orb since the grandmother of the grandmother of Impa, that's 9 whole generations of long lived Sheikah! roughly 1000 years of recorded history!

Again with Link being a dense Shonen protagonist with "where is it?" Or a sly bastard with "really, though?"... maybe so that she would want to prove it ;) 

…”I'll answer you some day, just not today!”

Either Paya is just not ready for that or she is so nervous that she did not think about the fact that her own grandmother was in the room when she said it!

“Served the royal family in secret” so it's not common knowledge that the royals have a village of Magic ninjas!? No wonder it took a damn demon to topple it instead of rebellion or infighting... probably has been like this since the old old king banished 'em.

"The royal family was destroyed, and the members of our tribe scattered."- okay so it was probably some Sheikah that either thought the royal family was completely extinct and either fled or, according to this next bit- "Sadly, there were some who swore allegiance to Ganon at that time. They joined together as the Yiga Clan, seeking out all who opposed Ganon... cutting them down, one after another." 

So from that we get to know that not all Sheikah deserters became enemies (unless the Sheikah dislike defectors enough to hunt them down) and others who either joined an existing opposing group or simply up and created the Yiga clan that then aligned itself with Ganon... probably under either the belief that Hylia's line was extinct and that it was join or die or because they wished to spite the goddess and her followers.

I actually like this way more because it makes no sense that the Yiga could survive before the Calamity when the Royals would have an entire damn country and anbu black-ops to hunt them down with.

"Master link, now that you are awake, you are surely the most formidable opponent standing against them!" Either hero worship or the Sheikah are freshly out on capable warriors with Ninja magic tricks, probably the latter which would explain why the world isn't infested with Lynels or why hynoxes haven't just trampled every settlement.

"No doubt they will come for you, employing whatever underhanded methods they can device" 

oh come on! Do not tell me that i'm stuck with the goodie two shoe ninja clan!? Underhandedness is your bread and butter! No wonder you served the royals in secret because you and them by proxy would have been a laughingstock otherwise!!!

"The great fairy Cotera... few remain who know that this village was built under her watchful eye." So the village is fairy new and the Yiga came about before Kakariko or it is old and so well protected that they can't get in... at least not easily.

"The mysterious power of Cotera is that of sacred protection..." so the Great fairies are linked to either Hylia or the gods, good to know.

So it’s not that Cotera “-would be happy to help” but, instead “i can't think of any reason why she wouldn't be happy to help you”. so either she only directly helps men or the earlier "you can put your trust in the great fairy" means that she judges more favorably for the chosen hero.

"I heard that the weather is going to be beautifully tomorrow... to bad you won't be alive to enjoy it"

So they have weather accurate~ich prediction? through magic or old time methods?

Again: Hero boy - derogatory... It's a common nickname for Link within the Yiga.

The lush green shrine could tell that a buck was on it, so the platforms are most definitely scanners.

A travelers sword by a campfire at the foot of mount Lanayru, so someone either took a swim and died to the Lizardfo, dramatically quit or got killed in their sleep.

Love the effect when you have metal weapons on the ground and swing a ThunderBlade!

You automatically reflect the Octorock's rocks, goes faster if you do it manually.

There is a hollowed out part of a hill/mountain with a lot of fic potential to the North-West of the Sword by the campfire.

Located where the lines meet if you draw a line to the right from Rabia plain and up from Trotter's Downfall.

Koko of Kakariko has been deceived by my cunning and slight-of-hand. 

Yes, Sagessa (woman by the lake of the Dueling peaks stable), there is, in fact, something "quite romantic" in Link's "endeavor" to save Zelda, thank you for noticing!

The chests inside the shrines can only (non-violently) be opened by use of the Sheikah slate so why not steal a few? prefect safe-keeping for more stuff to keep in Links house.

Dunce moment everyone! 

The Yiga traveler tries to seduce Link and you either go with "OK..." so he either has no damn idea about what is going on or is just not good with women? 

Orrrrr you go with a straight "I refuse!" cas you see through their ruse and want to rub their face in the dirt!

According to Mina the Hylian, taking out two Bokoblins is considered as great martial caliber which both she and her traveling companion could not do while decently armed.

Best way to deal with a guardian scout when you have weak weapons: hit with electricity, switch weapon, hit 2-5 times, switch to electric, repeat.

When you first enter the area around Hyrule Castle, smoke Ganon throws a fit until Zelda slaps him away. 

This either means that Zelda canonically gets a larger workload from there on and out or that the both of them push harder against each other every time you get close.

According to Zelda's diary, Link was assigned as her guard after the champions had been appointed.

How Link was focused on her yet did not voice his thoughts apparently "makes my imagination run wild!". Either romantic or dense.

Link admits to staying quiet because of the pressure of being the boy chosen by the sword. 

King Rhoam mentions that he decided to honor THE royal family's traditions by naming his daughter Zelda, and that he is "not a man accustomed to frivolous musings". 

Basically confirming that he is not the parent of royal blood.

They probably knew about The Calamity for a good while cas the page after zelda's naming speaks of the fortune teller, probs 3-8 years since Zelda was described to already have vast interest in the relics.

Pikango gets up at 10 past 5, I spent the night watching him and Beetle sleep.

According to all known laws of aerodynamics, Rito should not be able to fly, is Revali's gale then just an absurdly strong variation of some kind of sky Arcanum that all Rito possess? Do all the races possess one as Well?

Slimes ate the Bokoblins in the tree base at the center of the west Hyrule fields.

Savelle is a helpful guy without a pension for violence.

Munk Shae Loya is just flexing on all the other Munks, those old farts need to sit down while he's been squatting on one leg the last 10'000 years.

Chork of the Tabantha Bridge Stable is drunk.

Toren is either naive or a simp for the Faireys.

If you have the Hylian hood equipped with no weapon while riding at max speed then your cape will flap.

"Sweet boy..." "...I see now that my first impression of you was correct. You most definitely are pleasant to look at." 

So link has some kind of presence/soul-thingy that appears pleasant to mystical creatures? Might be the spirit of the hero or this link in particular.

The Fairy Kaysar makes Link blush! No player input needed! We’ve found one of his types!... either that or he's just shy.

The fairies almost never use normal materials to enchant, it's always either monster parts that don't dissipate or things that grow in magical arias.

The Sheikah towers are sturdy as all hell, the Tabantha tower did not even get a scratch from a giant fucking pillar falling on it.

Okay, am I just crazy or is a Lizardfo and a Moblin holding a class for 5 bokoblins just to the left of the Tabanta fairy fountain!?

Lester, the wise curry rice guy at Rito Stable, describes Link as sunny boy, another point to the soul/aura theory thingy.

Phontos laughs to hide the pain.

According to the story that Kass sings. 

Calamity Ganon was the result of sealing the enemy at its source.

It fought not only the spawn of the Goddess and the bearer of the Spirit Of The Hero but also the army of Guardians and the Champions that piloted the Divine Beasts for quite some time, as implied in the "and the guardians protected them throughout every hour".

So what i get from this is that the attack 10 000 years ago was the first sighting of what we know as calamity Ganon. 

It was also far stronger than the one that attacked 100 years ago which implies that that one was either a rush job or that Ganon bounds had been tightened, both of which would drive him to seek out other methods like corrupting the Guardians.

...And the Guardians are apparently powered by the ancient blue energy which was, time-line wise, first shown when the Golden Goddesses created the world.

No wonder that Ganon was capable of doing this since he most likely is running on fumes, spite and the power of the Triforce which likely is made of/channels said energy.

According to the rumor mill, you need the blood of the Hero in your veins to wield the Master Sword, if this is accurate then that means that Fi is sentimental or that Link has magic blood.

Wildberrys are fucking massive.

Genli (the salmon child) is a cunt, one kid was crying about someone Vah Medoh killed and then Genli is all like "no don't stop it, if you do then i have to go to class again!", She would fit right in with today's youth.

Monk Akh Va'quot has the best position so far, he is just done with your shit.

"You adventurers are Crazy" -> "you're right"

You get nothing if you melt all the ice by the Tabantha tower! You lose! Good day sir!

Monk Daka Tuss got bored during his self-inflicted quarantine and started stacking his arm bands.

Tula (the bathing Zora) said "wow either you are a Hylian or hideously deformed"

Phura has vandalized and mounted one of the spirit frog statues above her door.

Okay but the fucking noice that comes out of Bolson when you buy everything!! It's as if you just walked up and twisted his nuts with the power fit to shield block a Lynel’s charge.

Is the flower by Link's bed a Korok version of a Silent Princess?

The monsters of Hyrule are show to have interest in consumption based on three accounts. 

1: the Bocoblins and the Moblins by Hateno bay steal cattle. 

2: Hynoxes carry around warriors foodstuffs. 

3: Moblins (or at least the ones by the camp near the Serenne stable/forgotten temple) have a resting animation where they dig through the dirt and stuff something down their goblet.

...not to mention that nearly every camp has a bit of meat roasting by the fire.

Koyin has joined the fan-club!

God, the Naydra snowfield is fucking loaded in chill-shromes!

Stasis is perfect for looking for ingredients in forests, just open it, look around and bam! No more hidey hoe.

Why no shiny text for hylia's statue!?

I really do not like that they changed Naydra's colors when the malice was removed, they were so cool and then bam! White! White is not the color for ice and cold!

When praying by the spring of wisdom you are facing Hyrule castle, the same with courage and power if my memory serves me right.

...The master Torch

The Katona Aug shrine is just fucking mini-golf, how is that meant to prepare the hero?! Imagine how that Monk goes to the afterlife and has to look his fellows straight in the eye and admit that he was so lazy that not only did he make the hero play golf, not only was he so lazy that he made the Hero play mini-golf, but that he was so lazy that he did not even make a course! It is literally just a straight line!

Robie wants to see Links scars to verify that he is who he says that he is, Robie was likely one of the ninja that took Link to the shrine of resurrection.

Oh and Robin has two interesting sketches in his lab, the first is a detailed graph of a Sheikah tower so those were likely known about long before Link activated one (the one closest to Robin would be the one covered in malice and guardians so he could not have gotten enough detail from that one).

And the other is a sketch of what I believe is either a tier 2 or tier 3 guardian scout. Now, how can Robin know how that looks if only Link can/could enter shrines?

The Sheikah shrine that has the Barbarian helm is located at the end of the Sinai maze, did they just plop the shrine down there and steal the treasure of the ruin to later present to the hero?

There is one usable room in the citadel.

There is no compendium slot for the malice eyes that litter Naydra, Hyrule Castle and the Divine Beasts.

You can change the element of already elemental slime, not just the neutral kind.

Those head-spitting fuckers inside the divine beasts! They are partially reanimating mobs! So it's not that the Blood Moon is the time where Ganon is at his strongest, it's just where he chooses to revive everything.

The edge of duality can also be found in the shrine at the top of the dueling peaks.

[novipedia]

How To Upgrade Ice Staff 63

However, the range is not as far as the thundergun, so you will have to be a bit closer to kill zombies with it. It can also be charged:

Ice Staff ORIGINS Zombies HOW TO BUILD AND UPGRADE

It will give you weapons, zombies, grenades, or even ice staff part.

How to upgrade ice staff. Once upgraded, it becomes ull's arrow, an extremely powerful weapon that can freeze hordes of zombies. To upgrade the ice staff, you must place the staff inside a blue pedestal located in the crazy place. Upgrade the staff of ice (blue) first step, match the dots with the symbols:

Go to the crazy place, and if you look up and in your right, you must shot up to the blocks with lines that correspond to the dots of the ice block of your right: To upgrade the ice staff, you must place the staff inside a blue pedestal located in the crazy place. Charge wind staff (collect souls) also know, what is the code to upgrade the ice staff?

The ice staff is a magic ranged weapon. There is no escape from the inferno! — nikolai while killing zombies with the upgraded fire staff. Thanks so much for 5,000+ l.

With the ice staff equipped go to the crazy place through the blue portal. Incredible pc game bundle, from $10. The ice staff will hover and float above the pedestal.

To upgrade any staff you have to do a puzzle in the crazy place, a puzzle in the digsite and shooting an orb in the main chamber in that order. The staff of ice can be upgraded to an enhanced weapon called ull’s arrow, which functions similarly to the ice staff but has a wider range and stronger impact. Notice how it pierces the first enemy, but not the second.

You can only acquire the staff pieces from the dig piles while it is snowing; The staff of ice can be upgraded to a superior weapon. I give you a nice upgrade icestaff code as well!

It requires 1 spear and 1 blue gem to craft and a prestihatitator to prototype. The frost staff in action. This guide covers steps three and four, since they are the only steps that are specific to this staff.

It can be upgraded by following several steps. Leave the crazy place and go back to the outside world. This projects blocks of ice and a blizzard that freezes zombies in the area for 10.

Head over to the blue pedestal, then place your ice staff on top of the pedestal. The ultimate black ops 3 zombies origins water ice staff build guide and ice staff upgrade guide.how to upgrade ice staff / staff of water into ull's arrow. In this video i show you exactly how to upgrade the ice staff!

Event [no longer obtainable] red snowflakes chance frostbite freeze 160 base dmg (one projectile) After obtaining the staff of ice, it can be upgraded to ull's arrow. Head over to the blue pedestal, then place your ice staff on top of the pedestal.

Before you can use them to their fullest, you need to upgrade the staffs and unlock their full power. The ice staff is an unique staff that isn't obtained from buying, but from the december 2018 event. The ice staff will hover and float above the pedestal.

The ice staff will hover and float above the pedestal. Thank you so much for watching! Once upgraded, it becomes ull's arrow, an extremely powerful weapon that can freeze hordes of zombies.

With the shovel in your pocket, you can use it to dig small pile of skulls. The staff of ice is a powerful weapon in origins that uses the ice element. Head over to the blue pedestal, then place your ice staff on top of the pedestal.

The frost staff is a hardmode magic weapon that has a 2*1/50 (2%) drop chance from icy mermen and ice elementals, both of which are found in the snow biome or ice biome.the frost staff shoots a frost bolt which travels in a straight line, pierces a single enemy, and disappears after striking a. Once you do the first two steps of upgrading a staff an orb will spawn in the main chamber in the bottom ring, shoot it with the staff. First, the player must solve the riddle located in the crazy place, located in the ice part of it.

They are located all around the map and are commonly visible. Solve the ice staff puzzle. How do you upgrade the staff of ice staff?

Use a gun to slaughter as many zombies as possible in the crazy place. For the ice staff parts, you will dig one in thor's patrol, one in odin's and another one in freya's. The ice staff is a magic ranged weapon.

2 head over to the blue pedestal then place your ice staff on top of the pedestal. Use a gun to slaughter as many zombies as possible in the crazy place. Charge the staff (collect souls)

:d follow me for the latest updates: To upgrade the ice staff, you must place the staff inside a blue pedestal located in the crazy place. Obtain the gramophone from excavation, head to ice tunnel and get the crystal (gen 6).

The staff of ice is a powerful weapon in origins that uses the ice element. Small creatures such as birds and rabbits take one blast to be. This how to upgrade the ice staff tutorial shows exactly where to locate everything you need to assemble and then upgrade the ice staff into ull's arrow.

It can be upgraded by following several steps. Use a gun to slaughter as many zombies as possible in the crazy place. It may also be found in an ornate chest or dropped by an ancient pseudoscience station when struck with a hammer.

If you enjoyed and would like to support me, smack that like button to see more! It can be upgraded by following several steps. There are a total of seven steps needed to upgrade this weapon.

It may also be found in an ornate chest or dropped by an ancient pseudoscience station when struck with a hammer. Ice staff upgrade in origins. The staff of wind shoots blasts of wind when fired, (similar to the thundergun ), and will instantly kill zombies at point blank range until round 23 and knock back any zombies further away.

The staff of fire shoots three balls of molten rock, horizontally, when fired, which will cause zombies near the impact zone to burn, stunning them in pain before either burning up or recovering depending on. You do this eight times, twice for each staff. The staff of fire is one of four buildable elemental staffs in the map origins.

Upgrading the staff go to the crazy place, at the ice portal you will see ice blocks floating in the air with lines on them. It is an arrow which functions similarly to the ice staff, but it has a broader range and more substantial effect. The guide for upgrading the staves discusses in detail the other five steps.

Dig up the dirt/bone piles around the map to get all 3 staff pieces;

[hopeishappinessff]

Chapter 38

Splashing a few handfuls of cool water over my face after scrubbing it with invigorating facewash, I snatched up the plush towel on the counter with my eyes squeezed shut to dry my skin off. Once I felt satisfied and refreshed, I made my way out of the restroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen to fill my growling belly. I made sure to maneuver quietly through the kitchen, since my aunt had just gotten off earlier in the morning and was fast asleep just above me. Settling on eggo waffles and a few slices of bacon, I popped the waffles into the toaster, the bacon in the microwave, and made my way to the refrigerator to grab a small bottle of Sunny D.

As I trotted around the kitchen preparing my breakfast, I could hear the front door opening. I waited a few seconds to see who the intruder was and eventually Destani rounded the corner into the kitchen. “Good morning sunshine.” She greeted as she swooped a piece of bacon from my plate on her way to the refrigerator. “Good morning.” I said with a smile. She plucked a cup of yogurt from the refrigerator and walked over to the silverware drawer to grab a spoon. After claiming a seat at the table, she popped the lid of her yogurt off and glanced up at me “We have plans for the day… just so you know.”

“Oh okay Dez, just make plans for my life without me knowing,” I joked as I slid into my seat across from her, “What sort of plans do we have?” “Well, we’re gonna start by hittin up the mall to do a little shopping, then we’ll swing by the shop for some mani’s and pedi’s. And finally we’ll come back here to get all pretty and dolled up for a night on the town with the girls!” She concluded her magnificent overview of the day with a wide grin before sliding a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. I stared at her blankly with my fork halfway in my mouth before bursting into a fit of laughter. Once I realized she was indeed serious, I tamed my giggles and eyed her with a smirk.

“Wait, were you serious Dez?" “Hell yeah I was serious. Why you laughing?” She exclaimed. I dropped my smile altogether and stared at her “I thought you were joking. I mean, I don’t know… I just thought…” “You just thought you were done eating so we can get a move on. Come on… I’m tryna be outta here in twenty minutes.” She scarfed down the remainder of her yogurt and stood from her seat to toss the plastic cup. I quickly followed suit, since I obviously had no other choice, and before long we were heading up to my room so I could get dressed for the day.

--

Destani whipped her car into the closest parking space she could find in the main parking lot of the mall. After shutting off the ignition, we both climbed out and made our way up to the main entrance. I trailed closely behind her as she led us through the partially crowded building and wondered what had attracted such a large crowd this early in the day. As I ventured along behind Destani past a crowd of young males, I whipped around at the sudden feeling of a hand tugging gently at my wrist.

“Aye… whoa, whoa, whoa lil mama. Where you going?” Some random guy grinned as he stood two feet too close to my face. I grimaced as I moved to take a step back from his chocolate face, but he held onto my wrist and moved in sync with me. “What’s your name girl?” He asked with a lick of his lips. “Can you please let my arm go?” I asked, attempting to snatch my arm from his grasp. He easily tightened his grip as he bit down on his bottom lip and eyed me as conspicuously as he pleased “Not til you give me a name… girl you are beautiful.” “Get your black ass hand off her arm nigga… she don’t want you!” I breathed a sigh of relief the moment I heard Destani’s voice from behind me. She stepped into place at my side and swiftly slapped his hand away from me. Much to my surprise, the moment she started to pull me away he glued a hand back onto my arm like a magnet and frowned at Destani.

“I don’t think I was talkin to your ratchet ass. I think you can be on your way and let me chat with your friend right here.” He argued. Before I knew it, Destani yanked me around behind her and angled herself directly in the guy’s face with her head tilted to one side “Look mothafucka, you do not know me and I am not in the mood to turn up on your filthy ass in this mall. Do me a got damn favor and keep your fuckin hands to yourself and go spit your lame ass game to a bitch who might give your ass some play, because as you can see she is not interested!” She snapped her neck in more directions than I could count and jabbed a finger in his face to emphasize that she wasn’t joking. The guy and his friends all stood in shock and Destani took that as her cue to grab me up and yank me away from the group.

“I fuckin hate niggas like that,” She vented as we headed into the nearest clothing store, “They act like they can choose every got damn female that walks past their disgusting asses… fuck outta with that bruh. I’m sorry, but not my girl… she don’t have time for a weak ass nigga like you! Like where the fuck is Chris when you need him!” I snickered as I walked behind her and listened to her rant. She caught me off guard when she stopped abruptly in her tracks and swung around to face me “And you… you need to learn how to defend yourself against trash like that. I’m tired of that shit happening… I feel like I need to sit you down and give you a one on one lesson on how to keep a fuck nigga at bay.”

Though I didn’t intend to do so directly in her face, I couldn’t contain my laughter and soon she was laughing right along with me. Once we settled down from the ordeal, we spent the next few hours searching for the perfect outfits for our girl’s night out. Once we finally found just the right items, we left the store and headed upstairs to meet up with Nalay and Tameka for our manicure and pedicure session. We entered the nail salon and spotted the girls already comfortably situated in designated seats along a wall in the back. Destani informed the receptionist that we were there to meet up with our friends and we quickly joined them in the therapeutic massage chairs.

--

“Chill out Destani, you got that shit in my eye.” I couldn’t help but laugh as I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom. Destani was in the process of applying a full face on Tameka and seeing as Tameka wasn’t much of a makeup girl, I found it completely comical to watch the entire process. “Tameka,” Destani stopped abruptly and dropped a hand down to her hip, “Why the hell would you ask me to do your damn makeup and you can’t even sit still long enough to let me work?” Tameka opened one eye and stared up at Destani with her face twisted into a frown “You know what bitch, just hurry up before you blind my ass.”

Destani smacked her lips and popped her on the shoulder, before continuing on with her work. I shook my head at the duo then finally stepped out into my bedroom. “Sy!.” Nalay gasped as she rose from where she sat slipping on her shoes on the edge of the bed. She stood up in front of me, gripping gently onto my shoulders, and smiled as she looked me over from head to toe, “You look amazing! Destani beat your face to perfection and your hair… your hair is fabulous. Girl, you are gonna kill ‘em tonight!”

I giggled as I felt my cheeks warm up from her overwhelming compliments. “Hair and face beat to the gawds honey… I’m telling you, my boo is stuntin on niggas tonight!” Destani noted as she exited the restroom shortly after me with Tameka right behind her. “I really appreciate everything you did Dez… thank you.” I turned to grip her into a hug and she giggled and playfully pushed me away. “Look at you, ‘bout to fuck it up already.” She brushed a hand over my perfectly curled tresses with a smile then slipped past me to go slide on her shoes.

“Alright ya’ll, we need to go before my mama and Aunt Maddie come up here with that damn camera tryna get pictures and shit… we do not have time for that.” Destani said. We all agreed to head downstairs in an attempt to avoid an unwanted photoshoot, but once we hit the top step and I heard my aunt shrieking from the bottom, I knew there was absolutely no way we could dodge it. “Oh my goodness… Cyn, look at these children. They don’t even look like the little babies I remember playing in my yard just a few years ago! Oh my Lord, you girls look so grown and sophisticated!” My aunt gushed once we were all standing on the first floor.

“I know, it feels like just yesterday that…” Ms. Cynthia started up on a childhood memory, but Destani quickly grabbed her by her arm and shook her head. “Ma, we really have to go… if you’re gonna take pictures, can you please take them now?” She asked in her most polite tone. “Girl I forgot all about the pictures… come on Maddie, let’s go get our cameras! Ya’ll don’t move.” She squealed before both her and my aunt turned and dashed out of the hall. We all cackled at Destani’s expression as she unintentionally reminded her mother and my aunt to initiate a photo-op and she rolled her eyes and released an annoyed sigh. Moments later they both returned, both with small colorful cameras in tow, and began to line us up in a variety of poses.

“Okay ya’ll, be careful and have fun! We’ll be there in a little while.” Ms. Cynthia said after a nearly fifteen-minute photoshoot as she and my aunt walked us to the door. Destani whipped around abruptly, nearly lashing me in the face with her bone straight hair, and glared at her mother through darkened exotic orbs. “Oh uh… we’ll be at the restaurant a little later ya’ll. Have fun until we get there.” My aunt hurriedly waved us off and without question, shut the door behind us. “I swear I don’t know about my mama sometimes.” Destani muttered as we all carefully made our way to her car. I laughed along with the girls and once we reached the car and climbed in, Destani reversed out of the driveway and set off on a journey through town.

--

I laughed heartily as I sat comfortably in the backseat of Destani’s car with Nalay. The girls had me rolling with laughter, so much so that I failed to pay attention to where we were going. We all danced along to the bass of the music and by the time Destani whipped her car into park, we each had to look over one another to make sure not a hair had fallen out of place. We finally climbed out of the car and as we made our way up to the building, I took a moment to absorb my surroundings. Wherever we were, the entire front of the building was brightly illuminated by electric blue and purple lights. There was a huge beaming sign above the row of doors that read ‘Luxor' and I nearly tripped over the curb as I stared up into the bright light. I wasn’t exactly sure what type of restaurant we were heading into, but I trusted my friends more than anyone and I followed their lead as we approached a burly man just outside the doors.

“Hello ladies, welcome to Luxor. Please… follow me.” He greeted. I glanced over at Destani and with her eyes already locked on me, she smirked and winked then led the way behind the mystery man. We followed him into the building and down along a quiet dimly lit corridor. I could barely make out anything around us so I made sure to stay close to Nalay, who walked just a few feet ahead of me. After passing two large striking fish tanks, the man leading us down the hall stopped suddenly just outside a tall set of double doors then turned to face us. “You beautiful young ladies enjoy your night.” With a warm smile, he turned and pulled one of the heavy doors open. Like a curious child, I stared up at the twinkling vaulted ceiling and caught myself at the last minute before I tripped over Nalay’s feet. “Girl, if you don’t calm down.” She giggled, glancing back at me.

“Oh, I’m sor…” Before I could fully deliver my apology, I’d already lowered my head to face forward and was immediately blown away by the sight before me… “Surprise!” Every single person in the room shouted in a synchronized fashion and I slapped my hands over my mouth as I took in the scenery. There were people filling every corner of the space from school, the neighborhood, and even quite a few that I didn’t even know. I turned back to face Destani, Nalay, and Tameka only to find them all in the exact same stance… grinning widely and clapping along with the crowd.

“Wh… what is this?” I mumbled as I ogled at Destani with my mouth agape. Her angelic smile remained as she simply nodded and glanced behind me. Before I could turn back around to make sense of what was happening, the hairs along the back of my neck stood on end as warm and minty breath tickled at my skin. That familiar intoxicating aroma of his quickly surrounded me and I nearly shut my eyes and leaned against his sturdy frame as though the crowd didn’t exist at all.

“Happy Birthday Hope.” He whispered just low enough for only me to hear. I slowly turned around and gazed upward into those captivating light russet eyes. “My birthday was Thursday.” I mumbled as I stared at him. With a lick of his lips, he smirked and gazed briefly out into the crowd as the tips of his fingers danced lightly at my sides “I know… just think of this as an extension of your birthday… and Valentine’s Day.” He winked and I watched him as he stepped aside, revealing the most beautifully decorated table with a cake settled right in the center. I threw my hands up over my mouth, once again, and gawked at it and the edible flowers surrounding it as everyone in the room broke out into the birthday medley. Once they’d finished singing, and I’d cleaned up my tear stained face, the curtains to a stage that I hadn’t even noticed rose and revealed a DJ standing casually behind his booth. The beat to Rich Homie Quan’s Flex began play and soon, everyone broke out into dance.

--

More than an hour into the party, I managed to break myself away from the crazed party goers in the center of dance floor and I made my way back to a deserted table. I was all danced out and completely content sitting back and watching the crowd enjoy themselves. I spotted the boys right in the center of the floor, bobbing and rapping along to Big Sean’s ‘Clique’ in their own tight circle as though they were the only ones on the dance floor. I giggled at the sight of Chris throwing his hands up in the air and pointing at his comrades as he rapped every word to the song. They attracted the attention of the onlookers in their near vicinity and eventually people began to shout and cheer them on as if they were witnessing a live concert.

Just as I turned away from the scene, I spotted my aunt and Ms. Joyce heading in my direction. “Hey baby, you having fun?” My aunt asked once she was within earshot. I nodded excitedly and stood to greet her and Ms. Joyce with a hug “Thank you so much for this…it’s absolutely amazing.” “Aw honey I wish we could take credit for this,” Ms. Joyce giggled, “But I’m sorry to tell you that the only part we had in it was keeping it a secret.” My gaze danced back and forth between the two and I wondered what she meant until my aunt diverted her gaze across the dance floor and directly toward Chris. I stared at him for a while before it all suddenly clicked…

“Oh my… did he really?” I exclaimed. They both nodded and I glanced back at Chris to see him laughing merrily as Dontay tossed a hand over his shoulder and began to rap the last verse of the song to him. “Wow,” I murmured, nearly at a loss for words, “So he’s the one behind the decorations, the venue, the cake, the DJ… everything?” “I know baby, it’s hard to believe isn’t? I mean he never did anything like this for that crazy girl he used to date… hell he never even did anything like this for me!” Ms Joyce exclaimed and her and my aunt broke into a fit of laughter.

“Whew, ya’ll… I am tired.” Snapping out of my daze, I turned to find Ms. Cynthia standing next to my aunt and Ms. Joyce with her hands on her hips as if she were utterly worn out. “Girl, nobody told you to be out there doing all that crazy stuff these kids be doing. You know you can’t keep up with them.” My aunt said, prompting Ms. Cynthia to roll her eyes with just as much attitude as her daughter. “Honey, I kept up with them okay… I just had to stop to make sure I didn’t mess up my makeup.” She was somber as she spoke, yet my aunt and Ms. Joyce cackled hysterically. She scoffed at them then turned her attention to me “So Miss Sy, how you liking your party so far?”

“I love it. I’m just amazed that this came together so perfectly.” I beamed. “Well girl, you can just thank Christopher for that… that boy hooked it up for you darling!” With a smirk, I nodded as I took in her every word and turned my attention back to the crowd. I was prepared to see Chris in the midst of a rap battle with his friends, but I was quite surprised to see him nowhere in sight...

TBC...

SyDiyah’s Outfit

Destani’s Outfit

Tameka’s Outfit

Nalay’s Outfit

[party-of-rpg-muses]

A Look At Stuff You Probably Never Heard Of: InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask

Hello and welcome to another entry of A Look At Stuff You Probably Never Heard Of. And guess what! This is the same month when my former favorite anime first aired in English, InuYasha. So to celebrate, we’ll be talking about InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask. (Under Read More for length)

InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask is a T-rated RPG PlayStation 2 game initially released in Japan on March 18th, 2004, where it was called InuYasha: The Cursed Mask. It eventually saw a release in North America on November 2nd of the same year.

Similar to the anime, this game follows a half-demon dog named Inuyasha as he travels across Japan with his friends, collecting the shards of a powerful artifact known as the Shikon Jewel. At the same time, fighting against a powerful foe named Naraku, who also wishes to have the Jewel. However, the game itself has your character, default names being Kaname (female) or Michiru (male) Kururugi, suddenly being transported to Feudal Japan while walking through your family’s storage shouse. Your family also runs a shrine, just like Kagome’s family. With the power of Shikigami, your character travels with the group to help them out, figure out why you were sent to the past, and how to get back to the present.

As mentioned previously, this is an RPG game. For the most part, you travel from place to place, ranging from familiar locations such as Kaede’s Village to the territory of the Eastern Wolf Demon Tribe (Koga’s Tribe), as well as new locations like Mount Houho and Kasasagi Town. It’s similar to that of Super Mario RPG, in which to reach a new area, you have to travel down a road to reach it. But once you do, you can go straight to that area whenever you want. Not to mention that each screen is similar to Resident Evil, what with fixed camera angels and pre-rendered backgrounds.

When coming into contact with a purple cloud while traveling, a battle will start against some demons. It plays like your typical RPG, with faster characters going first, but there’s also an indicator showing which character will go next. When a character’s icon reaches the bottom of the indicator, it’s their turn. And once it passes, they return to the right said of it and have to circle around to get their turn again. As expected, the faster a character is, the less time they have to wait for their turn. There are ways to stop this, such as if a character is confused or paralyzed. And as for the special attacks, instead of using MP or Mana or something similar, characters all use Energy, with a maximum of 300, each orb next to their health indicating 100 Energy. Energy is gained by attacking, healing, defending, or getting hit, but only a small amount is gained. Of course, the more Energy a character has, the stronger “Techs” they can use, a lot of them recognizable, such as Inuyasha’s Wind Scar and Backlash Wave, Kagome’s Sacred Arrow and Sealing Arrow, and Sango’s Hiraikotsu and summoning Kirara.

As the game goes on, characters also get Co-Op attacks, which require a certain amount of Energy from both characters. One character may start and when the other character’s turn comes around, the attack starts, playing an animation of the two before attacking the target.

The graphics certainly aren’t bad, but somewhat basic. It’s easy enough to recognize familiar places, but with dungeons and such places, a lot of areas look the same, making it very easy to get lost or turned around. But each character looks just like how they normally do and their special abilities are given justice. The music is done quite well, with a lot of the scores sounding like music you’d hear in the anime. Not to mention the characters retain their voice actors from the anime; Kelly Sheridan returns to voice Sango, as does Richard Cox for InuYasha, and David Kaye for Sesshomaru. Michiru is voiced by Sean Broadhurst while Kaname is voiced by Carol-Anne Day.

Now, it’s time to get to the Final Recommendation: Never Let Go Of It||Get It||Hold Onto It||Try It||Consider It||Stay Away From It

The game is nice and very faithful to the anime, but there are quite a few issues, including the aforementioned issue with getting lost. But it also has an issue of bringing familiar characters in, have them do something, and leave for pretty much the rest of the game, apart from a possible cameo later down the line. Main examples being Koga, Kagura, and Kanna (though Kagura and Kanna no longer show up in the game after a certain point. There is a reason, but it crosses into spoiler territory.) There’s also a part in the game where you get the power to destroy barriers as an actual in-battle ability. But after using it for it’s intended purpose, it’s almost never used again, apart from one other instance. There’s also the fact that the start-up cutscene has Inuyasha with the Red Tessaiga, but never uses it in the game. In fact, the start-up cutscene is fairly strange, since it’s nothing more than a combination of scenes from the various intros of the anime, and a few from the endings, with a still shot of the player characters spliced in.

Another issue comes with your character. That being that they often have inner monologues that go on for a while and they may come off as indecisive or insecure or even somewhat whiny at times. They also tend to find themselves alone (be it getting separated from the others or going off on their own), but they aren’t particularly strong by themselves and need assistance. But they can still hold their own well enough, for the most part, as they’re basically the Red Mage of the group, as opposed to Kagome’s White Mage and Miroku’s Black Mage. But the point still stands, as at times, your character struggles to dish out reliable damage against sturdy enemies and minibosses.

Now, before I sign off, there are a few things I neglected to mention. Biggest one being that after major boss fights, the group can opt to take a day off to relax (though you’re free to turn it down for whatever reason). Each character pairs up with someone to spend time with them. That being said, you can spend the day with Sango, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, or Shippo. While it may not seem like much, each time you spend a day with them, you increase your relationship with them. If your character is the same gender as the person, or example, playing as Kaname and spending a lot of time with Sango, you two will become best friends. But if your character is the opposite gender, such as Michiru with Kagome, your character will develop a crush on them. The exception being Shippo, as you two will always be friends, regardless of your character’s gender. This doesn’t serve much purpose apart from a single town where a demon can transform into the person you love/are best friends with. And if your character has a crush on someone, they’ll attempt to confess their feelings at the end of the game.

There are also special events that show up at certain times. More often than not, they don’t provide anything of worth, but are just laid-back. Be it a little in-game cutscene or a mini-game with everyone (other than your character and Shippo) playing Taiko drums at a festival. Before I end this, here are the various Co-Op Attacks used in the game.

So, now that that’s all said and done, I’ll see you next month, where we’ll be looking at another crossover game. With one of the series involved never having a game of their own before.