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third-energy · 2 years ago

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Third-Energy's Way Too Late 2021 Games Write-Up™

I wanted to do this since the beginning of the year, but I both kept putting it off and constantly reformatting it, but it's finally here and in a state that I'm satisfied with. It's incredibly long, but thorough and I hope you enjoy taking a gander at the games I felt the most strongly about last year.

「Record of Lodoss War - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth」

While I am not at all familiar with the original Record of Lodoss War novels or anime, I was enamored with Team Ladybug’s last outing with Touhou: Luna Nights and was excited to see a new game from them that seemingly veered closer to likes of Iga’s Castlevania outings. Wonder Labyrinth, while not quite as strong as Luna Nights in my view, is pretty damn close to it. This game is oozing with gorgeous art, something LB is no stranger to, but they’ve surpassed themselves here. Every room is screenshot worthy in some way and every sprite is lovingly detailed and animated. The variety in weapons adds quite a bit of depth and the Ikaruga-styled familiar system provided some nice strategy and exhilaration to enemy and boss encounters. You are also given a bow for its obvious purpose and for solving minor puzzles within the labyrinth. What puts it right below Luna Nights is that while all of the bosses are great, WL’s doesn’t keep you on your toes the same way the former did, though that may be more advantageous depending on your preference. Luna Nights lived up to Touhou’s legacy for bosses and the ones further into that game became more and more exhilarating. I can't really comment at all on the story, as I'm unfamiliar with the source material, so I'll have to leave that to fans of the series to determine. Wonder Labyrinth is an easy recommendation if you like search-action style games and I’m vehemently looking forward to what Team Ladybug has in store next.

「Shin Sakura Wars」

I had played the original Sakura Wars about a year or so before this one, and I’m incredibly glad I did. Boasting a wonderful cast and soundtrack, I can see why it was one of Sega’s tallest pillars for the longest time [in Japan]. Playing the newest entry in the series, I think they were able to capture that spirit again. The cast is incredibly lively and has so much personality, I was always looking forward to talking to them in between missions. They had a lot of great and emotional moments throughout, and there's few higher praises I can give to a piece of media. The music is also absolutely stellar. Series composer Kohei Tanaka has not once missed in his career and certainly not here. Everything from the background music to the vocal songs hits the right notes and makes every emotional impact much stronger. The combat is admittingly kinda weak, but every other aspect of the game shined so brightly to me, that it ended up not bothering me at all. Much like the original, the way the adv elements were mixed with the combat is cool, but was by no means the highlight, either, at least for me. I’m really glad Sega was able to release a new entry in this series and managed to capture what made it so great originally, and I can only hope they can continue from this and also share the original games with a new audience.

「Azure Striker Gunvolt series」

Gunvolt is a series I observed from afar for awhile, since it was initially 3DS exclusive but never got into cause it was a 3DS exclusive (also cause it ran at 30 fps). The games ended up with console-based ports sometime after, but I hadn’t jumped on them until a couple years after, and I’m incredibly glad I did. Being a large fan of the Mega Man Zero series growing up, I felt right at home with Gunvolt. The game’s fast, fluid, and incredibly addicting with its scoring system. The way you engage with enemies, tagging and zapping, is unorthodox on the surface, but can be acclimated to fairly quickly and makes for some incredibly frantic and fun boss fights. The art of the series, both pixel and drawn, are of magnificent quality, as is to be expected from Inti. The story isn’t a main draw, but I liked it enough and while it’s bittersweet in the end and the twist could’ve been handled better, I think it’s a bold and welcome move on Inti’s part. Gunvolt 1 was a good game, but 2 raised the voltage.

Gunvolt 2 is much like 1, but refined and with a whole new verticality in the addition of rival character and turbo racist, Copen (or Acura in JP). Copen’s fast dashing and gunning is incredibly visceral and does a great job of distinguishing his gameplay from GV’s. GV2’s plot is also an upgrade, while still not great, had more nice moments and a great climax. The ending was effectively emotional and also a little funny, but that’s mostly me being mean, I think it still works for the most part.

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX is a spin-off starring exclusively Copen, and if you enjoyed their gameplay in GV2, iX is for you. Copen’s gameplay is refined mildly in Luminous Avenger and gives him the perfect level of control that makes the levels and bosses immensely cathartic to shmoove through. The story also has a cool twist near the end that elevates it and actually caught me off guard. I have a bit of a confession, Luminous Avenger was actually the first Gunvolt game I played, and while it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the series, I’d strongly encourage playing 1 & 2 first. I think it would allow more appreciation of the series’ growth mechanically, and make later parts hit more effectively. Gunvolt has been a wonderful journey to scroll through and is now my favorite Mega Man sub-series.

「Undertale」

I realize I’m several years late to this party, but better late than never, as they say. I don’t think it’d be hyperbole to call Undertale a perfect game. I struggle to name even one aspect of this game I even approached disliking. It’s the most obvious element to mention, but the soundtrack is one of the all time greats. Fox has never missed on a composition and every song is great to legendary, and knows how to make the hardest hitting moments hit even harder. The game’s also consistently funny throughout while also remaining completely heartfelt, without the former ever undermining the latter. It’s a tightrope that’s extremely difficult to balance, but Toby does so masterfully. Undertale also occupies the same space in my head as Nier:Automata where the final boss makes me fucking bawl like a baby. It’s masterfully done and it’s the sort of thing that can’t really be captured in any other medium. Undertale is a masterpiece and I finally understand how and why it became so universally revered. I can only hope Toby’s next game can be as impactful as UT was.

「Deltarune」

I didn’t play Deltarune until Chapter 2 dropped, though that ended up working both for and against my favor. For, since I had just got off Undertale and now had two more games to go through and against now that I gotta wait with everyone else. Deltarune is much like Undertale though mechanically expanded and much MUCH more gut-busting. The battles are now party-based, but still feel familiar enough to those who played UT while adding more variety and flavor. These two chapters also had me constantly on the floor cackling. Undertale was already a pretty funny game but Deltarune almost puts UT to shame with how consistently side-splitting it is. The only thing UT, as of now anyway, has over DR is that there haven’t been any gut-punching emotional moments on the level of the former’s, but the latter isn’t even half-way finished, so it has plenty of time to catch up. There’s plenty to theory-craft about DR’s future, but I’m the type that’s always just been along for the ride, and I fervently await the rest of Toby’s plan.

「Mega Man Legends Series」

I had previously played the original Mega Man Legends a few years prior to this, but since I intended to play the rest, I decided to refresh myself on it before I plunged into the 2 following. I’m ecstatic to report that Legends 1 more than holds up more than 2 decades later. The obvious pillar of praise is that every game in this series has not aged even a day graphically. From the vibrant colors and textures to the expressive characters, there are games released to this day that the Legends series continues to vault over. They’ve always been my go to for how much style usurps fidelity. While I can certainly enjoy some incredible fidelity in games, I will always gravitate more towards those that can come into their own style and stand out from the rest. I recognize how it might appear suspicious to focus on MML’s visuals, but rest assured it holds up in its other aspects, especially the characters. While there are other spin-offs I have yet to fully digest, MML boasts my favorite portrayals and cast of the series. They’re incredibly lively and always a joy to watch, special mention naturally going towards the Bonne family, whom I adored every second they were on screen throughout the entire series. The action-adventure dungeon crawling, while definitely an earlier example of the genre in 3D, was almost never a frustrating experience. I’m far from the first one to posit this, but if you remastered this game changing nothing but the controls to be more in line with modern games, I firmly believe you could sell it today, especially given the growing amount of retro-throwback games blooming in recent years.

After Legends 1’s ending posed more questions about the greater setting during its furling climax, Capcom opted to create a spin-off of the spin-off set prior to the events of Legends, with the Bonne family in the starring role. The Misadventures of Tronne Bonne compiles a few separate styles of gameplay set across replayable missions, consisting of action levels comparable to that of Legends, first-person dungeon exploration, and my most dreaded nemesis in any game, box-moving puzzles. While I found the dungeon exploration levels to be rather dry, I immensely enjoyed the other styles throughout, with each mission of both feeling fresh. It also has shockingly, more Bonne content aplenty, and I don’t think I could ever grow tired of them bouncing off each other and other characters. If you enjoyed the Bonne family’s antics in Legends, Misadventures comes in at a safe recommendation.

Legends 2 continues a few months after 1 and raises the scale and stakes quite a fair bit, with Rock & Roll traversing the globe to achieve their goals to combat a more imminent threat. I think I enjoyed 1 a little more overall, but one large advantage 2 has over 1 is that I found it far more emotionally investing. The more impactful scenes helped carry it and made the ending all the more distressing, knowing that it never received a proper continuation. The gameplay is more of the same, but with a more diverse array of settings to traverse, though I did miss the more personal feeling Kattleox from 1 had, since it was the one place you explored, allowing more time to invest in it as a setting. Legends 2 was a more than satisfying progression, although finishing it will most likely leave you feeling a vacancy, knowing that it won’t receive a proper conclusion anytime soon. Capcom is still deep in its redemption arc, and I hope Legends 3 can be part of that sometime soon.

「Death Stranding」

Death Stranding is a game that almost feels like it shouldn’t exist. Not that it shouldn’t be allowed to, but more so that it defies so many conventions, that it’s a miracle that it even came out the way it did. Kojima somehow got away with directing a AAA stealth-action game where killing other people is not only disincentivized, but practically not allowed. If you were any developer attempting to sell a publisher on such a concept, they would laugh you out of the room and, I presume, resume feasting on the blood of developers. If it were anyone other than Kojima, I’m not sure they would be able to smuggle it through. There are plenty of games from 8th gen that I would place above it, but Death Stranding is probably the game I’ve thought the most about after playing compared to any other from that gen. The only one that matches that space in my mind is probably Nier: Automata. From a distance, DS’s gameplay loop almost seems repellant, given it’s a game about making deliveries in a barren post-apocalypse, with not much in between you and your destination. When you throw in factors such as terrain traversal, equipment and cargo management, invisible enemies, and bandits, that’s when it becomes compelling, and even addicting. It’s difficult to put into words, but there’s something almost relaxing about just trekking across this barren, yet beautiful post-apocalyptic world. I like to refer to it as the perfect podcast game. The story I think is a little more divisive. I liked it overall and especially what it was going for, but it was admittingly hard to follow for me, although a replay might help remedy that. The themes of connecting with one another I think are incredibly resonant and something that we all need to hear. Even if it wasn’t my favorite from that gen, Death Stranding is a game I’m still constantly thinking about and wanting to replay every time I do, and I’m not sure there’s higher praise you can give to a game. Also Kojima has impeccable taste in music. Also please make another Snatcher/Policenauts-style adventure game, and take a break from stealth.

「Yakuza: Like a Dragon」

Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Or Yakuza 7 as I’ll correctly refer to it, had nothing short of large boots to fill after retiring original series protagonist, Kiryu. Thankfully not only does new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga fit them, he home runs with them. Ichiban immediately rocketed to being one of my all-time favorite protagonists after my playthrough with his combo of positivity and optimism, despite being at his lowest point, something I think can easily resonate with most people. Every party member for that matter is great and I always enjoyed listening to them bounce off one another. Special mention should also go towards the dub actors who all managed to superbly dissuade any fears I had of playing this series in English for the first time since the very original. The most obvious aspect to mention about Yakuza 7 is the transition from beat-‘em-up to turn-based rpg, and for the most part, I think it managed it pretty well. It’s a tad more simple than I prefer compared to many of its contemporaries and stage hazards can fuck off, but they translated Yakuza’s trademark charisma to this new system perfectly. Every heat action is gold and I’m elated they carried it over. The class-change system also adds a lot of variety, so you’re never hurting for options. The biggest praise I can give to this game, and any game for that matter, is that it had me bawling several times, especially at the end. It’s the most a Yakuza game has emotionally affected me up to this point and that’s mostly the reason as to why it’s now my favorite in the entire series. I eagerly await what Ichiban’s gang is up to next and have nothing but hope for the series going forward with him at the helm.

「Nier Replicant」

I had attempted to journey through the original Nier some period before Replicant had been announced, but for one reason or another never found the motivation to complete it. After playing through all of Replicant, I’m not sure I could ever revisit the original. It’s practically never an occurrence where a remake can serve as a replacement for an original work, and while I wouldn’t be so bold as to declare Replicant as a part of that pantheon, I feel it does come close. The only reason I’d say it doesn’t, is cause I feel there is still value in playing through the same story as Papa Nier. Replicant’s combat far exceeds the original’s and is the primary reason as to why I feel it would be difficult for me to pick up the original release. It doesn’t have the depth of a DMC or Bayonetta, but it’s very fast and fluid and the weapon and magic variety keeps it feeling fairly fresh throughout, with bosses that are able to keep you on your toes. It’s the same great story and cast as the original, I could never grow tired of these assholes even if I tried. I love them dearly and Kaine is still one of my all-time favs. The new chapter added in between the original story is also very appropriately Nier, with each playthrough naturally elevating it further. The new epilogue is something I could see as divisive among fans of the original, but I personally loved it and felt it to be a perfect cap to the original. The whole sequence left me beaming in a way most games don’t reach. The score is naturally as perfect as ever, and the new tracks composed for Replicant are unsurprisingly just as perfect. Keiichi Okabe once more never misses. If you haven’t played Nier up until this point, it has never been a better time to get into one of 7th gen’s most radiant gems.

「Dragon’s Dogma」

Playing Dragon’s Dogma evokes the same feeling of a gentle spring wind pushing against your face. I had to get it out of the way at some point. Dragon’s Dogma is a superb action-rpg and one I wish more devs in the genre took notes on, since it’s one of a handful where the combat doesn’t feel like an obligation. It’s dynamic with each class, the enemies have a ton of moves and ways to confront them, including climbing them, and it just feels good and responsive to hit enemies, as should be expected from the director of the Devil May Cry series, Hideaki Itsuno. While the story and quests leave a little to be desired for me, it’s so much fun combating enemies in this world that it didn’t really matter. Other than a dragon steals your heart and you control pawns, I couldn’t recite the plot to this game, but I don’t have to because I can climb a cyclops and stab its eye out. One point about the plot I will praise is the antagonist Grigori, the dragon. Every scene he appears in is a 10 and is backed by incredible dialogue and voice acting. His boss battle lives up to all the buildup throughout the game as well, it’s as bombastic as you could want from a fight with him. Dragon’s Dogma obviously has some corners cut, as was pretty standard for Capcom at this time, but it’s still an excellent action-rpg that remains fun throughout its runtime. When I started writing this, Dragon’s Dogma 2 hadn’t been formally announced, but leaked and now that it has been announced formally by Capcom and is once again directed by Itsuno, my hype is through the stratosphere. A Dragon’s Dogma more fully realized on next-gen hardware backed by the black magic that is the RE Engine is approaching levels of dream game for me and I can’t wait. Also, bring back B’z for the theme song and keep it this time.

「Shin Megami Tensei V」

Shin Megami Tensei V is a game I technically beat this year, but I started before then, so I say it still counts. SMTV has the distinction of being the very first real™ SMT game I’ve played through, and after finishing it, I feel more compelled to branch out with the other mainline entries if/when they release on other platforms. There’s often contention between whether or not Persona or SMT series is better, but I don’t think it’s really fair to compare the two since they have different goals, and I think they both succeed at what they want. I will say after experiencing SMTV, I think I’ve been converted over to press-turn. Combined with negotiation and fusing, SMTV’s loop is downright addicting and the combat, while brutal, is incredible to engage with, no matter the wall. I think V’s most standout aspect are the environments and how much fun they are to traverse and explore, and despite the technical limitations of its platform, there’s beauty in all of them in their desolation. Doi’s art still shines through in both characters and demons, and Nahobino is easily a top 5 protagonist design for me, he’s so cool. The only real negative I have is that I wish the story and characters were more compelling. They’re not really bad, but unremarkable for the most part. Nothing in the story save for one moment had a significant emotional impact on me. If the characters were much more fleshed out, this would no doubt be an all-time favorite of mine. Instead it’ll just have to settle for being one of my 2021 favorites. Hope they can figure out porting some of the older mainline games, cause I want more now. Neutral btw.

「Alan Wake」

Being a huge fan of Remedy’s Max Payne series, it seems like a no-brainer to have played Alan Wake at some point before now, but I’d never done so up until last year. While it’s not as good as MP, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. The story was compelling throughout and I think I managed to understand what it was trying to convey. Perhaps I’m off-base, it happens frequently with me, but the general theme I got from Alan Wake is artist self-reflection and introspection and how that reflects in reality. If you’re a creator, I can see a lot of AW resonating easily, though I think that can still pierce through to those who aren’t necessarily creators. It’s aided by a superb atmosphere and the framing of the narrative as if it were read from a novel was a cute touch. It’s a style that’s endemic for Remedy and one that’s always welcome. The combat, while cool and certainly serviceable, did leave a bit to be desired. The idea of weakening enemies with your light and then firing on them is great and feels good, but it definitely could have used more variety in enemies. It helps tremendously that Remedy are masters of sound and particle effects, so it’s always entertaining. The non-canon expansion, American Nightmare, while not as good as the base game, is still fun and I like how it doubles down on the base game’s message even more. It’s a lot of asset reuse, but it’s done in an at least somewhat clever way and ends up paying off a bit. Now that AW2 is slowly approaching after I’ve finished 1, and with it leaning more towards survival horror, I’m plenty excited to see what’s next in store for Mr. Wake.

「Panzer Dragoon Saga」

Panzer Dragoon Saga has achieved something of a mythological status in the realm of video games. Being a game not many have had the opportunity to play until fairly recently with the advent of Saturn emulation, it held this disposition of a legendary rpg that no one was allowed to play, since Sega shipped so few copies and made no effort to preserve it. Sometimes the figure doesn’t live up to the legend, but I’m elated to report that Saga does live up to the hype. By far my favorite part about Saga is the battle system. It’s a unique take on the active time battle system where you slowly fill up meters, and this determines the actions you can take from basic attacks, to devastating special skills. You can also adjust your position at any point during the battle, which can factor on whether an attack hits you or how much damage it causes. It’s a shame I’ve never once seen any developer replicate and build upon it, cause it might be my favorite interpretation of the ATB style system. One of my favorite parts of Saga, and the entire Panzer Dragoon series at that, is this almost alien world these characters inhabit. I’m sure the Saturn’s limitations when it came to 3D graphics factored heavily into its aesthetic, but I think it ended up being for the better, cause it has an identity all its own and it was always joyous discovering new locales. I can’t say the story is heavily remarkable compared to many of its contemporaries, but I still enjoyed the characters quite a bit, with special mention to Azel and Craymen. Panzer Dragoon Saga is wonderful and I think it’s a damn shame not many people have been able to experience this masterpiece. I can only hope Sega finds a way to share this gem with more, someday.

「Resident Evil (2002)」

The Resident Evil remake, which I’ll colloquially refer to as REmake from hereon, is a game that I’m forever kicking myself over for not playing up until now. Before REmake, the only classic survival-horror style games I had played were Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 7, and RE2make, where resource management is paramount to the gameplay loop. REmake was, and still is, the peak of survival-horror, 20 years after its initial release. I’d go so far as to call it a perfect game, struggling to find any major fault in any aspect of it. Everything from the masterful atmosphere, the timeless pre-rendered backgrounds, and with every visceral and tense moment in-between, REmake rapidly shot up to being one of my all-time favs. I did frequently get lost during my playthrough, resulting in a 17 hour total runtime, but I always place that more on myself than anything else, as I’ve always been directionally challenged. Playing through more of Capcom’s survival-horror catalog has further cemented their resource-management focused gameplay loop as one of my absolute favorites and one I wish more developers properly imitated. That tension molded by your management of precious resources and even limited saves elicits such an exhilarating feeling that’s difficult to capture, but exceptional when done right. Of note, I did play the remastered version of REmake, which offers a more 3D-oriented control style for players, but I opted to play classic, as I feel it fits much better with the static camera angles and provides much needed tension. Despite the hem hawing over tank controls, I found them always more than playable and I think would’ve dissipated my personal enjoyment a little utilizing the newer style. I think having them as an option is more than good for other players, though. It’s an everyone wins scenario. REmake is well-deserving of its moniker as a survival-horror masterpiece and a game I would call essential.

「Resident Evil Village」

Resident Evil 7, while not perfect, was nothing short of an incredible comeback for Capcom when it was released. After years of the sinking hole that was late 7th gen to early 8th gen, Capcom put out a true banger and have yet to stop since then. I’m ecstatic to report that Resident Evil Village is no different and part of Capcom’s redemptive pantheon. Village feels like a half-way point between 7’s classic survival horror and what will no doubt eventually be Resident Evil 4 Remake’s more action-oriented style. Resource management still plays a role, though is more lenient in providing you assets needed to forge ammunition and other items since you’re often against several enemies. The best way I can describe RE8 is that it’s 7, but better in every way, from the level design, my highlight being Dimitrescu’s mansion, to the bosses, my highlight being Heisenberg, to even the story. Ethan’s story 8 is hands-down my favorite in all of RE, and he earns every bit of that. His arc concludes incredibly emotionally satisfying in a way no other RE hero has done for me, yet. Much like another game here, the climax left me grinning and hollering for the entirety of its duration. While it concludes Ethan’s story, it does leave some things open and I hope RE9 can follow-up on it, cause I would love to see the direction it takes. CapGod continues to be CapGod.

「Duke Nukem Forever」

After putting it off for a full decade, I had decided to finally plunge into the condemned brothel that is Duke Nukem Forever. I’d wanted to finally put it behind me and there’s not even an infinitesimal amount of guilt in me to confess that I couldn’t even finish it. The two or three dollars I ended up spending on would have been more responsibly spent on a gas station hot-dog. I planned to only talk about games I enjoyed this year, because I prefer to focus on what I like, but at the suggestion of a friend and because DNF is too historically important to me, it beggars elaboration. DNF is far from the worst first-person shooter, even just restricting it to the acidic bog of 7th gen, but it’s still pretty bad and hurts considerably more than most for a myriad of reasons. It’s visually grotesque, to the point that a friend I was streaming this game to had to close out it due to how eye-straining and nauseating the visual effects were. The gunplay outside of the shotgun does not feel nearly good or responsive enough and the enemies and bosses are almost all a pain in the ass to deal with. The writing is painfully unfunny and misogynistic and makes Duke Nukem significantly less of a cheesy action movie hero and more of a sociopathic narcissist, going so far as to cruelly ridicule the people he fails to save. DNF is mired in poor design decisions throughout the few hours I played it and the effects of a decade and a half of scope-creep regularly seep through like overflowing sewage as you play. It’s needlessly often you must engage with poorly designed puzzles and platforming, which is not something you wanna hear about an allegedly fast-paced action shooter. Don’t even get me started on the RC car. One kinda cool thing about DNF is Duke’s HP, or EGO to be more precise. It increases with both story progression and through Duke’s trademark of interacting with the world around him, like admiring himself in a mirror. It’s a cute detail, but I say ‘kinda cool’ because some of these are luck-based and depending on your level of skill and observation could inadvertently make the game even more of a pain in the ass. It’s been stated ad-nauseum, but the reason DNF hurts more than most bad shooters is it’s the Duke game myself and millions had waited for since the late 90s. Nobody in their right mind thought DNF would’ve lived up to 15 years of hype even if it hadn’t turned out as miserable as it did, but even a fair amount had figured it would have at least been passable given the original talent behind the series. The worst part of the whole ordeal is that despite the surprisingly strong sales for DNF, the scathing reception has more or less put the series in a dormant hibernation for the foreseeable future, buried beneath the grease swamp that is Randy. Fortunately, there is a small glimmering nugget that has floated to the surface after all this time in the form of the recently leaked 2001 build of DNF that fans are currently rebuilding. I don’t have any real hopes for this series within official capacity barring some license rescue, but I’m enamored fans are doing everything they can to keep the spirit of the series alive through their efforts.

「Metroid Prime」

Metroid Prime is a game I always observed from afar even as a fan of the series, but never got around to for one reason or another. It’d probably help if used Nintendo games weren’t scalped by criminals or were ported forward. I still found a way to play 1 & 2 in the end, but don’t tell Nintendo. It’s been repeated ad-nauseum, but Prime 1 and 2 perfectly capture the essence of Metroid in its trademark marriage of isolation and exploration of an alien setting. The fresh first-person perspective was especially helpful in aiding that feeling, from the suit’s HUD to even seeing Samus’s reflection in her helmet under the right conditions. It made you feel like you were part of this world and it ended up being one of my favorite aspects, small as it may be. I’m sure it’s something most people were skeptical about when it was initially announced, but I think it’s safe to say all those worries ended up dissipating shortly after release. A low point for me ended up being some of the bosses. Some were fine, but I remember others feeling unnecessarily hard. I’d probably have to replay it just to be sure. Prime 2 is much like 1 but more balanced and with a cute evil slime girl flirting with you the whole way. The duality of the light and dark world introduced in 2 made for some interesting expansions into Prime’s exploration loop and made familiar parts feel fresh throughout. It’s probably worth mentioning that I frequently got lost playing both Prime games and heavily relied on what I like to refer as the “over here, idiot” prompt that appears when you spend several moments not making progress, but I always chalk that up to my lack of spatial direction rather than the game’s design. You can’t discuss Prime 2 without mentioning Dark Samus and what a cool addition she is to Samus’s rather sparse rogue’s gallery. I’ve heard she’s a bit too similar to SA-X from Fusion, which I don’t think is necessarily illegitimate, but you see Dark Samus’s actions expressed much more throughout and even get to confront her a few times, which gives her a more personal feeling compared to SA-X, in my opinion. I still have to play 3 as of this writing, but I’m elated to cap off this trilogy and wait fervently for 4 to finally manifest.

「Metroid Dread」

Metroid Dread is nothing short of a miracle for a myriad of reasons. It’s the first console 2D Metroid in almost 30 years. It continues right from where Fusion left off in terms of story almost 20 years later. It’s the first game developed by Mercury Steam that is truly great in ever. And above all of that, it is the best Metroid game (as of this writing, I have yet to play Prime 3 and Samus Returns, but I feel confident in that assertion, regardless). Dread is the game that myself and many others waited years for and despite any reservations held about its chosen developer, it more than delivered. Dread’s story is the culmination of Metroid’s overall narrative up until this point and not only sticks the landing, it shatters the earth beneath its feet. It advances Samus’s story from Fusion in an incredibly satisfying manner with a climax that left me ascending every second it played out. I could not have asked for a better follow-up. The traditional Metroid exploration is perfected in Dread, with tightest controls in a Metroid yet, upgrades that are all satisfying to use, and a plethora of optional secrets and puzzles that utilize them all masterfully. All capped by exhilarating bosses that I’d declare a golden standard for the genre. The EMMIs are also a great addition to Dread, evoking the original feeling created by SA-X in Fusion, but now with the technology to fully realize it. Each one bringing their own gimmick made each encounter feel fresh and always tense. It made me want a Fusion remake just to see them utilize this system to its fullest. It gives me shivers just contemplating it. Raven Beak is also probably Metroid’s best antagonist since, probably ever. As much as I adore SA-X, Dark Samus, and Ridley, Raven Beak’s presence is the most realized a Metroid antagonist has ever felt and helped facilitate the previously mentioned bombastic climax. Need the next Smash game to include him, stat. Much to no surprise, Dread was my game of the year. It’s the game I had been waiting over a decade for and against all odds, it not only met my expectations, but exceeded them. The fact it also outsold all expectations has given me a plethora of hope for the series’ future, hopefully letting Nintendo know that there’s fervent interest among players.

2023 Games I’m looking forward to.

Just a handful of games I thought I’d share that have me the most excited for next year. These will have significantly greater brevity, like two to three sentences tops, since this document is way too long already. You might be asking why this is in a 2021 games list, and the answer is chronic procrastination.

「Exoprimal」– I hope this one has enough single-player content to interest me, but it’s still a cool-looking action shooter. I remember seeing quite a bit of positive reception around its network test, so I think there’s probably something here. Could be Dino Crisis 4, you don’t know.

「Pragmata」- I dunno what this game’s deal is, but I trust Capcom in their present state more than just about any developer right now, so I feel fairly secure about its quality. Could be Dino Crisis 4, you don’t know.

「RE4make」– I saw Leon Sex Kennedy parry a chainsaw with his knife and now this remake’s existence is 120 percent justified.

「Eiyuden Chronicle」– Very excited for Suikoden II-2. Playing Rising this year was a nice appetizer for this world and I’m ready to dive even deeper. Even Konami realizes how hard they’re getting clowned on by their former alumni, so they’re no doubt rereleasing Suikoden I & II to compensate.

「Final Fantasy XVI」– I was skeptical about XVI veering from being an rpg, but then I saw the protagonist doing Nero combos and started feeling more secure. Real interested to see how the narrative and characters play out in their first almost pure fantasy in forever.

「Final Fantasy VII Rebirth」– I hope Square takes it even further. Remake’s ending sequence was so great and I’m aching to see where they take it. Still need to play Intergrade before then.

「Like a Dragon: Ishin」 – I attempted to play the JP version of this years ago, but playing a story/text heavy game with a guide is like trying to watch a foreign film while the subtitles are on a separate screen behind you, so I’m excited to finally complete this one.

「GrimGrimoire OnceMore」– Never got around to this one despite owning the original on PSN for years. Very curious to see how its VN/strategy hybrid approach works out. Vanillaware has yet to miss, so this one’s a safe bet.

「Trails into Reverie」– The culmination of my favorite series up to that point and only 3 years after it was released in Japan. Saltiness aside, I’m ready to be emotionally destroyed again.

「Witch on the Holy Knight」– Technically this releases this year, but I’m grabbing the limited edition that’s releasing next year because it’s too important. Gonna be beyond surreal to play a Type-Moon VN officially in English for the first time.

「Double Shake」– Every handsy 5th-gen platformer rolled into one. Looks incredibly cute, and I’ve been longing for something to scratch that Klonoa and Mischief Makers itch.

「Compound Fracture」– Ecstatic that Dino Crisis has finally joined the pantheon of inspirations for “Fine, I’ll do it myself”-tier indie games. Love the atmosphere and aesthetic on display. It’s a perfectly captured frame and I can’t wait to be inside it.

「Dragon’s Dogma 2」– I don’t even know if this will be released in 2023, but let a boy dream. Refer to Dragon’s Dogma section above for further elucidation.

「Hollow Knight: Silksong」– T-this year, right? It’s coming this year, t-they promised.

「Spider-Man 2」- Insomniac made the best superhero games of the last decade and I’m ready for them to do it again for SM2 and Wolverine.

「Phantom Fury」- I liked Ion Fury, but the bigoted comments unearthed from the devs kinda soured me on it, so I’m excited to play a new one with a Goldsrc-esque aesthetic from completely different devs.

I dunno how to properly end this, other than thank you to everyone, especially my moots, for putting up with my shenanigans for this long. So uh.. here's to 2023 and I hope to release another iteration of these (among some other things) sometime earlier next year.

Au revoir, baby.

#my txts

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cqtlatte · 3 years ago

Note

ahhh ur art is absolutely gorgeous!! do u have any advice on drawing backgrounds? /gq

AAAA Thank you so much anon!

Tbh I'm still learning myself so I probably can't expand on areas like messing around with perspective etc. etc., but I can definitely give you a few things that helped me start out.

1. Study images, photos, screenshots, etc.

2. Rule of 3rds

3. Study color

When I started to dip my toe into painting bgs more seriously, I heavily relied on Genshin Impact screenshots. At around that same time, I became a Genshin content creator, so I wanted to learn how to draw places in Teyvat! The more I practiced, the less I needed to rely on screenshots. I still do use screenshots and Pinterest photos of rooms and stuff for inspiration tho.

All in all, if you're focusing on a more realistic style, it's mostly recommended to study from real life stuff when you're learning fundamentals.

---

When it comes to the composition itself, I usually like to apply something I learned in a photography course I took when I was still an art undergrad called the 'Rule of Thirds'. It's a great general rule of thumb so your backgrounds look nice and well planned!

I'm terrible at explaining these sorts of things well, so I pulled this explanation from the Adobe website. (lol)

"What is the rule of thirds?

The rule of thirds is a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open. While there are other forms of composition, the rule of thirds generally leads to compelling and well-composed shots.

If you imagine dividing a photo, or even your camera’s viewfinder, into nine equal zones using horizontal and vertical lines, that forms your rule-of-thirds grid — a setting you can select on most cameras and even on your phone.

“This might be a generational thing, but if you think of The Brady Bunch intro where you have the nine identical rectangles,” Ingersoll explains, “they’re all the same size and it’s three by three — three rows, three columns.”

That means the corners of the central square are the intersection points in your grid where you want to place the focal point of your shot. It’s called the rule of thirds, but you can think of it as giving you four crosshairs with which to target a shot’s important elements. This will help you balance your main subject with negative space in your shot to nail an effective photographic composition that will draw the viewer’s eye."

source: https://www.adobe.com/ca/creativecloud/photography/discover/rule-of-thirds.html

Personally, when I'm dealing with my backgrounds, as you've probably noticed before, I'm absolutely OBSESSED with painting skies, landscapes, and all that good stuff. My professor who introduced us to the rule of thirds had us practice this by taking picture of a tree, and wanted us to have 2/3rds of the grid rows with sky, 1/3rd with the ground and vice versa. He also advised against taking pictures where there's half sky and half land (i.e. directly in the middle of the grid), because it could look boring!

Of course this doesn't have to be followed religiously, but it's a good way to avoid stressing about how you want to arrange your background. After a while of practicing that, it's something that unconsciously becomes a part of your workflow.

---

Color is.... a really gray area tbh (lol). If you don't understand how to work with it, it can be one of the reasons why painting backgrounds could be very painful. I couldn't really grasp how to color well until I took a painting course (also when I was still an undergrad student), and I was forced to face coloring head on with acrylic paints. My prof taught us some great tips to jump off from that I kept applying even after I dropped out of the program.

I'm sure you're probably familiar with color schemes! (complimentary, triadic, and analogous), and if not, here's a great resource on it https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/

But the tip that helped me the most was 'depth by color"! Here's some slides from the ppt to give you an idea (I'd send the whole color theory ppt. cuz it's really useful, but I don't think I should since it was class material, so here's the three slides.

So yeah! When I wasn't sure which colors to pick for my acrylic paintings, I referred to this method of creating space through colors, and was able to get a better understanding of how to use them in my bgs. I don't follow this method as often anymore cuz after a while of using set palettes, you're able to know what feels right and what doesn't.

This is also kind of unrelated, but if you use Clip Studio Paint, it has this really useful menu called 'approximate color', which is also pretty great for picking colors as well.

I usually have it set to "red" and "saturation", but toy around with the settings to get some color options you prefer!

---------

Anyways, I hope some of these tips will be of use to you. A whole bunch of the learning process on making quality bgs revolves around a lot of learning and a lot of practice. Let's all do our best!

#asks

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jackdawyt · 5 years ago

Video

youtube

Since my last news update in March, today I’m dissecting everything that has come out of the woodwork in April and May regarding Dragon Age 4. So, get some tea and let’s get this show on the road, because we’ve got over 4,000 words of news to delve into!

Reveal? (game shows/new hire/remaster):

Following the cancellation of E3, EA Play 2020 Live has been officially confirmed as a digital show, taking place on June 11th, at 4:00 pm PST / 7:00 pm EST.

Before the outbreak cancelled E3 2020, we knew Mike Gamble, the Project Lead on the next Mass Effect game had plans to make a physical appearance at E3/EA Play. So, the question remains, will BioWare still have a presence at EA Play this year?

Mike Gamble is one of the key members of the Mass Effect team, I highly doubt he’s talking about revealing the next Mass Effect game which is currently in very early stages of development, and won’t release until after Dragon Age 4. Perhaps, Mike back in 2019 was hinting at revealing the heavily rumoured Mass Effect Remaster this EA Play?

Earlier in May, EA had a quarterly conference call and it revealed some fascinating information regarding future unannounced titles. Currently, EA have “one more EA HD title, Four EA Partner titles and two mobiles games still unannounced”. Also, EA said "multiple titles" are set to launch on Nintendo Switch this year.

The EA HD title refers to a remaster of an EA game, hence why most people are speculating at the Mass Effect Trilogy. Venturebeat went on to officially state that this title was indeed the Mass Effect Trilogy.

So, there’s one rumoured possibility for the Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster to be revealed this EA Play, which is cool! BioWare may have a presence this year after all! But I know you all didn’t come for Mass Effect; you came for Dragon Age. So, what do we know about that franchise and a potential reveal?

Jo Berry, a Writer at EA retweeted EA Play Live’s announcement with a party emoji! 👀

This could be absolutely nothing, but at a whim, perhaps a reference to a Dragon Age 4 teaser, or EA Motive’s new I.P since she has worked within both teams....

On top of that, Brianne Battye, Writer at BioWare tweeted about her 8-year journey at BioWare. She’s very grateful for sharing her work, and the awesome people she’s worked with along the way.

Patrick Weekes replied saying they: “Cannot wait for everyone else to see what you've been working on recently. :)”

Then, Brianne said: “Right back at you :)”

Two HUGE witters on the Dragon Age team are excited for everyone else to see what they’ve all been working on recently! 👀 When I saw this tweet, I was trying to stay calm and keep my expectations low, but come on when you see a tweet like this, you just get so excited! The question is, when will we see what they’ve been working on, and is it anytime soon? Please?

Well, there is something else we need to talk about that may relate to a potential tease.

Hilary Heskett, who used to be EA’s Global Product Manager has returned to work at EA and BioWare. Put simply, she’s a Digital Marketer for BioWare.

Hilary; particularly, was heavily involved in Dragon Age: Inquisition’s marketing! In fact, the majority of her work at EA involved representing BioWare as a brand online creating trailers, key art, screenshots, packaging, and advertisements. So, it’s a fair assumption that she’ll be fulfilling the exact same role for future BioWare titles like Dragon Age 4.

With Hilary joining the team at this point in development, could the marketing stages of Dragon Age 4 soon begin, perhaps at EA Play? Or later on in 2020? Or is she going to be marketing the Mass Effect Remaster?

I sound impatient, but, in the past BioWare have a habit of starting the marketing stages of their products at least two years before an initial release.

With that, we’ve got to ask ourselves, is hiring a marketer at this point in time a mere coincidence? or is it preparation for when marketing does start? Are we on the verge of seeing Dragon Age 4 official content soon?

Not to waffle on, because we’ve got a lot to talk about in this video, but I was hired as a Digital Marketer for an app company in the UK. As I understand it, you normally enter projects, mid-to-end of production, because what would a marketer do in the early stages logically? Your role is to be there for the advertising of the product.

So, in BioWare’s case, it's my understanding that Hilary has joined the team with one year full-swing production, is she about to begin the marketing stages of the next Dragon Age game? Is the game ready for that stage? If anything, I think with Hilary’s background, she’s the perfect person to market Dragon Age 4.

On top of EA Play, Geoff Keighley announced Summer Game Fest, a new industry-wide celebration of video games. Showcasing digital news, In-game events, & playable content. EA are headlining the event with EA Play, but there are many other world premieres spread throughout the summer. So, there’s a potential for other trailer reveals later on in the year, not to mention The Game Awards.

And, there’s also this leak that shows Dragon Age 4 on a list of PS5 games from the newest issue of PlayStation magazine UK. PlayStation are having an event on June 4th, so we’ll find out if this leak is true soon enough.

If we’re going to see anything Dragon Age 4 related this year, EA Play is the biggest contender for a reveal. I know the whole world could do with that right now! At this current moment, there is no schedule for the show. However, Saria, myself, Fusselkorn and maybe other content creators will be streaming EA Play, no matter what, so turn those reminders on and come join us in our clown suits.

Development (teases/production):

Moving on to teases and development updates. Currently, BioWare are hiring a ‘Senior Outsource Producer.’

This is a pretty big deal, to those who don’t know what a ‘Senior Outsource Producer’ would do...

“Outsourcing development means to hire out any process of a business to third party. The process helps your company or organization to grow.”

To grant more perspective, during Mass Effect: Andromeda’s development, major aspects of the game's animations were outsourced to other EA studios.

However, this isn’t going to be the same for Dragon Age 4, this role is for one Producer to help the outsourcing team into a robust and comprehensive department that supports BioWare projects in all aspects of development.

I have friend in triple AAA games, and they had something to say about outsourcing regarding Dragon Age 4: “To be honest, I'd say (outsourcing is) different per studio due to scope. But with something big like Dragon Age I'd probably say outsourcing would start early to mid-production as they have a hell of a lot to do. Some studios outsource from the get go though so that's also possible. And It's rare that outsourcing starts in the final leg of development.”

What I understand from the job posting is that BioWare are looking to hire a producer who will be dedicated to outsourcing so they can establish a pipeline and maintain proper standards for outsourcing. This hiring was posted in May, so the studio might be a few months early from when they actually have to outsource. However, this process will be coming up soon in major development.

Moving on. In early April, Mark Darrah went on a twitter rampage sharing many tweets relating to Dragon Age 4. One tweet stated: “Is tweeting more going to make you all speculate more or less?”. Followed by a poll with the answers “more”, “less” & “Dragon Age 4!?”

The following week, Mark Darrah teased his three Wolf-Rook books he has placed on a shelf at home.

Later on, in the month, he decided to stack each of them, prompted with the caption: “Spoiler: these are a terrible building material…”

Just last week, Mark tweeted the Wolf-Rook book once more, with the following meme: “Dear men, what is preventing you from looking like this?”

This cheeky tease encouraged Melissa Janowicz (Gameplay Designer) to join the fun and share her own Wolf-Rook book! She said: “It's an absolutely gorgeous book. I'll treasure it for life.”

Ahhh. The secrets these books could hold about Dragon Age 4’s core concepts.... And Mark Darrah is just staking them together, making book forts out of them, as you do! 😂 Maybe one day, we’ll uncover the secrets held within every page, but that day is not yet upon on.

On the same memey day, Chris Anderson, (Application Development/Publishing Support at BioWare) tweeted: “Other people are teasing things, so what the hell, here's an image that I used in something I was working on today.” With a pink image shown.

Chris and Melissa followed a Twitter conversation about pink being the “perfect colour for when you need something that screams temp.”

Basically, this pink actually has some context for the development of Dragon Age 4. ‘Temp’ means temporary textures, the first blocked out layer of a texture before actual detailed textures are added.

This can refer to many scenes or models in the early texturing phases, as art assets are still in the approval stages. On a wild, out-there whim, perhaps the team are wrapping up a trailer for a reveal? Maybe?... please?

John Epler (Narrative Director) shared his most controversial opinion of all time:

I loved the Hinterlands, but as a fan of the previous Dragon Age game’s ‘linear with freedom' approach, I appreciate John’s take on open world’s since Dragon Age: Inquisition, perhaps this will shape the way forward for future BioWare titles?

Alix Wilton Regan, voice actress of the Female British Inquisitor retweeted Autumn Witch’s poll asking if people believe the Inquisitor will return as a voiced appearance in Dragon Age 4. Alix tweeted: “C’mon #DAI Fans, you know what to do ;)”

Patrick Weekes replied to Alix’s post with an eye's emoji 👀.... I think I speak for everyone when I say, in some capacity, the Inquisitor has got to return in the next game!

In another tweet, Patrick Weekes teased potential new companions when a Twitter trend placed 5 Dragon Age characters in 6 different camps went around the platform.

When choosing their preferred camp, Patrick Weekes tweeted: “Finally, in Camp 7, it's turned into a bit of a mess, with coffee grounds spilled everywhere and the couch inexplicably on fire after a drinking game gone wrong. But that's another story.”

Of course, there’s not much to tear apart here, but we have acknowledgement of the next party members! It sounds like they’re a wild bunch already!

In early April, Mark Darrah answered a few current development tweets:

So, that’s...Splendid.

Karin Weekes (Editor) tweeted that they “got to sort/catalog/document updates to made-up languages at work today.”

Following that tweet, @ladyiolanthe asked Karin: “Do you think BioWare might ever be able to release Qunari, Dwarvish, and Elvhen lexicons in a World of Thedas Volume 3 sort of book? Or is that unlikely since they're ciphers and maybe there isn't a standardized grammatical structure, etc?”

Karin replied with: “That’s an interesting idea - I, for one, would find it a hoot! I might send out some feelers…” Any books of made-up languages I can get my hands on would be greatly appreciated!

Alain Baxter, (‘Production guy’) tweeted: “BioWare review of content today. All I can say is “Scriplet”. 😎

Apparently a ‘Scriptlet’ is an action verb. Alain is teasing premature scripts as they ‘perform their function’ So, something exciting is going down in the scripts, to be worked on in-engine. Or maybe it’s just an inside joke?

John Epler tweeted a great design message about “how 90% of ‘bad’ decisions are, in fact, the best decision at the time. For John, that will always be the camera zoomed conversations in DA: I. People didn’t like it, and asked why not just make them full scenes. But that’s not the decision they make in-house. It was 'make them simple conversations or else cut them'. Game dev is all about making the best decision you can at the time, with the resources you have .A lot of stuff you thought was weird or awkward came down to a gut call of 'this is the best I can make this and I trust it's good enough'. Sometimes we're right, sometimes not.”

Awesome words to think on, Dragon Age 4 will be amazing, I’m sure, but just remember to set your expectations right and realise everything design-wise, happens for a reason.

Shifting to other design aspects. Jos Hendricks (Senior Level Designer) tweeted:

Mike Jungbluth (Animation Director) tweeted: “Just reviewed something in game that hit THIS LEVEL! Hot damn, moments like this are what I live for.”

Both tweets are incredibly excited and telling of development for Dragon Age 4, it sounds like they’re building and prototyping an epic scene equivalent in scale to the attack at Haven scene? Perhaps, Solas destroying the Veil? Who knows, but it sounds epic, and I’m living for both dev.'s enthusiasm!

For the final tweet regarding the development side is from Åsa Roos (Principle UX Designer)

A UX designer writing about Solas? That must be for codex entries? Right? More lore on our Rebel God!

Unannounced Dragon Age Game:

In my previous March news update, I discussed brashly about the developers on Dragon Age 4 still claiming that this project has not officially been announced yet, however, The Dread Wolf Rises teaser in 2018 certainly alluded to an announcement regarding the next Dragon Age title. Following this story, we have many sources providing clarity on Dragon Age 4’s current ‘unannounced’ situation.

Patrick Weekes confirmed that they are “working on an unannounced game in the Dragon Age universe.”

Patrick said: “We would LOVE to be able to say more. We are really excited about what we’re working on. But we can’t share anything right now. Sorry!”

In April 2019, I painted this unannounced situation rather conspiratorial, I said that perhaps the Dragon Age dev’s can’t share anymore on the next game because Anthem was the next project, and EA are forcing them to not speak on Dragon Age. In an attempt to maintain the crowd by not letting BioWare developers regard Dragon Age 4 as the next working project in the works.

However, I don’t think it’s that deep. I think the developers are just under an NDA, and literally can’t speak about the game.

In Episode 121 of the Anthem-based ‘Freelancer Codex’ Podcast - as a guest, Melissa Janowicz shared that the developers on the secret Dragon Age team cannot talk about the next game, in fact, they can barely talk about the contents of The Dread Wolf Rises teaser trailer.

Chris Anderson also emphasised this same point in a tweet:

As a side not, someone asked Chris why not lie and come up with fake answers to fool the fans, and Chris said: “That can, unfortunately, get me in nearly as much trouble!”

Which shows the validity and value in BioWare developer tweets. The developers can’t just lie about the project either. Which honestly helps someone like me out.

As we know, a game is coming, yet it’s still is very much unannounced, probably because as Jason Schreier reported in 2018, Dragon Age 4 is going to change at least 5 times in the next two years, perhaps BioWare don’t want to show us anything because they don’t want to set anything in stone, or show gameplay that is not representative of the final game.

But that doesn’t extend to a CGI trailer, or a full title drop, Maker knows that would be amazing, and is within the realm of possibility.

New Lore/Fun:

We have some new lore, and other fun things I wanted to share.

Dragon Age Comic Writer, Nunzio DeFillipis talked HUGELY about the red lyrium idol and what was originally planned for their comics.

Nunzio recently mentioned in the Unofficial Bioware Forums that the comic characters from Deception were originally chasing the red lyrium idol.

Nunzio stated that the original plan for the comics would've had the characters retrieve the red lyrium idol. Only to have Solas take it back. Eluding to the idol's planned whereabouts before the plot changed since Joplin's cancellation and BioWare's shift regarding this idol in the comics.

Does this still mean that the location of the red lyrium idol is most likely in the hands of Solas and might only be discovered in Dragon Age 4? Or does the next protagonist have a shot at retrieving the idol before Solas finds it?

It seems like a bummer that the original comic idea was scrapped and the writers were forced to change narrative direction regarding this particular idol.

As a funny tweet I saw. Emily (Domino) Talyor tweeted using her overheard in the office hashtag:

BioWare dev’s can’t even tell their kids, folks.

And, regarding the Fuzzy Freaks livestream. Patrick Weekes’s response to my question, asking how does Solas kill dwarves in their sleep if they have no connection to the Fade, was “very effectively.” This will be a mystery I will personally be investigating when we have our hands on the game.

Considering it was really fun for those who watched the Fuzzy Freaks livestream, I’m going to share other silly takeaways:

Patrick Weekes doing a New York accent for the Carta Dwarf is amazing!

“DREAD DUMBASS” - is a jokey dialogue option that Karen Weekes scribbled notes for future reference.

Patrick likes soft romances and happy endings! IRONICALLY.

Patrick’s style of writing is less high fantasy and more modern.

@DrunkDalish, Co-founder of Dragon Age Day interviewed both Karen and Patrick Weekes. As a lover of Dragon Age lore, these interviews reveal so many loving tidbits that you should read for yourself. However, something I noted that was very significant regarding the future is based on Masked Empire’s ending. So, spoilers for that, but Felassan’s fate isn’t what it seems. Perhaps this elf could come back in the future if needed.

Wellbeing:

And, we come to the last topic, this one is centred on the BioWare staff’s wellbeing. Last year, there was a Kotaku article revealing the crunch and working conditions at BW, there was a lot of worry and confusion in the air that the people working on these games were struggling mentally because of senior management and many other reasons. With that in mind, I’m dedicating a section in these news updates to the wellbeing of the developers, any signs/tweets of positivity and hope will be shared in an effort to see if there has been any change in the BioWare offices since Anthem’s release.

It seems like things are going pretty well and people seem happy and optimistic about the next Dragon Age.

If there are any major updates to a Dragon Age 4 tease at EA Play, I'll be sure to make an update video, but otherwise, be sure to join our livestream as see for ourselves what waits us this EA Play.

Let me know your thoughts down below, what do you think about a potential EA Play teaser, where are your expectations at?

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caek13 · 5 years ago

Text

HUGE! HUGE SPOILERS FOR CASTLEVANIA SEASON 3! LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS!

First of all I just want to start out with a huge thank you to everyone who worked on this. Seriously. Everyone did such a great job. I really do not have any complaints about the show at ALL. The writing: AMAZING! COHESIVE! FAN FUCKING TASTIC. I still have so many questions about certain characters and what’s going to happen to them without being confused about WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED. Too many shows are aiming for what you have and it makes it hard to want to continue watching them. The art and animation: TRULY MIND-BLOWING. You talented motherfuckers gave my eyes something to truly feast upon The voice acting: I am not ashamed to admit that I cried. You voice-actors are magnificent. Truly masters of your craft. Now....Onto the spoilers, which shall be under the cut. WARNING! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. THERE WILL BE SCREENSHOTS OF THE SERIES AS WELL AS SPOILERS FOR THE PLOT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NONE OF THE IMAGES YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE.

CAN WE JUST TAKE A SECOND TO REALLY APPRECIATE THE COLORING, DRAWING, AND ANIMATION OF THIS SHOW?

LOOK AT THIS. THIS IS GORGEOUS.

YOU TALENTED MOTHERFUCKERS. THIS IS GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL.

All of these are only from ONE episode. Truly. A fucking masterpiece of an episode at that. Every time you pause, it’s like you land on another piece of art. It’s fucking stunning. There are parts that are very trippy, but like... you’re not even upset about the trippiness because it somehow works?

LET’S TALK ABOUT HECTOR: EVERYONE’S FAVORITE DEMON-MAKING HUMAN PUPPY. EXCEPT NOW THE DESCRIPTION IS VERY MUCH ACCURATE

You see the pretty lady on the right? Her name is Lenore. Not to be fucked with. Looks like a cinnamon roll, could actually maim you violently and leave you to bleed out on the street without blinking an eye.

Without spoiling too much, I’m just going to say that Hector deserves all the happiness and I hope he eventually gets the watch the four of those bitches burn.

“BUT WAIT! WHICH FOUR BITCHES?” I hear you ask... Oh honey. I’m talking about these four bitches

These four ladies are fucking badass as hell. All of them could step on me and I’d say thank you. (It gets better. The Tol lady in the background and the lady in the blue and cold dress are gay together. Confirmed. Tol and Smol Vampire Lesbeans that could and would actually rip your intestines out and hand them to you with a smile)

Now let’s talk about what is undoubtedly on everyone’s minds: Our Newly Established Crazy Cat Lord, Adrian Tepes. I was so excited for him. He finally made more friends after Trevor and Sypha, only for them to quite literally stab him in the chest because of their own (valid) insecurities. God, my heart hurts for him.

you drink all you want to baby. You deserve it. Although..... We did get some pretty spicy scenes.....

Just like..... holy fuck......

Lol, he looks so confused here. “Why is this sexy lady kissing me?”

He doesn’t look so confused here.

Look at him. LOOK AT HIM. IT IS ILLEGAL TO LOOK LIKE AN ABSOLUTE ANGEL WHEN YOUR HAVING AN ORGASM.

AND TREVOR AND SYPHA???? THEY’RE OUT THERE KICKING NAMES AND TAKING ASS. BELNADES AND BELMONT. HELL THE FUCK YES

TL;DR THIS SEASON? WAS A GODDAMN MASTERPIECE AND WE DO NOT DESERVE THE WRITERS, VOICE ACTORS, ANIMATORS, AND EVERYONE ELSE INVOLVED. YOU GODDAMN GENIUSES.

#castlevania #castlevania season 3 #castlevania spoilers #adrian tepes #trevor belmont #sypha belnades #god this season killed me #in both the bad way and the best way

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ask-art-student-prussia · 6 years ago

Note

You’re one of the only Hetalia art blogs still active that I absolutely love! Do you know any more of them?

Actually!!! I spent the past week sitting on this question, but im finally able to compile (most of) i have a bad memory and theres just so many, you see) the hetalia artists ive admired. ill write up a little blurb on each so you can know what to expect

warning, this is super long

I’m going to list my fav Prussia focused artists first:

@theknoflook is SO SO SO good at capturing the worn/rough-round-the-edges Prussia and they’re 100% the BEST at drawing the aged feel of him. They draw a lot of characters with human imperfections, it’s just such a RAW emotion I feel from each drawing.

@maplevogel I’ve admired since I was like,,, 13. You have no idea how much I want to be able to draw like them. Their watercolour illustrations are KICKASS!! They have such a sense of mystical-ness to each piece, everything is so unreal in what they draw it gives me such a sense of calm-ness. Constantly they’re using watercolour to it’s full extent, im EXTREMELY floored and always have been.

@mieudiary is another person ive admired since i was a absolute baby. Their art teeters on anime-realism and their use of lighting, shading and blending is SOOOO GOOD. They’re able to make their characters so real yet overly gorgeous lol. They’ve got the best damn detail in form/muscles (flesh) ive ever seen.

@kisamesfacioplegia is LITERALLY DRAWING RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS OKAY. Their art is always refined and carries the same aura as those huge paintings you find in museums, with extremely good storytelling and illustrations. Best historical prussia and germany on this site imo.

@carnagekiid (i dont know if they do aph anymore but their recent work is JUST AS GOOD) has the cutest modern interpretation of gil and is my fav. i personally am not a fan of like,,, the “ideal” canon prussia, and the way they draw emotion/use of colours (for all their work) with prussia has that like,,, UMMF of character, yknow what i mean??? they focus on ruspru i think but idk lol

Okay those are just the best prussia’s ive seen, heres some more general hetalia artists that focus on other characters

@payadraws is quite possibly my FAVOURITE HETALIA ARTIST???? IF NOT AT LEAST IN THE TOP 3 BC THEIR STUFF IS SO GOOD AND STYLIZED PERFECTLY. their linework is stunning, and colouring has that tone over all of it that harmonizes the whole piece. The way their utilize their style in everything is PERFECt, idk how to use words for it, just take a look. Their austria/switzerland is deadass on-the-money.

@tomato-bird Literally how does one even manage to do this. theyre professional and it fucking SHOWS. Each composition, each stroke of their pen, it shows dude. Their art has like,,, the emotions, the feeling, is really well executed and they have so much attention to detail it blows my fucking mind. like ,,, this gives of hard renaissance level mastery vibes

@paperdrawsshit is SO GOOD at using that like,,,, the form/silhouette of characters. like,, the shapes they use, the flow of each pose, the hands, ALL OF IT SCREAMS PERFECTION. Each drawing has such flow and structure at the same time, and each character has such a pretty fashion sense. Excellent use of lighting and i strive to be as good as them in drawing people

@jackce THIS ARTIST HAS LIKE.,, SUCH A CLEAN CUT ART STYLE ITS GORGEOUS. Each drawing has the smoothest lines and the characters have distinct features. Their prussia, italy and germany styles stand out so much because of the way they draw the noses, jaw, features etc. Like they look like screenshots out of a professional 2d animated feature. Seriously.

@starstray (not sure if they draw hetalia anymore but i need to tell yall about them anyway) has such gorgeous like,,, composition. like if you dug through a collection of paintings from the renaissance you’ll find a few of theirs scattered in their. The use of like,,, linework paired with the way they colour is so perfectly executed. its so balanced im shaking

@amazing-prussia has the cutest, quirkiest style with what they draw. the hair/clothes are so stylized and fluid and i love them so much!! Each drawing looks so quick and perfected, every time I see one of their pruaus doodles i fucking DIE.

@glass-soda has such gorgeous illustrative style. It’s so unique and the way they colour and draw people have this wonderful POP to it. The colours are so balanced and bright, its so SO!!!!!! LOVELY. LIKE,, IDK HOW TO KEEP FROM RAMBLING ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM JUST LOOK.

@ask-risorgimento-italy (ack, dont know their main sorry) Their illustrations are so well done, you can see the thought and practice in each character!! and i love the “realistic” feel to it. I say that about characters who dont have like,,, idk “anime hair”?? but not only the hair, the clothes, the form, the ENVIRONMENT. THIS ARTIST KICKS ASS WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT BUILDING. LOTS OF DEPTH. ABSOLUTE LEGEND.

@hetapolis !!!!! THEIR ART IS SO CLEAN AND SKETCHY AND BEAUTIFUL. OKAY. Shading/colouring is GORGEOUS. and the way they draw each character to be distinct and have unique features ITS SUPER PROFESH AND LOOKS AMAZIGN!! I admire their style so much yall got no idea

@thedisappointedidealist12 has REALLY GOOD LINEWORK/STORYTELLING. LIKE WOW. Every time i see something theyve drawn im shaking bc the pacing and execution is AMAZING. Everything about the way their art looks is super balanced and you can see the exact emotion each character is expressing.

@captainjellyroll OKAY. THIS PERSON. LEMME TELL U BOUT THIS. FIRST OF ALL. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAV ANIMATORS. THEYVE BEEN MY IDOL SINCE I WAS 11. Their work has so much energy, colour, and you can see the thought in each composition. I love them so much,,, each drawing has its own burst of energy!!! i want to be able to be like them when im older and live with like 5 cats.

@tea-artblog (they dont draw hetalia much anymore but their recent art is 100% worth looking at) OKAY. YALL. This is one of the people who’s art i looked at constantly when i first joined!! Their art is so like,,,, balanced and has just enough contrast and the colours???? EVERYTHING WORKS SO WELL. The eyes/expressions are SUPER CUTE.

@sully-s ANOTHER ARTIST WHOS STYLE IS ONE OF MY FAVS. It’s super fluid and the colours are perfect!! Each character has their own uniqueness I cant express my love of how perfect their lighting/colouring is. Their illustrations are straight out of a movie art book, its so GORGEOUS. and the environment REALLY has depth!!

@ask-victorian-austrian (dont know their main ack sorry!!), THE LINEWORK IS SO DETAILED AND CLEAN. I love the way they draw clothes/fashion, its all so detailed and gorgeous and you can feel the weight of the cloth and the lace and everything okay???? Seriously I love all their blogs, they have a bunch, and you should check out all of them!

@amoxesyoew HAS SUCH CUTE DRAWINGS!! The style in their characters’ hair is so flowy and the way they draw faces and eyes have this adorable quality to it!! the pureness of the emotions they draw are really prominent and i constantly just DIE because of it! I love love LOVE the gercan they draw too

@arschbiene THE WAY THEY DRAW FACES??? SPOT ON. The colours are SO spot on and i love the POP they give. The shading?/? SPECTACULAR. And each doodle is super cute and like,,,, when people say each drawing has a story behind it?? I FEEL THAT WITH THEIR ART OKAY. HIGHKEY.

@ekinoksin ???? HELLO??? THIS RENAISSANCE VAN GOGH MICHAELANGELO MASTERMIND OF AN ARTIST IS LIKE THE SAME AGE AS ME>????? I just foudn that out. BUT the way their art has so much depth!!!! THE BACKGROUNDS??? THE ENVIRONMENT?? ITs ALL EXTREMELY WELL DONE. And they have this texture to their art that makes it look just like historical paintings its so good!!! Im SHOOK.

@alfredtalia WORM. THeir characters all have structure and expression and everything about it has such like!!! UMFF. The way they draw certain things,, theres minor details!! and you may not notice them!! but they ADD SO MUCH!! Everything feels like it has attention to it, and it is so well balanced!!

@avlerie (again, not sure if they still draw hetalia but their art is really pretty) the way they add texture/detail to their art is SPECTACULAR. The hair???? the bodies??? It seems so structured and well drawn!! THE EYES THO. THE WAY THEY DRAW EYES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL I CANT GET ENOUGH

@elhuesoardiente DUDE IDK HOW THEY COLOUR/DO THEIR SHADING. BUT ITS SO UNIQUE AND GIVES THEIR ART THIS EXTRA LAYER OF DEPTH. The art is so gorgeous with the way they do their lighting, and everything about it has balance and harmony im just shook

@ask-2p-uk no idea how someone can even pull off art like they do. the lines/colours ARE REALLY WELL INCORPORATED to EACH DRAWING. The way they draw expressions?? is so unique??? like i love the hair too, it has this flowy-ness to it!! EVERYTHING about their style is so colourful and pretty and unique i just ghhghghg dont know how to explain it, just LOOK AT IT.

@lucerna-lunam the way their shading is,,, the “mystical”-ness of their art??? ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. IDK How they manage to draw stuff with such like,,,, sparkle to it. But their lighting is really well done, the EYES are so gorgeous! even the way each drawing is textured!! It comes together so perfectly!!

@suckmyicelandick THE WAY THEIR HAIR IS DRAWN??? SUPER SHINY AND GORGEOUS. I love the way their draw their characters, the hands/face/hair is so stylized the second you see their art you just KNOW its drawn by them. The eyes are super detailed and its so pretty im just sobbing i love their style

@aph-lithuania OKAY one of the first hetalia artists ive ever seen when i was new. THEIR ART IS SUPER PRETTY. The colours are really smooth and THE WAY???THEY DRAW BODIES?? THE FIGURES ARE SO WELL PROPORTIONED????!!! Everything about it is so cute!!!

@ask-mr-luxembourg BRUH??? HELLO?? COLOURING, LINEWORK, PROPORTIONS, EVERYTHING IS 10/10. Seriously they way they draw hair has such texture, and the way the bodies are drawn are so good. everything about them!! and the eyes?? DEADASS KILLED ME. Their art has seriously so much detail and i just DIE every time

@ellmovy HOW DOES ONE EVEN MANAGE TO DRAW CHARACTERS AS WELL AS THEM?? Each character has distinct features and like,,, the hair is always stylized and it looks SO GOOD????!!! The amount of detail they put into drawing small things like eyebrows and freckles add so much to the overall piece like WOW

@haeko9page THIS ARTIST. HAS THE CUTEST ART EVER. Their comic strips are seriously so adorable and has really good pacing! Each time they draw comic strips, the frames are so varied and it comes together SUPER WELL. Idk how to explain this, but like,,, the “camera angles” and the way they draw expressions/character interactions go together like peanut butter and jelly!

@kyotemeru-arts (they dont draw hetalia much but i love their art so much) dude the flow?? of the poses their characters have?? the flow of the characters themselves?? SUPER WELL DONE LIKE WOW. Also the way they shade and highlight things ?? like using more than one colour?? THAT REALLY MAKES THEIR ART POP. I LOVE THE WAY THEY CAN PERFECTLY DRAW FLUIDITY IN THEIR ART.

@frukmerunning GOLLY GEE DO I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY BOUT THEM. Just the way they draw faces, eyes and like,,,, bodies in general,, ITS ALL SO PERFECTLY BALANCED. The way they manage to make sketches look incredibly refined and capture the movement in each drawing???? LIKE IVE ADMIRED THEIR ART FOR SUCH A LONG TIME ITS BEEN 300 YEARS

@miss-ostrich-art BRUH how does one manage to draw ???? like them??? the way their characters’ forms and muscles can be seen but like not overly detailed??? they have the PERFECT amount of detail in each drawing, and the expressions!! the way they draw noses and facial structure and *italian hand gesture* PERFECT.

@maryluis THEIR EXPRESSIONS ARE SUPER DYNAMIC!!! AND THE POSES HAVE SUCH FLOW. Also did i mention the amount of detail they put into minor things?? like WOW. Seriously i think out of this list i like the way they draw expressions the best. Also this might be a weird thing to focus on, but the way theyre able to draw the interior/background/angles of things are INCREDIBLE.

@cioccolatodorima YOOOOOOO THIS IS LIKE THE FIRST ARTIST I SAW WHEN GETTING INTO THE FANDOM. ONE OF THEM AT LEAST. Their non-hetalia work is actually my fav and i want to do just what they do when im older! I love their illustrations, and their way of drawing characters/character design (ginjinka of mr.kitkat are my favs). The way their lighting looks, is SO pretty and the linework is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. their art blog (not just hetalia) is @rainbow-taishi

@ask-badlydrawnseborga lemme tell yall about a thing. i love how funny their art is, and like,,,,, i know its “badly drawn seborga” but the way the hair flows and the proportions,, everything about it is SO nffhhklahjdj polished. LIKE IDK HOW TO EXPLAIN IT BC THEYRE SUCH A MEMELORD BUT I GENUINELY HAVE SO MUCH LOVE FOR THEIR SKILLL

@sabrow3 NOT ONLY IS THEIR ILLUSTRATIONS SUPER CUTE, IT HAS GREAT PROPORTIONS AND DEPTH. I love their attention to detail in clothing and historical things, and like,, the line work is AMAZING. Seriously, I want to be able to draw as well as them, its incredible how the amount of work and effort is shown in each drawing.

@buruzaitama !! The way they draw characters has like,,, this level of realism and the way they do their lighting just pushes that to the next level. I don’t know how people can pull off drawing realism yet still make it so unique that i can instantly tell that a piece is drawn by them, but this artist IS SO GOOD AT THAT. LIKE WOW

@inkodoodles Okay their “1 hour drawing challenges”? IM FLOORED ANYONE CAN DRAW THAT IN ONE HOUR. The have such detail and flow and movement in each drawing! And the lighting they have is so soft and calming, it lends itself to each piece REALLY WELL. Whatever emotion each drawing is supposed to give is conveyed to a tee

@heyheyartman BRO the style??? is so fucking UNIQUE AND ICONIC?? And the way they manage to pace comics and storytell is sO GOOD. Like,,, the way they can use shapes for each of their characters is so refined and stylized i love it. Their use of colour seriously KICKS ASS and im floored every time i see their work.

@merasgar their art is so detailed!! and the backgrounds/environments are so soft and gorgeous to look at! I have like,,,, no idea how you can pull off such beautiful hair and eyes in each drawing!! They draw a lot of rochu and like,, the features look so PERFECT for the characters ghhghghg

@yosb ALRIGHT LISTEN UP THIS ARTIST SERIOUSLY HAS ONE OF MY FAV STYLES. It’s so refined and you can see the distinct features of each character. The style isnt realism but the characters FEEL REAL. They have such a perfect way of paying attention to details and putting in proportions/facial features to each character im so amazed and love their work so much

and of course i want to include @paachubelle though theyre working on their own project ( @the-otwya-project ) now, they’re one of my like,,,, friends that i made on this blog through hetalia ask blogs and i figured id like to include them on this list. Idk how people can draw in pencil with such detail and everything but they do it EXPERTLY. The line work is always so clean and the shading is always so well done!!

of course, im very clumsy and forgetful so i know i forgot some names but i cant remember things!! Either way, these are some of my all time favourite iconic hetalia (and non-hetalia) artists!! I want to be able to draw as well as them one day!

#diamondsketcher #admin post #zonkeywave

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secretsofthemasquerade · 6 years ago

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Nighthawks’s Kickstarter and interview with author

Hey guys, you might have seen this kickstarter over the past month, as its approaching its deadline I thought I’d interview the main dude for you guys :)

I played the demo that’s available, which isn’t fully representative of the story’s debth (as it was meant to be just a small visual fiction), which displays great attention to art, great voice acting, and quite nicely written characters and unique starting situation.

Overall I really love the concept and I’d like to see this game become a reality, we need down-to-earth games even if they’re not labelled WoD :p

Here’s the link to the kickstarter. You can get the game for just 20 bucks ^^ HURRY though, it ends in FIVE DAYS.

The author, Richard Cobbett, has done lots of work in the past, and the publisher is a solid one too (the publisher’s TechnoBabylon is just life, and Sunless Sea/Skies were made by this author), it’s not his first rodeo and he’s, as he put it in the discord server: “I'm writer, designer, programmer, marketing person, video compositer, UI engineer, community manager and basically everything not involving drawing“. His wording isn’t pretentiously all over the place and “darker than thou”, but it has the right amount of work from hat I could see from the screenshots and the demo.

So here goes! Interview under the cut!

“Who are you, apart from what we know from the Kickstarter?”

I’m Richard Cobbett, and if you know me from anything it’s probably about 20 years of games journalism, including things like PC Gamer’s “Crap Shoot” column and Rock Paper Shotgun’s “The RPG Scrollbars”, or my work on Sunless Sea/Sunless Skies. But I’ve done quite a lot more than that, including the mobile adventure Silent Streets and the space game The Long Journey Home.

So, this is far from my first rodeo. I love cats, hate spiders, and once made a pitch to White Wolf that included the secret goal of making my home town of York a Tremere stronghold. I am entirely serious about this.

“In a few words, for a VtM Audience, what is the premise of Nighthawks' world?”

Vampires exist. You know this, because you’re one of them. But unlike the World of Darkness, the Masquerade has failed. You’ve been exposed, and the world is trying to figure out where to go next. You begin as a penniless vampire in a shitty hotel in the cheapest part of a dying town, and Nighthawks charts your rise from rags to riches as you become part of the new politics.

Things are of course very different from WoD, both to avoid treading on White Wolf’s paws and because of course I wanted the fun of creating my own setting! For starters, Nighthawks is a bit lighter in tone, and more rooted in the problematic elements of being a vampire. Blood tastes foul, being bitten hurts, and the world is at best incredibly suspicious and at worst outright hates you.

Also, vampires don’t secretly run the world. They’re more like cats, in that they’re fiercely individualistic and territorial, with many of them not even having historically known that there were others like them. There’s a few groups here and there that have had some historical sway in the world, such as the Eternal Dynasties that latched onto the great courts of Europe like parasites, and a handful of aristocrats who spread with British colonialism to find Heirs to further refine their bloodlines, but they’re very much in the minority.

The closest equivalent to the Masquerade is that some - not most, though you’re one of the lucky ones - have powers. These are primarily mental rather than breathing fire and turning into bats and so on, like Mesmerise or Corpse-Talking or copying the face of a human for a brief period. Vampire society is doing its best to hide the existence of these for fairly obvious reasons - they’re already distrusted enough! They’re also not skills to just spam at problems, but very expensive aces-in-the-hole to deploy very carefully.

There’s a lot more to say and discover about the world, but in short, it’s something that I think Vampire fans will both enjoy for the parts of the atmosphere it shares, and love exploring for all the cool ways that it tries something a bit different. It’s a game rooted in the social side of vampire life, where a dinner party can be more dangerous than any back-alley rumble, and one where you get to be a direct part of the big decisions that define what it means to be a vampire, versus showing up five hundred years after the Convention of Thorns or whatever already laid out how things work.

It’s also a game designed to let you play whatever character you want - both in terms of things like sexuality and gender, and just background. You’re not restricted to just being JC Denton with fangs. If you want a character who was, say, a hairdresser in their mortal life and who has never been in a fight, that’s just fine. Or, of course, you can be a bruiser. Everyone deserves the chance to be a badass vampire, and a badass vampire that fully represents them.

Hmm. That was quite a few words, wasn’t it? Sorry. I get excited!

“What are its mechanims and gameplay like? How long do you think it will take for an average player to beat the full game?”

We’re looking at around 15-20 hours for a playthrough, with a ton of replayability. Lots of choices, differences in character builds, cool things to discover… the lot. We’re primarily using text because it allows us to really flesh out the world and add as many stories as possible.

Mechanically, it’s a mix of life-simulation and RPG. It resembles games like Sunless Sea, in that most options are chosen from a list, alongside some gorgeous 4K graphics and voice acting. However, under that is a fierce system of RPG options and life simulation. Every click is a tick of the clock, as you explore the city, improve your character, and get back to safety before sunrise. Rather than the standard critical path of quests, the design is based around Objectives. In the first act, the simplest, your main goal is pretty much just making sure you can pay your hotel room bill. How you go about that is up to you, whether it’s hunting, taking on assignments, investigating rumours and so on. Later chapters of course get more complicated as you have to balance basic survival with dealing with crooked cops and politics.

I’ve posted a lot about the game design and where we’re going with it all in the Kickstarter Updates. Worth checking out! I think V:TM fans will really like it.

“What got you into vampire fiction and vampire games? Why make a game with those themes?”

Firstly, urban fantasy is awesome and it’s depressing that we see so little of it in gaming. Vampires specifically intrigue me as a designer because they offer so many mechanical opportunities - blood, sunlight, etc - and as a writer for the constant dichotomy between power fantasy and personal nightmare.

Nighthawks is very much rooted in exploring that, with some characters who find their undeath a curse, others who find it liberating, and with the player allowed to decide for themselves where they stand. It doesn’t hurt that the individualism of vampires allows you to create some really awesome characters who are fun to hang out with. Our Kickstarter backers immediately connected with the Companion in the demo - Madame Lux, a vampire stage magician with the power to manipulate human sight. She’s just one of many really vibrant characters, including con-artist cult-leader Maze, vampire fangirl bartender Becca, and Inez, a pirate queen from the Golden Age of Piracy struggling to adapt to a world where none of her skills are still in any demand.

Then throw in all the awesome vampire folklore from around the world, and you’ve got a fantastic palette to paint with. Much of the Nighthawks design makes me grin just to think of it, and I think players are going to dig it too.

“Favorite VtMB story part? NPC?”

Well, as a paid-up fan of the Tremere, obviously, Strauss. Good egg. Totally not like that awful LaCroix chap. Other than that, Heather and Tourette are obviously the first ones that everyone thinks of, and with good reason. Grey de Lisle’s voice makes any character awesome, and the Heather sequences were shockingly brutal the first time around. Absolutely amazing writing in those bits.

But I’m probably going to say Deb of Night. I love radio in games as a way of conveying atmosphere, and that’s one of the best one. I don’t know if it’s cool or sad that a few years ago I was in Santa Monica on a press trip, and spent some time wandering around the Pier while listening to Deb’s show. Bit of both?

“Anything you'd need apart from more backers to make sure the game becomes a reality?”

Moral support, really! Game development is a long and often pretty lonely experience, where you never usually know if anyone is going to want what you’re making when you’re done. It’s a real boost to know that so many people are excited by Nighthawks and really want to see it happen. That certainly adds some pressure, but the kind of pressure I think everyone can appreciate!

#nighthawks #vampire games #video games #my first interview lol

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dulcetgames · 7 years ago

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Recap & Thank You Letter - 2017

Hello Scholars,

As 2017 reaches its final hours, the staff and I would like to take a few moments to look back on this year and reflect on Sweet Elite’s future.

This has been a very important year for us. It might not seem that way because of the relatively low number of updates this year, but behind the scenes, the staff has been hard at work to push itself closer and closer to the demo release every day!

I think it’s fair to say that we started this year with a bang! The release of the Main 10′s sprites continues to be one of our most successful updates and has built itself a special place in my heart as I remember how thrilled I was to see your reactions (seeing them live from the fan Discord chat was especially exciting!)

The official introduction of Lady Arlington has also made waves...although I will still not forgive the part of the fandom that has begged me to make her a dateable character...

And let’s not even start to talk about Coach Davis. Yeah...Let’s try to put this fandom trend behind us for 2018.

On the bright side, we have gained three staff members during the year! Nadine, Koda and Danny! And with a video team now in full swing, our YouTube Channel has finally been launched! We are still working very hard to make it grow and bring you more video updates! Thank you to everybody for subscribing and attending/watching our summer Meet and Greet!

Along with a complete revamp of the Sweet Elite website, An has completed all of the Sweet Elite backgrounds needed for the demo, giving us the gorgeous completed set of backgrounds!

And of course, let’s not forget our all-time most popular update (and our most controversial in some ways)... The Scholar Sprites reveal! We were very excited to finish and present them to you and we were overall very happy with your feedback. The scholar generator remains very popular and used by the fandom to this day. It makes us very happy to see YOU happy :)

However, there is still some work to do and opportunity for growth. All of our fans have been so helpful and supportive, and we really cannot find the words to express our gratitude. Every like, reblog, fan art, fanfic and fan blog brings us one step closer to making Sweet Elite a success. You guys are absolutely vital to that.

When I first announced Sweet Elite, I marketed the game as “An Otome Game Made and Designed for You” . This was back in 2016, almost two years ago! Back then, I had absolutely NO idea how much impact this post would create. But even as the years went by, the core message of this post stays the same: It really is about you.

Sweet Elite’s development has taught me a lesson that I sort of already knew by instinct, but that carved itself further into my heart as I grew as a person: Nobody can make it all alone. The staff and I owe it to you guys. Sweet Elite has become a part of our lives and heart, and it’s really thanks to YOU.

We are so so grateful.

Our Request

As we head into 2018 and into the demo release (Yes! We are

that

close!), we would like to remind all of you that now, more than ever, is the time to help spread the word about Sweet Elite.

That means reblogging and talking to other fans is going to be extremely important. Participate in the fandom, write theories, encourage and support other fans, make scholars to your heart’s content, post screenshots and commentary of the game once the demo is out (hell, even record your own playthrough if you’re that is what you like! We 100% support that!), etc.

We are counting on you, and we appreciate it so much.

The Future

The priority has and will keep being the completion of the demo. However, since we are really really close to finishing, here is the list of things left in order to give you context:

Finishing the last illustrations & final sprites (45% completion)

Wrapping up the coding of the game and website (around 65% completion as of now)

Going into beta (Not yet started)

The moment the demo is released, I will release a massive marketing effort to get as many people to play as possible. This will obviously take a lot of time and effort.

If you follow me on my own personal SE blog, you have probably seen that I have started making plans for Sweet Elite merchandise! This is lower than the demo on my list of priorities, but know that we are working hard to put up our own official store where you can get some sweet SE merch!

Conclusion

In all, this year has been very fun for us. We have had the pleasure of talking to new fans (and in my case, meeting one of you in person!), releasing some pretty important stuff and overall getting extremely close to wrapping up the demo!

I feel like I am repeating myself, but this really is important. There is no words that can express our gratitude towards you Scholars. None.

So, thank you.

Have a happy new years! See you all in 2018 :)

Love,

Serena, Project Manager

Game Site | Development Blog | Staff Antics Blog | FAQ | Join the Team

#sweet elite #thank you #fandom

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xseedgames · 7 years ago

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Zwei: The Arges Adventure - Localization Blog #1

AAAAAAHHHHH IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING.

I’ve been working on this game for the better part of a year now, but have been unable to say anything about it for PR reasons – namely, that it wasn’t in a showable state, and we didn’t want to confuse prospective players by having two Zwei games announced but unreleased at the same time. Which is totally reasonable, but AAAAAAAHHHH I’VE BEEN WANTING TO TALK ABOUT THIS GAME SO BADLY YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

…Ahem. First off, I guess I should bring you all up to speed, in case you missed the announcement. Falcom’s 2001 PC classic Zwei!! is coming to the Western world via Steam, GOG, and The Humble Store in early 2018, under the name Zwei: The Arges Adventure. Why the name change? Well, because we already released its 2008 sequel, Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection (which was originally called Zwei II: Sky-High Great Adventure in Japan).

That’s right. Localization work wrapped on the sequel first, and now we’re finishing things up with the original.

What are we thinking?!, you must be asking yourselves. Why would we release the sequel first, then go back and release the original? Why wouldn’t we release the original game first? And since we’ve already released the more modern second entry in the series from seven years later, can this earlier effort really hold its own by comparison?

Well, that’s why I’m so excited. Because Zwei: The Arges Adventure is good. REALLY good. In fact, I dare say it’s my favorite translation I’ve ever worked on to date – yes, even topping Return to PopoloCrois and Corpse Party. And if you’re at all familiar with me (this is Tom, BTW), that statement alone should tell you that Zwei: AA is something special, since PopoloCrois and Corpse Party are… shall we say, perennial favorites of mine. To put it very lightly.

So, yeah. Let’s address those hypothetical questions, shall we?

Why would we release the sequel before the original? Well, two reasons. One, because we can – these games each tell standalone stories, set on different floating continents with different casts of characters. Zwei: AA’s two protagonists, Pipiro and Pokkle, do make a few cameo appearances in Zwei: II, but this is done almost purely for the sake of fanservice (the literal kind, not the naughty kind). When all is said and done, these two games are completely standalone, taking place in the same world but telling very different stories with very different characters and a very different feel. Think of it kind of like the Ys series, but even more episodic (since, Ys Origin aside, Ys has the Adol-as-protagonist connection from one game to the next, whereas Zwei doesn’t even have that!).

The other reason is because of the nature of Zwei: AA’s code. The Japanese version of this game utilized DirectX 5, was formatted strictly for 4:3 resolution with no widescreen options whatsoever, offered a lovely FPS selection of 30 or 15 (seriously!), counted on players to play it with mouse and keyboard over gamepad (it supported gamepads, but… barely), and contained no fewer than six unlockable Windows desktop apps that were loosely tied to yet completely separate from the main game.

This is one of them. And that first screenshot at the beginning of this blog entry is another.

In other words… this is the kind of adaptive coding project that’s been known to give lesser programmers heart attacks. Getting a game like this to even run on a modern Windows machine at all – much less run WELL – was decidedly not a task for the meek. In fact, it’s because of the way this game is coded that we ultimately decided to translate the game in-house rather than working with any fan-translators as we did for Zwei: II, as no two programmers would handle this text the same way – and trying to convert a fan-translated script to a format that would work for us would’ve taken almost as long as translating the game from scratch.

So, yeah. Getting Zwei: II out first was pretty much just done because… erm… it was ready first. And it was always GOING to be ready first. Even with a lengthy QA process and a couple minor delays, it still inevitably got finished long before its predecessor was ready to make its debut.

Fortunately, we hired a veteran programmer to work with us on Zwei: AA… but you’ll never guess who! It wasn’t Sara, since she was busy getting Zwei: II ready at the time (and a fine job she did of it, with one of our smoothest PC launches ever!). But this wasn’t our first time working with the guy we worked with on this project, either. It was, however, our first time working with him to modernize someone else’s game – and he really did perform some miracles for us (and put up with my many, many demands for quality-of-life improvements and feature additions, to boot!).

The man in question? Matt Fielding, of Magnetic Realms. A.k.a. the guy who brought you the game Exile’s End.

Pictured: Exile’s End. Which is also an awesome game you should play!

And thanks to his technical wizardry, you guys are going to have an astoundingly up-to-date version of Zwei!! on your hands at launch. We’re talking more than just widescreen support here – there’s full in-game integration of the Pet Monitor and other desktop apps, new control functionality for more natural gamepad support across the board, inclusion of the arranged soundtrack from the Japan-only PSP version of the game, additional art and text content not present in any previous version of the game, and much, much more (to be detailed in future blog entries!).

Moving on to the second question I asked, with Zwei: II already out, can Zwei: AA hold its own by comparison?

I think you know what my answer’s going to be, on that one. Zwei: The Arges Adventure is a freaking awesome game with a lot to offer, and differs from its own successor in enough key areas that it can very easily hold its own any day of the week. Hell, you might even like it better than Zwei: II – it’s certainly a very close call for me, but I’d say Zwei: AA gets the slight edge!

Sure, they’re both dungeon-crawling action RPGs at their core, and they both use food to level-up, even sharing the same food exchange system to discourage grinding. And the two-character party (plus one pet), with one character taking the role of physical attacker while the other slings spells, takes center stage in both titles as well. Plus, both games are set on floating continents in the same world.

That’s a lot of similarities, but they’re all relatively superficial. You could say Zwei: AA is like the 2D answer to Zwei: II’s 3D world, but that would be discounting its snarkier and more tongue-in-cheek storyline (yes, even more than Zwei: II’s!), or the gorgeous and ludicrously colorful hand-drawn backgrounds, or the two games’ very different approaches to pets (you only get one pet in Zwei: AA as opposed to the veritable army of pets featured in Zwei: II, but that one dog or cat [or other?] has significantly more personality and gameplay involvement than its many Zwei: II counterparts), or the huge variety of minigames on offer (all of which have been adapted to play from within the game itself, despite formerly existing only as desktop apps)… and that’s just scratching the surface. In short, although the two games use the same basic template, they represent two very different approaches to game design within the confines of that template.

For me as Zwei: AA’s translator, though, I can’t help but laser-focus right on the game’s dialogue. Protagonist duo Pipiro and Pokkle are without a doubt the best pair to write that somebody like me could ever ask for. Pokkle constantly cracks bad puns (and I do mean constantly!), wears a tail for funsies, and is always hitting on women twice his age.

And Pipiro just has absolutely no filter whatsoever, and is full of so much snark that she’s fit to burst.

Practically every line out of these two is an absolute gem – and that’s to say nothing of the many quirky NPCs surrounding them over the course of their rather lengthy quest (such as the endlessly self-delusional “libertine fatass” that’s funding your adventure, and his extremely no-nonsense maid who gave him that nickname).

I… really can’t stress enough how much fun it was to write for these characters, and how inspired I was to come up with the perfect phrasing for every line. I’m extremely appreciative that we chose to translate the game in-house, as it gave me an opportunity to work much more deeply with this script than I ever could’ve if we’d only been tasked with editing it. As time went on, I found myself revising my work on a daily basis, making small tweaks here and there as new bits of wordplay or better puns popped into my head (much to Matt’s chagrin, I’m sure!). The end result is something that I can stand behind as a faithful interpretation of the game’s mood and intent – an attempt to convey the same degree of lighthearted fun and irreverence present in every line of the Japanese script, but formatted to sound more natural in English, accounting for context, tone, atmosphere, and individual character quirks rather than just hammering out a word-for-word translation.

I’ve never laughed so hard while playing a JRPG before, and I truly hope that when you guys play this one in English, you’ll find its English interpretation just as hilarious as I found its original Japanese to be. That would mean I succeeded at what I set out to do, and would bring me great joy and pride as a localizer!

And please do keep an eye on this Tumblr, as I fully intend to give lots more info about Zwei: The Arges Adventure (and more screenshots showing off lines I’m particularly proud of) in the weeks to come!

Until then, I hope you’re all continuing to enjoy Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection, and… well, I’mma go back to testin’ Zwei: The Arges Adventure now, ‘cause I want this game to be downright perfect when it’s released! And with translation and editing 100% complete, and coding probably somewhere in the 70-80% done range, that release date will be here before you know it…

#xseed #xseed games #xseed blog #Zwei: The Arges Adventure #post: tom #long post #falcom

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breadknight-likes-things · 5 years ago

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Bread��s Game Journal 06/12/20: It Means "A Fragile Step", I Looked It Up.

(I got Un Pas Fragile from the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality that’s currently available on itch.io If you haven’t looked at that bundle yet, not only is it packed full of incredible games like Celeste and Night in the Woods, but all proceeds are going to a very good cause. Donate what you can for some excellent games!) Un Pas Fragile is the second game I've played from from Bundle for Racial Justice And Equality, and it's one of the cutest, and shortest, games I've ever played. Given that it only takes about ten minutes to complete, this will likely be a short post, and I find it hard to imagine how I'll write about it without more or less spelling out the entire experience, so if you're at all interested in this little game about ballet dancing frog, it's probably not a bad idea to play it before you read this post on it. With that said, lets get into it!

I’m not sure i’d eat a box of ants personally, but, Camille is a frog.

Un Pas Fragile is an exceedingly simple story. We play as (well, sort of play as, i'll get to that) an adorable little frog named Camille, going about her days over period of about a month. We climb out of bed in the morning and eat breakfast, ride the bus to her ballet school, do some kind of dance practice, and walk home. These four events are repeated about three or so times, and each time they advance something new in this small plot and give us a better understanding of who Camille is as a person, and how she's growing and changing as she finds her confidence. Camille starts off obviously shy and afraid of what people think of her, and though the total playtime of this game is really only about ten minutes, you help Camille make a friend, turn a bully into another friend by showing them kindness where they showed you none, and practice her ballet to the point that she's ready, though scared, to deliver her recital to a crowd of people at the end of the month. All of this is presented in an absolutely gorgeous art style. All scenes and animations in this game have a Yoshi's Island esque drawing vibe. Camille and her friends and family are bold and in color, with large drawings and expressive animations making them easy to see and understand. The world around them, meanwhile, is presented in stark white with only a few details here and there. I interpreted some areas having more details than others as Camille never really being comfortable in places other than her home, but it is possible it's just an artistic choice to draw more attention to the characters. The artwork alone makes this game worth looking at, if only just to absorb some of the best visuals I've ever seen in the indie space, and maybe snag a few very good desktop backgrounds while you're at it!

The bus scenes are a personal highlight, well rendered, interesting and very cute.

Speaking of artistic choices, I mentioned this vaguely earlier, but I don't think you actually control Camille in this. The way you move her around as a character, is to essentially grab her by the hand and lead her to where she needs to go, as if you were her parent. As someone who grew up being made to do a lot of things that scared me as a pretty shy and anxious kid (though mine were usually more of the sports variety), this interaction with the character hit really close to home. I don't know if that's what the dev intended, but I felt lit lent a lot to the general vibe of the character of Camille as someone who's trying to find her confidence in a world she's mostly afraid of.

I would highly recommend checking out Un Pas Fragile in the Bundle For Racial Justice And Equality, it's short, exceedingly sweet, and just a nice little experience tucked away among the now over 1600 games included in said bundle. I would hate for it to be overlooked, because I think Camille has more than earned ten minutes of your attention.

Random Screenshot Of The Day:

The dream.

Stray Notes:

- I just realized "Un Pas Fragile" shortens down to....UPF.....

“Don’t you know the Dewey decimal system!”

- I finished my second playthrough of Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, that game still rules! They nailed the light saber battles, I hope the eventual sequel has way more of them!

#video games #indie games #un pas fragile #cute #cute things #cute games #indie #art #indie art #itch.io #pc gaming #camille #cute character #cute animals #star wars #upf #indie game #itch.io game #bundle for racial justice and equality

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techbotic · 6 years ago

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Android Weekly: What’s Coming in Android Q (and Some Other Stuff)

There was a lot of movement in the Android world the week of March 8th thru 15th. The Q beta landed with all sorts of new features, Vivo showed off a portless phone, and Google killed a bunch of services.

Android Q Feature Roundup

Let’s start with the biggest Android news for the week, shall we? The Q beta landed for all Pixel devices, and it’s jam-packed with all sorts of new features. Android Police and 9to5Google both did an incredible job of covering all the new stuff as it showed up—here’s everything so far.

The Android Q Beta is here. For Pixel phones, anyway. [Android Developers Blog]

The word on the street is that Q is also going to hit even more devices during the beta and developer previews this year. [Android Police]

With the upcoming demise of Google+, the Android Beta community has been moved to Reddit. [Android Police]

Android Q has a built-in screen recorder! But apparently, it’s broken right now. [9to5Google, Android Police]

There are more haptic feedback vibrations in Android Q. Okay then! [9to5Google]

Foldable phones are coming. Q is ready. [Android Police]

The always-on display in Q got a bit of a makeover. [9to5Google]

The Files app is all new, with an updated look and some nifty new features. [Android Police]

Google is cracking down on undocumented APIs to make Q more secure. [Android Police]

The sharing menu is getting faster and less crappy. Finally! [9to5Google]

Thanks to some ART enhancements, apps launching should be faster. [Android Police]

Android Q has a desktop mode! Which is…kind of confusing. Why does Android Q have a desktop mode? [XDA Developers]

Pixel Launcher on Android Q will let you replace removed items with a new undo feature. [Android Police]

Dual SIM and standby support on the Pixel 3 is live in Q. [XDA Developers]

There’s a little bell icon for new notifications now, so you can tell which one just pinged. That’s useful! [9to5Google]

You can share your Wi-Fi password with a QR code. [Android Police]

Remaining battery shows an estimated time in the shade now. [Android Police]

You can only dismiss notifications by swiping to the right in Q—the left is the action menu. Oof. [9to5Google]

So many new privacy features. [Android Police]

Accent colors and new icons shapes are tucked into Q’s Developer Options menu. Are more customization options incoming? [Android Police]

You can switch the audio source from the notification shade. [9to5Google]

Rounded corners and the notch show up in screenshots in Q. Yuck. [Android Police]

There are more options when you long-press a notification, which is neat. [Android Police]

Third-party camera apps have access to depth effects and more. [Engadget]

Call screening and emergency information apps are now part of Android’s Default Apps menu. Third-party options don’t exist yet, so this is telling. [Android Police]

Background clipboard access is blocked in Android Q, which probably means bad things for clipboard managers. [XDA Developers]

Smart Home and IoT connections are getting simpler in Q. [Android Police]

Battery Saver is more dynamic in Q, with the option to automatically activate based on usage. [Android Police]

There’s a new series of options called “Feature Flags” that lets users tweak all sorts of stuff. [9to5Google]

You can see all your disabled notifications in one place in Q. [Android Police]

It looks like Google is planning six betas in total, with the final release in Q3 of 2019. [XDA Developers]

In what’s sure to make some users upset, the Magisk dev says that Q could mean bad things for root access. Uh-oh. [9to5Google]

Vivo’s Portless Phone Shows Its Stuff

Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo showed off an absolutely gorgeous portless concept phone to a group of writers in Hong Kong. The shell of the phone is a unibody piece of glass—apparently, Vivo had to come up with a special production method to form, cut, grind, and polish a single piece of glass for the body of this phone. It’s wild.

You can read more about this forward-thinking handset at The Verge and Engadget.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Updates (And More)

All sorts of stuff happened with Samsung’s newest flagship this week. Some good, some bad. Some just neat. Here’s you go.

If you hate the S10’s hole punch camera cutout, these are the wallpapers for you. [XDA Developers]

Samsung pushes the one-handed gesture navigation app from One UI to the Play Store. This means it can be updated independently of the OS. Nice. [Android Police]

S10 owners can get six months of free Spotify Premium. The downside? Spotify is pre-installed on all S10s. You win some, you lose some. [The Verge]

Speaking of free stuff for S10 owners, they also get four months of YouTube Premium. Yay for no ads! [9to5Google]

In slightly less pleasant news, the S10’s face unlock feature easily can be fooled by a picture because Samsung removed the retina scanner. Ouch. [Android Police]

Verizon started pushing Android 9 Pie with One UI to the Note 9. Better late than never, I guess. [Android Police]

Similarly, Android Pie started hitting the Galaxy A+ this week, too. [XDA Developers]

Samsung wants to make a “perfect full-screen” phone with no cutouts or notches. Interesting. [Engadget]

What’s New with Google This Week

Google announced some stuff, killed some stuff, and maybe killed some other stuff. This is everything that isn’t the Android Q Beta.

Finally, Google released an Android Q feedback app. [9to5Google]

Google Fit is getting more battery efficient on Wear OS. All three of you who use Fit and Wear OS better be grateful. [9to5Google]

Google Home Hub and other Assistant smart displays finally got continued conversations. Finally. [Android Police]

Google teased its upcoming game streaming service. It’s going to announce plans at GDC next week. Exciting stuff. [Google on Twitter]

Speaking of, Google filed a patent for a game controller. [The Verge]

If you subscribe to Google Fi and bring your existing number and device, you get a free month of service. That’s better than a not free month of service if you ask me. [Android Police]

Deaths: Allo, goo.gl URL shortener, Inbox, and Google+. RIP, those things. [9to5Google]

Third-party Google Assistant speakers are getting phone calls. [Android Police]

Google shut down part of its hardware division focused on tablets and laptops, which is troubling. [9to5Google]

If you use Google One and pay for 2TB of storage, Google probably wants to give you a free Home Mini. [Android Police]

Google’s Lookout app for the visually impaired is now available for download…assuming you have a Pixel device, anyway. [The Verge, Google Play]

The Drive mobile apps got a facelift to match the web UI. It’s pretty. [Engadget]

Google Maps is getting more features from Waze, like speed trap and crash reporting. Nice. [9to5Google]

Good news: An adware app had almost 150 million downloads before Google realized it and pulled it from the Play Store. Also, I think I need to work on my definition of “good news.” [The Verge]

Chrome’s data saver on mobile now works on HTTPS sites, which is like 80% of the web at this point. I think that really is good news. [Android Police]

Shared Libraries on Photos moved to a more obscure place that still kinda makes sense? [Android Police]

Device Updates, App Updates, and Everything Else

There were a couple of major app updates this week, along with some minor device updates. Also, RED said some stuff about the Hydrogen One that pretty much confused everyone.

Pushbullet got a major update that brings bundled notification, quick replies, and some other stuff. [Android Police]

Facebook is testing a blindingly-white interface in its Android app. I’m sure that’s going to go over well if it gets released. [XDA Developers]

Spotify is testing an option to let users disable its dumbest feature: canvas videos. Good. [9to5Google]

Microsoft’s My Phone feature in Windows 10 is getting screen mirroring. [The Verge]

The Xiami Redmi Note 7 got its first MIUI update, which brings a low-light camera mode. [XDA Developers]

The NVIDIA SHIELD got a small update that brings Xbox Elite Controller support and some other stuff. [9to5Google]

You know the little dinosaur you see in Chrome when it’s offline? Well, you can buy a real one now. I need it. [Dead Zebra]

RED pulled the add-on modules for the Hydrogen One, then said some confusing stuff. [Android Police]

The Xiaomi Mi 8 got official LineageOS support. [XDA Developers]

T-Mobile’s OnePlus 6T got RCS messaging. So it begins. [9to5Google]

Firefox Fenix got its initial release. It looks neat. [Techdows]

Root Stuff: The 2015 Amazon Fire TV got rooted again. Go modders, go. [XDA Developers]

Root Stuff: GravityBox can be installed on Android Pie devices running the Xposed framework now. [XDA Developers]

Some details about Motorola upcoming Razr folding phone leaked. Curiously, it’s said to be using a Snapdragon 710 processor. Weird. [XDA Developers]

That’s a lot of stuff, but that’s how it goes in Google’s world. Something is always happening.

Android Weekly: What’s Coming in Android Q (and Some Other Stuff) published first on https://medium.com/@CPUCHamp

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blakcmambaa · 6 years ago

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