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catherinekal · 11 months ago

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Giant Fucking List of Obscure Video Games I Recommend!

It's finally done!! Took me long enough, but here it is. Over 50 games I recommend. Just in time for the Steam Sale. Holy shit I spent way to much time on this.

Some of these are well known to anyone into the indie/AA gaming scene or just on the internet often, but I still felt the need to mention in case people haven't heard of them. All of these are obscure compared to any AAA game and I'm confident no one would have heard or played all of these.

They all have something I found interesting in someway. I was going to include a trailer for each game, but apparently Tumblr doesn't like that. So I have put a link to a Youtube playlist for all of them in the same order as this list. Some of these games are also on various consoles to, but I can confirm they're all on Steam beyond one.

I only picked games I've played personally. I know of many other good obscure games, but haven't tried or bought them yet so they don't get on the list. Also many games on this list remain unfished to me, but that's more due to time and other life shit then them getting bad.

There's a lot of fucking games In this list so hopefully you find something you've never tried before and give it a shot. All these games are on Steam with one exception, but that's a free game. I also organized them by genres that make perfect sense to me.

Trailers Link:

The Best Game Ever:

Outer Wilds

Fuck it let's just start with the only mandatory game on this list you need to play. You know how nearly every space game is a overpromised underdelivered fucking mess? Like all of them.

Outer Wilds is the actual good one. Don't want to say much more then that. This is very much an experience that you need to know as little as possible to get the best experience. Not even linking the trailer in the playlist.

Absolutely play this game if you had to pick only 1 thing on this list.

EarthBoundLikes:

OMORI

OMORI is a game about a group of kids who go on magical adventures and save the day. That's it. Nothing else sinister going on here.

It's a well known indie game and for good reason. It's fucking good. One of my favorite games of all time.

Art style is peak. A mix of pixel and pencil drawn art that works so damn well for me. The battle system is turn based and revolves around changing emotions and teamwork. It mixes a happy child like vibe with a darkness underneath it, which is right up my alley. A tale of trauma and grief. I'm still fucked up thinking about some story bits in there.

All the characters are wonderful and the story is helped a lot by keeping it focused on a small group of friends.

Play it.

LISA: The Painful and LISA: The Joyful

LISA: The Painful/Joyful are a pair of games that fuck. They fuck hard.

They're morbid, tackle many taboos, and have a dark but also stupid sense of humor. The visuals are nothing groundbreaking, but this isn't a game that needs perfect pristine pixel art. The combat system is a lot of fun, but takes very clear inspiration from Earthbound. The story is just perfect though.

You play Brad whos on a journey to rescue his adoptive daughter who was kidnapped in a post apocalyptic world of only men. You meet the strangest allies and the game has a lot of odd characters in it. Want a lawyer fish in your party? This game has it.

It does not shy away from throwing punches and is not for anyone who can't handle a story that tackles themes of abuse, depression, suicide, and more. The game also has a sequel I don't want to say to much about, but it's absolutely worth it as well.

If you want a fun and fucked up 2D RPG adventure and somehow haven't played this then please do so.

Mandatory Metroidvania Soulslike Indie Game Darlings:

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

Ender Lilies is the first of many metroidvania's on this list. The indie scene is filled with them and for good reason. The formula works so damn well.

What I love about Ender Lilies is the concept of the player character. You play a white priestess who is also a child and helpless on her own. However, you can summon the spirits of allies and slain enemies to fight for you and those spirits are all your attacks. Gameplay is the same as any other Metroidvania, but knowing I'm this helpless child in this world infected by blight really sells me on the setting.

There's nothing revolutionary to this entry in the pantheon of Metroidvanias, but the visuals and setting are why I recommend it. This game is a slow descent into hell. Also you do get a big heavy hammer attack and any game with a big hammer weapon attack is a good game. Big bonks.

Craving a Metroidvania with a macabre setting? This will do it.

GRIME

GRIME is something else. I don't hear anyone talk about this game and it's a damn shame. I don't even know how to even describe GRIMEs setting. You play as essentially a sentient black hole on a rock body. You go through, with lore slowly revealed as is the Metroidvania stable, and absorb your enemies.

This games aesthetic is best described as fleshy stone. It's very unique visually and what made me want to try it out. As for gameplay you'll need to learn parrying as this games combat system heavily relies on it.

This game surprised me and has a entire level I never expected with one very unique boss to top that off. Also be warned. This game is very much a platformer as well. Similar to how the Ori games are, not just pure combat challenges. If you like your metroidvanias with little to no platforming then you won't enjoy parts of this game, but nothing as difficult as things in Hollow Knight.

If you enjoy metroidvanias then this is a must play. More people need to talk about it.

Salt and Sanctuary

This is where it all started. Certainly not the first Metroidvania by any means, but the first 2D Soulslike Metroidvania or at the least first advertised as such. The devs intended to make Dark Souls in 2D and they did it. Before Hollow Knight, the games listed above, or so many others that took inspirations from Souls in the 2D world, was this game. I know this game was popular with the souls community as it came out, but I don't really hear about it anymore. Hollow Knight just dominated all discussion.

The controls and combat are very much Dark Souls but in 2D. The lore is cryptic and hidden away. There's a fuckton of weapons and spells and multiple playthroughs worth of stuff. The game is hard though Hollow Knight would easily one up it in terms of difficulty.

This game also has covenants that are actually good and the mechanics around them are vastly improved over any souls game that has covenants. I won't go into detail, but I wish the souls games copied this games mechanics for that.

The setting is high fantasy with the lovely dark bloody horror underneath it all. The art style can turn people away, it's not as pretty as other 2D souslikes, but I enjoy it personally. It fits.

The game has a lot to explore and you can get lost in its world pretty easily. I remember walking into a boss room from the exit somehow and got behind the boss and it was all intended if you navigated around him.

If you can appreciate or just get past the visuals and want to see where the 2D soulslike genre began then you should play it.

Metroidvania's Before the Dark Age of Soulslikes

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Long ago there was a time where Metroidvanais didn't have soulslike mechanics defaulted in and set in these bleak post apocalyptic worlds. I have 3 of them to recommend. Starting With Dust: An Elysian Tail

This is a fun little game. A game that I'm not sure many people know about or would think to play today. Metroidvanias pre Hollow Knight tend to get forgotten when I see people about them now. It has a mix of platforming and hectic combat. I remember the game having a cool spin sword attack with a even cooler aerial attack. I liked it a lot when I played it many many years ago.

The art style is colorful and everyone is an anthropomorphic animal. More games need anthropomorphic animals beyond catgirl or rabbitgirl, seriously I grew up on shit like sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank.

You play as Dust and are accompanied by Fidget. you got a magic sword and you kill a bunch of shit while saving the day. Just a fun little Metroidvania that doesn't overstay and go on forever.

It may be dated in some ways, but if you're a fan of these types of games and want to play a older one then here you go.

Guacamelee!

The combat in this game feel great. Another little forgotten gem of a Metroidvania. It has such a unique style to it and has a fun cartoony vibe. It's pretty fucking great.

You play as a farmer who dons a luchador mask to save his friend he loves and the world being taken over. The combat is a mix of punches, kicks, and throws which is unique from the usual swords and magic these types of games tend to default to. As the game goes along enemies will have shields that need certain moves to break and you'll be switching from the land of the dead and living in combat and platforming.

Both this and Dust before it don't reinvent the genre or anything, but have their own unique charms that I recommend them both if you're a fan of Metroidvanias.

Cave Story+

This is a old classic. The original Cave Story came out in 2004, and was released with a enhanced version in 2011. This is a must play Metroidvania and an old gem. It's the oldest game on this list technically.

This game has little to no melee combat, but instead goes all in on using guns. More Metroid then Vania in that sense. What's unique to the combat is enemies will drop experience that will level up your guns automatically. Each gun can be upgraded to 3 levels, but when you take damage you lose experiences and levels. This adds a extra layer or rewards and punishment to getting hit that I like. Your weapons are perfectly usable at level 1 so it's not like you're fucked, but it gives a greater incentive to avoid damage.

It has fun characters and and fun gameplay. It's a genuine indie gem that I think everyone should play.

Pixel Action Adventure Games With A Dash of RPG Elements to Taste:

ANNO: Mutationem

This game is a pixel art cyberpunk adventure. I adore the art style. It's a 2.5D action platformer set in a futuristic setting. You're on a quest to save your brother with the help of your hacker friend/girlfriend. A quest which leads to a far more complicated story.

The story in this game goes off the rails in ways I love, but I know it threw people off. People have compared the latter half to Evangelion and It can be confusing to follow at times. I still highly recommend it, even if you get lost near the end. A simpler story in terms of Lore would have worked better, but I say fuck it. Go all in.

To me the appeal of this game is the setting. A fascinating cyberpunk sci-fi setting shown through wonderful pixel art. Just walking around the various cities was a joy on its own. There's a lot of attention to detail and I think it's worth playing for that alone. Combat is your standard side-scrolling Metroidvaniaish kind of stuff with various weapons and upgrades and all that. I found it a little challenging at times, but this isn't a game meant for extreme difficulty from what I remember.

If you want to play as hot badass woman in a cyberpunk setting given life through detailed pixel art, then this is the game for you.

CrossCode

This is the most dense indie game on this whole list. CrossCode has so much to do. The game is expansive and slowly drip feeds you with more. You have 5 skill trees, 4 of which are tied to an element, multiple upgrade paths in them. You have a mix of melee combat with twin stick shooter mechanics thrown in. The game has multiple dungeons with puzzles that are both difficult to figure out and then execute the solution for. These aren't like a 2D Zelda dungeon where things never get to complicated, I really took a lot of time with every dungeon.

The setting takes place on another moon physically, but its actually all virtual and a MMO people are playing from all over the galaxy. Though the game itself isn't a MMO really. You play as a set character in a set linear story that's unrelated to that actual in lore story of the MMO.

The characters are fun and the setting is a joy to explore. There's a lot of side content and I don't remember any of it being a drag. This games also challenging and I know It took me a bit to progress at various points. The pixel art is very detailed, especially with the outdoor environments.

This game will keep you engaged for a while and there's challenging DLC and even fun incentives to play new game plus. This is just all around a solid game experience.

Hyper Light Drifter

I played this game a long time ago so details are hazy, but I know I really enjoyed it. It's top down and filled with action. You got a sword. You got a gun. You go kill things and I do remember many challenging combat encounters.

I have forgotten all story elements, but even now I still remember some imagery that reminded me of Evangelion, which is always a plus. Though story was never the main draw to games for me so the setting and combat were all I needed to keep engaged.

Not the most descriptive review of the game, but I know this is one of the furthest game on this list from when I played it and I only went through it once. It's a cool game though and if the trailer enticed you then you owe it to yourself to get it.

Phoenotopia: Awakening

I adore this little hidden gem of a game. If CrossCode is the most dense indie game on this list then this is a very close second. Possibly even more dense, I truly can't decide for sure. It's cute, funny, charming, and full of legitimate challenges.

You play as Gail who lives in a small town village. Some shit happens that I won't give away, but you end needing to travel the land and go on a fun adventure. The story is full of comedic and lively characters. It never takes itself to seriously or gets really dark which Is a nice change of pace.

This game really is an adventure. You will travel a lot and get very familiar with any hub area. There's secrets and puzzles packed all over and gives you good reason to revisit. A nice drip feed of progress is felt as you unlock more stuff.

In terms of combat it's bar far the most simplistic on this list and could even frustrate others, but like everything else in this game it has charm and I adore it. The simple mechanics don't mean no challenge though. I was stuck often, but felt so satisfying when I won.

Some of the late game areas can be bullshit and will frustrate you, but stick with it. This is a genuine top tier hidden indie gem that got no attention. Honestly just under Outer Wilds this would be the other must buy. Absolutely play this.

Vampire Survivorlikes:

20 Minutes Till Dawn

Everyone knows about Vampire Survivor and everyone knows many games came out that tried to capture that style of gameplay. This one is the only one of those I've played and it's wonderful.

You unlock multiple characters and multiple guns with various upgrade trees. Kill the horde, survive, upgrade, survive even longer. Each level only takes 20 minutes, hence the title. I appreciate that as the game would never end with how strong you end up being by the end after you learn the mechanics.

This isn't anything groundbreaking, but if you need to kill half a hour then it's a fun thing to play.

Hawklikes:

Umurangi Generation

Let's fucking go!! This game rules!

As someone who is going to pursue photography more seriously as a hobby this game is perfect. Unlike something like Pokemon Snap or games with photo modes, this game really captures the feeling of holding a physical camera and the moment to moment decisions you make with each shot.

You unlock different lenses and control each shot as you would a real camera. After each photo you can edit it on the spot purely for your own creative reasons. The visuals are low poly and very colorful.

The game has a tony hawk style of progression. A hawklike if you will. You get dropped in a level and are given a list of photos to try and take. You can of course take photos of anything. You have a limited amount of film and can find more throughout the level.

Also there's a story. There's a dark undercurrent to the whole thing and the game is very overtly political in all the right ways. Don't like politics in your games? Fuck you! This game dives right in while still maintaining the core gameplay loop. Need more games like this please.

Please buy this game and it's DLC.

Action Games:

Furi

Top tier action game. It's a boss rush game, that's it. 10 bosses with some vague story that briefly connects them. It's not bloated with bullshit and knows exactly what to focus on.

The combat is a mix of intense melee combat with parries and dodges and the like, with twin stick shooting. No upgrades. No farming. No choosing between this weapon or that. No additional moves or mechanics. You fight a tutorial boss which teaches you everything and then you go. You have the full toolkit from the start and that lets you master it slowly over the game.

It's so fucking satisfying finally winning and knowing you improved and earned that win. I like the story as well. It's not that complex, but the ending bits worked for me.

If you want a genuine good action game that has no bullshit attached then get this.

Amid Evil

There's not much to say about this one other then it's really fucking fun. It's a first person action game where you use magic and weapons to go through combat filled levels. You have health and mana that all weapons use outside of your axe. The levels are filled with secrets, you move fast, and it's just a fun action game.

Sometimes a game isn't more then that and it beats games that are stuffed with unnecessary mechanical bloat. If you want a fun first person action game that's not just a full shooter then this is the game for you.

Adventure Games:

The Cat Lady and Lorelai

I love these games. No one ever talks about them or knows about them and they will certainly linger in your mind. The devs have made 2 other games that I have yet to get to so for now I am recommending only these.

Play The Cat Lady first. It's the first one and tells the story of a very depressed middle aged woman who gets a second chance at life, at a cost.

Lorelai is about a young woman in a very abusive household trying to survive while seeing what lengths she will go to save those she loves.

Both these games revolve around deals with a devil and feature a lot of horrific violence. Fun!

The stories in both evoke a creepy disturbing feeling and you're always on edge. I won't say these are straight horror games, but they sure use horror imagery. The art style really helps sells it. The animations or character models may not be the most beautiful thing around, but it has that indie charm I love. The voice acting isn't perfect either, but these aren't negatives for me. These are passion projects and imperfections are what make any piece of art shine brighter. Real people put their soul into these games and it shows.

The gameplay is standard adventure game fair, but all keyboard controlled. So no endless mouse clicking everything on the screen. which works wonderfully. Though being pure adventure games you're here more for the story then the moment to moment gameplay.

Please play these.

Detention

Detention is probably well known due to the controversy with Red Candle Games other game, Devotion being wiped online for shitty reasons. It's available now on their own websites store, though I still have never played it. I should one day as Detention was pretty fucking good.

The gameplay is the usual 2D adventure game fair. A lot of clicking and puzzle solving with some horror thrown in. The story and setting are where it's at though.

The game is unique in that it's made from Taiwanese devs and the games setting is rooted in their cultures history. I don't want to give away any real details beyond that, but it certainly left an impact and seeing a game not set in Europe, America, Japan, or any fantasy equivalent to those was refreshing. The games also not super long and could easily be beaten in a day.

Go buy it. Play it on a long free night. Support these devs.

Rime

I love the aesthetic of this game. Cel shading indie colorful goodness. I got this for the visuals alone and was very happy the game that came with it was good to. Visuals are a major factor in me getting interested in a game and the reveal trailer was enough for me to play it.

It's very light and cryptic on story for most of it as to be expected from this kind of game. You're a kid, you wake up on a beach and go forth exploring. You solve puzzles and hide from danger and go through each of the unique levels trying to piece together whats going on.

Like the game before, this isn't a super long one. Shouldn't take more then a day or a few to get through it all. Though I do recommend you take your time and explore like I did. Let yourself be immersed in the setting.

This is another example of just a pure perfect indie game. Doesn't overstay it's welcome, tells a simple but cryptic story, and has lovely visuals.

Atominous

This is the one of the few games on this whole list that I would say is truly obscure. In fact I have no doubt this is the most obscure. If you're big into indie games then nothing on this list will honestly surprise you, but I'm confident this is the exception.

In this free game you place as a a little guy who's job is like pest control. Instead of bugs your job is to collect and protect the world from rare atoms called Atominous. Basically little atoms that can alter reality. You go into a big house and your job is to find them through the power of puzzle solving and clicking every little thing you see.

This game is all about clicking everything. Nearly every object has unique text that pops up, if not multiple. You find keys to open more of the house and slowly suck up the atominous atoms and clean up the place.

That's it. It's a fun quirky little free game that shouldn't take more then a couple hours. No excuse not to try it, it's free. It's also the only game not on steam, but instead here

Adventure Games Where You Hit Things:

TUNIC

TUNIC is a lovely indie game. You play as a little cute fox and go on a adventure to save your poor trapped mom. such a cute game :3

I adore the visuals, I love low poly stuff and the game is full of charm. Looking at this game makes me happy. The game is like a mix of a top down Zelda and Fez and it being reminiscent of FEZ was what really took me by surprise. I won't go further in how it's like FEZ, but it really elevated the game for me.

It's a fun top down game with simple fun combat. You kill enemies, find key items, unlock more of the world, and get fed cryptic lore. The perfect formula for a fun little indie game. The game is decently challenging to with it's boss fights, and overall a nice fun little experience with some neat surprises.

TUNIC is wonderful, go play it.

Kena: Bridge of Sprits

This is the most PS2 game I've played since the PS2. I mean that as a compliment. This game felt like going back in time to a simpler time.

Visually the game is not at all like the PS2. The visuals are beautiful and has been compared to Pixar. It's bright, colorful, and well polished. To me this is peak aesthetics. This game is worth playing just to see all the work that went into the game's visuals alone.

It reminded me of a PS2 game because it's a self contained fun third person action adventure. Just a fun game with no bullshit holding it down or any other purpose then being a fun adventure. The world is a joy to explore with a nice steady progression. I especially love how the Hub is mostly corrupted and you slowly restore it over the course of the game. Shit like that always feels so good.

There's a lot of unexpected challenge to. Some of the later fights and especially bosses took me a bit to beat. Just like a PS2 game you'll get random difficulty spikes that are so fucking satisfying to beat.

I highly recommend this game.

Adventure Games Where You're in the Desert:

Sable

Sable is a coming of age story presented in a very fun interactive package. This is a game about heading out into the world and exploring on your own whim to figure out what your character becomes as an adult.

You play as Sable, a young adult girl who has to leave her tribe and head into the wider world to discover herself. The goal is to find mask which representative a life path and pick one by the end. The actual game is about heading into a desert open world, solving puzzles, helping NPC's, and discovering what bits of hidden lore hide throughout. You do this all on a hoverbike you can customize as you unlock more parts.

As always the art style is important to me and this game has something really unique. The characters animation is low framerate and it can be off putting to some, but of course I loved it as I love any odd creative choice. I love the lighting and colors to. It's hard to describe just why I was so mesmerised by the art style, but I can safely say it's one of my all time favorites.

The only negative goes to technical issues. The game ran like shit on my PC and my PC isn't bad. Even people with far better PC's then me ran into frame rate issues and others didn't have any. Sometimes games aren't optimized well, but this game was so magical to me that I loved it, despite the tech issues.

It's a very chill game. You want to explore a cool world at a slow pace and get lost in it? Sable's the game for you.

It Comes In Waves

This is a short game where you have to start over if you die. A penalty I feared, but truthfully this isn't that difficult of an experience. You start on one end of a desert and have to carry something to the other end as it grows inside a tank on your back.

As you wait for whatever your transporting to grow you will explore minimalist environments with some unique imagery that speaks of a wider history you just have to wonder about. The whole time you have to watch out for raiders and watch your water level. It always depletes and you will need to explore and refill it as you journey on. I also love how you have a map, but the map is like an actual map. It doesn't show you on it, but just the overall area.

This game will take you a hour at best and is unlike anything else on this list. There's something about just slowly walking across the desert, not knowing what's ahead, and hoping you can make it to the next water tank. Just a little experimental game about a harsh journey.

Platformers With 2 Entire Dimensions:

MO: Astray

Ever wanted to play as a little blob? No? Well you should because this game was a hidden gem. I was thrown off by this game at first and then pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

This game feels like it should be a metroidvania. It's 2D and you're on a broken down ship or facility or something. Nope. This game is fully linear and at first I didn't think I'd like that and was disappointed, but it works so damn well.

You play a slime essentially and you have the magical power to read the last thoughts and minds of corpses by settling on their rotten fleshy head. With this power and other little story tidbits you learn what's going on, your purpose, and so on.

There's no combat in this game really. You move by shooting yourself in any direction you can see and you can stick to surfaces. There's danger. There's enemies. There's boss fights. All without the usual fair of attack/dodge roll, that's standard for 2D metroidvanias now. This game is something different and that alone makes it worth it.

Also a note on the boss fights. All of them felt very unique from each other I prefer having a few well crafted unique bosses then having a bunch of the same type of fight over and over again.

Another genuine hidden gem you should try.

Platformers With 3 Entire Dimensions:

Frogun

Frogun is adorable. It's like a N64 game and I love it.

You have a frog grappling hook and go through little short levels that ramp up in difficulty. There's optional challenges in each one. The art style is absolutely going for that early 3D low poly vibe that is starting to become more popular.

This is a perfect example of just a fun video game for the sake of being a fun video game. No serious story or message or intense complicated gameplay mechanics. Just a cute 3D platformer reminiscent of a older time.

Also I played this back when I used to stream and a Frogun speedrunner showed up in chat and helped me pull off a couple speedrunning tricks so that was fun.

If you want something simple and fun then here it is.

Cyber Hook

The ultimate speedrunning game. You have a gun, a grappling hook, and the ability to slow down time. This is a pure platformer. You enter levels with the goal of getting through as fast as you can.

I never got great at it, but the few times I really got going fast and flew through a level felt awesome. It's so satisfying finally doing things right after many failures and you will fail a lot.

There's really not much more to it. Neat visuals with satisfying and simple mechanics. If that sounds fun to you then check it out.

Marble It Up! Ultra

Platformers really are just the perfect mechanic to make fun mindless games with. Marble It Up! Ultra is another simple 3D platformer that's just purely focused on being fun.

As always it's not that complicated either. You're a marble and you try to reach the end of each stage with a time limit. There's items to stop time, make you jump higher, and go faster. Just all about building up speed and there's tons of ways to skip past parts of levels. Like the two games before, this one is perfect for speedrunning.

It's fun, go buy it.

RPG's:

Roadwarden

I was going to make a big post about why I preferred this to BG3, but scrapped it. BG3 is fun, but the story just bores me from the get go. Where BG3 failed for me Roadwarden succeeded. All story and all fantastic.

This is a text based RPG. Very simplistic visuals which show just enough to let your imagination handle most of the work.

You play a roadwarden who has the lovely job to travel the dangerous roads and help the townsfolk all while working on your greater goals. You pick between 3 starting classes and those do change how you approach things quite a bit. You have a time limit and that will force you to prioritize things over others. You can't do everything in a single playthrough. Your decisions matter and you aren't going to figure everything out.

You have to manage your health, money, hunger, and cleanliness. You will never have enough money for everything and that helps create more interesting choices. You have to manage what you do in a day. You meet a lot of people and forge allies or enemies and it's all told with stellar writing.

If you want a well written fantasy interactive story then you must play this game.

RPG's With Intense High-Octane Turn Based Combat:

Epic Battle Fantasy 5

A long time ago in times forgotten there existed these ancient relics called Flash games. Maybe one day I'll talk about old flash games I was into, but for now I'm only talking about the latest instalment in one of them. Epic Battle Fantasy is a series of games made by Matt Roszak. They started as little flash games, but have since turned into bigger games that are on Steam. 5 is the latest one and also the best so I'm recommending this one.

I've gone through this game multiple times. This game fucking rules. The game is easy to control, satisfying, and has my favorite turn based combat system period. No seriously, this is my favorite turn based combat system. I could go on what I like about it so much, but I'll spare you all most of the details. I'll say it gets rid of mana entirely and put all your abilities on cooldowns which changes based on what you're using. This just fixes balancing and helps you from spamming heals and all that. I love this system. It's easy to control, intuitive to understand, full of options, and can have a chaotic randomness I enjoy.

In this game you explore the overworld, solve puzzles, and fight enemies. The story is not at all serious or anything like that. It may not be a Flash game anymore, but it still has the older internet spirit of not taking things to seriously and being a little juvenile. There's also a lot of post game challenges that still are impossible for me to really do well or at all.

You can change the difficulty anytime and another thing I love is the entire game can be controlled with just a mouse. You can use a keyboard to, but a mouse covers everything which I think is neat.

This is such a wonderful combat system and the game I've beaten most on this list. If you want legitimately challenging turn based RPG combat and don't care about story or characters to get that then this game is a must play.

Shadows Over Loathing

Want a lovecraftian mystery RPG injected with a dose of comedy where everybody is a stick figure? Yes? How very specific, but luckily there's a game just for you.

Shadows Over Loathing is a turn based RPG where you search for your missing uncle in a area full of strange locations and characters. I never did play their other game West of Loathing, and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It was a lot of fun, creative, difficult at times, and had a world I really wanted to explore.

It has a lighthearted comedic tone throughout and the silly art and stick figure characters help with that. The actual turn based combat is fun to. Nothing to complicated but could be challenging to which is needed to help this style of combat really shine.

There's really not much more to it. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy then please check it out.

RPG's Fused With A Light Novel:

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

AA games still exist! I finally get to talk about Ys. I've played 3 Ys games and I'm going to talk about my favorite one because of the fun gameplay. This is a very unknown franchise that has existed since the 80's and even now the 10th instalment is set to release later this year.

As for why I'm recommending Ys 8, it's because it has some of the most fun gameplay. The combat is fast paced, encourages good timing, and full of that anime over the top stylish action. You control up to 3 characters and can easily switch between them. Each character plays differently and has their own special moves and everything just feels so satisfying.

You play as generic light novel anime man, Adol. Tagging along is generic tsundere light novel anime girl and other light novel anime characters. Like edgy boy with a gun, loli raised in the wild, and blue haired girl. You crash land on a island and have to survive and find survivors. Much like LOST the story goes off the rails and of course in classic JRPG fashion you need to stop the end of the world somehow. Unlike LOST characters are generic and the usual anime fair.

Despite the lackluster story this game still fucking rules because it's so goddamn fun to play. It also solved crafting forever by making it so you can convert common items into rarer ones making anything you find useful potentially. Seriously it's such a nice feature and all crafting systems without it are lesser.

If you want some fun action combat and don't mind anime bullshit then really, check out the entire franchise. Any of them will do, but this is the one I'd recommend the most.

RPG's Fused With A Light Novel and A WW2 Textbook:

Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4

Picture this. WW2, but with anime and magical girls. Japan just never stops with these incredible ideas.

I adore these 2 games. I haven't played 2 or 3 as those are PSP games and I don't hear great things. However I can confirm 1 and 4 are fucking fantastic.

These games are tactical RPG's where you command troops one by one in missions. Most are usually about capturing a enemy base, but there's a lot of variety beyond that in both of them. You lay out your troops at the start plus your commander who's in the tank. You get a set level of CP per turn and each CP is used to control a unit. The actual game is probably piss easy for experienced tactical game players, but I'm not that at all. I found it legitimately difficult, both games.

What sets it apart is the game turns into a sort of third person shooter when controlling the units. You can freely move up to your AP and get one action to do. If it was just top down the whole time I'd find that not that interesting, but actually moving around and taking cover unit by unit is very engaging. There's 5 classes in the first game and a 6th added in the fourth game. Each class can be upgraded as well along with weapons, equipment, and the tanks.

The stories in both are nothing special truthfully. It's anime WW2 with silly dumb anime characters. I don't mind that and had a lot of fun, but if you can't stand something like Persona then these games will infuriate you. To me stupid anime characters in games can be a lot of fun, like Raz in 4, the dumbest but somehow most entertaining character for me. Expect some silly anime cliches and tone changes and the usual fair for these kinds of games. Even if the story is a big nothing for you, I still think both games are worth it for the gameplay.

Another aspect that I really love is all your units have personality traits that can trigger as you control them. What caught me off guard was that they're both positive and negative ones. There's ones like a woman having man hater and fancies woman as traits, aka the lesbian. There's straight up a guy with misogynist as a trait. Some are lonely, frail, daredevils, have crushes or people they hate, even one with the masochist trait. All these good and bad traits translate into potential buffs or debuffs that can happen in the game.

Sadly these side characters don't get much story in the first game. Just a unique design with some personality traits and maybe a couple in battle lines of dialogue. However, the 4th one introduced squad stories. Essentially little side stories that revolve around the non important squad mates. They were always fun to do and the missions for them are more unique because they are designed around only using those 3 characters.

I recommend both of them, but if you had to play one I'm not sure. 1 has the better story, the overall lore itself establishes in 1, and the gameplay is still fun. 4 has the better gameplay, more unique missions, and the squad stories which were a highlight for me.

Just pick which one sounds more like your thing if you only want to spend the time with one of them. Both are fun.

RPG's About the Harsh Reality of Capitalism:

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale

I adore this games concept. It takes the common NPC seen in these little RPG adventures, the shopkeeper, and puts you in their shoes. You're father has a big debt to pay off and you now have to sell items out of your house to help pay it off before the deadline.

You lay the items out and then have to haggle your way to a profit. Finding the line of when to haggle and how much is the key to success and I failed miserably. I never did beat this game, but I haven't beaten many games on this list and that won't stop me from telling you to play them. I think the concept alone is enough of a reason to check it out.

The game does have combat as well. You can hire an adventurer to go with you into a dungeon and fight enemies for treasure. I like how you hire someone from the Adventurers Guild, just another cool concept as a typical game would have you play as the character being hired instead all the time. I also like how dungeons are high risk high reward. If they die then you lose most of what you gather and essentially just wasted the day.

It's just a cool concept and a nice change of pace from how a game set in these typical fantasy settings would go. You aren't some savior of the world, but just a shopkeeper trying to pay off debt.

Spooky Games:

Yuppie Psycho

Do you want a game about a corporate building being haunted by dark forces and being a badass fighting your way through it all? That's Control. You just want Control.

Unlike Control which bored me to death after a while. Yuppie Psycho is about a haunted corporate building, but you play a new lowly worker who's been tasked with something far above his pay grade. Brian Pasternack is a new hire who's in way over his head. What should have been a normal corporate jobs turns into a witch hunt, literally.

You aren't a badass and will have to sneak your way to victory, uncovering the buildings hidden secrets along the way. For me that's part of why this works over Control as a effective story. You're kind of a fucking nobody who has to be extra careful and is reluctant to even do this. Far more relatable honestly.

The joy of this game comes from exploring this building and uncovering the secrets and horrors. Each floor is unique and this game gets creative with the corporate horror vibe. I love some of the designs of things and how it blends comedy and horror together. It also has branching paths and even limited save slots which seemed frustrating at first, but wasn't really a big deal. Not saving every chance you can really adds to the tension when sneaking around.

It's not a true horror intense experience, but as someone who is a baby with horror I found a lot of genuine tense moments. It's a real indie gem.

The Complex: Found Footage

Kane Pixels backrooms videos are honestly pretty fucking great. I'm not usually a fan of horror at all, but there's something about these videos that just work for me. Then pgWave decided to make a video game creating the experience of exploring these kinds of spaces.

This is a creepy game where you slowly move through liminal spaces and just sort of get lost in it. There's no jumpscares or anything intense happening, but as a baby with horror this game was tense to go through for me. Honestly I appreciate it's not a more traditional horror game with a monster or something. Just dropped in a space that's inherently unsettling and leaving it up to you to explore.

If you have a free night and want to get lost exploring spaces only games could deliver then play it. It's literally free.

Games Where You Gotta Go Fast:

Distance

This game fucks. I actually remember when playing the first version of this game back when it was a student project. Students at DigiPen made a game called Nitronic Rush and it was (maybe still is?) available to download for free from the schools website. That game fucks and they announced a proper full game called Distance and it was one of the rare instances I actually bought a early access game.

Distance is a car game about going fast as fuck. The levels don't put you against anyone and instead just getting to the end is the challenge in itself. You have a boost that can overheat, a jump, and even wings when needed. The levels will require you to weave in and out of oncoming danger. They have jumps where you'll need to turn the car 90 or 180 degrees to land on a new track. All while giving you a wonderful sense of speed and accomplishment when you pull things off right.

It's not a easy game either and levels will get challenging. There's a ton of levels and challenges and if you get sucked into the gameplay then there's a lot to keep you there. This game seeks to deliver the thrill of going fast in a dangerous track where everything is out to kill you, and making it to the end. There's really not much more to say. It has a specific vision and fully realizes it.

Games Where You Trust the Heart of the Cards:

Foretales:

This game is very unique and nothing quite like what I've played before. The entire game is card based. Each of the characters have their own decks that are all mixed together in your hand. You have 4 resources you can collect, gold, food, fame, and infamy. You can get item cards as well. The board has various location cards you need to move through to move the story along. What's unique about this is the cards can be used in battle or on locations.

It's hard to really go into details how this all works, but you don't have a separate hand or anything for when combat begins.

Some cards have uses in locations and battles and others don't, but there all mixed together which adds to you planning ahead and making the best choice. You can use a eavesdrop card near a guard post to get a juicy secret which can be used for blackmail later. You can forage for food and obviously a forest will give you more then a mine shaft. There's a lot of really cool little interactions and creativity put into this systems that's just to complicated to type out and explain.

One thing I can get into is the best feature of combat. The fact that you can get through it without fighting or with less fighting then needed. Those 4 resources can be used in locations for story or optional reasons, but they can also be used in combat pacify enemies. Bandits can be bribed with gold or food for example. Fame and infamy can be used as well in certain circumstances. They are a constantly growing resource that always have uses. I'm sure it's possible to do a full pacifist run, though I imagine it would be difficult.

The game also has multiple paths for the story to go and lots of optional stuff. Multiple characters to use down the line but only 3 party members so there's more choice as well. Also everyone's an anthropomorphic animal because why not.

I just like how it's a card based game that's not just a battle between opponents or a roguelike or how cards are typically used in video games. If nothing else this game should be played for it's game design alone. If you want a really unique interactive story experience entirely dictated by cards then this is about the only game I know of like it.

One Step From Eden

I'm very bad at this game. So bad I still have never beaten it once. It's really fun all the same though.

It's a deckbuilding roguelike set on a grid. As the formula goes you fight your way through, choosing your path, collecting cards, and seeing if you can win. In my case that's a no.

The game is set on a grid where you have to manage what spells you currently have, dodging enemies, and somehow making sense of the chaos. You can unlock other characters that have their own unique mechanics to help freshen things up. Also the game just throws you in the deep end and lets you learn through playing. No tutorial or anything, just have at it.

If you're itching for a roguelike that's very fucking challenging then enjoy.

Inscryption

This is another game I expect many others to know about, but if not then honestly just play it.

It's a rougelike card game set in a wonderfully crafted creepy setting. You're alone in some mysterious persons shack forced to play a really well designed card game. Of course if it was just that I'd not be recommending it.

The mechanics are well thought out and slowly learning the mechanics feels nice. You will fail, a lot, as is the case for roguelikes, but keep at it. The game is filled with secrets and puzzles and mysteries that you'll just have to figure out for yourself.

Much like with Outer Wilds way back at the top, I don't want to say much more. If you have somehow not played this or don't know anything about it then you should.

Tainted Grail: Conquest

This is still the only proper deck-building roguelike in the same vein as Slay the Spire. While I haven't played much of that and honestly couldn't get into it, this game I did.

It was described to me as Slay the Spire meets Dark Souls by some poor soul who's brain is forever lost in soulslike hell. In reality it's just a cool deck building game where you fight creepy monsters and slowly build up the village to make each run easier. There's characters to find and NPC quest you can make little progressions on each run. It's just enough story and context to give this game a sense or purpose and progression outside collecting cards.

What added more replayability to me beyond the quest was having 9 classes to work with. In truth it's really 3 broad classes with 3 variations on those broader class types. You have the fighter, archer, and summoner as the broad classes. They use similar cards, but their strategies vary with each subclass. A summoner is more about making their summons powerful, bloodmages use their own life to summon minions that get stronger and die on their own, and necromancers sacrifice their minions to turn into a Lich. The fighter and archer subclasses are as varied and it's a good way to use similar cards across different playstyles.

I had a lot of fun with this one. It's a fun deck building game.

Thinking Games:

Manifold Garden:

I love the space this game takes place in. This is the shit only games can truly deliver on. The world is basically always looping. Each level repeats in all directions when your in open space. If you fall anywhere, you'll be ok. You can just fall endlessly even, it's very mesmerising and freeing once you get used to the fact that you can just jump off anywhere, and even needed to solve the level sometimes.

The other fun mechanic the puzzles primarily revolve around is the ability to walk on any surface and change gravity as you do it. Essentially you turn the wall into the new floor and is the main mechanic for puzzles in enclosed spaces. This game uses blocks of various colors and the simple task of putting them in the right slot is made complicated by having to altar gravity and matching them up. There's other mechanics introduced of course, but you'll need to discover those yourself.

The game can be beaten in a day give or take your skill at puzzles. I appreciate that it doesn't overstay it's welcome and uses it's mechanics in interesting ways. Also this reminds me I still need to play Antichamber someday.

If you like exploring spaces only games can deliver on or puzzles then this is the game for you.

FEZ

FEZ! This is such a fun interesting little game. It's probably well known given who the creator is, but if you haven't checked this out before, then you should.

The trailer makes it appear to be more a platformer then a puzzle game and that's half right. Similar to another game on this list, FEZ goes much deeper then a mere platformer. It has some esoteric puzzles. As I understand (could be wrong) one puzzle still hasn't been solved legitimately, but had to be brute forced and even now the community has no concrete answers on how you were supposed to get the solution.

The good news is the harder puzzles aren't technically required to just finish the game. You could still enjoy this as a fun platformer. The way the world works is you see the game world on a 2D plane. Like any other 2D platformer. However, the world itself is in 3D and you can switch the perspective to change where platforms and other things are. It's really fun moving about this world and in a sense each level is it's own puzzle to figure out how to get through it with these mechanics.

I highly recommend this game.

Thinking Games for DJ's

FRACT OSC

This is another game I would be shocked if anyone knew about. No one talks about this game ever and I don't even remember how I found out about it wayyyy back in college. This is also the oldest game on here I've played. I haven't touched this is years, but know I enjoyed it a lot.

What i remember is it's filled with music based puzzles. I also remember being very fucking confused and having to look shit up, but the real joy is just the vibe. Everything makes sound and the whole game revolves around music. I slowly explored as much as I could and just took it all in. It's a fun space to be in and I'm a sucker for being dropped in a unusual place only games can delivery on.

If you don't know shit about music production like me you might have a hard time or maybe I was just a fucking idiot and needed help. Either way I still recommend this to everyone.

Vibing with the Beat Games:

Sayonara Wild Hearts

This is basically a interactive album. It's a rhythm game that's not to difficult, which is good as this is more about the flow and vibe. There's not much more to say about it. It will take an hour and every bit is lovely. It's a visual and auditory feast that has some clever ideas packed in. I think everyone should experience it.

Soundodger+

This game won't be on the Steam store for much longer sadly. Warner Bros being shitty and taking cool shit down. I haven't played any other of the Adult Swim games that are being taken down, but I encourage you to find the list and get anything interesting while you still can.

The game itself is a fun little bullet hell rhythm game. The song plays and you are a circle in the middle of larger circle. Obstacles are thrown out into the middle timed to the music and you simply have to dodged them. I don't remember it being to hard, but I know there are community levels and I just have to assume those are going to be tough.

It's a cool game to vibe to and it's going to be gone soon. Don't miss your chance to get it.

Artsy Games That I Don't Know Where Else To Put Them:

The Beginner's Guide

This a narrative experience about the relationship between the narrator and the game dev who's games are being played. That may not sound like the most interesting premise, but trust me it's very engaging. This game has a unsettling feeling underneath it all and it's really hard to go into more without just spoiling things.

The actual game is you going through a series of small little games made by a Dev named Coda as the narrator Davey speaks to you about various things relating to the game and Coda himself. It's explores a character who's frankly caught up in a unhealthy obsession with someone else and quite the journey.

It will only take a hour and half to get through and I think it's worth a playthrough if you like narratives only video games can deliver on.

The Static Speaks My Name

This is the shortest game on this list. It's also the most depressing. If you struggle with dark thoughts and depression and really need something happy to distract you, then do not play this little free game.

It's a sad and unsettling little experience that has a lot of room for interpretation. I'm a fan of little strange pieces of art like this and if this sounds interesting to you then it's free. Check it out.

Minimalist City Builder Games:

ISLANDERS

This such a cute game. It's a simple city builder where the goal is to keep building things correctly and move on to another island. You start on a randomly generated island and are given a set of buildings and a number to reach. Buildings will get bonuses based on whats near them and as you unlock more buildings the number to reach gets higher.

That's really it. It's easy to understand and a nice little relaxing game about building a cool island town. Pretty cheap and pretty fun.

Multi Genre:

The Hex

This is multi genre because it quite literally has many different gameplay modes packed in it. A bunch of old video game characters stay at a Tavern where a murder may take place. It's a murder mystery! Also so much more.

In truth it's a narrative video game about exploring these characters past lives and revealing a larger narrative underneath it all. This was made by Daniel Mullens who's latest game I recommended earlier. Much like Inscryption, this game slowly draws you into it's setting and drop feeds you it's secrets slowly.

The Hex was pleasantly surprising as I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. It's worth playing.

That's it. That's the list. Over 50 more games to add to your Steam library which means over 50 more games you'll get to, eventually.

#video games #Steam #indie games #Steam Sale #Gaming

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tossawary · 7 months ago

Text

The AVALANCHE group in "Final Fantasy 7: Remake" keeps cracking me up. They're not wearing any face masks to hide their identities when busting into secure SHINRA facilities full of surveillance cameras??? They don't even change outfits when they're not running missions??? It's killing me.

Assuming that they are not outright killing every SHINRA trooper they encounter (maybe they are, idk), even if they weren't being caught on a bunch of surveillance cameras (the opening mission shows this happening), there's like dozens of people who should be able to give relatively detailed descriptions of them??? (Also, I laugh every time the screen says that Cloud has "defeated" a SHINRA trooper. If he's a super soldier swinging that much sharp metal around at high speeds, he should (realistically) be cutting people in half. It is amusing to me to see the people enemies just fall over and the machine enemies get trashed. I find it very cartoony.)

(I am still failing to properly watch my way through this series during work. I personally don't super love the hyperrealistic dolls design style and I don't think it jives all that well with the incredibly cartoony world building, clumsy "as you know" exposition, and wacky gameplay execution so far. It's just not my thing. Yet I found "Ace Attorney" utterly intolerable to watch but very fun to actually play through the wackiness, so I'll give FF7 the benefit of the doubt there and say, "Sure, I assume this is still really fun to actually play and that the world is immersive enough that way.")

This game is a "AAA" remake of a super popular game in a super popular franchise, but they apparently couldn't be bothered to make secondary "civilian" models for Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge? What is this? A cheaply made cartoon series? These characters are waltzing around the slums in their matching bright red bandanas and Jessie, who is apparently a former performer and therefore especially recognizable, is always wearing her silly tit-sculpted armor. AVALANCHE took a crowded passenger train home from their opening terrorist mission when they should rightfully all smell and look awfully beat-up and suspicious after fleeing a massive reactor explosion???

Like, I don't really care if the characters think they're hacking the camera systems here or if the game wants pretty character faces to be visible at all times. I also don't really care about faithfulness to the original setup. They could yank facemasks down during specific cutscenes? Cloud could lose his facemask at a dramatic moment during a cutscene? And Jessie could exclaim over how cute Cloud is at the end of the mission or whatever; you can frame all of their faces as a rewarding reveal at the end of the opener. I know that character models removing clothing is super hard in 3D animation, especially games, but there are storyboarding and model swap tricks for that. You can fake ripping off a facemask relatively easily.

If the point is for SHINRA to know it's them all along and to set them up to take the fall for something later, then AVALANCHE taking greater precautions and the Turks catching them out anyway could be used to make both AVALANCHE and the Turks look more competent / dangerous. Maybe you could generously interpret SHINRA's apparent failure to catch our protagonists out as the corporation being a bloated wreck of greed and incompetent, overly reliant on their technology and wealth, but that still doesn't really excuse for me making the AVALANCHE characters look this reckless. Jessie later visits her SHINRA employees PARENTS' HOUSE in her TERRORIST UNIFORM??? JESSIE, NO!!! That's so dangerous.

There's so much detail in the backgrounds here already! If it's a matter of resources, surely some random mob NPC models could be cut so that I could see Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge in cute civilian wear outside of their missions! I am already suspending so much disbelief for so much of FF7's wacky worldbuilding, but these little details are what's really tripping me up for some reason, like, come on. SHOW ME that these characters are good at what they do by having them take some basic precautions.

I laughingly shared these thoughts with someone and they said (jokingly critical of the game as well) that Barret probably doesn't bother with secrecy because he's already apparently the only big black guy around and almost certainly the only big black guy with a gun for an arm. Which is a point! But also, BARRET!!! YOU'RE A FATHER!!! SUNGLASSES ARE NOT SUFFICIENT ANONYMITY HERE!!! THINK OF MARLENE, MAN!!!

#tossawary ff7 #cloud strife #jessie biggs and wedge #barret wallace #long post #spoilers

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justporo · 1 year ago

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I don't know if this is something you would feel comfortable doing at all, and if you aren't just disregard this!

I want to see Tav, who cares so deeply for their companions to break down. Yes, they didn't need to 'save' them, they didn't need to keep them from becoming their worst selves. But they did. They saved them, at the risk of their life multiple times. They never complained, or said anything. (I think 😭)

AAA, it's like 3 am for me so I'm in my feels about shit so ignore this if it isn't your style

Oh, I definitely see where you are going with this. First of all, Anon, I hope you're doing alright! I get being in your feelings - I just hope it isn't too negative!

I have written this one fic, where Tav snaps when the party meets Araj again because they are just on edge: "You always meet twice in life!"

I know this is not exactly what was asked but I gotta say, I wouldn't exactly have a good idea how to write this. I will however give you my thoughts about this:

Because Tav very obviously is the glue that holds this little ambivalent group together. They're the ones mediating between party members, pushing everyone to go the extra mile, persuading each individual that they are worthy of love and all the best things just the way they are. There's no ascension needed, no standing as a Dark Justiciar.

And through it all Tav has poured their heart and soul into her companions. But who's there when Tav's breaking point is reached?

What if they're very silent about it. Everything is done, everyone is saved and they just reach the end of their rope. They just withdraw, become silent, feel themselves spiral into the void. Telling themselves that they don't want anyone to notice - although in truth there is nothing they want more. They just don't want to be a bother.

But the companions do notice - after so many months of adventuring together, going through deep personal stuff, they would notice the slightest change in Tav.

And they will be there when they fall to catch them - just as Tav was there for them. Because the tadpoles might be gone, but the bond created is for life.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #baldur's gate iii #poro headcanons #bg3 #bg3 companions

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insufferablemod · 7 months ago

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your art style is so fucking sick i love the way your shapes are defined,,, is your hand still injured? because honestly the brand is fucking impeccable either way. the shakiness really gives it emotion and almost like. god. its just so... i want to study it so bad.

do you have anything in specific that really inspired the way you developed your shapes and the rest of it?? i keep saying shapes and its mad vague but i hope you know what i mean

like how you decide what lines should go where to define what, i guess.

enuff yappin tho. point is. ur shit is HYPE.

aaa thank youuuuu :')c <3 hand is sadly still injured 😎💀 have started drawing a bit with it tho! just gotta be careful with it(<-was not careful with it)

And agdhd dont worry, shape is actually the perfect word to describe it! So the way I approach things is well, shapes lol Literally, I try if I can to stick in as many solid shapes as I can They help keep things clean n uncluttered(which I am trying 2 get better at) and can help make things feel more solid I try and break down what I'm drawing into the most basic 3d shapes I can in my head without going 2 abstract or cartoony And then it's just kinda tracing those shapes in ur mind down 2 the page? I think this also helps with getting more like, volume/depth in, since basic shapes r easier to imagine in 3d then like, actual real life human anatomy i like to think of it kinda like sculpting, you start with simple big shapes and then slowly chip away n add more detail where necessary Asaro heads r a great recourse for this kinda stuff n theres some good ones u can just find online! actually, here are 2 link link (i actually gotta try n use these more,, u_u(oh shit just googled n theres actually also asaros bodies, i gotta check those out 2 lol)) Then it's just finding a good balance of curved and straight shapes, the ratio of which can change a lot depending on the vibe ur going for or character ur drawing

scribbled over some of my art 2 try n show what i mean better lol

sorry for the late response! hope any of that made sense!

#damn got this one exactly a month ago apparently #thats pretty fast 4 me!#fghjgjkh #looking at how other artists stylize and simplify things is also a huge help #and not to be mega cheesy but other homestuck artists have been big inspos u_u <3 #but some non hs inspos recently have been spiderverse and gigi cavenago (who did work on spiderverse 2 lol #i could tell from the momenyt i saw miguel that he was inspired by gigis work so when his backstory was shown n it Was gigis work #i think i Actually yelled in the middle of the theater and annoyingly pestered my friends about it adsf(i am sorry for my theater crimes..)#ask #anon #rambles #art tips #the fridge

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melimpostor · 10 months ago

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OMG you are one of if not the best aruanie artist i saw, i cant believe i have only found you now!

They were like the first ship ever for me and they still mean a lot, they are so sweet, especially in your style. The ironic thing is, that at first way back around season 1 i started to see aruanie fan art, and at the time i tought it was a bit odd (i guess i missed all the signs in the show), i liked it but i considered it somewhat of a crack ship, especially since Annie was present just for one short season then it seemed like she never actually gonna come back. And then i lost my mind when suddenly in the manga it was just straight up canon xd. It propably helped that from the begining they were my favourite characters even individually.

They are still the best ship ever, like what do you mean in her whole life she was raised for war, but then couldnt kill the one guy who didnt cared about all this conflict and revenge he just wanted to explore the world, and her decicion cost the warriors the whole mission and eventually changed the world 😭

Btw do you know of some fanfictions that you would recommend?

WaaaAAAAAA- (ಥ◡ಥ) I’m not sure i deserve such a title, but thank you very much for your kind words, I appreciate it a lot ! ♥ ♥ This blog is fairly new, i've been active here since january so it might be why -

Haha I feel you! Aruani made me feel things i never thought i would for fictional characters before. I personally shipped them from the start. I guess I was gifted with the vision and carried the curse of being judged by my AOT-enthusiast friends for years. So I understand why it felt like a crack ship at the time for some. I was pretty sure i was delusional myself- but now… SIKE !!!!!!!!!!!! I am unapologetically taking my revenge with Aruani fanart now XD

But yeah, Annie is basically the one who compromised the whole mission because of her affection for Armin. Ruthless Annie. Flawless Annie... Falling for the sweet sweet boy with cute smiles and curious eyes?? aaa i’m weAk..

As for fanfictions, I am actually new to this kind of media. I never really looked for written fan-content in any other fandoms before…well- now... But i’m happy i’m finally doing it because it opens my artistic viewpoint and this community is very talented ♥ I didn't know writing could make me feel so many emotions and keeping me involved like that. I never experienced it to that extend in the past.

That being said, it means I haven't read a lot of them yet, besides work keeps me busy and my reading is pretty slow…So for the time being i 'll suggest you take a look at this post which regroups a lot of work already (and I think reblogs have some updates too ! )

And if you wanted my personal recommandations, maybe ask me again in 6 months or 24 so I have time to catch up ! haha- sorry dear writers, i failed you for so long ;;

#ask #coming back late to the fandom is like coming late to a party with a gigantic buffet already set #thank you for the food #you all are so great

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kazimo · 9 months ago

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I keep going back and looking at the two Yin Yu arts...he is beautiful...

I love how in the first one his head is tilted, and our perspective is that we are looking up at him, and his eyes are warm and bright, his hair is loose and flowy, and there's that little smile, he's happy

And then we see him as the Waning Moon Officer, and he's in complete contrast with his first image, we are now looking down at him while he looks up, his eyes are dull without the shine and they look cold, his hair is tied up, his lips are down turned

I love the contrast between the two images

I love seeing Yin Yu in your style 😍 ☺️

Aaa that's exactly what I intended with these two drawings anon! I'm so, so happy they come across this way!

It's heartbreaking everytime, but I love thinking about the contrast between the yy who genuinely believed in his own worth/potential and the yy who is resigned to define himself based on his shortcomings…

It's such a change that xl even comments on that when he sees his younger version in the flashback

Anyway, before I start to ramble sdfsajdf I'm so glad you like my art and thanks for sending this nice message, I really enjoy when people talk about yy! ❤️☺️

#kaz replies

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wardencommanderbrosca · 25 days ago

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a Review

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a good, ambitious, and fun game. With the weight of the series, and perhaps BioWare as a studio, resting on the success of this game, this game had much to do. It pulled through. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, to be called The Veilguard or DATV as well going forward, delivers a complex, satisfying narrative game that combines several aspects from previous Dragon Age games, as well as other BioWare titles, to craft a beautiful experience that makes me want to play over and over again. The game has several stumbling blocks, yet none that would stop me from wanting to play the game again. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a gorgeous and complex game with rewarding combat, exciting skill trees, difficult choices, and a dash of nonsensical writing mixed with very moving companion stories and epic battles. In short, it’s absolutely a Dragon Age game.

SPOILERS FOR Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the Mass Effect trilogy.

Before The Veilguard, Both In Thedas and in the Real World.

People were not excited for this game until they changed the name, and now it is no longer Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, Trespasser’s sequel, but Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a soft reboot of the franchise. Dragon Age: Inquisition was Game of the Year, yet in many ways it is very much a product of its time. It came about when open world games were spreading their wings over the field of AAA games, and BioWare was insisting on using the Frostbite game engine. It also marked a change from the more tragic tone of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, as well as the more classic RPG elements of those games. This is where Dragon Age became more of an action RPG, more similar to a game such as Mass Effect 3 than Dragon Age: Origins. It was a good game, yet many parts of it feel like a frustrating slog. While a good game, it was unfocused, and the bones of what it could have been trespassed on my thoughts. Indeed, the DLC Trespasser seems to bear most of the items that are carried over into Veilguard. The DLC establishes Solas will be our next villain.  For years, silence. We were told the game would be called Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. Maybe a teaser where, once again, we were told Solas was the enemy. No progress or growth. BioWare laid off a massive number of long-time employees and writers, and there was no news. Then the first trailer hit. 

The shots introducing each member of the Veilguard corresponded with the change of name from Dreadwolf to Veilguard, and it knocked people’s socks off. After years with little to no news, people stewing on Inquisition’s missed opportunities, and picking apart tertiary material in books and comics to find anything, we finally had a game. It was vibrant, it was colorful, it was action-packed. Many people decried the game for changing tone from the “dark fantasy” of the series. For those people, Dragon Age hasn’t been dark fantasy since early 2011, and also Origins had several silly moments as well. Dragon Age is now epic fantasy, and has been for some time.  As we learned more, the devs of the game told us players showed us things that thrilled us. A robust character creator, several branching and customizable builds and items, the ability to be nonbinary and have it come up in-game, different body types, tattoos, skin tones, and scarring. We saw flashy combat and combinations of abilities, a more hack-and-slash style than previous games. It looked like a refinement of the previous game’s work while still keeping the feel of cooperation and combat from other games.

In terms of other games, the biggest bombshell was that there would be no world state import or use of the Keep, the record keeping system for decisions made in Origins, DA2, and Inquisition. This, understandably, upset people. I was one of them. However, my hubbywife Kellan of @veilkeeper fame revealed its wisdom to me: we were in the Northern part of Thedas, a decade removed from the events of Inquisition. While it is nice to see codex entries or ambient dialogue detailing events of the world, that stuff would, logically, have little to no impact in the day-to-day life of the average citizen of Thedas. It was a bitter pill, but I swallowed. However, there are still some decisions that were sorely missed.There are only three questions that are asked about your world state for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Who did the Inquisitor romance? What happened to the Inquisition? Did the Inquisitor vow to stop or redeem Solas? This makes sense for our sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition: Trespasser (DLC); those decisions mostly originate from there. However, it overlooks a few important things that come up in the game, such as who drank from the Well of Sorrows. Given Morrigan appears in the game and Mythal’s essence coats the story like a thick fog, it seems odd to exclude this decision, as well as other decisions from earlier games that would shape Morrigan’s story and character.

Southern Thedas, or Lack Thereof

Southern Thedas is gone. This is not hyperbole. The Inquisitor and their impact in Southern Thedas, presented in a cameo that can only be described as, “This meeting could have been an email,” can be boiled down to a few letters detailing how Ferelden, Orlais, and Orzammar have fallen. As the Veilguard plays through the North of Thedas, we learn the south falls through epistolary, Denerim destroyed and communication lost with Orzammar. Kirkwall is evacuated. Skyhold is mentioned only as a place about to be overrun. Morrigan brings us the Inquisitor and regales us with tales of her mother Flemeth as a host for Mythal, yet where is her son? Where is the person that motivated her to never be what Flemish was to her? Where is Kieran, the son my warden had with Morrigan to avert his own death and end the Blight? That decision is gone, wiped away as Denerim is torn from the map and Morrigan’s child is erased. The sacrifices and stories of the previous protagonists and companions are treated as a footnote, letters only differentiated from other missives by the Inquisition’s heraldry staring at you. I do not expect everything to be relevant or remembered, yet there is a certain apathy or lack of respect in the devs’ decision to wipe away our decisions and choices that influence characters that have prominent supporting roles in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

First Impressions, or “Holy shit. This is a Dragon Age game.”

Veilguard feels like a refinement of what Inquisition was trying to do. The combat is reminiscent of Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Inquisition together, combining skills with the attacks of allies and learning to block or dodge various attacks. The combat mechanics are fed to the player at a satisfying pace, and the scale of the danger is immediately apparent as clawed, feral creatures on fire break from the weakened Veil to assault our world of feeling. It feels immediately like an epic fantasy of hard choices and mysterious, powerful threats. It felt like a Dragon Age game.

Act 1, or “Can I Please Have My Companions?”

You might have started the apocalypse. Now, you need to fix it. Exploring Arlathan Forest, Minrathous, Treviso, and the Fade as you explore the world while on your main quests is a far cry from Inquisition. Inquisiton’s exploration felt sort of pointless, less exploration and clever seeking and more errands or busy work that is the hallmark of AAA open world games. Running around these locations made me marvel at the complexity, feeling wonderful to walk through without feeling repetitive. Very importantly, I wanted to come back. I wanted to spend time there. I wanted to climb every trellis and freeze every lock. I wanted to tinker with devices and move stones, I wanted to leap on roofs and build up the rank of the shops. Veilguard makes you love the cities you explore, which makes the climax of Act 1 even more brutal. 

I was more than 15 hours into the game by the time I got to the end of Act 1 with Davrin recruited. I had no time to enjoy the hunk of an elf, however, as I am immediately asked to choose between Minrathous and Treviso, both Neve and Lucanis, and thus the game, presenting heartstring-plucking and logical arguments. This is one the choices that helps define your character and the game for the remainder of the, at minimum 50 hours of game left, more likely another 65 or 70 hours. I as a person would choose Treviso, yet Turab Mercer, my Shadow Dragon Rook, would of course choose Minrathous. The game also does not make you feel as though you are abandoning the city you did not choose, as your other companions still attempt to aid the city. Seeing the devastation of Treviso, though… The game provides multiple perspectives from people in Treviso going forward. Some blame you, some understand why you made the choice you did. Rook can still carry the blame.

At this point in the game, you still don’t have two of our companions, Emmrich and Taash. You are not able to have Neve or Lucanis back as a companion until you recruit everyone, and even then, the one whose city was not saved is hardened. This locks you out of some endings for not just their personal quest, but also their city. The game does have little pop-ups that explain, “Hey, by the way, your choice way back when did this.” The game is very responsive to your choices, and one can very easily chase a through-line. Emmrich and Taash are wonderful companions, and their late recruitment is akin to Tali’Zorah in Mass Effect 2 and 3, where you recruit her quite late into the game as the stakes are getting higher and you need to focus on building up your rapport with other armies and allies. The game, at this point, feels like the scene in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, where Peter Parker, by himself, strains to stop a runaway train with massive amounts of webbing and his own body. The world is careening uncontrollably towards on end, and Rook is holding it back with cunning and resolve, barely staying a step ahead of apocalypse. The whole time, Solas is poking and prodding at your resolve and beliefs, trying to make you make the choices he would make. After all, he’s the hero, and the hero has to be able to make the difficult choices. Even when you show him his way is not applicable, he still smiles hungrily as you speak, like a chef savoring their signature dish.

Act 2, or “Born 2010, Died 2012, Born 2024. Welcome Back, Mass Effect 2 and 3.”

The aftermath of the Siege of Weisshaupt brings several questions to the forefront, including questions of your companions’ abilities and focus, and if their will is truly their own. Additionally, Act 2 focuses heavily on your reputation with the other factions, building up their power and supporting your companions. Your companions bicker and argue, but it’s more like sibling rivalries or grudging understanding… eventually. While no one, as people often pointed to as an example of how the franchise has gone soft, told another companion to kill themselves, loyalties and control are still called into question. The game asks us, as players, to confront the enemies, antagonists, and supernatural forces that have been dragging at our allies. The game encourages side quests, readiness, and completing your companions’ stories not just because you care for them, but because it may be vital to defeating the gods. There is so much to do, from monsters to hunt to treasure to loot to political alliances to forge, that it would be easy to hit the maximum level of 50 far before you finish every companions quest. 

The Crossroads are… enchanting and haunting. I can feel it becoming unstable around me as I walk it. The enemies are endless, and there is an urgency in preserving this place that is home to literal Hopes and dreams. As I went through the Crossroads, unearthing Solas’ regrets and fighting the corruption spread by the Evanuris and their servants, I felt my heart pound in my chest. I felt the steely determination of a general grip my art. I felt the grief and fear of Mythal’s essence and present host. I felt the panic of spirits, spirits presented not as abominable forces but as residents of a home torn from them. Every general and revenant felled was another piece of a puzzle found, and every dragon hunted through story or research into the harrowed past was another bit of chaos and corruption driven from the world. I felt myself disgusted by Solas, emboldened by my companions, and crying at some quests.

Act 3, or “I will remove the gods from my city, and they will never reside here again.”

This act is the finale, and it made me realize something, both through the writers’/Varric’s narration and the game itself: the gods are cowards, Solas especially. Solas has deluded himself just as he forced delusions onto you. Solas has spent the whole game trying to shape you into someone with regrets, someone unable to move forward. Solas wants to make you like him or worse so that he can justify replacing you. When my Shadow Dragon Rook learned Solas was working with the Shadow Dragons, he was enraged. Every choice you make is a hard one, from who you send to lead the distraction to even deigning to work with Solas again. The choices are rough, and I feel like they matter, something I never really felt in Inquisition. Isle of Gods, The Last Gambit, and The Dread Wolf Rises make me feel like the Battle for Denerim from Origins mixed with the Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2 and Priority: Earth from Mass Effect 3. It feels epic, powerful, and like I will fail. It is brutal and glorious, and when we reach the end, you and your surviving companions succeed where Solas failed. The Ghilan’nain fight, frankly, felt more terrifying than Elgar’nan, for all he was hyped up. Still, it was very satisfying to perfect block a blighted mage that can cause an eclipse and then beat his ass. The final confrontation with Solas, after betrayal and betrayal, is a relief. I feel like I did save Thedas. I feel more accomplished than fighting Meredith or slaying Corypheus. I feel like when I finally slayed Urthemiel in Dragon Age: Origins. I felt like I had made a future for the world.

GAMEPLAY

Roleplay and Socialization, or “Please Let Me Talk to You, Dog” 

I feel as though there are ample opportunities to role-play your Rook. The choices you make for your Rook, companions, and factions matter and matter greatly. Every choice seems to reverberate, and I was almost exactly able to depict my Rook as I wished. There were, of course, some of the “this dialogue wheel option is in no way close to what was actually said,” but overall I feel like the world was very lived in, and my choices had weight. The only thing that was disappointing was not being able to talk to important NPCs and your companions, pursuing dialogue to find lore or just choosing the option to kiss again. It did make the romances feel very light, and I often just… sat in the middle of the street or stood awkwardly in the Shadow Dragon hideout to make sure I got dialogue, both from NPCs and my companions, that ended up revealing stuff about the world. Now, is it more organic than chasing down a particular string of phrases on a dialogue wheel? Yes. Do I miss being able to walk up to my companion and ask for a kissy? Also yes. Lastly, I miss the ability to tell people a firm, “No.” Many of the binary choices in the game are something my Rook would never agree to, or would want to tell someone, “Hey, that’s fucking contradictory.” You can do it to the Solas and First Warden maybe, but never to your companions. And sometimes, you need to do that.

I also have some issues with the assigned Rook backstories. Laidir being an escaped slave is nowhere to be seen in promotional stuff. Your Mercar is the adoptive child of a Tevinter military family… but you can still be an elf or Qunari. There are inconsistencies that make me raise a few eyebrows. Once again, the racism of Thedas, often a common point in storytelling, is super sanitized to make the game palatable. However, I do that my choices matter.

Exploration, or “I Could Walk Around Minrathous for Hours, and I Have”

 The open world is dead, long live the restricted open world! There are parts of the map of Northern Thedas that are massive and complex, to be sure, requiring careful jumps and ziplines to navigate. I am trekking across rooftops and balancing precariously on hovering rooks as often as I am taking a turn past the candlehops on my way to see informants. I am balancing on fallen branches to reach forgotten braziers. The wilds and cities both feel alive, a pulse echoing throughout the terrain (quite literally in places with prominent Blight.) Is it ridiculous Rook can’t swim? Yes, welcome back Pokémon Legends: Arceus. However, the myriad puzzles, devices, and resonant rocks make navigating a rewarding experience. 

My one complaint is the disparity of several of the companions’ exploration abilities. We could have wisps follow us on our own, often not really needing Emmrich. Obviously, his is more niche, but places where Spite can wholesale create unstable platforms are numerous even outside of Antiva. There are also several times where it looked as if I should be able to use a feature (ex.: several heavy, very meltable-looking slabs of metal, or a bridge or crane that is within griffon’s reach) with which we could not interact at all. There were also several puzzles that required looking through a slit in stone and hoping you were angled precisely that your Tab would select to see through the precarious positioned portcullis. However, I felt as though a majority of puzzles were fair, and exploration and returning to locations was made more fun by unlocking more areas as we unlocked companions and quests. Combined with the unlocking of altars to gain health and skill points, exploration was rewarding for story, gameplay, and for how gorgeous everything is. With the quest marker providing not just direction but pathing and the lyrium dagger carrying your companions’ abilities, exploration was a breeze. My advice: look up and around corners, you may see that treasure chest or blight boil you were missing. I would love returning to all these locations you learn more and traipse around… perhaps with someone taller so I can actually have hops.

Combat, or “Mass Effect Strikes Again.” 

The three person squad. After years of four-person squads across Baldur’s Gate 3 and other Dragon Age entries, this came as a shock. Combined with a switch to the more dodge-heavy hack-and-slash Action RPG elements, I can understand skepticism. However, upon seeing the three person squad and the detonations, Kellan (@veilkeeper) recalled Mass Effect: Andromeda’s combat. I would highly recommend playing the Mass Effect games if you want more brilliant storytelling and combat akin to Veilguard’s system. The limitation of squad members made people worry about team composition. Is it safe for me to play a warrior? How will my all mage party fare? What about locks? Can I properly detonate if I don’t have a specific class?

With exploration and damage types tied to each character, you are incentivized to switch out and rotate your party. Due to a variety of build options, Rooks in Warrior can apply sundered as rogues do, so you can both prime and detonate mages. You are the only party member that takes damage, so Rook has potions that can be modified with items and other companions have abilities that heal you. Learning when to dash and how to block is essential, but I never felt that I was limited in combat due to not having a specific class in my party. With the proper builds for companions, the right weapon, and enough cooldown reduction, you can be an all warrior party where the other two members only ever deal fire damage and still kill a dragon or the fire-resistant human mercenaries and Venatori!  (Side note, I’m pretty sure most humans burn to death when exposed to fire. Why are these cultists and random mercenaries resistant to fire.) 

Runes and items are important, and thanks to the many branches and intersections of the skill trees, you can build almost anything and it works. Shield toss specialist? Oh, absolutely, you’re Captain America. Orb and dagger storming the field to get takedowns? Just as viable as a staff user freezing foes in place. Having a number of talents and skills that require your class resource while others cost nothing but have a cooldown means you can carry a variety of damage types and modulate your build for specific enemies. Even early on, blocking and dodging feels smooth and can very quickly offer rewards. The game feels smooth, and every flick of my blade or conjuring of flame felt nice when weaved into my attacks. Combat is very polished, and while I do miss Tactics and controlling companions directly, the game literally has something akin to the Dark Souls 1 hydra as an enemy. You need to focus and fucking dodge! 

Whether you want to spread afflictions across the battlefield, prime constant detonations, stack advantages, chain staggered foes, or just kick someone off a cliff, you will be able to work very well in Veilguard with many builds. And yes, the three person squad is different, but it feels good. As someone that has played games that are RPGs where you can have a six person party? Five is a good maximum, four is solid but always leaves you wanting more, but three… three is nice for the slick, fast-paced action of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

The World (Insert the JoJo meme I guess)

The Factions, or “Why is there so much Purell over here?”

The Factions make Rook feel grounded in the world. The mechanics of gaining reputation with a faction is done often in RPGs, but tying this to their appearance in the story and your party’s advancement is wonderful. Building up the factions is important for the simple thing that it allows all of us RPG players to do what we love: go shopping. Building up a faction unlocks more quests, which allows us to go to more areas to acquire more resources to rank up shops, which lets us buy more items to better our companions’ gear and fill our codex and mementos, which lets us upgrade the Caretaker to enchant and upgrade items, which allows us to customize our build for specific quests for those factions. It’s a wonderful loop and makes finding random junk and resources more fun once you realize how different factions respond to different items.

However, as is more common in AAA games, BioWare has taken out the Purell bottle and scrubbed away at 99.9% of nuance. Several of the Factions are sanitized in-game, made to be nicer than they have been presented previously. Several crucial aspects of factions have been hidden, reframed, or erased. I understand this from a game design perspective; many people don’t want to feel like villains. However, that robs the characters of the ability to reshape their path and legacy, as well as robs nuance from some choices made. This, combined with what I would describe as mismanaged advertisement of what some faction stand for, leads to some factions being much, much stronger than others.

A Rocky Interlude: Kal-Sharok

 I love dwarves in Dragon Age. My first play through of Dragon Age: Origins was of Balsis Brosca, a weapon and shield Dwarf Commoner warrior. I fell in love with the stories you can tell as a Brosca, with the intricacies of Orzammar’s castes and casteless, of the ways in which tradition is the inevitable failure of this once-great civilization. Learning of Kal-Sharok’s survival and involvement, especially given how secretive they are in Inquisition, was thrilling. Kal-Sharok is stunning. Lyrium grows there like grass. The titan’s heart pulses and beast, the manner of the dwarves strict yet understandable. They are direct, brusque, yet still respectful. More importantly, they have survived. They live in spite of the Blight and have created a society so far removed from Orzammar as Ferelden is from Tevinter. It was stunning. It was moving. 

We spend one quest there.

 I will touch on this more when I speak of Lace Harding, but this was finally the answer for the Titans! This was the reveal of what Valta discovered. It was brutal to discover that the Evanuris were responsible for the Blight, the Blight that destroyed the dwarves, by using the corrupted dreams of the Titans. That the progenitor of the dwarves is what doomed their cities. That the Titans we see, massive torsos forming mountain ranges, are dead and doomed to dreamless sleep. That their anger was directed into the Blight. That the gods, Mythal and Solas specifically, are what robbed the dwarves of their dreams. The fact that this is tied to Lace Harding’s quest and ends rather… abruptly feels unsatisfying. It feels as though the writers were aiming for something but didn’t put enough strength behind the throw. We see very little of Kal-Sharok, and though we have answers, I still feel as though I, like the dwarves, am missing something. When Harding shares the Eternal Hymn at the end of her story, my dwarf rook is not included or reacts at all. I miss the Eternal Hymn of the Stone. I miss Kal-Sharok. I dream of times where the dwarves can receive more.

Antivan Crows, or “Guys. Guys, they enslave kids. Guys.”

 I didn’t spare that prettyboy assassin Zevran to let this happen. 

Dragon Age establishes multiple times that the Antivan Crows are bad news, yet a crucial part of Antiva’s political machine. They are brutal and deadly, and while ostensibly they are devoted to Antiva, the Crows’ first loyalty is to their houses and their contracts. Crow Houses are not noble houses with titles, they are business. They invest in other operations, such as alcohol or pearldiving, using money gained through assassinations. They regularly kill their own leaders, such as Queen Madrigal’s infamous assassination in 5:99 Exalted, blades poised precisely. Zevran Arainai himself tells us that the Crows are used to assassinate the nobility of Antiva often. Zevran also details his story of being sold into slavery to be raised by the Antivan Crows. So indoctrinated was he that he killed and spit on the woman he loved based on a flimsy accusation. Andarateia Cantori, or Teia, was taken in as an orphan, now enraptured by Caterina Dellamorte as a surrogate grandmother, her “Nonna,” which not even Caterina’s own grandson Lucanis calls her. Viago puts it nicely. “Viago chuckled. Teia was always trying to make the others like him. She grew up on the streets. To her, joining the Crows was akin to finding a family. Caterina was the mother she never had. Giuli had been her jealous sister. Emil and Bolivar, the rich and drunk uncles respectively. But to Viago, these people were business partners. He didn’t need to be liked—only respected and feared, a little.” (Tevinter Nights, Eight Little Talons, Courtney Woods). 

The Crows are a business. They invest in assassins and expect to be repaid with loyalty. They expect all their members to fulfill their contracts, and that failure carries a heavy burden for assassin and house. We see in Dragon Age 2, more than half a decade later, House Arainai is still chasing down Zevran to kill him in hopes of restoring their reputation. Four Talons are killed in Woods’ story, each killed by another Talon. The Crows are a business of murderers investing in indoctrination and loyal service. Yet, the Veilguard shows them as freedom fighters seeking to defend Antiva. In fairness, the Talons are meeting in Eight Little Talons for the express purpose of discussing how to dispose of the Antaam invading Antiva, and they acknowledge Antiva has no army save the Crows. Governor Ivenci and Davrin both point out, to differing levels of severity, how the Crows cannot be trusted, or perhaps are only saving Antiva to tighten their own grip on the country. While I doubt that is true for Lucanis, given his efforts to punish the guilty and save the meek in The Wigmaker Job, it may certainly be true for Caterina and some other Talons. So, yes, the Crows are defending Antiva, but downplaying their deplorable actions towards children eliminates nuance, and adding in the reminder that they torture orphans may make people pause before allying with them.

Grey Wardens, or “Wow, you guys keep losing forts.” 

The Grey Wardens also underwent a little bit of a scrubbing, and mentions of some of their more heinous acts are things form the past. Your first real encounter with the Grey Wardens is with First Warden Jowin Glastrum who, somewhat reasonable, accuses you of being a conspiracy theorist on par with someone who believes in ancient aliens or a flat earth. Like, yeah, Rook comes and says, “There’s a Blight happening, except it’s different from before due to the Elven gods, who aren’t actually gods, just ancient mages that were trapped, and I freed them accidentally when trying to stop another elven god mage.” Very reasonably, he doesn’t believe you. He also insults your intelligence, morals, and faction. As a note, I played as a Shadow Dragon Rook, where the First Warden directly calls you a criminal for theft and murder. Theft and murder in Tevinter being… freeing the slaves of Venatori mages and killing said Venatori. So, with the First Warden joining the war on slavery on the side of slavery, along with Magister Dorian Pavus stepping in to reveal that the First Warden approved of Warden-Commander Clarel’s plan to train Grey Wardens to raise a demon army in Inquisition, firmly makes you not trust or like this guy. All of this can be personal faults of the First Warden while still being indicative of the type of person the Wardens would recruit.

 However, when Weisshaupt falls and Lavender becomes blighted, Antoine and Evka begin offering the Joining to people that are Blighted so… they can survive. They do not conscript, they just… let them Join. To us longtime Origins enjoyers, this is odd given many of our Wardens took the Joining or were conscripted as a last resort and then immediately had to begin fighting a losing battle. We do learn some heinous shit the Wardens did in the past as part of Davrin’s quest, but that was in the past. While the Wardens still carry some bite, they have definitely been softened.

Lords of Fortune, or “[Varric Voice] Rivaini, what did they do to you?” 

The Lords of Fortune are Rivain’s faction of treasure hunters and moral pirates. Led by Isabela, they sail around and explore the Rivaini Coast, prowling for ruins and wrecks that they can sell and ethically return to their appropriate culture. Oh, also, we have a fighting pit with Antaam, Venatori, demons, and darkspawn! 

All of this is nonsensical. The fighting arena has no reason to be there. In no way would Venatori willingly join a fighting pit, nor would Isabela ever imprison people to use in fights. Most of the Lords of Fortune faction strength comes from… hunting dragons. It would make sense if it gave Taash approval, but why do all Lords benefit? Additionally, their base is in a bar separate from the actual Rivain Coast location, whereas every other faction has their base deeply entrenched in the explorable area. In feels as though the devs had not idea what to do with them. The pitch for the Lords of Fortune from the choice of Faction in character creation is as follows: “A rising Lord of Fortune, skilled at breaking into lost tombs and ruins, Rook killed a corrupt Rivaini noble to prevent an ancient evil from being given to the Venatori. Her/His/Their actions were correct and saved the lives of expedition members, but some Rivaini nobles were resentful.” This implies that the Lord of Fortunes are perhaps more of a Dungeons and Dragons type of monster-slaying, dungeon-delving mercenary. This is vastly different from the boastful adventurers who are out solely for gold and glory, especially given that the Rook background implies the Lords would not sell evil items, yet the lines in game make the Lords seem like reckless thrillseekers as opposed to daring adventurers. It’s a thin line, but one that does make quite some difference.

The Mourn Watch, or “Who you gonna call?” 

The Mourn Watch is wonderful. After hearing about Nevarra’s necromantic fascination from Cassandra, the Necropolis is desolate and eerie. It is haunted by the howling winds of the dead, and the sickly green brings to mind the eerie and sickly I love it. 

Unfortunately, much like the Lords, it appears as though the devs did not know what to do with the Mourn Watch. Very few of your quests take place in the actual Necropolis. Enemies you encounter are the Venatori that got lost in the Grand Necropolis and restless undead, and the missions are mainly running to other places to stop hauntings. Incredibly impressive on aesthetics, items, and locations, very disparate quests.

Shadow Dragons, or “Minrathous is Kinda Important, Guys.”

 Everything happens in Minrathous. It’s the New York City. There are magic neon signs. Meetings with Morrigan and the Inquisition happen here, even if the city did not repel the dragon attack. Your quests are numerous, and they require you to help the common people of Minrathous. You navigate the city and try to bring light from the shadow. Many of the quests are in Minrathous, and the Shadow Dragons somewhat unambiguously want to help Minrathous. The final choice you have on their quest when you saved Minrathous shocked me,.

Veil Jumpers, or “OH, these are the guys that keep shit running.” 

I think the Veil Jumpers were not advertised well. The ad says, “This daring group explores ancient elven ruins in Arlathan Forest. Although founded by elves, they welcome anyone brave enough to face Arlathan's reality-warping magic.” So, this honestly strikes me as more similar to what the Lords of Fortune were also advertised as, just… focused on elven artifacts. I was surprised when I saw the plays stats by how low Veil Jumpers were comparatively, especially given how cool they are in-game. Then I realized something: they were advertised wrong. 

With Bellara and other Veil Jumpers, there is an exploration of ruins, but the thing they are really doing is maintaining and researching the artifacts in Arlathan. They are, in some ways, doing the work of maintaining the Veil and learning about the Fade. It is not as academic a setting as the Mourn Watch, nor is it the dungeon delving the Lords of Fortune are pitched as. They are, essentially, troubleshooters. The Veil Jumpers are magical troubleshooters that are learning about the past of the elves while trying to provide safety for themselves, the Dalsih, and any who would be harmed by the Veil’s instability. They are brave not for ruin-diving, but for protecting the people that explore.

Companions

 The companions truly make the Veilguard. I do not feel like the three person party limited me at all in the interactions, and honestly, the inter-party dynamics are brilliant. People pairing up with each other or NPCs if you do not romance them is brilliant. The way they all seek advice or comfort from each other is moving. There is the combativeness that evolves into grudging respect. We have the relationships of mentor and student, of people of a shared culture with divergent paths, of conflicting parenting styles, and of lovers eager and hesitant both. All the companions are wonderful. However, there is great disparity between the quality of some companion quests.

Bellara Lutare, the Hummingbird Found

I cried. Bellara is the first companion you meet not a part of the Minrathous Job, a Fade Expert to fix your Eluvian. She has the intelligence and flight attitude that caused her brother to nickname her after the hummingbird. In many ways, her drive and determination remind me of Merrill, and I say that as the highest of compliments. Still, she is not just the excitement of a busy mind.

Bellara has rage, a rage born of guilt. She snaps at fellow Veil Jumpers that fail to do their job or shirk work. She gets agitated when a process takes too long. She is uniquely aware she talks too fast, too often. Regardless of whether or not she caused the incident that sent her brother away, she believes she caused it, and that haunts her. Bellara touches on something we all feel familiar with: life is hard, and maybe it’s hard or you’re failing because the problem is you. That you need to work harder to make up for the fact that it’s you. Her story with Cyrian made me cry, and she is one of the most complex, lovable characters I have had the pleasure of having in my party.

Davrin, Monster Hunter and Single Dad 

Davrin, and especially a romanced Davrin, is about finding and believing that there is always a different path. Playing his story, you immediately see he is not prepared for this. Davrin does try, at first, to distance himself from Assan, especially with the insistence that he is merely Assan’s bodyguard. However, that is somewhat undercut by the fact that Davrin literally named Assan. Davrin talks about how in joining the Veilguard, raising Assan, and dating you, he has essentially done something he tells you no Warden should do: get attached. 

Davrin’s story is, at its core, about choosing your own path. He is not disrespectful of the Dalish, he just felt he had to prove something himself. He chose to be a Warden, and even then he carved out his own place as a monster slayer in an order of monster slayers. He was a caretaker of halla, a quintessential duty in a Dalish clan, one that marks kindness. He has great respect for animals and nature while being a hunter. In many ways, being a Grey Warden is a continuation of his beliefs and education under the Dalish. It’s why Davrin is always questioning if there is a better path for the griffons. His harping on Assan to be more focused in combat is ostensibly about training a better mount, yet really it’s so Assan can be safe. So greatly does Davrin respect the world around him that he is willing to let all the griffons go live in Arlathan Forest over their legacy with the Wardens. He forged a new path. 

Davrin doesn’t expect to actually get to walk the path he forged, and when he does find or make one, he finds it hard to course correct. We see it in Weisshaupt when he is surprised he’s still alive. We see it in his romance where he is almost shocked he has dared to think about a future after the Blight and Grey Wardens. Davrin constantly sought a new path or purpose, usually an established thing to which he could devote himself, such as the Wardens or raising the griffons. He has to venture into a new territory, a world where slaying an archdemon isn’t a death sentence, where griffons aren’t the Wardens’ mounts. Where he is in love. He has to live. That’s new, it’s daunting, but he has to. For Assan, for Rook, for himself.

Emmrich Volkaren, Professor in Denial 

I love Emmrich. Unlike most popular culture depictions of necromancers as corrupt, horrifying wizards desecrating the dead, or even Dorian with his initially cavalier attitude towards spirits and corpses, Emmrich is respectful. He cares deeply for funerary rites and the dead. He cleans graves and places flowers. He prepares bodies and helps spirits find either rest or purpose. Emmrich is truly a gentleman scholar, more a mortician than a necromancer. He plays against type, which makes his desire to be a lich, a classic Necromancer Desire, even more shocking. I love how the Mourn Watch frame lichdom as this duty, essentially bound to bone and the Grand Necropolis to continue their work. It’s an interesting take, and it works for Emmrich save for one thing:  Emmrich was never going to be ready for lichdom. 

I am not denying Emmrich is a powerful mage; he is one the most accomplished necromancers in Thedas. Nor do I think he has not done the proper preparations; he very clearly has. The reason Emmrich is never ready to become a lich is because he still fears his own death. 

I chose to have Emmrich save Manfred. The game treats this choice thusly: if Emmrich returns Manfred to unlife, it proves he cannot accept death and cannot be trusted with the power and near-immortality that comes with being a lich of the Grand Necropolis. I actually think this is a very sound argument, and a lich as a bound guardian as opposed to some consuming void is great. The issue is that Emmrich’s main drive is a fear of death, especially his own. Bringing Manfred back means he cannot bear the thought of someone else, especially a loved one such as Manfred or a romanced Rook, dying. Accepting lichdom means accepting death will come for others, and he cannot stop it. 

Except he doesn’t believe that. 

Emmrich mourns Manfred. He cries over him. He got his dream and all it cost him was his son. And, as Kellan points out in its Emmrich meta posts, he still is afraid of death! He became a lich! He panics now not about a romanced Rook outliving him, but outliving Rook and mourning them forever. Emmrich is a compelling necromancer because if he achieves his dream of becoming a lich, the pinnacle of necromancy, it does nothing to lessen his fears. If he raises Manfred, he sacrifices his progress and dreams for a life of teaching. If he follows his dreams, he loses the ability to follow many of his passions. Either way, Emmrich’s heart is walking around outside of his chest.

Lace Harding, Scout and Child of the Stone

 Lace!! The glow up Harding had is wild, man. If you ever want to show people how much the graphics have improved, show them a side by side of Harding in Inquisition and Veilguard. Now, I am excited to see Harding again, and I think her quest does hit home in some ways, fell short in many others Harding is always taking care of other people, leading the charge for other people, pushing it down to be nice. Not good, not bad, just nice. However, they didn’t really bring up her own anger competing with her compassion often enough for it to be obvious or matter, in my opinion. Plus, her quest being so tied into the Stone, yet they didn’t set up the Harding-Titans parallel well enough. I still love her, though, and as she climbed to shoot Ghilan’nain… I knew what was coming. I could see the tentacles coming. Thank you, Lace.

Lucanis Dellamorte, Defiant and Determined 

Guys. Lucanis’ life kinda sucks. He gets sent to magic torture prison by his cousin and his cousin’s blood mage cultist lover. They stick a demon in him for… irony??? He comes back to find his grandmother is presumed dead and the Crows betrayed. Treviso is either Blighted to hell and back or still under Antaam rule. It’s also been betrayed by someone in Antiva. His cousin steals his revenge and then exiles him. His cousin tries to steal the Crows and use them to join the blood magic cult and evil gods. Oh, also, he has some random Grey Warden insulting his ability and mental state while he’s already off-balance from missing his first chance to assassinate Ghilan’nain.

Lucanis’ life is… maybe slightly better if Treviso isn’t Blighted? There is a very strange aspect of Lucanis’ story that stands in great contrast to Neve’s story: several of his hangouts, and perhaps a resolution with Spite, are downright missing if you do not save Treviso. A dream sequence where you meet with Spite is missing. A moment where Lucanis resolves on a course of action with Spite is missing. Meanwhile, Neve keeps her hangouts and quests. Lucanis has a wonderful story, and it is a shame the devs locked so much of it away.

Neve Gallus, Cool Operator

 Neve Gallus is one of the coolest characters in the Veilguard. You meet her early on, as involved in the first quest as you or Harding. She’s a wonderful companion to have early, sharp and witty banter, refreshing as a cool breeze. She hits the noir detective tropes down to the dive bars and street food and up to the taking ill-advised jobs because she actually has a heart of gold. All of her quests having “Case” in the title is a very nice touch. Even part 1 is titled “The Minrathous Job,” truly establishing it as a quest firmly with Neve. As a Shadow Dragon, one of the greatest ways you bond with Neve is commiserating over the state of Minrathous. The serials always end in murder, the newspapers always print the half-truths that sell, the town’s struggling to find some light in the dark. Neve’s attitude, especially if you choose to have her inspire Minrathous, is closest to this:

"It was still dark when we left the Catacombs. The city was hushed, if hardly sleeping, with no idea what had happened. 

“Minrathous is broken,” Aelia spat at me. 

“I know,” I said. “But you aren’t the one to fix it." 

In this excerpt from Neve’s Tevinter Nights story, The Streets of Minrathous by Brianne Battye, we have the exact answer. It’s an answer that Rook gives to Solas often, that he is the best one to do it that someone has to. That is the core of Neve’s story, as a detective, as a Shadow Dragon, as a citizen of Minrathous. Someone has to step up to illuminate the dark places in the city, to defend Dock Town’s people by book or by blow. With Neve’s investigative prowess and thawed golden heart, it’s her that can help fix the city. It always has been, she just needs to believe it.

Taash, the Ludonarritve Confusion

 I love Taash. They’re brusque, they’re tall, they’re athletic, they do not allow anyone to tell them who or what they are, they’re buff as hell, they respect dragons while also being excellent at hunting them, and— wait, what? This character who is all about self-determination and no one being able to control them? We make them choose between their two heritages as part of their quest?

 Trick Weekes is a racist, white reddit atheist of a writer. While I respect them for writing an explicitly nonbinary character, you can tell the writer’s room did not consult anyone of mixed heritage. The Qun and Qunari are based off of SWANA residents and religions, and Rivain seems to invoke imagery of the Muslim-ruled Iberian Peninsula. The Qunari of the Antaam are almost always depicted wearing masks, speaking in Qunlat almost exclusively, and are often shirtless and bigger than Taash or a Vashoth Rook. The depictions of the Antaam and the forcing of Taash to choose between Qunari and Rivaini is incredibly racist and directly conflicts with the Taash using the Qun in their own life while still being Rivaini. With Taash being a character about exploring a nonbinary identity and multicultural heritage, to have them pick a binary option is racist. Also, Trick Weekes, you wrote a Qunari mercenary whose “good” ending is them abandoning the Qun twice in a row now. One, white reddit atheist. Two, get new material. I love Taash, but their quests make no sense.

Gods, of Which There Are None

Evanuris

There are no gods in Thedas. The Evanuris are spirits turned mages. The Titans were beings of Stone that now lie in dreamless death. The Golden City was actually the Blight’s prison. The Old Gods and their draconic vessels were simply servants of the Evanuris. While I think the devs are sipping hard on white liberal juice for not outright saying the Maker is fake, the game appears to state that yes, the Maker is fake and there are no gods.

Good. 

Dragon Age has always been lacking in, if we think of the classic four person Dungeons and Dragons party, the priest or cleric role. This is partially because that magic of any kind in the setting is heavily restricted, even beneficial healing magic. But really, how can we have clerics or priests that use magic when the dominant religion hunts down mages? The power of mage priests of, say, an Old God like Dumat are still as explosive as any other mage. 

This isn’t to say that faith has no place in Dragon Age. The vallaslin of the Dalish has been redefined in their history. The Avvar worship spirts as gods, allowing a willing possession. We know Spirits of Faith very explicitly exist. However, to essentially confirm that there are no gods makes Thedas a far more interesting setting. 

In terms of the gods we face, Ghilan’nain and Elgar’nan were… something. While Elgar’nan’s mental reach was grand, and his telepathic intrusions were haunting, his final fight made him feel like a loser-ass motherfucker. I was perfect blocking his orbs that held the power of the sun and his weird magic blade. I don’t think I had to even use a potion. For all that his power was hyped up, and to be fair, causing an eclipse is relatively terrifying, he was one the easiest gods I have slain. I felt no fear of him. 

Ghilan’nain terrified me. Ghilan’nain is almost a walking embodiment of body horror with a dash of cosmic horror thrown in. For all of Elgar’nan’s talk of rule and tyranny, it was Ghilan’nain’s whispers of turning my companions and my Rook into fodder for her experiments that chilled me to my core. Ghilan’nain is a maestro when it comes to manipulating the Blight, crafting the already-deadly darkspawn into weapons. While it was Solas’ dagger that severed the Titans' dreams and corrupted them into the Taint and Blight out of anger, fear, and confusion, it is Ghilan’nain who mastered the Blight as a source of magic and power. The fear I felt whenever she approached, her tentacles lashing out like so-many daggers to pierce enemies, her very presence unnatural. If you have played Magic: the Gathering, Ghilan’nain reminds me of Sheoldred or Elesh Norn of New Phyrexia, the inevitable march towards progress and perfection through infection and dominance. It was terrifying to see the Blight weaponized as it was. 

The Blight was Ghilan’nain’s weapon, but it was Mythal that ordered it forged. Lest we forget, it was Solas, acting as Mythal’s attack dog, that forged the dagger and severed the Titans from the Fade. They made the Titans Tranquil. Tranquility is often framed as one of the most horrific acts in the series, so much so that Ander’ former lover begs to be killed rather than return to being Tranquil. Mythal authorizes this, perhaps the first instance of Tranquilty. Mythal is responsible for the Blight. The way Morrigan describes her as Benevolence turned to Retribution, much as Soals is Wisdom turned to Pride, begins to make sense, for even an open-handed ruler can still enforce harsh order. Mythal’s essence feels like the early incarnations of Morrigan, where every question is designed to make you feel as though you are making no headway, to force you to stand your ground. However, it is just as satisfying to, as a dwarf, blame her for the Titans dying and take Retribution on Retribution. The Evanuris were corrupt and tainted long before they ever discovered the Blight, Mythal and her pawn first among them.

Solas, God of Lying about having a Plan 

The thing we have to acknowledge about Solas is that he is so full of Pride, all his Wisdom is lost to regret. He is so afraid of being wrong or not correcting his mistakes that is willing to sink deeper and deeper in manipulation, deception, and regret. He is manipulated and used as a tool by Mythal and does the same to his own followers in turn. Every regret of Solas’ we discover only further shows his degradation into a charlatan. So consumed by his desire to be forgiven by Mythal, to continue on in her service, that he eventually kills her and scavenges her. He uses spirits as fodder the same way Elgar’nan or Ghilan’nain use darkspawn and slaves. He taunts Elgar’nan for not having the ability to build anything without June or the other gods, yet Solas also no longer has anyone that would stand by his side. Solas betrayed his friends repeatedly, all the while convinced every “sacrifice” is yet another reason he cannot turn from his path. Every choice, from the sacrifice of spirits to Varric’s death, is one more regret that forces Solas to feel as though it is too late to turn away from this path. 

Solas’ regrets are what trapped him in the prison that he made for the gods, and so he tries to shape Rook to have as many regrets as him. The way Solas states he abhors blood magic, yet is using it to shape Rook’s perceptions. The way Solas does not relent prior to the Siege of Weisshaupt until you either say you’ll take control of the Wardens or otherwise do what needs to be done. Solas accusing you, perhaps rightfully so, of being responsible for releasing Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain. The way Solas immediately weakly covers his ass when you accuse him of releasing the gods due to his ritual by saying, “I had a plan.” Lastly, when he pulls the rug out from under you and place you in a prison of regret right as your team is decimated, finally revealing Varric’s demise, leaving you questioning Lucanis’ fate, and bringing the loss of Davrin or Harding and Bellara or Neve to bear. He planned this whole time to force enough regret and doubt into you that would be swallowed by the prison that held him. But Rook, much as their name implies, takes the straight, direct path forward. Solas tried to replace Rook and become the hero again, proud of his plan and manipulation of Rook. This is why he fails.

Solas’ plans never work. For as intelligent as he is, his Wisdom was long ago supplanted by Pride. He is too proud to turn back, too proud to realize his plans always kind of suck. He sealed the Evanuris away, not really considering what separating the worlds would do. He gives Corypheus the Orb of Destruction (yes, that’s what it’s called) and then is surprised when it goes wrong. He says thousands or tens of thousands of lives is minimized damage. He goes into his balding Dread Wolf form and gets his ass kicked by Lusacan, your blighted mage companion having to save him. He tries to trick you again with the clever wordplay of the Fade not falling by his hand, yet his betrayals are so predictable that plan also fails, either due to you pushing past his pride to force him to see Wisdom or by using his Pride against him. Solas tried to form Rook into something of regret, a thing more bound by loss than Solas, and Rook cut through it.  I think tricking Solas is the more fitting ending. It is poetic justice. It is what he deserves. However, him binding himself to the Veil means that, hopefully, he won’t be seeking revenge later. Regardless, Solas’ pride blinds him to the fact that none of his plans, all of which center around is ego and intellect, can win the day alone. His pride is the undoing of his wisdom.

Conclusions

 I did not expect to like Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I really, really like it. The game’s morality have been sanitized from Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, and everyone feels too clean, the enemies cartoonishly evil. In spite of that, I love the companions I found in the game. I love the flow the combat. I love hearing the sound effect as I perfect block an attack and send an enemy reeling. I found Rook interesting, an established character more akin to Hawke than the Inquisitor. I found the world more lived in and welcoming than that of Dragon Age: Inquisition, a refinement of that title taking into account some of the feedback of fans. However, the clumsily handled choices of the game and EA’s own despicable practices make it hard to enjoy certain aspects. I’ll probably always wonder what the world would look like if the grime and blood hadn’t been stripped from the factions.

But I like the game. It feels like Dragon Age.

#dav #spoilers #dragon age #datv #mine

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lupgangs-fiat · 1 year ago

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hi!! could a request a one shot where jigen takes care of a reader with carpal tunnel/wrist pain? love your blog and I’m so happy you’re back 💓

AAA I’m so glad you love my blog omG- and it’s good to be back !! Enjoy <3!!!

Jigen x reader w/ wrist pain!

Warnings: none! Enjoy some domestic Jigen <3

Jigen always knew whenever the pain in your carpal tunnel addled wrists and hands started acting up. At one point, you could swear it was like he could read your mind, or that he might even has some hyper-specific sixth sense for this exact situation. Or he’s on the same wavelength as you- or maybe he sees the future… Whatever is it, his attention to the most minor and minute changes in your attitude was almost inhuman and somewhat freaky at times. There were times he knew even before the pain began to set in, and he would pull you away, willingly or not, from whatever it is you’re working on at the time, your compression gloves and ice packs in hand, ready to take care of you and ease you pain.

Much like today.

The gunman had just caught you overworking yourself over some research, hunched over your desk and trying to push through the constant and unrelenting pain that emanates from both your wrists. Each and every little motion and action, every letter typed and word written sends sharp and aching pain up your arms, your shoulders tingling from the pain. And Jigen absolutely hated, no, despised seeing you like this.

“Alright darlin’, that’s more than enough.” Jigen’s voice startled you out of your work as he walks up behind you, his rough hands resting on your shoulders. With a gentle yet firm grasp, he massages your shoulders, slowly yet surely easing a good chunk of the tension from your tense muscles as a content groan slips from your lips. He must’ve been a masseuse at some point in his checkered past.. there’s no way he’s just this good at working out the tense knots in your shoulders for no reason. “Jigen- Lupin needs me to finish this.. I can’t just sto-” “Yes, you can. And you will.” His voice easily trumped yours, his gruff yet gentle tone cutting through the air as he shakes his head a tad. “Lupin’s oh so precious and beloved research can wait. Besides, if he needs it bad enough for you to work through and ignore your pain, he can do it himself.” His word is absolute law in times like this. Silently, he presents you two very familiar choices. Either go with him willingly and be carried bridal style with your dignity intact, or resist and get unceremoniously tossed over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

Today? You chose the later.

Much to his dismay.

“Jigen- I promise I’m fine! I just need to finish this research then I’ll rest, I swear.” You double down as you write down some insignificant detail, gently pushing one of Jigen’s hands off your shoulders with your free hand. But your protests fell upon deaf ears as Jigen’s taller form loomed over you from behind, one hand gently shutting your laptop, the other plucking your pen from your hand and tossing it to the desk where it clattered to a stop at the edge.

He didn’t even give you the time to protest more as he easily scooped you out of the chair and tossing you over his shoulder in one fluid motion. “Jigen! Hey! C’mon- hey! Put me down!” Your shouts fill the air as you hang partially upside down, your chest against his back as he shifted your weight a little. Once more your protests fall on deaf ears as Jigen’s hands hold you steady, one hand splayed against the small of your back and the other lightly grasping the back your thigh, his fingers gently digging into your leg. Your escape attempts are extinguished with his firm grasp, keeping you in his hands until he deems it’s time to set you down. “Ah ah ah. You did this to yourself.” Is all he says in a scolding tone as he carries you away from your cluttered desk. Your hands grasp at the back of Jigen’s jacket, sore and aching fingers curling into the familiar black fabric as he pats your back with a hidden smile.

Moments later, you’re suddenly, yet oh so gently, set on the couch in the safe house’s living room. On the coffee table lay your compression gloves and cold gel bead ice packs, all properly prepared for you. ‘Bastard. He planned this... Again.’ You think as he crouches in front of the couch, picking up your compression gloves before gently taking one of your hands in his own, his warm calloused hands tenderly holding your own. “Jigen, I can put my gloves on by myself.“ Yet as always, your protests met deaf ears. They should be good acquaintances by now, maybe even best friends at this point.

“Just shut up and let me take care of you.” Jigen replies, almost immediately without a hint of malice, easily shutting you up as he slips the glove over your hand, pulling it over your wrist all the way to the middle of your forearm. His touch is almost reverent as he holds your hand as if it were delicate china, and in his mind, you are. At least, in times like these. Minor adjustments were made, ensuring the seams of the glove sat comfortably against your skin without irritating you, checking that the glove was positioned properly around your wrists and other minor adjustments. He then gently massages your wrist, his thumbs expertly pressing against your sore hand. A soft, pained whine escaping you as the motions send a dull pain up your arm while the tense joint is worked out, but the ache is only momentary. The pain is instantaneously replaced by the cool sensation of a gel bead ice pack being rested over your wrist. The process is repeated with your other hand, Jigen’s gentle touch slowly but surely banishing the pain from your extremities with each practiced motion.

“There we go.” Jigen mutters to himself as he stands up, straightening out his clothes and dusting himself off a little. He watches as you lean back against the couch, practically sinking into the plush furniture as your pain seeps out of your body with every second that passes. You couldn’t see his eyes, but you could feel their intense gaze upon you, lingering on your hands as he plops down beside you, adjusting the ice packs so they sit flush against your gloves. The soothing chill seeps into your hands, quelling the pain. “Better?” Jigen asks simply, his voice momentarily shattering the silence between the two of you. There’s a light tease to his voice, playfully poking fun at you as he leans back against the couch, his arm lazily draping over your shoulders as he speaks. “Better..” You repeat, shifting slightly to tuck yourself into his side. His heart soared as you did this, loving the way you fit beside him like a puzzle piece. It’s like the two of you were made for each other. He smiles faintly as he wraps his arm around you, pulling you closer against himself and pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“Good.”

#jigen daisuke #daisuke jigen #jigen x reader #jigen daisuke x reader #x reader #x reader fanfiction #lupin the third #fanfic #request

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mossy-green-aka-ferrythem · 2 months ago

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Played most of Sonic Unleashed for the first time recently.

Genuinely one of my favorite Sonic games. Favorite games in general even. The 3D level design in the Day stages is some of my favorite in the whole series. Not a single main stage I dislike.

The Werehog is an interesting take on the gameplay, and I appreciate what they were going for here, and also realize that something like the Werehog is mechanically necessary, since it's kind of impossible to market and sell a Triple AAA game that would be like, 2 hours at most if the Werehog wasn't there. Also, it is kind of fun to experience a gameplay style that contrasts so much, a slower puzzle platformer that still keeps with what Sonic's about, while having a fairly fun beat-em-up gameplay style to boot. Of course this pales in quality to the Day stages, but that's kind of what it's meant to do in a way. It feels like the entire team KNEW the Day stages exist at the peak of what Sonic the Hedgehog is. It gets to a point where I can get an S Rank on the level, and then play it again just for the fun of it, because this is some of the most fun I've had in a video game period. The changes in routes that happen at light speed, the intelligent emphasis on high-stakes to keep your run engaging, while making it all the more satisfying when it goes smoothly, and just like. Everything about it. Wow.

Also. This game honestly has a Final Level that puts most of every other Sonic game to shame. Nothing against things like Sonic Adventure 2's Final Rush, or Shadow Generation's Radical Highway, but really, they pale in comparison, in my eyes, to the apex that is Eggmanland. Eggmanland feels so brilliant to me because it by all means, feels like a burst of excitement like no other, excitement that they finally get to create Eggmanland, after teasing it for so long, after having it's construction a main motivation for Dr Robotnik ever since right around his first inception, has finally been created, and it lives up to that buildup and more. A level that combines all of Unleashed's gameplay styles into one in a beautiful way, all in a Dystopian Theme Park/City hybrid, which is so big it takes up most of the space on the small continent Dr. Eggman took as his own. The music, just like all of Unleashed music, is perfectly fit for the stage, and is just such an incredible music composition, with both the Day and Night themes shouting at you that this is the end of this game, a grueling romp through Eggman's cartoonish dystopia that is Eggmanland. It fucking rocks.

Genuinely this game is so fucking good. Always wanted to play it ever since Sonic X Shadow Generations got me fully back into Sonic, and by god does it deliver...

Even if the biggest issue to this game is the pacing issue the medals present, it kind of ends up feeling insignificant once your at the final act, because Jungle Joyride into Eggmanland is probably one of the strongest one-two punches I've seen a Sonic game do. Hell, games in general. Also, the Werehog does have some things that undercut some sauce he could have, I feel like the lock-on range for platforms is a bit too narrow, and he should be able to lock onto platforms after an attack, to give more cool movement/skipping opportunities that have always been a huge part of Sonic's identity. Either way, it does very well for what it is, and is a nice side-dish that complements the main course, a main course which is one of the best I've ever tasted. Fantastic game.

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic unleashed #3d sonic #sonic the werehog

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sm-baby · 1 year ago

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Hey, thigh and bicep thirsting anon here! Wanted to clarify that I meant it in a good way and i LOVE your artsyle and your ability to draw different body types while also keeping it in a block style. I adore how every character looks...idk? Fleshy? I feel like I could squeeze their arm or torso or leg and it would feel real- Anyway keep up the great work!

The people love your fat juicy minecraft ass drawing abilities!!👍 /silly

1. Hehe eee I am super flattered!! ^///^ yeah Im rather happy with the body type diversity (even if I don't do skinny that often owo;) and I personally don't plan on changing it! Id say thats cuz a bit of it is just me projecting my own body type! It makes me happy, waugh ,'))

Also!! Aaa!! I think its super cool that they are fleshy!! That you could squeeze them and it would feel real! Its always nice to make your character feel 3D even in a 2D art form, but this is just a whole new level!!

2. Its a bone structure thing!? Thats absolutely ridiculous then >:0!! How could that be so sought after when its literally random chance! Waugh ... Beauty standards man!

Props to those who have it tho uwu I hope they are living their best lives.... Tho it looks a little painful/hard to walk with

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jocu-reads · 3 months ago

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DIE Issue #5 Reread (Gillen & Hans)

Issue Six of DIE, "The Grind," features a lot — Sol acts like a catty advisor which is my favorite form of his character, Angela has to reckon with how she's let Die control her life both in and out of the game, we learn a bit more about her past, and we see how Kieron Gillen's work as a games journalist shines through with a discussion of The Crunch.

There's a very potent metaphor here between the characters in this comic are dominated by the systems of the game and those who are pushed to work tirelessly for The AAA Game, which I would call a descendant of the tabletop game in many ways.

We're entering the part of the text where my knowledge drops off some. Back when DIE was releasing, I must have read the first arc three or four times? It was all there was for roughly the first year, and I had many rereads before I ran the RPG beta, which launched sometime after Issue Five. Maybe we'll talk about those sessions I ran sometime soon.

Anyway, that's to say that these sections are very exciting as my memory is more foggy, so there's a lot of juicy stuff in here I didn't even recall. Let's get into it.

The Art

I'm always happy to see more of the dieselpunk robot designs Stephanie Hans has for the Eternal Prussians. Here's the cover of the issue, which is one of my favorites:

We also see that purple & pink used again for flashback panels. I do really enjoy how Hans's watercolor style is amplified here, it seems so dreamy. I'm still struggling a bit to see if we're to read the emotion wheel colors onto these scenes. I'd expect them to be more yellow and green if that were the case, though that may not make for a very pleasant visual look.

Oranges in this issue are so haunting. The glow of the giant machines, the dying embers around Glass Town, and of course that final sunrise over Case. Brilliant stuff.

Descend

Hey I just noticed, is Angela going down the same stairs Ash and Matt did to get to the core last issue? Maybe... Hans uses very dream-like architecture, something that invokes the nondescript mix of GM narration and battlemap abstraction in RPGs, so it's a bit hard to be certain, but it is a spiral staircase going down down down.

I bring this up because... well it's a dungeon isn't it! There's going to be a whole arc about dungeons at the end of this, but I suppose that doesn't mean the characters can't do some delving now.

I'm noticing a theme with downward motion and character monologue. Angela does it here. We get some from Ash both when she enters the Glass Town core but again when she enters the trench in Issue Three. Huh. That physical/mental descent link will become really potent by Arc Four. Let's keep an eye out on that as we keep reading.

Angela Runs Away

A fair amount of this comic deals with the characters refusing (or being unable) to change from who they were as teenagers and how that continues to fuck up their lives both in and out of the game. Angela, as Ash describes her, has always been trying to avoid something by moving onto what's shiny and new. As we know, this how she ends up playing the game in the first place—Ash takes her so she'll stop being upset about the family dog dying.

This is what has pretty quickly happened upon entering Die again too. One of the first things she does when she has spare gold is boot up Case again. I've commented on this habit as being kind of wasteful in the past. I think that comes off harsher than I intend though. I don't think she's dumb to keep feeding him gold, but I do think she's being a bit selfish. In this issue, when the Ash party is hunkered down and barely scraping by, that "bit" becomes "kind of a lot actually."

Ash calls her out on this and she runs away from the confrontation, one she knows will inevitably worsen.

Keen readers may pick up on this, but I think Ash may be a bad sister.

We also learn she did this around her later life too. Working in the AAA game space and leaving projects. Escaping a strained marriage with someone new. Packing up and leaving when her husband found out. Trying to apologize after her new partner felt things got too heavy. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say her spending time with Case is running away from the matters at hand as well. Angela also realizes this by the end of the issue and this time puts a stop to her actions.

And yet. She's still running away from confrontations here too. Matt offers to take her emotional pain at Case's death away, something he can do as a Grief Knight (we'll talk about that in a sec) and she accepts the offer. Sure is lucky to have someone around that can eat all your sadness. Surely that isn't a poor coping mechanism or anything.

Another big problem Angela has is how often she jumps into terrible consequences without thinking too much. Like, okay, playing a game with your freak older "brother" and getting sucked into a nightmare world is kind of a freebie—I certainly can't blame her for that one. But the robot arm? I think it's clearer how that could backfire on you in the Genie Logic world they were in.

The other notable Campaign One mistake Angela made was dating Chuck, which seems like an obvious bad idea. But hey, she was just a kid right?

Problem is, Angela keeps following a self-destructive instinct as an adult. She gets involved in a workplace romance and her husband finds out. Terrible, but what did she expect to happen? She brings back her dog, knowing full well he will have to die again. It is a really unfortunate chain of behavior, one that is a clear consequence of her inability to sit still in bad situations and look for a good solution rather than a quick escape. Honestly, this probably made Angela and Chuck the second worst couple in the party.

I still feel like I'm being harsher towards Angela than I should, but there's a reason for that. All these problems spill over into her role as a mom too. This is something she is going to have to reckon with later. It's going to be really bad for everyone involved.

But let me cut her a break at least. This issue has given me a stronger appreciation for Angela, which I think happened when I read it back in 2019 too. This woman has been through a lot, maybe more than anyone else but Sol in the party. Despite that, she's still standing Were I in her position, I don't know that I could do much better.

The Neo

This is a weird class, since it is playing on a less defined archetype. Classically, the rogue exists to open up chests and disarm traps... and that's about it. There's certainly the sneak attacking and stealthiness of later editions and systems, but if we're looking at the B/X thief, my understanding is that it exists for one very specific use.

Angela is obviously doing more than just that though. I believe Gillen is drawing a lot on video game RPGs with the Neo, both due to it's connection to cyberpunk RPGs and therefore Deus Ex, but also with the name itself—the Neo is quite literally the new RPG.

The class also has one of the more "game-y" mechanics, a term I think is stupid but sometimes useful (what is a "game" after all? I guess "video game-y" is more apt.) Her abilities are on recharge, she needs power-ups to use them, she makes very concrete choices as to what to use and when. It is not unlike, say, a level up tree in Skyrim (or perhaps System Shock would be the more apt comparison of the games I've played.) It's also very telling that her class seems to convert money to playtime, a la arcade cabinets.

Your character's upgrades in System Shock 2

This puts what the classes are there for into better perspective for me. They are catering both to the traditional D&D classes, but also to types of players and types of games. We've talked about the Dictator and Master as storytelling classes, those who get deep into the roleplay and intrigue. Godbinder is another of those, but perhaps with more of a court and faction game focus. The Fool exists both as the so called "beer & pretzels" game but also fantasy pop literature to an extent, in all its forms (pulps, blockbuster trash, series that seem to never end.) The Emotion Knight fits a bit less cleanly here, but the Neo slots right into the CRPG niche. It helps that several of the characters have careers based around their class.

I think it makes a lot of sense then, that the video game class is built around stealth and the mercenary. I would consider the immersive sim as the closest video game genre to classic TTRPGs, drawing heavily on roleplay, character building, and exploitations of the world to overcome challenges rather than surpassing a scripted event. Of course, the cyberpunk flavor is a nod to Deus Ex, but the stealth comes more from Thief (which gets a direct reference in this issue too!)

I think this is also where the Neo's very wide range of powers comes from too. That's a very common move in ISs (consider System Shock, the Dishonored games, Prey. And... ugh... yes even Bioshock.) What starts as a way to build your character in a unique way often snowballs until you have everything unlocked by the end of a game... and Angela has been playing the Neo a very long time.

I should also mention the way Fair Gold plays into what Gillen sometimes refers to as an addiction for the class. I've never totally got this metaphor and frankly I think it's a little troubling. I'm just not sure what is gained by linking Angela (and the Neo) with addiction, something she does not appear to struggle with. I think it's apt to point out that she has some very poor and self-destructive patterns of behavior, but that's about where the metaphor ends. I don't have much more to say about the Fair Gold mechanic other than that for now, but maybe that'll change later.

That's enough about the class, let's talk about the other cyberpunk in the room.

The Fair (or, DIE drops another incredible concept out of nowhere)

In a shocking turn of events, this is actually the second time Gillen has made Daft Punk's Tron Legacy appearance into god-like beings. Maybe I need to rewatch that film to find the secret key to unlock his work.

As for how they're handled in DIE, the story just drops them here and says "Hey, this is the source of all of Angela's problems, a pair of painfully 'fair' and calculating cold beings that seem to delight in watching her squirm," and leaves you at that. And honestly? I really respect that. Usually Ash would delve into a monologue about all the times they encountered the Fair and how they are sooooo fucked up. Not that I don't eat that up every time, but it's nice to mix it up once in a while.

Part of me wants to crack open the RPG book and see if there's more to read about the Fair, but I don't think I will just yet. Sticking with the text in the books is probably best for now.

Anyway, I really really love these guys. Gillen will compare them to elves in one of his end of issue essays later, specifically their detached and timeless nature. I certainly agree with that.

I see these guys as a computer brain running parts of Die. I also see them as the developers designing that computer. It's a little blurry, like a lot of things in this comic.

They offer players who meet them a choice. It's a binary one, in this case the arm or the dog. They make their own decisions (to help or to forsake - to interfere or to observe) by a binary as well, literally flipping a coin. Comics love to have guys flip coins don't they.

Depending on the result of the flip, they answer "This is among the things that happen" or "This is not among the things that happen." It's a very concrete decision, as though it was always the case but needed to be known, rather than decided. There's something there with quantum observation, but I think this plays on how dice rolls and probability in general work.

When a character reaches a challenge, they either overcome it or they don't. Games have many resolution mechanics for this, but most RPGs use some amount of randomization. So will they succeed? Or will they not? The Fair side step the dice type, the difficulty class, the bonus, etc, and just give a coin: One or Zero. Why make the decision if it is already among (or not among) "the things that happen" though? Again, here we're playing with storytelling in RPGs. In the moment it seems unclear, but this stops being the case as soon as the face of a die is chosen. In fact, maybe it was determined the moment the die was cast, by which I mean cast in acrylic. If we follow what seems to be the Fair's philosophy (or Angela's understanding of it) the choices don't matter at all. The path is already determined.

I think that ties very well into the CRPG logic. There are only so many inputs and outputs a program can have. Notice how the Fair offered Angela only two options to give up. Her agency in how to garner a boon is given up from the start. Consider how this would differ from a TTRPG with a human GM, able to react to more player input. Consider how it may not differ.

For what it's worth though, Angela still follows through with the choice. Even without the Fair, she understands she has to let Case go. He dies. They get out. That is among the things that happen.

Other Thoughts

The Clockwork Prussians not knowing what to do with Glass Town (or seeming not to. Like much of this comic there's more going on) is really great. Another good nod to the GM scrambling to react after their players go way off script. "Occupying, I guess," is so great.

I talked a little about Campaign One here as well. I was on a long car ride with some friends, discussing what happens in arcs 2 and 3 of DIE the other week and while talking about how interesting (and maybe self defeating) a prequel series could be, I realized I don't actually know that much about how the party's first 2 years went. I suspect there are hints we could dig at around that though.

A big one is how Matt factors into it all. We learn here about the Grief Knight's emotion sucking abilities. Is this something he may have exercised often as a teenager? Perhaps to keep people sane and moving forward? That would be a pretty damning read, but let's tuck it away for now. I think we'll have A Lot to say about Campaign One by the end of this arc.

We close on the introduction of a favorite character of mine. We'll talk more about Augustus later.

#die comic #die reread

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