#also this has outlasted edens zero now

[ac-liveblogs]

This is the second Lucy where Mashima has taken the guild mark arm. [Insert Doofenshmirtz meme here]

🤔

I flipped through the latest chapter real quick. It's uh. Erza's armour sure did explode in record time, huh.

[jcmarchi]

Every Big Announcement From The Game Awards 2023

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Every Big Announcement From The Game Awards 2023

The Game Awards 2023 was full of announcements big and small, so if you’re having trouble keeping track of them all, we’ve gathered up all our stories here in one place. You can also check out the full list of award winners here. Let us know which announcement excited you most in the comments!

Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons Unreal Engine 5 Remake Revealed

Pony Island 2 Is The Next Game From The Creator Of Inscryption

Dead Cells Developer Motion Twin’s Next Game, Windblown, Revealed

Metaphor: ReFantazio Gets Fall 2024 Release Window In New Trailer

Harmonium The Musical Is A Sign Language Music Adventure

Usual June Is The Latest From Finji

Big Walk

Exodus Is A New Game Starring Matthew McConaughey

God of War Ragnarök Gets A Free Expansion Called Valhalla Next Week

Get A Look At Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’s Visceral Combat In New Gameplay Trailer

Check Out Big Walk,The Next Game From The Devs Of Untitled Goose Game

Ori Team Moon Studios Reveals Action RPG, No Rest For The Wicked

Ikumi Nakamura Reveals Her Studio’s First Title, Kemuri

The Casting Of Frank Stone Is Supermassive’s Single-Player Horror Game Set In The Dead By Daylight Universe

Sega Is Remaking Some Of Its Best Games

No Rest for the Wicked

Team Ninja’s Rise Of The Ronin Gets March Release Date In New Gameplay Trailer

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero Is The Next Budokai Tenkaichi Game

After 15 Years, Visions Of Mana Revives The Series

Hideo Kojima Is Making A New Game Called OD With Jordan Peele

Black Myth: Wukong Gets August Release Date In New Gameplay Trailer

Get Another Look At Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden In New Cinematic Trailer

Jurassic Park: Survival Is A Stunning First-Person Adventure Set Right After The First Film

Jurassic Park: Survival

Here’s The Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League Trailer From The Game Awards

The First Berserker: Khazan Is A Single-Player Action RPG Set In The DNF Universe

Don’t Nod Reveals Mysterious Adventure Game Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Hoyoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero Gets 2024 Release Year In New Gameplay Trailer

Marvel’s Blade Is Coming From The Makers Of Deathloop And Dishonored

Last Sentinel Is A New Triple-A Game From Former Rockstar Devs

GTFO Makers Announces New Co-op Heist Title, Den Of Wolves

Marvel’s Blade

Hello Games Celebrates 10 Years Of No Man’s Sky With New Trailer

Hello Games Announces Light No Fire, A Massive Multiplayer Exploration-Based Fantasy Game

Multiplayer Tactical Shooter Exoborne Wants Players To Extract Loot While Fighting In Tornados

The First Descendant Gets A Full Release Next Summer

The Finals, Embark Studio’s Free-To-Play Shooter, Is Out Right Now

Monster Hunter: Wilds Revealed At The Game Awards

Monster Hunter: Wilds

Tales of Kenzera: Zau Is A Magical Metroidvania Inspired By Bantu Myth

Final Fantasy XVI Is Getting Two DLCs And One Of Them Is Available Now

Narrative Adventure Game As Dusk Falls Heads To PlayStation In March

Battle Mechs In Battle Royale Or Alongside Friends In Mecha Break

Alan Wake 2: ‘The Final Draft’ Update Includes New Game Plus And New Ending, Out Next Week

The Outlast Trials Goes 1.0 And Comes To Consoles In March

Baldur’s Gate 3 Is Now Available On Xbox Series X/S

[tarajenkins]

Given what you've said of Vauthry, about how we're never given any chance to even try and redeem him, help him become a better person, I'd like to ask: how would you go about "saving" him? When he transforms into that Lucifer/Archangel Michael-looking guy, he seems permanently lost, but how would you write out a redemption narrative for him?

I love this ask, I hate the answer I have to give. But it’s gonna be a long response anyway, because context and because you already know I don’t know when to shut up about characters, lmao. 

SO I HOPE YOU LOVE HEARING ME RAMBLE UNDER THIS CUT (but I won’t blame you if you don’t)

I don’t think the in-game narrative allows Vauthry any chance at redemption in the current time, even if he had the agency to take it.  I don’t think we ever saw what he actually could have been. I think what we saw in Shadowbringers was the Lightwarden he’d been carrying finally “awakening”, as Innocence’s Triple Triad card put it. Or, as the X-Files put it in their eighth ep: “We are not who we are”.  

Even if that Lightwarden could be driven out of him (I know an “Aethertech” who would do anything to make that possible cough), I don’t know if he’d regain clarity he may never have had to start.  I’d love to think that he did, a long time ago. The Minstreling Wanderer tells us he can’t say whether or not Vauthry was a monster as a child, when you unlock Crown Of The Immaculate EX.

I believe the Lightwarden’s influence was driving a lot of his brutal acts of “justice”, because that is kinda their whole thing.  As for the man inside the monster?  I have a hunch he was desperate to not be seen as unnatural, and was trying to make sense out of what was happening to him in a way that would not make him a hybrid abomination. Because if he wasn’t a God, if he wasn’t this divine thing he was told he was – then what was he? The way he worded it, “this is why I was born…as man and Sin Eater both…” – it makes me feel he had, at some point in his life, at least once, ASKED why he was born as he was. That he had perceived it was wrong. He needed it to be right. And that was just fuel to the corruption fire.

The talk of godhood actually seemed to be a recent phenomenon, as no other NPC mentions a thing about it – they refer to him as “Lord Vauthry”, and speak of him in mortal terms, apart from his miraculous ability to keep the Sin Eaters at bay. He freely boasted of being a God to the Crystal Exarch, yet we’re to believe he didn’t say a word to his own people, all this time? Or that no one, in turn, would mention to us “Yyyyeah, about this guy….” Mayor Punchable Face may have told him he was a God, but it doesn’t sound like Vauthry bought into it enough to spread the good word for at least twenty years. 

Also consider he called his transformation into Innocence a “trial”. Why would a god need to be tested? And by whom?

By the time we see him in-game, it seemed he was in a rapid decline of sanity, or at least the ability to keep up appearances, and whatever was left of him was fervently clinging to the only purpose he was ever apparently given – which is exactly what that Lightwarden (and Emet-Selch) would want. 

 He was really cynical about the rest of humanity. Given his father, I can see where he’d get that from. Not that daddy told him people suck, it’s that Vauthry probably learned that by his father’s example. Maybe by the rest of Eulmore, too, but I got the impression he was kept seriously isolated from society before his inauguration. He seems to prefer being alone – he only leaves that room when he moves the Sin Eaters against Lakeland. He gives no indication he knows how to socialize, period. You either come to him, or you don’t see him. (He may be keenly aware humes don’t typically reach at least fifteen feet tall. Seriously, look at Cruelty’s size compared to player characters, now look how Cruelty makes a comfy couch for him.)

Cynical, and yet, he wanted to see the people of Eulmore’s “dreams fulfilled, their wishes granted”. Just so long as he was the one responsible, and he was the one recognized for it. He needed their acceptance. 

ANYHOO.  On to stuff I still have zero idea what to make of. 

I should preface the rest of this infodump with the fact I found the Eulmore arc to be the weakest of the expansion, between Vauthry and Ran'jit. Most of the MSQ was given nuance. Eulmore was given a Saturday Morning Cartoon sledge. A -lot- of questions, with no answers, unless Squeenix decides to be generous in a fifty-buck lore book later. (something I hated Warcraft for. I should not have to pony up for a book to understand the main story quest chain in a game.) So, here are some of the questions I’ve got:

- FOOL! THAT WILL NEVER WORK!

They don’t really explain why Emet-Selch thought corrupting an infant was a good plan, as the Sin Eaters seemed guaranteed a win on The First, if only by outlasting the survivors of the Flood. Impatience, maybe? Why not give it to the mayor? That dickpickle would’ve said yes. Maybe we’ll get more answers with the Eden raid. IT’D BE NICE *COUGH*

- The meol thing.  

It’s using Sin Eater’s non-existant flesh to make a bread, and through that bit of Sin Eater, Vauthry could control whoever ate it.  The fanbase loves the “soylent green is people” angle, but it’s done pretty haphazardly, when you think about it like that? Sin Eaters have no lasting corporeal body. They are Light, mixed with a bit of the lingering essence of whatever they originally were – and what they originally were did not have to be humanoid. They dissolve into sparklies in the air upon death – and arguably, they would not have to die to contribute sparklies to somehow mix into food. Forgiven Cruelty lost a whole wing to Thancred when Thancred first took Ryne from Eulmore, and it seemed to have grown back just fine by the time we see Cruelty again. Killing Sin Eaters also would be entirely counterproductive to a nation that devoted themselves to NOT killing them. Also – we are shown the Afflicted, people who are falling to corruption from a SIn Eater attack they’d survived. How is it people who eat meol don’t become corrupted themselves?

Where did the idea for meol  even begin? Vauthry’s father was ousted by the people as mayor before Emet-Selch said hey there, friend, you have a punchable face, let’s make a deal – and Vauthry only took control of Eulmore 20 years ago. He looks a LOT older than 20, or even 40. So his father must’ve rode his child’s coattails before then.  Did Mayor Punchable Face think that was a wise countermeasure against future insurrection? In any case, Vauthry did not exert that control until the WoL and allies were coming to kill the Lightwarden of Kholusia (him), so it did not seem to be a priority of his. Alphinaud confirmed the people were of a free mind until they were made to fight the WoL and allies. (and dialogue stressed it was very noticeable when someone was not of a free mind.) Squeenix: *throws meol into purse* I have to go plotholes came up

- The “Perverted Paradise”.  (I at least giggle every time Alphinaud says this.)

Vauthry is presented as the pinnacle of vice, yet the game does not really show this well – in some cases, not at all.

Gluttony: He isn’t shown to indulge in drink, let alone overindulge. Apart from the meol scene at the end, which was related to controlling the Eater-corrupted citizenry, not gluttony, he was not shown to have so much as a snack. There’s food in his chamber, all of it untouched. But! In the Shadowbringers trailer, Squeenix thought the best example to showcase Eulmore’s decadence was – three thicc'qotes. Having pleasant conversation ‘round a table. Eating fresh fruit.

Not the creepy-ass old patron who thinks that  since his pretty servant can’t sing anymore, she should be “Ascended” as a kindness, although it was implied she could have recovered her health, just not her voice. Not the guy who tossed his servant from a balcony because reasons and wanted us to bring him back. Not even the noblewoman trying to have her servant killed because her lecherous husband put designs on the poor girl.

Three thicc'qotes. Having pleasant conversation ‘round a table. Eating fresh fruit.

We get it, Square, we’re supposed to see he’s fat and think that is bad. Moving on.

Lust: He doesn’t visit the adult nightclub downstairs (the adult nightclub that is shown practically empty and behind closed doors, the lewdness of it all – I clutch my pearls.) He doesn’t  creep on your player character like Magnai did in Stormblood – he doesn’t creep on anyone. He doesn’t want you to be his steed. No interest is shown in the Sin Eaters apart from them fighting for him, as much as some people in the fanbase theorize he is fucking them. (They probably think that Spirited Away is about the sex industry and My Neighbor Totoro is about dead girls, too.) This game is pretty blatant when they intend that sort of thing, see: Yotsuyu, Sastasha, any number of things in Ishgard or Ul'dah. I’ve found nothing here, except the German translation for “Consort Of Sin: Forgiven Obscenity” is “Purified Fornication: Playmate Of The Redeemer”. Since this is not implied in any other translation, I put my trust in Koji Fox and the fact Obscenity’s job seems to be Official Nose Petter to Forgiven Cruelty.

Greed: I am not going to hold his rings and his robes against him, as Urianger has just as much bling (more, actually), The wealthy are made to give up ALL their fortune to be permitted to stay in Eulmore – but that wealth is then used to provide everything for free to those who live there, and the free citizenry are apparently given funds for private use to boot. If they intended to show that Vauthry was using all that for hookers and blow for himself, it did not convey well.

Wrath: If one has broken the rules of the city (or has thrown shade that takes him a full two minutes to catch), Vauthry definitely has this in spades, with a temper tantrum a lot like Philia’s Fierce Beating attack.  But again, the writers don’t really show the extent of the wrath they are trying to tell . Because if you don’t break the rules? Nothing happens, apparently. Trouble seems to have to be brought forward to him, he doesn’t go looking for it.  It didn’t feel any different to me than the Grand Companies, yet this is the one that finally makes Alphinaud do the *GAAAAASP*.

The populace does not seem afraid of Vauthry. In fact, they feel free to pop ‘round to have a word if they think something needs doing. Chai-Nuzz did not seem distressed by his wife’s suggestion she would have a word with Vauthry to soothe the “hard feelings” stirred up in the quest “Emergent Splendor”.  

Pride: He has great pride in his ability to keep the SIn eaters under control, but doesn’t really display any vanity in himself. No portraits, statues, etc. When Alphinaud interfered with Kai-Shirr’s punishment, Alphinaud was told he’d be permitted to stay in the city if he made a painting – not a portrait of Vauthry, but of the city itself.

Sloth: We get it, Square, he’s fat and he sits down, moving the FUCK on.  No actually, hold up, to be honest? As tired and :| as he looked all the time, he struck me as depressed. What guy in Paradise looks that haggard?

NOW moving on.

Envy: If my theory holds, probably plenty of unresolved envy for folks who are not “half Sin Eater”. Otherwise, I can’t think of an example here.

- “Ascension” (Sure thing, Jan)

This is only made reference to in the Weeping Warbler quest chain. “As all know, the sin eaters exist to devour the sinful. But also do they serve to gather the souls of the innocent, and shepherd them unto celestial paradise.”

Sin eaters ate a meal that represents the sins of a household you fool oh wait this is The First

The thing I don’t get here is - why are there obviously limitations on who can be ascended, and when? If the idea is strictly to feed the Sin Eaters, or make meol, or just be an asshole, why is this the only time we hear of it?

It’s like if there are no more mortals, Vauthry wouldn’t have that reassurance he is doing good anymore. Either that, or since he’s never worked in retail, he doesn’t know how to push features.

But I’m betting on the former.

- LASTLY: the hypocrisy of the writer’s narrative (and the fanbase).

Tesleen was our first and horrifying sample of what Sin Eater corruption can do to a human. No matter how strong her will may have been, she was just lost to it. She scratches madly at her face when she uses one of her attacks in Holminster Switch, as though trying to stop herself, or punish herself. But she can’t help it. And we know this.

Titania was a tragedy, had to be stopped. But, a TRAGEDY. Whatever was left of the benevolent ruler was corrupted. There was never a moment where our heroes went “dis binch just evil, they gotta go down”. ( I had many choice words for Titania when I wiped enough times to them, but no actual game dialogue really says it. )

We, the Warrior Of Light, came this close to becoming a Warden ourselves. Somehow it was stalled (convenience!), but there was never a question corruption = bad and out of our control.

Vauthry, on the other hand, is treated as though he is in full control of his faculties, although the corruption before birth makes that questionable at best and he pretty clearly is not? Even as he did that Exorcist neck-twist, no one was like “oh fuck, the Sin Eaters got to another one, damn that poor man”.  (Which would seem a logical conclusion to me, I hate we have like zero real say in our characters’ reactions) Not even a “ahaha okay no seriously what the fuck is going on guys”. Nope. Their reaction was “EVIL”.  Trying to help somehow was never on the table. Watching him die slowly at our feet was.

We saw the Echo of the real circumstance of his birth. It had to come from the Sin Eater that corrupted him, because he wasn’t out of the womb to see that scene play out. Or Emet-Selch. Either way, we saw it, yet at no time afterward do we try to bring the truth out. We just let everyone believe he was evil by choice, and not another casualty of this mess.

And remember earlier, how I said Alphinaud confirmed the free citizenry were not under Vauthry’s control until the fight? Remember the noblewoman whose husband went after their bonded servant, and so she tried to get the girl murdered?

Yeah, we catch up to that noblewoman who tried to murder her servant. She feels really bad about that now.  And what is an option we get to tell her ex-bonded servant when she wonders how she could possibly trust the woman who tried to kill her?

“Vauthry’s society brought out the worst in people…”

Fffffffuck you Square lmao

TL;DR:

In private RP land? In private RP land, where we can back the fuck up in the timeline at will? You are damn skippy that Lightwarden got purged before it took complete hold. (an Aethertech did it with SCIENCE.) And Vauthry is cynical and scarred and bitter and broken and betrayed, but he’s not evil. If anything, he’s actually pretty relatably human. And he’s actually pretty damn glad his father’s shitty legacy is over.

[bforbookslut]

ARC Review: Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review edition is an ARC and may differ from the final edition.

I have given Nyxia by Scott Reintgen a ☆☆☆☆ rating. It is Book #1 in The Nyxia Triad series. It belongs to the Young Adult Fantasy genre with some Science Fiction. Random House Children’s Books/Crown Books for Young Readers publishes it. It will be published September 12, 2017.

The blurb reads:

Every life has a price in this sci-fi thriller that has the nonstop action of The Maze Runner and the high-stakes space setting of Illuminae. This is the first in a new three-book series called the Nyxia Triad that will take a group of broken teens to the far reaches of the universe and force them to decide what they’re willing to risk for a lifetime of fortune.

Emmett Atwater isn’t just leaving Detroit; he’s leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family.

Forever.

Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden—a planet that Babel has kept hidden—where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe.

But Babel’s ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won’t forever compromise what it means to be human.

Add to Goodreads

Verdict:

In a world where sequels and franchises sell much better and outlast duologies and standalones, Nyxia is one of those books that fall into the trap of introducing too many elements and losing sight of them. But, Nyxia surprised me. It grabbed me in its spellbinding talons and held on until the last page. It was confusing as fuck to start because of the introduction of too many characters (Kind of like Endgame, but told from only one kid’s perspective). Also, too many science-fiction/fantasy publications have disappointed me this year so, I’m kinda biased. But I was wrong. It lies a little more on the spectrum of dark YA where themes of morality, humanity, kindness, fairness, teamwork and the vulnerability of youths reign supreme. It’s also incredibly creative and imaginative. There are some problems but they’re easy enough to overlook. 

[may contain spoilers]

To break it down,

The Good:

1. When it comes to science-fiction stories like this where the “evil management” holds a competition, there has to be a defining thing that sets them apart. Nyxia is not about fighting for his life (The Hunger Games) or to belong (Divergent), it’s to go to Eden and meet alien race Adamite (which honestly sounds a lot more like a rock than Nyxia does) and I appreciate that. Too many books these days have them fighting for their lives and Nyxia is just like: fuck it. 

2. Even though there were so many characters introduced, Nyxia manages to give each and every one of them distinctive characteristics that make it easy for the readers to remember who they are. This honestly made it a lot less confusing because when Emmett meets the characters, so do we, and you get bombarded with a bunch of names. So, that’s a huge plus point. Plus, all these characteristics really made me fall in love with each and every single character and ugh, I connected, man. Although, I felt that making Longwei secretive and unwilling to talk about himself was just a cop out to writing another character’s backstory.

3. Writing in first person helped! We see them from Emmett’s point of view and descriptions and opinions.

4. Diversity, kids. Diversity. And they didn’t have to market themselves as a diverse YA book. Emmett, the MC, comes from a Mexican/Puerto Rican background. Kaya, his roommate, is Japanese and so is Katsu. Longwei is obviously Chinese. There’s Bilal, who is Middle Eastern. Azima hails from Africa and is a downright badass. Roarthy, Isadora and Jazzy aren’t identified (or the comments about their nationality were too vague and early to remember). And there’s one identified white kid, Jamie. Plus, none of their nationalities made a difference when it came to telling the story; they just were (Also, they got over the language barrier with some high-tech language translator mask thing)

5. Plot twist was great. Did not see that coming. There were two plots twists, in fact. I was so engrossed that I didn’t suspect it at all. Although, the outcomes of the plot twist were pretty predictable. 

The Bad:

1. Worldbuilding wise, there’s not much we know about the world they come from. I can’t tell if it’s a dystopian society or it’s set in earth’s distant future. Nyxia is set primarily on the Genesis 11 ship and we don’t even know what the ship really looks like. Partially because the kids were all kept in the dark (and partially, a lazy cop out, I suppose). So, we get a lot of going down corridors and nyxia covered rooms and the training center. And once, a medical wing that was barely described. When they move to the Tower Station, that was also not described. I often forgot that they were no longer on the ship.

1.2 We barely learnt anything about the Adamites or Eden. It’s funny tbh, because the whole crew has lessons and they learnt stuff about the world they were going to but the readers weren’t privy to that information.

2. There’s a lot of hating going on that went unexplained. And, unresolved. I still don’t get why Isadora and Roathy targeted Emmett. Bilal was a weaker contestant. 

3. A ship is introduced much later into Nyxia. And I didn’t see the point of it. It’s highlighted by a marked shift in how Emmett talks about the rest of his friends as opposed to Morning (his lover, not the time of day). He talks about her more poetically. It went from zero to sixty but it was done in a way that made me feel a little bit of the chemistry. The ship and the implied sex felt absolutely unnecessary either way because it didn’t drive either of them to win. They already had their own reasons for winning. But, then again, you put teenagers together and don’t expect them to be horny? They’re exercising every day. That’s enough pheromones to go around. 

4. Character wise, Emmett as an MC hasn’t really evolved from the first page. I can’t decide if that’s a good or a bad thing because most stories don’t have flat characters. He’s always been confident and outspoken. He wasn’t a great leader which was what I appreciated. Maybe the only thing that has changed is that he values his team and the friendships forged, which is coming from a guy who calls his “gang”, the Most Excellent Brothers, and is driven to make his family a better life. It’s not unexpected lol. You make family where you find then. That’s what Emmett did.

4.1 We catch glimpses of Emmett going “dark” but also has the ability to wield kindness and fairness. He also has a very strong moral compass. I’d have loved to see a wholly benevolent Tris or a very flawed Katniss but eh, Emmett seems almost too perfect a character.

5. Also, a lot of plots get introduced but never completed. Eg. The Babel Files, Morning knowing more than she lets on and her “gang” on the ship, Kaya being adamant that Babel has something to hide and the Adamite they discovered on board. There were no answers. Just more questions, more training and more scoreboards. 

Conclusion:

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen is well-written and entertaining. But like a lot of science fiction YA books, it does nothing new. It’s smart and cleverly created but it’s just another The Hunger Games and Divergent. It’s essentially a story about kids competing to be part of a team and also winning money and a lifetime of healthcare for the people they love back home. But, unlike a lot of flash-fire-action-pew-pew-pew YA books, this one really does make you think about things like humanity and morality. Along with the MC, of course. Nyxia is definitely a book that I would recommend for readers who love The Hunger Games and Divergent.