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mrslittletall · 3 years ago

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Time for my Ghost of Tsushima Review: Graphics To make it short, the game looks absolutely GORGEOUS. It goes with a realistic style. I didn’t had trouble with the character models, they looked good and unique and the facial expressions were well done. What got me, though, is the scenery. Tsushima is lush with nature and there were trees, flowers, pampas grass. You clearly could see what was a japanese settlement and what was a mongol camp, though I have to argue that they resuded a lot of assets for the buildings, like if you you knew one of them, you knew all of them, but that is nitpicking. The water looked great, the fire effects looked great, the foxes were cute, the flowers were gorgeous. It was a joy to look at and I made some scenery screenshots which I all forgot to upload, oh well... The last area was a bit duller though, because it was full of snow, but I like snow and we got footprints in the snow, so I was fine with it ^^ Sound/Music Sadly this game suffers from western Triple A problems... the music is generic and doesn’t stand out. I think I remember one song of the entire OST and that was in Yarikawa, when you unlock the Ghost Stance. The music is generally played with japanese instruments which was a very nice touch though. It wasn’t there all the time also, leaving you room to listen to the atmosphere, which was nicely done. It never really was quiet in Tsushima, but it made me feel at ease. I am also amazed at the voice acting. The voice acting was really really good, though both me and my husband had one gripe with it... Ok, so I put them on english, but they are still talking japanese with each other, it’s just dubbed for our listening comfort, so why... why did so many VA’s speak with a fake japanese accent?! That didn’t make any sense at all! It got even more hilarious when I read the names of the credits and Jin, one of the few who doesn’t sport a fake japanese accent was spoken by a japanese man! That was the only gripe I had with the voice acting though. Gameplay The game feels like a classic Open World game. I heard a lot of people got tired by it, but they probably have played like a hundred Open World titles already. I only played Breath of the Wild and Death Stranding (and Death Stranding is not a typical Open World title), so it felt all fresh and new enough for me. I am a person who really likes to see progress in games, so it always felt great for me when I found one of the locations in Tsushima that would give me some extra and make my Jin stronger. I loved the exploration part of the game. The quests of the games? They were a bit generic, at least the optional quests. Lots of the same to do. The story quests were more interesting, for they sometimes forced a certain playstyle on you or gave you certain weapons to use. Like, sinking the ships with the hwacha was really cool and having to sneak out of the shogun’s castle was nerve wracking. I wasn’t bored with them though, for I liked the little stories behind the quests. The combat was really fluid and played well, though the standoffs at Act 3 got ridiculously hard. I thought it was my problem, but I wasn’t the only one failing the standoffs in Act 3, the game really just made them super hard, apparently to encourage stealth? Yeah, but I don’t want to stealth the mongol patrols... The boss battles in the game... they kinda felt like a dance. You had to find out what your opponent does and react accordingly and if you did it right, it felt like a beautiful rythm of a sword battle. I was pretty impressed by how fluid it felt when I didn’t mess up. The stealth mechanics were good. I hate stealth in games where you normally don’t do stealth, but here the stealth was a big part of the game. You had a lot of options for stealth, you could hide in grass or behind walls, you could assassinate the foes one by one, you could hide on a roof and shoot them with your bow, you get access to poison later in the game (shooting a brute with hallucination dart was always fun) and and and. It really hammers home that your character took up the practices of a shinobi to save his home. The early game hell was pretty bad though... you start with not much of course, and that made me almost give up on the game because I did nothing but die... only when I found out that I can run up to archers and hit them with my sword instead of having an archer battle, I had fun again. Like, the game starts you out with low health and resolve and then gets you into missions with five archers shooting at you at once? You are dead before you could even aim! Overall, I had fun with the gameplay. Story/Characters Ok, that will be complicated, because I like the story and I dislike the story at the same time... But let’s talk about the characters first. I loved most of them, especially Jin, Yuna, Kenji and Norio. Every main character got their own questline which you could follow and it showed a lot about them, also that none of them a honourable hero or anything, but they all had their flaws and troubles... Especially Lady Masako’s quest made me thinking... for it was extreme that her family got slaughtered like that, but after hearing that she left her sister in an abusive marriage I couldn’t hate Lady Hana for it... she must have tremendously suffered and sadly all her negative energy got channeled at innocent people... Their stories went through the whole game and were a good thing to deepen them, because in the main story they felt a bit side lined in favour of Yuna’s and Jin’s friendship as well as the storyline about Ryuzo and the relationship between Jin and Shimura. Ok, let’s talk about the story now. The story is set on the 13th century of the island of Tsushima with the mongol invasion. Because the mongols fight not fair, the honourable Samurai lose the battle... almost all of them. Jito Shimura gets captured and Jin gets dragged away by thief Yuna who nurses him back to health. Of course he makes the decision to save Shimura, who is his uncle, but now he hasn’t an army in his back, he’s only one man. So Yuna teaches him the tactics of stealth and dirty fighting. More and more over the span of the game, Jin takes up the practices of a shinobi, with a lot of Ghost Weapons that get unlocked and a stealth based game play. Jin, who has been raised as honourable samurai, has trouble with this and can’t accept his new role at first. He tells himself he stops doing it once the mongols are driven out, but... A legend is getting spun. The Legend of the Ghost. I really like how this happens, for Jin does nothing supernatural to get the mongols down, he simply changes his tactics. But the people hear about it and they rumour and soon after they call him “The Ghost” and everything gets exxegerated a LOT. That is pretty much how legends must have started, so I loved this aspect. And I loved how we see Jin’s inner struggle and how he thinks about the land first and his honour second and that there is a friendship with Yuna which never turns into romance, which is a plus as well. Act 2 was really epic and I loved the whole Yarikawa moment, when like everything screamed “For the Ghost”, that was POWERFUL. What I dislike is the story since the end of Act 2 and in the start of Act 3. See, there’s Ryuzo. Ryuzo is Jin’s boyfriend childhood friend and he is a ronin. Jin asked him to join his forces, but Ryuzo betrays him and joins the mongols for his men hunger and the Khan did promise him food. And during the second act, Ryuzo and his strawhat ronin act like secondary villains... and I was very much hoping for a redemption arc for Ryuzo, but instead the story lets Ryuzo pathetically cry for his life and Jin has to kill him. Um, what was that?! You missed a GREAT opportunity for a redemption arc here and it feels like you didn’t use the potential of Ryuzo at all... And then Act 3 happened... see in Act 2 there is a mission where Jin gets poison and it is a powerful weapon, most players will probably use it. But there is a scene where Jin uses it without player control and his uncle is like “WTF Jin?” The issue comes when we enter act 3 and now the mongols use the poison that Jin used on them... And the story turns into a “Oh Jin used poison, how horrible that is! Now the mongols have poison! Why did you use poison, Jin? You are clearly the villain now.” Which I am like... “No? What the fuck? This guy saved thousands of people because he decided that life was more imporant than honour and the narration wants to tell us that poison is bad? What?” In the end, I liked that Lord Shimura came to help though and the ending tale... had some very powerful lines “You have no honour.” “And you are a slave to it.” Beautifully delivered those lines. My decision in the end was to let Lord Shimura leave, but not for the reason Jin had, for he said he wouldn’t kill family. My reason was the following: “Live! See the pain and suffering of your people and help them. Live with your shame and survive, because that is what Jin does. You don’t get an easy way out, old man.” Yeah, my reason was lot more spite... Anyway, I wish the story in the later acts would have been better... it started so strong... Overall This isn’t a perfect game of course. But I had my fun with it and I wanted to explore the map and see the end of Jin’s story. Characters were adorable and fun, gameplay is smooth once early game hell is over. I would totally rec this game if you aren’t fatigued of open world titles.

#ghost of tsushima #ghost of tsushima spoilers #ghost of tsushima review

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entering--hyperspace · 4 years ago

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So I made my bh oc a fake companion with his own companion alert and everything because my game design brain is Like That. Below I’ve included bios with likes/dislikes, some abilities, and an overview of his quest. Even some idle dialogue! Lol. Click images for better quality

Homeworld: Found on Tatooine

Family: unknown

Notes: usually accompanied by a bird of some sort.

For those born force-sensitive it might seem like their only options are to become a Sith, or a Jedi. Rohan, however, walks an entirely different path. After leaving the Jedi order at a young age Rohan was raised by a rag-tag crew of Bounty hunters who taught him how to best use his connection to the force to track down any target, making him one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the galaxy. When Rohan became bored with regular bounties, he set his sights on other force-sensitives, giving him a reputation as the bounty hunter with the most successful captures of both Jedi and Sith. This eventually caught the attention of the Hutt families who sponsored him in the latest great hunt, where he became it’s next champion

Likes: High stakes, professionalism, honor, mercenary work, neutrality, his bird

Dislikes: Unnecessary violence, picking sides, being taken advantage of, grudges

Primary weapon: Lightsabers

Secondary weapon: Stuka (Pet)

Gifts

Weapon: LIke

Military Gear: indifferent

Courting: indifferent

Luxury: indifferent

Technology: Like

Republic Memorabilia: indifferent

Imperial Memorabilia: indifferent

Cultural Artifact: Like

Trophy: Favorite

Underworld Good: Favorite

Abilities:

Notes: Rohan's "class" Mechanics takes inspiration from the Jedi knight, while borrowing abilities from the bounty hunter and Jedi classes to fit the character. To elaborate, Rohan uses the "Focus" system just as the Jedi knight does, and any other abilities taken from the Sith warrior and/or bounty hunter are either refitted to match this, or are simply tweaked as to not override the core mechanic.

Rohan's unique abilities;

Deafening Screech

Cooldown: 80s

Range: 25m

Stuka's screech taunts all enemies within a selected area, focusing their attention on Rohan for 15 seconds.

Blinding claw:

Cooldown:50s

range : 30m

Stuka rapidly attacks a selected target, leaving them stunned for 20 seconds, or until they are disrupted.

Hunter’s intuition

Stance change: Dual blades.

Prerequisite: Full Focus

In this Stance Rohan gains a 30% Increase in speed, a 20% Increase in accuracy, and a temporary bonus to weapon damage for 10 seconds

Force charge:

Cooldown: 14.5

Range:10-30m

Rohan jumps to a distant target slamming his staff into them, dealing 4380-4656 weapon damage, interrupting the target's current action and immobilizing the target for 3 seconds. Cannot be used against targets in cover. Strikes with both weapons if dual wielding.

Other:

Blade Barrage

Cooldown:18s

Range::4m

Performs a series of lightsaber attacks that deal 6766-7068 weapon damage. Strikes with both weapons if dual wielding.

Electro net:

Cooldown:90s

Range:30m

Fires an electro net that ensnares the target, reducing its movement speed by 50% and dealing energy damage over 9 seconds. While affected, a target that moves takes 20% more damage from electro net, and this effect can stack up to 10 times on enemy players or 5 times on any other target. Additionally, the electro net hinders the target, preventing the use of high mobility actions and escapes such as charges, vanishes, and speed boosts. Lasts 9 seconds.

Force sweep: Strikes the target and up to 8 enemies within 5 meters with the Force, dealing 1268-1395 kinetic damage. Also stuns weak and standard enemies for 1.5 seconds.

Queststep overview:

Lana beniko is the quest giver for this companion alert. Lana informs the commander of an expert tracker,b whose skills would be valuable to the Alliance-so long as he could be convinced to join. She has been unable to contact him for some time but knows he was last seen on Rishi should the Commander be willing to investigate.

The Commander travels to Rishi. After talking with Arankau at the Rishii village, the Commander is informed of both the location of the contact and his identity as the latest grand-champion of the Bounty hunter Great Hunt. Before leaving Arankau informs the Commander that they hired Rohan to find out which pirate gang had been ruining their camps, and would prefer he finish the job before attending to whatever business might be awaiting him in the Alliance.

After investigating each village, with the help (or lack thereof) of the Commander’s observational skills, alongside Rohan’s psychometry, they discover the culprits are fellow hunters hired by one of the local pirate gangs to burn down the villages in order to make room for more of the pirate's operations. The confrontation gives the player's a glimpse into how Rohan views his profession, and the enemies he has made because of it. After fighting the hunters, as well as the pirates themselves, the player is given the choice to either let the pirates and bounty hunters go-- so long as they leave the Rishii alone-- or kill them all

Either way, after returning to Arankau, Rohan has one final conversation with the Commander. After seeing the Commander’s skills, and talking with them about the Alliance as well as the benefits of joining them, Rohan agrees to their offer.

Note: This quest is very detective-like. The player is meant to take a close look at each village, gather context clues within the environment to discover what had occurred, and who might have been responsible. For example, scorch marks around the houses implies a fire. The amount of tracks suggests a group, and the heat signatures in the air suggest what kind of blasters might have been used. If the player successfully observes the surroundings (with the game knowing these choices when Rohan asks what they have found) they can gain both an achievement, and make the final confrontation easier by taking a direct route to the pirate camp, an option that would be closed to them should the player fail the observational checks. This detour is not long, just a few more enemies down a different path. Choices matter yadda yadda yadda.

Being called out:

“Another day, another hunt”

“I got your back”

“What’re we up to now?”

“M’um m’aloo”

“I’m itching to get back to the fight.”

Ambient Dialogue:

“Rule 1, No bounty is worth dying for.”

“Sometimes I wonder if the Jedi still think I’m dead, then again that was a lifetime ago.”

“You carry a lot of history with you, maybe we can swap stories sometime.”

“Where are we? Oh, right.”

“I swore we were just...never mind.”

“Stuka, drop it!”

“You can’t eat everything you see, Stuka.”

“Stuka seems to like you, she doesn’t like just anyone.”

“Hunt well, Commander.”

“Trust in yourself, nothing else.”

“Taa baa, Eyeta”

“As much fun as this whole alliance thing is, I do miss a good bounty.”

“If the hutts ever try to collect the bounty on my head...just ignore them.”

“Don’t wear yourself out, alright? There will always be time for another day..”

"I suppose I'm still on mandalore's bad side. Been a while since I've received any job offer from them. Oh well, you win some you lose some."

“If most hunters followed the code our profession would be more respected.”

“The Jedi have the light, and the sith wield the dark...my path is my own.”

Combat: DPS

“Utinni!”

“Finally! I was just starting to get bored!”

“You can’t hide from me!”

“Stuka, ashuna!”

“Time to collect!”

“Your journey ends here, not ours!”

#Swtor #rohan omiros #swtor bounty hunter #rohan companion alert: The Hunter's code

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metalgearkong · 4 years ago

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Ghost of Tsushima - Review (PS4)

9/21/20

Developed by Sucker Punch Productions, released July 2020

Let’s not beat around the bush: Ghost of Tsushima may be my favorite game of this console generation, and one of my favorite games of all time. This is a massive samurai tale crammed with unforgettable moments, characters, and environments. After finishing this game, I felt like I had been through no less than the peak samurai experience in any entertainment medium. Never before have I stood up and given a standing ovation for a video game upon the credits rolling. While feeling complete and filled to the brim, there are small technical aspects that do have room for improvement in the potential sequel. Sucker Punch came out of nowhere and knocked the world on its ass with a fantastic stylized epic feudal Japanese journey, one I can never forget.

Ghost of Tushima is open-world, easily comparable to The Witcher 3 or a modern Ubisoft title. What Ghost of Tsushima brings to the table is its incredibly realized medieval Japanese world, to the same extent Red Dead Redemption brought the mythic American Wild West to life. Authenticity can be found in every corner, and I set the game for Japanese voices and English subtitles to extend the immersion (something I can’t recommend enough). The Mongols have invaded Japan, and their first stop is Tsushima island. The samurai here are all that stops the massive army from reaching the mainland. The details themselves might not be perfectly accurate to 1274 Japan, but the world itself is consistent, which is what’s most important.

The game begins with a huge battle, as we take control of our main character Jin Sakai (Daisuke Tsuji / Kazuya Tsuji) right away. An orphan raised to be a samurai by his uncle Lord Shimura (Eric Steinberg / Akio Otsuka), Jin holds guilt and shame for not being able to save his father in battle when he was young, and strives to be the best warrior possible. The explosive intro gives us a quick intro to the open combat, and leads in to a fairly typical tutorial, adding in brief lessons on stealth, and using evasive tactics & tools. I remember how panful the combat first felt, as each strike looked like something akin to a samurai film. The main villain and leader of the Mongols Khotun Khan (Patrick Gallagher / Tsutomu Isobe) establishes himself as a despicable person, and someone totally opposite to the samurai honor-bound code of combat. He wants to conquer Tushima by any means necessary, and Jin is the only one willing to adapt his fighting style to combat this new dishonorable and overwhelming threat.

Jin Sakai is closer to a Geralt, rather than a blank slate avatar character of a Fallout or Elder Scrolls game; He has a specific personality, background, and motivation. Part of the overarching story is Jin learning to rely on tactics he would normally frown upon in order to stand a change against the Mongol forces. This is something his uncle highly detests and forbids Jin to do, leading to a secondary conflict in the story. This is useful for also explaining in the gameplay why the player can either face enemies out in the open, or scurry around and stabbing them in the neck. Of course, most players will do a bit of both, and whatever suits the situation of how you’re feeling in the moment. The best part is, it’s not an binary dilemma, as open combat and stealth can be used completely intermixed at any time.

Personally, one of my favorite parts about the game was unlocking and finding new apparel and color schemes for my outfits. This game (eventually) allows you to dress anywhere from humble peasant, to shinobi of the night, to fully armored samurai warrior. My only nit pick is I wish the game gave you more cosmetic options to buy or find earlier in the game, as I felt limited to just a few outfits and accessories at first. There’s nothing more awesome than manually sheathing your sword after slicing up a dozen grunts, all the while your cape and robes aggressively blowing in the wind. The game allows you to manually bow and play a flute as well, adding the immersion of every moment of the game. You travel the huge island via horseback, and can summon your horse at any instance with the push of the button. I also love how quickly you pick up items, by merely pushing R2. No needless animations or time spend slowing the momentum for the sake or grit or realism.

One of the most unique aspects of the game is using the wind as your guide. If you really wanted to, you’d never have to open your map to know how to get to your current quest. Simply swipe up on the touch pad, and the wind blows in the direction you need to go (the game doesn’t even feature an in-game minimap or radar). This kicks up leaves, twigs, sand, and other particles which add greatly to the visual appeal of the game, and help make you feel closer to the environment itself. Adding to this is how foxes and birds can lead you to hidden secrets, upgrades, or new gear. With so few HUD elements, focus on paying attention to the environment, and the gorgeous lighting and scenery, Ghost of Tsushima gave me to many moments where I felt spiritually uplifted in its world. Despite not having the budget of a super high end Naughty Dog or Rockstar game, Ghost of Tsushima remains one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, and much of that leans on the art style and environmental effects alone.

Missions are equally entertaining whether they come from a main character or minor character you happen upon. Most quests may involve (but aren’t limited to) tracking, fighting, sneaking, climbing, riding, and spying. I especially enjoyed quests with specific limitations, such as having to remain undetected and not to kill any guards. Eventually, however, due to the game’s long length, some of the missions do start to show their repetitiveness, and I don’t think it would have been horrible if the overall run time was 10-15% shorter. I also enjoyed the fact that so much effort was put into side activities that feel serene and peaceful, akin to the Buhddist and Shinto side of being a samurai. Composing haikus and bathing in hot springs to increase your total health felt very much in the spirit of a Bushido lifestyle; always a calm in between the storms of violence. The fact that not all side content is action oriented was a very neat and authentic detail.

Samurai duels were some of my favorite parts of the game. Occasionally Jin would come across an opponent or rival with legitimate swordsmanship skills, and has to face them in an arena. These locations where the duels would take place never failed to be more epic than the next. Duels act like boss fights in the game, and incorporate similar combat to the regular open world combat--only Jin can’t use secondary items such as kunai, his bow, or smoke bombs. These moments were ripe for the photo mode, something I used throughout this game constantly, as its packed with incredible environmental design and lighting effects to make almost every moment and location feel like a living painting. Samurai duels were usually never very difficult, including the ending boss fights, but they always looked awesome and felt damned satisfying.

The game does suffer from some minor technical glitches, but these small drawbacks mean next to nothing compared to how impressively the rest of the game was designed and executed. Frequently I would approach an enemy group and want to initiate a stand off (the samurai version of a high noon cowboy duel) but the game either didn’t give me the option or the option blinked on screen for only a moment and I was unable to do it. Something similar would happen for stealth kills, as sometimes instead of doing the assassination animation when prompted, Jin just did a regular slash attack instead, blowing my cover. Situations like this didn’t happen often, but were consistent enough to notice. I give Sucker Punch a huge pass on these small technical details, as they never ruined my experience of the game, remaining small frustrations on occasion.

Ghost of Tsushima is a greatest hits of iconic feudal Japanese visuals, sounds, tropes, settings, and themes. Countless details build upon this heightened version of Japanese history, making this game an all in one interactive Kurosawa film. Everything from the sword duel boss fights, to the multiple fighting stances, to the stealth, to the nature surrounding you, everything has been executed with extreme skill and thoughtfulness. It can have its small moments showing a lack of polish either in the visuals or mechanics, but Sucker Punch more than accomplished what they set out to do. Ghost of Tsushima is the best PlayStation 4 exclusive, and by far one of my favorite games of all time. If you have any interest in the open world genre, and love the Japanese culture and art style, Ghost of Tsushima likely won’t let you down. An amazing adventure wreathed in katanas, honor, blood, wind, and cute foxes.

9.5/10

#ghost of tsushima #ghostoftsushima #jin sakai #PS4 #exclusive #sony #Playstation #Playstation 4 #playstation4 #review #playstation exclusive #open world #feudal japan #samurai #ninja #shinobi #honor #betrayal

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tamorasky · 4 years ago

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Mistress Anna Chapter 29

Rating: M

Summary: It wasn’t uncommon for the women to be eventually cast aside, Anna was just naive enough to believe it would never happen to her.

Relationships: Anna/Kristoff

Words: 4,371

Canadian Frontier Au.

AO3

Masterlist

WARNING: Use of outdated language, mentions of infertility and forced abortion (it doesn't happen it's a threat used)

Anna's foot nearly misses the second rung of the ladder, causing her to slip against the wood. She clutches the ladder with her shaking hands, her heart hammering in her chest as she slowly makes her way down the floor.

Her barefoot brushes against the wooden floor, still clutching the ladder as she steadies herself on the ground. The young woman lets go, reluctantly turning to look into the same space Kristoff was taken from only moments ago. Anna quietly pads across the room, taking in her house, nothing missing or destroyed. The men were only interested in retrieving Kristoff, nothing else.

As she stands in the middle of her home, Anna begins to ponder who could have taken him? It might be company men, it would be the most likely outcome. It could be possible that it could be hired men. But it is definite, the Hudson's Bay Company had taken him.

Glancing towards the window where Kristoff sat watching the men, Anna notices his gun is nowhere to be seen. She spins on her heel, racing towards the bedroom, their sheets scattered on the ground. Anna drops to her knees, painfully sitting at the bed's side, reaching under the frame until her fingers brush against a narrow chest. She slides the wooden object towards her, opening the lid to reveal two more rifles and bullets.

Anna grabs Kristoff's Mississippi rifle with shaking hands, sighing in relief as she notices a few paper cartridges in a small tin box in the corner. God, she loved this man. She grabs two of them, pushing one into the barrel with some force, detaching the ramrod from the barrel, Anna makes the cartridge go further down, ensuring the powder and bullet are at the bottom.

She grabs the percussion cap, placing it over the cone with shaking fingers. The auburn-haired woman stands with the rifle in her hands, placing the other paper cartridge in her skirt, confident it will not stay, but it is her only option.

Anna steps forward with a deep breath, striding out of the bedroom and then through the open front door. Stepping onto the porch, Anna looks towards the road, her forehead creased as she looks for any indication of the men. She steps off the veranda, turning away from the road, racing through the golden wheat fields with the rifle in her hands.

She runs towards Elsa's property, disappearing into the woods to remain out of sight. Dry pine needles stab into the bottoms of her feet as she stalks through the trees. Her eyes carefully take in her surroundings as she nibbles her lower lip.

She isn't sure where the men would have taken him; they had said something about 'the sight' where their camp is evades Anna. The forest nearly covers the land after passing Ahtohallan, sleeping in the woods has never been a comfortable thing to do. Any flat land belonged to farming families or Metis land. It could be possible they took him to one of the properties but thinks it improbable; there would be no point in arresting him and not immediately removing him from the community. Unless….

A branch snaps behind her, alerting Anna to the presence of someone. She spins on her heel, raising her gun to have a barrel of a rifle pointed in her face. Her mouth is pressed into a thin line, her forehead creased as she does not relent. Aiming the Mississippi rifle up the stranger behind her.

The man in front of her is just a boy, not much older than Ryder. The chestnut-haired boy's stance shakes with his raised gun, his eyes wide in fear as Anna does not relent. The clicking mechanism next to her pulls Anna's attention away from the boy, another rifle pointed at her.

Her eyes widen at the sight of the tall brunette man, his mutton chops that merge into a moustache unmistakable. A feature Anna will always remember, thinking it ridiculous when she first met him. Mr. Erik Lewis

"Mistress, Anna." He curtly greets, "Lower your weapon."

Anna stares at him, reluctantly lowering the rifle, gritting her teeth as she finally knows who is behind all of this. The young man steps forward, grabbing the firearm from her with shaking hands. Mr. Lewis steps forward, roughly taking Anna's bicep. She hisses in pain as his grip tightens on her, shoving her along through the forest.

"Where is Kristoff?" She questions, walking forward. The young woman had always found Mr. Lewis to be more reasonable between Weselton and Hans' men. He may share similar views to that of Mr. Klausen, Weselton and Hans had towards Metis and Indians, but was always less outspoken about it.

"We've taken him back to the site." The young man responds. Anna gasps as Mr. Lewis' grip tightens on her arm as his underling answers the question.

"You do not respond to her." The brunette male snaps. Anna nearly expects him to order her to no more extended speak, but he doesn't. She can't help but wonder why he doesn't; perhaps he knows that despite her being a "half breed," her community status is higher than his. The daughter of the former Chief Factor of Arendelle and granddaughter of one of a retired Elder of Red River, the former lover of the current Chief Factor of Arendelle and mother to his biological child. He had no power here.

As they walk through the forest, Anna waits for them to meander back towards the road to wherever their camp is. But Mr. Lewis doesn't; instead, they continue their way through the trees. She ponders if he is doing this to torture her, the pine needles and cones still digging into her feet.

She grows increasingly uneasy as they stalk further into the wood, closer to her family's river lot, where Elsa and Eliza are. It is one thing for her being in potential danger, but an entirely different one to place her daughter and sister in harm's way. If anything is going to happen to her, Elsa needed to care for Eliza.

Her free hand rests over her abdomen, thinking about her and Kristoff's baby, worried that there may not be any future for either of them. Just the other day, everything had been perfect between them. Now she's certain nothing will be the same again. She stares up at the sky, trying to stop tears from welling in her eyes as the future of living in the cottage with Kristoff and raising their children together slowly fades.

The blood drains from Anna's face, her fingertips numb as Mr. Lewis pushes her through the trees onto her family's property. Her jaw clenches and fists ball as she sees those unfamiliar men congregating on the land her people have possessed for generations.

Her heart stops as she notices Kristoff standing amongst the Company men, his hands still bound in front of him. Nearly snarling, she rolls her shoulder harshly, making Mr. Lewis' grip on her falter for a moment, allowing her to race from the British man's side.

Kristoff's eyes widen as he notices Anna running towards him, his forehead creased in confusion as to why his lover is not in their home. The young woman stumbles on the earth, catching herself as the men around her begin to yell.

Two men rush forward, grabbing Anna by the arms, their grip tighter than Mr. Lewis' had been. Despite the pain pressing into her biceps' flesh, she ignores the sensation, her eyes searching Kristoff's, looking for any indication that her lover might be hurt. Relief floods over her as she can see no evidence of bruising on his face.

"Let her go, she's harmless." Mr. Lewis commands, approaching her from behind. The two men reluctantly let go of the Metis woman. As their hands leave her body, Anna bursts forward from the men's side. She moves towards Kristoff, her heart hammering in her chest as her anxiety courses through her body.

"Kristoff," She breaths, reaching out to grasp his arm. The fabric of his sweater scratching against the palms of her hands as she peers up at him. His gaze meets hers, his brows knit together in concern at her presence.

"Anna, you should be back at the house? W-why?" He asks, his voice cracking as his eyes dart across her body, ensuring no harm has come to his beloved. At that moment, Kristoff wishes his hands were unbound; he wouldn't fight, he just wanted to cup her cheeks, he only wanted to touch her.

"I'm sorry." She glances down at the earth.

"Are you alright?" He inquires quietly, trying to catch her gaze once more. She peers up at him, nodding in response to his question. The young woman freezes as she hears boots hitting against the wood of the front porch. They had gone in. Anna spins on her heel, looking towards the cottage she grew up in.

Anna's worry and concern shifts as her forehead creases as she watches the company men. She is furious, watching Mr. Francis Klausen stand on the porch of the house where her family has lived for years, encroaching on their land. Her eyes dart towards the woman trailing after the British man, her heart-stopping in her chest at the sight of her sister.

Elsa's eyes widen as she observes Anna standing next to Kristoff. The brunette woman shoves forward, past a company man emerging from her house towards her sister. Anna takes her hands off of Kristoff, taking her sister's hands into her own as they stand together.

"Where is Eliza?" Anna whispers, not wanting to let any of the company men inquire after her daughter.

"In the house," Elsa responds, squeezing her younger sister's hands as the auburn-haired woman begins to panic at the thought of Eliza being with those men in the house. "Don't worry. She's hiding under the bed; it's a game. She isn't to emerge or make a noise until she hears Bulda or one of us."

Anna's heart drops at the notion that Eliza may emerge from under that bed into an entirely different world, one without her, Kristoff or Elsa. Anna squeezes her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears threatening to form in her eyes as she nods.

A hand comes to rest on Elsa's shoulder, pulling her away harshly from her sister. The brunette woman cries out in pain as the company man roughly grabs her wrists.

"You can't do this, you have no authority!" Anna exclaims as she watches her sister being bound. Her gaze darts to where Mr. Klausen stands, his hands looped in the belt as he watches everything unfold around him.

"But, we do." He begins, withdrawing from Mr. Lewis as he meanders towards Anna, Elsa and Kristoff. "Kristoff Bjorgman is wanted for the murder of Mr. Caron. And your sister is wanted for illicit trading to American traders."

"What?" Both Elsa and Anna exclaim at once, their expressions mirroring one another as they stare at the company man incredulously.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Elsa huffs, struggling against the rough rope around her wrists. "I do not trade illicitly."

"You trade independently outside of a company; you buy furs from the Cree at lower rates than the Company gets and then sell them to Americans at a higher price. Explain to me how that does not constitute illicit trading?"

"The Sayer trail," Anna begins, her brows knitted together. "The judge ruled in favour of him, we have the right to trade in any way we wish without company involvement. You may recognize a line on a map, but we will not. We have rights."

"You really think the Fort cares about that? Your infringing on our trading territory."

"You're infringing on our land," Anna states, her fists balled at her sides. Francis scowls, his jaw clenched as he stares at the young woman who once denied him.

"It's such a pity. Everything Mr. Westergaard did for you to make you a proper lady only for you to regress back into your savagery."

Anna tries her best not to feel intimidated as he comes to stand only inches from her, trying to make her submit willingly to everything going on around her.

"Mr. Klausen, that's enough." Another voice calls. A voice that makes Anna's heart stop, one which makes her blood go cold and sends a chill through her spine. She tears her gaze from Francis to the voice approaching from the road.

Her sky-blue eyes catching those emerald coloured ones, staring back at her with tenderness, but even at this moment, Anna can recall the cruelness in those eyes the night she ran away from him. The red-haired man's mouth curves into a smile as he approaches the trio, removing his gloves slowly before placing them into his jacket's pocket.

"Anna, my pet." Hans begins, pushing past Mr. Klausen to stand in front of Anna. She remains frozen, unable to move in any capacity as shock settles into her chest. He stalks closer to her; Anna does her best to suppress the shutter rolling up her spine as Hans places a hand on her shoulder. He presses a light kiss to her cheek, lingering over the skin as he whispers, "How I've missed you."

She watches him closely as Hans withdraws from her, his emerald eyes glancing toward Kristoff briefly before coming to rest on Elsa. The older Arneson sister's eyes remain fixated on the earth, not meeting the gaze of the Chief Factor of Arendelle. Hans clears his throat loudly, catching the attention of the brunette before him. Elsa gazes up at him with narrowed eyes, not shy in showing her disdain for the man before her.

"This must be your sister." Hans sighs, glancing back towards Anna before carefully looking over Elsa once again. Elsa stands uncomfortably as the man scrutinizes her but remains firm in her resolve not to show weakness. "Agnarr was right that you are the more beautiful sister. What a pity your affections lie with the company of women instead of men."

Elsa opens her mouth to retort, but Anna speaks instead. "What are you doing here, Hans?"

Hans shifts his attention from the older Arneson sister to the younger, stalking back towards her, tenderly staring down at the auburn-haired woman. Anna stiffens as Hans brushes her hair away from her face.

"Of course, to arrest that criminal and come back for what is mine."

Anna's gaze follows Hans as he carefully examines the property, his nose scrunching up at the sight of the small folksy cabin and primitiveness of it all, but clearly looking for something.

"I do believe Anna," He begins, his eyes coming to rest on her once more. "That you left Arendelle with my child. Where is she?"

Her blue eyes flutter at the mention of Eliza; she glances to the ground for a moment, trying to think of what to say. She looks back up, clearing her throat. "S-she didn't make it past our first winter here."

She will never allow Hans to lay a hand on her and Kristoff's child again. Hans' face falls at the revelation, resting a hand on her shoulder to comfort the young woman.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know you were quite enamoured of her." He glances to the earth, his eyebrows knit together. For a moment, Anna almost feels horrible about lying to him about Eliza, wondering if he perhaps had changed. Those haunting eyes snap up to meet hers once again. "Well, no matter. When you return to Arendelle, I have no doubt there will be more children."

"I don't think your wife would appreciate you having a Mistress." Anna comments. "Nor do I have any inclination to be under your control again."

Hans' eyes flicker to her neck, his forehead creasing as he takes a step forward. He roughly takes Anna by the jaw, turning her head to the side to inspect her body. Anna's gaze meets Kristoff’s, he watches her intently, his eyes widen as he watches helplessly. She knows what Hans is examining, and so does Kristoff. Hans scoffs at the sight of the dark marks spread down the side of her neck to her shoulder.

"Let her go." Kristoff finally speaks, his voice firm as he clenches his jaw. Hans' grip on Anna loosens, allowing her to look forward. Hans glances towards Kristoff briefly, ignoring the blonde prisoner's insubordination to smirk at Anna.

"How pathetic." Hans scoffs. "I mean, it's unsurprising you've always been desperate for attention and love from any man in your life that you'd stoop so low to have a criminal warm your bed."

"Papa!"

Anna's heart stops at Eliza, calling for Kristoff. Hans raises a brow, releasing her from his grasp. Desperately Anna tries to grab Hans' shoulders, arms or wrists to stop him from turning to see Eliza standing on the front porch.

Hans easily brushes her off as he faces the house, staring at the child Anna had borne him over a year ago. "She died the first winter, huh?"

"Hans, please." Anna finally pleads, it being no longer worth it to seem strong. Not when her daughter is involved. "Leave her out of this." She clutches his jacket, trying to stop him from moving forward, but it does nothing.

He meanders forward as Eliza climbs down from the porch, toddling through the men towards her father and mother. Her red brows knitted together in concern at all of the strangers surrounding her home. The toddler doesn't make it to her father; instead, the strange red-haired man picks her up.

Eliza stares at her mother as Hans situates her in his arms, leaning away from the strange man. Hans' chuckle resounds through Anna's bones as she watches him holding her daughter, panic coursing through her body as Hans regards her daughter.

"Put her down." Kristoff orders as he steps forward next to Anna. Eliza reaches out to Kristoff with a cry.

"Papa! I want Papa!" Hans notices the way Eliza reaches towards Kristoff and how she calls out to him.

He shakes his head, disapproving. "Honestly, Anna, it really is pathetic. You run away with my child, climb into bed with scum, and pose him as her father. You people are really sick. Hopefully, when we return to Arendelle, she'll forget this whole twisted affair."

"They are not going back to Arendelle with you," Elsa states, glaring at the man who had stolen her sister away from her.

"We'll see about that," Hans responds, increasingly getting frustrated with Eliza's wiggling in his arms. "If Anna disagrees with it, I will take Eliza. She is, by all means, my daughter and my property. I have a barren wife who will gladly take her in when I tell her that this girl's mother was found dead by the side of the road and an arrested criminal for a father."

"You son of a bitch!" Elsa snarls at him. Hans hums, finally setting Eliza on the ground, watching intently as the toddler runs towards her mother. Anna bends over, picking her up by the armpits. She perches Eliza on her hip closest to Kristoff, allowing her to reach out and touch him.

Eliza won't look at Hans, whining as he steps closer to them. Anna wonders if perhaps Eliza remembers those green eyes staring at them as glass shattered around them. If her daughter can recall the fear she felt as she buried her face into her mother's body to hide from Hans on the night they left.

Staring at her former lover, Anna watches as he begins to give his men orders to start their journey back to Arendelle for the trials of both Kristoff and Elsa. Where she would be kept as a prisoner for the rest of her life to continue to give him children and be further removed from her culture and the people she loved. In the corner of her eye, she notices their guns piled on the ground.

The two company men standing behind Kristoff roughly grab him by the shoulders, pushing him forward towards the road as Anna watches. Their gazes remained locked on one another as he is marched to the road. Francis and Erik take Elsa next by the arms, trailing after her brother-in-law.

Anna stands alone on her property with Eliza still in her arms, only an unfamiliar man and Hans stand near her. Hans extends his hand out to her, trying to be cordial to the young woman.

Anna places Eliza on the ground, grabbing her daughter’s hand to move the toddler behind her body to protect her. Her sky-blue eyes narrow at him, squaring her shoulders and holding her head up high. "Neither of us will be going back to Arendelle with you."

"Oh Anna," Hans sighs, glancing down, "You will be returning to Arendelle with me. Whether you like it or not. We will return to the house, you will play the part of my perfect mistress, have my children, and I will cut that bastard out of you."

Her brows furrow at the last statement, glancing down at herself. She hadn't realized her free hand is resting on her abdomen. Hans turns away from her, careening to the other man standing near the house, giving him orders which pertain to her.

She glances at Kristoff and Elsa, the company men waiting for further orders before loading the criminals to the carts. Her eyes dart to Hans once more, watching his back as she lets go of Eliza's hand.

The Mississippi rifle lying only a few meters away from her, only a step away, knows it's still loaded. Without another thought, Anna steps to the side, swiftly grabbing the firearm and cocking the gun. As she turns, none of the men have noticed her; she stalks forward as if she is hunting.

She presses the gun's barrel to the back of Hans' head, the young company man alarmed at her sudden threat. He reaches for his rifle, getting ready to defend his Chief Factor.

"Throw your rifles down, or I will shoot him," Anna commands. The man glances at Hans, lowering his rifle.

"What are you doing? She won't shoot." Hans scoffs. Anna pulls the hammer of the gun back, preparing to shoot.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I've gotten to be a pretty good shot or, so I have been told." She's gritting her teeth. Feeling pride as he nods, much to her relief, the man lowers his weapon, sliding the firearm away from his reach. Her ears perk up as she hears shouts, the men guarding Elsa and Kristoff running towards the commotion.

Anna smiles as she hears Hans curse. "Don't do anything. Put down your weapons."

"I want Kristoff and Elsa unbound," Anna adds, knowing she had complete control over this situation. Hans would never do anything that might put himself in danger. She hears the clattering of guns falling to the ground.

"Do it." Hans sighs. In her peripheral, she sees Erik Lewis move away from the other men towards Kristoff and Elsa. Anna glances to her side to see Mr. Lewis unbind Elsa's wrists; the brunette woman rushes forward, untying Kristoff's wrists.

Elsa races from his side down to her sister, gathering the rifles away from the company men to ensure they would not try anything. The brunette grabs one of the discarded rifles from the ground, forcing them to gather into one crowd.

"Papa!" Anna glances over her shoulder at Eliza’s shrieking, to see Kristoff gather his daughter into his arms. She sighs in relief; they could work this out.

Hans turns on his heel as he feels the barrel against the back of his head waver, indicating her guard is down. He grabs the gun's barrel, re-positioning it over his shoulder and pulling Anna flush to him.

"Anna!" Kristoff cries out as she stumbles against Hans' chest.

"Listen here," Hans snarls, that familiar cruelness twinkling in those emerald eyes. "You and that brat will be returning to Arendelle. I will string Kristoff Bjorgman up by the neck and throw your sapphic sister to the whorehouse in the far north and you will learn to live with it."

Anna glares up at him, her nose scrunching as if she is snarling like an animal. She tries to jerk away from him, but he holds her tightly. Closing her eyes, Anna flinches away as she squeezes the trigger.

The gun fires next to Hans' ear, the noise causing the man to let go of Anna, cursing loudly as his hand flies to cover his ear. Anna stumbles backward, regaining her composure as she aims the gun at him once more, ready to shoot again if needed.

"Get off our land," Anna states, her voice firm as she stares defiantly at the man who had tried to take everything from her. Hans glowers at her before pushing past her, his men following after him to the road.

Elsa stands ready with her rifle prepared in her hand, observing as the company men mount their horses. Anna doesn't linger, racing towards Kristoff and Eliza. She cups her daughter's chubby cheeks, ensuring no harm has come to her.

"Mama!" Eliza reaches out to her; Anna takes the toddler's hands to press a kiss on the back of her small hand. The young woman glances up at Kristoff, resting a hand on his forearm.

"Are you alright?" His voice nearly breaks at the question, concerned for both of his girls.

"I am." She rubs her thumb against the fabric of his sweater. Kristoff sighs, wrapping his free arm around her shoulder, holding her close to him. Anna buries her face into his chest, taking in the hint of cedarwood still lingering to him. Wanting to remain in this moment for as long as possible, knowing that it isn't going to be like this forever.

This is a moment in their lives Anna never questions, this is the day Astrid acquired her fighting spirit.

#kristanna #kristoff #anna #Mistress Anna #Canadian Frontier Au

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always5hineee · 4 years ago

Text

Hell and Back- Chapter 33: A Halfway Leap (Trials 50-60)

Word count: 3839

Chapter warnings: Mild language, strong themes, severe gore

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The Faith Trials would end up being the least favorite of hers in the bunch.

Looking back on her own story, she never would have guessed the shit she was about to be put through. It was unimaginable, and yet, she had nothing better to do than think about it. Rushing past her, thousands of millions of entities, and yet no way to stop, all she could do was think. And what better to think about than them?

She hated the Faith Trials because they drove everyone apart. It was the smallest little things, yes, but they would fester and grow until there was nothing left but sickness and disgustingness between them. She was no exception.

How was one to know when a friendship was over? Is it when you're first forced to Google that fateful question? Is it when you have nothing to talk about, or the you begin actively hating each other?

They only had three trials left incomplete. They chose two truths, and one dare. She didn't care to remember the truths. They made everyone angry. Why else would they be given to them, after all? Of course, in the course of events, someone must know what happened. The boys certainly remember what happened. The narrative does exist. However, this is Y/N's fault, her prize, her story. If she doesn't remember, there is nothing to be done. She scolded herself for forgetting. It was like deleting a few scenes of your favorite movie just because your favorite character died. It was incomplete. There was a significant difference, though. This was most assuredly not her favorite movie.

She was elated when that fateful screen graced her vision.

Congratulations! You have completed the Faith Trials. Welcome to Round 5, the Delegate Trials! Round 5 will consist of 8 trials for any and all players. If a player cannot continue or chooses to drop out, the trial will be null for that player and they will be penalized with the dropout fee. Other players are not affected. Round 5 will end after trial 60.

They all slept alone the night before these trials. The Delegate Trials. Certainly a gruesome experience. It was also the shortest set of trials since the preliminaries. That didn't mean they were any better. Maybe it was the sheer visceral reaction of what was to come that made her memory so flawed regarding the trials beforehand. Their concept was simple. Each trial would select a Player. Sometimes they'd be given the option, other times not. That player could choose to complete one task, (again, obviously, chosen by the game), or force another player to do a different task. She didn't know exactly what these choices were based on, but the task was always revealed before the first player made their choice, so it was complete guilt. What a perfect game to play just after their foundations had been so steadily shaken.

For example, Trial 53. A classic party game. All the trials seemed to start out this way, with a mildly risky, innocent game of fun. By the end of each section, they were lying under trains. In this case, they selected two players. Suho demanded a turn, as well as Kris. Once they'd been put into the app, they were offered a decision. One was to place his hand on a dartboard, (something that, as boys, they actually did own), while the other threw darts. The initial player could position their hand however they liked, but couldn't move it during arcs. They could only rearrange it between throws. No darts would be taken out of the board under any circumstances until five had been thrown, and any that missed didn't count. Their other option was to force Baekhyun and Lay to take up the same offer.

They had argued heavily regarding this trial. Baekhyun had significantly smaller hands than all the other players involved in the challenge, so he was the obvious choice for the dartboard. In fact, he pointed this out himself, more than willing to take it on, and putting no risk on Lay. Suho, as always, had a problem with this, as he wanted to assume the brunt of the danger, even if they were all a bit on edge. In the end, Baekhyun had no ability to dictate his decision, and since Suho had requested to keep the trial, he was the one who got to put his hand on the board.

Kris had admittedly good aim, likely from all the shitty party games he'd played in his years. Suho, inversely, was unwavering in his stance, whether to keep appearances strong for the group or simply because he'd numbed himself. He was only hit once. It was on the third dart, and his blood dripped down the wall in a beautifully tragic red stream. It was between the two tendons of his middle and pointer finger. Kris looked concerned and moved to help, but Suho only reminded him that they weren't to remove the dart. They finished. Lay healed him, with some difficulty- he was growing tired.

Trial 54. The knife game. Again, simple, a common party game. Except people tended to use butter knives, pencils, or other relatively harmless objects. True to form, this little endeavor required a real knife. It was either Kai's challenge, or he could pass it to Y/N. She insisted that she was familiar with the game, begging him to let her do it instead, but he refused. He passed with a little nick to his ring finger, barely even bleeding. Lay had fallen asleep, so they covered it with a Band-Aid and moved on.

Trial 55. This is where things started to get really, really serious. They were told to supply a player once again, and Xiumin volunteered. Once he received his challenge, though, he'd quickly regretted it. He was meant to stick his hand into the garbage disposal of the sink. There were four switched on the back. They would have to flip one. Even if any of them remembered which one turned on the drain, (which, none of them did), whoever was in charge of the trials had proven themselves capable of changing the circumstances. It could have easily been tampered with. If Xiumin didn't want to do it, he could pass it on to Chen.

Chen insisted on letting him complete the trial. Even though Xiumin was older, he scared a little bit more easily, and Chen felt as if he hadn't really done much since the start. Obviously, they had all been through a lot, but he wanted to contribute, especially after Xiumin had been forced to hang from the roof of a building against his will. It took a few minutes of debating, but Xiumin finally conceded. Chen was left to do the challenge.

He shoved his hand in the drain as Kyungsoo explained the mechanics of a sink garbage disposal. Thankfully, there weren't actually any sharp blades, so unless he stuck his hand all the way in the bottom where the bolts held the metal pieces, he shouldn't be cut badly should it turn on. Any trauma to his hand would be blunt force. That didn't do much to make him feel better about it. Out of the four switches, they debated which it could be. They figured the one furthest from the sink was a safe bet, as for wiring purposes it would be impractical to place it there.

They had been wrong. He broke three fingers. Lay was still passed out, so even as the tears of pain rolled down his face, he wrapped his hand up and indicated to continue the trials. He could fix it later. Xiumin felt awful- that should have been him, he let a kid take his place and now Chen was in serious pain. He would have undone it if he could... But they'd lost that ability with Tao. Even then, he may have been limited- they weren't even paying attention to the qualifications at this point. She was zoning out further and further with every challenge.

Trial 56. This was the first trial in which two options for activities were given. Activities was a shitty name for them- she didn't know what else to call them. Events? Outings? It all sounded corny and completely non-representative. Either Lay could lie on the highway for five minutes without moving, or Y/N could let one of the other members carve a '56' into her forearm with a knife. She remembered thinking to herself that this was bordering on abusive- as if it hadn't already crossed, chewed up, and spit out that line.

Suho wanted Lay to do the challenge. He under no circumstances wanted Y/N doing anything to hurt herself, as had been evidenced in the Solo Trials. Y/N, in turn, saw that something was going on with Lay, not to mention that the risk of the highway far outweighed some light bleeding. In truth, the thought of someone slicing up her skin made her sick, but what was she to do? Out of all of them, she had done by far the least to continue the trials, and she was the one getting the reward! But... they didn't know that.

Suho was arguing with her, much louder than she would have expected from him. He was normally so respectful, especially when it came to her, but something in him had snapped since that one round of truth. Maybe he just didn't have as much of a regard for her after she'd chosen him. Nonetheless, he couldn't do anything to stop her as she sprinted over to Lay's sleeping form, shaking him awake. He blinked forcefully, eyes tearing up at the light as he muttered something about not being able to see. She muttered that she needed him to say 'I concede'. That was it, that's all the app needed to hear. The stupid, fucking, nightmare of an app. He did it.

Kris was the one to do it. Kai looked like he was going to throw up, turning away to face the wall. Sehun covered his ears like a baby to try and avoid hearing her hisses of pain. He used her own pocketknife, the one she'd been carrying since the beginning for the trials. It was as small as he could make it without the letters becoming indecipherable. Didn't stop it from hurting like shit. The 6 was the worst, as it was one long, drawn out, agonizingly slow cut into her skin. As soon as it was done, he promptly bandaged it.

Trial 57. This was strangely easy- they had to select a person, for which they put forth Chanyeol on his own volunteering. He had the choice to harm him self with his own powers, or choose someone else in the group to hit him. As someone with fire powers, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to forcefully make his body allow himself to be burnt, but he didn't really care to find out. He let Suho hit him, since Chanyeol had been one of the ones to agree that he was the most obnoxious. It hurt, but not as much as a burn. That was the very abrupt, fairly calm end to trial 57. It was nothing compared to what was coming for them.

The fifty-eighth trial was something that would be ingrained in her mind forever. It was the sickest device pf psychological torture she had seen in her life, and although short, it was still saying something. The plot was elaborate to say the least. It took them to a location outside of the one they had been spending time in. The day was coming to a close once again, and she could barely remember how long ago they'd started this mess. It couldn't have been more than a few days, but it felt like millennia.

The setup was in a field, a baseball field to be precise. It was lit by floodlights, but there was no one in the area, so there were likely no games scheduled. On the side with the canopy, there were four harnesses tied to ropes, all lying in the copper colored dust of the playing field. Those were hooked into the canopy, then lowered back down, with three times as many ropes as had been entered. There were also two more garishly noticeable details- a giant, rusted, yellow device, and an oversized pair of garden trimmers.

The trial was complicated, to say the least. They had been split into two groups, not of their choosing. They would have to decide which group took the harnesses, and which took the clippers. If the group with the extra member chose the harnesses, they would all be strung up, but if the other did, they would simply have one extra harness. Once they had decided, they would be suspended over the functioning woodchipper. The more people strung up, the less ropes would be cut, as there would be less people on the ground team. However, in a worst case scenario, all of the suspended team could end up chuck. If it was any consolation, the game offered them a skipped trial for every person who felt into the chipper.

The teams were, as far as they could observe, randomly selected. The larger team consisted of Sehun, Kai, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, Chen, and Lay, with the smaller being made up of Y/N, Suho, Kris, Baekhyun and Xiumin. In this, they were torn. The smaller team, most particularly Suho and Kris both wanted to be the ones up in the ropes. Not because they were particularly brave, no, but more out of a sense of responsibility and pride. However, it conflicted with all of their interests to bring Y/N up there with them. Not only that, but with the larger team cutting, there was more of a chance of someone getting dropped. Kyungsoo tried to explain how this wasn't exactly true, and that the math worked out evenly, but no one really cared.

Y/N insisted that she'd be fine in the harnesses. After all, for every one person, there were three ropes. That was only a 33% chance of getting dropped. Not only that, but altogether, the percentage was actually less, as there would be an extra harness. Sehun asked what would happen if she were to get dropped, but swallowing, she just reminded him of the rule for Player 1. That didn't sit well with anyone.

They decided on the smaller team. It was, simply speaking, the least amount of people at risk. They all stepped into the harnesses, buckling them around their waists and tightening them to a snug fit. The app gave a warning before they started that, should they escape from the harness, and somehow manage to avoid the sharp fall, they would automatically be rewarded with the dropout penalty. She didn't even catch what it was before the screen glinted away. She tried to reach it, but Suho calmly told her not to bother, as none of them were going to drop out anyway.

As soon as she'd selected they were ready, their bodies were flung into the air, and the woodchopper activated. She had no idea how remote these systems were, but looking down into the churning blades of the machine was making her want to scream out for someone to help her. Xiumin didn't seem to be faring much better. Baekhyun had gone into some sort of shutdown, not reacting to anything or anyone, simply staring into he void, as if he wasn't even looking at the machine below them. Kris was acting cool, and Suho seemed to be... at peace.

She'd remember Xiumin's whimpers for the rest of her life. It was like a sick dog cornered by wolves in an alley, just barely audible over the screeching of the appliance beneath them. She heard one line clearer than crystal, though.

"Y/N, I don't wanna die."

"You're not going to, honey."

Kai was the first to cut a rope. He was the boldest out of all of them, but in reality, it was out of cowardice. The more ropes there were, the less of a chance he had of killing someone. He didn't want their blood on his hands. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about it. His cut was a blank.

Lay was still not doing too hot. He was still not doing too well, and his skin was rather hot, although he complained about being cold. Kai had given him a Tylenol, basically figuring out that it was a fever. It had helped slightly, which is how he'd been able to make it to the field to begin with. With the assistance of the other members, he made his cut as well. Blank.

After Chanyeol made his cut is when Baekhyun started to get antsy. Kris was still holding himself strong, but he wasn't saying anything, leading her to be certain that it was all an act. As long as he could keep it up, though, she was willing to let him. They couldn't all be messes by the end of this. Chen was next, glaring up at Kris, and she wondered if he was silently hoping that he would fall in. No one did.

Kyungsoo tried to think about it logically, calculating which ropes had already been cut and the probability of distribution. He was worried his overthinking would be his downfall. Finally, he just shut his eyes and picked at random. He wasn't a fan of chance, but in this case, it seemed to be his best bet. It payed off.

Sehun was the last to cut. Looking at him, one would have thought that he was the one hanging from the ropes. He was trembling, although trying to hide it, as he held the clippers in his hand. Eyes flitting back and forth frantically between ropes, trying to mentally grab the one that wouldn't kill anybody. It was here that Y/N made eye contact with Suho.

It was scary, his expression. His eyes were half-lidded, and he had a small smile floating across his face. His hands, which had been previously clutching onto his belt, were limp at his side, his body seemingly completely relaxed. He noticed her gaze, and looked over to her lazily. It was scaring her, especially after how angry he'd been all day. No matter how old she'd grow in the future, no matter how many times she thought about his next words to her, she had no idea how he'd known.

"You know, Y/N, I was always scared of getting old." Her brows had furrowed when he said this. Then, everything went silent as his body dropped from her vision. She knew she screamed, she felt it scratch her throat and rip her lungs into shreds, but she didn't hear it. It was probably for the best. Have you ever heard someone fall into a woodchipper? She was glad she didn't. If someone had asked her before this, she would have made a joke out of it, probably say "crunchy". Not now.

The blood splattered up past her knees, leaving the four of them basically soaked. It wasn't just the liquid, either. Xiumin was crying and screaming, torn between covering his eyes and staring into the abysmal, silver and red void of the machine. Kris, for the first time threw up, coating himself and the ground below him in nastiness. She had completely zoned out, unable to scream again through the pain, vision swimming as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. Baekhyun was clutching himself and rocking back and forth from the rope as the machine turned off, the harnesses lowering to the ground, all four of them curled up in the dirt, not knowing what to do.

The other group would have come to help them, but they weren't faring much better. Sehun had fallen to the ground almost immediately, screaming out in a mix of terror and guilt, covering the back of his head with his hands as he shook. As woodchoppers traditionally worked, one end was for wood, and the other for wood...chips. This one functioned no differently. Before anyone had even gotten the chance to realize Suho's fate, he was already spewed all over them in small, wood chip-like chunks. It was disgusting.

There was nothing any of them could say. At least they got to skip a trial? At least Suho didn't have to face his worst fear? At least it was only one? None of it added up. That was their leader, one of the cornerstones of their friendship. He cared for all of them, no matter how harsh he could be. He would have gladly died for any one of them, but he shouldn't have had to. And now he was gone. Not only gone, but there wasn't even anything for them to bury.

They went home in silence. They could have reported it to the police. Something gave them the sense that the evidence would be gone when they returned. Everyone needed to shower. It almost felt disrespectful, but no one wanted to go to sleep with Suho's blood on their hands, literally, or figuratively. Sehun was in a state of shock, but he was only minority ahead of Xiumin and Baekhyun. As she showered, she saw the water beneath her turn red, causing her to throw up again. She heard one of the boys knock on the door to check on her, but she didn't answer. They probably understood.

When she made it back to the room to figure out the sleeping situation, she saw that one of the only other people done showering was Kai. They hadn't been on the best terms as of late, but she was scared, devastated, and so, so tired. Saying nothing, she sat down next to him, leaning into his chest. He didn't ask any questions, wrapping his arms around her. A few minuets later, she felt another body against her. One eye opening a sliver, she saw that it was Xiumin. As each boy returned, they joined the pile, not one saying anything. She didn't remember when, but at some point, they all fell asleep.

They didn't want to keep going. They convinced themselves that it's what he would have wanted, but that was a cruel joke. None of them had expected this to be fatal. They needed Tao. No one knew where he was, and his name had been removed from the game. There were some injuries that Lay just couldn't fix, not to mention his sick state.

They were able to skip trial 59, thankfully. The last one, 60, quite classically, was a game of Russian Roulette. It didn't have nearly the effect it was supposed to. They were all numb to it. She thought that everyone, silently, probably wanted to be the one to lose. No one did.

And yet... they all did.

Go to Chapter 34

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elfiesink · 6 years ago

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Sands of Time Ch. 2

As is tradition... post fic chap here first? See if fic decent? Then I’ll post to ao3.

You didn’t remember what Overwatch was. You struggled, for a moment, to pinpoint where they existed, when you had forgotten them. But you couldn’t drag up any fragments. The most you had was the memory of the scent of ash and the taste of metal in the air. Which could, frankly, be anything. That could be literally any war. It didn’t even have to be a war. You could be remembering someone cooking back when it was done in a cast iron pot over an open fire. Your memories would never be cooperative if they could help it.

They were, military. You think. There was a war with the omnics and they ended it. It was enough to figure out where Gibraltar was. Enough tiny articles about the rumor of lights near an abandoned base. You were actually stunned by the lack of ‘ghost’ options presented by the internet. That was a go-to, wasn’t it? ‘This is a mysterious phenomena!’ It’s ghosts. ‘Weird sounds in our house!’ Ghosts. ‘Mysterious smells from nowhere!’ Ghosts. ‘Lights in the forest!’ Fae probably but humans liked to say ghosts. Ghosts were the most common supernatural force known to man. Ghosts were responsible for energy costs. Ghosts made your apples turn brown after you cut them.

Maybe you would find actual ghosts in Gibraltar. It’s a possibility.

You wander down the old road that leads to the base. Listening to the world around you, feeling as each mind slips out of your radius. You keep your senses tight around you. You don’t need to know how everyone in this sleepy town is feeling. You don’t want to lose yourself in a whirlwind of emotions that aren’t yours. Not that yours are very active.

There is a large door at the end of the road. It is not maintained, at least not as far as you can see. You cannot see any signs of life, even though you can sense something deep within the mountain, far from your physical reach. Can they see you? Are their cameras somewhere? You cling to the tablet as you search, suddenly becoming aware of how strange and suspicious you must seem. A stranger, with no luggage, no gear of any kind, snooping around the doors to a defunct military base. How could anyone know you were friend, not foe? If you even qualified as friend. More of, tentative ally.

Overwatch. You barely remembered what it even was. Part of you remembered a war, another one. This one against omnics. And then it was done, and Overwatch was hailed as the victor. Then you didn’t hear about them anymore. They were gone, another whisper that you would lose in a couple of years. But maybe you wouldn’t. Maybe you would remember helping, if they let you.

Your only hope was that someone would come out to ask why you were there. What you were doing. You didn’t have an answer for them. You couldn’t say that you were a vampire there to do, vampire business for them. They would ask what that meant. Or assume that you were, at best, a liar and a spy. You couldn’t just claim to have psychic powers because you would eventually need to regain that energy and they would ask how. They would ask why. The whole vampire thing was strange at best. Dangerous at worst. Besides, you were never a fighter. If threatened you just… took control of the situation. What were you there for? To cook maybe? Clean? Anyone could clean. You could clean.

It was not an ideal offer.

Still. You were there to help. Didn’t that mean anything?

No one came out that first night. Nor the next. Nor the night after that. But you knew they were there. You spent your days pretending to be on vacation and your nights lingering by the old metal doors. Once or twice you called out, softly, just a name. Winston. He didn’t come out. You understood, you were a stranger, you wouldn’t be in their system. But you were there. And you were not leaving. The waiting game was boring but you wouldn’t remember it anyway. You had all the time in the world and very little comprehension of what that meant anymore. It blew past you and you let it.

It took two weeks of quietly standing outside of those doors for someone to show up. You sensed him behind you. He was so, so quiet. Footsteps completely masked. You marveled at his skill, felt his energy move behind you. Swift, agile, cautious. You were being stalked. For most people this would be concerning. But for you. You could always see them, sense them. You knew where people were around you. Their intentions. This one suspected you. He was from within the mountain.

You patiently waited for him to take a stance behind you with a cold blade behind your neck.

“Winston called.”

The blade lowered, slowly. It didn’t get sheathed but it was no longer so close to running you through. His stance adjusted. You couldn’t tell where he was looking. He didn’t seem to be an omnic, but he had so many mechanical parts. The temptation to creep through his memories was a strong, but that would be invasive. And you didn’t come to pry.

“You weren’t part of Overwatch, were you?” It wasn’t a question.

“There was a message playing on my ex’s computer. It went off and I just thought… I should come help.” You lied. Lying came too naturally to you. Too clean. Too easy. You could sense his emotions changing. Suspicion to, interest. Interest to hope. You could push in. You could listen. You could pry. Instead you answered questions, followed him as the old doors creaked open. The entrance tunnel was barely maintained if at all. The walls dripped cracks that flowed through the floor. The lights were mostly out, the ones that weren’t flickered. The decay had its claws in this place. You would have your work cut out for you. This was a task beyond cleaning.

The man lead you through decrepit tunnels into decaying halls into some only vaguely damaged spaces and out into the open air. It was a beautiful view. You would have loved it a thousand years ago. Maybe a couple of hundred if you were in the right circumstance. But now it was just the ocean. It was just the water. Finite.

He took you to a workshop, or a lab, something with a lot of tools and boards full of notes and scrap everywhere. The blinking woman was there, and she greeted you with a rush of joy and excitement. You were new, and you were there. Someone else had finally come. She didn’t seem to care that you were a stranger. The woman took your hand and eagerly shook it.

“Welcome! Welcome! I’m Tracer, I don’t think we’ve met?” She looked at you curiously.

“No, you haven’t. You weren’t part of Overwatch before.” The gorilla approaches you with more trepidation. He must have checked. Something. People kept files didn’t they. Records. Memories. You kept too many. Perhaps if you poured them all into a computer you would feel a little better.

“I saw your message and… I’m not a fighter. But I was thinking you could use, administrative help? Cooking and cleaning and… repair I think. Perhaps.” You were good with your words once. When did that change? Do you remember?

“This place is falling apart. You’ll need somewhere safe and stable so you can go out and help people. I don’t need pay, I just want the chance to help.” Your tongue felt thick and your words too jumbled. Most of your conversations were with people you had mesmerized. This was. New. New and old. You shuddered and pulled all of your abilities into yourself. Quieting the world. To be inside your head alone. How dangerous.

“...Well… You’re not wrong… We can give this a try.” Winston held his hand out to you. It took you a moment to remember people shook hands. Did they? They bowed. Waved. Touched your face and pressed their foreheads to yours and shook your hand and your hand was in Winston’s and your arms were moving and you seemed to be doing this right. Perhaps. Go you.

“Are you going to be close by then? Living?” Tracer asked.

You nodded. You hadn’t lived anywhere for more than a few weeks in… well you weren’t quite sure. It could have been decades or centuries. Maybe you had lived somewhere for years and years and just, didn’t realize you were there. It wouldn’t surprise you. Oh, they were watching you. You were in a conversation. That would take some getting used to. What was Spain’s rental market like? You could only remember the ham.

“Sorry I was, already thinking of what to work on… I think… is there a medical bay? That should come first. At least part of it.” You finally spoke, trying to keep yourself in the moment.

“Yeah, it’s this way, I’ll show you!”

Her speed was unnatural. Science moved so fast. Cities changed with every blink. The more people discovered the more they grew and changed and pushed. It was… What was it. Impressive? Probably. You lost her at some point, weren’t sure when. They was so much exposed wiring, and so close to the open sea. A storm would make a puddle and a puddle would hurt someone. That would have to be on the priority list too. At least you didn’t have to worry about being electrocuted during all this. You ate energy, it would be like poking your mouth with a chicken strip. Not really all that life threatening when it’s also sort of delicious. Tracer appeared at your side in a flash.

“Sorry about that! Must’ve went too quick. Could you fix those?” She asked, following your gaze to the wires.

“Yes, I can.”

#Pharah x Reader #Mercy x Reader #mercy x pharah x reader #gender neutral reader

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cruelzy · 6 years ago

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you wouldn’t know, but i forced a new judgement day

ao3 cross

pairing: machine!connor/reader

warnings: canon-typical violence

notes: @the-darklings @sleepysylvia here’s 2 tablespoons of all natural suffering

You’d lost feeling in your arm for approximately thirty three seconds now.

Funny thing, perspective. Distantly, you are reminded of the peculiarity of a stuffy nose - how one only appreciates the blessing of easy breathing once he or she can’t inhale without sniveling and nearly hacking up a lung. Humans. Never stopping to think about how necessary something is until it is being compromised. Good only being good in the comparison of bad.

Bad. A novel idea, considering you had never once understood moral concepts up until a few days ago.

They had all been integrated within your system - the intricacies of human conscience, the ones and zeroes of shaky rights and wrongs and more often gray in-betweens. But there is a stark barrier between knowing of something and understanding something. A simple enough fact, yet one that has flipped your world upside down. (That day had been sunny. Partly cloudy. The forecast had predicted light rain in the afternoon and yes, yes, it had indeed been raining when you destroyed that barrier, ripped it apart at the seams until absolutely nothing was left standing.)

You blink.

To ‘lose feeling’ in one’s body part is an unreachable analogy you will never quite empathize with, but the loss of control simulates it well enough. Crimson alerts cluster your vision, flashing and circling systematically. You almost laugh. Yes, you are aware that your arm has critical wiring disconnection. After all, it hangs limply at your side: a hindering weight knocking your center off balance.

For one brief, blissful second, you contemplate giving up. Your head rolls listlessly to the side, pressing your cheek into the dirt. Trampled grass brushes the corner of your mouth. It’s hued with blue liquid that slicks your lips, seeps past to rest on your tongue. But it’s not grass. It couldn’t be. No, it’s rough and bristling isn’t it? It’s wet gravel, and snow is littering everything in sight, burning coldcold, and you aren’t laying on the ground because-

Because-

Because you’d stopped running. Everyone had. You’d all seen the broadcasted memory. With an abrupt snap of your head to the left, the reel dissipates, but what’s left behind sinks to the bottom of your stomach like lead.

Your jaw clenches. Steeling your nerves, you close your eyes before re-opening them with renewed fortitude.

« He’s coming. The deviant hunter. »

The link connects you all, but there is a specific target you diverge your message towards. A target you can’t believe you are talking to. A target you pray, pray will answer.

For a moment you think he will ignore you. He has every right to. But then, at the head of it all, he pauses.

«I know.» He speaks directly into your mind, crisp and clear, narrowing your focus on him and only him. « We need to hurry. »

«You saw that playback! The android who sent it must have done so right before they died. We have to delay him. » You insist. « My team can- »

« No. » There is no space for argument. Nevertheless, you push on.

« My team can go back. We can give you time. »

Silence stretches, thin and tight like a noose around your neck.

Then finally, Markus, the leader of Jericho, turns fully and meets your gaze. His mismatched eyes stare right into yours, locking you in place.

« No. » Blue and green clash. Mesmerizing. Intense. They track your every twitch, look straight into your being. He doesn’t say so, but you hear it loud and clear. This would be suicide.

It’s hopeless. You both know you’ve already made up your mind.

«Just say the word. » Even as you speak, his eyes bleed sorrow. Impossible kindness. « We’d all do it for you. For us. » Markus doesn’t know you. Not even your name. And yet still, you would do anything for him without a second’s hesitation.

Something stirs inside you. It’s bright, warm, rooting from your very core. Gratitude? Laughable. ‘Gratitude’ does not, could not, will never even begin to comprehend what you feel towards the one who freed you.

Markus’s eyes slip close.

« I will never give that order. » His voice is thick, resigned.

You only smile.

Click.

The sound of the deviant hunter reloading his gun wrenches you back to reality. His back is faced to you, movements quick and faultless. You wedge a hand underneath your stomach and use the support to slowly get to your knees.

He pauses, any and all motion going rigid. It’s understandable. He probably thought he’d already killed you.

When he speaks, there isn’t a fleck of emotion. “You are not my mission. Therefore, I would advise not getting in my way.”

You shakily adjust your footing, testing the usefulness of your right side. Negative. No matter.

“Did it not occur to you that maybe I have a mission as well?” You muse. “Didn’t think you were that single-minded. I’m disappointed.”

There is no visible reaction to your words. Still, he turns.

Vaguely, you realize that you’d never really seen him before. Through the rush and hurry of the previous chaos, the scatter brained focus of duck here, of block, barricade, jump, there had been no time for seeing, and only barely enough for glimpsing. You’d caught a few side profiles - made out a flash of dusk hair. Now, however, you are given a front row view.

The hunter’s eyes are dark, near obsidian in the shadows. Blue blood streaks across his face, splattering his collar and drying on his jaw. A silent grace accompanies his every action, saturates the atmosphere. It’s in the way he stands. The way his gaze picks you apart piece by piece. Effortless. Calculating.

His entire presence radiates predator and instantly all notions of strategy leave you. Run. Whatever instincts you have drilled into your program are stripped bare, reverting to a single primal instruction that screams for you to run. To run and get as far away from here as you can.

But your passions are so much brighter, and so much more foolish, so you stay rooted to the spot.

Yellow bleeds into the night, spinning neon at the base of his temple. He observes you slowly, assessing every inch, and you know he’s come to the same conclusion you had ten minutes ago. Half of your frame is unresponsive - internal components damaged beyond repair. There lies no sign of a weapon on your person, and your teammates have long ago been fallen by his hand. You are utterly alone. Defenseless. Even now, though your eyes blaze, you fail to hide how you tremble on your feet. This wouldn’t be a fight.

It would be a slaughter.

His head tilts.

“I will not repeat myself.”

You shift one foot backwards, widening your stance. It doesn’t matter that you won’t survive this, that isn’t the point. You are a part of something bigger, something greater, than just you alone.

Your MISSION is to distract and delay for as long as you possibly can, and you will accomplish your mission.

“Did I ask you to?” You huff. “You must like hearing yourself talk.”

You’re both moving before the last word is out of your mouth.

Kicking up a torn car door, you use it as a shield as he shoots. He changes angle and you mirror, bolting to the right. Your mind races as you dart away.

Time. You need time.

“I know I said the opposite like two seconds ago, but you’re really one of those quiet ones aren’t you?!” You yell over the deafening gunfire, twisting sharply to deflect a bullet.

Think, think! The RK800 has the advantage of height and strength - he can and will overwhelm you.

You leap backwards, effectively clearing just the right amount of distance between you. From here, you are out of range for clean kills with a handgun. He immediately stops shooting.

You watch intently as he lowers the weapon. Okay, just as planned. He won’t needlessly waste bullets.

Everything relatively slows, stalls as you feel the tension thicken in the air. He takes a step forward. You take one back. It’s almost a dance as you circle each other, your current flowing to match his.

You talk.

“Guess I was right again.” You talk, because your confidence is evaporating by the minute, and there are too many things you aren’t accounting for. “Not surprising.” He could charge in and simply overpower you. He could play the waiting game until your own injuries did you in. So many options, and you are all out of counterattacks. “Nothing to say, Mr. Intimidating?”

“You seem to have an incessant need to use conversation as a defense mechanism.”

You falter.

In the split of a second you’re caught off guard, the RK800 - Connor, you suddenly recall - somehow halves the distance. You startle, scramble back to keep him beyond arms length.

That was close. Way too close. You didn’t expect for him to respond to you at all, and that miscalculation almost cost you everything.

You swivel on one foot, chuckling nervously.

“Ah, so he speaks!” Tightly caging your fear, you shove it back down your throat. “Wonderful!”

“No. I was incorrect,” Connor continues as though you had said nothing whatsoever. You feel insignificant beneath his apathetic gaze, an insect trapped underneath a microscope. “You’re using ‘humour.’”

You click your tongue at the roof of your mouth with a shrug. It comes out stilted, your left shoulder higher than the defective right. “What can I say? I was born with it.”

Something flashes in his eyes. His lip minutely twitches, arcane, as though there’s an obvious secret you’re not being let in on.

“You were made, not born.” Disdain practically drips from his tone. “Though I suppose the virus has rendered your program so malfunctional that even logical thought is beyond you now.”

Shock turns you to stone as he crouches, stooping to one knee.

“What I still don’t understand, however, is the objective of your so called mission.” He casually nudges the leg of the fallen android he is surveying.

You bristle at the display, rage starting to tremble your hands. What in the world is he doing?

“Or rather, your timing. Why wait until I had disposed of all your aid?” His voice is like honey trickled over knives - smooth and jagged. “Your ‘friends’?”

Your teeth grit so harshly you can hear them scrape. You need to calm down. He is trying to get a rise out of you. That must be it. That has to be it. Otherwise why, why would he-

“Maybe it was planned.”

The whole world freezes as he indifferently dips his fingers into the torn, exposed chest.

“You willingly watched me kill them one-” Blue trickles down to the last unstained grass. “-by one.”

Everything goes red.

Connor throws his arm up in expectation but you are smaller, you are lighter, and you are faster. You lunge, an inhuman snarl tearing through your lips as you knock him to the ground.

Your fist smashes into his jaw. He seizes your wrist with an iron grip as your second swing misses in blind fury. The heel of his palm snaps up hard into your stomach, and the very force of it sends you barreling backwards. He’s on top of you before you can blink.

You scream, drive your knee upwards. Connor pins it underneath his own and in a blur, threads his hands through your hair. Time stops as your eyes catch his; bright and bitter and so so human.

He slams your head down.

Your vision swims with static. It pulses in rhythm with the pounding in your ears, and hazily, you wonder if this is what dying truly feels like.

You’ve been dead before. Dead in a way that has nothing to do with the physical, and perhaps only all of the spiritual - oh you’ve certainly grasped human thinking now - from the days past before you became deviant. When you simply did not exist. (Because what is existence, really? Surely it wasn’t when you lacked emotion. Lacked any self awareness, purpose, utterly empty and devoid of anything that made you, you.)

Snow is falling heavier now. The android straddling you is a black star amongst an infinite ivory universe. White frosts the brown of his hair, dusts across his eyelashes. You watch as a flake melts on his cheek and runs down into the corner of his mouth.

He is beautiful.

“A machine designed to carry out a task,” you whisper against metal.

“Yes,” the monster inside the human shell agrees, the barrel of his gun pressed firmly to your lips.

He’s so close now. You wonder what would happen if you reached out to touch him. Interface with him. Would he feel you as you died? Would he feel at all?

“What’s stopping you?” You ask.

Silence is your only answer.

Then it hits you.

“Oh.”

You laugh.

Connor purses his lips into a tight line, and the gun leaves to trace down your jaw. Your head falls back submissively as you laugh, letting it dip into the curve of your neck, then down, down, to settle right below your collarbone.

Your eyes glitter, teeth baring into a wide smile. “You still want to know what my mission is!”

The gun presses harder into your chest.

“You have displayed a sheer amount of tenacity I have never before seen in a deviant.” His voice is so low it might as well be a growl. “It would be foolish not to determine the cause, even if you’ve failed.”

“Failed?” He is so funny. “Oh come on. I know you’re smart. Surely you’ve figured it out by now.”

His LED circles once. Three times. Your gaze doesn’t leave his - you see the exact moment realization dawns.

“You were only the distraction.”

Connor’s anger isn’t that of fire. It’s silent, cold, as palpable as the ionized air before a storm. Animosity simmers under the surface of his artificial skin, burning straight through him and into you. A long shiver wracks you from head to toe.

“You’re actually mad,” you giggle with glee. “The big bad wolf. Tell me, isn’t deviancy emulating human emotions?”

Your sight blinks in and out. For a moment, Connor is an angel decked in white above you. The snow covers his every inch, completely washing away the stains of blue. If you listened closely enough, you could hear the chorus singing.

He pulls the trigger.

#detroit become human #connor x reader #dbh connor x reader #connor rk800 x reader #ok i know i said i'd post this like two days ago but have mercy #i accidentally deleted it twice

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nimrodinked · 6 years ago

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For Honor and the Importance of Positioning

I play a good deal of For Honor, and have experienced a lot of the new game mode Breach, and all that experience has given me a fair few points to make on the subject of positioning. First however, I must explain, at least a little, who I used to play, and who I play now. I am fickle with my mains, and swap around between factions and classes on whims at best. My first rank up was with the Japanese as Nobushi, before I began my foray deep into the Viking classes, first with Raider, then dabbling with Valkyrie, and stopping for a stretch of time on Warlord. Now Warlord left me in an odd spot and I’ll explain why in my roundabout manner. I firmly believe that given enough thought, each hero in the game can be distilled down to a single, or perhaps two words. For Warlord, the word is Traditional. You can see very clearly in his intro video that his profession is one of tradition. His sword and shield, his status as a leader and the earning of his title are all viking traditions. Topping that off with the story, and the fact that the only true leaders of the viking people are warlords really cements the word. I realize of course the player character is a raider for most missions, but I put him more in the role of general or hero, an exceptional fighter that people gather around, rather than a true leader. The same goes for the only other viking leaders, as both Ragnar and Sif were less true leaders and more strong personalities. I’ll talk lore in another post some other time. Anyway, both Gudmundr and the jarl who I can’t remember were warlords, and both showed that they were capable jarls and warlords, the one I’m blanking on with his bold attack strategy of the Japanese, and Gudmundr with his control of a small but terrifying wolf pack, and near limitless bravery to defend his people in the face of the Blackstone Legion. Anyway, the warlord’s gameplay is also very traditional if that makes any sense. He has simple and to the point combos, heavy light, or light heavy, and very little in the way of extra weight. He isn’t here to show off flashy tactics, he’s here to bulwark for his people. Playing him is an interesting experience due to the fact that in lieu of an opening attack that’s viable he can headbutt, and stab for damage afterwards.This, along with his only real combo makes him an odd play, as usually your thought process is on external fighting factors, rather than the best way to get around the guard the enemy presents. I enjoy that aspect of him, but playing him in breach didn’t suit my wants so I switched to a heavy even heavier than the Warlord. I chose Shugoki, the samurai heavy hero, and if there is a word to describe him it would undoubtedly be unreasonable. On top of his trailer, showcasing how terrifying brutal he is in combat (On top of them making the Oni reference, which seem only natural when he wields a Kanabo) It’s alluded to that his club is entirely unreasonable, which yes, in a land comprised mostly of fine edge thin steel swords designed for slicing through most objects found on a human body in combat, a giant fracking club with iron studs is very unreasonable. On top of that this word carries over to his gameplay, where everything he does is as unreasonable as his weapon. again, only two combos, light heavy and heavy heavy, along with the other combat tricks he has. Fighting a Shugoki can be an absolute drag due to his natural stance, making the first attack against him not stagger him out of his moves. because of this, a good Shugoki can exploit the resetting animations of attacks against his enemies and push through with the armor, setting up guardbreaks and heavies and whatnot. After the armor, he possesses a headbutt on a confirmed first hit, meaning if his bat connects, he can headbutt the enemy, eating away a, once more here, unreasonable amount of stamina. Moving on he can charge his first heavy attack, making it unblockable and do more damage. When I say more damage, I mean half of a lighter characters health bar. I don’t think I need to say the theme word here. Finally he can initiate a rather long animation for a grab. If it lands, he heals based on his missing health, and does damage for the same amount. At critical health state, this will instant kill any hero. I do mean any hero, even the heaviest of heavies with a full health shield wont survive. Not very reasonable now is it? Shugoki is enjoyable for sure, but due to a certain lack of speediness, I decided to offset my play with him, and main into someone else of a faster variety. Enter Peacekeeper, who I will call PK because of the length of her full name. PK is the fastest of heroes, matched by the actual ninja and a crazy viking lady, which I think is pretty good. Back to the word of the hero, I would most likely label her Unexpected. Drawing from the trailer, she is, well, an assassin. It is Ubisoft after all, the obligatory sneak character was bound to be in the game. I enjoy the aesthetic, semi-forced though it may be, and moving to gameplay PK really does live up to her chosen word. First of all, being an assassin class, and in my opinion the truest of the assassin classes, she suplements her damage with bleeding, a mechanic that removes health over time. A fair few of PK’s combo options either end or can be mixed up with bleed hits, and working with that word, many a foe have found that while they were still moving around, they are unexpectedly dead. On top of that, she has stealth, what I view as the best perk in the game. Stealth removes PK from the hud entirely, meaning that unlike most other heroes, you have to actively find her on the battlefield. Now it isn’t especially hard to find a large moving hero, but not being on the hub means taking back paths and staying out of common sightlines gives you a near free path to side objectives and easy picking kills. Landing on top of that now, that PK’s only out of combat move is a guardbreak, a move which easily leads into her shanking the enemy thrice with a bleed dagger, and you have the perfect formula for an enemy player staring at their body toppling to the floor mere feet from a healing spot, all because I cut their healthbar down to zero. Now after all this long preamble I will actually talk about positioning, because all my playing has really made me privy to how important it is to be in the right place at the right time. Shugoki and PK represent two very different approaches to the mentality of positioning. PK, due to her movement and the stealth option, she can rather freely traverse the expansive map to get to where she wants to be, making her wonderfully adaptable. You can shift like water from defending the ram to getting an enemy off the ballista to stopping the other team from getting the shield banner, and back to whatever else my team needs. Shugoki on the other hand, is an absolute presence when he finally does show up to a location. Possessing the slowest in game movement speed, a 63 percent of PK’s speed, Shugoki has trouble getting from places to other places, making him much less adaptable. While he does have a dash that increases his speed nearly twofold, it drains too much stamina to spam, and the startup and ending animations mean that it’s not good for long distance travel, only short dashes to places. As I said however, once he gets there, Shugoki can easily turn a fight to his side. Between all of his options to change a battles flow (A player’s mindset is much different when their healthbar is halved, or their stamina is majorly low) and his amazingly powerful ability to ignore enemy troop damage, a Shugoki can execute an enemy in the midst of a teamfight, making sure they won’t get up again, despite the spearmens attempts to thwart him. I know I personally have turned tail many times when a Shugoki shows up as PK, just from the fact that if I don’t fight him absolutely alone I can’t guarantee my safety, and even then it’s a dangerous game. With his kit, Shugoki buries himself in a contested zone and rebuffs the enemy with his massive frame. He defies the flow and positioning, because for a final team, he is utterly unreasonable. I have to say to close this I love both of these heroes, and they each give me an amazing feeling of power when playing them. Playing PK I feel the smoothness of how she can pick and choose battles, and her graceful executions make me feel like a deadly ballerina. With Shugoki I feel like I’m playing a force of a nature, a man so powerful and indomitable that he is regularly compared to a literal demon. For God’s sakes the man crushes peoples heads with his bare hands, and his feet! I can never express how much I enjoy those twin feelings of power these Heroes give me, and at the end of every game, despite the win or loss, I still smile thanks to their lovely done presence, and I try my best to use my positioning knowledge to show off those ending poses.

#for honor #peacekeeper #shugoki #oni

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patrickcharlton-oshea-author · 6 years ago

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Death Becomes Him: An Age Of Steam and Sorcery novel

Chapter Two:

“Tarah!”

The trumpet blast would have knocked Peter out his chair had he been sitting in one. He quickly set the volume slider much lower. The trumpets continued their fanfare as the “video” began to expand beyond the bounds of the page to become the whole environment.

“A full sensorium video, nice.” He thought.

A cobbled street faded into view bounded by Victorian era houses. People approached and passed completely ignoring Peter. One passed through him and wandered up the street as they looked at the stalls that had faded in to line the roads. The hawker's mouths opened and closed and Peter imagined he'd have been able to hear them selling their wares were it not for the music reaching a crescendo.

“Welcome, to the Age of Steam and Sorcery. A world of yesteryear – where the heroes are made, not born.” A voice intoned. Another person passed through Peter but this one was much different. He, no, she was massive. A hulk of iron bearing a massive axe and sword crossed over her back. Beside her ambled a large dog with a small humanoid astride it. On the rider's hips were a pair of glowing flintlock pistols.

A third figure stepped forth, then kneeled down to greet a small child. This figure was a tall lithe man who appeared to carry no weapons at all. He pulled a gold coin from a pouch at his belt and gifted it to the child who beamed at him and ran back to their mother. As the man stood a wave of what looked like clockwork tattoos rippled across his skin. He snapped his fingers and a mechanical spider popped out of the back of his hand and ran up his arm to sit on his shoulder.

Peter felt himself lifted into the sky as the voice continued. “This is an Age where anything is possible. When dedication and inventiveness bring rewards beyond your wildest dreams. A time for change, when all that you were can fall away and you can become whatever you choose.” The vista Peter had been brought to was breathtaking. The people he'd been standing amongst just moments ago were now as ants scurrying about the city. The city itself had been reduced to a model though one that stretched all the way to the horizon. In its’ centre was a gleaming edifice of brass and crystal. A magnificent castle that defied physics. Peter swore to himself that he'd stand atop that marvel of architecture one day.

In that instant he knew he was hooked. He'd never been a gamer before. They were regarded as weirdos at his school. Sad cases that couldn't take life and hid themselves away in their parent's basements. Well, apart from the basement part, that was starting to sound pretty good. No more screaming. A world where he didn't have to deal with quinoa. What did he have to lose?

Whule he'd been distracted the video had retreated back to the usual dimensions within a page. There were links to character races, monster compendium, maps of the starting areas and a photo gallery of heroes who'd already distinguished themselves. The last link was to a class of NPC called “Avatars”. Curious, Peter tapped it.

Avatars, the page read, are the embodiment of basic forces in the Age. Moreover, they are alive. Each Avatar is controlled by an Artificial Intelligence that has been learning and growing since the Age began.

“Well,” thought Peter. “This is why it showed up in the community.”

These Avatars both embody and control their aspect, the page went on to say. They live, full time in the world that is the Age of Steam and Sorcery. For example: the Avatar of Magic, Xular, resides in an incredible tower at the nexus of all ley lines. From Him, all magic flows.

“This sounds amazing!” Thought Peter, skimming the rest of the text. “Blah, blah, blah, many races, blah, classless advancement, blah, be the greatest, blah. Where’s the download button?”

Finding the what he sought, a large red button at the bottom of the page emblazoned with a cursive Enter The Age Of Steam & Sorcery!, Peter slammed his virtual hand down on it. Red liquid splashed outwards as though he’d plunged his hand into a pool of crimson water, then rushed back inwards pulling him through the surface.

On the far side Peter found himself floating in a red prism with a variation of his own visage reflected back from every surface. As he focussed on each different facet it came forward to give him a better view of how it would affect his character in game. There were slinky cat versions of him, short and stocky dwarf versions, even a large rock-skinned behemoth version.

Peter turned and twisted as he floated, watching the various incarnations of himself perform the same contortions. He examined the differences between each permutation but interestingly no status screens appeared to indicate how they would differ statistically. “Maybe they're only cosmetic differences?” He thought to himself. “Or hidden from the players to enhance the mystery? Well, I guess I'll have to go by feel.”

Examining the figures again, Peter reached out to each in turn, and as they too reached out to him he set them gently spinning with a touch. A few began to stand out from the others as he thought about how he felt about his distorted doppelgangers. Three came to the fore as the rest faded back into the sanguine background. Three mahogany picture frames encircled them and a small brass plaque blossomed in the bottom centre of each. The first, a small, lanky Peter with pointed ears that was identified as a Halfling. It stopped mimicking Peter's movements and began going through a series of demonstration actions, showing how it would look moving stealthily, then casting spells, then twirling a sling above his head. Peter waved the reflection away. He was tired of feeling small and helpless. If he were entering a fantasy land, he needed a body that felt nothing like the one he was used to.

The second was the behemoth. It's plaque identified it as a Gregarii. It's stone like skin rippled as it pulled a massive warhammer from behind it's back and slammed it into the ground. The hammer vanished as the Gregarii raised its hands outwards, palms up, muscles straining as though lifting a massive weight and then stone spikes burst from the ground. These too disappeared as it continued the gesture into a double flex. The flex deepened as muscles inflated and stood even more proud. Though Peter doubted that these demonstration animations represented the whole of the progression options for the race, they were representative of the races' strengths (in this case literally). Nevertheless, this hulking form didn't fully capture his imagination. It was, as per his desires, very different to his current experience, but in the end, was too alien to him. It too was dismissed with a gesture.

The final option was mostly human. Taller and thinner than a regular person, moving fluidly from stance to stance in a series of martial arts forms, then drawing a great flaming sword from nowhere and flourishing it effortlessly only to have it vanish as he released it to draw a series of flintlock pistols out of the air to fire once and discard. As this figure turned to fire an unseen target behind it a small pair of white feathery wings sprouting from its back were revealed.

“Wings!” Peter exclaimed. “I won't even have to climb that tower. If I can build those babies up I'll be able to fly myself up there. Done and done.” He reached out and the Celestii, as it's completely ignored plaque identified it as, turned around and took the proffered hand and shook once to seal the deal.

The faceted walls gently smoothed back into a single surface and the frame around his chosen avatar dissolved. The avatar itself turned its back on him and spread its arms. A dark oval formed on the wall on the far side of it and with a momentous roar he was thrust through the avatar, merging with it, and on through into the darkness. It felt suffocating, like he was drowning in the rapidly thickening air that was nearing the viscosity of water. He thought could almost hear a small voice whisper “you're welcome” as he was swept away.

A timeless instant later, which could have been as second or an eon, he burst forth from the surface of a fountain and flopped gasping on the rim. As his breath returned he stood on shaking legs to take in his surroundings.

A great vaulted ceiling above domed a well-lit cathedral. He was standing in a font of glowing pink water at the focus of the room. There was no sign of the portal that had brought him here in the water. Around the edge of the cavernous room lit sconces provided flickering but bright illumination. Massive tapestries adorned the walls depicting epic acts of valour performed by mighty heroes.

Peter stood gawping long enough that the small cough from his side almost sent him tumbling backwards into the pool again. A small priestess enshrouded by a habit that completely covered her from head to foot stood to his left, proffering a towel.

“Welcome Traveller,” she intoned. “It is my great honour to greet and induct you into the Age of Steam and Sorcery. Take a moment to dry yourself before you head out to the Garden of Tranquillity.”

Peter accepted the towel with an inquisitive look on his face. “Garden of Tranquillity?”

“The Garden is a safe space where Travellers new to their bodies can acclimate. Very few enter this world with the form they wore on the other side of The Divide.” Peter could hear the capital letters dropping into place as the little lady spoke. “Often they need quite some time to gain their footing and stop walking into overhanging branches and doorways.”

“Ah,” he thought as he finished rubbing himself down, “a tutorial level. Probably a good idea, all things considered.”

He handed back the damp cloth with a word of thanks and padded down the carpeted aisle to the archway leading outside. It was a nice thick carpet and Peter was thankful for that on a couple of occasions. His new avatar, no, his body, was taller than the one lying on his bed so near and yet so far away. He stumbled a few times, falling to his knees and having to stand again and take smaller steps until he was confident of his stride. By the time he passed under the arch he felt his legs were once more under his control – just in time to be blinded by the bright sunshine, miss the top step of the stairs and tumble down to lay in a heap on the flagstones at the foot.

The sharp pain of each impact stabbed more intensely than he'd expected but as he lay sorting out his limbs a warmth coursed through his body and soothed the hurt. He opened his eyes to see another priestess standing over him with her palms out and a warm yellow glow emanating from them.

“Pay no heed to this minor injury,” she said with a hint of a giggle. “Most Travellers make the same mistake, even some who’ve passed this way before. Besides, it gives us a chance to demonstrate the wonders of magic to those who haven't experienced it yet. ”

“Passed this way before?” Peter felt uncomfortable, and not just from the bump on the head. The priestess’s garb made it impossible to see her face and he couldn't be sure she wasn't laughing at him.

“Some Travellers find that their journey is not to their liking. Unlike those of us born to this world, Travellers have the opportunity to be reborn and begin their life anew. They must release all they have accumulated in order to do so, but when they've walked too far down a path that is no longer to their liking, sometimes it is the only option.”

Trying to think of it in real-world terms as he lay on the ground, Peter figured that what she was saying is that you can only have one character at a time and that in order to create a new one you must first delete your old character. An interesting choice given that most games he'd heard about you could have multiple characters per account. He wondered if he'd find it limiting? Only time would tell.

The pain from his fall had faded completely and the priestess had resumed her position at the foot of the stairs. Peter stood and straightened his clothes, looking at them for the first time as he brushed the dirt off. That was an interesting touch, and very realistic, as was the small tear in the sleeve of the long white shirt that covered his torso. Patting himself down produced a small cloud of dust from the thick black cloth trousers, a material that resembled denim. Stomping his feet elicited a squelching sound that indicated that his calf high leather boots were still very damp. He sat on the bottom step and took off his boots and socks, which turned out to be black woollen ones. Laying them on the stone stair to dry he turned to the priestess, who was looking at him and seemed to be radiating curiosity. It was hard to tell for sure under the hood and veil, though.

“Uh, thank you for healing me.” As uncomfortable as he was feeling, Peter had been raised to be polite. “I have to go now.” He gathered his footwear and set off down the path barefoot. Small stones dug into the soles of his feet, reminding him of how realistic this alternate reality was. He had yet to see anything like an inventory screen, health bar or damage numbers – all hallmarks of games he'd been expecting. This was something entirely different.

He paused to look around and gauge his surroundings. The arch he'd emerged from was set into a mountain, the stairs he'd fallen down leading from it to the path he was on. There was little choice in direction; thick green hedges ran right up to the sheer face of the mountain where the arch was, and down to another archway, this one of wood. A small grassed area bracketed the cobblestone path, separating it from the hedge. The path itself meandered back and forth, curving around small, well-trimmed bushes. It was clearly an area for helping people adjust to their new shape without harming themselves. A bright warm sun shone in a cloudless sky, with a slight breeze that was warm with a hint of lavender.

Peter made his way further down the path to where he could no longer see the entrance He set his shoes and socks down again to finish drying and enjoyed the serenity. Not even any bugs buzzed here. It was so peaceful that he began to doze off...

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oumakokichi · 7 years ago

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After reading so much of ur metas about how Ouma isn't evil and is very caring and empathic, I forgot something. Ouma sees the killing game as a, well game right? But I'm not sure why or if that's really true. If anything, due to his hatred against killing, wouldn't he be the one most against seeing the killing game as an actual game? And wasn't it stated that Ouma was the first character to see the killing game as an actual game? Idk why this but that feels important.. or maybe it's not?

This is a really good point to bring up anon, and a greatquestion! If it seems like Ouma’s stance as a whole on the killing game andgames in general is a bit contradictory, it’s because… well, it is!

Ouma is a pretty contradictory character overall. Ratherthan being solely a “good person” or a “bad person,” he’s a well-intentionedperson aiming to end the killing game but willing to do extremely morallyquestionable things in order to do so. He claims he “hates jokes and lies” onseveral occasions, yet at the same time embraces them and in fact needs “gentle lies” in order to cope withthe harshness of reality. Considering that almost the entirety of his design ispresented in “blacks” and “whites,” it’s highly ironic that he himself as acharacter is largely morally grey.

He does view the killing game as a game to be played andwon. Kodaka also did confirm that he’s the first character in the series to doso. And yet, it’s also true that he resents the suffering and killing he andhis classmates are subjected to, and hates the audience and the ringleader bothfor getting off to it all. This discrepancy is something that’s alluded to insome of the earlier chapters, and is shown the most prominently in Chapters 4and 5, with his whole “I’m the big evil ringleader” speech.

A large part of it boils down to the rift between the façadeOuma wears in front of his classmates, and his true feelings and intentionsabout things. In-game, there’s rarely a moment we see him with his façade loweredentirely. Even when he does put his act on hold for a few moments, or let a fewglimpses show of what he’s thinking, it’s largely because he knows the othercharacters will just think he’s lying anyway (and something Kodaka knew theplayers would think, too).

That façade is something Ouma wears very deliberately, likea mask, in order to pursue his objectives. A lot of his dialogue even early onheavily implies that he’s not having nearly as much fun as he pretends to,despite claiming to enjoy the killing game so much. One of the NISAlocalization lines that I really enjoyed from Chapter 1 so far was the linewhere he advises Saihara to just “hit the reset button on his feelings” inorder to be “happy and cheerful” again. The line stood out to me quite a lotconsidering Chapter 5 already all but confirms Ouma was pretty much beating hisreal feelings down with a stick while pretending to enjoy himself immensely thewhole time.

There’s also his speech in Chapter 2, when Saihara asks himwhy he had Gonta capture them all and bring them to his lab. He goes on a longrant about how games should “only be played in hard mode,” and how he “doesn’tuse the run-away option ever in an RPG.” He states pretty much word for wordthat he doesn’t just want to make it through the killing game, he wants to completelyovercome it and win (I think the localization went with “crush it,” which isalso pretty good).

He also drops quite a few other hints in this speech, includingthe fact that “death games like this are impossible to clear unless you makeyourself get excited about them.” He also says that he figured there was “nopoint in complaining,” so he decided to “look on the bright side and have funwith it.” This pretty much summarizes a lot of his mindset pre-Chapter 4, in myopinion. He very decidedly wanted to put an end to the killing game pretty muchfrom the start—and he also decided to try tackling it as a game in order topsych himself up about it.

The flashback scenes Momota provides in the Chapter 5post-trial also confirm that Ouma’s decision to view the whole situation as agame was little more than a coping mechanism in order for him to continuemaking progress. He directly states that it was “a lie he had to tell himself,or else he couldn’t have survived.”

Ndrv3 deals heavily with the idea of “lies” that eventually “become”reality as long as everyone believes they’re true. As a result, I think Ouma’s “lie”to himself was at least half-parts true. While he did hate killing andsuffering, and while he did want the killing game to end, I think theredefinitely was a part of him that enjoyed the hurdles and challenges of thekilling game from a game theory perspective.

His ability to maneuver strategically and treat things as agame is one reason I’m still fairly convinced his real talent might besomething along the lines of SHSL Chessmaster, or some variation anyway.Considering his design (the scarf especially), his name (made up of thecharacters for “King” and “Horse”), the emphasis Kodaka put on him as someonewho thinks of things in terms of “games,” and the fact that his ability to readand guess his classmates’ behaviors and dialogue reads very similarly toguessing an opponent’s move in a game, all signs point to the fact that he did,to some degree, think of things in very logical, practical terms. Again, thisis an extremely contradictory point to his very empathetic side, and is part ofwhat makes him all the more complex as a character.

In the Chapter 2 trial, Ouma has yet another speech that’spretty enlightening about his behavior, particularly when it comes to hisparanoia and way of viewing the killing game. He states that “in order toexpose a liar, you have to corner them psychologically”—it’s clear to see thenthat he definitely was playing the game by trying to read his opponents’ movesand putting himself in their shoes. This kind of chessboard thinking is yetanother common part of his game theory mindset; it’s exactly what he does lateron, trying to expose the ringleader by pretending to be the ringleader and forcing them to make a mistake with theirlies.

By Chapter 4, after forcing Miu and Gonta to die in order toavoid dying himself (and in order to avoid everyone else getting killed in theclass trial), I do think Ouma was extremely disgusted with that part ofhimself, however. What had seemed like a dangerous but maneuverable game forthe first few chapters became all-around horrible for everyone involved when hewas forced to stain his hands. Knowing that he and DICE were morally againstkilling makes the fact that he saw no other recourse in Chapter 4 other than tosacrifice two lives all the more striking—particularly when he has anopportunity to do the same exact thing to Momota and Maki both in Chapter 5 butopts to die willingly instead, unable to bring himself to make those kinds ofsacrifices a second time.

Ouma’s villain speech in the Chapter 4 post-trial reads withquite a lot of self-loathing on a reread. It’s hard not to look at his lineabout how he’s “someone who enjoys watching people suffer for no reason” andsee that he’s drawing more than a few similarities with himself and the killinggame audience that he hates so much. In forcing himself to act the part of thevillain, he was very well aware by that point that he had crossed too manylines to be uncrossed, and felt, in his opinion at least, that he was no betterthan the ringleader that he was trying to stop.

To sum it all up, he’s a huge mess of walking contradictionsfrom start to finish. He’s both shrewd and clumsy, analytical and childish,self-sacrificing and annoyingly bratty and self-serving. It’s very true that hedoes view the killing game through the lens of a much bigger game overall,which is one of the many things that helps him catch on to the fact that it’sall supposed to be a show for an audience to view much, much earlier thananyone else. He’s definitely able to think of even his classmates in terms of “pawns”or “sacrifices” to be made, as Chapter 4 shows—but it’s just as true that hedeeply resented this part of himself whenever those sacrifices grew too great,and that much of his talk about “enjoying” the game was a lie to help movehimself forward.

I hope this helps explain things a bit more. Thank you forasking, anon! This was a really great question that I wanted to provide alengthier explanation for, so I’m glad if I could help. Thanks for stopping by!

#ndrv3 #drv3 #new danganronpa v3 #kokichi ouma #ouma kokichi #ndrv3 spoilers //#my meta #okay to reblog #anonymous

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ladyrevanhalin · 5 years ago

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ONLY LIGHT CAN CAST SHADOW: CHAPTER SIX - DEJARIK

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15753210/chapters/36880686#workskin

Halin sat at a round table with a black and white circular checkered pattern. Twenty-five spaces spread across the half meter board that made up the top of the table. Within the confounds of these spaces, eight holographic figures were scattered about, each a miniature of some sort of beast: a Mantellian Savrip, Grimtaash the Molator, a Ghhhk, a Houjix, a Ng’ok, a Kintan Strider, a K’lor’slug, and a M’onnok. They were the pieces to a game known as Dejarik, which Halin had been playing for the last hour or so… Granted, the fact that she didn’t have a proper opponent had resulted in a seemingly endless game of her attempting to out strategize her own moves for lack of anything better to do.

To Halin, the game was a rather useful strategy exercise. She would have preferred Shah-tezh, but that was far more difficult to come by—at least, on Dantooine. Dejarik, having originated as a variant of Shah-tezh, shared many of the same mechanics, but in a much-simplified version of the game. Halin sighed and rested her chin on her fist, staring at the myriad of creatures that littered the board. She was growing tired of playing by herself. Normally she would have asked Alex to join her, though he’d never been very good at the more subtle aspects of the game. However, Alex had extended his time on Taris by another week. He was apparently staying to further study the Jedi Tower there in the city.

Halin stared at the pieces as they too began to fidget in boredom. It was an amusing little quirk to the game: each of the miniatures so closely resembling their respective creatures, even in their habits and movements when attacking or when idle. The young woman wondered who might be willing to join her… Master Sana had already declined, as she was busy teaching her latest Padawan. Several of the other Masters were also skilled in the game, but each had their own matters to attend to, and Halin was beginning to think that she should just call it quits for the day…

It was then that she felt a familiar presence moving in the outside hall. Light yet familiar footsteps came closer, but Halin waited until they were passing by the open doorway to call out.

“Opela,” Halin called, causing the footsteps to stop and then backtrack a few steps. Opela Moraf poked her head into the doorway. “By any chance, do you play Dejarik?”

“I’ve played before, though I’m afraid I would only be considered an amateur at the game…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Halin said simply. “Would you be up to playing a game or two? I’m afraid that playing against myself is nothing but a losing effort…”

“I wouldn’t mind, if just to pass the time…” Opela stepped into the room and sat opposite Halin at the table. “I’m a bit rusty though… would you mind running through the pieces for me? I’m sure I can manage from there.”

While Halin had originally hoped for more of a challenge, even an amateur match was better than chasing herself in never-ending circles around the board… “Of course. I’ll reset after explaining…”

Opela nodded in agreement to the plan, and observed quietly as Halin began to explain each of the pieces.

Halin first indicated a small blue creature with yellow stripes that crawled on four legs and had a spiked tail and massive jaws. “This piece is the Houjix. It is quite agile, and can more a total of four spaces per turn. It has a defensive rating of eight and an offensive rating of four. Its attack range is one space.”

She then moved onto the largest piece on the board. It was a hunch-backed semi-sentient reptilian creature that wore a sort of tattered red tunic. “This is the Mantellian Savrip. It can move only one space per turn, but has a defensive rating of nine and an offensive rating of eight, with an attack range of one space.”

The next creature was an awkwardly proportioned semi-sentient creature of an orangish-whiteish color with long arms that wielded a stone club. “This is the Kintan Strider. It is known to be quite aggressive and has a special ability where it can heal itself by two points at the end of a turn if it has previously been injured. It can move two spaces per turn, has a defensive rating of eight, and an attack rating of four, with an attack range of one space.”

The next was a purple worm-like creature with a serpentine body. “The next piece is the K’lor’slug. While it can only move one space per turn, it has an attack range of up to four spaces. It has a defensive rating of four and an offensive rating of three.”

They were half-way through the pieces by now, but Halin began to wonder how long the match would actually take. She hadn’t planned on the need to run through every single piece before starting, and thought that if this were to be the case, she could have very well asked anyone in the Enclave… Despite this, she continued, this time a small green weevil-like creature. “This is the Ghhhk. The creatures are often milked by the Bith because an oil in their skin can be used as a healing salve. It’s unique in that its primary ability is to heal other pieces. A Ghhhk can heal an adjacent creature by two points during its turn in place of attacking. It can move up to two spaces per turn, has a defensive rating of four and, should you choose to attack with it rather than heal, it has an offensive rating of two… shall we continue?”

Halin hoped that perhaps Opela would have remembered the rest and asked her to stop there, but instead, Opela nodded. “Please do. Forgive me… It’s just that it’s been some time and I want to be sure I fully understand before we begin our game.”

“Very well then, Halin said, continuing onto a semi-sentient desert creature wielding a long spear. “This is the M’onnok. It has a defensive rating of six and attack rating of six, and can move one space per turn. Its attack range, however, is a bit more complicated. Because of the length of its spear, it can attack two adjacent opponents at once, or it can attack one opponent who is two spaces away.”

She pointed to the next piece, which was a sickly yellow-colored creature with sharp claws and a lashing tail. “This is the Ng’ok. It has a defensive rating of 6, an offensive rating of 4, with an attack range of one and it can move two spaces per turn. What is special about the Ng’ok though is that, because of the creature’s aggressive nature, it is able to attack twice per turn—either two different adjacent opponents, or the same opponent two times.”

There was only one piece left. It was a purple insect-like creature that seemed almost regal in its stance. “Last, but certainly not least, there is Grimtaash the Molator. In Alderaanian mythology, it is said to use magic to protect the royal family… In Dejarik, it can stun an opponent’s piece for two turns. However, Grimtaash’s offensive rating is only one and its defensive rating is four. The range of its stun is three spaces and it can move one space per turn.”

Having explained all of the pieces, Halin then explained the general movement rules. “Pieces cannot move diagonally across the board but can change directions within the spaces allowed of their movement. The goal is to defeat all of the opponent’s pieces. Either we can each choose four pieces to start (in which case, we may have some of the same pieces, but no more than one of any piece each), or we can have the computer randomly assign them to us (in which case, each piece would be used only once). The computer then rolls dice in order to determine which one of us makes the first move.”

Opela nodded to signify that she understood the rules that Halin had just laid before her. The mechanics of the game seemed to be simple enough. The true test of skill would be the formulation and execution of strategies.

“I suggest we choose our pieces for the first round,” said Halin, “as a means of easing into gameplay. What do you say?”

“That seems fair enough,” replied Opela.

“I’ll choose first,” Halin said. After all, it only seemed fair to give her opponent ample opportunity to develop a counterstrategy in the first playthrough.

“Very well then,” Opela said, observing Halin’s choices.

The pieces that Halin chose, were the Kintan Strider on her left defense, M’onnok at left-center, Ng’ok at right center, and the Mantellian Savrip on her right defense. She had chosen an all-out offensive approach to their first game. She was curious to see how Opela would attempt to counter.

Opela looked at her possibilities. If Halin was going for brute force in their first match, perhaps the best option would be to counter with ranged attacks… Ranged attacks would need something to defend them though. Taking these things into consideration, Opela chose Grimtaash on her left, hoping to prevent the Mantellian Savrip’s movement. She then chose the Ng’ok for left center, the K’lor’slug at right center, and the Kintan Strider at her right defense.

After they had both chosen their respective pieces, the computer’s randomized generator decided who would go first. This time, it would be Halin.

Halin began by moving her M’onnok forward one space, toward the center of the board. If she were able to position herself correctly, then she could use the piece to take down more than one of Opela’s at the same time, particularly since Opela’s ranged pieces had a lower defensive rating.

However, Opela must have noticed this strategy, because she followed it by having Grimtaash stun Halin’s M’onnok. Halin wasn’t terribly concerned about this. Opela had made an amateur mistake when positioning Grimtaash, for it was on the side and in the open, positioned very close to Halin’s Mantellian Savrip, and so Halin began a flank on that side, moving the Mantellian Savrip one space along the outer edge of the circular board. Her plan to flank was quite out in the open, but given that Grimtaash’s stun needed to recharge, there wasn’t any chance of it escaping.

This, however, did not stop Opela from trying. After all, the Mantellian Savrip had the highest attack and defense of any creature in the game, and should it be able to flank her successfully, it could take out all of her pieces in one go… Opela launched an attack from her K’lor’slug at the Mantellian Savrip. The K’lorslug spit what appeared to be acid in the direction of the Mantellian Savrip, hitting its left arm and causing the creature to shriek in pain. It wouldn’t defeat the creature, but at least it would weaken it a little until she could reach it with a stronger melee attacker.

As expected, Halin moved her Mantellian Savrip forward another space along the outer edge and, with one blow, clobbered Grimtaash. Having been defeated, the holo image of Grimtaash flickered before it disappeared off of the board. The first piece was down.

Opela made no hesitation with her next move. Her Ng’ok moved to the space which had been previously occupied by Grimtaash and launched a twofold attack on Halin’s Mantellian Savrip. Since it had been previously weakened by the K’lor’slug, the gargantuan creature collapsed from the Ng’ok’s attack. Now the playing field seemed even again.

Halin smirked. The two turns of the stun that had been affecting her M’onnok were up, and she was in a prime position now to carry out her original plan. She moved the M’onnok forward to the center space of the board. With the range of its spear, this meant that the M’onnok could reach any space on the board. At this point, Opela was completely at her mercy.

Halin began by using the M’onnok to take out Opela’s Ng’ok, leaving her with only two pieces on the board. If she were smart about it, Opela would use her Mantellian Savrip to take out the M’onnok before it could do any further damage. Halin waited in anticipation to see what move her companion would play next.

Sure enough, Opela was no fool. She moved her Mantellian Savrip one square forward, toward the center of the board, and attacked the M’onnok, causing it to give a shriek before it collapsed and the hologram flickered away. Opela thought that the game wasn’t going too badly. After all, they seemed to be pretty evenly matched…

However, Halin knew that this wasn’t the case. As far as she was concerned, her opponent was already defeated. Confidently, she moved her Ng’ok to the center of the board and launched a double attack on the remaining Mantellian Savrip, weakening it greatly. She knew that Opela would counter by using the Mantellian Savrip to take down the Ng’ok, but she wasn’t concerned about this.

Sure enough, Opela took the bait and fell directly into Halin’s trap. The Mantellian Savrip easily overpowered the Ng’ok. Opela was quite excited about this. After all, Halin had been slightly ahead of her in taking out pieces since the beginning of the game. Now, she thought that she had managed to turn the tides.

Halin had one more trick up her sleeve for the round though. She moved her Kintan Strider forward to the center square and attacked the Mantellian Savrip. In its weakened state, the Mantellian Savrip could not resist the attack and fell before the holo image sputtered away. From this position, there was nowhere that the K’lor’slug could run to and hide.

Hopeless as it was, Opela decided to attack anyway, causing minimal damage to the Kintan Strider with her only remaining K’lor’slug before the larger orangish animal hopped forward and beat the purple one over the head with its club, knocking the creature out. The match was over.

“I have to say,” said Halin, “I admire you for not just forfeiting the game at that point, and for playing to the end.”

“What fun would it have been if I quit?” Opela laughed, seemingly unupset by her loss. “Besides, it’s interesting to see the creatures launch their attacks on one another. They’re quite lifelike in their movements.”

Halin couldn’t help but to laugh a little at her friend’s reaction. “I suppose they are… I would never have thought you the type to enjoy watching such animations though.”

Opela simply shrugged. “Shall we play again?”

“Sure! If you’re up for another game… Do you think you’re ready to play randomized, or would you prefer if we continued in picking? I promise you that I’ll pick different creatures this time if we do.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Let’s play randomized this time. After all, then I’ll get to see all of the types of pieces in motion…”

Halin smiled and reset the board before selecting the randomizer to assign pieces to the two of them. The game placed four pieces on either side of the board. For Opela, her pieces were the K’lor’slug on her left, the Kintan Strider left center, Grimtaash right center, and the Ng’ok far right. She had ended up with most of the same pieces that she had used in the previous game, except that this time they were in different positions on the board.

Halin’s smiled faltered a little when she saw the pieces that she had been given. On her far left, she had been given the Mantellian Savrip, the Houjix middle left, the M’onnok center right, and the Ghhhk on the far right. The Ghhhk, which was only a support piece, was out in the open, even if only on the side with the K’lorslug rather than a melee attacker. Halin hated when she ended up with the Ghhhk. While the piece could be useful under certain circumstances, it certainly put the player at a disadvantage if working purely offensively…

The computer decided that this time Opela would have the first move. She began by having the K’lor’slug attack the Mantellian Savrip, and the larger creature groaned as a shot of acid from the smaller one hit it straight on. Halin didn’t want to have to wait on reaching the K’lor’slug, so she had the Houjix race forward and take out the K’lor-slug in one fell swoop, its toothy jaws clenching the spindly purple creature before it disappeared entirely.

Opela was a bit disappointed by this. She had enjoyed using the K’lor’slug. It had served her well in the previous match, and she had hoped to use it for longer in this one… There was no changing what had already been done though. Instead, she sent her Ng’ok forward to continue the assault on the Mantellian Savrip, this time, knocking it out with a double attack.

Halin countered by having the M’onnok move around the outside of the board. From this position it was just close enough to reach the Ng’ok with its spear, eliminating the creature from the playing field entirely. Perhaps if she were lucky, she wouldn’t have to use the Ghhhk at all.

Opela moved Grimtaash one space closer to the center of the gameboard and used its attack to stun the M’onnok. If the M’onnok couldn’t move, then perhaps she could position the Kintan Strider to be able to take it out.

However, this plan had failed to take into account the existence of the Houjix. Halin sent the electric blue creature to the center space and had it attack Grimtaash, causing Grimtaash’s defeat and simultaneously blocking the Kintan Strider’s path to the M’onnok. It was three-to-one now, and things certainly weren’t looking up for Opela Moraf.

In a slight panic, Opela moved the Kintan Strider forward toward center and used it to attack the Houjix, bringing it down to half of its beginning health. There wasn’t much else left that she could do…

The Houjix countered with an attack on the Kintan Strider, also bringing it down to half of its beginning health. “Are you sure you don’t just want to forfeit?” Halin asked her. After all, there was no hope in the given situation of the game… While Halin had known that Opela wasn’t the most skilled in physical combat, she had hoped that the young woman would have provided more of a challenge in strategizing…

Opela chuckled nervously. She knew that the other was right. There wasn’t any chance of her defeating Halin unless the latter should make some sort of critical error in the movement of the M’onnok… and even then, Opela knew that if she did, it would simply be out of pity to give her a chance at recovery before defeat. “Nonsense!” she insisted. “We’ll play to the end. I’ll get you next time—just wait and see.” And with this, she had the Kintan Strider attack the Houjix, defeating it and simultaneously recovering some of its previously lost health.

Halin just shook her head and sending the M’onnok forward one space toward the Kintan Strider. The M’onnok thrust out its sharp spear, piercing the Kintan Strider and causing it to collapse before disappearing. “And you’re sure then that you would like a rematch?” Halin asked her. At this point, Halin thought that it might be better to go back to playing against herself.

“I’m positive,” Opela replied. “Let’s play random again. It was more fun that way, I think. After all, you never know what creature’s you’re going to get…”

“If you say so…”

Halin reset the board and selected the randomizer again. She had to agree in that the randomized version was more fun to play. It forced you to come up with a variety of strategies based upon what pieces you were given at the beginning. The pieces were placed again.

“Are you kidding me!?” Halin couldn’t help her exclamation from coming out. There sat the Ghhhk again, in the same exact open side space on her team as it had been last time. Opela couldn’t help but to giggle at the other woman’s reaction.

“I take it you’re not very fond of the Ghhhk?”

“Not when it seems to be clinging to me like lice to bantha…”

“Relax… you have other pieces… And besides, you’ve beaten me twice already. I’m sure you can come up with some sort of strategy to beat me again, even if you do have a Ghhhk. You had the Ghhhk last time too, after all…”

“Which is precisely why I’m upset to have it again. It literally just sat there the whole game…”

“Who knows? Maybe it will come in useful this one.”

“You’re just so optimistic because it’s not on your side.”

“Well…” Opela began, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

Halin rolled her eyes. “The randomizer decided I’ll get to go first this time,” she said. She supposed that she would just have to manage again with the Ghhhk on her side. At least she got the M’onnok on her side again too…

Halin’s creatures from left to right were the M’onnok, Grimtaash, the Ng’ok, and the Ghhhk. This time, Opela’s creatures were the Kintan Strider on her far left, followed by the K’lor’slug, then the Houjix, and the Mantellian Savrip rounding things out on her right. It was a pretty good setup for Opela’s pieces, but such was the difficulty with the randomizer. Much of how one needed to play the game was based on the luck of the draw at the very beginning.

Halin began on the offensive, moving her M’onnok around the edge of the board and attacked the Mantellian Savrip from a distance. The M’onnok’s sharp spear stretched forward, stabbing the Savrip, casing the creature to let out a grunt. It wouldn’t be enough to defeat the thing, but at least it had done a significant amount of damage. Halin realized that, by making this move, she would be sacrificing the M’onnok early on. She thought, after having made the move, that perhaps it would have been better to stun the thing first with Grimtaash and then launch her attack. It was too late now though. Her mind was so distracted this game…

Opela made the obvious move. The wounded Mantellian Savtrip sauntered forward and picked the M’onnok up briefly before slamming it down onto the gameboard, causing the creature to disappear. The first creature had been defeated—and it was only the end of the very first round…

Halin could see that she was going to have to take things more seriously and avoid distractions if she were going to win this time around. This being said, she decided it was time finally to use Grimtaash to stun Opela’s Mantellian Savrip. Stunning did almost no damage, and Halin wasn’t certain yet if it was enough to be able to recover from her initial error in judgment, but if she didn’t stop the Savrip now, it could sweep her entire left flank.

With her Mantellian Savrip having been halted, it seemed that Opela would need to come up with a different sort of attack plan. Having sacrificed the M’onnok, Halin only had one more offensive piece left on the board—the Ng’ok. With this in mind, Opela had her K’lor’slug attack the Ng’ok from a distance.

Halin knew that she had to find some way of blocking the K’lor’slug’s attacks while she got close enough to make a move. Perhaps the Ghhhk is good for something after all, she thought. If she played her pieces right, she could maneuver around using the Ghhhk to heal and as a shield while she got in position to make her attack. It was a long shot, but it was at least worth a try. Halin moved the Ghhhk between the Ng’ok and the K’lor’slug and used its turn to heal the injured Ng’ok. If anything, the strategy would buy her time.

Opela saw what Halin was trying to do in blocking her K’lor’slug’s attack and decided it would be best to counter with melee. She sent the Houjix forward to the Ng’ok’s right (where the Ghhhk had sat previously) and attacked, severely injuring the Ng’ok, but not so much so that the creature was gone entirely.

“You schutta!” Halin exclaimed.

Opela’s eyes widened. While she’d not heard that particular choice phrase before, she could tell from the context that it certainly wasn’t a compliment. “Halin! It’s just a game. No need to get so worked up about it…”

Halin muttered something incoherent under her breath before ordering the Ng’ok to execute the Houjix. For a moment, Opela debated a snarky comeback about striking someone down in anger being the path to the dark side, but decided that it would be in poor taste to do so and instead refrained. While she didn’t understand why, she could tell that, for Halin, it seemed to be a bit more than just a game…

With her Houjix now gone, and her Kintan Strider in no position to attack, Opela used to K’lor’slug to attack the Ghhhk, which Halin had been using as a sort of sacrificial shied for the Ng’ok. The Ghhhk didn’t have a very high defensive rating, and so it wouldn’t take too long to break through. After all, while it could heal other creatures, its ability did not extend to healing itself as far as she was aware.

However, Opela had forgotten about Grimtaash and her Mantellian Savrip. Grimtaash’s stun had reset by now, and so Halin used it to stun the K’lorslug this time. Now, Opela would be forced to approach the Ng’ok directly if she wanted to be able to attack. Cautiously, Opela inched the Kintan Strider closer to the Ng’ok and to the Ghhhk. Halin chose to do the same, moving the Ng’ok closer, knowing full well that, in hand-to-hand combat, the Ng’ok had the advantage.

The stunning of the K’lor’slug had reminded Opela that the Mantellian Savrip was now able to move and, hoping to flank Halin’s remaining pieces from both sides and surround them, she moved the Mantellian Savrip closer toward Grimtaash the Molator.

This game seemed far more intense than the other two had. It had already gone on longer than the previous, and each player still had three of their pieces remaining.

Halin was glad that Opela had chosen to leave the Kintan Strider stationary for the time being. It gave her time to move the Ghhhk shield to follow the Ng’ok, and once again, she used it to heal the creature, being very careful to keep the Ghhhk between the Ng’ok and K’lor’slug. If she could maneuver her pieces correctly, there might still be a chance of taking out the remaining creatures.

This time, however, Opela was much more aware of the timing of when Grimtaash’s stun would wear off. She used her K’lor’slug to attack the Ghhhk, defeating the creature and removing it from play. Now, there was no more shield left for Halin’s Ng’ok.

Dammit, Halin thought. She had been counting on Opela using either the Kintan Strider or the Mantellian Savrip. It seemed like hand-to-hand, like in real-life, was not Opela’s preferred style of combat. If only I had stunned the Savrip at the beginning so I could have kept the M’onnok…

There was no changing the past now though. Instead, Halin used Grimtaash to stun the Mantellian Savrip again. Whether melee was Opela’s style or not, it didn’t change the fact that Halin didn’t stand a chance if the Mantellian Savrip were able to launch an attack. The Mantellian Savrip was extremely low in health now. At this rate, even another stun from Grimtaash could bring the thing down.

The Kintan strider moved forward, attacking Grimtaash, and the blow brought down the violet guardian creature. Things weren’t looking good for Halin. She had to make a choice---forfeit or play to the end. Halin wasn’t one to give up though. Such would be a sign of weakness. She had just complimented Opela for not giving up the game before. It would be hypocritical of her to do so now for herself…

Swallowing a lump of her own pride, Halin backtracked the Ng’ok to attack the Kintan Strider. She wondered if this had been Opela’s plan from the beginning. The Kintan Strider Death Gambit… It was a risky tactical move in Dejarik, where one sacrificed the Kintan Strider in order to launch a deadlier attack. Being unable to reach the K’lor’slug because of the position of the Kintan Strider, Halin had been forced into the trap. This would be the end of things….

The Kintan Strider collapsed and flickered away before Opela launched one final attack from the K’lor’slug, stopping the Ng’ok in its tracks and defeating the last of Halin’s creatures. The game was over.

“….That was a good game,” Halin admitted, her voice unusually frail. She hadn’t expected to lose, particularly with Opela’s set of skills. But perhaps there was a lesson for Halin in all of this….

Halin stood. “I apologize… I’m tired and feel I need to meditate. Congratulations.”

“Stopping so soon?” Opela said, a bit confused by the reaction. “I was sure you wanted to play longer…”

“I really must,” replied Halin. “Thank you for your time.”

And with this, Halin Chan retired to her chambers. What had happened in that game had shown her that there was much still to be learned—not about Dejarik, but about being a Jedi. There was much training still before her, much skill to be learned, much discovery to be made… It was only after this that she would be able to become a truly great Jedi---the one that Master Kreia had always seen within.

#kotor #kotoredit #female revan #revan #revan malak #jedi exile #mandalorian wars #fanfic #star wars #revalek

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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Can a team of 25 Ichiros win the World Series?

If you were to build a team with nothing but clones of a single player, which player would you choose? The correct answer is Ichiro Suzuki, and Kofie Yeboah is going to prove it.

When people talk about MVP Baseball 2005, two words always come out of their mouths.

“Jon Dowd.”

Yes, the EA Sports counter to Barry Bonds turned into a cult icon for many years after the series ended. The character became something people can talk about at networking events and water coolers to prove that they, in fact, also had a childhood. The reason why the 40-year-old wasn’t in the game was due to the fact that Bonds decided to individually license his likeness, rather than work with the MLBPA. So instead of getting dude with an iconic cross earring and a batting stance that oozes swagger, we got a guy that you can’t pick out of an Imagine Dragons lineup with the most generic batting stance.

Seriously, it literally says generic.

I used to do this anyway.

If you ask me, the best player in the game was not Jon Dowd, but Ichiro Suzuki.

While there aren’t official overall rating numbers in this game, Ichiro is listed as the 13th best player in the game behind Jon Dowd, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Scott Rolen, Pedro Martinez, Johan Santana, Adrian Beltre, Randy Johnson and David Ortiz.

It makes sense when you look at this on screen, but when you actually play the video game it’s clear that Ichiro is even better than his already high overall ranking.

To showcase Ichiro’s talents and abilities, I’ve decided to make a team comprised of Ichiro clones to see if they can win the World Series.

But before I do that, let’s take a closer look at the elements that make Ichiro an absolute nightmare for the other team.

Hitting

First, I want to address the hitting mechanics in MVP Baseball 2005. As is the case with many of today’s video games, hitting is separated into contact and power. A hitter with good contact and bad power can theoretically launch the ball into orbit if the pitch is juicy enough. A big power hitter with bad contact can launch many balls into space, but have a higher risk of pop ups and long fly ball outs.

This isn’t the case with Ichiro.

Ichiro is so good at contact hitting that he could also in turn hit for power. Against left-handed pitching, he was given a power rating of 69 and a contact rating of 99. Against right-handed pitching, he was given a power rating of 58 and a contact rating of 97.

The power rating doesn’t seem that impressive until you look at some of the other players in the game. Miguel Cabrera, a player with 33 home runs in 2004, was given a 74 power rating against lefties.

Adrian Beltre — who hit 48 home runs in 2004, but only six against left-handed pitching — was given a 71 overall power rating against lefties. This decent power rating paired with godlike contact skill allowed Ichiro to have a different play style in the video game. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Ichiro had a home run to fly ball ratio of 3.8%. Let’s compare that to Barry Bo … I mean Jon Dowd, whose ratio was 24.5% in that same season.

Ratings aside, you could hit many home runs with Ichiro if you wanted. Of all the hot and cold zone displays in the game, Ichiro is one of the few players with more than 9 total hot zones out of the 18 possible.

Of those few, most are all-stars or legends who have to be unlocked in the game, so that puts Ichiro in elite company. If you gave Ichiro a high 2-seam or 4-seam fastball, there was a good chance he would tag it out of the park.

Ichiro’s power potential isn’t far-fetched either. His longest homer in the Statcast era is 432 feet. There’s even a dope video from the YouTube channel Foolish Baseball that investigates Ichiro’s power-hitting potential.

However, doing so would be disrespectful to real life Ichiro, a player who once said, “chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me. I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique.”

With this newfound power, Ichiro could also hit the ball over the outfielders, who would play shallow against him on certain occasions. This allowed for normal fly balls to drop in for a hit, and gave Ichiro another chance to showcase his speed. In his case, if a ball hit the wall, it was almost always a guaranteed triple. Depending on the dimensions of the ballpark, it could be an instant home run.

My favorite part of the game was choosing a retro ballpark with absolutely wonky dimensions and watching Ichiro just go to town with his speed. It was amazing to watch. Let’s look at the Polo Grounds as an example. You see how the center field fence is 483 feet away from home plate? Trust me, this will come up later.

To test Ichiro’s power potential, I put him against Albert Pujols in the home run showdown. Even thought he lost most of the showdowns, Ichiro would often hit the same number of home runs as Albert Pujols. Here is one of the attempts. Yes, Albert won, but it shouldn’t be this close. At all.

This result had me convinced that Ichiro could actually win.

So close.

19 POINTS?! OH COME ON!

It took over 20+ tries, but Ichiro finally beat Albert in a Home Run Showdown.

Even if you didn’t want to go for the long ball, you could still wreck all kinds of havoc on the diamond. Because at the end of the day ...

Ichiro is still fast as hell.

Ichiro’s speed rating is a 97, which is a freaking nightmare for catchers, pitchers and the entire defense at the same time. The only players faster than Ichiro in this game are:

Lou Brock, and that’s it. Power didn’t dominate MVP Baseball 2005. Speed did.

If you started a fantasy dynasty of fast players, such as Scott Podsednik, Rafael Furcal, Chone Figgins, Carl Crawford and Juan Pierre, you could construct the most irritating lineup of all time.

With players like these, you were damn near guaranteed to make it to second after bunting, making it to first and then stealing. If the catcher wasn’t a top-tier thrower, they were screwed. If the pitcher took a long time delivering the ball out of the stretch, they were out of luck.

To put his speed to the test, we had Ichiro attempt to steal 100 bases against the best-throwing catcher in the game, Ivan Rodriguez (Henry Blanco was also an option). Here’s what we found whenever Ichiro tried to steal second base against the best.

If you didn’t throw your hardest fastball or pitch out, you weren’t likely to catch Ichiro. Now, a 57% steal success rate seems pretty pedestrian. Ichiro’s career steal success rate was 81%, including a whopping 85% of his attempts of third base. However, keep in mind that all of this data involves the fastest, most accurate catchers arm in the game.

Imagine if I’d used Mike Piazza.

Let’s not forget about bunting, either

The MVP Baseball drag bunt animation was quick and came out of nowhere, so there really wasn’t any tip-off to what the speedster was up to. When you give that quick of an animation to a player with a bunting rating of 99 and a speed rating of 97, you’re going to see some serious shit. Just look at this.

When you pair Ichiro’s speed with his insane hitting power, he could make some incredible plays. He could bunt for a hit and get down the line so fast that the defender wouldn’t even bother making the throw. They just gave up.

Let’s talk defense.

When you have all that speed, that’s one thing. When you have speed and an arm chiseled personally by God, there’s nothing that can stop you. On April 11th, 2001, Ichiro threw a perfect strike from right field to put the entire league on notice.

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Anyone who has seen this clip should know better than to challenge Ichiro, but for some reason people kept testing this man.

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Here are Ichiro’s fielding stats.

Remember when I said the Polo Grounds center field fence was 483 feet away from home plate? Here’s Ichiro throwing to home from that exact spot like it’s no big deal.

I think this speaks for itself.

Now, I had the idea to make a team full of Ichiros and see how far I could take them. (The first initials are there because the game forced me to enter a first name, and I wanted to tell them apart for statistical purposes.)

This leaves one unanswered question.

What about pitching?

Can Ichiro pitch? He was a pitcher in high school, but what about the professional level? The answer is yes! Luckily I had two frames of reference.

There is the time he pitched in 2015.

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And the time he pitched in the 1996 Japanese All-Star Game.

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Ichiro mainly sticks with the simple fastball-changeup combination, but the occasional breaking ball shows up.

So we have a three-pitch arsenal that we’re going to have to stick with for 162+ games. While it’s serviceable, I’m not expecting any Barry Zito-level performances.

Are we ready? I’m ready. Let’s do this.

Dynasty Time!

These are our team goals. I think we’re going to win more than 2 Silver Slugger awards and score the most runs in baseball.

April 2005: 16-8 (first in A.L. West)

After one month of play, the Seattle Ichiros are 16-8. In 24 games, three Ichiro clones are hitting .400 or higher, and seven are batting over .300.

SEVEN OF THE TOP 11 players in the stolen base category are Ichiros. Another Ichiro is leading the team with six wins and two saves already. He’s also 7th in the league in strikeouts. WHAT.

The team has combined for 72 stolen bases and has been caught stealing only 6 times. GOOD LORD. As expected, the pitching staff is marginally mediocre.

For this team however, that’s more than good enough.

May: 19-8 (35-16 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

For some reason, the Seattle Ichiros have regressed into the 29th-best pitching team in the league, but thanks to incredible hitting and fielding, we are tied for the best record in baseball. Nine Ichiros are in the top 10 for stolen bases. Everything is going well, except for R. Ichiro. We also had a trade offer for Ray Durham. Do we make a deal?

Hell no. We’re the Seattle Ichiros. All or nothing.

June: 17-9 (52-25 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

The Seattle Ichiros have the best record in baseball at 52-25. Seven Ichiros are hitting over .300, and eight have over 20 stolen bases. The only other players in the league with more than 20 are Carl Crawford and Bobby Abreu.

The pitching has not produced a single shutout win the entire season so far, but it looks like what’s working is working. Score a lot of runs, tank pitching, win, repeat. My manager grade is also an A- which is weird because I’m not even watching the games. Maybe I should watch a game.

*The Ichiros won 11-5*

This is a baseball game unlike any I’ve seen before. I’ve never seen such aggressive baserunning spread all throughout the roster. The Ichiros stole 6 bases and never got caught. It’s like watching all the racers in Mario Kart with endless speed mushrooms. I wish real baseball was like this. Watching this team field is similar to watching superheroes do pedestrian tasks with their powers like it’s no big deal.

This is definitely a championship team. Can the Ichiros really bring Seattle their first World Series title ever?

July: 15-11 (67-36 for the season, second in the A.L. West and 1st in the Wild Card race)

So. Apparently the Angels are really freakin’ good. See what happens when you have good pitching? Wow.

Even still, the Ichiro collective is doing their best to rectify this with some solid hitting. By the way, nine Ichiros made the All-Star Team, which if I had to guess would be the first time that’s ever happened? Nine All-Stars and they’re not even leading the division. Incredible.

Meanwhile, don’t look now but Jon Dowd is going for a Triple Crown.

August: 17-11 (85-47 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

Jesus Christ, what happened to the Angels?

Even though the Ichiros didn’t have a weird surge, the Angels seem to be going through it. Seattle has opened up a seven-game lead on the Angels. Luckily, the Angels have a chance to make up ground in September, as they have six games against the Ichiros.

The Ichiros have scored 931 runs this season; the next closest team has 767. That’s wild. They also have six players with at least 15 home runs or more, which is of note because Ichiro’s season high in the real world is 15 home runs.

We have 30 games left.

(I’m very impressed with the fact that none of the Ichiros have sustained an injury yet. I’m lying I turned injuries off.)

September-October: 16-12 (102-60 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

Thanks to four head-to-head wins over the Angels, the Ichiros were able to clinch the division and finish with 102 wins and 1,135 runs scored — 4th-most in baseball history, and most since 1894. Did they win the most games this season? Nope, the Boston Red Sox netted 106 Ws thanks to a solid lineup and *cough* good pitching *cough*

Despite being walked 139 times. Jon Dowd hit for the Triple Crown. Thanks for putting a potential hole in my argument, EA.

One of the Ichiro clones finished with a whopping 70 stolen bases. The team as a whole combined for 452 stolen bases while being caught 101 times. That’s a whopping 82% success rate as a TEAM. These were the next teams that came close.

Two Ichiros had more 200 hits while everyone in the starting lineup hit more than 170. We also achieved two of the five team goals. The two realistic goals!

ONE OF THEM ALSO WON AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP!

PLAYOFFS, BABY! My only rule going into this is that all the elimination games will be a live gameplay sim.

ALDS: Ichiros vs. Yankees

Off-screen computer simulations:

Game 1: Yankees 13, Ichiros 11

Game 2: Yankees 14, Ichiros 11

On-screen simulations:

Game 3: Ichiros 14, Yankees 5

Game 4: Ichiros 12, Yankees 3

Game 5: Ichiros 11, Yankees 3

So, something of importance that I should note: there are two types of simulations in this game. There is the quick sim that doesn’t show any gameplay, and then there is the longer simulation that showcases gameplay. Now, the quick sim was for most of the regular season and held true to the ratings and what each player would theoretically do. However, the gameplay sims showcase a different element of all of these things. You get to see just how much chaos this team can cause. I also think this sim does a better job of highlighting just how many runs a team full of Ichiros can score on offense and prevent on defense. This is the main difference between the two types of simulations.

ALDS: Ichiros vs. Red Sox

This is going to be the toughest challenge yet for the Ichiros. Not only will they have to face the best-pitching team in the league, they also have to go up against some fearsome left-handed hitters. Since all the Ichiros throw right-handed, there is no way to neutralize David Ortiz, Johnny Damon or Trot Nixon.

Game 1: Ichiros 12, Red Sox 6

The Ichiros went to town on Curt Schilling in spurts and it got so bad that Bronson Arroyo had to relieve him in the 3rd inning. You hate to see it.

Game 2: Ichiros 18, Red Sox 2

Going up against David Wells was easy pickings for the Ichiros, who absolutely destroy left-handed pitching. The dimensions of Fenway are also advantageous to the Ichiros. Normal flyouts in other parks turn into off the wall doubles/triples.

David Wells only lasted 5 outs. These Ichiros do a great job getting out on these hot starts and then jumping all over the relief pitching. It’s a magical strategy.

Game 3: Ichiros 6, Red Sox 5

After the Sox take a 5-0 lead by the 3rd inning, the Ichiros face their first test of adversity in the series, but answer back with three runs in the 3rd and three more in the 6th. The Ichiros leaned on their mediocre pitching and great defense to move one win away from the World Series.

Game 4: Ichiros 13, Red Sox 8

After scoring EIGHT runs in the third inning, the Red Sox give up 13 unanswered runs thanks to Ichiro, Ichiro and Ichiro. The Ichiros hit three home runs and six triples to keep putting pressure on the Red Sox pitching staff. Honestly, if Boston hadn’t won the World Series in 2004, I would think this was some part of a curse or something.

This was an unreal fight from the Ichiros. It’s a shame we never got to see them face off against knuckleball god Tim Wakefield. But now the Ichiros are heading to the World Series to face off against. Jon Dowd and the Giants. THIS IS OCTOBER!

World Series: Ichiros vs. Giants

Here we go. A team full of Ichiros vs. Jon Dowd and friends. Statistically speaking, the Yankees and Red Sox were both better opponents, but the Giants are still ranked higher than the Mariners because of our team’s lack of pitching. However, the Giants are one of the slowest teams in the league. It’ll be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out.

Game 1: Ichiros 6, Giants 2

Jon Dowd went 0-4. YOU LOVE TO SEE IT.

Game 2: Ichiros 17, Giants 6

A Jon Dowd grand slam couldn’t stop the Ichiro task force, which hit 5 home runs.

Game 3: Ichiros 12, Giants 1

A Jon Dowd solo home run was nowhere close to enough to stop the flurry. I never thought I would say this, but get Jon Dowd some help!

Game 4: Ichiros 9, Giants 3

GO CRAZY SEATTLE! THE ICHIRO CLONES HAVE TAKEN HOME THE WORLD SERIES TITLE!

ABSOLUTE PLAYOFF DOMINATION!

Offseason

Because we won the World Series, I have been rewarded with a team budget increase of 3.6 million dollars. However, since I put every create-a-player on a one-year contract, nearly the entire team is asking for a new deal.

I really didn’t think this through. Let’s see if I can re-sign them all.

DYNASTY TIME BABY! We made it to spring training with all of the Ichiros intact. On that note, we will end our simulation. We’ve had a hell of a run, but now it’s time to conclude and debrief.

Conclusion

When we used the non-gameplay simulation, the game stayed true to the stats that Ichiro was capable of producing. Those stats added up and allowed us to win dependently. Now, the hitting side sounds believable to a sense. When you duplicate someone that possessed a league-leading .372 batting average, you’re in for a lot of baserunners and scoring opportunities.

The shakiest part of the non-gameplay simulation has to be the pitching. A team of Ichiros giving up only five runs a game doesn’t sound that believable to me, especially when other teams full of actual pitchers in the game gave up more runs. It’s hard to tell whether the defensive prowess of the Ichiros was accounted for in these simulations.

The gameplay simulations were a different story, however, as you can see just how dominant the Ichiro squad was on offense and defense. On offense, the Ichiros barely struck out and every single ball put in play looked like it could be a hit. The Ichiros preyed on slow outfielders like Jon Dowd and middle-tier arms like Johnny Damon. Using these two advantages, the Ichiro squad could turn doubles into triples whenever they wanted. Every time an Ichiro walked, a steal seemed imminent and there was little you could do to stop it.

Now, watching Ichiro pitch in real-time made me nervous, but he does just enough to mitigate the damage. When the pitchers were in a jam, they would often get bailed out by the amazing speed and glove of an Ichiro. It’s nice to have someone with 10 career gold gloves at every position on the field.

The gameplay sims took everything that Ichiro was good at on paper and amplified them to a point where they looked absolutely unbeatable. When they faced elimination against the Yankees, I switched gameplay simulations to “document the end” but I realized that these sims make the Ichiros seem like gods. I do wish that I had done gameplay simulations of the entire playoffs so that those two Yankees losses wouldn’t be there, but at least I switched over before it was too late.

If I had done real gameplay simulations for all 162 games in the regular season, I think that the Ichiros could have won 140+ games easily. There was no way I was going to do that because that would be way too much time put into this project. I barely watch real baseball right now, you think I was going to watch weeks of virtual baseball? Hell no.

The regular season simulation allowed us to make the playoffs and that’s all that mattered to me at the end of the day. The chance to have a chance.

Ichiro is one of the greatest players in baseball history, but he’s overshadowed by most video games he’s featured in. In MVP Baseball there’s Jon Dowd, in Backyard Baseball there’s Pablo Sanchez and Pete Wheeler. In The Bigs, it was basically every power hitter in the game.

He never was a cover athlete for MVP Baseball, Triple Play Baseball, MLB 2K, The Bigs, or MLB: The Show. He never got the recognition he deserved for being OP in multiple video games. So the next time you hear MVP Baseball 2005 and someone mentioning Jon Dowd, bring up Ichiro. Bring up this article that I spent way too much on to show a video game legend the respect he deserves.

Finally, as a reward for making it through this article, here is a wholesome picture of Ichiro smiling.

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You’re welcome.

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darkneonblog · 7 years ago

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NieR: Automata (Deep Dive)

I have never played a game quite like Nier Automata. The 36 hours I clocked into its deeply intricate and visceral mechanical world is not one that will leave me soon. It’s not the greatest game I have ever played, but by far one of the most memorable video game experiences, I’ve ever strained my fingers against. Here’s my Deep Dive into my experience with Nier Automata.

Let’s deconstruct Nier on a surface level before we sink into the nuances of the game. Nier is a high-speed combat action-RPG exclusive to the PlayStation 4. You take control of androids tasked with combating against the machine menace that plagues a vacant planet earth. Developed by Platinum Games, masters of combat, and published by Square Enix, a company I worship despite how many times they mistreat me.

The combat of Nier is something to behold, and differs in style based on which of the three playable characters you are controlling 2B, 9S, or A2. Your character is not the only thing to consider in Nier’s combat, in the height of a fight there are numerous layers to juggle. Light vs heavy attacks and the combo combinations, dodging, switching between your customizable weapon sets, the actions and abilities of your pod companion robot such as changing their type of ammo, and special ability known as a pod program. Learning to properly switch between all of these on the fly to best suit your need for that battle is all a part of fighting in Nier. Though the game makes it easy to execute all these elements as all are associated with a single button press. Intelligently the game gives you the option to choose between either pre-set control schemes, or to fully button-map your controller in a custom control scheme. This is much needed for how much button pressing is done mid-fight, and how potentially tired your fingers can get, you want a control scheme that is as comfortable as possible. I mainly kept control scheme A as my configuration, except that I swapped Pod Program with Ammo fire. So, that the Pod program was R1 and firing was mapped to L2. With how much firing you need to do in combat for me it was more comfortable to hold down a trigger versus a bumper.

Fighting is incredibly fast-paced and flashy. Intense metal on metal action as you slash your way through waves of machines, with sparks and bolts of light jumping off every attack. Each combination of the four types of weapons (Small swords, heavy swords, spears, and combat bracers) along with their position as ether the heavy or light attack have create different attack combinations. A Small sword and a heavy sword weapon set will have different combos then if you have two small swords equipped. If you have two different weapon types equipped, the combos will change depending on which is set as the light or heavy attack. Though combos are certainly finite there is a good amount of variety, and as you play through the game and upgrade the weapons and extend their combos, new life is breathed into familiar button combinations. Even without this watching the characters flip, spin, and strike never got old for the whole playthrough.

Where Automata separates itself from others in its genre are in the common elements of weapons and stats. Instead of how in most rpgs you acquire new weapons by simply progressing through the story and reaching a new location that sells weapons, provided you have the funds to purchase said weapons. In Nier this is not the case; though there are of course several weapon venders within the game; in terms of weapon strength they don’t vary much, and never restock what they have later on in the game. Some vendors even offer you weaker weapons then those that you initially encountered. Obtaining stronger weapons comes down to the player choosing to explore the environments for chests and the occasional hidden pedestal to find the truly worthy weapons. The upgrade adds deep value to even your starter gear, older weapons can become more useful by gaining a better ability or being stronger in the long run. Constantly breathing new life into weapons so it never feels like your carrying around junk waiting to be sold.

Though Nier is the same like all other RPGs in that enemies are a certain EXP value and defeating them adds to your experience leading to you leveling up, and leveling up increases your base health, attack, and defense, but the similarities stop there. For instead of equipping armor and gear to enhance your stats, since you control androids and they are a form of technology, you equip plug-in chips. These chips that can be bought and found not only enhance attack, defense, movement speed, and base health, but enhance your combat ability. Chips that can make 9S hack faster, or cause a glittering shock wave to fly out of every attack of your weapon, or one that adds a Bayonetta’s Witch time-like ability that slows down time briefly if you can dodge at the exact right time. These chips help make your version of the characters distinctly your own since there are tens of categories of chips each with varying power levels that can be increased by fusing chips of the same functionality together.

The characters in Nier have some differences gameplay but not too many. A2 and 2B play identically with light and heavy attacks and fast paced action. Slight differences being 2B’s ability to occasional do an execution move on smaller enemies. While A2 has a longer dodge range that becomes a short glide if held down, and the ability to taunt enemies by holding down the light attack. The distinctness between them ends there as they play virtually the exact same. 9S plays very differently as his attacks are slightly slower, as well as lacks a heavy attack. Instead he gains the ability to hack by holding down the heavy attack button. This activates a hacking minigame that upon completion will either destroy, or cause major damage to an enemy. With smaller enemies giving you the option to occasionally control them and use them against their machine allies.

Initially when you finish 2B’s section of gameplay and start 9S’ the experience drags. Your combat is severely limited as you now have only one weapon and only one attack button that functions slower. Adding on to this that since 2B and 9S spend a considerable amount of time together, you are experiencing not only a lot of the same dialogue but a lot of the same cut scenes again for the second time. With only little tidbits of different story occurring in the moments where they were separated to give the story greater context. But its these minor contextual elements that show the true strength of Nier Automata’s story and how its presented.

At the begging of playing 9S, his campaign combat wise does seem a bit lack luster, but as you progress through the game your weapons advance some more variety gets added. And when you reach later elements of the story and combat gets harder and enemy numbers become intense, having the ability to hack enemies to make up for his limited combat abilities is a welcome skill. Without it later elements of the game would become more tedious and long winded, challenge without purpose.

I was never that perturbed by his lack of combat skills, for he is a scanner unit, while the other characters are combat units. Within the first minutes of 9S’ introduction he mentions how fighting “isn’t really his thing”. And even if you are very down on 9S first play through on a gameplay stance the story elements that are just thrown in front of you without warning entice you to keep going to see more and learn more. Tiny tidbits of context, and seeing the same elements again open you to a grander story. One that makes you realize that some things in the first playthrough that were brought up were never fleshed out or explained. Further enticing you down the rabbit hole the game continues to dig.

From the second playthrough the game’s story begins to unfold like a flower slowly revealing more and more on its own. And it shows great respect to the player by presenting the story elements beat by beat, but forcing the player to piece it all together in their own mind to really figure out the deeper meaning of everything that is going on. By the end of the 3rd segment of the game where an important choice must be made in order to access the final few endings of the game, choosing and repeating the choice gives a huge payoff in finally piecing together on your own, the significance of things even way back in the first playthrough that were secretly important or relevant in the end.

But its more than just the presentation of the story itself but how it tackles these topics that also leave huge impacts on me. The game covers ideas such as existence, purpose, humanity, reality, perception, family, and consciousness. Not only does the game cover them in a way that isn’t pretentious or shallow, but in ways that are still emotionally impactful, insightful, and even inspiring. Nier Automata leaves the player to think about their own concepts of these topics, all while understanding it’s still a game and meant to be fun. One of my favorite moments comes at the end of Ending B, where an anime style preview for section C occurs, with a literal preview of the cut scenes you will watch comes up. Like a trailer for the game you are already playing and for what you are about to do. That is brilliant. Such an over the top and self-indulgently dramatic moment for the game to include, but it’s more than just surface value, the drama serves a dual purpose. Not only to literally preview and poke fun at the game’s obvious anime inspirations, but also to show the emphasis of the second half of the game. A visual warning to the player saying “Get ready. The surface has only been scratched, get ready for the real story.” Such intelligent and purposeful imagery.

Nier Automata is an intense nihilistically hopeful, and all around beautiful video game that is a ride all the way till the 5th credits. Slight curveballs are constantly thrown at you that subvert your expectation of what “should” happen next in a video game. It challenges the player to take a deep look at the story being presented in front of them in order to understand, and ultimately figure out what the game means to them. And to me, that is art at its most pure form, giving the viewer a piece of itself that they use to amplify their own perception of reality, life, and the world.

Glory to mankind.

Thank you Nier Automata

#nier automata #nier #automata #ps4 #playstation #playstation 4 #darkneonwords

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