#and i still love new games obviously and i love when games immerse me so much i never feel the need to look up anything

[james-stark-the-writer]

i was just trying to watch a silly little video of a guy looking back at one of his old videos to see where he stands today and then what he said hit me like a fucking truck

source @ 37:20

[apt502-if]

Maybe in future edits of the game could there be the option to not be so mopey about Rainn? It'd be so nice to completely and fully detach from them, and although I pick to always be dismissive or indifferent when the option comes to choose if MC cares about Rainn or not, in the singer route (maybe all routes?) MC is taken out of the vibe of singing to think about Rainn and it just takes me out the immersion.

I know writing is a looooot of work and you've been busy so long so obviously you don't gotta take this lil gripe seriously but it'd just be real nice for players like me who'd like MC to have the option to be a bit less affected, if you ever happen to consider it! Promise that beside that I LOVE the game so you sure aren't losing a fan. 😅

It's only been around two days since MC gets dumped by Rainn. It's canon that MC was in love with Rainn and that the breakup hits them really hard since they expected to start an entire life with them. The indifferent/detached options for right now is MC's attempt to do so but failing because of how fresh it is :< After some time then you can detach completely but it's still too new.

I don't think I'm going to change that part so I apologize :< but I assure you it won't be for much longer. I’m happy you enjoyed it otherwise and thank you ❤️❤️

[batcastlesociety]

poorly constructed netflixvania rant under the cut,,, and yes i will be using capital letters for once! don't question it.

small warning because my rant is all over the place and by no means professional. i'm still relatively new to castlevania and may or may not get a few things wrong,,, sorry, if i do! 🙇🏻‍♂️ i plan on adding more to this later to make it seem less like alphabet soup, if you will.

Obviously, I'm aware that I'm a tad late to the whole "netflixvania ranting" thing, but honestly, I really don't care if I'm late or if this gains traction somehow or not. I just want to put this out there and get this OUT.

Now, I'd say that I'm awfully new to the Castlevania community itself. I'm a minor, so it's not like I grew up playing the games when they came out. 💀 Hell, I actually found out about Castlevania through watching its Netflix adaptation. But honestly, when I got Smash Bros Ultimate and found out about Richter and Simon, then doing further research and finding out about the games themselves, I'd say I abandoned the show immediately after that. Like, immediately. The games just interested me MUCH more!

Netflixvania is just... boring. It feels uncanny. Not canon, of course, just.. uncanny. Weird. Honestly, I feel horrible considering the large amount of people that actually LIKE Netflixvania compared to the games and say it's better, or even not have heard of the games in the first place! It's so stupid, when you compare the games and show.

Honestly, comparing the show to the games is... wild. I've seen people say that "oh, yeah netflixvania SUCKS, buuuut the first season is still badass!!!" Like... no, buddy... no... Netflixvania refuses to adapt Castlevania from the very start. The get-go, if you will. The very first season of this wretched show starts off completely off the rails. Not even the first season is above "sub-par".

The games have an immersive, charming, compelling storyline with a bunch of really well-constructed lore, at least in my opinion. I absolutely LOVE the whole plot of a massive feud going on between mortals who have to start a bloodline to fight this immortal Big Bad, and their reactions, their bad reputation with the Transylvanian townspeople despite the fact that the Belmont clan is pretty much the only thing keeping the former alive, and much more.

Anyway, back to this godawful adaptation.

First off, the goddamn showrunner of Netflixvania, Warren Ellis, literally CUT OUT A CHARACTER from the VERY VIDEO GAME THAT HE WAS ADAPTING INTO A SHOW, just because he thought that the character's name "sounded stupid", and that having a "pirate" character apparently wouldn't make sense, because ooh romania is a landlocked country!!! YOU IMBECILE. GRANT DANASTY IS NOT EVEN A PIRATE.💀💀💀 That was a mistranslation, for crying out loud! Isn't Grant a thief??? Not a pirate??? Also, who gives a shit if he even was a pirate?! This is the same adaptation that turned Trevor 'FUCKING' Belmont into a stumbling drunkard and Alucard into a horse-faced sex object. Everyone else is out-of-character enough by themselves! Who CARES if there's one single """pirate""" character??? This is the same show that has mages and Devil Forgemasters and, oh, let's not forget; FUCKING VAMPIRES??? This is a fantasy setting!! Why would you deny a canon character his chance in the spotlight for the sake of historical accuracy in a fictional world like this??

Besides, as aforementioned, Grant wasn't even a pirate in the first place! Ergo, it wouldn't matter if the story took place in a landlocked country or not!

Anyway, next point. Still about the characters, though. Mostly how they talk. Almost very single word these characters say is emphasized with a few "fuck"s and/or "shit"s, "bloody hell"s, etc., ESPECIALLY with Trevor. It's as if they're using curse words to sound more witty or mature, which is literally one of the first (and frankly, most obvious) of Red Flags for Horrendous Adult Media. In my opinion, at least. I just don't understand the reason why. I don't recall any of the Castlevania games having a single curse word in them (correct me if I'm wrong on that bit), but the games were still marketed for more mature audiences, too! You don't need profane language and a few splashes of vomit to make a compelling story for adults. Really, truly.

Back on that bit, it feels as if the writers REALLY wanted to make Trevor really witty. A bit of a whimsical jokester. Which, by the by, also if I recall correctly, isn't what his personality is really like at all. At least, not for the most part. In Curse of Darkness, Trevor was definitely a bit witty and cunning, but he also had a pretty damn big ego. He was confident, blunt and hotheaded. He's an arrogant bastard. CoD Trevor is intimidating as well. However, he's also honorable and likeable. Just a neat little guy.

Netflixvania Trevor, on the other end, is... odd. He's aloof, cynical, still having a bit of arrogance, but I don't know. It didn't feel like Trevor. I don't know how to explain it. Maybe I'll come up with something better someday else.

Well, now that I'm mostly rambling about Trevor now, I think I should talk about his actual outward design as well. Truly, none of the members of the Netflixvania cast have retained any of their ingame designs, at least for the most part. Except for Alucard, of course, but I'll mention that a bit more later. I'll only talk about the main trio (RIP Grant Danasty, you were never nasty and will be here in spirit...) and their designs right now.

Starting off with Treffy himself. His design is... a bit odd. Now, I feel as if it's his eye that irks me the most. Let me just pull up some visual aids for this one:

THIS is Netflixvania Trevor. I apologize in advance for the low-quality PNG I've just slapped here.

Anyway, look at his eye. It has a scar on it. Keep that in mind.

THIS is Trevor's actual, ingame design for the game that was supposed to be adapted correctly, and there's no sign of any eye injury here.

And in Trevor's CoD design, he ALSO has a scar... but this isn't all that similar to his DC design, either.

Personally, I feel as if Netflixvania Trevor looks more like Judgement Trevor, than anything...

You can see the scar on his eye (IGNORING the outfit...), but even then, JuD Trevor still has an eyepatch. Netflixvania Treffy does NOT have an eyepatch. These are just differences in design, mind you, i know absolutely nothing about Judgement itself.

Anyway, Treffy (i'll just be calling him that from now on) looks like a weird mix between JuD Trevor, because of the hair and body structure, and CoD Trevor, due to the visible scar, I guess.

...Which is even worse, because it just goes to show how much the creators of Netflixvania really deviated from the source material. Maybe I'm just fucking blind over here, but really I see no similarities between Treffy and actual DC Trevor. Except, maybe, like, the boots, but really?

Now, on to the rest of the party: (except for my boy Grant, who got fucking excluded...)

Sypha actually looks like this in DC:

She looks pretty different! Luckily, not the most different compared to what happened to my rotten soldier, my good time boy Trevor, but still quite different. Firstly, Sypha's face is covered, and her robes are quite big on her, and this was actually intentional!

For the record, if you haven't played DC, the whole reason why Sypha looks more boyish is because she was hiding her gender for the whole game in order to travel safely. Her true gender is only revealed at the end of the game. (Truly an iconic Samus Metroid moment you conjured up there, Konami.)

Anyway, this is Sypha's Netflix version.

Again, sorry for the weird pixel outline on the image. I didn't even edit these.

Anyway, luckily, this one isn't all that different, except the obvious fact that Sypha isn't hiding her gender in this one. Although, I still do definitely believe she was done dirty. I mean, look at that hair! Christ. I'm not sure why they didn't make Sypha hide her gender until the end like in the original game, but then again, a pretty concerning amount of canon events from DC and Castlevania as a whole I guess didn't make the cut, so I doubt it'd be wise to set the bar any higher than the floor.

Next up, oh no. Alucart. I'll be referring to his horse-faced counterpart as this, because although his design is still game-accurate... It was for the wrong game.

This is his Netflix design:

See, it's okay. It's a biiiit inaccurate to his SoTN version... (for SoTN swag, see here) but! This isn't a SoTN adaptation!!! THIS, chaps, chapesses, and chapsticks is supposed to be for Dracula's Curse! and this is Alucard's DC design:

See? Now, this is just completely different! In this version, Alucard definitely gives off traditional, pop culture vampire vibes, definitely taking after his father in this one. But Alucart... Poor Alucart... he's just an odd mix of SoTN and.. not SoTN. It's literally just his SoTN self, but in a more revealing outfit with random ass belts. It's as if they simply went on a quick Google adventure and looked no further for Alucart's to-be design. But seriously, why exactly are they showing his bare chest here? Why is he muscular? Huh?????

... These redesigns are... something else, that's for sure! Of course, I know that with every adaptation, there's bound to be some changes, but with Netflixvania, there are a LOT of changes, and absolutely none of them are necessary.

For one, characters like Godbrand and Lenore were never in the games! The writers just slapped in some random OCs and scrapped an actual, canon character for petty reasons. They also nerfed Hector because of a behind-the-scenes argument between writers. They let their own pettiness ruin a show. Hell, Warren Ellis himself didn't even know anything about Castlevania. He just took everything from secondhand sources! It's not professional or sane.

I honestly didn't even watch the full show myself. I probably should, so maybe I can edit this rant a bit. Anyway, I only watched S1 and a bit of S2. Honestly, I have no idea why they didn't just stop the show when Dracula got pounded into the ground for the umpteenth time. There wasn't any real need to continue the show for even more seasons. Just... I don't know. It's really weird??? The show just seems... boring. Like, seriously. What's even the point, at that point? Our favorite three stooges Johnny Test'ed Drac into oblivion, just as they needed to do, so why continue? It just seems as if they're milking it.

...Yeah i don't know how to continue this. In summary, play the games instead. Watch let's-plays, if you can. As I mentioned earlier, this rant may not be too professional or well-written, and I apologize if I mixed anything up. I plan on adding more to this later, but right now, my hands are getting numb q(╥﹏╥)p

[brujahinaskirt]

30 kcd2 trailer reveal little things / reactions:

Loving the increased Istvan / Henry parallelism

Loving the return of the red PTSD nightmares and so pleased WH isn't watering the game down, keeping up the trauma narrative realism, etc. I expected no less but still delighted by it. I love games that allow characters (esp male characters) to feel things, genuinely, and writing that treats the emotional invitation of its own storytelling with respect.

Good lord, the symbolism returns--as it must in a proper medieval game--but I shan't look too deep yet.

SKALITZ FLASHBACKS. HENRY'S PARENTS' WEDDING PREQUEL CONTENT? W H A T. I never thought we would get to go back; I am so thrilled to learn more about that time. I would have gladly gobbled up a Martin prequel. TELL ME HER FUCKING NAME, WARHORSE, YOU BASTARDS.

where is radzig

Mystery possible new love interest option? Or did Lady Stephanie visit the face sculptor?

And Theresa... where?

Mother of god, the forests and animals look incredible. I'm going insane. Let me pet things please.

How many times can Hans eat royal shit and live in one livestream? Let's find out. One, two, three...

The crime and punishment mechanics are definitely more complex at a glance. This is a good thing but I wonder how much was cutscene flavor and how much will really have an affect on the gameplay/reputation/etc.

I'm extremely afraid for Hans's survival. Not because of his constant trailer beefing (and he really took every opportunity to wipe out) but because of that shot with him doing the big dramatic eagle wing spread on horseback. You can't just do that and not expect to be punished by the narrative, bro.

MUTT IS BACK MUTT IS BACK MUTT IS BACK

is that pebbles? MUTT IS BACK please be pebbles

Henry's new hair is awful and I will be changing it two seconds in.

In general, Henry looks way more mature/stressed. Hard to say if there was a timeskip and Henry is now actually more mature or if the increased graphics allow him to look more like his voice actor, who is older than Henry. Either way I will be content. Will not catch me changing my son's precious face!!!

CROSSBOWS, HAND CANNONS

Istvan is pure fire, holy shit, cannot wait for this performance. Erik looks like a soggy newspaper. What happened king?

radzig? hello? anyone hear from this guy? typical for him to ghost

FIVE HOURS OF CUTSCENES???? YOU KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. IT IS ME. I LOVE TO WATCH THINGS

Theresa's gonna be in it though, right? They wouldn't do us like that right?

Really excited to see them taking a page from RDR2 and incorporating a temperament-based reply system for non-dialogue initiating NPCs. I really look forward to all the added sandbox immersion enhancements from the first game, and I hope women are incorporated in a broader work spectrum for better historical accuracy.

WAS THAT GODWIN?

Is Hans going to teach Henry how to swim for real, as in a gameplay-altering swim mechanic, or is the topless on the riverbank scene just throwing a meaty bone to the hansry shippers (i am gnawing, i am growling when you try to take it away before i choke myself with it)

I love hearing devs and actors talk intelligently about the writing and character development arcs. Obviously they thought about it deeply in KCD1, but it's nice to see devs of an "action" game treating its narrative seriously, as artwork. Regardless of how the fandom idiots interact with it.

Hans singing a facetious little ballad for Henry (presuming it makes it into the game and isn't just trailer fodder) regenerated my cells. He DID promise in KCD1 (if you lose the tourney after agreeing to be his champion) that one day people would sing ballads in Henry's honor. Probably he did not intend for them to include the word "fuck" at the time.

This is going to be the grown up bromance we deserved in kcd1. Honestly it's so validating to see the second game recentering on that relationship and deliberately using it as the primary storytelling vehicle. KCD1 was pretty imbalanced in favor of Hans content, but it would have been better served by the game storyline fully leaning into the importance of that relationship, rather than trying to juggle it as a side-arc with several other arcs (and thereby creating an imbalance). KCD2 looks like it's built around the backbone of Henry and Hans's friendship and how it has profoundly changed them both/propelled their arcs in somewhat different directions.

On that point, Henry seems to have completely adopted Rattay colors now, but it's possible that's due to him operating as Hans's page (squire?) where we left them in KCD1. WHERE IS RADZIG

Calling Henry an orphan is a LITTLE generous given he was a whole ass adult man when his parents were killed, don't you think.

Calling Henry a lover is VERY VERY GENEROUS

I'm hyped.

[room-surprise]

Dungeon Meshi Season 1 EP 5 review

Episode 5 of the anime came out and we got to see Kabru!!! My boy Kabru!!! Oh right there was other stuff after the first five minutes.

KABRU THOUGH!!!

I don't actually have a lot to say about this episode. I thought it was competent, although as always characters standing around and talking, or doing simple tasks like eating, are just not Trigger's strong point.

Has anybody deciphered the language that Kui is using in the backgrounds? SO HAPPY that her glyphs are here now, instead of the Japanese in the first episode. I've tried to figure out what they are, but I'm honestly stumped. Seems like a combination of Norse runes, Greek letters, Cuneiform and Sanskrit...

Was NOT a fan of the way they overdid Kabru scaring Mikbell. It's really not a joke that's even that funny, so I think the lighting change and drama of it was really overselling it. Would have been much better if it was like in the manga, some childish, light-hearted ribbing between friends while they get ready to leave.

Although it was VERY VERY funny, I was also not a fan of the youtube-poop-esque zoom out on Marcille when she sees the treasure bugs. Like Laios' galaxy brain moment, comedic edits like this remind me that I'm watching a TV show, instead of allowing me to be immersed in the historical fantasy world. If I wanted modern jokes I'd be watching an Isekai where the characters are in a video game, not Dungeon Meshi.

I think they could have gotten an equally good laugh just from doing a simple zoom out.

I love the way they're depicting Laios. You can clearly see all the red flags his friends are picking up on and how he might be scary to others, but he's also very sympathetic and sweet.

All the Japanese VA's are doing a great job. I liked Kabru's Japanese voice a little better than his English voice just because I think he did a better job capturing Kabru's dual nature - he started out very sweet and cute, and then dropped his timbre noticeably once he was no longer sweet-talking someone. The English voice actor meanwhile felt like their voice basically stayed the same the entire episode.

THE DUB

This is still the better way to watch the show, the subtitles are SO lacking that they make the story harder to follow. The dub script, meanwhile, does a much better job. I wonder if there's a way to watch it with Japanese audio and the English dub subtitles?

BangZoom continues to make interesting casting decisions that make me VERY curious to see how they're going to handle the elves when they finally arrive.

Kabru, Daya and Kuro are all voiced by black voice actors! Rin's voice actress is Asian American, and Namari's voice actress is nonbinary. They all sound fantastic and I'm excited to hear them develop their characters as the series progresses.

Obviously Kabru isn't black, he's Indian, but Zon also isn't black, so I appreciate casting people of color to play characters of color (?) or at least, characters that are minorities? It feels like that's what they're trying to do.

ON THE OTHER HAND, Daya is very much not a minority or a character of color... I suppose that would be a case of race-blind casting? Which is also a good practice, getting new, underutilized talent into the industry... But obviously not a part of the previous point. Regardless, she sounds great.

Again, REALLY wonder how this will influence their casting decisions with the elves. Wonder if any of this was done with instruction from Trigger or Kui, or if it's 100% BangZoom operating on their own.

[randomfoggytiger]

Fail Better Premium: David's Thoughts (Part X, 1/1)

Creating a breadcrumb trail with David Duchovny's personal growth.

David: "You said you are ambitious-- um, or, you had ambition. I wonder, I wonder what your ambitions are; and in what fields, in what realms. And how you... how you feel-- 'unfulfilled' is the wrong word, because you seem very grateful and fulfilled in many ways. But, um, with the work you've been able to do. But what is, what is still... what would put you in that 18 year old head space again, that would make you go, 'Ah. I'm challenged all anew. This is a new ambition, this is a place I want to get to, this is a world I want to create.' I mean, not specific project; but, y'know."

Fred: "Doing something immersed in another language where it isn't a gimmick. Where I could, like, disappear into-- something in another language. Disappear into something: American sign language; something in German; something that like... in the way that, like, a lot of pop culture is like, has been changing for so long. Y'know-- like I know Squid Game has already, like, y'know--"

David: "Yeah."

Fred: "--it's been years. But the idea that something in Korean is a huge hit is endlessly fascinating to me. I love that. That, like, now we can... we longer have to take for granted that something has to be in English, y'know."

David: "It's interesting to think back on your roots and on the way you described, y'know, yourself as a child. And, uh. And, and your desire to go to England-- whatever England meant, to be 'English.' It's a very, it's very interesting to me that... that's, that's the ambition-- you want to disappear. It's very interesting that you want to disappear. You know, Samuel Beckett's a writer that I wrote a lot about when I was a student. And he was obviously Irish-- born in Ireland, spoke English-- but he was fluent in French; and he ended up writing in French, and then translating himself into his native tongue English. And he would say he wrote in French because the words were cleaner. They didn't have all the associations from his childhood. Y'know, the words, the words that he grew up with-- I remember my mom saying that, my dad, whatever-- those were all fraught with, with ghosts and echoes and meanings. And French was not. French was something he learned; it was clean. And he felt he could write-- and it just put me in mind of what you were saying, in a way: it's like you could really disappear if you could do something in another language, or through another culture."

(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV: 1/3, Part IV: 2/3, Part IV: 3/3, Part V: 1/3, Part V: 2/3, Part V: 3/3, Part VI: 1/2, Part VI: 2/2, Part VIII: 1/1, Part IX: 1/1)

[toloveawarlord]

Event: Be My Valentine 2023 (Edition: White Day)

Pairing: Reo Mikage x fem!Reader

Prompt: "In my defense, they didn't have a smaller teddy bear in stock. Hope you have some space in your bedroom"

wc: 1k

a.n: I am working on the requests! Here is some sweet Reo. Since Japan's "Valentine's Day" is kinda split between Valentine's and White Day, I made this one a White Day version which is the female receiving a gift from the man.

There were long chunks of time that Reo was away.

You were unable to travel with him this time, due to your class schedule and upcoming midterms. The university wouldn't allow your professor to reschedule the exam to allow you the time needed to fly overseas for Reo's game. It was frustrating but the two of you made it work with lots of phone calls and face chats whenever Reo had the chance.

Even if it was only a few short minutes, Reo claimed that he couldn't survive without hearing the sound of your voice and seeing your pretty face.

You'd settled in for the night, having ordered take out for a late night dinner. The remnants were littered across the coffee table in front of the couch that you lounged on, scrolling through social media before you inevitably fell asleep right there.

The doom scrolling was interrupted with a goofy photo of Reo popping up on the screen, the sound radiated out that he was calling.

"Reo!"

"Hey, baby! I was afraid you might be asleep at this hour." His face was incredibly close to the screen, filling the whole space. You were supposed to be asleep; you had an eight am class but Reo was fully aware that sleep meant little to a college student.

"Not yet. I have to get my daily dose of your face before I can sleep. Nagi's new girlfriend is such a doll and took a ton of awesome shots from the game." You'd quickly become friends with her, spending an ample amount of time conversing about the best friends and bonding over being soccer girls.

Reo laughed, gaze shifting ever so slight away from the phone as he walked. "You'd be pleased to know that she wore that awful shirt with our faces plastered on it to remind all the fangirls that I'm still yours."

"Oh my god! She actually wore that?"

"With a huge grin. Nothing embarrasses that girl."

This was how it was. If you closed your eyes, you could immerse yourself in his voice, imagining that he was here in the room with you. He continued to spill all the details about the game, the juicy ones that no one could see just watching.

You've known Reo since childhood. You'd been there when his parents told him that his future was set by them, and seen how it had affected him. It wasn't until he started playing soccer that Reo finally came into his own. He started doing things for himself, things that truly made him happy.

That included confessing to you. He was a mess that day, an adorable, blushing mess.

"What's got you smiling so happily?" Reo asked, drawing you out of your memory and back to the present.

"You, obviously." Perhaps it was the day that made you so nostalgic. It was impossible to miss all the couples and love in the air. Every commercial on the television was an advertisement for White Day.

"Baby, don't tease me! My heart can't take it."

A loud knock at the door interrupted.

"Hang on. Someone's at the door." How annoying. You were certain you hadn't ordered anything, so it was probably you're fussy neighbor. She hated any kind of noise, stating that she could hear your headphones leaking through the walls. Crabby old bitch.

But when you jerked the door open, ready to give her a peace of your mind, you were greeted with a peculiar sight. Instead of a wrinkly old woman, it was a giant, brown teddy bear.

"Wha-"

"Happy White Day, baby!"

It surely sounded like his voice on the other side of the monstrous sized bear. You caught a glimpse of his messy purple hair sticking up over the shoulder.

Several seconds passed in silence. You felt like a soda can being shook up, about to explode. The lovely gift turned into an adversary, in the way of you being in the arms of your love. Wrestling the heavy bear away and letting it crumple to the floor, you launched at him. "Reo!"

He easily caught you, embracing the full body hug. His strong arms holding you up, your legs latched around his waist. "I missed you, too. Was afraid I wouldn't make it in time. Traffic from the airport was a mess."

You grabbed his face and kissed him, savoring the taste of his lips. Time apart truly did make the heart grow fonder. "You jerk!" You finished your passionate kiss and landed a soft punch to his shoulder.

"Ouch!"

"You absolute-" How he'd managed to pull this off, you couldn't fathom. "God, I love you so much!" Your heart was flipping in your chest. The adrenaline pumping through your body. "I can't believe you're here."

Reo was proud of himself for pulling this off. It had taken a lot of work, and convincing the head coach to allow him this trip between games was hard won. "I'd do anything to see that gorgeous smile on your face."

As if you needed a reminder of how smooth his was, Reo easily carried you and the bear inside. Lingering in the hallway might summon the neighbor and he didn't want this elated mood to drop even a smidge.

"I love the bear, too. Even if he's triple my size."

"In my defense, they didn't have a smaller teddy bear in stock. Hope you have some space in your bedroom," Reo replied, setting you on the counter in the kitchen. His hands slid over your thighs, simply glad to have you in front of him.

You were the same, unable to keep your fingers from running up and down his biceps. His kisses were soft, lips barely leaving yours to take a little breath and then tasting you again.

"I suppose he'll have to take your spot on the bed. Don't worry, the floor is very comfortable- ah!"

Your teasing invigorated Reo to attack your sides, tickling you into a fit of hysterics. Your laughter was infectious, one of his favorite sounds. He loved being on the field, competing on a stage, but this was what filled him with true warmth and passion.

You.

"Welcome home, Reo."

"I'm glad to be home to you." The visit may be short, and soon he'd be back on an airplane to rejoin his team, but every second until then, he promised to spend with you, exchanging kisses and giggles

[shimmerbeasts]

Before I start venting, I just wanna make one thing abundantly clear: This is not an attack against my roleplay partners or anybody in the League fandom. It is not an attack on the fandom. I just need to get something off my chest. I'll likely delete this before I go to bed anyway. But for now, here I go.

I feel like I am struggling to connect with my roleplaying partners on an OOC level. Especially those in the League fandom. I mean, yes, I can plot and all, and write with you, guys, and believe me, I love writing with every single one of you. When it comes to writing and telling stories, this fandom is everything I could have asked for.

But when it comes to talking to people out of character beyond plotting, I struggle. The thing is, I am not socially shy. Or at least not when it comes to fan stuff. At least, I wasn't as reclusive as I am now. Panda suspects that it may be a response from events, which we both went through probably half a year ago or something. I may have closed myself off because that way I can avoid getting hurt.

I want to connect with you. Obviously, I do not have to be best buddies with everybody, but I still long for closer connections. Yet, I can barely manage a one-on-one conversation because I am too much of a coward. Again, plotting and praising someone's writing ... That's easy. But ask me to interact with you afterwards and I basically hit a barrier.

I think, what makes it even harder is that a lot of rpers in the League rpc have probably been here or well, immersed in the lore for years. I cannot help but notice my newness, not just to the game itself but to Runeterra as a whole. Sure, I am learning more piece by piece, but there is a part of me that feels like I should already be as knowledgeable as the rest of you. I know that's impossible.

In a way, I feel more like a stranger in this fandom than a family member. It is like being that wallflower guest at a house party and the only reason I am invited is because I happen to collect the same toys as the rest of you. Plus my figures are slightly differently painted. Sure, you can tell who they are supposed to be, but they are still not quite the same.

These feelings also often make me feel like I cannot or should not give my thoughts on my characters or things happening. I know, this is all just my head and my perfectionism trying to demand more out of my psyche than I am ready for. It is just ... it is incredibly troubling and upsetting to want these connections but being too scared, insecure and cowardly to take that leap.

I am not asking anybody, reading this, to fix this for me or whatever. It is not on you. It is on me. It is just... I am so tired of knowing where I want to be, but actively knowing my mind is somehow not ready for it. I hate how hard things have become.

[antiquatedplumbobs]

Tag Game for Historical Simblrs!

I initially made this tag game over a year ago at a point when I felt like there were a lot of new people on history simblr I didn't know. I was chatting with some friends and thought now might be a good time to revive it!

1. What has been your favorite time period to play in or which one are you most excited for?

Right now I'm very excited for the 1920s, I have a lot of plans and some unique story lines I feel coming up. It's also feeling like I'll actually get there soon!

2. Do you have a favorite piece of historical cc? (CAS or BB)

Last time I did this I chose a BB piece so this time I'm going CAS, happylifesims recently made a victorian workers outfit with these adorable rolled sleeves and it just looks so good on guys. It's the current darling of my heart.

3. Who is your favorite sim currently?

Right now it's Willy, I'm really excited to get back into the Sewell's and really start exploring his story in earnest.

4. What is your favorite world?

Still Brindleton Bay, always has been, always will be.

5. Are you more gameplay or story focused?

I like to think I mix these two mediums pretty well, I plan big story arcs but tend to let gameplay influence day to day, and if something interesting gameplay wise happens I try to include it!

6. Do you like to play with pets in your historical saves?

I do! I think they add a really fun dimension to the family and are great for social needs.

7. What’s your biggest immersion breaking pet peeve with the game?

All the townies with the strangest colored hair and body types. And names. I just wish it wasn't all so discordant.

8. What’s your favorite in-game historical item? (CAS or BB)

I really like the items that came with the country kitchen kit, the bucket of fruit and vegetables just makes me so happy.

9. What would you like to see as a new pack or asset to the game?

I'm at the point where I just want a historical pack. I know it's not gonna happen, but gosh a girl can dream.

10. What pack do you think is invaluable as a historical simmer?

I think that Cottage Living is amazing all around, but I'd put Cats and Dogs second, perhaps tying with Get Together. They both have amazing BB and CAS and i prefer the worlds to Henford.

11. Do you have a favorite mod to enhance historical gameplay?

Mizoreyukii has a functional broom that works like a vacuum and it just makes my little historical simmer heart happy to see my sims sweeping away.

12. What’s your ideal family size for playing?

I like having enough to keep it interesting, but not so many that it's overwhelming. I think maybe five or six but obviously the ages influence things too.

13. Do you use poses?

I do! I like to use in game animations whenever I can because they feel a bit more lively to me, but sometimes you need to track down a pose or wrestle with blender to make one when you need something specific.

14. Do you use any overrides in your game?

Yes, I love overrides. I use moonsims historic book override, a mop override, a dish override, a fireplace light override, a dog leash override. Big on overrides here.

15. Do you, or did you, play off-the-grid during your game?

I usually don't, I find it a bit too limiting for what would have actually been historically possible at the time.

16. What lifespan do you play on?

A slightly tweaked version of normal, but some people have been sort of convincing me to potentially try a longer one.... We'll see...

17. What inspired you to start playing a historically?

A reddit post about the decades challenge, which was just a completely new way to think about playing to me. I'd never really done any kind of challenge before at all and I think the combo of passage of time, goals, and so much fun new cc just absolutely hooked me!!

See how my answers have changed in the past year and a half

I geared it towards historical simming, since that’s what I do, but please feel free to partake even if you’re not a historical simmer and just adapt for regular gameplay or whatever you do!!

I'm going to cast a wide net here with my tags @aheathen-conceivably @cowplant-snacks @simadelics @thistleflower-sims @carousel-of-sims @stargazingsims @gilded-ghosts @simming-in-the-rain @scythesms @surely-sims @historysims4 @sasaofastora @javitrulovesims and anyone else who would like to take part!

I really like these because it helps me get to know everyone I see on my dash and sometimes find new people to follow, so don't be shy about taking part!!

[chromonym]

hi

wanna write for a while about something you love? or just find interesting? it'd be fun to read

genuinely difficult to decide what to talk about bc i have so many things uhhhhhhhh let’s do OneShot. i’ll try to avoid spoilers for this first bit.

OneShot is one of, if not my absolute, favourite games of all time. the story can and will absolutely break you, and even though it’s been years since i’ve played it i still miss Niko (the main character).

the gameplay itself is… eh, let’s be real, it’s an rpgmaker game with no combat. at the very least there are some quite interesting puzzles - nothing overly difficult, but their main purpose isn’t that. they serve to immerse you (for want of a better word) in the game.

the immersion and the story are the absolute highlights, although again ‘immersion’ might be the wrong word to use. i’m trying to word this without spoilers in case you or anyone else reading this hasn’t played the game, but you’ll be able to tell within the first few minutes of gameplay what i’m talking about. for similar reasons, i’d recommend the steam version over the console version (‘world machine edition’) despite the latter having quite a few quality of life improvements.

the story, aided by the ‘immersion’, can and will make you cry. i played the game after watching a playthrough (something that i would strongly recommend against!), and i still cried over it. it’s pretty simple, your job is to guide Niko to the centre of the world of OneShot to replace its “sun”, a giant lightbulb. well, okay it’s not really that simple there’s some other things that become apparent right near the end. :)

also, the Solstice route (think of it as a new game plus) will ruin you emotionally in a completely different way! if you haven’t played it yet, say hi to Rue and TWM for me.

oh also the music is great and certain tracks (pretty, i’m here, thanks for everything, etc) still make me emotional

but i’m not done. only look under the cut if you’ve played the game, and if you haven’t, go play it!!!

so: SPOILERS FOR ONESHOT (not including Solstice).

the funniest thing about OneShot is that it’s just a glorified trolley problem. with the main difference, of course, being that the entire game has been setting you up to have Genuine Emotional Investment in it, and it. fucking. works.

i absolutely love the way that it does this, too. throughout the tutorial area, you kind of expect to be playing as Niko - that’s how it is in almost every other rpg, after all. but immediately after you’ve made this assumption, the game refers to you and Niko separately - and it says your name before you’ve even had a chance to input it. (this is also part of why i recommend steam over console, because this is a lot more unexpected there)

this is then expanded upon when you meet prophetbot, who gets Niko to talk to you directly! you then kind of get to know Niko through these chats (as well as Niko talking to other characters in the game), which makes the final decision so much worse. they’re just a kid.

the meta puzzles are quite fun (and again another reason that i recommend computer over console), but saying they immerse you in the game world isn’t exactly right - they immerse the game world in reality. they, along with things like Niko talking directly to you, utterly demolish the fourth wall while simultaneously bringing direct attention to it. obviously there’s still a necessary amount of suspension of disbelief, but you can almost imagine that the program OneShot is an actual simulation of a digital world undergoing corruption.

i also love the tower sequence, because of what you can’t do in it. you can’t talk to Niko. it’s a very simple limitation, but it’s absolutely fucking destroying given that you’ve been able to for the entire rest of the game. and even though you’re still in full control, it feels like you’re not.

and then! once you are finally able to speak to Niko again! you need to tell them that the entire journey has been for naught and you can’t save both them and the world at the same time! look, there’s a reason that the song Pretty (the one that plays in the final elevator ride) is in a playlist of songs that make me emotional.

god i fucking love this game so much

(i’ve decided that i’m not going to write anything about Solstice because. i don’t think i can do it justice. just play it. you’ll know.)

[tau1tvec]

you seem to totally prefer sims 3 everytime someone asks, though you still play sims 4 and somehow trough your posts you seem so passionate about it just as the sims 3 or sometimes even more

wanted to hear about your opinione and though on how you relate to both of the games since you're one of the simblr i like the most and i feel like make the most out of sims in general 🫶

Well personally, I like to make the most of any game I play these days, with how much they cost. 😭

Though with The Sims, obviously I’ve got my preferences, but a lot of why The Sims 4 still pulls me in comes down simply to how it’s still getting new content, constantly, EA is doing this on purpose to keep up engagement, and I hate to say it totally works!

I’m also emotionally attached to my sims in it, which I’m sure a lot of others can relate to, and not with just The Sims, but a lot of other games as well.

The community is also just much more lively and bustling, since The Sims 4 somehow still hasn’t been retired after all these years, there’s more people to interact with and new people coming in, so admittedly that motivates me to keep opening it, bc gaming is a social hobby to me, perhaps it’s a peer pressure thing.

Now these reasons still don’t excuse the fact that I’m constantly struggling to enjoy my time in it more than I’d like, especially with immersion which I’ve realized over the years really makes or breaks a gaming experience for me, even though my expectation for it isn’t even that high… a lot of what’s wrong with The Sims 4 goes through the Sims 3 and Sims 2 side of my brain, and knows it isn’t right or could be better, so immediately it bums me out and I retreat to something else.

There’s hardly ever a time I’m not completely immersed in The Sims 3. When I’m playing it I spend a lot less time aggravating over my sims doing things they shouldn’t, and a lot more time actually focusing on goals, skills, and keeping their needs up without struggling to manage time so I can take in the full size and scope of the world around them, it feels very Skyrim to me, very RPG like in how it plays and how it’s paced, perhaps it’s also the open world that helps. So I feel more fulfilled as a player when I’m done, and I actually get excited about going back in next time whenever that’ll be, where as with The Sims 4… idk, it’s just so hands on all the time, everything requires so much work, that I feel like I’m constantly in Buy/Build or CAS, and it’s just so limited in scope. I’ll have an idea of what I want to do in it, and then find out it can’t be done, but then do it in The Sims 3 no problem. Could be that I’ve been playing it longer, and that it’s just everything in it has become habit, I already know it like the back of my hand kinda thing, but I think it’s also bc The Sims 4 just puts too much in one or two things, but not enough in others, which then in turn ruins the fun of the other one or two things ( ie build tools being amazing, but worlds being so tiny and lacking that same level of customization ), so it makes sense that things like rendering in blender has popularized, it opens up the possibilities the game falls shorts of.

The Sims 4 isn’t totally abysmal imo, it has its upsides, and I’d be a hypocrite if I said I was a total hater, bc I don’t hate it, rather, I love it and want it to be better, that’s why I criticize it so much… but perhaps it’s past that point of getting better, but I’m invested so… might as well make lemonade out of lemons? 😆

[1010ninetynine]

venti and lyney are very similar characters. i'm going to talk about sales tmrw but today. i'm going to talk about them in terms of character.

Now obviously they're different people. Venti's arguably the more interesting of the two in terms of lore (not story, i mean like celestia lore) - but people will probably like Lyney more, not just because he's a main dps and a support, and Venti's lost his CC king title, but because he's fontainian. He's connected to a better archon quest and his penchant for the traveler is made very clear from the word go. It would have felt like heaven to me if I'd liked lyney more (and I'll get into my experience with him).

I want to first talk about Venti and what I think defines his character. For me, it's that sense of just wanting to be some guy. Venti's never wanted to be this Anemo Archon of The Seven, and it doesn't show in any place best than when he gave his little speech to us as the Anemo Archon and it was...him telling us to get to know teyvat, rather than speedrun it, a value he cares deeply about, and the immediately after went back to silly goofball. It's what I love about him. He's wise, because thousands of years have left him with a lot of time for thought, but he doesn't seek to be this imposing figure. He seeks to be someone who's not revered, but respected. Like, if someone who saw his heroism personally was like 'you're pretty cool you drunkard' i think that's the ideal scenario for him.

I mean hell, one of his lines when he opens a chest is "Thank Barbatos...wait a minute-" so like. He's really gunning for it.

Compare that to his polar opposite, Zhongli, who liked leading and all but just got tired of it. He didn't actually tire of being revered, he doesn't try to mingle with people as an equal, he's just tired of taking care of every problem Liyue deals with. He still wants to be their dad archon, just a retired one.

Lyney, on the other hand, I think is defined by seeking validation, or more accurately, trying to get paid, whether that be in adoration which means more people coming to his show, or in just straight up mora. So naturally, he has reasons to pretend to be someone he's not, in comparison to Venti, who is naturally charming and sociable, but often has to force himself to be because grief took a bit of a toll.

Call it intuition but i was suspicious of Lyney's socialness being a bit fake when he said that things would be quiet if he and lynette were alone on an aquabus. I, for one, know something. If you are genuinely close to your sibling (as Lyney is to Lynette, by all counts), and as social as you seem, then hanging out with your sibling is a time of great joy. My sister is social, and with me, becomes even more so. I'm not very social, but even so, my sister makes me want to talk.

then he came out and his voiceline literally said "yeah im not actually this social naturally" and i was like FUCKING KNEW IT YOU LIL MAGIC MAN

*ahem* anyway point is he's developed a skill of being charming to survive and also is very pretty and by all counts, I should have fucking adored him.

but here's why i didn't - the ayaka and ei effect

*dramatic pause*

Now, one thing I have very little patience for in gacha games is being explicitly "pandered" to (except when I'm deep into them, like I was with Arlecchino and for a bit, Kokomi) Ayaka's story quest is a prime example of this.

Ayaka's lack of friends, journey to discover her mother's desire for freedom, and all of this leading her to love the traveler, but accepting she cannot leave Inazuma...and all this while I could still pull for her...it was so immersion breaking. And it felt kind of pandery the whole time to me. Like, they're pandering to a male audience with female charas like her obviously, and it's so fucking similar to every other overworked waifu in this game that while her being lowk trapped is a new dimension, it's not one that makes me feel any sort of way cuz uhh i could literally pull for her, and she'd go wherever I'd want her to, and it was so obvious that they were trying to sell her.

Same with Ei's story quest, it was just a shopping date, and while I mean I love evil women more than sane women so I was willing to ignore a lot of the pandery stuff, but what I couldn't ignore was the fact she'd literally tried to kill us right before the beginning of the story quest, and thus the whole quest made very little sense in the grand scheme of things. It was frustrating. I chose to ignore canon and pretend me and ei worked out shit over 4 months or so.

Now, I know what you all are thinking "but lyney's a well written character! his motivations for liking the traveler are well explained (imo no and ill get to that), and he's not a boring snowflake nor a poorly written villain." ok well consider this. I've already had two story quests somewhat dulled for me by the gacha system/poor placement and the supposed romance im supposed to be feeling has been soured, then lyney spends so much of his screentime flirting with the traveler, and I do self insert as the traveler btw, and I wanted his father, and I don't get why they don't just leave the rizz lines to the teapot. Least you can decide who gets to rizz you up then.

Second of all actually, no, I don't get why Lyney cares so much about our trust. Ayaka's reasons made sense, we kind of represented freedom to her, plus she's canonically into good sword skills, Lyney's reasons actually felt more like spontaneous attraction to anything.

And nothing's directly wrong with that, just, he's a fucking fatui member. Soon to be harbinger (supposedly). The traveler is not, in fact, famous for their favorable dealings with the fatui. We kind of caused La Signora's death, we regularly farm fatui insignias for some weird alchemical ritual, oh not to mention, we got on Dottore's bad side too. Childe's adoration for us makes sense, all he cares about is a good fight, he's not entirely in support of the Tsaritsa's actions per say - but his morals take second place to his desire for good fights so he rolls with it. Leaves it up to the players. So he sees a friendship with us as not a big deal.

Lyney on the other hand? Just straight up IGNORES all the implications of flirting with the traveler, at least, so far. And sure, it's nothing serious yes, just a rainbow rose and some on the edge lines but that's the thing, that means he knows he likes us, or he does this with everyone which is its own brand of annoying.

And his fucking magic show. The tricks were cool. But the goddamn dig at amateur magicians...call me a prick who cares too much abt stupid shit but like cmon. we know all mistakes are staged in this show. why are u speaking as if that's something that could organically go wrong. second of all, i don't like someone saying "hurr durr im not an amateur hehe im so fucking cool" like goddammit least favorite behavior.

And it's not like I think Lyney's a worse character than Ayaya or Ei, if anything, he's probably more developed than Ei at the very least. Im just like...specifically annoyed at him for minor details no one really cares about.

Another thing - the fact we decided to serve as an attorney during the archon quest despite no experience was kinda ehh to me. Like Fontaine's laws, known to be complex and silly, and some foreign traveler's gonna be the attorney? I wish we just offered to help gather evidence or smthn it was silly to me.

if you got this far and you liked lyney, uh, i commend you for being open to alternative takes but uh...mind the tags if that wasn't the case, for future reference.

[sasaofastora]

Tag Game for Historical Simblrs!

Thank you @antiquatedplumbobs for the tag!

1. What has been your favorite time period to play in or which one are you most excited for?

So far the 1900s and the 1930s have been my favourites. For the 1900s I just loved Evie so much, and the whole period just felt really peaceful. Then for the 30s, Harry and Maisie were just too cute and it was so nice to have a story the was a little more wholesome after the chaos I put the poor Finch’s through in the 20s. I’m very excited for the 40s! Spoiler alert, I’m already there in gameplay, and I’m so happy. I mainly studied ww2 history at university so it’s fun to be in a period I’m very familiar with. Also just aesthetically I’m excited for the 80s and 90s because that’s my jam. 

2. Do you have a favorite piece of historical cc? (CAS or BB)

I think the last time I did these questions I said the Edwardian dress from @gilded-ghosts’s Stately Set and honestly I think that’s still true. I just love it a lot. However I also want to shout out the Langtree Updo by @twentiethcenturysims because it is just perfect for those Gibson Girl looks. 

3. Who is your favorite sim currently?

It’s my boy John Finch. I’m really worried for him since obviously soon he’ll have to go to war, but I just love that dorky little mechanic. I do also really love Ruth though, who we will be seeing more of for sure. She’s just too cute to deal with. 

4. What is your favorite world?

San Myshuno forever. Definitely going to need to find a reason for the Finch’s to move there one day- maybe in the 70s? Feels like it could fit that vibe really well. 

5. Are you more gameplay or story focused?

Bit of both! I have a general idea of what sort of things I want to deal with in each decade as it comes, so I’ll sort of steer the gameplay into those directions, but then often the gameplay will in turn steer the story. This is sort of why I prefer to do smaller story posts- it just matches more with the way I play. 

6. Do you like to play with pets in your historical saves?

Yes! The Finch family has had several dogs by now, I’m certain they’ll get a cat at some point. Pets to me always just make the house feel cozier 

7. What’s your biggest immersion breaking pet peeve with the game?

Well I was going to say when sims from other worlds appear in places it wouldn’t make sense for them to be in, but luckily just today @aheathen-conceivably brought this mod to my attention which I installed almost immediately. 

8. What’s your favorite in-game historical item? (CAS or BB)

Again I think I’m repeating myself from last time, but the radiator from the Vampires GP. It’s a little thing but I love it and just makes historical builds look better. 

9. What would you like to see as a new pack or asset to the game?

Bands please!!! The music career annoys me to no end- it’s so limited in it’s scope! Actually honestly just more careers in general I would really like. 

10. What pack do you think is invaluable as a historical simmer?

I’m jumping on the bandwagon and saying Cottage Living because I mean, just look at it. But also Get Together for Windenburg and Vampires for some very good items. 

11. Do you have a favorite mod to enhance historical gameplay?

I do now, and it’s that Home Regions mod! I also have one called “no more phone stuff” that I’ve had installed forever not sure where from, and it’s very handy. It doesn’t stop sims pulling out their phones all together, but at least no one is playing Blicblock in the middle of the Great Depression. 

12. What’s your ideal family size for playing?

Any where from 2-4. More than that and I start to get overwhelmed.

13. Do you use poses?

Yuuuuuuup, tons of them. Kind of want to learn how to make my own but haven’t had the time. 

14. Do you use any overrides in your game?

No I had one glitch really badly once and now I’m kind of scared of them lol.

15. Do you, or did you, play off-the-grid during your game?

I tried briefly at the start of the 1890s and it was just really frustrating. They really should be able to do more things even if they don’t have power. 

16. What lifespan do you play on?

Normal!  Finally settled on a setting. 

17. What inspired you to start playing a historically?

As I said I was a history student and I have always been a huge sims fan, so when I found out about the Decades Challenge I felt like I had to try it. I was hooked pretty much instantly.

Thanks again for tagging me, this was fun! I’m going to tag @alainas-sims, @applesaucesims, @jenplayssims, @sims-half-crazy, @sims-through-the-decades, and @simadelics. 

[gauntletqueen]

You ever got into something purely cause it's music kicks ass? Or at least partially because, like IDK a theme song led to you checking it out or something?

It seems, especially lately, a surefire way to get ME hooked into something new. Rhythm Heaven, Mad Rat Dead (ok those are both rhythm games so music is extra important but still), it's making me wanna check out Hi-fi Rush, plus things having good music helps them stick in my head more. Potemkin's Strive theme had me singing "I'm a fool, I know nothing" for a good solid year after making any mistake, and DMC5's "YOU CANNOT KILL ME" chant when Dante hits S Rank still gets my blood pumping, as does some good Wolfenstein tunes jamming out while shotgunning Nazi heads open. Video game music... Video game music... VIDEO GAME MUSIC!

Bayonetta you mystery...

NO FOR REAL DUDE I GET SOLD ON MUSIC SOOOO MUCH

Obviously I'm a die-hard Sonic fan so that makes sense probably safhhgaf

I am now going to list a bunch of games that come to mind: Child of Light's soothing melancholic tunes really sold me on it for example. And with VA-11 Hall-A it wasn't the music that sold me on it, but it did cause it to be cemented in my head for its immersion. Also Celeste a bit actually, cause Lena Raine had previously worked on Guild Wars 2 so that helped get me interested. Similarly, Planet Coaster's OST was made by Jim Gurthie the composer of Swords and Sworcery which is a really cool cryptic indie game whose soundtrack I love. I followed them on bandcamp so I get a notification when they uploaded the soundtrack for Planet Coaster which is how I learned of that game.

okay that's enough for now anyway i looove music so much <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[callsign-bunnie]

Alright, the full release came out

This is my review. Obviously, there will be spoilers and I'm going to try my hardest to be as structured as possible, but here it is

Storyline: 7/10 (Hear me out.) Graphics/Gameplay: 4/10 Fun while playing: 9/10 Multiplayer: 7/10 Zombies: 7/10

I think that puts my average for the campaign at 6/10

No spoilers review:

Okay, so I had a lot of fun playing the bits that I did play, and I will be going back and playing the full campaign when I have time. I, personally, do not regret the money that I've spent on the game! Multiplayer is super fun, I played beta and loved it, and I played it when it came out. In fact, I've been itching to hop back on with my friends and play Zombies and Multiplayer.

Getting past a few stomach turning parts, Deep Cover and Passenger, I still had a lot of fun watching my wife and friend play and again, I loved the parts that I've played. I'm in love with the new movement, or rather old from Warzone 1, and the new Zombie Camos will definitely have me grinding for a while.

My expectations were very low, going in, so I wasn't disappointed by anything.

All in all, I'm enjoying all parts of the game and I definitely look forward to whatever they do, next, with it.

(Full review with spoilers under the cut)

Okay, so first thing's first, I do know a lot about writing and story. I know a LOT about story structure. I am, obviously, not professionally qualified, however I know what I'm talking about. I will look at it from both the perspective of a player and from a creator's perspective. I also know enough about game design and programming to be able to provide a bit of critique there. The rest of my critique will be from the perspective of just a player.

Storyline!

Okay, so when I say hear me out, I know a lot of you are going to HEAVILY disagree. But, BUT, this is MY OPINION. Alright, so, I will say that it has the storyline vibes of literally every other COD game. Yes, it is lacking in bulk, but the vibes and story are, I feel, on the same order as every other COD game that I've played.

Now, I've mostly just watched other people play, but I've also played some, so I have some experience. The game is immersive, as always, the missions and how you play them feel as if they blend in really easy to the cinematic part of the storyline.

I have some questions with continuity, including the fact that it was sort of implied that Soap and Ghost hadn't met until MWII, but they're shown directly interacting in the mission where it's revealed Soap could have killed Makarov. Maybe, however, I misinterpreted something.

Personally, I think there was something lacking in the explanation as to why they kept going to shoot Makarov, but never did. I know it was to create intrigue, suspense, blah blah blah. It got more infuriating after a while, but in a way that I thought the whole thing was stupid. I also wasn't quite sure I thought it was in character, considering how happy and willing they were to kill Graves in the last game.

This is the opinion that's going to get me flamed, but... I don't think Soap's death was horribly done. Alright, alright, look. I understand the frustration. I have been treated to my fair share of disappointing character deaths. And, I'm going to treat his death like it's permanent purely for this review. However, I really don't think it was the worst done COD death.

Ghost and Roach were barely mentioned after their deaths in the original game. The fact we got a funeral scene?? Better than I, personally, could have hoped for.

Personally, I don't think an emotional death was going to happen for Soap. He and Price are not nearly as close in this game, as they were in the originals. New Price is shown to be a lot less emotional in his reactions, the exceptions seeming to only be Laswell and Gaz. If Gaz dies, I think that will be when we get the emotional side of Price.

And Ghost's reaction is what I would expect from Ghost for any of them. Ghost is not an emotionally charged character, he's very stoic. If his backstory is similar to the old Ghost, he can't cry. I do think he may have been a bit more upset, but... I can't say that I think he should have broke down wailing Johnny's name, that's all I'm saying.

Do I think it was the best done? No. Not at all. I will admit that it is a bit more stiff than I would expect from this reboot, since they seemed to be going an entirely new direction, especially with character to character interaction. However, there is a reaction. Price is visibly upset, Ghost is, too. Both sound upset as well. I think a lot of fans watched a review, or saw someone complain and got enraged, and can't/won't play the campaign themselves, so they had no way to check. Either way, it's equally colder than I expected, while still not being nearly as cold as everyone is saying it was.

For some positives, and ultimately why my score is a seven:

Character to character interaction is fantastic. It's believable. The VAs have a huge hand in this and I think they crushed it. Shepherd and Graves both have hilarious and believable interactions with the team.

I liked the subtle way that the 141 clearly don't just hate Graves, but they probably feel they can get away with insulting and degrading Graves far more than they can against Shepherd. Clearly, since the minute that Soap gets a chance in Frozen Tundra, he moves straight to bullying Shepherd, and so do the others.

There is believable character development from game to game, in my opinion. The characters are just ever so slightly different, this makes sense over the course of a year. Ghost seems to have softened, slightly, he's not as stiff around Soap or the others, and he seems a little more content to let Soap take the lead in a couple instances, particularly where Soap is threatening Milena.

Laswell seems ever so slightly laid back, Price seems a bit more uptight. I would have liked to see a LOT more of Gaz, but I understand that the story wasn't fully focused on him, or a few other characters. (Alex really having his Just Ken moment over here, being a useless older brother. We still love him, of course, my boo thing.)

In general, Graves is fucking hilarious. He never missed with a joke, neither did any of the others. He holds his own against the 141, even managing to get the last word a few times. I hope his character arc isn't fully finished in the series, as I'm confident we're getting an MWIIII.

I will also give a small rant about how much I love Farah's character development. The game does point out and nod at the fact that she started out with a lot more driven goal of peace and defense only, but that she's more and more willing to take the offense and take action that others might not agree with to keep her people safe. The way she bites back at Price, she makes it clear that he's not in charge of her, she doesn't seem content to take orders from others anymore. I will admit that I feel like this is under a bit of Alex's influence, as she's most comfortable showing these traits around him. I will admit, that I was nervous that maybe this game might show me what everyone else is seeing with the romantic side, but no, I still only felt like they have a deep, platonic bond, and they were very sweet to see together.

I also love that she takes charge when it's necessary. She doesn't ask Price to leave the bunker, she orders him to leave and he listens.

I love that she's not a purely good protagonist, she's a person with facets and she has her dark sides, she makes some maybe ickier decisions, and she has to face consequences. She bought those missiles, and they're what's being used against her.

All in all, everything combined, I love it. The storyline is one of those things where the good is really good, the funny is hilarious, and the bad is REALLY bad. I think that's why it's hard to judge it fairly or positively, because the bad points really stick out at you.

Speaking of bad points...

Graphics.

If you're looking for a nostalgia bait game that fits right into the 09-12 Call Of Duty titles, like I'm talking a game that feels like a COD game, this is the game for you.

A lot of the textures were flat, a lot of the game was a bit hard to comprehend. The models followed the same pattern as the last game where they looked more like close in age siblings than the same character.

I'm disappointed in the lack of diversity between maps, and I'm disappointed in the lack of new skins. I really liked Frozen Tundra, visually, and the ones that took place mostly inside were fine. However, the outside missions really had that feeling of "gameplay slapped in the middle of a flat plane".

The open combat missions were clunky and they were way too easy to figure out a easy in, easy out method. I think certain gameplay styles far outweigh the others in difficulty, not really giving players the true choice that they may have been opting for. I definitely understand the critiques that certain open combat missions feel like DMZ, as I'm an avid DMZ enjoyer and I definitely picked up those vibes.

The easy parts were too easy and bordered on boring, and the hard parts were frustrating and weren't fun at times.

The two most emotionally charged missions were definitely emotional, but my friend didn't even notice until later because of some frustration surrounding world generation in Deep Cover.

Overall, I'm not super happy with this game as a 2023 title. I think if it had came out in 2014, maybe 2015, it could have definitely been gotten away with, but the graphics just aren't cutting it for 2023.

As for fun while playing:

It's a fucking blast. As I said, my expectations were low. I really enjoyed cracking jokes with my wife and friend. The new parts were just exciting enough that none of us were bored, and I could easily see this game being like Portal 2 where I play it, randomly, just to see how fast I can blast through it.

Soap was, sadly, my least favorite character, so I'm not super put out about his death. It's unfortunate, I agree, but his death is definitely not going to put me off of the series, if we do receive MWiiii.

Farah and Laswell continue to be the best eye candy for the lesbian players. That frozen tundra Farah skin had me feeling things, like I was so grateful it was cold in that mission, lol. And then Laswell in that military outfit?? Holy shit??

Alex was there, and he didn't die, and yes this is definitely a positive.

It wasn't hard enough that the three of us felt like we had to quit, it wasn't boring enough that we wanted to, and the gameplay was engaging enough that my friend with severe ADHD actually focused on it, quite a few times.

I can easily see this becoming more of a campy game, like Portal, Half Life, BO2, and Lollipop Chainsaw. Personally, I'm happy with it. I think it definitely could have been done better, but I didn't think it would be.

I'll give more reviews for Multiplayer and Zombies, later, but I'm happy so far!

If you're disappointed by this game, I'm sorry. I understand, and I am so far from telling you not to be disappointed. I don't think I will completely ignore this campaign for Canon Universe fics in the future, and I'll definitely have to rearrange some things for I Want To Be More (Soap's fic in the More series). I understand if this game pushes you away from the series and I totally empathize with it.

However, I'm pleased with it, and I will be continuing to camp my happy little ass here for a bit.

[fox-from-fairytale]

Me with this season

So, it wasn't bad, but for now it's definitely my least favourite.

The opening scene was amazing, probably the best one of the series, buuuut... there were many other scenes where I felt bored, like when Javier and David were playing baseball or something like that. That was so boring I almost fucked up a few times without answering in time because I kept getting distracted.

Talking about answers and choices in general, they were too easy this season for the most part. If Clementine tells me what she thinks, I automatically do what she says without thinking too much about it (if she tells me to jump, I'll ask her how high). She's obviously not like other characters, and there were times where there wasn't someone else to balance her with opposite opinions. BUT, there are aspects of the gameplay I prefer, like the fact that Conrad can die at every episode but if you play your cards right (which I didn't lol) he stays alive till the end. I hate when all characters dies, it gives me the impression that everything I did was pointless. And with this being said, Kate was still the only one I was able to keep alive lmao

When it comes to the story, I wonder why couldn't we have just followed Clem's? I know that The Walking Dead isn't supposed to be just on one specific character, but after the first two seasons it's her the one I want to play as. Our focus has always been on Clementine from the first season, even if then we played as Lee, and I don't really care about sticking with someone else all of a sudden. Playing as Javier ruined the immersion for me. As Clementine the story could have been about how she loses AJ to the New Frontier and how she takes him back, maybe starting the first episode from when she finds Ava and closing it with the whole thing about the medicine and how she gets kicked out from there. The memories would have been in the game to create a better backstory for her time with Kenny/Jane/when she was alone or at Wellington.

Wellington not being this safe harbour everyone talked about, honestly, makes sense to me. It was just rumours, rumours created by hope I guess, but most of the times rumours are misleading and don't end up being completely true. But I hate what they did to both Jane and Kenny. As much as I hate her, I hate Jane's death even more. She is a survivor and always did anything to keep herself safe, and I found so... stupid, even insulting, her killing herself because she found out she was pregnant. And god, how much I hate the comments I've found about this whole thing. Make her trying anything to lose the baby instead of her just hanging herself. God, I hated it so much. Meanwhile for Kenny I don't even have words. It checks out with him sacrificing himself to protect AJ and Clem, but not everything happening because of a seatbelt. The memory in the third episode, though, was chef's kiss.

The real main character of this season, Javier, and his family aren't bad, but I didn't like them/cared enough to follow them the entire time, and I would have preferred them as secondary characters instead. But yes, I did like Javier, Tripp, Ava, and Kate really grew on me. I loved how Kate, the one who wanted to get away from Richmond as soon as she could, remained there to save it because it was "her fault". I loved that for her, and of course I followed her plan. Meanwhile I didn't like Gabe so much. I really tried to like him, but I just couldn't care. His death was fucking awful though and I'm sad I got the ending where he can't be saved. About David: glad he's dead I guess. I hated him every second, even if I tried to be "a good brother".