#and the last time was actually in my first playthrough 7 years ago

[buttercupshands]

I honestly can't believe it took me 7 years

[usurpator]

RE2R might be my new favourite survival horror

RE puzzles are great

[unseemingowl]

3, 7, 11, 22 for the video game asks 😊

Oh thank you for the asks :D

1-3 games you've played in the last 12 months that you really enjoyed

I've played a lot of bangers these past 12 months! Like, almost exclusively great ones I'd say. The advantage of playing catchup now that I finally jumped onto high processing gaming equipment.

Alan Wake 2 (obviously): Almost enjoyed it more on my second pass because I wasn't constantly fearing for my life and could better take in all of the lovely little nuances of the story.

Control: I like the narrative and the characters in Alan Wake 2 better, but the immersiveness of Control's initial world building for Remedy's extended universe is so fucking compelling. Also, it gave us Dr. Casper Darling, morally compromised rat bastard man, and just the best guy ever.

Baldur's Gate 3: I resisted it for a long while, because I've never really played the turnbased rpg genre. But my god! It's so much fucking fun. It really is. Bonus points for it being massively horny and tragic as well. I started my second playthrough basically right after finishing my first one.

A series that you've lost interest in

My renewed interest in games has not being going long enough for me to get tired of a series. But I did buy and try to play Dishonored, and I just wasn't feeling it. The art and the ambience of that world is fantastic, but I really struggled with the first person perspective, so that's sidelined for now.

Do you prefer 'blank slate' main characters you make yourself or otherwise project onto, or characters with a set personality and backstory?

Oh, characters with a set personality and backstory for sure. I like spending time with the main characters and helping them on their journey. Even on something like Baldur's Gate 3, I was making up a backstory for my first character while I was playing, like I would for a regular DnD character.

A game ending that's really stuck with you

Alan Wake 2, like come on, no contest. So brilliant. Especially when you start the second playthrough and you just go 'oh my god, holy shit!' when you realise what is actually happening in the opening of that game. Well, I did at least.

Honorable mention goes to the ending of Syberia, an old point and click adventure game that I played maybe 20 years ago? It's still one of my favourite memories of a game.

[shinysamurott9]

2024 Games: Pokemon Sword

So this was a bit of a weird time. This is a pretty long read as after playing this game after so many years that, along with the borderline nuclear fallout that was the fandom reaction to it, was a major contributor to me kind of falling out of active interest in pokemon, my ultimate takeaway was that the game was actually not that bad. It was pretty fun, a little underrated even.

My history with this game starts around 2018ish. USUM had come out and I really liked that game. Gen 7 was an all around good time overall which I still appreciate today. The release that year was Let's Go, which I'll be real, I wasn't a fan of it in premise, I'm still not tbh. I could go into that but, in short, it was a game I had little to no interest in and I ultimately decided to skip it to see whatever was next. I bring this up because I think this was the start of me falling out of interest in pokemon, at least for a while. But while Let's Go may have planted the seed, SwSh was what solidified it.

Enter the announcement of Sword and Shield, my friends and I were pretty excited for it, the game looked pretty interesting, a region based on England? That's pretty neat. The new pokemon looked really cool too, we were genuinely excited about it. But if you're familiar with this game's history, you know exactly what happened. In the middle of the game’s hype cycle, GameFreak announced the titanically controversial decision to not include roughly half the existing pokedex in the game meaning that many pokemon would simply not exist in Pokemon SwSh. This was probably one of the biggest Internet shitstorms I've ever been witness to, and the whole thing, both the actual decision and visceral reaction, only made worse by bad actors in the community fanning the flame, just really turned me off SwSh and Pokemon as a whole in a way. In some ways it was a good thing, in the time I wasn't playing Pokemon I was exploring other series I was less familiar with like Devil May Cry, Zelda or Xenoblade or further exploring series I hadn't fully played yet like Metroid or Mega Man, most of which are series I absolutely adore today.

I still kept up with Pokemon to some extent, mostly playing the games while keeping my distance from the wider community. I played BDSP when it released and was not as disappointed as everyone else while still feeling fairly apathetic to it. Played Legends Arceus when it came out and genuinely loved it for it's fresh take on pokemon while also offering a ton of history and lore on Sinnoh that I really appreciated and I played Scarlet and dropped it a couple days in after discovering Pokeball warps and absolutely breaking the game letting me do a lap around the whole region and getting a lvl 40 starter before ever entering the school. Yhe vast majority of my time with pokemon was playing older games in Gen 3 or shiny hunting. That was til about 6 months ago. I had been playing Emerald and I wanted to take on the Battle Frontier and get the Gold Symbols. While I was prepping to do this I was watching a couple videos on the Ribbon Master Challenge and since I was already doing the Frontier and with the looming closure of Pokemon Bank, I thought that I wanted to take that on. And it's been something I've been working on the past few months. Massive shoutouts to CannedWolfMeat and SirToastyToes for their excellent videos that inspired me to do this. And now I'm here basically at the end,prepping to play through Scarlet for the the last few Ribbons in that game.

Of course though, In order to get the ribbons in Sword, I had to actually play through it for the first time. The playthrough, while really easy Leon and early Klara not withstanding, was extremely strong in terms of options for team members, especially with Isle of Armor options thrown in. I love pokemon games that offer a large variety of team members to use, it's a big reason I enjoy XY more than most. I found myself using 10 whole team members by the end of the playthrough. Would have had more but I literally never found Applin and Cursola is Shield exclusive. Many of these were new Galarian Pokemon which are for the most part fantastic. Galar imo has one of the strongest lineups of new pokemon in the series, though I feel Alola did regional forms better. Seriously though, I was using all these guys by the end.

Something thatvalso surprised me was the locations. While the Wild Area is a little boring, I found myself enjoying many of the locations. The two big cities, Hammerlocke and Motostoke are cool and feel very large, Ballonlea and the Glimwood Tangle are actually really great areas visually and Wyndon is imo, one of the best cities we've seen in a Pokemon Game in terms of both scale and looks. While I do like these areas, I will say progressing through them is extremely linear, it feels like there's very little opportunity to go off the beaten path. It's a pretty big shame when even more linear games like XY or Gen 7 had at least a couple of optional areas to explore.

I will say the main story isn’t great. I enjoyed some of the characters. Bede had a neat story with him basically trying to get validation from a father figure who doesn't seem to care much about him. Marnie was an all around good character with some fun interactions who genuinely is just doing her best for her home town and much of the dlc cast like Mustard, Klara and Peony were genuinely entertaining. I did enjoy some of the main game side characters too like Bea and Piers.

Where the plot falls is, well, the plot, not a lot really happens. The game does build up Rose's plan with Eternatus, but you're kept out of the action for most of the events leading up to it. The game basically doesn't have an antagonist until right at the end, where it just kinda feels forced. Everything with Macro Cosmos at Rose Tower only happens because Leon was meeting Rose and we didn't like that for some reason? And of course there's the climax with Eternatus, where as everyone and their mother has pointed out, Rose basically unleashes the apocalypse because he couldn't wait one day to solve a problem 1000 years away. I do like how nonchalant he is about it though, that's kind of funny and Eternatus is actually a pretty cool legendary, though there really isn't much on it storywise beyond the fact it crashed to Earth 3000 years ago and it is the source of Dynamax.

The DLCs though do have more interesting stories. With Isle of Armor focusing on Klara and her being humbled through the dojo and then bonding with Kubfu to raise him to his ultimate form. And Crown Tundra was actually really interesting as you have Calyrex be an actual character. The king of the land who lost his power over time, seemingly losing faith in himself and subsequently losing the people's worship and his steeds. Heck the fact that Calyrex properly talks to you really helps make him and his story stand out from other legendaries and is really neat I think.

I will say, there may be something to be said about how many of the best parts of this game are locked behind DLC. I don't think that's inherently a bad thing, the DLC itself definitely justifies its purchase, but I do agree that the main game is a little lacking in some areas that the DLC does help make up for but that of course has the price tag attached. I also have to say the way the DLC is designed is a liitle strange. While Isle of armor does a decent job being something you can do at any point. Having access to the Crown Tundra as early as the Wild Area is extremely weird. The levels don't scale like the Wild Area or Isle of Armor so no matter when you go there you'll be fighting stuff in the high 50s or low 60s. While this does mean you can't catch anything in the wild, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from doing the Dynamax adventures and catching not just a massive variety of overleveled fully evolved mons but basically any legendary from the previous generations. And with that stuff, it's not unreasonable to be able to do literally everything in the Tundra after that except for catching Calyrex. While I would agree this is a fair decision, when you're already handing me literally anything I could want to steamroll the game, blocking off Calyrex and only Calyrex just seems weird.

For some other Miscellaneous stuff. The Battle Tower: It's pathetically easy, especially by previous Tower standards. The NPCs are limited to the Pokedex available at launch and you have no restrictions on useable mons. I'm not really complaining about this as it felt good to have a Facility that was basically just a victory lap after doing every other Tower in the past 6 months or so, and it is very worthwhile to do for rewards like Bottle Caps, Candies and the Nature Mints. 50 BP for one mint sounds like a lot but it's really not as bad as it sounds. But it is slso incredibly funny that shit like this is allowed.

Speaking of, the Nature Mints, those are a genuinely fantastic addition to the series. I'm very happy to see how accessible optimising pokemon has become since Gen 7. Between Hyper Training, Very easy levelling with jow many candies you can get through Raids, Nature Mints, easily accessible EV Training through the dojo and items like the Ability Capsule and Patch (Even with how expensive the patch is in SwSh), you can make pretty much any pokemon perfectly optimised for competitive use with, for the most part, not much time investment, it's genuinely great.

One thing I have to say as someone who enjoys a bit of Shiny Hunting, SwSh are kind of a slap in tge face with how many mons are shiny locked. Stuff like Type Null which was huntable in Gen 7, the starters which are a cardinal sin to shiny lock imo, and Cosmog who has literally no practical reason to be shiny locked when you can get Solgaleo or Lunala from the Max Lair with massively boosted shiny odds. It only really reinforces how little reason there actually is to shiny lock stuff imo and SwSh has among the most in the series. It's extremely annoying. Doesn't help that the game’s shiny hunting method is kinda eh, and wasn't properly figured out til ages after it's release.

So overall, I do think SwSh is a pretty flawed game, but I feel like it has a lot of strong aspects that get overlooked due to how initial reactions colored people's opinion on the game. Is it the best pokemon game? Not by a long shot imo. Is it still good though? I would say so yeah. I'd put it around B Tier I think. It has made me pretty interested to get to SV, which I'll have to do soon for the last few ribbons.

[oh-my-may]

Hey there

Hi, this is my reintroduction to tumblr (kinda).

I go by May on the internet, it's some weird nickname I made of my real name and goes back to my first gamer tag on minecraft...

I'm currently 22 years of age, which sometimes makes me feel incredibly old on the internet? At the same time I seem to come across many other people my age who go through very similar struggles as me lol

I curretnly work fulltime as a waitress. I'm European so I get paid a proper wage there, and the work with my coworkers is very fun and comforting. I'm not always the biggest fan of other people, but being a people pleaser and having the ability to hide my true personality behind a "nice" facade makes my job possible and bearable. (jk aside, I really like my job)

Hobbies include:

reading (I always say that, but I barely ever pick up a book. Just spent most of my early teen years absolutely ramming through a shit ton of books. I still really enjoy reading, but I barely find the time to do it. My tbr list is endless)

gaming (I'll dip my toes into anything that's not an ego-shooter, my PS5 is one of my most treasured possessions)

watching movies (last year I dragges either my sister or one of my friends to the theaters at least once a month. Doesn't mean I'm a movie critic or anything, but I really like watching movies and I might just share some takes on it on here)

anime (just a select few, the most famous ones. Life's busy when you have a fulltime job and still have other hobbies, but I'm currently on my first watchthrough of One Piece! Will definitely post about this from time to time)

listening to music (realizing I have very basic hobbies bc my parents never urged me to pursue anything specific when I was a child, but anyway: I will listen to almost a bit of anything, but Taylor Swift and Ghost were amongst my most streamed artists on Spotify last year. Do with that info what you will)

writing. I did start with writing fanfiction, first harry potter, then boybands, then kpop, then anime. Most important to me was always my original idea though. I know many people have things like this. A few years ago I thought I'd actually go with trying to publish something. Now I have revised and rethought the whole thing. I barely write, but it's still in the back of my head all the damn time. I always think about writing, but doing the actual thing rn seems impossible.

As I'm writing this I realize how pathetic I feel doing this, beacuse I have this awful feeling no one is gonna respond and I'll end up regretting this so much that I'll delete it. Thank God the internet gives me the opportunity to be anonymous.

Anyway, the previously mentioned hobbies lead to my (current) interests that I'll most likely post about, so if you're into one or more of these things as well, let's chat!

in terms of games: Currently playing through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and generally FF7 is probably a huge hyperfixation of mine and has been for years. I've just arrived in Gongaga on my playthrough and I'm loving all of it. The game caters to all the expectations and interests I have in games. It's just so insanely beautiful and makes me tear up every couple hours idk

on this note I'd like to mention that I dipped my toes into FF14 but since I only play on Playstaion now, all the commands are overwhelming to me. I'm definitely planning on playing FF15 and FF16

Kinda cringe but I swear I'm normal: Genshin Impact. Have been playing since early 2021, once had a pretty unhealthy relationship to this game, but I was mentally not doing well during that time. Having a fulltime job changed my perspective on the game. Now I'm a casual enjoyer bc I love the open world and characters, and I love to get into the lore, so I might post a few theories and stuff on here

On that note: Honkai Star Rail. Same company, but it took me way longer to get into the game. Really enjoying it now though, although I am struggling with a bunch of battles. Save to say, I am NOT playing the game for the meta lol

One Piece! As mentioned, I started my watch of it last year in summer just before the Netflix live action came out (work bestie talked me into it). I'm quite literally at episode 500 rn. Had to stop for a while at around Thriller Bark bc the first few episodes didn't quite do it for me. Now I try to watch a few episodes before sleep everyday :)

Other anime that I am different levels of unhinged about: Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, Bungou Stray Dogs, Demon Slayer. The basics, I know. Just don't have the time to watch a lot while other life stuff happens, you know. OP is the main thing rn, and until I am kinda up-to-date with that, everything else will have to wait lol

In terms of book stuff I must admit I keep going back to communities and fandoms I was a part of when I was a teen lol. This largely refers to stuff like Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugho, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater and All for the Game by Nora Sakavic

Right now though I am more interested in reading some classics and other stuff. Read Britney Spears' biography last year (within the span of one day, I wanna add), currently I'm reading a chapter of Crime and Punishment once in a blue moon. I'd like to read more stuff like that in the future, but everything at it's time ig

Other fictional universes I was once quite unhinged about: Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Both communities are kinda dead atm though. I'm still in the process of reading the books (which means I last picked them up over a year ago. But believe me, I'll get there, eventually.... someday)

In terms of music as I said I listen to almost anything. Not a lot of rap and techno, though. I like stuff with lyrics I can sing along to and feel deep within my bones. I wouldn't call myself a "fan" of any particular artist, I was very unhinged about musicians as a teen and I have learned my lesson. Now I just listen to the music without caring too much about the artist themselves. I used to really like 5 Seconds of Summer as a teen, then I moved to Kpop. Now I barely keep up with either but just listen to the stuff I did back then

I think that's basically it for now? The most important parts about myself. Stuff I like to talk about, so if you like some of this too, maybe come talk to me? I wanna get to know people here after all, and I have learned this is probably the best way to start.

I don't have many conditions for friends tbh. I'm 22, so anything between like 19 and 26 or so is fine as long as the vibes are good :) I don't care about genders and all that, personally going by she/her. I'm a Taurus, in case someone wants to know. Last time i took the test I was an infp-t (still think it's pretty accurate but it's been a few years nd I heard that test isn't as accurate? idk)

Other things you should maybe know is that English is not my native language, so excuse any mistakes you might come across lol. I dropped out of university. My profile picture kinda captures my most basic features.

Anyway, feel free to hit me up, I love talking to people on the internet and I really look forward to this reinvention of my account here and actually talking about my interests and reposting stuff I like :)

If you have any questions, just ask!

Until then,

May

[rosecreates]

God installing mods was both the best and worst decision ever because now I am sitting on 7 fucking playthroughs

Here's the list:

Nimue (Durge; High Elf; White Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer) - Romancing Astarion

Raven (Lolth-Sworn Drow; Swords College Bard) - Probably romancing Minthara

Ez'ria (Githyanki; Great Old Ones Warlock) - Romancing Lae'zel

Bea (Half-Drow; Necromancy Wizard) - Romancing Gale

Lusine (Mephistopheles Tiefling; Paladin of Selune) - Romancing Shadowheart

Fortuna (Fairy {Modded Race}; Lore College Bard) - Undecided, maybe Astarion

Elrayne (Seldarine Drow; Light Cleric of Eilistraee) - Romancing Karlach

My preference for white-haired women strikes again woops (also my preference for Elves/Elf adjacent specially Drow. 5/7 (I count Fortuna cause...Fey) of these ladies are Elven just different flavors kjfgbjkgb)

I won't make them all into OCs no matter how much I kinda wanna because handling this many would be insanity.

Besides Raven and Nimue some have a bit more defined backstory than others though.

Bea is just a goofy necromancer lady who is maybe a little bit of bimbo and also trying so hard to ignore the way everyone stares at her with suspicion all the time. Also her friends are skeletons. She has no actual friends. She's an orphan and she just went ":D here's my skeleton undead friends-" cue some woman screaming in horror and she's just confused because she just wanted to show her friends :(

Fortuna left the Feywild many years ago to become a Tymora-worshipping (because Fortuna went 'You're Lady Luck? Obv Imma worship you! I vibe with you so hard!') bard in Baldur's Gate who is living her best life and is uh. EXTREMELY pissed about being implanted with a Mind Flayer tadpole. You know how Dolly Thrice throws a fit when you don't free her? Yeah. Yeah Fortuna is basically like that.

Elrayne was born on the surface and highly sheltered in a Eilistraean enclave so she didn't really understand the reality of how Drow are viewed and what other Drow have done until she hit maybe like 50 years old and she was kidnapped and tortured for being a Drow before being rescued, which is where she got the scars she has currnely (mind you she is at least 200, I hear that its only in the last century treatment towards Drow has gotten a LITTLE better, but apparently during BG2 Viconia was literally gonna be burnt at the stake for being a Drow so UH). And later on when she went on her first undercover mission in the Underdark when she was 100 and got found out and its where her eyes were damaged and the mask she wears is basically a magic artifact that lets her see better. She's not totally blind but its really hard to see without the mask. She hasn't gone on any undercover missions since but she HAS still traversed the Underdark many times to help Drow who do want to be better. She's basically in a really bad position where she tries really hard to show others Drow aren't evil and is just trying to do good but when so many of her race give a horrible rep to them and she faces all sorts of discrimination she's having doubts in Eilistraee's goal and wondering if its really worth all the suffering as even whilst she redeems one or two Drow every so often there are thousands of other Drow. And just a few bad apples can spoil the bunch you know? And changing the surface's mind isn't easy.

[lil-melody-moon]

Year Summary #3

We're going with games today so without further ado!

The ones I've started and finished: 1. Pokemon Moon - Second/third time that I played it. I had started a save a long time ago, but I borrowed my 2DS to a dear friend of mine, so I just started everything from beginning. I enjoyed it as much as the first time actually, getting different Pokemon this time - or kind of? This is also where I discovered that tiny Pancham looks like Paul McCartney. Don't ask me from where I took it, but yeah. I named my Pancham Paul XD

2. Final Fantasy IX - I figured out that there has to be at least one Final Fantasy game during the year and this time it happened to be this one. Again, a replay, third fucking save. I had a new pc at that time, had to install Moguri again but you know. The worst was the fact that the old saves were gone, along with the one where I almost did everything in the time before the final boss. My first, almost complete save was gone, I was sad about that. That didn't discourage me tho, I played the game again, only to regret that I didn't use other names than default - it would be so fun, I have to do it next time. Anyway, I still love this game, I will gladly come back to it at any day really - crying at the end again, God, the credits song ;A;

3. Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc - I think this platformer will come back to the list of "play at least once a year". I love this games to bits, first platformer, my entire childhood and beginning of being a nerd is stored there - and again, Polish dub in this game is *chef's kiss*

4. Rayman Legends - replay after a few years and as much as I love the musical levels, the game itself is fun to certain point, I think halfway through, it gets kind of repetitive - or it might be me who played this game way too much in the past. Either way, I'm not coming back to it anytime soon. Had fun nevertheless tho <3

5. Murder by Numbers - got Epic Games Store, got my hands on free games and there I went, choosing this one as the first one. It has repetitive mechanic over finding clues - it's a detective kind of game, similar to Ace Attorney, but much more tame - but like, if you're bored you can cheat through them just to get on with the plot. I did that at the very end and really, I enjoyed the plot, characters, music. The tiny computer who helped the main heroine was adorable <3

6. Earthbound - you thought I will forget to play it? HAH, jokes on you! The end of year is nearing and my mind is already set on to play it again! I will never grow bored of this game and this time the team consisted of Ringo, me, John and Paul, Beatles themed team and truth be told, I WAS SO FUCKING UNLUCKY ON THIS SAVE. Like, I even did simplest mistakes, forgetting about the freaking shields which got me an instant kill. Had to repeat the last cave three fucking times, I never had such a bad playthrough in my life! Ringo borrowed his luck this time it seems

7. Spyro the Dragon - what did I do when I got a new PC? Downloaded PSX emulator and played Spyro. I'm a whole mood as my friend described me and honestly I don't regret this decision, even if I had to take this game in parts. The camera made me sick to my stomach - oh God I hope it'll be better in later parts and in the remaster - but like taking one level per day was a good idea to solve the problem. Plus the soundtrack - Copeland my beloved! - is just so good. One of those games which soundtracks I'll be listening to when I have time. ...Which reminds me that I have to make cleaning on yt with the games' music. MAJOR CLEANING *looking at my young self* You did fucked it up

8. Deponia - Oh yes, I came back to his fuckery and now I'm having a break before tackling the second game which I don't like very much, but about this one! The beginning is kinda long, but once out of town the game shows what it is capable of with puzzle solving, plot, humor, characters. I still love it and will probably nerd the third part like I usually do, because it's my favorite, but this time I did one major change. I've played with English dub, not like always with German and fuck, it is better somehow so I'm sticking to that <3

Now to the ones I've dropped: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Being younger I loved this game, but this time I just couldn't get into it anymore. Might be because my smart ass thought about erasing the save I didn't finish years ago and starting a new one, but who might know. I do regret I didn't finish the game for some weird reason those years ago, but maybe it was for the better? Either way, I sold it with a few other Nintendo Wii games, leaving only two Kirby games for myself so yeah

2. Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time - now I really had high expectations for this one. I always heard good opinions about it and so I started it, curious, only to discover that I'm bored of it in the long run. There's not much variety in the battle mechanics. You either do that or this and push buttons. There's no excitement like it is in Final Fantasy for example, it's simpler, much much simpler and the same goes too...

3. Super Mario RPG - while having an amazing soundtrack, this game suffers the same thing as the previous. Repetitive battle mechanics and like this is probably the worst thing you can do to rpg. I know a lot of people love it and I can see why. The plot is great, dialogues, characters and world building is amazing, but for me if the battle mechanics ain't anything good, then I'm gonna drop the game and move on

4. Kirby Mass Attack - I always wanted to play this game. It was actually the first ROM I've downloaded on Nintendo DS emulator right after getting new PC and I had fun in the first world. I love the mechanics with the touch screen, the fact that there's 10 tiny Kirbys running around, but what threw me off guard is the fact that even if you have 10 Kirbys, you're gonna end with one at the beginning of the next world. I felt like all the progress was lost and I had to start from the very beginning. It somehow didn't feel fair you know. This was a big let down

And the ones I'm playing now: 1. Cave Story - first time after hearing what a good game it is, and I finally agree with an opinion! It's smooth, like the older games, the graphics are cute, music is amazing, plot simple, but engaging somehow. And true, some part for a new player are difficult - I'm playing on easy, I don't think of myself as of a great gamer and I still find it difficult. One boss was really unreadable for me, the one who was driving, I don't know the name of it, but like I had to have a few tries to figure out what to do and that is the only complaint I have about this game. Second would be no checkpoints between bosses at the very end, but like there was a chance for me to get a life refill, but like I didn't know about it, so I screwed myself on my own wish. Plus, I'm having a break from it because I'm stuck at final bosses. In the meantime I jumped to this one:

2. Yooka Laylee - which I bought on sale on steam and honestly, I don't remember when I had such a great time with a 3D platformer since Rayman 3. I know a lot of people are saying that it's not the same as Banjo-Kazooie - which I didn't play YET - but like, is it really worthy to compare instead of having fun with a game? I mean, the plot is simple, characters are fun, mechanics are great, the moveset is good, it's not limiting the player at all, the freaking soundtrack is a whole orchestra really, always giving the vibe of the world in a great way. There are a few bugs here and there, but they are not game breaking or anything. I was only throw off my guard when I learned that I need 100 pagies to get to the end. Guess what I am doing as of lately XD

And that would sum up this year. Thank you for reading all of this and i wish all of you a Happy New Year <3

[dandelioncasey]

15 questions, 15 mutuals

tagged by @aspecbuddie (i never get to do these so thanks for the tag!)

1. Are you named after anyone?

Kinda wish I was, but no 😔 I did create my name out of my deadname though, so technically I guess i'm named after myself?

2. When was the last time you cried?

Well, i just got done watching yet another playthrough of What Remains of Edith Finch, so about five minutes ago

3. Do you have kids?

Don't have, don't want

4. What sports do you play/have played?

Don't play any sports anymore because my joints are buggered, but I've done basketball, netball, fencing, horseriding, archery, and probably loads more that I'm forgetting

5. Do you use sarcasm?

All the time

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Probably how close they are to me - my policy on personal space is that if i can hit you with my walking stick (accidentally or on purpose!) then you're standing too close lmao

7. What’s your eye color?

Brown

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

It depends honestly - I can't stand the kind of 'happy endings' that you get in romcoms (or any film with a romantic subplot, which is most of them these days!) but I also have yet to find a horror film that actually scares me (mostly they squick me at best)

9. Any talents?

Like skills or like party tricks? I can play violin, I'm very good at paperwork and pub quizzes, and I can count to ten in five languages and do the alphabet in BSL (and I can put my foot on top of my head thanks to the aforementioned buggered joints)

10. Where were you born?

A town smack bang in the middle of the East Midlands (and no I am NOT from the North as one of my classmates accused me last year!)

11. What are your hobbies?

Reading fanfiction, playing the Sims and Slime Rancher, and watching so so many documentaries about the weirdest niche topics

12. Do you have any pets?

My sister has a German Shepherd who I unwillingly dogsit far too often for my liking (given that she doesn't pay me for it!), but I don't really have the energy to take care of myself let alone another living creature 😔

13. How tall are you?

About 5'11"

14. Favourite subject in school?

This is so dumb but my school had electives which you would change every term and they took the PSHE spot on your timetable, so I can legitimately say that my favourite subject was, for one whole term, magic tricks 😂😂 but in all seriousness, probably history or sociology

15. Dream job?

Something working with children, like an LSA or a tutor - I just finished up a master's degree in developmental psychology, so something researchy which uses that would also be good!

no pressure tags (don't think I have fifteen mutuals lmao i'm just dragging these out of my notes!): @snarkymuffin @the-young-girl-of-casterly-rock @saryn-prime @i-am-unoriginal-posts @thatrandomautist @who-the-hell-even-are-you @ellie-you-idiot @emotional-water

[owlixx]

Operation Terminus

So…I’ve canceled my plan to play/replay the first nine Assassin’s Creed games following my current playthrough of Valhalla. Instead, I’ll be cleaning up my “backlog”. Given the nature of what I do and how I play games, that’s less about which games I “own” and more about which games I’ve already sunk some time into.

Games I’m close to finishing:

* Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Xbox

Yeah this is the one I’m currently doing so definitely going to finish here before moving on, but I maybe do some small sonic game runs before digging into this operation proper.

* Phoenix Wright 1 3DS

I’m sooooo close, I’m like halfway through the final case, the DS exclusive one.

* Midnight Suns Xbox

Okay admittedly I’m only like…just past the start of Act 2 but this one is a priority before all the information completely leaves my brain. Plus the DLC is all out now and I own it!

* Wind Waker Wii U

I’m literally over halfway done with the triforce hunt so this is super close but I lost about an hour of progress last time I played over a year ago and haven’t touched it since. Shouldn’t be more than a couple days of playing left.

* Sonic Unleashed Xbox

Stuck on empire city, I just need to get some more medals to progress. Using a guide should help.

Games I’m near or around half done:

* Skyward Sword Wii U

In Lanayru Desert for the first time, not yet to the dungeon. So 1/4 - 1/3 done with the game? The motion controls kill me but standing up might help

* Metroid Prime 1 Wii U

Similar to wind waker, lost a good chunk of progress last time I played to space pirates. I don’t think you can turn down the difficulty after starting a playthrough but I should if I can.

* Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze Wii U

Stuck on boss of world…3? I do really enjoy this game when it works well

* Wario Land 3 Switch

I think I’m around half? Game is just big and other stuff came up

* Hot Shots Tennis Get A Grip PS Vita

Actually no idea how long this game is but it’s awesome

* Ratchet and Clank 2 PS3

I think I’m around half? Just got new ps3 controllers

* Bulletstorm PS3

I think I just started act 4 of 7, enjoying it so far

* War For Cybertron (dad?)

Okay admittedly I’m like less than half done with the first of two campaigns but I think I’ll be trying this coop soon online with my dad

* Fire Emblem Awakening 3DS

I think I’m on chapter 8 of 25

* Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes Switch

I can’t remember how far I got actually but I feel like I poured a good amount of time in already

* Xenoblade Chronicles Wii

Maybe 1/3 done with game?

* Professor Layton 1 DS

Maybe 2/3 done? I tried to omit games I’ve already beaten from this list unless I’m super close to beating them again and it’s been a while

* Mario Kart 7 3DS

I just kind of plink away at unlocking all the courses now and then but this shouldn’t take long with any effort applied

* Monster Tale DS

Again no clue how long this one is but I feel like I’m a good chunk into it, maybe 1/4

* Deadpool PS3

I think I’m on chapter 4 of 8

Games I Can Skip The Intro On:

* Mega Man Battle Network DS

I’m past the first main boss but not yet to the second. Playing a fan Tran of the Ds remake

* Mega Man Battle Network 2 GBA

I think same as above

* Death Stranding PC

Honestly this is a huge game and I’m only maybe 6 hours in

* Disco Elysium PC

Maybe 15 hours in?

* Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3

Barely past tutorial

* Bayonetta Wii U

Literally just past tutorial

* Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga Remake 3DS

Out of tutorial and past first main boss

* Final Fantasy Tactics Advance GBA

Decent clip into this one, maybe 15 hours, but it’s a huge game

* Puzzle and Dragon Z 3DS

Still in the tutorial in the main game, on world 3 or 4 of the Mario version

* Pilotwings Resort 3DS

I mean, it’s such a short game that the couple hours I’ve played is like half of it

* Dragon Age Origins Xbox

Maybe ten hours in? Big game though

* Final Fantasy VI GBA

Only 2-3 hours in and a huge game

* Twilight Princess Wii U

Just past the tutorial if that

* Crisis Core PS Vita

Think I’m still in the first real mission after the tutorial

* Locoroco PS Vita

Towards the end of world 2

* Patapon 2 PS Vita

Okay not actually far in but I’m considering the five or so hours I spent in Patapon 1 to be a kind of sunken cost tutorial

* Dead Space Extraction Wii U

I think…3 missions in? Out of 10?

* Sonic Colors Wii U

On world…3? Out of 7? Played before and replaying taking turns with partner

* Uncharted Golden Abyss PS Vita

Okay just past tutorial admittedly

* Wipeout 2048 PS Vita

Like Mario kart, i plonk away at this here and there

* Luigi’s Mansion 2 3DS

First of five mansions down

* Retro Game Challenge DS

I wanna say I’m on the third or fourth game of 8

* Grand Theft Auto 4 PS3

Maybe 2-3 hours in

* ICO PS3

1-2 hours in

* Demon Souls PS3

Okay barely even got past making a character, just got to the hun world at all

* Pokémon Sun 3DS

Okay this one I’m actually more like half done with I think, maybe closer to 1/3 but it’s been a while.

* Elebits Wii

Maybe 3 or 4 of the 25 levels done

[peemanne]

Resident Evil (2002) Review: Five. Hundred. Door Cutscenes.

Don't tell anyone but I finished this review a day before I actually beat the game. That's right. I'm drunk on power. Which one of you is gonna stop me? Anyway, sick ass game. I'm gonna go order a t-shirt with the PS1 logo on it and bold text that says "I HEART TANK CONTROLS"

This review contains MINOR SPOILERS.

Reviewed on January 7, 2025 Last completed on January 7, 2025

Completed on PC (Remastered)

Rating: 8/10 (4 Stars)

About half a year ago now, I checked out and eventually beat the Resident Evil 2 Remake, making that my first actual horror game sans some silly sessions of Lethal Company with buddies. For my first, I think I picked a really good one to set my standards to! RE2R’s got tight moment-to-moment gameplay that strikes a sense of panic between ammo/health management and careful routing, a delightfully eerie atmosphere thanks to strong setpieces, and an eye for attention to detail to wrap everything together. It’s an almost airtight package that I had an amazing time with. Now, a bit of a self-report here, but I used to wince whenever I saw as much as a FNAF thumbnail a few years back. While I’d like to think I’ve gotten a little braver since then, historical cowardice tends not to go well with someone trying out their first horror game. I’d get jumped, retreat to a safe room, retreat again to Discord, and type out something stupid like, “I HATE THIS GAME!!!!!!!! I JUST GOT JUMPED BY LIKE 5 DOGS!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS WAS DESIGNED EVIL PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!”

I think Resident Evil (2002) actually was designed by evil people.

The zombies are one thing, right? Now you’re also fighting against the camera. You’re always wrangling with the tank controls, be it from the get-go or for the final hours of a playthrough. You're going to miss the zombie 2 feet in front of you because the camera angle won’t let you see it. You're going to go back and forth in the same room while getting chased down by a dog you’re trying to zigzag around. You will get annoyed by it. You’re also going to have to fight your inventory– or lack thereof, on the regular. I was waiting for Jill to find a fanny pack in a safe somewhere to upgrade the little space that I had, only to be graced with the knowledge that it’ll only get worse if I decide to go back for a Chris playthrough. Your weapons take up slots, of course separately from its ammunition. Then you have to stash up on healing supplies as well, right? How about the space for the keys you need to get around? The gemstones, medals, and weird cranks? Oh, who even knows what those things do, keep them in the box. What if you need them? That’s an annoyed backtrack for future you. Finally, you better keep one slot open for your precious, precious ink ribbons! It’s the only way you can save any of your progress, also you need to haul ass over to a save point to do it, and also it comes in limited supply. Joy.

I’m kind of amazed at how much I enjoy this game. There’s no “regardless” or “in spite of” at the end of that statement. Every aspect of this game just effortlessly comes together for a uniquely engaging experience. The incredible atmosphere for one: a haunted mansion might feel like an overdone concept, but this game features an almost flawless execution of that idea. There’s an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia, and yet a sense of scale remains throughout the game. From the cramped, cobweb-filled residence to the labyrinth that is the mansion itself, Resident Evil does a great job of inciting dread that never quite leaves, even when you’re completely safe. A lot of this praise can be owed to the look of the game. A reminder that this was on the GAMECUBE. The backgrounds are gorgeously pre-rendered, and it only pops out more thanks to the fixed camera angles. You open a door and you’re typically met with your character starring in a cool-looking shot. The fact that the backgrounds are pre-rendered also lets them allocate resources to the stuff that does move, so you have your character and monster designs looking just as sleek as the sets that they stand in.

The gameplay is stressful, and again, so many factors lend a hand to let that happen. There’s the expected gambles between health and ammo. Do you shoot down the zombie in your way, potentially burning through multiple bullets of your handgun, or do you shoot a much more valuable shotgun or grenade shell? Will you have to go back and burn the corpse, otherwise risking an encounter with a significantly deadlier Crimson Head if you ever do return later on? Do you just run past the zombie, keeping it a threat on top of the possibility of getting grabbed anyway, requiring the usage of one of your precious herbs? At the back of your mind remain your ink ribbons. Should you run back and use one of them now, or do you keep going so as to not waste resources? Are you sure you can evade death long enough until you absolutely need to save, or are you going to be met by a pack of undead hounds in the very next room you enter, sending you back minutes or even hours of progress? The tank controls further add to the stress. Going in circles in an empty room is one thing, making sure you don’t slip up while being chased down is another. Careful route planning, keeping everything steady and getting out of danger unscathed despite my panic rewards me with an incredible sense of ease that I don’t think would be there without all these layers I have to constantly keep track of. Naturally, the stress only spikes with the variety of monsters the mansion holds. I’m not going to dance around it, I was utterly TERRIFIED at some of the freaks proudly on display here. I think this game sparked an arachnophobia in me I didn’t know I had, and I think I finally understand Jaws. The controls, the enemies, the map and its maze-like layers, the puzzles, and the limited resources all make you feel completely helpless. Conquering that helplessness and fighting the horrific odds anyway feels euphoric, to say the least.

Was it intentional? Obviously, some of it can’t have been, but it would be outright ignorant to think Resident Evil isn’t meticulously crafted. I’m very much hesitant to use the term as it might demean or devalue a game when it really doesn't deserve it, but I find it difficult to skirt around. Resident Evil is jank. The controls are jank, the inventory is jank, and the camera is jank. It’s not going to be for everyone, that much should be clear. If you can not just stomach, but embrace that “jank”, though, then you’ll find a supreme horror experience in Resident Evil.

[ RESULT ]

unsandwiched. unstoppable. unburdened. free

(also, i picked the middle option at the beginning of the game thinking that'd be the normal mode. what do you MEAN i was out here fighting for my life on EASY DIFFICULTY)

[aamethyst000]

feeling so blue right now, i feel kind of stupid about it lmao - july 2,24 - 7:12pm

Dude, my 3DS fricken broke a couple of days ago and ive been sad about it ever since lmao i was almost done with my master quest on OoT!! how abosultely frusturatingg is THAT?! i was at the last temple, getting to the very last sage before finding out who sheik's other identity is. i didnt even get to start over on majoras mask or kirby. Now im on the look out for a new DS, whether it be a 2DS or a 3DS again i'll decide that when i know i have enough money for it. which will take a long while because i still dont have a goddamn job EVEN THOUGH ive applied to 3!!!! other jobs this year but absolutley no one has answered me. i fucking hate it when they just ghost me like that. i'd rather have them telll me striaght up that im not "fit" for the position i apllied for, or simply just not hired. that's all i want! not this no answer IS an answer bullshit. anyway, hired or not, im still going to be without a handheld concol for a good couple of months. maybe. it depends. i Just started decorating my 3ds with pretty stickers :( i literally wanted to go cry about it, only to be slapped with reality, about how old my 3ds is, that just made me mad lmao because my older brother's dsi is lasting LONGER and it is F I V E years OLDER than my 3ds!!! like, fuck off xD oh well, nothing i can do about it now, considering i dont even have enough money for just the repairs alone. so, im just going to buy a new ds instead. i know that is not any cheaper, but i'm impatient and i really want to finish my file on the master quest!! dammit!!

9;25pm - i just found out i cant play any gamecube games on my laptop :( the emulator is slow and laggy which kind of sucks but i am able to play them on my phone! ive finished twilight princess three times now and im on my way to finish wind waker now, which is taking a bit but only because this is my firdt time finishing on my own with out my older brother lol its okie, im an adult (with a short temper but thats besides the point) i can do this just by looking up the quest part on either youtube or wikihow, ive done it for the heart collections on twilight. i can do it for the wind waker playthrough. which i have about 3 times so far. and i think i am doing pretty well! for my first play through by myself. i can see why i had little to no interest in it when my family actually owned the game. i only remember my older brother playing WW, the others played mario sunshine or smash bros (both are the best btw). so, i dont blame younger me for not having too much interest.

july 5,24 1:11am - SSOOOOOOO UUUUHHHHHH.......shit just got a bit chaotic today! we just found out that my brothers school isnt going to continue high school classes. so they will have to go sign up for another school, IN ANOTHER TOWN BY THE WAY. my mother and i have been mulling it over almost all day today, she says that she doesnt want my younger brother to be staying with any of our family members and i agree with her. lemme explain, one aunty of mine tends to be agressive, some times downright abusive, another aunty, emotions fly like a humming bird who drank nothing but espresso, on of my cousin has a child of her own to look after, same with my cousins sister and she has two kids, all of which my brother does not know very well and will be shy like me and not talk for a long while. make him feel like being comfortable but shy and quiet about it is bad. anyway, my mother is very iffy about sending him into town for his last year of school and i get it. the last time she did that with my older brother and shit hit the roof with him. he moved in with one of our aunty's place, stayed for a few months before finally moving out because said aunty was trying to take advantage of my brother temporarily looking after our spoilt ass nephew who looked and treated his cousins as literal maids. not only that, she tried to start a fight with him and our cousin fucking did nothing but make it worse. so yeah, i get why my mother doesn't want to send my little brother into town. why is my little brother's high school life so chaotic and none of it is even HIS fault?? like DAMN universe!! fucking take a goddamn chill pill when handling my litlle brother THANK YOU!! and for my older brother, FUCKING LEAVE HIM ALONE HE HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH ALREADY OR I IWLL THROW HANDS

anyway, this year has been one fckn crazy year for us, thats for goddamn sure.

july 8,24 6:35pm - i keep trying to play on the family dsi, i cant seem to stay on it long like i did with my 3ds. and i really miss my 3ds, i cant believe i have to buy another one and fucking save up for that. im planning on getting a screen protector, case and a little game case for the handheld consol. be more prepared this time and all. im just so mad the dsi is lasting longer than my fckn 3ds!! lmao just fckn RUDE! anyway, what i have in my little cart on ali express says it costs up to 205 for those things all together, i was going to look on amazon but i have doubt with their electronics and such, and it is more expensive as hell. so no thanks. i think i can wait until i have enough to buy those things for my new 3ds. i just keep onn looking at my old 3ds all sad that i cant play on it for all hours of my day. oh well, i can save up money for myself, so i can save up to get a replacement and possibly other accescories for my new ds kekekeke

i forgot to mention that i went to go hang out with my friends the other day, we had shrooms and edibles for the night, it was fckn fun and kind of upsetting lmao there were certain situations where i was questioning a lot, and other situation i just straight up did not like. other than that it was quite fun tripping pretty hard like that, however sleeping was freaking difficult lmao i was literally arguing with myself in my own head about getting to bed and sleep, i just flopped around and fucking giggled at myselef like, what the hell lmao

11:23pm - good this i double checked the 3ds for anything else that i am missing and now that ive done that, it wont turn on at all, itll just lightly beep at me almost like a whisper and then itll just shut off without the screen turning on. im even more sad lmao i cant wait till i have enough for the 3ds and the cases, i really want to finish my master quest on ocorina of time. this itch wont go away until i do. i should clean my room and start on the towels soon. the house is starting to look like a tornado went into our house and i so can tell that none of us are liking it so i am hoping that one or all of us finall gather our energy to clean up the house again. we need it and the pets really need it too. i know that the messyness is affecting us all to the point we \re getting cranky. so, yeah, we need to clean up. this will help my brain get over the guiltiness of buying myself this new handheld consol and the fact that i am using a little bit of my savings. i already have cashed out a couple moolas from the band office but no more than that. i still do not trust my little brother around my savings still. so ill be keeping some in my bank while slowly cashing them out when he doesnt know that i am going there or why. to which i only go to the band office during school days. speaking of, i still dont think that he wont be able to go and graduate on time unless i move to rupert. and if i do that, that may mean that ill have to talk to my alchoholic "dad" about helping me move to an apartment and then sign my little brother up to the highschool but the thing is, the school education there is way different than the one he is used to and grew up in. which sucks cause i was excited for him to gradutate. he only has one more year to go too! it sucks so much i wish the school is starting to get their shit together during this summer cause MY GOD!! this is ridiculous. almost no teachers in highschool? i stilll cant get over that!!! any way this will be the last journal entry for a bit, good night/day readers!

[vgperson]

What Did I Do In 2022?

Game Translations That Aren't YTTD: 1. Okay, maybe 1.5.

----

First of all, while I didn't add it until later in the year (not entirely unmotivated by the Stability of Platforms), my site now has an RSS feed for notable updates of any kind! I mention this upfront because I'm mostly just going over the things that are already listed there. It currently retroactively covers everything back to 2020, but I might add more past stuff over time so it can better serve as a general "everything I've ever done" page.

In February, I translated Kenshi Yonezu's POP SONG (and an interview). Noel The Mortal Fate Seasons 1-7 also got a revamped version on consoles (Switch, PS4); the console versions include a new Season 3.5 translated entirely by me, and the rest of the seasons have a revised script which is more thoroughly edited by me than even the redone Steam translation was.

In March, the update adding Kai to Your Time To Shine came out. Yes, he is Kai.

In April, I finally finished up my unofficial Japanese translation patch for Petal Crash. たのしいね、クラッシュ！ It actually just got some extra attention after the Petal Crash run for RTA In Japan about two days ago, which is kind of wild. Is this what it's like to be famous...? (clueless)

In May, I translated Kenshi Yonezu's Shin Ultraman theme song M87 (interview, interview), and the coupling song from the single, ETA. And there was an article about the 10th anniversary of his debut!

Also in May, the Ib remake came out on Steam in English! Told you they'd contact me. It was later announced to be coming to Switch, scheduled for March 2023.

In August, Your Turn To Die was announced to be coming to Steam. It's planned for early 2023, but to be clear, it'll release first in Early Access still with no final part, though with some exclusive mini-episodes and character profile sheets. Apparently once that's out, the actual completion is estimated for 6 to 12 months later... but, you know. Estimates are hard.

In September, I put together a guide for and officially "released" my Custom Translation Engine plugin for RPG Maker MV, the one I made for the Ib remake, and back-implemented into Your Turn To Die shortly after I was contacted about it coming to Steam. It's fancy (in-game language switching!), convenient (minimal direct editing of code!), and you can use it for your own translation projects if you want!

In October... well, I didn't do anything new for it, but I'll take credit for The Witch's House MV coming to consoles. (Switch, PS4, Xbox) I also translated everyone's favorite Chainsaw Man opening KICK BACK, associated interviews, and the single's coupling song Y'all Should Be Ashamed.

Finally, in December, after lots of spending my time elsewhere and indecision about how I should go about returning to doing some dang free game translations, I concluded that what I'd really wanted to do all year was translate Uri's PEDESTAL.

I think some people latched onto specific parts of Uri's original explanation for why it wasn't being translated, such as the cultural aspects (I honestly winced at her blunt remark that the story was "no good at all"), but while Uri indeed had those doubts at the time of release, the only real reason it wasn't translated at the time is that I did a less-than-ideal rushed playthrough that slightly hurt my overall impression of its quality, and I felt too busy at the time to work on something with lots of text that was likely to be divisive. So similarly, me finally feeling up to it was the reason it did get translated. I probably should've come back to it quite a bit sooner (after I was made to give up a certain other translation, say), but as I alluded to in last year's post, I was self-conscious about "my big return to free game translations" being something that might not have wide appeal. Uh, glad to be past that, hopefully.

Oh, and ever since finishing PEDESTAL, I've been working on all sorts of overhauls to my site, but like... not the kind that actually majorly changes any part of the visible design and annoys people (and if something did change in an annoying way, it's probably accidental). Some of it's just better consideration of mobile browsing (stuff like images or tables sticking out of bounds at mobile resolutions), or making things more convenient for myself behind the scenes (did you know I made a program to add "br"s to every line of all lyrics content before considering I could just have the page code do that, and also better?).

Some more major observable changes include general renovations to the lyrics page (bigger font size, buttons that hide individual languages to aid in side-by-side comparison), and more convenient navigation of OSTER's tweets, such that I could actually imagine someone reading through them all the way from the start without it being too much of a hassle.

----

While I'm glad to be over the PEDESTAL hump, I don't... necessarily have any definite plans for upcoming free game translations. I mostly just have some stuff on a list that I may have to make myself check out soon enough. Also, Game Atsumaru (which you may know as The Site That Hosts YTTD's Japanese Version) is ending in June??? So uh, might have to accelerate checking out stuff on there, though I guess it depends on how many creators are able to migrate. (Nankidai does plan to put YTTD's Japanese browser version up somewhere else.)

As I mentioned, Your Turn To Die's Early Access release on Steam should be coming up early next year with those mini-episodes and character profiles, and the game might be completed within the year. No promises. I mean, I don't have anything to promise, it's not my game.

Speaking of my game... also no promises. But I'd really like to release one. We'll see what happens. There's also a different kind of original project I recently returned to trying to make real, which could come early in the year, but who knows. As should be apparent, I'm working on a lot of different fronts here, so I frequently feel bad about neglecting such-and-such type of creative work, which sometimes means nothing actually gets done and released. Ultimately, though, it's probably better to follow what I most feel like doing, rather than force focus on one thing and end up not actually getting much done.

Which is to say: hoping to finish something in the new year!

[ariendiel]

Hey, I hope this isn’t a super annoying question but you’ve altars got such beautiful and positive content - what helped make a Noah route more enjoyable in the actual playthrough? Any advice you can impart?

Not annoying at all! I love these kinds of asks, so thank you! 💗 I'll make this my detailed guide to how I make the Noah route enjoyable (to me at least), but without playing it as a burn-the-villa route because I actually don't enjoy my MC being mean... Hope it might help some of you at least!

Please note this all requires projecting a lot of feelings etc. onto MC, which I think is a requirement for most routes to be fair. I'll add this post to my masterlist and will replay the game soon-ish (and for the last time) to make sure it all makes sense with any possible changes etc.

My guide to a nice* Noah route

Day 1: Choose Noah, I never minded that Hope "stole" him (it happens) but it does help if you – like me – want to create a "what if?" storyline in your head while playing. I've also never been a Bobby stan**, so I don't mind being in a friendship couple with him and just reject him. ** If you're a Bobby stan, probably choose someone else.

Don't flirt with anyone else at first, that way he will approach you during the evening and you can chat for a while before Hope comes to, uhm, collect him.

Day 3: Since MC is in a friendship couple with Bobby, and not really interested in anyone else here, flirt with and couple up with Rocco. The sympathy you get throughout Roccogate, while also forgiving Marisol, is quite nice – especially because you get protective Lucas.

Speaking of Lucas, I tend to flirt with him during etc. but then purposefully don't save him so that MC is again left feeling like there's no real option for her (Bobby is her friend, Rocco grafted on someone else, and now Lucas has left). This helps in the build-up to Operation Nope. Choose Henrik here if he's your preferred part of Lurik.

Day 7: Help Noah win the Mr. Love Island competition (I'm still salty they changed it so that Bobby is the one to approach MC initially. But just imagine Noah is the one doing it).

Day 9: Choose Noah for your Villa date. At this point, I headcanon MC and Noah as very good mates who increasingly look longingly at each other. Nope is rapidly falling apart, and book boy is feeling lost. The date is also just lovely in general. Hope picks first at that recoupling though, so pick Bobby.

I would recommend coupling up with Bobby here, but this time because he actively will encourage you to participate in ON. Like, you can project onto him whatever motivations you like, but it definitely makes MC kissing Noah feel a bit more... valid?

Day 10: Kiss Noah during Operation Nope (I don't like to be too enthusiastic when they plan it though, feeling pity for Rahim especially).

Day 11: If you don't like Jakub: Go on the date with him, and hate every moment of it. Break up with Bobby, saying your head's turned.

Day 12: Listen in on the conversation between Noah and Priya, it's quite cute I think – and makes it clear that Priya is quite bitter Noah is into MC and not her. This, I think, is why she later is the one to purposefully tell Hope in front of pretty much everyone that Noah is into MC and wants to couple with her.

That night, when the big argument happens, there are a few dialogue options I'd recommend over others: 1. Suggest coming up with a compromise. 2. Suggest giving Noah space to think. 3. Admit you like him, but say you won't act on those feelings. This way, Noah won't snap, Hope will forgive Priya, but not you, and at least to me it feels like MC is genuinely just tired of the whole thing and Hope yelling at her. Note: I haven't played the game in a while, but will do so soon to make sure these are all the same as they were over a year ago.

Day 13: Disaster recoupling! Noah will pick you, and just enjoy this for as long as it lasts. Literally it is so lovely to be coupled up with him and you get to learn quite a lot about him. Kiss him before going to CA.

CA: Ugh, just get through it. I prefer to stay loyal to Noah throughout, mostly because suddenly MC's girl"friends" don't think she wants to be serious with him and at least this way it proves them wrong.

Day 17: Noah switches to Blake. This man's a notorious over-thinker, and a combination of insecurity and Blake playing the game made him switch. Don't think too much about it, other than take note of how he switched to the girl that managed to "mimic" MC in how she behaves, rather than the one that looked like Hope. It's the little things, really. Say you're happy for him, and just enjoy how genuinely sad and apologetic he is, but also how he almost certainly thinks he's completely blown his chances with MC for good.

Day 18: THE PAIN. Everyone ignores MC and her feelings completely, instead working together to get Hope back with Noah for some bloody reason. The worst day on a Noah route, but you can tell Noah isn't really into it, and by this point it's hard to tell if Hope is just playing the game or not (I choose to imagine her knowing she has to be with Noah to have a chance at winning. I love her, but she's competitive and wants to win).

During the recoupling, I usually choose to save Jakub and stay with him in a miserable couple until the end. But choose whoever you're not really interested in from here on out.

Day 19: Fail the ‘Mister and Missus’ challenge. Your partner, or Jakub at least, will be genuinely mad at you for it. If you have low enough relationship points, Noah will make you breakfast the next day. ❤️

Get through these days and the gossip-sneezer drama as best as you can, ignore Hope and flirt with Noah when you can. Honestly, the chemistry and building (s*xual) tension between him and MC is so good if you're into him.

Admit to Chelsea you're into him***, that way you get to chat with him on the roof terrace, say you like him. *** I can't remember the day this happens on, but will check later.

Day 22: Flirt with Noah that morning, and notice how Hope is acutely taking note of it, because not much later she'll corner MC and ask her who she fancies. Here, you can't say Noah, the game forcing you to say someone else (I say Jakub because my poor MC is coupled with him and it feels like the "right" choice, but choose whoever you want to couple with). After you say a name, Hope will literally sprint out and tell this person, before quickly going to Noah – most likely to tell him about how much MC fancies [insert name here]. This, combined with literally everyone expecting it of him, is why Noah blows his last chance at being with MC and chooses Hope at the recoupling.

I think we mentioned it quite a bit in our Noah character analysis (here), but note how his speeches when choosing Hope get less and less emotional and more robotic as time passes.

Don't do any gem options with your partner by the way, and don't kiss them etc. Treat it like a simple friendship, and nothing more. It makes it a lot easier to imagine that they're only really with MC and laying it on thick at times because they're in it for the money.

Day 24: Whoever you sent home out of Lurik comes back, you can swap to them without hurting your chances with Noah if that makes it easier to steal the money. I still don't like to outright cheat or flirt with them though.

Again, just enjoy and take every single moment you get with Noah to flirt with him. He flirts back and is so very clearly into MC it hurts.

Day 28: Say no to being your partner's girlfriend (if you haven't flirted with them much up until here it's super awkward and feels forced). Noah won't have asked Hope to be his girlfriend either, so neither of you will technically cheat later, as they're pretty much just formally coupled up. Agree to chat with Noah on the roof terrace that night, and straight out admit you like him – don't go for the kiss... yet.

Day 29: Just get through the prom knowing that all Noah and MC, depending on how you project, can think about is the other. Hook up on the roof terrace that night, and accept that Noah won't just run back in and break up with Hope right away (it doesn't make much sense to do so, and Noah is not one to act rashly).

Day 30: Steal the money. Go talk with Noah and Hope first. Noah breaks up with Hope and you get that wonderful pool scene with him where he says "I love you".

Good luck, and let me know how it goes or if you have any questions! Now go get that sweet pixel librarian 📚

[iregreteverythingpleasehelpme]

oh my goodness! I did not expect this to blow up so much! Thanks!

Now while i'm here... may as well rate all the gens...

(please note this is just my personal opinion, so don't pay too much mind if you don't agree. Also some of these are pretty biased, so emm... yeah.)

ALSO! I am not rating the remakes in this.

Gen 1(blue/yellow) A classic, the beginning of it all. Pokemon are memorable, gameplay is kinda hard(for me at least haha), I haven't beaten elite four yet cuz I got lost in victory road without an escape rope(I know, I was being stupid). Music is good and probably most memorable, some sprite work is a wee bit wonky but tbh I probably couldn't do much better. Gameplay got a bit boring at times, but I also have literally no attention span. Yellow was probably the best. I liked my lil chonky pikachu. 7/10

Gen 2(gold/crystal): I don't really remember much from my attempted playthrough since it's been a while since i've last played it(note, I didn't get past the 6th gym leader because back when I played it I was kinda lazy so I refused to level up and train my pokemon.), but i'm gonna try to rate it anyway. I like the features they introduced like pokemon breeding, shinies, and the phone(useless but I love it anyway) Good legendaries and characters but I do not like the level scaling(at least I think thats what its called) for the gym leaders, wild pokemon and elite four(even though I didn't beat it, I still tried to do some research). Love the fact they included all of Kanto in the postgame, I wish they would make better postgames for modern games. 6/10

Gen 3(sapphire): The first Pokemon game I played was sapphire! Love the characters, some of the pokemon and the level scaling(or curve? I still can't remember what the correct term is) is pretty good. Sprite work is cute and I like the story. I have not beaten Sapphire yet because a year or so ago my brother deleted my save file(I was at the elite four) and I was pretty bummed so I did not play it for a while, but I recently made a new save and I am going to beat it soon! Right now I am about to fight Winona. Music is definitely second most memorable, absolutely love those trumpet-y bangers of town themes. Love the introduction of pokemon contests, postgame from what I've heard is pretty good too. Hoenn as a region itself is probably a 7.8/10, too much water, but the games themselves? 9/10

Gen 4(platinum): Love these games. First pokemon game I actually beat was platinum. Nice characters, great story, super fun pokemon contests, best legendaries by far, fun, good postgame and something I have not seen in a long time(personally) in pokemon, MEMORABLE BATTLES! I will never forget that final moment in battle when I finally had made it, and beat Cynthia. I was shaking, after grinding for hours and so many failed attempts at beating the elite four, after hearing that intimidating theme song, I will always remember it! I will also remember the battle against Giratina, I had bought over 100 ultra balls for that battle(I wanted the masterball for a post game legendary) and It took many resets before I could catch her. But it was amazing! Gen 4 has some of the best games(especially hggs, but i'm not going over that today)so i'm rating it... 10/10

Gen 5: I have not played much of gen 5 since I am waiting until I get a physical copy before I go more into it(I tried an emulator, but playing the real games always hits different), so I will update once my copy has arrived(It's in the mail!) and I have beaten it. However, from what I have seen and heard about it, it seems amazing. I am automatically giving it a high rating because I love the character design, lore, agencyshipping, Nintendo DS sprite work(best sprite work in the history of pokemon)N and Pidove. I also enjoyed the black and white pokemon anime when I was younger. 11/10

Gen 6: Haven't played it, I want to someday but I can't find an emulator and I don't own a 2ds or 3ds. All I know about it is it introduced pokemon amie, mega evolutions, was the first 3D pokemon game and apparently had issues with the shared exp system(just from what my friends have told me). I was a huge fan of the X and Y anime when I was younger and me and my siblings would pretend to be ash and other trainers from it haha. I like the pokespe arc though, pretty good. Since I haven't played X or Y, I am gonna base this off how much I enjoyed the anime when I was younger and how much I like the pokespe arc. 8/10

Gen 7: Haven't played it either but I really want to, unfortunately until find a way to emulate it somewhere or afford a 3ds, I won't be able to play it. I like some of the pokemon and character designs. It looks like fun, but I also will be rating this based off the anime since I know nothing about it. 5/10 only because when I was younger I was disgusted by the anime. The games look really good though. Hope I can play one of them someday!

Gen 8(sword): Thank goodness im almost done. For me I liked the graphics, and that I could change my characters clothes. Sword was the first 3D pokemon game i played. I thought the 3D aspect was cool, me and my family loved the fact Galar is based off Scotland(we are scottish), however the champion battle kinda disappointed me. Leon was kinda hyped up a bit too much considering I one-shot most of his team. The battles leading up to him weren't really challenging either, and especially since after just finishing platinum, sword really felt like a walk in the park. It was a nice walk in the park though, I enjoyed it. I really liked the camping feature and that I could make curry. I was so very disappointed by the post game though. There's some stuff to do, but unless you enjoy something like pokemon breeding or competitive battling then there's not much to do other than get some more legendaries, buy stuff and complete your pokedex(unless you have the dlc.) Overall, 7/10. Lots of stupid memes and headcanons came out of swsh so...

Gen 9(scarlet): Scarlet was good, could have been so much better though. I like the open world feature, but the fps is so low I feel like i am trying to run a minecraft server on an N64, but slower.(sorry that might have been a little too harsh,) Nintendo literally released a half finished game. I love the concept. I do not like the execution. Also, the textures for the mountains look like they are just copy pasted out of ocarina of time or something. They also should have made the gym leaders not in a specific order? Like if its open world, shouldn't they not have a specific order?? I had no idea about this when first played and I ended up fighting the 4th gym leader first, 8th gym leader sixth and 1st gym leader last. I forget about the rest, but it's kinda funny imagining me walking in with my level 60+ team going into this poor little bug gym and sweeping the leader. Despite all this, the main problem with scarlet and violet are the battles, they are not really memorable, or significant, like I don't really get this warm feeling of satisfaction and pride thinking about when I beat scarlet, not like the feeling I get thinking about the battles in Sapphire or Platinum. Even Sword had more satisfactory and strugglesome battles than scarlet. I would talk about Geeta being too weak and too hyped up throughout the game(I one shot half her team), but everybody has already heard all of the Geeta slander by now, so i'm just going to end it by saying, post game was better than sword, still a little eh without the dlc but relatively good, and my favourite part of scarlet is that I can make the most horrific sandwiches known to mankind in this game. All that being said, I really liked scarlet, I just think Game Freak needs to stop rushing pokemon games and releasing them half finished. I am willing to wait another year as long as it's done(also, it gives Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto more time to work on new pokespe chapters!! Give them a break, they just got back off hiatus, don't rush them!) For scarlet, i'll give it a 7/10. Only because I don't want this game only to be remembered by poor graphics, but by the horrific sandwiches i made, so i am removing the graphics and low fps from my final rating(however the Geeta battle did take it down from 8 point to 7. I'm sorry but she's so disappointing.

TLDR, Gen 5, 4 and 3 are my favourites.

[planesofduality]

Full Transcript edition:

“The Story Behind Solas with Dragon Age Lead Writer Patrick Weekes” by Dialogue Wheel/Video Game Sophistry

Reblog of one of my first posts ever. I didn’t understand how tumblr worked back then really, and long story short, I split the transcript of this interview  into 3 parts :) I’d probably do things differently now. Reblogging it as a single transcript for my own convenience, as I still refer to some of the things Weekes said here from time to time!

Interview is from before Trespasser DLC; posted to YouTube 12/20/2019 

Note: pseudo-reblog

“Interview with lead writer for Dragon Age Patrick Weekes years ago about how the enigmatic character Solas was created, here is what that magic elf could have up his sleeve for us in Dragon Age 4.” Not my interview, just wrote transcript of questions and answers for reference. 

Full video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFx1nCdZFjw&t=1s

Time: 2:54

Solas, tell us about little old Solas. Talking about your other characters you created we always start at the beginning. Pen to paper - How did the idea of Solas first start? What was that first iteration?

So actually Dave and Mike both, you know, we - everyone knew who Solas was - everyone knew what the ending was going to be with him. And, you know, Dave and Mike said, “Well Dave is writing a ton of the crit path, the main part of the game. Dave really wants to do Dorian, that’s very important to him, and are you comfortable writing this guy? Are you comfortable writing someone who is going to be, in some respects, deceiving the Inquisitor for the entirety of the game?” And, honestly, how do you turn that down?

Time: 4:02

So really it was that simple then - from there, in the way you described it, they already had some ideas and some concepts about what Solas needed to bring?

Oh, yeah. Originally, one of the most difficult parts of writing him - and, you know, I said Iron Bull was the one closest to how I originally planned him - Solas and Cole are probably tied for least like how I originally wrote them. And, really, it was getting past the secret. It was getting past Fen’Harel.

Iron Bull: badass former spy, the opposite of Sten.

Blackwall: awesome Grey Warden who is not actually a Grey Warden.

Solas: He’s Fen’Harel…

Okay, can he tell you he’s Fen’Harel? No.

Okay, well what are we going to talk about?

[Pretending to be Solas:] “Hey Inquisitor, I’m still not Fen’Harel, do you have any questions?”,  “I will not take any questions about whether I am Fen’Harel.” That was the big stumbling block of writing him.

I remember the first draft… the first draft all we talked about was elves. It was elves all the time. Every conversation went “Elves, elves… Elves were awesome back in the old days.. Everything was great with the elves.” And then you’d go, “You really like elves huh?” “No, shut up - I’m not Fen’Harel.” And we all kind of looked at that and went, that’s not really much of a character hook. You cannot have a character hook built on something that you only reveal after the play has watched the credits. That is how we got to Fade expert. That is something where, if something had gone terribly wrong, if we were six months from shipped and we decided not to do anything with elves in the future, we could have taken the Dread Wolf out of the equation entirely and a mage named Solas who loves the Fade, is an apostate but without all of the fear and anger that you think of when you think of an apostate, but is just this guy who wants to travel through dreams and find mysteries and explore… that was a good enough character to stand by itself. That is what it took us a couple of drafts to get to.

Time: 7:04

You mentioned the first two phases of Solas - share with us a little more of that journey, when you finally go to this character that could stand on its own. If you don’t mind, a little more of that journey- was it just those first two and now everything’s cool?

First draft was “ ‘Elves, elves’ but ‘I don’t like elves’”. Second draft was about how much to tell. I think in the next draft it was significantly closer. Anyone who looked at that draft - and, you know, I apologize to anyone who looked at that draft - but, anyone who looked at that draft you would find places where “Oh okay that’s the Solas I know and love. There he is. He likes the Fade.” That’s something that’s actually interesting. But, he lied a lot more. And it actually really weakened his character. We played it so close with both Blackwall and Solas - both characters are the liars who don’t actually lie. They will tell you almost truths. With Blackwall - he never actually flat-out says “I am a Grey Warden.” If you ask him what it’s like being a Grey Warden he will say "Well  a warden embodies this and a warden embodies that… I’ve been blessed in my travels.” You know, he never actually quite says “I’m a Warden.” With Solas it’s the same way with the hand wave of ‘in the Fade’. I would start putting ‘in the Fade’ at the end of a lot of sentences.  “Yeah turns out that all of the stuff you thought was true in history was wrong… because I saw it…. in the Fade.”

In revision 2, he lied a lot more. On the one hand it worked, on the other hand it made him less tragic, more of jerk when we got to the reveal. So that is how we got to what we made him into: this character who is intelligent, wise… Solas will think very carefully before he tells you anything and anything he tells you is exactly as much as he wants you to know. That actually led to one of the funny little game moments - one of the last things we do is add the places where characters will approve or disapprove. I think what I want Solas to approve us is you actually asking questions . He’s kind of unique in that regard -  What Solas approves us is people who are interested in finding out knowledge. Whether they are finding it out from him or they’re talking with other people, Solas wants people to explore, he wants people to find information, he wants people to learn. What he disapproves of, honestly, more than what you do, is in many ways how you do it. You can do the thing that he wants you to do, but if you do it in a knee-jerk way, Solas hates that. He wants to know that you are carefully considering your options and taking a measured approach.

Time: 12:16

When it comes the characterization of a character that you’ve already been give at least some sort of name to. We know that this character is some sort of trickster god - when you were trying to develop and make him some a stand-alone character, did you ever have to rely on what the mythos already established of this particular kind of eighth-seat god that maybe a lot people hadn’t heard a lot about?

Well, I think, like we talked about before, one of the great things about the Dragon Age universe is everything that you learn in a codex entry is something that someone else heard in a story and wrote it down somewhere and you’re reading half of the book. So the good news on that is anything we wanted to do with Fen’Harel, there was so little and what was in there was already so sketchy that we had all the freedom we needed to play with him.

That turned out to be a nice thing because I think if we had someone that was completely by-the-books, already established, their character already given, it would feel like more of a letdown to write that as a character or you would have to play against type, you’d have to do something completely different to show he wasn’t just what the stories wrote about him. And, you know, in some ways that is both liberating but also disappointing to people who might have liked  the original stories. This was a fun experience of getting to fill in some of the gaps.

The only thing I think we had to struggle against is that anyone who hears “trickster” or anyone who hears “oh, he’s chaotic and unpredictable” it feels like there is a natural urge to go to “He’s Loki in the Avengers. He’s the guy who’s gonna make large grand-standing plans.” Or, you know, “He’s the Riddler, who’s gonna leave clues to test you.” We had to get away from that: “Let’s tone that back a little bit, let’s not have him be the Jack Nicholson Joker version of the Dread Wolf.”

That’s quite a quote.

You got Dorian as a large, grandiose , extravagant figure and it would have been easy to have him go that way. It was fortunate that we had Dorian as the mage who had the larger-than-life persona already to make Solas be the quiet one.

Time: 15:21

Was there ever an instance where you were really pushed with giving some indicators to the player that Solas may have some connection to this going through the gameplay? Because you do see a lot statues of Fen’Harel. There’s many instances of where you’re discussing it, you’re traveling through those lands. Where do you walk that line, how do you walk that line, or do you just completely disregard it whatsoever?

The goal we had is we wanted the very careful players, the very sensitive players, who were playing attention and watching every scene with Solas to know that something was up and to want more answers and then go to “OH MAN” as soon as the stinger after the credits rolled. But we wanted most players to just go “Oh, okay, he’s like ‘Fade nerd.’ He’s like ‘hippie guy.’”

The other thing we wanted was everyone on their second playthrough, as soon as they talked to Solas to be like “Oh, man, he’s just saying it. He just flat-out said it right there and I missed it completely the first time!” I think we called it the “inevitable in retrospect”- or the “slap the forehead on the second playthrough” style of writing, where we wanted people to see that the most interesting thing about the trickster god is he’s not actually that great of a liar - He is almost telling you a lot of the time. And, you know, some of the tragedy is it that you never had the chance to actually ask, “Wait -are you Fen’harel?”

Time: 17:13

We talked about leaving breadcrumbs, what that meant. Now the big turn, the big scene at the ending:  How did this come about, were you really involved in that sort of process and are you happy with it?

Oh, I’m absolutely happy with it. It went through several iterations,. Mike was hugely involved. The writing was definitely done by Dave; it was a huge crit path moment. He had me give a look at the Solas voice, I think I looked at it, I don’t think I actually changed a single word in the final one.

We had versions where after the main plot it was actually going to be a full plot where you the player went and were actually present when Solas confronts Mythal. We had a part where we said, “Wow that’s too big, a lot of players are gonna miss that, we’ll make it a DLC.” So it was gonna be a separate DLC where that happened. At one point we said “No, this is too big, we actually - let’s cut it and address it next game.” So it was going to be this thing that we pushed off into some future content.

I am really happy with what we went with, because, I think, you know, for my money, that short, little Marvel-style, after-the-credits stinger is what we needed. We needed something so that everyone who was paying attention and everyone who was really invested could go “oh my god!” And go, “Okay, so, just in case you were wondering, we’re not done, we have more stories to tell, and we are confident enough in what we are doing that we are willing to throw that ball.” That stinger is essentially us throwing a football to future us, trusting that we are going to catch it. Because, you know, at the end, we had that level of confidence. We felt that we had that level of confidence, we felt we made a really good game. Dave led an amazing team of writers, and I’m really touched that he has the confidence to believe that I’ll be able to carry that on for him.

Time: 19:49

When we spoke to Dave, one of the big moments that he mentioned, was when he created kind of a long-term idea for what’s going to happen in the Dragon Age universe. And to hear him say it, he mentioned that what he originally wanted for Dragon Age: Inquisition couldn’t happen - it was far too big - it wouldn’t work. And you guys had talked about  taking that concept, finishing Inquisition somewhere in the middle of that concept arc, and then using at least an influence or something like that to affect the franchise going forward.  Speaking with you now, as someone who has taken up the reins, do you know what I’m talking about? Am I talking crazy? Where do you see it going?

Um…

Reasonably - of what you can say on this.

So here’s the last scene of the next game… (laughs). I think there’s an extent to which no plan really survives contact with the audience when it comes to video games. We look at how fans react, we look at what hit, what rang true with everyone. You know, it’s funny, having people react angrily actually isn’t as bad as having people ignore things sometimes. Having people react angrily  means they were definitely emotionally engaged, so you know you hit something there. Whereas having fans go, “I don’t know, fine, I guess, whatever” and move on means, “Okay, I don’t know if that’s what we want to go back to. We didn’t actually get anything from them there, they didn’t actually remember that later.” So that’s a phase that comes after every game we ship. We look at what hit, what missed, and where we want to go from there.

Now that said, Dave’s future plan is, I think, fantastic, epic, and heartbreaking. Our plan is to use that as our starting point. To look at where we want to go, what we want to do, and it will not be - and I, you know, Dave and I have talked about this - it will not be the story that Dave would tell if he were still here as lead writer. Because it could never be that. We can get into that when we talk about Cole a little bit, but if I tried to do that I would just be doing a bad impersonation of Dave Gaider and no one is ever going to be as good at that as Dave is. My goal going forward is to, as lead, put my own spin on that process, put my own spin on the plots going forward, on the thematic elements, while keeping those same thematic elements that we had. Because, I think, what Dave has set in motion in three games, countless DLCs and expansions, is something that can endure: The idea that no choice is ever really that easy and that the great events always stem from human-understandable motivations.

So, that is where I think where we are going to go, as vaguely as I can say.

Time: 23:30

Speaking of specifically to Solas: His continuation of the story. Adding that little “Marvel moment” at the end - what do you think that did for the crit path and the overall arc of the story that players experienced in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Do you think they would have been more satisfied if there was  a DLC or is that just us gamers complaining because we can’t get everything we want right away?

Well, I think you want to leave people wanting more. “Man I wish you guys had done more” is a better problem to have than “Man I wish you guys had done less.” So, I think, looking at it from inside the studio, we didn’t have the resources to do much more than we did. So it was never going to be the big moment right then anyway. From my perspective, the reason I’m really happy we have it is, like I said, I thought it was a vote of confidence. The team is still the Dragon Age team and it is still the writers and designers who did everything else, who made such wonderful characters and were responsible for such fantastic plots.

Time 25:10

Well, again, looking at that in its completion, it’s good to see that even a character that needed to give you a stinger in your estimation didn’t take away, I guess, from the overall story you were trying to tell.

Well, thank you. Yeah it was obviously the moment we were building toward, but again, the goal was even if we didn’t have that stringer, he was still an interesting enough character that people would have not felt cheated that he was in the party.

Time: 25:35

One of the most beautiful scenes I think in Dragon Age Inquisition is the scene that you get with Solas if you play as a female elf Inquisitor. Talk a little bit about that choice to have this romance option very, very specific. It’s race- and gender- specific. Why that scene - what that scene meant and a lot of the subtext, because it is a very rich sequence of scenes, not just one. And, I think it’s really one of the most interesting romances in the game.

I love that scene because that scene for me shows how far we’ve gone past - not the make myself irrelevant anymore - but how far we’ve gone with the digital acting. Jonathan Epp the cine-designer for that scene put it together and when you take everything that Gareth David Lloyd - the voice actor - everything he did on his lines. And just putting so much tragedy, and making it clear in every line that he wants to say more than he can. And with Jon Epp the cine-designer, just in the wordless scenes: showing the tragedy, showing the heartbreak, showing how much he does genuinely care against his better judgement, and how he finally forces himself to step away.,

You know how I said when we were talking about the Iron Bull - everything, every major moment we do, is there for a specific type of player fantasy fulfillment. And you know, not all types of fantasies are the happy ones. There’s a reason why The Phantom of the Opera was on Broadway for so many years and it’s not because it has a happy ending.

The Phantom of the Opera isn’t exactly the theme for the romance -  the razor was something closer to almost professor and student in some ways. He definitely comes across as a mentor in some ways. When he finally steps back it is him beating himself up, not you, saying “Wow what I have done here is actually really unfair to you, and you, player, at the time don’t know that I’m beating myself up because I’m actually  1000s of years old and not the person you think I am and it’s disrespectful to you for me to continue this relationship.” So it’s a very moral perspective for our ancient, quasi-evil, trickster god to come with.

Time: 28:41

And it’s amazing because it’s another instance of content that so few players would actually get an opportunity to see. When it comes to making it that specific, I guess, why was that choice made? Because usually a lot of your content - most of the Dragon Age content - it’s very easy to get really rich, wonderful characters right in your face and have those wonderful “eat-em-up” experiences, why for this one was it such a steep price to get in?

You know, I won’t lie, a lot of it came from some of our designers. Some of the women in the design department really, really loving his voice and saying, “You are absolutely fools if you do not make him romance-able in some capacity.” And, really, his story overall is - and, you know, I think we’ve only hinted at that but I think we have hinted at it enough that I can at least say this part of it - his story isn’t a happy one. His story is one, where, if you look at him and Mythal, there is clearly some grief, there is clearly some tragedy. And, adding in the option - even for players who don’t take it - on my end as a writer,  knowing that some players will have this as a star-crossed, forbidden romance, you know, it makes him more sympathetic. It’s important to me as a writer because when you’re writing about someone who, according to Flemeth, is at least somewhat responsible for the bad guy getting the magical item that he used to blow up half a mountain in the prologue, it’s important to have something in there that you can always have, as a writer, look at as your touchstone and go “This is a real person. This is someone who experiences sadness. This is someone who falls in love.” Even if he doesn’t do it with that Inquisitor on that playthrough, this is always someone who can be like that.

Time: 30:58

Where do you see a character like Solas ending up?

(Big sigh) Musical theater.

(laughs) Right when we reach those beautiful moments, Patrick!

I think that it is fantastic that people have emotionally engaged with Solas and I hope we get a chance to explore that in some future content.

Alright and that’s the most that we’re getting right now.

Time: 31:37

Oh, and here’s a little tie in: Here Lies the Abyss, the demon that spoke to Solas - what was all that about, what was that going on?

Oh yes - the demon who speaks perfect Elven!

Yes perfectly to him, and if you remember any of that - did you have anything to do with that?

Yes, Here Lies the Abyss was mine. It was a fun plot. It was a terrifyingly difficult plot, because - I’m not sure how clear this is to players that have one done one playthrough or with one import state - but your key characters throughout the events at Adamant Fortress and then the events of the Fade, it’s a customizable Hawke. Which means it could be a male Hawke or a female Hawke and within that, Hawke from Dragon Age 2 is characterized by one of three different attitudes: friendly, grim, or sarcastic. So, that’s three attitudes times two genders, that’s six different Hawkes and three different possible Grey Wardens: Alistair, Loghain, or Stroud.  So, the process of going through Adamant Fortress and then going through the Fade was a crazy juggling act of trying to keep track of “Okay, now one of these five people, these five Schrodinger’s cat quantum people, will say this line, and then another of these five Schrodinger’s cat quantum people will respond with this line.”

It’s important to remember that as we went through everything in Adamant Fortress and the Fade was taking place in that contest. There was a long period time when we were looking at that really going, “Okay, I just have to hope this actually makes sense when it’s nothing but Alistair and my sarcastic female Hawke.”

But, to actually answer your question. As I recall, the Nightmare, who as a friendly, chipper guy was basically - I do basically two types of villains: I do the villain who thinks he or she is the hero, and is misguided and has opposed goals, and is kind of tragic and tortured in that way. And then I do the mean-girl villain who says snotty high school insults.

That’s it - that’s the gambit.

Well, just about, yes. I’m looking forward to see who writes the villain in the future Dragon Age games - so get ready for either tragic pathos or really, really good high school mean-girl zingers.

As I recall, he was speaking Elven to Solas and if I remember right, he said, “Your pride is responsible for everything that has gone wrong” and I think he said “You will die alone.” And then Solas said something that translates to either “Nothing is known for certain” or “Not necessarily.”

And what does all that mean?

Well I think it’s fascinating that people are emotionally engaged, and I hope we have the chance -

It was a very asked question - it was a question that was asked a lot. Specific to that.

Oh, I’m not surprised, and I hope one day that we can tell you. But, obviously, that demon knows that Solas is hurting and Solas feels guilty about some stuff and really wanted to dig in there, and Solas was shouting back.

Literally just describing what happened (laughs). All right, so something that will clearly be talked about in other games.

TIme: 36:22

Dealing with this particular quest I really think that this was one opportunity to involve the Grey Wardens in a story, and a world, that kind of progressingly, after the first game had less and less of a need to exist - let alone in the world - but in the main characters arc. Talking to David I remember initially there was some idea for this particular mission they would just fall into the hole and be hanging out in the Deep Roads, and having out with the dwarves, so tell us a little bit about this creation.

A lot of the process of writing these large plots, like I talked about the razor, you figure out what the core concept is, you always start with a lot of things, and in most cases what you then end up having to do is cut. And if you’re not someone in the studio, talking about having to cut things sounds like you’re losing awesome content, you’re ruining what would have been clearly the best part of the plot. Inside the studio though, most cases what you’re cutting is the stuff that didn’t actually help tell the story you wanted to tell.

So yes in the original version, in a very early draft, actually this was before I was actually on the plot - this predates me - there was, yes, going into the Deep Roads, and when you fell in instead of ending up in the Fade you ended up down in the dark. And finding out what the Grey Wardens in this version of the story had been involved with the Architect from Dragon Age: Awakening. It was an interesting direction, and it was, I think, a very cool direction, but it did not help tell the story of the Inquisition. It was more a story of “Hey, if we wanted to do more with the Hero of Fereldan, here is an interesting place we could go” and it did not help tell the story of “What is the Inquisition doing?” “What is Corypheus doing?”, “How do these two organizations bounce off each other and who’s caught in the middle?” So trying to come to terms with the Grey Wardens in this game not being the protagonists, not being the group that is in the center of the action but being the group that is caught in the middle of this power struggle was something that led to us having to eventually do the re-jiggering that got us to the plot you saw.

[pixelgrotto]

The future of Pixel Grotto, and writing freelance full-time

It’s 2022, and time for a brief reflection. One of the major life events that came my way last year was a decision to finally dive into the freelance world and devote myself to writing about gaming and other hobbies that I love. I'd dabbled in the notion more than once over the years, but convinced myself that I wouldn’t be able to make it as a freelancer and needed a soul-crushing full-time job to pay the bills. 

The global pandemic, for better or worse, changed that. Working at home 24/7 gave me perspective, and the sheer nature of getting tossed about like a ragdoll in the major journalism jobs that I’d previously been pursuing made me wonder if I could make it on my own. Eventually, after my contract gig at a big newspaper came to an end, I had no choice but to pursue this option out of necessity. And here I am, several months later, making a living scribbling articles for a variety of different sites, primarily about comic books, tabletop RPGs and video games - all the while using “Pixel Grotto” as the penname for the majority of my gigs. 

It’s been a windy road, and money is always a concern. But I do feel like this is my calling, and I’m invigorated in ways that I haven’t felt before when my nose was to the grindstone working breaking news shifts under terrible editors. And in many ways, I’ve got to credit this little blog, which I’ve maintained for nearly a decade now, for helping me to break into this arena. There were a lot of other connections that I leveraged to kickstart my freelance writing career - in particular the great folks over at Asians Represent, who I first collaborated with for a readthrough of Legend of the Five Rings that probably contributed to me getting gigs at D&D Beyond - but this blog was the venue where I first started writing about gaming back in 2013. It’ll continue to be the place where I pen my thoughts about “the weird and wonderful world of play,” which was the motto I typed down here so long ago.

This blog is definitely taking a bit of a backseat to the writing that I’m doing which actually pays me, though. For some time now, I’ve only been able to write posts here once a month or so, and that pace is unlikely to change. My jam-packed schedule means that I’m unlikely to start any more huge projects like the big Resident Evil playthrough of 2018-2019, alas. But I really do like this little corner of the internet that I’ve carved out for myself, and so Pixel Grotto - possibly the last Tumblr blog in existence that still produces longform 1,000+ word articles when the rest of the world has moved to Medium and/or Substack - shall live on!

Nevertheless, if you want more regular updates on what I’m doing with my writing career and the sort of games I’m engaged with, follow the site’s Twitter account. And if you want to check the nifty portfolio I just whipped up that organizes samples of my writing, take a look here. Better yet, if you’re itching to collaborate on a project in the tabletop roleplaying space or want to pay me to write about something, gimme a shout! I’ve got some great stuff in the works, and I’m glad to be here, still trucking along all these years later.