#apparently disillusioned adventures will save the world

[graphicpolicy]

Weekly Preview! Graphic novels! Lots of manga!

Weekly Preview! Graphic novels! Lots of manga! See what's coming to GPTV! #comics #manga #graphicnovel

There are a lot of comics coming out every week to be covered. Check out some of what we’ll be reviewing and this is only the beginning! This week’s reviews include: Assorted Entanglements Vol. 3 (Yen Press) Deer King Vol. 1 (Yen Press) Disillusioned Adventurers Save the World Vol. 3 (Yen Press) Enlightened (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) Ephemeral Scenes of Setsunas Journey Vol. 1 (Yen…

[animepopheart]

★ 【にゃー】 「 curran // ningen fushin 」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

[faline-cat444]

Bigsy week

[newtypezaku]

It’s a sign of I never want to talk to you

[entrehormigones]

[beneaththetangles]

The saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We prove it every week here on Reader’s Corner, but rarely more so than in this edition, when we show beauty in tengu love; explain how a beautiful and admirable lead does not a good spin-off make; and explain how a provocative title and cover made hide a sweet love story. All that, plus the newest volumes of hit series like Issak, Bocchi the Rock!, and Handyman Saitou in Another World; the final release of the Ningen Fushin manga; and more on this week’s Reader’s Corner!

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Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World (Vol. 6) • Bocchi the Rock (Vol. 4) • Friday at the Atelier (Vol. 2) • The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love (Vol. 1) • Handyman Saitou in Another World (Vol. 5) • Honeko Akabane’s Bodyguards (Vol. 2) • I Wanna Do Bad Things with You (Vol. 1) • In the Name of the Mermaid Princess (Vol. 3) • Issak (Vol. 9) • Rejected by the Hero’s Party, a Princess Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (Vol. 1)

(Read More)

[utilitycaster]

The narrative of D&D

Fantasy High Junior Year has made its exploration of the tropes, mechanics, and structures of D&D readily apparent, perhaps even more so than the earlier two seasons. This is unsurprising for a show in which the characters are, in-universe, extremely aware of their mechanics and indeed in a high school intended to develop them. And yet, while Brennan Lee Mulligan pokes at these structures, the story still rests squarely within them.

This is not accidental; in longer form narratives (and Fantasy High as an overall story certainly is one, though each individual season exists in a strange no-man's land of campaign length) there is a distinctive pattern to the D&D narrative, one that is outright stated in the player's handbook. D&D is a progressive advancement game; characters grow in power and in sociopolitical import as they level up. They begin, even at level 1, as exceptional people (no commoner stats for them) and are destined by the fact that they are in a D&D game for greatness. There are things D&D supports well; travel, social interaction, one-time skill use, and combat. There are things it does poorly, notably downtime and stories that are not built along the lines of heroic fantasy.

I think this is a value neutral statement, in that I think that trying to avoid playing D&D while playing D&D is a futile exercise; your character will become more powerful while playing it and the only way to avoid gaining this power is to play a different game. I also think that while D&D has the potential to comment on our world from a new perspective, as most speculative fiction does, and is certainly not without flaws, that conversation is one for a later date. The structure exists; like it or not, it exists. There are other games to play that support other stories.

Fantasy High is direct in its engagement: characters are aware of their classes. They learn about the conventions thereof in their high school coursework, and must justify their multiclassing, both with their current level of power in their base class as well as with what they have done (both narrative and mechanical justifications). The antagonists of Junior Year are the Rat Grinders, explicitly commenting on Experience vs. Milestone leveling; several characters provide an eye into such D&D player tropes as min-maxxing and focusing on RP vs only on the game and mechanical elements. The Seven, set in the same world, operates on a similar premise; the party risks being broken up because half are still in high school and they would not survive a split of that level. Adventurers at the Aguefort Academy must adventure, and both the humor and deconstruction come from the juxtaposition of the conventions of D&D with the typical life of a high school student. The characters do level up; they do become more recognizable; they do have to save the world, repeatedly.

A somewhat subtler deconstruction comes in the form of NADDPod's first campaign, or as it was introduced, The Campaign after the Campaign. As envisioned by Brian Murphy (a player in Fantasy High; it is perhaps relevant that the two shows both began production around the same time), the world in which it is set is grappling with the aftermath of the "campaign" of the three legendary heroes Alanis, Thiala, and Ulfgar, who had slain Asmodeus, among other feats. While this ended a war, it set off several crucial events. Most centrally to the story of NADDPod, Thiala, disillusioned with her role as the healer, broke her worship of Pelor and used the heart of Asmodeus to ascend to godhood; she would eventually become the final antagonist of the campaign. However, the death of Asmodeus also set off a power vacuum in Hell. NADDPod's third campaign is set two centuries after the first, and the new legendary heroes (the Band of Boobs of the first campaign) have been dealing with the aftermath of an extraplanar war of the gods; Mothership, the main antagonist, arose in Thiala's wake. This is all typical actions leading to consequences, but the idea that the butterfly that flapped its wings was the resentment of someone having to play the cleric is notable (and is directly contrasted by Emily Axford's Bahumia characters, who openly embrace healing and support casting, breaking Thiala's cycle while cleaning up her mess.) But NADDPod too is heroic fantasy, even with the science fantasy elements present in the second season, and even slots nicely into the PHB tiers.

Critical Role does not, per se, strive to deconstruct in the same way (though Matt Mercer does provide some direct retorts to Forgotten Realms lore, particularly that of drow). But like NADDPod, the consequences of past campaigns influence subsequent ones. Campaign 1 is very easily recognizable as a classic "gain influence and power" story, and while Campaign 2's heroes the Mighty Nein retain a refreshingly low profile throughout the story, it does still progress in a typical way, though in a rather more self-directed manner.

Campaign 3 is interesting, in that it initially deviates from some of the more classic tropes of early D&D, but ultimately succumbs (to its benefit, in my opinion) to the inertia of the heroic fantasy arc. Bells Hells do not work their way up from level 1 or 2 taking on odd jobs; they begin the campaign by joining up with a benevolent patron, and several party members have pre-existing powerful connections. They receive the use of a skyship by episode 22 and level 6 (something even Vox Machina considered having to steal at level 13) and inherit it not long after. And yet: despite this, and a pivotal set piece of the apogee solstice in which a comparatively low level party plays a part among many factions, following a brief split the campaign begins to run on more familiar tracks. For all the early privileges the team enjoyed and the theological debates they engaged in, they ultimately find themselves in a position identical to that of the archetypal Vox Machina: facing an evil wizard who, after a rushed solstice ritual mid-campaign, only partially unsealed a long-imprisoned ancient deity of manipulation and destruction and now wishes to finish the job. One must assume Delilah Briarwood is appreciating the parallels from within Laudna's psyche.

Worlds Beyond Number is a player on the scene to watch out for, especially because Mulligan has shown himself to enjoy playing with these tropes and his players are all immensely knowledgeable and experienced players (and in Aabria Iyengar's case, DMs) themselves. Rather like Bells Hells, two of its three characters are coming in already in storied positions, despite being level 2, and it will be interesting to see if it bucks the trend. I don't think it needs to. I think there's plenty of variety to be had within this subgenre, and I think a quiet pushing at the boundaries is frequently more effective than full-scale subverstion. But should that be the plan, it will take a lot of work; even with immense awareness of the path D&D sets forth it seems DMs - and players - tend to stay on it.

[entamewitchlulu]

i'm watching Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World, and while it's really not good (the animation is distractingly bad and it's doing absolutely nothing new with the Adventuring Guild genre), it does have huge "idiot D&D party vibes" so i'm here for it and i'm having fun watching it

[fandompost]

Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World Vol. #06 Manga Review http://dlvr.it/TFLVL0

[the-things-ive-seen]

The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse

Play Again? Hell No.

Spoilers, obviously, but The Swords of Ditto is a video game series about you, the player, taking after your predecessor and wield the sword of Ditto, a sharp blade that levels up and unlocks dungeons protecting magical toy weapons. You must use this weapon to seal Mormo, a dark deity, and help Puku, a light deity, in order to protect the island of Ditto and save the world from Corruption! It's a fun series with light-hearted elements and incredible artwork, and I would recommend playing it right away!

...OR I would if I didn't become disillusioned with the series, finish it with intense, exasperated dissatisfaction, and then forgot about it for several years.

I'll admit, the game stuck with me. It's a beautiful game and the main game is as smooth and polished as the cover above. It plays well and you can end your first run-through somewhat satisfied and ready for more. Things quickly go to sh!t on the second run-through.

If you haven't guessed already, this game is a rogue-lite, which is a game where every time you lose, you keep some progress made with levels and fights, but you have to start the entire game map over. It also randomizes the map so it's a different playthrough each time. That's actually one of the game's mottos.

Each adventure becomes its own legend, both distinct from those that came before it and part of a heroic legacy that bind together. -Steam Page

"So the game looks good, plays good, and seems to have some lore. What's the problem? It's not like the game forces you to replay it just to finish it completely." Actually, hypothetical voice in my head, it does. A lot.

It takes 6 successful run-throughs, using the Icon item as a sacrifice, to finish the game. You have beat the exact same game six times. Trust me, that is exhausting, especially when you've already picked up all the lore notes and you've talked to every NPC that seems to be inexplicably immortal. I think this problem comes from the fact that normally in roguelikes, you unlock more areas, items, and enemies as you're forced to start over, Inscryption being a good example of this. Here, you play through the entire game, which is borderline identical to the first time around, and you stab, escort, and fetch quest your way all the way around to the same exact boss, with a slight modifier.

God, the modifiers. If this game didn't do its best to purge my memories, I'd be pulling my hair out. The Sentinel comes to mind first. An indestructible enemy that follows you around the map, following you in and out of dungeons, putting an emphasis on time and movement. Good mechanic. It would've been a cool idea if I didn't have a very clear memory of the entire game map, randomized or not. So it's just a distraction, not a threat. Worse, it's used three times during the completion run-through, so it wears out it's welcome almost immediately.

Okay, I'm starting to drag this out. Let's try to quickly summarize the plot. Spoilers again. Puku and Mormo are actually friends. They found a guy, the player/you, who can control fate. In a convoluted attempt to both contain and test the player, they created an elaborate illusion to see if the player was brave and true of heart. (yes, it was seriously all a dream) And if you read all 52 lore notes, you now have half of the true story, since Ditto isn't real and no there isn't an epilogue.

I don't imagine anyone was particularly impressed with this ending, but at least it can't get worse. No literally. It can't get worse. The game's over. No more lore, no extra secrets, no bonus dungeon. You got a new skin in case you want to play the entire game for the 17th time. It's done.

I know I'm being pretty hard on a game that, apparently, is the successor of an older, somewhat less successful version of this game. But I have to draw the line somewhere. This isn't Shovel Knight Dig, you can't lure people with a beautiful game, and then drag them through repetitive gameplay for hours on end. and if you are going to do that, then it better have a phenomenal ending, not a footnote about how you were kidnapped by two magic bugs because they think you're weird.

Seriously One Bit Beyond, I see you do good work, but I hope this isn't the last bit you worked on.

[snowdunk]

Preview pages from OKTAKU USA of the manga Apparently disillusioned adventurers will save the world volume 1, focusing on pages that feature minotaur monster

[graphicpolicy]

Weekly Preview! It's a packed week of comics, graphic novels, and manga!

Weekly Preview! It's a packed week of comics, graphic novels, and manga! See what's coming to GPTV! #comics #comicbooks #graphicnovel

There are a lot of comics coming out every week to be covered. Check out some of what we’ll be reviewing and this is only the beginning! This week’s reviews include: Bomb (Roaring Brook Press) Chicken Devils #2 (AfterShock) Fear of a Red Planet #2 (AfterShock) Jimmy’s Little Bastards #2 (AfterShock) Land of the Dead: Lessons from the Underworld (First Second) Maniac of New York: Don’t Call…

[faline-cat444]

Mainly additives,not everything.Some are predicted to show tomorrow and/or Thursday while others could be me confusing it with whatever is due for next week.

[newtypezaku]

We love our idiot heavy blade

[animepopheart]

★ 【黒井ススム】 「 お仕事 」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

[animebathscenewiki]

The Ningen Fushin no Boukensha-tachi ga Sekai wo Sukuu you desu trailer has won me over. This is how you make me want to watch an anime.