#at least I hope. I want more of him than in an upcoming DLC and who knows when aw3 will release if ever

[velvetjune]

missing barryyyyyy my best friend barry wheeler

[gaydiation-poisoning]

Revali from BoTW for the character opinion bingo!

Ohhhh you're gonna get me killed by the fandom for this one, that there is a character I have some BAGGAGE with

Okay here's my thing

I kinda despise Revali And it sucks because I really REALLY don't want to

Story time

I grew up playing Wind Waker, it was my first video game ever, and from that game the Rito were my favorite race, and they remained my favorite all these years. You probably wouldn't be able to find someone more hyped than me for the return of these beautiful birds.

So. April 2017. When I got my hands on BOTW I decided I'd save the Rito zone for last, I'd kept myself blind so I could go in and experience everything purely.

So imagine my surprise when I unlock the champion I'd been most excited for, the Rito, the champion of my favorite Zelda race from my earliest childhood memories.

And he was a complete fucking douchebag

At first I was like oh :( well okay maybe we'll be given some more information on him and it'll be better!! After all characters with huge egos can be extremely fun!!!

So I maintained hope that maybe the upcoming DLC would give us something

December 2017

We got something!! A teeny tiny fragment that suggested maybe Revali's ego was just a coverup for a deeply troubled bird, it was hardly anything at all but it was something.

But then his journal made him like 10 times worse in such a way that the DLC honestly didn't do much but make him more insufferable

So I was deeply saddened, they'd given us something but simultaneously made him more unlikeable. I thought that would be the end of it. But then!! Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity was announced. And I was THRILLED. FINALLY. we were going to get AN ENTIRE game alongside the champions, I was gonna get more content for Best Girl Mipha, and FINALLY AN ENTIRE GAME'S WORTH OF CHANCES TO GIVE REVALI SOME CHARACTERIZATION. YES!!!!

November 2020. AOC comes out. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Revali what did they do to you? To my shock he'd graduated from a little unlikeable to downright unpleasant to watch. Even my best friend, a diehard Revali fan through and through, could not STAND what they'd done with him. We got a whole game with this guy and they basically spent the whole thing trashing this guy's character. He was arrogant to the point of annoying, horribly rude to characters who had done nothing to earn it, and overall was just kinda a ballache. And not even in the 'fun annoying character' way.

But hey!! AOC was getting DLC as well!!! That is meant to flesh out the characters more!!! We'll definitely get something there!!

October 2021. Guardian of Remembrance comes out. Yeah this DLC gave us fuck all really. That goes for all the champions, but I think Revali suffered pretty bad in this regard. Some of the scenes with Tulin were cute but they didn't do much in terms of Revali's character.

And....that's where we are now. Tears of the Kingdom is on the horizon, and I highly doubt we're gonna get much on the Champions in this game but...well I've maintained hope for six years already, why stop now?

So yeah my feelings on Revali are...complicated to say the least. There's so much I love about him, his design is probably my favorite of the Champions (next to Mipha), he easily has like...the best voice in the whole fucking game, and the character POTENTIAL is absolutely incredible. But all in all it feels like they've done nothing with that potential, for what is supposed to be the most Character driven era of Zelda to date, it truly feels like they've let his character stagnate, if not actively regress in a way that I REALLY do not vibe with.

I can see what people can love about him, god knows I've done more when provided with less in a character. It's not the ego that gets me, I love cocky characters, ffs my favorite BOTW character is Master Kohga for crying out loud, and that man has a damn near god complex. (Kohga, incidentally, has LEGITIMATELY EXPERIENCED MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAN REVALI. WHAT.)

Like I'm not saying I want his character to do a full 180, just a couple more scenes like what we got in Champion's Ballad, just a couple more cracks in the facade would have done wonders. But instead they just kept him rather one note. Feels bad man.

Ultimately it feels like they're just going in circles with this character, arguably the Champion with the most potential to be interesting and they're doing fuck all with it. I can see why people love him, but idk, I've dealt with a few people irl with egos like that and that's probably not helped.

Idk, I guess this character managed to regress perfectly into a niche I cannot stand, and it sucks because it feels like such a personal loss to me.

I guess to put it very shortly

Revali is a bully. And I'll take a full blown villain over a bully any day.

[aj-jestermon]

WARNING! SCARLET/VIOLET SPOILERS!

So! As I’ve said, I’ve had a *great* time playing Scarlet/Violet. Asides from the glitches, which the ones I’ve encountered have all honestly been too funny to be mad about, I do believe this game is probably the best modern Pokémon game we’ve gotten so far. I played Violet, and going into it I had spoiled myself on all the new Pokémon for the sake of building myself a proper team that could cover every type, but I stayed away from story spoilers to keep the experience at least a little surprising. And surprising it was!

Here, I’ve compiled all of my Badges in the order I obtained them, The Stony Cliff Titan was first, and then so on and so forth to Team Star’s Fighting crew at the bottom.

I wouldn’t really say that one story was better than the others, Arven is easily the best new character and one of the more complex ones in this game, Team Star is an absolute delight and they are easily my new favorite team, and the Gym Challenge was super fun, Nemona isn’t really anything new in the rival department, but she’s still a lot stronger than what we’ve gotten in the past.

The final section of the game is also FANTASTIC, and there is PLENTY of questions left unanswered that I really hope get answered in the DLC. I *really* like how there isn’t a clear villain for this game. Sure, you can point to Sada/Turo, but even then they weren’t an awful person. Sure, they absolutely should’ve connected with Arven more, but they still loved him a lot. They wanted the whole paradise for them and him, which slowly fell apart due to their partner leaving them and they just got gradually consumed by work. I can’t say I blame them for it all.

After finishing all the main story up, I quickly got to work on my Pokédex, which I managed to complete 6 days post-release!

I love how the certificate looks in this game. And then I went about to complete the post-game, which although simple is pretty fun regardless (and ANYTHING is better than SWSH’s post-game.) I then set out on shiny hunting, which is something I really want to get into with this Gen, but I’ll talk about that in an upcoming post! So far, I’ve found 4, and am currently hunting for one…anyways! That’s some of my thoughts on this game, very very good, very very excited for the DLC whenever that’s even coming out. Here’s hoping it’s just as strong as the main game!

[randomrabbidramblings]

Yay another Rayman in the Phantom Show ramble! :D

I'll say it again, I went into this DLC with very low expectations. I was afraid the devs rushed it even more than The Last Spark Hunter (don't get me wrong, I love it too, but you can't deny it feels very rushed), so as what happened with Kanya who, as the main villain, didn't get a lot of time and seemed like she lacked a third battle, I was expecting Phantom to recieve the same treatment. Thankfully it was all disproved by Phantom constantly getting in your face to guide you to your demise through the Studios. The lack of Phantom's backstory portraits like we had with the other Wardens was a bit felt, but seeing how much informations we got from all the cameos that the devs threw at us in the last year, I understand them being maybe a bit too much if they were added.

I do feel like this DLC (like the other two) was a bit rushed and it's a shame. I don't know if it has to do with the unmet expectancies of Sparks of Hope's sales, or the fear of the (supposed) upcoming new Nintendo console, but the rushedness is really felt through the games. It's a shame because with such levels of artworks, animations, characters and everything else, given a bit more time would have resulted in a top tier game. It still is in the fandom's hearts, but having more outside people aknowledging it would be fantastic.

Phantom disappearing so suddenly left me surprised too. I thought after defeating him, besides from Rayman replacing him in the after-battle screens, you would get some NPCs talking about him, maybe wondering where he went too. But maybe it's the best scene exit for him. It's in character too as I can see him storming off stomping his (figurative) feet and leaving without a word to his crew, angry at his second defeat (but at the same time happy to have made such a comeback). Maybe if this was the last we will ever see of him and if we're getting a M+R trilogy, perhaps in an hypothetical third game there will be mentions of him like in Terra Flora's cameos. Even if a little part of me wants him to have yet another part to play in the story (*cough* him plotting revenge in the sewers under his old theater *cough* we still have that conveniently Phantom of the Opera-shaped Cursa's broken mask for him to find *cough*).

As for Beep-0, he's a stubborn, hypocrite, hot-headed Roomba who tries to make himself look smart by liking stereotypycal smart things (Palette Prime's poetry, Melodic Garden's music...), but in practice he's not. I don't see him having a substantial change to his character because when his smartass persona disappears for a moment and has more genuine reactions to things it's both very funny and heartwarming. If he was to humble up a bit and have a bit of development, I think it would all revolve around his relationship with JEANIE who is becoming the "student that surpassed the teacher" in terms of emotions and knowledge. At least this is how I see a potential Future Beep-0 (no, not the one from Kingdom Battle, lol).

As for my experience, I enjoyed Phantom's return like a normal, civil human being. By going full rab(b)id mode, that is, lmao. Phantom was such a delight to see in Sparks of Hope's new and improved style (both of his model and in his animations). I already blabbered enough about him being my favourite character and all, but I have to say it again. Theatrical, vain, hypocritical villains tend to be my favourite characters, but Phantom's reached the top spot (sorry GLaDOS) for also having an over the top musical number and for being the Rabbid version of the Phantom of the Opera. Not to mention the voice acting: that trailer where he actually talks without his voice getting very sing-songy melted my ears. As did his little comments throughout the game. And his songs. And the dubbings. I still can't get over the songs being fully dubbed instead of only having translated subtitles, lmao.

I love how this fandom, as small as it is, still manages to have so much love and respect for the games that would rival a fandom for a Game of the Year. I mean, look at me: I'm here gushing over characters and thanking the developers of a game I've never even played. Mario+Rabbids has been an experience so far and I truly hope the fandom will always be like this.

I was going to make a Big Official Review Post about Rayman in the Phantom Show but I don't really have enough complete thoughts to make something comprehensive and organized, but I still want to share some points from my experience with it so uhhh without further ado, here's a bunch of thoughts on what dazzled me and what I thought could have been done better.

Here I go...

I'll start with the stuff that bugged me first because I don't like to end on a bad note:

I think the biggest issue is that giving the player the option to complete each set in any order diminishes the opportunity to have a linear story. Without a series of events building up to the finale, the actual climax doesn't feel as grand or substantial as it should be (it definitely feels like a few lines were cut from the moments before Phantom's first verse with how abruptly it starts). It would have felt more immersive to see actual scenes of the heroes trying to play their roles and have more varied quests based on puzzles or even characters and dialogue (like the search for Sweetlopek's stolen axe), all whilst gradually putting the pieces together that they were led into a trap.

Speaking of putting the pieces together, it would've paid off to have Beep-0 learn from his own arrogance in the past instead of repeating his assertion that he knew what Phantom was up to all along. That part made me kind of sad because I really like Beep-0 and it seemed like they were setting him up to eventually become less uptight and more open to admitting his mistakes, which would be more satisfying and obvious!

As we all know, Beep-0 isn't the only one who repeated himself. I remember an exchange I had with @randomrabbidramblings about our predictions for what would happen in the climax; they were hoping the final showdown with Phantom would not be redundant with his first encounter, having the same battle gimmick as before. Unfortunately that is, in fact, what they ended up doing. While framing it as Phantom being unoriginal or making a callback helps it a little bit, ultimately it made me feel let down (although I love Beep-0's delivery when he reiterates his line from Kingdom Battle. he means business).

As for the aftermath of the battle, I want to know where Phantom went. There doesn't seem to be any sign of him anywhere in the studio. It's really odd, given how this was supposed to be his grand comeback (alongside Rayman, of course), but we don't get even a simple explanation of what happened to him after he was defeated for the second time, unless I missed something. I presume this is his last major appearance in a game (unless they decide to do something completely different with him in the distant future??? wishful thinking but not ruling it out!), so it's a strangely underwhelming and mysterious send-off to our beloved ghostly diva. I would have been bummed that we didn't get lore paintings for him, but the memory entry summarizing his surprisingly short-lived career actually made me laugh and honestly, the thought of him only releasing one album and becoming so well-known just because he's notoriously a huge jerk and a producer of incredibly terrible films is so in-character for him.

Another choice I found unusual was the lack of any explanation as to how he got his voice back, since it's been established that he screwed it up by overdoing it. Although, they must have dismissed it knowing that not everyone is going to find the mural containing the only source of that detail. His voice could have healed over time anyway, but it just doesn't entirely make sense that they don't acknowledge it at all (I did see @bramble-scramble 's post mentioning a detail @randomrabbidramblings pointed out where a gramophone can be seen in a box in the studio's control room and it is supposedly the one Phantom replaced with a new one when he messed it up, but even if that's true, it's still a bit easy to miss).

I understand that a lot of these issues were due to restraints since it's only a DLC and they could only fit so much in, but that goes to show that this concept is a little too big for a DLC, but not quite big enough for a full game.

Now, for the things I loved...

I must give massive props to the artists and animators for taking reference from multiple Rayman games and essentially making the pinnacle of his goofiness. Rayman was HIGHLY entertaining to see (and listen to, thanks to David Gasman) and very lovable in this! And the way his dynamic with Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Mario changes up until the end where he becomes friends with them and realizes that he can work with the Rabbids now instead of against them it's just 🥺 awgh... It feels cheesy to talk about it but it really does make me happy now that Rayman has a chance to be an equal to the Rabbids and have something resembling a mutual understanding.

I appreciate them bringing back characters from the main game and giving them their own sets. Fittingly enough, it's like a curtain call for the final installment of SoH.

The return of Beep-0's swearing. SERIOUSLY IT'S SUCH A SMALL THING BUT IT DELIGHTED ME

The studio's lobby is gorgeous. Absolutely STUNNING I love all the details and the music notation motifs on everything.

Honestly the rest of this is just going to be me gushing about Phantom hehehe...

First of all, I was completely awestruck at the decision to give him a swing/jazz sequence because I love the aesthetic of the whole sassy big band musical number kind of thing so when I saw that Phantom was going to do that I went INSANE. The animation in the song sequences is absolutely top tier. Phantom is ALL OVER THE PLACE, very charming, very energetic. The swing bit made me realize just how unbelievably coordinated he is. Like when he's zipping and spinning around the stage and it doesn't affect his singing at all? Holy crap. Then, I went even MORE insane when rock/metal Phantom showed up. I would have wanted a verse in that style too, but I get that it was cut because it would mess up the pacing of the battle.

I love Phantom's inability to contain his excitement at the start of the battle, his annoyed lines when you destroy the lights, his smug remarks even when he's taking damage. He's just so- I'm just gonna say it- so freaking cute in this! His line deliveries in general made me fall so hard for him, especially "were you EVER a thing, Rayman?". The way he drops his voice sounds so cool...

Regarding his abilities, I thought they were going to explain why he could turn people to stone in Kingdom Battle, but they simply took that detail away. I don't have a big problem with this, as the Stone Deaf ability could have been part of the Megabug's influence (and it makes him at least a bit less OP lol). I'm also satisfied to finally know that he can indeed phase through things like any other ghost and isn't limited to just teleporting.

His death acting has definitely improved since last time, in that it's silly and makes me smile instead of just making me feel embarrassed lol.

So uummmm yeah that's all the noteworthy stuff I can think of! Overall I thought the DLC was delightful during my playthrough, but after I finished it I felt kind of sad because it just didn't feel "thorough". However, given that Sparks of Hope generally improved on so many aspects from the last game, I'm confident that they'll keep adding and experimenting with more characterizations and scenarios and make something even better if they decide to continue with Mario + Rabbids. And even if they don't, we'll always have the amazing fans to continue the story and put even more wonder into this wild crossed-over universe!

Anyway, thank you for reading through this highly disorganized rant/gush! And while I'm at it, thank you to everybody in the Mario + Rabbids community for making such amazing art and just being here to share our love for the series. That means thank you to @randomrabbidramblings @bramble-scramble @salamifuposey @hostess-of-horror @phandrow @pastelprince18 @critterzone13 @hostdoozy @majorpepperidge and more! You guys are super cool and I appreciate you even though I've never directly interacted with all of you, hehe. I suppose all I have left to say is goodnight, so goodnight/day everyone! Until next time I decide to dump more nonsense onto your dashboard :D

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: December 20th, 2020

We’re back again with another set of ask answers. I do apologize for how long it takes to get a response. It’s really wonderful how many asks people send in, but sadly more come in per week than we have time to answer in a week so we’re always getting behind. We’ll keep doing our best to reply to people, though!

Hopefully the FAQ has been helpful in getting answers to questions more easily. It’s got things like how to find certain CGs, Cove’s height, info on upcoming DLCs, and so on. 

Is it possible to change cove's expressions in the cgs in the gallery? Or can we only view one expression per cg in it right now?

Right now it is just the one expression. Cove’s faces are made up of separate eyebrow, eyes, and mouth layers rather than expressions that include eyebrows, eyes, and mouths all in one layer (plus there’s extra optional layers like tears and blushes) so it’s tricky to display different faces because there’s dozens of possible combinations. Maybe we can update the gallery to allow changing the expression someday.

Why'd Kyra and Mr. Holden name their kid Cove?

‘Cause they were very young and kind of wild and wanted to use whatever they thought sounded good without any regard for how common it was. Plus, his dad always went by “Cliff” so having a son named “Cove” seemed perfect.

How can I make my MC outgoing/social? Somehow the characters will comment on how my MC is shy but I'm going out of my way to talk to others and be very happy/puppy-like energy

Did you change the Comfort Level of the relationship screen? By default it’s set to “Nervous”. If you’re at Nervous you can still have moments of being more outgoing but your default base standard is being kind of shy. If you move the bar up to Relaxed or Direct no one should call you shy automatically, though you can still have moments of shyness if you make certain choices.

Hello! I really enjoyed the game but was a bit nervous about choosing for the mc to be upset/irritated because I didn’t want a bad ending! But I read that the game doesn’t have a bad ending? Is that for real??? Our Life is such fun game!

That’s true, the game has no bad endings! You’re welcome to choose whatever you want to suit the game to your story.

I want to draw my mc in the Our Life art style but I’m confused about the nose. Are all the characters’ noses supposed to be the same? 

The art style tends to have similar looking noses, though they aren’t all 100% the same shape/size.

So Our life 1 has a focus on summer, Our life 2 on fall.... So this means that we are going to get a Our Life 3 and 4 for winter and spring 👀?? 

Haha, who knows? It could happen, or maybe just the two games will be enough to satisfy people. We won’t seriously consider it until at least 2022.

Is there going to be more ways to flirt with Cove in Baxter and Derek's DLCs or is it going to be purely them? Haha

Cove will still show up at times, but he’ll be a minor character in someone else’s story. You can kind of flirt with him as often as you can give Derek or Baxter special attention in Cove’s events.

I know there's a mobile version but would you ever consider releasing this game on the switch? 

It’d be super cool to port the game to the Switch, but unfortunately it’s not something we can do on our own. The engine we use, Renpy, isn’t easy to work on Switch. But once all the DLCs are out it’s possible we could work with a publisher who has figured out how to convert Renpy games to Switch and they’ll release the game for us. We’ll see how it goes.

Hiya! I wanted to build Mc’s house our life beginnings and always and was wondering if you got any scratches of the layout? It’s an amazing house🥺👉👈

I’m sorry, we don’t. I can say that there’s the kitchen, master bedroom, living room, a bathroom, and some storage places on the first floor. The second floor is smaller and has just two bedrooms and another bathroom.

Im the step 2 birthday dlc, how do I get cove to wear the crown? He keeps wearing the pink headband on all of my playthroughs 😭 

He picks a hat based on his hairstyle. You’ve gotta have the longer, bushy hair for him to wear the crown.

In the moment Escapade in step 2, does someone carry the MC into their room at the end, do they just not remember going themselves because they were so tired, or is it just supposed to be up to the player to decide? 

That’s up to you to headcanon!

Will we love the next love interests in Our Life 2 as much as we do with Cove 🥺 

I hope so. I think they’re pretty cool. And I can say that if they met Cove they’d think he’s very charming and handsome, so players likely already have something in common with them, haha.

—————————————————————— We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[thatonedaydream]

hello hello to the new admin, hope you like your stay! i'd like to ask for your opinion about upcoming ffxv content like episode ardyn and such for starters, if that's okay~

Hello hello! Thank you for being so welcoming and kind ❤

In general terms, I’m a keen bean for Episode Ardyn. Movement looks slick, battle prospects look thrilling, story potential is endless. I’m dying to run around Insomnia before its fall and to see what clever little details the team might want to leave for us to pick apart and use to fill in the holes still present in the story.

In other terms… I have mixed feelings.

I was initially extremely psyched about getting DLC for Luna, Aranea and Ardyn, so like most of us, I was pretty crushed when they announced that Episodes Luna and Aranea weren’t being released. There’s a lot I can say about prioritising certain characters over others - I don’t think I’ll ever be not bitter about Luna being denied her moment in the spotlight for real - but I can get on board with Ardyn being the one they chose to keep: we have a lot to learn about the hobo would-be king, and he has a lot to explain.

I love Ardyn as a character. I don’t think I need to explain why he’s so interesting, but I do think I owe a few words as to why I find him sympathetic. 

The huge complicating factors in all this are the giant gaps that were left behind in the base canon of this game. We aren’t really given much more explanation for his behaviour other than that he was given a tool and a task, and upon diligently completing this task, he was rewarded with imprisonment and banishment for 2000 years. While I can’t condone his actions in FFXV, part of me feels incredibly sorrowful for the life and existence that he’s had to lead - he didn’t ask for this, and at the very least, he could have been granted obliteration as opposed to the ongoing limbo and punishment for simply fulfilling the request the gods burdened him with (are we sensing a bit of a throwback to the roots of XV? FFXIII, anyone?). 

The other, less forgiving part of me is just irritated at what is clearly a massive, highly destructive tantrum being thrown at the cost of innocent lives. So you were denied the throne. I get that it sucks, man, but could you maybe spend the rest of your immortal existence perhaps doing something productive about it? I guess not - I mean, your brother chained you up, and your great great great great great grandkid has kinda been tasked and equipped to bust your ass into several million pieces. It sounds rough.

See? I can’t make up my mind.

Also, who is Izunia? Have we even figured that out yet? Send us some answers, Episode Ardyn.

Anyway, thanks for the ask, looking forward to more!

- spheri

[eggoreviews]

Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Rate Their Chances #1

Hi! This is a new thingy I’m trying based on the RTC series by Smash youtuber Billybo10k where I’m gonna take 5 characters, weigh up whether or not they’d potentially make into Smash as DLC and then give them a chance and a want score out of 100. Hoping to make this a regular thing so if you’re reading this and want me to rate a character, drop me a comment!

The characters I’ll be rating in this post are:

Geno (Super Mario RPG)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Bandana Waddle Dee (Kirby series)

Rex (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

Rayman (Rayman series)

Hope u enjoy!

Geno

Okay so, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months (or depending how long you’ve been into Smash, the past 12 years or so), you probably know all about Geno by now. Geno is a character who gained an unprecedented amount of fan support after only appearing and having a major role in one game that was made over 20 years ago, Super Mario RPG.

In terms of his moveset, Geno, as far as I’m aware, is a puppet who ended up harnessing the power of a star. His main sort of ‘thing’ in his home game is the gun on the end of his hand, so Geno would likely end up being similar to Mega Man in some regards, though obviously not with the powers Mega Man uses from the various bosses in his home series.

And I won’t beat around the bush. Geno has a very, very good shot of making it in. For lots of reasons. First off, we’re now aware that the Smash ballot from Smash 4′s DLC had a direct influence on the newcomers for this game, with the likes of Ridley and King K. Rool, both major fan requests, joining the roster. There is no doubt in my mind that Geno did extremely well on the ballot and, on top of this, Sakurai has actively tried to negotiate Geno into the game before back in Brawl, but Square Enix (the current owners of Geno, considering they were the developers of Super Mario RPG) were unwilling to play ball. But now? We have CLOUD from Final Fantasy in Smash, not to mention Geno’s mii costume from Smash 4, who was the only mii costume to get his own splash screen. Sakurai knows how much people want Geno.

The only potential sticking points for Geno I can see are more on Square’s end than Nintendo’s. Geno’s inclusion all hinges on whether or not Square is going to want to hand over the rights to a dead character. That is, Square Enix could be so unwilling to hand over Geno because they want to include more marketable characters that still have relevance. For example, Sora, as Kingdom Hearts III is just around the corner. And if Ultimate is all about the most requested characters making the cut, why wasn’t Geno in the base roster? Not saying this drops his chances hugely, it’s just a thing to note, as it’s not as if Geno had the problem other characters such as Spring Man had where they came into existence too late to be considered.

With all of this in mind, I’m going to give Geno a 65% chance of making it into DLC. All of the factors in Geno’s favour, as well as credible leaker Vergeben repeatedly mentioning a new Square Enix rep, put Geno in a very good position. But hey, nothing’s certain. And Sakurai has confirmed on Twitter that Nintendo made the selections for this game’s DLC line-up, so it’s really down to both Nintendo and Square whether or not they’d want to include a character that isn’t marketable to people outside of the core Smash fanbase.  But as for a want score, I’m going to give Geno a 35%. Nothing against this wooden boi, I’d just rather see Sora or a Dragon Quest character make it over Geno in terms of Square reps. Plus, I have no real attachment to the character.

Sora

Now onto the other Square Enix rep in this post, as well as my third most wanted character, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, the big strange crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy. Is he a good fit for Smash? Well, he’s got his huge freakin keyblade and a whole host of spells he could utilise in his moveset, so the answer is very easily a yes. And the thing is that Sora has one big leg up over Geno in terms of chances; relevancy. But I suppose it all depends on what is being taken into consideration when characters are chosen for DLC. For the base roster, it seemed to be all about fan demand, specifically drawing popular picks from the Smash ballot. But now that Nintendo as a whole is choosing who joins the fight, I’d say we’re much more likely to get marketable characters such as Sora (Basically what I’m saying here is, don’t expect another character like Piranha Plant. As much as I love Piranha Plant). And in terms of Nintendo history, Sora’s home series has made its way onto several of Nintendo’s handhelds over the years in the form of spin-off titles.

Sora, like every character, has a couple of hurdles though. The moveset potential, the Nintendo history and the fan demand are all there, but at the end of the day, it’s all down to whether or not Disney want to play ball. Because, contrary to what some people are saying, Sora is in fact owned by Disney and not Square Enix, as Disney hold the rights to all Kingdom Hearts characters that are original to the series. While Disney are notoriously stingy when it comes to their properties, I have little doubt that they would hand over Sora if it benefited them directly. Right now, we know that Kingdom Hearts III is not scheduled to appear on the Switch, but with a sort of ‘Switch Pro’ rumoured to be around the corner, KH3 could feasibly be ported over. And with Sora being exclusively a video game character, they really aren’t going to be saving him for anything else, are they?

For me, there’s a hell of a lot of factors going either way for Sora for me to be convinced either way, as Sora is a very difficult character to speculate on when Disney is involved. But he has a good chance. Right now, with things as they stand, I’m going to give Sora a 50% chance of appearing in DLC. It honestly could go either way. But as my third most wanted character, Sora gets a 95% want score. Kingdom Hearts made up a lot of my childhood and I’d love to see him included.

Bandana Waddle Dee

The bias is alive and well in this post as we take a look at our third character, and my second most wanted character, Bandana Waddle Dee from the Kirby series. At first glance, Bandana Dee could be dismissed as a weird side character or generic ‘mook’ character that has no place in Smash among the other iconic characters in the series. But this is very, very wrong. Bandana Dee has cemented himself in the Kirby series as the fundamental player 4 in the series, making regular appearances as the fourth protagonist of most of the modern Kirby games, most recently appearing as one of the three main dream friends in Kirby Star Allies alongside King Dedede and Meta Knight. And boy, does he have a lot of fan support. In Japan especially, Bandana Dee has an INSANE amount of support and this undoubtedly would’ve shown up on the ballot. And I have no doubt that Sakurai would be able to create a moveset for this perfect boi, especially considering we’ve never had a spear user in Smash before.

However, Bandana Dee’s issues come with what Nintendo’s priorities are in this latest cycle of DLC. We aren’t sure on what goes into consideration when picking these characters but my best guess, as I have stated above, is how marketable the character is, not just to the hardcore Smash fans, but to the casual players as well. Nintendo are likely going to be looking at what characters are most likely to sell as DLC, as well as what characters are going to promote their other titles. And I’m not entirely sure Bandana Dee fits this. Sure, Kirby Star Allies recently was released and, if he came with a Star Allies stage (yes pls), this could be a good promotional push for that game and there’s no doubt that Bandana Dee would sell well as DLC considering how many people love him. But with a new Fire Emblem game coming next year, alongside other potential first party reps Nintendo could’ve prioritised, it could be that my poor lil Bandana boy fell by the wayside this time.

Overall, I’m giving Bandana Dee a 60% chance of appearing. I’m fairly confident in his chances, as he’s a well-loved first party rep with a unique moveset potential and unquestionable marketability (I mean come on, tell me you wouldn’t buy him). But it’s all down to what Nintendo wants to promote in this cycle of DLC and whether they’ll want to keep their focus on upcoming titles or try and sell more of preexisting ones. But my want score for Bandana Dee is honestly a 100%. I love Bandana Dee and his design so, so much and I really want to see the Kirby set completed. Pls let it happen Nintnondo.

Rex

Rex is the main protagonist of the recent and extremely popular Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The character has a lot of fan support, is from a relevant franchise and is a Nintendo owned series that they’re going to want to promote. So why don’t I think he’s getting in?

Let’s break it down. I can see Rex being an obvious choice for DLC, especially if Nintendo themselves are choosing who gets in this time, as first party reps with a good amount of relevancy are more likely to take precedence. But after this last Smash direct, his chances are slim to say the least. Sakurai stated during this direct’s reveal of Rex’s mii costume: ‘We decided which fighters to include when we started planning, so we couldn’t add characters from titles like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was announced after planning had started. I hope this outfit will help you feel like you’re playing as Rex.’ So basically, I think this is an instant death sentence for Rex. Sakurai recognised how popular Rex was, so wanted to make sure the Xenoblade fans knew he wasn’t getting in so they wouldn’t be disappointed further down the line. And yet, I’ve still seen people all over the internet saying that Rex is a ‘guaranteed lock’ and he’s the most likely character n everything. And I don’t wanna kill these people’s hype but the proof is right there in that sentence. I feel like the people who are still predicting and asking for Rex didn’t see that part of the direct, or at least didn’t fully understand what Sakurai was saying. Rex isn’t getting in.

So with this in mind, Rex gets a 1% chance of appearing in DLC. While I’m confident he won’t be one of the 5 announced, the 1% is on the slim offchance we get a second season of DLC, which I don’t see happening either, as this cycle would bring us up to early 2020, which is almost exactly how long Smash 4′s DLC cycle lasted, as the game released 2014 and the last two DLC characters, Corrin and Bayonetta, were added in early 2016. On top of this, I’d say 5 more characters is plausibly our final roster for this game, considering Smash 4 had 7 DLC fighters and three of those were returning veterans. So yeah, I’m really not holding out hope for a season 2 and, in turn, Rex. But for a want score, Rex gets a 70%. Shulk is one of my mains and I love the look of the Xenoblade series, even though I haven’t gotten around to playing it yet. Rex is someone I’d like to see, though there’s another Xenoblade character I would much prefer that I’ll cover in a future post.

Rayman

And here we are, at my most wanted character, Rayman. With Rayman at the top of my want list, I have put a lot more research into him than I would other characters, but I promise I will avoid bias in my final rating. Lessgo.

Rayman is an iconic third party gaming mascot owned by Ubisoft. And bias aside, he has a hell of a lot going for him. His moveset basically writes itself, as he could utilise items and attacks from his various mainline games and, as much as I wouldn’t be too hot on this, the Rabbid spin-off games too. I have no doubt in my mind that Rayman would be a perfect fit for Smash and would blend in well among the other third party mascots in the game, as he has a notable Nintendo history considering the majority of his games have appeared on Nintendo consoles. On top of this, he’s been a fan request for some time. After the infamous ArtsyOmni leak during Smash 4′s development cycle that falsely revealed Rayman would be in the game, he surely would’ve received a huge boost in support that definitely would show up on the ballot. While this is just speculation on my part, I think it’s pretty safe speculation. But would Nintendo and Ubisoft be able to negotiate Rayman for the game? I think the answer is very easily a yes. Nintendo and Ubisoft were already working on Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle back in 2015, showing a partnership between the two companies that has continued all the way through Ultimate’s development cycle. As well as this, Nintendo recently lended Ubisoft one of their characters, Fox from Star Fox, to appear in the Switch edition of Starlink: Battle For Atlas. Nintendo lending characters like this isn’t exactly common and I think it’s extremely likely that Ubisoft will return the favour by lending one of their characters to a Nintendo IP. And where better to put him than Smash? As a final lil thing, the Rabbids have been included in Smash Ultimate as spirits, while Rayman himself appeared in Smash 4 as a trophy when he had no other content in the game. So Ubisoft already have a presence in Smash.

As for what’s standing in Rayman’s way, a lot of his hurdles can be very easily worked around. Some people have been citing Rayman’s recent inclusion into Brawlhalla as a reason why he won’t make it into Smash. But Ubisoft bought out the company that makes Brawlhalla, Blue Mammoth Games, making Brawlhalla their property. So of course they’re going to put their own character into their own game. And if Ryu can be in Marvel vs Capcom whilst also joining Smash 4 in DLC, Rayman can likely do the same. And it isn’t as if his inclusion would ‘sabotage’ Brawlhalla, as he likely wouldn’t even be announced until 2019, giving Ubisoft an ample amount of time to build hype for Brawlhalla. But now we know Nintendo are choosing who joins the fight in DLC this time around, is it likely that they’d have chosen Rayman? Honestly, it could go either way. We have no way of knowing if there will even be third party characters in DLC, though my best guess is that there will be, as I think Nintendo is well aware that characters like Rayman would sell extremely well. And like I’ve already stated, Nintendo and Ubisoft are on really good terms and Ubisoft have yet to lend a character to Nintendo in the same way that Nintendo lended Fox. So with this in mind, Rayman could very easily be one of the five characters negotiated.

I promised I’d keep my bias aside for my final rating, but without considering what I want, the amount of evidence for Rayman’s inclusion is compelling. However, nothing is certain and it’s just as likely that Rayman could’ve been skipped over altogether. We have no idea how these negotiations take place or what Nintendo is looking for in bringing new characters to the roster. But taking all of this into consideration, Rayman gets a 70% chance of joining the roster. I know that’s high, but I’m confident in this rating. He’s got everything lined up in his favour, so it all depends on how the chips fall. But as for a want score, Rayman of course gets a 100%. Nothing really matches Rayman in terms of wanted characters for me so here’s hoping he makes the cut.

Thanks so much for reading! As I said, if you’d like me to rate a character, go ahead and drop a suggestion in the comments and I’ll rate them in the next post that should go out within a week or so. I’ll also be logging each character that I rate in a lil spreadsheet that you can check out here to keep track of all the ratings or whatever. Stay hydrated my dudes.

[tenebraetrash17]

I've been overhearing people voice doubts about the upcoming DLC interview with Tabata and I would like to highlight a part of that post.

“There’s still this kind of connection between us and the users. So why not try and create something new based on that need? That’s what we want to do with the next DLCs: create an active relationship with the users. We want to thoroughly secure the story in places where people think there are some pieces missing in the puzzle — we want to alleviate those issues.

“At the same time, we want to build something new with the users, create a different sort of possibility with the direction that the story of Final Fantasy 15could head. That’s something that’s going to be new, and it’s going to be pretty exciting to make. The next DLC will be a brand new story,” he says. “Last year’s DLC was already initially planned from the main game. [Episodes] Ignis, Gladiolus, and all that — that was Season One. This will kind of be like moving into a Season Two.”

"We want to thoroughly secure the story in places where people think there are some pieces missing in the puzzle — we want to alleviate those issues."

That tells me that the DLC will still be tied into the story! It will also be focusing on the happy ending though, and honestly, I love Tabata and what he's done. He has a lot of heart and really cares for the fans. 

I have faith that these DLC's will still be amazing, maybe it's best not to keep my hopes high, but I believe that the story is at least more easily put together now, a far throw from what it used to be. And the team still patches in cut scenes and doesn't tell anyone too! So the story is ever growing, and could very well have more content than we realized to begin with!

Even if the story doesn't grow by much, although a part of me doubts that is the case, I will still remember the characters, and how real they felt. The friendship between the Chocobros feeling so real and Ardyn's charisma making him one of final fantasy's best! Ravus' love for his sister, while nothing new, made you sympathize because he clearly was never going to have a happy ending. And Luna being a strong female character in her own right! Who showed that you didn't need to hit anyone, didn't need to be sassy, she conducted herself with beauty and grace, doing all she could to make sure the light would be returned. And that isn't even touching on the many others joining the cast that people love!

I still can't wait to see what's in store, and I know I'll still be supporting the game.

[breegullbeakreviews]

My hopes and dreams may have been dashed by the Jim Carrey who stole Christmas and a Tony the Tiger’s luchador cousin, but we still have DLC to look forward to. Here are my out there and not so out there ideas on who should join the roster in the Smash Pass.

Rules: No echos. The announcement claimed these types of new fighters won’t be a part of the pass. This doesn’t mean a new fighter may not come bundled with an echo of themselves, but these types of fighters won’t be a part of this list.

Also no Assist trophies. As much as I want Spring man and Ribbon girl to punch in I don’t see them replacing or removing an existing assist trophy to add a character in.

Fighter: Banjo & Kazooie

I am still holding onto the dream. The duo of bear and bird are tied to the Nintendo 64 despite no longer being owned by the big N. Phil Spencer is down to get Banjo in the game so the only real question is if Sakurai thinks they are worth adding. As far as Nintendo wanting them, it would only be if some deal was worked out for the N64 classic. I’d assume both announcements would be near one another.

I’ve gone over their endless potential for moves before and that hasn’t changed. Grant Kirkhope killed it on the soundtrack for these games so there are plenty of tracks to choose from. The only real question is what the stage will be. Smash is usually inspired by stages more often than it copies a direct area, so in that regard I think Spiral Mountain would probably make the most sense. I think the Rusty Bucket has a lot of potential as well, but if the idea is to go for something iconic I think you have to go Spiral Mountain.

Fighter: Doom Slayer

Not giving up on this one either. Odds probably aren’t great though. Doom is a very western franchise and not one super linked to Nintendo, and let’s not even get into the violence and religious aspects. The one thing it has going for it is that it is a very important franchise to the history of gaming and Bethesda seems to be on good terms with Nintendo. Doom Eternal is coming to the Nintendo Switch so it could be a cool marketing move to drop this fighter in to build up hype.

Just because he wouldn’t be a Snake echo anymore doesn’t mean he doesn’t have potential. The Doom Marine has plenty of weapons to pull from in his past games and it wouldn’t be too hard to pull some from the upcoming Doom Eternal. I also don’t think it’d be much of a stretch to give the Doom Marine an echo fighter in the form of B.J. Blazkowicz. He is equally important to the history of first person shooters. Doom Marine would certainly get the stage though as Nazi Germany isn’t something I see getting shown off in Smash. A space station on Mars with maybe a transition to hell seems perfect for a stage.

Fighter: Lara Croft

Odds are if we get another Square Enix representative it would be Geno, but Lara Croft is another major gaming icon, just again more western focused. She has appeared on Nintendo consoles so the only issue is coming up with her moves, and I don’t have many ideas for this. Her combat style is very weapons heavy, but she doesn’t have much that would work for close range at least from my experience with the franchise. Like Doom Slayer, I only see Nintendo green lighting this if we are getting some Tomb Raider title on the platform before February 2020.

Stage wise Lara Croft has tons of crazy set pieces to draw from. I assume the stage would be a tomb of some kind with plenty of hazards and maybe even a guest appearance by the iconic T-rex. Lara has plenty of costumes to pull from. If one major thing keeps Lara out it’ll be her moves.

Fighter: Geno

People want Geno. I am not one of those people. I have never played Super Mario RPG, and unless it comes to Nintendo Switch I probably never will. I really have nothing else to say except that I think he is rather likely to be in the game as DLC. Geno could be tied into a remaster or rerelease of the game on Switch, but it is possible Nintendo will just bring him in because fans want him.

Fighter: Shantae

Being a spirt does not preclude one from being a fighter. Despite having yet to review it, I was a backer of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero despite having zero history with the franchise. Shantae has history with Nintendo. Debuting on the Gameboy Color Shantae is a mix of traditional platforming and some metroidvania mechanics. Now I’m sure plenty of people would be pissed if she got in over Shovel Knight, but I think she has a lot more to offer.

For one thing we don’t have another fighter who uses their hair. That alone will give her some interesting standard attacks. She also has a plethora of magic and transformations that could make for an interesting set of special and smash attacks. As far as a stage goes I think the central town would be the best representation of the series as a whole. Maybe have part of the stage feature a dock so that Risky Boots can dock.

The music in the latest game is fantastic. You could bring everything over unchanged and it’d fit in. Every track has a beat that makes you want to get up and dance while still getting across the mood. Overall I don’t think Shantae’s chances are great. Mostly because she is an indie character and she’d be pretty obscure for Nintendo to pick for one of five DLC fighters. Let’s just say I’m not holding my breath on this one.

Fighter: Dixie (& Kiddy?) Kong

Another much more likely fighter with a ponytail. I have not played a Donkey Kong game featuring Dixie. I also don’t like the Donkey Kong Country games, though I do like DK64. That all being said I understand people want Dixie in. She is one of two playable characters in DKC2 which is regarded as the best of the trilogy.

Now why did I say Dixie and Kiddy? Well I think there is potential to make Dixie unique by having her nephew help out in some way. One thing that neither DK nor Diddy get across is the weird health system of the old games. If a Kong is hit you switch to the other one who was running alongside. I think using that relationship between the two could make Dixie really stand out. That being said I could also see her coming in on her own. Potential have it be a Zelda/Sheik style swap.

Now I also think there is echo potential with Tiny and Chunky, though I think it’d be more likely to have s singular Dixie have Tiny as an echo than getting all four. Dixie’s single ponytail versus Tiny’s two could change the range and speed. People talk about Tiny as Dixie’s replacement so I don’t think it’s a stretch. I have no idea what sort of announcement this could tie into. Maybe another DKC game or a DK64 remaster.

Fighter: Gen 3, 5, or 8 Pokémon

I expect this would be a gen 8 Pokémon over a gen 3 or 5 one if only because outside gen 1 additions new fighters have been from the latest generation. Melee added Mewtwo and Pichu. Brawl added Pokémon trainer and Lucario. 4 added Greninja and Ultimate is adding Incenaroar. Who knows what Pokémon it’ll be, but I’m for a grass type.

If we do roll back to gen 3 I’d hope for Sceptile or Grovyle. We need a fully evolved Grass starter in the battle. As far as gen 5 goes Emolga would be a third electric type but it’d be interesting to have in there with its flight and thunder. Outside that maybe Krookodile. I’d also not be opposed to a new Pokémon Trainer as long as the Fire starter isn’t the third stage. Ideally it’d be Tepig, Dewott, Serpirior or any combination if the Hoenn starters without Blaziken.

If the stage is gen 8 I don’t know where it’d be obviously. As for gen 3 the Sky Pillar could work, but I would not be opposed to a plethora of locals. Fortree city, and Mt. Chimney come to mind. I think Shoal cave could be interesting using the games internal clock to change the stage with the tide. Gen 5 I’m not picky. Mostly because I hated gen 5 and forget almost everything about it.

Fighter: Fire Emblem: Three Houses character

I actively do not want this, but knowing Sakurai it’s possible that we will see another anime sword boy or girl. With Nintendo selecting odds are lowered, but it is still a possibility.

Fighter: Tetris Block

Yes I watch GameXplain. I think this might be a bit far outside the box for Nintendo to pick, but if a Gameboy Classic is in the works this is some easy cross promotion with the system’s killer app. Music is obvious. Having the stage be a game of Tetris seems to be obvious. If the Tetris block is a fighter the stage would need a different art style than the character. Don’t ask me how it’d fight. Only Sakurai truly knows.

Fighter: Steve & Alex (Minecraft)

Most people know Steve’s name, but less know Alex. This is again Microsoft owned, and outside getting representation from the second bestselling game of all time, I don’t know what would compel Nintendo to select them as fighters. Stage wise the possibilities are endless. In a world of blocks and biomes it is hard to pick just one. I could see a stage divided into multiple areas like Delfino Plaza. I could also see a destructible stage that rebuilds like Luigi’s Mansion, though maybe not always the same way.

Move wise the two have a lot of tools, potions, and blocks to pull from. If a Creeper doesn’t show up here or as a stage hazard, than it needs to be an assist trophy. Music may be an issue. The music doesn’t seem like it’d transition well to battle music.

Fighter: Tails

I have never owned a Sonic game. I am not a Sonic fan. That being said with Shadow out of the picture I think Tails could be a great addition. From what I know of the character he seems to be more about verticality than speed. He also has gadgets that could make up his final smash.

As for a new stage maybe pull something from Mania or Forces. I assume most of the music is already going to be in the game so that might be an issue.

[czigonas]

Thank you for responding to my question! Now, I'd love to ask you about your predictions/wishes about the (hopefully) upcoming sequel to MD. Who is going to bite the dust? Will we reunite with Malik, Frank (again), Sarif and together with some other allies (Aria? Alex?) take down at least some of the evil guys? Will Adam be free of his programming or sadly, will he die in the end?

ohhhhhhh man. this is gonna be kinda long, so strap in.

realistically? the next game is the end of Adam’s arc. I think we’ll hear about (and see, if we’re lucky) the California earthquake that will take out Megan Reed and the Roccasecca Beach facility (and possibly ShadowChild and her wife). I don’t think we’ll see Malik again, sadly. they got away with only giving her an off-screen cameo in MD, and unless they drag her in for a dlc like they did Pritchard, I think she’ll be quietly swept aside once again.

as for Pritchard, I think we’ll see him again. I don’t think the dev team quite realised (or wanted to believe) just how much people liked him until System Rift broke our hearts. that might have been their hope at a last goodbye to him, but I think they’ll have another riot if he doesn’t get at least a little screen time in the next game. if he’s not killed by the end of the game (the phrase “they both go down together” comes to mind) I hope he goes to work with Tracer Tong or the New Sons of Freedom, but I think if Adam dies, so does Pritchard.

Sarif is done, I think. they fucked up with the original voice actor and in trying to bring him back with someone new. he’ll either quietly disappear into Rabi’ah or be shown to be a(n evil) clone himself or something. personally I think we’ll get a newspaper article about the arcology and Sarif and Brown all just... quietly failing somehow.

I think most of TF29 will sadly also be swept under the rug. betrayed from within by Auzenne and/or Chikane (and from without by Manderley and the rest of Lyon). Miller is too idealistic  - and MacReady as well, in his own way - to survive the Rise of Page and the Majestic 12. either they’re killed early on (or in another comic series like Children’s Crusade) or a few of the major players defect with Adam (Miller, Mac, Chang... Smiley probably dies, unfortunately. Aria will probably be fridged because the series has a really bad track record with that) and get killed in other missions or offscreen during or after the game.

as for Vega.... it really depends on who Janus turns out to be. if the inadvertent hintdrop of Janus being Volkard Rand is true, than the Juggernaut Collective becomes an arm of the Illuminati working against themselves for their own ends. that part doesn’t surprise me at all, but how Vega reacts to the knowledge really depends on how true to character they keep her (and considering they couldn’t even settle on a fucking race for her between The Fall, Black Light, and MD....). I have hope Vega splinters off to join Adam and work against the Collective (if they’re truly Illuminati) but she’ll probably die in a revenge-fueled mission against them or get shuffled into the background of the New Sons of Freedom to fade away in the same manner as Malik. I would love for her to also go work with Tracer Tong (and just be retconned to be elsewhere/retired by the events of DX1) but I don’t hold much hope for it.

all other things aside, I hope we see Tong at least once so he can continue to be the only character to show up in every DX game.

I also really hope (and think we’ll get) to see Anna Navarre and Gunther Hermann. we got a teaser of Gunter in Black Light, and I think they know they have to set those guy up a little more, along with bringing FEMA and Page to (more) power. I also think we’ll see a little more (probably through emails and articles rather than ‘in person’) of the Smol Dentons. I’m here for more Dentons.

as for game content... probably the end of his arc is about taking down the parts of the Illuminati that Jensen can see right now: people who aren’t in DX1. so the fall of Volkard Rand (and the Juggernaut Collective); the stalling of the arcology projects because of a loss of fortune for Brown; and the further dismantling of Picus and Everett’s rise to psuedo-power (in preparation for his fall after the Majestic 12 coup). I suspect the game will either take place right in 2030 (during/after the earthquake) or in 2033-4 (just before the MJ12 coup). if Adam doesn’t die outright at the end, it’ll be another “three button” choice where the “best end” is for him to kill himself (and someone else/take down a building with him) to prevent some greater tragedy. I doubt we’ll be given a choice though, since I don’t think they’ll try to place another game between DX6 and DX1 with the timeline getting so tight. if they do it’ll be another cheap spinoff like The Fall, probably focused on the New Sons of Freedom or (holyfuckingshitplease) Paul.

if Adam Jensen dies in the earthquake with Megan Fucking Reed I will be so pissed.

(sorry this got so long. I’ll save all my other hopes and my wildly non-canon dreams for another post.)

[karlitaburrito]

Insanity

Pairing: Trevor Collins x Reader

WC: 4,310

Summary: On and Off relationships were something that no one liked but yet you and Trevor have played this game for too long.

Inspiration: 100 Letters by Halsey

Warnings: Angst?

Author’s Note: For like a year now I have been wanting to write again and it’s hard for me to find the motivation to do it again. This is my first fic in years so I would love for some feedback on my writing and how I can improve. This fic is loosely based off of a Halsey song so take it as you will. Enjoy!

As long as you have worked at Rooster Teeth, you have been in an on and off relationship with Trevor. You were originally hired as an editor for Achievement Hunter and back when Trevor was lead editor, he taught you how to work in the office and all the schedules and that’s when you both clicked. There was constant flirting back and forth until he finally asked you out. The beginning of your relationship was honestly amazing. Trevor made you laugh and he was always there for you whenever you needed him and vice versa. Trevor would also do this thing every morning where he would leave you a letter on your desk every morning that would tell you how amazing you are and how he is so lucky to have you and you would keep them in your jean pockets so you can take the letters home.

Things started to go south when you transferred departments from being an editor at AH to being a commentator over at The Know. When Ashley presented the opportunity to you, you just had to take it and when you told Trevor, he seemed happy for you but you knew something was off. He was starting to distance himself from you and he was constantly jealous of some of the guys over at The Know like Jon and Ben. That’s when you broke it off the first time and then a cycle was formed from there. You and Trevor wouldn’t talk for a few weeks maybe two months and then one day you see a letter on your desk with his handwriting and that’s when you cave and take him back. Many people told you to completely break it off because it isn’t healthy for both of you but you just can’t let him go.

One Friday morning, you woke up in Trevor’s bed with his arms wrapped around you after having a movie night with him. We had decided to watch as many Harry Potter movies you guys could before knocking out. You both were only able to watch two and half. You both had just recently gotten back together and this time you’re hoping this will be the one where there will be no break up this time. You didn’t want spend the nights alone again crying on your bathroom floor. You felt his arm hug you tighter meaning Trevor was waking up as well.

“Good morning (Y/N),” he yawned as he gave you a kiss on top of your head. You still feel the same burning sensation every time he kissed you.

“Morning,” you replied back as you untangled yourself from him so you can both start getting ready for work but Trevor’s arm grabbed you before you left the bed.

“No stay here for like 5 more minutes,” he whined as he started to pull you back in and to be honest you just wanted to lay in that bed with him all day but you both had a job to go to.

“You know I would love to but you and I both can’t afford to be late, especially today because you’re on the podcast and I have a bunch of news to pre-record today,” you told him as you finally got out of his grip and start heading over to his drawers to find whatever clothes you have at his place. You heard him groan but he finally got up and headed straight for the shower.

After going through at least four of his drawers, you were only able to find one pair of your jeans. You must’ve cleaned out your stuff during one of the break ups and you just didn’t remember. As you were putting on your pants, you heard a paper crumple in one of your pockets. You took the folded piece of paper out and realize it was one of Trevor’s letters. You don’t even know when this one was given to you because the date and the majority of the letter’s ink is gone from the wash. The only words that made it alive was the last line, “I will love you forever,” and his signature. You smiled finding one of his letters even if it was forgotten in the wash. It’s a reminder of how amazing this relationship can and will be. You put the letter on top of the dresser and then grabbed one of Trevor’s shirts for today.

You heard the water stop running five minutes later and a soaking wet Trevor with only a towel wrapped around his waist comes out. It’s a sight you haven’t seen in awhile and damn did you miss it.

“Have you’ve been working out lately?,” You asked him biting your lip because damn, Trevor is looking pretty great especially his arms. His tight grip that he had on you this morning makes more sense now.

He looked over at you and smirked because of the question, “Yeah I have thank you for noticing,” he responded as walked towards his closet to only take another look at you.

“Isn't that my shirt?” He asked with his eyebrows raised at you. You nodded yes back to him.

“I totally forgot that I took back a bunch of my clothes a while back,” you uttered as you started to look down to the floor.  You hated seeing Trevor’s face whenever you mentioned a break up.

After that, it was quite while both of you finished getting ready for work, neither of you said a word until both of you we're in his car on your way to the office.

“(Y/N) listen,” Trevor sighed as you looked at him ready to listen and he continued, “I know we have been doing this for too long and I'm going to assume that you're just as tired of this game like I am. I want it to work this time, and I think we can make it” he grabbed you hand as he ended his statement and gave it a reassuring squeeze in which I squeezed back.

“I love you (Y/N),” he said and it took you by surprise, this is the first time he’s said it in a long time.

“I love you too Trevor, I always have,” you replied as you both pulled into the office.

Later that day, while you were researching for for a story on upcoming DLC for Destiny you were interrupted by an overtly happy Jon Risinger.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N) are we still a go on our lunch date?” He asked spinning your chair and you mentally face palmed because you forgot to tell Trevor in case he wanted to have lunch with you today.

“Let me see, I have to text Trevor,” you explained and you heard Jon groan as you started to type the message.

“He isn't going to be happy about it and you know that,” he stated and you brushed it off.

“I swear he won't be mad this time, he wants it to be different, he wants to make it work,” you told Jon waiting for Trevor’s response.

“What is this now, like the seventh time that you guys have gotten back together? I'm saying this is as your friend but I don't think it's going to be different this time (Y/N), he is going to get mad and start accusing you of cheating and then you guys break up and everyone here will see you sad until he leaves his apology letter,” Jon theorized and you kept look at your desktop trying to work and not wanting to listen but he continued, “YOur relationship with Trevor is literally where that definition of Insanity comes in, where you do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results each time. You can't keep doing this to yourself (Y/N), I get that you want this relationship but how many times have you've both been hurt?” He asked not really expecting an answer from you but just wanting his his question in your thoughts.

As you were about to respond to Jon, your phone vibseerated and you saw that Trevor responded.

I wanted to have lunch with you today :/ … but if you already promised Jon, then I guess it's fine. You'll just have to make it up to me with dinner :)

You saw that the text has some mixed feelings but Trevor would've never agreed to me having lunch with Jon in the past let alone any male co-worker so you took it as progress.

“Look Jon, Trevor texted back saying it’s okay for us to have lunch, he didn't get mad,” you said as you started to to grab your bag to head out for where ever you were going for lunch.

“Whatever you say (Y/N), let me just get my keys, I’m driving,” Jon said defeated. You didn’t want to think about how Trevor’s text seemed negative but you kept telling yourself that this was progress. Trevor was getting better.

A few weeks had gone by since the day Trevor and you talked in the car and things were interesting to say the least in your relationship. There were regular date nights at Trevor’s place where you guys would have dinner and you would either watch a movie or binge on whatever show you would find on your recommended list from Netflix. You didn’t always stay the night but it has been more common recently that you have stayed over and you started to have at least half of your clothes in his drawers now. He has been putting more effort on seeing you over at The Know’s office and you have also taken the time to walk over to your old office as well and see him at work. He has also been leaving you more of his love letters on your desk when ever you were off recording a news story.

Even though the amount of effort that you both are putting in is way more than it has been in the past, your colleagues still had doubts and you couldn’t blame them. Whenever Trevor came around the office and he sees you do a story with Jon or you’re on an episode of Glitch Please with Adam Ellis, he gets really tense and you can feel his eyes on you like daggers. He isn’t like that when you’re with Mica or Ashely, just the guys. He doesn’t say anything or question your relationship with your co-workers like he has done in the past but you can tell that he wants to. Jon and Ashley keep warning you that this is a sign but as always you just ignore them. He is getting better, at least you hoped.

On Sunday morning when you woke up, you had gotten a text from Ashley inviting you and Trevor to her and Burnie’s for their famous Game of Thrones viewing party. You turned over on the bed to see if first Trevor was even awake and then see if he wants to go to the viewing party. You see that Trevor’s eyes are starting to blink rapidly meaning he is starting to wake up.

“Morning love,” you said as you kissed his cheek which he responded by kissing your lips and as always you felt that burning sensation.

“Good morning, now do you care to explain to me why you are up at,” he paused to check his phone, “at 8:37 in the morning?”

“Ashley texted me that her and Burnie are inviting us to their Game of Thrones viewing party tonight. Do you want to go?” you asked him as you sat up on the bed waiting  for his answer.

“That honestly sounds like a fun night, it’s better than us watching here at my place,” He replied getting up stretching out his arms. You smiled at him because going out with your friends was something he wouldn’t have agreed to do before, you text Ashley back saying that both of you will be there.

Later that day, on your way to the party, you were in the passenger seat of Trevor’s car texting some people for The Know who said they were gonna be there when you heard Trevor clear his throat garnering your attention.

“(Y/N), tonight you and I just want to have fun so I just have one thing to ask you for tonight,” he started and you had no idea where he was going with this. He took a deep breath not sure whether or not to continue his question but he continued, “... if any of your male co-workers show up like Jon, Ben, or even Adam, can you please just keep and interactions to a minimum, it would just make me feel better, you understand right?” he finished expecting you to answer right away.

You were in complete shock that Trevor asked you that. Was he actually serious? You looked over at him and you could only see his side since he was focusing on the road, he didn’t see your shocked expression. You want to tell him that he’s insane to even ask that of you but you didn’t want to start this fight. This is how the break up fight starts and lately he has been behaving so much better than he has before in the past. As much as your inner self is telling you that this is the Trevor that you don’t like, but the more you think about how he has been acting and all the effort he has put in the past few weeks, you felt like the least you can do is just do what he i asking for tonight.

“I completely understand, I’ll try to only talk to Ashley and I think she invited Mica as well,” you replied and he sighed out of relief. You should feel relieved too, you just avoided a fight, but you felt uneasy about the whole thing. You just hope that this night will go by fast then.

As you entered the Burns’s residence, you were immediately greeted by a very enthusiastic Ashley who already had an almost empty glass of wine. She offered you some and you declined, you weren’t really in the mood to drink. Trevor went off somewhere with Burnie the minute you guys came in, most likely him just trying to find some beer or food. The episode was about to start and more people were coming in. You saw that Jon was here and you wanted to go say hi and hang out with him because he’s your good friend but you knew Trevor wouldn’t like it if you did.

You decided to go outside and find somewhere to sit and hopefully Trevor will find you. You found a small couch that fits perfectly for two that was behind all the other seating arrangements that were set out in front of the screen. You sat down and took out your phone texting Trevor that you were already sitting down waiting for him. You opened Twitter waiting for him when you felt a weight shift on the couch. You expected it to be your boyfriend but you actually see Jon and his face read that he was concerned.

“You didn’t say hi to me,” he pointed out and you were frozen. You didn’t know where Trevor was and you were scared of his reaction if he saw Jon here.

“I... actually didn’t know you were here,” you lied staring at your phone again so Jon wouldn’t see your face, he can usually tell when you’re lying just from your face.

“You know I can tell when you’re lying right?” he chuckled and you sighed.

“I’m sorry,” you replied and Jon gave you a sympathetic smile.

“I mean, I saw Trevor in the kitchen with Burnie and from the way that you’re acting, I’m going to assume that there is trouble in paradise?” Jon said and you just have no idea how to even respond. You don’t want to admit to him how you were feeling because then any doubts that Jon had about your relationship would ring true and you did not want to hear an ‘I told you so’ right now. Just as you were about to think of something to say, you heard a couch from behind you and you turn your head and there was Trevor with two drinks in his hand. He had a smile but his eyes said something else.

“(Y/N), I didn’t know that we were joing to be sitting with Jon to watch the episode,” He said giving you the drink he most likely made for you.

“We’re not, Jon is just saying hi,” you replied taking a sip. You motioned for Jon to leave the couch but he actually gets more comfortable on the couch.

“Is there something wrong with me joining you two lovebirds?” he asked sarcastically with a sly smile and you just looked at Trevor, not knowing what to do or how to even respond.

“It’s not that there is anything wrong with you sitting with us,” Trevor responded and he paused to take a deep breath and he continued, gritting his teeth, “it’s just, you know, we came here together and so we should sit her together and as you can also see there is no room for all three of us.”

Jon looked at Trevor and then he looked at you and just shook is head. You were so uncomfortable right now and you think Jon picked up on that.

“All three of us know that isn’t the case but I’ll because I can tell that (Y/N) doesn't want me here,” he said getting up and Trevor immediately taking his spot.

Jon turned back and you mouthed 'thank you’ and he gave you a sympathetic smile and then looked back at Trevor and the smile left.

“By the way Trevor, jealousy isn't a good look on you, so I suggest you fix that for the sake of your girlfriend at least,” Jon added before finally going off to find another seat.

Trevor looked at you and he was pissed. You just hid yourself behind your phone just not wanting any of this.

“Did you tell Jon something?” Trevor accused and you just kept ignoring him, waiting for this damn episode to start.

“(Y/N), I'm talking to you, can you show some respect and answer me,” he said irritated and you scoffed at him. Right after he said that Ashley and Burnie announced that episode is starting and that we should quiet down.

“We’ll talk about this at home,” he hissed at you and he diverted his attention to the screen as the Game of Thrones theme song started to play.

After the end of the episode, you and Trevor said your goodbyes. When you said goodbye to Jon, you immediately apologized but he told you that you have nothing to be sorry for. The car ride was quiet and Trevor was holding the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white. His eyes never left the road and he had a look that could kill.

The minute you enter his place, Trevor was behind you and he slammed the door and you jumped. You didn't realize how mad he was.

“(Y/N), what the fuck were you and Jon talking about before I showed up?”

“Nothing Trevor, he was honestly just saying hi.”

“I asked for one thing (Y/N), is that you don't talk to them, and you didn't listen,” he stated and that's when you started getting mad.

“Trevor loo-” you started but he cut you off.

“Do you know how much I hate seeing you talk to Jon and every other guy in that office. The way that you guys act around is honestly not oka-”

You interjected because now you were fed up with this bullshit, “Trevor, I'm so fucking tired of this!”

He stopped and looked stunned but you continued, “Do you know how insane our relationship is just because you are insecure about me being in another office that you can't keep an eye on me?! The fact that I’m with you and that I keep getting back together with you should mean that I'm not interested in them!”

“(Y/N),” Trevor sighed and walked closer towards you but you just took a step back.

“I'm not done,” you breathed and took a step back from him, “Someone once told me that our relationship is the definition of insanity,” you paused to breathe and you felt your eyes start fill with tears, “doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result each time.” you finished and it this point you let the tears start to flow.

Trevor took a sharp breath and you saw tears start to well up in his eyes.

“(Y/N),” he cautioned and he took a jagged breath in, “what are trying to say?”

You wiped a few tears from your face and you took a good look at Trevor right now. This is actually going to happen. You’re tired of this game, you can't keep this up anymore and you knew Trevor couldn't do this anymore either.

“I'm saying that I'm done, for good,” you stated and Trevor just lost it.

You started to walk over to his bedroom so you can grab a few of your things and Trevor followed you

“(Y/N) please,” he begged as you started to to grab your clothes, “I love you so much and I promise that I will get better this time.”

“Trevor how many times have you promised me that? I actually thought this time would be different but the fact that you asked me to not talk to my friends just means that you haven't changed. I shouldn’t have to avoid my friends to make you happy,” you cried turning back around and facing him.

“I'm so sorry, please don't go (Y/N), you're everything to me,” he cried as as he gently put both of hands on your face as if trying to calm you down.

You looked into his eyes and you can see the pain in his eyes and it matched the pain you felt. A small part of you believes him, Trevor is perfect in every other way; he made you laugh, he had the same interests in you, and he truly felt like your other half. You both kept looking at each other in a comfortable silence. Whenever tears feel from your eyes, Trevor’s thumbs kept wiping them away. You never wanted to leave but you know you had to. Just as you were about to open your mouth to say something, Trevor did something unexpected, he brought his face to yours and kissed you.

At first you didn't kiss back but you eventually gave in. He kissed you with so much passion and you loved every moment of it. You felt his tongue graze your bottom lip asking for entrance and you let him in and you both got lost within the moment. You felt Trevor’s hands move from your face down towards the hem of your shirt and that's when you snapped out of it.

“Trevor,” you breathed out pulling away from him, “I’m being completely serious when I say I can't do this anymore. I love you so much and I would've given you everything, but we have both been hurt too many times,” you concluded and he just looked broken.

You started to grab that last of your things in his room. Once you were sure that you had everything, you went to the kitchen to find your keys. Trevor followed you like a lost puppy and it just hurt you even more to know that this is how it has to be. Once you found your keys, you took one last look at Trevor and the tears started to well up again.

“I'm so sorry that we couldn’t make it work this Trevor.”

He walked up to you and have put his hands on your face again, wiping away your tears once more. He gave you a long kiss on your forehead and you felt his shaky breath against your skin.

“Please don't go away (Y/N),” he whispered against your skin as you closed your eyes just trying not let more tears come out. You really didn't want to leave but it was for the best. You pulled away from him.

“It's too late Trevor,” you said turning back and leaving his home for the last time.

The next morning you showed up to work tired. You didn’t get any sleep last night at your apartment, you had cried all night. You had texted a few people in your office what happened last night just so no one would ask you anything, you were not in the mood to talk to anyone today. As you were walking to your desk, there were sympathetic smiles thrown your way but the last thing you needed were your co-workers’ pity.

When you arrived at your desk, a very familiar but very unexpected envelope was on top of your keyboard with your name written with his handwriting. You sat down grabbing the envelope. It felt heavy in your hands and tears were starting well up. You just took a deep breath while contemplating on whether or not you should open it. If you opened the letter, you knew that this cycle will start again. Even though he promised you that he was going to change, it was a risk you were not willing to take right now. You opened your bottom drawer of your desk and put the letter away in there. There will be a day that you will open the letter, but today was not that day.

[pallideinanis]

DISHONORED: DEATH OF THE OUTSIDER NOMINATED FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEO GAME WRITING.

Really?

(rant ahead, feel free to ignore this)

Don’t get me wrong -- I love Death of the Outsider and the world that it gave us but.. Compared to the last two titles and the two DLCs, I easily find this game to be weak in terms of its writing. It completely undermines the character development and growth that occurred in a past titles and in my opinion, really compromises the integrity of some of the series’ key characters. The entire plot was “just because”, and while I’m hoping Dishonored’s team is scrambling working to correct that in the upcoming Return of Daud book, I don’t foresee this character development massacre to be remedied.

I understand that there are certain guidelines that restrict the past titles from being nominated this year, but if it up to me, I would seriously give it to one of the other games. The writing is so much more cohesive in the other Dishonored games than the disaster that is DoTO, in my opinion. 

Dishonored 1 hugely capitalized on a theme of revenge and introducing the series gimmick: agency. The player can run around in the destitute world of Dunwall, making whatever violent or passive decisions they see fit while ultimately learning that even someone who has been stripped of everything can still play an integral part in what’s to come... And that sometimes, the easy answer isn’t always the best answer.

The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches come in with HUGE character development for series antagonist-turned-anti-hero, Daud. Further solidifying the idea that your choices matter, these DLCS drive two new themes of regret and redemption as we watch Daud, who was wallowing in regret for what he has done, come to peace with his evil actions and dark past, willing to accept the price for the choices he has made.

Then comes Dishonored 2, a game that surrounds an over-protective and loving father and his daughter, a daydreaming, but well-meaning empress. This game really shows off the dynamic between these two characters and their symbiotic relationship. One can’t and doesn’t want to exist without the other; they’ve been through too much shit together and have come to rely upon the other’s presence for emotional support. Further, the Heart of a Living Thing plays a key role in hidden themes of mourning loss and moving on with the reintroduction of Jessamine’s spirit, as well as her final release, fading into the great unknown.

This is the part where Death of the Outsider comes stumbling in all sloppy and drunk and disoriented and this is where I get angry. Dishonored 2 left us with an interesting cliffhanger. We see Meagan Foster staring at the antiquated, iconic Whaler mask, as well as the Assassins Blade, which certainly must feel comfortable and familiar in Meagan Foster’s hand. All while The Outsider watches from an open door, a mysterious blue glow shining in from behind him. We learn that Meagan Foster has faded from the shadows, and from them, Billie Lurk has risen. The events of Dishonored 2 have brought back haunting memories of the bad things that have happened to her and the bad things that she has done to others, and it has displaced Billie Lurk. That body has seen many identities and many lives and she just doesn’t know who she is anymore and she seeks guidance. Familiarity. Family. The ending of Dishonored 2 leaves us to believe that she is remorseful and has been seeking Daud through this whole adventure. Daud was like her father and she believes he can help her find herself.  

Cue up to E3 2017, the familiar, haunting Whaler shanty of Daniel Licht’s (rest his soul) echoes in and we’re met with a familiar face. Billie Lurk. We witness Billie kick the asses of several very large sailors by herself and it’s absolutely glorious. We’re getting the resolution to Dishonored 2′s ending--she’s finally found that old fart Daud and this was going to be a grand new adventure of finding oneself and accepting her past and--

What’s that, Daud? One last job? 

Wh-- ...weren’t you going to fade into obscurity? Isn’t that what you promised to Corvo when he confronted you and nearly took your life in Dishonored 1? And Billie, weren’t you lamenting all through Dishonored 2 about all of your regrets and mistakes? If these were weighing so heavily upon your shoulders, why are you so willing to just accept Daud’s offer? In the game itself Billie expresses initial shock towards Daud’s idiot idea, but she doesn’t display any unwillingness to listen to The Knife. I mean, I guess I can understand this considering how much trust she puts into this man because of how high she places him on that pedestal, but... the moment Daud is introduced, he just seems to shove Billie’s problems and identity crisis on the back burner, so Daud and his massacre of character development can take center-stage. Why? We’ve heard from Daud, we know he’s sorry for his past and we know he’s finally accepted what he’s done. So what’s Daud’s angle, why does he feel the need to make another stupid decision?

Because everything he discovered about himself and The Outsider in the two DLCS that starred him is absolutely moot. Inching closer and closer to the edge of his final chapter, apparently Daud no longer feels content with his decisions and chooses to throw blame onto a third party whom he knows remains neutral...or usually does. 

The Outsider is a deity who sees all things. He has a habit of giving power to those who have been scorned and likes to watch them rise from the ashes and regain the control that was taken from them. Corvo, Daud and Emily are great examples of this. However, Daud and The Outsider seem to have an interesting relationship. The fandom likes to make jokes about how The Outsider plays favorites and prefers Corvo over Daud, but truthfully the Outsider, at least in the past DLCs, displays a strange attachment to Daud. Going out of his way to guide Daud towards redemption -- something he has said is very rarely seen from his four-thousand years of issuing marks. 

So why murder your guiding light? 

There isn’t really much of an answer outside of Daud sort of randomly believing that everything will magically be right with the world once The Outsider is eradicated. This notion seems incredibly ignorant, especially from Daud. It’s no secret that the Outsider finds entertainment in chaos, but the player is quick to learn from waaaaaay back in the first game that it isn’t The Outsider that causes chaos...it’s the player. So why should Daud, knowing what he knows and after experiencing everything he has, demonize The Outsider? 

What’s the point of undermining the very core of your game’s primary mechanic, Arkane? 

The Knife’s absurd and uncharacteristic change of heart, alongside Billie being shoved into the dark, (as well as how the end-game saw The Outsider’s character being reduced to but a weak princess needing saving, and how Billie is apparently stuck in some fucking timewarp--but those are other rants for another time,) are some of the biggest issues I take with Death of the Outsider’s writing. That is why I find it undeserving of this nomination. These are all my opinions and you’re welcome to disagree. 

Thanks for sticking around so long, if ya did. 

[troikacounter-blog]

Rises from absolutely nowhere, don’t mind me I’m just here to dump my feelings and opinions on Episode Ignis. Spoilers below obviously!!

One hell of an essay located under the cut, complete with somewhat separated sections and everything.

Gameplay: In the main game, Ignis has been the one who specialized in support – specifically offensive support, with the utilities he brought as well as his powerful link strikes. Regroup is such an amazing skill as well. So I was really surprised that, as a playable character, Ignis’ playstyle was more or less relentless assault. Of the three Episode DLCs I was the most aggressive as him – countering is far more rewardable than just dodging, and his mechanic revolves around using the right form of attack depending on the situation. I felt like it’s another way to show Ignis’ personality when he’s not just functioning as a member of their quartet, when he’s not merely guiding and giving advice to his friends. It’s a glimpse of the commanding presence he exuded when their quarreling in the mines became too much, and in it shows his steadfast resolve especially in this DLC’s premise.

Aside from that, I love how the fights and the mechanics gave me a flurry of emotions. There are the grandeur of the boss battles of course, as well as the determination brought out from the conditions of using the ring. A lot of these were visually pleasing! And yet, this very serious and very emotional DLC features party glasses that light up, the ability to cook while there’s missiles exploding all around you, and this ridiculous “friendly match” that involves vegetables, falling billboards, and oh my god Noctis Lucis Caelum don’t use the Ring of Lucii against your friends???

Level Design: Oh, Altissa. Part of me dreaded this setting because I got lost in its city quite a lot when I was there. But fortunately this version had more accessible areas and Ignis was being very Spider-Man so it was less tricky to explore! (I still did copious amounts of map checking though.)

I love how the mood of this area – and the mood of the DLC in general – is a stark contrast to Episode Prompto’s. Prompto’s DLC was quiet and isolated, one that encouraged introspection from one of our more energetic and louder companions. Meanwhile, Episode Ignis threw one of their more composed individuals into a high-tension and chaotic battleground, and this is why we see him at his most emotional state of mind.

Ignis: Oh my god. So, Ignis has been my favorite character since the very start and I always appreciated how he was on details, on how he wanted be sure of everything around him and be able to see it with a clear mind. I love that despite his stoic demeanor he is very warm towards his friends and provides them with undying loyalty. To be honest, if I was given a twist that being royal advisor to the king also meant they are their personal assassins I wouldn’t even bat an eyelash because I always felt like Ignis would have been the kind of person to kill somebody with no hesitation if it was for Noctis’ sake.

And in a way I was right, but also oh my god. When his name meant fire I was thinking of homey bonfires not this intense raging flame. This wasn’t out of character for me at all, this were things I knew Ignis was capable of doing, but nothing could have prepared me for the heat and passion that came alongside it. I have thoroughly underestimated what Ignis was capable of, and now I love him even more for it.

(To even think my first guess of the alternative ending was that Ignis was going to betray Noctis! I was such a fool! The absolute and complete opposite happened here!)

I’m a bit upset at Square Enix, they were using my weakness against me. A change in the eyes to represent power? Intense violin solos? Being angrily optimistic and wanting to punch destiny in the face??? I’m still in partial shock, to be honest. Ignis actually did That. Ignis Scientia actually did All of That. What a hero.

Verse 2, Meta: Is it a canon ending? In my opinion, it is because it’s made by the game developers themselves. Making Verse 2 canon doesn’t mean the main game’s end isn’t canon either! A lot of games have multiple endings and this one isn’t different. They’re both canon. What that does irk me though is how a lot of people seem to dismiss Verse 2 as just some way to pander to the fans because oh look, it’s a happy ending! But it’s an ending with so much substance in it despite its vagueness, and this is why it brought in so much theory and discussion. It’s an ending that, in its own way, made sense.

It doesn’t mean that Verse 2 is enough to replace the main game, however. There’s not a lot of details in here and I understand that – this is a DLC for Ignis, and so the content of this DLC rightfully focuses on Ignis. We don’t know how Noctis and Ravus and company did their journey towards Niflheim this time. We don’t know how long Ardyn had Ignis in captivity. There is no Episode Prompto, although I would wager that the chances of Prompto discovering his true identity and ending up in a similar experience are still fairly high – after all, there’s still this giant metal death worm to take care of. God, I wish we got to see either Noctis or Luna yell very very angrily at Bahamut for being such a massive jerkwad. It can’t replace the main game because you would need a fairly longer experience for that – and that is what I feel like they’re building up on.

Verse 2 is a teaser. The fact that this is a scenario that happened in the game means that it is a scenario that abides by the rules of this game world. After all, a possibility has to be possible. Which means – yeah, that’s right, there is a way to bring back the Dawn without following the prophecy. If they’re searching Royal Tombs then it means that a clue may lie within the history between the Astrals and the line of the Lucii. Verse 2 also hints at Ardyn’s background, especially since he’s going to get his own DLC soon. And they’re still making more content for FFXV anyway, what Verse 2 shows is a hint of what happened in this world, and if we may get our explanations soon.

Verse 2, Themes: I will be honest, I’m lukewarm towards Noctis’ fate of sacrificing himself. I accepted it eventually because in that point in the game, Noctis was already trapped and it was really the only way he could have saved everyone. They were never given a chance to try for an alternative, and there was little they could have done the moments the daemons wreaked havoc into the land. But at the same time, I was something I didn’t completely appreciate. It was because there was no time to truly understand the circumstances, no time to really work out the choices they have. Hell, even now we don’t have a full picture! It felt like Noctis was robbed of his agency to the point where the only thing he could do is to at least guarantee the safety and future for his friends. I am good with heroic sacrifices, but not like this.

(This doesn’t hold much weight into this, but it also didn’t help that XIV was also very fond of heroic sacrifices during the point XV got released. At least those characters had a choice and did it out of their own will, but it made me very tired of this trope regardless.)

I understand that sacrifice is one of FFXV’s themes, but so is friendship and the comrades that were made along the way. The way I saw it, the conclusion from the main game focused too much on the former, and Verse 2 was there to emphasize on the latter as a balance. Yes, sacrifice is sometimes necessary, but must it always be something that is paid in blood? Dying is easy, living is harder. There’s so many ways to explore FFXV yet, and restricting ourselves to the main game scenario feels like we our limited in our options to experience that. Verse 2 has its own things to offer, and those things they offer are something quite beautiful.

The first one is for Lunafreya – I believe it was by her will that she was able to communicate Ignis the details of the prophecy, and I do believe that she did so in hopes of finding a different future for Noctis. I think without Ardyn’s intervention she would tell Noctis this herself, but…well. Unfortunately, it was something Ignis was incapable of acting upon when he ended up blind, but in Verse 2 he was given this opportunity. Thus he was able to pass on this will to others as well.

Verse 2 can’t be any longer for the reasons I mentioned before, but I would kill to be able to explore the ten year gap in this iteration. This was a ten year gap with hope and determination rather than a growing dread and desperation. They were able to prepare, and that preparation was something so many individuals participated in. People from sidequests, allies from previous moments, leaders of other cities. These were all the comrades you made along the way, it showed that long journey you took, all the detours you made – those weren’t just extra EXP and gil, those weren’t just for nothing. It wasn’t just your own fight now, it was a fight for everybody that lived in this world, and everybody did what they could in order to face this upcoming apocalypse.

One thing I screamed a lot on during montage is where we see Ravus alive and well inside his home in Tenebrae. Tenebrae is intact. TENEBRAE IS INTACT! This speaks volumes – for one, Ravus surviving meant that Tenebrae can still function as its own country throughout these years. Secondly, it meant that there is a high chance that Niflheim wasn’t able to set it aflame as it was during the main game. We don’t know what happens to Niflheim and chances are it fell apart still in this timeline, but if it was able to find somebody to take command, it alongside the other countries might have been able to conduct peace terms – proper peace terms, this time – in order for everybody to become united against a common threat. There would be other concerns later on, for sure, but those can be resolved at a later time, once the Dawn greets them once more.

Nope, Noctis, no sleeping in the afterlife this time. You’ll have a lot of paper work to do.

(I just want more politics in FFXV okay)

I’m not sure if Verse 2 would ever be expanded more upon, or maybe I’m just a blabbering old fool and this really is nothing but fan service in the end, still I won’t call this other end as just something to please the fans. The themes this Verse presented are still the feelings and the emotions these characters would like to express, their desires and wishes and capabilities. And I hear them.

[krys-does-otome]

Thoughts and Speculations: New Route in Mystic Messenger

So, it’s pretty much official who the new route is:

This guy.

This should be... interesting.

More below the cut, because this might go into spoiler territory, plus people might disagree with me about opinions with... certain characters.

Let’s keep this conversation civil, ‘kay? :D

-----------

Let me just start off with saying I’m mostly neutral towards V. I don’t completely love him nor do I completely hate him. I’ve had my sympathetic moments towards him and I’ve had moments where I’m just left scratching my head and left wondering what the hell was this guy thinking.

Let me also go on record as saying I’m neutral towards Rika as well. While I do agree that she has done some pretty terrible things, I don’t think she deserves the amount of hate she gets either.

If you have to hate one, you have to hate the other. Neither are completely innocent, completely blameless. That doesn’t mean that we can’t be sympathetic towards both of them. They both have their own problems, yes, V too, not just Rika. That’s what makes them interesting as characters: they have their positive characteristics as well as their flaws. 

Which is why, now that we will have a V’s route next month, I don’t want it to be a romance route.  Flawed and problematic as they are together, I don’t want to break them apart.

No matter how much you’d try to convince me otherwise, if it comes to it, Rika isn’t stealing ‘our man’.

We’re stealing her man.

We are the homewreckers, NOT RIKA.

That being said, I am not opposed for a more friendship/platonic-oriented route. Maybe found out what he was doing the eleven days where we couldn’t reach him when we needed him. While he’s done some... questionable things in his life, he’s not a completely bad guy.

My first real experience with V was in my first route, truthfully, was with Yoosung, and as anyone knows who’s played his route, Yoosung doesn’t like V very much. He questions him as he should, having reasonable doubts as anyone would (his beloved cousin Rika had ‘committed suicide’, but the only source of information about it (V) is keeping the details as vague as possible, not even providing ‘the body’ so to speak).

Though he keeps up the charade of Rika still being dead, I do like how he does try to reconcile his relationship with Yoosung. He kind of reconciled his place with me as well, that though he isn’t around like he’s supposed to be, he wants to do better by his loved ones, he’s just a little unsteady in the execution. He means well, but isn’t quite there yet.

Would you also believe it’s V’s fault for instigating my love for Jumin? Especially in Jaehee’s route, where he’s supposed to be hated? :’D

It all has to revolve around the scene involving this cg:

Up until this moment, I hadn’t thought much of Jumin, maybe a strong dislike towards him because, hey, this is Jaehee’s route (my second after Yoosung) and Jumin’s a dick. Nothing special.

All of that changed with this scene. 

So much so that it kind of soured Jaehee’s Good Ending for me. 

I don’t know if V was being serious with his ‘I have cancer’ upon my second playthrough of Jaehee’s route, but the first time through?

I honestly thought V was asking Jumin, his BEST FRIEND, to help him in killing himself. 

And that shook me. Shook me pretty bad.

It painted Jumin in a more sympathetic light for me. It was the first time he was really expressing human emotions, how much Jumin actually does care a lot for his loved ones. So much so that when we meet him at the party, I didn’t think he was trying to convince to become his new assistant or work for him or whatever.

I honestly thought he was just reaching out for help, or at least reaching out for someone sympathetic he could talk to over tea or something.

Then Jaehee comes and whisks us away to her magical coffee shop and I’m left hanging, try to reach back for a character that I’m supposed to hate for the route. This was only made worse by the fact that V didn’t show up at the party that route and I thought the worst had happened, leaving me in a crying mess... over Jumin.

Except this doesn’t paint V in the best light, however, trying to deceive his best friend with something as heavy as that.

^Pretty much my feelings on V in general.

Speaking of Cat Dad, despite the scarring first impression of their friendship, I think my favorite moments with V are all in Jumin’s route. Like most of the routes, we don’t really see V until close to the end. But I do like that V is the one that can knock some sense into Jumin, to tell him that Elizabeth is your cat, take responsibility for her, and that you’re basically holding a girl hostage, stop that.

(Bit cheeky too, lol.)

(BTW, Aria is the name I use in the game, so you know these are my screenshots, some of them from the most recent update and time stamp, lolol)

Despite this, he’s still supportive of his best friend and wishes them well, despite the beginning circumstances.

Plus, both these. Just both of these.

(My best friend is about to do something crazy stupid, of course I’m gonna stay and watch.)  

(Not Featured: The chat from the Christmas DLC where Jumin and V talk about writing letters to each other, and Jumin revealing about V’s bad handwriting and it’s adorable and wholesome, but I can’t find it, nooo!)

With the upcoming V route, I hope we can see more of this side of V, where he can be playful, maybe even arguably enjoying himself, instead of the apologetic and sad one we’re used to seeing most of the time.

Some Hopes and Dreams:

NOT A ROMANCE ROUTE, PLEASE, FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY AND GOOD, DON’T LET THIS BE A ROMANCE ROUTE. I’M NOT TAKING RIKA’S MAN FROM HER AND THAT’S FINAL.

At the very least, I would be happy if it was an outsider’s perspective looking in to the past, kind of like the beginning of the Christmas DLC where we learned about the charity fundraiser and how it works with Rika, V, Yoosung, and Zen.

I should also note that, while it’s only one route so far, let’s also note that there’s a possibility for 4 new call options, as revealed if you look in the call options while in route:

I’m sure at least one of those new call options is going to be V (because, well, new route coming out), but then that leaves open the possibility for three others. Who could they possibly be? AKA, who are we gonna spam call at all hours of the night?

The other three I can possibly think of that would be major enough to warrant a spot here, that have enough canon relevance to stick around...

Would be Saeran, Rika, and Vanderwood.

We might be actually getting knee deep into Mint Eye and what they’re all about in this route. :D

Wouldn’t that be neat, more phone calls outside of just the Christmas DLC with Saeran? Maybe even creeper phone calls while you sleep to check up on you or whatever (I’ve been playing through so many bad ends with him involved, you’ll have a hard time convincing me he doesn’t have a least a little bit of a thing with MC/us)(seriously, peeps, if you want more Saeran and haven’t played the bad endings, play the bad endings and the Bad Relationship Ends! You’ll see him plenty enough. As of the time of this writing, I’ve just finished up Seven’s first bad ending yesterday, and he’s there in all his creepy goodness. He’s also in Yoosung’s 2nd and 3rd Bad Ending, Zen’s 3rd Bad Ending, and Prologue, Casual, and Deep Story Bad Ending, from memory. Will probably get more as I continue with Seven’s Bad Endings)

If the route starts earlier than that, maybe we can witness Rika’s tragic fall as she loses more of her grip on reality, might be an interesting character study. Or just something to break my heart further. Same thing, really.

As for Vanderwood? Maybe it could be further in the future, as they do stick around in the Secret Endings a bit (mostly to annoy Seven, but whatever). There’s also the significance of them having the same voice actor as the Good Wizard from Cheritz’s previous two games, Dandelion and Nameless, as mentioned by @melizbeauty​ 

But really, it’d be more fun to call them just to annoy them. Because Vanderwood is a fun person to annoy, lol.

If nothing else, I’d like to piss the fandom off further in wishing for a Rika route if possible, in the future.

Yes, I’m dead serious. I’d play that. All of it. 

Instead of us stealing her man, let’s steal his girl.  

Platonic or romantic, I’d stil play it. 

Don’t let Jaehee be the only dateable lady in Mystic Messenger.

EDIT: did some minor editing to make a more cohesive flow, plus adding another pic.

[summonerwithbedhair]

Final Fantasy XV DLC - Predictions and Things I Want to See

(FYI - Before you read on, I'm going to get super spoilerific, so save this for later if you haven't yet finished the game.) 

First, I'll state the obvious - FFXV was severely lacking in the story department, even with the supplemental material courtesy Brotherhood, Kingsglaive, and Parting Ways. As someone who typically values good storytelling before all other aspects of a video game, this is the biggest thing I feel needs fixing via the DLC. 

I’ve thought about this practically non-stop since finishing the game, so I think I’ve established some pretty solid (and in one case, story-altering) theories here. I know this isn’t holy rote by any means, though, so if you have any ideas of your own, I’d love to hear them.

Here's what I'm guessing we're going to get from the three upcoming chocobro episodes: 

Gladiolus 

I’m fairly certain that this episode:

Occurs simultaneously with Chapter 7 of the main story (Party of Three).

Involves teaming up with Cor for a mostly fighting-based mission. 

My Theory: Whatever Gladio and Cor are doing is either a personal revenge errand (perhaps to do with Gladio's father, who along with Regis, was killed by Glauca in the attack on Insomnia), some other mission Cor does not want Noctis involved in, or to retrieve or kill Calgo, the Niflheim soldier who escaped during the fort infiltration in Chapter 6. 

What I Hope To Learn: More about Cor? A little more backstory concerning the Noctis/Gladio dynamic, which would help explain why Gladio in particular flips out at Noctis in Chapter 10 (it did seem rather overblown to me). Honestly Gladio doesn’t present much of a mystery to me, even though he has the least character development of all the chocobros (no real character arc here). So as long as I get to learn a bit more about the guy, I’m happy.

Questions That Will Probably Stay Unanswered: Whatever the mission, Gladio ends up sporting some hefty new scars, so unless I'm messing up the timing here, how did he heal so quickly from his injuries? Also - what book is he reading? ;)

Prompto 

I’m fairly certain that this episode:

Occurs following Chapter 11, after Noctis mistakes Prompto for Ardyn and knocks him off the train. 

Is a more story-based mission - obviously Prompto is going to be very tempted to shoot someone. I’m also thinking that, since Prompto isn’t the muscle of the chocobros, there’s going to be a lot of stealth involved.

My Theory: Prompto ends up on the run from Niflheim troops, trying to elude capture, all the while attempting to process why his best friend attacked him. I think the person he's aiming at in the brief preview we've had thus far is Verstael, who according to the official guide, is his biological father, and the reason Prompto has had to hide who he is for his entire life. That said, how would Prompto come to know this information? Perhaps Ardyn lets slip this info via creepy voiceover, now that Verstael is of no more use to him.

What I Hope To Learn: Much, much more about how Prompto came to escape Niflheim and avoid becoming an MT. Did he know what he was the entire time, or did he only come to grasp the full purpose of his “birthmark” after his fall from the train? How did his adoptive parents find him? Why are they never around?

Questions That Will Probably Stay Unanswered: How did Prompto become a member of the Crownsguard, especially since a) he’s not the greatest in a fight and b) he doesn’t have a long-standing “in” with the royal family the way Ignis and Gladio do? How did he prove himself? Did Noctis pull any strings? How did Ignis and Gladio come to place that much trust in him? I really want answers to these questions, but I have a feeling the DLC won’t go into this much depth.

Ignis

I’m fairly certain that this episode:

Occurs during Chapter 9, during the Leviathan covenant-gone-wrong, in which Ignis is attempting to evacuate Altissian citizens and fend off Niflheim attacks on Leviathan.

Concerns the circumstances surrounding Ignis’s injury and resulting blindness. As such, it’s probably equal parts story and combat.

Will have the most “impact” on the overall story, according to Tabata.

My Theory: I’m not sure who or what blinded Ignis, but story-wise, a person committing the act would bear much more weight than a random piece of debris. I can’t really nail down the culprit (since at that point Ravus had already decided to help Luna (and, by proxy, Noctis), and Ardyn was busy stabbing Luna at the time, unless Ignis was injured some time after Luna died and Noctis lost consciousness). I have a feeling that Ignis took the fateful hit for Gladio, which would explain why Gladio chooses to lash out at Noctis, since none of this would have happened had he been able to quell Leviathan’s wrath in time.

What I Hope To Learn: My biggest, hugest, CRAZIEST question of the whole game - did Ignis know Noctis was destined to become the true king? Maybe Regis didn’t tell him explicitly, but given Ignis’s studious, thorough nature, and the available lore, surely Ignis should have seen the pieces fitting together ahead of time. Perhaps he couldn’t predict the timing of the prophesy (given that the Niflheim attack came as a surprise to everyone in Lucis except Regis, and Noctis only needed to seek out the Armiger weapons and forge covenants with the Astrals after this point), nor that Noctis would be held captive by the crystal for ten years - but just IMAGINE the weight of that knowledge, especially when Ignis comes to realize all this is happening much faster than he had hoped. Did he keep his mouth shut at Regis’s behest, or simply to maintain his friends’ state of blissful ignorance, living without the knowledge that Noctis was destined to die? Is this the real tragedy of FFXV - the “story impact” Tabata hinted at?

Questions That Will Probably Stay Unanswered: How did Ignis become adjusted to his blindness and get back in fighting shape in the ten years Noctis was in the Crystal? Is he like Daredevil or something? Though I’d love the ability to go daemon-hunting with Iggy, Gladio and Prompto, it sounds like they didn’t hang out much after that point, and, let’s face it, playing as an injured Ignis struggling to get his groove back doesn’t scream “exciting.”

Any or All of the Above DLC

More than any other story aspect, I hope the DLC (or some other update) adds a significant amount of depth to the Noctis/Luna relationship. Is there any way Noctis can visit with her prior to the Leviathan covenant? Surely they can give us just one reunion scene? Surely there’s a purpose for this hole in the wall that leads to Luna’s quarters? Given Final Fantasy’s history of beautiful, tragic romances, I’m looking for a lot more here than I got. I can’t mourn someone I never knew, and when I’m feeling more compassion for a car than an actual character, you know there was a missed storytelling opportunity somewhere.

Then again (though I’d prefer it sooner), this could be fodder for a FFXV-2, which, given the game’s insta-success and Square Enix’s sudden fixation on FF sequels, is probably inevitable. As such, I’m going to theorize on that next, so stay tuned... 

In the meantime, if you want to weigh in on any or all of the above, whether you think I’m on the right track or completely out to lunch, let me know. I’d love to bounce some ideas around somewhere other than inside my own head. ;)

[bootycallofcthulhu]

thoughts on RE7 (very minor spoilers ahead):

First off, since I wasn’t allowed to play M rated games until I was like 15 (I grew up in a really strict household) my experiences with Resident Evil are basically: five year old me watching a neighbor playing RE2 thinking it was the funniest thing you could punt a zombies head, excessively reading the wikis because I was really into zombies in my teenage years and looking to write my own zombie-based story, borrowing RE5 from a friend, beating the shit out of Wesker with only a knife, playing the remake of the first game on PS4 (or rather, watching my roommates play it because they were better than me and I wasn’t used to the backtracking), then finally playing Resident Evil 7 yesterday. 

I’ve beat it twice in two days. This isn’t because I was in love with the game, but rather I had originally beaten it on my friend’s PS4 and was afraid one of my old friends from back home would look at my PSN profile and give me crap for not finishing it b/c I was too scared or something (it should be noted I was basically afraid of everything except horror movies in high school). 

So here are my thoughts on the game now that I’ve beaten it twice:

As far as survival horror goes, it definitely does do a decent job at fufilling the genre. Whether or not this is what the genre needed I can’t really say (I personally consider Bloodborne to be a great survival horror but that really depends on how you wanna define the genre). A lot of the game’s elements do capture the spirit of the first game in terms of atmosphere. In the transition from fixed-camera third person to first person shooter (one of my least favorite genres minus a few key exceptions) the game manages to retain the same suspenseful atmosphere the first game had. 

At least for like the first half. Which isn’t a bad thing (I’ll touch on this later). 

The first half of the game is spent exploring the Baker family’s plantation in the middle of a Louisiana bayou. The extremely large house with its various passages probably at one point looked really nice, but in its current state, is broken down and lifeless, minus the antagonists of the game. Its dimily lit, trashed, and overall 3 spoopy 5 me. 

The game utilizes this environment to its fullest. Most of the tension comes from the lighting. Most of the house, as said above, is not well lit, with a lot of the lighting coming from lamps or randomly better lights compared to the rest. Using these lights, the game generates a lot of the tension through the shadows cast. I definitely prepped my guns more towards shadows I or other objects such as desk fans than anything else in the game. 

The house is also pretty empty and as a result, quiet. There isn’t a lot of music in the game except maybe towards the end. Most of the game’s sound is voices, footsteps, or random bangs from either plot devices or the house just falling apart (this last part had me jumping a lot during my first play-through, and occasionally during my second). 

The other element of horror is the Baker family. Now I’ve jokingly described them to my friends that the Baker family is basically the American Horror Story version of the Simpson’s. The primary family members in the household are: 

Jack: The balding father

Marguerite: The wife 

Lucas: Actual piece of shit son

Zoe: The level headed daughter. 

Other than Zoe being a major character, you’ll find out why I think that of Lucas if you read the files and YOU SHOULD. The files in the game are how you get any semblance of who these characters were. This is pretty standard for RE games but read them files. 

I’ll also note right here: I don’t like the major antagonist as I feel its a bit of an annoying trope. This is purely me being picky but if you play it just know I hate this trope. Otherwise, I do like the direction taken with the major antagonist and the Baker family as a whole and I felt they were what made the story great when you combine it with the files. 

Now while you do get some development on the first three Bakers, characters like Zoe, Mia (your wife), yourself, and the major antagonist of the game don’t really get a lot of explanation as to who they were prior to the major events of Biohazard. Well, Mia sort of does but personally as a guy who likes character driven stories, I would have liked to know more on Ethan (you) and Mia’s relationship other than “they were married” to explain why this guy would brave through this entire house for his presumably dead wife and not say “yeah fuck that” as soon as he saw the first corpse. There was also a lot left to be desired when it came to the baker’s such as why their plantation has a morgue complete with an incinerator room. Like I think all I know is their grandma once went to the doctor but I’m still not too sure if that was their grandma or the mom and I like these things answered. Lucas does get a little fleshed out, but thats the most you see outside of the tapes.

Now the tapes get their own paragraph because I thought this was one of the cooler features of the game. As far as exposition goes, the game uses VHS tapes and by watching those, you can assume the roles of two other characters besides Ethan: Clancy, a camera man for a web-series about haunted houses, and Mia prior to Ethan’s arrival. While these don’t give you a lot of insight into the characters themselves, they tell you a little more about the happenings of RE7, as well as give a little more detail to the major antagonists. Not only that, but by taking the time to actually watch the tapes, you can basically give yourself clues as to what to look for/do in upcoming areas (basically answers to puzzles). 

I won’t spoil the story, but I will say I really enjoyed it, but the game is at most 8 hours long pending your difficulty. 

In terms of combat, I thought overall it was very well done. The guns felt nice to use, the enemies posed a threat, but were manageable and the bosses were fun. Granted, this is from a guy who played easy, as I’ve heard the bosses tend to have a little too much health. Minus one particular boss, I thought they were fun, but I can see the complaint that there are times where you just don’t know what to do, and the boss fight is basically a puzzle. They can also take away from the tension of the game with the one-liners used (an example being one of the characters picks up a chainsaw and says “groovy,” a throwback to Evil Dead that had me laughing pretty hard during what was supposed to be a tense situation). 

Now the cheeky one-liners, combined with Ethan’s kinda character development is what leads to the game being a lot less spooky during the second half. The game almost stops doing things to scare you, and instead seems to encourage you to go in guns-a-blazing (which is a dumb idea given how limited ammo is). The tension is still there, but most of it is replaced by a burning hate-fire. I really liked this, for the most part. It felt a lot more personal in the sense you weren’t playing as a person named Ethan, but rather you WERE Ethan, and you sort of feel this anger with him. At the same time, the game’s scare factor going down this way also means some of the late-game things that are meant to scare you feel really forced (that and some kinda poor voice acting but that might just be me being picky). 

As a whole, I really enjoyed the game and its story. Aside from wanting to learn more about the characters (which I hope to see in the DLC), my only big complaint is that

and it should be noted this might be a bit spoilery

 the ending sort of sets it up to cycle back into games like Resident Evil 5 and 6, where its more action focused. Given the ending, I can’t see something similar done unless they scrap these existing characters and keep coming out with new scenarios that tie together somehow.