#at least the eureka ones could only be upgraded with stuff from eureka

[the-manderville-mambo]

Personally I think that, out of all the relic weapon questlines so far, the one that has the best ratio of effort to reward is the HW relics. There's some grinding, yes, but it's far easier to bear than having to do the same exact thing 9 or 12 times (Zodiac weapons), or having to level up an entire separate thing just to progress a story in an entire separate area in order to unlock more weapon stages (Eureka and Resistance weapons), or just doing a bunch of roulettes to buy some rocks (Manderville weapons). And it has far more reward for that level of effort than any ARR, StB, or ShB relic while not being as ridiculously easy as the EW ones

[faraway-in-headspace]

I?? I searched Chicken Choice Judy on google out of curiosity because it sounds oddly familiar like there’s a similar-sounding name and I found 4 websites selling the shirt design. But the descriptions on these pages are BUCK WILD??

Written version of the descriptions under the cut (very long).

[Begin ID

First image states:  Long ago, when I had hair, I was an undergrad living in a house with nine other men. Near as I can tell, three of them (not sure which three) never bought food, just lived off what they stole from the Chicken Choice Judy shirt But I will love this other seven. We had several house meetings about it, but nothing changed. One day, I came in from grocery shopping. By coincidence, all 10 of us were in the kitchen. I started putting my stuff away. 1st thing I pulled out of the bag was my half-gallon of milk. I opened the carton, took a couple of drinks from the carton, then gargled some of it, and spit it back in. I opened my tub of margarine and licked the whole surface. By now, the room chatter had stopped because the other nine jaws had dropped open.) To your original question, those specific topics would take several years to build, as they depend on several layers of pre-requisites, which would require either that more advanced topics such as algebraic topology to be taught in elementary school, or that the buildup process happened blazingly fast during high school – both of which probably stretch the biological limits of what pre-teens and teenagers can reasonably be expected to accomplish. I spit on all my veggies, took the bread out of the package, and licked and spit on it, then carefully put it all back in the plastic bag. Remind teenage daughters to look through them before going on date with the boyfriend, in case they want to use one. I labeled it all and put it away. None of it was stolen. I never said a word, but I made it a point to repeat the performance anytime anyone was around to see it. Others began to emulate my approach and food theft stopped. Even I found it revolting, but it solved the problem. Works even better if you are sick or can at least make your thieving roommates think you are. While some cities are starting to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the country are continuing to wear masks in public and practice social distancing. Vogue is committed to staying safe, and offering hopeful, optimistic content that highlights moments of camaraderie and exceptional acts of heroism from around the world. We are all looking for a little comfort too—be it a soothing Instagram account or a stylish creator on TikTok. It reminds us of the power of little things.

Second image states:  A couple of guests informed me my office was too minimalist and that they expected more things to be hanging on my wall the Chicken Choice Judy shirt besides I will buy this next time they visited my wife’s and my home. I kinda hope they held their breath while they were waiting for our next invitation. They both went on to backstab me and my wife pretty bad a few years later. Another set of guests tried to squat. I had driven them all the way from Florida to Massachusetts under the impression that they had jobs and a place to live lined up. They offered no money for gas, hotels on the three-day trip, or compensation for the inconvenience and effort. He even tried to weasel out of the dinner he offered as a thank you by forgetting his wallet. The dude got me off the streets years ago and I wanted to pay him back in some way, but my wife and I were in no position to have extra residents in our home. We just don’t have the room or money. I made all of this VERY clear and told my old buddy that we could only house them for a couple of days max. There are MANY other details, but the disrespectful thing my former friend said was wordless. As I was kicking them out and they were angrily loading stuff into my car to bring them anywhere but here, my buddy left his gigantic knife right in the center of my wife’s desk. Like that was supposed to make us change our minds and let them stay? In the days of dial-up, I had a family call and not be able to get through because we were online. They decided to show up unannounced. They literally caught me in my underwear as they were let into the apartment before I could even react to being rudely surprised. Some of my family members have a history of abuse, violence, and stalking, something at least one of the visitors, my mother, was quite aware of since she lived through it with me. Her tagalong friend decided to put in her two cents and tell me I should get a call waiting or a second line because they were trying to call me. That did it! I suddenly forgot I was just wearing underwear and angrily asked my mother’s friend if she was paying my phone bill. My mother-in-law, stepfather and mom’s friend beat a hasty retreat and NEVER did the pop-in ever again.

Third image states:  That was why when we did get to reality shows, Etro and then Dolce & Gabbana plus Jacquemus later in France, it was wonderful. Clothes are all about contact: As a wearer, you feel them on your skin, and as a watcher, you process them with your eye. The watching part can be done secondhand, but the Chicken Choice Judy shirt in contrast I will get this impact will always be second to the real thing. I read some commentators in the U.S. saying, “Too soon” or “Wear a damn mask!” which I always did, but these opinions while valid enough lack perspective. Milan and its surrounding region Lombardy went through what New York did but earlier. Through sagacious governmental management much more effective than that of the U.S., Italy has managed dramatically to flatten the curve across the rest of its territory. These shows just like the reopening of flights, stores, factories, and restaurants were symptomatic of recovery that, far from being taken for granted, is being tended to with vigilance and cherished with gratitude. The digital Fashion Weeks were better than no Fashion Weeks at all, but as an upgrade on the real thing? Nah. Like everyone, I missed the shows in the experiential sense this season. But for the first time since I began covering the collections several years ago, I didn’t miss a single brand or designer’s contribution to Paris Fashion Week. Which is to say, thanks to the Fédération’s online platform, I was able to watch every name on the haute couture and men’s calendars. This brand on-demand convenience not to mention being spared the logistical headaches of zigzagging across the city was pretty great. Also, everything was on time, from the films to the manner in which we filed our reviews. While efficiency can be satisfying, it’s not necessarily exciting. Ultimately, we had to accept that the focus this season wasn’t going to be the clothes but rather the brands conveying some combination of identity, process, and values. And in the absence of standardized criteria as in, showing a minimum number of looks, specifying a time range, it was interesting to observe how heterogeneous these experiments proved to be quasi–ad campaigns versus short films, conceptual or fantastical visions versus raw and documentary style. A proper kimono takes nearly an hour to put on – I’m sure most Japanese girls would much rather spend a few seconds and slip on a dress. Get survey responses from targeted consumers today.

Fourth image states:  Around a decade ago, not long after he started his own label, Massimo Alba made a great mistake. A batch of shirts and T-shirts he was working on that had already been garment-dyed one color were mistakenly exposed to another. Speaking at his showroom presentation this weekend, Alba said: “It’s very interesting to me that so many good things start out as mistakes like this.” That accident was to Alba what the Chicken Choice Judy shirt moreover I will buy this mold-infected petri dish was to Alexander Fleming: a stumbled-upon eureka that led to a career-defining course of the investigation. This collection featured a series of softly tailored jackets, corduroy pants, and shorts, plus light cashmere sweaters that were hand-overdyed two, and sometimes three colors. It’s a process that led to variations in tone that included acid-trip floods of purple on purple to subtle bleeding of magenta across mustard yellow. Like most of Alba’s garments, these dyed pieces appeared at first glance conventionally prosaic. The more attention you gave them, however, the more their exceptional qualities became evident. Take a pale blue jacket, for instance, which at that first glance seemed passingly related to a surgeon’s scrubs. To the hand it was light and almost textureless in its softness: The fabric was a cotton mousseline developed for Alba by Albini. Long-sleeved, in a delicately mottled finish of washed-out sky blue, it made for an ideal mid-summer shake in pink, sleeveless, it was an impactful shirting second skin. Other interesting developments this season included a cotton pant named the Myles with acutely kinking stitched gather at knee-level on both legs and another handsome pant, baggy in white poplin, with patch pockets. A blue tropical weight jacket named the Lenny, after Bernstein, was Alba’s interpretation of a bohemian creative’s ideal piece of workwear. Collarless shirts in ripstop linen and button-up short-sleeves in terry were further finely effective coups de théâtre. Alba is a self-deprecating yet dangerous designer: Try just one carefully chosen piece and that’s it, you’re spoiled for good because nobody else quite compares. The museum in Prague where this portrait is held describes the ring on her first finger as the ring given to her at her wedding. It’s not comfortable. Maybe a lot of girls think that a see-through blouse can attract the attention of boys or they think that it will make her look much smarter. Meghan has no dress sense: no knowledge of fabrics, fit, styles that flatter, proper tailoring, Her father raised her in L.A. Enough said. Her idea of dressing for an event is “dress up” like a little girl dressing up as a princess. Shiny! Tight! Celebrity “fashion” not elegant, just flashy.

/end ID]

[satoshi-mochida]

Some thoughts on my last Gamefly rental, Little Town Hero(PS4 version).

I heard this game was difficult...and I heard right. Once fights get serious with the first boss, you can’t just pick what moves to use willy nilly; you’ll need to start thinking of what moves to use, and when. The third boss is when you REALLY need to start to get good at strategizing, though sometimes luck will be what decides if you win or not.

All of the Boss Monsters look nice and unique from each other, and the strategies for each are different.

Some nice features to make things a bit easier are a Guts barrier that blocks damage to your Hearts up a certain amount(which can be increased with Eureka points), and refresh if you do take a hit to the Hearts. A direct hit on them will also refresh all spent Ideas to be used again(otherwise, you’ll need to spend BP, and the amount increases each time, or find and get Pasmina/Natz’s help). The Guts barrier is only for boss fights, though.

Though it may take some time, I think you can get a hang for the battle system if you keep at it. Try and be defensive at first while waiting for a chance to strike, but not too defensive, or the bosses will just wear you down.

This version of the game has an Easy Mode(which I think got added via an update to the Switch version), though amusingly, there is no Normal difficulty; only Hard(default) and Easy. I got through most of the game on Hard, but the last boss made me cave and switch over because of how annoying it was getting.

Some tips: 

Since you otherwise need to rely on getting lucky with the roulette after a turn, try to get Free Mobility whenever you can to move to where you want to on the map instead of just hoping you can.

The Chickens on the map are very helpful; they remove Special Effects from Enemy Dazzits, plus attack the Boss Monsters directly, either by hitting their Guts Barrier, or a direct hit if it’s down.

These Dazzits should be upgraded ASAP: Tough Out, Psych Up, Pelt, Firecracker and Improvise. After them, focus on Charge and Dash Guard.

Losing to a Boss Monster will actually get you some Eureka points for upgrades, which the game lets you apply if you hit Retry, but I think only once; you can’t grind for them by doing this(aside from the last boss, probably as a mercy, since it’s three phases).

A good combo is the ‘Pelt’ Dazzit(which does either 1 or 2 damage, depending on upgrades, to Enemy Dazzits) plus Granny Yarne’s skill, which breaks all damaged Enemy Dazzits.

Do all the sidequests; you’ll get more Eureka Points plus they’ll upgrade the Gimmicks and character’s help on the map during Boss fights.

Although you can fight them in Chapter 5, a guide I was using recommends waiting until at least Chapter 8 before fighting the Nightmare Doll subquest boss.

I’m glad I was able to play this; it’s pretty charming, and funny at times, too(”The boy’s pants are on fire...he must be telling the truth.”). Also, really good music, like this track(from Toby Fox). I think some story stuff could have been touched upon a bit more, though.

It’s too bad this got pretty little advertising(not even on it’s release day, for Pete's sake). I hope they revisit this game or make another one similar to it, but refine things more, like making it less luck-based.

Next game being sent is: Ys: Memories of Celceta.

[danetobelieve]

Threat Level: Pizza || Ricky and Winston

Honestly, Winston was tired. In the last week, between them, Ricky and Dee they had spotted and dealt with four alghouls and what Ricky referred to as a spawn. Then last night a pack of three spawn had attacked the house and Winston and Ricky had been forced to deal with them. Winston was pretty proud of the fact that they had managed to immolate one. That had been a feeling like no other. Yet as they stood with a broom in hand, brushing vampire dust off of their porch, Winston couldn’t help but feel like it was time to make a change. Two attacks on their home in as many months wasn’t their idea of fun. Turning to Ricky, who was fixing a window before moving onto the porch railing that had been shattered during the commotion, Winston sighed. “I think that it is time that you and me start thinking about installing some security, and I’m not just talking about the mundane type of security. I think that we need to consider the fact that it might be time to have something other then a kitchen knife available when the next grizzly beasty comes after us.” 

Pausing from his repair work to pick alghoul out of his fangs Ricky nodded emphatically. “I mean. Setting aside the fact that the last time the last time that you and I were involved in some magic together we ended up in a strange prison demiplane inspired by my woodwork and fueled by your magic…. I agree. This is becoming fucking exhausting.” The unending night had made some things that were only comfortable at night far more brazen than they normally were, and a whole subset of those things viewed Ricky as a particularly choice piece of steak, and the house constantly being under siege was wearing on him super fast, “So… I am open to suggestions. As far as super fun magic home defense systems go. All I want you to keep in mind… is that I am very very open to the idea of flame turrets. Very very very open to that idea.” He leaned against the frame of the window and looked out at Winston on the porch, “But, practically, how does it work?” 

“Yeah, I’m not necessarily talking the same sort of magic. I don’t want to get stuck in a pocket dimension that is also a puzzle box.” Winston wasn’t sure what they were thinking, but if they could centralise a number of security features to a central console, then Winston wondered whether including spells into their code as data flags would cause any change in the potential effects. “I don’t want to mess around with magic just yet, for now though we should think about making some supernaturally minded upgrades.” They paused as they considered a few options. “Well first of all we could look into installing motion sensors in the grounds around our house and Dee’s these could activate UV bulbs as security lights, that should at least give any vampires a little bit of trouble.” They considered other options. “Maybe something with salt and iron for ghosts …” they were still so new to this, they weren’t entirely sure what else they could include. “If it isn’t too expensive we should consider getting CCTV, maybe I can work out some enchantment that allows us to see things approaching. Infrared or heat sensitive cameras or something…” they paused and pulled their glasses off, rubbing the end of an arm against their scalp thoughtfully. “Any eureka moments?” 

“Oh come on didn’t you enjoy our little demiplanar excursion into the realm of ‘oh god I hope we’re not dead?’” Ricky paused his repair work and joined Winston out on the porch, sitting down with his back against the warm wood of the porch, “Well… You’re already talking outside my scope of knowledge, but I think you’re right, we don’t really need to be focusing on the human threats, it’s the supernatural ones we need to be worried about.” He pulled out his phone and started to type out notes as Winston was talking. He was more of a old-school kind of guy; the security enhancements that his roommate was talking about were way out of his scope of knowledge, “Are ghosts really a problem though? I think it’s the physical things we have to worry about more. As for CCTV that shit isn’t too expensive anymore with like Ring and Blink and all that shit you can just control it from your phone. And I do mean you I’m sure I’d break it if I tried to control it.” He kept typing as Winston talked before looking up with a raised eyebrow, “if you’re expecting me to have a eureka moment about technology you are in for a dismal disappointment. You’re gonna have to take point on this and I’ll help out however I can. But if you think you can work enchantments into it I’m absolutely down.” 

“No, for some reason I did not enjoy having to endure a minor existential crisis as to whether or not I have died, although I will admit that it is nice to know for certain that I am indeed relatively alive and well.” Winston shrugged before continuing. “No, I think that Dee and her shotgun are more then enough to deal with the potential human criminals, but if we draw the attention of something like Hunters or Vampires or I don’t know, something along those lines then I think that I would want to have something else. I also think we should think about setting up a communication tree with others.” Winston nodded. “I know that it sounds ridiculous, but the one exorcism I saw, back in the library at UMWC was terrifying and I don’t really want to experience it again if I can help it. But I need to really work out how well these cameras will work against fast moving and potentially magic critters.” Chewing on their lip, Winston shrugged. “Maybe you can help me by telling me how feasible it’ll be to set up stuff and we can begin working on sourcing all the things I’ll need to set this up. I can do the techy stuff and you can help me with the actual skilled labour.” 

“Well I had a delightful time so your negative experience is on you. I enjoyed our one on one time inside a magical prison. I think we could market the whole experience to white people with too much money and too much time on their hands. Throw in some bullshit about it being meditative and shit. We could be super rich.” Ricky couldn’t help but laugh at Winston’s mention of their land lady, “Yeah I know one day I’m gonna have to have the “hey you probably shouldn’t have a loaded shotgun in the house anymore” talk with her but we’re a ways off from that and she’s a crack shot with it.” he kept typing away, looking up periodically at Winston as they talked, “Well we’ll add ghosts to the list of things to keep out. I mean I don’t think I can tell you how feasible it all is until we get an actual plan in place but it shouldn’t be too bad. Don’t think it’ll require any actual like renovations to the house, unless you’ve got a plan for a garlic filled moat you havne’t told me about yet.” He dashed inside to grab a pad of paper and came out again, starting to scribble down some ideas, “Wanna order delivery and hash this out?”

“You’re also completely barking mad if you thought that our time in a magical prison was anything like fun,” Winston laughed and shook their head at Ricky, “I think that you could market that shit to normal White Crest people and they would still eat it up. But I don’t think I want to get super rich based on whether or not people are going to make it out of a trick prison.” They paused for a moment and slipped down onto a bench on the porch overlooking their property. “Well make sure that I am nowhere near you or her when you have that conversation.” They raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Yes, that sounds like a great idea, and I can use your sketching skills to try and visualise where we are going to put this shit and how it is going to work. We’re going to need shit loads of rock salt, iron fillings, holy water, maybe even silver. Stakes wouldn’t be a bad idea either. I also need pizza and probably some beer too.”

“What can I say, I like puzzles and I’m good at compartmentalizing my feelings. So. I made it fun.” He pulled out his phone and started thumbing through apps, “is that not exactly what an escape room is? Ours would just be a magical escape room where you’re not sure if you’re dead or not! It’s an extra perk; existential crisis added on for free.” Ricky brought up Grubhub with one hand while the other kept scribbling the supplies Winston was listing off, “Meat lovers no cheese extra anchovies for me, what do you want? I’ve got beer in the fridge, I made a supply run when the darkness hit because I didn’t want to leave the house if possible. I’m a vamp magnet.” He started a very basic sketch of an aerial view of the house and the property that surrounded it, “Are we going to have auto turrets for the stakes? I think that’d be noticeable. We should try to be as discreet as possible. Don’t want to draw attention, just protect ourselves.” 

“That sounds like something that a crazy person might say, I think you’re just an adrenaline junkie who likes to put their life in danger because it gets their heart racing.” Winston raised an eyebrow and shrugged gently. “I don’t know if anyone is going to play for a healthy dose of Nihilism Ricky, and also in escape rooms you can usually guarantee the safety of your customers and I’m not convinced that I could.” Winston swallowed gently and decided that they wouldn’t try and recreate the mistake they previously had. No they had other plans, a type of magic that they had yet to find any information on. It made them wonder what could be achieved if they tried some new stuff. But now wasn’t exactly the time for them to do that. Now they had other things to focus on. “Can I get a meatlovers with extra cheese and extra mushrooms?” Winston replied. “I can leave the house if needs be, plus I’m sure that people can drop stuff off to us if you don’t want to risk it.” They were honestly a bit shocked at Ricky’s suggestion of auto turrets. “Dude, this isn’t Doom Eternal, we’re not installing auto turrets mainly because I don’t know how to build auto turrets. NoI think it would be better if we can go with high powered UV lamps and a few well placed stakes around the house. At least until I get better at this stuff, I’m a computer programmer not an engineer.” 

“At absolutely no point in our cohabitation have I ever fucking told you I was a sane person. No false advertising here. That’s just because you haven’t figured out the right marketing spin for it yet. You can market Nihilism to anyone you just gotta put a pretty enough bow on it. But, we’re getting away from the main topic here.” Ricky tapped the orders into his phone, adding on a couple of 2-liters just so they’d have something in the fridge where they didn’t have to leave the house for supplies. “I’d rather you not take any unnecessary journeys since, you know, once again it’s fucking nightmareville up in this place. But if worse comes to worse we’ll make a group run for it.” He laughed at the reference, shaking a fist in the air, “Rip and tear, until it is done!!! You know it may be eternal night right now but it really makes for some amazing ambiance when I’m playing that game.” Ricky nodded and started a shopping list on the side of the paper titled “Death-based Doodads”, “Stakes and UV lamps it is. Though too many UV lamps and people are going to think we’ve got a grow operation here.” 

“My apologies for not considering your sanity as something that could be in question, most people usually don’t expect other people’s sanity to be in question. As for marketing existential crisises and nihilism then that is something that I will leave for you.” Winston replied with a small grin decorating their face. Winston was glad that they weren’t going to have to cook for themselves. They were feeling incredibly lazy after fighting for their night in the middle of the day, even though it was dark. “Don’t worry, I don’t really want to risk facing alghouls and vampires if I can help it, especially not when I know better. I’m not going out as much as I possibly can, I’m just trying to stay home and when I do go out I am making sure that I’m not alone.” Winston shrugged and smirked. “You know, it is not Overwatch, but it is still a lot of fun to kick the shit out of demons, even if I can’t do it in real life.” Winston frowned and nodded. “You’re right, we’ll have to be sensible about where we plant our weed crop, don’t want people to catch us doing anything illegal.” They were being sarcastic, somehow they thought that they would manage to get away with it. They worked for the Police Department after all.

“I really feel like you should have seen that coming though. Marketing existential crises and nihilism are definitely something we could get away with with Gen Z I’m sure of it. Just make the marketing laden with memes and we’ll be all set.” Ricky slid his phone back into his pocket after receiving the text notification that their order had been confirmed, “See. That’s some solid planning right there. In the end it’s gonna be the goddamn buddy system that saves us all.” Rolling his eyes he pushed himself to his feet and wandered back into the house, spreading the papers out on the dining room table so they’d have more room to work, “Yeah yeah yeah you and overwatch. That’s way too much for me to try to wrap my head around. I’ll stick to chopping demons apart with a chainsaw and a variety of super fun weapons. That’s more my speed. Mindless platforming, puzzles, and mayhem.” He laughed as he drew a stool over to sit on, looking down at their plans, “We’ll add a grow operation after we figure out how to protect our home from the supernatural. Even if regular weed doesn’t really affect me much. It’d be a good money maker anyway. But for now we’ll use the UV lamps to attempt to vaporize some vampires.” 

“If we marketed using memes we could, but then that would cut out an entire demographic of baby boomers and the older millennials that wouldn’t get it, so you know, you win some you lose some.” Winston shrugged gently and settled in their seat, looking around them trying to decide what else they could include. “Is stuff like wolfsbane a thing?” Winston asked trying to think of the most generic supernatural stereotypes that they could implement here. “Obviously it is going to take a bit of time before I can really get any of this stuff working, but better to start now rather then later.” Winston was terrified of what some of the things that were out there could do to them and their friends. “Everyone has different preferences and enjoyments, it’s not my fault that your tastes are so far separated from mine which are obviously far superior.” Laughing, Winston shook their head and smiled. “Bro, you remember that I work for the police department. They’re not huge fans of illegal grows that aren’t regulate by the tax man.” 

“Listen. Boomers had their time to shine. They don’t deserve targeted marketing anymore. They can take or leave whatever we give them.” Chewing on his pen for a moment, Ricky pondered for a moment, “I honestly don’t know. You’d have to ask Morgan. Seems like she’d know more about that sorta herbology shit than me. I know there is a whole subset of supernatural related herbs. But I’m right there with you; this will definitely take some time so we might as well get going. Because knowing this town… this darkness could last for quite a goddamn while.” The doorbell rang and Ricky went to retrieve their pizzas, heavily tipping the put-upon looking driver to make up for the extra anchovy stench undoubtedly filling his car, “Grub’s here. And my taste in video games is impeccable. I’m sorry I’m not into games with a gay cowboy, weird angst cyborg asian stereotypes, and people screaming in the headset about their skill rating. Gimme that sweet sweet ‘don’t talk to other people’ gaming.” He set the pizza down on the counter and got them out a couple plates, “Oh I didn’t forget. But I like to think I’m above certain aspects of the law given the great ease with which I can implement plan ‘just hide in the fucking ocean forever’. Which is a solid ass plan.” 

“It doesn’t matter what they do or don’t deserve, proportionally speaking they hold far more wealth then Gen Z or even a good proportion of the millennial population, targeted marketing takes that wealth away from them.” Winston scratched at the thin film of stubble that had sprung up over their jaw. “I’ll put some feelers out and try and find out what else we could to do to really sure up the defenses here, if I was better at magic then I could enchant some more shit but after the last time that went I’m a little bit weary of trying anything big without more practice.” Winston sincerely hoped that whatever it was that was causing this darkness would get resolved soon, but they weren’t about to charge into the darkness and try and change any of it. Not yet anyway. They weren’t that desperate yet. “I love the inherently racist stereotypes that Blizzard brings to me, and if you keep talking McShit about McCree then I’ll cut you.” They grinned and grabbed their pizza from Ricky, slipping down onto the sofa and laughing as Ricky continued their tirade against multiplayer gaming. The irony was that of course in real life they were the exact opposite. Winston was the introvert and Ricky the extrovert that adopted them. “Unfortunately I cannot hide in the ocean forever because I am not an aquatic animal, but you go off.” 

“This took a weirdly capitalist-centric turn; but, I’ll keep all this in mind when I’m planning out how to launch our magical escape room empire. Which is going to have a terrible pun of a name but I haven’t decided what it’s going to be yet.” Nodding along with Winston’s train of thought Ricky opened his pizza box and put a couple of slices on a plate, “I’ll do the same. So we’ll see who knows what and we’ll protect this bitch.” A thought crossed his mind as he chewed on his first piece of pizza, “They’ll have to be disableable though. Things to keep werewolves and vampires and ghosts out. I’m… well Remmy and I… are trying to put together an interspecies clan. To at least offer some sort of unified protection against the hunters. It’s harder to pick us all off if the various species have each others’ backs.” It was hard to laugh and not spit a mouthful of various meats and fish all over his couch, but he managed, “They are really bad about racial stereotypes but you’re more than welcome to McTry. It’ll be super messy though, I’ve got extra blood.” He made quick work of the first piece of pizza and set to work on the second one as he kept sketching things out. “We should have some sort of motion detector at the end of the drive, connected to some kind of camera.” 

“I never knew that I would be starting an escape room empire, but I guess if I was going to do it with anyone then I would want to do it with you.” Winston smiled gently as they placed a piece of pizza in their mouth and chewed on their pizza straight from the box. Winston nodded. “Of course, they’ll be disable-able and hopefully eventually I’ll be able to write something that is sophisticated enough that it will be able to distinguish between who needs the measures in place. But no offense, we’ve not seen any progress there for a while and I know that you want to help these people but we can’t do anything until we’ve made sure that we’re safe. Once we’re looked after then we can look after others, but not before that.” Winston was a realist and they knew that this wasn’t going to be resolved straight away, this was something that they would need to really work on. “Gross, who needs extra blood. Seal it away in my opinion.” They winked and wiped grease from their hands with a piece of tissue from the takeaway before nodding. “Motion detectors at the gates, not to mention in the grounds hooked up to security lights so if anything moves everything gets lit up.” 

“Tides… I would have never considered starting an escape room empire but you and I have some of the weirdest things happen to us, so, I think that that’s pretty on brand for us.” It was a truth; Ricky was realizing. He and Winston definitely had a relationship that seemed to be a magnetic force for strange situations, and he loved it. Life was infinitely better now that they lived together; it was definitely one of the better decisions Ricky had made at a party. “Ooooh I have some bad news for you. We’re never ever going to be totally safe. Welcome to the supernatural life. But, I take your point. We can’t form the Justice League until we lockdown the Fortress of Solitude. Did I mix references there? I don’t really care just roll with it.” Another slice of pizza disappeared into his mouth and he rolled his eyes at the pun, “Alright well for how terrible that was I’m just going to go offer myself to the vampire hordes now. Thanks. Your terrible pun has damned me.” Scribbling at the margins of his page he attempted to not get pizza grease on the plans, “I like that. Plus it makes us look real important.” 

Laughing, mouthful of pizza, Winston looked into the moon for a moment before shrugging. “I think it is pretty on brand, we always end up doing the weirdest shit.” They settled into the silence for a moment and shrugged. “Watch tower not fortress of solitude, though I guess both are DC so it doesn’t count as much? I don’t know. Anyway, you know Orion Quinn right?” Winston was considering their next words carefully, “I think that I’m going to offer him one of the rooms if that’s cool, it seems like he could use a place to go because he is currently staying in that Scribe building way too much for the amount of living that someone our age needs to do, obviously we don’t know him but I think he’s a good kid. Just be careful about your skin, I know you are careful, but Orion found Skye’s seal skin after that time we all watched anime together and I want to believe the best in him, but I’m not completely sure we can trust him, I guess we’ll just see, but he needs somewhere to go and I’m offering him this place.” That was one of the reasons that they wanted to sure up the security, to make sure that everything was safe. “I’ve got some more stuff I want to work on, but now we’ve got the basic designs down I can start shopping for the parts and we can look at introducing all of this stuff onto a central system.” 

“We have a weird fucking life. But. When you’ve got a seal and a mage living together what the hell do you expect. I love it. This is me living my best life.” He listened carefully as Winston laid out the situation that Rio found himself in and Ricky ended up frozen with a piece of pizza halfway to his mouth, “I’m sorry. He’s living at that creepy fucking abandoned building you found while you were sleepwalking?! Of course he can stay here what the fuck. That’s not even a question.” He took the bite that he’d been frozen about to take and rolled his eyes, “Winston. I’ve been successfully hiding my skin from people for almost a quarter of a century. Have you ever found my skin accidentally? I didn’t think so. I’ve got it nice and hidden so that’s not really an issue. But I appreciate you looking out for me.” He finished the piece of pizza and moved to another. “He’s more than welcome here. I like him. He’s a good dude. So he can absolutely stay with us. I’ll clear out one of the rooms upstairs for him. We do have the basic design down though. Start putting together a shopping list and keep track of costs and we’ll split it up.” 

“I don’t think that he is officially living there, he told me that he is living with his parents, but they sound … not great from the very little that he has actually told me about them.” Winston fiddled with their glasses. “Anyway, I feel like they use that place as a way out of the house but they don’t want their parents to find out and it would make sense for someone of their age to be moving out of the house, we’ve got the room and I knew that you would say no without hesitation.” They paused and shrugged. “I know you’ve got this dude, but you’re my rock and I definitely wouldn’t be able to do all of the stuff that I’ve got to do if I couldn’t rely on your safety.” Winston nodded. “Cool, well, I gotta admit that isn’t how I thought this would end, but I’m glad we agree. We can get started on this all tomorrow I think.” 

Ricky’s face immediately went pinched and narrow. As someone with his own latent parental issues, he had remarkably little patience for homes where parents mistreated their children. It was part of why Skylar’s defence of her abusive parents had rubbed him so much the wrong way, and why his tone took on a decidedly dull and stony timbre “well. Of course he’s always welcome here. For a couple of nights or for the foreseeable future. Whatever he needs; at least there’s an easy cover with the whole ‘oh yeah I’m just striking out on my own’ excuse. When you do bring it up to him, let him know that there’s no rent. I don’t pay Dee anything so he doesn’t have to pay me anything. Eventually he can chip in on the internet bill, but getting on his feet is more important.” His expression softened and he smiled, “If it makes you feel better… it’s not in the house. It’s hidden and locked away. He won’t find it by accident. You’re stuck with me for a good long while, don’t you fear.” Closing the pizza box before he ate the entire thing he nodded, “Good. We’ll start in the morning and turn this estate into an at least somewhat-secure fortress.” 

[mexcraziness-art]

Pacific Rim: Chris and Daisy

I wanted to re-draw some old OCs I never finished, so here you have Chris and Daisy from Pacific Rim! It's been forever damn, 2013 seems like a lifetime ago... I'm so happy that I finally get to draw my OCs actually looking like how I always wanted them to after all these years! How far we've come!

Jesus this took me forever to write, idk why but suddenly I forgot how to word, so this is pretty bad but I just had to force this out of myself so I could work on other stuff.

I also got myself emotional about Chuck which is a whole other rabbit hole.

Anyways, here you have it!

Jaegerling Project:

Jaegerlings are built and work like Jaegers, except they’re about half the size and can be piloted by 1 Pilot alone. They weren’t made for fighting the Kaiju, instead they were individually developed for cleaning up dead Kaiju, city rubble, and help with the rebuilding works. The project was short lived as the PPDC decided it was more worth it to focus their resources on building more Jaegers, so very few Jaegerlings were actually built and much less survived.

Most notable Jaegerlings:

   -          PaciFist: Built to help move Kaiju carcasses and destroyed Jaegers

   -          Criminality: Built to clean up city rubble and help with rebuilding.

Name: Christine „Chris” Smith (Kovács Krisztina) Born: 1999. May 1st (Taurus) Age: 26 (Operation Pitfall) Gender: Female Rank: -          PPDC Ranger (Formerly) -          J-Tech Officer

Jaegers: -          PaciFist (Former Pilot) -          Pacific-R.I.M. (Former Pilot) (Pacific-Robust Integrated Mechanism) -          Striker Eureka (Head Mechanic)

History:

1999. May 1st: Chris was born in Hungary. Her Mother left when she was young and she was left with her Father. She had a natural talent for machines since she was young and essentially grew up in her Father’s mechanic shop.

2013: When the Kaiju attacked her Father was always vocally thankful it’s happening as far from them as possible, and for a time she agreed. However when the attacks didn’t stop she began to feel helpless and angry that they aren’t doing a good enough job of stopping them. She had the insatible urge to DO something.

2014: When the first Jaegers were born she immeadetly knew THAT’S where she had to be. However her father was heavily against her doing anything near the Jaeger Program, specially how it was still in baby shoes. So she decided to run away to join the Jaeger Program for the greater good. She took on a whole new persona, going as far as pretending to be a boy, to avoid her Father tracking her down and to avoid him finding out if anything happened to her. She made friends with a military doctor who helped her fake her gender all the way through the Academy. She was a promising pilot but her personality didn’t match up with anyone and they failed to find her a pilot for the longest time. She was closed off and distant with nearly everyone, mainly in fear of being found out, but otherwise got along moderalty with generally everyone. Until she met Daisy at the Academy, who got under her skin right away, she had an immediate distaste towards her and they kept butting heads and getting into bigger and bigger conflicts. It also frustrated her how easily Daisy got her flustered which she didn’t dare to think too deeply about. When they were proved to be potentially drift compatible Chris was conflicted, she didn’t want to drift with Daisy of all people, but she wanted to be a pilot more than anything, in the end she decided this is the risk she has to take.

During their test drift Daisy found out Chris is actually a girl faking her identity at the Academy and in a moment of shock she accidentally outed her. Chris outraged and out for vengence did some digging around and found out Daisy’s parent’s donation to the PPDC, and as a result they’re both looking to get kicked out from the PPDC. However thanks to their potential and great scores, they both get an offer from the PPDC, they’re dismissed from the normal Jaeger Program, but they could become the first test pilots of the Jaegerling Project. Chris immeadetly volunteers, unaware Daisy will be involved as well.

2016:  After „graduating” Chris gets assigned to the Jaegerling called PaciFist and spends the following years moving Kaiju carcasses and destroyed Jaegers after the battles. She’s content with her job, not what she had in mind but she can still prove herself useful, while still studying Jaeger ont he side.

2017: Until one day there’s a Kaiju attack that couldn’t have been intercepted by a Jaeger in time. Chris was stationed in a nearby Shatterdome with her Jaegerling, while Daisy was working out in the city helping to re-build with R.I.M. and they decided to risk their lives holding back the Kaiju now called Ryujin until the Jaeger arrives. Both R.I.M. and PaciFist were very badly damaged in the battle but the Jaeger arrived in time saving Daisy and Chris’s lives as well. The Kaiju’s body was never recovered but they assumed it died. Both Daisy and Chris gets an unspecificed time recovery leave, their Jaegerlings dismantled, waiting for further orders.

2018 : They’re summoned by Marshal Stacker Pentecost. He offers them a brand new Jaeger to co-pilot, built from the remaining parts of both PaciFist and R.I.M., called Pacific-R.I.M. Chris is relucant to accept the offer, both at the fact that they nearly died last time, and the fact that she’d have to pilot with Daisy. However after some unvoncing and apologising from Daisy she accepts and decides to give their teamwork a chance. After long hard work they becom an unstoppable team, their drift compatibility one of the best. Chris’s flusteredness towards Daisy returns as the other girl begind to flirt with her as the time passes. Soon she realises she likes the other girl as well and they begin dating.

They piloted Pacific-R.I.M. together for 3 years.

2021: They did a couple of double drops with Striker Eureka, who they proved to be a good team with. Chris had a bit of a friendly rivarly going with Chuck whenever they met in person. One day while they were stationed at the same Shatterdome, Ryujin re-emerged. Pacific-R.I.M. got deployed first and almost killed the Kaiju, but the tide turned on them and Pacific-RI.M. got badly damaged. Chris got hurt badly, and her side of the Jaeger short circuited. Daisy ejected the hurt Chris out of an escape pod and stayed to hold back Ryujin herself. Striker Eureka joined the battle soon and finished off Ryujin but Pacific-R.I.M. was beyond saving this time. They recovered Daisy, barely alive and in critical condition. She lost her left leg from the knee down and her nervous system suffered heavy damage too. Chris stayed by her side for months, but the guilt was killing her and she decided she can’t watch Daisy waste away anymore, so she left.

She went back home to her Father, who welcomed her with open arms. It turned out even if at first he was panicked and outraged she left, in the present he’s proud of her, how far she has come and how much she has done. This gave her enough will to get her fighting spirit back again. She knew she could never pilot another Jaeger again, not without Daisy, so she threw herself into J-Tech and became a mechanic. At the least she could help by fixing and upgrading the Jaegers between battles.

2023: She became the head of Striker Eureka’s mechanic team, where she met Chuck and Herc again. A few years ago she would have given anything to get to work on Striker but now she would give anything to get „a few years ago” back. Chuck became an annoying brat since last time she saw him and she was more than ready to deck him. Which she did sometimes when they decided to take out their problems in sparring sessions. They butted hands on working Striker as well since Chuck preffered to work on her as well while Chris believed it was a job for the mechanics only. Through all this they grew really close and started to help eachother out with their problems. It wasn’t a good solution to either of their issues but it was something. In the end they became basically „more than best friends with benefits”, neither of them ever admitted they „dated” but Chris loved him regardless. They drifted eactly once in a simulator and they were so in sync it was considered pairing them up for a Jaeger which Chris refused in Daisy’s memory.

2025: She got re-located to the Hong Kong Shatterdome along with Striker’s whole crew. There she was re-united with Daisy, which she didn’t take well. All the guilt that’s been the back of her mind all this time came crashing back as the old wounds re-opened. Chuck convinced to go talk with Daisy, meanwhile she convinced Chuck to talk with Raleigh. She apologised and confessed all her guilt to Daisy, who after a small fight forgave her, because she wasn’t sure what she would have done in her place either. After Chuck died she was heartbroken, they stayed with Daisy and they helped eachother heal. Soon it turned out she got accidentally pregnant, Daisy stayed by her side the whole time and after she gave birth they officially got back together.

Personality: Chris had been an emotional person all her life, she thinks with her heart first and foremost. However because of this she has a tendency to have emotional outbursts if she’s put under lots of stress as the logical side of her brain struggles against her emotions. Because of this she developed a level of anger issues she tries to get better from. She usually tries to hold back all her emotions and put up a cold and distant front. Because of this she became a grumpy and cynical person for a long time. However under all this, she craves emotional intimacy and familiarity. She’s also a rather serious person, who tries to follow the rules the best she can. As long as she agrees with them. As soon as she runs into a rule that requires her to go against her own morals she yeets out the rulebook the window.

Name: Daisy Grande Born: 1997. August 20th (Leo) Age: 28 (Operation Pitfall) Gender: Female Rank: -          PPDC Ranger (Formerly) -          K-Science Officer

Jaegers: -          Criminality (Former Pilot) -          Pacific-Rim (Former Pilot) -          K-Science (Biology Research)

History:

1997. August 20th: Daisy was born into a very rich family, in France. Her parents were big investors in science development. She had a strong natural charisma ever since she was little, popular, confident, always the center of the attention, a natural leader. Like her parents she always wanted to make a difference in the world growning up and she developed a knack for biology along the way.

2013 : When the Kaiju attacked and the PPDC was founded she immediately wanted to join the Jaeger Academy, and her parents figured where else would she be the safest in the world than with the PPDC? So they quietly donated a huge amount of money to the PPDC to accept her to the Academy BUT keep her out of any actually dangerous service.

2014: She joined the Academy amongst the first people. Like anywhere else she was popular at the Academy amongst the other cadets and with her officers, however when she met Chris, who really didn’t like her, she was amused by him, so she kept teasing him and trying to get a rise out of him whenever she could. Their constant conflicts revealed them to be promisingly drift compatible, which Daisy found even more amusing. During their test drift she found out Chris is actually a girl faking her identity at the Academy and in a moment of shock she accidentally outs her. What she didn’t expect was that in revenge Chris did some digging around and found out her parent’s donation to the PPDC, and as a result they’re both looking to get kicked out from the PPDC. Daisy was outraged by her parents going behind her back, everything she thought she achieved by herself for once had been a lie. Almost everything. They both get an offer from the PPDC, they’re dismissed from the normal Jaeger Program, but they could become the first test pilots of the Jaegerling Project. Daisy accepts the offer, more than eager to prove herself. Little does she know Chris also joined the Project until they’re forced to work side by side.

2016:  After „graduating” Daisy gets assigned to the Jaegerling Criminality. For the following year she cleans up and helps rebuild destroyed cities.

2017: Until one day there’s a Kaiju attack that couldn’t have been intercepted by a Jaeger in time. Chris was stationed in a nearby Shatterdome with her Jaegerling, while Daisy was working out in the city helping to re-build with Criminality and they decided to risk their lives holding back the Kaiju now called Ryujin until the Jaeger arrives. Both Criminality and PaciFist were very badly damaged in the battle but the Jaeger arrived in time saving Daisy and Chris’s lives as well. The Kaiju’s body was never recovered but they assumed it died. Both Daisy and Chris gets an unspecificed time recovery leave, their Jaegerlings dismantled, waiting for further orders.

2018 : They’re summoned by Marshal Stacker Pentecost. He offers them a brand new Jaeger to co-pilot, built from the remaining parts of both PaciFist and Criminality, called Pacific-R.I.M. Daisy, excatic at the chance to become official PPDC Rangers accepts, and convinces Chris to accept too. After long hard work they becom an unstoppable team, their drift compatibility one of the best. As they grew closer Daisy started to develop feelings for Chris. At first she was in mild gay panic but she quickly came around to embrace her feelings and started to playfully flirt with the other girl. Soon they began dating.

They piloted Pacific-R.I.M. together for 3 years.

2021: They did a couple of double drops with Striker Eureka, who they proved to be a good team with. One day while they were stationed at the same Shatterdome, Ryujin re-emerged. Pacific-R.I.M. got deployed first and almost killed the Kaiju, but the tide turned on them and Pacific-RI.M. got badly damaged. Daisy ejected the hurt Chris out of an escape pod and stayed to hold back Ryujin herself. Striker Eureka joined the battle soon and finished off Ryujin but Pacific-R.I.M. was beyond saving this time. They recovered Daisy, barely alive and in critical condition. She lost her left leg from the knee down and her nervous system suffered heavy damage too. She was in coma for 2 years.

2023: She woke u pin to find Chris had left the PPDC, and her, and she was told she could probably never drive a car again, let alone pilot a Jaeger. Her nervous system damage requires constant medication. She felt beyond despaired and betrayed and refused to leave her bed her weeks. Her parents visited her a couple of times but their pity „I told you so” attitude only made her angry. Her old fire of proving them wrong came back and decided to prove them wrong once again. She threw herself into K-Science, mostly to find a way to fix her nervous system, but also to understand Kaijus better. Soon enough she was trading messeges with Newton Geiszler and occasionally working together with him.

2025: She moved to the Hong Kong shatterdome with the other scientists where she was re-united with Chris. She was still bitter Chris just left her like that, but she understood, and deep down still held her old love for her. However seeing her with Chuck Hansen (she found the fact that she was dating Chuck of all people super amusing) now she decided to just stay friendly, there was no need making things more miserable before the end of the world. Chris did apologise to her and they had a long talk about their old and current relationship. After Chuck sacrificed himself in Operation Pitfall, she stayed by Chris’s side, supporting eachother as they grew close again. After Chris gave birth they got back together and raised the kid together.

Personality: Daisy has a strong reasonable and charismatic personality and a logical mind. She easily gets along with nearly everyone and understands others’ motives even if she doesn’t like them or agrees with them. She’s stubborn and tougher than most people would give her credit for. Because her parents always gave her everything she ever needed she has a strong urge to prove herself, to prove she really does worth as much as she thinks she does. She also has a sassy and kinda charming humor, that tends to annoy more serious minded people. Because despite her reasonable leader-like personality she is actually an easy going almost trouble making person. Actually she is a trouble maker. Rules were never her forte as she never really had to hear „no” in her life that often, this is both her greatest weakness and greatest advantage. She always keeps pushing on if she’s told no. This could either lead to a scientific discovery, or a harsh dressing down by her superiors. But most of all, behind all this, she’s a really kind and forgiving person, but she doesn’t give her care just to anyone.

Well that turned out to be long...

Art by @mexcraziness

Chris and Daisy belong to @mexcraziness

Pacific Rim belongs to  Guillermo del Toro

[entergamingxp]

Gears Tactics review – brains and brawn join forces as the fight against the Locust goes turn-based • Eurogamer.net

Gears of War has always been built around its cover system, with almost 15 years experience when it comes to squeezing its muscled heroes behind bits of wall, or whatever’s at hand, as they exchange fire with their equally muscled, subterrestrial counterparts. Once slotted into place, it’s then been up to the player to figure out how to gain the upper hand, perhaps lobbing a grenade to push enemies out of cover, or rushing forward to take advantage of an exposed flank. When described in these sorts of terms, it makes sense that the Gears series would eventually dip its considerable toes into the world of turn-based strategy, but how well does it actually translate?

Gears Tactics review

Developer: Splash Damage/The Coalition

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Platform: Reviewed on PC

Availability: Out April 28th on PC

Eager to answer that question for us, Tactics is very quick to reintroduce another Gears of War staple: executions. Things may be a little slower paced here, but look, you can still chainsaw people in half! Downing an enemy will occasionally see them drop to their knees, allowing one of your bulky lads to jog over and bash their head in with a pistol, or gut them with a bayonet. As a visual spectacle, I’m a little less excited about this than I might have been in 2006, but as a game mechanic, let me tell you, executions allow for some brilliant decision making. That’s a very odd sentence to have typed out. Let me explain.

In Gears Tactics, each soldier in your squad has a handful of action points to spend per turn, whether that’s through moving, taking shots or using abilities. Once everyone’s out of actions, the bad guys get their go. It’s standard stuff. Landing an execution, however, changes things. Once you’ve finished beating the poor Locust to death with their own limbs, your entire squad (aside from the one performing the execution) is rewarded with an additional action point. There are even times where you’ll be able to chain a string of executions together and essentially double the number of actions you were meant to take that turn. This alters the game in a pretty significant way.

For a start, it means that Tactics is able to pit you against many more enemies than you’d typically expect. The odds are often stacked against you, quite considerably, with the hopes that you can claw your way back into control with a few well-timed decapitations. The first time this really clicked into place for me was during an early mission in which my squad was surrounded by Wretches, a fairly weak enemy type that can prove deadly when encountered in large numbers. With his last available action, Sid Redburn (one of the game’s named heroes) managed to execute a nearby Drone and in doing so, gifted his squadmates a fresh round of actions. This allowed another soldier to revive a downed teammate, which proved crucial, as she was the one carrying the frag grenade that could deal with the Wretches before they descended upon my squad. What a hero!

The right execution at the right time can sometimes turn around even the most doomed situations and these moments are the game at its very best. If you’ve played Into The Breach (and you should, it’s superb) you’ll likely recognise this sensation, as you suddenly glimpse a way out of what seemed like the most impossible scenario just moments beforehand.

Aside from these Eureka-worthy executions, much of the Gears Tactics experience in combat borrows heavily from the Firaxis XCOM games. Your squad may enter the battlefield courtesy of an armoured car rather than a Skyranger, but the end result is a similar one. You’ll take and miss shots, you’ll use Overwatch (albeit this time with cones of vision!), you’ll complete objectives and race to evacuate before being overrun. There’s some fun reimagining of the Gears weapons and abilities (the bayonet charge remains a highlight, even here), but I do wish the enemy units had more to offer. Unlike XCOM, where every alien usually has a couple of different tricks up their sleeve, here, your opponents feel more limited.

Compare the Sectoids of XCOM: Enemy Unknown with the Drones of Gears Tactics, for example. Both units can move, open fire and set up overwatch, but on top of this, XCOM’s Sectoids might use suppressive fire to pin one of your soldiers in place, or merge minds with another alien, improving their stats but also exposing them to further danger. They’re both units that you’ll encounter frequently throughout their respective campaigns, but one is quite a bit more interesting than the other. This comparison can be felt across many of the Gears Tactics enemies, unfortunately.

The exception to that rule comes with the boss fights at the end of each Act, in which you’re pitted against some of the more deadly monsters of the Gears universe. Brumaks and Corpsers, the big guns. These fights offer much more variety, with multiple attack types that’ll force you to keep moving your units and scramble to new cover as you chip away at an intimidatingly large health bar. Boss fights can work in the turn-based space, says Gears Tactics, and I’m inclined to agree.

Outside of the missions themselves, Gears does drift away from the XCOM formula more substantially, opting to do away with base building, research and the strategy layer all together. Your soldiers still level up and unlock new abilities, but their weapon and equipment upgrades are found in crates that you’ll need to pick up during missions, or earn as rewards for completing optional objectives. There are no microtransactions here, but these crates still carry with them the distinct feeling of loot boxes, even down to the opening animations.

Some of you may be delighted to hear that you won’t need to research new weapons or hire engineers to create them for your squad, but these colour-coded crates never feel like much of a replacement. Although I appreciated the added incentive they provided to take risks during the missions themselves, opening them and sorting through all of the various weapon attachments I’d unlocked afterwards tended to feel like a chore. I never felt any real ownership over what I found inside, I suppose that’s the real problem. These weren’t weapons or armour I’d set out to craft, it was just another scope or rifle barrel that I’d found in a loot box, seemingly at random.

The campaign is separated into story missions that need to be completed and side missions that you’re able to choose between. These side trips often present some of the more interesting setups, as they’ll come with their own modifiers like +100 per cent damage from Wretches, or increased movement range for your squad. You’re also limited by the fact that you can’t take the same team with you for every mission as sometimes they’ll need to rest, or you won’t have access to a certain character for narrative reasons. This means you’ll need to recruit enough units to flesh out a small roster and then switch between them as you go.

In theory, most of your soldiers should be the run-of-the-mill Gears who’ve been recruited along the way and as is now the norm in the world of turn-based tactics, you’re able to customise these men and women to your heart’s content, with different names, armour and colour schemes… only to see them die permanently should you put them in harm’s way.

But in practice, it’s the game’s hero units that always matter the most. They have to survive for your campaign to continue (forcing you to restart missions if they die), as they’re key to its storyline and you’ll usually be required to bring some of them with you on most missions. This means there’ll be at the very top of your priority list when it comes to which soldiers you’ll want to focus on leveling up and kitting out. In fact, given that I’d also received Augustus Cole (AKA The Cole Train) as a pre-order bonus, I rarely used more than one or two non-hero units in my squad at any one time, as I felt it’d be a waste of experience points to do so. I can’t help but wonder if I’d have had more fun managing my squad, mixing and matching the different classes, if there had been no ‘heroes’ whatsoever. At least it would have felt like a choice I was making.

As for the storyline itself, Gears Tactics is a prequel to the original Gears of War, set 12 years before anyone has decided to pull Marcus Fenix out of jail. Actually, I suppose he’s not in jail yet, is he? Lucky him! You’re tasked with hunting down a Locust scientist, “a monster who makes monsters”, and there’s some mystery to the politics surrounding this whole operation, but I found it all quite uninspired in the end. Your squad jumps between trust and distrust of one another with alarming frequency, with the end result being that none of it feels particularly genuine.

There are moments in which Tactics does manage to be the successful marriage between Gears of War and XCOM that you might have hoped for, but as a whole package, I’m not convinced it’s ever quite as good as that. I applaud it for experimenting with some brand new ideas, as well as providing another solid entry point into the turn-based strategy genre for those who’ve not been convinced in the past. But with the likes of Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2 having paved the way before this, Tactics had some big shoes to fill and not even Sid Redburn (who looks to be a size 16, at least) could quite manage it for me. But that execution mechanic! What a fantastic idea.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/gears-tactics-review-brains-and-brawn-join-forces-as-the-fight-against-the-locust-goes-turn-based-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gears-tactics-review-brains-and-brawn-join-forces-as-the-fight-against-the-locust-goes-turn-based-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net