#be that korok seeds or finish sidequests

[zhe-lazy-fox]

started playing a new round of botw, and Zelda and Link is making me feel soft...

[autistickaitovocaloid]

I haven't done all the sidequests etc that I still want to do in my inital playthrough but I kind of want to replay totk...

[owlbelly]

finished Tears of the Kingdom tonight :') i know there were some Addison locations i didn't find & i got a little over 800/1000 korok seeds - my completionist tendencies met their match, that's too many fucking seeds - but otherwise i think i got everything (all shrines, all trackable sidequests, etc.). oh yeah i didn't fill out the compendium, i tried but gave up after i realized i couldn't 100% it without a picture of Kohga & i'd killed him ages ago lmfao

my best zonai creation was a Leviathan skeleton war rig that i tried to use to fight Ganon but it was too big for the boss arena & he just chopped it up. i should really post some caps of it though, it was so beautiful & it breathed fire, i rolled it around the desert for awhile roasting monsters.

all in all this was a fantastic game & the boss fight was SO much cooler & more satisfying than BotW. i'm obsessed with open-world games so i'm gonna play Subnautica next! i've heard good things about it & i'm excited to play a diving game again, Endless Ocean 2 for the Wii is one of my all-time faves so if this is that but with aliens i'll be all set

[thegeminisage]

ok im playing more zelda!! i feel awful this is literally all i can do rn

you know i miss the match over bell from botw. it was so good

FAIRIES IN THIS CAVE...thank god

i fucking hate this place btw. rauru's settlement or whatever. i hate bottomless bogs

i guess in regards to gameplay it's not that different than lava - more forgiving, even! lava kills you instantly and sometimes you can fight your way out of a bog! - but it FEELS worse. it's uglier for one thing

i'm really close to the lost woods so i'm gonna see if i can navigate it without a torch! since i can see the wind blowing. i have so many korok seeds to trade in lol

took me one false start but i made it! i just had to walk veeery slowly lol

MAXED OUT my weapon storage already. damn.

going to check out a tiny chasm i've been eyeballing forever. i deserve a break

i used to feel so nervous being this close to hyrule castle in botw...the hills between it and the lost woods...it's not as bad in totk although i am still hugging the water. i don't want the music to play lol

fucking korok seed i was supposed to get by starting a fire and using a pinecone to go straight up. it was raining. i had to make the most convoluted structure out of dead trees it took FOREVERRR

how exciting!! after awhile away from the depths i land right on top of a yiga camp AND i can see an easy lightroot from here. a gentle reintroduction

ooh, this book talks about lights that appear and then vanish....that's fucking spooky. i hope they dont mean hands lol

ive been wanting to try "hoverbikes" that ive heard about and theres some fans here, so

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OH THIS IS THE MOST FUN IVE EVER HAD. WOW

ok my bike died but for a test run that was NOT bad

this area is all explored except this one dark spot that i've just now lit up...i'll grab a few poes and go somewhere else

i'm gonna go to goron city and buy my stupid fire helmet. i swear if i don't kill that gleeok on lake hylia i'll die

oh! i found the goron brothers house! kabetta's diary...

uh oh, it's his marbled rock roast descent

ooh, i found the sidequest to get a boulder breaker!!

where tf do i get a cobble crusher these days i wonder...

god i forgot how fun minecarts are. i saw one of the oldstyle ones on my way by...

kilton's balloon! or um. whoever he is lol <3 i have TOOOONS of gems to trade

it's not the same here without the lava, but at least there's lava in the caves...

these mine cart tracks were RIDICLOUS. i got SO STUCK lol

i see dinraAl but im too close to the ground 😭

OOOOHHHHH maybe i can use a hoverbike.....i gotta finish this fight first lol

GOT A COBBLE CRUSHER.....oh man i almost LEFT these guys to go chase dinraal!!!

ok ok gotta hurry

so, this bike doesn't control as well as i';'d like...maybe i need practice...and of course i wish it was faster...but it's still REALLY cool

my battery keeps dying/my bike keeps falling :( i give up

ugh i have so much anxiety about dragon parts.

VAH RUDANIA HELM??????? HELLOOOOOO

oh my god...i didnt even have this in botw, i dont have the amiibo card....................

aw i found some monster forces guys. of COURSE im gonna help them

OH we still get the bell after monster forces battles...good

NO FUCK AND THEY JUST LEFT. AND THERE'S ABOUT TO BE A BLOOD MOON LOL

i didnt get all my loot yet!! no one to help me when they come back!! im gonna die!!!

im not leaving w/o my Loot. i'll just have to do it on my own. thank god i have muddlebuds

GEEZ i did it. double loot

i can see the edge of the map! that sort of thing always did fascinate me...some of the textures are warped here lol that's creepy

ok, i looked it up and apparently i made my hoverbike wrong. im gonna try again w proper instruction!!

ok, new bike got me up to the top of gut check rock...it still has too much forward momentum for me, but i've seen a couple of different designs i wanna experiment with when i have more fans (currently only have 2 left in inventory)

i miss the goron blood brothers :( i mean it's so depressing that there's nothing up here but a korok seed...

ANOTHER EVENTIDE SHRINE. FUCK ME SIDEWAYS i hate this bs!!!

ok fine that wasnt that bad. STILL

bike is LOTS harder to control with a korok on the back. i like of like the counterweight though to help with too much momentum...

the bike lists to one side! i definitely just need to improve my fan placement

woke up the horse god. JUST as unsettling as i remember.

omg the yiga hideouts REFILL after long enough. rip!

decided to fight the pirates while i was here. "monster forces"...hope i'm not supposed to be teaming up with anyone for this lol

i accidentally hit my bike during combat and it went over the side of the boat 😭 i can make another and i was gonna fast travel after this anyway but STILL......

AUGH it's dinraal again and once again i can't chase her...i know how to do the bike now but i don't have it and also i'm busy!!!!! ugh

248 korok seeds!! officially time for bed - when i started today i was somewhere in the mid 100s lol

i thought i wouldn't play enough tonight to need to make multiple posts but i guess i should have broken this one up, huh? whoops!

[coldbrewblooded]

Finally did the final battle in totk and finished the game

Still don't have all the shrines or sidequests or korok seeds but main quest is completed 👍👍👍

That battle was much more satisfying than the one in botw, third form was much more fun then dark beast ganon ever was

[wolfra-mite]

Legends of Arceus almost going to the S - Rank Pokemon Game Tier for me

Another one of my untiring charades regarding Pokemon games. Because why not?

Today I wanna talk about Pokemon Legends of Arceus and the reasons why it was almost the S - Tier of Pokemon Games with me. Keep in mind that this will have minor spoilers so kindly read this at your own risk.

THE S RANK POINTS

Reason #1 : The exploration

Walking around while chasing those Starters and probably getting the imaginary battle that I had in my head while playing Gen 3 came to life is probably the best scenario.

Reason #2: The catching mechanic and encounters. I finally played the Let's Go Series after Arceus (and of course the Price Drop from those older games were worth it). So far what i had experienced in Let's Go is just throwing balls. But no, Arceus is a good mix of that. Sneaking and hitting them at the back with the Balls and getting a critical capture is probably the best feature Gamefreak did. Like who has time for loading mechanics? Seriously, this is a game changer. It feels more realistic when you get chased by those hostile Alphas or just those Beedrills. The best part about that? you can just continue to run away. Unlike in Sw/Sh or in SV were you a forced on an encounter. And let me just say that seeing that shiny shing whenever you see a shiny pokemon is also a good mechanic.

Reason #3 : The sidequests

Sure this game is a short story but man the sidequests are good with the content. And some of the NPCs are actually pretty fun to talk too. Sidequests can either be funny as to looking for all those pesky bidoofs or doing a 900 korok seed style and catching that Spiritomb. The best part is the pay off, if you managed to get all the sidequests, you can relive your DS Diamond and Pearl Trauma by encountering Arceus in the DP Remakes.

Reason #4: The payoff in doing the pokedex and getting all the entries.

Starting from Generation Six XY. I made a living dex and started completing all the pokedex. Sure it was no easy feat, the only pay off that i get is a certificate and a shiny charm that may or may not get me some shinies depending on how good the RNG gods feel like being generous. But on this game, I did get a payoff: its meeting the Pokemon god itself. This kind of makes it good that the plot just ties after you finish the pokedex. And well as for the entries they can be a tiresome to do but hey they are quite fun to complete and that is when you will get the shiny charm.

--

S RANK DEDUCTING POINTS

Ok so not all of the games are perfect and this comes with this game. So here is why I think that Arceus almost made an S but got into A rank in my game instead.

Deduction #1: Where is my mini map Gamefreak?

Bruh even year olds game had mini maps on their lower left or lower right. This game promotes exploration and not even a lower map? This is the part that i kind of dislike and it might be just a nitpick. But come on! Dont make me continuously press Y for the map? Oh you will? Well that sucks.

Deduction #2: Fast Travels where?

Muh fast travel posts. I feel like this is not the most often talked mechanic about. Yes the maps aren't that large, but still, I would like to conveniently fast travel on some locations sometimes. Perhaps this is a plot related thing to having little to no travel posts.

--

The conclusion: Pokemon Legends of Arceus is a great game! If you want that exploration with no map or just not that nitpicky, it might be an S Rank for you.

[six-of-ravens]

have officially finished all the sidequests in botw!

now I have no excuse to not find all the korok seeds...

[zeldalore]

FINALLY I'VE DONE IT

[foccaccia]

games i love and u should play, in no particular order:

chrono trigger

an old jrpg from the 90s, chrono trigger is a fantasy/sci-fi game about time travel, magic, and robots, with a fun plot, good gameplay, incredible characters, and one of the best soundtracks ever written.

youll find chrono trigger on best video game lists for a reason. its old, but its great. in fact, chrono trigger was the start and the inspiration for a lot of both jrpg mechanics and other games themselves.

ct is just one of those games You Should Play if you like video games. the base plot doesnt take forever - estimates are at about 20 hours, but you can speed through way faster - or, take the time to get over 10 endings, finish side quests, and have fun.

the beginners guide:

you know the Stanley Parable? this is the same creator.

the beginners guide is a short, introspective game i think everyone who creates content should play. its narrative, a man walking and talking you through short strange little games that his friend coda made. its about the process of creation, the reason, the rewards. the setbacks.

this is one of those games i had to sit quietly for a little bit after playing and feel some stuff. i try and replay it now and then, just cuz.

hatoful boyfriend:

okay. yes. i see all my friends groaning. youre about to as well. but hear me out.

hatoful boyfriend is a japanese dating sim with a twist.

you are a high school age human girl.

you go to a school for birds.

also, you live in a cave.

hatoful boyfriend is one of those games you think is a joke parody - and youre right, mostly, except if you stick with it long enough you stop laughing at the silly photorealistic bird jpegs. usually this is because youre either screaming or crying, but hey.

get through all the base routes and youll unlock the True Arc, which happens to be a murder mystery - and also explains what the fuck is up with the birds. and the human.

just. yes, the bird dating game (and its sequel, holiday star) has a plot. it has a lot of plot twists. some of em youll see coming. some of them you most certainly wont. listen, if you can barrel through the weirdness of it, its a fun, wild ride, and it has what is probably my favorite video game protagonist of all time.

(you, the player character, have base stats of 1 wisdom, 5 charisma, and 800 vitality. you run around screaming things like "MY HUNTER GATHERER BLOOD BOILS" before drop kicking your classmates, your heart is the size of the sun, and you wrestle buffalo for fun. this does not even begin to describe hiyoko's strangeness.)

undertale:

youre reading this on tumblr.

you know what undertale is.

just ignore the fans and the fandom and youll have a good time.

breath of the wild:

you probably know this one too. one of the more recent legend of zelda games, botw is an open world jrpg about a young hero waking up in the wild with no memories, but a huge responsibility.

listen. listen. i dont like games with fighting mechanics that require me to respond quickly. i am slow and bad at games. i also dont like games that are easy to get lost in, bc i am very easily lost, and botw has a HUGE open map. but this is probably one of my top three favorite games ever.

botw has it all - and all of it is amazing and unforgettable. characters, plot, gameplay, music, scenery, heartbreak, comedy-

this is another game you could blow through pretty quickly, or you could do what i did and finish every single sidequest and shrine and upgrade every piece of armor and then track down all 900 korok seeds. its up to you.

night in the woods:

indie side scroller/point and click about a 20 year old coming home from college to her hometown, a dying ex-mining backwater place called possum springs.

nitw is a mystery game, but its also about friendship, mental illness, the supernatural, and the slow, steady, inexorable decline of poor towns and the people in them as jobs disappear and the world crumbles.

its also really, really funny.

nitw also has two little side games - longest night and lost constellation - that are good!

stardew valley:

this is just a cute little farming sim. its well made. its fun. its addicting.

inherit a farm from ur grandfather as he dies on a fucked up bed, then escape to it from your menial soul-sucking office job to grow parsnips, raise cows, pet dogs, be gay, fall in love, make jam, fall down mineshafts, hit slime with swords, and buy probably-not irradiated sprinklers from a blob man in the sewers.

i have too many hours in this game.

pokemon mystery dungeon: explorers of sky

i am very tired of pokemon main games. i have been for years. i firmly advocate that the side games are where its at - and pmd:eos is The Best pokemon side game.

you are an amnesiac human-turned pokemon alongside your best friend, as you join an adventurers guild to explore new lands as well as rescue pokemon in need. but somethings going very wrong in the world, and you might just be connected to it all.

explorers of sky is like, the final version with more stuff, but time/darkness are both versions as well.

even when the plot twists are pretty foreseeable (this is a game written for kids, its pokemon) theyre still really good. i remember being a kid as my sister and i played this together and we both sobbed our little hearts out.

the soundtrack is phenomenal, and the gameplay is fun. its just a good game, yall!

off:

off is a french rpg with a free english translation available for download.

off is weird. you, the batter, are on a mission to purify the world. you travel through the zones of the world, defeating spirits and learning more and more about the strange, anxious drone-like inhabitants, the intimidating guardians, and the weird little side characters you meet - and, eventually, the strange child at the heart of it all.

off is slightly spooky, with a plot that that takes a bit to unravel, but its definitely worth it.

monster prom/camp:

a very lgbt+ friendly series, monster prom is a single or multiplayer american dating sim that really digs into the whole monster schtick. you pick your avatar from a list of monstrous choices, and then increase your stats in hope of being cool, charming, smart, etc enough to pick the right dialogue option and woo your intended monster beau.

monster prom is crass and heartfelt, with numerous wild and wacky endings. play it in a group, play it alone, but its funny and sweet either way.

summon an eldritch deity to watch naruto with you, aid your demon boyfriend in his quest to punch the sun, learn the meaning of life with a computer, get really high on illegal and dangerous substances with a ghost, and so much more.

inside:

spooky little puzzle side scroller/platformer

you are a little boy and you are trying to go somewhere. the world is grey and is trying to kill you.

something is very wrong.

[kuiperblog]

I spent some time (and money) playing Genshin Impact

I've spent some time with Genshin Impact over the past few weeks.  (It's probably come to about 60 hours and 60 dollars that I've spent.)

All of the things that need to be said about this game has probably already been said by others: yes, it's very much similar to Zelda: Breath of the Wild in terms of the open world exploration and visuals. It's also a free-to-play gacha game where you have to put money into the slot machine if you want to be guaranteed to get the characters you want, and you have a limited amount of daily stamina to get rewards from certain repeatable content.

The thing that seems to be under-acknowledged is that Genshin Impact is largely two different games: an open-world exploration game that you’re largely free to play through at your own pace, and a “grind to make the numbers go up” game where your progress is mostly limited by daily missions and activities. These two games are sort of intertwined, but I think I’ve managed to decouple the two, and it’s greatly enhanced my ability to enjoy Genshin Impact.

Genshin Impact is at its best when it is an open world game where you wander around, discovering treasure and puzzles and shrines and fighting groups of enemies who are guarding chests.  This is the part that takes after Breath of the Wild: it does a great job of filling the overworld with content in a way that, every time you finish a task, you need only to pan the camera around to see another activity off in the distance that you can do.  And if you don't see anything to do, just climb the nearest mountain and pan the camera around to look for a glowing point of interest.  This, too, is very BotW-esque: you can climb any vertical surface (how high you can climb is limited by your stamina), then jump from the peak using your glider.  Scattered around the world, you will find orbs (usually cleverly hidden within environmental puzzles), and you feed these orbs to a statue in each region to raise your character’s stamina so that you can climb mountains more easily.

The environment has an incredible amount of verticality, and I had a lot of time in one particularly mountainous region (pictured above), gliding from clifftop to clifftop, then walking around the "mid-tier" of the mountains where everything was connected by suspension bridges, and finally exploring all of the valleys.  And of course, I was constantly switching between the different "tiers" of the environment: I would begin gliding from one clifftop to another, but then I would pan the camera down and see, "ooh, there's a chest down in that valley.  Let me take a 'small detour' to obtain it," and then I would parachute down from the sky before climbing back up to see what other goodies were hidden in the world.

Genshin Impact, like Breath of the Wild, is all about seeing an interesting landmark in the distance, walking in that direction, and repeatedly getting distracted by detours and other smaller points of interest on the way there. You can stumble across a random torch, think “there’s probably a bunch of other torches in this area that will give me a reward if I light all of them,” and you will be right. No matter where you are in the world, there’s always multiple things that you can see in the distance that make you say, “ooh, I want to see what’s over there. I bet I’ll find another korok seed blue wisp.” It’s kind of great.

The thing that it actually does better than BotW is that everything you do in the overworld feels like it is giving you forward progress, whether it’s hunting for hidden treasure or fighting enemies.  In BotW, there are genuinely some enemy encounters where you will just fight a bunch of enemies and afterwards go, "Great, I just wasted half of this sword's durability, and all I have to show for it is a much crappier sword than the one I used to kill these enemies."  In Genshin Impact, there is no weapon durability, and every enemy drops materials that you will eventually use to "ascend" your characters and weapons (essentially raising the level cap), so even time that you spend fighting trash mobs isn’t wasted (though there are usually faster ways to progress, so I don’t fight every single enemy I come across).  Every chest that you open gives you progress toward raising your "adventure rank," which determines how high you can raise the level cap. The open world is fun to spend time in, and it always feels like you are making progress.

In fact, exploring the open world is so much fun that it's easy to forget that there's actually a main questline, though the questline is actually quite enjoyable. (And, unlike BotW, that main questline actually involves a large amount of story where you meet and talk to different characters, like you would in most open-world fantasy games!)  There's voice acting and cutscenes and an interesting story that explores the different cultures in this world, including an interesting contrast between one vaguely-western European region where you meet characters with names like "Jean" and Bennet" and "Noelle," and a China analog where the characters have names like "Chongyun" and "Ningguang” and "Xingqiu" (who you can see pictured below). 

The cultural influences aren’t merely aesthetic (though they are definitely reflected in the fashion and architecture of these two regions).

There are also “character” story quests where you will, for example, meet a character who is a book nerd and help him track down a volume of a novel he’s been trying to find. In the process of helping the book geek, you will meet with the merchants guild to engage in financial speculation and market manipulation, and also there are some combat sequences where you get to play with the book nerd character and find out that he’s also pretty good with a sword and water magic, and hey, if you’d like him to be a permanent part of your team, maybe you could consider spending some money on the gacha slot machine for a chance of getting him?

(By the way, if all of that sounds like a bit much just to help some kid track down a novel, it should be noted that this game is set in a time where books are quite a prized commodity: there’s also a story set in the game’s “vaguely western European” region that involves helping a librarian character track down overdue library books, and I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to tell you that part of this quest involves entering a dungeon and fighting a bunch of enemies.)

These “character stories” do feel like a pretty obvious way to get you to care about and “try out” characters that are locked behind the paywall, but I’m glad they’re there, as they are easily the most endearing part of the game’s story. I’ve been content with my main squad of 5-ish main characters without the need to dig into the game’s roster of ~25 characters (with more to surely be added with each update).

There’s a finite amount of content, in the sense that eventually, you will explore all of the open world and uncover all of the secrets, and do all of the main questline and all the character sidequests and whatnot.  (The game does have some repeatable and “daily” content...but we’ll get to that later.) The game’s open world and story seems to represent about 60 hours of content, from my own estimates (and estimates I’ve seen by others), and it is worth noting that more content is on the way: the game currently has 2 regions, but the map (and the game’s lore) has room for a total of 7 regions, and of course I’m sure that more characters (and accompanying side stories) are on the way, since getting you to pull for new characters is how the game makes money.

I enjoyed my time with that game very much, and will probably be coming back every time there’s a major update that adds a new region.  It’s also worth mentioning that while some of the activities in the open world are one-time puzzles, there are many chests throughout the world that do respawn every few days, so there is still stuff to do if you want to keep exploring the open world even after you’ve cleared everything.

All of what I’ve described above could be a regular AAA game that I’d be perfectly content to spend $60 on (and, as it just so happens, I have spent approximately that amount of money on it, because I wanted to recruit the mischievous bard archer whose ultimate ability is to summon tornadoes, and the chuuni thunder princess whose ultimate lets you fly around as an electro-charged raven and zap everything. I don’t regret that purchase.)

This leads into the “second game” that is Genshin Impact.

One of the main “rewards” for exploring the open world of Genshin Impact (as well as doing the main questline and the side quests) is that nearly everything you do (including opening random chests in the overworld) gives you experience toward raising your “adventure rank.” Adventure rank 1-20 is when you are mainly progressing to unlock the game’s features.  This is done pretty well, for the most part: tying various features to the game’s progression system ensures that you’re not inundated with too much stuff to do right out of the gate, and it gives you an incentive to keep progressing the main quest to continue advancing your adventure rank.

The final “feature” that the game unlocks for you at adventure rank 20 is that you now have the ability to ascend the game’s “world level.”  At adventure rank 20, you ascend from “world level 0″ to “world level 1.”  (From this point on, every 5 adventure rank you gain allows you to raise the “world level” again: at adventure rank 25, you hit world level 2, at adventure rank 30, you hit world level 3, and so on.)

This is where you encounter the second game within Genshin Impact, which is a game that is basically about watching numbers go up.

You explore the open world and do quests to raise your adventure rank, which lets you raise the world level.  Raising the world level raises the level cap for all of your characters.  Raising the world level also makes all of the enemies stronger, but this is good because it means they drop better materials, which you need in order to ascend your characters to hit the new level cap.  This becomes the main “gameplay loop” of Genshin Impact: you want to raise your adventure rank, so that you can become stronger and so that the enemies become stronger so that you can become stronger faster.

This is where the complaints about the “stamina” system come in.  You see, the part of Genshin Impact that is just about watching the numbers go up is all tied to your adventure rank, and the open world has an essentially finite amount of adventure exp.  Early on, your adventure rank grows quickly because the story quests and sidequests give you generous amounts of adventure exp, but eventually the main soure of renewable adventure exp becomes tied to daily quests and the game’s energy system.

The game is filled with overworld bosses, short dungeons, and “leylines” (which are basically random points on the open world where you can spawn and fight through waves of enemies).  You can do these as much as you want, but they only give adventure exp (and other rewards) if you spend energy, which you get a finite amount of every day.  You get 180 energy per day, and each activity costs 20-40 energy.  (Also, energy constantly regenerates and you can only store 120 energy at a time, so if you don’t want to “waste” energy by hitting the cap, it means you have to log in multiple times per day to spend it.)

This means that, at a certain point, your “adventure rank” progress is gated by energy/dailies. (For me, this happened at around adventure rank 30.) Of course, you can spend money to get extra energy. This is what has a lot of players upset. (The game’s energy system is called “resin,” and doing a google search for ‘genshin impact resin’ or simply pulling up the Genshin Impact subreddit will probably turn up pages of such complaints, if you’re interested in reading such things.)

The thing is, the “energy system” doesn’t really impede your ability to explore the open world, which is where this game is really at it’s best.  In fact, there are people who have gone through the entire world and found all of hundreds of hidden orbs even before ascending to world level 1.

When I say that Genshin Impact eventually becomes a game about watching the numbers go up, I mean that quite literally: at world level 3, I am fighting the exact same enemies that I was at world level 1; they just have bigger numbers over their heads.  I am using the same characters and abilities and doing all of the same activities, but now instead of killing level 18 goblin archers to collect “firm arrowheads,” I’m killing level 45 goblin archers to get “sharp arrowheads.” The difference between these two items is that “firm arrowheads” are required to ascend my archer up to level 40, while “sharp arrowheads” are required to ascend my archer up to level 60.  Eventually, I’ll graduate to fighting even higher levels of goblin archers to get “weathered arrowheads,” which will let me ascend my archer up to level 80.

It is worth noting that the game’s “loop” of watching the numbers go up is quite satisfying: while it is easy to describe the game in a reductive way that makes it feel dumb and arbitrary, I’ll admit that once I graduated from fighting level 35 slimes (who only drop “slime condensate”) to fighting level 40 slimes (who were then able to drop “slime secretions”), and then used those “slime secretions” to upgrade my my wind archer’s attacks to do more damage, it felt good.

Whether it’s leveling your characters, ascending your characters, leveling your weapons, ascending your weapons, level up each of your character’s individual talents, leveling each of their individual pieces of equipment...it just feels good to make the numbers go up, and to keep making the numbers go up, you have to raise the world level to make the enemies stronger.  Every milestone feels like a significant achievement, and it’s great at giving you the constant feeling that you get when you “prestige” in a game like Call of Duty: the game ratchets up in difficulty, and you once again get to go through the process of grinding your characters up until you slowly accomplish the task of once again hitting the new level cap.

And so I absolutely understand the frustration that a lot of players hit once the “the wall” where only way to keep making the numbers go up is to sign in every day to do their dailies and spend their energy, or spend money to get more energy.  I myself was a bit annoyed, and even spent a couple dollars’ worth of the game’s premium currency so that I could gain more adventure exp to make the number go up faster.

But I quickly realized, “No matter what my adventure rank is, I’m still fighting the same goblins, slimes, wizards, and electro cubes that I was fighting 10 hours ago.” Even if my progress is being arbitrarily gated by an energy system, on a moment-to-moment basis, the gameplay is pretty much the same.

And at that point, I basically abandoned the game within Genshin Impact that is “make the numbers go up,” and went back to playing the thing that made me enjoy Genshin Impact, which is the game of “wander around in the open world, look for activities to do, collect all the orbs, open all the chests, and fight the various enemies that I fight along the way.” Doing this still makes the numbers go up, just more slowly than if I was spending energy on all of the game’s repeatable content.  And that game continues to be quite fun.  Eventually I’ll run out of things to do, and at that point I will probably put down Genshin Impact until the next region comes out and gives me another few dozen hours of open-world content to explore.

Most people I’ve seen recommend Genshin Impact do so with the caveat that before you go in, you should be aware of the gacha system so you don’t spend too much money, and maybe stay away if you lack the self control to avoid dumping too much money into it.  In my case, the money I’ve lost to gacha games has always paled in comparison to the amount of time and mental energy I’ve lost to playing any game that has “dailies” that make me feel obligated to sign in once a day (or more than once a day) so I’m not “wasting” a resource that the game is giving me for “free.”

Now that I’ve resigned myself to not particularly caring about the numbers in Genshin Impact, it’s not such a big problem for me, but if you are the kind of person who is going to lose a ton of mental bandwidth to any game that has “dailies” or an energy system, be aware that Genshin Impact is one of those.  Also be aware that playing the game at higher “World Ranks” is pretty much the same experience as playing it at World Rank 1 in terms of the enemies you fight against and the abilities that you use, and if you’re able to cross that mental hurdle (like I eventually did), you can loop around to not really caring too much about the game’s energy system (which prevents you from getting frustrated by having your progress, but perhaps more critically saves you from feeling like you need to log in every day for fear of “wasting” energy).

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Finished every sidequest in Breath of the Wild as well now, plus completed compendium. Next goal is pick up the two horse saddles and bridles I'm missing. Don't entirely know what I'm aiming for afterwards but maybe all of the medals from monster bro or something? And Korok seeds are... probably gonna be a no from me.

[thatwitchrevan]

Hey so I saw this botw ask meme and I wanted to do it since I’m not feeling great rn and I miss botw, and rather than have people send asks I just thought I’d go ahead and answer them all! So here they are!

🐉 - farosh, naydra, or dinraal?

I love them all so much but I think Naydra was probably my favorite just cause I felt connected to them through having to do the quest to uncorrupt them. That segment was awesome and harrowing to play and made me feel like a hero, and whenever I saw Naydra afterwards it made me really happy :) I love them all though.

❤️ - otp?

I have a few! I think my ULTIMATE otp for botw is Zelink because they’re the otp of the series and because they were just so sweet in this game. I feel like their love and friendship is so central to the entire game. However while playing I also fell deeply in love with Sidlink and afterwards got really into Revalink as well. They’re both just very sweet ships. And an honorable mention to Miphlink, because while I don’t really ship it romantically on Link’s side, the memories between them and Mipha’s feelings for Link are so sweet and I have many emotions.

🐴 - what is the name of your go-to horse?

Probably Minnie! As I remember I have three main horses: Minnie, Blue, and Dapple, and I tried to switch them out but I think I ended up riding Minnie most often because she was my first horse and I just adore her. I love them all a lot and they’re all good and beautiful horses, I just tended to go for Minnie!

📝 - is there anything you would change about the game?

A few things! Firstly, I want to pet the dogs! And maybe some of the other animals, but especially the dogs. I also really wish Link had hugged Zelda in one of the final cutscenes. I’d tweak weapon durability so it wasn’t so annoying. And I may also tweak the cooking/recipe system a little cause I found myself getting annoyed at that during the late game. I’d add more NPC dialogue with all NPCs but especially important ones like Sidon and Teba and Paya/Impa because once you complete their quests they only say the same things over and over and never update to reflect your progress or the world state. 

Oh, and this is a big one: POST GAME PLAY! I wanna play in Hyrule after beating Ganon, WITH Zelda, with all the NPCs recognizing that I’ve beat Ganon, with no Corruption or corrupted Guardians, and with fewer/less aggressive monsters and no Blood Moons. I just. Wanna run around Hyrule with my girlfriend and do sidequests. Nintendo please. 

🌎 - favourite & least favourite region?

My favorites are Akkala, Lanayru, Faron, and Necluda. I’m not the biggest fan of northern Hebra where it’s really really cold and snowy, but I do like the area around Rito Village a lot. 

🍃 - how many korok seeds have you collected?

A lot but not nearly all of them. There’s so many korok puzzles I’ve just passed because I didn’t feel like it lmao.

💠 - do you prefer to travel via the sheikah slate, by horse, or by foot?

On foot, usually. I always wanna collect things and explore and talk to NPCs. Which means it takes me a long time to get places and I get sidetracked and lost a lot. When I do take horses I often keep stopping to fight enemies, gather stuff, and check stuff out. So if I need to get somewhere quick I just fast travel. 

🗡 - favourite weapon set?

uhhhhhhh. I really like the Gerudo weapons?

🎼 - favourite soundtrack?

Zora’s domain and the Dragon themes. And Kakiriko Village. And the Field themes. 

🏆 - what was your divine beast order?

Vah Ruta, Vah Naboris, Vah Rudania, and Vah Medoh. I think I genuinely did them hardest to easiest by mistake. 

🍽 - favourite thing to cook? 

I... cannot quite remember. I know I cooked whole birds a lot, especially in Goron where I could just drop em on the ground. I made a lot of rice balls and kebabs as well.

📱 - favourite rune?

Probably magnesis.

👕 - what armour set do you wear most often?

The Gerudo vai outfit...

🎨 - did you ever make use of the dye shop in hateno village? if yes, which garment(s) did you dye?

Yes I got a second Gerudo vai outfit and dyed it. I also dyed one of my Hebra coats red.

⚔ - which boss fight did you enjoy the most?

hmmm... I think my favorite Blight was Wind Blight. I also enjoyed some of the Talus fights. And Calamity Ganon was stressful but fun.

🔶 - what was your favourite shrine quest?

I enjoyed the fire ones!

🎥 - what is your favourite memory?

Any memory where Zelda is actually happy, even for a moment.

💭 - most memorable moment?

Picking up the final memory by Twin Peaks Stable right before going to the castle ;-;

✨ - which armour pieces/sets have you upgraded completely?

I don’t think I finished any.

🛡️ - shield surfing or paragliding?

Paragliding! I love shield surfing but paragliding is so much more versatile and forgiving. 

🏠 - if you could live in any of the settlements, which one would it be? why?

Kakiriko or Hateno. They’re so homey and the people there are so nice, and the early game nostalgia is strong. 

🖼️ - what do you have mounted on the walls in link’s house?

Spare elemental weapons, and a few bows and shields.

🔮 - did you opt for full life hearts or full stamina?

I don’t think I maxed out either but I tried to balance while slightly prioritizing hearts. 

[sketchjii]

i beat the main quest

[thegeminisage]

they call it the river of the dead bc i died 10000 times trying to get korok seeds here

ANOTHER shrine in a cave on the great plateau. 10/10 i love that

i keep getting nothing but shields in chests and its starting to piss me off. i dont use them much, i havent broken a single one this whole game. give me literally ANYTHING else!!

died in the shrine when i was alllmost done. smh

DIED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

deeply tempted to turn around and leave but No. i'm so close

I FUCKING. GOT IT. FUCK THAT SHRINE!!!!

placed one of my travel medallions at the REAL temple of time. i never have to walk back here again lol

not that i need to come back...i'm finishing up the great plateau korok hunt right here. i have one left that starts elsewhere and ends on the great plateau but im at nearly 200 seeds rn and ive been making myself cuckoo bananas hunting seeds so i deserve a sidequest break. i'm thinking the rito bridge is a good place 2 start

BUT FIRST, MY AMIIBO! i keep foprgetting to do these lol

YOOOOOO mirror of twilight fabric!!! sexy

AND demon king fabric.....

accidentally spawned another epona. rode hr out to where the other horses were so she has community support lol

AWWW there's another monument near the great plateau...

ok, so i talked to karson in lookout landing ages back abt building this bridge. i think now they need supplies?

oh, i like how these guys refer to each other by name! i love the community feeling in totk...the way everybody wants to be a helper...

oh lmao i literally have enough wood already <3 maybe this is why they made trees enemies, to give us reasons to chop them up so we dont have to level entire forests at a time

OH HE SAID ACES!!!! good for him

SCREAM this dialogue. wings come in handy! or...wingy! don't sit your tail there, it's a support beam, not a perch! chaotic gay people <3 happy pride <3

had the brief thought "since i'm in hebra i should get some korok seeds here" no <3 not without <3 snow boots <3

which i havent seen any sign of...UGH i hope they arent still in gerudo desert...

im going to hateno!! i've been meaning to give this guy acorns for his cow feed for foreverrr

but, to do the school quest, i need to swing by kakariko first...thank goodness4 fast travel

ugh so many sidequests in kakariko i wanna do but i feel like i should wait until this 5th sage nonsense SIIIGH

ok, got the pic of the tapestry in paya's house! also accidentally saw the cuccos running by, followed them to their hideout. extremely tense trying to bust thru the rock wall with them standing there. no way was i using yunobo

BUT i was at a perfect angle to take a ring ruins pic for the stable guy!

found lasli who needs the anti-gloom stuff...UGH i hate that nobody remembers link!!! ugh and i need milk for this which i dont have >:(

well, i bet there's some in hateno and i was going there anyway lol

NAYDRA WAS HERE WHEN I SPAWNED........snaged myself a scale. UGH i can't believe they fucked dragon farming i'm in such deep shit i don't have ANY parts

acorns delivered, milk received! omg nice he'll trade me anytime.......reminds me of the rito lady trading arrows for chillshrooms lol now THAT was a bargain

got my mirror of twilight fabric put on 💪

oh man it is LOVELY. it has a nice rainbow-pearl sheen to it...it might be my fav yet

time to go appease schoolchildren

scream that link is listening in on this calamity lecture like he wasn't the main character in it without so much as a single acknowledgement of it by this dude. yet another way theyre alienating old players by trying NOT to alienate new ones

this guy talking up the hero's achievements WITHOUT ACTUALLY MENTIONING THAT IT IS LINK. this is my villain origin story

oh boy. for the next lesson i have to get monster extract from tarrey town. i have the car quest there i never finished, but maybe i should do more shrines/seeds first...

i haven't been to the depths in awhile.

that is DEFINITELY the devil (and many korok seeds) talking. actually i can decide tomorrow bc i have to <3 go to bed

[the-elemental-sides]

the sides play breath of the wild headcanons

because i’m being A B S O R B E D by these precious characters and it’s 1 am and

Logan is a collector. He does the Divine Beasts and the Korok seeds and a couple of the sidequests, but the love of his life are the shrines. He spends hours combing the lands for them, and it takes him way too long to get through an area because he checks EVERYTHING with Magnesis. The Tests of Strength are the bane of his existence because he thinks they’re a letdown but he completes them anyway. Robbie is his favorite character, and he grinded Guardians until he had like 30 Ancient Arrows and all the Ancient weapons so he could murder the Major Tests. His first horse is named Caballus and he loves her and rides her everywhere and spent all his arrows on that one Horseback Archery Camp time trial just so he could get a special saddle and bridle. He��s also super meticulous with taking photos of everything so he can make Simon and Purah happy. Link Status: rapidly alternating between the Zora Armor, climber’s gear, and the soldiers’ armor—he’d rather use potions than ever switch to something heat- or cold-resistant.

Patton: sIDEQUESTS!!! The more dire the problem, the more invested he is. He gets way too emotionally invested in the story and WILL listen to Kass’ three-minute-long-song every single time their paths meet. He’s a surprisingly good stealth player because he refuses to kill any animals or even monsters, if he can help it, and he absolutely blazed through the Yiga Clan Hideout. He hoards items on the chance that he’ll need them for a quest. He once spent 2 hours trying to climb a mountain on a deer because he didn’t want it to run away when he dismounted it. He will never admit who his favorite character is because he loves them all. (But it’s Hestu.) Link Status: well-groomed. Patton never takes off the Champion’s Tunic.

Roman: He went STRAIGHT for Hyrule Castle and was blown up immediately. At first he was too concerned with Zelda to slow down and enjoy the game, but when he discovered the first Great Fairy, he decided maybe he’d take a breather and find the rest of them, and stock up on some outfits, and then of course he has to go gather ingredients for the set bonuses, and what do you mean the gerudo outfit has terrible defense? he’s wearing it anyway. Then he found out about the Master Sword and HAD to complete that before he finished anything else. He still neglects the Divine Beasts, but if someone told him about Sidon he’d be THERE. Voted Most Likely To Get Killed In Hilarious Ways During Combat. Link Status: highly fashionable, and Roman refuses to ever, under ANY circumstances, mix and match outfits.

Virgil: Of everyone, he’s the most likely to appreciate the nice atmosphere, not to mention the technical side of the graphics and physics engine. He makes fun of the story elements, but he really likes searching out the memories. He’s also possibly the only side who could defeat anything stronger than a blue lynel. He just likes having a chill time exploring the world and fighting minibosses. Stalhorses are the BEST thing in the game. He does a bit of everything, and sometimes he’ll make up his own goals, like seeking out a certain item with the Hyrule Compendium, and run with whatever happens. His favorite area was that one shrine quest in total darkness. Virgil won’t admit to being super attached to any characters, but he does have a soft spot for Paya. He’ll also constantly revisit the Great Plateau just to experience the tranquility of it. Link Status: probably bare-chested, but he might be wearing the stealth or radiant armor.

[ohthehypocrisy]

Breath of the Wild 2 Idea Dump

I’m not putting a Read More break on this because I really want people to see this or even skim over it just a little. If you don’t care you’re free to ignore this post.

Below is a composite list of things I’d like to see in a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild. All of these are just my ideas and are subjective ways to improve upon the previous game’s gameplay and story and other things.

Overworld:

-As the game is a direct sequel to BotW, the overworld would require very little changes. Of course the land itself will change because of developments like new towns, excavations of mountains or forests, bridges, as well as other minor things.

-The exception to this would be The Great Plateau and Hyrule Castle. Hyrule Castle would become a historical site whereas a new Hyrule Castle would be built within the Great Plateau. The time between BotW 1 and BotW 2 would mean that the castle would still be in development, but it would look almost finished. (i have no basis for this suggestion, I just think it would look cool)

-Examples of new towns would be where the original Shiekah Towers stood. Remember that they were hidden until BotW 1, so these towns would be built around these landmarks. While defunct now, the towers are treated differently by each town. Some research them, others treat them as godly gifts. 

-This means that civilization would be established around these ordinarily inhospitable areas like that one in a bottomless pit or in the Gerudo mountains. This is justified as much of Ganon’s malice has weakened, Guardians all over Hyrule shut down forever, and people were allowed to prosper in the wild. 

-Hyrule in BotW was definitely big, but it could be bigger. The border could be expanded and allow much further exploration, such as islands, mountains, and maybe even some sky islands. It could even be teased to call some of the sections things like Holodrum Border, or Termina Isle. Wouldn’t that be something?

Story:

-You are a 15 year old kid living in Tarrey Town, if you remember that sidequest from BotW 1. Of course, you can be either a boy or a girl, but unlike in BotW 1, you choose your name since you are an unrelated incarnation of Link.

-Tarrey Town is a rich melting pot of different cultures and species. The town was originally built on top of a plateau but extended into the forest and lake below once it expanded.

-The head chief is Grooson, having been put into power fairly recently. He is from a long line of Gerudo woman that moved into the village when it was first built and is proud of his bloodline. Grooson aspires to be great just like the previous chiefs and vows to protect his town from harm, and is especially protective of kids like you. (Naturally this means the story takes place at the minimum of 100 years)

-This means you are a sort of pampered child. Your uncle is one of Tarrey Town’s soldiers and has been hoping you would join the royal army just like he did, but Grooson doesn’t approve of kids like you wielding weapons and training. As a result, you are inexperienced with weapons and in fights in general. Your uncle promises to get you into sword training on your 16th birthday.

-It all comes crashing down when one day the town is attacked by monsters. Although most of the citizens managed to escape, you don’t see your uncle escaping with your group. Grooson stops you from looking for him and tells you to go to Hyrule before tossing you into the horse drawn carriage and sending you away to try and hold off the monsters to cover your escape.

-(BIG OL EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN HERE AND YOUR TRIP TO THE LOST WOODS) The royal family believe that it is time to draw the Master Sword once again, but they do not know who could be the hero reincarnate. As you are the only child wearing green and with blonde hair, you are sent and accompanied to the Lost Woods in an attempt to pull the Master Sword. (and also to avoid unnecessarily putting multiple children in harm’s way)

-But to everyone’s surprise, the Lost Woods had been burned to the ground, the Great Deku Tree reduced to cinders, and the Master Sword shattered from its pedestal, only its hilt remains.

-Before leaving, you hear a weak voice from the remains of the sword. You pick it up without telling the knight accompanying you and you return to Hyrule Castle.

-While everyone is panicking over the apparent destruction of the Master Sword, the swords spirit appears to you one night, lost, dazed, and confused. She is ghostlike and missing most of her body, and conversations with her yield very little as she is constantly forgetting details, until you show her one of the pieces of the Master Sword.

-She tells you that’s her memory and she takes it. She remembers her name (Fi of course) and function, but nothing else. You tell her what happened, and she tells you what to do. You must go and find the pieces of the Master Sword and return it to its former power in order to combat the new evil.

-Because of her limited memory, she cannot offer insight to locations, people, items, enemies, animals, or anything. She can, however, save “blueprints” of weapons and adapt their form, but this costs magic and it runs out over time. You get the first blueprint inside New Hyrule Castle of a sword.

-Fi has lost her monotonous voice over the years and gained a curious and optimistic persona, as well as a minor wild streak that shows up during battle (for instance, she will suddenly shout attack commands when an enemy is stunned or leaves themselves open for attack. I mean, shoving the sword into enemies thousands of times over the years does something to you).

-Meanwhile, the Royal Family is reinforcing their army, but are shorthanded in messengers that could send letters requesting assistance to other regions of Hyrule. You are granted the opportunity to travel and send these messages as quests and side missions, all of which can help you and reward you with items and allows you to explore the world at your own pace (although without a Shiekah slate, you are only given a barebones map. Fi will later be able to help you with this once she has more memory and can draw data from Shiekah towers).

Gameplay:

-Fi has a limited memory and magic system, but it grows exponentially once you have gained more of them.  By gaining a blueprint, the Master Sword can take the form of any weapon at any time, but its use is limited by magic. The upsides are that these weapons won’t break, but physical weapons will retain an advantage over the Master Sword (such as bonuses from armor, the ability to throw them, magic usage, etc.)

-However, if you have a physical weapon, she can copy its form temporarily. This can be useful if the weapon is about to break. She will only have the ability to copy the form while you have the weapon physically, as she lacks the memory to maintain the form once it’s gone.

-Keep in mind that due to Fi’s limited memory, you won’t be able to access every blueprint right away. Pieces of the Master Sword (henceforth known as Master Shards) are hidden all around Hyrule and can even be in the possession of other people that think it’s a rare material. Whereas Korok Seeds could help you expand your inventory, Master Shards replace them in BotW 2. Not every single Master Shard is needed to beat the game.

-Blueprints are acquired by locating the original shrines from BotW 1 and collecting data from them. Not all of them will have weapon blueprints.

-Fi can obtain blueprints for objects other than weapons, such as a temporary bridge, a binocular, a ladder, rope, a lantern, a paraglider, and other incredibly useful items for exploring Hyrule. The effectiveness of these items increase the more magic you have, which is what will be limiting you early game and stop you from, oh, say, generating a ladder to the top of Death Mountain or something.

-When using a blueprint weapon, magic can be spent on extra powerful attacks such as the spin slash, or causing a minor earthquake with a hammer.

-With enough memory, Fi will be able to save recipes of your most successful meals and potions, and will be able to save more later. She will even notify you if you have collected enough materials for a specific recipe if you ask her to.

-Fi will log the wares of a town after you’ve visited their shops so that next time you visit, she can tell you if they are selling items you happen to be low on. She needs memory for this, though, and once this becomes available to you she will only be able to log one town at a time and will need more memory for more towns.

-Likewise, she will log enemies if she has the memory to spare and save their possible drops as well as attack patterns. Side note; she will compliment you after a battle if you lost little to no hearts and show concern if you lost a lot of them and ask that you take a potion or something.

-As said before, not all shrines will have weapon blueprints, as some of them will have data for weapon skills you can use to improve your combat abilities, such as a downward sword stab, pole vaulting with spears, and the spin attack among other things. These come in the form of combat trials against enemies that are vulnerable to these skills.

-(Not sure if runes and the climbing mechanic would return for this, just stating this here)

I might actually add more to this, but I think that’s all I got without going into specifics such as weapons and item crafting and junk. But this is what I would think to be the ideal BotW sequel that could come out after the first game. Please tell me what you think and if you have your own ideas. Thanks for reading.