#but also because this game has so many mechanics that i forgot how to use lmao

[maareyas]

Redownloaded a gacha game I used to play specifically because they had a sonic collab event. i am not immune to hedgehog

[jelly-fish-wishes]

Finished the game…and I have SO MANY THOUGHTS!!!!

Spoilers below!

Gameplay was standard for an RPG. Bros moves new and old were great! But there were other features that were great, like the second camera in the Fake Mushroom Kingdom! That was an amazing mechanic that was unfortunately used for that one moment. Luigi selecting with the A button is still a thing that bothers me, but it doesn’t affect the game and story, so it gets a pass. Exploration was fun! Everything felt balanced to me and the story was PHENOMENAL! Now for the story…

The game WAS DEFINITELY a little slow at first, but it took its time to give us a little world building before we got to the REALLY good parts starting with Desolatt Island and the introduction of Zokket.

Boy was HE a real menace. Intimidating. We didn’t know his motives until the end of the second ACT. And by then, his motives were beginning to reveal themselves to be strange. What was the point of secluding everyone? Being purposefully forgetful of the names of his allies and enemies?

The Extension Corps were not just likable. They were LOVEABLE!!! Ten with his “similar to Fawful’s arc, but not quite” complex, Ecks being the little twat that he is, and Shun being the silent, but smart and brawny one, uuughhh they’re all great. And their battle was definitely one of the most memorable of them all!

Team IDLE was adorable. At first I thought they’d be trouble makers, but they were quite the opposite. I kinda wish they’d stop with the obesity jokes with Ellow. And Loog was…just there ngl. Their bond with Peach was great tho!

Starlow.

I’m kidding, she was mostly there for cameos and references to other games, other than that she had no reason to be there. It would have been wrong to not include her anyway. She was an important character in the previous games, so her absence would have caused an uproar the way people wondered why Toadsworth was gone after a certain point in the entire franchise.

I can see how they really wanted to bring back the Firebrand and Thunderhand, but couldn’t for some reason, so they replaced them with the Firebrand and Ice Flowers. And PERHAPS the Thunderhand was ALSO replaced with Luigi’s Bros Attack “Zapperator.” I wonder why they couldn’t bring it back. If they did, would Heatfreeze, Skorcheen and Slippenglide have had Fire and Thunder Concordians instead? I get excited thinking about it.

Bowser coming in to kickstart the 3rd ACT was EXCELLENT! The action, the cinematography, the way Bowser changed targets the minute he saw the Bros. This koopa was a major inconvenience in a good way. Besides, if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have found the Great Conductor, who I assume is the one who can technically go in and out of the Warp Zone AT WILL without a pipe! His attack in the Bros Attack says a lot about his abilities hehehe.

The reveal of Zokket as Cozette came as a surprise to me since Zokket calls himself a HE while Cozette is a SHE. Bro got so brainwashed that she forgot her own pronouns (this isn’t my joke, but it’s still true). Cozette showing remorse over actions beyond control made me attached to her. And then we are introduced to the one and lonely only: RECLUSA. OH BOY DO I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON TUIS BASTARD.

Reclusa, Reclusa…where do I even BEGIN???

He is the MOST SUCCESSFUL Villain in the franchise. He has destroyed countless of worlds and plans to keep going. He got a reaction out of Mario because he not only threatened the Mushroom Kingdom, but the entire world it’s on. The last time I saw Mario react in such an emotional manner was when had to leave Luigi behind with Dimentio in Super Paper Mario.

Speaking of SPM, can we talk about the similarities with it and Brothership? Villain is a guy in a tophat with three minions. Minions are beloved by everyone in the fandom. True villain is a zesty frilly bastard who disposes the one in a tophat and uses plants to control people and becomes a giant freak monster boss in the end and dies by the hands of love and friendship??????? History repeats itself…and I’m happy about that.

But…the ending…holy cow…

Reclusa clinging to what life he had left in him felt very somber. He had no regrets and yet he seemed remorseful in the way he was stuttering. His death…kinda hurt a little…kind of a shame he is definitely a character we’ll never see again like Dimentio or Fawful.

I was also expecting Cozette to purposely stay behind because of the guilt she had. Was it just me? No? Hmmm.

Also

I knew they were going to say goodbye but I suppose deep down I brushed off the idea that they’d never see each other again.

Ireen saying goodbye to Peach???

Or Snoutlet with the Bros…the widdle tear he shed…man……..

Like, man…Junior and Buddy…come on man…OOOUUUGHHH….that one hurt….

This game

Wow

10/10

[auriidae]

LIFESTUCK ?!?! (pt 2 here!) (pt 3)

i was sick a couple days ago and spent like 12 hours straight doing nothing but classpecting life series characters and then was like Yeah i have to draw this now. so here's some sillies 👍 (super long classpect ramble under cut because i spent far too long on it not to share hfshjf)

quick note: i really really love @/classpect-navelgazing's theories and used them for a lot of the ideas here. go check their blog out it rules :]

ok you guys flower ranchers (scott tango jimmy) are making me so insane for this au specifically because of this idea i had about doom/life players. doom in true canon is related to inevitability, fate, and knowledge of the specific rules that keep the characters trapped within their story, right. and life is sort of related to healing, physically and mentally, within the confines of the game. so within this au, the aspect of life refers to the rules within the game that the players can see and are aware of (last life’s trading lives system + boogeyman, third life’s soulmate mechanic, secret life’s tasks, etc.). life players have some amount of dominion over these elements (depending on their class, of course). doom on the other hand refers to everything surrounding the games (stuff like admin powers, the world barrier, and whatever happens to the players after they die). 

as a mage of doom, scot (his name is so funny to me. like yeah he sure is) has a bunch of intrinsic knowledge about the way the games function on a logistical level. he’s like a guy who read the script a while ago and forgot all the characters’ names but knows the basic plot and how it’s going to end. or who knows all the ins and outs of tech crew and for whom the apparent magic of the show for the audience is lost on, since he knows how it’s being done. the thing is, scot isn't especially able to act on this knowledge during the game. what director wants someone in the audience — or one of the actors — taking all the magic out of the show, spoiling how it works and how it ends? no, it’s best if they keep that knowledge to themselves — and so scot’s narratively unable to affect the stories of those around him, even his close friends who he’d want to help. he’s aware of this, of course, which makes him more than a little depressed, as he can see the futility of it all and can’t even explain to anyone what’s going on and how the game works. (the only story he’s able to affect, of course, is his own. which. depressed doom player + mage martyr complex + guy who Really cares about his friends is not necessarily a good combination.)

the amount of stock i put in the idea of gendered classes is close to zero so tangoe gets to be a maid of life because ohh my goodness. i like the theory (thanks classpect-navelgazing) of life as “the aspect of affluence,” where life players usually enter the game with some kind of material wealth or status that helps their position in some way. i also like the idea that maid players start the game with a surplus of their aspect but often end up feeling as if they’re only seen as a provider of that specific thing as a result of this, and so end up longing for something else instead. this primarily applies to last life tango because that’s the season i’m most familiar with lol, but i thought the way he started out with so many lives there and quickly dwindled as a result of everyone taking from him and only him was Really interesting. mans has all the luck of the game he could need, but only wants friends to actually be able to live with. being a life player also ties into his little gambling games and things (again, dominion over stuff within the overarching game/story, but nothing beyond that).

then we get to jimi (again fantastic name). the basic premise of an heir is that they’re played by their aspect, right and Oh Boy is jimmy played by life in the life series. i don’t personally know much about anything he’s done other than heehoo canary guy but along with the previously stated points it’s So fun to see him as a life player because it allows for some really clearly contrast between the way he interacts with tangoe and scot based on their aspects. i really like the idea of scot being like “you’re a life player jimi. it's in your name. the game is not going to let you die” and jimi like “you really think so? aw thanks man” neither of them knowing that dying as a life player in this game is literally like in the job description. (ok. i kind of feel like i’m letting jimi down by basing his story so far around other people.. but this is just for fun and i can always change it later)

(also i could easily have put tangoe and jimi as doom players too but for the fact that i don’t think they necessarily see through the game as much as scot does (or at all). and so life it is.)

feel free to ask me questions abt them!!! i have so many thoughts about this bro 

[sokacoke]

Compiling some questions and information regarding indigo park from unique geese's live streams.

Some clips might not be long enough for the full answer due to YouTube only being 60 seconds so just keep that in mind.

A bit of the older ones could contain stuff that aren't up to date that I forgot to remove because I was making this in my notes for like 3-5 weeks so lets uh. ignore those!! (ill delete them later maybe)

IF I SCREAM THE STREAM ENDS

'I think comparing Issac to fucking Willam afton is such a sad comparison'

Credits to @lunozapp for the clip

INDIGO Q&A 

“Will there be any boss fights?”

‘That’s a hard thing to say. I’m gonna say no.’

“How old are Rambley and his friends?”

'They’re all over 18. Probably around there early 20s at oldest.  They’re younger but I don’t really have set ages for them.'

“Would Indigo park be rated M?”

'I would argue indigo park chapter 1 could get away as teen but I’d like to rate it up as a M by chapter 2.'

“Is chapter 2 going to take place under the park?”

'No. There might be parts under but chapter 2 won’t.'

“Rambley has been left alone since the park closed. Has he practically sat alone for that long?”

'In all technicality, he was sitting there alone and abandoned for many years. He’s not fully aware of what’s going on, but he is you know?” 

“Do you have any plans for future chapters?”

'The entire greater story has been set in stone for months and we don’t have any plans to change it.'

'There’s stuff in chapter 1 that people won’t realize are important to the plot until chapter 5.'

“Is mollie macaw an antagonist?”

'Depends what you’re saying when you say mollie macaw. Antagonist is a strong word.'

LAUNCH STREAM

“Is the raccoon evil?”

'No. You guys just buckle up. you’ll see.'

REACTING TO YOUTUBERS 

“Did you expect for Rambley to be popular with the furries?”

‘I made a joke that it would be popular within it but nothing in the game was designed to be furry. It was just like “hey we need parody’s of Mickey Mouse and Disney characters” ending up creating characters I really liked.'

“Do you know that there’s already NFSW art of Rambley?”

'It’s the internet sorry. If you make NFSW stuff I just ask you don’t send it to me or inject it to the rest of the community. Keep it separate, these are like my children.'

“How many versions of the railroad did u go through?”

'It took quite a while. We would get to a point where we kind of liked it and then be like “oh I don’t really like this it doesn’t flow really well.” I think the great thing going into chapter 2 we have a better understanding of what we want the game to look. Chapter 2s going to be mainly a lot of the rides. It was kind a deal where I wanted you to feel claustrophobic but it was hard to deal with those open environments. I’m not gonna announce anything crazy but chapter 2 will start in the queue and lobby for oceanic oddesy'

“How many chapters will there be?”

'The game plan is five.'

“Is this the last time we will see Mollie? Her death screen mentions she can copy voices but that wasn’t shown. Will be shown again to do that mechanic?”

'The voices were less of a mechanic and more of showing going on when she’s talking throughout the game. All the dialogue is something she’s heard during game,behind the scenes of the park or something that a guest has said.'

“Is Rambley the bad guy?”

'What part of the game made you think Rambleys the bad guy? No.'

“I trust Rambley with my life. If he betrays us I’ve already forgiven him.”

'Yeah, you don’t need to worry about that.'

“Whys the main character so jacked?”

'It’s just the character model I had I was using. We might change it.'

Critter cuff

'I was big against the idea of having one mechanic. They saw poppy playtime and instantly thought “every mascot horror needs a mechanic.” The critter cuffs important but I also want different fun mechanics that can be worked into it.'

“Do you plan to add more characters?”

'There will be more characters added into chapter 2. There may some returning characters. Obviously Rambley will be the focus of every chapter he’s ur buddy through ur journey. We do have a new set of characters.'

“Will there be another credits song in chapter 2?”

'We don’t want to start planning stuff until we know for sure how much money is there budget wise.'

“Where’s the cat?”

'There originally was just a regular ass cat that was in the and was in the game for quite a while. The model we had didn’t look like it fit the world and the animation looked stiff. Maybe we bring it back.'

“What were the stealth things in the files for?”

'Originally there was a section where Lloyd would follow you and you’d hide. I definitely want to do some stealth stuff where you have to hide under stuff I think that’d be a lot of fun.'

“Will Mollie return?”

'Do you think Mollie will return?'

“Is Rambley sentient?”

'He’s fully aware of everything around him but he’s programmed to behave a certain way. The best comparison would be GLaDOS or Wheatley from portal. Programmed to act a certain way, but also aware and able to see stuff around them and react.'

“How long will chapter 2 be?”

'We’re aiming chapter 2 to be just a little bit longer then chapter 1. We want each chapter to be a bit longer than before. I’d say for chapter 2, two and a half

'The only character that won’t have much influence is clearly Mollie.'

“What about Lloyd?”

'Lloyd’s cool and Lloyd will be important. That is all I can say.'

“Will there be other AI companions?”

'No. It’s just Rambley the main mascot.'

“Is there a possibility of a major overhaul of chapter 1?”

'There’s room to improve it a bit. In the future, I can see us doing a full on remaster of chapter 1.'

“Never make Rambley a creep I will not forgive you for it”

'You got it.'

“What’s the estimated gap between the chapters?”

'Year to Year and a half, maybe two. Chapter 2 is definitely 2025.'

“Don’t be fooled?”

'There was a lot more potential do something with that. If we had more budget then it would be really cool where you’re running through the pipes and you have to listen for Rambleys voice through the pipes and sometimes it would be mollies voice. It would be Rambley guiding you and then you hear Mollie trying to sound like Rambley.'

“It hurts Lloyd”

'That’s the funny thing. I don’t wanna get TOO deep into it but this was kinda just random text. I’ve seen 5 or 6 different interpretations of what people think it says.'

'Without spoiling anything I do think multiple ending’s for the final chapter would be kinda cool.'

REACTING TO MATPAT

“A lot of sexual tension between these guys”

'Shout out to the furries because I’ve seen every combination of characters being shipped and it wasn’t until today that a single female character was involved that all. Not mollie not Nonbinary with Salem it was literally just the 3 men'

“Does Rambley canonically sing Rambley review?”

'Yes he actually does. It’s in between chapter whenever ur going into chapter 2. The player could turn around and find a way out now but he actively wants to keep going with Rambley.'

TALKING ABOUT INDIGO PARK,FNF AND MORE

“The voice and creator of indigo park”

'I don’t voice anyone expect for Jackson and another character that no ones found yet.'

“Are you ever going to get a console support?”

'So we will eventually but to be honest with you I don’t want to do that until we have like chapter 3 out. At earliest if chapter 2 becomes massive then maybe as a bundle, but I don’t know.'

“Is chapter 2 free?”

'No it won’t be.'

FUNKAST THEN FNAF

'Other then a few minor tweaks we have the first few minutes of Rambleys dialogue at the beginning of chapter 2 written out.'

'I don’t think we’ll ever do a fox character. We were brainstorming some of the characters in chapter 2 and thought “oh maybe a fox would be cool” but we were looking at the role that this character would have to play if they were a fox and thought “at some point we’re just making knock off foxy from fnaf”'

“What the species”

'I cant disclose that sorry chief. There are other animal based cartoon characters in chapter 2 if that satisfies you. Furries rejoice I guess? I feel like it’d be harder to do a human villain.'

“How hard is it to make an idea of a character?”

'All of the characters we make need a purpose. It’s layers of talking through stuff and ideas to get stuff we like. The designs for them aren’t done but the idea for them is there and i am in love with them.'

“So the character design isn’t finished but have you made actual development of the game?”

'No. We’re working on chapter 1 right now. Again we’re looking at a year and a half or two years until chapter 2 cuz I’m not gonna rush it or my team. We’ll have little animations stuff and between yeah we’re not gonna do anything with that.

“Update is bug fixes, trying to get controller support working,revamping some of the environments and I’m bringing on a new modeler for some of the monster designs. Not confirming but i think Finley is going to get a full on redesign for chapter 2.”

“What chapter are you most excited for?”

'To be honest with you, i think chapter 3 is where we’re going to start doing the crazy shit possible and then chapter 4 is planned to be the most bad ass chapter i could ever think of. The story gets moving chapter 4.'

NEW FNAF GAME + INDIGO PARK NEWS

'It turned out that jakeneutron who’s my head animator, was going to Disney at the same time I’m at Orlando. We met up and we took so many pictures for reference. We went to universal studios and it was my first time we ever went to universal so I took so many pictures'

“Refs for what?”

'For indigo park bro. Dude I needed anything theme park and I got so many ideas for the future of indigo and stuff.'

“Salem news or I’m not here”

'Do I wanna put out Salem news..Salem is important 👍'

'I’ve kind of teased it a bit but we are working on some minor chapter 1 before chapter 2 just so there’s a bit of a quality jump so it’s a little bit more in the realm of where we want it to be.'

'We are working on some environmental updates. Working on some new assets to put into chapter 1. Which should make stuff feel cooler in my opinion? '

'To accompany that one thing we didn’t have a lot of is that environmental music in regards to what they would have in a real theme park. Like if ur waiting in a queue in a theme park there’s a lot of music and stuff that they play that is custom to that. Let’s say you were waiting for Rambleys railroads, what would that sound like? So maybe a little bit of new music?'

New potential song in clip link

FINISHING INTO THE PIT & NEW INDIGO PARK PLUSH LAUNCH PARTY

“Character hints?”

'I think you will be soft introduced or at least see the character designs before chapter 2s out. Right now at this point of development there are four new characters planned.'

“Is there gonna have a obby theme?”

‘Probably not really. I’ve talked about a little about a mechanic that we started to workshop and figuring out how it’ll work in the lore and gameplay elements but I probably won’t talk about it again.'

“Will there be a haunted house ride or a dark ride?”

'I want to do a haunted mansion parody hopefully chapter 4 or 5. Not in chapter 2 it wouldn’t fit.'

“Space mountain?”

'I have ideas for a space mountain and I can’t tell you what chapter that one will be in.'

'It’s funny cuz I’m reworking all of the chapter 1 environments and I’ve been thinking about it. There’s a fair enough of stuff that theorists haven’t caught onto yet that I hope will be super obvious in the future. I’m super excited to see what people do with chapter 2.'

HORROR GAME NIGHT & TALKING INDIGO PARK

“Will you be selling art prints maybe with posters?”

'We might do posters. There’s some new poster art coming for chapter 2 and I’m gonna leak, the (chap 1) update.'

“Now will they all have villain roles?”

'I dunno. I’ve already told you guys about some of them actually you guys just haven’t figured it out yet'

Talking about the 4 new characters

'I will say the chapter 1 update will have new secrets for you to find and some of it will help you figure out stuff in chapter 2. We are cooking is all I can say.'

“Whats ur favorite out of the 4 originals we know about since u said 4 new characters”

'Yeah let me just reveal one of the characters. No. You guys won’t- actually? You guys will know about some of the characters WAY before chapter 2 comes out.'

BACK FROM PAX! - WATCHING JACKSEPTICEYE PLAY INDIGO PARK & CATCHING UP ON FNF MODS

'there’s a little bit of the new queue! A little bit of a step up. I mean hot take but. Looks a lot better I think.'

Queue in clip

'We’re still working on it but this is what Mollies landing pad looks like now. This feels more themed.'

New mollies landing pad in clip

“Can you make an update trailer for the indigo park update so people know it exists?”

'Yea we will. We’ll change it.'

Extra notes worth mentioning:

it’s been said that there will be a meme ending for chapter 3 though I’m not able to find the clip at the moment so if anyone somehow has it u should tots send it my way

When he's talking about the 'Other character he voices that no ones found yet' it might be possible he’s yapping about the reverse Llyods Limos line Context:

Video is from forgottenstudios1987 on YT

The cat been brought back!

Another part of the new rambleys railroad queue song.

More of the New Rambleys Railroad Third link is just a very subtle railroads gift shop but it counts i think

Other landing pad clip

FEEL FREE TO ADD ANY OTHER CLIPS I MIGHTVE MISSED!

[lilybug-02]

On the topic of soulless beings, I personally think that flowey not having a soul actually has very little to do with the mental state he ended up in.

His previous situation and relationships on top of the trauma of his and Chara's death likely contributed to some very bad coping mechanisms that were only exacerbated by the knowledge of his timeline being temporary and completely at his beck and call. He can feel and show emotion, he does so in the game, but he forgot how to express or recognize love and compassion by himself.

Due to the apparent denial of his previous life he used to change himself so thoroughly and commit things his past self never would have, and the emotional numbness that would result from his self isolation because of the way he treated the monsters through resets, he believes he can't feel emotions anymore.

I think he's subconsciously afraid of being emotionally close to people because of the guilt that would come up with the acceptance of them as people now and not just variables in getting a different outcome.

Time loops are really bad for people apparently

THIS.

Ah do I love me some of this. Because when you take this into account...so much more can be uncovered and so many more mysteries are created.

But yeah. I think "not having a soul" was a faucade for how Flowey believed he was a "souless" monster. (monster in the bad kind)

I think this theory also puts Alphy's own naïve ideals into her experimentation too. She legit says out load plants dont have a "will to live". Ehhhhh and that's debatable. <3

[mmikmmik]

One underrated aspect of Mouthwashing is that it's really good as a video game.

I thought the player feedback was super strong. There's so many little gimmicky nightmare worlds and "minigames" and the game really helps you understand them very quickly and keep up the momentum. There were only a couple times I got stuck for long enough that I felt like it was breaking me out of the narrative, and I was able to resolve them pretty quickly. And one of them was my own fault - I was trying to use an item somewhere the devs had already indicated it was impossible, because I forgot about the little framing that pops up to indicate you can go into "interaction mode". That's a great little UI mechanism for making it super obvious what is and isn't interactive while still being unobtrusive and letting you feel immersed in the ship environment. Oh, and using the birthday cake scene to introduce the sawing mechanic? So when the player saws at Curly's leg, it's an incredibly powerful callback and the player already knows what they're supposed to do, defending the emotional punch from a "wait... which buttons am I supposed to press for this...?" moment? Brilliant.

Mouthwashing also has beautiful interplay between its gameplay elements and its storytelling. I think of Mouthwashing as "movie-like", because I feel like the pacing + tone + themes remind me very much of horror movies, but this story is meant to be a game. Think of the scene where Jimmy is basically telling Curly that he intends to destroy the ship. It starts with the player controlling Curly in first person POV. But right as Jimmy is talking about how Curly doesn't have agency in his own life ("You're standing at the top. Feet in cement. I get it now.") the camera escapes Curly's perspective and moves into a third person perspective, giving us our first look at pre-crash Captain Curly.

That was the last moment Curly had to avert the tragedy. He knew Jimmy had attacked Anya. Anya told Curly that Jimmy must be physically prevented from accessing the means to hurt the rest of the crew. Jimmy said it would be best if they all just died and then walked away saying "I'll take care of it" and Curly stood there watching him and did nothing. In chronological order, the next scene is the first time the player controls Jimmy. The agency and control, the status of "player character", has left Curly. He let himself become a character in Jimmy's story. And by the time he gets control again, it's already too late.

(Not that I think the game is actually presenting "player character" status as something that's true or real. Look how much Anya's internal life and deliberate choices shape the story, before and after the crash, even as Jimmy casts her as an annoying quest-giver NPC.)

I also really like how much playing through the little nightmare vignettes have the player recreate Curly and Jimmy's decisions. Like when Jimmy is forced to stare directly at the post-it note that's telling him to take responsibility (or whatever the exact words are), but he simply backs away from it. It's all about the way he finds mental and emotional loopholes to get away from what he's done, no matter how directly he's forced to confront it. What other medium could so intimately guide you through that metaphor, to express its internal logic so clearly without words? God, I love video games.

[greatwyrmgold]

For the "ask about a fandom you blog about that I don't know" prompt: I don't know anything about the game but I enjoyed the tactical breach wizardposting you were doing not so long ago. Would you like to talk a bit more about what made the game so enjoyable for you?

Tactical Breach Wizards has layers.

As with many video games, the core of Tactical Breach Wizards is the core gameplay loop. You're given a few wizards who have some esoteric tools, and a bunch of enemies who are too numerous or tanky to be overwhelmed with the limited force you can bring to bear; now figure out how to use the trickier elements of those tools to negate or overcome that lack of brute force.

Knockback is hardly the only example, but it's the first you're introduced to, and it's also a ton of fun. Jen's lightning is weak, but it can easily defenestrate enemies. Getting yourself and the enemy into position where you can defenestrate the most dangerous target without exposing yourself to more danger from the other targets is an interesting mini-puzzle, and you keep doing stuff like that.

If I want to throw the heavy guy out the window, I need Banks to throw sedative at him. But moving Banks in range means she's exposed to a bunch of mooks who collectively have enough firepower to put her down. So Zan and Dall need to protect Dall, but they don't have enough bullets for all the mooks, so—

It's a similar kind of almost experimental joy that I get from games like Slice & Dice or Into the Breach. I have a set of tools and a set of problems to overcome, and have to figure out how to make the two mesh in a way beneficial to me.

The next layer (shared in some form by both S&D and ItB) is the "Foresee" mechanic. There's a lot of complexity in TBW, and while there isn't really RNG to worry about, it's easy for you to overlook some factor. Maybe shooting that guy makes him run into an explosive barrel you didn't want to explode. Maybe moving Rion into position for a good vine means he's exposed to too much fire. Maybe you thought you budgeted Dall's health properly, but forgot that she was accidentally caught in Banks's sedative cloud two turns ago. No problem; just rewind!

It gives you the freedom to fuck around, find out, and finagle a new solution instead of faceplanting. If Jen's current position doesn't let her zap that guy in the direction you wanted, reverse the shot and her movement and try again. Keep trying, keep foreseeing new possibilities, until you're satisfied.

The next layer is level design. You have a lot of tools designed to work together, and the Foresight to make sure they work together the way you expect. So the levels need to be challenging despite your tools, without just making a bunch of your tools temporarily irrelevant. And they need to find a bunch of different ways to challenge you, so you're not just solving the same problems the same way every level.

Most of the campaign and training dreams manage this balance well, especially when you factor in the optional Confidence Goals which change how you have to approach each level. You can beat this level, but can you beat it fast or without getting hurt or while ignoring Steve? The Proving Grounds are dull in large part because they don't have this balance, and neither do most user-created levels.

On top of these mechanical details, gameplay polished to balance a complex experience properly, we have a layer of presentation. Aesthetics and interface and UX. There's a lot of stuff that Just Works, making everything feel intuitive without being noticed, and all of that is critical to making the gameplay work properly. When something doesn't work how you expected, it's easy to figure out how.

Presentation is a good transition from gameplay to narrative, thanks to aesthetics. The levels and character models not only serve the ludic needs of Tactical Breach Wizards, they serve its story. Zan Vesker and Steve Clark and First Chaplain Richter and everyone else look they way they need to look to sell the gameplay, to bridge the gap between fantastical powers and gritty modern combat. At the same time, they also sell the narrative, seeming less like Cool Units being moved around a tabletop and more like people in a world.

The stylization also helps. Making a bone-clad pyromancer look grounded is a tall order, but it's easier when he blends so naturally into this world of police stations and office buildings and trains, especially when there are Jens and Bankses and Livs around to help make this world feel like one where it's normal to dress like a warlock sometimes.

The next layer is the prose. It helps with both presentation and characterization, but it's also just fun. A lot of my TBW posts were just me sharing and commenting on screenshots of various good lines, and I screenshot a lot of other lines that I later decided not to post.

And the fun doesn't detract from the tone or overall narrative, even though the characters are usually in life-or-death situations. A big part of this, I think, is that the characters don't all quip the same. Jen's quips don't sound like Banks's quips don't sound like Liv's quips don't sound like Rion's quips. They quip in different ways and under different kinds of stress. It adds to your sense of these characters as various kinds of people who would quip at each other seconds before initiating a desperate firefight.

Which I guess brings me to the characterization layer. The eight-ish main characters all have at least a bit of depth (except Steve, of course), and the ones who end up on your team get more than that. Even taciturn latecomer Rion has a magic stress dream which helps explain why he wound up how he is. All of these characters are neat; you can easily imagine any of them existing outside the context of their story. You do not want them to get imprisoned or murdered or suffer through World War 5.

And on top of the individual characters and scenes and sentences, the overarching narrative is pretty good. The worldbuilding is sketchy, but there's enough to make everything make sense. You understand why characters and institutions have the goals they do, and why they take the actions they do, and why that results in conflict. There are a lot of balls in the air—Liv Kennedy's private goals, Reactor's plans, the Kalan revolution, Medil's situation, etc etc etc. But all of them matter by the end, and all of them get satisfying resolutions.

There's exactly enough story to set up problems for our protagonists to solve, to bring them together, and then to watch them solve those problems. From top to bottom, core to surface, it's quite elegant.

The biggest problem I have is that it's...self-contained? In a good way, but also kind of a frustrating way. I want more, but it's not there.

I've mentioned that I don't find any of the user-created levels satisfying, and I don't think that's going to change; my experience with the level editor is that it's clunky and lacks the tools you need to create truly novel scenarios. So there won't be satisfying new ludic experiences with TBW unless they release DLC. And while I like the characters, they don't have the depth of Taylor Hebert or Ai Hoshino or my other long-term blorbos; I kinda want to see more of them, but I also kinda want to leave them where they lie. They have a couple of epilogue options each, and that's...fine.

Tactical Breach Wizards is a very well-made game, polished, created with care. It's exactly as much as it needs to, and all of that was a lot of fun, and it gave me something to chew on without overstaying its welcome.

[genericpuff]

welp, i finished the Dawntrial MSQ last night

it was

uh.

i actually enjoyed a lot of the things people were complaining about in the beginning, because while i could understand their criticisms, to me its flaws felt like something it would grow past as it was establishing a new foundation for a new story, which was what was promised to us, and obviously that's gonna require slowing down the pacing and lowering the stakes, which is fine!

but then the second half of the MSQ hit and i just-

on paper it should have been amazing

on paper i should have fucking loved it

but in execution, i stg trying to finish the lvl 98-100 MSQ took years off my life, even tho the majority of them took me a single night to beat, it still felt like it both overstayed its welcome and also did way too little with what it was trying to present us with

i know this is vagueposting because i don't wanna spoil, but man. "divisive" is definitely a word to describe the Dawntrail MSQ with, especially considering how many people were telling me "it gets better in the second half!" and again, I thought the first half of it wasn't as bad as people were saying, so I was HYPED for the second half, and instead I was brutally disappointed by what I got instead u.u

that said, the dungeon and trial gameplay mechanics are great, when the expansion remembers that it is in fact a video game it does it really well, it's just unfortunately not often enough for it to make up for the sloggy pacing of the story

the music is a bop, there are a couple tracks that i was a little eeeh on because they just felt really saccharine in a way that just clashed entirely with the tone of XIV and made me want to throw my headphones in the garbage, but the majority of the soundtrack was otherwise really well done, soken was really channelling his inner david wise here with the donkey kong vibes LOL but there are some somber tracks that are great too, there's a lot of range here in the soundtrack that should be appreciated despite the odd cringe track

environment design was solid, there were some zones that were questionable in their design because some of them felt pitifully empty despite promising bustling populations (looking at you, Tuliyollal and Solution Nine >:x)

but man , the last zone was brutal and that sucks because again, on paper, the concept SHOULD have been awesome, but ultimately it's still relying on the exact same plot devices in the past (insert lost civilization whose previous inhabitants/rulers are hellbent on keeping it alive even at the expense of current civilizations here) and the gameplay itself deadass forgot it's a game because there isn't a SINGLE instance of necessary combat or gameplay during all of it and so when the final quest (as per tradition, named "Dawntrail") finally pops up, it's like wait what ? that's it?? thankfully the last quest has both a dungeon and trial in it but it feels less like thought out design and more like the game devs remembering they had to actually include some gaming in their video game at the last minute LOL

i think the extra burden of directing FF XVI definitely caught up to Yoshi-P on this one, as well as the budgeting problems that still exist from COVID, and the fact that much of that budget clearly went to overall QOL changes like the graphics engine getting an almost complete rehaul (even in the previous expansions which is. a lot of work. like they want to re-texture ALL of the gear in this game and THAT'S A LOT, literally thousands of items!). where this expansion wins, it wins big, but those wins aren't enough to carry an overall lackluster experience that drags itself out way too fucking long for its own good. the story could have absolutely used a few more rounds in the writing room, if they couldn't afford more voice acted scenes then they should have simply just cut down on the amount of cutscenes, and i think the devs need to seriously ask themselves if the Trust system is worth dragging the Scions back into every adventure even when they have nothing to do (and it shows). like idk, just spitballing here, but the Trust system might be a good chance to re-introduce the GC squadrons, no? maybe go back to the roots a little bit and buff up the stuff that could still have a lot more life if given a chance?

anyways my experience with DT has been about a 6/10 and that score in the end will depend on how the patch quests go over the next couple years, I still prefer it over Stormblood (fr fuck SB lol) but it definitely feels like it's trying too hard to be like EW and ShB while missing what made EW and ShB so good in the first place (or acknowledging why its flaws were forgivable within the context of their respective designs, like yeah EW's pacing was iffy too but it at least had a lot more going on in it to justify it, DT is just grasping at straws by comparison). and in that sense it winds up being a lot more like ARR, where it's just kind of lost in what it's trying to do and creates a worse experience by the end. hopefully like with ARR back in the day the devs will figure out it's time to shake things up and try something new without using the old as a crutch.

[rolameny]

i played through nine sols a second time and now i am going to talk about it. full spoilers!!

this is one of those works that tells you a lot of things about its world from the jump, only without giving you the context to interpret those statements. it makes a second visit so rewarding. going back through and knowing exactly what each monument means / the things yi is talking around.... really really good.

heng is fantastic on a replay. the first time around till you get the final message i thought yi was haunted. i also thought the ji reveal would be that he was heng and not an adult man

"neither of us made a mistake. we both made different choices" says yi, a man who has made so very many mistakes

game so good it makes you go "man i should learn more about taoism so i can better understand its themes"

it's wild how much this game draws on hollow knight and yet stands on its own as a totally different thing. like, mechanically, the jades are charms. the charged attack is a great slash. the full movement kit is monarch wings and mothwing cloak. the geo/artifacts economy. and you're a little guy who can't quite manage to die fighting your way through a series of bosses and some brightly hued corruption to sacrifice yourself at the end. it's just straightforwardly true that RCG pulled a great deal from HK, and it was enough to make me go aha!!! in recognition many times, but it's completely its own thing. own gameplay feel, own world, own story.

own protag: i love the silent protag in hollow knight but yi is such a lovable bitch [affectionate/derogatory]. guy who sucks so bad. guy it took over five hundred years to internalize a single social-emotional lesson.

it's so fascinating watching him react to the different sols. who does he get angry with. who does he make an offer of mercy to. because kuafu is so much the guy who is there i forgot yi also considered lady e the other reasonable person on the council, right up till he namedrops her when yelling at eigong.

the anger and spite to treat goumang as he did!! and even in the true ending you see neither he nor kuafu thought about her. there are some gaps of consideration in the true ending that i think of as "well we don't have time for that but you get it" -- any other potential apemen on new kunlun (peach blossom village is the 95th livestock pen. girl where are the others), the like 300-odd of 100k solarians left remaining in cryosleep who might like to at least live a little on earth before dying. imo the narrative is just skimming over them, we reach the emotional point of it with the people we know (kuafu and the gang). and it would be a whole narrative diversion to grab her. but the true ending makes sure to show us that goumang is still down there, rather than skimming over her fate. even when he grows a little yi still sucks so much dude [affectionate]. and kuafu's passivity coming to the fore here as well!

kuafu is so compelling because he is The Nice Guy but he is absolutely not necessarily The Kind Guy as well. he was just chill with the whole council plan and didn't do anything except be kind of bummed when yi died. (iirc he does just think yi's head did that. could have thought that one through a little more.) at the ending he pushes back against the idea of saving the apemen!

lady ethereal my beloved elizabeth holmes as a lynx furry. there's a fight that made me nod sagely and go Ah, Nightmare King Grimm. here's a place where i felt a little dissonance -- the full screen huge face digital flashing between normal/happy and manic evil laughter is a horror classic but it didn't quite hit it for lady e imo. huge face crying or snarling would have worked better i think, which i say even though i get the manic laughter through panic beat. idk. i love that in her bossfight she is presenting herself as the villain she thinks she is -- she gets out her heaving-est pushup bra for this one. sorry about it, girl. maybe next time if you know you're consigning a hundred thousand people to slow madness within their cryochambers maybe speak up about it.

speaking of people who learned no lessons. ji like okay well i've seen a lot of horror and so i elect to do nothing about it except contribute my cells to possibly the worst cause on earth. i will continue to wander this grotto for five hundred years while it gets worse. 👍 i'm having meaningful discussions about the tao with your man in the tentacle hole and i am not sorry, ji.

i understand the anglo readability argument for transliterating li er as lear but i, the anglophone in the room, did have to look at the fanwiki to understand that we were not dipping into shakespeare for a single guy. 😔

kanghui is such a fantastic element of this game. you get just enough about him to add to the horror of what eigong was doing, and what the jies are doing, and what the fuck is up with penglai to begin with. his inclusion makes ji make more sense to me as well. it's not that ji is a once in a millennium impossibility. it's that penglai is so so so weird. ji and yi pull up little chairs in front of kanghui's torture contraption for immortality group therapy.

like that one post says. CHIYOU best character CHIYOU

the siscon stuff in this game is so funny. [looking at the fengs] gang what's wrong with you [looking at yi and heng] gang what's wrong with you. congrats to the other characters on not having siblings and therefore having slightly more normal psychosexual hangups such as "getting off to body modification and torture."

RCG funding for one million years please 🙏🙏🙏 i know they said it took them five years to make this one but even with that timeline it's crazy that they went from narrative horror game to a genuinely best-in-class feeling Sekirollow Knight. they are so good at this shit.

okay. i have exorcised my thoughts and feelings about this game. playing a twenty-hour game twice in like 2-3 weeks is normal right.

[subway-boss-jericho]

(Hammer anon) 

Hi =] 

It's worth mentioning that the twins did have a pretty solid understanding of what they were signing up for

That good to know! I think I’m just very used to arceus offering people a deal and then Not Explaining the Consequences (very… fae coded I suppose lol). It’s very sweet that despite all this they still agreed. Ingo wants to help people!! Of course he does. Every time I look into their in game quotes I’m always taken aback at how supportive and kind they both are. Like. Ingo is Nothing but encouraging and so so happy to see people succeed and grow. It makes sense that that sort of care would carry over to protecting the people he cares about (and even those he might not know!). Emmet is very similar- while he may be more to the point and use less words, he’s still super encouraging and kind! Even when he wins he still encourages you to come back and try again and again- he loves winning more than anything but even when he loses he’s still super happy! 

I think that’s sort of character for them has faded in and out over time, and it’s super nice to see it. In the end, both the twins are fundamentally kind people that want others to grow. 

… I forgot where I was going with that! Something something you are doing a fantastic job representing that with this story and how they act/ the decisions they make.

he has to made more of an effort to be kind and understanding and patient and gracious than he fucking wants to.

Customer service attitude sneaks up on him even without running a subway /silly 

There is. So much here I could gush over (how much emmet cares for ingo, how much he respects his brother and his want for others to understand and acknowledge him as well)  but the. They love encourager so much and want to help each other and although they struggle to find ways to do so, and cannot use the methods they used to, they still find ways to support and help each other though this. They still have eachother’s backs no matter what- even after such a huge shift in tracks. 

There is something verrry sweet about that. (A real “would you love me if I was a worm over 120 ft mechanical bearing bond comprehension / a magical mechanic that can make metal float?”) 

It’s funny to imagine Emmet being at the end of his rope talking with someone, and ingo just. Walking up to them and the other person hurrying away. (Well. It’s funny if you don’t think about it to much) 

That trust IS earned, that kindness is repaid.

I have many thoughts of the twins being kind no matter what. Even with nearly every odd turned against them and forever changed, they are kind. And, eventually, that kindness is returned. Love that message- it’s a hard one to internalize but it’s so worth spreading. 

… you are giving me fic ideas. (Not necessarily related to this au but)

No one else has heard him speak since the change, but Emmet listens, and Emmet is thrilled at every opportunity he has to hear him.

( ╥ ᴗ ╥)

I swear I had more to say here. This is just very sweet and I want to gesture at it with strong emotion (love listening to people talk. It’s so nice to hear them just speak. I’m sure for emmet and ingo it’s. So much.) 

they'd also be able to train and grow and continue to push eachother to greater heights, even if one of them is warden and the other isn't.

“You grow stronger by matching yourself against a strong opponent. Please do your best and run toward the destination, an even higher state."

“Winning against us is a milestone in your life. You can rack up more and more. Please move on toward an even greater goal!"

 “it was very fun! You want to win, and I don't want to lose. That's real. When we clash in battles, I feel very excited!"

“We won, but I am not really satisfied. I can tell that you won't give up. Because you will be much, much stronger. That's why we are waiting for you to come back!"

Yeah I think so too. 

I can just imagine how they would encourage each other to keep getting stronger- even when far away from one another. Better combinations! New strategies! Just for the next time the other visits. 

no special interest in trains (yet,)

I know the focus had been mostly on the getting used to everything in huisi but I would Love to hear about adventures in the future. I will. Ask specific questions in another ask! But feel free to ramble about anything so I can ping some ideas around =] 

Emmet can solve nearly every problem… monster or a tragedy or a weapon.

Not quoting that entires sections here as it’s rather long- but ough. I Know I keep going back to “the relationship they have is so sweet” but you are Killing me here. Emmet knowing he can take care of ingo… finding his new form buetiful thanks to the gifts he was given… being there and letting his brother rapid fire informations and rambles and thoughts… ingo being able to make his brother feel safe, being able to feel and sense him in ways that he never had before…

Seeing the other hurting and wishing with all their heart to comfort the other. Just doing their best to make sure the other knows that they are there for them, no matter what. 

they made me realize I have autism.

Yeah. Yup. I have the braking suspicion that a Lot of people had that realization (I! Also had that realization.) 

Ingo does mention that he thinks he recalls him and emmet used to “battle and discuss Pokémon, I think” so it makes sense they would do the same here! Even if ingo himself is the “Pokemon” lol. 

The most successful way Ingo finds to help Emmet sleep is actually by giving him his own room aboard.

https://imgur.com/a/7wKhc3Q

(This is a link to a drawing- You can totally post it on your answer tho!) 

Just a sketch- fighting the combination of executive distinction + other ideas in my head + wanting to keep some of the other stuff a surprise 

I know! I skipped a lot of details (trust me I am chewing on All of them- I just may not have known what to add / not had anything to comment about it) but man I. Am shaking this around like a chew toy. 

Hiii :DD Hi welcome back!

I think I’m just very used to arceus offering people a deal and then Not Explaining the Consequences

Mhhhhm. That's a common fandom trope, and one that I'm frankly not very fond of. I have a lot of thoughts and opinions about how Arceus is handled in fandom and I don't want to get into all of them right now, but broadly in all my AUs where Arceus is involved, I try to write it sort of like a benign background grand master. It orchestrates these events and conclusions, but tries to avoid getting directly involved where possible. In my AUs, Arceus is actively avoiding being malicious whenever it is present and everything is done for a reason.

So in the case of Mecha AU, where it is directly getting involved in a drastic way, I want to actually give it a chance to have a character in the story than just being a 'deus ex machina.' (HAH. double pun) Most of that is through nuance, which is why I've been quick clarify that Ingo and Emmet knew what would happen and why I made Arceus' blessing so specific. It comes back as an key character later in their story, although that's a tale for a different time. Mainly, it's just really important to me that Arceus actually gets to Be a character instead of a plot point. It has motivations, goals, and a personality.

Every time I look into their in game quotes I’m always taken aback at how supportive and kind they both are. [...] Something something you are doing a fantastic job representing that with this story and how they act/ the decisions they make.

🥺 That actually means more than I can say. I've noticed that this particular trait does often get either overlooked (especially in?? Emmet's case??? for some reason??) or otherwise written in a way that doesn't quite feel right to me. I'm glad that this specific trait comes across in my work because i care about it a lot and it's the thing I focus on most when attempting to create anything about the twins.

I don't feel like I get it right all the time either, to be honest, but I do try my best. The way they're written canonically is so compelling to me but gamefreak please..... they have so few lines.... there is so little to work with. God knows I'm going to stretch it as far as I can but pokemon is just kind of Like This (vague gestures towards stories with a young target audience and casts way too large to thoroughly develop each arbitrary character)

In the end, both the twins are fundamentally kind people that want others to grow. 

(To summarize: This ^)

[Jericho-Typical ramble below:]

Customer service attitude sneaks up on him even without running a subway /silly 

It does!!!! It does and he HATES it!!! I think they should be nice to him and give him a break. I also think Emmet should get to go to a rage room as a treat.

They still have eachother’s backs no matter what- even after such a huge shift in tracks. [...] There is something verrry sweet about that.

THEY DO!!! THEY DO and it's SO important to me.

They would still love eachother if the other was a wurmple. If Emmet was a wurmple he could live in Ingo's lungs with the rest of the wild wurmple colony (JOKE) (But not entirely. because. Ingo does have a couple of stowaway bugs in his vents now and then. He's so big that if he sits very, very, very still, they'll climb on him like he's any other mountain or building. Emmet keeps having to remove them from the premises so their webs and nests don't block the airways, but Ingo keeps letting them back in when Emmet isn't looking) <- He can get away with this because bug types are known to have fewer brain cells (intensely affectionate) so they don't immediately clock him as giant living threat

[Doodle from a few years ago]

It’s funny to imagine Emmet being at the end of his rope talking with someone, and ingo just. Walking up to them and the other person hurrying away. (Well. It’s funny if you don’t think about it to much) 

Actually, since Emmet tends to stay nearby him and Ingo can reach very far, MY funny visual is Emmet just. TOTALLY pissed at somebody. and Ingo reaches over with his claw to drag Emmet away by the collar of his coat. This is not realistic. He probably just lets Emmet climb onto the inside edge of his claw and carries him off, but the first option is a lot funnier to imagine.

I have many thoughts of the twins being kind no matter what. Even with nearly every odd turned against them and forever changed, they are kind. And, eventually, that kindness is returned. Love that message- it’s a hard one to internalize but it’s so worth spreading. 

I feel a sappy kind of complicated feeling that I'm not quite sure how to put into words other than, y eah 🥺

The one thing that has never failed me is being kind. If nothing else succeeds, I am a firm believer that being kind cannot be completely overlooked, even in the face of fear, uncertainty, and anger. Kindness heals a lot more than people realize, even if you're directing it at other people. So, in stories I write, I also find it hard to write characters who are genuinely kind and caring in conflict with the people around them ksjdhgsg Call it a flaw, it probably is one, but man im a sap for kindness as a universal mediator.

… you are giving me fic ideas. (Not necessarily related to this au but)

:D!!! I'm thrilled to hear it!! If you ever write anything do let me know!! I love when my work can inspire other people to create things of their own, genuinely makes me so happy.

( ╥ ᴗ ╥) love listening to people talk. It’s so nice to hear them just speak. I’m sure for emmet and ingo it’s. So much.

I didn't have a lot specific to add to this but it reminded me of one of the first drawings I did of the Engineer and Mecha Ingo (This is from 2022) and I guess today is art day because I really wanna share some of the doodles I've made over the years of these two

Emmet IS in this drawing he's just very very small.

This makes me want to draw something new between the two of them. A quiet conversation or something with Ingo talking while Emmet listens. I'm not sure if/when I'll have time but it would be really nice 🥺

I know the focus had been mostly on the getting used to everything in huisi but I would Love to hear about adventures in the future. I will. Ask specific questions in another ask! But feel free to ramble about anything so I can ping some ideas around =] 

Ohhhhohohohh......... This is not a good topic to let me ramble about anything. We've been mostly talking about Hisui so far, but the majority of my time with this AU until the last year or so was spent hyperfixated on Post-Hisui. I would say that just as much of the story takes place after Hisui as it does in Hisui, and I think the most important note about their "adventures in the future" is that, getting to that future is the hard part.

The Engineer, as previously mentioned in the main masterlist, falls into a coma not long after Ingo sinks into the ocean. Ingo... Does not. or, not right away. Emmet's sleep is very... different. And specific. It's unnatural. Forced. And, if you'll recall from that same initial post, Emmet will not die as long as Ingo is still alive. He's functionally immortal.

But that means that Ingo is still there, at the bottom of the ocean. He has internal oxygen stores. He has onboard water and power. He doesn't need to "eat food," necessarily. He can last for a long time without any external help, in large part because he can't move. (Half buried in the sand, the weight of the ocean is too great.) He's not using up the normally vast amount of energy he requires to function.

And he waits. and waits... and... ...The worst part is, Ingo doesn't have any point of reference for what is going on outside. He doesn't know what the people of Hisui are doing, he doesn't know where Emmet is. He doesn't know that Emmet falls into an unshakeable sleep right on cue alongside his own internal systems shifting to a power-saving hibernation.

Ingo is alone under the water for a very, very long time.

That's all I'll say for now. I'm very ill about it and I don't want to ramble too long when you've mentioned sending a different ask about it another time. Ingo's time under the ocean is, a lot, and none of it is happy.

Seeing the other hurting and wishing with all their heart to comfort the other. Just doing their best to make sure the other knows that they are there for them, no matter what. 

No matter what happens now or in the future, this is what their relationship is based on. As much as that love and care is the thing that fuels them, it's also one of the things that hurts the most. They care SO much, more than anything, yet sometimes they care so much that it aches. their whole story is like this unfortunately and I uhhmmm,,,,,,, i havent found a way to, fix that. so I'm working on that part.

I can't quote that whole section either because it really is so much, but I keep rereading it too. It does give a very good perspective into how both of them feel and the experiences they're having. In a way, I think it does a better job than most of my other explanations.

[The most successful way Ingo finds to help Emmet sleep is actually by giving him his own room aboard.] https://imgur.com/a/7wKhc3Q This is a link to a drawing- You can totally post it on your answer tho!

[Drawn by Hammer Anon]

DUUUUUDE!!!! THIS IS SO CUTE OH MY GOSHHH 😭😭🥺 I've been staring at this all evening. This is so lovely and sweet and peaceful... I especially love how you've personalized Emmet's space here. He looks so comfortable in the hammock

The way you've drawn his core is extremely fascinating to me but does make sense based on my extremely limited description. Mentally noting this down for later I didn't give a good description of Ingo's core, but this is what it was ""supposed"" to look like:

I put ""supposed"" in quotations because while this was my first idea from years ago, it also feels extremely lackluster, so I've been wanting to redesign completely it for a while. But also holy shit please if anyone knows what that ^ shape is called I spent SO long trying to look it up with no results and I really don't want to just call it the Fruit Gusher Shape because surely there's an actual word for this kind of twelve sided shape (ignoring the bottom side-view drawing don't worry about that one)

Anyway

The funny thing is, I HAVE tried to draw Emmet's room several times, but your sketch is actually closer to how it looks in my head than any of the drawings I've made. This is because. All fictional locations in my brain operate on dream logic and generally have incomprehensible non-Euclidian structures. So genuinely this is exactly how I envision it when I talk about it.

The room is rectangular (longer than it is wide) in my head but this ^ was for a school project with specific requirements. Again, really don't like how Ingo's core looks here so I'm thinking of redoing it entirely/almost entirely. I like the closer/more cramped/more homey vibe of the sketch more than the digital one.

The way you drew it actually makes me really happy, and I'm thinking maybe I should push aside how I think it's "supposed" to look in order to actually mess around with how it Really looks in my head. You got the computer terminal basically perfect, and I love the addition of the pearl clan banner + the little gliscor plush/toy. Super lovely 🥺

I know! I skipped a lot of details (trust me I am chewing on All of them- I just may not have known what to add / not had anything to comment about it) but man I. Am shaking this around like a chew toy. 

All good! 🤝 I definitely do the same when I'm not sure what to add. Rest assured I have been regularly coming back just to reread everything and hrhghthhh. Yeah. Good. I fully understand. I wouldn't call your ask chew toys because those aren't my thing but like, if AUs are songs then your asks are like the Audio Visualizers that play in my brain whenever I think about them. Does that comparison make any sense? Maybe not. Point being: metaphor for a sensory stimuli I like

Mecha AU Masterlist

[hyouta]

Dream Drop Distance might be my favourite KH game overall (so far at least).

(I mainly made this post separate because I had a question about the next set of games/movies - at the end of the post)

I finished my replay this evening and I'm still heart eyes over this game. Besides my personal bias of it coming out around the time I was going through a medical scare, no one can convince me that it's a bad game (or a bad Kingdom Hearts game).

This is only my second playthrough but I've still NEVER had an issue with the drop mechanic. Maybe it's because I only play on standard, but it never got in the way of any boss fights.

I think the other arguments I see is regarding the time travel plot and honestly it doesn't bother me, especially after experiencing the series properly. I don't know how much was actually planned, what was retconned etcetera but it didn't feel that out of place in the series.

Then there was something about how you can exploit the dream eaters affinity links and brother I just do not care to consider exploits when considering if a game is good or not. Honestly how many people are even going to discover exploits naturally? Other Kingdom Hearts games had exploits too but that's never brought them down.

ANYWAY, some notes I made playing (I literally stopped tweeting and just opened up my notes up for these posts):

The 3DS version of the opening is surperior

I'm a short hair Riku truther (also on that note, a cyan blue eye colour truther, even though I hate that so many characters have blue eyes - I saw people colour Terra's eyes brown and Ven's eyes green and I like that a lot)

I had to get used the the command system d-pad again, but honestly it didn't take that long, I only get stressed when I need cure.

I do miss donald and goofy... it was nice when they helped in re:coded hollow bastion (though it kinda sucks that dream eaters as party members is limited to one game)

I swear I got dual audio in the first flowmotion tutorial because I don't think it was supposed to sound like that

Do people see the χ-blade subtitle in real life because I don't know how they make the distinction

I have ZERO memory of flick rush to the point where I don't think I played it (and didn't play it this time either oops, maybe if I'm trophy hunting later)

I actually understand Sora's connection to Tron now so the Tron world makes a tiny bit more sense... the movie story however... still clueless

I remember when I originally played DDD that Rinzler was more difficult for me than Gigabyte Mantis, but this time it was reversed... if only because I forgot to lock-on and kept triggering flowmotion

"Me at every line of dialogue: how can I make this about akusai" lol I mean, I don't think I realised the parallels until more recently (or I just forgot)

I accidentally played out of order and I realised they... don't actually account for this; DDD can have one flaw, as a treat

Tries not getting my hopes up re: seeing TWEWY (or Neo TWEWY) characters in KH4

Symphony of Sorcery is top 3 worlds for me... maybe even number one, I just wish it wasn't so short...

Translating the reality shifts (and dream eater mini games) from handheld to console is a bit awkward but they made it work I guess

"Pain" ah yes, the husbands reunited lol Not sure if I missed it or if it was talked about elsewhere but I hope they had the decency to make Saïx a nobody again when he was still unconscious... I wanna know about all these blank periods!! (or do I)

Finally I understand how Goofy and Donald got there to save the crew

Honestly playing the games in order has added so much clarity, where I had only a basic understanding. Kingdom Hearts definitely rising the ranks of my favourite video game series'.

I can't even hate the plot and how complex it is because I'm a fan of Tsubasa Chronicles lmao

I'll try and finish art or post wips for my next post so this isn't so boring to go through but I appreciate those who took the time to read my nothing rambles (again, none of my twitter mutuals play KH so it was kind of lonely). Maybe if anyone who got to the end wanna suggest a KH character to doodle? No promises but I'll see!!

And finally my question:

I'm going through a suggested play order and it counts χ (Chi) separate, but I was under the impression it was the original Union Cross? I tried googling it but it's not clear enough if it has story unique for its own viewing or not... (also it means I have 10.8 hours of cutscenes to watch before I get to 0.2, woof)

[zeezelweazel]

Valorant| Going against your omega double|

____________________________

I'm so obsessed with the women in this game even though I won't ever touch it :)

Characters included : Jett, Neon, Killjoy, Raze

______________________________________

• Jett •

This was brought up in conversation many times before and Jett had always boasted about how she's going to be totally unaffected.

"Pfft what? Why would it matter if it has my girlfriend's face? It's still an enemy from omega earth. And not my girlfriend at all. There's no way I'd fall for something like that."

Now the time has come for Jett to regret her words.

It's her responsibility to push forward and clear a path for Killjoy so she can defuse the spike while Sage is covering their back. And thank god Sage is there because everything went south really quickly.

It went horrible so fast not even Jett herself could react. One moment she had shot enemy Neon with one of her kunai and the next she was tackled into the ground.

Your double had her pinned using their hips as they pulled out a knife to stab her. Jett's hands were completely free and yet she didn't do anything with them. She was truly frozen, lamely laying there, waiting to get stabbed.

Thankfully for her Killjoy had sent one of her bots to help out. Your double wasn't expecting it so they got defeated with one shot.

Jett is pretty embarrassed by the hole thing, she never wants to bring it up, not even to you.

Also she might be a little shaken up. Just a little.

• Neon •

Much like Jett, Neon didn't think this occasion would affect her at all. She's very confident in her abilities in battle and she trusts herself to get the job done no matter who she has to fight to achieve that.

She forgot that you even had an omega double by the time it happened. It had been so long since you started dating, even longer since she joined the protocol, and yet she's never seen your omega double on a mission.

But today you were on a mission, all right.

You had practically obliterated their entire squad, reaping through their defenses and heading for the site to plant the spike. Before she even knew it, all of her teammates were out of the equation.

It was you against her.

Now, you and Neon had had your fair share of training sessions together so she knew how your powers worked. She also had a basic idea of your advantages and disadvantages but this wasn't you she was fighting.

It may look like you but Neon knows this isn't her girlfriend she's facing.

And yet...

When it all came down to it she hesitated. She had a clear shot, you hadn't even seen her coming but when she looked at your face Neon couldn't bring herself to shoot. Thankfully a half dead and limping Reyna was there to finish the mission. Neon winced when she locked eyes with her mentor.

She was in for one hell of a lecture.

• Killjoy •

The german genius has thought of every possibility and outcome imaginable when it comes to the protocol's missions. She knows very well the possibility she might have to face you in battle is very real.

Even though Killjoy is aware of the chances she still has no real way of preparing and that's what scares her the most.

Will she do it without a problem? Will she hesitate? Will she freeze? Will she kill you and then die of guilt?

She truly can't predict the outcome of such a meeting.

The next mission was the fateful one and the worst part was that both your double and hers were there.

At first everything was fine. Her bots were able to do their job and the situation appeared to be controlled by the other agents. It was only after you injured Yoru that things started to shift and before she knew it they were loosing the fight. That's when she understood what position that left her in. It became necessary for her kill you.

Killjoy was moving towards you as mechanically as her bots and managed to shoot you in the lungs. All was fine until she heard her own voice panicked and shaking, calling out for you. She peaked over the crate she was hiding behind to see her double cradling your injured form in her chest. Tears were clouding her eyes as she desperately called for Sage.

Killjoy couldn't bare to see this, fully knowing that she could be in her double's position. When she returned from this mission you noticed Killjoy was more clingy that usual but you didn't dare ask anything.

• Raze •

Raze was the one who voiced her concern over a predicament like this. You were quick to reassure her but it did little to ease her worries.

Every time she stepped into battle she let out a breath of relief at your absence.

It's not like Raze feels any sort of sympathy for the enemy. It's just different when it comes to you. No matter which earth, you still look the same. Same beautiful eyes and undoubtedly soft hair. How can she be expected to kill you?

In the midst of the battle, Raze would not hesitate.

Turns out that even though she had worries they never stopped her from doing what needed to be done.

She was going to defuse the spike even if you're the one she has to kill to get to it. The fight wasn't particularly easy. It fascinated Raze a little. How even though you look the same and you sound the same and you have the same powers you're a totally different person. Raze has never seen you use your abilities like this in battle. Your omega double had a completely different fighting style.

Of course this didn't faze her at all. She still came out on top. Spyke defused, mission complete. Easy.

Until the adrenaline rush came to an end and she actually thought back to the battle. Her brain had decided to torture her by constantly replaying the memory of her shooting you in the head.

Raze would need your support after this encounter. She knows she's being childish but it can't be helped. She just killed someone who looks exactly like her lover so give her a break.

____________________________________________________

[felikatze]

thinks abt my many half baked ISAT FE AU stuff again....

siffrin is a manakete that is all good night

uhhh act 5 and twohats spoilers below

joking but. also yes. i was thinking a lot abt what FE classes the cast would have recently so.

Mirabelle is a lord. HOWEVER. she gets to be a fancy lord who also gets staff access. Like Hoshido Noble. could you imagine dragging around a scrublord who only gets good on promo but they had heal utility the whole time. isn't that a dream. imagine if Roy could heal and then still rips in endgame

Odile is very obviously a Sage. Like cmon. If i had to pick any specific sage outfit it would in fact be Awakening sages. But the thought of Odile in the outfit of Engage sages is enough to kill people I think. Though the banana mage gba era would be hilarious on her.

The trifecta of magic is also a nice reflection of her being able to use all types of craft :) esp tellius mechanics are dope for that (and integrated into my silly isat emblems stuff). It could also be very thematically appropriate to make her an Omnyoji instead.

Isabeau just has massive axe bro energy. Yknow how fighters are stereotyped as stupid but then Lot FE6, generic axe bro ever, plays chess and does philosophy? Yeah. From a gameplay standpoint it would also make sense to put him in armor knight cuz he will Protect His Friends. Also he has the highest hp in the cast anyways. He would also have rally skills.

If i had to pick one guy to make a beast unit, it would be him also. Tiger isabeau.

Bonnie is the Transporter. They cannot fight. They cannot die. Bonnie is Merlinus. We are not letting the child on the battlefield. Give Bonnie a caravan and convoy access, you know they gotta.

Sif is. hm.

Like the obvious call is Thief, right? In games that have em, daggers are exclusive to thieves (unless you're fates, and have butlers and ninjas). Dagger classes can also debuff (with engage thieves poisoning, and fates daggers inflicting debuffs) which would be a nice niche. However Siffrin isn't actually a criminal.

From a story standpoint mercenary would be the most appropriate since they're not really here for any particular reason but just bcuz he happened to be in the country when the curse struck.

HOWEVER.... engage has given us a very tantalizing third option. Wolf Knight. They're not associated with crime. They are speedy, dodgy, and use daggers.

Siffrin gets a pet wolf. Do you see it.

TO ELABORATE ON THE MANAKETES THING.... So, if you've seen me talk abt my fucking, fe6 isat au, i cast Idunn as Siffrin. And the idea of someone forgetting their own species is really funny, and also kinda terrifying. And the only other person like you is the guy you have to kill.

Also I think creechur siffrin AUs are great. And dragons in FE are associated heavily with two things. a) going insane. b) amnesia (just look at corrin, and grima, and alear).

Also also dragons love to take naps. WHO ELSE LOVES TO TAKE NAPS?? That's right. Siffrin.

Oh yeah also. Dragon Loop. Wouldn't that be epic. AND. act 5 boss fight siffrin turning into a full dragon.

And the development possibilites. As siffrin learns about the island, also uncovering myths about dragons. And the new strength siffrin is able to master more and more of each loop being bcuz. well. dragon. and growing aware of the ways he's different from the others not just in the growing chasm as they veiw the party more and more as actors, but also the paranoia in physically becoming a monster.

Do you see my fucking vision, here.

SPEAKING OF ENGAGE.... i forgot who. but SOMEBODY. suggested. Emblem Loop. wrgrhr.

and i've thought abt how this would work. And i think it does work, if like... the island (and the divine dragons) all got forgotten because of the emblem's miracle. That somebody thought it was too dangerous and wanted to seal it away forever and used the power of the emblems to make them forgotten. And so Wish Craft would be the emblems' power instead, which only dragons have access to - supposedly. Hey, if a whole country tries out a prayer incantation, would it work?

And. and. this would be really easy to do by. replacing the silver coin with a ring. Siffrin just has this random ring they've had forever. So when Loop wishes to get out, they become the emblem they've been using. You get recursive timeloop questions - who was the emblem that granted Loop's wish in the first place? Was it another Siffrin? Somebody else altogether? Who knows. But isn't the asking really fun.

And like, I mean, Emblem Byleth already exists, we all know what "rerolling missed attacks to hit instead" is. Emblem Byleth is still rewinding time you just can't see that he is.

Do you see my vision. ISAT fire emblem engage AU.

[kaymarie-bell]

Diasomnia Book, Chapter 2 Translations [7, 20-21]

as always, my own translation. I am learning as I go, I do this out of love for the game. There will be mistakes. 

DO NOT REPOST

Summary: Malleus receives an invitation, but at what cost.

 Also, tamagotchis’ mechanics as an analogy for life and death.

[7-20]

Diasomnia Dorm - Lounge

A few days later

Lilia: Malleus!

Malleus: Mhm? Ah, Lilia.

Lilia: I would like to request permission to use Diasomnia’s lounge this Saturday.

Malleus: I don’t mind. What are you planning?

Lilia: Silver and the dorm students are throwing me a farewell party before I leave.

Malleus: Farewell…party?

Lilia: Yes. You need permission from the Dorm Leader to reserve the lounge, right?

Malleus: It’s your farewell party, and you are the one asking for permission?

Lilia: The dorm members were at a loss on how to fill out the application form

Lilia: Since the request is coming directly from the vice-leader, there’s no way you would refuse. Isn’t that right, Dorm Leader Malleus?

Malleus: Oh…of course

Malleus: Are you inviting students from the other dorms?

Lilia: That’s right. I’m going to invite my classmates, my clubmates, my professors…everyone in the school

Malleus: There are many members of royal families and nobilities in this school. If we all are coming together, it’s going to be a very spectacular gathering.

Lilia: Well…then I’ll give this to you.

Malleus: What is this?

Lilia: Hehe. Open it.

~Invitation Letter~

Dear Malleus Draconia,

This Saturday, 7 p.m., at the Diasomnia Lounge, [Lilia Vanrouge’s farewell party] will be held.

Please join us.

*No gifts required. Please come empty handed.

Malleus: An invitation letter? Addressed to me?

Lilia: My Lord. Will you accept this invitation? Malleus.

Malleus:…..of course. I respectfully accept your invitation, Lilia.

Malleus: A farewell party…

*beeping sound*

Lilia: Huh? What’s that sound?

Malleus: I’m sorry. I forgot it was feeding time.

Malleus: You’re the only one who would dare to interrupt me and beg for my attention in such a way. What a rude fellow.

Lilia: Oh, it’s that toy I bought you as a souvenir one day.

Malleus: Yes. It’s “Gao Gao Dragon-kun.”

[7-21]

Lilia: I am sure I gave it to you some time ago

Lilia: It was about the time Silver finally began to stand on his own feet…you are still playing with it?

Malleus: I don’t know when to quit. I found myself making a habit out of it.

Malleus: It has broken down several times, but I’ve had it repaired every time.

Lilia: I see

Lilia: Electronic devices such as smartphones tend to be unusable due to the magic and thunderstorms of the owner…

Lilia: But Dragon-kun is a cheap toy with easily replaceable parts

Lilia: So, unlike them, it lasts for a long time.

*beep beep*

Malleus: What is this? I have to clean up your dung now? It can’t be helped…

Lilia: *laughs*

Malleus: What are you laughing at?

Lilia: I remembered that the first time Dragon-kun reached the end of his life

Lilia: Our Young Lord escaped from the castle and came to my house with a look of great dismay

Lilia: “Lilia, when this morning came, Dragon was gone and eggs were left behind. What shall I do?”

Lilia:…that’s all. Haha.

Malleus: That’s…I simply wasn’t aware that there was always a parting mechanism at first.

Malleus: I had never considered that toys could have a lifespan.

Malleus: No matter how much you make a fool of out yourself for his sake…Dragon will leave nothing but eggs behind in less than 30 days.

Malleus: I wonder why humans would make something like that.

Lilia: Hm. Is 30 days a short time?

Malleus: Whether long or short, Dragon is a fictional being…just like a fairy tale, isn’t it?

Malleus: Then it would be okay not to set a deadline for his life…that’s what I think.

Lilia: I see, indeed.

Lilia: Just like how fairy tales are made to comfort someone…

Lilia: Maybe it would be enough to keep him alive as long as he is taken care of.

Lilia: But isn’t it precisely because there’s an end to it that makes us think that we should cherish the time we have to spend together?

Lilia:…the longer one spends together, the harder it will be to part ways.

Malleus:…Lilia?

Lilia: Well then, since I have permission to use the lounge from the Dorm Leader, I have to hurry up and hand out the invitations to everyone around school.

Lilia: See you, Malleus.

Lilia: Saturday night will be my last celebration. It will surely be a spectacular gathering.

Lilia: Don’t forget to attend!

Malleus: The last…celebration…

Malleus:…?

[ratcandy]

(Sending this in an ask so I don't spam you with four different comments on your disability post. 💀 No need to reply. Just getting this out there.)

*dumps*

I'm seriously dealing with this right now.

Working on a fic with a potentially disabled robot character. It's not explicitly stated in game, but it is implied.

As a chronically ill person, I really want to lean into it, explore it, and show that the character is loveable and awesome as a disabled person. That there's more to him than what's disabling him without minimizing the impact it has on his life. Because I would want that to be said about me.

But like. He's a robot.

There's no resources available to fix him (LITERALLY fix him. As a robot) where he's located, so his disability is plausible in-game. But if I'm exploring what happens after, where he leaves his current location, the thought of fixing him comes up. There'd probably be resources available in this other place.

I don't want to fix him. I think it would send the wrong message. But also. Not fixing him might send a wrong message too. It might put blame on him, by making it where the only thing keeping him from getting "better" is himself, you know? Implying that he would get "better" if he just let himself get better.

I would really hate for that to be the takeaway from the fic. It's a really crappy way of thinking, and I've had to face similar accusations myself.

So I'm in a bit of an uncanny valley right now.. Not sure what to do about it.

Excuse me for the ramble. I just think it's neat that you posted this when I started really focusing on the issue. Is this a sign. What does it mean for me.

Anyway. The disability removal trope in media has always rubbed me the wrong way with its harmful implications, and it's uncomfortably common. :( Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Okay I'm done. Thanks.

I saw this ask, looked up from my phone in deep thought, went on a whole spiel out loud about it, and then promptly forgot it came from an ask buT I"M HERE NOW, and I wiLL reply because. I think I could maybe offer some thoughts

...And it turns out I have Many Thoughts.

I don't know this robot character you're messing with or to what extent he'd "need" repairs, but I feel there's a few easy questions to ask first before you could decide whether it's a good option for the story! Better, have him Himself grapple with these questions and allow him agency in the decision (aka: Whatever you do, don't force it on him sdhgk)

Since I don't know what disability this robot's got, let's just say he's got an arm that's totally dead. Just can't be used. But just popping it off wouldn't be easy due to the mechanics going on, and perhaps the damage goes further than just the arm.

He's already learned to adapt to how that arm sits. He's learned to balance with the weight of it, knows how to avoid bumping it into things, is totally accustomed to just using one arm.

Now, suddenly, he's in a situation with high-tech engineers who could replace that arm no problem and make it work just as it always did.

Now he's got to ask himself,

"Do I want to?" I mean, obvious question, but really. If he's totally happy with how he lives, not despite his disability but just With It, then what would necessarily be the point of going through a whole procedure? And even if he's not totally happy, but only mildly inconvenienced at best now that he's adapted, is going through with a Robot Surgery and all the struggles of adapting with a new arm worth it?

"Would I be able to adapt to having two arms again?" Depending on how long he's had his disability for, this could be amplified by a lot. If it's been almost his entire life with the disability, having another arm again would be almost totally foreign. He'd have to re-balance himself without the weight, get used to the feeling of electricity circulating on that side of him, learn how to control that arm again, go through whatever the robot equivalent of physical therapy is, and that's IF the arm replacement goes 100% right. Which is another thing...

"What's the chance that the replacement doesn't work?" Assuming he's not given a perfect solution that just will totally work no questions asked, there's always a chance it just won't work. The body may not accept a new arm, the damage may have spread too far and any replacements would have to go further than just the arm, and would he be comfortable with that? And what if it not only doesn't work, but instead makes it worse? Would jamming a new arm into a damaged socket just spread the damage further?

If you want to lean real far into the robot aspect, have an existential crisis but Ship of Theseus style, especially if there's a lot of integral parts that would need repairs. Yknow, the whole "if I replace all the parts of a ship, is it still the same ship?" but in this case, Robot.

Also, from a writer perspective... one of the reasons suddenly curing a disability is seen is Not Great is especially notable in cases where the disability was caused by an injury (as opposed to being born with it). Because then there's likely trauma attached to it. There's trauma that the person/character has had to work through, accept, and learn to move on with. And that's not easy, especially depending on the severity of the disability.

And once they've gone on that journey to live with and embrace their disability, gone through the massive life changes and mental adjustments that are required to proceed with life, suddenly providing a cure will make that journey seem... like it had moot point, kind of.

It'd be like. I dunno, say Character A's ancestor did a bad thing. And they spend the whole story grappling with that bad thing their ancestor did that they had no control over. Near the end of the story they learn to accept it, vow to be better than that ancestor, whatever. Only for the story to end by going "Surprise! That ancestor never did it at all, they were framed! Your bloodline is innocent! Hurray!"

Does that make sense? Suddenly there was no point to any of that. It damages the story As Well as having less than ideal implications.

ANd my last point ....... About the "the only thing keeping him from getting 'better' is himself, you know? Implying that he would get 'better' if he just let himself get better."

I mean... putting aside any implication that being disabled is somehow "lesser" than not being disabled, as I doubt that was your intention,

Again, it mostly depends on the extent of the disability. Is he gonna die without it being fixed? Is he in utterly horrific agony that he's screaming about the entire time while the button for a cure is in front of his face?

Because even THEN, "how will I manage when suddenly NOT disabled" is a question that's gotta be asked and addressed. It might be the totally reasonable decision to have him take a cure, but the Ramifications of sudden curing have gotta be acknowledged, especially if he's been disabled for a while.

Is he choosing to hurt for the sake of hurting, or is it due to being scared/uncertain of what a life not hurting looks like?

OR, if this disability hardly bothers him, then... like. Again. It would make sense to NOT want to go through all the steps to get it repaired if it could just cause more problems. Say it's as something as small as an annoying twitch. Like, say his hands twitch a lot, perhaps even shake. But he's used to it. It's been years and it's just part of how he is now. He doesn't necessarily care to get it fixed, because it's... just part of him. At that point, it'd just be weird to see him as "keeping himself from getting better," because he's... fine? Relatively?

I dunno. For that question I guess it mostly depends on Is He Happy Right Now/is he content with his disability already. Because yea, if he is content, like... who cares if he doesn't fix it. Even if it's more severe like the whole non-functioning arm idea I mentioned earlier. Or hell maybe he's totally paralyzed! Hasn't walked for years! Found other means of mobility and has learned to adapt to it! Is totally happy while being paralyzed! Not mentioning how complicated the ''adapting to suddenly not being disabled anymore'' becomes with something as complex as that If he doesn't mind it too much, then.......... why go through all that trouble if he's Fine, right? Who is being hurt by that?

anyway. That was a really long post. I hope my rambles??? Help you at all with that?? I mean like I said in my original post there can be totally innocent reasons to "cure" a disability in a story, it just has to be handled with care and sensitivity. Give the character some amount of agency in it!

...yknow, like. So long as you're not going down the "i'm so miserable with my disability it's either i get cured or i die" route. because . u know. I don't need to explain why that's not great hopefully sdghKSLJDGH

OK ENOUGH RAMBLING!!!!!!! this gave me many thoughts about robot disability, something I do not typically think about

[wirewitchviolet]

Consider cloning one of these games...

So the other day someone was showing me the trailer to some neat new indie game they were getting into, and my immediate thought was "that does look pretty nice but FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING! INDIE DEVS, PLAY A SECOND GAME ALREADY!"

Presumably you've already guessed this, but it was a nice little handcrafted thing that was very plainly inspired primarily by Super Metroid. Even had those bubble-looking platforms. I'd say what it was specifically, but I already forgot the name, because, you know, I've kinda seen a few games do this before.

It's not like Super Metroid isn't one of my favorite games of all time, obviously. I'm one of the shockingly few people who played it when it was new and totally fell in love then. And it's also not like there aren't several games made in its image that I also love. It's just that there's way too damn many of them out there for anyone to play, and while I'd never be one to tell someone not to make the thing they want to make due to market saturation or whatever, I kinda feel like we're doing a huge disservice to our collective creativity and appreciation of classic games to all be so hyper-focused on putting our own spins on this one particular game, especially when it kinda knocked things out of the park back when this wasn't a genre it was just this one super cool game with, among other things, a compelling structure to it.

Like, I do love that Super Metroid became A game that's served as a focal point for indie devs to try and recreate. Back when it was first released it actually sold kinda terribly by Nintendo's standards, and didn't really have anything else out there trying to iterate on the concept until we eventually got the Castlevania series going that route, and Cave Story. But at this point, yeah, Super Metroid has been all canonized and studied to death and if you're the sort of person who cares about this sort of thing in the slightest you know all about how it ticks and the appeal and what other ways the basic premise can be pulled in. So it's well past time for people to take another game that's super great and fairly unique and use that as a jumping off point to make some new things. So I'm just going to ramble here a little about some real gems that nobody's ever really gotten around to trying to replicate.

Punch-Out!!

I want to say we're all familiar with Punch-Out!! but... are we? It's a famously difficult game, so odds are good you've seen speedruns or other challenge runs, but you really have to play it for yourself to see what's so interesting about it. A big part of the initial appeal of course was having these really expressive screen-filling characters, which isn't something we're lacking now. It's also real twitchy, basically unplayable towards the end if you're dealing with any sort of input lag at all, which isn't super unique these days, but structurally, the way it's coded, there's all this weird artificial drama to it.

Like, on the surface, it's a pretty straightforward thing. Enemies have tells for their attacks, you dodge those, you hit them in the resulting openings. But there's also the round based structure, knock-downs, and one-off gimmick mechanics in the mix. Officially, we're playing by the rules of boxing where the outcome of a match is decided by either knocking someone down and them not getting back up, knocking them down three times in a round, or running out of time and having to go to some judge's decision. But that's not REALLY how it works.

There's no random chance of someone going down and staying down. You've got HP meters, you take one down, your opponent falls over, waits until late in the count and gets up, forcing you to drain that HP down three times before the round ends, and if yours bottoms out, you get to mash buttons to stand up and have your other two chances. But then there's times you CAN take someone down, not only keeping them down for a KO win, but even getting there without your opponent bottoming out on HP first. The most famous example, I believe of both of these, being Bald Bull's charge. The big dramatic make or break where he just keeps using this special move which isn't terribly hard to dodge, but deadly if it connects, and dodging doesn't really help as he won't stop until the round ends, and then might spend the whole second round doing nothing but. You need to take that risk, and get that frame perfect stomach strike just before he connects to dramatically KO him and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat... or you can do this:

I was actually looking for an example of the all or nothing strike when I found this. If you don't face the charge in round 1, he gets into it sooner in round 2 to force the matter, but if you're still not confident enough to go for it there, turns out you can just drop him early into round 3 and have him stay down... and the only real consistent rule any of this follows is drama. Heck looking at the opening screen here, this person knows tricks for getting a KO on at least the first 10 opponents. Most of them I've always just taken the TKOs on myself. Point is though, the mechanics really run on drama. AI scripts change up if you move onto new rounds. Knock-downs turn into knock outs if and only if it fits a certain narrative. This sort of thing is super fascinating to me. Makes me want to look through the game's code line by line. And the only thing I can think of in any other game that even comes close is, of all things, the Ace Attorney series, with those scenery chewing meltdowns, and scattered scenes that "break the rules" with instant failure penalties or no-win situations where you're then suddenly saved by a friendly NPC's dramatic appearance.

I wouldn't suggest anyone literally try to make a Punch-Out!! clone. There's no real reason to stick to the boxing framework. I'd definitely advise against copying all the broad stereotypes. But there's a real unique soul to the drama-driven mechanics breaking stated rules I'd love to see people really digging into to gain a deep understanding of it and apply that to original games.

Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic

I'm not just being pretentious and refusing to say Super Mario Bros. 2. When it was Mario-ized, there were two huge changes- A run button the original FDS game didn't have, and the fundamental structural change of just having you finish levels with whatever character you like (or use warp zones to skip them entirely). In the original game, in order to see the proper ending, you had to play each and every level with each and every character with no run button. And that's neat, actually.

See, just as an example, there's a bit of a skip early on in both versons of the game, where you can avoid taking a door through some whole area by just leaping across a big waterfall. In Super Mario Bros. 2 anyone can do this, just needing a running start, but in the original release, there are no running starts. Either you can jump that gap by way of good airtime, or you can't. Depends which character you play as. Everyone has different stats, so being forced through the same full set of levels, there's a few little things like this where you have to alter your strategy to reflect the character you're running with at the time. That's cool. The whole mechanic of lifting things and throwing them, or riding on enemies' heads, or stacking blocks to reach higher areas or block fireballs, this is also just cool (and another thing SMB2 tweaked actually, play both and see for yourself).

I have seen literally one indie game that riffed on this idea, Curse of the Crescent Isle.

Umihara Kawase

If you've played it, you know. If you haven't, please just watch this speedrun:

Nothing has physics quite like this game. Nothing really has the same weird mildly distressing dream sort of tone to it either, or weird as hell branching level structure, or the weird system where the game has a time limit, but rather than giving a game over just makes it end after your current level. Other games have played with grappling hooks, but nothing I've ever seen has made me feel like this here is what they were going for.

Altered Beast

You know, I don't even particularly LIKE Altered Beast. I always thought it was a bit too short, a bit too simple, and still somehow it felt like you were just killing time until getting the power-ups that kinda make you invincible for the rest of the level.

There's... something here though. Somewhere with these bodies getting so bulky and beefy with no change to their heads and the voice samples and the sense of spectacle to it all, and yeah the dramatic gameplay shifts with the power-ups. I don't quite know what the secret sauce is, but if you find it, bottle it up, and slather it over something less shallow, you might really have something there.

Ecco the Dolphin

There is such a weird mix in the whole series of new age hippie save the whales vibes and genuinely disquieting horror just kinda seamlessly blended together. So much of it is the sound design, but the claustrophobia, the weird sense of speed, the constant pressure of drowning or suddenly being in the face of some huge nasty thing that'll basically one-shot you. The... unspoken but pronounced notion that this is set in a world where all of humanity died and are totally unremembered. There's a hell of a lot you could do with any of this, and the only game I can think of that comes close to hitting the same notes is Subnautica. Actually for that matter...

Subnautica

I don't want to get into what's so great about Subnautica here, because the most common sentiment I hear from people who have played it is they wish there was some way they could play Subnautica for the first time, again. Just... yeah. If you haven't already, play through it all completely blind, and if you can think of how to recapture all of that, do it, and put it in my hands without a word.

X-Com Apocalypse

So... X-Com is a truly amazing game that to this day feels like a unique enough beast it also wouldn't be bad to try and learn from, but there's actually a good number of attempts at clones already, none quite seem willing to get into the same levels of complexity, and there's the whole remade Firaxis series with a simpler take that a lot of games are using as a template. But Apocalypse? The original third game? That tried to do a lot of new and different stuff. I don't know how much of it didn't work vs. how much is secretly amazing if you internalize how it works vs. what's sort of half-baked per se, but there's some real ambition with mixing the original's tactical intricacies and destructible terrain and such (which somehow works even better with the realtime mode this one has), with this living breathing city. You aren't intercepting UFOs on a featureless world map. You've got a whole separate combat engine on a persistent map where stray shots can damage roads and cause long-term problems because the supplies you order get shipped via trucks that travel on those roads. Tons of factions you ideally want support from but can go attack and rob if they feel like lost causes. A tech tree with really dramatic progress and early discoveries that are either double-edges swords or genuinely just terrible things to try to use.

And then the endgame is really neat because instead of just one big final mission, you flip the whole script, and suddenly you're invading an alien city, picking targets to wreak havoc on and ultimately destroy, one by one. Incidentally this also did headcrabs before Half-Life so... I feel like it should be better known just for historical context.

Shadow of the Colossus

I know this is kind of a big technical ask, but why the hell were we not FLOODED with a whole generation of grandiose setpiece-y boss rush games after this first dropped? Perhaps more than anything else on here, someone really needs to get onto scratching this specific itch again, immediately.

I could totally keep going, but more importantly I'm sure you had some game that really left a mark on you that's been largely forgotten since, which I don't even know about, and you should really, if you're up to it, try and teach the world about it and how great it was by blending the old with something new of your own.

Just... draw from wider pools of inspiration, people.