#but i really want fun community and family themed gameplay

[simbico]

I’m just praying this EP brings AT LEAST the same energy Cottage Living brought for me. I’m so nervous but also excited for the gameplay trailer! (,,>﹏<,,)

[andarans]

a love letter to dragon age.

i’ve been trying to cope with the news that all the dragon age devs have been laid off or reassigned these past two days, and i just…. it’s hard. it might sound silly to say but i’ve barely been able to do anything because i feel as if i’ve lost a family member. took today to have a good cry. dragon age was such a formative series for me. i joke all the time i got into it for the romances and stayed for the lore but really everything about it i love, dearly. i love that each companion and side character had stories that moved me and made me cry, stories i could relate to even in a world with magic and dragons. i love how the lore is presented, including the brilliance that is the codex—that you’re never quite sure who to believe, that discovering the truth requires you to be an archaeologist. i love how my choices always mattered, that decision i made in origins affected my playthrough in inquisition. i loved the message dragon age as a series sent, about corruption, about power, about propaganda. dragon age influenced so much of my fantasy tastes and own writing and art. it left such a huge mark on my artistic inspirations and work. hell, my first ever dnd character was a tiefling that pretty much looks like a qunari with having a backstory that affected the world she was in, reminiscent of the depiction of elves in dragon age (still one of my favorite and nuanced takes on elves in fantasy, btw). even with the dnd campaign and world i’m writing now, i see dragon age in nooks and crannies. i wrote so much fanfic and drew so much fanart and made so many theories and anxiously followed every bit of news for the development cycle of veilguard. i’d watch the game awards every year with my friend hoping for dragon age news. speaking of friends, god i made so many friends because of dragon age. that common interest sparked so many fun conversations and ideas. i even was a writer for an anders focused dragon age charity zine.

above all i loved the community around dragon age. sure, fandoms all have its moments and toxicity, but by and large my experience with the DA community was wonderful. i love getting to see people’s OCs and world states because i also obsess over my DA OCs and world states. i love getting to see people write theses about dragon age’s themes and masters worthy character studies. the communal love for this world and its characters is so, so profoundly inspiring.

i’ve spent so much time moping but i do want to highlight what i loved about each game and my favorite characters.

DAO: my first intro to the series. by god the gameplay was so slow but the story and characters and lore and writing made it SO worth it. made me appreciate CRPGs too. alistair ended up becoming my favorite character, i remember actually gasping and blushing at the rose moment in his romance. the landsmeet is still one of my favorite quests, i love fantasy political intrigue. morrigan also was my best friend, when she called my warden a sister i cried.

DA2: one of the most underrated games by far. i loved the smaller scale, i loved how personal hawke’s story felt, i loved every single companion and this found family. fenris was my first romance and one of my favorites, he is so complex and misunderstood and secretly has the best sense of humor. i think anders ended up becoming my favorite though—god, anders. i could speak about him for hours but i appreciate the DA devs for what they did for him and letting us romance him. anders made me appreciate his character archetype so much; he is such a tragic man transformed by bitterness and vengeance and rage. “ten years from now, a hundred years from now, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no templars to tear them apart.” i love you anders.

DAI: i love the inquisitor. i love how tragic of a character the inquisitor is, ripped from their life and forced to become an idol for a movement they might not even believe in. a lot of people criticize DAI for being “the chosen one” cliché, but it’s not. it’s a critique of that very trope and how it destroys a person. the inquisitor is forced to become an idea, and it does not matter who they actually are; they have all autonomy taken from them, and that is horrifying. cullen ended up ruining my life for a good amount of time, his romance is my favorite in all the series and god he got such a good redemption and ending. (i even bought cullen themed soap from a local convention, lol. i’m telling you i was obsessed). and in my replay solas’ romance absolutely destroyed me, turning him from my dearly detested to my dearly beloved. god trick weekes i will miss you so much, thank you for writing solas.

DAV: i know how contentious veilguard is. believe me i have many of my own criticisms. but i still love it anyway. i love the companions, all of them, i love how act 3 absolutely fucking gutted me and made me cry twice. i loved the amazing visuals and character creator and ost and environments. i love the QOL improvements. i loved seeing the cameos and my inquisitor again. there’s so much to love in veilguard and i’d rather talk about how much i love it than what i didn’t. lucanis was my first romance and while there wasn’t as much content as i was hoping for, i sincerely appreciate what we did get. i love how ride or die he is, how his love language is acts of service, how he’s afraid to hurt rook. i love his facial animations in his romance, i love zach mendez’s performance. i’m hoping to play emmrich and davrin’s next, and i’m sure i’ll love them too.

it’s hard to accept the fact that dragon age is probably over. it makes me sad knowing we’ll never find out about certain lore questions or know what DA5 could’ve looked like. and i’m still so angry for the developers and how they’re so callously treated and thrown away by EA/bioware. sometimes i wonder if the same thing would’ve happened if veilguard sold more. but it’s not helpful to dwell on these what-ifs, because we’ve seen how the industry treats both successful games and what they deem as failures: layoffs and no remorse. i hope the team finds work soon. i hope they realize how loved their work is. i hope someday the game industry is completely, wholly unionized. i’m glad at least we got veilguard to answer the biggest questions we’ve had.

thank you, DA devs, for everything. thank you for answering our silly questions about your characters favorite coffee flavors and perfect date nights. thank you for bringing them to life. i won’t stop playing the games or making art or fic. i won’t stop being inspired. dragon age lives on in my creations, in my dnd characters, in everything. i hope to be back in thedas soon, one day. dareth shiral.

[jonnyparable]

Magical Misadventures

Hello! So I got Realm of Magic, since it comes pretty highly recommended, but mainly cos I wanted it so I could use a fairy mod. The Spellcasters in the Sims 4 work pretty well and the gameplay is fun and whimsical, I think occults in the Sims 4 are impressive, and I might get the vampire and werewolf pack too. I just wish plantsims were a little more fleshed out.

Anyway the Magic Realm is so kooky and fun. Sadly there's no narrative about fixing the world, seeing as how it seems broken and fragmented, but I guess that's to be expected with this game. Thank god the Magic Realm HQ at least can be edited. I thought it'd be cool to continue the theme of disintegrated buildings with the back quarter of the building looking like it imploded, with the remains floating off into the void.

I do really like the art nouveau style that the pack comes with, and the CAS is giving me Shadow Hunters vibes, which isn't a bad thing necessarily.

I did find that Glimmerbrook is kind of strange. I think it's meant to be some kind of forestry town, yet the hood does look very fancy, apart from the sad red neck bar. As such I decided that the story here is that the area was once a gated community, that has been home to Spellcasters for generations, although it seems to have been abandoned, perhaps mirroring why the Magic Realm is also falling apart . Anyway, I moved the Elixirs and Brews bar underground, accessible through a secret door, and above is the town's defunct ranger station.

I renamed the Charm family Le'Esotaire. And their house is pretty much French art nouveau. The house of Grace Anasi and Tomax Colette is modelled after a standard victorian.

The lots here are outwardly pretty run down, and the point of it is to keep the hood under the radar and discreet so Sims don't come snooping.

[iplaysims4]

I was tagged by the most talented @cinamun Thanks for tagging me gurrl

Ok So yea...

1. What’s your favorite sims death? I guess I’ll have to go with starvation because when a Sim would die in my game, it would be because of starvation...Lol!

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? I would have to say both. But I’m a sucker for alpha CC.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? I try not to. In TS2, all the time! Lmao! but now I let them work out at home or at the gym.

4. Do you use move objects? It is a must! That is the first thing I turn on when I’m playing.

5. Favorite mod? I have quite a few fav mods so I can’t choose just one.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? I literally got each expansion pack and etc as they were released.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? Just Live Mod.

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? I’ve made so many damn Sims...Lol! I would have to say my Sim Raquel.

9. Have you made a simself? I only attempted this in TS2 and that Sim looked nothing like me...CTFU!

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? Love the outdoors, Kinda Neat, Adventurous, Family Oriented and Music Lover.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? Black and Brown.

12. Favorite EA hair? The braids in a ponytail.

13. Favorite life stage? Omg! Right now it’s infants!

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Gameplay. All that building...Chiiiiile my patience is too low for that.

15. Are you a CC creator? Hmmm I tried to be...Lol but I’ll do recolors for sure.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? There are some really cool people in the Sim community.

17. What’s your favorite game? Besides the Sims, my favorite game is The Last Of Us hands down.

18. Do you have any sims merch? Nah.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? I do! (Shameless plug) Check out my youtube channel @ Sims2ForEver121...LOL!

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? It has not changed at all.

21. What’s your Origin ID? ILOVESIMS3355 (Hit me up) LMAO!

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? Hmmm...I’d have to think this over...

23. How long have you had a simblr? I made this simblr in 2014 when TS4 released. I had a blog before this one that I created in 2012 or 2013.

24. How do you edit your pictures? I just be wanting to post my gameplay pics so I don’t really go through editing much. I would splash a lil color here and there sometimes.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? My fav would have to be Get To Work and Growing Together.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I can’t say this enough but OPEN HOODS/LOTS with a THEME PARK! Or bring back the CONCERTS! we really could use that for our game because that loading screen when your Sim go right in front of their house or any venue... is doing too much.

This was fun!

I want to tag ANYONE that wants to do this!

[daleisgreat]

25 Years of Sega Saturn & Virtual Boy - Flashback Special!

After the deluge of wrestling-themed entries for WrestleMania month this past 30 days, I have been pining to do another videogame anniversary special. Looking up which platforms have major milestone anniversaries this year, I noted six that stuck out. Four of the platforms (NES, Xbox 360, PSone, PS2) I have an extensive history with and they will get their own respective flashback treatment from me when their anniversaries draw nearer later this year. The other two platforms have all had lackluster or outright abysmal degrees of retail success and both I have only had limited histories with and never played on a consistent basis. Nevertheless, the time I did have with them I considered unique and I do have some fond memories of my experiences with each platform. So let us get on with this flashback special as I celebrate the 25th anniversaries of two consoles that each hit in 1995: Sega’s Saturn and Nintendo’s Virtual Boy.

I want to begin with the platform I have played the least of these two, the Saturn. Yes, I played my Virtual Boy and its daunting 14 game library more than the Saturn. In 1995 I was still lagging a generation behind on the latest consoles. All my family had was an NES at this point and I recently got a GameBoy for Christmas of 1993 so in 1995 I was getting a lot of mileage out of my GameBoy and my parents were still hitting up garage sales for bargain price NES game for me. By the time the Saturn and PSone hit in mid-1995, I was a year away from getting a SNES which I desired more so the Saturn and PSone were not even close to making my wish list. I read about them looming in magazines like Game Players and Electronic Gaming Monthly, but truth be told I was not all that excited for the future of disc-based platforms and the advent of polygonal graphics that were about to come into fruition with 32-bit consoles. As a naïve 12-year old, the first major 3D polygonal games that hit on SNES and Genesis in the early 90s like Star Fox and Virtua Racer looked butt-ugly to me, and from trying out demo kiosks of PSone and Saturn at stores the impatient kid I was back then was furious at this newfound ‘feature’ of the latest systems having loading times. Combine that with my family having no desire to chunk down several hundred dollars for another gaming system and I was left with no cravings for the Saturn and PSone when they both hit in 1995. I had no clue of Sega’s surprise Saturn launch announced at the first E3 in May of 1995. For the unfamiliar, it was when going into that E3 it was known that both the Saturn and PSone were slated to launch within days of each other in September of 1995, but at Sega’s press conference they said right then and there the Saturn is out right now at a handful of select retailers. In 1995 the Internet was only around for a few years and not even the slightest bit ubiquitous. Computers were still a couple years away from coming down to more reasonable family friendly prices, so at this time I got all my gaming news from my monthly subscription to Game Players.

Here is the podcast special on the Saturn I originally recorded way back in 2008. Check it out if you want to know even more about the history of the Saturn and its games. I wound up largely ignoring both the Saturn and PSone for the first few years they were out, maybe occasionally trying out an occasional store kiosk demo and that was about it. I remember the magazines at the time putting a lot of hype into Sega’s arcade ports, and console exclusives like Panzer Dragoon getting cover stories of having mind-shattering graphics, but I was not buying it at the time and stubbornly remained loyal to my 2D sprites. For the Saturn, I finally got my first real experience with it in April of 1997. I remember shortly before this time the Saturn was being pushed aggressively on TV with a special 1996 holiday bundle packaging it with Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop for $199. I had no idea at the time why this ridiculous deal happened was because Sega was getting killed in sales at this point in the PSone/Saturn/N64 era and they were desperately trying to play catch-up with a hell of a value considering several months earlier in 1996 it was clinging onto its dooming launch price of $399.

Flash forward a few months later in April of 1997 and my hometown got hit with a huge flood that forced a mandatory evacuation of the entire town for a couple weeks until the waters receded. For a couple days our family stayed at a nearby air base hangar. I believe we were planning on hunkering down there for several days until a couple days in my uncle from St. Paul surprised us and showed up and ‘volunteered’ on taking us in and refused to leave without us coming with him. My siblings and I were delighted to get out of the crowded hangar and spend time with our cousins for what ended up being a week before we were able to get back home. My cousin Royce, who was within a year of my age at the time wound up getting that Saturn three game bundle for Christmas a few months earlier and we played those three games along with the demo disc that came with the system almost every day. We must have played through Virtua Cop at least a few times, and I remember finding it a big step up from previous light gun games I was accustomed to. Daytona USA at the time did not really click with me, and while I was impressed with the graphics at the time I did not come around to checkpoint-racing games yet and was more turned off by their enforced time limits back then. On the demo disc our family got a lot of fun competing against each other in the home run derby mode available in World Series Baseball. The standout game of the pack was easily Virtua Fighter 2. It blew me away and for me it was the first game that proved not only for fighting games, but for games all together that 3D polygonal graphics and gameplay could be viable and damn fun. I knew I was a couple years late to the party by this point, but by 1997 polygonal graphics were no longer the crude, non-textured blocks and rectangles on the SNES and Genesis, but actually had some depth and style to them. I loved Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat at this point, but Virtua Fighter 2 proved to me that 3D fighters could coexist with 2D ones.

That week with my cousin was my proper introduction to the 32/64-bit era. It would be over a decade though before I got more serious hand-on time with the Saturn. Not many friends of mine had the Saturn back home, or if they did we rarely busted it out. My friend and former podcast co-host, Matt has a mammoth collection, and I only recall us turning to the system once or twice all these years to play the charming platformer SCUD. Another friend and podcast co-host of mine, Chris also has a Saturn in his equally mammoth game collection, and until 2008 I only recall us powering it on a couple of times to play the fun co-op action platformer, Three Dirty Dwarves, which had a nonsensical, grungy vibe to its destruction. In 2008, we were a couple years into doing our videogame podcast and we loved doing console retrospectives, so we decided it was time to do one on the Saturn. I just uploaded it to YouTube and integrated it into this article for your listening pleasure! Chris knew about my limited Saturn hands-on time at this point so we decided to spend literally a whole afternoon, about four to five hours of ‘research’ playing a good chunk of his Saturn collection. About 10-15 minutes for each game for a quick refresher for what each game brought to the table. There was one though we played for about two hours straight. That was the rare Panzer Dragoon Saga Chris had a copy of. I knew about it being a collectible at this point and heard the acclaim for it being an ahead of its time RPG and professed to Chris to hope to spend a little more time with it to see what the hype was all about. I remember digging its rail-shooter action the first two games established while simultaneously mixing in RPG style mechanics and exploration. I think we both got wrapped up in it, and stuck with it a bit longer than anticipated. Suffice it to say, those opening hours stood out to me all these years later and I can see why Panzer Dragoon Saga became a hot commodity.

Jeremy Parish did an excellent line of videos with deep dives on every individual Virtual Boy game released, including Japanese exclusives. Here is his take on the Wario's exclusive Virtual Boy game as of yet to be re-released, Wario Land. In my TurboGrafX-16 flashback, I wrote about how I procured the system at a gaming community meet-up event. At that same event there were several gaming systems hooked up for play throughout the night, and one of them was the Saturn. One of the highlights of that night was someone bringing enough multi-taps and controllers that we were able to get plenty of rounds of eight player Saturn Bomberman in. I am a fan of classic multiplayer Bomberman, but never played more than four players before, and was surprised to see the Saturn pull off an eight player version with a micro-sized map and characters in order to fit everyone on screen. It was a Bomberman experience that nothing will likely ever stack up to. I dug up a photo from the event of all of us gathered around the TV so you call can see the tech in action!

Sadly, I never got anymore hands on time with the Saturn after this. It is one of the few major consoles that I do not own. For years I remember seeing the system for sale at our local retro games shop for around $30, but I always hesitated on it. The games I enjoyed on there Sega released better sequels on other systems, and I later got to check out some of its top ranked games like the Capcom fighting games, Guardian Heroes, Nights Into Dreams... and acclaimed shmups like Radiant Silvergun on enhanced re-releases on the Xbox 360 and PS3. There remains games exclusive to the Saturn that I always wanted to try like Die Hard Arcade, World Series Baseball ‘98, Fighters MegaMix, Burning Rangers and Shining Force III, but with retro game prices continuously going up, the time to start a Saturn collection has come and gone in my book unless I happen to stumble upon a steal of a deal. I do have one Saturn game in my collection however, and I will give props to Matt once again who gifted me his extra copy of Bug!. While Sega pulled the plug early in America on the Saturn, it comparatively fared much better than Nintendo with the Virtual Boy. It launched in America in August of 1995, and sold so poor right out of the gate that Nintendo could not have abandoned the platform any faster. Its last game, 3D Tetris, hit North America in March of 1996, only seven months after it launched and with a total of a meager 14 games officially releasing stateside. I remember seeing the hype leading up to the Virtual Boy’s launch in the magazines, and like with the initial wave of polygonal graphics, I was not sold on the concept of virtual reality. However, a couple months after that same flood hit in 1997 our local Wal-Mart had unsold Virtual Boy inventory it was desperate to get rid of by selling the system itself for $20, and games for $5 each. This was one of the first times as a kid I recall my dad abstaining from his garage sales-only videogame rule and realized the steal the system was going for. We walked out of that Wal-Mart with the system and the copy of Mario’s Tennis it came bundled with, along with copies of Golf, Mario Clash and Nester’s Funky Bowling.

I was in the midst of spending summers on a farm at this point in my childhood for several years, and that was the summer of Virtual Boy with my siblings. I played the crap out of all four of those games. I abided by the recommended break alerts that popped up every 15-30 minutes seriously because I recall the gaming mags at the time reporting on the Virtual Boy causing eye strain after consistent use. Even with all that heavy duty play of the Virtual Boy that summer, somehow I am the only one in my family that does not have glasses. All four games we had were solid, but not mind blowing. Mario Clash I thought was a nice, fully-featured take on the classic original Mario Bros. arcade game that fleshed out that style of gameplay with about 100 stages and got so difficult early on I did not come close to finishing it. Golf was a good simulation of the sport, but it only had one course so I did not revisit it that often. I remember enjoying Mario’s Tennis a lot, but this being the debut version of that game it was more of a tennis sim with Mario characters, and had less of the wacky mini-games and power-up attacks associated with the franchise today. My siblings and I played a ton of competitive Nester’s Funky Bowling. There was not anything that funky about it other than the occasional cheerful animation from Nester and his twin sister Hester whenever you scored a strike or spare, but it was a functional enough bowling game that we had plenty of fierce rounds of over that summer. After that summer we and I got our fill of those four games and the Virtual Boy found itself in the closet for many years. Eventually I randomly dug it out and found the tripod busted, and the pack that hooked up to the back of the controller that contained the plug-in for the AC adaptor was missing. With no means of powering on the Virtual Boy, it sat in a bag forgotten in my closet for well over a decade. I will thank one Jeremy Parish for renewing my interest in Virtual Boy with his excellent line of Virtual Boy Works videos. For those that are unfamiliar with him, Parish is one of most credible members of the retro gaming press, with him hosting the renowned retro-game podcast, Retronauts since 2006 and going on to write countless books and producing chronological video series on nearly every 20th century Nintendo platform. He averages one video a week, which usually highlights one or two games and does a deep dive into its development history and then proceeds to review the game. A few years in he has already covered almost all the games released from the first years of the SNES and the first two years of NES and GameBoy.

Throughout 2019 Parish took a detour from those three systems to focus on going through the entire VirtualBoy library, including its several Japanese exclusives. His surprise love for the platform shined through his thorough coverage for each game. It is a well-produced series and fantastic history lesson for this blink-and-miss-it platform that I highly recommend checking out by click or pressing here, especially now to learn about the first major attempt at a virtual reality platform with VR now having a modicum of success with the PlayStation VR and the Oculus Rift having made legit waves these past few years. Virtual Boy Works inspired me to track down a few more Virtual Boy games to my collection which were surprisingly going for not that much on eBay. I wound up getting Galactic Pinball, TeleroBoxer, Virtual League Baseball, Vertical Force and Wario Land. I also tracked down a replacement AC Adaptor hub and tripod stand which resulted in my Virtual Boy powering on once again! I tested out all these games briefly. I love me some videogame pinball, and Galactic Pinball has some nifty 3D tricks up its sleeve. TeleroBoxer is like Punch-Out meets Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots or Real Steel for the younger readers who need a more contemporary reference. Vertical Force is a competent shmup, and I wish I put more than a few minutes into Wario Land because it is a legit top notch platformer and went down as one of the few highly rated games on the system. I swear to one day make it through Wario Land! Thank you for joining me on this two part 25th anniversary special for the Saturn and Virtual Boy! Got a favorite Virtual Boy or Saturn memory of your own? I would like to hear how it compares to my tale so shoot me a line on Twitter over @Gruel. If you enjoyed this journal-style flashback special, than I encourage you to check out the links below to the specials I wrote for the Dreamcast, GameBoy, Genesis, TurboGrafX-16 and yes, even the 32-X. Thank you all once again for indulging me!

My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary TurboGrafX-16 30th Anniversary and 32-X 25th Anniversary

[the-colony-roleplay]

OCS, SKELETONS & AN ALL NEW NWRF EXTRAVAGANZA

Okay guys! We come to you with another really exciting announcement! 

As you probably know, Lottie and I are always working hard behind the scenes coming up with ideas for future plots, and potential changes/expansions that will help ensure the longevity of the Colony’s life. And we have lots in store for you guys, things that we hope to release or expand over the next year, but our current project and focus, especially since we’re not able to get into the next Games Live Play until Game season is back upon us in the verse, is to do with helping to foster an actively played, NWRF presence at the Colony. 

After some discussion about the current environment of the game, and the kinds of things that might help to make it continue to prosper as well as it has been these past couple years, we’d like to help strengthen the active conflict dynamic within the RP. As of now, the verse has plenty to work with, which has helped us immensely in the last three years, since the drop of the NWRF plot. However, we’ve been thinking that since we’re all one big happy family just trying to play a cool game, what kinds of tools can we introduce to help make the game even better and more accessible for everyone? So....

Introducing ‘Plot Device’ Skeleton bios! 

Starting now, we’re going to start working on and rolling out skeleton bios specifically designed for characters that will help move the plot forward, and open doors for new and exciting tension and content! For the time being, since this is essentially an NWRF themed promotional festival (lol, the irony is obscene), all of these skeletons will be NWRF, with potential for other roles and bio types in the future. 

These skeletons, however, will come with their own parameters for activity and play, which will hopefully help make filling these roles more feasible, and make the gameplay more exciting and fun for the whole group! The parameters will be as follows: 

Skeletons (or ‘skeles’ as I’ve taken to calling them) will be designed in such a way that they can be temporary, if need be.  That is to say, if we’re in need of someone on a temporary basis to help make a certain plot more interesting or dynamic, these characters can be played on a temporary basis. Of course, hanging onto them is always encouraged too! If you fall in love, who are we to take them away from you! :) 

Picking up a skeleton will not count towards your character count. 

Muns will not be specifically required to write paras on skeletons, UNLESS it’s for a big/action heavy plot, etc.  Essentially, we will always encourage paras, especially since half of y��alls chats are basically long enough to be paras—but with these skeles, you will not be expected to para in the same way you are with regular bios. The exception to this will be applied when you’re participating in a plot where the content sort of demands para format anyway. 

Skeleton bios will have an extended activity limit of TEN days.  We know that NWRF type characters can be a heavier load sometimes, in terms of muse, and the weightiness of threads. But these skeletons are designed more to be sort of part-time characters, whose appearances on the dash will really help shake things up, but don’t necessarily have to be as present. That being said, goodness gracious, if you can be as active on them as your other characters please do so. We are not suggesting you can’t dedicate as much time to these guys. Just that they are designed to be more flexible, so more people feel they have the time to pick them up, which will help add cool versatility to the active player plotting opportunities. 

Similarly, Skeles will not be expected to have as many on going interactions at one given time.  So, yes, we still want people to RP with a variety of characters and members, and try to experience plotting and threading with everyone eventually. But you will not be under the same expectations to have that many threads going at one given time, or to reply to as many starters, etc. We still hope for diversity, but as ‘plot-device’ characters, our goal for them is to add range to the dash that will be beneficial to the plot and for people’s muse, while not bogging down our muns or be quite as large of a commitment.  (We may set a minimum number of 3, but these rules will be solidified in the future). 

Skeles will only have suggested FCs (some requirements accordingly, like POC, etc) age ranges, +/- traits, and general summaries.  Like most skeletons, these will be character guides that we would like the muns to get creative with and flesh out in their own way. We will provide character labels, (rather than full names), job titles, a small summary of the character, and some general aesthetic/moods. From there, you will be free to do the rest. This also means that the application will be different for these bios, and that will be released at a later date. 

Skeletons that are dropped will be handled on a case by case basis much like any other bio. They’ll either be closed and written out of the story, reopened to be played again in the future, or potentially reopened as a full bio, if the mun decides to release it as such. 

Skeleton bios will only be available to current members.  This is strictly because if you are going to be a member of this RP, you should start with a fully committed character, with regular activity requirements and participation. We want new members to get the most out of their time here and to really be a part of this community, and these particular skeletons are fashioned in such a way that the requirements wouldn’t be beneficial to you as a new member. However, if you are a new member and you’re interested in NWRF roles, keep in mind there will always be the full NWRF bios, as found on on our open masterlist, as well as the possibility of writing OCs! And finally, if you’ve absolutely fallen in love with a skeleton, and want to apply for it as a full character with normal activity requirements, that’s certainly something that could be discussed, and we encourage you to come to us about that if you’d like! 

NWRF OOC Blog

One of the challenging things about playing NWRF characters is their connection to the main plot, which is largely executed and controlled by the admins, so communication is essential, and across so many players in so many different timezones, it can sometimes be confusing. So, starting this week, we’re going to be introducing a secondary OOC, that will be specifically reserved for plotting and sharing information between NWRF reps, guards, lab techs, etc etc etc, with regards to the goings on in the Colony. It will be where you can easily plot and drop notes and ideas, so you all have one place to communicate together where timezones won’t be an issue, and things won’t get too cluttered like they might in a group chat. 

The separation of this is only to be able to retain a bit of fun and mystery when it comes to Lottie and I not wanting to spoil event ideas and plot drops for everyone, but needing to loop in some of the NWRF for their own character dev or what have you, etc. This OOC, however, will never be for socializing, because we have no intention of splitting up the family in anyway.  It’ll exclusively be for plotting and the sharing of NWRF related info, etc. We’re hoping this method will help facilitate an easier and more cohesive system to playing an NWRF character. 

 Opening NWRF OCs

We’ve been on OC ban for some time now, and we had planned to do another stint of opening them up for a limited time. We have decided, however, to simply fully open NWRF OCs. (Not to worry, there will be more opportunities to apply for non-NWRF OCs in the future, but if anyone is interested in that, come chat with us about it off anon!) For now, however, since our current goal is to focus on getting more NWRF up and running in the game play, and we didn’t necessarily want to go on an NWRF exclusive ban, we figured this was a great alternative! 

The NWRF Incentive! (Better than it sounds!!) 

So, in the interest of boosting our NWRF presence here at Col22, we’re sort of rolling out a Bay-Day-Sale type promotion (haha). So, for a limited time only, anyone who applies for a FULL NWRF OPEN BIO (as in not a skeleton) will get to enjoy an extended activity limit of 9 DAYS for the first 3 MONTHS after their application. This is purely promotional, and will not be offered forever, but for the time being, it’s a little extra incentive for you guys to get your bums in gear! We also figured since the Skeleton bios will have a more lax activity limit, we may as well boost our full NWRF bios as well! The more the merrier, right!?

In Closing...

Obviously, the roll out of the skeletons themselves will take some time, and will be gradual. Lottie is about to go on a hiatus for about a week, and obviously I’m working stupid film hours, but hopefully we’ll get some posted for you next weekend! We just really wanted to give everyone the news now, so people can start thinking about it. 

If you have any ideas of things you’d like to see as skeletons, definitely let us know, and feel free to pitch us your ideas! And as always, if you have any questions at all or things you want clarified about this, don’t be afraid to hit us up here on the main blog! Please refer to the Ask Box so we can reply publicly and benefit everyone! 

Okay, that’s all for now folks! So much love to you all from the both of us,  and so very proud!!!

xoxo

Col!Mods

[littlestartemis]

I have nothing better to do so I’ve decided to ramble my opinions on all of the pokemon rivals in sequential order. Under the cut cause I intend to go into detail on these.

Blue

This kid is a mixed bag for me. Part of his problem is that he just suffers from being a generation 1 character, which means only having one character trait apparently. Yes, he’s a jerk, the first ever jerk rival, and people love that, but being a jerk without nuance just makes you... loathsome. Even some of the weaker rivals, I still had these surprised moments of joy when my gameplay was halted to duke it out with them. With Blue? He’s the only one I ever uttered a groan at. “Oh good, this fucker has to waste me time and make me backtrack to a pokemon center to patch myself up before moving on.” The most insufferable thing about him is that no matter what, no matter how many times you put him in the dirt, he’s always convinced he’s so much better than you...

Until later games. It’s never stated what happened. If he had some self reflection, if Oak sat him down and told him to grow the fuck up, or what. But the next time we see him in the generation 2 games and onward, he’s still got this aura of smug confidence about him, but he seems more matured despite it. Like yeah, he’s hot shit, but you can be too if you work hard enough, maybe even almost as good as him. And while I love all of that for his character, that all comes after the fact. So as it stands, the Rival Blue, is lackluster, annoying, a headache, and undeserving of such a good fucking champion theme. Also the bitch has no unique rival battle theme unlike literally anyone else.

I’m also going to go into their music, though not nearly as much as their character.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5s4VYC9xR4

There are so many official variations and remixes and retoolings of the Kanto Champion theme that picking the “Best One” would be a practice in futility I think, so I just picked one of the better ones. What I have to say applies to pretty much all of them. And goodness, while I think Blue is a lukewarm rival it’s no wonder why this track has stood the test of time. Normally champion themes are in one of two categories, at least for me. The buildup themes, or the 0-100 themes. Some of them take some time to get there, to make you sweat a little as you realize who you’re dealing with, and some of them just kick down the door and GO. Blue’s theme though is interesting in that it kind of does both. It’s powerful, it’s oppressive in its composition and instrumentation, but there is just the tiniest buildup right after the bombastic kick off. I love it, it’s a strong theme with no real weaknesses.

5/10 rival, 8/10 character and theme

Silver

I think there was a time where if you asked around communities who long time player’s favorite rival was, a good majority would probably say Silver, and for good reason. He was another jerk rival, but with that fun little word I used before; nuance. He was mean, but rather than very deliberately being rude to you, it seemed more like he had other plans that you just happened to keep standing in the way of. He had a goal and he was going to accomplish it. And what was that? Curb stomping anybody brave or stupid enough to traipse around in a black and red uniform. This kid had a clear cut vendetta against team rocket, but instead of making him your ally with a goal like that, it set you as his obstacle every victory for you was one less for him, one less distraught rocket face he would get to see. And we even find out later why, and it’s fascinating. Giovanni’s kid? That’s utterly unique, and it really puts his hatred of team rocket and the idea of finding strength in others into a perspective you can really understand. Not to mention, there’s a bit of storytelling through gameplay with Silver that I’m sure most veteran pokemon fans know. So, he gets a Zubat on his team. Cool, right, edgy bat fits with the edgy tween. But at the very end of the game, when he’s been beaten time and time again and forced to confront why he isn’t strong enough, he realizes it’s because he’s been thinking only of his own strength, and not how much stronger his pokemon could be if they had his genuine care and support. And lo and behold, in his postgame battles, he’s got a proud, fully evolved Crobat on his team, which can only evolve with strong friendship. That’s good shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZAV8mJY_Qs

For some reason it was kinda tough finding a decent rip of his theme. Ah well, this is easily one of the coolest rival themes. Much like Blue’s champ theme, it has this sort of oppressive energy about it, as if Silver isn’t even looking down on you, he’s just waiting to crush you and be on his way. He’s a fucking bad dude, and he’ll snuff you out however he can if it means he can get his shit done. 

9/10 rival and theme

Brendan and May

This pair of nerds. They’re... interesting. I do feel like they get a worse rap from folks since they were the first friendly rivals and the ones to start the trend, and truthfully I have nothing against the idea of having friendlier rivals. If every rival was an asshole it would get really stale really fast. These two though... Well, there’s just not much to them. In the rival role, they’re Professor Birch’s kid, which is basically their entire motivation for going on a pokemon journey to start with. A glorified favor/errand to fill out the dex cause they just happen to have easy access to one. Us being around is purely incidental, and I’m pretty sure the only reason they initially have an interest in us is because we’re Norman’s kid, a gym leader’s kid (dark shoutout to Brendan for throwing some nice 2002 sexism in his introduction with “Oh, you’re a girl? When I’d heard our neighbor was a gym leader’s kid, I was kind of hoping you’d be a boy.”) They get some extra significance in ORAS, which is much needed, having them around for a few Team Aqua/Magma encounters and even one last hurrah battle after you become champ to make up for throwing in the towel like a bitch after Lillycove. I don’t have much nice to say about them, but that’s mostly because I don’t have much to say about them, and what’s there is just... there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rP0OXxc-zk

I’m not sorry. So, with our first friendly rival is our first more chipper rival theme. And truthfully, I like it! It’s very high energy, and has this twinge of suspense partway through to remind you that they have a wailmer you son of a bitch and you will respect the shit out of it under the cycling road. It’s bouncy, it’s fun, and it still has just the edge it really needs to be a proper battle theme I think.

4/10 rivals, 6/10 theme

Wally

And possibly the reason Brendand and May are so Just There. Wally. Now, I’ll say up front, I have a massive Gardevoir/Gallade bias, they’re my absolute favorite pokemon of all time, so having a rival character themed entirely around the pokemon family? Yeah that gets some free points from me. But earnestly, even without that, for as little as he appears he really is the true rival of the game. It’s a short story, but one you can rally behind. This sickly kid who isn’t even capable of catching his first pokemon without supervision and has to move to a small town with clean air just to like, function properly. But with dreams of becoming a pokemon trainer. He has the knowhow, he downloads apps he can use and study, he’s done the research beforehand for what all he needs to know, and after we set him straight in Mauville, he goes on his own journey separate from our’s. And when we see him again... what a god damn transformation (how do you become a badass by just unbuttoning your shirt). He really did it, he worked his ass off, and he made it to the pokemon league, he got a fucking mega stone - two mega stones actually since he gives you one - and he isn’t that same weak kid from the start of the game. He’s your equal, and you will respect him, if not for his power, then by the effort he had to put in to get to where he is now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_CiTJJg5_s

Why is this song so short. Powerful, resolute, triumphant, and 40 seconds long what the fuck. Length aside, this is the song Wally absolutely deserves, without question. I can’t express it anymore than in those few words. It’s the theme of perseverance, and the strength you can attain by never giving up.

8/10 rival, 9/10 theme

Barry

What a perfect bundle of energy. Barry is another friendly rival, but not just because he’s nice or something. No, he’s your friend, your childhood friend, and he treats you like it. He’s nice and is clearly happy to go on this adventure with you, but he also slams into you without saying sorry or feeling like he really needs to, and threatens to fine you billions of dollars if you’re late for your super important meeting on the outskirts of town. He is fucking chaotic dumbass personified, with such brilliant strategies as “run through the grass so fast the wild pokemon can’t catch us”, “let’s say thanks to the professor for giving us these novice pokemon by catching a legendary pokemon”, and “here’s the perfect foolproof winning strategy: never miss and never get hit, you’ll win every battle gauranteed”. And god dammit if he isn’t endearing for it. He’s your best friend, and has your best interests at heart, going so far as to take the fall with Rowan when he thinks his dumbass plan might lose you both the chance to get your first pokemon. But, he also wants you to be damn sure that the next time you see him he will be stronger, and he will beat you, and he will be the champion first, and is that one of those walls you put your face in to take a funny picture holy shit check it out I’m a croagunk haha. If you don’t like Barry, you’re taking the games too seriously, and I suggest you get in touch with your inner child because they’re probably starved for fun characters in your media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv8g5u55QFA

Did I say high energy because I meant high energy. A battle theme for the sugar high in all of us, he’s just so fucking excited to battle you again. Much like Brendan and May, there’s the tiniest hint of suspense later in the song, but it’s much shorter and less pronounced here. Because it’s not so much a battle with much at stake so much as two best friends having a good old fashioned round against one another for shits and giggles.

9/10 rival, 7/10 theme

Cheren and Bianca

If you had asked me a month ago what I thought of these two I don’t think I’d have had much good to say. Or... much to say at all, for that matter. For reasons that are very unclear to me now, generation 5 didn’t stick with me like others, and that’s actually kind of upsetting since I just recently finished playing through White version again. And boy, do these two have character in spades. 

I’ll start with Cheren. Cheren is great, because he’s actually almost a jerk rival, and I get the feeling if you weren’t supposed to be prior long time friends he actually would be. He’s very cool and calculating, and not too shy about getting pissy with each loss. He’s happy to lend you a hand, giving you tips, items he’s found that might be helpful, and fighting beside you against Team Plasma at a few turns. Something that stuck out to me was how nearly every rival battle was punctuated by “We both have the same number of badges now, so we should be on equal footing. Let’s put that to the test.” And each time, he’s not just being mad that he lost and then storming off, he’s very outwardly trying to deconstruct why he’s losing. You could almost picture him with charts and tables out, nose buried in his X-Transceiver screen between destinations, absolutely sure he missed some key strategy you used or that he simply overlooked. He’s very much the “power for the sake of power” rival at the start of the game, until the champion and the events with Team Plasma force him to confront his own flawed, short sighted goals. He can’t just Be Strong, he needs a reason for that, and that reason is ultimately protecting not just people important to him, but everyone. And that is just. So god damn cool. It extends to his eventual teaching role. Not only will he get stronger on his own, but he’ll teach others to be stronger, and in turn they’ll protect others too, and so on. And I think that’s perfect character motivation through and through.

Now Bianca. Oh man, do I love Bianca. She’s somehow the living version of if you perfectly spliced an introvert and an extrovert. She’s charming, outgoing, friendly, encouraging, and... also very shy, humble, not one to speak up most of the time. At least at first. And it’s such a tiny, blink and you miss it character trait, but every time she looses she needs like a full five seconds to hide her face under her hat before speaking again. Losing to you time and again does get to her, but she’ll be damned if she lets that deter you and your progress. It’s not your fault she lost, it’s her’s for not being stronger, and she ultimately realizes it’s because while she’s enjoyed raising pokemon and going on this journey, battling just isn’t where her heart is. But she still went on the journey, and fought to go on it, arguing against her father’s wishes for her to return home, and fighting by your side however she can through the debacle spreading over the region. She learns to stand up for herself and what she wants when she actually wants it, and even though in the end she might have been good enough to challenge the league if she kept at it, she realized it wasn’t for her, and that’s still ok. 

I don’t have much to add on regarding Cheren and Bianca’s roles in B2W2, beyond that it’s such a delight seeing them both realize their true purpose and being really happy with where they’ve wound up. Also I love their new looks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yr5Taoyalo

Their theme invokes the same sort of feeling as Barry’s in the sense that this is less about beating the other person and more about two friends having a good time with some friendly competition. Any sense of suspense is almost nonexistent, and the fun factor has been cranked up. It’s bubbly, it’s cheery, and it never really lets up, and while I do think that makes it kind of weak as a theme representing both of them, it makes for a fun song.

9/10 rivals, 6/10 theme

N

So like, I know BW/B2W2 are older games, but, spoilers for plot stuff.

I’ve heard a lot of arguments regarding whether N even counts as a rival instead of an antagonist outright, but I personally think he’s meant to be the rivalry edge to make up for Cheren and Bianca being so buddy buddy, like they were trying to address the friendly rival complaints after the last two games. And N is certainly a fascinating beast (hah), being very intentionally directly designed to be the dark antithesis to the standard pokemon protagonist character. The protagonist doesn’t speak at all, he speaks too quickly. The protagonist’s goal is very vague and broad, simply being “the best”, while N’s is powerfully stubborn and full of conviction. And of course it’s right there in the design, he’s even got the hat. N is also a very tragic character, intentionally raised and taught from childhood all for the purpose of being Ghetsis’ perfect tool towards world domination. He can literally speak with pokemon, he doesn’t get people, and interestingly up until the final battle in the game, he exclusively catches and uses local pokemon when you meet him, presumably releasing them once his friends have helped him test your own resolve. Team Plasma eventually splits into two factions in B2W2, those who truly believed in their ideals, that what they were trying to do was create a better world for people and pokemon alike, and those who were just using it as an excuse to be cruel dickbags and steal pokemon. If Ghetsis is the later, N is the former. This isn’t an evil plot for him, he isn’t some wicked mastermind working behind the shadows, he’s very clear cut and up front with you about what he’s doing, why he’s doing it, he even basically says “hey I could be wrong, I’m like 90% sure you’re also a hero so prove it and show me who’s intentions are more pure.” I love this guy, and I’m genuinely happy he ends up just living a happy life with his pet dragon wolf friend by the end of B2W2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ajBL15Knk

N’s theme is a weird one for me. I genuinely don’t enjoy the composition, but I can’t deny that it’s pretty perfect for him. This intentionally twisted idealist seeking all of the best things in all the wrong ways. It’s dark, fast paced, foreboding, and the ticking clock in this final version really sells that he won’t back down on creating what he truly believes to be a perfect world if you don’t get him to listen to reason. In short, wonderfully thematic, just not for me.

9/10 rival 5/10 theme

Hugh

I’ll be up front, I’m very overdo for a replaying of B2W2, so my recollection of Hugh is a bit foggy. That said, I do recall liking him. He’s high energy, but he also has a better handle on knowing how to direct said energy. Much like Silver before him, he’s very goal oriented and with a vendetta to work through, but rather than seeing your presence as an obstacle, you’re a trusted friend and ally, anything to make stomping out Plasma that much easier, and what better way to fight crime than with a friend at your side. I recall he had a habit of lashing out at strangers for being inattentive of their pokemon since his little sister’s purrloin got stolen (irony) by Plasma, but it comes from a place of good, so you can kinda get it. He’s well meaning, head strong, and a bit of a hot head, and while I need to reacquaint myself with him, I remember liking him alright if nothing else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZDEr6_xzsM

Shockingly, his theme is a bit more subdued in terms of your average battle theme. It’s got a bit of an edge to it, and I love the shit out of those drums, but it still has that friendly ring to it. Oddly, it gives me more of a megaman vibe than anything pokemon. And trust me, that’s not a bad thing. Just a very strange song altogether though.

6/10 rival and theme, subject to change

Serena and Calem

I don’t recall how much of this is true for Serena, but I do seem to recall the two actually having somewhat different personalities. And Calem borrows a bit from what I liked about Cheren. He’s still being buddy buddy with you, but as each loss piles on, he starts to get more and more outwardly frustrated with himself over them. What’s he doing wrong? You’re supposed to be at the same level as one another, why can’t he pull out just one win? And he’s slightly less apologetic about it, so he is a bit of what I described with “what if Cheren was still your rival but not your childhood friend”. I want to say that Sarena is much the same, but it’s simply been far too long, and for what good points they’ve got even after two full playthroughs, they just... don’t bring much to the table, much like similar rivals before them Brendan and May. And man, speaking of not bringing much to the table...

The Friend Gang

Mmmm... let’s start with what I like about them. Because earnestly, there is an aspect about Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna (respectively) that I like. For all of our rivals up until now, you’ve had roughly the same goal. To conquer all 8 gyms, defeat the elite four and champion, become the champion yourself, and maybe save the world if you happen to be in the area at the time. And you know, world of pokemon, that makes sense it’s all well and good. But like, some people run businesses. Some people drive taxis, some are singers, some are artists, some are scientists, not everybody wants to be a world class ace trainer. And, neither do these three. Tierno is interested in dance, and seems to want to go out there just to see new moves and techniques to incorporate them into dance moves. Trevor is actually interested in and invested in filling out every shred of information in the pokedex, which is refreshing since you know, we usually get as far as like maybe 50 pokemon tops before just calling it quits. And Shauna, I’ll admit I don’t recall much of her, but I seem to remember her going out on her journey much for the same reason Bianca did. Do figure out what she actually wants to do in the first place. Unlike Bianca though, she never really finds it I don’t think. So, they’re trainers, but with their own unique goals in mind. That’s cool! ... and it’s also all there is to them. They’re extremely one note most of the time, and regrettably very forgettable. Calling them rivals at all honestly feels kinda generous. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73UoF45hBVQ

Imma be real with you chiefs, I’ve been listening to like every other Gen 6 song except this one while writing this. This could have easily just been the generic trainer battle theme in any other region, which... after my analysis, I’ll admit, kinda makes sense. These aren’t ace trainers or anything, they’re just... some friendly peeps doing their own shit who happen to know how to battle too. But, thematics doesn’t save a song on it’s own.

3/10 rivals and song

Hau

Hau is just... god damned precious. He’s loose, he’s chill, he’s excitable, but not always excited, and happy to go with the flow on things. He’s not your childhood friend, but he acts like that just means he’s got lost time to make up for once he gets to know you, more than happy to offer you up snacks and whatnot. He’s a fast and loyal friend, and surprisingly one with his own goal in mind that actually kind of weighs on him in the background. He’s the grandson of the island Kahuna, Hala, which means he’s eventually supposed to take that role from the old man. And that’s a huge responsibility for a kid who just wants to enjoy the sun and malasadas. But, it’s one he wants to live up to earnestly, and he’s willing to work towards. He just has a little trouble working past that initial fear of “how can I possibly be as good a kahuna as my grandpa”. Plus, once he makes a friend, he’ll fight for em, eagerly and happily going along with you to the Aether Resort when he finds out Lillie’s in trouble. Rain or shine, Hau’s got your back, and is easily one of the best friendly rivals to date if you asked me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BYcMPXxJrg

This one reminds me a lot of Cheren and Bianca’s theme but this time it’s a lot more fitting. It’s a fun and silly time, whoever loses doesn’t matter, so long as everyone’s having a good time! A bit of a boring song, but perfectly befitting the character, so it gets a bit of a pass.

8/10 rival, 6/10 theme

Gladion

I would say “who hurt you”, but we have the answer to that question, and it really helps propel Gladion and indeed the entire Aether family to the heights of “well written pokemon characters”. But, we’ll stick with just Gladion here. When we first meet him he’s just another skull flunky, but even then not really. For as pathetic as the skull grunts are (I love all of you but you’re so bad), even they make fun of him. He’s a nothing to nobody who has nobody, nobody but him and his weird dog. He is so much the rebellious tween but dammit if he doesn’t have a good reason with how horrible and abusive Lusamine became after her awry experiments with ultra space. He took their experimental pokemon for his own, ran away, and never looked back, just trying to live a happy life as best he can with Type: Null. He’s very hardened, and clearly not looking to go make any relationships, but eventually he does warm up to you at minimum as someone he can trust in battle, and by the end of the game someone he can see as an equal and maybe even friend. Really, calling him a rival is a bit off. He has no real beef with you or your journey, most of the time it seems like he’s just fighting you because he’s in a bad mood. But he’s a young man who’s been hurt badly, and wants to keep others from feeling that same kind of hurt, and obviously if he’s nice and strong then nobody can ever stop him from keeping himself and the people he cares about safe. The friendliest of jerk rivals who deserves the utmost care and protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDLj143lxVk

How to make a good battle theme: Step 1, slap bass. Step 2, there is no step 2. Jokes aside, I love this shit. It is utterly not in line with what you normally expect from a pokemon theme, and that kinda makes it work really well. It’s wild, it’s strong, and it denotes a kind of complexity to its energy. Not jaw dropping, but just a great slap.

8/10 rival and theme

[toasttz]

How to make games: Hero Shooters

So, class, today I posit this little question to you all: Do you want to be the next Blizzard? Fuck no, you don't want to be "Don't you guys have phones?" Blizzard; you wanna be Blizzard from 5-10 years ago when they were at the height of their popularity. But that's not what I'm shooting for here. Do you want a fount of endless revenue? Do you want to do the absolute baseline minimum in terms of engine and game design to actually create a game but aren't creatively and ethically bankrupt enough to make a gacha game? Do you want to build a game whose rules, designs, and themes were just stolen from the effort of others? Do you really like Rule 34? Then it sounds to me like you want to make a Hero Shooter game! Hero shooters are easy to make on account they fundamentally have only three gameplay modes: push a payload, kill the other team, and kill the other team while standing on top of a glowing circular thing. They're also equally easy to design as they require no thematic consistency whatsoever and what little writing you'll be expected to bother with will simply be character bios, which you can keep so vague as to be virtually meaningless. There's never a 'story' in a hero shooter game and what semblance of one does exist is pretense for the non-canon aforementioned three game modes you'll be forced to build around. Best of all, the individual mechanics of each hero are easy to design - just steal them from whatever games came before. Now create about three or four maps with some different sorts of themes, but don't make them in any way mechanically varied - the most complex obstacles on any given map should be walls and maybe elevators that move at a very low speed. We're making a hero shooter, not Mario Party, dammit. If anyone asks why you are essentially just reskinning the same maps you can explain that it's to ensure that the game remains a "test of the players's skills" even though that's a bold-faced lie for the same reasons people who play Super Smash Bros as "tests of skill" are full of shit. Meta-gaming retards make games algebra homework instead of fun, but that's precisely what you'll be banking on in this genre. Once you have that, we need to get into the most important thing about hero shooters: the Heroes. Heroes in these games take one of three major roles: 1) The retard scrub DPS heroes - who will be played by the vast majority of your one-trick glory-chasing mentally-stunted community under the pretenses of being 'the most fun' and will be where the better part of your "cool" themes and motifs will be dedicated toward. These work under the key principle of "Shoot everything until it stops moving" and requires zero brainpower whatsoever. 2) The under-estimated doggedly persistent Tank heroes, played by those with either the willingness to learn something other than "Shoot bad guy with gun" or those who find pressing and holding a single button for the duration of the 10 minute match time to be the highlight of their bleak office-job lives. Though, on the other hand, some of the really cool designs will ultimately end up in this family. 3) The unsung gods among men known as the Support heroes, AKA: the ones no one will actually play. These characters will never be given cool or interesting mechanics or designs, but you'll be at liberty to make as many sexy nurse outfits as you can come up with and no one will be able to tell you otherwise. Like an ungodly amalgamation of tanks and DPS, your gameplay experience will boil down to pointing at your target and holding down the button the entire match - except unlike DPS heroes, you'll be shooting at the blue team and not the red team. Now, some might argue that there are technically other families of heroes, like flankers, zone controllers, pseudo-supports who can debuff enemies, but remember that the key to any good hero shooter is keeping everything rock-stupid. Every hero should have only enough abilities to fill a role for the left and right mouse buttons and the Q and E keys. F or R can be for reloading where applicable, but if you demand anything more of your players, you're going to lose their interest because Hero Shooters are hugboxes for sociopaths who care for nothing more than getting that sweet, sweet 5-second long "Play of the Game" replay at the match's end. This is why the character who invariably rips off Team Fortress 2's Demo Man and can kill people he doesn't have direct line of sight with will always be the most popular, without exception. I mean, sure, you can have 30 or 40 heroes, each with incredibly detailed outfits, backstories, kits, and personalities but everyone will just play the Not-Demo Man so you might as well accept that your userbase is going to be the only thing more toxic than a puffer-fish or a modern-day feminist. But I repeat myself. I don't have the time nor particular inclination to tell you exactly what you need to make but I can give you some character types that are obligatory by law to be in any hero shooter game. This will at least give you a start before you realize that being creative is hard and just steal kits from better games than your own. Call of Duty Man - The main DPS hero and usually the face of your game. Typically a grizzled war veteran man and almost exclusively an American if your game is set in the real world - remember, creativity is hard! He'll have a medium-ranged assault rifle and precisely one movement skill and one healing skill in his kit making him a jack-of-all-trades. Will either be loved or hated by your community with no room for in-betweens. Sexy Healer Lady - The main support hero who is literally just TF2's Medic reskinned and with tits. You really don't need to do anything more with her, as the fanbase will handle the rest. And the less said of that, the better. Big Knightly Dude - The main tank hero who has a big shield that, regardless of origin, will be transparent so Call of Duty Man and Not-Demo Man can fire through it while guarded. Probably wields a melee-ranged weapon even if in a modern warfare setting. By law, they can never be shorter than 6'6" (or 7200 cm. Pretty sure I did my conversion right on that). Flamethrower Guy - Literally just TF2's Pyro. Mechanic - Literally just TF2's Engineer. Sniper - Literally just TF2's Sniper. Probably also a voluptuous woman in a tight suit because creativity is fuckin' hard, man. Not-Demo Man - The cancer in your fanbase you will never nerf. Doesn't matter that he can party-wipe the enemy team single-handedly without being anywhere near them because Hero Shooter maps are literally just a set of narrow corridors so his kit is extremely OP. No, better just nerf Sexy Healer Lady again, since your DPS fanbase is pissing and moaning about her again and, this time, not in the same way a cat in heat does. Next, just make characters around elemental themes. Once you have 30 or so, you can get around to actually doing really mechanically interesting and varied heroes, since there's really only like 10-15 good FPS character ideas to begin with. So don't be surprised if you have some overlap. But by then we should hopefully have completed the next major step after the game is made: alienating your fanbase! This step is easy and requires no particular skill or coordination on your part. First, make some events seasonal, such that you have at least a major event every other month. Any more than that and your fans might actually think you're trying to be anything but another generic Korean eSport event, so be sure to space them out and have at least half of them be terrible. Valentine's Day is a good excuse to dress your female heroes sexily, summer games are a fun and not-at-all tired motif, and of course you need some kind of Christmas event. Just make sure these events only run maybe 2 weeks out of the year, have lots of stuff that you can only get during those times and, as said, that most of them are terrible and not fun at all to play. And don't -EVER- make any of them PvE, as that requires coding AI characters and effort and shit - what do you think think this is? Warframe? No, terrible gimmicky PvP events will be a good start because there is no frustration quite as severe as being told you didn't grind hard enough for: Loot boxes! Shit yeah, your hero shooter's gonna have loot boxes in them! Remember, we want maximum money for minimum effort and there's nothing like a Skinner Box within the hugbox that is the sweet dopamine high of popping a loot box open only to get common drops every time! If MMORPGs have taught us anything it's that Sub-1% drops are TOTALLY good game design and aren't at all unethical and an artificial, cheap tactic to keep people hooked on your game. This is why, in addition to the e-peen bolster that is your arbitrary profile ranking also drip-feeding a loot box upon level up that you have "Weekly Resets" for additional loot boxes. This runs on essentially the same principle as a cell phone games making you wait for additional tries to make it more a habit than a game - but that's okay! You can just rationalize it away as "it was the player's CHOICE to buy 300 loot boxes for the low, low price of 799.99 USD!" and not at all a psychological compunction found in human psychology! You're not an unethical douchebag in the slightest! And speaking of douchebags, it's time for the third and most important step in alienating your fanbase: Balancing the Game! What do I mean by that? You might think it's something like "Oh, this one character has an attack that is way too powerful and so it should be retooled in such a way that it either isn't available as-often, or maybe make its hitbox narrower to make the game more skill-based" but you're dead wrong. That requires actual effort and we all know how we feel about that. So, instead, just start an eSports team. Why? So you can listen only to the DPS players from each team and only implement THOSE changes. That way, only tanks and supports get nerfed into irrelevance and since no one in eSports is ever going to play those roles anyway, who cares? Who needs healers when you respawn to 100% after 7 seconds of dying?! Who cares if the majority of your fans hate these changes and that you end up completely destroying the kits and frameworks of their favorite heroes with needless, superfluous, unwelcomed tweaks? God-damn it, the Not-Demo Man needs to be able to wipe out an enemy team with a 3-second Time to Kill! No questions! I have a very specific vision!! Once your fanbase has been alienated - congrats! You're no longer obliged to release new heroes and levels! The responsibility of server upkeep and releasing new content twice a year are lifted! Now, just reskin the entire game top-down and release a new, better hero shooter founded on the same grounds to re-capture your fleeing audience and fleece them all over again! Now repeat ad infinitum and gain unlimited money. Congrats, you're now another Chinese game manufacturer that shits out products with no care for their fans or reputation but you get to go whaling every single day and fill your bathtub with money. You're ready to work for actual Blizzard now! You're welcome.

[theheavymetalmama]

Katie Reviews “Far Cry 5″

Doctor Stupidlove

Another day, another Far Cry game. Whether or not that’s a good or bad thing depends on person to person with a laundry list of variables, including but not limited to personal taste and sensibilities, franchise fatigue, whether or not you bought into the glue-huffing guff that this game held a leftist bias pushing an anti-white, anti-American agenda because for the first time in the series the bad guys are an American fanatically religious death cult instead of brown people from imaginary foreign countries, and a myriad of other things I’m probably missing. I’ll say up front that after Primal and a bunch of other bullshit from Ubisoft between now and the infamous ‘women are too hard to animate’ thing I was pretty much done with the series and Ubisoft as a whole. Then the launch trailer for Far Cry 5 dropped and, having grown up in a dead gold mining community chock-full of racist loonies not unlike the one depicted in the fictional Hope County, my interest immediately peaked.

See, the Far Cry games have a strange pattern to them. No game is perfect, but the Far Cry games stand out in that they have one glaring flaw that mars an otherwise damn good game. Far Cry 3 is held aloft as when the series peaked, and for good reason, but the main character was irredeemably unlikable and the main charismatic villain just up and vanishes from the halfway point in the game. Far Cry 4, or Far Cry 3 2 as some call it, fixed the villain problem but the main character was just dull. Primal was...not good, with a boring lead, a boring villain, and an overall boring game. Sure, Blood Dragon was a ton of fun, but part of the charm was that it was completely self-aware of its’ own absurdity and the characters from the hero to the villain weren’t characters so much as they were walking punchlines.

So how does Far Cry 5 compare? Well, when it comes to story, setting, and gameplay, it’s a step up from Far Cry 4 in some ways, blows Primal out of the water, but has its’ own issues and hang-ups that don’t quite make it live up to Far Cry 3. That’s the short version, anyway. The long version?

Let’s start with graphics, location, and aesthetics. Far Cry 5 looks fucking beautiful. 

I’m not kidding, everything from the wild lands, the forests, the mountains, the lakes and rivers, the settlements, everything in Far Cry 5 is absolutely gorgeous. It’s not quite up there with Breath of the Wild or Horizon: Zero Dawn in sheer style and detail, but it’s pretty damn close. More often than not I found myself forgetting about the mission and spending a lot of time exploring, hunting, and trying to take in the sights. More on the ‘trying’ part in a bit. The atmosphere sucks you right in, everything from the chirping birds and buzzing bees making the world feel alive. Exploring the woods and hearing cultist singing and chanting far off in the distance, especially at night, is legitimately terrifying. Wildlife always plays a key role in the Far Cry games and this is no exception, from docile deer to the always pleasant wolverine providing plenty of opportunities for hunting. Just don’t get skunked.

The game takes place in Hope County, a fictional region in rural Montana. Now I’ve never actually been to Montana, but I did grow up in Washington state and I can’t help but notice many similarities. The woods, the rivers, the god damned apple farms, exploring Hope County felt like I was going home again. Sometimes not for the better, but that’s neither here nor there. In any case, Hope County is beautifully detailed, from the farms to forest to the interiors of the (ugh...) Spread Eagle bar to the small hunting cabins out in the woods. Hats off to the artists and environmental designers for Far Cry 5, because they manage to tell more story about the world and characters with just a ransacked pumpkin farm and a dog mourning his dead owners than Square Enix and Konami ever could with a 20 minute cutscene and a dictionary’s worth of dialogue for each character.

Speaking of characters, the Far Cry games are loaded with memorable characters and the locals of Hope County are no exception. Returning character Hurk is back and as redneck-y as ever, and it turns out Hope County is his home. We also meet members of his family, like his pyromaniac cousin Sharky, his promiscuous mother Adelaide and her boyfriend Xander who’s roughly 1/3rd her age, and his racist conspiracy theorist gun-hoarding father Hurk Sr. No wonder he’s so messed up.

But Hurk and his folks aren’t the only people you meet, as the game is packed to the brim with memorable characters that you either love or love to hate, from lovable country boy Nick Rye and half-feral huntress Jess Black to the cartoonishly evil Seed family. More on them in a minute. Oh, and you get a pet bear named Cheeseburger.

Combat and gunplay is as tight as ever, and vehicle control is so smooth it gives Grand Theft Auto a run for its’ money. The soundtrack is pretty damn good, featuring a good mix of licensed and original music and songs. To the surprise of nobody my favorite is the one that plays during the stunt missions.

Leveling and character progress has been streamlined a bit. You upgrade your skills not by gaining experience, but by completing in-game challenges and finding ‘perk magazines’ that, you guessed it, give you points to unlock...well, perks. Some may not like that, but in my opinion it makes sense because if you gained experience just by killing stuff you’d reach level 50 before your first boss fight. Things like bigger ammo bags and extra weapon holsters are no longer unlocked by animal skins but through perks, and said said skins are now exclusively a form of making money.

So that about covers it for the good, and now it’s time for the bad. The streamlining I just brought up both helps and hurts the game. On one hand it does make progressing a lot less tedious, but on the other hand it does take away a lot of what makes Far Cry stand out from other typical shooters. It feels less like they were trimming the fat and more like they were cutting corners. For starters, areas that contain loot only contain ammo, crafting components, and sometimes money. There’s no more animations for skinning animals, harvesting plants, looting corpses, or even your character opening doors. That’s not so bad, but I really miss how dynamic and, as much as I’ve grown to detest this word, cinematic meeting new characters in previous games were. Take a look at this scene in Far Cry 4 when you meet Longinus, easily one of the highlights of the game.

And here’s what happens when you meet Sharky in Far Cry 5. (MINOR SPOILERS)

See the difference? Now one can argue that meeting new characters in real time saves some...well, time and is considerably less pretentious, but it just isn’t as interesting. Far Cry 5 still has plenty of scripted cutscenes, but again, they’ve been stripped down to the bone.

Now remember what I said earlier about trying to take in the sights? This game is packed to the fucking gills with enemy NPCs. Now previous Far Cry games had plenty of enemies as well but this went way overboard to the point that you can’t walk or drive 50 feet before running into a convoy or roadblock or whatever. I speak no hyberbole when I say that by the time you’ve liberated your first region, you’ll have killed more cultists than there are people currently living in real-life Montana as well as hunted and skinned more wolves, cougars, and bears than there are wolves, cougars, and bears currently populating the US west coast. Also, in what universe can a fucking turkey pose a legitimate threat to humans!? Does Far Cry occupy the same universe as fucking South Park?

The story of Far Cry 5 is pretty straight forward, but it definitely feels like there’s some pretty big pieces missing from it. This isn’t just me, critics and players across the board agree that it feels like something was cut from the game at the last minute. This is especially true for the endings, but more on that in a bit. I can’t help but feel that the writers and developers had a lot more to say about racism, gender roles and the enforcement thereof, gun violence and gun culture in America, sexism, religious zealotry, far-right extremism, and of course this tire fire of a presidential administration, because the pieces for all of that are still there. A handful of NPCs mention gender roles for a hot second, several of the guns for hire make disparaging remarks about Trump, the symbol of Eden’s Gate strongly resembles the same symbol the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups use, Hurk’s dad is a caricature of far-right ideals purposefully exaggerated for ridicule and contempt, and there’s even a mission where you meet up with another returning character to find Trump’s pee-tape.

All of the elements are there, but the game says almost nothing about any of it. Why?

When the first trailer for the game dropped it was around the same time Wolfenstein II: the New Colossus was close to release and the same mouth-breathing shitheels who screamed about how killing Nazis in Wolfenstein was pushing an anti-white, anti-conservative agenda did the same thing for Far Cry 5. My guess is that the PR guys at Ubisoft saw the oxygen-thieving wastes of space screaming about how the game was “anti-white SJW propaganda” and then panicked and removed huge chunks of the game so as not to alienate any racist shitheads who may want to buy it. Not only does the game say almost nothing about any of the themes and elements that I mentioned earlier, but the cult of Eden’s Gate is multi-racial and gendered where most of the guys have long hair and hipster beards and all the women barring Faith Seed have short hair and buzz cuts. It’s really jarring and feels like something that was added at the last minute, as the male cultists all sound the same and the female cultists say hardly anything at all.

That brings us to the player character; they’re aren’t a character, they’re an avatar and silent protagonist. Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it feels strange. Especially when you play as a female, which I did. Now the character creation itself is fine, especially with the wide variety of outfits, but the rest is pretty bare bones. More to the point, it’s painfully obvious they designed the game with a male lead in mind and then added a gender-switch as an afterthought. Almost everyone in the game refers to you by male pronouns (which to be fair I call my ladyfriends ‘dude’ all the time) but there are a few scenes where you’re found shirtless in the game. Now call me old-fashioned, but I’d have a bit stronger of a reaction than “Oh, you startled me” if I woke up to some weirdo carving the word ‘wrath’ into my tits! I have a sneaking suspicion that they added a gender switch at the last minute because someone reminded them of the time they looked like lazy idiots for claiming your customizable assassin in Assassin’s Creed: Unity couldn’t be a woman because women were too hard to animated.

And now, let’s finally talk about the Seed Family.

We have the leader Joseph Seed, the trainer and disgraced soldier Jacob, the sadistic second in command John, and the seductress Faith. The Far Cry games are known for their charismatic villains and the seeds are no exception, and especially gripping because the second you meet any single one of them you immediately want them dead. The only problem is that, again, they’re so cartoonishly evil that the more you see them the more you want to shove them crotch-first into the mouth of a hungry grizzly bear. Vaas was always one step ahead of you and constantly in your face and Pagan Min was so suave and charming that you kind of wanted to see where he was going with it all.

Not the case with the seeds. When you see them they immediately piss you off, and the more you see them they just keep pissing you off because they keep hiding behind doors, cronies, hallucinations, or plot devices. And hey, that’s fine. As long as you get to shove the barrel of a shotgun right into their mouth and spatter their brains all over the walls of their church then who cares, right?

....

So, let’s talk about the endings of the game.

Once you’ve liberated all three regions of Hope County by killing John, Jacob, and Faith, you return to the main cult compound to arrest Joseph once again. However, once you get there and cuff him you step outside to find your allies under the brainwashing influence of the drug Bliss and a boss fight ensues. When you knock your allies out and revive them, they snap out of their Bliss-induced stupor and turn on Joseph, and once you’ve freed all of them Joseph drops like a hot rock. When Joseph is down and the day is won...this happens.

....no, really. 

Right the fuck out of nowhere a nuke lands somewhere in the outskirts of Hope County and you scramble to escape, and pretty soon you black out and wake up in a bunker chained to a bed with Joseph hovering over you saying that you’ll be his first new recruit in the cult. All the allies you previously made die as Hope County is wiped off the map and the game ends, not even giving you a continuation like previous games did and rendering every single thing you did up to this point totally and utterly meaningless.

Now some people have defended this, including the developers, saying that there are radio broadcasts in-game talking about how tensions are raising in Russia and North Korea. I spent hours driving around in the game listening to the radio and I heard no such thing, but if they’re indeed there then this only furthers my suspicion that this was a last-minute change because of the backlash from racist shitbirds and wasn’t the ending the writers and developers originally intended. 

For starters, the escalating tensions between Russia, the US, and North Korea aren’t mentioned anywhere else in the game except in the radio broadcasts (which again, I never heard) and despite the Seeds going on and on about “the collapse” we never get any idea of what the collapse is until the end of the game. It’s not even a convincing depiction of a nuke going off! Just some burning trees and a few animals dropping dead as you make your escape with Joseph in tow and neither of you having so much as a sunburn. If this ending was what they planned from the start then they would have went all out, showing in graphic detail the horrors of a nuclear holocaust. How much of a gut-punch would it have been to see Nick Rye hug his wife and newborn daughter just before the skin is blasted off their bones like that scene in Terminator 2 that made me avoid mesh fences for two fucking years? Or Jess run one of her own arrows through her heart to spare herself an agonizing death? Or hell, Hurk, one of the few returning characters in Far Cry, desperately begging the player for help as his face melts off his skull? That would have hit players and hit players hard and people, myself included, wouldn’t be bitching about how out of nowhere and shit the ending is! And that’s to say nothing of the idea of North Korea wasting one of the handful of nukes they have on rural fucking Montana! Jesus H. Tap-dancing Christ, Ubisoft, how fucking stupid do you think we are!?

...okay, fair enough. But still!

Now I know what you’re probably thinking. “Well, damn, that’s grim. Anyway, what’s the good ending like?” 

That IS the good ending.

No, I’m not even kidding. Despite the end scenario being Doctor Strangelove by way of Deliverance (and no, that’s not me being snarky, the game references the movie by playing “We’ll Meet Again” during the final cutscene) that’s the good ending because you, the player, are still alive. The bad ending is that after you arrest Seed and see your friends and allies under the influence of Bliss, you’re given the option to let him go and walk away. You then then your Bliss-induced allies walk with Joseph peacefully into the church and then leave with the same three people, in which they get into a car and leave while chatting about getting the army involved and taking Seed out once and for all. One of them then turns on the radio, the song “Only You” plays, and a red haze takes over the screen just before the credits roll heavily implying that you succumbed to the brainwashing drug (which you’re exposed to several times in the game) and either attacked or killed the people you spent the time in the game trying to save. Either way, each ending renders your actions completely and utterly meaningless.

Why did they do this? Well, partially because the Far Cry writers really love the “There is no objective good or evil, everything and everyone is equally terrible” cliche and they assume everyone else does too, but once again I have no doubt in my mind that the ‘good’ ending wasn’t the original ending and was in fact a last-minute change to appease angry racists in order to not alienate what Ubisoft thinks is their core demographic. What a bucket of cocks.

Final Thoughts

Now despite the endings being complete and utter hot garbage that renders all your actions meaningless, there’s still plenty of fun to be had in Far Cry 5. The combat is satisfying, base jumping and flying around never gets old, the characters are great, and despite chickening out on the themes introduced it’s still a plenty serviceable story. It won’t be winning any awards anytime soon, and if you’re looking for some post-2016 return of the Nazis catharsis then I’d go with Wolfenstein II: the New Colossus instead, but there’s still plenty fun to be had exploring the beautiful wilds of Northwest America while gunning down religious nutjobs, hunting dangerous game, and completing side-quests from uprooting doomsday prepper bunkers to making a bull testicle cook-off to raise morale possible.

B-

A solid B-

[gaming-rabbot]

Rabbot Reviews: Far Cry 5

Great taste, empty calories.

Far Cry 5 is the latest game in quite the lineage of a series known, as you might surmise, as Far Cry. Game number 6, actually, dependent on how canon you feel Primal was. FC as it stands now, though, is a bit of a… how to put it? A long call? A distant yell? An outlying wail? A remote shout? No, a far cry from the original two games, before Ubisoft bought the franchise.

(Yeah, that’s the phrase. Glad I thought of it, though I don’t know where I got it.)

((Incidentally, Remote Shout is the name of my new indie punk garage band. Album drops: never, because this is a joke.))

Starting after Far Cry 3, Ubisoft has been telling their dev teams to make lightning strike twice. Thus, each game hereafter has been an excited waiting game of seeing how they’ll try and ultimately fail to match the demented, yet incredibly charismatic villain that was Vaas.

And 5 feels like this illogical conclusion of just that. Because you have not one, not two, but four scenery-eating, rompy villains. Less a refined, precise attempt at the concept, and more of a blunderbuss approach; hoping to tickle a little of everyone’s villain fancy.

That, I feel, is the perfect metaphor for the game in general.

Last call to avoid spoilers.

Speaking of fitting descriptions of the entire game, let’s start with the intro. Because I have mixed feelings about it, at best. There’s a lot it does right, and some things it simply gets wrong, in regards to the rest of the narrative as a whole.

The pacing and atmosphere are phenomenal. The very air feels heavy around you as you enter into the church, here to take the titular Joseph Seed away from his flock. The pressure of the stakes are established flawlessly, leaving a feeling of palpitation, and a true understanding of just how dangerous Joseph is. Surprised as I was, the game even managed to shock me a little.

In that respect, it’s fantastic.

But then the game uses the cop crew you rolled in with as your motivation for the entire rest of the game, in the form of saving them from the Seed family, and oh god, it’s Fallout 4 all over again.

Just like the Bethesda example above, this aspect of the intro simply doesn’t work. And not just because it’s asking me to unconditionally care about cops.

This sequence of the narrative focuses on every other aspect of narrative setup except for the characters that you’re supposed to get invested in. You get but the most cursory taste of who they are as people. Such a small amount of time can mainly attach their personalities to a specific emotion.

Whitehorse is the calm voice of reason. Marshall Burke is frustrated. Pratt is nervous. And Hudson is… there too, I guess. Look, I’ll be honest, I had to look up half these people’s names for this review. Which I’m sure is only a good sign.

With so little to go on, I found I simply didn’t care whenever a cultist bigwig dangled one of them in front of me on a string, expecting me to bat like a good little kitten. Instead, I yawned and wandered off to play with the packaging the toy had come in.

Like a mischievous little kitten.

Which is such a shame, because there are so many other more interesting characters I actually did care about. And in the few scenes where the Seeds held them to ransom instead, the game suddenly had actual stakes.

Nick and Kim Rye were delightful every time they showed up. Virgil was so honestly sincere, I couldn’t help but like him; and his past, as it unfolded, was interesting to dive into. And Jerome was pretty much cool by default, and an excellent concept for a foil to the cultist bad guys, and everything they stood for.

But the story feels almost unconfident in its execution. Like the team is scared you’ll get bored. So the solution, write more story, or rather, several seemingly self-contained stories across the three separate regions.

With no overarching theme or plot threads besides “Joseph Seed probably gave the command for this at some point,” however, the connection feels loose at best. And this looseness makes the narrative feel all the weaker.

I’d much rather the story had been more focused and condensed. If they’d honed in on about one third as many characters, and if the villains felt a little less redundant, the overall narrative could’ve been much more refined and interesting.

Even the gameplay, while fun, has the same issue.

When traversing from place to place, you can’t drive for five minutes without a dozen random encounters passing you by, whether they travel by wheel or foot or paw. What should be a ten minute trek can sometimes take 30.

Again, it feels like the game is nervous. Like it’s worried that if I’m not firing a gun every two minutes, I’m losing interest. Look, I know this is the age of the internet, but my attention span hasn’t deteriorated that bad.

What were we talking about again?

But it’s sad though, as it detracts from what could be some very nice vistas and scenic routes. I can barely enjoy the quiet, introspective new addition of fishing without a randomly spawned cultist with an exaggerated country accent shouting “Fay-oond ‘eem!” and scaring away all the darn fish with a wild assault rifle volley.

Speaking of guns, let’s talk about politics. Something that could only ever be fun and only ever go over very well.

I don’t want to get too deep into this, as it’s been covered to death, and more eloquently than I’ll probably put it. For a better dive into the subject, I’d recommend watching Errant Signal’s “The Art of Saying Nothing.” To sum it up though, while at face value, FC5 might seem as though it’s about to lay down a scathing indictment of certain aspects of American culture, it really doesn’t.

Not for lack of bringing it up though.

The lady who owns Peaches the cougar, that is to say, the former owner of this sweet large kitten (no I’m not looking up the name this time; she’s not even a narrative footnote), is a prejudicial old woman who lives alone in the woods.

Immediately upon entering her domicile so I could acquire my new kitty and leave, she mentioned that my player character looked vaguely Italian, and made an off-color comment about not wanting her silver/jewels to go missing.

What is this, the turn of the century, last century?

At Hurk’s place, you can meet his dad, who wants to build a wall. What, no, not a wall down there. A wall in the north, to keep out those accursed Canadians and their liberal ideology.

Addressing controversy by obfuscating the real world equivalent is cute, but it lacks the punch that makes it such that it’s proving some kind of point. Here, it’s npc’s that you’re expected to stay on good terms with, so that you can get more quests and goodies, like a new pet or ride.

(Shame you never get a new pet who is also your new ride, though.)

And why? Because they’re supposedly better than the cultists who only physically hurt and impede people different than themselves? What’s the takeaway here supposed to be, that it’s only physical extremism that’s bad and--oh god wait no, it’s Bioshock Infinite all over again.

Of course, we all know the real reason why. To offend as few people as possible. Because every offended party is a potential lost sale. Hence why despite clearly using Christian/Baptist imagery and motifs, no cultist ever actually mentions Jesus by name, and the peggy symbol only vaguely and technically resembles that of a cross.

I’ve bad news for you, though, Ubisoft; it’s too late. If you wanted to offend as few people as possible, it was already over the instant you let writers set it in a rural, dominantly Christian, dominantly white community, in America. Right wing talking heads were lining up to be officially offended the instance promos started showing bad guys toting guns, bibles, and the American flag.

Because despite bragging about having thick skin, when it comes down to it, they typically don’t.

At some point, you almost want to lean in uncomfortably close to the game’s face and tell it “Go on. Say what you really mean.” And it never does. Making it satire with no teeth, which isn’t actually satire, but parody. It’s a flag-waving, gun-toting parody of American culture. It’s an American beer commercial meets Saint’s Row. It’s a romanticized outdoorsy rural locale with tacky looking guns and gruesome murder set to made-up gospel and old rock hits.

Which doesn’t feel that far off from a Saint’s Row game, but it wildly conflicts with the tone Far Cry 5 very quickly establishes for itself. And it’s such a waste, because to use an on-theme colloquialism, “bless its little heart.”

It’s trying so hard, and there are some things I can’t help but enjoy about it.

There was a moment early on, when I was creeping through the bushes of a small neighborhood as slowly and quietly as I could. I had not but a bow and a pistol to my name. Cultists were stacking dead bodies while their speaker-mounted truck played their very own choir, singing about water washing away sin. As they were finishing up, they began to sing along.

It was as First Blood meets Jim Jones as the entire game felt, and it all just clicked. The gameplay and tone all lined up so perfectly and felt so right. Where did that go?

Luckily, the game is also pretty charming in various other inadvertent or otherwise unintentional ways.

Obviously it’s cute and wholesome that you can pet all the non-hostile animals. But it’s completely adorable how Peaches growls at you when you go where she can’t follow.

There’s also random npc’s you can recruit for the game’s buddy system, aside from the nine named specialty partners. At first, I seriously wondered how any of them could compare to Peaches, the oversized mewling kitten, or Grace, the cool as a cucumber sniper lady.

But then I found some lady named Evie, who looked like somebody’s mom, and I honestly found it hard to part with her. There was something so ernest and amusing about the idea of somebody’s mom who used to embarrass them at every PTA meeting or bake sale, now in an awkwardly-fitting militia vest yelling “Get some!” to every other cultist who dared cross our path.

The gameplay is also varied enough with timed races, and puzzling treasure hunting segments. The latter in particular, I really enjoyed. They had me doing everything navigating mazes of fire to hopping and swinging along successive grapple lines under a bridge, skirting river water along the way. It’s good, varied fun.

I also really appreciate the organic way in which story beats are unlocked, which is really saying something for a sandbox. Normally, there are specific missions that unlock the next cutscene that actually matters, and everything else feels like so much filler and padding.

Far Cry 5 had the genius idea that everything should contribute to an overall progress bar. This makes it that nothing feels like padding, as you’ll always be working toward the next story beat, even if you’re doing what feel like side quests.

But it’s one step forth and one step back with you, isn’t it Far Cry 5?

Once you’ve unlocked the next story beat, you’ll be whisked away to the next cutscene to have one of the villains get in your face for the next five minutes, whether you were ready for that or not. It gets annoying after the second time, and downright numb the fifth or sixth.

It’s also where the writing starts to fall apart some more.

You know that old James Bond trope where the bad guy has him right where they want him? But then because the villain is so contrived in how they want to handle him, he ends up getting away? Well that happens almost every time. It’s cheesy.

Also where some of the worst writing in the game comes into play.

Jacob Seed has a neat gimmick, I’ll admit. He’s all about classic conditioning, A Clockwork Orange style. Alright, interesting enough. And instead of escaping, you wake up, presumably days later, having finally escaped his mind control. It was a neat twist at first.

What’s incredibly stupid though is everyone points it out. Dutch, Eli, all characters who know about Jacob’s MO, and none of them think anything suspicious about it. Nope, just “Hey, now that I can finally get in contact with you after an entire week of you not responding, come back and get uncomfortably close to me and people I care about.”

Nobody thinks anything’s up with that? Even after it happens three or four times?? And not even my own character thinks to warn them that I’m being psychologically manipulated to kill them???

Oh. Look at that. The game made me kill Eli. How very unsurprising. What is that, something like four hours of build up to a twist anyone could see coming if they’ve ever seen a story?

“Who cares, it’s fun, isn’t it?”

I mean, yes, sure. It’s very fun, in fact. Fewer things have been more satisfying than timing it just right to take down three baddies at once, with a sniper shot from Grace, a mauling from Peaches, and a throwing knife from myself.

And like I said before, the gameplay is just varied enough to not grow dull. But what should be a good game is held back by mediocre writing and a lack of commitment.

Weirder than any of it though is the troves of people lining up to say it doesn’t matter, because the game is fun. Listen, I can enjoy the gameplay for hours of mind-numbing fun, but still be able to pick apart everything wrong with the overall experience. There’s nothing really wrong with that. It doesn’t completely impede what enjoyment I, or anybody else, was able to get out of it.

I really don’t get this, though. This is no critique of the game itself, mind you, but it is at fault for bringing it up again, even if by accident. So it bears discussion.

Clean Prince was right when he said that Far Cry 5 brought up a lot of what’s wrong with modern gaming culture. Yet I can’t help but disagree with his reasoning behind this statement. Because he, like many, asked why any of it matters, so long as the game is fun.

Look.

Gamers clamored for years, demanding our hobby be taken seriously. Entire groups and brands like Extra Credits formed, to try and gain for games the same respect film and literature already had.

Nowadays, we have critics aplenty, like Super Bunny Hop, and the above-mentioned Errant Signal, who regularly dissect games with the same attention to detail movies, shows, and novels receive.

We did it. We’re here. We made it, right?

No.

People tear down bad writing in games, and suddenly it doesn’t matter. The game being fun is the only feature that matters, now that it’s convenient to dismiss anything that seemingly gets in the way of your enjoyment.

Even though it doesn’t.

If Far Cry 5 were a film, people would be trampling over each other to repeat the critics’ disregard of its milquetoast shotgun approach to writing, and lack of commitment to an actual point, despite advertising itself as any kind of satire.

It’s not like having an actual statement is foreign to Far Cry either. Far Cry 2 had a well implemented theme of deterioration in every aspect; your character’s health thanks to the malaria, the guns falling apart from being old, fire spreading wildly out of control.

It’s not even necessarily a Ubisoft problem either.

Far Cry 3 was all about the lengths you’d go to for the people you care about, and how growing and changing as a person ends up alienating you from them anyway. There was also an underlying theme about there being no real winners in a setting so deeply seeded with violence.

Ending sucks too. That’s not a good transition, but it’s as good of one as it deserves, to be frank.

It’s awful, but not because it’s unsatisfying and you don’t get to technically win. Not every game needs to end on a positive note, just because you work for it. Spec Ops: The Line had some of my favorite gut-punch endings in a game.

But the takeaway is just bad, for either ending.

Either you walk away from Joseph at the end, and Jacob’s conditioning kicks in again, and you kill everyone you just saved, or randomly and completely out of bumbling nowhere, several nuclear warheads go off around the tristate area. And everyone you just saved dies in irradiated fire anyway.

What’s the takeaway here? That we should just let dangerous people get away with violent uprisings, because hey, who knows, they may actually have been right all along?

The nuclear ending especially is just bad writing. It’s a twist out of left field meant to shock, and take you by surprise, but only because there’s nothing to indicate it’s going to happen. It’s trying, and failing, to ape the nuke scene from the first Modern Warfare game. But that scene was the dramatic release after an entire level’s worth of building tension regarding the bomb which was mentioned earlier. Of which said established tension, there’s simply none here.

Each region even caps off with you burning out the cult’s various bomb shelters. Only to find out, what? That you should’ve given up and let them kill and maim and steal all they like, so you could huddle down next to them in their bunkers? All because some uninformed zealot who doesn’t even sound like he’s actually looked at a bible lately made a lucky guess?

No thanks.

Instead of inspiring shock and awe, the ending feels random and nonsensical. Once again destroying any coherency the overall tone the game could’ve had. Is this supposed to be a fun, silly game to be enjoyed with a beer or a friend? 

Or a serious and somber game where you face the deepest human fear of all: how people manage to justify overt acts of pure evil as “the right thing?”

All in all, Far Cry 5 is like a cheap burger from a fast-food joint. The taste is fine and it’ll tide you over, but it’s probably not very good for you. And you can’t help but think about how much better it looks in the pictures on the menu.

[tgcnews]

Scott R Smith Inducted Into TGC Hall of Fame

Scott R Smith has been inducted into The Game Crafter Hall of Fame because his game, Dungeon Drop, won the Game Parts Only Challenge. Congratulations! Their designer interview is below.

Tell us about yourself and how long you've been designing games.

Like many other designers, technically I’ve been designing games since I was a kid. I designed a “mercenary shop” to hire pet monsters for Hero Quest and a Monopoly extension (yes, an extension) that included a hospital for accidents that occurred when two pieces landed on the same space. One summer, my cousins, brother and I completed a fully original space combat game in which each player controlled a fleet of fighters that leveled up with home-baked clay tokens. It was epic. At some point I “grew up” and started turning my energy into creative writing (which I still do), but over the last five years I rediscovered my love of game design. I began teaching a board game design class at my high school, formed a weekly game night with friends, and started churning out my own rough prototypes. This year, I decided to commit more seriously after admiring the work that was happening at The Game Crafter.

Please tell us about Dungeon Drop

Technically, it’s a dungeon crawl, but it takes a uniquely spatial approach to the genre. Players start by selecting characters and dumping a randomized bunch of colored cubes to the tabletop representing a variety of loot and monsters. The game hinges on the “pillar” cubes that players connect to form possible rooms in the dungeon. The idea is simple: find an awesome room and collect what’s inside. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good puzzle.

Where did the idea for this game come from?

For this one, there’s no question the idea came from the contest. I’m a story/theme driven person (I actually have my MA in English), and if I was going to make a game with no printed components, I wanted to be able to infuse the pieces with as much theme as possible. Once I began to imagine a physical dungeon taking shape on the tabletop, I was able to dive into the design.

What makes this game special/unique?

Dungeon Drop’s hook is its visual puzzle. Once players grasp the few rules, they’re able to pour over the possible patterns the pillar cubes present. The best moments come when a player discovers a way to grab a specific slice of loot their opponents missed.

Did you create a design journal for your game? If so, did you publish it somewhere we can link to?

I don’t have a design journal online, though it’s something I’d love to do at some point. I do all my brainstorming on a large graph paper notebook (below is a fragment of some early notes on Dungeon Drop). So much of the design of a game needs to be done on the computer, but I really do enjoy the ease and fluidity of sketching first. Any time I reach a roadblock with a design, I go back to my notebook. It’s home base.

Did you already have the idea for Dungeon Drop in your head before the Game Pieces Only Contest was announced?

When I read the description for the Game Pieces Only Challenge, my reaction was Oh, too bad. Have to wait for the next one. No art? No theme? Just pieces on a table? Not for me. Full abstraction isn’t something I’m usually drawn to, but then again maybe that’s why it was a good contest for me and a good lesson about stretching myself beyond my comfort zone.

What made you decide to enter your game into the contest?

Dungeon Drop was born for the contest. There was no way I was going to miss the deadline!

Would you have been motivated to work on the game as much as you did without the contest?

I can’t thank TGC enough for provided the platform both to self-publish and to create this genuine community of game creators (two incredibly important motivational resources). My first test run was the recent 18 card Hook Box Challenge. I dove into that contest late and learned a lot from the attempt—but one of the big take-aways was discovering the 18 card Facebook group (thanks to Odd Hackwelder for establishing and administrating). That’s something I never would have thought to look for without the contest—I love the micro-communities you come across in the board game world.

Has winning inspired you to enter more contests or design more games?

Of course! Contests are dicey things—the chances of winning are always slim with so many talented people entering and such a wide variety of creative designs. In this one, I really admired the playful energy of Brian LaPorte’s “Ghost,” the unique theming of Aron Emerson’s “Macaw” and the elegance of Gerlach Games’ “Antahpa,” just to name a few. However, the opportunity for real feedback and support from the outside world is worth the risk.

Could you describe any influence The Game Crafter has had on your success as a game designer?

Jumping into the 18 card challenge first helped hit the “design small” concept home for me. Thinking in a compact, limited way first, asking myself just how few elements I need to transmit my core gameplay experience, is enormously helpful. I’d also add that I’m seeing just how important the art of rule design can be. I try to remember that my game is only as good as the version my players understand from the rulebook—the goal is to create a set of rules that is both clear and as fun to read as possible.

What’s next for you?

The only thing more exciting than winning the contest is thinking about what’s next. I’m happy to say that I just signed a contract with Jason Miceli and Darrin Horbal about a future for Dungeon Drop v2.0 with Phase Shift Games. We’re already throwing around some great ideas for new twists on the concept, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with them. In the meantime, I’m playtesting a possible entry in the Solo Game Design Challenge.

Any last words of encouragement or advice to all of the designers reading this?

The deeper I get into game design, the more clearly I see the balance between designing for “me” (meaning designing the kinds of games I would want to play myself) and designing for an audience. Get caught too far in “design for me” mode, and I get lost with an unapproachable product. Get caught too far in designing for an audience, and I lose my creative drive to produce something new. Managing this balance is key and it helps if you have a trustworthy playtesting group that does not involve your own family. My wife is wonderful, creative, critical thinker, but there are real limits to my expectations for her to give me feedback (no game is worth a marriage!). My small game night group at home and larger playtest group in Boston (Game Maker’s Guild) are invaluable resources. Like many designers, I’m an introvert, but finding other people to share the experience with is, after all, what board gaming is all about.

[contentsoftable]

Ten Immersive Games (and 5 that try but aren’t)

by Nathan

All games are abstractions. Otherwise we’d all die of thirst and buried in sand while playing Forbidden Desert. There is always the thing the game tells you you’re doing, and the thing you’re actually doing, which is generally moving around little bits of cardboard and wood. What’s cool - at least to me - is when games make you feel like you’re actually doing the thing the game is about - when you get so immersed in the gameplay that your throat gets dry and your arms get tired from digging sand.

Here are some that do that for me. 

FORBIDDEN DESERT

Designer: Matt Leacock Publisher: Gamewright

As mentioned in the intro, Forbidden Desert has great tension-building mechanics, effective art that reinforces the theme of searching for ancient relics in a desert, and it really makes you feel like you’re trudging under the oppressive sun, watching the horizon for sandstorms and checking how much water you have left in your canteen. A simple game, but one that - win or lose - always puts you in its world, and always ends with a nail-biting finish. 

TYRANTS OF THE UNDERDARK

Designers: Peter Lee, Rodney Thompson, Andrew Veen Publisher: Gale Force Nine

A combination of deck-builder and area control game that requires a lot of tactical thinking, but what makes it immersive is the the purple-tinged art and fantasy setting which take me right back to when I was twelve years old and first discovered dungeons and dragons. Suddenly I am a cruel dark elf noble, scheming against rival clans and sending out my minions to do my bidding in the Underdark, and it’s glorious! Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

WATERGATE

Designer: Matthias Cramer Publisher: Frosted Games

A history lesson in a box and a chess-like game of tug-a-war that visualizes connecting crimes to conspirators in a literal sticking pins in corkboard way. Whether you play as Nixon or the Journalists, you really feel you are fighting a desperate fight to hide or reveal the truth. An excellent game.

TOBAGO

Designer: Bruce Allen Publisher: Zoch Verlag

Hunting for the treasure is the best part of Tobago, because it feels like you’re narrowing down the places it could be by looking for clues on an old map. That and the cool tiki heads that you have to rotate every now and then give this one a fun old-time adventure feel that’s a joy to dive into. 

BLACK ORCHESTRA

Designer: Philip duBarry Publisher: Game Salute

This co-op game about plotting to kill Hitler is possibly the most immersive game on the list. Everything about it puts you in the moment, making you feel like a desperate conspirator constantly listening for the knock of the gestapo on your door. Making plans, gathering necessary papers, weapons, and tools, and then feeling those plans slip through your fingers as you wait for the right moment. Even the way you get out of jail is thematically grim. All you have to do is betray your friends. 

RESCUE POLAR BEARS

Designer: Jog Kung, Huang Yi Ming Publisher: TWOPLUS Games

So thematic it is sometimes painful to play. You are fighting to save polar bears against a background of climate change, and as the temperatures rise and the sea ice gets smaller and smaller it begins to feel utterly hopeless, and then -often as not - you lose, which makes you even more depressed. It does feel good when you win, but sadly, that doesn’t happen often. 

TWILIGHT STRUGGLE

Designer: Ananda Gupta, Jason Matthews Publisher: GMT Games

I’ve never been a global superpower, so I don’t know what it really feels like, but this game, with its simple mechanics of trying to get more influence chips onto a country than your opponent, and the action cards that teach history with every play, sure makes me feel like one. Balancing aggression against a rapidly lowering defcon status, and fighting each other through proxy wars really gives this that old paranoid cold war feeling. 

ABOMINATION

Designer: Dan Blanchett Publisher: Plaid Hat Games

In this game, you are competing to be the first scientist to build Frankenstein’s monster a companion. To do this you have to steal bodies from hospitals, morgues, public executions, harvest their organs, and bring them to life with electro-galvanism, all the while lecturing to make money and maintaining your reputation so you’re not chased out of town by peasants with pitchforks. And it really does feel like you’re doing all those things. The art, gameplay, and little bits of narrative text when the game asks you to make a moral decision, all contribute to a gleefully gory atmosphere reminiscent of a Hammer horror film. 

ROBINSON CRUSOE

Designer: Ignacy Trzewiczek Publisher: Portal Games

This one might be too immersive for its own good. This is a co-op survival game where you are stranded on a desert island, trying to build tools and shelter in order to not die from exposure, wild animals, madness, and ancient curses. We really enjoyed the challenge of it for a while, but it is punishingly hard, and after a while it became more frustrating than fun, but if you really want to feel like you’re never more than one bad night away from dying of dysentery, this is the game for you.  

EVERDELL

Designer: James A. Wilson Publisher: Starling Games

A game of cute animals building communities over the course of a year, Everdell is basically a resource gathering engine builder, but the art and theme of the cards puts you right into its world of forest creatures in waistcoats and aprons. It’s one of those games that I wish had more actual narrative elements to go with the mechanics so we could learn the stories of the villages. As they’re not there, though, we’re forced to use our imaginations instead - and that’s not a bad thing. 

Now, here’s five games that don’t make you feel their themes. 

WINGSPAN

Designer: Elizabeth Hargrave Publisher: Stonemaier Games

This is a very pretty game, with cool bird art and facts on the cards, and a unique theme. Unfortunately, I do not feel like I am a conservationist, or a bird watcher, or doing anything that actually has to do with birds. I am just playing a game with birds on the cards. Not that it’s a bad game, the game play just has very little to do with the theme. 

TZOLK’IN

Designer: Simone Luciani, Daniele Tascini Publisher: Czech Games Edition

Mayan civilization and the Mayan calendar are cool themes for a game, and the art does a great job backing that up, but when it comes right down to it, Tzolk’in is more interested in its cool, gear-based mechanics than its world, and I never feel like I’m doing anything but playing a worker placement game, where the theme could be anything.

SCYTHE

Designer: Jamey Stegmaier Publisher: Stonemaier Games

Scythe is a big, beautiful game set in an alternate pre-WWI eastern Europe, where, in addition to infantry and cavalry, there are giant robots! Parts of it are very immersive, particularly the encounter cards, the art, and the minis, which are gorgeous. The part that isn’t immersive is the ending. The game ends when one player completes six objectives, and then each player totals up their points. For a game that feels like it’s all about conquest and expansion, the ending doesn’t feel very glorious. It’s more like checking a spread sheet. 

QUANTUM

Designer: Eric Zimmerman Publisher: Funforge

I like quantum, but it’s really an abstract game pretending to be a space adventure game. Your space ships are dice, and depending on what number they are showing, they can do different things. Although there is art for the four player colors that depicts them as four different empires, that’s where the narrative stops. I never feel like I’m running a galactic empire. I just feel like I’m moving dice around. 

YEDO

Designer: Thomas Vande Ginste, Wolf Plancke Publisher: Eggertspiele

In Yedo, you play the leader of a noble family in the Edo period of Japan, plotting to become the power behind the throne. Except that’s not what you’re doing. Really, you’re completing missions by collecting items on a list and having those items in your position when you go to a particular spot on the map. The way the game makes missions more difficult is by making the lists of items longer, and increasing the number of locations you have to visit. It feels less like intrigue and skullduggery, and more like doing errands, which is too bad, because it’s a fun theme and the writing is evocative. It’s just the mechanics that disappoint. 

[lieutenantbatshit]

the metal gear solid legacy.

what i’m going to talk about is a video game franchise -- the video game i loved the most, and made a big impact in my life. this franchise made me learn about the effects of war, teamwork, and a lot more things (i couldn’t put it in words, there’s a lot that i learned about this franchise!).

the story line of this franchise will get you hooked up. i won’t tell the whole story line of this franchise because honestly, explaining the story line would take me an hour or so to explain (or even a day!) for you to understand the whole story line, so it’s best if you play the franchise itself.

first, i’ll give you a list of what made hooked in this franchise, and the best parts in this franchise.

SOUNDTRACKS!!! -  i swear to the boss, the soundtracks of each games in this franchise makes me so emotional. these soundtracks got stuck in my head while playing these games (i even want to sing every soundtrack on stage). 

easter eggs - the easter eggs in this franchise were hilarious, especially the johnny part and ~ posters ~, if you know what i mean. 

the one where they let you view their perspective by clicking “R1″ (i used PlayStation my whole life so i don’t know much about Xbox).

truth to be told, the snake family, big boss, liquid snake, and solid snake (yeah let’s add solidus snake), are actually attractive. admittingly, when big boss has an eye patch, he looks sexier than he was before. okay, this may be getting out hand, but i can’t help but have a big crush on them. i even have a crush on EVA, The Boss, Quiet, and Meryl! i’m pretty damn sure every gamer has a gay crush on every character in a video game they play.

yeah, that’s all the lists i could come up to. i know there’s a lot, but i can’t put them into words, they’re too good. 

anyway, let’s head on to the main point. what do i think of all the games in this franchise? what are the best parts in every game in this franchise?

i could give you a list my fave games, and writing this excites me.

Metal Gear 

tbh, i don’t really know much about this game. i only played the first part in this game because it was kinda hard for me. i played this on my PS3, i guess i just wasn’t familiar with the controls in this game. this was originally played in a MSX2, and i’ve never gotten my hands on one before, so yeah.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

all i know about this game is Solid Snake in Zanzibar Land. just like Metal Gear, i only played the first part. i also played this on my PS3 since the game we bought, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, also have it inside but they can only be accessible in one of the games in the collection, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Metal Gear Solid

I never got the chance to play this game since this game was released in 1998 and it was originally played in PS1. i watched the gameplay in youtube instead, thank god for youtube. this game was remastered as Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, where the graphics improved and the game could be playable in PS2. when the graphics improved in PS2, i was excited to see liquid’s face since i was curious on how he looked in an improved way, and boy, guess who just had a crush on him? me. (his accent are plus points.) the original game can be now playable in PS3, it’s either you buy the game on PlayStation Store or buy the legacy collection in a video game store. solid snake’s character was so flirty in this game, and you could feel the love between solid snake and meryl.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

there comes raiden! actually, this is the first metal gear game that i played. i played this when i was like 5 or 6 or 7, and i gotta admit, it was hard for me at first. but when i was like 11 or 12, i finally found no difficulty in playing the game. it made me understand the story line more about this game. the VR missions in this game are also my favorite. i usually play that part whenever i finish the whole game. there’s also a demo theater (fun fact: you could achieve a trophy in this game while watching Rose and Raiden have a sword fight, which Solidus and Raiden are the original characters there) where you could watch some cutscenes from the game and you could change the characters, if you wish to.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

the one that started it all! there goes the camouflage and foods (and by foods, i mean snake eats animals from the jungle). he is guided through radio by major zero, the boss (who defects to soviet union in the gameplay), para-medic, sigint, and later by EVA throughout the game. the easter eggs in this game were hilarious as hell. the radio conversations with para-medic were fun to listen to, especially when they about movies. sigint was also fun to talk to, you’d always get into a funny conversation with him. oh and boy, don’t get me started with EVA. who later becomes the lover of snake throughout the series. the boss was such a badass! she deserved better though.

WHAT A THRILL~ SNAKE EATEEEEEEER~

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

this is probably the saddest game i’ve ever played, and also one of the best. all remaining characters who are still alive were all here. playing this game will give you nostalgia if you’ve been playing the MGS Series for a long time. (spoiler: solid snake or should i say, old snake, goes back to shadow moses.)

i won’t leave some more spoilers, it’s better if you play the game itself.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

i didn’t finish this game, honestly. it was still hard for me. i’m stuck on a mission where big boss would defeat the pupa flying around the sky. i always run out of supplies. but the game is great, i gotta say. i don’t know much about this game honestly, but i’ve watched some cutscenes in youtube.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

i also don’t know much about this game, but i’ve watched some cutscenes in youtube. i think this a good game, even though the voice of snake was changed. nothing beats to david hayter’s voice as snake’s voice, honestly. however, kiefer sutherland did a good job, i’m just disappointed how big boss didn’t speak that much through MGSV and there was no codec. 

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

same with mgsv: ground zeroes. i only know about big boss’ phantom, i also watched some cutscenes in youtube. there were some feels in this game, especially when zero visited big boss in a hospital when big boss was in a coma for nine years. overall, i think the game is great. i’d play this game if we’d buy PS4.

here are my fave soundtracks from all the metal gear franchise.

“The Best Is Yet To Come” - Rika Marunaka (MGS1)

Metal Gear Solid Main Theme (MGS2)

Can’t Say Goodbye To Yesterday - Carla White (MGS2)

Snake Eater - Cynthia Harrell (MGS3)

“METAL GEAR SOLID” Main Theme (MGS3)

Old Metal Gear (MGS3)

Sailor (MGS3)

Salty Catfish (MGS3)

Don’t Be Afraid - Elisa Fiorillo (MGS3)

Pillowtalk (MGS3)

Surfing Guitar (MGS3)

Way To Fall - Starsailor (MGS3)

Debriefing (MGS3)

Calling To The Night - Natasha Farrow (MGS:PO)

Old Snake (MGS4)

Love Theme - Jackie Presti (MGS4)

Metal Gear Saga (MGS4)

Heavens Divide - Donna Burke (MGS:PW)

The Man Who Sold The World - Midge Ure (MGSV)

Sins Of The Father - Donna Burke (MGSV)

Quiet’s Theme - Stefanie Joosten (MGSV)

there would be one day where i won’t communicate with other people because i’m busy playing my fave franchise ever, Metal Gear. 

that’s a lot for now. thanks for taking your time to read this. this sure is long.

[retrorendum-blog]

ARMS - Review

ARMS is Nintendo’s second new IP since the Gamecube, and it has given the people who haven’t actually played it with a mixed set of reactions. After the original reveal trailer back during the Nintendo Switch press conference in February, many people thought that it was just a gimmick game to show off the joycon’s power, and wouldn’t end up being much deeper than Wii Sports boxing. Will ARMS hit it’s mark or take a punch to the face?

Title: ARMS

Available On: Nintendo Switch

Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch

Info: Nintendo, 2017

WARNING MINOR SPOILERS FOR ARMS

Story: ARMS takes place in a world where a mutation exists that allows the effected individuals to stretch their arms out to almost unimaginable lengths. According to the ARMS Laboratory this "ARMS” mutation has existed for around 1500 years, and effects a very very small slice of the population. No one knows how the mutation occurs, those who receive it just wake up one day and have extendable arms. Of course with a mutation such as this it is natural to create a world famous championship fighting show, and that show is what you play in ARMS. As of the day this article goes live there are 13 characters/ fighteres in the world of ARMS, as well as a secret boss character that I’ll leave out for spoiler reasons. 

Spring Man - A classic upbeat pretty boy fighter

Ribbon Girl - A famous pop star turned brawler to please her fans

Master Mummy - An undead freak seeking revenge for his family 

Mechanica - A genius young girl who built a suit with extendable arms to participate in the league

Ninjara - A ninja student who joined the fight as his graduation project

Kid Cobra - A popular streamer and snakeboarder who was born with the ARMS mutation 

Twintelle - A well-known actress who uses her stretchy hair to fight 

Byte and Barq - A robot dog and cop duo 

Min Min - A ramen shop girl with noodles for arms 

Helix - A green gooey failed experiment from the ARMS Lab 

Max Brass - The reigning champion of the ARMS league (also planned to be the first new playable fighter)

And finally,

Biff - The friendly announcer for the ARMS League who has one hand on the top of his head.

Each character has their own signature arms, backstory and goals for winning the ARMS League, but aside from what I’ve mentioned there isn’t much story. This might not be the case forever though, because Nintendo has stated that they will be releasing free fighters, stages and ARMS as DLC later on, with included lore tidbits alongside. ARMS’ story and lore is pretty interesting, but it really is bare bones at the moment, so I can’t rate it any higher than 6/10.

Visuals/ Music: The art style and tone of ARMS is one that feels like is was custom tailored to the springy, colorful world the game takes place in, and never leaves you bored while you’re experiencing it. Each locale you visit while brawling is bright and vibrant, and no two stages feel even remotely similar in tone, shape or lighting. There aren’t any texture problems in the game, and the only thing that ever bothers me while I’m playing is Spring Man’s character select model (if you play the game you’ll see what I mean, but that’s just a personal gripe). Aside from that, every character is beautifully modeled and the unique character design rivals the likes of Overwatch and Pokemon in creativity and detail. Even the menu system is slick and bright for the most part, the only exception being that the main menu (which you don’t spend too much time on) is pure black and yellow which some people find obnoxious. ARMS also has the single smoothest and most satisfying Party lobby system of any multiplayer game I’ve ever played. Each stage has a special theme to accompany it as well, and while you probably won’t hear them much during the fights, listening to the soundtrack outside of gameplay is great. My only complaint with the music is that it’s really obvious they wanted the main theme to be integrated into the game everywhere, because chunks of it are woven into over half the stage themes. It’s a great main theme, and very catchy, but it annoys me that it shows up everywhere. The visual and audio design of ARMS gets a 9/10.

Gameplay: Finally, we can talk about ARMS gameplay. ARMS is a fighting game unlike any other, so much so that I honestly don’t know what to compare it to. 2-4 players are thrown into an arena, each equipped with extendable springy limbs and a set of 3 different fists or “ARMS” to choose from. Each character has different stats in speed, strength, and health, as well as an interesting ability ranging from self heal and time slow to quadruple jumps and an arm turning into a dragon. These differences allow you to really find a character that fits your playstyle, and along with every character being able to equip any ARM eventually by spending currency in a minigame called the ARMS getter, any person can customize their own fighter. The main focus of the single player content is the Grand Prix, which is essentially the Arcade mode of ARMS, you play through ten consecutive battles against AI opponents, with the occasional minigame mixed in. Through the Grand Prix you can learn a little about the lore of each character, as Biff tells small snippets before each match starts. There are currently 7 game modes in the game that you can play single player with bots, local multiplayer with up to 4 players, or online in a rotating lobby. Of course you have 1V1 battles, which is the core experience of ARMS, but you also can play 2V2 with each team tied together to force teamwork and communication, and 1V1V1 which is unbalanced and annoying. On top of the fighting there are also 3 different minigames to choose from, Hoops, V-Ball, and Skillshot. The final gamemode is 3 players versus a boss, which can be incredibly fun and challenging on the higher levels. The fighting of ARMS is fast-paced and addicting, but isn’t perfect. It’s difficult to play two player local online, as the lobbies don’t always have room for an extra player, 1v1v1 always ends up with one person being ganged-up on so the other two can just play a normal fight, and grab spamming is definitely an obnoxious (but effective) tactic many people use online. Despite these issues and a lack of a true campaign/ story mode, ARMS delivers some of the most intensely gratifying gameplay I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing in the last few years. Gameplay receives an 8/10.

Verdict: ARMS is a game that I can only hope will grow. It’s in very early stages now, so it’s not clear whether or not it can climb up to be a major franchise for Nintendo, but things are looking pretty good for this wacky fighter as far as the first week goes. I’ll definitely be playing it for a while with my friends, and I should be dipping back in every time a new character, game mode or map is released. ARMS has surpassed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as my second favorite Nintendo Switch game, and will likely hold that spot until Super Mario Odyssey and Skyrim come out in the winter this year. I can’t recommend ARMS enough, but if the lack of single player content is a let down for you, you should still consider picking it up maybe in a year or at christmas when more content has filled in the gaps. ARMS gets a solid rating of 8/10.

[stewy497]

Stew Reviews - The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - Poop and Religion

A friend of mine once described this game as “a game for atheists”. If you’re in any way connected to the indie community then that alone should be enough for you to guess the subject of this review. Not that you’d need to, it’s right there, at the top of the page; The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, and by extension, the 2011 indie sensation The Binding of Isaac, of which Rebirth is a remake.

Ye know, the strange thing about Isaac is that despite being one of the most important landmarks in indie culture, I never seem to see anyone talk about it. It’s not like Undertale, where the internet is practically wallpapered in fanart and comics of it; if you want to find Isaac content you’ll have to be prepared to dig a bit. I’ve seen it mentioned in passing a few times, but I’ve yet to see any of the bigger games journalists actively review it. Maybe I’m just subscribed to all the wrong ones – I can see from research that Jim Sterling has covered it multiple times, but at that point I wasn’t following him particularly closely. Anyways, that’s partly why I’ve taken that duty upon myself, and partly because I just really like this game. The original Isaac is a top-down roguelike dungeon crawler, taking most of its cues from the original Legend of Zelda, and Rebirth doesn’t change a whole lot asides from retooling the soundtrack, tacking the original DLC content onto the base game, and adding retro pixel graphics – you know, those things that every other indie game on Steam has; The Curious Expedition, Fez, Vagante, Roguelands, Magicite, Hotline Miami, Shovel Knight, but fortunately for Rebirth it’s an aesthetic that I’m actually rather fond of so I won’t give it too much flak for it.

The story is a simple one, and one you’ve probably heard before. Isaac and his mother live together in a small house on a hill. Life was simple and happy, until one day Mom hears a voice from above, commanding her to kill her son as a show of faith. Isaac escapes into the basement through a trap door, where he must fight his way through rooms of enemies until he eventually faces off against Mom. It’s a simple premise that sets up the story effectively, if a little twisted, but I have to admit, that twisted sensibility is part of what I like about this game. It’s a staple among creator Edmund McMillen’s other work. In this case, he wanted to include themes that reflected the religious conflict and abuse he experienced growing up, and the game definitely accomplishes that.

In terms of gameplay, you progress from room to room, fighting monsters with Isaac’s projectile tears. It’s simple and elegant, enhanced by the addition of hundreds of items and pickups that can do just about anything, such as directly affecting enemies, altering your stats, or changing the properties of Isaac’s tears. It’s also incredibly addictive, as befits the roguelike model. Death is inevitable as in real life, and Isaac makes that abundantly clear from the start, as the game is unforgiving even on easy mode. Your first few runs won’t take you any further than the second or third level at best as you learn the ins and outs of the gameplay, how to angle your shots and how each enemy functions. You’re rewarded for successive attempts with new unlockable items, bosses, characters, and even entire levels once you reach the later stages of the game, so it has an astounding amount of replay value. That does, however, come with the qualifier that before you start to unlock stuff, a lot of your runs are going to be pretty samey.

As well as its replay value, one of Rebirth’s greatest strengths lies in its underlying theming and symbolism. Enemies and items from the base game all have strong themes of religion, decay, body horror or child neglect that makes them feel at home in the game’s setting and visual style. Unfortunately, this strength is counterbalanced somewhat by the DLCs. Don’t get me wrong, I like the DLC content; Edmund has the right idea about it, exclusively adding entirely new content rather than just cutting bits off the game at release to sell later, and even turning to his fans for suggestions, but the trade-off here is that a lot of the DLC content is far less focused, designed to be visually and mechanically diverse, but losing the associated themes. You can often tell which items have been added through DLC just by looking at them. I wouldn’t mind, but expansions often add scores, if not hundreds of new items, diluting the pool of strongly themed items significantly.

That, I think, is one of the reasons that it’s possible to suffer sever burnout from this game. After a while, once you’ve seen all the main content in the game, there’s little else to do but try to collect all the completion marks for each character. By this point, you’ve unlocked so many items that the ones you pick up in each run offer no synergy or thematic coherence – just a mess of features clinging to a sprite that looks increasingly like a patchwork quilt in a septic tank. In a way, I suppose that’s one major advantage the original Isaac has over Rebirth.

The best way to get over the burnout I’d say is to simply start a new save file. This is one of the few games that I own multiple copies of over multiple platforms – it’s available for all current-gen platforms, including Nintendo systems, which seems a bit incongruous given their family friendly reputation – and the PS Vita port is a godsend; it may not have the expansions available to other versions, but the game’s model is exactly the sort of thing I like to have on-the-go. I can pick it up and chip away at a run while I’m waiting for a friend to show up, or blast through a full game on the train out to Falkirk, and the mandatory lack of expansion material and relative brevity of the sessions means it’s difficult to burn out on. That might not sound like a good thing exactly, but think of it like this: if you order the chocolate brownie sundae at the Hard Rock Café, you’ll struggle to finish it in a single sitting, but if you accept that you can’t eat it all at once, ask for a doggy bag and wear it and your teeth down over the next few days, you’ll have far more success.

So, bottom line: though controversial in its subject matter, The Binding of Isaac and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth deserve their place in indie history for their fun and addictive gameplay and compelling message, and excellent portable port. I’ve personally never had anyone I’ve recommended it to come back to me dissatisfied, though I suppose it will depend on your personal capacity for such controversial material.

[princealigorna]

My list 5. Hotline Miami- Ridiculously hard gameplay that feels challenging rather than cheap, and hence is always fun rather than annoying or boring,, and a plot that feels like if David Lynch had wrote and directed Bad Boys or Carlito's Way (complete with surrealist imagery and 4th wall breaks!). It's a riveting crime drama about 1980's political upheaval, assassination, and the Miami crime scene, but it plays out more like the fevered dream of an acid casualty dying of malaria! 4. Umineko no Naku Koro Ni- It might be hard to really argue if the Expansion07 games even count as games. Like the Key Visual Studio stuff, they tend to veer more toward kinetic (choiceless) novels as opposed to true visual (branching) novels. But there's little doubt in my mind that Umineko is THE definitive Gothic horror and murder mystery/detective story of our time. Fascinating cast, more swerves than a slalom course, supernatural shenanigans, a deep and slowly unfolding story of a family being buried by its own secrets, and a romance doomed to be eternally thwarted. It takes the best elements of Ann Radcliffe, Emily Bronte,, William Hope Hodgeson's Carnacki stories, and Hercule Poirot and creates something so unique that you can't help but be sucked into it. 3. Breath of the Wild- The best Zelda game since OoT? That depends. I happen to think every Zelda game is at least a 7/10 game. Even Spirit Tracks and Skyward Sword I think are good games, and Hyrule Warriors even I find a fun excursion even if it's not the deepest of games narratively. But yeah, I think this really is the best Zelda game since OoT, with one of the best art styles I've ever seen in a game, a unique way of handling its narrative and how it plays out, multiple endings based on how you play the game and uncover its secrets, and a difficulty level that surpasses anything else in the series but always feels rewarding. 2. Skyrim- No Skyrim, no Breath of the Wild. That simple. Skyrim took the already expansive gameplay of previous Elder Scrolls games, but cranked it up to 11. The world is huge, but not just huge: it's actually filled with stuff to do! The narrative is there, and it's good for what it is, but you can also just say "fuck it" and completely ignore it if you want. It encourages exploration. It feels like a truly lived-in world. And, it's got so many editions that people can enjoy the base game at any price point they can afford, so it's truly open to everyone! And that's not even getting into the huge modding community surrounding it! 1. Undertale- Undertale does more and says more in 6 hours than most other RPGs can say in 100! The characters are all quirky and wonderful and have their own unique stories. The underlying themes about prejudice, responsibility, and facing the monster within are pertinent now and forever. The world is fleshed out, with a great backstory. There's tragedy but also comedy in equal measure. It's got the right blend of whimsy and at times all-out horror. The multiple endings not only allow for replay value, but allow the game to explore its themes and moral ambiguities differently each time. The fourth wall breaks are chilling. The easter eggs are plentiful. In short, it is a great throwback to Toby Fox's true love, the Mother series, in every conceivable way.