#but those features are just made more apparent on alois

[nullbutler]

[kendrixtermina]

Someone finally uploaded a Kingdom Route run with everyone recruited!

So imma be doing a bit of reacting

Kingdom!Ignatz works a bit like Empire!Felix  - He wanted to go his own way unlike what his parents said and is thus following Byleth. In this case it’s of course somewhat less angsty ‘cause the Victors have the means to flee if necessary, unlike Rodrigue who was a prominent leader of the kingdom side of things

In an interesting parallel to how half the cast abandons the kingdom cause it’s a sinking shipload of kamikaze, on the other routes, Raphael complains about the instability and confusing politics of the alliance and how she should probably grab Maya and his grandfather and get them to Garreg Magh. I suppose a lot of people without connections or political accumen must feel this way. the monastery IS light javelin proof, so yeah...Raphael isn’t salty toward Claude himself tho. Then again he has little capacity for salt and in his paralogue it’s kinda shown that he makes a deliberate choice to live a low-salt lifestyle its not just obliviousness, he actively doesnt want grudges or awkwardness in his life

Leonie is also here to babysit Byleth and tells them not to let Dimitri push them around 

Hilda: “The Monastery is a mess. So is Dimitri. I’m only here because Byleth is competent and Holst is annoying“

Dorothea and Bernie have so far gotten identical dialogues to the church route

Lysithea is interesting and kinda morally ambiguous. She says outright that she cares nothing for the kingdom or anything other than a peaceful life for her parents. She wants to get at the slitherers for her own revenge and they’re in the empire so she finds Dimitri’s revenge obsession convenient. Also very ironic cause, are she and Edelgard gonna fight each other because they both want to get at Thales? Very interesting bc vanilla BL doesn’t adress the slitherers that much - of course Lysithea says she has beef with “the empire” and doesn’t elaborate. At the same time Lysithea is MUCH more logical and self aware than most of the kingdom crew bar Sylvain so yeah

actually,  Lysithea, like Felix, has TONS of route specific dialogue. I guess the devs expected those two to get recruited a lot since they are just flat out the strongest students apart from the house leaders. 

The Kingdom is arguably just as infiltrated but Lysithea doesn’t know... and at this point Cornelia’s cooperating with the Empire anyways

General trend of the Alliance recruitees not being all that attached to the Alliance as they hardly knew each other at the start and half of them had nothing to do with politics

Nothing to do with the recruitees, but so THATS what happens if you propose to go to Fhirdiad first. Dimitri is like “You’re supposed to lead the church! Go rescue Rhea!” ...he doesn’t know the whole thing with Byleth being experimented on by Rhea (neither does Byleth at this point) but it is kinda low. Mitya you have no leg to stand on here indeed the main reason I was sympathetic to you last playthrough is that you never ASKED Gilbert & co to put you on the throne and made clear that you’re not interested in that... so following you was on them to an extent. but you don’t get to say “Do your Bishop job” (that Byleth never asked for) if you’re not doing your job cause you’re too busy doing your kamikaze raid. Then again he’s probably too emotional and just plain done with everything rn to see the contradiction/look at this with perspective he’s probably physically incapable of chilling out rn

It just ends with Byleth doing a pointed sadface. daamn Mitya don’t be mean to By-By she still believes in you dude : (  Though it makes sense he’s big on obligation he’s doing this revenge trip because he feels he must. So it’s more a distortion than it really is a contradiction, as far as he’s concerned he IS doing his duty...to the fallen. I guess if you can’t handle him at his “Go be a bishop or something” you don’t deserve him at his “my beloved~” 

Still hurts a bit tho. Especially when Claude, though not without his own agenda, was distinctly a good friend on the topic, “Teach you’re in charge now be more confident~ the church doesnt run you, you run the church”

Before Aillel Dorothea says something about the Kingdom people also looking undecided of where to march, but she also wonders if some fighting/ victory will quell uncertainty 

Also she and mercie are standing next to each other! Ive said before that it’s weird how they don’t rly have a support though they are the two most popular extroverted ppl on the campus... they GOTTA know each other at least on a smalltalk basis

Alois is like “These kingdom ppl dont seem to know what they want... but hey this allow YOU to shine as a leader”... so basically Byleth is running this show but for all that they’re a good field commander and decisive when it comes to immadiate practical problems, as far as big picture direction goes, well, Sothis’ “boulder” quote comes to mind. They just never had big attachments on convictions, the Felix support chain is also salient here. They kinda just did whatever job they were given until they found a bigger cause/purpose after throwing in their lot with one of the lords or the remaining saints.

I wondered how this would play out as the Kingdom route is very kingdom-specific, whereas Claude, Edelgard and the church all have an universal cause for people to get behind. I guess how this plays out is that before Dimitri’s turnaroud there’s the kingdom faction and the Byleth faction and Byleth is kinda trying to run the show as they think Dimitri would if he were at his best

Caspar is still on the more unphazed side but also substantially more phazed than on the church or GD routes, he wasn’t particularly close to Randolph but he’s not unaffected by Dimitri going a tad over the top here - he also has the takeaway that Dimitri probably never trusted him much since he was born in the empire.

Sylvain actually alledges something about Dimitri not socializing much with any Adrestians even back in the academy days if you recruit him on CF so this does not come out of nowhere. Also kinda makes me wish they had a support - theyre both naturals at smashing things but they have very different attitudes towards it. then again i suppose it would go alot like the raphael one

Ferdie recognizes Myrrdin is a strategically better location but as Aegir territory is closeby he wishes we could have invaded through there so he could take it back... Would the citizens want him back tho? After the war its a no-brainer cause he helped end it, the peasants arent going to complain about too much peace and prosperity nor are they gonna feel nostalgic about anyone who started a war with their tax money and then lost it, but if he waltzed into an area that had thus far been far from the frontlines, following his fathers’s exploitative management and 5 years of semi equal rights under edelgard? he might have been welcomed with  pitchforks, through no fault of his own. 

He says something implying hed like to come rescue his relatives implying that some of them are still alive. of course the pm deserves all Edelgard threw at him and then some, but id be curious about Ferdie’s other relatives. His mom probably looks just like him, because he sure didnt get the looks from his dad... or anything else really, apart from the crest and hair color. - though i think the a support with bernadetta implies that shes no longer around

Lorenz bitterly remarking that of course Claude and his dad eventually made peace since they both only serve their own interests. (”So long as their interests are in allignment they will continue to cooperate”)   Says the guy we just rescued from his endeavors in turncoatery. Lorenz you’re pretty opportunistic too, and as for your redeeming features Claude has those too - but of course you’ll never find out in this one. Still, it shows that he’s painfully aware that his father - whom he would have died protecting if we hadn’t spared him - is a villain and a hack

Claude isn’t super trusting and knows that he gets percieved as shifty so he promises people to get them theirs so that they support him out of self interest. No need to take a chace. Of course by the end of this route he WILL take big chance on Dimitri 

That says Lorenz is not SO biased that he can’t tell that Claude might be interested in working with the kingdom army

Lysithea (who surprisingly has TONS of unique dialogue here, and I like that it’s a complex mature plot) is having her doubts and not trusting Dimitri for all that she finds him an useful idiot. By and large you get the sense that many consider Byleth the leader of this operation, she’s glad that Byleth is there to issue sensible orders. She tells Byleth not to tell anyone and worries about what will happen once the empire’s vanquished. No faith in team Kingdom... at all. Understandable of course

Hilda’s dialogue is largely the same as in the church route and at times kinda the same in all routes but I like how she’s like “Claude might’ve looked like a lazy bum but he’s smart! If he says he’s on our side he will defs help!” before the gronder fiasco

A lot of NPCs stir the suspicion here so it stands out how much she totally trusts him like hes any other friend

As with the other routes with the recruitees you get an idea of what’s going on in the other territories such as Lysithea deducing that Judith must be backing Claude in his gambit

One moment you think Lorenz is going to add some somber insightful commentary to the sincerity of Claude’s offer but then he’s like, “Granted Dimitri is much improved. He must be asking us for help cause he trusts ME” XD Like... no friend. You’re almost right but if there’s anyone here he was faith in its Byleth. And then he’s even like, “Well no choice but to save poor Claudesy” On the one hand it shows that there not just pure hate there on the other... lulz. 

apparently one of the first things Dimitri did after getting his act together post gronder is profusely apologize to Caspar for that ugly business with Randolph. Thats a worthwhile detail and i want fanfic of it. Caspar being Caspar he wasnt really keeping a grudge, they’re a warrior clan and they were at war

They had to move out so quickly that Hilda had no time to go shopping in Fhirdiad #Priorities XD

Meanwhile Ignatz, like a normal person,  hopes his folks will be safe

hilda does eventually remember to maybe save her folks and claude but only after making Byleth promise to go on a shopping trip with her. Someone should probably write that fanfic

Someone told me that Ferdinand had some prominent critical lines but it was really just one, and it’s as I suspected actually just a variant of the same “a king can’t be emotional” line he gets in all the routes, this time with the addendum that if he turned around and decided to go rescue the capital, he might be capable of reason/being a decent leader after all.  granted I guess compared to how most of the Kingdom people go along with everything it comes off critical? IDK.

Lysithea misses Rodrigue :( 

Lorenz and Ignatz standing next to each other was a nice touch they have a fairly wholesome friendship

Leonie’s just glad that ol’ Mitya is “back to normal” especially since she’s pretty sure that they don’t have enough soldiers to get to Fort Merceus let alone Enbarr

For obvious reasons, Petra is pretty sympathetic about the whole “retaking Fhirdiad” thing

Seeing Seteth and Catherine so certain that Rhea would want them to save the people of Fhirdiad first when you know that she wouldn’t hesitate to set the place on fire is just...OUCH. Though it does show the goodness in Seteth and Catherine themselves. 

Manuela wishes she could’ve moved her informary to gronder and save a few more peeps :(

It seems like to Leonie, Dimitri will always be just “Dimitri”, King or not. Figures she aaaaalmost adressed even Byleth by name XD You really DO get the sense that he interacted alot with the recruitees

All the house leaders shouldve had more supports. 

If you grabbed hanneman he’ll give you some extra backstory on Cornelia - apparently she was originally from the empire and an eminent scholar whose great work Hanneman was vaguely aware of. I would assume that was still the real cornelia. Judging by the timing it sounds like she might’ve smuggled Patricia out of Adrestia. Assuming both were still original at this point this might present a possibility for why she trusted/vouched for cornelia without being complicit / lend itself to a “she was duped” reading

But it’s still suspicious that she would end up courting the second most powerful man in the land right after number one. 

Some had suggested that Cornelia caused the plague in the first place but the thing is there was a perfectly credible  “mundane” explanation for it (the city’s sewers not being up to date technologically) that theres no reason to doubt

Assuming that all the replacements occurred 14 years before part one when Arundel stopped his donations/ thins being about the time when Cornelia’s personality was noted to have changed completely, that would mean both the “fixing the severs” thing and the soppy story about how Edelgards’ parents met would be real 

AAAA everything to do with patricia is just so ambiguous - if they were longtime friends wouldn’t she have noticed something “off”? Same with her brother actually. Lambert had his own country so its not like there was no one to protect her. 

Ahhh THIS is how lorenz gets iinto the midset for that prissy, hes pissed that Claude dissolved the Alliance and misses it XD

you DO get to call him out for being a turncoat himself tho. particularly hilarious since Byleth just blinks and asks a casual question there

He immediately changes his tune

oh lorenz dear, i love you but you, sir, are WEAK xD

Lysithea as always calls everything and notes how suspicious arundel was alluding to the hrym nightmare also mentioned in her paralogue

She also mentions that he was said to be good and just at one point suggesting that there was a real Volkhard von Arundel at some point. 

if the replacement took place when those donations ceased then Edelgard and Dimitri were 3, 14 years before part 1. Early enough that this could be around the time Patricia left enbarr, if this is when it happened then the romantic tower story might be real assuming that the Arundels were replaced at the same time - whatever arrived in Faerghus recomended patricia for a job so it probably had already happened by then 

Its all so ambiguos tho we can only speculate there are so many possibilities

Ignatz marvels at how Claude managed to minimize damage to Alliance lands throughout the war, as in CF only Deirdru itself got particularly thrashed. Ignatz’ folks are safe and sound! Leave it to him to wonder where Claude might have absconded to. He was always one of the insightful ones but not in the same way as the other clever ones. More intuitive I guess. Cant remember if it was indentical to what you get if you spare Claude on CF (Cue the lets player remarking that Claude is probably stuck in a washing machine somewhere... he hadn’t cleared the Alliance route at that point)

Lol HILDA “And then the whole Alliance descended into chaos...” or actually she is surprised that that DIDNT happen and how orderly Claude managed the dissolution. “But I Guess we’re screwed if Dimitri turns out to be a crazed despot... he’s not gonna go crazy again is he?” You of little faith XD But she says all this in her usual cheery nonserious voice like

this chapter has a lot of unique dialogue actually

Linhardt  impressed that anyone would have the guts to attack Fort Merceus directly and suggests looking for weak spots in the old walls

He shows up guarding it in SS and Vw doesn’t he? Guess he was visiting Caspar or something - or would have been familiar with the place from visiting the Bergliez clan in the past. 

Ferdinand is wowed by Claude bowing out giving him kudos for caring about the peoples wishes. He thinks Edelgard ought to quit at this point and he’s alot harsher on her here than in any of the other routes. (”Not reveryone with noble blood has noble ideals” - Coming from Ferdinand that’s an accusation ) Interestingly at this point hes sticking with Dimitri cause post character developement, lots of ordinary ppl support him at this point and hes popular with the crowds. He’s wholly on the Savior King bandwagon, and maybe that’s why he’s harsher. He’s partial. Says something about him actually, largely good things when you think about it. Dimitri is probably the closest to what Ferdinand’s (and Lorenz’) own beliefs were. He likes the existing order and living in a fancy palace but he thinks the rulers should serve the people.

Its kinda ironic and sad because in ALL the other routes he clearly thinks Dimitri is an idiot and a bad ruler, and says he should be more composed and objective. But Dimitri wasnt at his best there now was he? 

 now ill be sad everytime I get to those “Ferdinand disses Dimitri” lines. They couldve been buds! 

but i dont see this happening in any other route. According to something Sylvain says in cf Dimitri avoided ppl from the empire  at the academy so they wouldnt have cozied up pre-timeskip, and its only the version of Dimitri who has his shit together which appeals to Ferdie as a leader. 

really torn here on the one hand its a nice synergy to see lorenz and especially Ferdinand (who is waaay less arroganz than lorenz) sort of getting to win on their own terms with a ruler that jives with them and their Lawful Good fantasy classic thing. It’s not just a status quo thing its a protectors of the people thing. It’s heroic.  On the other hand it feels like they’re stagnating when they could have had growth. This is basically the same Lorenz and the same Ferdinand we first met except slightly more mature.  Notably lorenz is the same in the church route whereas Ferdie isnt as he still ends up rebelling fleeing and fighting against the empire. It helps that he practically winds up leading the remaining Eagles, albeit under Byleth and Seteth.  

He still gets that line about being kinda sad to see the empire go though he knows there must be an end to the chaos, i think a few lines are different, so, not wholly without doubt

Shamir muses about hoe the three countries were once one and the same, but wonders that even if we put fodlan togethere theres no guarantee that it wouldnt come apart again. i mean there isnt, and wether thats a bad thing would depend a lot on the circumstances but its also possible that theyll get used to being one and forget they wrere ever separate. no one controls the far future... and should they? After all its always possible that someone in the future will have unforseeable circumstances or better ideas

Caspar sighs with relief that they didn’t have to fight his dad, last second worry about him turning up in the capital nonwithstanding... right does he get to live in this? Carpar wonders what’ll happen to him if they win, but he’s not holding down Faerghus so he might not have died the way he did in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind. It’s at least possible that he was captured alive and pardoned somehow. 

Marianne’s adoptive dad sure smelled which way the wind was blowing; He was supporting Claude’s strategy to get the Cloucesters back under controll but sent Marianne to curry favor with the kingdom. Make friends with whoever wins I suppose. Ambitious politician indeed. 

When she doesnt her from him in a while she wonders if he forgot about her but says she wouldnt mind that much because at least she wouldnt have to do any more politics? I distinctly recall that in gd there was something about how they got along better after the timeskip. Sigh. 

she is real glad that Dimitri and claude ended up cooperating in the end

So does Dorothea but then she makes herself sad wishing that Edelgard was also there :( Me too friend, me too.  I think thats the one unique line she gets this route. I like how it’s consistent in the church route she’s also the one who feels the most sad about betraying her, they were pretty close pre timrskip 

as far as leonies concerned Dimitri is still just Dimitri even after taking back his kingdom. i like to think hed appreciate that. its also very typical of leonie. as with the “Caspar gets an apology” thing plenty of the recruitees get lines hinting that theres been more personal interaction between them and dimitri, kinda goes with how ppl in his own house follow him more out of personal loyalty than because they follow his plans like with the other two. hes kinda a very approachable sort of leader, makes the decisions with the group or follows whatever gilbert and Byleth decide, in the other routes theres always a distinct inner circle. Its cool how they incorporated the recruitees into that dynamic. 

Petra is dissapointed that they DIDNT do a sneak attack on fort Merceus contrasting her usual line about how she likes sneak attacks.  Dimitri naps both that an Enbarr head on doesn’t he? The Church has a smaller Army full of peeps who would rather not destroy Enbarr, and Claude agrees with Petra on the sneak attack thing and then Edelgard did that sorta shady but largely very gutsy thing where she didn’t sound the evacuation to restrict Claude’s movements knowing that there was zero danger that he would plow through the civilians (they don’t do this here cause last time they met Dimitri he was not feeling merciful indeed judging by huberts welcome lines and engage quotes he doesnt buy the turnaround), the AM ending narration also suggests that Enbarr wasn’t rebuilt, though Dimitri gave distinct “No pillaging!” orders, so they probably just couldn’t avoid wrecking the buildings and relocated the citizens. 

Ashe also speculates where Claude went. That’s one of the things i like about Ashe he consistently averts out of sight out of mind I particularly always loved how he consistently worried about Dedue. Someone ought to. 

Ingrid interestingly changed her tune here / kinda speaks positively of claude here - in CF she was like “I always though he was creepy”

Then again that was before fighting him I don’t recall If those two dont get the same lines if you spare Claude,  have to go back and check

id like to mention that the lets player put lorenz in the pyjamas/loungewear the whole time as “punishment” for being late to the reunion and poked fun at him throughout.

[meggannn]

cut for negativity about AC Odyssey cause I just need to bitch

the short version: I’m mad. and I can’t tell if it’s just my fault for having unrealistic expectations of Ubisoft.

the long version:

I fully expected a sequel to Bayek’s and Aya’s story and am massively, massively disappointed they aren’t treating them with more content like Ezio. this was my fault, I guess, because they never promised me anything and I did get my hopes up for another trilogy or at least one sequel with Bayek. crafting good protagonists then doing FUCKING NOTHING with them for the rest of the series is Ubisoft’s MO, but the fact that they have these two great characters that establish the entire Assassin Brotherhood and you just leave them right when their lives really become interesting… like, be honest with me. Aya/Amunet, an Egyptian woman, is the person who founded the Roman Brotherhood. Bayek, a medjay, founded the Egyptian brotherhood which eventually led (we assume) to an eventual migration to Masyaf Castle where the brotherhood became so recognized that it became a symbol around the world. given Aya’s statue in Monteriggioni, we can assume she’s remembered throughout their history as one of the founding members of the entire brotherhood. this is a non-white woman who you have established is integral to the founding of the faction around which the entire series is based, and then you drop her and her partner like hot potatoes right when things get interesting in their history. would it not, say, make sense? to follow up Origins up with a game set in perhaps Ancient Rome or Syria? featuring the brown woman or brown man who established the Assassins that spread across the world? maybe???? not to be overdramatic but for me this is like, emotionally on par with Bioware announcing Dragon Age 4 only to say we’re not going to Tevinter or Nevarra, and that none of the old DA2 or DAI characters are coming back, but instead DA4 is bringing us back to Ferelden and we’ll be running around the Hinterlands for another fifty hours. If you set up a game with the logical conclusion to follow your old protagonists’ journey, then like yeah… I will feel… mad… when you don’t… follow through with them… in the next game… and just go back… to more… fucking… European… locations… I just cannot get over the disappoint I’m feeling and it’s overwhelming any excitement I might have initially felt for a character like Kassandra.

I still loathe Ubisoft’s take on the RPG genre, particularly their combat system. it’s mostly my ongoing rivalry with the hitscan system. I don’t find it fun, but also in general it’s just not what I associate with AC games -- with AC, I know exactly what I’m getting. or lmao like, I used to. I don’t know what this combat is anymore. I liked knowing exactly what I’m getting. I liked not having to waste time on combat and inventory bullshit and my choices mattering -- I’d play a better RPG if I wanted that. I play AC to sneak around places and focus on the story and assassins I’m hunting. I mean the quest system in Origins was… not great, but definitely a step in an interesting direction, I’m not inherently opposed to all RPG elements here. I feel like they could improve it with more tweaking, but what I did not want was them to “tweak” it in the style of The Witcher or Dragon Age where choice determined how the actual story pans out. I’m not convinced Ubi can do it. I sound like a snobby exclusionist, I know. I just am finding it really hard to see Assassin’s Creed in the game we were shown. when I plan AC game, I want (and expect) an emphasis on stealth. everything I’ve seen is…… not that. I know, assassins didn't come until later, but you can’t tell me sneaking around was invented when Altair first did it. Origins tried to allow you choice in how could approach a mission, but everything from the wide, environment to the millions of fucking weapons they make you pick up  expected you to fight a fair amount of the time. it’s not, to be fair, unrealistic, considering Bayek’s background as a medjay. I suspect the same reasoning will be made for Kassandra and Alexios. so much effort was put into revamping their combat system with an expectation people would use it more, and now in Odyssey… no… hidden blades…? call it a new IP set in Ancient Greece, I’d be way more receptive, but I don’t like that the game mechanics and simplicity that I grew attached to, the ones that made up the AC brand, is now -- apparently -- gone for good. I liked that shit. It was easy! I knew what I was getting into! I’m not thrilled how instead of dialing back from Origins, they’re just charging ahead deeper in the same direction re: combat complexity. I find it overwhelming and I’m not gonna use half the shit you give me. it took me like fifty hours to learn what signs were in The Witcher 3, even later for potions, and another twenty to actually start using them, cause it was just too much.

now i’m ready to complain about the main characters. sorry. yeah, it does bother me that there’s no set character. one staple of AC for me is that even if it’s fantasy, it’s historical fantasy; you’re given a predetermined character and watch them grow into an assassin and make their mark on history. it’s beyond strange to now see that that role is… flexible. Someone on reddit phrased my unease a very good way: there’s one scene in, I believe it’s AC Brotherhood, where Desmond is jerked out of the Animus after he witnesses the attack on Monteriggioni. Desmond immediately wants to go back, he’s yelling for them to let him back in the Animus so he can go back and save those people caught in the attack. Lucy takes him and gently says, “Desmond, those people are dead. They’ve been dead for centuries.” part of the series is how you can’t change the past with the Animus: you’re only viewing it. it already happened centuries, millennia ago, all of it is set in stone. all you can do, all you should do, is learn from what they did and work to make what went wrong, right. this new choice system with the ability to ‘change’ the past, via Layla’s new Animus system is… just bizarre. I don’t know. what’s the plot excuse for it? is there really going to be narrative payoff or explanation, or is it just so Ubisoft can rebrand the franchise an RPG?

it’s another thing that the dialogue choices themselves I’m seeing aren’t particularly… I’m searching for a word here, but “natural”? the conversations read like all they did was write a scene conversation between two characters, then spit up the dialogue and make half of it optional instead. but the thing is it’s all stuff you need to know anyway, so making it ‘optional’ doesn’t even matter like it would in a BW game where the optional dialogue really is optional. in the Odyssey clips I’ve seen it just feels stilted and weird.

anyway call me a whiner, I fully own it, but another big thing is that I’m thoroughly sick of this strange trend of making it choosable between a man/woman protag as a side-step around commitment to diversity. most of the time it strikes me as… lazy is not the right word, because technically they’re doing more work. but it's becoming more apparent to me that devs are seeing it as a noncommitment to having a female lead. play as Sara or Scott Ryder, play as Emily or Corvo, play as Alexios or Kassandra. (Sara/Scott less so, cause BW is an RPG company where you’re MEANT to build on a character, and choosing a gender is a part of that, but you’ll see what I mean in a sec.) but anyway, yay, diversity. except you can play all three of those games without once playing a woman like you’re forced to play a man in other games -- my irritation is because it still allows people to avoid female protagonists entirely. like. my hope is to make a woman protagonist unavoidable? don’t make her optional. make her mandatory. give me more undeniable canon female leads. give me Aloys and Ellies and Laras and Chells and Faiths. if you want to know why I feel so strongly about this, it’s because: a. so long as there is a choice, it is inevitable that the male lead -- in this case Alexios -- will be promoted more and featured in marketing. how do i know, it’s because we’re already seeing it. they did the same thing with Scott Ryder. looking at the trailer or box cover for Odyssey and you’d have no idea you could play as a woman. (it’s a little too early to say the same for Cyberpunk 2077 marketing, but I’m getting the same vibe there.) it lets devs, say, feature male leads in the trailer, but female options only in the gameplay. guess which one gets promoted on the big screen in E3 presentations and which one is only viewed by people who actually seek out the game? b. I am already seeing people claim that Alexios is canon and Kassandra is “just the female option.” Ubisoft is not going to comment -- and therefore commit -- either way. usually there’s a half-hearted “it’s more realistic” explanation for why people see the guy as canon, but more often than not it’s just because he exists, and therefore, is assumed the “real lead.” I'd like to see games with a canon woman leading instead of an option where she might not exist at all. and honestly if there were more female leads I probably wouldn’t feel so bothered by this, but seeing men saying “I plan on playing Alexios and ignoring Kassandra the whole time” makes me want devs to give us more games where they’re forced to play a woman. sue me c. the thing is I know Ubisoft can get this ‘balance’ of man and women leads right, because they have already, once. sort of. Evie and Jacob was a great idea, because that story was one they shared, and one in which you had to play as both and had to understand both. refusing to play as one or the other was not an option, because they were a package deal. people who bitched and complained about Evie were forced to play as her anyway. their relationship and mutual involvement was crucial to the story because she, a woman, was crucial to the story.

I’m not even one to complain about this, I mean I even took all of the Andromeda animations in stride, but the Odyssey animation doesn’t look… great. poses, faces, mouth movements, are tellingly awkward. this time last year when they promoted Origins, I feel like it was in a better position, and Origins and Odyssey are both releasing/released in the fall? I dunno. I wouldn’t even be bothered by it because I’m not bothered by it with BW really, except it’s noticeable when it’s a step down from what I’m used to in the crisp, cleaner AC cutscenes I’m used to that aren’t just talking heads. I can’t help but feel it’s another downside of making dialogue optional instead of making scenes crafted every time: some things, like faces and idle dialogue animations, will be entirely automated,

BIG MAP! OUR BIGGEST MAP EVER!!!!!!!! EVEN BIGGER THAN ORIGINS, THE ONE WHERE HALF THE REGIONS HAD NOTHING BUT SAND!!! please stop. I’m so tired.

[casualarsonist]

Horizon: Zero Dawn review

Here’s a weird little idiosyncrasy-slash-crippling weakness of mine - I find it nearly impossible to write about things I really enjoy. Perhaps it’s because I hate gushing, but I can’t really overstate just how fucking annoying it is that I can only provide opinions on art that is either some version of ‘okay’, or ludicrously shit. For example, I’ve previously mentioned that there are only three or four pieces of art that I’ve witnessed in the world that I would nominate as a 10 out of 10, and try as I might I simply can’t seem to find the words to adequately express my feelings about them. I think the issue here is that I feel like my commentary on an amazing piece of art needs to meet some invisible standard of quality wherein it gives an excellent description of the piece’s virtues without resorting to effusive emotional over-statement, and anyone who knows me knows that effusive emotional over-statement is my jam.

So I suppose this is one of the reasons why it’s taken me so long to talk about Horizon: Zero Dawn. 

Well, that, and the fact that it’s not quite as black and white as ‘it’s an excellent open-world action-RPG’. I mean, it IS an excellent open-world action-RPG, but this fact is only part of the appeal, and even though I might think it is the bee’s knees, I have to counterbalance this with the fact that there is a lot about Horizon: Zero Dawn that isn’t particularly original, especially in today’s over-saturated open-world action-RPG market. If Horizon was one of only a few games in its genre it could quite possibly be one of the best games ever made, but I have trouble giving it that label precisely because of the glut of other releases from which it borrows its features from - if you’ve played any of the Assassin’s Creed or Uncharted games then you’ll be well-acquainted with the stalky-stabby-hidey-ridey-hack-and-slashy-climby-climby gameplay on show here.  

But don’t let my shilly-shallying about the mechanics of the game distract from the fact that I think it’s a landmark release; it holds a place rather similar to The Witcher 3 in my mind, in that it takes a decade of iteration and expansion in its genre and makes a masterpiece out of that, and again, much like The Witcher 3, this almost entirely comes down to the quality of the writing and performances, as complimented by fantastic mechanics and gorgeous visuals. 

Horizon: Zero Dawn is the story of Aloy (not ‘alloy’) - an outcast from birth from the Nora tribe, a band of primitive and superstitious humans who, since having their lands raided and their peoples kidnapped by the blood-thirsty former king of the neighbouring Carja tribe, have become deeply xenophobic and isolated in their mountain-hemmed valley. Aloy is raised by Rost, a seasoned hunter and rigidly principled man determined to uphold his exile for reasons he refuses to explain. As Aloy approaches her 18th birthday she opts to take part in The Proving - a test of her physical and mental skills that offers her the chance to fully rejoin the tribe. But when the competitors in The Proving are attacked by a band of raiders who seem intent on killing Aloy in particular, she is nominated as a Seeker by the Nora elders, and is free to travel into the larger world with the mission of discovering both her origins, and the cause of the new scourge upon her community. 

And this patchy and kind-of-inaccurate synopsis is really as much as I can say without moving into spoiler territory, which is a damn shame, because Horizon has one of the best stories of any game I’ve played in a long, long time. This is not just down to the quality of the story itself, but also to the quality of the storytelling. Horizon takes everything I raved about in my post about Black Isle’s use of exploration and the design of the game world as a storytelling medium, and applies it to great effect. As such, we, the players, are placed in the same role as the protagonist - beginning in a child-like stage, we are vulnerable, and introduced to the dangers and wonders of the world bit by bit, and as we explore further into the unknown, the environment around us grows and grows and grows, becoming ever-more awe-inspiring as we progress. It really is a near-perfect mixture of open-world gameplay and curated exploration, and there is rarely a point in which you feel like you shouldn’t be moving too far ahead because you’re going to bypass something interesting. As in New Vegas, the use of wide valleys as a way to both make the player feel like they’re free to roam whilst also meting out the features of the game is flawlessly executed, and results in an open-world game that is also, somehow, impeccably paced. 

This only really falters in two places - firstly, when the largest section of the game is opened up and one is overwhelmed by the amount of opportunity suddenly available, and secondly, in the fact that the story missions don’t exactly lead you delicately through the map. One of the earliest missions after you leave the opening territory sends you to the farthest corner of the game world, and the fact that I would have to pass so much content in order to get there triggered my FOMO and led me to leave the story until the very, very, final end of the game once I’d completed everything else there was to do. This was a mistake, a) because the story is fantastic and you don’t lose anything by completing it earlier on, and b) because once you’ve conquered literally every other challenge the game throws at you, pursuing the story feels a little redundant. It’s also a shame that so much of the main quests take place at one specific, isolated end of the world, which is a strange miscalculation in my opinion when the developers have created such a rich, gorgeous, and varied environment for their players to explore. 

But even if I think that these things could have been improved on, they ultimately don’t do much to overshadow the achievements of the game in all of its other areas. The characters look unbelievably lifelike, and despite the occasionally stilted facial animation and some static conversation camerawork, the characters are voiced and animated extremely well. The script is intelligent and emotive, and tells an incredibly compelling story that I just want to talk about with SOMEONE (please, for the love of God, Alice, finish the fucking game!), which is especially noteworthy because Horizon goes out of its way to offer a strange and beautiful world that poses so many questions to the player, and then makes the incredible effort to answer pretty much every one of them by the time it’s over. 

I should elaborate here for those that aren’t acquainted with the game - Aloy lives in a world populated by machines. Specifically, machines that look like animals. Most are in some way aggressive, although apparently that wasn’t always the case, and the game’s death cult enemies have managed to corrupt and enslave some of them in order to use them as weapons. These animals range from flying bird-like creatures to giant bulls to fire-and-ice-shooting crocodiles to gargantuan dinosaurs. And in the course of encountering these creatures, you’ll also encounter the diverse biomes that they exist in: cold Nordic wastelands, humid and palm-dotted Egyptian river deltas, arid North American mesas, and even the ruins of an ancient civilisation. And it would be one thing for the developers to have just imagined a fantasy universe in which all these things exist a hop, skip, and a jump from one another, and to leave it at that - Final Fantasy has been successful for three decades doing this very same thing. But it’s all explained, everything is explained, and the explanation is compelling and evocative and interesting and fun. There aren’t many stones left unturned, and yet the game never feels like it’s bogging you down in exposition or having to slow to a crawl to catch you up; I was happy to watch and listen as the mysteries were revealed, and Horizon is one of very few games with such an ambitious narrative that is actually worth the effort you take to uncover it. 

But hey, it can’t hurt that the uncovering is just so much fun, can it? Taking a leaf from CD Projekt Red’s soon-to-be award winning book ‘Open-World Game Design, And How Not To Fuck It All Up’, Horizon is filled to the brim with fun and interesting gameplay, challenging and wonder-invoking enemies, engaging characters, and many, many varied side-quests. In fact, the game is one of only a few to clearly divert from the typical ‘main quest/side quest’ delineation of most modern open-world games. Instead, Horizon operates on a number of levels; the first of which being the main missions in which you investigate Aloy’s past; the second being a number of multi-staged, large-in-scope second-tier missions in which you deal with ongoing problems in the world at large like civil wars and wide-reaching political intrigues; the third level involves the smaller, one-off side missions more typical of these games such as saving strangers from danger or helping resolve disputes; and then you have all the other additional content such as hunting and gathering quests, collectibles of various types, and various combat challenges. This variety staves off a lot of tedium that one feels in other, lesser games, and keeps you constantly surprised and engaged given that you never quite know exactly how deep the next story is going to go. Even the most basic challenges (hunt here, kill there, etc, etc) are fun because the combat and stealth gameplay is so enjoyable, and the fact that most machines can be crippled or destroyed in a number of different, spectacular, and rewarding ways only adds to the challenge and variation and excitement in taking them down. It’s something that makes the game exciting to come back to after you’ve finished it, and even though I’m still playing Assassin’s Creed: Origins, I know that it’s probably going to be a one-and-done situation for me, in the same way that ALL the other Assassin’s Creed games have been. Whereas Horizon? I’m definitely going to return to it, and I’m going to approach it in a totally different way, because I can.

It’s worth a mention as well that the game doesn’t just maintain a high standard of quality and integrity in its mechanics, but also in its DLC, and it’s extremely heartening to see that the only additional content released for the the game is more akin to the expansion packs from the days of yore - a single, 15-odd-hour addition to the base game that has its own story and environment and additions to the gameplay that are both seamless and complimentary to the base, as well as being a substantial and worthwhile standalone investment. In fact, just looking it up now, ‘The Frozen Wilds’ is actually officially referred to as an ‘expansion pack’, and this gives me all kinds of warm-and-fuzzy feelings (and for some reason makes me want to go back and play the Mysteries of the Sith expansion for Dark Forces 2). 

The Frozen Wilds is apparently the first and last addition we will see for the game, which is a shame because it’s so good, but then again I’d always prefer to have a numerically smaller amount of great content than be overfed on shitty cosmetic items, crap DLC quests, and other such symptoms of the disease that is modern DLC culture. And while I can’t say with certainty that Guerilla Games won’t release anything else for the game, there’s something uniquely joyous in knowing that to buy the DLC for Horizon is to improve a complete game with some relevant extra content that expands the lore and experience, rather than feeling like you’re just stapling something functionally redundant and narratively incongruent to the body of the main game. 

With God of War’s recent release to massive acclaim, I’m becoming more and more convinced that console-exclusive games are one of the few things keeping the spirit of artistic integrity and quality in the ‘AAA’ industry alive. Were it not for games like that and like Horizon: Zero Dawn, which stand sparsely in resistance to the flood of catch-all money-machine publisher/developers that produce barely-iterative annual-release tat, we’d be drowning in a sea of games infinitely wide and an inch deep (and yes, despite my positive impressions of their newest releases, I’m still talking about companies like Ubisoft, whose games are both fun and tiresome at the same time). And so it is that Horizon: Zero Dawn is legitimately one of the best games available to play on the PS4 right now, and one of the best open-world action-RPG games ever released, and it’s a shame that rather than shining down upon us like a beacon from the heavens, its light is somewhat lost amongst the sea of other lesser, but like-minded releases. I suppose one could call this a flaw in the game’s design, but when you get down and play the thing it becomes difficult to figure out how to frame it as such when everything it does is in some way an improvement over how its been done before. It is, without any doubt in my mind, a must-play, and I really need to talk about the story with someone, so please, for the love of god Alice, finish the damn game already. 

9.5/10

(Very) Outstanding

[sixeightsuited]

Horizon Zero Dawn and Cultural appropriation: A very different view.

For the first time EVER, I’m sitting on the other side of a discussion about appropriating native culture.  Why?  Well, let me lay the framework.

First off, I’m not a guy who “knows a Native American” or has a “Native friend”  I am a 100% Anishinabe (Ojibway) dude who lives on reserve and has fought racism, stereotypes, pan-Indianism, and cultural appropriation fiercely for as long as I can remember. I’ve been the victim of horrendous racial violence as a child, adolescent, and adult, and I’m also a gamer.

I am the first to point out anything that smacks of any of the above and after I saw the Dia Lacina essay on “Horizon: Zero Dawn” being culturally insensitive and appropriating Native culture, I felt for the first time in a situation like this that I had to say something in rebuttal.

Lacina takes issue with the use of the words Tribal, Primitive, Braves, and Savage being used in the game (fyi they’re used to describe predominantly white people in game and they’re White words we didn’t use to describe ourselves thus I claim no ownership of, nor want to, anymore than I want to be a redskin, Indian or Wahoo)  

It seems (IMO) that most of her beef comes from an apparent belief that numerous aspects of generic tribal culture that appear in the game (making clothing from skins, hunting with spears and bows, living in a Matriarchal society, etc) are the sole domain of the Native American and just to be safe and cleverly keep her POV less subject to scrutiny, she applies it even more broadly to indigenous people world wide (I will just refer to us in particular as NA cuz I’m lazy and I also don’t refer to myself as a Native American) and basically that anything that is remotely “tribal” shouldn’t be used in gaming without our or someone else’s permission.

 In fairness, I don’t know if she’s actually played the game but as someone who is currently in the midst of doing exactly that, I can tell you that I have a pretty good idea of what stuff triggered her being upset and why, and while I absolutely respect her right to get offended by whatever she likes, and she makes excellent points about some other games, I am going to point out that there are flaws with this logic.

First of all, the basics: HZD is set in a post-post-apocalyptic future where people are living in tribal groups in a very destroyed world.  Machines exist but as hybrid animal/dinosaur type creatures and technology is pretty much non-existent in day to day human life.  

The heroine of the story is a red haired, white girl named Aloy who lives as an outcast with her adopted father, Rost.  Without giving a lot away, they are fiercely shunned by the local tribe for something Rost did and also the fact that Aloy is motherless.  

Impressively and rightly, though somewhat dismissively remarked upon by Lacina, is the way women and especially women of color are portrayed so positively in-game as this particular tribe is a total Matriarchy run by elders of various ethnicity.  African, Asian, White, and a variety of undefined people of color are common everywhere in the game.  (The leader of one band of warriors is a very fierce, commanding, intelligently portrayed black woman with a powerful presence.)  It reflects a fairly global society from a “skin color” perspective without any horrible accents or broken speech.

They worship an “All-Mother” goddess and their culture is (at least how I saw a lot of it) fairly heavy on European i.e. Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian, etc type symbolism and the rest is filled in with mostly generic tribal-ish stuff that you could find in countless cultures around the world.

 I really didn’t get a “Native American” vibe off the game.  Of course, I don’t automatically presume to claim sole ownership of things like tribal life, hunting with bows and spears, and worshiping spirits of various elements solely for my own.  Random fact: Because there are over 500 distinct First Nations in N. America, we, believe it or not, didn’t all ride horses, live in tipis, use bows and arrows, tobacco and sage, and worship Eagles and Wolves.  Why? Well…use your brain.  Tobacco and Sage don’t grow EVERYWHERE, horses came over with the Europeans (and if you saw where I live you couldn’t have and cant for the most part get a horse through the bush if you tried) Eagles and Wolves don’t live EVERYWHERE….get the point?  Anyways….

If you examine Rost, he like most of the men has a braided beard and other seemingly Viking/Middle Ages inspired features, is white, speaks clear, unbroken English, and is a loving, protective and very positive role model for the girl.   Aloy for her part, is also fairly Viking-esque (to the point of looking incredibly like Lagaertha from the show Vikings but with red hair) also Egrit from GoT, and is no damsel in distress who needs men to save her. NOWHERE in the game have I encountered any Tipis, wigwams, Sweatlodges, or Non-White people speaking in stereotypical “Me smoke-um peace pipe, He go dat-a way” fashion.

The  opening cinematic is very touching (and long) as we see the orphaned Aloy as a baby in Rost’s care being carried around in a bundle on his back (which pretty much every culture did in one form or another at some point in time) and him ultimately taking her to the spot where a child of the tribe receives it’s name.

I really liked this idea as it isn’t often portrayed in a lot of mediums outside of stereotypical “Dances With Wolves” bullshit. Also, naming ceremonies are not the sole domain of NA people and what occurs bears zero resemblance to any NA ceremony I know of.  (It was actually a little Lion King at one point lol) But it’s a powerful moment in the beginning with much more that occurs during it but I won’t spoil that either.

Aloy herself is a pretty complex character.  She’s extremely independent, defiant, and questions pretty much everything about why things are the way they are and wants to do something about it.  You actually begin playing her as a 6 year old which is pretty unique and even then she’s tough and fearless and determined to explore her world.  

She is in no way hyper-sexualized (I’m looking your way Overwatch) Her clothing and everyone else’s, is utilitarian and appropriate for the environments she lives in, and so far, I have not encountered anything with her or any other character that made me go “WTF?”and trust me, my radar for that shit is HIGHLY SENSITIVE.  This isn’t Avatar, people.  It’s not John Smith. It’s not The Great Wall or Pocahontas.  This isn’t white dude shows up and saves the helpless non-white people while helpless native woman falls in love with him stuff.  It’s a fictitious future where we maniacs blew it up, damn us all to hell!

But here’s the more annoying thing for me as an actual Anishinabe.  I don’t need people speaking for me or getting offended on my behalf.  I am very capable of doing that myself. I am also in no way writing this claiming to be speaking for any other NA people or persons. It’s based on my observations from actually playing HZD and examining the various fictional “cultural” elements in the game.

If you see a skin tied inside a hoop and automatically assume it’s a dreamcatcher” ripping off “our culture” (FYI Dreamcatchers are a 20th century thing whose popularity was a result of pan-Indianism that exploded in the 70s.) or if you see feathers on a spear or as part of a costume (nowhere is anyone wearing a single eagle feather in the back of a beaded headband or a Dakota looking headdress either) and automatically presume it to be ripping off NA culture, you’re REEEEEEEEEEALY reaching.  If you think caring for the environment, obeying matriarchs, worshipping elemental spirits, or making your own clothes is solely the property of NA culture, see previous statement.

By all means get offended.  Get offended by Chief Wahoo.  Get offended by the Washington Redskins.  Get offended that thousands of Native women have been murdered or gone missing and nothing’s been done about it.  Get offended by Johnny Depp or Robert Beltran playing Native people instead of actual Native people getting those roles.  Get offended by shit like Adam Sandler’s “Ridiculous 6” where a native woman is called a “hot piece of red prairie meat” or Depp’s “Lone Ranger” movie.

Get offended that my family was destroyed by the Residential Schools and that the 60s scoop took babies away from their families and people, that forced sterilizations took place and mass graves of dead Native children exist at former Residential School sites.

Don’t just jump on the I’m offended bandwagon because you saw some feathers or skins or spears or bows in a game and immediately grew indignant and wanted to claim them as OUR culture.  They’re not.  They’re almost globally universal in numerous cultures at various points in time.  Get offended, as she rightly mentioned, when the game Overwatch sexualizes the shit out of almost every female character and takes West Coast tribal art and makes a costume out of it.  

THAT is appropriation.  White people holding powwows in Europe (powwows are also pretty much not traditional and are extremely pan-Indian, not to mention full of us appropriating each other’s Native cultures ie. Dakotas wearing Jingle Dresses, Ojibway wearing Dakota regalia, etc) is appropriation.

This game……I’m just not seeing it the same way.  And I’m nobody.  I have no ties to Guerilla or anybody other than myself and my community.

[lmbiggs]

Oh, What Needful Things We Are (1/5)

@ohjafeeljadefinitelyfeel "Horrible Terrible and Good All At Once" is undeniably an inspiration to this fic. I am fairly certain that EVERYONE in this fandom has read their wonderful amazing fic and this fic was in part inspired by it. There will be significantly less plot and wonderful emotions and other such things that you would get from "Horrible Terrible and Good All At Once". ANY SIMILARITIES ARE NOT INTENTIONAL.

Edit: This part of the fic has been reworked and edited.

Percival Graves had always considered the Barebone girls exceptionally plain creatures. Etta Barebone was tall and skinny and all jawline and feline eyes and unruly black waves of hair. Her teeth had been crooked as a child but spelled straight at some point so her smile was freely given and wild and pleasant enough that one could ignore the ferret-like features of her face. Mary Lou, her unfortunate squib sister, was shorter and her features were knife-blade thin and her ill temper made her even more unfortunate to look at. Her lips had the constantly pinched appearance of someone who was angry at the world at large for no particular reason other than to be angry.

They were level headed girls, though, he would give them that. Intelligent and sharp and observant and cunning little creatures in their youth, honed even more with age.

Alois and Myrtle Barebone passed away young, barely into their seventies, and Etta ran off with some No-Maj, leaving Mary Lou as the last dredge of the Barebone name.

And Percival would rather die than marry Mary Lou Barebone.

So the betrothal had been avoided, somewhat. Mary Lou was never named the heir of the Barebone line and so none of her children, if she ever had any biological ones, would suffice for the betrothal between the house of Graves and the house of Barebone.

Percival, for his part, had been content to forget about the Barebones and their frightening, frustrating daughters and continue on with his life. After all, he wanted a career, he wanted a life outside the home. Certainly he didn’t want a woman at all, much less either one of the two Barebone girls. He was content with the loneliness, or at least that’s what he told himself. Neatly packing away his emotions, bottling them and storing him in a cellar in his chest. And if the bottles were a bit leaky then he just had to be careful not to light anything near them.

So when, nearly two decades after Etta Barebone had run off with her No-Maj, Mary Lou Barebone knocked on the door of his apartment, a tall, hunched figure trying to blend in with her shadow standing behind her, Percival was apprehensive enough to know that nothing good would come of Mary Lou darkening his doorway.

“Mary Lou Barebone.” He cleared his throat, staring down at the woman. He had seen her file on his desk, more than once, considered a terrorist but not doing enough, or being listened to enough, to gain traction among the No-Majs. Her photographs didn’t do the sharpness of her eyes justice, or the cold set of her jaw.

“Percival Graves.” The woman gave a sweet smile, the smile she used to try charming those more powerful than her normal crowd of bums and lunatics. She waited patiently and shen Graves sighed and stepped aside, leading the woman and the boy into his apartment, he resigned himself to the fact that he’d be entertaining the one person he didn’t want near his home. “Still living in sin, I see.” She gestured to the moving pictures, to the coffee pot in the kitchen now pouring out three mugs instead of just one.

“You grew up living like this, Mary Lou. So don’t go acting all high and mighty.” Sitting down at the small, square table he had in his dining room, Graves turned his eyes to the boy, who was staring, open mouthed and wide eyed at the room. “Sit.” He ordered, watching with a raised brow as the boy scrambled to obey.

“Percival, this is Credence Barebone. My nephew.”

“Your... Your nephew.” He had pictures of Credence too, blurry and never seeing his face fully, but he had always assumed the boy was one of the droves of orphans she collected. “Where’s Etta?”

“Dead.” The woman stated simply. “For some number of years now.”

Credence’s fingers twitched and he bowed his head slightly more, staring at his lap, and Percival felt the urge to reach out to the boy and stroke his too short bowl cut, to feel the vulnerable back of the boy’s neck and tug him close to hide him in his shoulder.

“He is the heir to the Barebone nameline.” The woman raised a brow at Percival. “I am bringing him to you to collect the bride price. In No-Maj money.”

The man froze, staring at the woman across from him, his eyes travelling over to Credence. His clothes were threadbare, too large, and his shoulders hunched in on himself, making him seem smaller than he was. Reaching over, Percival cupped the boy’s chin, forcing his face up to stare at him.

He’d recognize those feline eyes anywhere, beautiful and dark and observant. Etta’s eyes.

“Fuck.” The man whispered empathetically and Credence jumped as if he had slapped him, Percival jerking his hand back, startled as the boy cowered slightly and stared up at him.

Standing, Percival paced back and forth over his living room carpet, glancing back at the Barebones every so often before he continued his circuit. He walked into his office, glancing back at them before he rummaged through his desk drawer, pulling out a neatly rolled cigarette and sticking it between his lips. He stepped back out, tapping the end and lighting it before he turned his eyes to the two people seated at his table.

“What do you want, Mary Lou?”

“Only what I said, the bride price for Etta. Perhaps a bit more since my nephew is obviously more to your taste.” Percival’s eyes snapped to Mary Lou, the woman smirking smugly as she looked at him. “I assure you, he has the same inclinations.”

“So you’re saying you don’t want some degenerate like me in your house so you’re trying to pawn him off to me?”

“Certainly not. I’ve taught him how to clean, how to cook, how to run a household, care for children if you eventually decide to find some woman who you can tolerate enough to make one.” Mary Lou tapped her fingers upon the tabletop, and Credence shrank even further away from her. “Take the boy or I will send him to the cathouse as he is no use to me otherwise.”

Credence quailed at that, turning his eyes desperately up to Percival. “Please, sir, Mr. Graves, please take me.” He whispered, his hand shaking and reaching out for the older man’s sleeve only to pull back as if realising what he was about to do.

Years later, when asked what the worst decision of his life was, Percival Graves would think back to this moment.

He was certain that it was the moment he could pinpoint the exact moment that he had lost his goddamn mind to this boy.

“Credence, come here.” The man ordered, staring down at Credence as the boy stood on coltish long legs, hesitating to approach. He couldn’t blame the boy but still. Squaring his shoulders he vanished his cigarette and held out his hand to the boy. “Credence, I am your betrothed and you will come to me when I call you.”

The boy obeyed, but it was a close thing. The caution and fear in those vulnerable, wide eyes wrung something deep in Percival’s chest and he was lost to the scrawny little creature that was Credence Barebone. He opened his arm and Credence at least had the sense to infer what he was meant to do from the gesture. So he tucked himself close to Graves’ side, his head bending to press to the man’s shoulder and allowing Graves to wrap his arm snugly about his waist.

“Now.” The man looked to Mary Lou. “Are you happy, Mary Lou?”

“The cheque, Graves.” The woman stated simply, not moving from her seat.

Percival nodded, guiding Credence into his office quietly. He didn’t close the door, not trusting to not have easy access to the sight of Mary Lou, but he turned to Credence, quietly cupping his shoulders in his palms, looking down at the boy.

“Is this what you want, Credence?”

“Mr. Graves... It’s what my - my aunt raised me to do. I’ve...” Credence’s eyes dropped to the floor and he gripped at the man’s sleeve tightly. “I’ve known that I would eventually be yours.”

Percival grabbed the chequebook from his desk, clumsily filling out the cheque as only someone unaccustomed to the task could, before holding it out to Credence. “If you give this to her... Then that’s it. I can’t let you go after that.” He swallowed slightly before he spoke again. “I’ll... I’ll almost own you.”

Credence took the cheque without hesitation, glancing up before training his gaze to the ground. “You’ve already owned me for years, Mr. Graves.” He flushed slightly before he fiddled with a button of his shirt close to his sternum. “Now I just have a face I can put to you.”

The Graves Estate was located in Tarrytown, New York. It was a grand, sprawling manor, with extensive acres of land surrounding. There were countless rooms, hundreds if Credence was to guess, and for all the rooms it was so painfully empty.

Credence was not sure how his life had come to be like this. What had happened to make it so that he was seated in a parlour, one of dozens, in the Graves estate, looking out the window into the garden. Watching the man he would be marrying in less than a week pace around outside with a thunderous look on his face.

He had been like that for the past two hours.

Credence fiddled with the cup of hot chocolate that the house elf, Rosemary, had brought him, sipping at the still-warm drink carefully as his eyes followed Mr. Graves through his paces.

He had already had his final fitting for his suit. Mary Lou had been paid the bride price that had apparently been passed from his mother - Etta - to him. The ceremony would naturally take place at the Graves estate and the remainder of the Graves family had long ago arrived for the wedding that night. Credence’s new home was to be a brownstone in New York, in the nice part of town where he had never been allowed to hand out fliers for fear of the police being called. Percival had already sold his old apartment, his bachelor pad as Ernst had described it, with quite a bit arguing and snapping back and forth before reluctantly obeying his father’s wishes.

Credence’s hair had been tended to, spelled to grow out so that it could be trimmed and styled, falling into a sleek, soft bob that framed his sharp cheekbones and square jaw, softening him slightly. He slept alone in a luxurious bed and woke to a house elf, Rosemary was her name, opening his windows and coaxing him into his clothing at eight o’clock each morning. He had a whole trunk of clothing and linens and other such items in his trousseau, none of which were picked out by him, other than the great wooden trunk it was all packed in. He wore an engagement ring on his finger, a beautiful thing made of gold and delicate filigree and a square cut ruby embedded in the middle, flanked by two smaller diamonds on either side. He felt like he was walking around this grand estate, wearing something that could pay the ransom of an entire country.

Credence jumped as he realised that he had been caught staring, Percival Graves stopped in his pacing to stare at Credence. His shirt sleeves were rolled up and his collar was open, his tie loose about his throat, his waistcoat undone as well. The June heat was stifling, Credence was sure, and he felt the urge to go outside, to be with his betrothed and offer him lemonade or something cool to eat and drink. But there were house elves for that, and what Credence could pass as decent cooking was probably far surpassed by whatever Rosemary could whip up with a few quick snaps of her fingers.

He thought of the robe in his closet, part of his wedding garb, or more specifically for after the wedding. He thought of the contract that Ernst Graves had gone over with him, thought of the part stating Consummation of the Marriage: Carnal and Otherwise.

He thought of Mr. Graves and his cologne that was spicy and woodsy and muted and wonderful. He thought of pressing closer and closer to Mr. Graves and how wonderful it felt even though layers of clothes. He thought of all the years of Mary Lou telling him he was purchased by the devil, that he was already nearly bought and paid for by a man and that he would belong to him, that he would serve and honor and obey to repent for his sins. He thought of meeting Mr. Graves in person and how he had wanted the man to keep him, to take him away from Mary Lou and her unstable tempers. He thought of those dark, sharp brown eyes, almost black beneath the set of his brows and the serious lines of Percival Graves’ face.

“Credence.”

The boy jumped, spilling his hot chocolate over his lap and freezing at the sight of the strict, pinched face of Antigone Graves. The boy felt his chest clenching as his breaths stuttered in the face of the woman’s disapproving gaze. “I’m so sorry. I’ll go - I’ll clean this up.”

“Don’t worry yourself.” The woman waved her wand and the stain was gone, the cleaned cup back on the table as if nothing had ever happened. “I suppose it’s the price to be paid.” She sighed, sitting across from Credence and watching her son out in the garden, the man returned to his pacing. “I hope you understand how... Disappointing this is.”

Credence’s eyes flickered to the woman and he nodded. He was used to that. To being a disappointment.

“Percival and Etta were at least magically equal. They would have made quite the formidable couple. Provide the Graves line with magically strong children. Unfortunate what has happened to your mother, but I suppose it cannot be helped.” Credence’s fingers instinctively lifted to the small golden locket he wore, the only memory he had of his mother, tucked beneath his shirt and close to his skin. “And now he’s going to marry a squib... The precise thing we had tried to avoid by refusing to let him marry that horrid Mary Lou. Such a disappointment.”

“Believe me, no one is afraid of disappointing Mr. Graves more than me.” Credence whispered, staring at the woman. Failure was not an option. Mary Lou had told him frequently that no one worth a single damn would care about him if he failed Mr. Graves. He’d be on the streets for any John to pay for, to buy for the hour, and that was almost even more frightening of a prospect than Hell. “I... I’ll be good for him, I promise.” His fingers trembled and he lowered them to his lap, clenching and fidgeting them together. “Please don’t send me back.” He choked out, looking up at Antigone for the first time, taking in the severe lines of her mouth and brows.

“We cannot very well send you back. It’s a matter of pride now.” The woman stood. “Whatever decisions have been made are now irreversible.” Antigone stared down at Credence and sighed. “As unfortunate as they might be... At least you are a comely creature and the wedding night shouldn’t be a chore for Percival.”

Credence flushed and looked down at his lap as Antigone left, fiddling with his engagement ring, staring at the deep red depths of the gem, before he looked over through the window at Mr. Graves, the man smoking what must have been his seventh cigarette in the last hour. He wondered if it’d always be like this. If he’d always feel as if he was looking at his husband through a glass partition, able to look but never truly reach him.

The Graves Estate was a massive, sprawling monstrosity of a house and Percival had never been more grateful for it. Growing up it had always seemed lonesome and too large, a perfect place to hide from your family when you didn’t want to worry about a wife or a needy child or an indifferent husband.

Now, Percival felt like a perfect coward using his knowledge of the estate to hide from his betrothed. He was the Director of Magical Security for all of MACUSA. He fought in horrific battles and tracked down dangerous criminals for a living. He had had the Killing Curse and half a dozen other nasty means of death thrown at him on no less than seventeen occasions (as the tally on the wall outside his office, dutifully updated by his underlings declared). He was the most powerful man second only to the President and a powerful wizard in his own right.

And here he was. Scared shitless by a little squib boy half his age.

“You’re pathetic, Percy.” Graves groaned, rubbing his face as he paced once more around the tennis court, nursing a bruise on his cheek. He had spent the last two hours in the court, being pelted by the equipment he had charmed into playing with him. After the last six balls that had caught him almost viciously in the face and stomach he had quickly called it a night and cut off the spell, for fear of where his invisible opponent might hit him next. He produced a towel out of thin air and dried the sweat from his hair, wandering in aimless circles as he thought of his impending marriage and what that might mean.

There was nothing wrong with Credence. The boy was, if anything, wholly delightful, beautiful, young and smart as a whip when given proper intellectual nourishment. He was gentle and kind and considerate, even when met with nothing but indifference from the Graves family. Percival guiltily acknowledged that he had done his best to avoid his fiance and had not helped in the slightest in regards to the murmurs his extended family had about the boy. Leaving the tennis court, he took to the grounds, wandering around the perimeter of the house, attempting to regain his bearings and steady himself in ways the physical exertion had not.

Perhaps the most difficult part of it all was that Credence was, in fact, incredibly desirable. Skinny and pale and ill-kept by his aunt, but all of that had been quickly fixed by the care of the Graves household. What had been undernourishment had turned to slenderness, what had been a sickly wane complexion had turned to something milky and delectable, new clothes that fit had gone a long ways to highlight all of this and damnit Percival knew it.

Walking past the Solarium he glanced out of the large, glassed in room and froze at the sight of the construct, filled with magical and mundane herbs aplenty, currently occupied by a familiar dark figure.

Sneaking over to the doorway, Percival peered through to see Credence sitting on a chaise lounge before a small coffee table, reading a book on herbology and magical uses while whispering the names to himself and peering about the room quietly, curiously.

“Periculid.” The boy murmured, looking at the flower curiously, not touching but still enchanted nonetheless. His delicate fingers traced the air about the bright red-orange petals, the slender stamen rich with pollen.

“They’re deadly.” Graves called from the doorway, lingering quietly. “Don’t touch them.”

Credence snapped his hand back, staring over at Graves before he flushed and looked back at the flower. “Yes, but they are very lovely to look at.”

“Dangerous things often are.” Graves didn’t move from where he lingered in the doorway. Credence carefully angled his body away from the man, clutching the book to his chest and slowly inching until the chaise lounge was between them. Percival paused before something clicked for him and he cleared his throat, shifting in place slightly. “I’m sorry. I made you uncomfortable.”

“No - no you... I mean yes.” The boy whispered, looking shyly up at Graves and placing his hand on the chaise. “You’re quite frightening.” He whispered, biting his lip even after the words came out.

Percival paused, staring at that soft, full lip and imagining taking it into his own mouth. If he slipped his thumb over the plush flesh he was quite certain he could easily press it into Credence’s mouth, watch the boy suckle on the digit, his lips pursed softly -

A sharp nod and a turn and Percival was quickly making his way away from the boy, out of the Solarium and tennis court and through several hallways until he was well on the other side of the Estate, in one of the studies where his father kept the day wine that he often took after breakfast.

“Credence. Credence! Wake up!”

Credence gasped as if surfacing from a great body of water, grabbing at the hands clutching his shoulders, his nails digging into the backs of Graves’ palms as the man’s eyes swam into his vision.

They sat together, breathing heavily and staring at one another, Credence still sprawled on the bed and Graves bent over him, sitting on the edge and holding the boy’s shoulders, gently stroking his thumbs over the edges of sharp collarbones as broad hands cradled the joins of his shoulders. The touch was heavenly and whatever fear or distress Credence might have felt melted away into something warm and liquid in his stomach. He stared up at Mr. Graves, his handsome face and his hair mussed from sleep, his white undershirt and the robe he had obviously thrown on over his smalls.

Credence thought back to a book of fairy tales that he had seen once as a child, of a princess sleeping away her life and a prince who had kissed her awake. He flushed as he thought of Mr. Graves doing the same to him, even though he knows that the man had woken him much more abruptly and roughly than a kiss.

“You were screaming.” The man whispered, his voice hoarse with worry as he pressed his face to the boy’s temple, pulling him close. “You were screaming and I couldn’t move, I didn’t know what to do so I just...” His grip on the boy’s shoulders tightened and Credence felt a piece slot into place, realising that Graves had probably shaken him awake.

Credence’s fingers tangled in the back of the man’s pajamas, clinging tightly as their breathing evened out together.

“You scared the daylights out of me.” The man murmured, pulling back slowly and Credence felt bereft at the loss, grabbing at Graves’ hands and pulling him back.

“Stay.” The boy whispered, staring up at Graves.

“I’m not allowed in here. I had to fight with the door to gain access.” The man murmured, stroking his fingers over Credence’s temple. “Mother and Father don’t want me ruining your virtue.”

“Please.” Credence hiccuped, tears brimming in his eyes, the boy unable to stop them as he clutched at Percival’s arms. “I don’t want to be alone, Mr. Graves.” He sounded so needy and it was pathetic, but he was now frightened of sleeping again. And Mr. Graves’ arms were so warm and heavy and certainly he would be well protected by Percival. Percival the wizard policeman, the Auror.

The man seemed to wage a quiet war with himself before he laid down, carefully pulling Credence to his chest and pressing their bodies together, shoulder to ankle. Credence sighed and nuzzled into the man’s neck, his eyes closing even as he felt the lines of tension in the man’s body tighten. The broad hand on his back didn’t stop moving, however, and Credence sighed, shivering and pressing closer as the man’s palm slid over the curve of his spine.

Percival, for his part, was doing his best to avoid the feelings of arousal that had crept upon him. The boy had opened his eyes and stared at Percival like he was God. Now the boy slept, with long, tear-damp lashes fluttering against his cheeks as he pressed his sharp, slightly crooked nose against Graves’ collarbone. His breath ghosted over skin as Graves stared at full, softly parted lips, wondering about rubbing his thumb over them and slipping the digit into his mouth.

He imagined it would be so easy to coax the soft mouth open, to kiss the tender skin, to gently coax Credence until his tongue traced curiously over Percival’s thumb, sucking delicately, full lips pursed the same way they would be around his cock.

Percival bit back a groan at the erection he had formed, hoping that the boy was deep enough asleep that he didn’t notice the hardness pressed to his thigh now. Pressing his nose to the boy’s spelled hair and breathing deeply of the scent of vanilla that clung to him, smelling Rosemary’s cinnamon snap cookies on the pale skin as well and smiling as he pressed closer. Credence sighed against the man’s throat and Graves closed his eyes, promising to wake himself before daylight to sneak back into his room.

Credence was staring at him from across the room. Graves had taken up roost in the chair his father usually occupied, reading files sent to him from MACUSA. He had finished filling out his paperwork for the marriage, and was currently working on something that made him glance over at Credence with an assessing gaze every so often.

The boy flushed as their eyes met and he reached down to turn a page in his own book, an Austen novel he had taken to. He liked Mr. Darcy. The shy, quiet love interest of the main character. He couldn’t help that in his mind’s eye Mr. Darcy looked exactly like his Mr. Graves, all broad shoulders and the handsome cut of his features and the silver at his temples, his slicked back hair dark and thick.

“You wear scorpions a lot.” The boy called out, shy but curious still. His eyes flickered to the stickpins at the man’s collar, the black scorpions holding small rubies between their tiny claws.

“The family symbol.” The man stated simply, glancing over as well, their eyes meeting for a brief moment. “Come over here.” He held out his hand and Credence approached, slowly, carefully, before the man took Credence’s hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over the ruby of the ring. He couldn’t help the shiver that escaped him as Percival stared up at him, eyes searching for something that Credence was uncertain he had. He felt barren for that moment, filled with nothing and waiting for Percival to pour meaning down his gullet until he was full.

Credence gasped as he saw a small black scorpion appear in the glittering ruby depths, carved into the gold setting. Mr. Graves smiled and leaned forward to kiss the ring, looking up at Credence. “If you ever wish to see me, then all you need do is touch the ring and think of me.”

The boy looked to Graves and the man was caught with the fever brightness of those eyes, with the way Credence stared at him as if he had given him the key to the world. The man stared into those feline eyes and leaned slowly forward, sliding his palm over Credence’s jaw, over the sharp edge of bone and back to cup the base of his skull.

“Credence.” Graves murmured, looking at those soft lips, parting around a gasp.

And suddenly his need had grown teeth, had become ravenous and desperate, like a wolf starved in the mountains suddenly finding the fat, vulnerable form of a lamb separated from the flock. It became far too much to resist that starving hunger for the boy, for his touch and taste and the soft sigh of pleasure that ghosted over his lips as they met.

Staring down at Credence, Percival couldn’t help the soft smile that curved over his mouth, smoothing his thumb over the boy’s plush lips as Credence’s eyes fluttered open and he stared at him.

“You should go back to your book, Credence.” The man murmured, still rubbing his thumb over the soft flesh.

“I don’t think I want to.” The boy whispered back, kissing at Graves’ thumb gently, looking up at him, eyes lidded and hungry and curious, wanting so desperately as the slim chest pressed to Percival’s own broader torso.

Graves groaned, sliding his hand over Credence’s back, cupping and pulling him close until the boy tilted his face to tuck against Percival’s throat. “Sweet boy... I don’t deserve you.” He murmured into the neatly styled bob of the boy’s hair.

Credence’s head snapped up and he stared at the man, clutching at his lapel tightly. “You can’t send me back.” The boy whispered. “I’ll be good for you, I promise. I don’t know how to be a - a wizard, but I can be your wife, I can be whatever you want, please-”

“Master Percival!” Rosemary’s squeaky voice called from the doorway and Percival glanced over, seeing the disapproving stare she gave. “Not until the wedding night!” She popped over before the man could blink, grasping Credence’s wrist and dragging him away. “No canoodling!” She ordered, waving a finger at Percival as the man stood, watching Credence being led, shame-faced, away from the parlor.

Goddamnit. He was going to lose himself to this sweet boy.

[game-refraction]

Game Review: Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4 PRO)

Killzone was, in some ways, Sony’s answer to Microsoft’s Halo franchise. The PlayStation 2 was devoid of a strong FPS, and Halo had been dominating the charts for several years before Guerrilla Games introduced us to the world of Helghan. I thoroughly enjoyed the franchise, even despite not completing the 3rd chapter, a game that I fully intend on revisiting some point soon. Killzone: Shadow Fall, for the PlayStation 4, was an alright game, but wasn’t the system seller that Sony had hoped for. Sure, it looked pretty and had everyone convinced that the PS4 was a graphical powerhouse, but the game just under delivered.

Back in 2010 at a press briefing at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, Managing Director Hermen Hulst announced that the team was hard at work on a brand new intellectual property, confirming Guerrilla Game’s temporary departure from the Killzone franchise. This title, Horizon Zero Dawn, was announced five years later at Sony’s 2015 E3 press conference, and it was the talk of the show. In an industry that is so set on sequel after sequel, it was truly magnificent to see an established studio taking a chance on a new IP, and boy did it pay off as Horizon Zero Dawn is exceptional.

Horizon Zero Dawn is set far into the future, in a world overrun by dangerous robotic creatures and small isolated human tribes, each in varying states of technological and social development. Where these creatures came from and the events that lead to the state of this world is the core narrative to Horizon Zero Dawn and just a few of the many secrets you will uncover.

I don’t want to dive too far into the plot of the game as even early on, there are some wondrous elements to the game that can be somewhat spoiled in the trailers, and can lead to some rather large discoveries that, while a bit predictable, are still vastly entertaining, so I’ll keep it brief. You play as Aloy, an outcast of the Nora tribe. Why she is an outcast is kept from her at an early age as is the identity of her mother. Her guardian, and father figure Rost, who is also an outcast, tells Aloy that the only way to learn the truth about her parentage is to enter in a contest called The Proving. This contest of the Nora people grants a boon to its winner, not to mention also negates their outcast status, and Rost suggests that Aloy uses that reward to discover the truth. The Proving and the events that follow not only guide Aloy to the truth behind her mother but to other truths that have remained hidden for hundreds of years. What starts out as a simple quest to discover the truth about her mother turns into a fight for the survival of all mankind.

Throughout Aloy’s journey to uncover the truth, you’ll meet up with a wonderful cast of characters, with some more memorable than the others. Several of them will have quests to give you, accompany you on them, or require some sort of assistance. My favorite of the supporting cast is Nil, a warrior that is hell-bent on killing bandits. The character is funny, annoying, yet strangely brilliant. You’ll meet up with him outside of most bandit camps and join forces to dish out some justice, just as long as all the bandits die, of course. The voice acting in Horizon Zero Dawn is remarkable and probably the strongest in quality I’ve seen in years. Ashly Burch, who I have become quite the fan of since Life is Strange, voices Aloy to near perfection. Aloy goes through a series of emotional moments throughout the game, sometimes being vastly overburdened by truths that should very well break her, and Burch delivers performances that sell it all. When Aloy was happy, or in a joking mood, I was right there with her, and in moments where Aloy was sad, well, so was I.

I’ve read a lot about people being unhappy with a game of this budget and scope having a female protagonist and it’s rather sad to see this. Several people online issuing boycotts unless they can make their own character, unhappy with the gender of its lead hero. Aloy is a wonderfully written character that feels far more deeply real than many other video game characters in history, being more in line with what SquareEnix is doing with Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider games. Several developers in the industry are moving away from the generic macho hero who kills everything in his path while spouting out one-liners, and this is a good thing. Well written characters like Nathan Drake from Uncharted or Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us, or even Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite, are becoming more and more apparent. Strong writing of not only the narrative but of its characters as well is good for the industry and means that not every character needs to be part of a customizational toolset to be enjoyable because let’s face it, the best written ones are not.

If one thing can be said about Horizon Zero Dawn is that it is unbelievably gorgeous. My playthrough was entirely on a Playstation 4 Pro running in 4K with HDR and it’s very clear that this is the best-looking console game on the market. I’ll also note that the game still looks rather impressive on a regular Playstation 4 in 1080p, so don’t feel like you are missing out visually. While there are some instances where there is a visual blemish here and there, those blemishes are still better than nearly the entire industry. Locations are packed with detail and the lighting systems can make for some incredible scenery. Each type of environment, whether it’s jungle, arid desert or mountains buried in snow, are breathtaking. I lost track of how many times I needed to stop and take in a location’s beauty and just capture a few screenshots in the process. Thankfully, this is made even easier with the in-game photo mode. This feature allows you to stop the action, control filters and settings to get that perfect shot. You can change time or day, remove Aloy from the picture or add borders and various bits to each shot.

Horizon Zero Dawn features a large open world that is begging to be explored. I’m not usually a fan of open world games that are populated by hundreds of icons on the map, but the world offered here is so enjoyable, that I didn’t mind seeking out the various collectibles scattered around the map. There are dozens of missions, side-quests and errands to take part in, with a few of them starting off as seemingly quick activities before turning into lengthy adventures that surpass what a side-quest usually is. Horizon Zero Dawn can sometimes feel like the greatest hits of various gaming mechanics from other games, and the one I find it borrows the most from is Far Cry, with even the map having animal icons in regions that they are more likely to be found in. You’ll also find giant giraffe looking creatures called TallNecks that operate like the radio towers, with climbing them used to uncover huge sections of the map.

Helping you explore that map, and other key features is your Focus device. This holographic accessory from the previous civilization is a wearable item that allows Aloy to see enemy weak points, assist in tracking, and read out other digital information needed to help you make sense of the world. Using Focus is much like Detective vision from the Batman games, offering a single colored version of the world with highlighted items being a bright color, usually in contrast to the primary color. What is great about how Focus is used here is that you can trigger it on and off with some elements remaining highlighted even when not in that mode. This is usually when you want to identify weak points on enemies or use it for tracking. These tracking elements are similar to tracking blood in Far Cry Primal or smells and other elements like that of The Witcher 3. I did find that the tutorial for tracking would pop up almost every time I went to use it, and it became a bit frustrating to see it again and again. When the Focus is used to scan enemies, you’ll be shown what and where the enemy is weak against, and removing these components can take a large chunk out of their health bar. This use of your Focus is extremely effective against large robots like the Deathbringer or the ThunderJaw.

Combat is offered through a few different methods; your bow, traps, and your spear. Your spear can be used via a light attack, heavy attack, a stealth attack and to hack creatures to control them, which I’ll explain further shortly. Traps are useful when taking on large crowds, and nearly the entire game will be played using just your bow. You’ll unlock the use of several different types of bows, each with different abilities, elemental properties, and precision. You also have a slow down mechanic that helps with aiming for that much-needed headshot, as well as picking off the vulnerable components fitted on each robotic creature. You do also have a sling-shot type weapon that works in some ways like the bow, offering different elemental types of damage or status effects. There is also the human threat, but they all tend to go down the same way, with none of them needing a different strategy to take down.

I did find that enemies sometimes would detect traps and avoid them, or run away only to come back into the battle like the AI didn’t know what to do. I also found that the camera is far too close to Aloy during combat and can, and did, lead to much frustration when taking on large forces of creatures. This was especially apparent when taking on flying creatures and ground creatures at the same time as the action can get so in your face that you won’t see the birds dive bomb you, or if you are focused on the birds, being tackled by something off camera ground-wise. While combat can be thrilling, it did get a bit frustrating until I changed up my tactics about how I encountered battles. While you can’t help with some encounters getting the attention of something threatening nearby, you can control a bit of the action on the battlefield with the Ropecaster. This weapon allows you to pin an enemy down and place them out of battle for a few moments, with more ropes being fired to hold them longer. Using this as well as traps made combat far more engaging and less frustrating when dealing with hordes of enemies.

I mentioned that you can utilize the robotic creatures to your benefit using your spear by hacking them. This process will change depending on the level of compatibility your spear has. You’ll upgrade it via locations called Cauldrons. These locations are sort of like mini-dungeons that have usually have a boss at the end, and once defeated, you can then control them via your spear. Hacking enemies that look like horses will allow you to ride them and have a kick attack that can be rather helpful. I started a battle with the large T-Rex shaped ThunderJaw when I was ambushed by a group of Ravagers until I crippled the ThunderJaw to the ground and hacked it to fight for me, needless to say, the Ravagers didn’t last long.

The robotic forces vary in types from the small and agile Watcher, or the Alligator inspired Snapmaw. In fact, many if not all of the creatures are based on real life counterparts. This was done so that you would see a creature, recognize what it is based on and already have some sense of how it would act. If you are quick enough, or stealthy enough, you can get the drop on many of the creatures and perform a stealth kill, and this works well enough against human enemies as well. These brief moments of stealth are when you find sections of tall grass to hide in, but be warned, some creatures won’t be fooled by this tactic.

To aid in combat, you’ll unlock various skills to purchase using skill points. These points are earned while leveling up, completing quests, or achieving a perfect score during your hunter trials. If you max out Aloy at level 50, then there is a good chance you’ll unlock every one of the skills. These vary in abilities like attacking from ledges, increasing strike damage, harvesting more resources on a kill, or improving your dodge roll. My favorite skill ability has to be firing up to 3 arrows at once, making some combat sessions end quicker as you’ll do far more damage. Damage, both incoming and outgoing can also be affected by modification items that you can equip to weapons and armor. These, like most items in the game, work off a colored system; Green is low tier, then blue and then finally purple at the top. There are outfits that you can equip to Aloy that come with various stats as well as a different visual appearance and modification slots. You can also track down the Shield-Weaver outfit later on in the game that makes you nearly invincible, should you uncover the necessary items to unlock it.

As you kill enemies or find resources on the map, you will gather items that can be used to craft them into traps, potions or ammo for your various weapons. The crafting system is very thin and doesn’t really offer much depth, but it works well enough to be useful. You’ll need to upgrade your storage capacity to your various “pouches” in order to gather a lot of items and trust me, it will fill up very quickly. Often I would have to go to the market and sell off a ton of my items as my bags would fill up fast. To purchase items at the various vendors you’ll use shards, and I wish more options to earn shards would have been implemented here. You’ll earn reward boxes constantly and often I would have dozens and dozens of them still in my inventory because of the 12 traps I could hold, I had over a hundred of them waiting to be used in boxes and remained there because I couldn’t hold more than the max. This would lead me to sell some, take them from the boxes and repeat. I also had to leave hundreds of items on the battlefield because my storage was always full. I wish a “convert to shards” option would have been made available so I could clear out my queue of boxes and not waste my spoils in battle, even if the conversion gain was minimal.

Another issue I had with the buying and selling of goods was the inability to buy in bulk. You can sell items in bulk no problem, but if you want to buy 300 wire, you’ll need to buy them one at a time, with each purchase requiring you to hold down a button for a full second. While items like this drop in battle quite regularly, the ability to buy them is painfully slow and something that is easily patched, should after release quality of life improvements occur like they did somewhat regularly in The Witcher 3.

In the end, Horizon Zero Dawn is astonishing. While it doesn’t offer us anything really new to the open world genre, it takes what has worked so well in other games and combines them into a marriage of finely tuned mechanics. While it’s not unheard of a game borrowing or being inspired by other games, it’s remarkably rare to see a game use those elements better than where they are sourced from and that is what Horizon Zero Dawn does so well. Combine that with a world that feels real, filled with real people, with a protagonist that is superbly written, and you have the makings of a stellar franchise. Despite my issues with the game, because those issues can be somewhat frustrating, they pale in comparison to the overall package. Horizon Zero Dawn is to be applauded and I wish that other developers would jump off the sequel train and offer us fresh new experiences like this masterpiece.

Horizon Zero Dawn was reviewed using a retail copy and all screenshots were taken using the in-game Photo mode.

  Game Review: Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4 PRO) was originally published on Game-Refraction