#dealing with my feels by starting my third playthrough

[piratecaptainraven]

Temperance/The Star

[kiivg]

Your Rook is ridiculously good looking. Like, I’m actually blushing and it’s all your fault

.The initial idea for him was Grave Robbing Pirate and honestly the beard options came through for me like nothing else. Guaranteed I was going to go for muttonchops/sideburns before I even knew what the CC looked like, but idk they looked a little patchy sometimes and that is NOT what Farid is about 👏 The whatever it is he has now is iconic for him, I tried making him as an elf but it was Cursed and Never-to-Be-Seen-Again. Also the balding ponytail? I saw it, and I was like yeah that’s it, that’s him, that’s exactly what I’m about.

.Also it is absolutely insane to me that he’s the first draft, I got him in one go with a little fine tuning once I figured out how the CC works. Especially considering how ugly Goddard turned out as the Inquisitor 😭😭 but now I HC he just sends somebody over in his place to act as a go between, ain’t no way he’s traipsing around with Morrigan lmao. I did make a crummy Blackwall Inq so I could get Dorian to call him Amatus 👹 Pavwall Canon UNLOCKED. (I wonder if you could make the Iron Bull tho?? Sans wide horns ofc.)

.Also, girlie, tysm!!!!!! I am ALSO very 👀😳🥴🤫🫡 about him, I’ve just started my third playthrough of him, I’m still tweaking little bits here and there as I go along. Which means ofc I’m going to be screenshotting him in every cutscene 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️.

.Edit tho I’ve changed his name to Farid now 😘.

.Some facts about my Rook, Farid Thorne, and his story below 💕🫡.

.His mother is Therasia Thorne, a Rivaini Dalish elf who left her clan for the calling of the sea, and he is an absolute mama’s boy. Will do absolutely anything she asks with very little, if any, questioning. He doesn’t know (and most likely never will) who his father is, as the man bought Therasia’s silence over their affair with two galleons and a frigate. On a side note, Therasia was known for seducing very rich men and getting pregnant in order to blackmail them. Most of the time the fathers would pay up, and there has only been one instance of the father agreeing to take the baby off her hands, her bluff was called and she regretfully left her son behind.

.He adores expensive textures, silk, dragon scales, gold, fine lace, alamarri sheep wool, phoenix feathers. If he wasn’t a career criminal turned conscript he would have been a tailor. He owns (or used to own) several dresses/robes that he would just lounge about in naked to feel the fabric against his skin. Doesn’t really think too much of leather though, it can be stiff and often chafes the skin, which is strange because he’s very much a rope man.

.He waxes most of his body hair off, and keeps everything nice and tidy. He also puts coloured powder in his open wounds to preserve the shape of them as they heal, true to his mother’s traditions.

.Has kept his face completely bare of tattoos (apart from the fish he got when he was fourteen) in an honour to his Dalish heritage; he knows he won’t ever get valaslin because he’s only a half-elf, but the prospect of it keeps his face bare.

.Is fascinated by machinery and spent a great deal of time perfecting his own tools. His own frigate was equipped with self made trident ballistas, each one would fire three harpoons (individually or all at once) secured with thick chains, crafted to hunt and bring down large game, dragons, and smaller fleeing ships.

.In tune with his love for crafting, he follows June, and not the Maker. Though he does keep this to himself and those he considers family. If asked he just says he doesn’t believe in the Maker, and refuses to elaborate.

.Absolutely fucks, big family kind of guy. He is one of nineteen children, and has nine of his own by five different women, though he assumes there’s more because he was very much a leave before the sunrise kind of guy. Now he’s matured with being in the Wardens and has been less of a dick about it all. Whether or not he’s got any chance of knowing those kids who knows 🤷‍♂️.

.Never told anyone about his past when he became a Warden, the only people who know are those who were privy to his conscription, and the higher up Wardens upon receiving his arrest and conscription reports. Most people know he’s a conscript however, he doesn’t shy away from that, and he’s had a dozen or more rumours spread about him within the order. Evka was the first person to say he was a good Warden and back him up, and I think that solidified him as a third wheel to her and Antoine.

.He was actually conscripted by order of my HoF Andrastopher Cousland, as a favour returned. Andrastopher wanted aboard his ship when the Inquisition was seeking out a new leader,(there was no way he was becoming a religious figurehead lmao) and he stayed there for a good six months or so before Zevran joined them, and another two months before returning back to Thedas. They… uh… yeah 🥴🤫.

.If he was a companion his questline would probably follow trying to kill his older brother Galo after receiving a plea for help from his sister in law Aadiyah. Turns out Galo is either a) helping the Antaam navigate the seas uncontested or b) capturing and selling slaves to the Venatori. The big question at the end would be whether to tell their daughter that he’s her dad or to let her believe Galo was her father considering he HAS just murdered him, and she has several siblings that Galo fathered too.

.His gift would be an ornamental smoking pipe or a hookah, his room would be an observatory, full of navigational maps and constellations, there would be a small tailors work bench on one side of the room complete with mannequin and a sewn outfit that would slowly complete over his personal questline. His bed would be a row boat full of pillows.

.His almost kiss scene would be him explaining that he’s no good, his past actions are very much coming to bite him in the ass, and that you should really stop flirting with him. Does he want you to stop? No. Is he going to lean in to try and kiss you? Yes. Is he going to remember that everything is playing out as it does before and pull away because he knows he’s not good enough for you? Yes.

.His romance lock in scene would be stargazing on the beach in Rivain, he’d point out a couple constellations, talk about his time seafaring (minus all the murdering and pillaging). You’d get the option to ask about a few different ones (leading to locking out of the romance) or a secret fourth one and he’d absolutely bullshit some made up romantic story that parallels him and you, and you’d call bullshit because YES it is bullshit, and he’d say something awfully sappy about making it “our constellation” and then 💋💋💋.

.The actual romance scene would be that he turns up completely naked in your room, he’ll ask if you want the Captain or the Warden, and you uh choose and uh ye a hh haha ahaaaaa 😳🥴.

[nymphaeamoon]

♟️Lucanis Ted Talk 🐦‍⬛

Hello welcome to the hell that is my brain laying around not able to sleep with too many ideas but ADHD refusing to let me start them. Help me...

Anyways! I want to draw this scenario (if my dumb brain allows me) and how I wish I could write.

I'm a sloot for angst with happy endings or having proper communication with the good feels that follow.

Going through my third playthrough yes romancing Lucanis again my brain thought on a scenario: The first time Lucanis goes in for a kiss in the pantry room. I had originally brought Lucanis with me at all times. Every outing. As someone with ADHD I deal with Rejection Dysphoria. When he pulls away my Rook (de Riva) would be crushed. Absolutely. Not mad at all or upset with Lucanis in the slightest. It would be more a down spiral of what my Rook thinks she could have done wrong. Did she move to fast? Did she make him uncomfortable? Did she ruin it somehow? Overthinking. Even seeing him would physically hurt her chest. So, for the first time since forming this team she doesn't bring Lucanis with her as one of the party. Lucanis hears Rook is about to head out, gets himself ready, because he always goes with her. Only to walk to the eluvian room and see Rook leaving with Neve and Bellara. Telling everyone bye with a convincing smile and bright demeanor. She can't look at him. She can't... afraid of what she will see. Afraid her eyes would show her inner turmoil and the last thing she wants is to make him feel guilty or hurt him. With a parting wave she steps through the eluvian. Leaving the rest of the team, having no idea what has happened between the too, and Lucanis at the doors just standing there geared up having just assumed he would be at Rook's side like he always got to be.

How would Lucanis handle this? How would my Rook?

Anyways thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. I'll shut up now.

[purplekoop]

MAJOR Deltarune chapter 3+4 spoilers (including MAJOR secrets) below the cut:

I know I'm not alone in this but I think by far the biggest nitpick to have with Chapter 3 is how much of a hassle it is to get all the secret stuff.

Like, in order to have all the main collectibles (Egg, Shadow Crystal, AND Shadow Mantle), you need to:

S-Rank board 1 (either legit or by earning enough points to cheat it in, which if you don't get the s-rank anyways then you're almost certainly doing it by save editing), then play the first secret board

S-rank board 2 (with similar restrictiveness), then play the second secret board

Sit through the burning city board scene that takes FOREVER and can barely be sped up

Do the entire extremely cryptic Egg process BEFORE continuing to the next step, because you're locked out of being able to do it once you beat the final secret board. At least it's not too tedious if you know to set it up alongside your normal run through of TV World

Do the secret board, including the pretty tricky Nightmare boss, for the shadow mantle

THEN do Tenna (not a bad fight but it's a bit tedious if this is a repeat playthrough for you, which. it will be)

Then, just. y'know. do the second hardest fight in any chapter thus far or Undertale. Admittedly you can get the hang of it, once you get the strategy it's not as insurmountable as it first looks, but it's still not easy.

And you can't do this in any other order, there's so many points of no return where you can lock yourself out of a major step in the chain if you want everything. My first playthrough I could go back and get the egg, but I can't get the shadow mantle. My second playthrough I got the shadow mantle, but since I beat the final secret board I can't do the first step of the egg process. So now I need to play the entire chapter a third time just to get everything in one run, including the super hard fights, only to then need to start an entire new chapter FOUR run and get the (much less restrictive and difficult) secrets there.

I know I've got between 6 and 18 months to get it all done, but it's definitely a bit of a grating point on one otherwise pretty fun chapter and one exceptional chapter, compared to chapters 1 and 2 where you can do anything (other than the weird route) no matter what before you leave their respective dark worlds.

I'll respect it as a design choice on the grounds that "beating" The Roaring God Damn Knight in Chapter 3 SHOULD feel like a big deal that the game very much insists SHOULDN'T be possible, and that this sort of "perfect run first try" shouldn't necessarily be the expectation going into each chapter and is probably a consequence of trying to dodge spoilers as fast as possible and is likely far from intended compared to playing and replaying the chapters at your own pace (an NPC before the first board just about says as much), but it's still. something a little irritating, especially when Chapter 3 is still a very "love it or hate it" chapter even on concept alone.

We'll see how this all plays out going forward, either it'll be less strict in later chapters (4 by contrast is a breeze to find everything you'd want in one run) or if it'll get more complicated and specific as we see where the storylines of these secret items go next, and the requirements to see them to the end become even stricter.

...I'm gonna go listen to Hammer of Justice 30 more times now.

[dmagedgoods]

I thought about how I fell in love with Raphael the moment he opened his mouth for the very first time but I feel that for some he was an acquired taste. Sooo, Raphael Nation, I'm curious:

[alligator-with-a-top-hat]

I started playing Samus Returns! I didn't expect to get as sucked in as I am, but I really like what they're going for here, especially since I'm fresh from my third playthrough of the original Metroid 2.

Unsorted thoughts:

This is a great looking game, especially for 3DS. It would look good even if the graphics weren't as good as they are (and they are very good for the system) because the visual design and art style are also extremely solid. The Metroids look great, the environments are pretty and Samus looks great. Her base power suit design in this game is one of my favorites now that I have a chance to properly see it in action.

The music! The freaky ambience is literally so good. They took the original game's sound design and made it work. Hearing the bloops that became the EMMI zone sounds in Dread is unnerving in the best way. They took everything that worked about the original's music + better sound hardware so you can really see what they were going for 1991

The level design is extremely solid. Something that's clicking now that I've played both this and Dread is that MercurySteam's level design is much more tightly plotted, if that makes sense, than the in-house Nintendo games. It feels much more puzzle-oriented than platforming oriented, and thus the world feels more video gamey than the original.

Semi-related is the enemy placement. The MercurySteam games are crowded with enemies compared to the games that came before. It means there is a constant flow of action, which is good from a gameplay perspective but also cuts into the atmosphere, since you can't really stop and absorb your surroundings.

That said, the action is much more engaging. Enemies have more complicated behaviors than before, so when multiple types of enemies are in an area it creates unique challenges that are fun to deal with. I don't mind the counter; attacks are highly telegraphed but still come in fast enough to provide a challenge, and the game gives you plenty of other ways to handle enemies besides so there is variety in combat.

Every time I enter a new area I think of the AM2R equivalent. "That's the Golden Temple!" "That is my friend the Hydro Complex :)"

Comparing the level design choices of the two different remakes is fun! Where AM2R was faithful with some embellishment, Samus Returns shakes things up while clearly paralleling specific parts of the original so it's familiar but not so familiar. It's also nice to see that there were things in the original Metroid 2 that were so clear that both remakes interpreted it in the same way, like Area 2 being a reservoir

The Metroid battles are way more fun than in both the original and AM2R. The original game is much more combat focused than any other Metroid game because of the sheer number of Metroid bosses, and this game makes sure the encounters are fun, challenging, and not repetitive, which the original (and to a lesser extent AM2R) had trouble with. No two Alpha Metroid battles in this game have been the same and I really appreciate that, especially compared to how basic they are in the other two (and in AM2R's case, they're so basic they kinda have to cheat by giving them a dodge in the later fights to keep things difficult).

[moonchopsticks]

finished great god grove tonight! first scattered thoughts:

- been said to death but fucking immaculate style. yugo limbo never misses

-im the type of person that Needs to Know what happens next in the story so i definitely rushed over a lot of optional dialogue. definitely coming back for a second or third playthrough where i can dig into the world a little better

-i loooved the progression of revealing the lore and worldbuilding throughout the story. it was all very straightforward and followable yet sparse enough to make me feel like i was piecing together the nature of the gods and the grove organically. also watching the bizzyboy puppet exposition dumps were such a treat

-very cool worldbuilding, although sometimes the gods just felt like Big Immortal Humans. i know they all had their associated domains which influences their respective communities (+ tied into the different types of love that they each represent) but it never felt like they had much power outside embodying a specific theme. which is fine, there's lots of ways to interpret divinity and the concept of a god. maybe i'll have something more coherent to say abt this in the morning?

-^^ kind of ties into inspekta's whole deal. he already had immortality and was guaranteed it basically forever, in what way did king's ascension and the other gods just existing threaten him? like i'll buy that he had the sort of ego that comes from being insecure about the meaning of your short life and from fear of irrelevance, but if he was afraid of death it seems like he'd already be chilling just by accomplishing ascension. i guess he just wanted it All? i'm not really pressed about it, since the themes of like. love in the face of mortality and the insecurity that fear of death can bring are hugely impactful to me personally. and i like to see people talk about it. i just think more couldve been done with it.

-speaking of, capochin is a banger of a character. he has such a little ego and lords his authority over his subordinates, and you can just tell he's dripping with insecurity about his place in the world. i.e. at the right hand of inspekta as his unflinchingly loyal dog. he craves power and purpose and fears irrelevance, just like inspekta, and is tethered to his place by both intense fear and devotion. he treats the bizzyboys like dirt but even as they start to rebel against him they know that he'd never hurt them. also he's a 3 foot tall smug bastard fifty something year old with little puppy dog eyes. who's doing it like him

-inspekta, like all the players in the story, was made with such love and care that i couldnt imagine anything but a hopeful ending for him. aw hector. the secretly evil twist was pretty obviously telegraphed. had my suspicions pretty early on, which were solidified by the time the bizzyboys attack you after cobigail and all but stated after buzzhuzz, where they turn to fascism. (surprised that razzma said it straight up.)

- probably my favorite gods were cobigail and bauhazzo. did NOT expect to like them so much! cobigail's lore is really good for a human turned god of harvest--music teacher that lives in the school she used to teach in, a bright pillar of the community, voted to ascend by the town she brought together. slowly forgotten by the people she used to break bread with and slowly starving because they're forgetting how to come together and feed her. and she's a fucking cutie patootie sweet pea. and bauhazzo was very charming to talk to and also one of the most interesting thematically to me personally. for a god of memory and keeper of thousands of years of history he's very tender about the small moments. being a living memory essentially and letting nostalgia overtake you in a moment of weakness is an on the nose but relevant warning against fascist rhetoric (and just in general the trap of thinking about the Good Old Days). in general im someone that loves the ups and downs of life, and i tend to be nostalgic about the past and fear the passing of time, but my memory is really poor, so i end up thinking a lot about the subjectivity of memories and about how effervescent everything is...bauhazzo just ended up resonating with me ig!

-the first time miss mitternacht dropped that king uses she/her my eyes goggled out of my head like that cartoon wolf. experienced the euphoria of finding out that cool guy was a butch lesbian in real time. also makes her and miss mitternacht's thing one million times more juicy. idk i love gay people

-not sure why this stuck in my head but i cracked up when vibi was getting a little too into imagining capochin getting sweaty and dirty. pathetic man likers rise up

-patty i love u forever

-idk, this is the sort of game that reminds me that i want to create something. i want to make art without reservation. i'm grateful for projects like these.

[angelatmidnight1]

Watching Over You

A/N: I couldn't sleep last night (still haven't slept- it's almost 9am now) and was playing BG3 on my resist!urge playthrough and she had dialogue with Jaheira that inspired this quick fic. I like Jaheira a lot; she doesn't mind if Tav/Durge playfully messes with her, and I like her tough-love, no nonsense personality. This is my first time writing for her though, so I hope I captured her character well enough. There are spoilers for Jaheira/Dark Urge; please don't read if you don't want to encounter spoilers!

WC: 1251.

Paring: Jaheira x Dark Urge (Platonic).

Read on Ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63331936

Jaheira watches over The Dark Urge as they sleep. It’s not a restful night, but she intends to keep those under her charge safe. 

Jaheira had always been a light sleeper, even in her youth. 

Nowadays, with cultists, mind flayers, and elder brains, she hardly slept at all.

Whenever she was particularly restless, she kept herself busy. Put the hands to work, and the mind calms down. She’d tend her plants, feed the harmless nocturnal creature she’d come across, or make nightly rounds throughout the camp. Tonight, she went with the third option. 

There was something about seeing her companions resting peacefully that made her old heart stir. Maybe it reminded her of raising her children, although her time with them was brief. Her steps were light as she walked past tents unnoticed. Gale fell asleep with a book in his lap, Scratch slept beside Shadowheart, and Karlach snored with Clive tucked under her arm. Jaheira chuckled; fearless, powerful warriors by day were blissfully ordinary at night. When the battle was done, and if her old bones hadn’t given out, she wanted her and her Harpers to help Baldurians go back to ordinary. 

When she approached Durge’s tent, though, she could sense that something was off. 

There was a good deal of movement coming from behind the tent. Jaheira took her swords off of her holsters and slowed her step. Knowing what their leader was, and knowing what they were prone to do, she wasn’t taking any chances. She pushed the tent open with her sword, waited, and then slowly walked inside. She half expected to have a blade at her throat, or something hurled in her direction. 

Instead, Durge tossed and turned on their bedroll, face contorted in discomfort. They were sweating even under the night’s chill. Jaheira let out a breath and stepped further into the tent. 

This was not her first encounter with a Bhaalspawn. This was just the first one that she didn’t flay on sight. The first one that she called an ally.

The Harper knelt down beside Durge, still holding her swords in hand. Even as her ally, she couldn’t drop her guard around them. Durge whimpered in their sleep, turning on their side, hands and arms twitching. They grasped for something that wasn’t there. Jaheira’s sharp gaze stayed on them until it was evident that they weren’t coming out of their dream. She extended her leg out and nudged Durge’s foot. 

“Rise, cub. Come back to the world of the living.”

Durge didn’t respond. She tightened her grip on her swords before nudging them again, this time a bit harder. It took a few more nudges, but suddenly, Durge sat up with a start. They curled in on themselves, panting, feeling dizzy from how fast they sat up. They flinched again when they realized that Jaheira was across from them, swords still in hand. 

“Dark dreams?”

It was less than a question and more of a matter-of-fact statement. Durge wordlessly nodded. They wiped the sweat off their forehead and rubbed their temples.

“They never end,” Durge mumbled. “If it’s not one night, it’s another. Nightmare after nightmare…”

“They will pass in time,” Jaheira answered. “Though I am not here to provide you warm milk to lull you back to sleep. I suspect you had visions of blood on your hands. The blood in your veins, perhaps.”

Again, Durge gave a wordless nod. 

Jaheira lowered her swords, but didn’t put them away. “For all the gifts Bhaal’s children inherit, a peaceful night’s sleep is not one of them.”

 Durge looked to her swords, and then up to her.  “I didn’t ask for this, you know,“ they frowned. “To be a monster. I swear ever since I told you and the others I was a Bhaalspawn, I’ve seen more weapons at camp than food.” 

“Yes, that is your father’s true legacy,” Jaheira decided to put her swords away in the holsters, hands resting on the hilts. “The fear that his children plant in us. I understand that you wish to walk your own unbloodied path, but until you face Orin and break the ties that bond you, you will inspire fear in others.”

“And yet you’re here?” Their brow furrowed in confusion. “You don’t seem afraid of me, Jaheira.”

“I would be a fool not to be. I have put down many a Bhaalspawn in my day, though, and you are not armed.” Jaheira sounded her normal, aloof self until she whispered, “I also see the person beneath all of that darkness. What you are does not define you, so long as you keep making choices that don’t get anyone killed.”

“I will,” they assured. “I won’t hurt anyone unless they try to hurt us first. I can promise you that.”

“Good. That’s all I can ask of you,” Jaheira hummed, satisfied. “Now, get some rest, cub. I will watch over you this night.”

Durge exhaled. “Thank you, Jaheira.”

They laid back on their bedroll, hands resting over their chest. Jaheira sat in the corner of their tent. For a while, there was comfortable silence, until Durge started to fidget again. No matter which way they turned, they couldn’t get comfortable, and their mind was too loud to let them drift off to sleep. So, sitting up, they scooted over to their pack and fished out a comb. Jaheira arched her brow. 

“Surely you aren’t preening on my account?”

Durge let out an amused huff, shaking their head. “I can’t sleep. Sometimes combing my hair helps.”

“Ah.”

Durge fiddled with the comb in their hand. “Since you’re here—”

“Oh no,” Jaheira interrupted. “I am not your doting nursemaid. A grown warrior should be able to comb their own hair.”

“Please, Jaheira.” Durge slowly approached her. Even under the light of the campfire, they looked tired. “I wouldn’t ask you in ordinary circumstances, but it would really help me.”

Jaheira pinched her eyes closed with a deep sigh. Durge stood a few paces away. “Tch. Alright, alright. Sit down before I change my mind.”

They plopped down in front of her and handed her the comb. They gave her a small, appreciative smile. “Thank you. Good to know you still have a heart in your old bones.” 

“Hah,” Jaheira smirked. “Keep talking like that, and I’ll take this comb to your skull instead.”

Durge snickered, then winced a bit as she started combing their hair. Between wearing helmets and tossing and turning through the night, their hair was tangled. Jaheira felt them tense up and put a hand on the back of their head. 

“Hold still,” She muttered while working through a particularly stubborn knot. “There are more knots here than an owlbear has feathers.”

It took a few strokes, but she got the knots out, and the comb could glide through their hair. Durge’s winces and grunting quieted, giving way to slower sighs. 

Jaheira worked in a rhythm now, combing and tucking their hair behind their ear. “My children never enjoyed me combing their hair,” She spoke in a low whisper as she absentmindedly scratched at their scalp. “I’ve a hand too rough, or their braids were too tight. You seem to be enduring well enough.”

“Mm,” Durge mumbled in agreement, eyes closed. In truth, they were half listening, head lolled to the side as she combed their hair. They jolted a little when they felt Jaheira shift behind them, and she guided them back so that they had more room to stretch out. 

“Rest now. We’ve more battles lying ahead of us.”

Combing Durge’s hair wasn’t something Jahiera planned that night. But, for once, she was doing something ordinary.

[gingerdusk]

Alright so ive been thinking about it (probably far too much) and want a second opinion.

Tears of the Kingdom and Baldurs Gate 3 were the same price.

TotK gave me a total of like. I think it was 160 hours to 100% completion (koroks ignored) in my case. And then i set it down and have had no urge to touch it again.

I'm about 120 hours into BG3 now. I have not completed my first playthrough, and I expect Ive still got some 30 hours left of it. I DO intend to play through it again, and I know that there are countless things left for me to do in it still.

And like. I ENJOYED TotK. It was a blast. But looking at BG3 now, complete with its 3 stage city map, like five other maps too, full voice acting, complex storyline, multiple endings, replayability, etc.

It has me realizing that TotK reused its old map. The only major addition was a procedurally generated single-biome underworld and a couple of floating islands (several of which were copy pasted around the map). Most of its gameplay was already built on the previous game.

So the thought I keep coming back to then is that TotK was fine. It was fun. But if BG3 is a 70 dollar game, then TotK has no good reason to be any more than $40.

But I think youre more into both games than I have been, so I wanna know your thoughts.

Sat on this for a little bit and...yeah. $40 is a good price for it.

Like, I'm not too mad about the map thing. BG3 was in production since BotW came out, while TotK started in 2019 and has to deal with a physics environment. I know what I'm getting into with a Nintendo game when I buy one, I know the level of writing and effort (and railroading) to expect. But the price thing has been a thorn in my side that I've ignored for...awhile.

I do think BG3 deserved another year to cook. Maybe two. I'm extremely GLAD it came out when it did, because I found it when I did, but the third act, for all its complexity, has a lot of loose ends that need tying together. Which, I also am not mad about. When you've had Pokemon-level writing for most of your life, and you connect dots in Zelda, literally any snippet of BG3 writing feels incredible. Even the worst bits of Baldur's Gate are so rich in comparison to the Nintendo games I play. But I DO think that they rushed themselves, and they definitely did it so as to not compete with Starfield.

Which is like...I've spent a decade evaluating whole wheat bread, and you've put a massive chocolate cake in front of me. I'm not going to care that the icing on the third tier isn't as fancy as the first two. I am kind of going to lament that the baker had to rush it out the door, though.

Also BG3 replayability >>>>>>>>> TotK replayability. Like, it's past Skyrim levels. I love games where my choices matter and aren't retconned.

[grape-eating-vampire]

alright, it's done. i finished it.

this is the third and final part of things that happened in my first bg3 playthrough ever that I found so funny that I put them in my notes (spoilers below)

let me start this by saying I have only cried twice in the 155 hours it took me to complete this shit. however, I have almost-screamed at the characters more times than I'd like to admit. but first here's stuff that happened since the last one of these posts I made:

after killing Orin I went around Baldur's Gate for a while and did odd sidequests, including

clearing out a haunted house and sidelining to kill a stinky man in a wardrobe (and drag his body to a guy two streets over)

entirely ignored Gale's quest to look at a book because I kept getting arrested there after having killed the boss mage guy

I also foolishly though this wouldn't have any consequences. oh boy was I wrong

went to see a underwater prison, got told off by Gortash, decided to explore it after killing him, and promptly forgot to do so

killed Gortash! fuck that guy the only good thing about him is his fancy robe

tried to recruit a dragon called Ansur, found out the emperor is Balduran (????????? honestly I was shocked)

killed said dragon and felt like I was playing skyrim all over again

found a letter ("Dear Ansur") by Balduran/the Emperor. this was the first time I cried. I could still cry.

patch 6 came out! that was yesterday and I spent about 10 minutes trying out new kisses and sitting on Shadowhearts stool in camp (she now says "I'm glad you decided to join me" or something like that when you do)

went pretty much straight to the underground pool thing where the brain was supposed to be

failed abysmally to Dominate The Brain™

got pulled out by the emperor and had to start beef with Lae'zel because I had also forgotten to care about Orpheus and the hammer from the House of Hope

admittedly, I didn't really forget, I just didn't want to spend any more time with Raphael than I absolutely had to

my +14 persuasion saved the day once more and Lae'zel was fine with the one hope in her life getting his brains sucked out

went off to fight the brain once more. my game crashed twice trying to load that cutscene.

met all my allies! I forgot how many there were actually, and I only called on two of the groups later on

fought a lot. like a LOT lot.

got to the Netherbrain and kicked it's ass*

*had to reload about 3 times and try again because Minsc at level 12 was stuck on 100 hp for some reason and kept fucking dying

finally managed to kill the fucker! had Lae'zel deal the killing blow which seemed very fitting

more cutscenes, but this one actually didn't crash the game, I got to look at some beautiful unloaded walls and stuff instead

Lae'zel left right after we got to the haven. understandably so

remember how I ignored Gale's quest? well he didn't blow himself up like he inteded earlier, but he left to becOME A GOD????? I cannot fucking deal with this man

Karlach on the pier. this was the second time I cried, but unproportionally much so

Wyll left with her for Avernus, the little cutscene of them arriving there made me feel a bit better

Astarion had to leg it because of the sun (sorry)

Shadowheart didn't do much of anything during all of this, neither did Minsc, Halsin or Jaheira

decided to go help kids with Halsin, seems to fit my character (eventhough I really didn't roleplay so much)

we got an epilogue! yippie!

caught up there with everyone, except Lae'zel (who was there via the fantasy version of zoom) and Gale (who was there via the fantasy equivalent of a voicemail)

tried to hug Gale, couldn't, almost cried again but managed

also met a tressym who I recognized from fanart as Tara. I don't know why she was there, we never met her before and Gale hadn't mentioned her either

read a LOT of letters the party had received. barely kept my composure at the Gur's letter to Astarion

Withers did a cool speech and the game ended

after all of this and so much more that I didn't take notes about, I can confidentially say that Baldur's Gate 3 is the best video game I have ever played, and within it's genre my favourite ever!

I'm also emotionally devestated, especially after these final parts (but in a good way)

that's all, thanks for reading!

[ultfashionista]

so as a certified dr and rain code enjoyer can u recommend the hundred line to a fellow dr/mdarc enjoyer….i figure i’ll like it but wanna know what other fans think

TEARING THINGS APART WITH MY TEETH I ABSOLUTELY CAN. DAN. THIS GAME IS SO GOOD

it’s very different to dr and mdarc in terms of it not just being a mystery, there’s battles too - and god the battles are VERY fun. each character has their own individual weapon and fighting style/attack range, and you get to upgrade those of your own volition. v v fun to 1. see how each character’s fighting style relates to them as a person and 2. figure out who works best together, what the best order to kill enemies is, etc

AND THE CHARACTERS OH MY GODDDDDD. i fully believe these are some of the most humanised characters kodaka’s ever written. of course they still have their gags, but they’re so… real. i’m on my third playthrough right now, meaning i have so much left to find in terms of backstory and one-on-one conversations, but even in the first playthrough alone… there’s multiple scenes where the characters talk about their issues, and they’re shown to be real. yes, still sometimes used for the bit, but the game has dedicated scenes where they showcase each character’s reasons for struggling to fight, and how those reasons have genuinely affected their lives and how traumatic things have been for them. there was a character in the demo who was my least favourite and just pissed me the fuck off, and they humanised him so well i lowkey kin him now.

also just in general, the characters are very fun. they’re silly and they have fun dynamics with each other and you really feel their absence whenever one of them is gone

ALSO JUST. THE WAY THE GAME WORKS. the same playthrough is the same for everybody, but after that? you start again. and this time it’s different, this time you make your own choices and you have to deal with the consequences. it’s very interesting how, with some choices, there isn’t really a right answer (i.e. who will you let die?), and either way you’ll lose something, characters will be mad at you, you’ll miss out on something, etc. but just as there are no right answers, there are also no wrong ones too; the question of who will you let die is also who will you save, and your relationships with characters will change depending on that. there’s so many pathways and different things to find, and everything is so different your second time around. the original game purposefully ends without answering everything - it’s up to you to find what’s missing, depending on where you choose to go.

there’s also a very handy flow chart accessible in the menu so that you can hop between routes at your own pace, and there’s a list ingame that shows which endings you’ve found!

ALL IN ALL. yeah i would absolutely recommend this game holy shit. i’ve been playing it almost obsessively. the characters are fun and flawed and nuanced, the battles and bosses are entertaining, the lore is fascinating and extremely fun to hunt for, and the concept of the game itself, where you’re not done just by playing it once, or twice, or three times is absolutely fascinating, and i think they executed it very fucking well. play the hundred line: last defence academy

[huggingtentacles]

is the 150 meta level worth sticking to for endgame? my first playthrough i went to 165 without paying much attention to it, and stopped there because i didn't feel like i needed more. now i'm considering starting a new character and getting into broader multiplayer

There are two meta levels in Elden Ring and the choice between them depends on what you want from the game.

125 is considered the "tryhard meta" where you will meet more serious gamers. This is the level where you need to think about your build you will meet generally stronger players.

150 is the "casual meta" and it's generally easier to play at. You can get away with playing less optimally, you'll meet generally weaker players that are going through their NG+ cycles.

There is also a third option: 137. This level reaches both 125 meta and 150 meta. It gets the most multiplayer activity, and you get both the stronger and more casual players. The downside is that people on 150 meta will have a few levels of advantage over you and people at 125 will be slightly weaker.

I personally play at 125 and 137. 150 gives certain builds enough FP to become really spammy and hard to play against. Since I'm an invader, mages are a pain in the ass to deal with when there's a group covering for them.

Also. 137 kinda looks like a plague doctor. 1 <- hat 3 <- goggles 7 <- beak.

[mesaprotector]

Finished Ever17. Well, I have a couple of scenes to go back and unlock, and I've been told to play the Drama CDs, but nothing too serious.

This game wrecked my life more thoroughly than anything I've played or watched in the past six years. Fortunately I've already begun recovery, and hopefully I'll be back to normal before getting around to Remember11. :>

First, I'll brag a little—I'm normally pretty dumb when it comes to figuring out mysteries, but I guessed the 2017/2034 twist very early, right at the start of my second playthrough after finishing You Good End on my first. (What clued me in, of all things, was Takeshi-side You immediately saying her full name, when Kid-side You had been so hesitant about it.)

This game also tested my very limited ability to recognize Japanese voice actors (Tsugumi in the lemur suit, Sara in the flashbacks in her route, the Kid/Takeshi stuff), and I did surprisingly well on that too.

Okay, now that I've built myself up I'll immediately send that image crashing down—I spent probably three-quarters of the games runtime being absolutely, hopelessly into Tsugumi (while simultaneously relating to her hard—I don't claim any of this makes sense). I've had crushes on fictional characters before but it's always been like, "oh, they're cute, and funny, and I admire them." Not whatever full-on obsession this was. There was a good two week period where all I wanted to talk about with my friends was this stupid girl and her stupid hamster. I would willingly let her ruin my life. Somehow I still have friends.

At least... maybe because the direction her arc went at the end, where her feelings circle around motherhood, is one I can't even pretend to relate to—the feelings are gradually starting to fade. She's still my favorite character in the game by far, and my second-favorite overall in Uchikoshi's stuff (third if I allow myself to count AITSF Mizuki as a separate character from her less-interesting AINI version).

The ending in general was just kind of okay, which has been my usual opinion about Uchikoshi games—some very peak moments, but a bit too much handwaving of the most interesting mysteries right at the end. (Blick Winkel and some of Coco's whole deal felt pretty contrived to me, and I had really wanted to know what happened with kick the can.)

I liked all the characters, not just Tsugumi—I liked 'Aki' You's relatively grounded but interesting and charismatic personality, and Sora was surprisingly fun as someone who usually doesn't care for robot/AI girls. Oh and that dweeb Kaburaki. Hey, Okuhiko was my favorite character of Never7—I love cringe failmen who throw tantrums over eating too many tuna sandwiches.

Sara's route was perhaps the only point at which I wasn't that invested, but it was still decent and she's still likeable enough. There's certainly some weirdness looking back, like how the You/Hokuto hookup is basically irrelevant to the rest of the story, Sora kind of gets sidelined outside her own arc... the writing definitely feels unpolished. Though the art is nice enough, and the music (particularly "Drittes Auge Nehmen" and "Jen Nach") is very good.

I don't think I can fairly rate this anything below a 9/10, which is a rare rating from me. Even without the hamster tsundere, it's a very good sci-fi mystery with good atmosphere that would probably clear half of the VNs I've played—and with her, well, there's no question.

[ceeridwen99]

BG3 Companion Endings !!Rant!!

Hello there.

I...I just need to get some things off my chest, and this seems like as good of a place to do it as I will get.

So, exactly 100 hours of documented time into my campaign, and I'm about to start a fresh game because I don't want to finish act 3.

Let me explain. Also !!!!*SPOILERS*!!!!!

This may be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but the conclusions to a lot of the questlines, once we reach BG, are either unsatisfying or utter trash. My main gripe comes from the choices--or lack there fucking of--when it comes to the conclusion of certain companion questlines.

(Note: This is NOT a post about whatever companion ending one thinks is "good" vs "evil". I honestly don't give a shit about what endings people choose for their games. My issues come from the endings themselves.)

This stems from my main group setup, Shadowheart, Karlach, and, of course, Astarion (also my romance). I played a bard!Tav. It goes without saying that I love all the companions, even the ones that I didn't mainly use. They're all beautifully layered and I love that they are actually influenced by your playthrough...for the most part.

We'll get there in a moment.

My point is, after spending a good 100 hours with these characters, you end up caring a great deal about them. I really looked forward to seeing how their arcs were going to come to a head when we finally reached BG...

Act 1: Phenomenal.

Act 2: Fucking Fantastic.

Act 3: What the hell was that!

Never mind the complete and utter lack of pacing in the third act compared to the first two, what the hell are those questline endings?! I've never been so fucking disappointed and furious in my life. Again, this isn't a post about "good" vs "evil", but my irritation that NONE of the endings are good, or in my case, satisfying.

For a game that really stresses choices mattering (and for the most part they do to a certain point), it really suffers from Telltale syndrome in its final act, where none of the choices actually end up mattering, but in truth, you're pigeon-holed into two, and if you're lucky three endings.

Shadowheart's ending (in the Selune path) is either losing her parents but freeing her from Shar's control. Or gaining her parents but being tortured for the rest of her life. I don't even want to go into the Shar ending.

Karlach's ending is just fucking sad no matter which choice you make, and even the patched ending--supposedly giving us a better conclusion--is just bittersweet.

ASTARION'S FUCKING ENDING! Oh my god, his fucking ending is either selling his soul and the souls of seven thousand innocent people to not get a fucking sunburn. OR being banished back into the shadows and releasing seven thousand feral spawn into the world-- because yeah that sounds like a fucking good idea. Even if you don't release them, you have a choice between leaving them behind to rot or fucking killing them, but in this instance, their lives really would have been for nothing. By the end of this questline (and it is beautifully acted I'll give it that) I just sat there with a pit in my stomach feeling like I fucked up somehow no matter what ending I chose. To top it off, I learned that we don't even get any information at the end about how our choices affect the world after! What the hell!

Even Wyll's quest! Why the fuck an "I" of all people making this choice for him?! Where the fuck is the option to make him choose, or even ask him what he thinks/wants. In fact, where is the option to make anyone choose for themselves? Only Shadowheart (I found) really has one during her quest.

I find it really hard to believe that one could write such complex characters with strong, differing, opinions--so strong that they will leave the party if they dislike your actions too much--but then make them rely on the PC to make the most important decisions in their fucking lives. This is such fucking lazy writing and a cop-out. All of the conversations, all of the growth, really is just boiled down to "What do you as the player want for them?" *feral scream*

More than this, why the hell are there only two (maybe three at the max) options in the first place? You give us dozens of ways to resolve quests in acts 1 and 2, and yet, here is where you want to pull the "Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, everyone has to lose something to gain something in return" bullshit? What the hell, Larian!

Don't get me wrong. I'm a writer. I get that narrative. But not here. Not in a game like this. In a game like this, these "choices" feel like a slap in the face. This is DND, there are always more than two to three ways to solve something.

I know there are limitations. I know this doesn't have a DM who can make adjustments to the story on the fly to give an ending based purely on your choices. Even so, it is still highly disappointing (even more so for someone who plays DND and is a DM). I was so mad after these questline conclusions that it soured my playthrough. I don't want to finish this campaign because what's the point when I know the people I've spent 100 hours with, are going to get the short end of the stick no matter what I choose.

I went and looked at spoilers for the main story ending after this, and that just pissed me off more. Two or three endings and a piss-poor epilogue are what we get. Not even credit slides to let us know how our choices actually affected the world in the end. Why. Why. I don't even want to mention how dirty they did Astarion. That wasn't funny. Just fucking sad.

This game is overall a 10/10 for me when it comes to acts 1 and 2. It's fantastic. But Act 3 is a solid 2/10 for me, I'm sorry. There isn't enough content to fill the third act out either. I don't know if my game is bugged, but I can barely find any quests outside of what's picked up in Acts 1 and 2 and it's making running around the city seem aimless.

In conclusion, I'm mad and sad. At this point, I'm just going to replay acts 1 and 2 until this supposed Definitive Edition Larian is apparently good at putting out for their games irons out these inconsistencies, hopefully. (This post is just about companions, I also have many issues with the main story. *sigh*)

At least there is plenty of content in the first two acts to keep one busy, and even with 100 hours, I know I haven't seen everything. I'm also curious to know if my perspective of the third act will change with the Dark Urge, as I've heard good things about them being closer connected to the plot.

Who knows, we'll see.

Lol, this isn't how I expected to come back to this blog. If you've made it this far, thank you for listening to my rant.

Final disclaimer: Please remember this isn't about "good" vs "evil" endings. Also, if this is not at all how you felt, I'm glad you had a better experience than I did lol.

Alright, time to go write AU/homebrew fanfiction.

Stay tuned. ;)

[custom-pik-2]

An Introduction(Spoilers for Pikmin 1, 2 & 4)[18+]

Screenshot sourced from Pikipedia Screenshot credited to Kirbys-adventure(Uploaded Aug. 5th, 2017)

On August 30th, 2004, Pikmin 2 was released in North America.

I turned nine the same day.

I wouldn't play it until Christmas 2005, and by that point I'd already played the first game, which I was terrible at and kept getting stuck in the third area. I still got a lot of mileage out of it, though, doing the same thing I did for every video game I played: restarting the file to experience the feeling of making progress again.

However, I vividly recall reaching the fourth area during one of these playthroughs and getting pretty excited about it.

That all came to a screeching halt when, on my first day in the area, a bunch of Pikmin I sent back to base started being killed by something, and by the time I got there, the few that remained were already being absorbed into some horrible, dark, blobby creature.

Seeing it freaked me out so bad I turned the game off and quit playing it altogether, thinking it was just an ordinary encounter I was expected to deal with.

It wouldn't be until a couple years later that I learned this enemy is only meant to appear after the player activates it; its presence here was actually a glitch.

Despite my experience, I still wanted the sequel, and given the focus of this account, I felt like providing a video of the intro, along with a written summary of the game's plot.

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Video uploaded by Dustin Bragg(Uploaded Feb. 2, 2008)

Pikmin 2 picks up where the last game ended: with a humanoid alien named Olimar(オリマー) departing the uncharted planet he crash-landed on, and returning to his homeworld of Hocotate. Unfortunately, upon his arrival, he's told the company he works for is going under after one of its newest employees, Louie(ルーイ), lost a shipment of golden carrots to a giant space bunny.

The company's president took out a massive loan to cover the loss, but without a way to repay it all, he's mired the company in debt. Fortunately, an object Olimar found on the uncharted planet is considered valuable enough to pay a bit of it off. With even more such treasures left there to discover, he and Louie are ordered to salvage enough of it until the debt's been paid off.

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I probably played the sequel even more than the first despite being even worse at it. I kept getting stuck in the second area and resorted to my "restart method" more frequently than usual.

However, I vividly recall reaching the third area during one of these playthroughs and getting pretty excited about it.

That all came to a screeching halt when, after stepping right outside my base, a giant mechanical spider came out of nowhere and started stomping my Pikmin to death.

For those who don't know, this encounter cannot occur in this area until at least 30 in-game days have elapsed.

It seriously took me at least that long to reach the third area in one of these playthroughs.

Anyone who has played this game, or hell, just watched a typical playthrough of it, will immediately know how ludicrous this is.

You may also be wondering what the hell I spent all that time doing, given there's not much you can do, and I honestly cannot remember. All I remember is the giant spider because it freaked me out so bad I turned the game off and quit playing it altogether.

I eventually went back and beat the first game, but never bothered with the second. I can't say I gained an affinity for either, and once I hit my early twenties, I lost interest in playing video games and preferred just watching others play them online.

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Around the same time — in 2014, I believe — I discovered a Tumblr account called Souichi Presents, which featured reviews/overviews of horror stories, primarily the works of Junji Itō(伊藤 潤二). It was run by a guy named Frankie (aka friendlyfrankenstein) who, in 2020, teamed up with a friend of his known as Bugs (aka facefullabugz) to start a streaming channel on Twitch under the account facefullabugs.

I didn't start watching them until early 2023 after seeing this supercut*1 of their 2022 streams made by a person who goes by bubblymiilk, and the first one I watched was for Pikmin 2. I recalled very little about the game and still didn't care for the franchise much, but my familiarity compelled me enough to watch them play it. *1. Uploaded on Jan. 7th, 2023

If you'd like to watch it as well, the VODs have all been uploaded onto their YouTube channel Frankenbug VODs, but (as of the time I'm posting this) you can actually still watch the VODs on Twitch*1 if you prefer! Though, as a heads-up, the first VOD in the series doesn't actually begin with them playing Pikmin 2 but another game called Balan Wonderworld, so if you just want to get right to Pikmin 2, here's a link to 3:41:39 in the stream. *1. All VOD's uploaded on latter date: Stream 1. 1/1/22-1/2/22 Stream 2. 1/3/22-1/4/22 Stream 3. 1/19/22-1/20/22 Stream 4. 2/6/22-2/7/22 Stream 5. 3/14/22-3/15/22 Stream 6. 4/3/22-4/4/22 Stream 7. 5/4/22-5/5/22

However, if you'd like to watch them stream through Balan Wonderworld as well, here's a link to the VOD playlist on YouTube, and here is a link to the VODs*1 on Twitch. *1. All VOD's except first uploaded on latter date: Stream 1. 4/10/21 Stream 2. 4/13/21-4/14/21 Stream 3. 4/19/21-4/20/21 Stream 4. 4/26/21-4/27/21 Stream 5. 1/1/22-1/2/22

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Screenshot sourced from Pikipedia Screenshot credited to Waffles(Uploaded May 15, 2017)

While watching Frankie and Bug's playthrough, I recognized that the treasure above was a game for the Disk System, a Japanese-only disk-based add-on for Japan's equivalent to the NES, the Famicom.

Screenshots sourced from Moby Games Screenshot of manual cover credited to Adzuken(Uploaded Feb. 2, 2014) Screenshot of diskette credited to Teran(Uploaded Jan. 25, 2015)

Specifically, it was a copy of The Mysterious Murasame Castle, a (prior to 2014) Japanese-only Nintendo game released on April 14th, 1986.

I'd heard of this game from other sources before, but if I ever realized it appeared in Pikmin 2 before this, I'd totally forgotten. I looked into it a bit more online, and learning it was still a Japanese exclusive back in 2004 got me thinking about topics related to localization, which eventually led me to realize what a dilemma this treasure posed from a localizer's perspective.

The Cosmic Archive is intended to invoke nostalgia from an older demographic familiar with this era of Nintendo's history. Meanwhile, a younger generation might recognize it as an object from a past era.

However, in countries like America, where the Disk System and Murasame Castle hadn't been released, this intent is totally lost on the average person. Additionally, learning this stuff on your own wasn't as easy in 2004, as home computers still weren't too commonplace. Even then, though, knowing what this object is still wouldn't elicit the same response it would for the average person living in Japan, who would grasp its intentions more immediately.

A localizer's (theoretical) goal is to try bridging that cultural gap somehow, but doing so in this context is tricky. I mean, this isn't just a case of translating some text into a new language while capturing the spirit of the original text- it's replacing a whole object with another object that achieves that task.

Of course, this would take considerable time and effort for something so minor that it seemed (to me) like something Pikmin 2's localizers wouldn't even try to attempt. Besides, it's not like localizers always need to go so far, and even if the whole nostalgia angle is lost, the treasure still retains every other aspect ascribed to it in the Japanese script. Sometimes, that's just about the best a translator can do.

The notion, however, made me curious if any other treasures in the North American version remained unlocalized, so I looked up a list of them online, picking the one on Pikipedia.

Screenshots sourced from Pikipedia Both screenshots credited to Mabeloid(Photo A: Sep. 28, 2023|Photo B: Oct. 7, 2023)

That's when I learned a good handful of treasures in the North American version serve as replacements for treasures in the Japanese version. Furthermore, while several of these replacements (like the ones above) merely reuse the same model asset but with a different texture applied each time,

Screenshots sourced from Pikipedia Both screenshots credited to Mabeloid(Photo A: Sep. 29, 2023|Photo B: Oct. 7, 2023)

some are new models with little to no resemblance to their Japanese counterparts.

From this, I presumed the few unlocalized treasures only remained because the CG modelers lacked the time to craft new ones. (Note: I think this might have only been the case for some treasures now, but that's all I'll say about that here.)

These presumptions got me thinking about what these treasures could have been replaced with. However, I found myself simultaneously more intrigued by other details I noticed while going through all the treasures.

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First, I need to explain that every piece of treasure is placed into a "Series," and each of those follows a specific theme. For example, the Cosmic Archive is sorted into the "Blast from the Past Series," which revolves around Nintendo games and gaming devices that are (mostly) from the company's past.

However, it seemed to me that within each "Series," many treasures were divided into unspoken sub-series, each revolving around things like conceptual bonds, conceptual contrasts, size differentials, etc.

Screenshot sourced from Pikipedia Screenshot credited to Waffles(Uploaded May 15, 2017)

For example, the Cosmic Archive is paired with the Dream Architect, a recreation of an LCD game Nintendo released back in 1980 titled Ball. To explain how both are connected, however, I'll need to cover another feature of Pikmin 2: the "Treasure Hoard."

Screenshot sourced from Pikipedia Screenshot credited to Twins1105(Uploaded Jul. 18, 2024)

The "Treasure Hoard" is an in-game archive allowing you to view the treasures you've collected, as well as a few statistics on each one.

Screenshot credited to The One and Only: Maker of this Post Uploaded on First Post Day(Well, let's see how this goes.) Screenshot taken of this video by NintendoProductions2(Uploaded Apr. 12, 2015)

Each treasure also has a designated journal entry written by Olimar. These often feature his thoughts on the treasure or just some personal anecdote that's relevant to it in some way.

tsoP eht fo rekaM :ylnO dna enO ehT ot detiderc tohsneercS (?ecnereffid eht topS)yaD sdrawkcaB ylraeN no dedaolpU Screenshot taken of this video by NintendoProductions2(Uploaded Apr. 12, 2015)

Furthermore, your rocket AI will craft a sales pitch for each treasure in a completed "Series."

I mention these because they often enhance whatever binds a particular sub-series. For the treasure I'm focusing on, they help communicate their primary connection: Nintendo devices with features inaccessible to the characters.

In the Cosmic Archive's case, both characters specify how they can't access the data stored on the diskette. With the Dream Architect, they specify that the device is broken, although it's also possible the batteries in it are just dead- if it even has batteries at all. I mean, it's not like the characters would have any idea it needs them, so who's to say.

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Both devices are also framed as technologically advanced. The Cosmic Archive's name refers to the rocket AI's belief that it stores all information about the universe. Its sales pitch even states that the contents are inaccessible because the sheer amount of information makes it unprocessable. (It's 112 kilobytes of data…)

The Dream Architect's name also conveys this, though not as clearly in the international versions. In the Japanese version, the treasure's name literally translates to "Dream Ex Machina," which is obviously a play on deus ex machina, which is Latin for 'god from the machine.' It's likely that 'Architect' is being used to substitute this intent, as it invokes God being the creator of all things.

This isn't the only time the English translation obfuscates an association that was a bit clearer in the Japanese version. However, it was likely only done here because they couldn't include anything overtly religious in the translation. (Although the English version of Pikmin 2 does feature something like that, which I'll get into at…some point.)

Also, I feel the need to point out just how self-aggrandizing this is. It is Nintendo framing the devices they've made as some object of reverence; it's hilariously conceited.

Though I will concede, there is some self-awareness to it, as it's implied the rocket AI is just making shit up to make these unusable devices more appealing. Its sales pitch for the Dream Architect basically says: "Yeah, this thing doesn't work, but imagine how cool it'd be if it did!" Even so, I don't doubt there's at least a degree of sincerity here.

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There's at least one more potential connection for these two, but it requires a bit of context.

Screenshot sourced from Video Game Sage Screenshot credited to silentmonkee(Uploaded Mar. 31, 2021)

In Japan, Ball was actually the first in a line of LCD devices made by Nintendo collectively called Game & Watch, which could be used as clocks in standby mode.

The first five Game & Watch had silver-colored casings, but starting with the sixth entry, they opted for gold-colored ones.

Screenshot sourced from Video Game Sage Screenshot credited to silentmonkee(Uploaded Mar. 31, 2021)

The aesthetic change also helped mark a few hardware revisions, such as a settable alarm and a foldable kickstand on the back.

The games also offered a fairer challenge by featuring a mistake resetting mechanic. With the silver models, if you screwed up during a play session, it'd be tallied up in a 'Mistake Counter,' and reaching three mistakes reset your score to zero. For the revised model, though, if you score a certain amount of points during a play session, the tally resets to zero.

Lastly, because this hardware revision marked the end of an era for the line (and also possibly because none of the silver models were ever manufactured with all of these revisions while retaining the same build,) Nintendo decided to separate these two models into the "Silver series" and "Gold series."

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Now, the diskette isn't gold-colored, but it is a color commonly used in depictions of gold, and I feel that's intentional. It would also be far from the only example of Pikmin 2's developers pairing something silver with something gold.

Screenshot of Lustrous Element sourced from Pikipedia Screenshot credited to Kittyslash0(Uploaded Nov. 24, 2017) Screenshot of Mirrored Element sourced from Pikmin Wiki Screenshot credited to Scittery_Leaves23(Uploaded Apr. 2, 2014)

Screenshots sourced from Pikipedia Screenshot of Pink Menace credited to Marty(Uploaded May 28, 2016) Screenshot of Joyless Jewel credited to Scittery_Leaves23(Uploaded Oct. 16, 2014)

Screenshots sourced from Pikipedia Screenshots credited to Marty(Both Uploaded May 27, 2016)

Of course, that raises the question of why they didn't just pair it with a Gold series G&W. I mean, it'd certainly be easier to slightly modify an existing CG model than create a brand-new one.

There are numerous possible explanations for this choice. For example, it could have been done to bring more visual variety to the treasure you're collecting. Another example would be they made one model before the other and only noticed the comparison they could make afterward.

However, upon noticing these sub-series, I came to a specific conclusion because I realized that some treasures either lacked any discernable pairing(s) or had one(s) I considered a stretch.

The 'Cosmic Archive+Dream Architect' sub-group would be an example of the latter, as both have a more obvious pairing. I've already gone into the Dream Architect's, but for the Cosmic Archive, you'd think they'd pair it with a cartridge-based Famicom game, right?

Again, there are numerous ways to explain these choices. For the one-offs, it could be they felt certain treasures would stand out more if they were on their own. For the odd pairings, maybe they simply felt any connection was good enough.

However, my immediate conclusion was that this signified unfulfilled ideas: that the developers wanted to give each of these treasures a pairing but couldn't for some reason or had to settle for less sensible options.

This got me wondering: what would suit these treasures best? This query, bolstered by my ponderings over how specific treasures could be localized, convinced me to craft a list of treasures for the North American version that took my observations into account.

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When I decided to do this, I did not think about how long it might take to make.

I just inherently assumed it wouldn't take long- that I'd spend a few days on it at most and then move on. I was only doing it for fun and didn't plan to take it that seriously because, as I said, I'm not a Pikmin fan. I don't even know why I was fixating on these questions.

While this project never grew into anything too extravagant (and I don't plan it to), it did become more involved than I anticipated, and it wasn't until last April I settled on something I was pleased with.

That's because I ended up crafting custom versions for each major regional version of Pikmin 2 that altered more about the game than just adding a couple treasures. I also crafted a custom version of Pikmin 2's HD remaster that features all the additions in my custom versions and alters several treasures just like the real remaster does. I also crafted a rough custom version of Pikmin 4 because that game takes several cues from Pikmin 2, to the point where it felt negligent to not think of such a thing.

At some point in the process, I got the idea of sharing my custom versions of Pikmin 2 online, as I thought some folks might get a kick out of them. My guide through them will double as overviews of the real versions, as knowing their contents is necessary to explain decisions I made.

Also, while I plan to occasionally mention the other Pikmin games and cover stuff in my custom Pikmin 4, I won't be covering any of them extensively.

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That out of the way, the rest of this post is going to revolve around the North America-only NES game Monster Party, which was released in June 1989 and developed by Human Entertainment (who went by Sonata*1 during part of its development) and published by Bandai.

Screenshot sourced from Moby Games Screenshot credited to The Game Boy(Uploaded Dec. 27, 2010)

Before I can get into this game, I must say up-front that it's best experienced going in fairly blind. I played it (via emulation) for the first time recently, and all the years I spent committing its most worthwhile aspects to memory did it no favors.

I realize that's obvious, but I only did that because I thought I'd never play this game. I've never owned an NES and was only vaguely aware of emulation when I learned about it back in…2008, I think? But, yeah, that's why I opted to experience it second-hand.

Saying that, though, I doubt I'd have enjoyed the game that much more if I knew nothing about it going in.

The game's biggest flaw is that much of it sees you navigating drab, simplistic, and fairly unchallenging levels designed to make you stay in them longer to ensure you don't beat the game in less than an hour. Some are more egregious about this than others, but all have this quality to some extent.

Furthermore, every level (or "Round" as they're called in-game, which I'll be sticking with from here-on) is filled with bosses you need to beat, some being more difficult than anything else you'll encounter and will likely be what kills you. Thankfully, you have infinite continues and a password feature, so you don't have to restart the whole game if you die. However, dying puts you back at the start of a Round with all the bosses reset, which can make the game's structure somewhat monotonous.

However, as I said, the Rounds themselves aren't that difficult, and I still managed to beat this game in only three hours on my first playthrough, and subsequent playthroughs only took around one hour. And I don't say that to brag, like, I might have gotten better at games back in the day, but I never got great, and this was the first one I've played in a long-ass time. I was really expecting it would take way longer to beat, and the fact it didn't, I feel, says something about it.

I also find it telling my later playthroughs are so much shorter than the first. The reason for that is I was stuck on one Round for a while until I figured out how to navigate it; once I did, it was no trouble at all.

I also probably could have shaved a bit more time off that first playthrough if I hadn't engaged in two things I remembered from discussions and videos online but pretended I didn't so that my first playthrough could be as authentic as I could make it. One of them, I won't go into here, but the other I will because, honestly, I'd feel bad if I didn't.

As stated before, every Round in the game has bosses you need to beat, but "Round 7" can be completed without beating all its bosses. If you beat them all anyway, you'll activate a glitch that soft-locks the game. Of course, you can still have enemies kill you to reset the bosses like always, so it's not like you have to reset the whole console or anything. (or you can just use save states if you're emulating it.)

Anyway, it was hard for me to decide whether I should recommend this game or not. I mean I know I just spent several paragraphs criticizing it, but honestly I feel this game's moderate difficulty somewhat alleviates its flaws. Like, if it was harder while retaining its boring level design and somewhat repetitive structure, then yeah I'd just call it a waste of time to play. As it stands, I think it just barely passes the grade into me giving it a cautious recommendation. (Though, I also can't deny I'd sooner just recommend watching a playthrough of it. There's tons of them out there.)

Now, I'd say it's about time I finally went into this game in a little more detail IN THE NEXT POST!

You see, I wrote the early drafts for this post on WordPad and not on Tumblr itself (I hate writing posts on Tumblr itself), and I've had very little experience on the platform, so I didn't know posts had a photo limit of thirty.

I structured my post around having far more than thirty photos.

Rather than re-edit it yet again, I've elected to just split it into three seperate posts, with the second part right here!

However, should you be parting way here, thank you for reading this far.

[skye-huntress]

Quick disclaimer that I will not tolerate personal attacks or leakers. I’d prefer not to add more people to my block list, so let’s keep things friendly.

After a few playthroughs and some time to process everything, I think I’m now ready to talk more about Double Exposure.

First, some backstory. I played the original Life is Strange from Day 1. I had a feeling the game might be special and even then it blew my expectations away several times over. I found Max very relatable, so after months of replaying episodes again and again, I felt I could put myself in her shoes, and rationalise my choices the same way she did.

When the final choice came, I did hesitate, but not from indecision or uncertainty like I did so many times before (and since). I knew immediately what my choice would be, it was the why of it that took time for me to figure out. I’ve played a lot of choice based games where I made sacrifices that hurt, but being in Max’s shoes in that moment, I realised I had a limit. Was it the best choice? Objectively, no. Was it what Chloe wanted? It wasn’t. Would it lead Max to a “happily ever after”? Definitely not. Nine years later, and after playing the first parts of DE, would I still make the same choice again? Heck yes!

With that out of the way, let’s get into the DE spoilers below:

My impression of this Max is that she is constantly trying to run from her trauma but is evidently always carrying it around with her. For most of the past 10 years, she’s been on the move, never finding a place she can truly settle in, photographing places that are abandoned, ruined, and lonely. And Max starts this game very much alone through her own choices and inaction. She distanced herself from her parents, hasn’t been in touch with any of her former classmates, and her relationship with living Chloe falls apart. There isn’t much about the break up that gives a clear indicator on how exactly it happened, but it was clear there was no bad blood from either side, just regrets that they couldn’t get it to work. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chloe also follows Max on social media without actually contacting her. And naturally, Max hasn’t truly opened up with any of her new friends, colleagues or students, not even Safi. If nothing changes, I’d say her potential romantic relationship with Amanda is also doomed before it even begins.

In this story, this self-imposed isolation leaves her vulnerable in a number of ways. The person who is most secretive is the one others trust the least, which is not ideal in the middle of a murder mystery. Now Max has found evidence that incriminates her, and if it gets out, how many people would be willing to give a relative stranger a chance? Gwen is better known on campus and even she doesn’t think she can fight video evidence on someone who looks exactly like her. There is another danger to Max to consider. If we are dealing with someone with the ability to assume anyone’s identity, if they were looking to permanently adopt a new one, Max would be the perfect candidate. If an imposter disposed of Max and assumed her identity, who is left in her life who’d be able to tell the difference?

So, not only do we have to deal with two different versions of all of our persons of interest and try not to mix them up, sometimes they might not even be either version, but an imposter! Like the LW Vinh who claimed to be too hungover to remember his own passcode despite not showing any symptoms while a completely wasted DW Vinh immediately and enthusiastically recalled the name of the supposed “dead magician scientist”. Didn’t think much of it my first two playthroughs, but on the third I started to note his odd behaviour. Oh, and sometimes even our evidence and testimony might not be reliable, it could be incriminating someone who is actually innocent. Max is already victim to an incriminating photo she can’t explain, and both Lucas and Gwen have similar stories.

So, is it more important to acquire evidence, or is it more important for Max to build her relationships with the people around her? Although it didn’t matter much in the end, in True Colors, Alex could gain or lose the support of members of the local council depending on her choices and relationships with each member. She still uses her powers to get a confession either way, but I’m wondering if this time around, the outcome might change depending on who or how many people actually get to know and trust the real Max. And maybe this is an opportunity to face herself, kind of. Maybe if she can start working through some of her issues and letting people in again, she can start over for real this time.

One thing that is interesting though, and I did call this, we have a missing Max. Max disappeared from Living World around the same time as Safi’s death. The only person to notice was Amanda. Now Max is juggling her time between both worlds but even she can’t be in two places at once, so people might start to notice how she constantly disappears and reappears suddenly. Then comes the question of what happens when Max is done and she stops shifting. Which world does she stay in, and which one does she leave behind? One world is grieving Safi, the other is riddled with scandals, and Max’s relationships in both worlds are already starting to diverge. It’ll probably hurt either way, not unlike the original game’s choice, and it probably also depends on how the mystery wraps up. I’m currently leaning towards Dead World, because Max seems to be getting closer with Amanda and Moses, but then she has spent more time with them so we’ll see how things play out.