#definitely worth a playthrough

[bestdressedchuuya]

So me and my brother were playing a Lupin III game for the PS2 last night and there were these weird salamander(?) enemies in the game?? And me, being a little inebriated at the time, found them fucking hilarious, they're literally so non-threatening as an enemy. Just moseying along...

[errantgoat]

IT'S DONE. I'M DONE.

535 hours across 5 complete playthroughs, dear BG3 you are going on the shelf until I can look at you again. xDD

the last run was super fun, the tactician difficulty definitely made me more involved/finally got me using scrolls and various potions and elixirs instead of hoarding them till (and past) the very end

i even managed to accomplish the most difficult thing in the whole game and saved all the gondians (if you know, you know)

maybe I'll attempt an honor run one day, but this is not the day

[scramble-crossing]

SHO IS 18??? I THOUGHT HE WAS LIKE 25… never played the game, the only stuff i’ve seen of him was him getting crushed under a vending machine and screenshots of him saying numbers. i thought he was an ex-math teacher or something

ANON THIS IS EXTREMELY FUNNY BUT ALSO DW I THOUGHT THE EXACT SAME THING WHEN I FIRST SAW HIM TOO

Playing the sequel for the first time I had him pegged at like 25-26. And tbh even knowing what I do now I still get where you're coming from 100%. It's the outfit. Literally out of all his beta designs they went for the one with the most mid-20s depression drip possible. It's fantastic.

For his first game design...I think I had too much of an impression of him already so I looked at him and went "Oh yeah that's a stupid teenager". But NEO Sho is like. Weathered. Still fucked up but with a slightly more haunted look about him. So if you don't know about the timeline of the series and are just going off of screenshots and fan stuff, yeah I can see it being easy to heap a few more years onto him than he actually has, even in the first game when he's throwing temper tantrums after someone (i.e Josh) insults his sculptures or fist-fighting 15 year olds on a roof or exploding himself to death. You know, typical 18 year old things.

But also he's only 18 in the first game! And even then chronology-wise he's probably closer to 19. I don't care how "gifted" he is at being a Reaper, he had to have been in the UG for at least a year to become an Officer. So in the sequel, which is three years later but also sort of fourteen years later, he's around 21-22. So I mean...you're close!

Except on the math teacher thing. He wishes.

[louderfade]

from Is deep brain stimulation a treatment option for anorexia nervosa?

[wickedghxst]

i hope sony doesn’t wait a full year to put spider-man 2 on pc. i actually wanna play it myself this time :/

[quartervirus]

Antidote

Between a full time job, contract work, and day-to-day obligations personal art has taken a real nosedive this year. Add to that @gelly-art gifting me Baldur's Gate for Christmas and you have a recipe for disappearing me straight into the void.

Or up into the Nautiloid, as it were.

But after months chipping away at the game between back-to-back NDAs, utterly failing to maintain any sort of personal routine in favour of sitting at my computer, and over 400+ hours of gameplay later, I can proudly say I have finally finished just ONE full playthrough!💀

I definitely did not see that ending coming – and outright missed a Certain Big Reveal until Gelly yelled at me to roll back (of which I am very grateful. You were right, it was worth finding thank you for that) – but I had a TON of fun! I am already well into my second playthrough, but as I am still discovering new options, alternative endings, and even some areas I missed the first time around –

SSHHHPTHTHHSHHTT! NO SPOILERS!!

NONE!!

SHUT!!

I can't wait to bombard you all with BG3 related art and comics that have been gnawing away at the back of my brain, but until such a time as I can draw them, here's a quickie I whipped up to get back into arting after so long.

[an-excellent-choice]

Reminder & Spoiler to BG3 fans who haven't romanced Gale in any of your playthroughs.

GALE DIDNT KNOW IT WAS THE KARSITE WEAVE

Him being a god was not the initial thought process. Him pursuing the weave against Mystra's wishes was like him trying to buy a rare stone for a proposal ring and getting a uranium instead of a diamond.

Was he an idiot, who thought he knew better about retrieving weave? Yes.

Malicious and narcissistic? No. not really

People pleaser tendencies gone extreme? definitely

Him wanting to be a god by the end is him lashing out because he realizes his worth and it dawns on him Mystra abandoned him. It is also a desperate attempt to find a cure to his orb because he defied Mystra after act 2 (which is also under your persuasion) when he was already in hot water with her. He is under the impression that any civility or chances he has for Mystra's forgiveness is gone and his orb is still very much active.

Gale is just very human who doesn't really understand what cards he has and what he could play in a game with gods

Is he being stupid again by wanting to pursue godhood? Yes

Is he lashing out? Probably for some but for me definitely

Is he tired of being gods' plaything/pawn in their plans? Absolutely

Can you blame him after everything you see in act 1 & 2 with Ketheric, Shadowheart and even Lae'zel. The evil gods prey on you and the so called good ones abandon you.

[nimthirielrinon]

I need to talk about Gale’s insecurities. For all his noted overconfidence, this is a man whose entire self-worth is based on his prowess with magic.

He was a “gifted” kid whose abilities started out well advanced for his age, just to begin with. He very much thinks of himself as annoying, which you learn in the Durge playthrough after the dead bard incident, when he says that if being annoying we’re reason enough to kill someone, he’d “be dead 1000 times over!”.

If you romance him and convince him not to take the Crown after the second romance scene in Act 3, he mentions how he’s used to being seen as over-confident and even self-deluded regarding his abilities, which I think would only make him posture even harder as a defence mechanism.

I think for a long time, his relationship with Mystra was likely something he used as a flex on other wizards who had been cruel or mean to him, based on how he brings it up, when he does.

But what gets me is his utter relief whenever he isn’t rejected by Tav. When he first opens up to you, he has pretty much already prepared himself to be kicked out of the party. He’s even got a plan for when his bomb goes off, to do the least amount of harm he can, and when he says “Even I’ve grown tired of the sound of my own voice” I swear his voice cracks and he sounds like he could cry.

If you romance him, when he tells you he’s in love with you, if you say “I love you too” instead of going straight for a kiss, he’s once again relieved. Despite the fact that you’re there with him and have been romancing him, he still has a doubts that you would return his feelings.

It’s no wonder he made the mistakes he did. This is a man who’s been told his entire life that he’s annoying. Though he’s had other mortal lovers (and we don’t know how those relationship were, only that they clearly ended), he is clearly primed for rejection. And then his ex-girlfriend, the goddess of magic herself, tells him she’ll only forgive his transgression if he kills himself.

Like I said at the top, his precocious talent for the weave is the entire basis of his self-worth, unless and until Tav assured him that he has value beyond his mastery of the Weave. It’s no wonder he felt like he had to “prove” to Mystra that he loved her enough. As long as his self-esteem was based on his magical abilities, he was never going to feel like he was good enough, especially for the goddess who is all magic. He was never going to be able to feel as though he was loving her well enough.

I guess what I’m saying is that his “ambition” and his hubris make so much sense when you consider the hinted-at reasons for his insecurities, his clear desire for friendship and affection (he summoned a Tressym who became a lifelong companion and a lava mephit or something with whom he is still in touch; he even says he didn’t have friends growing up), and his main talent/special interest.

I think he’s a superbly-written character, and I definitely feel like he deserves neither death nor godhood, but a good and comfortable life surrounded by a loving family who encourage him to be his best self.

[zombielesbean]

never ceases to amuse me that the game Shadow the Hedgehog has a reputation as being like, over the top edgy and tonally inconsistent with the rest of the sonic series, pretty much just due to its outward appearances/intro and the fact it has guns in it, but when you actually play it it feels just like any other sonic game like

sure there's guns but like the majority of them are brightly colored cartoon weapons like these

and, they don't even factor into gameplay all that much, like, sometimes you'll be shooting, but most of the time you're just playing a sonic game

the game has you teaming up with such serious, edgy characters as.. charmy bee

even the infamous "where's that damn fourth chaos emerald" line takes place on the fucking clown circus level

it does however involve things like being able to kill the president, so like. it's not completely without over the top edginess. but it is more of a normal sonic game than people seem to think

also if you couldn't tell I love the game a lot actually, I don't really like the mission structure and how repetitive it can get replaying things over and over to get to the true ending, but it was definitely worth experiencing once imo, and I still always fondly remember my playthrough of it

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles - Update 16/August/2024

I did something I wasn’t expecting this week! Something I haven’t yet done!

I completely changed one of the members of a unit I’ve already had in my head for aggggges!

Yes, Unit Delta got a bit of a mix-up, hehe! :D

One of the members just…wasn’t working as I was writing them. They weren’t right for the position they had.

So, when something is not gelling at all, I know it needs to be changed, no matter how long I’ve had them this way for in my head or how much of the scene I’ve already written.

Breaking down the unit, I suddenly realised that their handler actually might work a whole ton better as a full member of the team. So, I went back to the scene and started rewriting it with the handler as the team member—and it worked!

It was finally flowing really well to read instead of feeling staccato and not at all organic.

But I haven’t lost that character I replaced. Instead, he’s slipped into the handler role instead, as I still really like him. Plus, I already know he balances the team well, just as the more hands-off position as handler.

So yeah…that was a very unexpected thing. But it was definitely worth the extra work of rewriting to change that!

But even with that, it’s looking like I will finally finish this chapter tomorrow!!! Yay!

Oh my word, it’s been a doozy to write, lol! :D It’s one of those chapters that has so much to it, but as a reader, you’ll only see a small amount, because the scene can change with the unit you get and even the opening is varied depending on the love interest.

But that’s what I love doing for Wayhaven! Trying to make it so there’s lots to see even in multiple replays, or just to enjoy as a single playthrough that’s reacting more closely to your choices!

I am very ready to get editing this chapter and move onto the next chapter, that’s for sure, hehe!

Hope you all have the most amazing weekend! We’ll be offline as usual, so I’ll update you all again next week <3

[meanbossart]

In a companion AU, would Drow have sort of like an Astarion mechanic where you can still be good aligned, but get approval just through being directly kind to him? I understand they’re different characters but I always thought it was kind of funny that in Astarion’s romance you can still be essentially a goody two shows (which he hates) but if you treat him with kindness and respect, he still is romanceable. I was wondering if Drow was the same way (he’s not even real and I’m trying to figure out my romance strat) I guess my bigger question is would relatively well-adjusted people be able to date this guy LOL

Absolutely! This ask here lists some of the things you could do to earn his approval, and it's definitely less of a "must-do's" and more of a pick-and-choose, much like it is for the rest of the companions.

Also its worth remembering that DU drow himself made a lot of the morally good choices throughout the playthrough - he doesn't let Arabella die, he helped the grove when he killed Minthara, he didn't damn Wyll's soul to Mizora, he killed Gortash, and he rejected Bhaal. Through rejecting the absolute and scoffing at this concept of world domination, his campaign was essentially indistinguishable from a good-aligned one if you ignore Lae'zels death, Halsin, and his choices in some quests in killing or abandoning people in need for his own benefit/convinience. These are things you could circumvent in-game with minimal penalty as well, similar to how Astarion finds a lot of the nice-boy quests a waste of time but will go along with them anyways.

The only main early game choice that would completely lock you out of a romance with him, I think, would be letting Lae'zel kill Shadowheart. Otherwise, as long as you don't chastise him for his attitude, don't take yourself too seriously, and don't treat him like an animal, you could trigger a romance regardless of your alignment. You can act like a goody-two-shoes, you just can't be lawful and humorless about it or take offense to everything he says.

[necromancy-enthusiast]

I don't think I'll ever get over how Organization XIII was hyped up as this super nefarious villain group but then you get to their game 358/2 Days and they treat it like a job. A 9-5 soul crushing job. They have their daily menial tasks and then they go home and wash, rinse, repeat with little else occupying their lives. Even their hobbies and pastimes seem so limited, although you can arguably chalk that up to the game just not being interested in developing them like that (which is part of why the manga is great, because it has a tendency of developing them in ways the main writers aren't interested in). From the way they talk about it, they almost sound like they work at an office sometimes. A very bizarre, particularly backstabby office, but still. It's a soul crushing job AND a weird cult all at once and it's treated with this mundanity that's both hilarious in a way I didn't really get when it first came out and oddly humanizing.

I know for some dumb reason they didn't do a remake of Days and it's harder to access because of that, but if you can and it interests you enough to where you've wondered if it was worth playing, I really recommend playing it or watching a playthrough of the actual game instead of just the cutscenes. The story really is partly told through the mechanics and so much is lost when they just gave us the cutscenes pulled from the game in the compilations.

They really reinforce how bleak and mundane Roxas' life is most of the time, how bleak and mundane most of the members' lives are. How much control the Organization has over them. You don't just level up organically like in other kh games, you have to do this weird puzzle thing that limits your growth and abilities. They don't give you munny, they give you heart points that you can only use at the moogle shop in their castle, so they're literally paid in scrip. If you're unfamiliar with it, scrip is a currency you can only use in certain places instead of throughout a whole country or other type of political union like the eu, usually with the store at the company you work at. When you're on missions your path is blocked off, you can only go to certain areas that are directly related to your daily mission. It's suffocating and genius, especially since in most other series entries you get so much freedom comparatively.

With all that context it starts making some of their vices a bit more understandable. Can you really blame Demyx for not wanting to do his work when all he gets out of it is room and board, and the distant, vague promise of maybe someday getting a new heart? Especially since he's probably been with the Organization for years?

Can you really blame Marluxia and Larxene for wanting to mutiny when their boss is useless and all of their colleagues seem indifferent to it? I mean like. The murder isn't great. I'm still a bit sore about that. But I can definitely get behind the 'screw our boss' sentiment. I'm still very fond of my 'instead of going the cloak and dagger route Larxene and Marluxia somehow, possibly with the help of devil magic, manage to get everyone to cooperate so they can unionize and kick Xemnas out' au. An Organization XIII union au, if you will. Imagine Xemnas having to explain that to the other Xehanorts.

Master Xehanort: The people you gathered up for us to use as our vessels. Unionized?

Xemnas, the biggest loser in the entire series: :/

[wardingshout]

Hello! I can’t belive i found a danish person in the same fandom im in at the same time im in it. I love your art and art style it all looks great!

I wanted to ask since i think you talked about playing a link to the past yourself do you think its worth it to play it? Or is it one of those games you just watch as a playthrough? Im currently trying to make my way through the various zelda games myself and trying to figure out which to play next on the list. Hope you have a nice day/night!

omg me neither, hell yeah! I literally just had a conversation with another dane about how rarely we run into each other online! :D

I think I'm pretty biased in this but I think I'd definitely at least give playing it a shot! I personally had a really rough time with it but it somehow added to the feeling the world gave me? it's entirely about my own lack of gaming skills but I enjoyed experiencing it and all the mean little things it throws at you a lot... I must admit though, that I enjoyed it way more after letting myself use the Switch's rewind function esp for bosses, because I might have given up otherwise. I'm also no good at watching playthroughs personally so there's that too...

but yeah if you have Switch online you can always try through the first dungeon and skip to something else if it doesn't without losing too much time :D

I hope you have a good day/night too! here's a Zelda I drew last year that I dug up the other day

[sealsdaily]

what are the different kinds of seals im curious

There are many different ways to categorize seals/pinnipeds, but we'll be focusing on the most integral to Seal Gameplay.

There are three families in your cast of playable characters: earless or "true" seals, eared seals, and walrus. These are then further split up in subfamilies, tribes, and genera. I'll sum up a brief overview of each subfamily's character class and the species within.

Phocinae: DEFENSIVE SUPPORT

These are the most common earlygame party members, and their support for the DPS can make or break a playthrough. You start the game with a Harbor seal along with your first party member, it needs no introduction. Some of these also splinter off into healing as well, but the Baikal seal also has an offensive supporter edge to it as its massive Perception stat lets it easily expose enemies' weak points and lower defenses. The Ringed and Ribbon seals are also very popular picks, they're simple but very effective at raising stats (ringed raises speed, ribbon attack)

Monachinae: DPS / ATTACKER

The bread and butter of any pinniped party. There's not much i can say about DPS seals, they do big damage! The most popular of these, of course, is the Leopard seal: It's a late-game add, but very worthwhile as it has the highest base attack stat, with good HP. Elephant seals are also a popular pick and synergize well with many fur seal species. Monk seals also have some support qualities, but it seems they're not used that often.

Otariinae: HEALING

Sea lions tend to range on a spectrum of focuses on either all-in-one healing or over-time healing. It's not as picked, but i often use an Australian sea lion in my party compositions for the over time healing, since it works really well with Spotted seals' shielding and DEF mechanics (walruses as well). Overall though, a Steller sea lion can work with mostly any party due to its simplicity.

Arctocephalinae: OFFENSIVE SUPPORT

You wouldn't believe just how much offensive status effects a fur seal can have up its theoretical sleeve. There are many subcategories under this character class such as focus on STUNs, enemy vulnerabilities, DMG over time, etc. Guadalupe fur seals especially are a hot topic: a lot of newbies tend to get intimidated by their risky and RNG-reliant strategies, but the more i've used them the more i can say they can absolutely be worth the risk.

Walruses: TANKING

Walruses are the only species in the Odobenidae family, so if you want a reliable tank there's just one pick. For what it's worth i don't really use tanks but i can definitely see the appeal in their shielding and DEF stats. They're also the only species that can redirect damage from an ally onto them.

Hope this helps!

[gabriellelouise19]

Why I Still Play Stardew Valley After Hundred Hours of Gameplay and Why You Should Too

Stardew Valley is the game that absolutely changed the way I view video games. It has been more than a year of playing and five hundred hours into this masterpiece and now, I want to dive in and share my experience with you all so you can see why playing this game is a hundred percent worthwhile.

Now, if I'm going to be honest with you, I would say that it actually took me a while to appreciate this game. It had already been a huge success in the video game industry and everyone was singing its praises, telling me how good it is, and it was even my family who got me into it. As someone who had no prior experience playing video games of this caliber (I only played your classic mobile games like Subway Surfers, Temple Run, etc.), I was skeptical that I would find it enjoyable in the slightest. In addition to that, it was a paid game and I definitely haven’t spent anything on games, making me wonder if it was going to be worth it. It was only a free Apple Arcade subscription that got me to install it. And looking back now, it was one of the best decisions I had ever made.

Stardew Valley is a cozy open-ended country-life role playing game wherein the player takes the role of a farmer who inherited their grandfather’s farm. Above the surface, it’s really just a simple game. You farm, build relationships with the NPCs, go fishing, mining, and just full-on experience that countryside life. But go beyond that, and you will see the absolute treasure of a game it is. Its gameplay, graphics, and storyline make it the most enjoyable game I have ever played, although I might be a little biased. Its soundtrack is also top-notch, encasing you in a comforting vibe. I get incredibly engrossed playing this and it feels like it takes me to a different world. The variety of gameplay it has to offer can even be overwhelming with its abundance, but that is something I deeply appreciate about it and now after “finishing” the game, I still long for more and find myself starting new playthroughs because it never gets old or boring.

It was the highlight of my summer, and getting my friends hooked into it as well was one of the unadulterated joys I felt. The point is, whether you are a professional or a novice at playing video games, Stardew Valley is for everyone and there is no way of playing it wrong.

Reynes, Gabrielle Louise P. | BSIT 1A

[mmikmmik]

I kind of don't feel like getting the endings of Slay the Princess that don't involve Shifty and the Long Quiet having their final argument, followed by LQ agreeing to leave with her and their departure in their fully godly forms. I definitely don't want to kill her or starve her. And I guess I can see the appeal in the ending with the Princess and the Hero, but it doesn't feel like the right ending for me.

I think a big part of why I think of the Shfiting Mound as the "real" "love interest" is because I judged the Damsel a bit unfairly - she falls apart if pressed, but I don't think that means she's not real, you know? All of the Princesses are only one aspect of the Shifting Mound, but they have their own complete hearts nevertheless. But I didn't really get that when I was first playing the game and got her as my first princess, so I definitely thought of the Shifting Mound as "more real". But I think my near-immediate "oh I see! this is my beautiful wife who I love very much" would have occurred anyway. I just really like her! She's beautiful and patient and contemplative, and really successful imo as a truly divine character - an embodiment of a powerful idea/force of nature, who can express a form of kindness but can't really be "good" or "bad" in a human sense.

I also, throughout my first playthrough, felt strongly that the interactions I was having, and the resulting princesses, were like gifts to Shifty. I really liked having a little chat with her and hearing her evaluation of their hearts, and I chose dialogue options for the Long Quiet as though he wanted to bring her vessels and would, if he remembered her at the start of each Chapter 1, have actively chosen to help her complete herself. So leaving together as the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet, not as the Princess and the Hero, felt like what they were both working towards all along. And they only sort of argued about it because that back-and-forth, rough as it can get, is a natural part of how they relate to each other as gods who embody "opposite" concepts but love each other and want to be together (thesis, antithesis, synthesis...?). I wasn't even really arguing with Shifty, she just went into that spiel because I spent a really long time asking questions before we left. It was more of a passionate explanation than an attack. (And I let her keep going because it was awesome, not because I disagreed with it.)

Putting it like that, "bringing her vessels", it is rather cold, isn't it? I can see the case that the Princess and the Hero deserve more respect than that, that by leaving them behind Shifty and LQ are abandoning something worth having, something they could have explored together at that scale.

Anyway, what I want to say with this post is that like... Slay the Princess has, more than any other game I've ever played, given me the sense that the "true"/"best" ending is really up to the player. I feel like the story + central relationship changes really really dramatically if you don't perceive the Long Quiet as enchanted by the Shifting Mound and happy to be with her and learn more about her, and the dialogue options definitely give you a ton of room to play it either way. I feel that you can play the game so that the Shifty and LQ ending is the true ending, and you can play the game so that the Princess and Hero ending is the true ending.

It does make me more curious about the ending where... I haven't even looked into it enough to really know what happens, but you can kill the Shifting Mound, can't you? Or you can "starve" her by withholding vessels? My gut reaction to the Narrator is "lmao dumbass" - I don't think he understands what he's talking about, and I don't trust his evaluation that a world without the Shifting Mound would be worth living. Just the way his scenario immediately got fucked up makes it seem to me like he doesn't have a strong grasp on the metaphysics. You can't just pick out all the parts of a major universal concept like "change" that you like and throw out all the bits that you don't! But I also don't think this game, with its writing philosophy, would really have a "bad ending" in that kind of sense, you know? I seriously doubt there's an ending that would just be like "you fucked up". But I also feel like... the way the game is written, I kind of feel like I have the freedom as the person engaging with it to say... "this ending is bad, For The Game As I Played It". Does that make sense? I'm definitely touching on complicated questions of narrative theory that smarter people than me have definitely engaged with more substantively haha.