#dlc better come through and explain his nonsense
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penforthewin · 1 year ago
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I really like your analysis of MK1's storyline, specifically with Bi-Han. I totally agree that there are some significant plot holes and missing context in the story. Bi-Han in particular seemed weird to me I guess? His betrayal just stood out as really weird to me.
Like, there should have been more build up or something. Idk, maybe it was obvious to everyone but me, but his betrayal actually caught me off guard. I even thought it was a fake-out till he injured Kuai.
(I just don't know why Bi-Han would expect Kuai to go along with Shang Tsung. Even if Bi-Han believed his brothers would stick by him over Liu Kang, there's no way he would have thought they'd team up with Shang Tsung, right? Kuai Liang is honorable and someone who protects the weak. He'd never put up with Shang Tsung's and Quan Chi's atrocities.)
I just really want some more backstory. I need to see his perspective. Especially regarding the accident that killed the previous Grandmaster.
Another Thing
Bi-han genuinely seems to regret Sindel's death but still broke out Shao?? His lines with both Mileena and Kitana seem contradictory at times (although that could just be because the conversations take place at different points in time).
Is Bi-han blind to the evil acts his "partners" have done and will do, or does he just not care? If he just doesn't care, I'm really confused at how he turned out so different from his brothers because both of them seem to be very compassionate.
I could go on but this is long enough as it is.
I knew Bi-Han was gonna turn just bc of his goofy ahh voice lmao
You are asking ALL the right questions.
MK1 Bi-Han is ambitious, impulsive, and above all, arrogant. I wouldn't be surprised if Bi-Han was so confident in his decision to betray Earthrealm that he thought he could convince Kuai Liang and Tomas to follow him.
And the "accident" thing is so funny to me. Was it a car crash? Did he fall down the stairs? Buried in an avalanche? Who knows.
Bi-han probably doesn't regret Sindel's death, but he does sympathize with Mileena and Kitana. He strikes me as the "ends justify the means" type of guy. Although he feels the sisters' pain, he's still doing what he has to in order to accomplish his goals. That would mean breaking Shao out of prison... benefits him in some way? Maybe he just wanted to make some noise in order to distract everybody from his shenanigans.
He told Tomas that their mother would "applaude" his actions. To me, that seems like he was closer to their mother than he was to their father. Maybe she is the reason he doesn't see the honor in serving Earthrealm. Maybe she would tell him, "You're destined for more than serving Liu Kang. You will lead the Lin Kuei to greatness."
So other than Bi-Han being a mama's boy, we know nothing about her. It could be possible that she thought Liu Kang was holding the Lin Kuei back and led Bi-Han to think the same way. Not a very evil backstory, but a decent explanation as to why he's so different from his brothers.
Don't get me wrong, I love it when a character is evil for evil's sake. But a character like Bi-Han needs more depth to explain his motivations.
Tldr: Bi-Han has a heart, but he's also hot-headed and will do anything to get what he wants.
Why can't I bring this same energy to my English Lit class like come on brain
EDIT: Corrected something. Bi-Han spoke to Tomas, not Kuai Liang.
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lairofdragonagelore · 2 years ago
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Comic: Until We Sleep
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This post belongs to the series DA comic. The main intention is to collect the basic story of the comic and highlight any potential lore concept that may be of interest and may be explored later in the game series.
This post has the following points:
Story
Relevant Details
Characters: A bit of Maevaris, Maric, and Varric with Bianca.
Lore
In the Lore section:
Yellow eyes are shown again as a feature in Titus.
The Qunari explanation to the Calenhad's legend: The Tome of Koslun claims that the man was a mere regular human who, under the advice of a Witch [maybe Flemeth?] drank a great dragon’s blood and acquired power that was inherited by his descendants.
Maric, the person who feeds blood to the Magrallen artefact, becomes a Dreamer in the Fade, maybe because he has dragon blood. This establishes that, no matter if you are a mage or not, a person with dragon blood can be as powerful as a dreamer with some assistance of an artefact.
Once again, it's hinted that the Qunari may have dragon blood since it’s said that the dragonfire may have been their “birthright”.
Tevinter Artefact: The Magrallen. This artefact is known for being based on blood magic, and it is a legacy from Tevinter. Its function is unknown, but seems to allow the control of some sections of the Fade if you feed it with [dragon] blood.
There is a soft and weak analogy between the Magrallen’s powers and the red dragon eggs’ in the Eluvian network we explored in the DLC.
Titus is a blood mage who uses dragon blood with the intention to control the Fade. He is well aware that controlling the Fade may alter the reality [a Dreamer's power], this is the true power of Divinity in DA lore, hence he claims he can become an "old god".
Apparently, those who carry great dragon blood may become Dreamers easily and can control the Fade.
Potential explanation to several lore concepts that seem to make more sense if we assume as correct the idea that dragon blooded people have the power of Dreamers.
[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]
Story
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Varric and company reach an isle in the middle of the sea, called Ath Velanis.  So far the illustrations go, it’s a Tevinter fortress with a lot of dragon decorations. Varric explains it’s a place where sacrifices to the Old Gods used to be performed. How true this is, coming from Varric’s mouth, is hard to say.
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Meanwhile, Sten shares the Qunari suspicion of why Titus wanted Maric and now Alistair: they have blood of great dragons, introducing to us to the story of Calenhad: a drinker of a great dragon’s blood whose power were inherited by his descendants. 
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Alistair claims that his blood may not be useful since it’s tainted with the Joining. We already commented about how conflicting this fact is in the DA lore in the section “Lore problems” in the post The Silent Grove post. In short, it makes little sense for Alistair to have became a Grey Warden so easily when dragons are naturally resistant to the Blight [read the Josephine result in Learn More about Dragons].
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As Varric is exploring Ath Velanis, he rescues Maevaris, who had been tortured, and finds Maric connected to a strange artifact. He has no better idea than to shoot at it. 
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The explosion of the artefact threw everyone in the fortress into the Fade, even the dwarf. Lore-wise, this is very weird. Only the Inquisitor managed to open a Breach and make Varric fall into the Fade [or pass through a Dalish ritual in DA2 to go to the Fade]. Here, the only thing we saw that caused this was a ball of watered-down dragon blood. This may explain how powerful dragon blood truly is, that can throw a dwarf into the Fade or how carelessly these comics were made and hence my mistrust to them.
The most curious thing of this part, if we ignore the nonsense of throwing everyone into the Fade, is that Varric walks on a terrain that, when looking from afar, is like a gargantuan hand made out of Stone. It gives a strange feeling of being related to Titans, given that it’s a dwarf who is walking on it after being thrown into the Fade. Is this a reflection of what means to be a dwarf? Is this a hint to the Stone? to a Titan? Is this the reflection of that “sense of wanting to connect to Titans” that every dwarf has, according to Cole’s words?
In any case, Varric explores the Fade, gathering his friends in the same fashion we did in the Fade in DAO. He finds Maervaris, who is enjoying the illusion of being with her late husband; Isabela, who is part of the Qun, is living her personal nightmare; and Alistair, who lives his life carelessly as his father is still the King of Ferelden. This Maric we meet is not merely an illusion, it’s the real one, the one connected to the blood-artefact. When Varric and the others inform Maric that he is connected to it, the man takes control of the Fade itself, fights Titus, claims himself being a Dreamer just because his dragon blood [again, how much of  these comics can be taken seriously? I wonder] and once everyone returns to real life, they kill Maric out of mercy.
Relevant details
Why the title?: It refers to the concept of reality and truth. In the last page of the comic, we see each of the protagonists returning to their lives: Alistair is in his throne, Isabela seems to abandon her ship, and Varric returns to his life of spymaster/merchant guild-master/author, and all of them keep wondering where the true life exists, here, in the “real world” or in the world of dreams. It’s a title that comes from a final line that closes the comic that questions the nature of the world and reality itself.
Time: The time is the same one than in the previous comic, around 9:38 Dragon, 2032 TE, 3 years before the Breach of Inquisition.
Characters: Maric appears and there is closure to the mystery of his disappearance in the canon. We know a bit more about Maevaris’ backstory, and Varric’s past with Bianca.
Concepts :what this comic can provide in terms of lore?  
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We keep seeing Titus with yellow eyes in case we were not sure about this in the previous comic.
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Calenhad is introduced in this comic with a side story: he was not a gifted hero who made miracles [as Ferelden folktales like to portrait him], but an ambitious man who drank the blood of a dying Great Dragon and acquired powers that were inherited by his descendants. This breaks and reformulates a lot of lore about him that we had read via codices along the games. We also see that a “Witch” suggested him to drink dragon blood. Because this fact has such long-term repercussion in the world of Thedas, I’m pretty sure that this witch was Flemeth or some of her daughters instructed by her. Somehow, keeping the blood of Great Dragons in a powerful human family seems to be a decent precaution to take in a world that destroys what can’t understand [dragons].
That the Qunari know this via the Tome of Koslun is immensely odd to me, but on the other hand, it makes sense since it’s hinted that the Qunari themselves are a crafted race, probably coming from Dragons. At least it makes sense for such a race to keep tales and stories related to those who are involved with dragons too. In DAI it’s even hinted that the Qunari may have dragon blood in their own veins too, but probably from dead dragons? [for more detail, read Frostback Mountains: Somewhere North]. I suspect this due to Corypheus’ shout to a Qunari Inquisitor: “Your blood is engorged with decay. Your race is not a race. It’s a mistake”. 
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Dragonfire is presented as a brutal fire power, and due to its name, it seems to be the fire breathed by dragons. As the qunari fight in this fort against Titus, he casts this fire, instantly killing/melting the qunari. He claims that such fire may have been the qunari’s birthright, but instead, it kills them. Here it’s hinted once more that the qunari may have been crafted from dragons, and that this detail is known by a Tevinter so knowledgeable in Tevinter History and Fade, it may confirm a bit more that it may have been Tevinters who tried to craft the Qunari as a dragon-based race.
Tevinter Artefact: The Magrallen
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This artefact is known for being based on blood magic, and a legacy from Tevinter [but to be honest, considering how all “Tevinter legacy” ends up being a co-opt of Elvhenan magic I would not be surprised if this is a version of an ancient elvhenan artefact]. 
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The artefact shows a serpent-dragon eating its own tail. This is a proper symbol of Ouroboros. Sadly, we can’t say exactly what an ouroboros means since it has been used in real human history by many, many cultures and even though sometimes they shared meaning, in other cases it had different ones: it can represent the eternal return or the concept of cycles. It may also represent life and the concept of time, or the things that never truly disappear, or the transmigration of souls. In the way itis used in DA lore, I don’t think we can pick one. We also know that Tevinter, in general, has a strong symbology with snakes/dragons, so the use of an ouroboros may be an aesthetic choice: just because it’s a Tevinter-made object it’s made in the shape of dragons and snakes.
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We already saw an hexagonal artefact/decoration in many Tevinter buildings, where two serpent-dragons eat each other’s tail. This concept seems to be followed by the Magrallen in an aesthetic way; meaning it’s just a single snake eating its own tail. However, I would like to clarify that this symbol with 2 snakes has nothing to do with an ouroboros. Two serpents eating their own tails looks more like a Tevinter symbol of the Magister culture, eating each others in their race for power.
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The function of this artefact is not clear. It looks like it consumes or gathers Maric’s blood [which contains Dragon Blood] and allows a complete control of some parts of the Fade. This would mean that Dragons have a unique contol over the Fade. The position of the victim in this thing reminds me to the experiments made out of red lyrium that we read in the book Tevinter Nights: slaves hanging up as they are forced to drink liquid red lyrium. Even though Varric knows nothing about magic, he claims this artefact is more than mere blood magic. I don’t trust this comment since its source [Varric] is highly unreliable.
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The artefact looks like a ball filled with blood and afixed  to a statue of a dragon claw. 
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The closest thing we saw to this was the polished red dragon eggs in the Shattered Library or in the in-between spaces [more details in Shattered Library; Entrance]. These eggs glowed in red when activated, which seems to suggest some kind of blood magic. And if they truly contain dragon blood, it would mean that dragon power allows the creation of paths in the spaces in-between. This interpretation seems to make sense if we are being said that dragons have a strong control [almost as if they were Dreamers or Somniari] over the Fade.
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When Varric finds Maevaris in the Fade, she explains a bit more about this artefact: it is named Magrallen, it belongs to the time of the Dreamers [a time where they also used orbs like Solas’, also stolen from the elvhenan], and it is currently being empowered with dragon blood present in Maric's. Again, the function of this artefact is never explained. Given Titus’ goal of becoming a master of the Fade and control it to modify reality, one can suspect that this artefact may contribute, somehow, to that goal. But throughout all the comic, it is never explicitly said.
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When they finally gather everyone in the Fade, Maevaris informs Maric that his mind is in an oneiric suspension state.
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Funnily enough, Maric seems to understand and know magic because he knows the name of the artefact, and what it is doing to him. He claims that it’s the only thing that keeps him alive. 
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When they defeat Titus in the Fade, Alistair frees Maric from the artefact, who decays immediately. The way he does so makes it look as if time had been stopped around him in order to feed the artefact with his blood. As soon as the Magrallen is destroyed, the suspension of time catches up with him. Similar effect was seen with Ameridan in the DLC of Jaws of Hakkon [Frostback Basin [DLC]: Frozen Gate]. 
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So far what we can gather in these panels: Titus is a blood mage involved with Dragon blood whose intention is to control the Fade. He has a series of panels where he claims that the power of the Fade can affect reality, and mages can alter the Fade, and therefore, Reality. This is basically the concept of the Dreamers or Somniari introduced for the first time with Feynriel - Somniari and Fade. Solas also told us about these powers in “Solas sharing Lore: Part 1″.
Through Solas, we know that this power to change reality is truly as strong as Titus claims it to be: With low approval, Solas says that the only way he can save the “elves” is to bring down the Veil, bring the Fade into the Waking World, and reshape reality, which is exactly what he plans to do in DA:D and it’s similar to what Titus is trying to do here [however, in Titus’ plan there is no notion of destroying the Veil first]. The only additional information we have from Titus is that this power seems to come from the “old gods” or the “Dragon gods”. Hence, controlling the Fade in order to change Reality is something that comes from “dragon powers”. Again, we have a reinformcent of the idea that power=divinity. This resignifies the scene where Solas kills Flemeth [a dragon] to have power to bring the Veil down. He opts to do this when his orb, and all the Fade power gathered for a millenia in it, was destroyed after the battle against Corypheus. So, through the end of the game we are also told that dragon power=Fade power gathered for millenia.
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By these comments, we also notice that Titus is aware of the places in-between; these planes of existence that the elvhenan used in order to transport themselves far distances in short periods of time: the eluvian network. Via Morrigan we know they are places where the Evanuris cannot track their servants too [for details read The Crossroad].
If we gather all the words used by Titus, we can link the powers of the Dreamers, able to change Reality through the power of the Fade, as an ability that belonged to [Great] Dragons and could be transmitted via blood to others, or using rituals that needed dragon blood.
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The connection of Divinity with [great] dragon blood that we have been working along the several posts of DAI and the elvhenan codices, seems to be confirmed with Titus’ words [if Titus is truly reliable, which I don’t think so].
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When Maric faces Titus in the Fade, it’s confirmed again that the power of a Dreamer is related to [great] Dragon Blood, since Maric says that Titus is not the dreamer in this place, but himself.  Maric, suddenly, seems to be extremely aware of magic and blood stuff related to dragons, lol. 
This makes speculations about the Qunari grow wilder: if [great] dragon blood provides this brutal power of becoming a Dreamer [and therefore, controlling the Fade to alter Reality], it would explain why the Tevinter would have wanted to create a pet-race of Dragon blooded creatures as the Qunari: maybe to harvest their blood for rituals or sacrifices, or to force them to do their biddings. In any case, the idea is that someone with [great] dragon blood is a natural dreamer. 
If this interpretation is correct, we may understand the logic behind several lore concepts:
This would explain why the Saarebas are so brutal in power, if the Qunari are truly a crafted race based on dragons and dragon blood; their magical ability may be the highest that any creature in Thedas can have [Dreamer-like]. 
If the Qunari were made out of [great] dragon blood, that would explain why they need to have their Saarebas so brutally leashed: most of them, if not all, may be Dreamers. They are able to change reality to their whims if not controlled.
In several ocassions we were informed that the Fade lacks of dwarven presence [reasonable, since they are disconnected from the Fade and can’t dream] but also Qunari [which is rare, since they have mages]. The only way I may explain this is that the Saarebas may pass through a strong chemical leash that prevents them to enter the Fade. We know via Felassan that there are herbs that could allow him to never reach the Fade ever again if they are consumed daily [this is said at the end of the book The Masked Empire, for more details read Felassan and bits of lore]
Dragons in most dnd settings are usually presented as whimsical creatures. In DA series we know little about this aspect of the dragons. High dragons are presented as creatures that follow a normal animal-like cycle: they create a nest, keep their drakes around them, feed, mate, have dragonlings, and then hibernate to repeat the cycle next time. DA series never spoke about Great Dragons with the exception of these comic series, so we know nothing about them. If they are as whimsical as usually dragons are presented in dnd settings, it would make sense why the Qun was forced upon the qunari, since they may be a race made out of dragons that needs roles and purpose in order to control their immense power.
If dragon blood allows control of the Fade and the Reality, it makes sense that the red dragon eggs we found in the in-between spaces have such power to “create” paths that allows travelling big distances. They are affecting Reality and Fade at the same time.
Mythal has appeared in a dream of a tattoo-less elf servant from Val Royeaux [Elven Servant Dreams of Mythal, another videos here].  From that moment on, the npc appears with her Vallaslin [as if she may have taken him as a servant, making effect of whatever happened in the Fade into the Waking World]. This weird situation may be explained if Mythal, who has dragon powers since she is a dragon herself, may have changed reality in this way. Also, during the The Fade - Part 2, Flemeth claims to have more power than anyone of the party when she is in the Fade. This may be caused by a similar mechanics of her having dragon powers.
The constellation codices are, in general, a big mess. They tend to confuse more than to inform us. But what I found curious is that many of them are related to dragons and old elvhen figures. This is a weak proof that ancient Tevinter and Elvhenan may have worshipped the same gods in the begining [until the Elvhenan managed to find a way to control Divinity and “forgot” their original gods to become gods themselves]. Among the several constelations codices, one of them claims that the Old Gods were eight and not seven as we knew for so long [Constellation: Draconis, which states that there is a serpentine old dragon, that may be related to Mythal since she “took the shape of a giant serpent” to fight Andruil in the elvhenan codex Elven God Andruil, which is analysed in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal]. If we also read the codex related to the Astrariums, we find that much of the unaltered constellations information comes from the time of the Dreamers, a group of Tevinter mages that were against the Magisterium system and were into astronomy, a discipline almost forgotten in Thedas. These codices link Ancient Tevinter with Dreamers and dragons, suggesting that the true divinity=power comes from Dragons, and this idea was appreciated not only by Ancient Tevinters, but the Elvhenan too, at least in the begining until the Evanuris took the divinity power for themselves.
Summary of Lore concepts in this comic
Calenhad was not a gifted hero, but a great dragon blood drinker whose powers were inherited by the Theirin family.
It's hinted again that the Qunari are a crafted race made out of dragons.
The Magrallen is an artefact from the time of the Tevinter Dreamers which gathers dragon blood. It's function is not clear.
Great dragon blooded humans have natural Dreamer powers. As Dreamers, they can alter the Fade and therefore, Reality.
It's hinted that the Old Gods may have been Great dragons that shared their power to other mortals, making them Dreamers, and giving them command over the Fade and the Waking World.This may be the origin of the divinity among the Elvhenan, and the Evanuris were their “chosen ones” first. Rememeber the codex Ancient Elven Writing : “His crime is high treason. He took on a form reserved for the gods and their chosen, and dared to fly in the shape of the divine.“
Therefore, Divinity seems to be connected with the power of Great Dragons
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innuendostudios · 4 years ago
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Thoughts on... some funny games
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[no spoilers to speak of]
Thoughts on Lair of the Clockwork God
The wisdom of the gaming cognoscenti insists that comedy is hard to do in video games. Having grown up with Monkey Island and Zork, I've never found this convincing. But one true thing is this: it's hard to write about comedic games. The ineffability of humor is hard enough to describe in less-interactive media; I can't even explain to my partner why Gretchen saying "I met January Jones once!" on You're the Worst busted me up, and they were sitting right next to me when she said it. Throw in the "you had to be there" nature of the player's active participation and I lose myself in a cornfield. The thing I found hilarious might come a beat to early for you, or not at all, or not be funny in text like it is in gameplay.
Why did I like Lair of the Clockwork God? It made me laugh.
The premise and particulars are a lot of "that could go either way." Ben and Dan - stars of Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentleman, Please! - have returned. Ben is still an adventure game star, but Dan has adopted platforming mechanics in an attempt to get with the times. So playing the game involves switching back and forth between a character who can leap across canyons but can't pick up items or talk to people, and one who can combine inventory but can't climb over a 3-pixel rock.
Does that sound potentially funny? Potentially grating? Yes to both!
The plot centers around our heroes trying to save the world from several simultaneous apocalypses and having to teach human emotions to a supercomputer in order to do so. (Don't ask.) These means, rather like Ben There, Dan That, traipsing through a number of fantasy worlds (read: computer simulations) until the correct emotion is provoked. This requires cross-genre cooperation: finding ways to get Ben to areas only Dan can access, getting Dan new power ups by combining objects in Ben's inventory (an act Dan insists on calling "crafting").
The best bits are at these intersections, when Dan's platforming is the puzzliest and Ben's puzzles take advantage of Dan's skills. Periodically the game gives you a Dan-centric platforming gauntlet the controls are NOT precise nor pleasant enough for, or a Ben-only moon logic puzzle that leaves you googling the walkthrough.
But I liked it! A lot. The genre-hopping seems to have invigorated the developers, Ben Ward and Dan Marshall. I discussed my favorite joke in Ben There, Dan That (in what is probably the least popular video I've ever made that wasn't asking for money), but was also dismayed that the game was never that clever again. But this one is, several times over! Progression here involves cheating your way to a better respawn zone, goofing around in game menus, exploiting "glitches," exiting out and loading up entirely other games. There is a lot of poking and prodding at what a game of this nature can or should be.
But, honestly? The only real selling point is... it was funny. The humor is as anarchic and metatextual as in previous titles, but it feels good-natured in a way BT,DT didn't. And there are, here and there, little bits of meat on its bones - the characters wondering if, as a couple thirtysomething white guys, the world hasn't left them behind, no longer comfortable with the juvenile humor of their youth but not really understanding the youth of today, but having not yet fully escaped the mentalities they used to hold. (There's an unspoken humor to Dan's idea of "modern" gameplay being 2D platforming mechanics, especially at a time when adventure games are significantly more popular than on his last outing; this is a good joke whether or not it's intentional.)
Also: this game contains the most poignant urinating-on-a-grave puzzle in gaming history, and you may quote me on that.
Having finished it months ago, I can't even remember what all the gags were that tickled me at the time. Comedy fades from memory faster than drama or frustration. Mostly I just remember having a good time.
Thoughts on The Darkside Detective
Here's a hook: sometime after the mayhem ends in Ghostbusters, The Exorcist, Evil Dead 2, or some other paranormal blockbuster that you watched over and over in the 90's until the VHS wore out, some overworked detective has to come into your town and piece together what the hell happened.
This is his story.
It's a good gag, and the devs wring every drop from it. Existing in a world where these things are commonplace and you have to fit them into some notion of "police procedure" is just funny. Like, it's one thing to have a running gag where you keep observing the moon in outdoor scenes, commenting, with increasing hostility, that its behavior is suspicious (it has been present at multiple crime scenes); it's a slightly different thing when, given the things you've encountered, the moon being the Big Bad is actually somewhat possible.
The game is divided into six main cases and three bonus DLC missions (which come included in the base game now, and the third of which is the proper ending/setup for the sequel). You are the cop tasked to deal with The Other Side - and, when The Other Side bleeds into our own world, its cops have to deal with you. You have a sidekick with a mental maturity of about 6, which I guess makes you the straight man. (You have to grade on a curve to find a straight man in this game.) And you solve tasks like rounding up escaped gremlins or finding an AWOL lake monster all juxtaposed with mundane problems like inter-office squabbles and having not bought your Christmas presents early enough. It's (pleasantly) lo-res and sparsely isolated, so the dialogue and premise do most of the work, but they are ably up to the task.
The gameplay... not so much. I'm an adventure game lifer, so I can put up with a lot of nonsense. It's mostly straightforward inventory puzzles and occasional minigames. Most of the puzzles are fine enough. As the cases progress, things get more involved, and the DLCs especially involve some awful moon logic. And the minigames are not above using that same jumping peg puzzle you've solved in a dozen other games already. So gameplay ranges from serviceable to irritating, but it mostly exists to string together funny lines and silly images. (Christmas mall elves being secretly in service to Krampus - that's the kind of thing we're talking about here.) You won't feel much guilt for opening up a walkthrough; the puzzles aren't why you're here.
The sequel has just been released, and both games are cheap, so check them out if you feel like smiling.
Thoughts on The Procession to Calvary
It's rare for a game to be hilarious to look at.
The Procession to Calvary takes its name from the Bruegel painting. It also takes all it's graphics from Renaissance oil paintings, and the designer delights in making famously rendered heroes and religious icons steal, stab, fart, and swear.
A strong Terry-Gilliam-with-After-Effects vibe is what we're describing.
You play as a lady knight from a war that's just ended, which sucks for you because, in this age of peace, you're no longer authorized to kill. And killing's, like, you're whole thing. But the one person your new, pacifist king wouldn't stop you from killing is the warlord you just deposed, who fled to the South. So you embark on a nonsensical journey to seek out the one human on Earth you are authorized to kill, because killing is just The. Best. Ever.
Of the three games we're discussing, this is the most overtly cheeky, and, at times, the most scatological. I could've done with a bit less scatology, if I'm being honest, but the cheekiness is very winning. As with Lair of the Clockwork God, a lot of jokes could go either way - a field of people being tortured and a woman on a blanket selling commemorative torture merch could be painfully try-hard. But something about the victims being seemingly everyone ever crucified or broken on the wheel in a famous painting, and having them writhe on their crosses in a way that is both gruesome and goofy, and having a cacophonous soundtrack of their screams and moans that you will now imagine every time you look at one of those elegantly elegiac paintings from now on... it works. That the music score is being played by an extremely jaunty piper who dances behind you just out of sword's reach as you traverse the field pushes it over the top.
Oh, and the puzzles, while never hair-pullingly obtuse, will leave you stumped at times. Push past that to get the proper ending, but, if you're sick of trying, you can, at any point, just start stabbing your way through problems. Which, again: it takes a very deft touch to make "protagonist resorts to violence" actually funny rather than lazy and obvious. And maybe, in another game, the perfect timing of every animation, the clever quips, the careful contrast of cathedrals and high-society music halls with gleeful sword-swinging wouldn't be enough. But something about it being frickin' Renaissance paintings carries it the last mile.
This is probably the basest game of the three, but it's also the one that made me giggle the most. Having a BFA that required several art history classes may have something to do with it. But check this thing out.
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butwhatifidothis · 4 years ago
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The slither am takes are hilarious. Cornelia gets killed wasting all the resources Thales used to fortify the city with giant robots. The fact the great bridge is stated by an npc to still be held by the church when Arundel invaded. Implies he came from Shambala least to me. There also more slithers in Enbarr then normal thanks to Myson appearing to take a last stand with Edelgard in this route. But the world is doomed because Dimitri didn’t find one underground city. They usually cite them coming back in VWSS. But they only do that with imperial remants that most likely came from Cornelia as there not mentioned in am at all iirc. There legit helpless without Edelgards army. Plus they ignore Nemesis is stated to be only permanently kill able with Byleth divine power. Which they don’t in cf and the slithers are full size still lol. Also cf had a long war with them. Then they come back years later in every route to be stopped by Balthus and Hapis. Pretty obvious the empires the main threat in the game.
It’s like, they really, really don’t want AM to have taken care of TWS since Dimitri is directly stated to be entirely against Edelgard’s philosophy (which is apparently what they need since Claude also is against like 90% of Edelgard’s stances but ThEy’Re So SiMiLaR I guess) and that means if Dimitri is able to have found out about them on his own through his own research completely devoid of Edelgard’s help and if Dimitri was able to wipe them off the map, that means Edelgard... is wrong. About, like, everything. “She had to start the war because no one would have figured out about TWS and she needed to jumpstart change to fight them off and save Fodlan” except Dimitri was on the path of doing so pre ts without any war whatsoever. He was putting together the dots of Arundel’s strange behavior in the academy and post ts he noted Cornelia’s radically changed mannerisms. He was going to figure them out by himself. 
But that being true means that Edelgard was either 1) far too careless and rash in her decision making (which, given that everything points to her coming to the “let’s do that war thing” conclusion at like 14, isn’t too hard to believe) and she didn’t look into TWS whatsoever before coming to that conclusion seeing as Dimitri found them out through Imperial records, or 2) it isn’t “oh she cared so much about Fodlan but was backed into a corner by this overwhelming force and she couldn’t do anything but help them until she garnered enough power to stop them” it’s more “oh she wanted to put Fodlan back into Adrestia’s sole influence and so used this amoral source of power to help her do so and didn’t want that source to be sniffed out until she herself was done using them” 
Which, given that she continually covers for them and hides them from everyone including allies she knows would not want to work for them, that she always uses their “war assets” (Demonic Beasts) even in her own route, that she full on helps them carry out their crimes like with Flayn, and how she will flat out say to TWS’  faces that she’s using them up until they are no longer needed (that they’re working together “for now,” that there “won’t be any salvation for their kind”) oh gee, I wonder which option fits her actions and behavior better? (I mean both kinda fit lmao but yeah)
And they don’t like that! They seem to really not like anything that could kinda put Edelgard in a bad light. How else do you explain “Yeah, Dimitri got rid of Thales, whoever Cornelia actually was, and even Myson, and Solon is also always dead, all of which seem to be the higher ups of TWS’ power structure, but, uh, that guy who summons Demonic Beasts on VW is still alive!! And Dimitri definitely would just not look into whatever the fuck happened to the real Cornelia or just TWS in general even though he now knows they were involved with that kinda sorta big event of his life called the Tragedy, so they absolutely get away scot free in AM”? Especially with DLC-chan coming in and literally saying point-blank that TWS are always taken care of post war, no matter the route, at least if Hapi is alive, and with Hapi giving even more incentive to Dimitri into finding out more about TWS with her information about their connection to his missing step mother. It’s nonsensical.
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kyndaris · 3 years ago
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Who Else Will I Have Da-Chao Beans With?
With a brand-new PlayStation 5, lovingly dubbed Seto Kaiba, now in my grasp I was excited to try out Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade. In particular, the downloadable content (DLC) featuring everyone’s favourite materia hunter: Yuffie Kisaragi. Yes, you heard it right. I suffered through disappointment and numerous attempts of trying to put my name down on a PlayStation 5 waitlist just so that I could play a $30 add-on. I mean, it’s not the first time that I’ve willingly put down money to enjoy more of the story, but it’s a rare occurrence.
With that out of the way, please know that this impression of INTERmission will be filled with spoilers. I know this post won’t go up until August but considering how hard it is to still get consoles, well…you’ve been warned.
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In contrast to Cloud’s stoic and no-nonsense attitude, Yuffie is a breath of fresh air. Right from the gates, her narration in a bid to impress the members of Avalanche that aren’t even present is a joy and delight. True, she’s younger than our main character, but she has seen a lot of things. The conflict between Wutai and Shinra back in the good old days of Crisis Core are very much part of the lore in the expanded Final Fantasy 7 universe.
In fact, our favourite puppy of the series, Zack Fair, also got to meet the rising ninja star of Wutai during the conflict.
But I’m getting off-topic. Back to INTERmission.
After traversing the wastelands around Sector 7, Yuffie finally reaches the slums before the plate has fallen. Once she has arrived, she meets up with the members of AVALANCHE. Except, of course, they’re not the ones that we know and love. Enter Zhijie, Nayo, Polk and Billy Bob.
As for Jessie, Biggs and Wedge? All three were located around the slums. Jessie was seated in front of Seventh Heaven (which Yuffie could not enter), Wedge enjoyed the company of many cats and Biggs was idling by not too far from the others. All of them were interactable but their dialogue essentially boiled down to: stop bothering me. I did like, however, being able to play the board game: Fort Condor with at least two of them. AND UTTERLY DESTROYED THEM WHILE I WAS AT IT.
Chadley too, made an appearance – this time offering a battle with Ramuh and also being the GRANDMASTER of the Fort Condor board games.
By the by, the Fort Condor minigame is probably quite reminiscent of the auto-battles that have gained popularity. Three towers to be defended, summonable units…
I’ve never played any of the auto-battles but it does seem fun. For a short while at least. And as a minigame within a game.
Once I had explored the slums to my heart’s content, it was back to the story missions. Enter Sonon. As soon as he appeared, I knew that things would not end well. After all, Yuffie did not have a companion when you met her as an optional side character. And in every other iteration: from Advent Children to Dirge of Cerberus, he was never present.
But though I knew his time would be limited, he brought excellent banter to the adventure and served as an excellent support to Yuffie. Even if the brother-sister connection was a little ham-fisted with Yuffie reminding the warrior of his own sister: Melphi. Still, despite the way the developers bungled the immediate connection, I didn’t mind. Yuffie, after all, was on a mission to nab the greatest and ultimate materia right from under Shinra’s nose.
It is important to know that while not much changes in the way of combat, Yuffie does play quite a bit different from the other main characters. In fact, she can fight both close-up and at range with her ninjutsu arts. Another change to the formula is that you cannot change to Sonon. Only Yuffie can be controlled – though you can give commands to Sonon and have him perform abilities and spells.
Then, of course, there’s also the synergy aspect wherein Sonon and Yuffie would combine their attacks to deal additional damage. It was fun experimenting with the system and showed how versatile the combat system could be.
Once they enjoyed a trip chasing Zhijie to obtain High-D cards that would allow them to slip into Shinra Headquarters, it was back to the slums to see Tifa and Barret return without SOLDIER-boy Cloud Strife. What I loved about this moment was that we also got to see a private conversation between Tifa and Barret that did not feature in the first game or in the Remake run. Seeing the aftermath of Cloud falling down into the slums below and how it had impacted both Tifa and Barret was a great character moment. And it also helped serve to explain the reason why Tifa ended up in Wall Market in the first place.
With that moment out of the way, our heroes Yuffie and Sonon head to Shinra headquarters. As they slip into the elevator, they are joined by Scarlet: Head of Weapons Development. From there, the game becomes a gauntlet of battles. It’s not the most thrilling chapter to experience but it does showcase how well the Wutaians fight and the innate teamwork between Yuffie and Sonon.
This new piece of downloadable content, however, is not satisfied to simply end matters here, however. When Scarlet is defeated (and even in defeat she’s assessing how best to finetune her machines of war), she activates DEEPGROUND. For the first time in a long while, I got to see Weiss the Immaculate and Nero the Sable.
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While I may not have played Dirge of Cerberus, I did watch ALL the walkthroughs that I could find on YouTube back in my younger years. I watched Vincent Valentine grapple with his past and finally learn to control the power within.
That aside, the new threat that Nero presented was a challenge. With his arms strapped to his chest in a straitjacket, he reminded me of Anima Aeon from Final Fantasy X. But it was his darkness powerset that gave me all the Kingdom Hearts vibes. If I have to hear ‘Darkness’ again in anything, I think I might have to scream.
Beyond these few nitpick moments, I felt that Sonon’s death was a little overdone. Particularly for a character that had only been fighting beside us for only a few short moments. Don’t get me wrong, the developers tried their best to sell it: the swell in the orchestra, the use of copious flashbacks…
Still, the pain expressed by Yuffie (which was then followed by the Sector 7 plate falling) was enough to sell a bit of the horror.
My only question though is: WHAT IS NERO GOING TO DO WITH SONON’S BODY?
From there, the credits rolled and we caught a glimpse of Yuffie out in the wilds, on a chocobo and humming. As a side note, does everyone know the chocobo theme song? Is it a piece of canonical music within the game universe that is associated with chocobos? Like, is it used in advertisement for chocobos? I NEED TO KNOW!
We also get to see Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Cloud traipsing along on the road to Kalm. Better than that, we see Zack in his alternate dimension reaching the church in the Sector 5 slums, debating how best to reintroduce himself to his fair flower lady. Where is his version of Cloud in all this? Why are there so many people in the church? How does this whole dimension/ alternate timeline thing work?
Once again, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake left me with more questions than answers. Though I never played the original, over the years, I had scoured the wiki sites to learn as much as I could. And though I knew the plot beats, the creative directors and script writer have kept things close to the vest – tantalising me with the prospect of what is to come.
I still need a slap fight between Scarlet and Tifa, okay! It had better be in there!
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Anons wanted an explanation for the placements I had on my previous tier list, but upon going back and looking it over, I realized that I wanted to move a few characters around, so I ended up getting a new template and remaking it. 
I wrote little bits about each character [yes, each one] below the cut, but be warned, it’s long. 
SS  
“I love you so much that I would sell my soul to make sure you’re happy”
Lee Everett: Lee is a goddamn legend. He deserves to be at the very top. He’s one of the best protagonists I’ve ever played as in a game, his backstory is incredibly interesting, and his relationship with and dedication to protecting  Clementine never felt forced and is one of the highlights of S1. Even now, having replayed S1 a million times, seeing him get bit and slowly become weaker and weaker as he refuses to give up on Clementine still breaks my salt encased heart. Watching him die in the end never fails to put that lump in my throat. I love him.
AJ: I love this kid. I was so worried that they wouldn’t do him justice when the game was announced and I saw the trailer, but I was floored by just how much I grew to love him. He feels like my kid, my responsibility and I want him to grow up strong and smart, but also human. His voice acting is terrific, and I think he’s one of the best child characters we’ve ever been given in video games. His relationship with Clementine rivals Lee and Clem’s relationship and that’s what I wanted. This kid earned his place at the top. 
S4 Clementine: This Clementine is my absolute favorite. While I love all the Clementine’s across the four seasons, I feel like she truly hit her peak in S4. I fucking love her, I’m proud of who she grew up to be, and seeing her journey to this point only solidifies that she’s my favorite. She’s strong and stern, but she has her softer moments with AJ and Louis/Violet, and what else is there really to say? She’s Clementine.  
Louis: ....Do I really need to explain this? I mean, c’mon. If you’ve been following me for a long time- shit, if you’ve only been following me for a few minutes, then y’all know how much I love Louis. I can say with 100% certainty that Louis is my favorite non-playable character across all four games. I’ve made numerous posts, answered over a hundred asks, written thousands of words about him. Everything about him from his character design, his personality, his traumas, his voice acting, his expressions, his relationship with Clementine and AJ and Violet and Marlon and everyone- He’s the best. I love him. 
Rosie: Rosie is the bestest girl in the world. ‘nuff said. 
S
“I fucking love everything about you.”
S1 Clementine: Alright, before y’all come at me with the whole “Why isn’t little baby Clem SS tier you monster??” let me explain: I adore S1 Clementine. She’s still in S tier, after all. However, after playing through these games several times over again, I realize that this really is just the beginning of Clementine’s character and her growth. She’s lovable, she’s cute, and I want to protect her, but she’s not... a compelling character? She doesn’t fully come into herself and develop a stronger personality until S2. Like I said, I still love her and I can’t deny the impact that she had on the characters and us players, but she’s not my favorite Clementine of the bunch. 
S2 Clementine: I fucking love S2 Clementine. I’d actually say that she’s my 2nd favorite Clementine. I give S2 a lot of well-deserved shit, but she is the high point of it all. Something about her character is compelling to me, like how she’s stuck with a bunch of adults who underestimate her yet want her to do everything for them and she just... is so done with it hahaha. But her growth is what it really does it for me. We went from little baby Clementine who whimpered at a small cut on her finger to a Clementine who fucking sews her own arm up, covers herself in walker guts with barely a flinch, can shoot a gun with great accuracy and take down walkers like they ain’t shit, and can survive and make her own decisions. Also, her instant connection with AJ is great. Love it. Love her. 
Javier Garcia: Yo, I love this beautiful man. This man is honestly the best part of ANF, and without him it would’ve been such a shitty game. I found his backstory as an ex-professional baseball player booted from the league for gambling a cool concept. He’s hilarious and charming, too. Honestly, he deserved a better game with better, y’know? The only reason he’s not SS tier is because of the writing and his nonsense with Kate when you don’t want to romance her. It makes it seem like he led her on and then was like “Wait nevermind lol” which is annoying, but other than that, he’s great. Love his relationships with most of the characters, and the ending he got was pretty good. 
James: I don’t talk about him as much as I should because I find James fucking fascinating. If they ever made a DLC or a mini-game for twdg, I want it to be about James and his journey in finding and joining the whisperers, his relationship with Charlie, and how he escaped them. His views on walkers, his survival and killing skills, his past traumas haunting his every moment for fear that he’ll revert back to what he was, his extreme pacifism that ironically turns violent- just what a cool fucking character. And while he has his wild moments [cave scene, anyone? “Oh ouch!” hahahahahaa] he’s still one of my favorites. 
Violet: Oh, Violet. She’s amazing. I love her so damn much. If there’s ever been a character that I see a lot of myself in, it’s her.... which is why I tend to be a little harsh with her sometimes, but I can’t deny that she’s one of the most well-written characters across the whole series. She’s not perfect [both she and Louis do have their tiny inconsistencies that I blame the writing for] but that’s a good thing. And while I don’t ship her and Clementine, I 100% get why a lot of people do. Their relationship is adorable and way more compelling than her previous relationship with Minerva. 
A
“I love you <3″
Carley: My beautiful girlfriend... you were taken away far too soon. Carley’s one of my favorite characters from S1. I wish we could’ve had more time to explore a relationship between her and Lee, but what we did get is enjoyable. She’s a badass, and I will always love the moment she tells Lilly off for being a little bitch, even though it results in her death. Not a day goes by where I’m not salty about that one. 
Molly: Molly’s a goddamn badass. She scales buildings like it’s nothing, she named her weapon Helga, and her backstory with Crawford and her sister is terrific. Also, she’s funny and I love her. That’s that.
Omid: This dude was literally a light in S1. He brought us some humor when we needed it [ “...You broke that dude’s face.” ] and his relationship with Christa was so sweet. Also, him and Lee bonding over being history nerds? Yes, please. It’s bullshit that he was killed off two seconds into S2 but hey... S2 had a lot of bullshit in it so...  Justice for Omid 2k19. 
Luke: *deeeeeeeep inhale* Big Brother Luke did not deserve that bullshit. Literally one of the best characters in S2 and y’all just.... did him dirty like that. And for what? To make room for Kenny and Jane? Bull. Shit. Luke was so damn good, and the only reason he’s not higher is because of what they did to him after ep3. He starts out so kind and supportive and seriously like a big brother character then SUDDENLY he’s stupid and “makes it” with Jane while walkers are trying to eat us and then he gets himself shot and then fucking dies and akjsjdlkjasdkjaslkjasdklerwedascasads- 
S3 Clementine: ...So, here’s where y’all will probably get pissed. S3 Clementine is my least favorite of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I still love her and she is still in A tier, but... how do I explain it? She’s in her 13-year-old, emo/angsty phase and it’s hilarious when it shouldn’t be. There are moments where I do become emotional for her, like when David takes AJ away and Javi hugs her, or when Gabe dies and she’s saying goodbye, or when she gets her first period, y’know moments like that! BUT... then we have moments where Javi goes to talk to her and she’s all “HAVING PEOPLE IS GREAT AT FIRST BUT EVENTUALLY EVERYONE DIES” or when she straight up shoots that guy who gave her faulty bullets OR WHEN SHE’S LIKE “IMMA KILL ME A LINGARD” AND.......... it’s too much for me! I can’t take her seriously when she’s this angsty, even when I understand why she is the way she is. Again, to reiterate, I still love her but in ranking all four Clementines, she comes in last for me.... and I can already hear the shit that’s gonna be thrown my way haha
Conrad: The most underappreciated character in S3 and it’s nonsense. Don’t come for me, but this dude is my favorite npc in S3. I love Conrad, and I wish we got more of him. He does have his own little arch if you keep him alive through the end. His grief over Francine is heartbreaking and his downward spiral that leads him to act out and threaten Javi, Clem, and Gabe so that he can get his revenge is wonderful. And btw, he does apologize for pulling the gun on them and makes up for it in the future. And y’know what moves him up into A tier? The moment you let him kill Badger. One of the best kills of the game. I prefer it over beating the shit out of Badger myself. 
Aasim: This boy is my son, and I’m sorry, but he’s really fucking cool. You’ve got this kid who was sent to Ericson for being a pyromaniac [according to Kent, it’s not actually mentioned in game] and grew into this guy who documents everything so that they’ll have a form of history to look back on and help not repeat mistakes. His banter with Louis is funny, and even though he gets fed up with Louis for not taking anything seriously, he still cares deeply about him given how he reacts when Louis loses his tongue. His crush on Ruby is adorable, too. I just love him, he’s great. 
Marlon: Now, originally I put Marlon in a lower tier [the “I like your role in the story” type of tier] but upon reflection I actually find Marlon to be a compelling character. He’s high on the list because of how well he’s portrayed. Marlon has some of the best voice acting across all the games. There isn’t a single moment where I don’t believe what he’s saying, which says something. There are moments where Clementine will say something and I go, “Really? That’s the take they went with? Okay...” but not with Marlon. For only being in ep1, he played his part really fucking well. I won’t defend any of the shit he pulled because it’s awful, but I understand everything he did. He is a coward, a sheep hiding in a wolf’s coat, pretending that he’s got everything under control and putting all the pressure of a leader onto himself and it eventually breaks him. I know they killed him off to further the plot and show how ruthless AJ can be as a child growing up in the world, but I wish he survived past ep1 so that we could really get into the meat of his character. I’ll say it: I love him as fake-friend-to-full-on-antagonistic-character and his role within the story. 
Mitch: I fucking love Mitch and the only reason he isn’t in SS tier is because of how goddamn dirty the writers did him. You give me this boy- this butterknife wielding, foul-mouthed, angry, hilarious, bomb-making boy and make me fall in love with him and THEN YOU KILL HIM OFF IN THE STUPIDEST WAY POSSIBLE. “Oh, lemme just run at the crazy lady with a knife and- OOF! It appears I’ve been throat stabbed bleh-”  I’ve complained about this since ep2, but lemme say it again: Mitch had so much potential to be an amazing character but never got the chance to because we had to add to the death count and make us more afraid of Lilly even though it didn’t do shit because it was a reaction kill rather than one made out of malice. 
Tenn: Tenn is such a tragic character for me. In my personal canon ending, he dies because he was “messing up again” and AJ shot him. This poor kid was so full of hope that the walkers would go away one day, he’s so genuine and never wants to hurt anyone, even if they’re trying to hurt him, and he’s so fucked up from seeing Minerva that he stops thinking and tries to go to her even as she’s being devoured right in front of him. Tenn is like this game’s Sarah, but done right. He deserved better, but he was a well-written character and I love him. His friendship with AJ was so sweet which makes it even more heartbreaking when he dies. Yet another terrific child character. 
B
“I like you and/or your role within the story”
S1 Kenny: This dude is such a chaotic topic. I feel like 90% of the fandom has an incredibly strong opinion on him, and of that 90%, 45% of people absolutely love him and if you say anything negative you’ll get a boat to the head while the other 45% loathe him. Then you’ve got the 10% who don’t have such strong opinions, and that’s where I fall. I like Kenny, and I like S1 Kenny more than his S2 counterpart. He has a great arch throughout the season regardless if you’re his best pal or not. He has some funny lines, some emotional scenes. I’ll never forget the first time I played the scene where Kenny’s crying over Katjaa’s dead body while Duck is laying against the tree on the brink of death. And I definitely will never forget the part where he finds the boy in the attic. Overall, I like him and what he brought to S1. 
Katjaa: She was really sweet and her death broke my heart. I don’t have too much to say about her, but I liked her a lot. She loved her family and met a tragic end. 
Ben: Fucking Ben, man. This poor kid. Another character with wasted potential. I’ve mentioned this plenty of times before, but I wish we could get an alternative ending where Ben was the only one who survived and became Clementine’s new caretaker. There was so much room for growth. He just wanted to help out but kept screwing up and it’s just.... sad. 
Christa: I’ll be honest, the first time I ever played S1, I didn’t like Christa. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way and I didn’t care about her as much as I did Omid. However, the more times I replayed it, the more I grew to love her. She’s strong but sweet, and you can’t deny how much she loves Omid. And while I wish we did get to know what happened to her in S2, I can live with it remaining unknown.  
Chuck: As much as I like our guitar playing hobo friend who deserved so much more, I would probably put him a tier lower if it weren’t for the advice that he gives Lee on the train. Because of him, Lee stopped treating Clementine entirely like a little girl in need of protection and cut her hair, taught her to use a gun, and furthered their communication by building a plan together. Without Chuck and his wise hobo words, Lee might’ve fucked both of them over. Also, Chuck’s pretty badass with that shovel, he got a lot of chuckles out of me, but his death was off screen and disappointing. 
Andy St John: Okay. Okay okay okay. Andy. He is so high here [and so much higher than his mom and brother] because to me, he’s the scariest of the St John’s. Why? Because he’s the most normal-appearing of the three. He acts and talks like any normal guy would. He’s someone that I could see myself running into in real life. He’s so good at hiding how fucked up he is from everyone, unlike his brother who you can just look at and go “hahahahaha no thanks” and his mother who’s character design is just awful. I find him to be the strongest of the three, the smartest and the most dangerous. And the final fight between him and Lee is amazing. I love how you can be so furious with him that you keep punching him even after the prompt goes away and then his face goes all purple and swollen. Easily the greatest antagonist in S1.
Eddie: This dude is the best character to come out of the 400 Days dlc. End of story. 
 Alvin: He gave me a juice box and that automatically puts him here. Real great guy but we didn’t get too into his character. Wish we could’ve, though.  
Rebecca: She grew on me tbh. Didn’t like her in ep1 when she was being all pissy and all, but for the most part, she’s pretty good. 
Mike: I will forever wish the writers went through with the concept of Mike being one of the guys who attacked Christa because then he could’ve had a better character backstory. Regardless, I still like him. He’s pretty funny. 
Nick: Nick? Oh, you mean PURE WASTED POTENTIAL. I mean, they really did give us this super flawed but sympathetic and interesting character and kill him off-screen. They really did that. Honestly, S2 really pisses me off sometimes for the way they treated these characters. It all goes downhill once everyone escapes. Yeah, yeah, blah blah not everyone gets a meaningful death blah blah but y’know what? You can do better than that. I loved Nick and I was so excited to see what they’d do with him in the end but NOPE! Justice 4 Nick 2k19
Pete: What a good dude. He stuck by Clementine’s side even when everyone thought she was bit. Love him. Wish we saw more of him. 
Sarah: Ha. Ha. PURE WASTED POTENTIAL 2.0. What else needs to be said? This girl had the foundation for a great character but again, NOPE! I really liked Sarah! I wanted to teach her to use a gun to protect herself! The loss of her father fucking broke her and it was hard to watch but I wanted more and just ahaklsdjlaskjdlkakjaskjsaadkljas ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
Ava: Yo. Ava’s a fucking gorgeous badass. Really liked her and how she was sweet on Clementine. Also, it’s interesting that she stuck by David’s side like that. 
David: I have a lot of mixed feelings about David. On one hand, the complicated relationship between him and Javier is good, even if it’s a little bullshit at times. On the other hand, David’s an asshole.  But he’s a great antagonistic character. I do love that about him. The shit with him and Kate was a little annoying, but only because they didn’t ever elaborate on anything. On what level was the marriage fucked? Was it straight-up abusive? What happened to David’s first wife? Why did Kate and David get married in the first place? I got questions! But, like Javier, I think David deserved a better game with better writing. 
Jesus: This dude parkour kills walkers. Pretty fucking badass. 
Tripp: I feel like I don’t like Tripp as much as some people. I like him fine, but I know a lot of folks gush about him. I think he’s a good dude, a little pushy with Eleanor, but he’s loyal and strong. 
S2 Lilly: I fucking hate Lilly. I hate her so goddamn much. She pushes every wrong button with her bullshit “Where's our new recruits?? Lee would be so disappointed knowing he taught you all the wrong things! You’re one of my people now, Clementine” AND THE GODDAMN “Yes, Ma’am” SHIT. Nothing irks me more than every time someone from the delta acts like Lilly’s the baddest bitch and call her “Ma’am” I HATE IT AND I HATE HER. SHE KILLED MITCH. SHE KIDNAPPED MY CHILDREN. SHE DARES TO TRY AND HURT LOUIS LIKE HE’S NOTHING. AND I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER....... That being said, y’all are probably thinking “wtf if you hate her so much why isn’t she in F tier???” and that’s because no other antagonist in these games has ever gotten this strong of a reaction out of me. Lilly is a damn good antagonist. She’s not perfect, and there are definitely things I would change or add, but she does her job and makes me absolutely livid [yeah yeah I know ha ha ha ha] every time she’s on screen doing her bullshit. I hate her and that counts for something. She’s easily the best “villain” in the entire series. 
Ruby: I love my funny little hot-headed medic. Ruby’s amazing and I love her. 
Willy: This kid really grew on me. I thought he was weird and creepy at the beginning but I adore him now. His brotherly relationship with Mitch should’ve been explored more, and at times his voice acting is kind of jarring, but I still love him. 
C
“You’re fine, I guess...”
Duck: He’s fine. I like Duck. I like the “what if” scenarios we’ve come up with surrounding his character, and his death always puts a lump in my throat, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to say I love him, y’know?
Doug: Again, he’s fine. He has some funny moments when you save him, and he’s got a cool little panda bear on his sweater but... yeah. He’s okay. 
Mark: Oh hai Mark. He’s cool, and the reason he’s not lower is because the iconic moment of finding him in the hidden room with his legs chopped off choking out the words “Don’t... eat... dinner” forever haunts my nightmares. 
Russell: I’m not a big fan of most of the playable 400 Days characters, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it’s Russell. His backstory of being with the group that believed in the power of 7′s [I think it was 7 I dunno going off of memory here] was cool and his weird thing with Nate was fun and disturbing. He’s a pretty cool character. 
Carlos: I’ve made posts about Carlos before and how I think he had a lot of potential, but looking strictly at his role in the game and I’m left underwhelmed. I did get a lot of shit for where I placed him in my previous tier because he was [and still is] above S2 Kenny but I’m not going to lie and say I like Kenny more than him because... I don’t. I just think Carlos should’ve been given more development.  
Carver: A cool antagonist who was defeated waaaaaay too early in the game. They were doing a fantastic job at making me hate him with his treatment of Clementine, beating the shit out of Kenny, murdering Alvin and pulling all that shit with Rebecca, but killing him off so quickly didn’t make it feel as satisfying. Again, underwhelming. 
Sam: This pup betrayed me and he ain’t no Rosie, but we played frisbee so he gets a C I guess
Gabe: Y’know, Gabe could’ve been so good. But every time I play through ANF, he ends up annoying me more than Ben. What does that tell you? He’s fine, but he could’ve been a lot better. 
Mariana: I’m not so much “meh” on Mari because I think she’s sweet and likable! The problem is I don’t want to put her any higher because really? What did she do? She died horribly because Badger’s a piece of shit. 
Abel: Meh this guy’s garbage. I only put him up a little higher because the scene with him in the basement is really good. 
Brody: Brody is like the Mariana of S4 for me, just a bit better. I do like her. She had some development but her whole purpose was to die by Marlon’s hand and get the plot going. Would’ve loved to learn more about her, but I couldn’t give her anything higher than a C. 
Minerva: Controversial opinion but........ I don’t like Minerva as much as a lot of people do. If I could be brutally honest, if I were ranking these characters solely on how I feel about them without looking at their roles in the games and character development, Minerva would be in E tier at the highest. However, I can’t deny how tragic and complex her character and backstory is. It’s similar to how I feel about Lilly, but different. I think she’s just so fucked up from the delta that she’s become a husk of who she was and it results in her constantly pissing me off with all her shit. Also, the bridge scene alone bumps her up. That shit was crazy in a good yet tragic way. 
Omar: At one point, I forgot Omar existed until he got shot in the leg...... but he’s also God so y’know. I like him but I also had to make up my own little backstory for him so...
D
“Meh”
S1 Lilly: I don’t care about S1 Lilly in the slightest, she’s awful. They made her way more compelling in S4. And she killed my girlfriend which is bullshit on it’s own.
Jolene: If I could rewrite S1, I would’ve thrown out the Stranger and had Jolene be the kidnapper. As Danny said, “What a waste.”
Bonnie: She’s pretty disappointing, tbh. I didn’t like how the game help pushing her onto Clem and overall she’s pretty forgettable. 
Vince: He’s okay, I guess. He killed a dude one time. And shot a guy’s foot off.
Wyatt: “Meh” hahaha Eddie was a cooler character than he was
Jane: I wish Jane had been the Molly of S2 and stayed gone after she left the first time. I like that she taught Clementine some useful survival tactics and that’s what puts her on this tier, but I think we all know how I feel about the whole Jane vs. Kenny thing by now so... 
S2 Kenny: This Kenny actually moved up a tier because I fully took in everything he’s been through thus far and.... “Meh.” I don’t think he’s good for Clementine, I think she and AJ need a group like Wellington. I recognize that he’s a lot of people’s favorite, but like I said above in his S1 counterpart, I’m the 10% that doesn’t have that strong of an opinion on him. I’d much rather discuss other characters over him. 
Sarita: Forgettable, really. Except for when you get the chance to cut her hand off. That fucking scream of hers is anything but forgettable, yeesh. 
Walter: Again, mostly forgettable. His death was sad, and I do think he’s a good example of what happens when you’re too trusting in this world, but overall he doesn’t stand out to me. 
Kate: I probably would’ve liked Kate more if her romance wasn’t so damn forced. She has some funny lines, but she’s also pretty selfish and fickle when it comes to a lot of things. And I will forever be annoyed at her inability to keep her mouth shut about her and Javi’s relationship [or lack of] in front of David. 
E
“I don’t like you but you’re not the absolute worst, I guess...”
Danny St John and Brenda St John: I put these two together because they have the same issue: They’re fucking creepy. Where Andy was normal and deceiving, these two look like they want to cut my legs off and eat them. I think they’re much weaker in character than Andy was, even with Danny’s weird sexual fixation of his gun and Brenda talking about her husband. 
Vernon: He’s not the absolute worst because I do feel a little sympathy for him losing his daughter, but everything else just makes me not like him. 
Shel and Becca: Easily my two least favorite characters in 400 Days. I had no real interest in either of them. 
Arvo: This guy. I didn’t put him in as the absolute worst because of all the unnecessary shit Kenny put him through. No wonder he wanted to get the hell outta there. 
Clint: I literally couldn’t give a single shit about this dude or what happens to him. 
Eleanor: I don’t like Eleanor. I found her annoying. Her one good quality is her want to help people, but that want didn’t do much to help Tripp now did it, Eleanor.
F
“The absolute worst”
Larry: Did you expect anything else? Fuck this guy. 
Stranger: Worst final antagonist ever. You’re telling me I have to fight this Mister Roger’s tootsie pop? I’ll bet you $1 I can do it with one hand. Fuck this guy. 
Troy: Fuck Troy. All he does is smack Clementine around and then get shot in the dick. 
Joan: This lady is a laughably bad antagonist. The worst fucking “villian” jfc...
---
There ya have it. Do you agree, disagree? Maybe a character I found boring you really liked! Maybe you want to tell me why Kenny is the best/worst again!  We can discuss it. 
I’m always open to talking about these characters!
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vaguely-concerned · 5 years ago
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I played Death of the Outsider finally and I have some Feelings about it
and most of them not very positive. nice stuff first tho!
THINGS I LIKED:
- billie is such a good character. still new to her old self and slightly tender from coming out of the protective shell of lies that was meagan foster, full of old scars and doubts and bitterness but trying for something better, something kinder even though she still doesn’t quite understand what she’s walking towards -- the genuine care and tenderness in her voice when she talks to daud or thinks about deidre. I love her.
all that and she effortlessly IS also the queer disabled woc the gamer bros refuse to believe could possibly exist. exquisite. 
- the idea of ‘killing’ the outsider is compelling, but it’s the sort of idea that needs a full length game to support it and its implications. cool idea, completely wrong execution.
- saying that: I love that the injustice of the outsider’s creation being righted is only made possible by a long unbroken line of mercy and kindness. daud saved billie from the streets, corvo spared daud, daud saved emily and spared billie after her betrayal, billie tried to save aramis stilton and became entangled in the void, emily spared billie, billie took this job in the first place partly because she loves her dad daud and wants him to find peace. that idea is so beautiful that I wish the rest of the narrative was strong enough to hold it up lol.
there’s also something going on here with other people holding on to the important pieces of you -- that billie is ‘all that is left’ of daud after he’s dead. once he saved a child from true loneliness and gave her a purpose, made her feel seen again, gave her the closest thing she had to a home, and when he’s completely lost himself in the void... that kindness is still alive in billie, and she helps him find his way. again that is really touching and thoughtful and plays wonderfully into the chaos system in these games thematically! too bad about all the stilted dialogue and characterization messes and uh. everything else. 
- most of all I love how clear it is that billie and daud love each other. it’s a quiet love that has nothing to prove anymore, it’s survived all the blood and the ugliness and everything they’ve done to each other and to the world, a love with no demands left. it’s not the sort of love you usually see, in all its unsentimentality, but it’s real. when daud tells her he’s proud of her and trusts her no matter what she chooses to do, you feel how much he means it. (making his insistence on trying to make her choice for her all the weirder -- see my long rant of lamentation about his characterization in doto below lol)
there’s something about daud’s undramatic yet complete acceptance of and respect for billie that... I didn’t know I needed this, but it was a nice gift nonetheless haha, thank you. (it’s similar to how good it feels in D2 when you realize corvo just likes emily a lot as a person, even aside from her being his daughter. a good series for father & daughter stories)
- this carries over from D2, but I think the journal/log entries are better written and more insightful than the stuff out in the world.  
- it cannot be overstated how much the gameplay loop of these games is just... pure crack cocaine for my brain haha, very few things give me this specific kind of brain tingle. I love the sound of looting and I love the art style and ambiance and I love planning out a strategy after finding all the options and I love never being spotted or killing anyone and I love the puzzle elements they put into exploration sections and I love the feeling of how you move through the environment. it’s one of the few games where I routinely get so into it I end up with a crick in the neck because I’ve been so focused for so long and never noticed I’ve been sitting in a way that makes my entire spine hate me. I needed something to get me through the last few days and it did deliver that, at least. karnaca is pretty enough that I didn’t even mind that most of the levels were recycled from D2 either. 
- I’m not quite sure whether I understood this right but there’s a woman standing behind daud in the void -- I wonder if that is actually his mother and he’s been so close this whole time? at first I thought maybe it was jessamine but god no I hope she’s finally at peace after All That Nonsense, she shouldn’t have to hang around there anymore. there’s also a figure near him I could swear was corvo with his mask on, but he’s not dead canonically so that would make very little sense. oh well I’ll take my feels where I can get them even if I have to make them up wholesale  
- the bankheist was cool as fuuuuuck, that and the emotional impact of daud dying was sadly the height of this game for me, after that it all went mediocre real quick     
- paul nakauchi as shan yun was, as I have said before, a blast. ‘ugh I cannot continue my throat is as raw as a plucked pheasant’ fsdkfhlsadjkhfas
- daud’s funeral is genuinely touching. she gave him the entirety of her old life for a sendoff, battered and worn and dear as they both were. someone hold me 
THINGS I  H A T E D:
- the stuff they did with daud’s characterization. I am so unreasonably angry over this haha, the more I think about it the more I hate it. I think there are paths you could go with his ACTUAL character to make this work, but this was not it. I’ve said this before, but his most iconic, most defining scene is him surrendering himself to corvo’s judgement without justifying himself or deflecting the blame for any of what he’s done. this isn’t even regression in his character, it’s just.. a different character altogether. they could have gone for the angle that delilah almost managed to end the world b/c daud showed mercy and that’s the reason he’s moved to action, I think that might be a more compelling motivation for him at least. OR have him be more conflicted about how to do things -- violence is still the only tool he knows how to use but it’s not what he wants to or even can be anymore and the conflict troubles him, ‘His hands do violence, but there is a different dream in his heart’. or even use a different character for the ‘kill kill kill’ angle, he didn’t need to be here for this dlc at all.   
also, just on a purely practical level... for all his flaws and longstanding moral shortsightedness daud is not a stupid man. why the FCK would he be so sure that killing the outsider will fix anything? if I, dumbass extraordinaire, could within half a minute wonder if maybe something even worse would take the outsider’s place if you removed him... why does that never occur to the Knife of Dunwall tm, a man about Void for like half a century or whatever?? ugh fuck this, I’m having a hard time explaining exactly why it all feels weird and wrong to me, but know that it does and that I Do Not Like It lol. I feel cheated out of something important I thought I had.  
- again, this should have been a full game. (I think it is sold as one already, but it just hm isn’t) there’s way too much shit of literal cosmic importance for the game’s universe being picked up here for something this short to cover. save this HUGE idea for a rainy day should you ever want to do another game in the series and do something else with the dlc, honestly. 
- god but the outsider is insufferable in this. I don’t know what happened, but by the end I was like ‘*thoughtfully strokes chin* maybe daud has a point billie keep that knife handy’. he’s annoying and boring, which is wild to me because he was always a lot of fun in the other games.
for real tho I don’t know if this is just my atheist-but-still-angry-at-god-somehow??? talking, but daud HAS a point. people are responsible for their own actions, but the outsider didn’t have to do any of what he did either. he could have chosen to be bored through the centuries instead of seeing what people would do if you gave them such ~*morally neutral*~ abilities as y’know summoning a bunch of rats to eat other people. the game wants me to buy the ‘but really this black eyed boy is woobie tho uwu’ so badly and no I’m not buying that give me my refund I want my chaotic neutral bastard back pls. I’d probably be more inclined to want to help him like that. where’s his salt gone, arkane. if you didn’t want him to be edgy why did you make him look like that.  
- this is the lamest possible version of the outsider’s backstory lol, it feels like the pearl clutching panic about satanic cults back in the day all over. listen if it’s this easy to make a god the thrill is sort of taken out of it, if these randos did it anyone could. also how the fuck are they just normal-ish people anyway? why do they follow modern fashions? haven’t they been hanging around for thousands of years, haven’t their culture changed in any meaningful way? (I realize these aren’t the same guys as back in the day but it’s just weird) why do they speak a language billie and the player can understand? why did anyone think ‘idk some cultists no one’s ever heard of before with no thematic significance whatsoever’ was the way to go world building wise? they’ve taken all the unknowable eldritchness out of the eldritch horror and we’re all poorer for it now haha 
relatedly the last level is... just not very good. you come down from the awesome bank heist and then there’s... whatever the fuck this was.
- while I do like billie finding daud in the void and him remembering her I hate that he goes out still full of self loathing and rage when you talk him into the nonlethal option, that he can’t forgive himself or find any sliver of hope or peace. I wish there had been a few more moments for the two of them to come to peace with themselves before he gave the outsider back his name, some real catharsis. as it is I was annoyed when the outsider ‘woke up’ or whatever b/c it felt like he was stealing attention from what I was actually emotionally invested in and not done with.    
they had  n o t  built up billie’s or my sympathy for the outsider well enough either. again this is something I think they could have done if they’d structured things differently, if they’d been more deliberate in making you understand he was basically a child and letting you dwell on it. because there is a parallell there between him and billie, and billie and daud, but I, how do I put this, did not give a fuck  
in short this was really similar to my experience with D2 in that there’s enough good there that it’s all the more painful when it fails to deliver on it again and again, and it ruined things I already liked about this story from the first game (daud’s arc and everything to do with the outsider, mostly). give me some months of denial and hard core headcanon work and I’ll probably be able to live with it
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taki118 · 6 years ago
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Fenabela the looked over ship (a DA2 meta)
~~slight TW: mentions of abuse~~
Fenabela is one of those things often pushed to the side in the Dragon Age fandom, I find. Despite being a cannon ship there aren’t many fics or art dedicated to the pair. This is especially noted when compared to Adoribull (and the fact that the personalities of Dorian and Bull parallel Fenris and Isabela)
Now part of this is of course taste, most people having dubbed Isabela their wife or Fenris their husband and disliking pairing them with anyone other than Hawke or shipping with other npcs. To each their own I realize not everyone can multiship.
However I have noted a few general misconceptions or certain readings that get passed around and a few critics on the narrative that really need to addressed.
And I will display and counter these things here so strap in. (Obligatory sex joke)
Before that I want to state it is not my intention to tell anyone what they can and can’t ship. However I have found a good deal of unwarranted hate towards this ship and wish to defend it and explain why one might ship it. I do greatly enjoy this pair but I will do my best to remain objective.
I don’t like the characters
Of course if you don’t like characters involved in a ship you won’t like it. But Fenris and Isabela are often misunderstood or misread so I’ll go over some things for each quickly.
Fenris
Generally speaking Fenris is the fan favorite of DA2 (and I think a surprise one to the BioWare crew as I’m fairly certain they thought Anders would be the most popular).
However if you aren’t a fan of the broody archetype you likely won’t like him at least for half the game, towards the end he grows to be more relaxed and open.
Another general issue with him is his hatred of mages and support of the Chantry. While his feelings are understandable it can get grating. But again this softens as the game goes on if you weren’t an ass to him by the end he is willing to put his own issues to the back to protect mages and even stating he respects Mage Hawke or Bethany indicating mages who prove themselves to be humble and strong willed are able to earn his trust.
Isabela
Now Isabela is, at least I’ve found to be, one of the more polarizing and misunderstood characters in Dragon Age, and as such I’ll do a more in-depth meta on her at a later date. But here are some common things noted in regards to this ship.
People often think Isabela is a selfish bitch who doesn’t care about anyone but herself. However this is only if you don’t learn about her. The best quote I can give is from Act 3 between her and Anders.
Anders: I always knew you had a heart of gold
Isabela: shush don’t tell anyone.
Isabela has lived a life where she was shown that no good deed goes unpunished and as such tries to hide this aspect of herself. You gotta remember the whole reason she did the Qunari job is because she couldn’t go through with bringing slaves to Tevinter and was forced to steal the tome as compensation.
It wasn’t built up/rushed
Now I can’t be certain on this as I obviously don’t work for BioWare but it should be noted that:
1- this was the first time BioWare had a Love Interest romance and likely wasn’t sure about how much they should do. The next one was Talibrations in Mass Effect 3 that had around the same level build up followed by Adoribull that was given more time to develop naturally.
2- It seems like they wanted to do more but with the notorious 2 year time crunch by EA couldn’t. You can see this in the purposely added dialogue for them in dlc
Of course I am only guessing here but given this it sort of makes sense why it is the way it is. they were likely trying to find a balance between believable and non intrusive that was later utilized better in DAI but you gotta start somewhere.
Fenris doesn’t like Isabela or her flirting
I just um ok this is just so wrong I’m sorry I’m trying to be objective and shit but like come on.
So I know the line most go to, to prove this it’s
Fenris: From what I gather, you like a lot of things.
Isabela: Nonsense. But when I see something I like, I go after it.
Fenris: I suggest keeping your distance.
BUT that’s only if Fenris is romancing Hawke if he isn’t the banter is instead
Fenris: From what I gather, you like a lot of things.
Isabela: Nonsense. But when I see something I like, I go after it.
Fenris: Do you intend to go after me, then?
Isabela: Will you take off all that spiky armor you're wearing?
Fenris: It's been known to happen.
That’s a big tone difference isn’t it. In the first version he pushes her away as he’s interested in Hawke currently but in the second he’s flirting right back.
While yes in Act 1 he’s unsure and unused to her flirting but by Act 2 he’s willingly playing along. I mean he wouldn’t offer to play “Guess the color of my underclothes” with her if he didn’t enjoy it. It’s a safe way for Fenris to explore his sexuality and the only reason he tells her to back off at that time is because he’s serious about pursuing Hawke.
And no matter what Fenris respects her if only for one thing
Fenris: So you freed a group of slaves?
Isabela: Would-be slaves. They weren't slaves yet.
Fenris: Still, you did the right thing. Many would turn a blind eye.
Isabela: Don't read too much into it, all right? It just seemed a good idea at the time.
Like fundamentally I don’t think Fenris can hate someone who freed slaves.
It’s toxic/just about sex
I feel like this is more a jab at Isabela but again it’s over simplifying her character. Because here’s the thing most people over look when saying this ship is toxic for Fenris cause he’s a sexual abuse survivor ISABELA IS ONE TOO.
Isabela doesn’t really talk of her past much but from the dialogue given in game and tie in material we do know that
- her husband Louis purchased her from her mother young in the 10-13 age range
- he likely intended to groom her to be his perfect bride what with the lessons, gifts and such
- he forced himself on her and when isabela rebelled against him it’s implied he either did or was going to allow his friends to do so as well. To again let me reiterate a girl young enough to be his daughter.
Regardless of what exactly happened this did effect Isabela just in a different way. Isabela took autonomy of her body back once he was dead. Look some survivors of traumatic experiences are terrified of ever encountering it again but others continuously face the action head on to refuse it power, both are valid ways to deal with it. One is just less noticeable/sympathetic.
This line of thinking also ignores that literally the first intimate thing Fenris does when he enters a relationship with Hawke is have sex. They don’t ease into it just bam sex, but I have yet to see a Fenhawke is toxic hot take. which I mean I could make easily. Don’t believe me?
In the act 2 romance scene Fenris is angry, raw and emotional and taking it out on Hawke verbally before psychically pushing Hawke against a wall. when Fenris realizes what he’s done and pulls back Hawke immediately kisses him and they have sex. I could say Hawke took advantage of Fenris in his emotional state for their own sexual gratification. I don’t actually believe that but I could claim it. if you’re thinking that’s insane, you are correct but that’s the point it is very easy to twist things to fit a narrative if you really want to.
Now you might be thinking “Well it’s different Isabela just wants to use Fenris for sex” and if you think sex is just sex with Isabela you haven’t been paying attention.
Again I’ll go more into this with my isabela meta but to her sex is safe, it can’t hurt her but people can so she keeps them at arms length. With sex she can get the pyshical closeness she craves while keeping her feelings locked away in one night stands/flings. So the fact that she WANTS to continue seeing Fenris almost immediately after their first tour below deck is telling. And the fact he wants to continue just as much shows the relationship is as much his choice as it is hers.
And speaking of sex...
the memory plot hole
The main confusion I see people have with this ship is the Fenris gets memories after sex bit. And I get why it’s kinda vague but let me assure you it’s not a plot hole.
When you romance Fenris in Act 2 he leaves after having sex with Hawke due to memories returning and being unable to handle them. The confusion I see is often “so what sex with Hawke was so good it gave Fenris memories but not Isabela?” Or “why is it only Hawke?” The answer, it’s just a matter of timing.
The scene in question with Hawke only takes place in Act 2 but Fenris and Isabela don’t hook up until Act 3 and those three years in between make all the difference.
Act 2 Fenris has been free from Danarious(I will not spell his name right sorry) for at least 6 years but he’s still controlled by the man. He’s pissed at the lack of leads and when he gets one demands you go after it immediately and will straight up leave the party if you take too long. The reason is twofold he wants revenge and he’s afraid.
Fenris has only just started to carve out a life for himself in Kirkwall but he’s terrified that whatever life he has there will be torn away by Darnarious. Cause it’s happened before. So when he engages with Hawke and he’s flooded with these mostly happy memories it’s too much. He can’t handle it, at that time.
In just three years Fenris becomes a much more open and relaxed person. by Act 3 he has weekly card nights with Varric and Donnic, willingly helps Aveline and is even more relaxed about mages. The idea that he once had a life and a family before Danarious and that he can have one now isn’t as daunting or impossible to him as it was in Act 2.
It’s not that he doesn’t get the memories when sleeping with Isabela it’s only that he’s now in a place where he can handle them. Had Hawke the option to tell Fenris to take things slow in Act 2 the pair likely would not have separated. However that’s not what happened Fenris thought that he could handle it but couldn’t as he was in Act 2.
Don’t believe well Fenris himself says so to Hawke in Act 3 when asked why he left.
Fenris: the pain, the memories it brought up... it was too much. I was coward. If I could go back I would stay.
I’m not surprised people either missed or didn’t pick on this bit it happens late in the game and it is entirely possible to miss this branch of dialogue but it’s there and confirms what I stated. It’s not a plot hole only a matter of timing. Hawke had bad timing Isabela didn’t.
By Act 3 he’s in a better place mentally and is able to feel okay with the memories, with intimacy and with the idea of having a life. Whether or not Fenris and Isabela are serious about the relationship is irrelevant (though I head cannon they tell themselves it’s just a fling only to still be together years later) it’s the fact that he feels he can engage in this fashion with someone that’s important.
It should have been Isabela x Merrill
Now I can’t argue with people’s taste that’s ridiculous and I can see the appeal they’re cute. However it’s not something they could simply put in the game like Fenabela.
Let me explain. The reason it works in DA2 is cause it’s a light, flirty and fun type relationship and even if you don’t ship it, the idea is easy to chew off. If you play through their romances the idea that the two characters with huge trusts issues hooking up for fun isn’t that hard to buy.
Merrill however would require more than a couple teasing lines of dialogue. The reason being her romance plot.
The first thing Merrill says after having sex with Hawke is “I love you” if you don’t think Isabela would freak out at that and jump on the first boat she could find I don’t know but I’d like to hear your reasoning.
It takes Isabela a long ass time to be ok with saying and being told that with Hawke. It’s a big part of her romance arc.
Sooooo if one were to play through both their romances then play a game where they got together off screen it would require more dialogue than what Fenabela got otherwise it’d be a far bigger plot hole issue as the pair do not move at the same emotional speed.
Like I can’t see Merrill being into having a casual fling even by Act 3 and I can’t see Isabela being ok with a serious relationship either without a good deal of added dialogue and scenes.
Now this one is the most subjective part of the meta, I’m well aware, but with how BioWare handles their side romances Isabela x Merrill just could not be folded into the narrative as easily as Fenabela and likely would have been too intrusive for those uninterested in side romances.
So we’ve covered the main misconceptions and complaints on the ship. now to get into why Fenabela does work, and why people like this ship.
Their romances parallel each other
Something I noticed about the Kirkwall crew (and I might make a meta on it damn I got so many things to write) is that they each parallel and reflect each other (which is one of the reasons I dislike the Sebastian addition cause he kinda screws it up)
Aveline and Varric:
- Both are non romanceable
- Need Hawkes help to sort out their personal lives
- Both thrive in the friendship Hawke gives them
Merrill and Anders:
- both thirsty AF for Hawke and immediately move in
- both have blinders on in regards to their goals and ideals, Merrill with the mirror and Anders with well you know
- this also causes problems for both in their relationships with Hawke
So then we have Fenris and Isabela
- both wear a mask of indifference in Act 1 that is peeled away by Hawke in Act 3
- both runaway/try to distance themselves from Hawke and their relationship in Act 2 only to renew it in Act 3
- and both NEED to feel they can trust Hawke in order to move forward
Now unlike Merrill and Anders who’s conflict with Hawke is mostly situational (ie were it not for the mirror and being in Kirkwall aka mage torture capital of the free marches, there would be no problem) Fenris and Isabela’s conflicts are purely emotional and an emotion they share
Leading us to
They are damaged in similar ways
The main conflicts in their romances is fear.
A fear of happiness and a fear of love.
They both think that if they were to get that which they desire most they’d lose it or it’d be used against them or most of all they aren’t deserving of it and will never receive it.
And this is entirely because of what happened to them in life prior to arriving in Kirkwall.
They lived lives where love and happiness were things that could be used against them. A weakness to exploit or a reward to be taken away. So it makes sense that for their romance arcs they have to have trust to believe this love and happiness with Hawke is worth the risk.
So it’s safe to say that we’re they not romanced by Hawke it’s only natural they’d be drawn to one another. We often look for similarities in our partners sometimes it’s in appearance, others it’s values but for them it’d be their shared pain and fear.
Hawke: you’re not afraid of being hurt you’re afraid of hurting someone else
Isabela: no I look it isn’t like that it’s just easier this way
Isabela: you were right. I wasn’t afraid of love I was afraid of being loved.
Fenris: I killed them all
Hawke: why would you do such a thing?
Fenris: I felt it inevitable. My master had returned and this...this fantasy life was over.
Fenris: I’m sorry. All I ever wanted was to be happy...just for a little while. Forgive me.
Its why they are implied to have a more casual relationship in Act 3 than they would with Hawke. Hawke doesn’t have the same issues with intimacy as they do thus would take longer. And there is an appeal to the idea of two people finding comfort and support in one another even if it’s only temporary.
Isabela = fog warriors
So this is something I literally just noticed as I was working on this meta but um the Fog Warriors who helped Fenris after he first was free of Danarious whom he speaks of fondly greatly resemble Isabela at least in the traits he describes that he seems to find the most appealing.
Fenris: I had grown fond of the rebels. They bowed to no master and fought for their freedom.
Fenris: I had only been with them a few months but in that time I had felt I truly lived. They were bold, strong, free with their affections. I was in awe of them.
Like let’s take what he says here out of context for a second.
He says he was in awe and felt truly alive with someone who was
- bold - strong - free with affection - rebellious
- defiant - strong sense of freedom
That kinda describes Isabelas base personality perfectly. I can’t state that this was intentional or even if Fenris was aware but it’s not a long shot to say that Fenris would be drawn and attracted to people like this for this reason.
Their banter is cute
I mean I know it’s subjective but they do have some great back and forth and if you enjoy flirty snarky people it opens up some great opportunities in fan fiction and such. Characters who play well off each other are always more desirable and they got a great wise guy/straight man thing going.
They spend more time than we know together
A thing that can be overlooked easily it that each act has about 3 years in between them making the total run in the game about 9 years. We know from banter that the various characters interact with each other regularly regardless of whether or not Hawke is there. (Something I wish they could do more if EA got their heads out of their asses and gave us re release!)
Anyway we know from these brief moments that
- Fenris lets isabela visit the mansion
- isabela helps him out from time to time
- she’s one of the few people who’s opinion on mages he considers
- they play cards and/or make bets with each other
- they interact enough that Varric takes notice in the MOA dlc
it’s again something that’s fun to play with in fiction.
To summarize
- it’s not toxic
- they like interacting with one another
- there is no plot hole
- it’s not just about sex
- they were the easiest to pair up on the side
- they parallel each other
- share similar fears and traumas
- their personalities are fun to play with for fans
Fenabela really does not deserve the hate or lack of care it gets from the fandom. It’s the story of two damaged people finding support in one another if only for a short time and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying that.
Again I’m not saying this ship is better than any other, I’m not trying to get you to jump ship all this meta is here for is to clear up some misconceptions and unwarranted hate, and bring some much needed spot light to this ship that is often overlooked.
Anyway I want to thank anyone who read through this whole thing for their time and if you’d like to discuss any points here with me please reblog with “makers breath” first and I’ll 100% be up for talking (if you didn’t bother to read and just want to rant at me I will ignore it) I plan on making more of these as well as finishing fics but this topic has weighed on me for some time.
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crystalelemental · 6 years ago
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FE Fates Replay - Part 4
Fun facts: I remembered having a difficult time with Chapter 8 when I first played this game, so I went in scared.  My initial attempt, I was severely over-leveled, and it wound up being hysterically easy.  So I tried again with a normal amount of leveling, and it still wasn’t too bad.  I’m not sure what past me was having such a difficult time with?  If I had to guess, I was really salty about not getting all the towns or something.  Flora being able to Freeze your units is rough, but Corrin with her Dragonstone was just so tanky she could take the upper path almost alone, while the rest of the team went straight across the lake.  Anyway, I bring that up because I started over from the decision point and got back here in like half an hour, so that was nice.  On to actual plot.
Chapter 7!  Having betrayed your birth family like the intelligent being you are, you now realize you failed to account for something really important: that your dad is fucking insane.  Garon immediately distrusts you, because you’ve been with the Hoshidans, so obviously you know the truth are consider them enemies.  Honestly, this isn’t too far out of left field yet.  Iago, however, is a putz.  “Ooh, I bet she’s a spy for the Hoshidans!”  Moron, what kind of spy for the enemy side waltzes in to the fucking throne room to chat up the king after knowingly conspiring with said enemy?  Garon’s also a moron though, so he kinda believes Iago, but doesn’t really push the issue.  At least, until Corrin decides to ask about the exploding sword thing.  Garon says he had no idea what it would do, which...okay, the obvious answer is he actually didn’t, but like...I have played this game before.  I know about Revelations, and about the soldiers from Valla, and that guy that exploded the sword seemed to be an invisible soldier from Valla.  So...maybe Garon’s not actually lying here?  We see in a moment that he’s kinda just following orders of his own, so maybe he’s not as on top of events as he lets on.
Anyway, when Corrin presses the issue, Iago goes on about his spy nonsense, and Garon falls for it entirely, ordering Xander to kill Corrin.  Yeah, that’ll go over great.  Xander, of course, refuses.  Everyone starts getting heated, until Garon announces that he’ll ask the great Anankos for guidance on this situation.  Anankos being some ancient dragon that the king apparently communes with, but no one, not even Xander or Iago, seem to know what the hell he’s on about.  Thankfully, Anankos states that Corrin may live, if she proves herself with a test.  She must suppress the Ice Tribe rebellion, and she must do it alone.  Everyone is fearful for Corrin, as a solo mission against an armed rebellion surely can’t go that well, but honestly?  I’m a dragon.  What are they gonna do?  Unless they’ve got Wyrmslayers, their asses are toast.
In order to reach the Ice Tribe, first we must go through the Forest of the Forlorn.  Which is apparently filled with Faceless.  Go figure.  Corrin gets herself immediately surrounded, and announces a problem with the Dragon transformation.  It apparently takes time to transform.  Which is why, you know, you can shift in and out of that form during combat.  It’s fine, don’t worry about it.  Jakob shows up, saves your ass, but is immediately reminded that she had to do this alone or it doesn’t count.  Of course, immediately after this, Garon does his bad guy thing of loudly soliloquizing about how he doesn’t trust Corrin and just wants her to suffer, so Xander, having some ounce of sense within him, takes matters into his own hands and arranges for Corrin to have back-up, in the form of four new units!
Silas is the first, and he’s your childhood friend you initially have no recollection of.  Corrin does eventually remember he exists, but nothing else.  I am really hoping support conversations explain how the hell this happened.  Elise also arrives, which is great because we can pretty much stop here.  For those who don’t know, when I first played the game, I was so sick of it by Revelations that I basically pumped Elise full of stat-enhancing items, turned her into a Dark Flier, gave her a high crit tome, and had her solo the game.  She’s really good, both as a unit, and as a character.  She’s your little ball of sunshine, and she’s hysterical.  Her retainers, Arthur and Effie, also arrive.  I remember not caring about these two first time through, but honestly?  They’re alright.  Arthur’s a bit clownshoes, but he’s a good guy and can be entertaining.  He mostly works by virtue of those around him, though.  Elise worshiping him as her idol makes a lot of sense, given her youth.  His interactions with Effie provide the knowledge that he takes his role seriously, but puts his duty to the common folk before his duty as a retainer.  Supports really drew out the interesting tidbits for him.  Effie, by contrast...is kind of exactly as “okay” as I remember?  I don’t have anything to dislike her by, she’s just not that interesting.  Comically strong and fiercely devoted to Elise, but that’s all she’s got going for her right now.
The chapter is really easy, but more unfortunate, there’s no boss on a throne so there’s no way to level grind yet.  Worse, the boss moves toward you, so you can’t mess around either.  I don’t remember a ton about the different routes, but I remember Conquest getting tough after a bit, so that’s not ideal.
I then went out of my way to get Mozu.  Her paralogue involves a small town being attacked by Faceless.  Everyone buy Mozu in the village is killed, and she’s hiding out in the woods, until Corrin hears the screams and comes running to the rescue.  Jakob advises that the town’s already gone and they shouldn’t waste time, but Corrin’s insistent on looking for survivors, so let’s get the map started.  Based on having only 6 units allowed in Chapter 8, but having 8 allowed in the Paralogue, I’m guessing you’re supposed to get Mozu after Chapter 8, but that’s dumb.  The paralogue is really easy, even with only six characters.  Effie and Arthur are more than capable of plugging the northern bridge, while Silas and Corrin decimate the path to Mozu.  The only difficult part of the map is getting Mozu any experience.  Fortunately, my Corrin was built with Dragon in mind, and dealt just shy of a clean OHKO on the Faceless enemies.  When paired up with Silas, Mozu was just strong enough to get the KO, allowing her to get some surprisingly decent levels.  Aptitude is such a nice skill.  Thank god for cheaters giving that skill out on everyone else, I tell ya.  After clearing out the Faceless, Mozu joins up because really, the hell else is she gonna do?  Everyone’s dead.  So, hooray for new recruits!
Now, Chapter 8.  A chapter that I remembered having an awful, awful time with.  Corrin and Co press forward, into the snowy north where the Ice Tribe is.  Jakob and Elise run ahead because they’re goobers (but they’re our goobers), leaving Silas and Corrin behind.  Corrin presses forward, but inevitably collapses.  She awakens in a bed, with the head of the Ice Tribe tending to her.  Apparently they have a strict “no trespassing” rule and were going to let her die, but they saw her sword and thought hey, that seems important, we should save her.  So, here you are.  Corrin almost spills the beans on her identity, but Silas successfully plays defense, reminding Corrin that there’s a rebellion going on, and they might not take too kindly to Nohrian royalty in their village.  Enter the rest of your bumblefuck party, as well as Flora, who obviously recognizes you instantly.  Elise...dear, sweet, stupid Elise...announced they’re here to suppress a rebellion, commenting that she thought suppress meant to sit down and have a nice meal and talk things over.  Naturally, the Ice Tribe immediately gets ready to throw down, and you’re treated to a pretty interesting, but fairly difficult, map.
The map is a frozen lake in the center, and five houses around it.  The soldiers for the Ice Tribe will be going to the villages, and announcing that there are Nohrians present.  If the spear soldiers reach the villages first, more enemies appear.  If you reach them first, no enemies appear.  Now, ordinarily, I’m all about the delicious, delicious experience, but you’re given a free warning about rewards for getting to more houses than they do.  If you get to three of the five, you get the most rewards.  I think it’s three out of five because that’s realistically all you can get to without serious power-leveling through DLC.  One of them is outright impossible.  You can’t cover enough distance, and the soldier is right there, as a demonstration of what happens.  That said, it’s still kind of a high pressure map.  The soldiers that escape the first village they contact are set up in such a way that the soldier is well defended, so you have to be tough enough to punch your way through, or be able to go around and handle everyone that comes after you next turn.  But keep in mind, the other side of the lake has two of the villages as well, and a separate soldier slowly making his way there.  Your force needs to be divided in two: one faction heading north to handle the first guard before he reaches the northern village, and one heading directly west to intercept the far west village before the other solider.
Thankfully, you get two more allies to help!  Niles, who...ugh.  UGH.  And Odin!  Those of you who played Awakening may know Odin better as Owain, Lissa’s son!  How the hell did he get here?  Deeprealms.  No, we would not care to elaborate further.  Odin is a bit more...ridiculous, than he was as Owain.  Like, they’re still very much the same, but there’s some difference I can’t quite put my finger on.  Maybe as I get supports with him I’ll figure it out.  Niles, though?  He annoys me.  Very little is going to sway me out of that.  While Odin’s a goon who wants to show off his power and the usual melodrama he produces, Niles seems actively cruel.  Corrin orders them not to kill anyone, and Niles’ interpretation of that is “So I can hurt them as much as I want, but can’t kill.  That’s a neat challenge.”  He just seems mean-spirited overall.
Now, the map effectively has two bosses.  Flora’s here.  She doesn’t move, but she has the Freeze staff, which locks a unit in place.  So, let’s suppose, for a moment, that Silas tries to run straight to the west village.  As soon as he’s in staff range, Flora locks him down.  Now, you can still beat the soldier to the village, but the problem is...he gets to the one above you as you arrive.  So now Silas is alone, and surrounded.  Odin and Niles help a lot here.  Honestly, I think the reason I had a hard time the first time I played was not using the pair up system correctly.  See, in Awakening, you got all the benefits in one through Pair Up.  But in Fates, they actually did a smart thing and broke it into two types of pair up: offensive, where you occupy adjacent spaces, and defensive where you occupy the same space.  Defensive allows for the stat increases of the main unit, and a gauge fills that allows a guaranteed block from the unit in the back.  Offensive allows for follow-up attacks, guaranteed, as long as the attacking party isn’t defensively paired.  If you have a defensive backup, you can’t get another unit adjacent to you to also attack.  So there’s a give and take.  Knowing me, I probably wanted to be defensive to not immediately die, and defensively paired them up, which led to too little damage in a short amount of time.  Offensive is much better, especially since Niles has surprisingly nice resistance.  In combat, Flora’s fairly tough, but Effie and Corrin, and even Arthur if he’s doing good with levels can handle her easy.  I had Corrin do it.
The boss of the map, though?  He’s what we’ve been waiting for: a fairly frail map on an auto-healing throne, also with a tome that heals him.  Glory be, I thought this day might never come!  Time to farm out those levels, team!  Elise got some excellent levels because she’s a good girl who’s done nothing wrong.  Niles, Effie, Arthur, and Silas got some okay ones, while Odin is basically dead to us now!  Everyone’s level 10 or above, which means it’s go-time.  Really, the boss isn’t hard to handle.  Niles with a pair-up that gives any form of resistance means the boss can’t even hurt him.  So if you need cheese, there you go.
Once suppressed, Corrin tells Elise to go heal up the wounded on both sides.  The Ice Tribe leader, impressed by Corrin’s kindness, agrees to halt the rebellion for the time being, believing that she will be the one to put an end to the hostilities and give the Ice Tribe their autonomy back.  Flora also comments that she would like to renew her vows of servitude to Corrin.  There are hints that Flora never really liked Corrin, and had always planned on some kind of betrayal, but she’s been won over by Corrin’s honest display.  Personally, I think it’s bullshit that Flora doesn’t just join you here, but I guess we have to make My Castle relevant somehow.  The townspeople also thank you for warning them of the conflict, helping to keep them save, and give you what is probably their lifetime earnings in the form of 10,000 gold!  See, everything worked out great!  The Ice Tribe rebellion is over, everyone’s alive and happy, and nothing bad happened at all.  “Garon told you to do it alone and you didn’t so he’s gonna be pissed when you get back.”  AT ALL!
With that, we await the next part where we face Garon’s wrath.  If he’s lucid, anyway.  Hard to tell with that guy.  So far, I’m still not having much to complain about with the game.  The story can be a little heavy-handed.  Mostly I’m talking about Garon and Iago, who are just so transparently evil, and aren’t even really trying to make sense about it.  I can get Garon being suspicious of Corrin coming back after learning the truth, but their explanation for not trusting her and then his insistence on just wanting to make her suffer is just silly for anyone that’s meant to be taken seriously as a villain.  They’re just a bit too ridiculous.  I will mention that the Conquest maps, thus far, are pretty decent.  Chapter 7 and Paralogue 1 are pretty standard “Clear the map” ones, but Chapter 8 is sufficiently inventive.  I actually like how it’s designed to have you not just clear the map, but have little sub-objectives built in that can make the map easier or harder for you.  We’ll see how things keep up.
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moist-rowlet · 7 years ago
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Moist Rowlet’s E3 Report Card: 2018 Edition
Another year means another E3 Report Card! This time around I’m dropping the whole Multiplatform distinction, as I felt that kind of just sucks most of the fun away. This time, I’m going off what they showed off, and if they showed it off first, then they get credit. Without further ado, let’s get started!
EA: F
Why did you have to do that to Command and Conquer EA? Just... why. Every year it’s the same nonsense of SPORTS AND SHOOTERS. The most notable thing was that they acknowledged that they messed up Battlefront 2. The bar was raised so low, and they still failed to meet it.
Microsoft: A
It took them a long, long time, but Microsoft finally realized that people don’t want long descriptions of services and promises of games, they just want games. And by god, they gave us games. Todd Howard is no long Todd Coward, since he actually showed up this time! They finally gave us a date for KH3 (also they gave it to Microsoft this time!), and while it’s sad that they delayed it to 2019, at least it’s early 2019. Between Cuphead DLC ft. New Waifu, DmC FINALLY COMING BACK, and Nioh but Dark Souls, there is a lot to behold, all things considered. And the final reveal was a long, long time coming. The conference made me forget that the Xbone was dying for just a moment, which is more than good enough for me. That’ll do Microsoft. That’ll do.
Bethany Esda: C
While not bad, I didn’t see much good either. At the very least, Todd showed up! That aside, I still don’t know why Legends had to change developers at all, and I’m a still bit confused as to why it was there to begin with. The rest of the announcements, like Prey Prop Hunt were okay. DOOT 2 is nice. Fallout 76 is... it kinda just looks like Fallout 4 with online slapped on, though the cryptid enemies look neat. The Todd Segment (tm) is a mixed bag overall I felt. Mainly because I’m still wary of his Sweet Little Lies. Also I WANT FUCKING BLACKMARSH TODD.
Square Enix: C
Short, but not impressive. Sure, most of it was in fact gameplay, but most of it was stuff that we already knew from the other conferences, which leads to the lower score I gave the conference. There was nothing bad, but nothing of note either. At least DQ 11 looks good.
Ubisoft: D
Coming off of their surprisingly decent show last year, this one I felt was very lackluster. The gameplay that we did see seemed to confuse more than it actually explained, and most of the upcoming content for current games isn’t very exciting either. Star Fox making a surprise appearance was nice, but aside from that? Not much else to comment on.
PC Gaming Show: B
While there was nothing bad, there wasn’t much good here either. Noticing a trend here? There were plenty of games to be shown though, which bumps up the grade a bit more than Square or Bethany Esda. The sheer volume was all they really had though, while the actual announcements themselves weren’t very impressive. So overall, it was nice, but not impressive, which is at least better than Square.
Sony: D
How... how did you fuck that up? You were given about an hour, and you used 30 minutes of it on one game, went to intermission, and then you blitzed through a combination of titles we already knew or trailers that merely acknowledged the existence of games. At the very least we can FINALLY CONFIRM THAT DEATH STRANDING IS A GAME THANK GOD. All in all, it didn’t really feel like an E3 conference. It failed in hype and it failed in quantity. You spent an hour on 5 new games? Utterly Unimpressive, two years in a row. Microsoft did Sony’s job better for them, and for that, they get the credit.
Nintendo: A
It’s a bit difficult to assess Nintendo from just their conference, because they usually spread their announcements throughout several days after the main Direct. Still, I can safely say that it’s a good deal better than a majority of the other conferences. Nintendo are the masters of hype, and they deliver once again, despite the small number of games actually shown in the conference. Of course, the major attraction is Smash, which completely blew away every single speculator since the first trailer, and for that, I gave them their corresponding score. Take notes Sony. This is how you spend 30 minutes on one game.
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winterune · 8 years ago
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Thoughts on Final Fantasy XV
Finished after over 100 hours gameplay lol
I usually play around 80 hours for Final Fantasy games yet I finish FF15 at 100 hours. 
I have a lot of issues with the game, but overall I think Final Fantasy 15 is a good game with a half-baked story. If you exclude the story, you can really enjoy the game as what it is--an adventure game where all you do is explore the world, finish side quests, and clear dungeons. In that aspect, Final Fantasy 15 is a really good game. Combined with extraordinary visuals and great music, you can really, really enjoy the game. 
You get to ride your car, you get to explore with your chocobos (I personally prefer riding your chocobo because they’re a lot more fun to control than your car, especially if you feed them curiel greens, since you don’t really do anything with your car accept accelerate and break and turn right or left or around and you’re not really free with your car). 
You get to camp or just sleep at inns (or hotels/motels) and see what they do at night (whether they’re only talking, eating, chatting, or playing their King’s Knight game on their phones or sleeping against your chocobo or just playing around). 
You get to see the photos Prompto took every time you camp or stay at inns and choose which ones to save. 
You get to hunt--and this is my favorite thing to do. Hunting. Go to the tipster in each rest area (the person at the diner) and you get to go on hunts. And they’re super fun. And they’re your main source of leveling up. 
You get to go on side quests. They’re fun at first, until they become repetitive and boring. My favorite side quests are Wiz’s because at least his varies from quest to quest. Vyv’s is also quite fun and he gives you lots of money (seriously!) in return. Lestallum is filled with nonsensical quests--it’s okay if you go to one place, kill monsters, and retrieve the cargo, but there are side quests where you literally just go to one place, retrieve some items and then go back. 
Or you can just walk around and gather treasures and items and fight monsters.
But most of all, you get to visit all kinds of dungeons! They’re really awesome by the way. I am not disappointed! My favorite one is the one in Vesperpool. Costlemark is also really cool but filled with all kinds of nasties and I hate it (3 Red Giants and 1 Nagarani--seriously?!?!)
But Final Fantasy isn’t Final Fantasy without its story. So let’s talk about the story. (Beware of spoilers)
I’ve watched Kingsglaive and Brotherhood: Final Fantasy 15, but even having watched those I still feel FF15′s story is not yet complete. At least, the one we’re presented with. All I can say about the story is that: it’s short, and it focuses on Noctis’s journey, nothing more. 
We have this cast of characters, but we don’t get to know any of them, not even the main characters, and I think not even Noctis. No one gets enough--or even any--development. We were never told why Nifflheim wants the crystal. We were never told why Ardyn is with Nifflheim. We were never explained why Noctis is the chosen king, from when people knew. We were never given character backgrounds of Luna, Ravus, Ignis, Gladio, Prompto, or even the Emperor himself. Heck! The Emperor only appeared briefly and then what? He became a daemon? And remember how Noctis was on a wheelchair at the beginning of Kingsglaive? Why was he in a wheelchair? Why did they go to Tenebrae?
Why why why?
There are cosmogonies, but they’re scattered and I only got the whole picture by reading the wikia. The explanation of the fall of Nifflheim is also scattered around the facility in chapter 13--the name of which I forgot. They should’ve made some kind of archive or codex like in FF13 so we can go back to them to read them again. 
Luna--though I’ve seen her in Kingsglaive and she appeared briefly in Brotherhood and we were shown glimpses of her past with Noctis in the game, I just don’t see why we should care about her. Because she didn’t appear very much in the game and when she finally appears, she dies. Just like that. It should’ve been emotional. It could’ve been emotional, if only they had told us more about her relationship with Noctis and her role in his life and why we should care! I was spoiled about her death and I had hoped it would impact me the way Aerith’s death impacted me (I was also spoiled abour her death but even as I played FF7 and saw Aerith died, it freaking hurt! Because I love her so much and I know what she means to the whole party! And that battle with Jenova with her theme as the background--GOD!!!)
Ravus--a villain throughout Kingsglaive and most of FF15 that turns out to be a spy. WHAT?!?!?!? What the hell happened?! That’s not how you write a story! Seriously! Do you think you can get off easily by giving us this villain-of-sort who only appeared as a boss briefly in the beginning and never appearing again except in the middle before everything went to hell and then what? He died? And we only know that he was actually a good guy from his letters to Luna scattered around his body? And we don’t see Noctis’s reaction at all! I mean, Noctis knew Ravus. Why was there no reaction seeing Ravus dead or realizing that he was never really a bad guy?
Emperor--he should’ve been a boss! Seriously! The leader of an empire that had conquered most of the world and had invaded Lucis and killed its king and stolen its crystal and then what? He died off-screen and turned in a daemon? And we actually saw his clothes in that circular room and why don’t Noctis and his friends realize they’re the emperor’s clothes? Why don’t they ask anything? Why don’t they react? And when they kill that daemon that seemed to be the Emperor, why don’t they react?? He killed Noctis’s father, for God’s sake! ... Okay, he may not have killed Regis, but he still invaded Insomnia and he still stole the Crystal. Noctis never knew who killed his father in the end, did he? Or how his father died. 
Ardyn--I knew he’d be a great character since the beginning. I knew he’d be the final boss--he just have that final boss aura. And he’s really great. But then again, he still lacks back story. But... I can forgive him. At least he was given a back story. I still have a question, but yeah okay... And the final boss fight wasn’t really difficult. 
Noctis and co--not going to say much, but since this story is about their journey, I still feel like they only touch the surface of their personalities. We get to know them better through Brotherhood, yes, but still... I still feel like their bond is just... that. Not many development there either. And not that many development on Noctis either. He just... becomes better. We don’t really see how he became better. Unlike Tidus. FF10 is also a coming-of-age story and I care a lot more for Tidus than I do for Noctis. Heck! I cried when he disappeared. 
Other characters--no comment. Only that... Cor should’ve gotten more role. Like, what the hell is he even there for?!
The ending--was frustrated at first when I first watched it with my brother, because, again, it’s just ends like that. I felt like there was no real conclusion. Ardyn dies. Everyone dies. The Light returns. The end. But after finishing the game by myself, it doesn’t feel so frustrating anymore.
So, what I want to say is, the story is really short. A lot of things left unsaid. A lot of things happen off-screen. A lot of things cut. Not enough character development. No world-building whatsoever. We get to explore, yes, but we don’t get to explore everything. We only get to explore Lucis and a part of Altissia. We don’t get to explore anything after Altissia. They should’ve let us explore Tenebrae, Nifflheim, and Insomnia. Great premise, great background, great concept, poor execution. The bright side is the exploration is really cool and fun and the battles are great, so yes it’s a good game with a half-baked story (and now they’re going to release DLCs. Like, you should’ve released them inside the game instead of as DLCs -_-).
I’d give it a 7 out of 10 because though the exploring was fun and enjoyable, the story kind of frustrates me. I like the game. It’s good. It’s okay. It just could’ve been much better. There were many awesome scenes/moments too, but that’s it. It’s cool. Nothing more.
Side note: prefer the Japanese dub over the English dub. The English dub just sounds flat. Not all of them are bad but most of them are. Most lack the emotion the Japanese dubbers have. And the translations too--it’s like they try too hard. And for some reason I don’t really like how the game logo turns out to be Luna when it was originally a goddess. Wonder what Nojima’s original story was like... not that we’d get to know how it would turn out if they had followed Nojima’s story instead of rewriting it. 
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sage-nebula · 8 years ago
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provided you're still taking these [and no one's asked it yet] ace attorney for the five things you'd changed meme? [if that's been asked then fire emblem awakening?]
I’m so sorry! I totally didn’t mean to ignore you. I took a break after a huge batch of these when I first posted the meme because my hands ended up hurting from typing so much, and then I got caught up watching the Switch presentation, and then I sort of … forgot that I had these in my inbox/got distracted every time I remembered. I’m sorry! I’ll go ahead and answer this now, though, so I hope it’s not too late.
As a reminder, this is for the “five things I would change” meme. Others I’ve already answered are:
Pokémon XY&Z AnimeDreamworks DragonsPokémon Sun&Moon GamesHarry PotterGravity FallsBlue ExorcistYu-Gi-OhFire Emblem: Awakening
(Yeah, I copy-pasted the apology from another response, but hey: it applies in both cases.)
And as for Ace Attorney . . .
First and foremost, I would completely remove the Khura’in element from the sixth installment. The Kingdom of Khura’in needs to go, entirely and completely. And for that matter? Playing as Phoenix needs to go, entirely and completely. I can understand it in AA5 since they both wanted to give him his badge back (though it’s ridiculous he lost it in the first place, but whatever), and also because there are periods over the course of the plot in which Athena cannot defend because she has been arrested, and Apollo can’t because he suspects her. We need a lawyer at that point, and so it makes sense that Phoenix would step up. However, there’s no reason to do this in AA6, and no reason to keep billing him in the title of the games. His time to shine is over. His part of the plot is done, unless you want to bring back Kristoph Gavin and tell us what those black psyche-locks are hiding (but more on that in a bit). The fact that we wasted so much time on him in AA6 when we have two other lawyers that we need to know more about/have more time with is ridiculous. I’m so beyond tired of Phoenix Wright. I want more Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes, and that means reworking the sixth game completely.So that said? No more Khura’in. This does mean that I lose my darling daughter Rayfa, but in all honesty that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. No Khura’in, no Phoenix acting as a lawyer, no Maya coming back just to be a damsel in distress yet again with nothing significant gained from her appearance. Instead, AA5 needs to take place solely in Los Angeles (/Japan/Japanifornia) once again, and the lawyers need to alternate between Apollo and Athena, both of them serving as the other’s co-counsel at different points. And, more to that point, Athena needs to be treated with respect. She’s still new, but she’s a competent lawyer and she has proven this. Treat her like it.But yeah, the Khura’in cases were godawful and a damned chore to get through. None of that. Chuck that in the garbage bin where it belongs. Worst. 
Apollo and Trucy need to know that they are siblings yesterday. Ideally this would have come out a long time ago, but at the very least it should have come out in AA6, particularly since it was teased with the second case focusing so heavily on the Gramaryes. And to the end, how much more powerful would it have been if Reus had been the final villain of the game, screaming “GRAMARYEEEEE” after it has already been revealed that Apollo himself is a Gramarye? Because as it stands, Reus and everyone else thought he was simply cursing Trucy and his family, even though Apollo was the one who brought him down. If it was revealed that Apollo was a Gramarye as well, that would have been so much more powerful for all of the characters present. As it stands, it was a waste. A waste and a shame.But yeah, Apollo and Trucy need to know. That plot thread needs to be tied up. The fact that we’re going on ten years---an actual decade---of having this dangling is absolute nonsense. There’s no reason for it, particularly since Capcom felt they had time to retcon chunks of Apollo’s history and introduce a ridiculous new country just so they could push a courtroom gimmick, make an excuse for Maya to appear as a damsel yet again, and act like Phoenix still has any relevance to the ongoing narrative. And speaking of dangling plot threads . . .
KRISTOPH. GAVIN’S. BLACK PSYCHE-LOCKS. This is the only remaining business that Phoenix has left unfinished---the only relevance he has beyond being a father and mentor to the current main cast. We need to know what those black psyche-locks are, we need to finish that up. I am concerned at this point that nothing Capcom reveals will be good enough, that any dark secret that Kristoph has buried is going to be underwhelming given that we’ve had a decade to think of possibilities---but I don’t care. I still want to know. They introduced the black psyche-locks in AA4 and refused to let us break them. They created that dangling plot thread. They then explained what black psyche-locks are in AA5. That is the perfect opportunity, then, to let us go back and break them---and yet it was an opportunity wasted. It could have been explored in AA6, particularly if we went back to the true heritage plot thread that was left dangling from AA4 as well, but again, that didn’t happen. So that said, I would make it happen. I don’t know what it is that Kristoph is repressing (I’d have to replay that part of AA4, because to be honest I don’t even remember what triggered the black psyche-locks), but damn, I really want to know.
I do want to see original trilogy characters again, but I want to see them incorporated in ways that are new and show that they’ve actually grown as people over the past ten (now!) years. This was done well with Ema, in that we see her as a homicide detective and then as a forensics investigator like she always dreamed. We see that she grew up, that she’s doing different things with her life, that she has changed as a person. This was done less well with characters like Pearl and Maya, who act almost the exact same as they did in the original trilogy with very minor design differences, almost as if Capcom was afraid to change them too much. In my opinion, this was done to their detriment. The most glaring example of this was in the DLC case for AA5, in which Pearl---who is a seventeen-year-old junior/senior in high school---saying “for-en-sick-ing” as if she’s still an eight/nine-year-old who doesn’t understand the word. That’s horrible. Pearl was shown to have grown up in some ways, but in others she acted as if she still had the intelligence and mentality of a small child, which is rather insulting to her character (especially since she was always supposed to be quite bright). Maya was a little better, but not by much. Often times she still acted so immature that moments in which she was supposed to be ~mature and wise~ (such as that moment with Rayfa that they flashbacked to 9882348309232 times as if to hammer home, “LOOK SHE’S ALL MATURE AND STUFF NOW!!!!!11!”) felt out of place and out of character. She simply didn’t grow enough to sell it. And if that’s how they’re going to treat OT characters, then I’d rather not see them in the present day games.So that said? While I do want to see them, I want to see growth and change. The next time I see Gumshoe, I want to see that he is actually Chief of Police, happily married to Maggey Byrde with some kids of his own. The next time I see Lana, I want to see that she did her time in prison and is either head detective down at the precinct, or---if her record prevents her from serving on the force again---is acting as a consultant for the police force. The next time I see Kay, I want to see her as a prosecutor, and so on and so forth. I want to see these characters having grown as people, having changed while still being recognizably themselves. This shouldn’t be beyond Capcom. They did it with Ema and Edgeworth, so I don’t see why they can’t do it with the other characters as well.
Lastly, I would make Phoenix and Edgeworth in a committed relationship at the least by the time AA5 rolls around, and probably engaged by the time AA6 does. Not only would it be amazing confirmation that Phoenix is bisexual (and having more bi visibility is always a good thing), and not only would it be a concrete reminder that Edgeworth is canonically not interested in women (and no, it’s not that he’s just ~married to his job~, but that’s a rant for another day), but it would also be a fantastic culmination of all the relationship development we’ve seen between them over the years. It would also be fantastic representation of a relationship that is, and has always been, on equal terms both in terms of dynamic in the workplace and in how they treat one another. I would love for it to actually be canon, particularly since it’s not as if a whole lot would have to change. Trucy calling Edgeworth “Papa” (in contrast to how Phoenix is her daddy), and a couple lines of banter about an upcoming wedding between them is all it would take. (Which is also fantastic representation, because it shows that, hey, they’re people in a relationship just like anyone else! LGBTQA people are just people, how shocking.) So yeah, I would definitely make that a thing, and it would be great. 
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entergamingxp · 5 years ago
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Pokmon Sword and Shield: Isle of Armor review
If you’ve finished it, you’ll probably agree Pokémon Sword and Shield’s postgame was a little under par. Aside from a brief, enjoyable, but nonsensical run-in with a phallically-quiffed Jedward, your options were mostly restricted to doodling about in the Wild Area or grinding it out indefinitely in the Battle Tower, earning items for competitive play online. It could be worse: the Wild Area is a break from the usual structure, at least, providing some lightly engaging raid events and – if you know where to look – a healthy and welcoming community of friendly raiders, hosts, and competitive sparring partners online.
Pokémon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor DLC review
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
Availability: Out now on Nintendo Switch
The problem, though, remains that much of Pokémon’s better communities and projects exist in spite of the game itself, as opposed to because of it. Max Raid battles are deeply, painfully repetitive, the few desirable Gigantamax Pokémon requiring an excruciating commitment to the grind without the help of semi-illicit raid groups online (again, you’ve got to know where to look). The Wild Area itself remains conceptually flat, despite the grassy bumps and mounds, with a total lack of mystery or intrigue compared to the postgame areas of previous generations, and there’s little to no reason to visit or explore the rest of the game’s Hollywood-western-town world. Puzzles and mystery seem gone with the wind.
107 returning Pokémon. Not great, not terrible.
Enter expansion one, The Isle of Armor. It’s not the big solution to the main game’s problems – it would be wrong to expect it to be – but if the Wild Area was the first baby step towards an open world, this is another in the right direction. There’s a brief bit of cute story, a slightly more interesting topography to the environment (albeit still no puzzles, or anything close to it), and some useful, novel little systems to help with competitive play. That’s about your lot, but even the refreshingly wide and open feel to the Isle of Man-inspired landscape provides a welcome break from the oddly oppressive vibe of the original Wild Area, contrarily surrounded by giant walls.
You’ll arrive on the Isle of Armor to be greeted by a new, temporary rival, the snooty Klara or even more snooty Avery, in Sword and Shield’s version respectively. Playing Sword, I can only speak for Klara, but there’s a little more life to the animation with characters like her, it seems, as well as the Dojo chief Mustard and his partner Honey, who all carry more immediate magnetism and wit than just about any of the characters in the main games. After the curt introduction, there’s some welcome freedom: you can head just about anywhere on the island, or go straight to the nearby Dojo to start a series of missions that make up the story segment of the DLC.
Item-combining is a real boon for competitive players, granting faster access to useful or outright essential gear..
Predictably, the missions are very simple. Catch some runaway Slowpoke, pick some giant mushrooms, win a battle, beat five trainers in a tower, job done. If I’m being really harsh, they’re like the simplest fetch quests of other open world games but without the gameplay along the way, your input effectively reduced to: go to the place you are repeatedly told about, physically shown, and pointed to on your map, maybe fight a battle, and come back.
What is interesting is the tweaks made for more competitively-inclined players. There are a good number of new moves to be learned by tutors, many of which, at least at first glance, seem like they’d have decent competitive uses. There’s a person who’ll wipe the EVs of a Pokémon for the cost of some minimal grinding which, to briefly explain for those uninitiated in this side of things, means it’s easier to use Pokémon you’ve been casually using along the way for competitive purposes than before, where it would’ve often been faster to catch or breed a new one altogether. On that same note there’s a new item-combining toy, the Cram-o-matic – that lets you turn three Silver Bottle Caps into a Gold one, allowing to engineer the stats of a given Pokémon up to competitive standard a fair bit faster (normally you’d need six Silver Caps to do the equivalent). There are also, of course, a good number of returning Pokémon to be found for the first time in this generation – including the rest of the Gen 1 and Gen 7 starters, with Gigantamax forms for the former by means of a special Max Soup – which expands the options of competitive players and just generally gives you more to get out there and catch, if you enjoy the collectathon.
The landscape is more interesting in the Isle of Armor, but the ways in which you actually interact with it, compared to previous Pokémon games, remain very basic.
Away from the hardcore side of things, Isle of Armor’s experience is a breezy, easy-going one. There are new outfits and hairstyles – many of which are great, especially the Dojo one you get as part of the story, coming in a fetching yolk yellow – some typically cute character moments, like Mustard’s tendency to move you out the way of the TV when he’s kicking back some Pokémon Quest, and great touches to the wild Pokémon themselves. (Beware the hilariously terrifying Sharpedo when you head out to sea).
That, more or less, is that. There are more raid dens – many more – but no change to the agonising grind and poor UX of the raid experience, which remains too slow to enter, too hard to spot thanks to the game’s shallow draw distance, too slow to get through, and simultaneously bland and frustrating to actually play (raid battles throw most of Pokémon’s uniquely excellent battle mechanics out the window, making it an exercise in button-mashing a single move with your level 100 ‘mon of choice until it’s done). There are effectively no trainers, barring the four single-Pokémon users you have to beat as part of the story to evolve Kubfu (which is an absolute treat of a new ‘mon, in fairness to the little tyke), plus Mustard and your rival.
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Those final two are frustrating also, because they might have been somewhat interesting to face – especially Mustard – had the base game not thrown experience candy and competitive training tools at you for months beforehand, leaving you completely overlevelled for the island (there’s minimal level scaling, despite earlier suggestions from Nintendo spokespeople: it effectively works like the old Wild Area). There’s also a smattering of other smaller distractions, from escaped Diglett acting as collectibles to a new restricted battle format that tasks you with fighting with and against just a single type of Pokémon. Rewards are fairly minimal – Alolan form Pokémon or new outfits, for the most part – but as diversions they’re fun enough.
By Pokémon’s standards, there are more quests and things to do here than we’ve had in some time, which brings me to the crux of the conversation, really. Are you here off the back of a major, rival RPG – on the Switch or off – or are you just after a bit more of the same, sunny comfort food? If it’s the former, Pokémon’s former muscle might be continuing to fade, perhaps quite drastically. If it’s the latter, the Isle of Armor is an extra helping with a couple of cherries on top. Personally, I’m still a little hungry – and not just because everyone’s named after food.
from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/06/pokmon-sword-and-shield-isle-of-armor-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pokmon-sword-and-shield-isle-of-armor-review
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entergamingxp · 5 years ago
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ReMIND Review — Got It Memorized?
January 28, 2020 1:28 PM EST
Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMIND is DLC made for fans, with an annual injection of heart and intrigue. But novice KH fans will want to keep away.
It’s been a year since the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 — a game that bitterly divided the hardcore fanbase thanks to both unmanageable expectations and constant setbacks. Given a year to mull over the various complaints and criticisms, Kingdom Hearts Director Tetsuya Nomura took his best swing at clearing up the confusion and getting the core fans excited about stories and worlds to come with the $30 DLC: Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMIND. While there is a lot of heart (and heartless) in the offerings, the DLC is pretty plainly made for hardcore fans and will be lost on those who haven’t thought about Kingdom Hearts 3 since last year.
As an important note, I want to start by saying I’m not one of those reviewers that never got or never liked Kingdom Hearts. When the latest game came out for PS4 and Xbox One, I was the dedicated reviewer and I stand by my score of 9.0 out of 10 — something I get constantly ribbed by from the rest of the DualShockers crew. Even still, the game ranked on one of my Top 10 games of 2019. I’ve frankly put way too much time into understanding the in’s and out’s of lore and mechanics, and don’t consider myself a novice to the series in any way.
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The DLC is broken up into the ReMIND story DLC, a Limitcut episode featuring some exceptionally challenging boss battles, and a new secret ending that hints at the future game. Then there are the more ancillary bonuses — a photo capture mode with massive meme potential, a new bonus gameplay menu, and a recording of the (fantastic) Kingdom Hearts orchestra.
Tackling the most significant feature first, the ReMIND DLC story content really is an awkward fit in the story and aims to take a peek behind the curtain of some of the lingering mysteries from KH3. How does Sora manage to save Kairi? Where and why does he vanish? What exactly is happening at Scala Ad Calum? Frankly, these are all questions that the community never seemed to have — most passionate fans of the series have come to expect fairly abject nonsense when it comes to the Kingdom Hearts universe, especially when it comes to self-sacrifice and heart.
“Even for Kingdom Hearts, a lot of these feel like weird creative decisions to rewrite the past.”
In execution, the storytelling of all of this feels forced at best and clumsy at worse. Picking up towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, we take on the role of Sora towards the final battle of Heart. Almost immediately, Nomura is looking to clarify what exactly is happening through the scenes — we learn that Sora is participating as an out-of-body observer, able to (at a significant cost) enter other characters’ hearts and guide them to make decisions. In doing this, Nomura colors some of the stranger decisions and actions of the group, and you can hear a bit more of the inner monologues of the characters themselves.
There are times where the ReMIND DLC executes this exceptionally well. Explaining Sora’s disappearance and why Namine is… well… alive makes much more sense in this iteration. On the other hand, there are just some flat out strange directions that seemingly make no sense. For example, a scene where Lea, Ventus, and Xion explain that the whole reason they are fighting is to regain the artificial implanted friendship link that the Organization instilled them with… What? There are also more than a couple times that Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMIND insists on telepathy as a storytelling technique, for instance King Mickey talking over scenes to explain what is going to happen next.
Even for Kingdom Hearts, a lot of these feel like weird creative decisions to rewrite the past. And it ignores a more fundamental point — if people didn’t like the ending of Kingdom Hearts 3, it wasn’t because it was confusing. Many people just don’t like how the series wrapped up, and you can’t fix that by filling in or explaining the blanks.
Following the roughly five hours of story content in the ReMIND DLC, players can pick up from the end of the game in the search for Sora. The included Limitcut episodes are the difficult challenge that many fans of the series have been asking for. With 13 different boss fights awaiting you, I’m not afraid to admit I had to go back in Critical Mode to grind an extra few levels. This mode is mostly going to appeal to the more hardcore scene of the Kingdom Hearts community, and not too many others. It may not be Sephiroth level difficulty, but the challenge may be well above the abilities of even seasoned Kingdom Hearts 3 gamers — especially if you have gotten used to the more casual difficulty.
“I’m not afraid to admit I had to go back in Critical Mode to grind an extra few levels.”
Last but not least is the secret boss fight, which takes place within the secret ending of the original Kingdom Hearts 3 game. I’m not going to use any space here to spoil any of this for you, though there are more than a few YouTube channels actively analyzing it. All things considered, it’s a very interesting twist and really brings some entrigue into the direction of future Kingdom Hearts games.
And then there are the extras, which at best deserve a small paragraph. I have no doubt that the Kingdom Hearts 3 community will have a ton of fun with the photo feature — between the lewd, the lore-based images, or the meme recreations. And being able to watch the orchestrated taping of Kingdom Hearts’ excellent soundtrack is a joy. However, I imagine most will bypass both of these entirely once they realize there is simply no gameplay or story found within.
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And that leaves us with the weird question — would we recommend Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMIND? It’s something I’ve been thinking about since I beat it that first day. On the one hand, the entire Kingdom Hearts 3 package is better for it. However, most of the best parts — the cutscenes — can simply be caught on YouTube without paying the ticket price. Though the Limitcut episodes are a ton of fun for those who like the challenge, I firmly think they are going to be above the skill set of most people who picked up the base game.
If you are someone who lives and breathes the Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMIND will be the perfect package for you — giving you an annual injection of the heart and spirit we love from the series. But for everyone else, I’m not sure that the confusing offerings will be worth the $30 entry fee.
January 28, 2020 1:28 PM EST
from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/01/remind-review-got-it-memorized/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remind-review-got-it-memorized
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