#game reviews list

[splashink-games]

3 Unique Rhythm Games

okay if you were around recently, you probably saw that I've been raving about the Cassette Beasts OST. and while I like music in general, a good rhythm game always hits the spot

so here are 3 rhythm games with their own takes on the genre!

Soundfall

I played Soundfall by Drastic Games a while ago, in July actually, and I had some pretty good times with it. it's a solid game, with good mechanics, soundtrack, story, and graphics.

it also helps when you can crack jokes about Discord and Discordia.

the uniqueness of the game comes from its gacha mechanic for its equipment and the incentive to attack on-beat (and sometimes off-beat too). because of the on-beat attacks, Soundfall feels really satisfying to play.

music-wise, it's pretty cool. particularly liked the cityscape and ice world music!

though I never adventured into playing character other than the main girl, I liked that the narrative really dives into each of the characters and also aligns them with a genre of music as well as a biome. it was a steady through line that helped make a very cohesive experience

for me, Soundfall creates a pretty good bar for a good action rhythm game

No Straight Roads: Encore Edition

No Straight Roads (NSR) might be the most disappointing of the three, with the highest highs and lowest lows, and the most recently played of the three.

that's to say, I have mixed feelings about this game. the design and the art and the music are all so, so good. but the voice acting and the gameplay just sub-par.

unlike Soundfall, only the enemies attack to the beat of the music. and, in my experience, it wasn't even easy to tell when they were going to attack either. the biggest downfall of this is that I'd always try to act in beat with the song and the game more often punishes you for doing so and calls into question if it could be qualified as a rhythm game in that sense (would it be more accurate to call a music-centric game?)

while the rhythm mechanics were weird, I liked what they were trying to do with each boss's gimmick, such as 1010's one vs many or Eve's weird illusion world, and I feel like that saved the experience a bit

the music, by the way, was outstanding, even when I was too focused on the gameplay to fully appreciate it. especially liked Sayu's and 1010's tracks

as a game, NSR has its flaws, but the music and world/character design provide a mostly enjoyable experience

RHYTHM SPROUT

so I've played Turnip Boy and now I've played Rhythm Sprout

of the three, the food-themed Rhythm Sprout probably has the most conventional mechanics: pink/yellow/blue bars you hit in beat with the music.

with the most conventional mechanics comes the most standard experience: it was pretty good.

my only gripe with it was the trap notes and their proximity to actual notes (cause I honestly couldn't tell if I was hitting the note, the trap, or in between, and therefore couldn't fix my play)

this cutesy game's humour had a few good moments and the writing was good enough to keep me through the story, despite the concepts being pretty standard.

I think the game provides a pretty satisfying experience, though the music mostly wasn't my jam.

from the precise shooting of Soundfall to jamming with each of No Straight Road's artists to chopping sweets in Rhythm Sprout, all three games have great things going for them, so I think they're all worth a play!

As always,

Enjoy gaming!

[hummingbird-games]

2023 In Review (Indie Games)

Last year's! | 2021

I apologize in advance for how long this might be. As a reminder, I don't bash games here so even if I hated something with every fiber of my being...I ain't sharing. As a second reminder, my more in depth reviews and live blogging has moved to Gem's Game Gems so I don't clutter the HBG's main blog. Okay. ON WITH THE REVIEW!!

DEMOS

Diffraction (Demo)- A rainy day otome indeed. I love the quiet gentleness of this game, the two romance options, and the fact that our MC is a photographer and struggling with her art and stack of life "failures" (because...SAME!!)

Alaris - I was asleep and now I am awake: I came late for the advertised fae and dragon lore, stayed seated and waiting for Fenir zjgjdf. Oh, and I guess the mystery surrounding our MC's abilities LOL.

The Summit Library - When I say I was maaaaaad when I realized I blew through chapter 1 and would have to go back to waiting for more content??? LOL, I was very miffed. Anyhoo, check out this title for the gorgeous art, another intriguing mystery (like what is *up* with the magic in the poor library?? who or what is to blame?? 👀) and of course the lovely characters we've been introduced to thus far.

Of Sense and Soul - I'm a regency romance girl. Like after you strip away the other stuff, I am but a poor woman with simple needs: a good ass love story 🤧💛 It's about the yearning and the slow burn and the will they/won't they/PLEASEEE they...I've never been so charmed by a demo, and the full game is going to be amazing I just know it!

Made Marion - This project is a game I've been keeping tabs on for a hot minute but hadn't taken the time to sit and properly enjoy the demo. I'M SO GLAD I DID!!! It's in early access now, so I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to carve out some time to play, but guysss Velvet Cupcake is doing the Thing?!? No idea which love interest I'll go for first, but I had a fun time meeting the Nottingham peeps in the demo.

Herotome (Super Demo) - Oh gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh my GOSHHH. Where do I even began?? (Really the question is where the hell do I end because this is one of those projects I talk about a lot/think about a lot and surprisingly haven't run out of things to say zkjfksjd). Another game I've been following for a while, it 100% lives up to the superhero genre in its aesthetic, the characters you interact with, the music and sound design, and of course the slowly unfurling story. Jade and Mia had come out as my top faves, Warden is still there, like hovering in the backgroud, shhhh but I have a special place in my heart for Griffin too (that conversation we have with her?? I have so many screenshots just so I can go back and reread and sear the words in my brain. Like a weirdo. Yup.)

Celestial Crowns - Stats building, celestial royalty, dating sim where you fuck around and find out your choices directly affect your MC's personality?? I'm sat. I supported the Kickstarter and now I try to practice patience for the full game's release siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighh.

OTOME/JOSEI JAM

Please note this is a SUPER abridged list for my sanity and I fell a little more in love with these 2 jams with each entry I played...

Intertwine - As embarrassing as it sounds, I've never given much thought to the "red string" thing, and I consume more than enough romance media LOL!! But Van is suuuuuch a beautiful man, the UI for this game is so interactive and lovely, the music is ALSO lovely, just lovely-love all the way around teehee. (Also this game encourages replayabillity so like, do with that info what you will.)

Spring Boy [Demo] - I believe this game is going through a complete rehaul, so my thoughts and feelings refer to the original jam entry I played. The art is bright and cute and it's a super super short demo, but I was intrigued by the other student we meet on our mission to plead with our professor about our bombed exam lol!

Assignment Due: Project Blue - IRl group projects??? Suck absolute ass. Group projects with a guy name Asher?? Suddenly it's my new favorite thing in the world 😁

Cryptid Campaign Manager [DEMO] - Remember the last time I looked over a cryptid dating sim??? Remember how I was SUCH a fool?? Good thing I didn't make that mistake again!! The prologue is such a tease but you get an idea of what the full game is gonna be like, and I'm excited to see where my career involving love (and politics) goes!

Heart Cage [Demo] - Yoooooo I stay my ass far far far away from yanderes (could never get into the trope or the character type). WELP. Guess I just needed to keep searching because I really downloaded this off a whim--well, the whim being one of my fellow dev peers playing and rating-- and proceeded to get sucked in 🤧I thought being a detective would be the highlight, but I guuuueeesssss I was more into the romance options than I thought. Oops.

Evernight - I tried to explain what this game meant to me on the side blog, but words failed me. I still don't know what to say other than I loved it?? Which is like ummm I say I love everything, and yeah I'm easy to please BUT Y'ALLLLLL if you play no other game, play this one. Please. Date a werewolf. Or a vampire. Or a fae. Plz. Also figuring out the mystery of your MC's abilities and past is just delightful, ugh.

Bright Oak (demo) - Anotha one I wrote about on the side blog!!! Play this one!!! The writing is lush and atmospheric and the characters are all delightful and it's another game with a mystery to untangle!

The Faithfulness of the Universe- This one gets the award for most unique all around entry that I played. Theeeeee prettiest pixel art to bless my eyeballs, and this tasty mystery concerning Fate and witch Faustina's future (or lack thereof 👀) and what it all means. As a player I very much want to know what it all means!

A Cup For All Seasons - Another game that needs its flowers y'all. It's short but super healing and super cozy and the voice acting and music really tie the gaming experience together???

The Working Woman's Guide to Burning Bridges - DEMO - It's the way I played the demo twice and I've been thinking about it ever since 😭😭😭🙃 obviously life happens and things come up, plus this was a demo. But. BUT!!! I am on my hands and knees prayinnggg the team gets together again to finish the game. I love playing as a stressed, lowkey bitter hot mess who doesn't have her life together 😂somehow the fictional version is soooo much more entertaining!!!

Keyframes (Spring Demo) - After the game College Craze, this is legit THE college, slice of life visual novel of my dreams. I cannot wait for the updated demo next year, and the Kickstarter whenever that rolls around. And now that the developer is on Tumblr, I've definitely been stalking the account and reading each new post like it's my day/night/weekend job 🤧

Hello Counsel 💋 - Okay I take it back, Evernight is like a 20/10 but Hello Counsel is like an 100/10 👁️👄👁️ This game is necessary for my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, alright? The banter ✅ the character designs ✅ the music ✅ the sizzling chemistry between Poise and Salem ✅ I wish this game had more buzz because IT'S SO GOOD!!! (also the dev, Miseri, is who I wanna be when I grow up. I've made it through almost their whole backlog of games and there are no misses and EVERY game is different from the rest and it makes it hard for a toodler dev--ME--to cope LOL)

Candied Hearts - Isekaied into a candy themed game?? Sign me TF UP!!! (Peppermint I love you dearly, you must understand.)

Fully Released & Played (at least 1 playthrough)

The Knight's Dilemma - I don't even know how I originally stumbled upon this??? I just know it had been in my backlog for a hot minute and I was intrigued enough to save it way back when. Y'ALL WHY DIDN'T I PLAY SOONER SKJFHFJFH! There's a couple different endings, I loved the voice direction, AND it's such a simple concept of a game that was just executed beautifully.

Trouble Comes Twice - If I had to make a top 5 list of romance VNs, guess who makes the list?? Guess. Guess guess guess. Have you guessed yet??? LOL! I have been in love with TCT since it's development days and with each passing month, waiting in anticipation, playing the Pateron beta builds, screaming on the main blog about every single thought I had about Jace and Hazel (shoutout to Jace for helping me figure out *me*) Lol if you're curious about said thoughts, those posts are on this blog and not the side blog.

Aelfric the Wondrous - 10/10 would love to forget my first play through JUST to have that experience fresh again 😭😭💛Cute and funny and a wonderful parody type game all around.

A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986 - Goodness, there's no excuse for why this took me years to finish but anyhoo, I finished, I loved it, I recommend it! It's romantic and achingly authentic and the art is soooo gorgeous I literally can't stand it 😭

The Things You Do For Love - Unhinged yandere manages to entertain and garner sympathy and laughter from Gemini. And that poly ending is chef's kiss too????

Band Camp Boyfriend - There are a handful of games I found and loved before I began my game development journey, and this is one of them. BCB is so dear to me, because of the story and characters but also because of the Dynamic Duo creators and their team behind the scenes. I was never a band kid I was a chorus kid but just as the band geeks loved this game to pieces, us normal folks do too!! Even the boys who I didn't like I STILL managed to find joy in playing their routes (still have a few more to finish at the time of this posting lol, GOTTA GET THE FINAL ROUTE YO). Anyway, this game more than delivered for me and I hope more people keep discovering it!!

Belle Automata: Chronicle I [RELEASED] - While only Chronicle 1 is out at the time of this posting, I already know that the 2nd and 3rd parts are going to be just as amazing???? I wrote about this one on the side blog, so here's my copypaste that still rings true:  

I love TNP (The Nightmare Prince) but Victor’s route hit the sweet spot for me. Maybe it’s the slow(er) burn nature of this route, maybe it’s the reserved nature of Victor and watching him slowly start to care (AND NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE FEELINGS TEEHEE) for me.

A Date with Death - I wrote about this on the side blog--again--. The demo. And then right after finishing a route. And then again where I was fully awake and still managed to sound deranged. No copypaste for that, I shall be nice. But yeah!! Another game where I was screaming at the sky about how much I love it and how I'll never know peace as long as I live.

Our Life: Baxter DLC - I need to offer an official apology to both Cove and Derek because falling head over heels, down the stairs, crashing into the parking lot, falling again but down a manhole for Baxter's infuriating ass was NOT on my 2023 bingo board??? HELLO???? I bought his DLC just to complete my OL collection. Was not expecting to love it this much. Was not expecting to be called to write fanfic and abandon all responsibilities to do this. WHILE DOWN WITH COVID TOO. Allow me to play the song of my people. *Send in the Clowns plays*

Our Cinderella - (this is so funny I'm taking about a side game before the main game LOLOLOLOL) Guys. Guysss. You guyyyysss 🥹if you're looking for a cozy, hilarious, equally oddly and wonderfully sweet short game, this is the one!! You may have your personal favorite Iggy ship (like me) but all the pairings are so amazing and just make sense lol!

Wylde Flowers - This is the only non visual novel game on here but it gets the spotlight because I did NOT spend 90+ hours on this game to gatekeep this beauty. No. It the coziest, the funniest, the funnest, the most addictive Switch game (after Teacup) I've ever played.

Fully Released (& still on 1st playthrough)

Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin - Life kicked my butt and then sat on me SO while I finally got my grubby hands on the full copy, I still have only played the entirety of the demo. But. We will return to this in 2024 and hopefully I'll have a full review for the next wrap up!

Our Wonderland - I looked back at the side blog and I can't believe it was only THIS year that I started OW??? Because I'd known of the game and the dev for longer than that??? So basically what I'm saying is that I was chicken shit for longer than I've been in love with this world that Developer Carrot has created kjzhhshggj. But OMG to get me, who is scared oh so easily to get hella invested in this clearly labeled horror game??????????????? And even with shit gets super absurd and hella disturbing, I cannot stop playing. At the time of this post, I'm only in Act 4, hence the category above, but it's only because I play each act in a sitting and lose track of space and time and myself. That's a compliment btw.

...

Okie!! That's 2023 in a nutshell! I played a looooot of really good games this year and while I would have liked to talk about them all, I think this list provides a nice overview.

Let me know if we share any favorites!

- Gemini 💛

[superrainbow06]

Good news ISAT fans! The anti-woke gaming person who made the spreadsheet determining which games are woke to a somewhat accurate degree has decided that In Stars And Time is, in fact, woke!!

The funniest part about all of this is that in order to leave these reviews on steam and know if these are woke they had to play all of the games on the list, at least a little bit. This person bought In Stars And Time to write a review about how it was woke. They probably refunded it but they still bought it.

Anyway. Go play In Stars And Time!! It's so good!!

Also go check out the woke games spreadsheet because it had a bunch of indie games on it! And it even lists which ones are gay and have diversity and women!

Also maybe go check out this website. Which is a guessing game about the woke games spreadsheet which tells you the name of the game and you have to guess if it's woke or not. Super fun I would recommend. Or don't click on links from random people that's also cool

[azure-clockwork]

How Does it Feel to Read Classic Sci-Fi?

Orson Scott Card: Two of the most interesting books you’ll ever read if you’re willing to look past a handful of things. And then you find the planet of Chinese people who worship having debilitating OCD. And the Mormonism. And the fact that the author is wildly homophobic and ought to read his own books.

Robert Heinlein (or at least the Wikipedia Summaries): I guess that’s a neat concept—oh, it’s a sex thing. Um. Gotcha.

Ray Bradbury: Man, I gotta read this thing for class huh. Well here’s hoping it’s good! *three hours later* oh. that’s why he’s famous. this will stick with me forever and I will never look at the phrase ‘soft rain’ the same again. christ. And then repeat 3x.

Isaac Asimov: Wow, this is such an interesting concept! I wonder how the exploration of it will influence the plot! Wait, hey, are you going to add any characters? Any of em? No like, with character traits other than ‘robot psychologist’ and ‘autistic’ and ‘woman’? None of em? No, ‘detective’ isn’t a character trait. Those are all just facts. Aaaand now I’m bored.

Ursula K. Le Guin: Hah, get a load of this guy! He’s never heard of nonbinary people before. Lol, what a riot; how dumb do you have to be to comprehend that these people aren’t men *or* women actually? Oh, wait, what’s happening. Oh shit, it was about society and love and learning to understand each other? And now I’m crying? And perhaps a better human being for it??

Andy Weir: Alright, this guy’s a really good writer. Funny, creative, knows so much engineering stuff…ooh, a new book! …I guess he can’t write women. Well, he wouldn’t be the first sci-fi writer…ooh another new book! And it’s more engineering problem solving and—wow. It’s not just women he can’t write. Please stop letting your characters talk to each other.

Lois Lowry: Oh, I remember this being fun when I was a kid! Wouldn’t it be fucked up to not see color? …upon reread, it would be fucked up to have your humanity stripped away, replaced with a tepid, beige ‘happiness’ for all time. Yeah.

Tamsyn Muir (let me have this ok): Haha, “lesbian necromancers in space” sounds fun. Lemme read this. Oh wow, yeah, this is right up my alley. OH GOD WHAT. NO. FUCK. OH SHIT WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING AND WHY IS IT REFERENCING THE BOOK OF RUTH AND HOMESTUCK BACK TO BACK!!! AHHHHHHHHH!! Now give me more please.

[districtunrest]

if iphones existed in panem, there's no way peeta wouldn't have a running list of things said by katniss and haymitch in his notes app

[tamarakkoarchive]

The Professor Layton veredict

> All the games have daddy issues going on. All the daddies directly or indirectly are the force that cause havoc in these stories. I swear to god someone should banish dads from existing in Layton games

> PLvsAA specially was AN ENORMOUS DGS PROTOTYPE and they also repeated lots of elements in later Laytons to my own shock. Genuinely aprehensive how later entries for both series started sucking ass after this crossover. 3d was the cursed turning point

[zahra-hydris]

mortismal gaming calling veilguard his personal goty is wild

[pricelessreviews]

[drakothedragon55]

Already subjected my discord mutuals to this. It’s your turn, Tumblr!

Over the span of like 3 days, I listened to the entirety of Epic: The Musical (or what’s released of it, anyways. Iirc there’s two albums yet to be released.) And now I’m gonna pick my fave and least faves. Because why not <3

The Troy Saga Fave: Open Arms. It’s iconic, the dude who voiced Polites did great, and it’s referenced a ton in other songs. Least Fave: I guess Warrior of the Mind, if I had to pick. Idk. I like the Troy saga.

The Cyclops Saga Fave: Survive. That, and Polyphemus coming right before it are such good songs. The pure terror in their voices around the end of Survive were just chef’s kiss Least Fave: My Goodbye. It made me dislike Athena (until the Wisdom saga, at least) ;-;

The Ocean Saga Fave: Luck Runs Out. It’s also referenced in future songs (I think?) and it’s pretty catchy imo. Least Fave: None. If I HAD to pick…ig Keep Your Friends Close? Ocean Saga doesn’t have a single bad song. Change my mind 😎

(More below the cut. Tis’ a long post)

The Circe Saga Fave: Done For. The part that went “Hermes gave you that didn’t he” “lol yeah. But still-“ (paraphrasing) was great. Least Fave: There Are Other Ways. Nope nope nope nope nope I got no idea what’s going on back there but it sounds like she’s trying to charm him. Nope.

The Underworld Saga Fave: The Underworld. The faint reprise of Open Arms gave me chills. Least Fave: No Longer You. Underworld also has no bad songs. I just had to pick one. Sorry :(

The Storm Saga Fave: SCYLLA SCYLLA SCYLLA— in all seriousness, Scylla is what got me into listening to the whole thing. I love it to death. It’s my discord status too. Least Fave: Mutiny. Started out strong. Kinda lost its charm after the actual mutiny part. Maybe I’m just an Odysseus sympathizer haha.

The Wisdom Saga Fave: God Games. Athena redemption ark real!! She actually called Ody’s son a friend, too 🥺 Least Fave: We’ll Be Fine. Apparently it wasn’t very memorable as I listened to it an hour-ish ago and I already forgot how it goes.

[unexpectedbrickattack]

Hi. New ✨Pinned Post✨

• MINORS. DO NOT MESSAGE ME. NO DMS. NO INBOX MESSAGES. NO. I am not checking my activity and Every note to see if minors are interacting w my stuff but i WILL check if u directly try to contact me. I WILL block you. Please dont do that to me 😭 Likes/Reblogs are fine, just dont talk to me Directly please.

• This blog will have ns//fw stuff! Suggestive and Explicit! Please block [spicy hot], [suggestive] and [saucy] to avoid seeing these posts! Make sure to remove the brackets! (Gonna be changing [spicy hot] to [saucy] very soon so I am adding that in there as well)

• No, I do not want you to dub any of my art. Oh my god. Oh my god ! I cannot stop you but I do not want anything ive done dubbed and placed anywhere on the internet. Do not show me if u do this. Do not show me if u saw it on youtube or tiktok or whatever! I am existing with Blinders on and i would prefer to keep it that way!

• I dont rp! Please do not send me rp asks and dms ! I will NOT respond to them!

• Not important but if u see Dissociativekitten in ur activity, thats me :)

OKAY thats it for real bye

[splashink-games]

3 Cute DU&I Puzzle Games

Last year on my birthday, I completed the puzzle game Cats Organized Neatly by DU&I. This year, I completed their two other games: Dogs Organized Neatly and Feed All Monsters!

In Cats/Dogs Organized Neatly, you're tasked to fit the unfortunately shaped animals into the given area.

Mechanically, these games are really simple! You can place them and rotate them, but otherwise, you're on your own!

With how many differently shaped animals they included in each game, I'm surprised the Organized Neatly games only last 80 levels each (Feed All Monsters lasts 200 levels in comparison). Definitely wouldn't have minded more puzzles, but 80 is a good place to stop since the puzzles were getting difficult (for me) and it keeps the games pretty short.

In Feed All Monsters, you lead a team of food delivery workers in delivering food to hungry monsters.

The premise of the game is really fun. As well, the base mechanics are straightforward. Each worker has a maximum distance they can travel and a number of food they can bring. Like the Organized Neatly games, more mechanics are introduced as you progress. And while I liked the portals near the end, I particularly liked the water mechanics!

One thing I appreciate in Feed All Monsters apart from the Organized Neatly games is that it has hints for people like me who aren't that great at puzzle games.

The art style for all three games is on point. Love how soft everything looks and their use of colour in Feed All Monsters is great in making a friendly atmosphere. Cats/Dogs Organized Neatly has a clear colour theme that works well. Plus all the animals and monsters are great.

The music could get a bit grating if you're stuck on puzzles, but I suppose that's true with any puzzle game.

DU&I making some quality games here. They're very cute and pretty difficult (again, as someone who's not good at puzzle games). Would recommend for puzzle lovers or cat/dog lovers for their first two games.

As always,

Enjoy gaming!

[every-sanji]

[mairaiscarrierofthepaperclips]

Fic Writing Review 2023

Tagged by the glorious @thewolvesof1998.

Words and Fics

117,284 words published to AO3 (so many words still in docs as WIPs)

2 fandoms (9-1-1 and The Rookie)

Most recent drop: i opened my eyes (and all i saw was you)

Longest Fic: hard kick, slow burn (M, 11,382 words)

Top Fics by Kudos (all Buddie)

and i always will (M, 2,365 words)

you're where i stand, hearing the sea (T, 2,972 words)

i am never without it (T, 3,404 words)

a madman and a minstrel (T, 2,575 words)

to the depth and breadth and height (M, 6,231 words)

My fandom fic events in 2023

Flufftober 2023! And it was a banger.

My Buddie collection for Flufftober can be found here.

Upcoming Events and Projects for 2024

Fics I'm going to try and get out in the upcoming year:

Almost complete:

lazarus rising - Buck needs space after the lightning strike. Eddie doesn't understand, not really, but he lets him go. But when Buck comes home, he finds out that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Already started:

magical realism fic (Buck thinks he's allergic to Eddie. Spoiler warning: he's not).

vesper - inspired by the poker episode, Athena asks the boys to go undercover in a poker ring. Think Casino Royale.

Gravedigger fic - fans of Bones will immediately know what I'm talking about here, amirite?

not like this (title TBC) - based on the New Girl kiss (IYKYK)

snow shovel fic - AU where Buck and Eddie are neighbours. it's a whole thing.

you're in my arms (and all the world is calm) sequel - Chenford fic, sequel is from Lucy's POV (and answers the cliffhanger from YIMA)

a Davrick (Schitt's Creek) piece inspired by the 9-1-1: Lone Star episode 'Saving Grace'.

Ideas/planned fics (basically the Notes app on my phone):

No Nut November fic - my actual November turned hectic, but if all goes well I'll still write this one because the plot makes me giggle.

Multi-chapter AU featuring past lives, reincarnation, and soul mates.

night strewn salt across the sky sequel - featuring Barista!Buck and Nurse!Eddie's First Date!

when words and deeds are in accord (my whole world is transformed) sequel - featuring established Buddie fluffiness. With singing!

apocalypse fic - snow. so much snow.

I have had so much fun writing in the 9-1-1 fandom this year - I switched from the HP fandom due to Reasons, and the welcome and love I've been shown has been truly lovely.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read/left kudos/commented/mentioned me in a post or sent me an ask - y'all are amazing.

[supersecretnerd]

Ok so these designs are cute as hell, the Internet is just mean

I have too many thoughts about a game I still need to watch

[therisingphoenixden]

So, I was feeling kind of rough at the end of last week and decided to dip into my stash of comfort video games.

What did I pick?

The first Pillars of Eternity game.

Longish ramblings about why I love this game under the cut!

I feel like I have very weird tastes in comfort games because Pillars of Eternity is not at all what I'd call a cozy or comforting game. In fact, it's quite bleak in a lot of places. But it has amazing depth to its lore and story that grounds you while also pulling you in, wonderfully written characters that make the world of Eora feel alive, gorgeous music (if you watch Critical Role, especially during campaign 2, you'll recognize a lot of the music in the game), and several very unique races to use as your player character in addition to the usual standards of dwarves, elves, and humans. The dialogue system lets you shape your character even further with race, class, stat allotment, and your reputation and personality scores opening up different paths to pick from.

The story also deals with questions surrounding faith and religion, the nature of the soul, and features heavy reincarnation themes. If you know my love of Morrowind, you know that this kind of stuff is my catnip.

Combat-wise, I play on story mode because I'm a story-first kind of player. I'm also usually very exhausted and am up very early in the mornings on weekdays. But even story mode can be a bit of a challenge when you prefer to roleplay as a character and not what the "best" race/class combos and builds are for Path of the Damned mode. Granted, I'm overleveled for where I am in the story (both in base game and in White March 2), but it's still enough of a challenge for my permanently exhausted mind to enjoy. You still have to think tactically so your party isn't overwhelmed, which tickles the part of my brain that grew up playing rts games.

I'm currently dawdling with completing act 2 on my fire godlike cipher, Xiuhitl, just because I missed playing around in the world of Eora so much and I'm not ready to hit Twin Elms and proceed to the endgame yet. I'm taking options that I haven't before and discovering quests that I completely missed in my first few playthroughs of the game. It's almost like playing it for the first time all over again, especially since I haven't played in a while. I remember some of the major story beats, but not all of them, and I'm not ashamed to admit I got lost once or twice because I think the last time I played was during lockdown. But I prefer to say it's a testament to the game itself where I get drawn in and turned around because I wanted to read the ambient dialogue or listen to the bard in Stalwart sing.

The real adventure is the journey - not the endgame. And in a world that's still very magical while maintaining firm and believably realistic roots, why would you want the adventure to end so quickly?

[makiokuta]

I'm going to try playing some of the games in the Games for Gaza bundle and writing little reviews. First up, Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop. I picked the game at random, and ended up with a pretty expansive one off the bat. (I told myself '1 hour per game', but it took more than an hour to read and get set up)

Floating Bookshop is a solo journalling game where you - run a floating bookshop. I've never played a game like this before, but I've always been curious to, so this was a nice excuse. And Floating Bookshop appears to be a wonderful introduction to the genre. The instructions are well written and there's a lot of material available to make your journey an interesting one and tickle your imagination as you go.

There's a lot of set up to this game (reading the rules, creating your character, and designing your bookshop.), and it probably took me longer to grasp the rules since I'm not familiar with this genre, but once I was set up things were fine. The game has it's main rule book broken down into smaller parts, which is handy to reference the tables quicker.

In this game you draw cards and roll dice (you'll want a d20 and a d6 and a deck of cards. I used a digital deck haha) to determine what notable customers visit, the weather for the day, and your chores. You write as little and as much about each day as you'd like as you make your journey along the river selling books. Manage your funds, keep track of your book stock, and meet and befriend the characters who stop by your shop.

I've only played through one day for now, but I will probably revisit this over the next few days. The setting is neat and well developed, and I like the idea of escaping to my goose life on the river selling books to frogs. (Oh, did I forget to mention everyone is an animal? Everyone is an animal. 500 bonus points for mice and swans and shrews.)

The game normally runs for $16USD, however you can get it alongside over 200 other games for $10 in the bundle linked above.