#glad to see i wasn't the only one disappointed in the dlc ending and plot in general

[karpachev]

dlc kinda sucks but at least now we have two (!!) redheads with daddy/mommy issues :D

[stgroversfire]

LOOOONG fnaf sb ruin post here. lots of criticism and thoughts no one cares about, and of course spoilers.

take it all with a grain of salt, because while i know a lot about the story, i'm a 23 year old that got into the franchise 8 years ago and i havent actively kept up with the lore since fnaf 6.

and because in researching more for this post i found out there's key lore points in the fucking books and i'm not reading a glorified manual to understand the story of a game i paid 40 bucks for.

i want to be kinder to fnaf sb ruin, but i still feel disappointed.

from a gameplay standpoint, it was, of course, a VASTLY improved game. this is a tumblr post not a review, so i'll keep it short, but by god did the dlc actually have intention and vision that the original lacked, with a lot less bugs (more than i find acceptable, but the bar was low here so i'm taking the W). the core gameplay mechanics actually felt like they belonged in the game and made the experience better, and this free dlc went a long way to making sb's $40 price tag closer to worth it.

the atmosphere was stunning to me- much creepier and like it actually belonged in a horror game. the free roam aspect being less painfully redundant and more linear was a great improvement for player experience. the AR mechanic was maybe a touch cluttered, but i still loved it and was glad to see creative ideas implemented without obvious scope creep.

story wise... well, i'm quite sure i must be missing something. after sb i had so many questions, and i think like one of them is answered. there's something to be said about fnaf sticking to its guns and keeping a lot of lore up to speculation, but i haven't fully grasped what the fuck is happening since pizzeria sim.

it's probably a bit soon after release to be shitting on the story but uh. i still don't know who tf gregory is or his relevancy to the plot. i don't know who cassie is or her relevancy to the plot. i liked her character but it felt like a skeleton of a story. every relationship felt too threadbare to justify character actions (although retrospectively there is something to be said about the actions of children being impulsive). and while it's not inherently bad, i personally don't love every piece of her backstory being some one off line that is never explored (i.e. paraphrasing "this faz wrench is like my dads!" and "maybe your friends will come next time").

i was fascinated by the mimic as an antagonist, and relieved to see anyone but springtrap, but having to google who he was and why he randomly changed forms in the scooper ending (??? did i miss something?) to understand the dlc kind of killed a lot of excitement for me. really great design though, and even if it was a bit obvious i enjoyed the whole mimicking gregory thing.

as for the endings: i'm a bit confused as to why gregory would frantically try to save cassie, only to attempt to kill her off. i'm also not sure why he knows about the mimic in the first place. i have my own theories, sure, but speculation doesn't mean much when the concrete scenes we got gave us nothing. i really wanted more information on gregory and frustratingly ended with more goddamned questions. the scooper ending was cool, even if it confused the shit outta me. fredbear ending was uh. actually very creepy to me and probably my favorite of the bunch. the dichotomy of the cheery music and graphics vs cassie's terrified breathing was creepy af and i wish that wasn't just the joke ending.

i'm losing steam here so i'll try to wrap up. all in all, i went into ruin mostly blind and was really hoping for any kind of wrap up on who gregory is (adding here that im now aware that's in the books, but i really really hate the idea of supplemental paid reading for a paid video game), and while i don't hate cassie, i was a little disappointed to see any expansion on the original story. the gameplay was such a different and improved experience i can't believe it came from the same studio.

and despite me absolutely ripping into this thing, i'm really excited to see more from steel wool and scott. help wanted 2 should be a much less disjointed experience, with some really cool tie ins to vanny (if i understand the lore at all)

EDIT: I FORGOT ABOUT THE VANNI SYSTEM. the bunny enemy was very fucking well designed, made complete sense with the story while also preventing the player from staying in AR too long, and fixed a lot of what made the original animatronic AIs feel extremely janky. that creepy bunny guy takes the game from like. a 5/10 to a 7/10.

if you made it this far i'm sorry you read all that and i hope your day is as wonderful as you are, much love.

[thescrapbookingscientist]

2024 Media Rankings: Video Game Edition

Ranking Every Media I was into in 2024, the video game list is fairly short and contains both ones I played myself as well as ones I watched playthroughs for. As with the other lists the rankings will not be based on quality but subjective taste.

#11 - Firewatch - Firewatch was a very short and beautiful game that my friends convinced me to watch the Markeplier playthrough for. I don't have any strong feelings about it one way or anther though I do respect it - the visuals were very pretty and atmospheric, the themes of isolation and running away from your problems were well executed given the short run time, and the mystery resolved an interesting way. The games more of a vibe than anything, it's very melancholic and I think succeeds at what it wants to do very well. I can't critique the game play of a game I didn't play myself and don't really have any story critiques, so my more neutral feelings toward it is just because very short bittersweet media with characters who are written solely to aid the thematic narrative rather than be entertaining in their own right is just not the type of media I get obsessed over, even if I do recognize it's value. It's well constructed and I'm glad I watched it but I doubt I will think about it 10 years from now.

#10 - Pokemon Legends Arceus - Low on this list as I barely played it this year, it would've topped 2023s list for being the most fun and creative Pokemon experience I've had in a long time, even with all its graphical flaws. I love the character designs for the game and have still had some fun engaging in fan works for them, though the brainrot is gone for now.

#9 - Mouthwashing - I can't really say I understand why this one sitting indie horror game took off the way it did, but I did like it. While low res overall, the visuals had a good color pallet and an interesting setting. I don't feel like going into depth on something that has 1000 video essays on it already, but the themes of toxic masculinity, social responsibility, and hyper-capitalism were creatively executed especially given the short run time. I wasn't crazy about the characters the same way a lot of people were but they serve the plot well and all have some interesting dialogue. There were a lot of memorable moments as well, and some good body horror. My only real critique is feeling like Anya got the least amount of time to be viewed as an actual character outside of her centrality to the plot, which may have been intentional but was still a little disappointing. Overall very solid little story though, worth a watch if you don't mind the triggering content.

#8 - Hatoful Boyfriend - Uh so this game is insane. It sells itself on being a goofy dating sim where the player is the only human in a world of intelligent eligible birds, and it is that, but it's also so much more in a way that has you continually pausing to stare in open mouth shock at the screen. I don't want to go into spoilers here as experiencing in real time the unpredictable chaos of the plot is half the fun, but just trust me that it's worth seeing all the routes and true ending and the DLCs if possible - It will never stop surprising you. I'll give it credit too that unlike something like Riverdale which has a similar level of continually escalating insanity, Hatoful Boyfriend is actually cleverly written with the full story in mind from the get go, meaning the slow descent into madness with the occasional concerning comments being expertly escalated into a bombastically insane true ending. It can be surprisingly touching at times but primarily it's just very witty and fun, it's definitely one that's fun to experience in a group but it's worth it in any setting. If you don't want to play it yourself I recommend the youtube channel JelloPlaysGames which has a fully voice acted playthrough of the whole thing - It's certainly an unforgettable experience.

#7 - Persona 5 Royal - Another game I played a lot of in 2023 but not much in 2024. I'm ranking it here as I do still love the characters, design aesthetic, music, and gameplay, but given how little I played it or looked up fan stuff for it this year I can't rank it any higher. Probably would have been 2023's game of the year though, I still have the soundtrack on loop.

#6 - Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door - PMtTYD is the best paper mario game and perhaps the best Mario game in general, so I was as thrilled as everyone else when it got a switch release. It was a good port too - the visuals were already great since they were stylized in the charming craft aesthetic that stands the test of time, but the port added a little flair and updated the again already great music a bit - It's definitely a visual and musical treat. Admittedly though I only played about half of it before getting distracted by other things - It's great but it's pretty long and I have played through the story before in recent memory, so my enthusiasm died down after a bit of time. Still I want to give the game it's flowers - the humor is great, the characters are great, it has an interesting story, the mechanics are fun if a bit simplistic, and it oozes charm out of every corner. If you've never played it I definitely recommend it, as usual with nintendo games the settings are easily adjusted for a leisurely playthrough for non gamers or a slightly challenging though still relaxed playthrough for those who like that sort of thing, so most people will be able to enjoy it fine. If you have played it then I don't have to tell you how good it is, if you liked it before you'll like it again though it is more or less just the same game so up to you if you want to play the slightly more HD version.

#5 - Pathologic - Love Pathologic, one of my favorite games, have never played it and would absolutely hate to. Like some of the other things on this list this is purely here for affections sake alone, I didn't engage with this one too much this year outside of vicariously living through my friends experience and watching the occasional analysis video, with 2022 being the actual year in which I was thoroughly obsessed with it. Still I love the complicated characters, the off putting setting and music, the increasingly frantic plot pairing with the punishing game play, the contrasting endings that perfectly match each protagonist, the heavy philosophical dialogue and themes of progress and idealism coming up against exploitation, class warfare, and the erasure of minority culture, and the oddly charming yet disturbing theatrical nature of it all. Who knows, maybe when Pathologic 3 comes out, I'll even play it myself (lying).

#4 - Cult of the Lamb - Very cute and likable game about forming a cult worshiping the god of Death and either assimilating or decimating the local population. The plot is predictable but interesting and while some of the animal designs don't wear the front face but side nose look very well the main character and major NPCs all have nice designs that incorporate some fun interpret-able lore. The gameplay has two halves - the compound building part where you collect Cultists and direct them to farm, build, clean ect and build up a little community animal crossing style, then the dungeon crawling half where you go through randomized rooms killing all manner of cultists, creatures, and gods for materials and story progress. Neither half is difficult and both are enjoyable in their own right, though the dungeon crawling section is a little wonky on the switch and has a lack of variety that gets tedious after awhile. The variety of options you have in the former half of the game is fun though, your cult members have their own little personalities and you are able to dress them up, pair them together, sacrifice them, resurrect them, and send them on little quests which is quite fun. The base game is short but worth it with fun visuals, dialogue, and gameplay, though admittedly I have not played the majority of the quite extensive post game, as the lack of combat variety wore me out.

#3 - In Stars and Time - In terms of pure narrative and character ISAT was my top game for sure this year - every character is complex and endearing with really fun and memorable exchanges with each other and the plot is tightly written with a good sense of dread and escalation and some really interesting concepts. Unraveling the mystery of what's going on with the world and characters is half the fun so I won't spoil too much here, but the basic premise is that you play as the final rouge party member as they alone become trapped in a time loop of the day the party challenges the final boss. The fighting mechanic is pretty simple with a literal rock paper scissor based system where each party member has access to 1 or more type of ability that can be super affective or weak against the funny little creature enemies you fight with quick turn based combat that has buffs and heals and the like as well. It's satisfying enough but mainly exists to aid the narrative and put the player in a similar headspace to the player character Siffrin as you grind through the same motions only to have all progress reset the next day. I opened with the game's strengths but I really want to emphasize how good the character writing it here: All 5 party members are really endearing, well written, unique, and wonderfully designed characters whose dialogue swaps between being some of the funniest multi-person exchanges you'll see to incredibly emotionally resonant conversations that will warm your heart and/or hit you right where it hurts. In general the game looks quite nice, sporting a black and white color palette and cutesy but very emotive and occasionally intense art style that works really well for those emotional gut punches I mentioned earlier. The mystery element is done really well with it having just the right mix of letting you come to your own conclusions (with many clues hidden throughout the game to find) and revealing major twists/beats when needed, with some of the implications being pretty messed up in a 'oh that's a col concept' way. Also shout out for its racial, sexual, and gender diversity, not only is most of the cast queer and/or none white, the in game society is based around the concept of Change and experimentation, making for a setting with refreshingly progressive gender and sexuality politics. A personal favorite in that respect was Mirabelle, a refreshingly non-stereotypical character who's a cheery romance loving fashionable little lady who has some really great dialogue about her experience as an aroace person, which as a fellow aroace I really vibe with. I can't really go into more without digging into things that shouldn't be spoiled, but I 100% recommended this, it's really heartfelt, memorable, unique, funny, and tightly written.

#2 - Pokemon Infinite Fusion - Fusing pokemon together has been a fun design exercise for Pokemon fanartists for years, so I guess it's not surprising that a game would eventually be made on that concept. While the plot is mostly a straightforward adaptation of Pokemon Red and Blue (with Johto being present as well), I was really impressed by every other aspect of this game - It's insane that a free fangame has this level of creativity and effort. The sprite art is beautiful with literally 200,000+ different fusion combinations which range from badass to adorable to stupid pop culture references and memes to cursed to insanely creative. Most of the normal sprites have original art too, I've honestly spent just as much time just admiring the fusion art on the website (X) as I have playing the game. Building your team is fun, as is seeing the odd and interestingly typed fusions that the NPCs have, it's not a hard game by any means but they do sometimes throw surprises and puzzles at you that you have to work for. The game also introduces a sidequest feature which involves more RGP like quests of finding specific Pokemon, cooking, racing within a time limit, ect which adds to the otherwise straightforward gameplay. The writing and dialogue has been improved as well, there's lots of clever and funny little lines that make talking to NPCs worth it. If you don't like the Pokemon formula I don't think this is different enough to make you a fan, but if you do like pokemon this is by far the best experience I've had with it since Heart Gold, it's an incredible passion project for sure. I'd love to do a nuzlocke in the future someday, I can only imagine the wonders and horror it could bring.

#1 - Genshin Impact- Looking at this list you'd think I didn't spend a lot of time playing video games in 2024. I wish that was the case, but honestly I spent just as much if not more time gaming, it's just that 90% of that time went solely into infamous gatcha game Genshin Impact. I mainly blame my best friend for this - she became hooked on it this year and inspired me to pick up my previously abandoned account so that we could spend the rest of 2024 playing co-op, discussing story beats and theories, admiring and bullying the characters, and in general just giving me a topic and opportunity to regularly talk to and spend time with one of my favorite people. Real human connection is worth more than even my favorite media experiences so that alone would endear me enough to the game to rank it number #1, but to be fair I do think it's a pretty good game on it's own merits.

To get the negatives out of the way first - It is at it's core a transactional gatcha game, and in that sense it's no less predatory than any the the others. It's great that it's free and I'm sure plenty of people, including myself, have a great time with it without spending a cent, but the multiple weirdly exchangeable in game currency intentionally designed to obscure the prices, limited time exclusive characters, unreasonably expensive alternate skins, and constant time=money log in incentives are all designed to make those with addictive personalities pour an irresponsible amount of money into the game, which isn't cool. The story gets better as it goes but is starts very basic with the first few arcs being fairly standard JRPG stuff, with some of the arcs and quests containing really odd and inconsistent writing. While the character voice-lines and occasional main quest dialogue can often be pretty fun, as a whole the game has some of the worst flavor text I've ever seen, it's insane the sheer amount of unnecessary and boring text even minor quests have. It's also strange how little they have the relevant characters interact with eachother and instead solely interact with boringly designed and written NPCs - I know gatcha games work a by endearing the playable characters to the player insert but it's not surprising that people's favorites are mostly the characters who DO have multiple interesting dynamics with other characters - that's what makes you like them. On the gameplay side it can also have weird and uneven difficulty spikes, power creep for the newer vs older characters, occasional glitches, and some sturdy enemies that are just not fun to fight. Co-op is also something that could really be expanded on, as much as I do it there's not a lot of in game stuff to do other than farming for the absurd amount of level up materials your characters need. There's been a lot of limited time events featuring more unique co-op games like tetris, ball games, marketing, hide and seek, guitar hero and the like, so it would be nice if those could be more permanent features to play with your friends.

All that being said, the game succeeds at a lot too. Sale tactics aside it is entirely free, and gives you a generous amount of in game rewards through exploring, doing quests and stories, constantly running exclusive events, log in rewards, and weekly resets of the battle tower like spiral abyss, so even if you just play normally you'll get plenty of opportunities to save for characters you want and have a usable and fun account. I've been surprisingly lucky with my pulls, and have managed to get all 7 of the 5 stars I've actively tried for within a little less than 2 years of free play. I actually don't hate the gatcha system as a feature either - the game gives you enough characters you'd actually need to move through the story for free, so it can be kinda fun to test your luck and be surprised by the character or weapon you get, leading you to use characters and combinations you may otherwise wouldn't have. The battle mechanics are pretty fun as well, giving you 4 team slots to put in characters who will control 1 of 7 elements, each of which has a unique reaction when paired together - plants and fire will give enemies a burning status effect, water and ice will freeze them, electric and fire explodes in increased damage, ect ect. Building teams and battle strategies around the elemental reactions can be quite fun, and while it took a little while to get used to the quick swap mechanic of only having 1 character on field at once before quickly swapping to the next, once you do get used to it the control feels really nice. Individual characters all have their own abilities which can make gameplay more fun and interesting as well, so the game doesn't get too repetitive as long as you switch up teams every so often. While not mind blowing the visuals are quite nice, the world is really big with a lot of unique and pretty locations that feel fun to explore, especially given how often it rewards you for doing so with the insane amount of treasures, quests, and neat little surprises it packs into it. You're not likely to get bored is what I'm saying.

I have complaints with the limited body types and lack of racial diversity among the playable characters, but outside of that I do like quite a few of the designs and characters - especially in later arcs and events where both new and old characters are given a well written story to engage in and likable dynamics with each other. Again the voicelines for the playable characters tend to be the best written parts and are pretty funny and endearing at times. It's a large cast and honestly some of the characters are pretty archetypal, but others earn their blorbo status in being very interesting in their own right, so it's nice that there's so many events and quests that allow characters to feature outside of their spot in the main story. Also while I complain about the some features not being permanent, it is nice how often the game experiments with different types of game play, features (like a decoratable house and fishing mechanic), region specific puzzles, and story genres and the like, again there's a lot of variety to keep you from getting bored. The music and majority of the voice cast are pretty great as well. There's hints of a more interesting story underneath as well, we will occasionally get neat lore drops and foreshadowing that makes you go oooohhh which is fun if you like to theorize. More than anything it's just a fun game to play and talk about which has brought my bestie and I a lot of joy in a pretty freaking rough year. Be aware of predatory gambling practices but if you trust yourself to play casually and not get pulled in to spending past your means I honestly recommend it, you'll have a good time.