#god. me and the zelda character designers have a love-hate relationship. but if were being real it's mostly hate

[blueskittlesart]

Can I ask about Rito character design? I love the Rito in botw/totk, so I was honestly a little disappointed when I saw how different they are in ww. (I know it's probably at least in part due to hardware limitations but still) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

this is going to be less of a real unpacking of the character design choices and more of me dunking on zelda character designers because somehow it took them literal years and multiple tries to design a race of bird people that didn't look like DOG SHIT.

hiromu arakawa's first attempt in the oot manga was decent. the watarara are weird-looking enough to fit in with the rest of oot's questionable creature design but also don't look like an affront to nature. we could have just gone with this

but for some reason the wind waker character designers got it in their heads that bird people had to be more person than bird, and also somehow that BEAKS were the one bird feature that had to remain on an otherwise human face and body.

why did we do this. why do they still have human mouths underneath the beaks. why do they not have wings even though the one actual story-relevant implementation of this race involved one of them FLYING AROUND. who approved this

honorable mention to the horrible race of human-faced birds with human tits who make the worst noises known to man from twilight princess. someone needs to be executed for this

they FINALLY managed to get it ALMOST perfect in botw. somehow they went from human-faced titbird into World's Sexiest Parrot Man and managed not to fuck it up. This is why you need to hire furries if you're making an anthropomorphic nonhuman race. i guarantee if there had just been one single furry working on wind waker we would have gotten this 15 years sooner

are the botw rito perfect? no. if i were designing them i would have gotten rid of the bird titties and made the female rito color-accurate to real birds but all in all this is an INSANE improvement considering where we started. please god just hire furries

[theninth09]

More Headcanons about Thiam and video games (part 1 here)

im slapping another greek mythology inspired game onto liams game list and claiming that he'd like hades

when theo plays stray, liam watches the entire time. even though he knows the whole game, liam plays it himself after theo finishes it because he loved it so much. and theo watches liam play the entire time too, because he also loved it <3 (im spreading the thiam kitty agenda)

liam almost cried when the wolf fenrir died at the beginning of gow: ragnarök, hated having to fight the wolf garm and then actually cried when fenrir got resurrected

he sees himself in both kratos (having been deceived into killing someone he loves, having to control his rage, evolving from being someone aggressive into being a gentle person/a god of hope and accepting that people will follow him as a leader) and atreus (constantly trying to prove himself, being impulsive and reckless.) the way their father-son relationship and their characters in general develop is very cathartic for him to watch

liam had a pokémon go phase and made theo drive him around constantly during it. he gets into pokémon in general afterwards

Liam's favorite Pokémon

Lucario (fighting, canine-like pokémon. prideful & loyal with a natural sense of justice that only trusts trainers with a righteous heart. can read the aura of their opponent)

Mewtwo (artificial/modified clone to make it the most powerful. it got experimented on, making it extremely vicious and lack compassion. in the 1st movie its later to be shown caring, protective & altruistic. liam makes theo watch the movie/explains its lore to him)

Type: Null/Silvally (chimeric pokémon that was made to be a weapon. need i say more? it turns into silvally when it finds a trusted partner & forms a powerful bond with them)

Umbreon (he mainly likes it bc he thinks it looks cute. its his favorite eevee evolution since its the result of being exposed to moonlight)

Mienshao (fighting pokémon are his favorite & he likes its design)

Resident Evil 7 & 8 (thank you to @greysonalexander for pointing out these parallels to me!!)

RE7 is difficult to play for theo. its main antagonist has some similarities to him (a child turned weapon that longs to have a family/pack, gets called a monster & punished for the aggressive way they go about acquiring it) and the setting (stuck in a house with a family that doesnt act like a family at all) reminds him of how he grew up: stuck in operating theaters with the dread doctors as his "caretakers" and the fake-families he got set up with

he has to take a lot of breaks and sometimes liam takes over for him and plays through the especially emotionally challenging parts for him until theo is ready to continue

RE8 is difficult for both of them. there are a lot of werewolf-like monsters (that were previously human) you have to fight, and the beneviento house + the DLC feature a lot of bullying, which liam struggles with. heisenberg's & moreau's area and miranda's lab are extremely triggering for theo due to heavy themes of experimentation and heisenberg's soldiers having a similar look to the dread doctors

usually they each play through a game on their own, but for RE8 they only play it once together and really take their time. they each take care of the especially triggering parts for the other. they dont skip playing it because it's also quite cathartic for them: they're in a safe environment, have control over what's happening and can pause at any time. they both have problems with being vulnerable and opening up about their trauma, so it's a good tool for them to confront these past experiences and also understand each other even better

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

they both got really excited over botw. liam absolutely hates the horses in the game, but theo has a soft spot for epona and is disappointed that she isnt in it. liam finds out that you can get her through an amiibo and buys it for theo

liam loves that you can change link's clothes and spends a lot of time farming rupees so that he can buy multiple copies of the outfits and dye them different colors

theo always drops the rocks onto the koroks' heads and once tears of the kingdom (the sequel) comes out, he makes it his mission to attach a rocket onto them and send them off into the distance every single time

More Games the Puppy Pack would Play

Pico Park (more yelling. so much yelling. uncoordinated, claws get unsheathed, threats are being made)

Stick Fight: The Game (alec loves the flamethrowers. thiam keep tag teaming everybody and keep winning without even having to use weapons)

Splatoon (alec thought the squid forms looked cool and begged the other members to play it with him. theo is the only one who ever covers the base and keeps reminding everyone that they wouldnt have won if it wasnt for him doing that. corey and liam love playing stealthily, either as snipers or just trying to otherwise surprise their opponents)

not a video game, but: mason got really into DnD when he was younger and tried to rope liam into it, who was only mildly interested. they ended up not being able to play anyway since it was only the two of them. so when the puppy pack forms, mason brings it up again as they now have a big enough group

mason is the DM. thiam basically end up playing themselves as their characters reluctantly fall in love bc they cant stop flirting with each other. alec casts fireball at literally everything. nolan plays a rogue, and all of them judge him for that at first, but he ends up getting really into character and surprising all of them. corey flirts with mason to get information out of him. gwen plays a lesbian barbarian (yes, her favorite bg3 character is karlach.) hayden is basically the only one with braincells

additionally: liam trying to flirt with theo (theo finds it endearing)

[bigboobshaunt]

👑🐳👊🧚👍

This took me really long to respond because I am The Indecisive

👑 Favorite version of Zelda?

Honestly really hard to pick just one. I like BotW/TotK Zelda a lot because she has such a fantastic arc and you really feel for her and her story plus I find her very relatable...

Spirit Tracks Zelda is easily among my favorites too, her being a ghost and your companion makes her SO unique and she's really funny and cute and has one of the best relationships with her Link, and she also gets to shine in combat, too!

Skyward Sword Zelda also set the standard for her backstory and I think she's so likable but I do wish we saw more of her in general...

Ocarina of Time Zelda had such a cool story what with messing with forces she didn't necessarily understand while trying to plot against Ganondorf even though she was just a kid, not to MENTION the Sheik reveal which is just iconic tbh.

Both for Hyrule Warriors and Wind Waker I don't have much to say in general about them but I still really like their take charge, more active attitudes! I do hate how they lighten Tetra's skin color and remove her from being active in the plot when the reveal comes though... you hate to see it!

Twilight Princess Zelda... what can I say, she is an elegant sapphic icon and she will always be famous. I was a bit ticked off when they changed out her for ALBW Zelda in Smash because I think she is much more memorable.

I would be remiss not to mention Wand of Gamelon Zelda at least a lil' bit too... Idk she's cute and cheesy and I'm not sorry for including her. Maybe if Nintendo made her actually playable in their games I wouldn't have to do it but 💅

🐳 If you were a Zelda character, what race would you be?

Probably a Hylian boringly enough but I would kill to be one of those occasional enemies that does their own thing for some reason, like... I could be a wolfperson who can't eat their yogurt until you trade me a spoon for my boomerang or whatever.

👊 Favorite Zelda Villain/Boss?

Villain-wise, I love Hilda... she was clearly in the wrong but my god I can completely understand the desperation... Twinrova also I ALWAYS adore seeing whenever they pop up - I love me some comically evil grannies. Ghirahim and Yuga heard "slay" and said "this has multiple meanings and I'll do all of them," and honestly Ganon(dorf) is super cool always but I particularly enjoy his portrayals in ALttP, OoT, WW and TP. Shoutout to Veran and Onox too for variety's sake.

Too many cool bosses to mention but Koloktos is still my fave.

🧚 Favorite Zelda companion?

Uh-Oh... Here's the thing about me - I'm an Annoying Companion Enjoyer (tm) and I don't think I dislike any of them, even the infamous ones. Navi is my girl she was just trying to help and everyone attacks her and attacks her and attacks her... ungrateful behavior.

Tatl is so iconic and funny, I will always be mad they kinda toned down her mean girl-ness in the 3DS remake, even though I get that some of it was for accessibility reasons since a lot of her og comments just weren't helpful at all lmao... tho I think they could have struck a better balance.

Ciela is SO underrated, honestly. She had a good arc and I love her bickering with Linebeck so much.

Midna has the best story out of all of them and everything about her is excellence from her design to her attitude to her relationship with Link and Zelda... ugh she is so good, I miss her.

I've already said my piece about Zelda in Spirit Tracks BUT WHO CARES, HER AGAIN!!!

Fi is the only one who actually made me sob in real life from her last scene and I really enjoy her design and her dances and I genuinely think people forget how sassy she could be sometimes, not to mention being the actual Master Sword - I was ecstatic when they hinted at her existence again in BotW and TotK :)

👍 Favorite Zelda Headcanons?

The Triforce being in flux and changing aspects between its wielders in some games, like Zelda in BotW potentially holding Courage since her key scene was going up alone against Calamity Ganon and Link's usage of the runes and primary association with Blue could tie to him bearing Wisdom in them. If not just headcanon, I think it's a prime idea for fan content.

This one also maybe doesn't count as a headcanon per se but... the Zelda Timelines... I greatly enjoy speculating around them but I do believe taking it too seriously is generally just bunk. I don't think even the developers take them as a wholly 100% accurate and important deal and I think that's actually completely fine. I am an ALttP->Link's Awakening->Oracle Games truther btw.

[golvio]

Yeah, like…the thing that disappointed me the most, which also seems to have been the thing that killed the YouTube Zelda Theory Speculation community that popped up around BotW overnight, was that there was no follow-up to the most compelling ideas introduced in BotW. The only thing that was held over was Zelda and Link’s relationship and some mentions of the Champions, but only Mipha’s story felt like it got any sort of true closure while the other Champions only got brief references. But even the relationship between Zelda and Link feels like it was interrupted to fit Zelda’s isekai plot and the demand to replicate Rauru and Sonia’s relationship over what was established in BotW, particularly the erasure of Zelda’s light powers into a copy of Sonia’s time powers with zero buildup/foreshadowing, because god forbid we make The Girl Rauru’s direct successor instead of a maternal, nurturing, supportive figure who cheers The Boy on from the sidelines! 🙄

Also, do not get me started on how Zelda felt like she’d been reduced to a supporting character in her own story, to the point where Ganondorf only spoke directly to Rauru (and Sonia five seconds before she got fridged to motivate Rauru with Man Angst) instead of her, despite how Zelda being set up as his ultimate enemy from early childhood defined her whole life in BotW, and TotK’s final fight made a big fuss visually about Zelda being Ganon’s opposite without any actual narrative payoff.

The thing that disappointed me the most was the jettisoning of everything that had to do with Calamity Ganon except for a cursory shoutout during the Demon Dragon fight. It introduced a really intriguing reinvention of Ganon’s tendency to create body-doubles of himself, now with them being literal extensions of himself, with Ganon becoming a sort of eldritch entity, but in TotK that gets jettisoned in favor of making him Big Scary Punch Guy. Even his hijacking the Guardians got obscured by the unwillingness of the story to give him traits beyond Big And Scary, to the point where a lot of players assumed his motive was “Me Big Strong He-Man, Hate Scrawny Nerd Technology! *grunt*” And I loved certain aspects of Ganon’s “Demon King” design and thought the Gloom was interesting, as a relation to the way Clammy Gan sapped peoples’ life force in AoC to sustain himself, but the connection itself wasn’t that strong or elaborated upon beyond being a gameplay mechanic whose purpose was to make the Depths more challenging. Link’s arm still containing traces of Gloom didn’t matter beyond the Light Shrine cutscenes, even though we’ve seen Ganon possess other beings in BotW/TotK.

But, basically, TotK made me feel like a moron for even trying to speculate how it would be connected to BotW, because none of the ideas I found really interesting about BotW’s backstory actually made it into this game. I like how the NPCs were fleshed out, but that makes how basic and retcon-heavy the main story felt even more obvious.

I probably still wouldn’t have been a big fan of the game, but I don’t think I would have been NEARLY as upset about TotK if BotW didn’t seem like it was so obviously setting up plot points for a sequel. Like, you’re very clearly MEANT to wonder what malice is, and how Ganon became the Calamity instead of just the Demon King. Fi is awake again, where are they going either that? What’s the deal with the Triforce-shaped symbol on Zelda’s hand? There were a LOT of other things like that, and many of them had to do with overarching lore for the series.

I get it if they want to reboot the series, but “BotW 2” was the single worst game you could have done that with. It could have been an amazing conclusion to the original continuity.

EXACTLY, you, you get it

botw felt like the introduction to a vast world with secrets and hints to things that were planned to become a bigger thing- a big giant game as a big giant set up, and then ... like totk likes to do alot, it lacks a pay off, and that is something it even does within itself, cosntantly, set up and no pay off, or set up and the most boring and uninspired pay off you can really not even call that, from the bigger things like the whole dragon thing being hammered into your head as irreversible and then it IS reversible.. out of nowhere without you having to do fuck all, the whole thing with the ancient hero beign a big mystery with lots of interesting ideas attached and then its some weird ass dog creature that doesnt resemble any other race with, of course, sonau armor, bc there nothing that isnt sonau in that game, even finding the old treasure maps you can find that then lead to amiibo stuff from botw id call that

botw wasnt that great with rewards either but exploring the world and wondering about those, surely intentionally, placed mysterious and intriguing designs and places did alot for making it so interesting to think about, totk fumbles it all and even the new stuff doesnt even come close to that environmental storytelling botw was so great at, sonau ruins? ha they look entirely different than in botw actually, bc those were built by hylians you see, the actual sonau stuff is in prime condition considering the time thats passed and its all the same blank blocky blocks that serve no purpose but to be a place for you to find a thing or exchange some currency- the most you can think about it is ... that the sonau hollowed out the entire underground of hyrule, every inch of the map, ... which is WEIRD and doesnt exactly make them look that good but ... thats all there is

at least with the shiekah it made somewaht more sense and it felt much less .. invasive? and you didnt have anyone from that time to talk to, other than dead monks whos only purpose is to give you their last piece of their own spirit, but in totk ... raurus ghost and mineru too are both just there to talk to but DONT tell you shit but vague hints that were already clear, the sky islands used to be on the ground? oh you dont say, you see them there in the stupid memories! and dont get to know how they got up there and theres nothing that can clue you in to that, its just sonau magic yet again i guess

dont even get me started on the whole malice/miasma thing, it made so much SENSE that there was a source of it, someone that has keep kept in a horrible place just between life and death for thousands of years trying to break free by their hate and anger manifesting to such a degree its literally spilling out and building creppy eyeballs, mouths and ribcage like structures like they are trying to rebuild themsleves outside of their awful prison no one knows about is so damn compelling, but no, actually, the guy trapped there was the msot evilest evar, was sealed bc him evil and no other motive, and the previously mentioned stuff is pretty much utterly unceonnected, and his magic beign miasma with red instead of pink and no creepy body parts was the true version of it, that pink one was its own thing heehooo SHUT UP argh

it doesnt help that really, i dont feel like the sonau were set up either, they were a tiny part in botw, really only serving to make the world seem more ancient and more full of history, having ruins from a past civilization there you know nothing about and cant find out more is so good, its compelling and sad and makes the world feel more real, just shoving them into everything, being the center of attention all of thes udden and not even the architecure fitting feels so ... forced, i really truly believe the og sonau werent meant to be more than that, but in their fear of the game being too similarly looking like botw they took the sonau to replace the shiekah with them- imo the shiekah were the ones set up to be deeper explored in botw, with their whole misstreatment by the royal family in the past, monk miz kyoshia reacting the same way a yiga commander would was deliberate and brings up even more interesting ideas, the comments about where the mysterious energy the ancient shiekah used to power everything being concentrated in certain regions?? thats a big ass set up, the fact that the center of what is signaling everything to reactivate being below hyrule castle? the fact the whole arena thing was BUILT INTO THE CASTLE or it on top of it is so??? cool??? and sso damn intriguing, we are scratching the surface of their history- but then no, actually, the sonau are the cool new shit those other ones just uh ... disappear, also the sonau did everythign the shiekah did but even better wayy before them haha

its like they didnt want to tackle the more complicated stuff with the shiekah, their relationship to the royal family and how the yiga ... have a point and a good reason- so they replaced them with entirely new purely goodest good guys that did the same stuff before them with none of the history attached :))

this is why im so insistent on it not really being a sequel, thers no follow up on anything that was set up, NOTHING, and no, a couple having a kid now or whatever isnt a follow up on an interesting set up, how hard is it to understand that-

.... listen to me rambling, you probably know all that already nhjdfkbnkd

(i know i always bring up the shiekah but ... they were so central in botw, while also not taking up every single corner- unlike some other ones >_____>, with so much interesting stuff to connect and think about, i cared about them so much i felt kicked down the stairs by their treatment in totk)

[0-racle-0-f-hylia]

Who did the Hero of Time end up with?

In every Zelda game I could always find some reason, convenient or otherwise, for Zelink to be present- every game except one.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 1998. Unlike games previous to it, it had several female love interests for Link. Saria, Ruto, Nabooru, Malon, and of course Zelda herself.

I never really considered the first three mentioned to be a good match for Link though.

Saria is a perpetual 10 year old

Ruto forced a 10 year old Link into an engagement with her (he didn’t even know what that was) and had him carry her around in her shoulders like he was her servant. (Not to mention if they did have any kids they’d be Zora, not Hylian)

Nabooru is at LEAST 7 years older than Link. I mean, she was an adult when they met and he was a little kid. (Also it is hinted at in game that she is Malon’s MOTHER)(think about that)

And then there was Malon. Initially, I didn’t think much of Malon to begin with. I mean, to me she was just the npc that gave you a horse, but whatever. I didn’t like her as a love interest for Link because I didn’t think she was good enough for him. I really HATE shallow-female-love-interest-characters that do nothing to support plot/Link and are only there to look pretty.

And a never gave Malon a second thought because it seemed to me that during the game, Link had a stronger connection to Zelda than he did Malon.

Zelda gave him the Ocarina of Time, an essential tool for his quest

Guided him after his seven year sleep as Sheik and taught him the teleportation songs

Helped him in the final battle against Ganon

Had a heartfelt goodbye as she sent him back to relive his childhood

To me, there are two legitimate reasons why people ship Malink. One being that, in the manga, Malon had a crush on Link and dreamed he was the “Prince” she was waiting for. Two, in Twilight Princess, Link, a descendant of the Hero of Time, lives in a ranch. So people naturally assume that since Malon herself is also a rancher, the Hero of aTime married Malon and hence all his descendants are ranchers.

Now, since the Manga isn’t canon, the first reason is void, but the second? It does seem pretty solid doesn’t it?

And for the longest time, I couldn’t find any reason to deny that, even if it made me want to pull my hair out because I couldn’t find anything to prove it was wrong.

Every Zelda theorist I knew, claimed that Malink was canon and I COULDN’T DISPUTE IT.

But after looking through both OOT, TP, and every trusted Zelda resource that I know-

I’ve come to the conclusion- that it is far more likely the Hero of time married Zelda not Malon.

I do find it believable that Malon or Talon founded Ordon village as it is the closest thing TP has to LonLon ranch, sharing many similarities in culture. And it is logical to think that Malon’s descendants would live in Ordon village.

So, in conclusion, the Hero of Twilight, descendant of the Hero of Time, is related to Malon because he lives in the ranch-centered village of Ordon!

Yes, it’s the perfect theory! No flaws in it whatsoever.

. . . except for one thing- TP Link- is not an Ordonian.

It’s a tiny detail most people seem to miss. In Twilight Princess, alongside all the other races of Hyrule, there are two kinds of humanoids:

Hyruleans: the non-magic people of Hyrule with round ears.

Hylians: with long ears, gifted with the ability to “hear the gods” and possess magical ability, as said in the Hyrule Historia.

Link is from the latter category, as he has long, pointed ears. And while it is possible one of his parents or grandparents was Ordonian, there is no way to prove this as he looks the same as any other Hylian. Meaning, it is likely that Link had no relation to the Ordonians by blood.

There are no other Hylians in Ordon besides Link, which leads me to conclude that Link’s parents were from castle town, the only other place in TP where Hylians reside.

In the beginning of the game, Rusl does say that Link has never been to Hyrule. But that merely implies that Link has ever been outside the village in his memory or since Rusl has known him.

Meaning his parents may have lived there when he was a baby. Or he was found/given to the Ordonians after his parents death or disappearance. Similar to how the Hero of Time was raised as Kokiri because his Hylian mother brought him to Kokiri forest and died soon after.

Epona is another factor that needs to be accounted for. It could be argued that as TP Link has a horse named Epona, this ties him to Malon, as the original Epona came from LonLon ranch. But it is a null point as the Hero of Time owned Epona even if he didn’t marry Malon and therefore his descendants, wether or not they are related to Malon, could have a horse that is related to, or named after Epona.

Now I’ve stated a couple reasons why I think Link didn’t marry Malon, but I haven’t given any reasons why the Hero of Time would marry Zelda. But I’m getting to that :)

One of the reasons why I believe the Hero of Time married Zelda is due to his appearance on TP, specifically, the Hero’s Shade.

Besides his ghostly, skeletal figure, the most intriguing thing about him is his armor. Comparing his elaborate armor to the much simpler armor of the guards or soldiers (not knights, as some people think) in Ocarina of Time, makes me believe he is much higher ranked , probably an esteemed Knight or something similar.

Which makes sense, considering he was the one who warned the king of Ganondorf’s treachery and possesses amazing swordsmanship skills. It is also hinted at in Hyrule Historia, that Link’s father was a knight as well, making Knighthood, Link’s inheritance.

Another detail I find interesting is, though faded, you can tell that the Hero’s Shade’s armor was once gold with red detailing. The armor’s color scheme, red and gold, is typically used by kings of Hyrule.

As seen in Wind Waker and the Minish cap. King Gustaf, King Daltus, and King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule all wear red and gold.

Another peculiar detail about the Hero’s Shade’s armor is the shape of the breastplate resembling that of an owl’s head. Owls are associated with wisdom. In OOT, Zelda holds the triforce of WISDOM.

In TP, you can buy an item called magic armor in castletown. It’s design is reminiscent of Zelda’s appearance in the game. Including the design of the crown pauldrons and tassel. This makes me assume it once belonged to a prince of Hyrule. This is further backed up by its red and gold color scheme, colors associated with the king of Hyrule.

The most obvious connection between Hylian royalty and the Hero of time is concerning the magic armor. Specifically, the long, red cap included in the outfit. Compared to the rest of the armor Link gets in the game, the magic armor just doesn’t seem to fit.

The hero’s clothes have a green cap because it’s what the previous hero wore, Kokiri styled.

The Zora armor has a blue cap because it is made to resemble the Zora’s long head fin.

But the magic armor? Something made for royalty? In all the other games, no other Hylian royalty is depicted with a long cap, so where could this style have come from?

Well, if the Hero of Time married into the royal family, perhaps his unique style would have carried over into the traditional Hylian royalty get-up, as he become a prince. Creating an outfit that includes the royal colors, crown, tassel and the Hero of Time’s long cap.

On a side note, may I remind everyone that in Majorca’s Mask, when the Skull Kid was attempting to bring down the moon the first time, Link flashed back to his last moment with Zelda?

Sure he could have just been remembering the song of time and yes, the fact that he has Epona means he did go back to LonLon ranch to see Malon.

But one, he probably just went to LonLon to get his horse to travel with

And two, he didn’t flash back to his last moment with Malon, did he?

And three, the fact that he rembered how Zelda reminisced about their time together and he didn’t just recall the song of time just go’s to show how strongly he felt about their relationship.

[spiritmaiden23]

why do you even like skyward sword zelda

Oooooo, anon you finna make my followers hate me even more since I don’t shut the fuck up about one beautiful sky Zelda. In short:

In long? Well, I’ll place it under the read more. Juuuuust in case I do actually get super rambly ramble with this girl because I can like talk hours. Excuse the mistakes, I’ll get to editing them once I learn how to read again. I tend to go off when I ramble and not check anything until later on. Bear with me, please!

I’m not even sure where to start?! I suck at getting my thoughts out into cohesive enough reading pieces because ADHD is just hell brain going 755034 miles per minute and expecting everyone to keep up sometimes. I feel like everything I’ve said has been said before... but, I’m always totally ready to ramble once more because it’s something I can never be tired of and is very on-brand of me to yell about either sky or ALTTP Zelda. I’m just super passionate about these girls! 

What drew me to Skyward Sword Zelda in the first place is the aesthetic of her game as well as her design as a whole. I remember seeing the trailer for SS drop and how hyped I was. The cel-shading was back with a vengeance with a nice combo of the art style we see in TP too rather than the more toon style with WW and I feel like it worked beautifully, the graphics for the game never fail to amaze me and I love the watercolor look they went with in both the official art and game! I knew I would love this Zelda and guess what, I was right in that because spoiler alert: I LOVED this Zelda the minute we were introduced to her. Not her first physical appearance because all we saw was her beautiful dress design... well, ok this did help in making me love this girl. BUT her first introduction as to who she is as a character in the letter sent to Link. She’s cheeky in the letter and it gives us this sense that the two of them really are on a more familiar level with each other, compared to every other relationship with Zelda and Link where they are strangers bound by fate to save Hyrule. It’s very simple, a few sentences but all that simplicity painted a good enough sense as to what we were in for with Zelda and her friendship with Link. 

HOOOOOOO BOY HOOOO BOY!!! And then we see her, and we see Link smiling at her like it’s the first time seeing her ever despite seeing her yesterday. And gosh, she’s just a charming character overall!! She’s funny, someone who likes to tease others and carries a strong sense of justice! She can be pushy (literally and figuratively speaking) but she does mean well by the end of the day and is aggressive in showing support for you! She’s an optimist mostly for friends because she thinks that things will turn out alright for her friends and she wishes that they can see the same too so often she will encourage them. She’s not a princess. She’s very ordinary here, and that ordinariness illustrates both Sky and Tetra best because of how lighthearted and open they are. Granted they’re not super lax and are still very responsible like all Zeldas but they’re pretty informal and I love that about them! 

Sky Zel is someone who’s pretty straightforward, she has no issue with letting both her body and facial expression do the talking for her as such she doesn’t really hide much. She’s an open book of sorts all while being someone who expresses her mind and isn’t roundabout in saying things, she has no issue with calling you out as shown with how she called out Groose and his bullying on Link. On top of that, she does call out Link a few times too depending on the choices you give in-game! Skyward Sword did an excellent job in making Sky Zel so likable and adding nuance to her relationship with Link through the little things in the first few minutes of the game and it’s like, damn you kinda wanna see her again all safe and happy! 

It reminds me of how Wind Waker starts off with Aryll and Link having a wholesome brother-sister bond and it motivates you to rescue her because you’re sure that Link wants to see Aryll home safe and happy again with Grandma.

It’s a shame how we don’t see her journey throughout the game and see how she becomes the more melancholic, wise girl we see during her scene where she falls asleep for over 1000+ years or the full extent of her relationship with Impa either because I’m sure those two had a pretty good bond going too for Zelda to react like that during the end where Impa fucking dies hweoh. That’s another thing too, there’s a whole other layer to Sky aside from Genki. Yes, she’s cheery and seems like your typical anime heroine but keep in mind that she was Hylia, a goddess who fought for her people to protect them, the lands, and the Triforce. She was in a war, she had to see so many of her people die that she loved and vowed to protect because of one demon’s greed to have the power of the gods. Hylians were weak back then, Demise says this straight up. So death was very likely in those days. 

She had to endure a lot during that time, once Zelda’s memories of her past life came back she grew up from that girl we see at the beginning of the game. It’s also worth noting, that Zelda and Hylia have different mindsets. She may have her memories back but that doesn’t really mean she’s back to being Hylia fully before she became mortal. I’ve talked about it before but Zelda, with her ordinary background, grew up surrounded by love. In other words, she has a more compassionate heart than she did as a goddess. Gods and deathless beings overall have a long lifespan, they tend to forget about morals and how humans worked. While Hylia did love her people and the lands her love is different from mortals as such it can be very painful. I mean *gestures to Sky Link* there you go. It’s why she’s so remorseful of her actions... but the ending scene where she tells Link she wants to live on The Surface tells me that there are still shades of that playful gremlin we saw in the first half of Skyward Sword. She’s someone who’s hopeful for tomorrow but likes to live in the now and make a brighter tomorrow. She won’t hide away from the past, willing to admit to her mistakes and refusing to make excuses, but she won’t let it define her either and will instead grow from it. She wants to protect the people she loves and the world she loves much like she did in her past life but with more empathy with that love!

I think that’s all for her as a character aside from one more thing to add: 

It’s cool to me how she’s not a princess, but a literal Goddess. She’s legit Hylia. So she’s unique in that aspect and she serves as an explanation as to why the royal family even has divine powers because her blood is passed down to them. I don’t buy fanon theory that all Zeldas are reincarnations of Hylia, I think Sky is the rare case of Zelda reincarnating. There’s no evidence to support either theory because Nintendo tends to be open-ended in their lore for the most part... although Demise makes it a point to say “those with the blood of the goddess” rather than the “spirit of the goddess” like he does with Link which is something that Ghirahim and Demise wanted from Zelda, aka the Spirit Maiden, to bring Demise’s form back from the seal Hylia placed on him. Her very soul has divinity to it. 

On top of that, in BOTW it’s explained that the sealing power has been passed down and that Zelda’s mother knew how to use it as did her grandmother and so on. So... with that in mind how on earth is Hylia around for both those ladies and the current Zelda we see in BOTW if every Zelda ever is the reincarnation of her? On top of that BOTW Zel says in her diary that she had a dream where a woman in white tried to call out to her so??? Huh? What? It creates a plot hole if you think every Zelda is Hylia reincarnating. And sort of takes away the fun headcanon of Zeldas interacting in the Spirit Realm. That said, I’d like to think her presence is eternal through the powers that become unlocked rather than Hylia herself. If that makes sense? It’s not literally Hylia reincarnating but a connection made with her. This might not be making much sense haha. But! Reincarnation is a thing I do think is possible in LOZ since BOTW does say this but I don’t think it’s not as straightforward as fandom thinks it is and I’d like to think it’s more nuanced. People tend to cite Avatar sometimes and ehhhhh. No.

But that’s just me on that one. 

ANYWAY THAT IS ALL THANKS FOR COMING TO THIS RAMBLE 

[bi-bobbysoxxers]

Heyy y'all! I was tagged by @meiyanaalexia Thanks for the tag, fam!

Rules: List ten of your fave female characters from your ten fave fandoms and then tag 10 other ppl!

This list is by no means comprehensive or a ranked list, as i think all my fave characters are equally bad betches, in their own right xD alright let's get to it!

-Tamari and Lady Tsunade (Naruto/Naruto Shippuden)

Tamari's one of the more cool, levelheaded female side characters in naruto and idk, she's very much Gaara and Kankuro's rock, and idk, i like that. I view her as a very strong female character, and i think she carries a lot of badass masculine energy. Plus she's a badass fighter as well. (((And she's hot but that's beside the point lol))) I like Lady Tsunade a lot, but i admit, i wasnt a fan of her at first. But now that I'm seeing her character unfold in Shippuden, I like her a lot. I like the concept that she's kiind of a grouchy, reluctant leader of the leaf village, cause that makes her seem like a very reliable leader, in a way. I think she's hella underrated as a strong character, tbh. Plus i like that she's a healing ninja, cause it seems so opposite to her outward personality. The more i watch naruto the more i'm really liking more of their female characters, tbh.

Quotes!

Tamari: "Sharpen your karma at sunset."

Tsunade: "People become stronger because they have things they cannot forget. That's what you call growth."

-Lucy and Kiyoko (Bungou Stray Dogs)

oh wow, uh, not gonna lie, i really like this anime more for most of the male characters, but Lucy and Kiyoko have alswas been in my faves list. I didnt really understand Lucy's character in season one but as the plot thickens, so does her issues with wanting to morally become a better person, but still being fairly new to learning to become selfless. I think a lot of people can relate to her because she can be fairly emotionally erratic, and she struggles with the whole "forgiveness thing." But later on you see that all she really wanted was a true family and friends that value her. And i think that's something we all want, deep down. Also, her powers are highly unnderrated and badass and i love how she is slowly becoming a protector for ppl like Atsushi, which really shows her growth as a character.

I also put Kiyoko on this list because i think she is equally as good of a female character as Lucy is, but for dif reasons. I loveeee the whole concept of "initially bad" characters soon wanting to become good. There's a simplicity in her character that i think models Atsushi's in a way, i mean they're both damaged, but both yearn to do good and make a comeback with the chances they've been given in life. If Lucy was a Tarot Card she would be the Fool. I also love how steadfast she is in her newfound family and how much she believes in everyone in the ADA now. It's very wholesome and pure :3 also i love her and Atsushi's relationship, it kinda reminds me of me and my BFF's ride or die relationship, lol.

Lucy: "Make sure you survive...Then come back for me. I'll be waiting."

Kiyoko: "I saw a bright world. I cannot go back to a time when I didn't know such a thing existed."

-Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter)

Ugh, there's so many things about this character that I have always loved and adored. Her character design, her quiet whimsical weirdness. Her determined loyalty to the people that accept her. Her lovely simple wisdom, at times. Like Harry said, Luna is just "...coooll." She kinda reminds me of me when I was a teenager but way cooler lol.

Luna: "My mum always said things we lose have a way of coming back to us, in the end."

-Lara Croft (Tomb Raider movies and videogames)

Laura is....a simple character by design. If anything, the plotlines and video game design of the Tomb Raider franchise are way more intricate. And yeah...there's her misogynistic character design (Note: the impossibly snatched waist and bOoBiEs in earlier games.)

BUT. I still stan her for a multitude of reasons. Growing up, there were may more princess characters than female warrior characters and ya know, I'm really glad I was exposed to Lara Croft movies and the Tomb Raider: Legend video games as a kid. I think Laura taught me that you can definitely embrace your feminine side and still be a badass and follow your dreams. Even now, after me finally figuring out i'm not cis, i know, that she's still an icon for most kids out there. And for me too. She was a symbol of bravery, intelligence, as well as still being a character of emotional depth, grieving the loss of her parents while vowing to continue to do what she loved, which is exploring. Cultural and moral problems with her character aside, i still find both her and her stories very inspirational, both as a bigender queer person, and as a designer.

Laura Quotes: "The line between our myths and truth is fragile and blurry."

"The extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are."

-Scorpia (She-Ra)

Oh wow, i could go on for days about how much i love thus character. If you're queer or fun in any capacity you've probably watched the final season fo She-Ra by now and spoilers aside, i just love the journey this character went on from start to finish. Scorpia is so genuine and nice, and sometimes that puts her in situations where she has to make hard decisions. And idk, those decisions just made that character so much better for me. On a lighter note, Scorpia is great queer rep, especially for butch lesbians, lesbians, trans ppl, androg ppl, and gender nonconforming ppl. She's always said things that have resonated with me as a queer person and aside from that, she's a very excitable and fun character. She just excudes so much curiosity and joy that you really can't help but like her, lol.

Scorpia: "I am brave, strong, loyal, and i give great hugs!"

-Sypha (Castlevania)

Altho I personally don't view Sypha as a cis woman, (I see her as nonbinary or agender), I think the way characters treat her in the show is indicative that in that period, they view her as a woman. So i figured I could put her on this list as well lol. Anyways, uhhh wow, Sypha is great, there's so much I love about her that it's hard to put into words. I love that she regards herself as a "scholar" of magic, but still views herself as a heretic, I just find it pretty funny and very sexy of her lol. Aside from that, I think Sypha is a great character who always seeks out logic where there usually ends up being none. I love her cheeky remarks to both Alucard and Trevor, and I love her can-do attitude. At the end of the day, she's one of those characters you love just for her great energy she carries for herself within the show. There's really no rhyme or reason to her, she just, is. She subverts many female mage character tropes as well, being a natural badass. Also her god jokes are so damn funny.

Sypha: "See?? God hates me!?

-Aunt Sarah (Derry Girls)

Okay first of all, if you havent seen Derry girls, pleaseeee watch it, holy shit it's the funniest show i've seen in a longass time. Second of all, my friend and I are still going thru the show, but Ajnt Sarah has started to become one of my favorite characters. She's one of those very aloof characters that you kinda ignore at first but then her character just has these amazing one liners and she really grows on you. Also she is very caring about her family and she's cute as hell???? I'm sorry but like her aesthetic is just on fuckin point, like??? Go off babe?? Anyways yeah she's cute.

No quotes for her since that might ruin some of the better punchlines if you end up watching the show lol.

-Marga (Cable Girls)

Yeah, if you want a really good 1920's drama that focuses on women, go give Cable Girls a try! It is very poetic in its direction lol. Anyways, Marga is one of the "new girls" at the beginning of the show and she is just, so earnest, and genuine, and pure. And I love her. She's very nice to the other girls working and she's got some great one liners. She's that timid, cute character that slowy comes out of her shell throughout the show lol.

-Kiki and Sheeta (Studio Ghibli)

I loveee Studio Ghibli films, and one of my two fave films of Miyazaki are Kiki's Delivery Service and my ultimate fave, Castle in the Sky. I adore Kiki as a character because she is your quintessential cute witch, and her journey with finding and grasping her full powers are very relevant to me, and my journey with upholding my creativity as a designer. As well as being a great movie with a great lessom for all artists, Kiki is a very passionate and genuine character, who's resilency has inspired me in hard times. I love her relationship that she has with other ppl as nd creatures, especially with her cat Gigi. She's cute, i love her lots.

Sheeta, I love for different reasons. Sheeta is one of those rare instances where a quiet protagonist, really works. I love her calm and humble, yet powerful energy surrounding her. I love her background, and how there has always beem magic inside of her, even if she's not a practicing witch. She is so very humble and a very introspective character. There's not a lot of female protagonists quite like her. Plus she's adorable as well, lol.

-Aunt Hilda, Zelda, Prudence, and Lilith (CHAOS)

I'm not gonna get into super specifics since i love all these characters equally, but I will say that all these characters absolutely MADE this series for me. I personally found Sabrina's character very annoying and slightly egotistical (i mean she's allowed to be i suppose,lol) but these characters were just so much fun!

I love Aunt Hilda for her soft personality and great revenge comebacks. I love Prudence for her aesthetic, character design, and amazing characrer development throughout the series. I love Lilith, for being both a BAMF and. MILF, lolz. And finally, i absolutely adore Zelda's character, for being so poised, calculating, blunt, and yet so very badass and loveable xD I love everything about her character, tbh.

There's so many good quotes from each character, so just watch the show, lol.

Andddd i think that's it! Sorry this was super long, I wanted to state my reasoms for why these characters were on the list, lol. Hope you liked some of my character analysis, feel free to screech with me about shows anytime lol. I'd love more good show recs!

You def don't have to go as hard as I did on this but I tag:

@heathen-beast @iquotetheravennevermore @sweet-communist @gardiewithyou @sawayakakuns @shortlady72 @thatonegirluniverse @thatlowkeyhipster @letting-and-living @beauxxxtifullies @catastrafey

Anyone else can participate if they feel like it! Have fun lol. Let's love our great women characters lol.

[silenthillmutual]

Hey! For the ask meme, 5, 9, 12, 16, 21 :) Is that too many???? I think that's too many but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(actually i dont think its too many but ily you anyway!!)

5. what makes you feel validated?all my family members (except my mom) not even asking when i change names, just saying “hi [insert new name]!” like i do wish they cared a lil bit more than they do about what’s going on in my life but that part at least!! feels good

9. what does your name mean?tbh, weeb ass got it from noriaki kakyoin initially just as like, an rp nickname? bc i used to rp kakyoin a lot. but i dont want to go by noriaki since i’m white and i know ‘nori’ by itself pops up as a name or nickname in other cultures, although outside of japanese & arabic i can’t find it right now.

tbh i really like that it just sounds like ppl are calling me seaweed, although i’ve also seen that depending on the kanji used it could also mean doctrine/belief. i wish i could find the use of it in other cultures but scrolling through baby name websites is both nauseating and unhelpful, although one person said that in lithuanian it means “wants”

i was going to go by kieran as a middle name until my mom ruined that (like she did with luke) but atm i’d rather accept link - like from legend of zelda, since link was designed to be androgynous and a lot of trans ppl relate to him (although ppl trying to find a deeper meaning to the name on baby name sites is hilarious - ‘lincoln’, really? just admit u like video games) - or cas. cas is apparently dutch for “imperial” but i just took it from the character castiel on supernatural, and his name is probably derived from the archangel cassiel. ‘cassiel’ has a ton of different spellings depending on which religion’s texts you’re reading and which translation, but that name means “speed of god” or “god is my anger”, according to wikipedia. he’s sometimes depicted as the angel over saturn, or the angel of saturdays. he’s not depicted in the bible, but shows up in jewish/islamic/christian mystical and occult texts.

(i think its also worth noting i had a hard time finding these names on baby name sites and like, i do live to be difficult!)

12. favorite trans headcanon?

there are just so many good ones!!! danny fenton & timmy turner (made esp great by the fact that butch hartman just fucking hates it) being trans, that cow from the barnyard show on nickelodeon, reigen arataka, mob (as either trans masc or trans fem), link - and for that matter, any character when you see them shirtless and they don’t have nipples? they had top surgery and elected not to have the nipples put back on. 

i think sam porter bridges from death stranding could easily be read as a trans man or trans woman, and i like both. on the one hand, he needs an stand-to-pee device (literally, that is a part of your equipment); on the other, the game has heavy themes of motherhood and he is able to use technology to be connected through what i can only describe as an umbilical cord to the bridges baby. and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the gender commentary was entirely intentional on kojima’s part. for that matter, i also love trans solid snake and trans hal emmerich in metal gear solid. 

i also think danganronpa deserves a special shoutout, not just because you can pry canon trans girl chihiro fujisaki from my cold, dead hands and i’m sick of seeing cis bootlickers harassing ppl online over that transphobic as fuck storyline, but for real? nobody’s birth name actually spells out “diamond” with their sibling so mondo and daiya oowada are both trans (it’s also one of the only ways to make any part of case 2 make any goddamn sense), yasuhiro hagakure and celestia ludenberg having plotlines where where they have to reveal those aren’t their birth names? congrats they’re both trans now. 

i wish there were more headcanons about characters being trans women that didn’t rely on stereotyping. i know thats a big problem wrt seeing muscular or tall women and ppl focusing their trans headcanons on them, so i actually kinda head canon aoi asahina as trans and wanna eventually write that for fic w sakura ogami being cis bc people tend to look at sakura and go “well obviously shes trans bc shes muscular” (and then they do the opposite when it comes to trans men, but i’ve seen a lot of trans masc hcs). i also don’t see a lot of nonbinary hcs being given to amab people…. we need to fix that!! but alas i have already rambled a lot so thats a post for another day.

16. song that gives you Big Trans Feels?

if we’re not including music that is literally about being trans (like “transgender dysphoria blues” by against me!) then, “twin size mattress” by the front bottoms! the lines “it’s no big surprise you turned out this way / when they closed their eyes and prayed you would change / and they cut your hair and sent you away / you stopped by my house the night you escaped / with tears in my eyes, i begged you to stay / you said, ‘hey man, i love you, / but no fucking way’“ always sounded like he was talking about a trans girl friend of his, but i dont know enough about the band to say for certain what that song is about. it probably helps that i felt that song extra hard when i was first coming out and w how my relationship w my mom was like.

21. what makes you feel euphoric?

back when i first started going by luke (and then later by nori), my dog bingley would just blink at you and not react if you told him to go get [deadname]. he only would come find me if you told him to go get luke / nori.

he’s such a good boy. i hope somebody steals him from my mom.

thank u for asking!!!!

trans asks

[sage-nebula]

If you could rewrite Pokemon Sun/Moon with things like better character development and more depth to the Aether Foundation, how would you do it? :D

I mean, these games were such a ridiculous disappointment (especially with regards to the Aether Foundation) that we could be here all day, but …

Let’s get started.

General:

Let the Island Challenge actually be a fucking challenge. I love the concept behind it, and how similar it sounded to the Orange Islands in the anime, and I love the idea of having that instead of the standard Gym challenge, particularly since it allowed Alola to be run under a religious oligarchy rather than the typical League system (even if Kukui staged a political revolution, but more on that in a second). However, the actual Island Challenge itself was pathetic. There was hardly any exploration, the challenges themselves were like teeny-tiny minigames … and considering how interesting or challenging they could have been, it made the entire thing feel boring, particularly since the “totem battle” at the end is basically just a Gym Leader battle, albeit against “wild” pokémon. It’s a cool concept that Game Freak didn’t bother to flesh out at all.So instead, I’d want the Island Challenges to actually be detailed and fleshed out. Give us temples or caves to fully explore. Give us actually challenging puzzles to complete. Make it a blend between Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda. And don’t just have us do a totem battle for every single one, or at least—perhaps there’s a way to pacify the totem pokémon without battling. Maybe you can battle, but you can also find alternative solutions with your team, thereby strengthening the message of unity between person and pokémon and also giving players various different ways to complete their Island Challenge—a way to make it unique to each person. At the very least, don’t just have us go through pretty much empty locations (like Kiawe’s mountain—there was practically nothing there, just a boring hike to the top and then a ridiculously easy “game” before the totem battle) until we hit the end goal. Give us more lore, exploration, and challenge instead of wasting a perfectly good concept.

GIVE. US. BACK. THE. BIKE. Or at the very least do away with the fugly outfit and godawful Ride music. And for that matter, let us use our own pokémon for the Ride feature. I should not have to call upon a charizard when I have a charizard in my party. That’s asinine. 

Similarly, MAKE ALOLA BIGGER, and make it so that we can surf between the islands. Alola feels tiny. Having a tiny region isn’t necessarily new—some of the other regions aren’t that big, tbh—but it feels very compact because you just insta-travel between the islands, rather than being able to surf the distance as you could in, say, Hoenn. Additionally, some of the islands are mini, sometimes only having one city or town. I get that Alola is based on the State of Hawaii, but there were certain design choices that limited exploration that make it seem infinitely smaller, which is a disappointment. Make Alola bigger, or at the very least let it breathe.

Stop having everyone fawn over and worship the player character. It felt so unnatural and got to the point where I wanted to punt all of the other characters into the ocean. The player character—or player, I guess—does not need to be worshiped and have their shoes licked for being “OMGOSH SO AMAZING BEST TRAINER EVAR!!1!!!1!!” by the other characters. I hate that. Let the other characters be incredible, too. Let them recognize their own strengths and talents. Shine some light on them, rather than on this rando child who spontaneously moved to this region and yet is somehow the savior they were all waiting for. I just … hated that, so much. It felt like even more fawning and salivating over how awesome the player is than usual, and it really rubbed me the wrong way.

Put so much more focus on Kukui’s honest-to-Arceus political revolution. Kukui overturned the religious oligarchy that had governed Alola for ages and turned it into a League system because … well, because he felt like it, I guess, and yet this not only goes smoothly, but basically no attention is called for it whatsoever. Now, I know that Nintendo did this because they still wanted to give the player a chance to be the Champion and have an actual throne to sit on while the rest of the characters at the game salivate at their feet (sigh), but that doesn’t change the fact that this should have been met with a lot of resistance and upheaval and should have been a very solid B Plot (if they weren’t going to make it the actual plot), particularly since the end result was an eleven-year-old child who had just moved there and knew nothing of the history or populace suddenly being placed in charge. Like, you would think Hala would take serious issue with Kukui being an upstart and calling for a revolution, but no, he was fine with it because … just because. We don’t know, because Hala didn’t get to actually do much in the main story despite being hyped up as an important character. But as far as we know, everyone was perfectly fine with Kukui’s massive political revolution, and the ramifications this would have on Alola (both domestically and internationally in fields like general politics, finance, et cetera) were completely ignored.So let’s explore that at least a bit. Even if Kukui is still ultimately successful, perhaps show him meeting resistance from people like Hala, and gaining support from people like Nanu (since Nanu doesn’t want to be a Kahuna anymore lol), and people like Olivia being torn. Show the effect this has on the kids, where perhaps Hau ends up coming into conflict with Hala because Hala is against Kukui’s revolution, while Hau thinks it could be interesting and fun, and so they encounter some family strife there as Hau tries to find his own way in contrast to what his grandfather wants for him. Show this coming up again and again, and explore Kukui’s motivations for it more deeply. Why does he want a revolution so bad? Is it really that he wants Alola to have a stronger presence internationally? Does he have personal stakes in that? Will Alola have a stronger presence internationally if they switch to a League system? And so on and so forth. And since he’s the one leading the revolution, make him the Champion, versus the eleven-year-old who literally just moved here and knows fuck all about Alola. Honestly, please give Kukui some semblance of intelligence and let his revolution actually be treated with some degree of gravitas, as it should be. (Alternatively, if Game Freak is incapable of doing this, remove this subplot and let Alolan government stand. We don’t need to be the Champion. It’s not that big of a deal after six bloody generations of letting us do just that.)

On that note, Professor Burnet needs to play a bigger role in the Aether plot. While Kukui is spearheading his revolution, Burnet is studying wormholes and Ultra Space and, as such, should have played a bigger role in the main plot, going up against Lusamine (or at least assisting the kids in doing so) in the process. That she was all but ignored in favor of Kukui, whose research and ultimate goals had absolutely nothing to do with the Aether Foundation, was a huge mistake and (imo) just one of the MANY ways in which Gen VII treated its female characters horribly.So let her be more involved. Actually show her relationship with Lillie, rather than just telling us about it in a couple lines of dialogue. Let her continuously run experiments on the wormholes and dig deeper into what the Aether Foundation is doing. Show her her science contrasts with that of Lusamine’s, in addition to how her parenting contrasts with that of Lusamine’s. Let her show up at various times throughout the plot, including when Aether Paradise is stormed, because this is her field of expertise and, as such, she is damn knowledgeable about it. Let Burnet be the one to point Lillie and the others to the pedestals where they can get the flutes, and let her be the one to direct them when it comes time to play. Basically, actually utilize this wonderful character that was created, instead of ignoring her because she’s not the “main professor” (or more accurately, because she’s female, because apparently this series can’t give us a female professor without upstaging her with either her father (Cedric Juniper) or her husband (Kukui), regardless of how little sense that upstaging makes).

Make the RotomDex optional. This speaks for itself. The RotomDex was obnoxious, and is quite possibly one of the worst companion characters I’ve ever seen in a video game (far worse than Navi, for instance). I hate it. 

Don’t make Team Skull bad guys at all. The idea of having them appear to be criminals (or at the worst being punks) but actually having some heroic moments near the end was one that was kicked around a lot, and was also one that was shamefully wasted by making them cardboard caricatures of villains instead. Instead, it’d be much better if they were instead representative of the terrible CPS system / justice system in Alola (at one point a cop NPC mentions there being no crime despite crime being everywhere, showing how useless the police in Alola are), which could potentially be fuel for why people like Kukui and Nanu want a revolution, thus tying into that B Plot. It would also drive home a message about appearances being deceiving to have Team Skull actually be decent people despite being forced to sometimes steal food because they have none, whereas the Aether Foundation looks pristine but clearly isn’t. It’d certainly be more meaningful than the “they’re comic relief but also still Bad Guys™” message we were given instead.On that note, LET PLUMERIA PLAY AN ACTUAL ROLE, GOD DAMN IT, particularly with regards to Guzma teaming up with Lusamine (if he still acts as her grunt), and Plumeria being the one to confront him over it. If Plumeria is the aneki of Team Skull, let her act like it, and let us see her acting like it. I would have her stepping up and taking charge, the one truly in charge of Team Skull (and even Guzma tbh) because she has her shit together. I would also expand and build upon her relationship with Gladion, with whom she actually does have a good relationship with, so that he, too, had some support outside of Null / Silvally. But more on that in a second.

Give Hau actual depth. The most we get out of him is that he has an inferiority complex, is a bit of a stepford smiler, and dislikes how much of a bully Gladion is to him (and thus dislikes Gladion—and yes, he did dislike him, complete with an D8 reaction whenever Gladion showed up, and their “reconciliation” was rushed af, so I don’t count it).  That’s not really enough, and Hau deserved better. If Kukui’s revolution B Plot was given more focus, inserting that conflict between Hala and Hau mentioned before could spur Hau to really find himself and his own motivations other than what was expected of him + his “having fun” excuse. He could also have his relationship with Lillie explored more, particularly since they were friends before the player character showed up and stole everything, meaning that he should have been more prominent as a support figure for her rather than being shoved to the side so that the player could do it instead (again, rather inexplicably). And as a final idea, perhaps he could be manipulated by Lusamine (whom he seemed to like in the games) into working for her, possibly even for Lillie’s sake (potentially) because he wants to help Lillie reconcile with her mother, + believes Lusamine is doing the right thing, + is potentially even trying to escape the brewing conflict between Kukui and Hala and figures that since the Aether Foundation is removed from it, joining up with them is a safe way to go. He doesn’t know that Lusamine is evil af, of course, and so he (rather like Alan in the anime) is completely manipulated into thinking he’s doing good—but that could spur his development along even more and make him a much more prominent and important character, which would be awesome considering the fact that he was another under-utilized character who, again, deserved better. There’s no reason why he can’t be involved in the plot from multiple angles so that he can exist as more than a simple rival, and I think that would be a good way do it.

Aether Foundation + Aether Twins:

LET. THE AETHER. FOUNDATION. BE. SCIENTIFIC. And I don’t mean general zoological science, but I mean, very specifically, that I want them to be drenched in alchemy and science of that nature. It doesn’t have to be historical, realistic alchemy; in fact, making it strictly realistic would be boring, which is the reason why stories such as Fullmetal Alchemist go the “magical alchemy” route. Nonetheless, I want that. I want the basis of the Aether Foundation to be scientific and alchemical. I want the reason for their existence to be based in the alchemy plot that makes up the A Plot, because these games have been heading toward alchemy for several generations now and it would have made so much sense to have that payoff be here. I want to see experiments, I want to see talk of theories and hypotheses, I want tests, I want—I want the Aether Foundation to resemble Aperture Science Laboratories in a lot of ways, basically.

On that note, the “conservation” needs to be a farce. None of this “well, most of them were good, but it’s just the neurotoxins that made them bad!” bullshit. The conservation needs to be nothing more than a facade in order to gain them funding from the government + good press. Additionally, the pokémon that they “save” could be used in experiments (such as the chimera creation experiments that created the likes of Type: Null) behind the scenes. Essentially, just as Team Skull should have been good with bad publicity, the Aether Foundation needs to be bad with good publicity. LET THEM BE EVIL, particularly since I love the visual contrast between how pure and clean they look, but how corrupt and vile they are beneath the surface. Love that so much.And note, too, that it isn’t necessarily that every single grunt knows the full scope of Lusamine’s plans and is on board with them. Perhaps some of them are in it for personal gain, perhaps some of them are in it because they’re interested in studying science, perhaps they put up with parts that creep them out because they feel the benefits outweigh the cons, et cetera. Not every unnamed Aether employee needs to be evil, they can all have their own motivations for going along with the plan + might only know bits and pieces, but by and large the Aether Foundation should have been our large villainous organization for this game, rather than the half-assed nonsense we were given. And on top of being villainous and corrupt, they should have also been massively scientific, in terms of actually carrying out experiments that we see and using conservation as an excuse / way to get test subjects. Don’t make them charitable; make them corrupt. Go big or go home.

LET WICKE ALSO BE EVIL. My god, Wicke had all the personality of a wet piece of cardboard, and it’s bullshit that she was relegated to just being a motherly piece of cardboard while Faba actually got to be the villain he always wanted to be. Wicke, as I characterize her, would know pretty much everything of what Lusamine is up to, and would be in support of it both because it aligns with her personal beliefs and because she loves and is deeply devoted to Lusamine (what type of love that is would be up for interpretation by the player, but in any case, Lusamine doesn’t return it, she just takes advantage). Wicke wouldn’t truly care for the twins, but would instead be the type to guilt trip them for not also being loyal to Lusamine + hurting Wicke in the process by running away and whatnot. She has that simpering, faux honey approach, similar to Umbridge. She’s allowed to be competent, strong, and every bit a member of the villain triad as Faba and Lusamine.

On that note, let Faba be more of an actual scientist. Let’s see what contributions he has made to the Aether Foundation other than his ego. Maybe he was the one who made the chimeras. If so, great! Let’s see that. Let’s see why Lusamine bothers to keep him around. Let’s see more of a conflict between him and Wicke that isn’t so much that he puts her down and she cowers, but more that she looks down on the fact that he’s here mostly for his own self-interest (+ interest in science + Lusamine lets him do what he wants) and less because of loyalty to Lusamine, whereas he thinks that her loyalty to Lusamine (/ her reasons for that loyalty) are pathetic and that the only thing that matters is, well, science. Like, he’s loyal to Lusamine, but he’s loyal because she’s giving him the opportunity to do / get what he wants, rather than because of personal feelings for her. He thinks he’s using Lusamine. He’s not aware that the situation is actually the other way around. Let’s see that, let’s explore it, and let’s explore how his hubris is in direct contradiction to the principles behind the Philosopher’s Stone and, more importantly, the lion that devours the sun, according to alchemical writings from our own world, long in the past.

LET THE TWINS HAVE AN ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP. My god, one of the things that bothered me the most was the fact that Lillie and Gladion barely interacted, on top of how under-utilized Gladion was and how Lillie seemed, in so many places, to exist only as a way to further boost up the player and make them feel special rather than getting to explore her story for her own sake. (Right down to giving Nebby to the player, ugh.) To begin with, I want to know more about their past at Aether Paradise. What happened the night Gladion left? Why did he leave without Lillie? I’d like to think there was a fight or disagreement there—that Lillie wanted to stay because she was insistent that perhaps they could change Lusamine’s mind, or that combating her plan would be easier from Aether Paradise, or (far more likely) that it was their duty to stay, that they were family and thus it was wrong to leave. Gladion disagreed, and so he left, leaving Lillie behind when she refused to come with him. This creates tension between them in the main plot, because Gladion resents Lillie for seemingly choosing their mother over him, whereas Lillie resents Gladion for leaving as he did, even though she herself leaves later in order to save Nebby.But over the course of the game, they encounter each other again and again, and slowly their relationship mends. Gladion appreciates that Lillie is now willing to rebel against their mother, while Lillie learns to admit that her brother had good reasons when he left two years prior (even if his method of leaving still chafes with her), and she respects how he has managed to survive on his own (well, with Null). They meet again and again, come to understandings, and ultimately reform the bond of best friendship they had prior to Gladion’s departure in order to stand against their mother TOGETHER in the climax. (So if there are two flutes to be played, the player is standing off to the side watching while the twins play the flutes in restored harmony.) On top of all of this, I would want to modify Lillie’s personality so that she’s more than just the demure, shy, moe girl who worships the player. Gladion shows the C-PTSD he has from years of child abuse by being harsh, closed-off, and cold. While Lillie doesn’t have to be exactly like him and while everyone is different, I feel that Lillie just being ~omg shy~ as a result of her abuse is not only playing into the Good Victim / Bad Victim dichotomy (with Gladion being the Bad Victim), but was also done just to make her someone the player would want to protect at the expense of making her a well-rounded character with a believable personality. So I would want to modify Lillie so that she’s also stand-offish and cold in various ways; where she, like Gladion, feels that she has a unique view of the situation because of her background, where she’s incredibly studious and smart even if she doesn’t battle, where she’s unwilling to open up to others without the others putting in serious effort (such as Hau potentially, pre-game), where she “defrosts” just as much as Gladion does, because girls can be cold and hard as well and she should be no exception, regardless of how feminine she is. Lastly, both of the kids should have been adopted by Kukui and Burnet at the end of the game. I won’t budge on this.

LET LUSAMINE BE THE VILLAINOUS SCIENTIST QUEEN SHE WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE. Lusamine’s canonical role / personality is perhaps one of the biggest letdowns the Pokémon franchise has ever bestowed upon me and I’m never going to be over it. Whether she’s actually an Ultra Beast herself or not (and I’m still disappointed that the Ultra Beasts didn’t get to be shapeshifters), she still should have been the mastermind behind everything, the one in control, and the one perfectly aware of everything she was doing, as well as the one wanting to do it because of her own grand plans, rather than just being ~*~manipulated by neurotoxins~*~ and ~*~in need of redemption~*~. So to that end?Lusamine is the actual founder of the Aether Foundation, versus it being founded by her father or grandfather or whatever that NPC said, because I’m sick of this series having women simply inherit positions from male relatives or else be overshadowed by them. Lusamine founded the Aether Foundation as a scientific organization to promote her own ambitions and goals while using pokémon conservation as a convenient cover (as well as a means to get government funding if need-be). She’s the president and founder both, and everyone respects her for it.To that end, Lusamine is blindingly intelligent. Not only does she have a wealth of scientific knowledge across various fields (alchemy is obviously her forte, but she’s also incredibly knowledgeable about chemistry, physics / astrophysics, and various other fields), but she’s also quite knowledgeable in terms of history, various fields of mathematics, and other areas of study. She is very much a Ravenclaw in that she loves learning and studying, but also views the universe in terms of the ultimate question True or Not. She is very interested in the (or at least a, but in her mind she is always right, so the) universal Truth, and seeks to not only claim knowledge of the Truth for herself, but also to grasp it in her hand show the rest of the world / universe that she has it. Right or Wrong doesn’t matter to Lusamine, because both of those things are subjective. True or Not is what matters, more than anything else. She is very, very Ravenclaw. So Lusamine is the Big Bad. I have actual motivations and goals for her in my AU fic, To Devour the Sun, and I won’t get into those here—but if Game Freak didn’t want to make her actually an Ultra Beast, they would change anyway. Instead, we could say that perhaps Lusamine was furthering her alchemical ventures in an effort to grasp the Universal Truth™, much as alchemists of the past were always searching for that very same thing (in a fashion), usually by means of the Philosopher’s Stone. In the context of Pokémon, Lusamine could not only be searching to harness the power of Solgaleo (or Lunala ig, but Solgaleo makes far more sense) for this endeavor, but could also be trying to rip open the Gates between Worlds in order to obtain the Truth (much like Father in FMA:B!). This could potentially put the entire world at risk, particularly since Lusamine wouldn’t exactly care who or what needs to be sacrificed in order to make her dreams reality. To that end, no, she doesn’t care about her children; in her mind, they would be additional pawns that could be used in order to accomplish her goals, and if they disobey then they are cruelly punished—but otherwise, she doesn’t (and has never) care(d) about being a family with them. Mohn isn’t really important, either; he has no bearings on Lusamine’s motivations or desires. If anything, he doesn’t even need to be in the game, at least not as the twins’ father. It’s not like he adds to the plot, and it wouldn’t be the first time kids didn’t have present fathers in this series. (Additionally, if the Johto Rival’s mother is never identified, I don’t see why the twins’ father needs to be.)So yes, Lusamine is frighteningly intelligent, calculating, savvy (she doesn’t take gambles or risks if they can be avoided, generally—once she has everything in place, she won’t risk it for a lesser payoff than she’s planning for), extremely manipulative, and ruthless … with a spiteful or sadistic sense of humor at times (in terms of causing emotional pain, rather like GLaDOS). She uses whatever and whoever she needs to in order to achieve her ends, and while I’m aware that sounds Slytherin, remember, Lusamine does not have precious / important people, does not care about those close to her, and is concerned with the question of True or Not, which is all very not Slytherin and also very Ravenclaw. (And yes, while her actual goals are different in To Devour the Sun, this is the characterization I’m using there, too. She, like Sycamore, is a Ravenclaw. She just also happens to be a very terrible person on top of it. She foils him, in other words, in a variety of ways, on top of having some surface resemblance to Lysandre.)Let her be the true, unapologetic villain she deserved to be. Let her be in command the way she was supposed to be. Lusamine was done a massive injustice in canon and I’ll never be over it. (Oh, and as a final note? She either dies or goes to prison in the end. No exceptions.)

Of course, I’d still love it if the Aether fam were Ultra Beasts as well (and that Ultra Beasts could have human forms), but if Game Freak didn’t want to go that route in canon, then the above is fine as well.

This is all I’ve got for right now. Completely rewriting the plot would take more time (and would likely largely ignore the player, but tbh that’s probably for the best, because the fact that Lillie’s most important was relationship was with the player instead of her brother will never cease to make me salty af), but these are the base ideas I have that would have made me more happy than the disappointing, flat mess we were given. Here’s hoping USUM can improve things, but unless the plot is radically changed, I highly doubt it will.

[luucarii]

Fire Emblem Echoes Ramblings

Okaysss so hopefully this won’t be as long as my Persona 5 Ramblings (I’m honestly going to start a “Rambling” series where I just give my opinions on games and anime and just other shit soo)

spoilers and bitching abroad my friends.

edit: most of my bitching is toward the story not the game itself. The gameplay is amazing, save for some few nitpicks I mention down below.

Fire Emblem Echoes. A game I’m extremely conflicted about. Now, this is coming from someone who has only played Awakening and Fates. Echoes was… okay. I don’t think I’ll go back to replay it for a while. Like a long, long while.

Echoes physically drained me after about Act 3. Maybe it was because I was a little high on Persona 5 at the time, maybe it was because I was finishing up school. I don’t know for sure.

Everything just grew so repetitive. The constant “rout the enemy” missions, the lack of memorable map layouts, the lack of memorable anything really. Nothing really stood out to me.

The story, was an extreme slow burn and the amount of exposition was incredible for how simple the overall layout was. The title screen cutscene that plays where Alm and Celica are talking about Duma and Mila perfectly explain what the whole game is going to have you accomplish. Duma’s the bad God and is going mad and with the help of Mila you (or Alm and Celica) are going to have to put him down. I get why they had to have all this fluff in the beginning with the prologue (to establish Alm and Celica’s relationship even though their relationship wasn’t exactly executed properly I feel but I’ll get into that later) but all the other shit involved like why Alm has a Brand and the Masked Man (two “plot twists” that literally anyone could have seen coming - YOU GET THE MEMORY OF CONRAD’S “DEATH” THE BATTLE BEFORE/AFTER YOU MEET HIM HOLY SHIT ITS SO OBVIOUS) was just a bore to me.

The battles were quickly forgotten as well as the named villains you fight. Besides Berkut (who is probably the best villain in the damn game even if he isn’t the main antagonist) and Jedah (who was obviously the main antagonist considering all the cutscenes he was in) I literally only remember Fernand because of his death near the end of the last dungeon. Everyone else who had names and who you were forced to fight are just footnotes because there’s nothing memorable about them. They’re just commanders for Rudolf’s army or are apart of the Duma faithful. Removing their names wouldn’t affect the plot at all.

I feel like the plot as a whole was an attempt to make a simple plot more complex and failed in process. It’s literally a Mila vs Duma fight but all this extra stuff made it drag on longer than my 33ish hours of playtime. And I’m very disappointed because after Fates and Awakening (two games that I genuinely enjoyed) I was looking forward to Echoes. From the trailers and screenshots I was interested in the whole concept of dueling gods but the execution was just subpar for me.

Now, I have one more gripe with the overall story. Alm and Celica. Specifically their relationship. In my personal opinion, Alm and Celica’s relationship seems so forced from the minute the prologue starts. I’ll admit there are a few sparing cute moments here and there but I feel they’re quickly overshadowed once you realize they had only been friends for maybe a good 3-5ish years as children before Mycen took Celica away. You honestly expect me to believe that they continued to want to see each other after 8+ years of being apart? You honestly expect Alm, Gray, Tobin, Faye, everyone to remember Celica from childhood when she was taken away from them at such a young age? I… I just can’t buy it. You can also argue that their fates were intertwined since they both have the Brand and they are the “Children of Fate” but I still can’t swallow that without any lingering thought of bullshit. I never shipped Alm and Celica because I can’t see any actual romantic development with them besides them obviously caring about each other. The fight at the beginning was just a plot device to drive them away from each other and having Celica get momentarily possessed at the end and have Alm kill her was just another cliche and having Mila save her (when to be honest, Celica was better off dead) just made me shrug and say “she’s one of the main protagonists, obviously she won’t die.”

Guys, Nintendo. If you’re going to establish a relationship in one of your games, for fuck’s sake make it at least somewhat likable. Shulk and Fiora (even though Fiora can get a bit bitchy sometimes), Reyn and Sharla both from Xenoblade Chronicles, Link and Zelda from Skyward Sword (specifically). These relationships had development. They grew. Yeah, they had a fight here and there but that wasn’t the only basis as to why they’re loved as a couple. Shulk and Fiora while yes they had their fair bit of problems (mostly the whole revenge relationship plot) you can still see them let their hair down and have fun and Fiora teases Shulk a lot throughout the game. Reyn and Sharla start as a sort of friends while Reyn has to work himself to show Sharla that he can be a man to take care of her after the stuff with Sharla’s fiancé (story shit I won’t get into because spoilers). Link and Zelda (while if only in the first few cutscenes) you can see Zelda poke fun at Link, you can see the care she has for him, HELL THEY EVEN HAVE A FAKEOUT KISS AT THE BEGINNING. During SS you see Zelda grow as she begins to realize her role and Link meanwhile is risking his life all for her, all so he can get back to her.

Alm and Celica, I feel, have none of this. Guys, having them fight at the beginning of the game just to drive a wedge in between them and have them come back together at the end doesn’t make them a good couple if the reason for the fight was overall shit and hypocritical on Celica’s part.  Just… ugh. I’m sorry to any Alm/Celica shippers but I just don’t like them together.

Maybe it’s my bias because I really really don’t like Celica as a character but either way I don’t ship Alm/Celica and there’s nothing that can convince me that they’re good together.

Now, this is already long enough so I’ll sum up the rest of things about  Echoes that disappointed me.

The Supports. Don’t get me wrong, the voice acting is absolutely amazing, one of the best I’ve seen this year. But just… the lack of them compared to Fates and Awakening is so disappointing. Now I get Echoes was based off one of the older games so it’s not completely fair to compare the supports to that of recent games but there’s literally a maximum of 3 supports per character and the supports do literally nothing to show off character. Fates and Awakening’s supports had 3 (4 if it was a marriage support) short bursts of dialogue away from the main game to establish character, likes, dislikes, compatibility with other characters the works. These supports, if anything, are lighthearted pieces of fluff to distract from the somewhat serious tone of the game.

Enemy Variety and Class Variety. Again more I can’t exactly complain about since Echoes was based off an older game and thus took aspects from said older game. But… the amount of Dread Fighters and Barons I saw in the last dungeon just made me hate the classes as a whole (despite two of my best boys Tobin and Kamui being Dread Fighters with Brave Swords who fucked EVERYONE up with crits). Fates and Awakening had such a fun cast of classes, my favorites being Nohr Noble and Assassin and dropping the number of classes just… ugh.

Also, one last quick note. The suddenly difficulty spike is one of the main reasons I considered dropping the game midway through. I played on Normal/Casual (I’m still a newbie leave me alone…) and although I died once, there was a bunch of times where I was sitting in frustration of not knowing what to do. Though as a strategy game, you’re kinda suppose to do that so…

OKAY ENOUGH BITCHING ABOUT THIS GAME, LETS GET INTO THE SHIT I LIKED…which is going to be a few short paragraphs…

The Voice Acting. Holy shit the voice acting. Not only is it featuring some of my favorites (Cherami Leigh, Max Mittelman and the like) but nearly every line is spoken beautifully. Special props to Alm’s voice actor Kyle McCarley who brought me to near tears with some of his lines. Absolutely incredible.

Bows!!! BOWS ARE ACTUALLY GETTING LOVE! I rarely used archers in Awakening but I did pick up using them in Fates (Takumi and Kiragi are incredible) and I fell in love with them here in Echoes. Finally they’re not just limited to 2 spaces and they can hit as far as 5 and just… Python and Leon were my main favorites.

Dungeons. It’s a nice break between battles and they’re interesting locals. But please, Celica, that weird squeak that you have while attacking… just… please stop.

The Design. The character design is something I can’t NOT praise. Everyone looks incredible. While the cutscenes I feel lag a little compared to Fates and Awakening you can’t deny they still look amazing for a 3Ds game.

The Soundtrack. I’m a sucker for good music (one of the reasons why I love XC, Okami, Botw and the like) and a good majority of the tracks on the ost I’m completely in love with. The credits theme especially “The Heritors of Arcadia.” Props to Bonnie Gordon (Silque’s VA) she did an amazing job.

Verdict. Overall, Echoes was okay for me. It was different compared to Fates and Awakening and I knew that going in. I knew there was no marriage system, I knew they were getting rid of the weapon triangle, I knew it was going to be similar to the older games to close divide between the fans before Awakening and after Awakening. And it was a good different in some ways but in most other ways just disappointed me. The fact that I had to force myself to marathon the last dungeon just so I could finish the damn game speaks miles. I was drained. I didn’t want to continue but I did just for the sake of saying I beat it. It didn’t feel like 30 hours of game play for me, it felt like months (which in actuality was nearly two). Like I mentioned, I doubt I’ll pick this game up again anytime soon (while Fates I replayed and beat nearly 6+ times, 2 for each path and Awakening I’ve replayed maybe 3 times I can’t remember). It could’ve been so much more, I feel, if they didn’t try to shove Alm/Celica down my throat and if we could have had some more character development. But eh, that’s just me.

ALSO IM REALLY HAPPY MAE AND BOEY ENDED UP TOGETHER.

[thesteadydietofeverything]

Video Game Year in Review: Honorable Mentions

When I compiled the list of games I played this year that didn’t make it to my top 10, and weren’t remasters, remakes, or re-releases (see previous list), the number came out to just over 10, with the few over the 10 spot either just not being particularly remarkable (Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion) or games that I put so little actual time into that I really didn’t get the chance to form coherent thoughts about them (Prey: Mooncrash and BattleTech, both examples of types of games I want to resolve to not be so afraid of playing in 2019).

So the remaining 10 that I did want to mention are an interesting bunch. Not all of them are games that I loved. A decent amount of them are games I had serious issues with. But they all had something to them, something that made those issues that I had all the more frustrating, because it prevented me from dismissing them outright. My feelings about these games are varied enough that I wanted to rank them, so I suppose this list could just be called “Reese’s Top 20 games of 2018: 20-11,” or, “The Problem Children,” or something, but “Honorable Mentions” works fine for me.

10. The Messenger - Though I have never played Ninja Gaiden, and therefore don’t really have any nostalgia for the type of game this dual-8-bit/16-bit/action-platformer/Metroidvania was clearly going for, the early parts were executed pretty damn well. Tight controls, great music, some very fun and memorable boss fights, gameplay that was challenging but not, I imagine, anywhere near as rage-inducingly challenging as the games it was based on. Those initial four or five hours or so felt enjoyable and complete enough that the fact that I fell off pretty soon after the game pulls a very significant aesthetic and gameplay shakeup not enough to make me hate the game. As cool as a concept as it is to literally jump back and forth between different eras of game design, the “Metroidvania” part of this game was filled with the shit that tends to frustrate me about that style of game - aimless wandering and tedious backtracking. A very interesting experiment that, for me, didn’t quite pay off, but the effort produced a pretty unique game.

9. Iconoclasts - As far as its gameplay goes, this game is almost the inverse of The Messenger’s brand of Metroidvania, highlighting all the things that I actually can love about the genre. Sure there’s backtracking, but the layout of the levels is thoughtful and inspired enough that it rarely feels tedious: I often found myself very excited to gain my new ability and revisit a previous area because - just like the best Metroid games - I know exactly where I can use it, have been wondering about it for a while, and can finally see what’s on the other side. What ended up bogging down the experience of this game for me was the surprising emphasis on story and long-winded dialogue scenes. While I definitely really liked a handful of characters, the game’s increasing willingness throughout its run-time to put verbose speeches in all of their mouths wore a bit thin, given how thoroughly okay the general plot was. Still, game has some of the absolute most gorgeous pixel animation I’ve ever seen.

8. Monster Hunter World - As it seemed to be for many, the streamlined (though still irritatingly idiosyncratic) systems management, lush world and creature design, and conveniently slow part of the year that it released all made this the first Monster Hunter game I was willing to fully commit to. For a while, the game really won me over - experimenting with weapons was deeply satisfying, and the care and evocative detail in the designs felt inspired and compelling. I even played a bit of multiplayer with friends, and had a lot of fun with it, despite how generally committed I tend to be to single player experiences. After a while, though, I stopped being wowed by the animations and controls to start to be bothered by how careless the game seemed to be about its colonial fantasy, what a generally destructive force you and your team are on this beautiful world. It’s not as though this isn’t something that was obvious from the beginning, it’s just that for a while there, I figured it must actually be going somewhere with it, that there must be some commentary it was building toward. What I was met with was disappointing silence, and LOTS of grinding.

7. Red Dead Redemption 2 - I felt a lot of ways about this game, some of which I managed to capture in the review I wrote a couple months ago. There’s so much about this game that I hold against it and Rockstar, both surrounding it (the abusive culture of crunch in its development, their lack of care in getting an indigenous and/or black actor to play Charles) and within the game itself (the stretching of a decent story to an absurd length, controls so clunky they often broke the role-playing the rest of the game was so good at encouraging). But the things that I loved about this game - the stunningly atmospheric world, the complicated and nuanced character dynamics in the camp, the ways in which it allows one to experience and engage with its details - all stuck with me as well. This game represents so much of both what I want games to be going forward and what I never want them to be again.

6. Minit - Weird as it sounds, as much as I liked this game, my main gripe with it was the primary mechanic around which it was based. I loved the minimalist black-and-white art style: the way the white lines shined on my HDR TV is an excellent example of how “simple” graphical styles can take advantage of modern technology as well as any graphically demanding powerhouse. The world was a joy to explore, a miniature Zelda with a unique sense of humor. I honestly just never got why I was only allowed to enjoy it a minute at a time. The game seemed to do little to justify its central hook, and most of the time it ended up feeling more like a hindrance than a meaningful game changer. Nevertheless, Minit gave me a short, sweet experience that stuck with me more than I expected it to.

5. God of War - Having never really liked the previous games in this series, I went into this one with fairly low expectations, despite the near-universal praise it was getting. The story really didn’t do much for me. The father/son dynamic was fine, but hardly the innovative step forward in video game narratives many seemed to claim it was. Kratos is still an inherently ridiculous character, no matter how much depth they try to give him in this game, though I did thoroughly enjoy Christopher Judge’s performance. The real hook of this game, outside of its very pretty visuals, is its really just superb combat. They nearly entirely did away with the hacking and slashing of the previous games, and created a deliberate, thrilling system of combat juggling. There are a decent amount of moves at your disposal, but it never feels like an overwhelming amount, and the balancing act you can achieve in utilizing all of them properly results in just some of the most satisfying combat I’ve ever experienced in a game.

4. All Our Asias - This was the first of several lo-fi 3D polygonal games I played this year - the others will show up in my top 10 - and I’m just so excited about the coming wave of game developers inspired by 90’s PS1-era aesthetics, an era I’m personally much more nostalgic for than the still-prevailing 16-bit pixel art of many indie games. This is probably also the weirdest of that style of game that I played this year (and given what one of the others is, that’s saying something), an essay in video game format, an exploration of the bizarre nature of memory, told through abstract shapes and landscapes. Creator Sean Han Tani tells a wonderfully personal story here about racial identity and complicated family relationships, by navigating the conceptual framework of your player character’s father. It’s a singular experience that I still think about often, nearly a year after playing it.

3. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle - Donkey Kong Adventure - I’ll admit that my time with Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle last year was my first real dip into tactics gaming, an experience that allowed me to gingerly step my foot into some deeper water this year (some of which I discovered was still too deep for me, like BattleTech). But for as easy as the first half of that game was, I maintain that the back half was surprisingly challenging. This year’s DLC, Donkey Kong Adventure, is not challenging. Donkey Kong is so overpowered it feels like it must have been a mistake, and the way that he can combine attacks with other characters is just ridiculous. But, weirdly enough, that’s part of what I enjoyed about this addition, a fairly breezy few-hour adventure where the most fun comes from seeing just how badly you can fuck some Rabbids up in a single move. Having Donkey Kong grab an enemy, throw him at another enemy, hit both plus a nearby enemy his banana boomerang, then having Rabbid Cranky charge into all three of them and blast them with his shotgun-esque Boombow never really gets old, at least for the well paced 8 or 9 hours that the game lasts.

2. Dead Cells - An endless, side-scrolling action platformer with tight-as-hell, ultra satisfying combat, beautiful art design, AND it was made by team of French socialists with no bosses who all get paid the same? I mean, fuck yeah. Dead Cells, a game that I originally played a bit in Early Access last year, and enjoyed so much that I decided to wait until the official release before truly delving into it, is a game that largely plays like the dream it sounds like on paper. I’m not sure if I’ve ever played at 2D game with combat as good. Generally, I’m not huge on run-based games, and did hit some walls in this game where I just felt like my own ineptitude was getting in the way of my enjoyment, and the game wasn’t giving me much between runs to make me feel like I was actually making any progress. I still haven’t actually beat it, but it’s become my default palate cleanser game that I play a few rounds of in between other games or while listening to podcasts or music, so I’m still plucking away at it. I’ll get there someday.

1. Return of the Obra Dinn - I enjoyed this game so, so much, even if sometimes more on a theoretical level than a practical one. The style is impeccable - I really will never get tired of the brief tease of opaque, incidental dialogue or sound, followed by the sudden explorable tableau of death(s), soundtracked by haunting strings. The gameplay is inspired - I’ve had few gaming experiences in recent memory as fulfilling as any time the little music que popped up after I solved a death, confirming that I had gotten three deductions correct. I have to admit, though, that those moments were spread further out than I would have wished. Part of this is just happenstance - I didn’t realize until quite a few hours into this game that by zooming in on someone, you’ll match them to their picture, something that would have undoubtedly saved me a lot of frustrating time in which I was grappling with trying to figure out whose fuzzy faces were whose. Nevertheless, I felt like I was too often given too little information, and had to take guesses between one of a few possible suspects, many of which were informed by racial assumptions that made me actively uncomfortable. This was, no doubt, part of the point, so it’s hard for me to hold it against the game, but it regardless did lead to a pretty exasperated final couple hours of play. Despite these complaints, its hard for me to think of this game as anything other than a wildly successful achievement - innovative, inspired, both intelligently designed and remarkably trusting in its player’s intelligence. Maybe a little too trusting, in my case.

[the-jellicle-duelist]

Ryan’s Top 10 Video Games of 2017

Hi. I really thought that 2017 was one of the most incredible years for games in my lifetime, and I want to take some words and highlight my Top 10 video games of 2017. I will leave any spoilers out of this post, and only talk about general themes and back of the box kind of things. Here we go!

10. Universal Paperclips

Universal Paperclips is an idle game, but it’s so much more than that. It is a commentary on Artificial Intelligence as it relates to labor, AI’s theoretical relationship to humans, and an intricate and interesting idle game with systems that interact in unique ways. Universal Paperclips reveals itself slowly over the course of some number of hours, but for me it was worth the investment.

9. What Remains of Edith Finch

What Remains of Edith Finch is a compact story told over just a couple of hours. It centers around Edith, as she explores her childhood home. WRoEF is a walking simulator akin to Gone Home, but the presentation is what sold me on this game. The game takes these little vignettes and they are all packaged uniquely, and presented to you in just a wonderful way. Don’t sleep on this game.

8. Steamworld Dig 2

Steamworld Dig 2 was an absolute delight. I need to finish it yet, but it is such a relaxing experience. You just descend into the pit, mining gems and finding upgrades as you go, and then taking things back to the town to sell. The music is also killer, especially the town music: 

As much drama and stress as there was in the garbage fire that was 2017, Steamworld Dig 2 had the right mix of gentle respite and exploration that could sooth anyone.

7. Cuphead

God what can I say about Cuphead? A true test of skill, patience, and learning combined with a truly jaw dropping presentation. The first thing you talk about when discussing Cuphead is its visuals and they truly deliver on their premise of a playable cartoon. It’s hard as nails and a real challenge, which disappointed some people, myself included, who would have taken hours exploring this world were it more fleshed out. But, for what Cuphead actually is, a boss rush with a great aesthetic, it’s hard to hold an unrealized world against them. And again, killer ost:

6. Destiny 2

I don’t typically like shooters. I don’t typically like games with a multiplayer focus, and in 2017 there’s not one but two of them on my top 10 list. The first of them being Destiny 2. I poured a couple hundred hours into base Destiny 2. Issues of keeping content fresh and a lack of end game content aside, I truly enjoyed my time with Destiny 2. The shooting is the tightest and best feeling in the history of video games, and the loot grind is satisfying to keep you going all the way to max level. I wish it were a little easier to get through the things like the Raid with strangers and less skilled friends, because it is the most interesting content they put into the game, and I feel as though most players will not get to go through it. 

5. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battles has absolutely zero business being good. A Ubisoft developed strategy game where they gave Mario and gang some guns, used as a skin over an X-com style strategy game, and also the Ubisoft in house branded Minion-adjacent IP also slapped in there for “good measure” and it all just kind of... works. It’s got the right mix of customization, strategic options, difficulty, and length that propelled me through this game when it came out this summer. Who would have guessed Mario needed a gun? Also, killer soundtrack penned by one Grant Kirkhope

4. Super Mario Odyssey

If you would have told me before Super Mario Odyssey came out that it would not only be the greatest Mario game in recent memory, I would play it through to the end and then some, I would love every second of it, and that it would end up on my game of the year list, I would have laughed in your face. But here we are. Odyssey truly delivered on being a Mario game I could love after years of being incredibly sour on them. It has breathtaking visuals, an awesome new take on what the structure of a modern Mario game should look like in 2017, and again, killer soundtrack. It is a true marvel on the Switch. Motion control issues aside, Nintendo could not have made a better Mario game.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

What a great line up for the new Nintendo console in its first year. A fantastic Mario spin off, an even better mainline Mario game, and also the best Legend of Zelda game in the series’ history. Breath of the Wild is a masterpiece of open world design and execution. Adding the layer of physics based interaction on top of that leads to some interesting and buck wild moments. They took a huge risk coming off of Skyward Sword and it all paid off IMO. I don’t necessarily agree with the item durability mechanic. And I wish some of the game’s collectibles weren’t so obtuse to find (KOROK SEEDS.) But I look back fondly with every moment of Breath of the Wild. It is truly a modern wonder.

2. PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds

Remember that other multiplayer shooter I talked about earlier? Here comes PUBG, which not only is multiplayer and a shooter, and on paper I should hate this game, it’s also competitive! No game gives me the level of feelings, stress, and tension like PUBG. Getting down to the wire of a best of 100 player battle royale, the ever encroaching blue circle of death at your back. Trying to find signs of any movement. It is truly a heart pounding experience. The best way I’ve heard PUBG described is as a competitive horror game and that description is apt. PUBG came and knocked video games on their ass, and in some ways they will never be the same because of PUBG. It is such a phenomenal achievement.

Honorable Mentions, Games I wish I could like, Games I wish I played this year, and Old Games

I wanted to shout out some near misses and older games that I played a bunch of in 2017 that impacted me as a video game person. 

Hearthstone: You really grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to hell, Hearthstone. I had my best year of ladder play this year. And I think Kobolds and Catacombs is a great addition to the game. Dungeon Run almost made me make a space for Hearthstone on my 2017 GOTY list.

Fire Emblem: Fates: I finally finished all three of the storylines for Fire Emblem Fates this year and they were really good. Birthright is still the only one worth playing more than once, but I’m glad I played them all. The story aspect of these THREE games I wish was more worth there being THREE games.

NieR Automata: I have had a difficult relationship with Nier Automata as a game I would like to play to find out what happens but I truly think I hate playing it. At this point I will probably watch someone play this on YouTube. I’m disappointed in myself but I really don’t want to physically play NieR.

Wolfenstein 2: I really wanted to make time for it but I never beat the first one or the New Order, and now there’s a big chunk of backlog with Wolfenstein’s name all over it. Maybe one day.

Prey: I heard great stuff about Prey, but time ran out for this one too. Same goes for Yakuza Zero.

Ryan’s Game of the Year, 2017 - Shin Megami Tensei Persona 5

Oh my goodness Persona 5. Definitely my most anticipated game in years, and for me it truly delivered after Persona 4. It absolutely oozes with style, while giving me awesome dungeon crawling design and that Persona combat I have come to love. P5 has some of the most memorable characters in the series, and watching the story unfold left me on the edge of my seat for all 100 hours of this game. The soundtrack is amazing. Here:

There are just so many fantastic tracks on this OST. I listen to it all the time. For me, Persona 5 is as close to a perfect JRPG as you can ask for, and I was desperately asking for one. It has been so long since an incredibly well polished, engaging JRPG has come out and I’m so happy with Persona 5. Thanks for reading! I yell about video games on The Bear Vs Man Cast, which you can find here: bearvsman.simplecast.fm or on iTunes. 

[timsim26]

Hey Tim - Whatcha Playin?

So I am in the middle of a whole bunch of games right now and haven’t had a chance to review them. However, I do want to share a few thoughts on them. Thanks for the title Ash.

Mass Effect Andromeda

No doubt this will be my next full review, as I am well on the way with this game now. It took me a lot to get into the story of Andromeda and I can’t put my finger on why. It may have a lot to do with the huge amount of negative press, middling reviews and heaps of bugs that were reported.

A heads up I am playing with the current 1.06 patch and this has made the game look and run much better apparently.

I am absolutely loving this game. I adore Mass Effect 1-3 and love the story, characters, gameplay and world. So many brilliant moments are highly ranked from the original trilogy and so far Andromeda is delivering this same feel and connection. While Female Ryder is so far pretty blargh, the universe and mystery of the new galaxy are fascinating. Discovering new worlds, new enemies, building weapons and having great freedom in terms of combat choice is really refreshing. So many times in previous games I would hate it, if I had made a poor squad choice due to enemy types and lacking the appropriate abilities to take down shields or armour. Now you are free to enhance whatever ability you like, choose and change classes and take on combat situations.

This game is also huge. My goodness, I thought there was a lot to do on the first main planet (not to mention the beginning hub world that sets the tone of the enemies), but that was nothing after the game opens up. Heaps of sidequests, which so far have been mostly entertaining, but very fetch quest heavy, are keeping me highly engaged with the world and character building and then there is a lot of other great exploration throughout the planets. Each world I have visited so far is unique and makes each journey to a new section of the map feel as if I am the pathfinder that the game continues to tell me I am.

The only thing that has surprised me so far is that some of the writing and character building as been very cringe worthy. Mass Effect 1 and 2 in particular are so well written, that this really stands out. The fact that Ryder reacts so strangely to an early traumatic experience so soon after the event really threw me from the believability of the whole situation. I am really looking forward to exploring more of the world, upgrading my character and developing the promising relationships with my squad. There is a lot to like in Andromeda and I am really keen to dive into the multiplayer if it is as good as people are saying it is.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

One day I will be ready to say goodbye to this game. But that would mean saying goodbye to potentially the best video game I have played in my life. Zelda: Breath of the Wild surprises me, engages me and challenges me with every new step. The world is gorgeous, the characters are interesting, the combat is rewarding, the level design is fantastic, the secrets are plentiful, but it is the world that continually stops me in my path and makes me reflect on every other open world game.

This is the standard from now on. Nintendo have looked at what other developers are doing well, taken everything and made it better in each and every way. The huge open worlds of Rockstar, the unpredictability and emergent narrative of Ubisoft games like Far Cry and Assassins Creed, the outstanding level design and creature encounters that From Software provide with Dark Souls and Bloodborne, the deep and open environments of Bethesda games, that surprise you with lore or a new quest at every turn, the creativity of a game like Just Cause, encouraging traversal in weird and wonderful ways and add in Cd Projekt’s world design of a deep and dense forest terrain and you have Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Some big statements, but this game does everything better than those games and adds in its own quirky flavour and of course the deep lore and passion of the Zelda universe. Whether you are a new or old fan this game is a must play. Every opportunity to experiment with the systems to solve a puzzle, take down an enemy of find a new part of the map is an absolute joy. The controls are simple and intuitive and the fact that this level of game can be played on the go, still astonishes me.

This is the future of open world games. Great exploration is encouraged by having the ability to traverse the world in a huge number of ways and this is what so many other games lack.

This is going to be hard to beat as Game of the Year. All eyes are on you Rockstar and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Walking Dead: A New Frontier

Telltale’s latest entry to the Walking Dead episodic series is right there with some of the best work they have ever produced. Once again the future is bleak for all characters involved, Telltale have done another fantastic job of introducing great characters, building them with solid foundations and tearing them away based on the choices that you make, the mistakes that occur and the general terrifying nature of the world. Every episode has ended making me want more. There have been a number of solid twists and turns that have been more predictable than Season 1 and 2, however they are still leaving me, mouth wide open in some form of horror and shock. Clementine makes a return and builds already on her impressive variety and depth as a character. God you feel for this poor girl and now the issues of being a young teenager are mixed well with the Zombie Apocalypse issues that she faces on a day to day bases.

While this is far and away from the level of quality that Season 1 was when it released in 2012, the enhanced performance, quality of visuals and the great integration of new characters in Clementine’s world makes this well worth dipping into if you were a fan of Season 1 and 2. I really hope Telltale stick the landing of episode 5, as they have certainly set up an intriguing series of events.

More Modern Warfare Remastered

It may as well be 2007 again. I cannot stop playing Modern Warfare Remastered. The same gameplay loop has be absolutely and completely hooked and the little tweaks and additions that are being added by Raven Software really have added extra reparability without radically shifting the experience one way or the other.

I haven’t yet purchased the map pack, as I am unsure how this will divide the player base at the moment, but I am really hoping Activision release the game as a standalone and get as many people as possible playing. The same gun on gun gameplay that really made me fall in love with Call of Duty returns and while there is plenty of bullshit remaining in the game, it doesn’t bother me as much as the absolutely ridiculous flying and jet-packing that irks me even more.

This is the definitive multiplayer experience for me and the additions made to new camos, updated visuals and now the new weapons, have been the icing on the cake to making this game just as fun as it was years and years ago. The fact that a 10 year old multiplayer game has its hooks in me again is utterly remarkable.