#how has it been THREE YEARS since my last playthrough??? horrendous

[pinksilvace]

To nobody's surprise, the Pyre bug has gotten me again

[iamanartisttype]

Is Dawn of War Soulstorm really so bad?

Soulstorm is definitely the black sheep within the crop of the Dawn of War games. It was the one expansion Relic had nothing to do with. They were busy working on Dawn of War 2. That left Iron Lore Entertainment to do the job. Some will say they did a horrendous job and others say they did okay. I personally think they did better than people give them credit for. Given that they’d never made a strategy game, especially one as niche as DoW, and the only game they’d made was Titan Quest, an action role playing game, and an expansion for it. I’m willing to pull back some of the blame for inexperience. So, how did they do?

I’ll start off with the gameplay. Having been playing it for the last few weeks, I have to say at times it’s both better and worse than Dark Crusade. It’s superior since it adds two more races and gives them their unique roles and playstyles in the game. I have to give them this point for doing so well with the new races. The worse comes in with the gameplay itself. The controlling of the units can be a bit off.

The Sisters of Battle are where they should be as a mix between the Imperial Guard and the Space Marines. They also have the attribute of powers given to them through their faith. The powers are there to offset the lack of a super tank and elite infantry. They do have the saint, but because they’re like the Guard and Marines, they only get one or the other. The saint was good enough for what they do. They’re a  much better armed horde army with the boost of FIRE, lots of fire to cleanse the impure, and to also break morale. It’s an interesting concept that brings the player back to the basics of the game where morale breaking is your best friend. It’s the saints best friend too.

The Dark Eldar, much like the normal Eldar are just infuriating. A different kind of infuriating. They go a lot further into the blood, guts and gore of combat while the normal Eldar are clean and quick. That’s really it. The Dark eldar are just darker slave trading Eldar with some interesting warp powers that will build up over the course of a game to make up for the fact that like the normal Eldar they’re underpowered in the early game.

I hate the Dark and normal Eldar, so that’s fine with me, but from a balance standpoint they’re pretty weak. They are movement races, so it could just be my lack of experience with them in this regard. I am a Guard player after all. Staying stationary is what we do best. We die standing.

Here’s where the chinks in the armor start to show up. The gameplay itself is lacking in comparison to Dark Crusade. There’s a weird bug where I’ll tell my guys to go in one direction and they’ll take an off route. If a base is right in front of them they’ll attempt to go around it instead of into it. It only occurs when I’m attack moving, but it has messed me up on occasion and given the enemy a superior position.

Otherwise, the combat feels lifeless. I don’t get this rush during combat that I once did. In the previous games when you entered combat it was an epic battle. Tanks firing ordnance into melee skirmishes with gunfire galore flying all around. Now it all just feels stale. I feel like this is for two reasons.

I’m used to the combat by now. It’s been a game and three expansion packs. It makes sense I’d grow tired of it, but I’m not tired of the other games. Winter Assault, to me, still has the most epic feel when it comes to combat. I think that’s because of the second reason.

The games been so streamlined by this point. You can only have X amount of this troop while the rest of your troops are barebones basic. Winter Assault allowed me to field any kind of army to combat whatever was in front of me. Orks? Break out the hellhounds. Space Marines? Chimeras with lots of Kasrkan with plasma guns. Eldar? Ogryn tended to do the job right. Chaos required a mixture of hellhounds and chimeras. There was so many ways to field an army. Now it’s two Russ’s, three Basilisks, one Kasrkan and one Ogryn squad. I do get a couple of bombers and heavy weapons teams, but it was more fun when I could field an entire elite army. Now, it’s just Guardsman.

I’ll move onto looks now. The game definitely looks prettier with it’s uptick in graphics. The expansion packs have all added to the graphical fidelity of the base game. Especially with Dark Crusade that brought in 1920 by 1080p resolution. If you’re like me and own the games outside of steam the updates are not easy to comeby without risk. If I was to take one shot at steam, It’d be that, but old games are just that, old.  

The problem with the look of Soulstorm is that it’s too clean. Look at Dark Crusade, Winter Assault and the base game's campaign. The maps were grainy and dark with a lot of history behind them. This is supposed to be a war torn system from years of battle between the orks and guard, why isn’t it shown? You see it in in the previous installments. The world of Tartarus and it’s dead Guard and demolished cities, Lorn V with Its Guard inhabitants eradicated, It’s Chaos and Orks inhabitants strewn about fighting each other with a massive destroyed base of operations just ready for the winner to claim. It looks to have a massive amount of history to it everywhere as you march through it with your army to take it back. Dark Crusade has the feel of a guard/Tau planet in that they weren’t really fighting until everyone showed up, which is fluff friendly. The Kauraven planets feel like noone was there fighting, ever. You’ll find a couple of areas if you look hard enough, but most of the areas are squeaky clean. It doesn’t feel grimdark.

There’s also an odd mesh of the tabletop terrain with the game's background. It comes off as eye popping in some areas. The destroyed buildings just don’t mix with the pretty foliage that looks like it has not been affected in any way by the war torn years of strife.

Sound and ambience I’ll summarize quickly. It’s stellar just like the rest of the series. The new tracks of the holy organs really capture what the Sisters of Battle are fighting for. Their scorching xenos filth in the name of their glorious God Emperor. I much prefer the chanting and war drums laced with flashlights/laser pointers, but that's me. The Dark Eldar’s soundtrack is just menacing, evil and extremely epic. It truly reflects who the Dark Eldar are. If you don’t know then go and look up their history. Don’t if you’re against pure sin.

Now I come to the story. The story is pretty much the first game with a cluster of extra races thrown in. Orks and Guard and are fighting each other for control of the sector. Obviously, that’s a secondary goal for the Orks, but it helps their primary goal of “fightin” and “winnin”. Then all of that changes when near every single other race attacks. Once they’re all there a massive warp storm traps them all in and their left to fend each other off. It’s not entirely like the first game, but it’s close.

It’s not a top notch story that truly exceeds either of Winter Assault or the base game's story. What it is is a typical tuesday for Warhammer 40k. Everyone killing each other off in the most brutal of fashions and only the strongest can come out on top. Who wins? You’ll have to judge that yourself. Unless you want a lore winner, that's where you find out the lore is quite fond of a certain blogger. Too bad everyone hates this game.

The last thing I'll look at is the voice acting. Honestly, this aspect of the game gets far more scrutiny than it deserves. The only voices that hit me the wrong way were Commander Boreale, who just sounds off. He sounds as if he came from an entirely different universe and can barely get into the way Space Marines talk. It’s just offputting. The other voice is Gorgutz, I am so used to his original voice being hammy and amazing in representing the Orks perfectly. Hearing him talk like he just smoked his voice away just saddens me. One other complaint with the voice acting, the characters hardly intermigle. You got a mixture of everything in Dark Crusade. Everyone had something to say to each other and here it’s just everyone talking amongst themselves. It’s not as fun when there’s no banter involved. As bad as Gorgutz and Boreale sound, I bet some banter would have helped out the situation.

Looking back I didn’t have the hate that some others have towards it. I treated it as a lesser expansion than the rest, but it was still good and that hasn’t changed. Being older and more experienced with games and being far more observant, I have to say I found a lot more problems than I used to see. To me, the weakest part of the game is the feel to it. I don’t feel these worlds are as wartorn as was presented. They just seem like a little bit of war happened. Both the Orks and Guard had been stalemating for years and now everything else has shown up and are wiping each other out. It just needed to be shown more.. Everything else wrong with it can be overlooked slightly since it was Iron Lore’s first and only crack. I feel like if given another shot they’d have hit the mark. The gameplay had very little problems and the banter they’d have picked up on if given more time in the world. The voice acting wasn't perfect, but the marks that had to be hit with the new races were spot on.

Give it a shot if you haven’t. It’s still worth a playthrough or two.

Thank you very much for reading!

May the Emperor guide your blade.

[lady-cuteness]

I need to upload the last drawings I have (especially the inktobers one) so I can start college calmer a not anything pending.

If I’ve been distracted lately is because I have been distracted with Stardew Valley and Pokemon Ruby. (Especially I need to get Sam’s 3 heart event before the end of winter in year 1. Still not telling who I am marrying.)

Inktober day 28: Soul attack

Okay i don’t know why I do another drawing about this idea, but I got so hook up that I can’t stop drawing concept art for this series. it’s suppose to be a mix of the three routes (there’s not much in neutral, just a few dialogues I want to put here and there, but there will be parts of genocide and pacifist route). Also I was deciding if I ever did a comic, it would be manly black and white. And I won’t put EVERY monster there, especially if is unnecessary for the story,

Also I would be putting more twists to the story, like putting characters interactions that were actually there or change events that might change the course of the routes.

Inktober day 29: FE Highschool Au

Just a silly idea I had 3 years ago, but now that I think about it, it’s very stupid ^^; I really don’t want to do it, nor touch the idea ever again. Although I did like some concepts I had, especially Ricken’s side story I made.

The couples would be the ones based of my playthrough of FE Awakening.

List of old students: Chrom, Frederick, Lissa, Maribelle, Gaius, Ricken, Virion, Sully, Stahl, Vaike, Miriel, Cordelia, Sumia, Tharja, Lon’qu, Kellam

New Students Part 1: Henry, Olivia, Nowi, MU Chloe

New students Part 2: (After winter vacations): Gregor, Panne, Donnel, Libra, Cherche (she would have been a transfer student and a old friend of Virion).

Inktober day 30: I’m your final boss

This an idea I had while listening “I’m the boss” from the band Big Bad Bosses (it’s a really neat idea and it’s a band created from youtubers representing a villian of a specific game).

So I thought, “what would have happened if some of the rivals in pokemon turn out to be actually evil”. And the would be actually the final challenge, like post game. Hau is not here because Sun and Moon didn’t come out in October. So I actually selected the rivals from each gen (not counting gen 1).

Bianca: I love the rivals in each gen equally. All have unique personalities. (I was gonna put Hugh, but it was oversaturated as it is.) I love Bianca’s design in BW2, such a cutie and I love how you can rebattle her post game (if you use the reminder...something XD)

Wally: I love him and his backstory. But I HATE how he was implemented in the games. He should have been more present in the games, and see him evolve from a REALLY fragile kid who it seems he couldn’t do anything to a strong boy who can do anything. I thought I would see that in the remake. They didn’t. They just gave him more scenes but not more battles. Points for making him cuter though.

Silver: Truth to be told, I hated him when I was younger. I couldn’t stand him and I always thought he was an immature jerk (and I was 10 at that time XD). With the remakes I saw him in another different light...but he’s still an immature jerk XD

Barry: I have mixed feelings with Barry. I don’t believe he is a bad rival, but he’s also not my favorite, the main reason being is that Diamond and Pearl are games I dislike. The pacing was horrible and the pokemon that were selected for this game were horrendous u.u

N: One of the best “rivals” (could he be considered more a mini boss? Still don’t know :/ ) I needed to draw him since I like his design and the role he has in the story. In this pic he’s supposed to be the leader of the team.

Shauna: I REALLY didn’t want to draw a Gen 6 Rival, but I wanted another female rival to be N’s partner. But my options were Shauna, Serena and May. Both Serena and May are playable characters so I had to go with Shauna. I hate the rivals in X and Y. Boring, bland, one-dimensional and zero competition. The only thing that I could say to Shauna is that I like her design.

Inktober day 31: Yuki’s group of friends.

I wanted to draw this for a VERY long time. I love Gakkou Gurashi, gotta say that it’s definitely my favorite that I have seen in a long time. I even re watch the whole first season again :3 It’s an anime that I don’t get bored in watching.

I REALLY don’t want to explain what’s going on in this pic or why I love this anime so much because I might spoil the whole series. The only thing that I recommend you to do for this series is to go blind. Really, don’t search anything about it. Just watch the whole first episode. It’s worth it. My boyfriend LOVED this series, even though he’s not a fan of moe anime.

Note: the manga and the anime differ in a lot of things, so I recommend to check out both. (See the anime first though)

From left to right: Miki, Yuuri (Rii-san), Yuki and Kurumi.

[ladytitanium]

1,2,7 to 17, 19 to 23, 25 to 70

OKAY SO this got suuuuper long and I’m gonna answer it under a readmore but thank you so much for asking!

1. First game you played obsessively?

Definitely Minecraft. I got it around 2012 and played it whenever I could, although shortly afterwards I moved on to playing a lot of TF2 with some online friends.

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc. 

TF2 and Portal 2 were the first things I ever wrote fanfic for, so I’d say those two are big and important for sure. More recently, though, Transistor and Pyre have been inspiring me to pursue more art and music.

7. Any games you have multiple copies of?

I have Portal 2 for xbox 360 and PC.

8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?

I had a copy of Link to the Past in great condition, but my ex stole that and my entire SNES so :/

9. Most regrettable purchase?

No Man’s Sky is the obvious answer but I think I have some steam games lying around that I bought and played once, or just never touched. Not sure which ones, though. Usually if I’m going to spend actual money on something, I try to make sure it’s good first.

10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours?

No, but I’d like to someday.

11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?

Not in the sense of meeting people in an mmo or anything, but I’ve definitely bonded with people I’ve met over a mutual love of games.

12. Ever get picked on for liking games?

Nah, not really. I’ve been picked on more for not having played enough games, honestly.

13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has?

I’ve never played Overwatch or most online competitive games, or any MMOs aside from like 5 hours of gw2.

14. Favorite game music?

Anything Darren Korb, the composer for Supergiant Games, has made. Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre OSTs will always have a special place in my heart. Honorable mention goes to the Portal 2 soundtrack.

15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick?

I……. have a triforce tattoo…….. on my left wrist……………

16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL?

I tend to like watching people play games rather than doing competitive or couch coop type things, so it’s hard to say. I used to hang out with my friends while we all did playthroughs of the Mass Effect trilogy, though, which was wonderful.

17. Ever lose a friend over a game?

Nah. Had some arguments over the Souls games, though.

19. Favorite handheld console?

3DS, definitely, although I do have some nostalgia for the good ol’ GBA.

20. Game that you know like the back of your hand?

Portal 2, although it’s been a few years since I’ve played so I might not be as familiar with it as I once was. Barring that, Stardew Valley.

21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now?

I can’t think of any, honestly, since I almost never played anything as a kid.

22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?

The occasional Zelda t-shirt, and my old Aperture Science tanktop. I’d wear more if I owned more.

23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into?

TF2, I think? I used to play for hours every evening.

25. Were you ever an arcade game player?

Sadly, no. My mother thought arcades were giant wastes of time and money and would corrupt me and make me stupid. 

26. Ever form any gaming rivalries?

No, I don’t get competitive much. 

27. Game that makes you rage?

Any kind of roguelike makes me angry just thinking about it. I hate losing progress. Really difficult platformers make me frustrated and angry too.

28. Ever play in a tournament?

Dear god no.

29. What is your gaming set up?

Currently, none. I have a shitty, half-broken laptop.

30. How many consoles do you own?

I own a Switch and a 3DS. I have access to an XBONE though.

31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches?

I’ve never tried a Virtual Boy, but leaving the 3D on high on my 3DS is something I’ve only done once due to the nasty headache it gave me.

32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic?

I don’t think so, no.

33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games?

I had a Sonic handheld game from a happy meal, does that count?

34. Do either of your parents play video games?

My dad does, a lot. Mostly MMOs. I think my mother did too, but mostly Civ, some ancient Egypt themed MMO, and Guild Wars, from what I can recall.

35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop?

I worked in a game store for about six months late last year/early this year. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.

36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?

Oh, tears, absolutely. Plenty of games have made me cry. FFXV, Persona 5, Transistor, Portal 2, the list goes on.

37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination?

I actually have played it! Perks of working at a game store that sells Ataris. I was utterly baffled by it, so I think “worst game ever made” is a fair title.

38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?

I really enjoy all the walking simulators/art games I’ve played. I know a lot of people say they aren’t real games or whatever but I think most of the ones I’ve played are genuinely enjoyable experiences.

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?

...Portal 3, but with the same writers+VAs+team in general. I know that’ll never happen now but I need it like I need air.

40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?

Motion controls can be hit or miss. I think they need to be integrated well and very functional to be enjoyable. Like, wii sports and stuff? I loved it. Those tilt puzzles in the shrines in BOTW? Absolutely horrendous. As for VR, I really want to try it someday. I think it’s neat.

41. A genre that you just can’t get into?

Roguelikes, Souls-like (where the only purpose of the game is to be as difficult as possible so people who master it can be snobs about it), and any realistic online-only FPS things like Call of Duty are the three main things I will never, ever touch.

42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness?

Pokemon Ruby, absolutely.

43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else?

All through the second half of high school, tbh.

44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters?

I’ve never actually gotten to play arcade games much.

45. How are you at Mario Kart?

I’m only decent at Mario Kart Wii, because I played it a lot.

46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon?

Absolutely! Animal Crossing New Leaf and City Folk are games I love dearly and have spent a LOT of time on over the years.

47. Do you like competitive games?

Almost never. I only ever played TF2 with friends, and that pretty much extends to any competitive game I might play. Only with friends, and only sometimes.

48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?

So. Long.

49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character?

Yeah, mages are kind of my thing. I get jumpy when I have to do a bunch of melee so I tend to prefer to stand back a little. I always went full biotic in Mass Effect for that reason.

50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?

That’s a tough one. I’ve had a few concepts over the years, but none that have really stuck with me.

51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep?

Yeah, definitely. I lose track of time really easily if I’m absorbed in something.

52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid?

All Pokemon games from gen 4+5.

53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days?

Any DLC that adds characters or plot necessary for the full enjoyment of the game should be free imo. Skins/weapons/maps/non-essential quests and missions can be behind a paywall. Like, ME3′s From Ashes DLC should have been free, and I go back and forth between whether it was cool to have Citadel and Omega DLCs behind paywalls, but all the weapons/armor/alternate appearance packs I’m totally fine with being paid DLC.

54. Do you give in to Steam sales?

Only when I have money.

55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them?

I never played any Sims games.

56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests?

Never played Roller Coaster Tycoon either.

57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements?

Minish Cap, I think? I tried to 100% Super Mario Galaxy but I couldn’t ever quite do it.

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?

Oh, shit. Uh. Animal Crossing New Leaf, Pokemon Sun (or Moon), and... I can’t pick a third one. Probably something with multiplayer.

59. Do you play any cell phone games?

Yeah, but most of them are just little time-wasting puzzle games.

60. Do you know the Konami Code?

Yes!

61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever?

I’ve never traded in a game but I might if I bought a physical copy of something I didn’t like.

62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?

Does the Switch count, since till Splatoon 2 came out I only had BOTW on it? I’ve considered getting a PS4 just for P5 and Horizon Zero Dawn.

63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? 

I went to GenCon a few times when I was really young but I barely remember it, and I’ve tagged along to a handful of Warhammer 40k tournaments with my dad, but that was also like 10 years ago. So no, not really.

64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming?

I’ve never bought a TV or monitor myself.

65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file?

I had an Action Replay for shinies in X and Y.

66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it?

No, my first phone was a Windows phone when I was 14 because my mother hated technology and wanted to control me so a phone was way too much freedom and entirely out of the question :/

67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share?

I remember the first time I beat Portal 2, sitting on the floor in front of the TV and crying tears of joy. That was pretty great.

68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool?

I wanted to, but didn’t go to arcades enough.

69. In your opinion, best game ever made? 

Transistor. Can’t think of a single bad thing about it, honestly. Persona 5 and Horizon Zero Dawn are near-flawless too.

70. Very first game you ever beat?

The first game I beat was Pokemon Ruby, but idk if that counts since I shared with my brother, and I think my dad had to help us beat the Elite 4 because we were young and didn’t grind enough. I took turns with Portal 2, too. Portal 1, maybe?