#i do feel like i've just reiterated the game a bunch of times here though...

[sheepalmighty]

I made too many pages towards my Chai-joins-Vandelay-for-half-a-day AU: the headcanon heavy edition. It's also mostly the ending bit of it (there's still a little more I want to draw but they're mostly full of tricky dialogue so I hope I can find time later for them). I underestimated how many pages I wanted to make and it took twice the time I was hoping it would but I was able to get almost all of the fun and funny images I had stuck in my head out.

Luckily for all of us I can fit 'em all under this read more. Enjoy at your own leisure

[alollinglaughingcat]

@firealder2005 reblogged a bunch of tag games and i wanted to do all of them but i hate long reblogs in multitudes even if read more is an option so i combined them all into one post <3

@/gu1lty-as-sin's tag game

nickname: irl none really, online name is just Lolling

zodiac sign: Libra

height: i genuinely don't know but its probably somewhere around 5'6 since that's Alder's height lmao (i have height blindness and also cannot remember if i am taller or shorter or same height as you oopsies)

last thing i googled: uh technically i think it was me adding up the number of animals at the shelter i work at (the answer was 365 or somethin) though i never actually hit "enter" for it lol. otherwise it was "watcher grian ao3" (love me some ANGST)

amount of sleep: okay fun fact! i actually cannot perceive the amount of time i sleep. like if i go to bed at 11:00pm and wake up at 7:00am or if i go to bed at 9:00pm and wake up at 7:00am i think i've slept the same amount of time in my brain. i mean if i really push it to like 1:00am yeah i'll feel it in the morning but i can't do time math so it's all just the same numbers to me, so in my head i think i've always slept the healthy amount of hours. anyway probably 7-8

dream job: my current job is my dream job <3 i love working at an animal shelter. i'm currently going to school to be a vet tech, which I know I'll also enjoy doing since i've basically been a vet tech intern before, but I'll definitely miss getting to do everything i currently do as much as i do now, especially in regards to cleaning kennels, animal handling, and behavior assessments

movie/book that describes me the most: ??? fuck it i'll go random, The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg and Jon. that book is like how my brain works

favorite song: all of them and none of them they're all the same in the end

favorite instrument: minecraft noteblocks

favorite aesthetics: animalcore, cottagecore, vaporwave

favorite author: tui t sutherland!

random fun fact: i hope warrior cats never ends. i want a cat to go to space before it ends

not sure who started this tag game :)

favorite color: greens and pinks!

last song i listened to: damn i WAS gonna say "no clue" but i instinctively pulled up my yt playlist and started playing it RIGHt before i answered this tag game so now it's Flesh & Bone from ZOMBIES 2 (never watched it)

Last film I watched: 100% Wolf series and you can fight me over it its so endearingly mediocre

Currently reading: random fanfics. i guess the one I'm most dedicated to is the Echoes series for Watcher Grian content

Currently craving: nothing. wish i wanted to eat something tho but my appetite is empty

Currently watching: Guess That Build series w/ *takes breath* Impulse, Skizz, Grian, Gem, Jimmy, and Joel (currently halfway through Skizz's vid here)

Coffee or tea: i've never had either <3

Positivity Tag started by an Anon

Five Things I Like About Myself!

My writing skill, and specifically my ability to see things from a readers' perspective and predict the possible ways they will interpret my/others' writing.

My drawing skill, even though it is limited to just cartoon-ish, very stylized animals (mostly just cats tho). I enjoy drawing what I can draw.

My positivity. I've never been more grateful that I managed to somehow train myself into a more actively positive mindset. While I can get stressed, I feel like I can often manage it and remind myself that situational stress is temporary and happiness can always be found if you go looking for it.

My care and ability with animals. I enjoy handling difficult animals, be it spicy cats or reactive dogs, and I love seeing how animals' behaviors change over time with trust and patience. Even though I ironically don't really enjoy playing with animals that much, I enjoy surrounding myself with them and just co-existing with them, y'know?

My maturity. Took me a bit to really think of a something else to compliment myself on that wasn't just a reiteration of the above. But I've been told a lot that I'm always "so mature for my age" (not in a creepy way, but in a surprised, "wait you're X years old?!" way lol). I always thought it was a little silly, because isn't everyone "my age" mature? To my surprise, no. And those older than me aren't either. Which is okay because everyone's different! But it is frustrating sometimes lol

if anyone wants to do all or some of these tags, go ahead! open tag :)

[angelofthepage]

24 Bendy Questions/Opinions!

So user BeninjaLIVE over on Twitter has this Bendy thread happening that asks a bunch of opinion questions, and you know what? I'm feeling a little playful tonight, so we're gonna answer them here. If you didn't have a baseline of where I stand as a Bendy fan before, well here you go!

1. Which is your favorite game? feel free to say any of the unreleased ones too!

See this is already hard. XD I really love the original BATIM for its story and characters, definitely my favorite story, but I've enjoyed the experience of Dark Revival a ton too. I've probably been exposed to it more times as a result of friends casually booting it up to play in calls, and the fan service for the original was great, Chapter 4 still breaks my heart. But I am a lot harder on its storytelling since, I don't think it did as good of a job as Ink Machine, especially in terms of how fleshed out its characters were. So I guess, Dark Revival for overall experience.

2. out of all the games, Which Character is your favorite?

I think my answer is still a tie between Sammy and Malice. XD They are my beloveds.

3. Which character installs the most fear / is the most horrific?

That depends on the context! From a gameplay perspective? Carley scares the crap out of me (I love you ghost girl, I want to give you a cookie, even though you're mean to us). From a writing perspective? The ink demon is pretty horrifying both in that he's this terrifying monster and was horribly mistreated within his backstory. A victim turned predator.

4. If you were in charge of directing the new Bendy game, what would change? (new features, new characters, changed gameplay, etc)

This is a dangerous question to ask me. X'''D I would put more focus on story and have more time spent with characters so that we get to know them and care about them a bit more. If we're specifically talking about The Cage, I want more of Sammy and Joey (and Boris, I would kill for a Boris reunion). I want to get to know them (if we're continuing the "Joey Drew learning to be a better person arc" I want him to try and be kinder to Henry and mess it up in his own Joey way). I want to know Henry's feelings about what he's going through. But most importantly, I would be putting Archie Carter, Evan, Buddy Lewek, Constance Gray, and/or Abby Lambert in this game. It doesn't have to be big, but for the love of all that is good and Bendy, PLEASE give us a book character cameo in this game, I beg of thee Meatly! We literally just had a book release involving a ton of Gent stuff, please give us an audiolog from one of these guys while going through the horrors of it, I would be SO HYPED for that!

5. What is your LEAST Favorite Character

This is the silliest thing, but there's only one Bendy character I actively dislike, and it's that puppet in the mop bucket from the prologue of BATDR. That thing creeps me out. I'm so sorry. ^^''''

6. smash or pass the ink demon

Neither, I'm extremely ace and not here for smashing, but I'm not passing up on interacting with him. I'm instead inviting him over for some cookies and hot cocoa.

7. Opinions on Bendy and the Dark Revival? this goes for gameplay, lore, characters, everything.

Already covered this one earlier, but to reiterate, I like it! I just wish we spent more time with the characters. I do have some issues with the way the story was handled. As much as I loved Chapter 4, I do kind of wish we got the reveal that Audrey was the daughter of Drew sooner, or at the very least, gave her more time/scenes to grapple with it. Because love the ending as I might, Joey's speech about her being born of darkness just, doesn't hit for me when she doesn't seem to feel that way about herself at any point? Like we see her struggle with it once and then never again, it needed some more build up and punch. But overall? I loved it. I loved this cast, I love the atmosphere and locations, I loved the expansion of the ink demon's character, Memory Joey was a hit despite doing some things that kind of lessen the horror of the previous game, and Twisted Alice, as nonsensical as her plan was, was such a treat, I was so glad to have her back and have her be such a menace. XD

8. Do you have high hopes for any new bendy games? (mainly Bendy - The Cage)

I have a reasonable level of optimism and curiosity! I'm sure it'll be an interesting entry. Curious how they'll handle more disturbing horror after how disturbing the last game was. I'm trying not to expect too much, going in with fewer expectations makes for a better experience for me personally.

9. How did you feel about BATIM's ending when it first came out?

Mostly confused, but really excited that Henry didn't die. X'''D No joke, when Chapter 5 first came out, I was so freaking anxious about what was gonna happen. A friend got on call and watched a playthrough with me so I didn't like lose my entire cool. X'''D Still one of my fondest memories in this fandom. The ending wasn't everything I hoped for, but I still appreciate it and the rest of Chapter 5 as a result of the experiences I had with friends during it.

10. looking back on it now, how do you feel about Chapter 3 of BATIM?

When the original came out, it needed some balance and bug testing badly. But in its current state? It's not as bad as people make it out to be, but it is tedious. I get so lost in it as someone who's directionally challenged, but like, -gestures at Malice- my GIRL! How can I not enjoy it at least a little when my queen is right there giving some of the best and most informative dialogue of any character in the game?

11. if you could change / improve ONE THING about Bendy and the ink machine (the singular game) , What would it be?

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I would want it to have some gyroscopic control on the Switch port. I'm sorry gamers, I don't know how you play games where you have to aim with the analog sticks, I can't do it, I'm so bad at it. X'''D I use motion controls for stuff like aiming my view in Splatoon, give me that as Henry and I will be unstoppable.

12. Opinions of MAlice Angel / Corrupted Susie Campbell?

She is everything, she is the moment, she is my beloved, and I want to bake for her and tell her she's beautiful, because she IS! She was such a fun antagonist and I want more of her backstory! Like she has been an enjoyable part of every game she's been in. Boris and the Dark Survival with the Milla Tapes? Underrated Alice moment, she was GREAT there.

13. Do you think Sammy dying, and THEN coming back was good or bad?

I don't think I can classify it as good or bad, but I did enjoy it! Like hey, ink creatures don't necessarily stay permanently dead, and they can have some really interesting mental things happening when reforming, that was cool world building! And then when we got to see under the mask, and he's ready to kill us? Oh MAN, oh that was a thrill. Would not trade that brief Sammy boss fight for anything, that's my GUY right there!

14. On a Scale of One to Ten, how convoluted do you thing Bendy's lore as of Present Day?

Eh, gonna roll with the devil's number and say a 6.6. It's not that bad. BATDR convoluted it more than BATIM did, and there are some book moments that puzzle me, but it overall? It's workable, and I only drive myself a tiny bit nuts over it (I say as I've been going "NOTHING IS TRUE THE CANON IS A LIE" for like two weeks trying to assemble a series timeline and classify ink creatures).

15. Opinions / on a scale of 1-10 on the Bendy Books?

Dreams Come to Life - 7/10, needed more clarity in parts, had some good moments with returning characters, Dot we love you, JACOB WE LOVE YOU

The Lost Ones - 7/10, was a little weird not seeing most of our studio cast and being so far removed from the studio itself, but it's an enjoyable read, really liked our new characters and swapping perspective, living for that Wally intro, and I have a lot of questions about what ink can do to your brain and Tom's mental state in 1946

Fade to Black - 9/10, by far my favorite, great balance of old and new, Joey Drew was DELIGHTFULLY UNHINGED (something something that's the Joey I knew), Rose was fun, Evan was fun, DOT HI I MISSED YOU, Archie Carter was THE BIGGEST SURPRISE and I ADORE HIM, never thought we'd get a YouTuber cameo audiolog character as a MAJOR PART of a book, Wilson was a treat, and the studio sections of this one destroy me, I love it love it love it

The Illusion of Living - 7/10, the greatest Joey Drew character study to ever exist, which is great but difficult to read when he jumps all over the place and rambles about who knows what for pages at a time, offered some really great moments that I can't imagine the series without, and it solidified my love of Abby, please give Abby a spot in the games, this book made it very clear she is important to the Joey and Henry backstory, and I am so frustrated that we have not referenced her ONCE in these games when she's one, the head of the art department, and two, the one with the braincell of this trio, also Detective Sinclair's murder mystery was fun, I didn't know I would enjoy that genre so much, also Sammy and Jack were GREAT in this book

Employee Handbook (the original) 6/10 - It's a game guide mostly, but I go back to this thing often since it's one of the few things in the series that ACTUALLY GIVES US DATES for when things happened.

16. Opinions / on a scale of 1-10 on the Crack up Comics?

Crack Up Comics is a solid 9/10 for me, it was genuinely fun to read. Sucks that so many comics got spoiled for me on Twitter (much like the ending of DCTL, still sore about that), but the art is really cute, there's a small bit of lore, and the characters are written in such a fun way. Bendy you little scamp, I love you. Hindsight being what it is, I'm still a bit sore there was no cameo appearance for Carley in this book, and I feel the same way about all the toons from this book not appearing anywhere in Dark Revival. What is the point of having fun cartoon characters if they're not at least making a small appearance on a wall poster or something? That is such a missed opportunity.

17. Best Toon Character? (Out of Bendy, Boris, and Alice)

Alice, by far. Don't get me wrong, I love Bendy and Boris too, but Alice has such a fun character, especially in the comics, I LOVED her.

17 (2). Best Butcher Gang Member? (toon)

Edgar. I've warmed up to Charley a lot over the years, but Edgar is my baby boy, I want to hold him and squeeze him and love him, he's so SWEET.

18. Not a question; but SHOW US YOUR / AN OC!! FEEL FREE TO LORE DUMP !!

So hiiii, this is my girl Bella Ewe, a young woman who got roped into Joey's shenanigans as an apprentice animator (after he accidentally broke her leg), and accidentally ends up in the cycle. She gets sacrificed by Sammy, ends up as a searcher that steadily evolves, he has regrets about it, and now with Jack, they're working as a trio called The Shepherds to try and help break the narrative that everyone's been forced to play a part in. Her dive ability allows her to plunge into the depths of the ink, where she talks to people to try and help them regain their humanity. She goes from timid and hopeless to fiery and surrounded by found family, and she is my beloved sheepy daughter.

19. Best Human Character? (Out of Henry, Joey, Audrey, Wilson)

Oooh, that's hard. I'm gonna have to say Joey. I love Henry and Audrey, but the two of them don't get a lot of characterization. Joey however, we get to know him throughout multiple stages of his life AND an inky memory of him, and all of them are such a fun time to explore.

19 (2). Best Human Character? (Out of Wally, Nathan, Sammy, and Bertrum)

Okay that's not fair. X'''D Sammy is my favorite, I love his human iteration just as much as I love his inky one, but Wally is also high up there. He's a fun comedic relief.

20. Best Inked Creature? (Out of the ink demon, Malice, Sammy, and Buddy Boris)

This also isn't fair, how dare you make me pick between my wife and my husband. X'''D But I'm gonna have to say Alice. She's got the more compelling story, but Sammy is also really good as our first introduction to what can happen to a human tainted by ink, he's the one that pulled me into liking Bendy in the first place.

20 (2). Best Inked Creature? (Out of Shipahoy Dudley, Lost Ones/Searchers, Allison, and Tom Boris)

This is hard, but I think I'm gonna say Searchers and Lost Ones. Back when BATIM Chapter 4 dropped, you know that part where that one Lost One goes "when can we go home" and then you open the door to see a room FULL OF THEM? Shivering and miserable? That broke me, I just kept whispering "I'm sorry" as we went through there. (Also Porter and Heidi are great, I hope we see them again someday.)

21. Whats the best ink demon variant?

BATDR, hands down. He is a much more intimidating monster, the voice gives me chills (thank you Sean), I can't get over his silly little hooves, he's great. Still love all the others though, they're good in their own ways.

22. The Better gloves? three lines or two dots?

I prefer the two dots for Bendy, but it doesn't really matter. Alice got infinitely cooler gloves, I'm sorry. X'''D

23. Did you prefer Wally being Boris, or Buddy being Boris?

I'm a Buddy Boris kind of gal. Buddy stole my heart in the books, and I love him a lot. That said, I think they both have merit, and I can appreciate fan content that explores both of these options. When the original game was in development, and Wally and Boris were the characters that were left, all the others we could make pretty reliable guesses about the fates on, so him being Boris was a process of elimination theory that people tried to justify with details like him knowing his way around the vent system. And it would have been so sad as a twist since his whole thing was "I'm outta here," him not getting out would be the unfortunate punchline. I get why it was popular, and like I said, I enjoy a number of fan works that use it. But I won't lie, it didn't ever feel like that was the canon for me, not enough information to back it up. I mean Buddy has a similar problem, but at least we know he's a Boris. Whether or not he's Henry's Boris friend is the inconclusive part. Regardless of canon, that's how I write him at least.

24. Did you like Joey being inky or the newer lore?

I'm not sure what this is asking, but I get the sense this has to do with the old theories about Joey being the Ink Demon vs. what we have now with Memory Joey and the human Joey being dead? I'm okay with it to be honest. Would I have liked Joey to be the big bad that also suffers as a monster for his crimes against his co-workers? Yes, that would be very satisfying. But I think in a lot of ways, his current lore can still be satisfying too. It's no secret that I have some mixed feelings about his slideshow presentation, but let's reiterate for anyone who doesn't know me, because I think it ties into this in an important way.

I struggle with the decision to change the lore for Henry and Allison, and it affects my feelings about Joey. Memory Joey is a great character, he's a Joey Drew that's trying to be a better person, and that's what I like about him. He's imperfect, because he's a Joey and Joey is far from perfect, he's going to make mistakes and botch things up, but he's trying. He cares about Audrey, he's trying to help her through the studio without overstepping the boundaries, because again, he's still figuring out this whole "being a better person" thing. And ultimately, that was what endeared me to him. You don't need to change the lore of the previous games to give Joey Drew a redemption arc. All we needed was Joey choosing to try and be better. It doesn't erase his sins and all the bad stuff he did along the way, it doesn't change how he treated people, it doesn't change the literal murder and chaos he caused, the lives he ruined. And it shouldn't. Redemption arcs aren't about a character being forgiven or given a pass, they're about a character choosing to be better regardless of how the world sees them, and that's what's SO POWERFUL about Memory Joey! Joey Drew in life was so concerned with how the world saw him at several stages, so much time is spent being stuck in the past, despite his insistence that he doesn't want to think about the past. And finally we have an iteration of him that has tried to move past what he was before, and I am SO PROUD OF HIM!

That was all we needed, we did not need Henry and Allison being clones to soften his crimes. That does not help with Joey's redemption arc, in some ways it kind of cheapens it for me. Instead it has caused more confusion on whether or not ink creatures require a soul, lessens the horror of the original BATIM for Henry's characterization, brings about SEVERAL questions about who is and isn't a clone now (looking at you Tom), and just like, it's been really weird when it comes to Joey's murder and victim count. Like, the guy has been responsible for multiple deaths in BATIM and the books, why are we deciding now that these two aren't part of that? Also the one note about the ink children that came before Audrey, that is also a can of worms and I'm very exhausted thinking about it.

Overall, I like Joey as he is now. As stated before, I think Fade to Black has some of the best Joey writing in the entire series (as does TIOL, even if it was a bit of a slog to get through). I like Memory Joey a lot, I mean I wouldn't have made a doll of him if I didn't. X'''D He's alright.

Thank you for these wonderful questions! You guys, if you made it to the end and wanna go engage with the original, here's the link one more time, just so you don't have to scroll to the top. XD Have fun.

[peemanne]

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (or just yakuza 7) Review: My Life is Like a Video Game

Hey, it's Pee again! So there's this site called Backloggd that's basically just letterboxd for video games and I've been writing a bunch of reviews there, with a bunch of longer ones for RGG games because of course so. I've got one currently cooking for 0 and in the meanwhile, I've decided to put them up here too, for archiving or whatever. I also get to put silly captions on them now. So with that out of the way, here's the first big review I did: Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Also might as well plug my backloggd in here if you wanna see the rest of the stuff I've done hehehehehe

This review is spoiler-free! Reviewed on Jul 12, 2023 Completed on the Playstation 4 Rating: 10/10 (5 Stars)

(spoilers you're gonna be seeing perfect scores for a bit i can't tell you just how much i love this franchise)

if you play the dub one of the first things you'll hear is the word "cumstain"

Very necessary "review funnies" aside, I adore Yakuza 7. I don't even typically like turn-based RPGS, but Yakuza: Like a Dragon had me in a trance that lasted the entire game and then some. Let's talk about the main gameplay first. Even as someone who doesn't have a lot of experience in this genre, even I can tell it's not exactly the deepest out there. The elements system is either more or less just an extra thing or strictly needed depending on where you are in the game, and in both it just feels kinda tacked on. The environmental system with the characters using the stuff around sounds cool on paper, but in reality it's barely utilized because of either DE physics destroying everything your character touches with their pinkie toe, or because you can't reposition your characters to actually pick it up. This is a shame, since it was a really cool way to integrate a big feature from the beat-em-up games. With these being said though, they're ultimately just small nitpicks. The gameplay is still pretty fun with the MP management, the perfect block system encouraging more active gameplay, and the various buffs and debuffs you can utilize. And the main thing that makes the gameplay here is the sheer spectacle of it all. Ichiban's imagination cranks everything up to 11, and if I'm being honest, that justifies the gameplay switch by itself. Yakuza has always had it's goofy elements, but amplifying it tenfold to differentiate your new protagonist was a great way to introduce this little soft reboot. Thanks to the Job system, there's countless amounts of these different, joyfully imaginative attacks. There's a chef job which has you whacking your opponents with frying pans and throwing kitchen utensils at them. The mage archetype in this game is "Homeless Guy", who uses pigeon swarms and breathes fire by drinking then spiting out alcohol. If you do the business minigame, you gain access to an attack that has you pimp slap the enemy with excessive amounts of cash. And the heat actions are the peak of all of this insanity. I was actually introduced to this series as a whole through a gif of Essence of Orbital Laser with the caption "I don't agree with your opinion". It gets very crazy, very fast, even for this series, and I love all of it. And I must reiterate, I'm not usually a turn-based RPG guy. But I could tell this entire game is just a sweetly written love letter to JRPGs. Even with me only understanding some of the references, I could feel the love that RGG put into this game. And if you're someone who's already an RPG guy, this love letter's gonna get even sweeter for you.

And then there's the story. Yakuza 7 has, in my opinion, the second best story in the entire series, second only to JE. It has a very strong emotional core, which made me cry a few times throughout the story, and finally had me BAWLING at 12:30AM when I played the finale. The themes of fatherhood and found family really come through here. You feel for Ichiban, and you root for him the entire time, as he goes through struggle after struggle. And the characters themselves are amazing, even for the high standards for this series. Ichiban is amazing, but his party members are too. The main 4 bounce off of each other super well and I love their dynamics. And the other 2 party members (no spoilers) have pretty distinct personalities as well which compliment the main 4 some more. Eri is also there, I guess. I like to imagine she's the camerawoman for all the cutscenes. Man, poor girl. The thing that really makes these character dynamics are the little party chats and table talks. They feel like a real friend group with all this really cutely-written banter. I actually just sat down and listened to all the table talks one day and I just had this big dumb grin on my face the entire time. I care so much for these characters just from the main story, but all the side stuff just made me really fall for them.

Let's talk about the rest of the side stuff next. This series is known for it's fantastic side content, but Yakuza 7 goes the extra mile for it. This title's jampacked with both new and old minigames to enjoy. Dragon Kart serves as the "main big minigame" for this one, and it's a fun distraction with all the customization, tracks, and the storyline. The Karaoke selection is strong in this one, which is probably what you wanna hear. Mahjong's not required for completion in this one, therefore I don't have to hear about people complaining about it, which is a plus. I like how the bonuses here for completing the minigames are helpful stat boosts for Ichi, which encourages playing different stuff around the map(s) without it feeling strictly needed. The substories in 7 are pretty good. Not the series' strongest, I'd say, but there's a decent selection here. A lot of them do a good job at characterizing Ichiban, and some of them have the funniest "goofy substory fights" in the series. You can fight a giant out-of-control roomba, a chimp riding a crane, and a "Piss Wizard". The poundmates system is also a really cool incentive for doing them, and has the bonus of reminding you of all the cool stuff you did while you're in combat. Also also, it serves as a "friends we made along the way" thing, which is pretty funny to think about.

Let's finish things off with the soundtrack. 7's OST focuses mostly on electronic music, moreso than the other games. This might be against some player's tastes, but personally, I think it fits really well. It gives a sense of this new generation, and of passing the torch while still keeping some of the sound of the old one. There are some amazing tracks on here that come out of this. To give some examples, Receive You the Hyperactive and Rolling Eyes Fall Down the Dragon Wall are some of the best tracks in the whole series, embracing the past while weaving in a new, crazy spin on it. Tracks like War Maker, Answer From Geomijul, and appassionato are basically rave music. Brutality and Triplet after Triplet are some very heavy sounding tracks which fit their respective boss fights perfectly. Enter the Tiger is a very underrated track and has a pretty unique sound compared to the rest of the OST, almost like it's straight out of a Hong Kong kung fu movie's score. And ism is a beautiful sendoff to it all, and a fantastic final boss theme. The soundtrack's full of bangers, that all fit their respective places well. Fun little tidbit, the track "From Today I'm a Dragon Racer" was meant for a the third fight with Ozaki in Chapter 11 of Judgment, but was scrapped, then reused here, so now the funny racing minigame just has this super badass main theme song.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is just an amazing game, and another fantastic addition to the Yakuza series. This was a wild direction to take the franchise in, but in my opinion, that risk definitely paid off. Fantastic story, fun and imaginative gameplay, lovable characters, a boatload of side content, and a bopping soundtrack. It has it all. I cannot overstate how much I love this game, especially as a fan who's already familiar with the past games. I can't wait for Gaiden and LAD8. It's definitely a great time to be a Yakuza fan right now. Even if you're someone like me who wouldn't consider themselves an RPG fan, I would highly recommend giving Yakuza: Like a Dragon a try.

[manonamora-if]

UX anon here - thank you for your response! I didn't realize the lack of resources in the community tbh. Would it be helpful if there was a master post of basic mobile UX principles to follow? Or would it be more helpful to gather a bunch of pre-existing twine templates and iterate them to be more in line with said principles? Or both?

Hi again Anon! :D

Yeah... it's kind of a common feeling. You [general you] don't know how much knowledge/resource/time/etc you need to invest until you actually make the thing you are enjoying. I've done the same when watching movies/series, believing I could write better dialogue... lol the audacity of my brain honestly...

I did make a Twine resource list some weeks back, with all I knew/could find, but I don't think there are any resource focused on mobile only. Though I do think most templates have some sort of mobile formatting/scaling in mind (even if not perfect). So this is definitely a niche to fill!

When it comes to the nitty-gritty of things, I can't really tell you which path to take (I am just one creator in the sea of many). You could send a poll to other authors, see their input.

I would advise against, though, reiterate pre-existing twine templates without the explicit consent of the creator (it might go without saying, but just in case). They might even prefer editing their templates with those advice instead of seeing their "updated" templates available out there (that's def the case for me).

But I do think the idea of a Master Post of Basic Principles with clear instructions (and images of what is good/not good!) would definitely be helpful. It leaves you open to go in more details about other principles in the future (if you want to do so, obviously you shouldn't feel pressured).

Last bit of advice, maybe check out Twine and how the different formats have built their visuals. It probably help you understand the limitations creators face when editing their UI. Theoretically, you could do anything on Twine, especially with SugarCube/Chapbook/Snowman (Harlowe is... wonky). But there are some class that have different rules depending on them being built through CSS or JavaScript.

EDIT: IF YOU POST SOMETHING LIKE THAT ON TUMBLR, TAG ME SO I CAN SHARE IT!!!

I'm also going on a bit more rambling, because I've realised I've had more feelings about the topic. PS: not directed at anyone in particular, just letting some steam out.

This is also my personal opinion, but I don't think (non-physical) IF was ever intended to be on mobile in the first place (ahem parsers/point-and-click...). When IF became a thing, there were no mobile (so that question was moot anyway). You just had a computer (maybe) that would run a program. I feels like it's been more of an evolution towards mobile use, as smaller/touch screens became the more prevalent device for entertainment (in general, not just IF). You have apps like CoG or HostedGames or those Story ones (they kind of look like VNs) that are very popular (and are incidentally fit for mobile...). And now we expect this of everyone that start with IF.***

While IF programs/format do allow for mobile support (to different degree), I do think we have to remind ourselves from time to time that IF creators still often create as a hobby, with often limited knowledge and resources. The fact that we sometimes/often uphold some IF to standard as high as actual game companies (who have headcounts and resources and knowledge to make things better) is just mind boggling to me (the number of asks/comments I get about my UI not looking professional because of a few mistakes...). Even trying to go through actual big company website is sometimes dreadful on mobile. Unileveeeeer *raise fist to the sky*...

Resources to make things more accessible (especially program/format specific) should be available to people, but we should leave some leeway to people who can't implement things or just don't want to. It might suck, but yeah... Think of it as computer exclusive projects (like you'd have with consoles :P ).

***Little side note, but we had a similar-ish discussion on the forum about Twine games during the IF Comp. It wasn't about mobile accessibility but the game being unstyled, and how many expected Twine entries to have some sort of styling and not just use the base UI, while the expectation was not as present (or not at all) for other programs. It is very interesting to go through.