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sapphic-scylla · 2 months

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First Impression Best to Worst Boss Fights in Shadow of the Erdtree

DLC has been out for a minute and I’ve done my initial runthrough and taken as much as I could from it. Suffice to say, I did love it a lot and thought that it has a solid amount of staying power. This list covers the main bosses only (and a few notable side bosses) and as usual, unless you don’t care about SPOILERS, I recommend not reading past this point:

Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame: Now, already, I feel like people are gonna disagree with me. Hear me out. When I first hit this fight, I was like “they integrated a PVP-centric status condition into a boss fight. How is that fair?”. And then I thought about it for a second. No fight style makes this fight easier. No weapon, no spell, no armor makes this fight easier. It is as you see it. This man’s attacks can cover almost an entire room, snipe you from a thousand miles away, his melee attacks hit like a train, and builds up your Frenzy, which can leave you vulnerable and chunk your health and FP. But, he also is easy to stagger, he doesn’t move very fast, and his attacks are telegraphed a year in advance. It’s perfect. He doesn’t have a ton of health, but he is absolutely savage. He’s what difficulty SHOULD be and the sigh of satisfaction when you beat him is REAL. You can’t really cheese or simplify this boss beyond KILL HIM and it’s so refreshing to find a boss that no matter your choice of loadout, Midra will keep you on your toes in the most horror game-like way. Also lore wise, the vibes in this entire area were unsettling and immaculate and the “Eyes of Sauron/Winter Lantern” enemies actually made me jump in that horror game fun way and I adored it.

Messmer, The Impaler/Base Serpent: Now, this was the fight I forced myself to learn through sheer force of will. I literally slammed my head against this man for a day because I knew that the only thing that was killing me was my own arrogance and IT PAID OFF. By the end when I finally beat him, I adored this fight. This man lets you fucking have it, but at no point did it ever seem unfair or bullshit or, hell, even free. This fight is a perfect mix of cinematic, difficult, and a riot to learn and improve at and I genuinely look forward to this fight each playthrough now.

Rellana, Twin Moon Knight: A scaled-up version of my favorite base game Dark Souls 3 boss and she didn’t disappoint. Incredible fight, solidly learnable, and definitely one of the highlights of my first runthrough.

Bayle the Dread: The quickest love-hate relationship I’ve ever had the pleasure to wade through. In my first ten tries, I could not help but think “this is the worst. What can I do against this man except die?”. But the more I fought him, the more I enjoyed it and the more fair I found it. He is overwhelming, yes, but his tells are obvious and when you recognize the areas his attacks affect, he becomes a lot less oppressive. He also has the greatest phase 2 transition of all time. I mean my love for Placie has grown over the past few months, but I think Bayle edges out for Second place in best Dragon fights in Elden Ring. Fortissax takes first.

Scadutree Avatar: This fucker seems easy at first, and then he starts driving around. I severely underestimated this boss at first due to how much damage he was taking compared to everything else. Then he hits second phase and until then, I’d never been jumpscared by a sunflower before. Still not the hardest boss by any means, but definitely checks you at the door.

Romina, Saint of the Bud: I mean, outside of the obvious, I don’t know why I enjoyed this fight. Her rushdown is legendary and she deals in Scarlet Rot, so you’d think I would hate this fight. But her tactics ended up being fairly straightforward, her Rot wasn’t as oppressive as I thought it would be, and she really is such an aesthetically pleasing fight.

Putrescent Knight: The goofiest looking creature on this list by far, but this dude kicked my ass several times. He definitely came with his fair share of surprises, but he never felt overly obnoxious or overstayed his welcome. Not the most fun fight, but definitely worthy of more praise than scorn.

Allies of Miquella: Debated putting this in here because it’s more of a PVP standoff than a boss fight, but I feel it’s worth a mention. Nothing particularly exciting, but it definitely is much more of a marathon than I was expecting and a very difficult one at that. Come prepared here. These people don’t pull punches.

Ghostflame Dragons: More a mention than anything. Nothing unique, but it did force me to rethink how to fight dragons a la Darkeater Midir which I enjoyed.

Metyr, Mother of Fingers: Well, we had to hit the lower half eventually. Metyr doesn’t have a ton of health which puts her up here, but I generally dislike bosses that remind me of The One Reborn where it feels like no matter where you hit the boss, you’re still being dealt damage just for walking up to it which, I’m sure, incentivizes spellcasters, but frustrating nonetheless.

Promised Consort Radahn: Malenia without all of the charm and enjoyment. Malenia, I still firmly believe takes the cake in terms of hardest (and best) boss in Elden Ring, but Radahn did not skimp on the difficulty round two. That being said, his move set is far less enjoyable to learn than Malenia’s and often, it just felt the impressive amount of health and the absolutely unhinged amount of capable range this man has is unjustifiable. Plus, Malenia invites aggression and allows for so many ways to contest her despite her making you work for it while Radahn just hurts. Pain for the sake of improvement is great. Pain for the sake of pain is a lot less fun.

Ancient Dragon Senessax: I did not think that the thing that would make me hate a fight like Lansseax or Fortissax would be just setting the damn thing in a pool of water, but here we are. The lightning AOE’s in this fight are ruthless and are a lot less avoidable for how much they stagger on a regular day. Definitely not the worst, but not a fun development.

Golden Hippopotamus: This thing definitely killed more innocent players than real hippos do every year in real life. This thing SUCKS to fight. Camera monsters in general are just a pain, but when half of your screen is covered in porcupine quills (yes, YOU HEARD ME), this thing becomes substantially more of a drag. That and this abomination punches above its weight class and I just generally found this fight as entertaining as a mosquito bite.

Commander Gaius: Fuck this man. I’ve never had a dude kill me so consistently or so consecutively in the first 5 seconds of the fight. It’s been a minute since a boss legitimately made me yell at my TV screen and I did not welcome the experience. Also, this man had absolutely no right or privilege to ride my ass this fucking hard unless he bought me dinner first. Will not enjoy revisiting this dude.

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Brace yourself. This is gonna be a long one. I apologize in advance. *breathe in* *heavy sigh* I’ve never actively thought any boss in any Dark Souls game was purely unwarranted or worthy of true hatred. Despite all of the bosses I dislike fighting across all FromSoft games, I always attempted to find a bright side or something like lore or environment or something to justify its existence and I had succeeded. Until I met this fucking thing. This menace didn’t have the most kills on me (that goes to Malenia and Messmer) or did anything in particular that actively exploited my playstyle (like Maliketh, Mohg, or the Crucible Duo). This cockroach merely existed and it was enough. Its body is a giant blob. Its hitbox is horrific. It punishes aggression. It punishes passivity. This thing has ranged attacks, melee attacks, magical attacks, passive effects, movement patterns, retaliatory tactics, and even him just looking at me hits like a goddamn truck. He is so hard to read and does so much damage and does the most unhinged, wtf follow-ups that I’ve ever seen with the most hairpin trigger aggression I’ve ever experienced in my life. He does frost damage, lightning damage, physical damage, I’m pretty sure there is fire damage in there somewhere, emotional damage, and mood damage. And, to top it all off, THERE’S A FUCKING SECOND ONE OUT IN THE BOONIES THAT IS EVEN FUCKING WORSE. Basilisks have been in the Soulsborne conglomerate for as long as I can remember and I’ve tolerated their existence until FOUR OF THEM WANDER INTO THIS FUCKING FIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF PHASE 2. THIS LION HAS A DEATH BLIGHT PHASE. You know, the one status effect in Elden Ring that INSTANTLY KILLS YOU. And the best part? If you don’t kill him fast enough, HE CAN DO IT AGAIN. It would not surprise me if the same sadist that came up with the Double Gargoyle fight came up with this one. And like I said, he doesn’t have the most health I’ve ever seen, but it doesn’t fucking matter. The only thing that matters is how fast you can remove his health because he WILL kill you if you give him any leeway. I fought this thing twice and I know about as much about how to fight this thing as I did the first time I walked into its arena. I succeeded twice by SHEER DUMB LUCK. I despise this thing and if I could actively avoid it, I would not hesitate.

#elden ring #shadow of the erdtree #shadow of the erdtree spoilers

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shenanigans-and-imagines · 2 months

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Evie (Ace!Tav) Playthrough Day 2

Day 1 — Day 3

Astarion x Evie (Ace!Tav) Masterlist

For the uninitiated, I wrote a Tav well before I ever had a chance to play the game. Now, I finally can and thought it might be fun for my first play through to be as that Tav. Or, at least as much as the game play will allow me.

These are just some of my notes and scattered highlights that I thought would be fun to share.

Let me know if you think if I should continue this and any suggestions you might have.

Okay, so actually playing the game, I really have to think about what Evie thinks of the mindflayers. Genuine terror is my first reaction. I can't imagine she's even heard of them or Gith for that matter.

Her seeing the injured mindflayer and how they tried to take over her mind frightened her, which is my kind of subtext motivation for why she reacted in anger and killed it

Something to keep in mind for later; honestly need more fics about Tavs in general with PTSD from the mindflayers

Moving on from that; Gale!

I'm more convinced now that Evie and Gale get on from the jump

A little full of himself on first impression? Yes, but much more polite and verbose than the alien, cagey cleric and the man who just put a knife to her throat.

As an aside, Evie did break out of Astarion's grip, she talked him down; I think talking her way out of things is more her style, I'm not sure if that will continue to be a viable solution but we'll see

And on the subject of Astarion; my novice understanding of game mechanics is not leaving him and Evie on the right foot

I thought I could break down the door with thunder wave and ended up hitting Astarion instead

Also, I really did think he was clear of the stone when I dropped it

Honestly tempted to write a short fic based around that; I can't imagine Astarion letting that little accident go any time soon

Y'all weren't exaggerating about Shadowheart though; she missed so many of her attacks

MVP really does have to go to Gale, between fire bolt and his staff he was really pulling most of us through the encounters, the undead around Withers tomb especially

For his question I ended up answering with Evie saying that "one life is infinite in value and merits sacrificing everything"

I did admittedly have to think about Evie's answer, but I think at the end of the day Evie is a romantic at heart

It's gotten her into more than more bad situation, but she's not ambivalent towards people and has tried as she's gotten older to be the person she wished she had when she was younger

(I can also see Astarion hearing this and wanting to scoff, but also tucking it away for later; a bleeding heart could be useful)

Also if anybody knows what I might have missed on the cliffs; the entire party failed their survival checks; nothing happened that I can tell, but please tell me!

Not going to lie, started heading towards the grove and immediately turned around because I wanted to make sure I found Lae'zel first

I knew for a fact I would get distracted at the grove and wanted to make sure I had her in the party

Was not expecting to kill some tieflings; Evie would want to protect the person who most certainly saved her life, but that's another thing for her to feel guilty about

I imagine before getting captured killing folks wasn't really her thing

I really want to get to the grove, but I think next time I log in I've got to get the team to take a long rest; Shadowheart was really badly hurt and everyone is out of spell slots

Wish me luck!

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #astarion x tav #astarion x oc #astarion x evie #tav #asexual!tav #bard!tav #spawnsong #bg3 playthrough

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pikatrainer99 · 9 months

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So...I figured I should probably elaborate on Kieran after my last reblog so you all get where I'm coming from with my stance on him...

(Basically the TLDR of this post is this: I like Kieran much better when he's like this, look how happy he is, it's adorable 🥺)

(He legit terrifies me when he's like this though...😖)

My thoughts on him changed drastically throughout my playthrough of the DLC multiple times...and I'm gonna explain why.

First, when I first met him in the Teal Mask, I thought he was an adorkable socially awkward shy bean and I loved him because I'm very much the same way. Being (what seemed to me like) his first friend reminded me of how much of my childhood I spent friendless and the joy I felt at finally having one friend back in my last year of elementary school. As the Teal Mask story went on though, Kieran started to change...and I didn't know how to feel about the direction his character was headed...because it triggered traumatic memories in me...memories of that friend I had finally made...well...one day suddenly revealing that the friendship was never genuine and that they hated me the whole time, and they betrayed me...in a HARD-HITTING WAY...completely out of the blue, too...I had no idea what was happening with them or what I had done to deserve that awful treatment, but it didn't matter because I still got that treatment. I'm not going to go into the details because it's still terrifying to think about...but it was BAD...bad enough that I have severe PTSD because of this person. So, as you might expect from what I just told you, the way Kieran just suddenly turned on me in the Teal Mask story really made me have to make sure to use my coping skills and calming strategies in order to not have a PANIC ATTACK over a VIDEO GAME. And the ending of the Teal Mask where Kieran seemed to HATE me made me feel really scared for the Indigo Disk story and I tried my best to not think about it too much until it came out because I always felt nauseous if I thought about it. And even when it came out it took me a long time to be able to bring myself to finally play it... Kieran's new look reminded me even more of my real life friend turned bully I mentioned above, who also changed their look and even dyed their hair to a similar purple-ish color after the whole incident (yes I know Kieran didn't dye his hair, it's naturally purple-ish underneath, but my point still stands, it was similar enough to trigger me further), and I had a panic attack over it when I saw it in the trailer before the Indigo Disk came out. My thoughts were basically 'This is middle school all over again...' and I was not looking forward to facing the memories again, it was making me feel more and more anxious and sick as each day passed and it got closer to the release of the Indigo Disk. I also had more and more nightmares about that real life person which made me more and more tired and irritable, so that was not fun either. But...I knew I had to play it eventually, so to prepare myself for my own playthrough, I decided to prepare myself both physically and mentally by watching other people's playthroughs of the story first...multiple times. You have no idea how relieved I was when I found out that the story had a happy ending and Kieran was able to snap out of it, feel serious remorse, and resolve to change his ways and make everything right again. As you can probably guess from how visceral my reactions to this entire thing were, that did NOT happen with my real life friend turned bully...I'm pretty sure that individual still hates my guts to this day and I still to this day have absolutely NO CLUE what I did to make them turn on me so viciously like that. Anyway, I watched probably ten or twelve playthroughs on YouTube before I finally worked up the courage to play it myself. I finally finished it yesterday and I am glad that everything ended all well and good. I am so relieved and I am back to being a Kieran fan again now that he is back to his normal adorkable self. Now I only have the epilogue left to do in Violet and then I have to go through the entire DLC again in Scarlet...but I think I'll be fine for the DLC playthrough in Scarlet now that I've experienced everything in Violet.

So yeah, lots of complicated emotions and visceral reactions and stuff with my view of this fictional video game character...but I couldn't help it since he was a legit PTSD trigger for me during the last bit of the Teal Mask and the majority of the Indigo Disk...at least he's back to normal now though.

Anyway, what are you guys' thoughts on Kieran? How did you react throughout his arc? Which look do you like better on him, hair up or down? Feel free to let me know your thoughts on Kieran in the comments below!

#pokemon #pokemon sv #the teal mask #the indigo disk #kieran #this character is complex and i like that pokemon is making more complex characters...#...but kieran legit TERRIFIED me for a while #and i wanted to explain my thoughts and feelings on this subject and character #kinda long post #pika talks

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1960z · 2 months

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SOJ: Final Thoughts

So when I first played spirit of justice at 14 I remember really loving it, the new characters, the cases, just the whole vibe of the thing. however, that was towards the end of my ace attorney hyperfixation and because of that I had never revisited it. when I returned to the fandom recently, I began to realise that quite a good amount of people hold this game in relatively low regard; and while the positive feelings I had from my initial playthrough still lingered, I had to admit I didn't actually remember the game very well, and maybe there would be things about it that would bother me now that wouldn't have back then. and because of that, this was the game I was most excited to return to. and now that I have re-played it and been able to experience it with fresh eyes I can say that while I definitely have more nuanced thoughts surrounding the game, I'm happy to say most of the stuff I enjoyed about it still really holds up

one of my biggest criticisms surrounding dual destinies is that while I did enjoy almost every individual case on some level, it never really coalesced beyond the sum of its parts, leaving the overarching story unsatisfying and disjointed, not to mention uninteresting thematically. I did not have that same problem here! my theory for what happened with DD is that takeshi yamazaki attempted to mimic the style of pacing shu takumi employs more closely in a way that just didn’t really work, meanwhile in soj, I think the pacing is much more in line with what we see in the investigations games where everything takes place over a few days (or in soj, the better half of a month) and connects unlike other main series games that often have months long gaps between cases. characters and scenarios set up in the first case are deeply connected to the fifth and each case barring perhaps case 4 is quite focused on setting up everything that’s about to happen in turnabout revolution.

and turnabout revolution is an absolute monster of a case. its scope is extreme and its twists are insane and honestly I doubt it would have worked if the rest of the game didn’t dedicate as much time as it did to building up to it, but because it did, the payoff felt amazing. I understand that if you zoom out and look from the perspective of the whole series a lot of it may feel like a lot and out of left field and I get why that’s off putting to some people - but taking the game in its own singular context I actually think it does an amazing job of making each twist feel earned. like for example are they basically rebuilding apollo’s backstory from the ground up? yes. does it work well with what was previously established in aa4? no not at all lol. does it work within the confines of spirit of justice? I actually think in that context it works extremely well.

my love for nahyuta is pretty obvious but honestly I think the character that captures the true heart of this game is rayfa. seeing this naïve, sheltered kid go through the process of realising that basically everything she took for granted about her world, even who her parents were, was a lie, and having to deal with that was truly captivating to watch. her entire world being shattered and then still doing everything in her power to make sure the truth came to light, no matter how much it hurt her I think exemplifies a lot of ace attorney’s themes and ideals and I think having a young girl be the centre of that is really cool. my favourite character in aa is franziska and while you will NEVER catch me calling her underdeveloped, because the series does actually give you a lot of insight into her if you want to engage with it, what I WILL admit is that I don’t think she ever got as much narrative focus as the other characters. and to me, rayfa feels very much like what we could have gotten if the narrative had chosen to focus on franziska more.

as I’ve said before also I really theoretically love khura’in. I found myself getting genuinely quite invested in the people and culture and politics of this world that the writers had created. especially since spirit channelling has been a huge part of the aa world since the first game, it was cool to inhabit a legal system that just accepted it unconditionally. it feels like the opinion of the japanifornia courts’ opinion on channelling is that there is something to it but the logic of arguments can’t rely on it definitely existing too heavily and if it does, proving channelling can happen is part of said argument. and god forbid testimony of someone being channelled is used as evidence because of what happened in DL-6. none of these factors exist in khura’in. in case 3 for the first time we get testimony from a victim through channelling and it’s a huge part of the case and case 5 of course relies on channelling massively to explain its events as well and getting to explore these possibilities without having to worry about narrative justification as to why a court of law would accept this was a treat.

I think aa’s format also just lends itself to… for a lack of a better word isekai stories?? like learning about the rules of a world through how said rules can be manipulated for crime is an extremely interesting way to learn about and engage in a fictional world. you see this with plvspw and even fan made projects like that mlp-aa crossover from years ago. and while khura’in does exist in “our” world, obviously there are still a lot of supernatural elements that khura’in takes for granted that wouldn’t be in other places.

but this is were we have to address the elephant in the room and soj’s huge glaring flaw. the thing that went completely over my little 14 year-old-head but looking back now I go "holy shit, that is bad." and that is how soj treats khura’in as a country and the irl political implications of said treatment. from the get-go, khura’in is shown in a very othered and orientalist lens. their way of doing things is depicted as being “spiritual” and “folksy” at the best of times and “backwards” at the worst; and the plot centres around our leads, most of who are not from khura’in, showing the khura’inese people the “right” and “just” way of doing things. in the version of the story I assume most of us are familiar with the characters are american, in the original version they’re japanese, neither country has a good track record with imperialism. this is a colonialist narrative. and while it’s tempting to say that because khura’in is fictional, the implications while problematic still exist more in a vacuum, I think it is important to point out that khura'in borrows a lot of aesthetics from real life cultures such as tibet and india, and when you create a fictional country that is like khurai'n, one that is portrayed as spiritual but unenlightened, one that has a lot of distinctly asian but not distinctly japanese (sans the magatama) aesthetics, you are in fact reinforcing negative, orientalist stereotypes surrounding the real cultures said aesthetics come from which deserves to be called out.

and while yes, there are khura'inese characters who still very much engage in their culture while also fighting for revolution... when combined with the context of dd's overarching narrative that, imo was basically "there are no systemic problems with the legal system, the dark age of the law is simply a result of bad actors" it very much feels like there's this attitude of "revolution for thee but not for me." as if they're only comfortable with telling this story about revolutionaries that are often framed by their own government as terrorists if it takes place within a fictional country that players can paternalistically look down upon. I think this definitely undercuts the rest of the story and I can totally understand why this could all really fuck with a person's ability to engage with and enjoy the game.

in closing, I genuinely think there's a lot to love within soj, it fixed a lot of problems I had with dd. I love each case, I adore the characters, I was thrilled by a lot of the mystery and political intrigue it created. with that being said I absolutely believe reinforcement of colonialist ideas in the text needs to be called out. it didn't ruin the game for me but if it did for someone else, I couldn't blame them. despite all its flaws, I found the closure it provided for these characters both old and new very satisfying. it will always have a place in my heart.

#soj #spirit of justice #ace attorney #abe plays the aj trilogy #one day I might convert all of this into a format that’s more appealing to read than just a wall of text #but to those who do read it in this form ty. I hope u got something out of it at least #also I WILL be live-blogging the dlc case i just wanted to get this out before i started

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8bitsupervillain · 10 days

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Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 7 Minagoroshi pt. 31

My favorite arc/chapter/whatever term your prefer of Umineko is Chapter Seven. It featured a great amount of revelations in regards to the overall plot, and it featured some of the best, gut-wrenching writing I had seen in the Chapter 7 Tea Party. The main chapter itself ended on a wonderful note, a great blend of sadness, but optimism, only for the Tea Party to come along and just absolutely wreck the previously optimistic tone. It was, without exaggeration, so well written that I felt it absolutely made the entirety of that series worth reading just for that section alone. Which is remarkable to me, as with some of the earlier sections of Higurashi, I came perilously close to abandoning Umineko as well due to an intense dislike of portions of the narrative. I wish the tumblr search function was a more reliable device because there was a quote I saw regarding visual novels that summed up my experiences very well.

This will have to do. Basically the quote I’m thinking of describes VNs as a 40/60 mix of enjoyment to torture. Or something along those lines.

After the credits this comes up. Perhaps it says something about me, but I genuinely enjoy reading fictional documents like this in games and so on. Just little extra world-building minutiae of the day to day about people in the fictional universe. You won't see me passing up files in a survival horror on my first playthrough, oh no.

While this doesn’t outright confirm that Irie is dead, I feel it’s reasonable to assume that Irie “committed suicide” shortly before the gaming club got taken out by Takano and the Mountain Dogs. I feel it’s safe to assume Irie was the Institute Director, and Takano is the chief officer. And given what’s about to occur I really don’t think Irie would sign off on it. Also, everything from Emergency Manual 34 is in red text when it’s going line by line. As with Tsumihoroboshi the log just keeps it white on gray.

Could you imagine being part of this government kill squad, enacting your orders to kill the potential civilians in the telephone company building only to get killed by a different branch of the government kill squad? It’s like that scene at the beginning of the Dark Knight when the bank robbers are killing each other off as they do their job for the heist. Also, I could swear that they mention this quarry at some point earlier on in the series, but looking over my notes and screenshots I couldn’t actually find anything. So it may be I’m remembering something from a manga synopsis? Earlier than the post-game TIP at the end of Tsumihoroboshi I mean. Also, I might be jumping the gun here, but if your grand conspiracy is going to involve killing the entirety of Hinamizawa wouldn’t you burn the bodies afterward? They won’t find gunshot wounds in a pile of ash is all I’m saying.

I just love this little piece of the document. It seems to imply there actually is a giant Resident Evil laboratory filled with H173 and various other deadly diseases related to Hinamizawa Syndrome. So it seems that even though she was going insane with paranoia Rena was actually on to something when she said the secret research facility is located in the Irie Clinic. Someone should make a mod for Resident Evil 4 (original or remake) that replaces Leon with a Rena model. It would give me an excuse to play Resident Evil 4 for the thousandth time.

So, since Keiichi was taken in by the Secrecy Preservation Unit at the end of Tatarigoroshi why did they let him live for as long as he had? Was it because he was well and truly insane, thinking he had the powers of Oyashiro, so they let him live? Was it because this came out years after chapter three had been written, and therefore not really thought about back then? Or do you think he was found by the disaster recovery team instead?

Also this doesn’t have anything really to do with anything, but reading the emergency manual here reminded me of an old 1970s horror movie called The Crazies. It’s about an outbreak of a chemical that drives people insane and murderous in a small Pennsylvania town. And our protagonists have to escape from the military who was sent to contain the outbreak, and the titular crazies, who are sort of proto-zombies. There was a remake in 2010 or so, but I don’t remember that one being very good. Of course it’s been nearly twenty years since I saw the original, so maybe that doesn’t hold up either. It’s got a good poster if nothing else.

It’s interesting how this note portrays Hinamizawa Syndrome as a parasite infection disease as well as being a lifelong ailment that shows physical signs of the disease within ten minutes of infection. Maybe that’s to do with the version of the syndrome that was observed during the war? Which especially doesn’t add up because there was all that prior information of the disease more or less being eradicated at the time.

Now, when I read this last line something about this struck me as incorrect. The population of Hinamizawa had always been shown to be right around one thousand.

Here are screenshots from Himatsubushi and Tatarigoroshi where they talk about the death toll of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. It’s not exactly the end of the world that this inconsistency exists, but it was just something that rubbed me wrongly when I read it. I don’t know when the population of Hinamizawa doubled, but there it is. I wonder if it’s a situation similar to the Ohagi translation issue in Onikakushi where they just said the wrong thing initially, and this version of the translation is the correct one. Like I said, it’s not the biggest issue in the world, just something that bugged me. Basically what I’m saying is we should string up MangaGamer by the short and curlies to make them pay penance for such a grievous oversight. Made the series completely unreadable it did.

You can tell this was translated within the last decade because of the use of “it’s current year!”

Without getting too far ahead of it, I don’t entirely understand how the Great Hinamizawa Disaster/Operation Doomsday will ascend Takano to godhood. Either of them really.

#higurashi #higurashi when they cry #higurashi no naku koro ni #higurashi playthrough

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lunas-otome-blog · 6 months

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Luna's Review: Jack Jeanne

Official Summary:

Kisa is about to give up her dream of becoming an actor when she is given the opportunity to enroll at the prestigious all boys Univeil Drama School that she has always admired and dreamed of attending. She is granted admission with two rigid conditions: be chosen as the lead in the final performance and hide her identity as a girl!

Competition at the school is fierce and the rivalry is real! Will Kisa be able to forge powerful bonds with her all-male classmates while competing against them?

Will she be cast as the lead in the final performance at the end of the year all while keeping her secret?

Luna's Thoughts (Spoiler Free)

I don't particularly like rhythm games or stat building games — I'm more of a straightforward visual novel kinda girl. But I chose to play Jack Jeanne because I read a glowing recommendation on another game blog.

I admit, I struggled with this game at the beginning. The impetus for the protagonist joining an all-boys school was, in my opinion, too fast, poorly explained and lazily written, and I feared the whole game would feel that way.

But I was pleasantly surprised as the plot unfolded. Subtly charming, Jack Jeanne is a rare otoge that doesn't feel the need for epic events or contrived details. The straightforward plot follows the protagonist through a full school year during which she become confident in her skills as an actor, charms her fellow classmates and works toward her ultimate goal of catching up to her brother.

Once I got used to a few things, I found myself enjoying this game immensely. The character development is slow, natural and gorgeous. Every main character gets at least one satisfying arc, including the protagonist. The cast is complex and enjoyable — even the side characters are pretty well fleshed out. And I cannot believe how many side characters get full sprites, cgs and sometimes even character arcs themselves. Fitting to a game about theater, Jack Jeanne features a true ensemble cast.

This is a pretty unusual otoge, as the majority of the plot is common route, with some special scenes mixed in depending on who your affection is highest with. You don't get into a "route" until pretty close to the end of the game. When you do, though, the final performance is highly customized based on your love interest character.

The first time I heard the songs in this game, I didn't think much of them. During my second playthrough, I caught myself humming a few. After the third time, I downloaded the whole playlist onto my phone lol. Some of them are absolute BANGERS. I didn't particularly enjoy the rhythm games, but I acknowledge that's just a personal preference. The game does not penalize you for playing on super easy mode — thank god — so that's what I did most of the time. Even hard mode is pretty easy for the most part.

The game arcs are broken up into sections depending on what play/musical is being performed. Jack Jeanne does a great job of showing you rehearsal scenes without completely giving away everything about the story, so you still get to enjoy the play yourself during the performance. And every sprite gets a new, gorgeous costume for EVERY play. It made me genuinely excited to get to that portion of the game each time.

I do want to talk about the art in this game. The cgs are lovely, but tend to feel ethereal as they are painterly and many lack backgrounds, creating the illusion that the characters are floating in space. I liked them but they are a different art style than the sprites, which felt inconsistent. Add to that a rather adorable cel-shade chibi style, which is used for the stat-building scenes, and you have three completely different art styles used for this game. I'd have preferred some consistency.

I also wish Kisa had a sprite on screen, because we don't get to see what she looks like except in cgs. It's a bummer because she's so cute~

Other than that, all my other complaints have to do with the format of the game. Due to the nature of it being a stat builder, the pacing of the relationship pursuit feels off. You get these really lovely occasional heartwarming scenes with the character you're pursuing when they're triggered, but then they're not acknowledged in the next scene. It interrupts the flow of the plot. But if you're used to stat builders, this will probably not be a problem for you.

Gripes aside, Jack Jeanne is a thoughtful, delicate and delightful look into a group of students doing their best to advance their skills and follow their dreams. I highly recommend checking it out.

Here are a few spoiler-free tips of things I wish I knew before I started the game that will help you through it if you decide to play:

As this game is SUPER LONG and mostly common route, you'll be doing a lot of skipping after your first playthrough. Unfortunately, as there are lots of scenes that are gently customized based on your love interest, you can't just leave it skipping for long intervals. I recommend finding something else to do while you're skipping and just keep an eye on the game so you can breeze through the common portion.

You don't have to start at the beginning every time. For the first two performances, try to maintain equal affection and stat levels for each romanceable character before summer break, and then save. You can use this as a flexible save file and pursue your character of choice from here.

When you're ready to aim for a route, only take lessons in that character's stat until you get to level 30. It will take almost the entire rest of the game. Only see that character during days off until you max out affection. If your character isn't available during days off, go to Mona Star School and raise their stat. You need to get to level 30 to unlock a special post-game scene for each character.

"Weekend with Ion" is just a way to get extra rhythm game practice and you don't have to do it.

If you're playing the game right (IE not failing the stats or rhythm games), there aren't any "bad" choices; just choices that give you affection points for certain characters. When you get onto a specific route, choices are just flavor. Feel free to pick different things each time and see what happens.

Please find below my thoughts on the protagonist and each romanceable character in the order I pursued them. Don't read sections marked with spoilers if you want to avoid them!

(Spoilers) Kisa Tachibana (protagonist)

Kisa Tachibana is one of the best otoge protagonists I've ever played. I have a lot to say on her, so I'll get the bad out of the way first.

I was a little disappointed with Kisa's writing at the beginning. We know she looks up to her brother Tsuki and wants to be an actor like him, but she's given up on even going to high school because she needs to support her family. But the opportunity for her to attend Univeil comes up so quickly that her struggle and longing are not really fleshed out.

We also don't get an explanation on why her brother was allowed to go to a (seemingly expensive) drama school, nor why he isn't using his success to send money back to the family. In fact, the game just casually mentions Tsuki has vanished without a trace, and nobody seems that concerned about it. Kisa is sad but doesn't seem to question where he is or what he's doing, and nobody asks her about it, even after figuring out she's related to him. And no, this is never addressed, even at the end of the game.

Anyway, onto the good.

Kisa is an amazing otoge protagonist. She goes through not just one, but many character arcs, learning from and responding to her classmates (and even other classes) and becoming not just a better actor but also a better friend and teammate. Unlike a lot of otome game protags, Kisa doesn't get a lot of down time to reconcile her thoughts. Instead, you're left to largely understand her thinking and feelings through dialogue, making her feel less like the game's protagonist and more like a regular character. I didn't like this at first but I came to appreciate it as the game went on.

Every character teaches Kisa something about herself and something about acting. She learns how to feel comfortable in the spotlight, but she also learns it's just as important to prop up other actors. And she gets to go through different arcs depending on her romance choice.

She also has to learn how to perform as a Jack (male character) and struggles with this in a way that felt natural. She even ends up overcorrecting and finds it hard to go back to playing a woman.

My absolute favorite arc of hers is when she decides she has to embrace her femininity in order to make a show a success. This, to me, is the culmination of the whole game, as Kisa decides to risk being discovered in order to help her classmates shine. Of course, if you play all the routes, you realize she actually isn't doing a great job of hiding her gender at all lol. But fortunately she's endeared herself to her classmates so much that they don't mind.

Overall, 10/10 otoge protagonist.

(Spoilers) Kai Mutsumi

I chose to play Kai's route first, because tbh I thought his sprite was ugly and I wanted to get it out of the way lol. I did warm up to it eventually. And I regret playing his route first because Kai is an utter cutie patootie and I fell hard for him.

He tells you really early on that he only sees himself as a way to highlight the Al Jeanne (female lead). So his character arc is about him acknowledging that he also wants the spotlight, and Kisa helps him by highlighting him.

Though Kai is usually quiet, contemplative and reserved, once he and Kisa have acknowledged their feelings for one another, he starts getting jealous, both of Fumi (as a rival) and of Tsuki-nii (as Kisa's inspiration.) It's heartbreaking but really satisfying to learn that Kai feels emotions just as intensely as everyone else but didn't know where to direct them. I love him so much!

Kai also gives you one of the only laugh-out-loud moments of the game during the common route. I won't spoil it but it involves a certain weasel in the forest.

Kai's is one of the more intense routes, so I would perhaps save it for a bit later if you're wanting to get the lighter stuff out of the way first.

(Spoilers) Suzu Orimaki

Suzu is the genki character of the game, and the senpais make fun of his dancing at the beginning, so I thought the running gag would be that he sucks. But I was pleasantly surprised. Suzu is shown to be committed, a good actor and surprisingly quick with memorizing his lines, though he does make some stupid mistakes throughout. I adored him as the Sleepless King.

Suzu's route is the one I would call the most generic as far as otoges go. A lot of his route is him struggling with his feelings for Kisa. He starts to like her before he's sure she's a girl, and once he knows for sure, he has a really hard time hiding his feelings. To his credit, he also discovers Kisa is a girl on his own, showing he's smarter than we're led to believe.

If you wanted something more nuanced, maybe Suzu's not the character for you, but I really enjoyed it. The more a character struggles with their feelings, the better, imho lol. The cutest scene is after Kisa gives him sweets for valentines day, and he just can't handle how happy is is. You can't help but love Suzu!

You do actually get a lot of character growth as far as acting goes in Suzu's route — just not with Suzu himself. It's Kamiya — one of the side characters, who fanboys over the amazing Tanakamigi, one of Kisa's rivals in a different class — who gets to experience his own arc this time. While it doesn't feel totally resolved in the end, it was nice to see the game highlight some other characters as a result of the decisions Kisa has made.

I also really loved Mare-chan's little arc, as he learns to appreciate standing on stage with his brother. Actually, all the first years are highlighted in this route, which was fun.

Unlike Kai's route, Suzu doesn't confess to Kisa until the very end of his route — but it's very sweet when he does. Overall, Suzu's route felt like a very normal otoge route, but not in a bad way. He's very kind and protective of Kisa. It's hard not to like him.

(Spoilers) Soshiro Yonaga

Sou shows obvious signs of being into Kisa, even during the common route, so I figured I'd get a nice little bit of angst in his route. I normally play the childhood friend route closer to the end, but while I really enjoyed Sou's role and growth in the common route, he was such a little jealous bitch in Suzu's route (lol) that I decided to play him next. He pissed me off so much haha. I thought it would be over when he punches Suzu after Suzu discovers Kisa is a girl — something like a send-off to his rival, knowing he can't compete. But he proceeds to be whiny and annoying throughout all the rest of Suzu's route, and this made me want to get his route out of the way.

Sou on his own route is a lot better. He actually impressed me with how straightforward he is. He's the first character (that I played) who confirms he is properly dating Kisa on his route, and his confession was really brave, direct and passionate. It's sad to think that he loves Kisa in every route but won't tell her. He even followed Tsuki to Univeil just to see her again T_T

I was very excited to see we'd be getting some Momonashi context in this route, because he's easily the most mysterious character in the game. You never really understand his motivations, and he always hides his thoughts with a smile. It excited me that he was chosen to be Amber's Al Jeanne this time around, and he is every bit as dark and horrifying as I wanted.

This is also the first route (I played) in which Kisa does not get the lead role by default. I nearly had a heart attack and thought I failed the route because it was so different from Kai's and Suzu's routes. Rest assured, this is what's supposed to happen and it all works out ok. Mitsuki's subtle understanding of the things going on around him is also critical in this route.

But back to Sou. He actually goes through a few different arcs in his own route. While I thought it ultimately ended up ok, I would have liked to see the version of Sou infected with Momonshi's darkness for a little longer. He's only there for a little bit before Suzu's anger snaps him out of it. The back-and-forth of Sou's route felt a little disjointed, and in some places too similar to his plot during the common route.

But ultimately I was very proud of him when he pumps up the crowd during the final performance. Sou comes a long way and his route ends with the promise that there's more to come. Good for you, Sou-chan!

(Spoilers) Mitsuki Shirota

Mitsuki is the standoffish character, so he's the only romanceable character who is outwardly rude to you at the beginning of the game. I sometimes have trouble with this sort of character, so I was a little worried about him. But I didn't need to be — ultimately, he became one of my favorites.

Mitsuki is the most observant character in the game. He notices subtle changes and tells Neji to back off when he's putting too much pressure on people. And he's the first to tell Kisa he'll accept her no matter what. Mitsuki is so important to making this game work.

He knows he's good at singing, but when he's put in a starring role, he crumbles under the pressure. Obviously Kisa helps him stand up again, but it was really gratifying to know his aggression comes from a place of fear.

While learning to enjoy the spotlight is part of his common route arc, doing a Mitsuki playthrough really adds to this, as you learn how much Kisa's secrecy is weighing on him. He knows something's up right away, and as he comes to trust and admire Kisa, he begins feeling sad that she doesn't trust him enough to unload on him. There's a particularly poignant scene where he undresses in front of her — something we know he's afraid to do for anyone else. Mitsuki's cutscenes really emphasize his words to Kisa on stage as Rukiora and Chikachina, roles that parallel their own experiences.

I will say that, like Mitsuki himself, his route is very subtle as he quietly influences those around him. You don't get a lot of Amber students in this one, as his focus is more on the second years of Rhodonite and Onyx. He quietly fires them up, and it's so sweet to see how the second years, previously in the shadow of Tsuki Tachibana, become determined to do their best because of Mitsuki.

My only gripe for this route was that we didn't get any more Mitsuki background. His mother appears in a really intense cutscene toward the beginning of the game, so you know he's got family stuff going on, but we never really get any more elaboration on that.

Anyway, I love this boyee so much and I just want to give him a hug.

(Spoilers) Sarafumi Takashina

Honestly, I shipped Fumi with Kai more than with Kisa. They had such a nice and supportive relationship.

Fumi is calm, confident and pretty. He tells Kisa he likes her early in the game. He's a mysterious character under a lot of pressure, but you wouldn't know it unless you participate in his cutscenes. If you pay attention, you'll notice he gives nearly everyone nicknames.

Fumi's main game arc involves him growing complacent with the theater because nobody can match him. It's up to Kisa (with help from Sou) to fire him up again.

I tend to have trouble with flirty characters, but Fumi is so confident and kind that I liked him quite a bit. Because he's so aware of his own skills, I was wondering what his next arc would be in his route. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's Kisa who gets to experience the most growth in Fumi's route as she struggles with the pressure of working alongside Quartz's star.

While perhaps not as dramatic as some of the other routes, Fumi and Kisa work together to understand each other, both on stage and off, and do their best to become suitable partners for one another. Fumi is also grooming Kisa to be the next star of Quartz, so there's a bittersweet dynamic of passing the baton here, too.

There weren't any dramatic twists and turns, but Fumi's route felt natural and gentle. It was a good conclusion for these two. He's also the only character other than Sou who confirms he's dating Kisa by the end of the route, which I appreciated.

(Spoilers) Neji Kokuto

Neji is the least serious character in the game acting-wise. He's silly and jokes around, and never gives himself a huge role in any of his own plays. But he's ultimately the one pulling the strings, and he seems to have an extremely good grasp on every character's strengths and weaknesses. He's also the only character who doesn't get his own arc in the common route.

However, I was disappointed with some of his cutscenes during the common route. While I appreciate that he deals with the deep trauma of losing his father with humor and spontaneity, I thought it was an oversimplification for him to say he's afraid of women. The resulting scenes don't feel serious enough and it didn't feel natural that Kisa would fall for him.

If he were simply afraid of falling in love, which is what ultimately led his father (allegedly) to losing his creative flow, I could understand that a bit more. But to have him attend an all-boy's school just because he feels like all women are a risk seemed like a strange move for a game that has been really inclusive about gender so far. It felt very off-putting for Neji, who often puts himself into a female role, to fear women.

But once he realizes Kisa is a girl — once he realizes he knew it all along and was trying to block it from his mind — the tone becomes very dark and sad. My heart was pounding as I felt the weeks go by with no script for the final performance. It was thrilling simply because I didn't know what to expect. It's so different from the other routes.

But I wish Neji was able to express his emotions a bit more. In the end, even as he was contemplating throwing himself into the sea, he wasn't able to be completely serious. I would have appreciated a scene where his walls fully break down, in which he's able to fully embrace Kisa as a woman and appreciate the weight of his own feelings.

I also never felt like Crowley, the character Neji plays in the final performance, was suited to be a main character. He never opens up or shows any weakness. He's just a silly guy and didn't feel like the lead at any point.

I did like how Neji ultimately decides to move forward, even being unable to write. But of course, at the end, Neji is suddenly able to write again. I knew it was coming, but it was a rather convenient ending.

Ultimately, I felt Neji's route was the least successful. I wish he got more growth in his own route. I did love him proposing to Kisa at the end though. It felt very in keeping with his character.

(Spoilers) Kisa Route

This is the route you get if you choose not to spend Christmas Eve with anyone, and it's the closest this game gets to a true ending.

Boy, does it deliver. It ties in all the themes from the game into a really strong ending, where every character feels valuable and Kisa gets to lead Quartz to a strong finish. We also finally get an explanation for the title of the game, as Kisa takes on a special role — neither male nor female, just the protagonist who everyone falls in love with.

A fantastic final route for a fantastic game!

#jack jeanne #otome game #otoge #visual nove #vn #kisa tachibana #review #otome review #game review #luna's review

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poetryofyouth · 28 days

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the last few weeks i have been obsessively playing Dragon Age, in preparation for the veilguard release of course.

Dragon Age: Origins is still a work of Art and I would die for her and every companion

Dragon Age: 2 is not as bad as I remembered it? Sure it has it's issues but the story is genuinely so fantastic. Like, the story, the characters, Hawke's relationships with the companions - the combat is almost an annoying obstacle to get to the heartbreakingly tender moments between Hawke and their damaged, broken, hurting friends

For that reason I would love for an option to just skip combat alltogeter and turn it into a walking simulator.

In both Origins and 2, the male love interests are so so so much better holy fuck

Like the first time I played as a lesbian (of course) and romancing Leliana in Origins. Which is... sweet and everything, but the relationship with Leliana always felt... hollow. Love without any true base in Friendship. If that makes sense.

This time, my warden was a bit of a slut and romanced Leliana, (also Isabella), Zevran and lastly Alistair. And holy fuck, the relationship between Warden an Alistair is just perfect. Me playing a female elf only added to the perfection. Sad I couldn't marry him at the end, but hey, staying as the King's mistress is fine with me, Anora's cool with it, mostly, and nothing can get in between true love. I mean, the relationship between Warden and Alistair starts off with pure banter and friendship, you can feel them acutally caring for each other way before you even start any romance. They feel like two people who just fit like puzzle pieces. Jokes, support, bleeding together, either one would not think a minute before sacrificing their own life for the other. and finally, after weeks of pain and suffering and drinks in taverns and jokes around the campfire and horribly traumatizing deaths all around, they both realize that they aren't just friends anymore. Fucking hell that is literally the perfect fictional relationship omg i have never shipped a straight couple harder.

Also I found the thought of being a slutty warden who bedded every available character before finally taking the future king's virginity, then arranging a marriage between her boyfriend and another woman and then also arranging for her boyfriend to get her other friend pregnant just... incredibly funny ngl

And in DA:2 on my first playthrough I romanced Merril. Which was... fine. Though I find it kinda difficult because I didn't like the idea of Hawke just being completely fine with blood magic and all that. Merril also isn't that interesting a character. I mean, comparing her to many other games she is fantastic!! But in this game, she just kinda pales in comparison to everyone else.

Now I'm playing a male gay Hawke and I first romanced Fenris. And I am just a sucker for a sad, hurting man learning how to feel again. Fenris is just such a good character. Of course he is horribly racist agains mages, which i mean, not that i / Hawke condone it, but anyone would need years of therapy to get over what the magisters did to him, so i love the thought of Hawke being patient and slowly trying to show him they are not that bad.

So I love to kinda torture Fenris and run around with him, anders and merril, their companion banters are so great.

But Fenris of course dumps Hawke after the first time and sure you COULD wait for him to come around in act three but screw that, I will not have my feelings played with like that.

Especially when there is an even sadder, more broken man waiting for me. Anders is probably my favourite character in DA:2. Even the last time I played, without romancing him. But now I startet DA:2 right after finishing the Awakening DLC and I just LOVE the difference and the similarities between the two Anders versions. Some might say it's inconsistent. But I choose to believe that in Awakening, even if Anders had seen so many horrible things already, he was still able to keep a more happy-go-lucky facade. I imagine between the end of Awakening and Hawke first meeting him, Anders has seen many many more horrible things while being with the wardens. So he is just extra-traumatized in 2. And of course, his character changed with the whole spirit of justice thing. But even if he is a lot more serious and a lot sadder, he still has that Anders-Charm. I love his love for kittens and his need for justice for the mages

And even if the DA:2 love interests (apart from Sebastian) are all bisexual, I love that they are not just default staights that can just also be romanced by same gender Hawkes. Like, when Anders confesses that Karl, who just died, was his first boyfriend??? I think I cried. The PAIN the HURT the HOMOSEXUAL ANGST. I will burn down all of Kirkwall if that makes Anders feel even a little better.

The rivalry / rivalry romance aspect is really cool and I love it exists but unfortunately i am incapable of not being liked by everyone.

Seriously how does a game that was pretty much universally considered a disappointment by the fandom (i previously didn't like it either!! Idek why!!!!) have storylines that trump pretty much any movie of tv show made in the last 5 years. Please let me play this just as a story game/walking simulator i need to look into mods i want to see every possible conversation and fuck everyone (tenderly and with love. and also as hateful rivals)

Also I have played the games so much recently I hope I don't accidentally say "by the maker" in public lmao

#dragon age #da:o #da:2

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magpie-come-east · 20 hours

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Melina for the character ask meme!!

favorite thing about them

I'm sorry. This answer is going to be really uninteresting because I do not have any strong opinions about Melina, really. It's not that I dislike her, but she never left that big of an impression on me. That is, until I did the Frenzy Flame ending.

I enjoy her role in that questline. I love that Shabriri puts forth his stupid fucked up trolley problem (burn the world to ash to save one bodiless woman) and Melina outright tells the player over and over that being kindling is what she wants. She has all the trappings of a classic damsel in that storyline, but she- as the lone sacrifice needed to change the world- begs the player not to remove her agency in this choice.

least favorite thing about them

I think my opinion here will echo many others'. But I think Melina was really underutilized. As the Tarnished's companion at the very start of their quest, she should have more of a presence in their journey. Apart from a few lines about Boc or Torrent, she doesn't express much character of her own (outside of the FF quest). She spouts exposition and is the level up mechanic that the player doesn't even interact with all that much.

The scene of Melina's sacrifice has always felt semi-flat in consequence. The tenderness she feels for the player doesn't feel earned. I genuinely didn't understand why she was so fond of my character the first time I got to that point.

Like I don't need her become the SparkNotes of the narrative in her dialogue, but I think her showing curiosity and interest in the world around her more often would endear me so much more. As she is now, she's just the macguffin I largely ignore on nearly all my subsequent playthroughs.

favorite line

"However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair, life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not?"

This is the one line from Melina that stuck with me. It's the one that I remember most out of everything. Very few times does Elden Ring look at you through the screen and dictate the story to you obviously. But this is one of those times. Melina sees hope for the world. She's pleading for the player not to destroy the world. And her reasoning feels weak. Life endures? That's all she has? But in a way its the most important consideration.

brOTP/OTP (Combining these because the answer is the same)

I mean, actually, I really like Lord of Frenzied Flame Tarnished x Melina. That friends to enemies angst is magnificent. Melina having to live with the reality that her chosen Tarnished chose to destroy everything for her sake. Brutal. The Tarnished now being hunted by the person they immolated themselves to save. Exquisite.

General Melina x Tarnished is also sweet. Fics of Tarnished befriending Melina are what made me care even a little about her in the first place.

nOTP

Eh, nothing really. I don't seek out content of her enough to know what ships exist beyond Melina x Tarnished.

random headcanon

Melina craves Rowa Raisins so bad. She wishes she had a body just so she could eat them.

unpopular opinion

I am not convinced at all Melina is the Gloam Eyed Queen. It’s a theory I’ve never really found compelling for a variety of reasons I won’t really get into- except for one. I feel like trying to connect every historical figure in the Lands Between to a current character makes the world feel smaller and incestuous. Like the only people ever of import had to come from Marika’s lineage. I thought it was neat enough we got nods to Melina being a Demigod- then practical confirmation in SOTE. But I don’t believe Melina being the GEQ adds anything interesting to either Melina as we know her or the GEQ.

song i associate with them

Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria (its got the LOFF vibes to meeeee)

Escape pod by Paris Paloma is a great one too!

#Melina

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commentaryvorg · 10 months

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The Great Ace Attorney Final Trial Commentary: Day 1, Part 2

This is an ongoing mini-commentary covering the final trial of The Great Ace Attorney (Resolve) in line-by-line detail. It’s written from a perspective of already knowing the full truth of things, so there will be spoilers for facts that only get revealed later on in the trial. This is not a commentary to read along with one’s first playthrough!

(The commentary will update on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Check this blog to find any other parts currently posted, and if it’s not yet finished, follow to catch future updates!)

Now that we’re below the readmore, I can add that this isn’t quite a commentary for everything going on in the final trial. It’s focused specifically on Kazuma and what’s going on in his head, only covering things which are relevant to him in some way (for the most part). I already had a lot to say about him in a big analysis post over on my main blog – but I have even more to say about him during the trial in even more detail, so here we are!

We’re resuming just past the save point as we begin cross-examining the redheads whom Gregson was apparently investigating the day before his body was found – which is a line of questioning that was definitely 100% Ryunosuke’s idea and not at all something he was subtly led into proposing by a Kazuma who knows full well that it’ll result in a dead end.

--- Testimony 4 ---

This is irrelevant to anything else, but I need people to know that the university of Temsik, which the two redheads went to together, is a very clear reference to Ghost Trick. If you haven’t played Ghost Trick, please play Ghost Trick it is so good. It’s even out in HD now, so it’s readily available!

De Rousseau: “It was a plan most elegant, non?” Kazuma: “No, it was most dishonourable.”

Look at Kazuma making a point that underhanded deceptions like this are dishonourable. (And nobody think too hard about the fact that he’s been doing quite a few underhanded deceptive things himself lately, it’s fine.)

Kazuma: “This confidential document was obtained directly from Scotland Yard. It records an entry from the inspector’s private diary dated the day before the incident. It reads, ‘Lime Street, Red-Headed League, Undercover’.”

Here is an actual reason, completely misleading red wig aside, to assume that Gregson would have been at Lime Park on that day. And yet, Kazuma didn’t bring that up before the recess, because he wanted to make it look like suggesting this line of enquiry was Ryunosuke’s idea and not his own.

Kazuma, of course, knows full well this diary entry is false… but he’s got to be genuinely wondering why Gregson had a diary entry claiming he would be here in particular as a cover story. He’s bound to be at least a little bit curious as to if anything’s going on there (even though he definitely does not know that Gregson outright had someone impersonate him as an alibi, based on his reactions to that reveal later).

Ryunosuke: (There’s no question that Inspector Gregson was investigating the Red-Headed League.)

But at least Kazuma’s information has got Ryunosuke convinced that Gregson was definitely there in the park that day, and not at all anywhere else such as with Kazuma on a ship to France.

I enjoy the part where both Ryunosuke and Kazuma tag-team desk slam to intimidate the redheads into admitting what they just accidentally let slip. Both are equally exasperated by these dumbass witnesses’ shenanigans, and they’re almost working together to get the truth!

Judge: “Counsel, no incognito inspector would offer his identification for inspection. It’s quite out of the question.” Kazuma: “Definitely. Why would he expose his true identity?”

Kazuma looks deep in thought as he says this. On the surface, he’s happy to agree with the judge, because this supports his case that Gregson wasn’t there – but on the other hand, he’s got to be busy wondering what on earth was going on with this supposed inspector there that day.

Kazuma: “Don’t be ridiculous. No Scotland Yard detective would allow his – or her – identification to be stolen.” Gina: “Hold it! That… that… That IS the boss’s! …No question about it.” Kazuma: “It can’t be!”

Kazuma seems confident as he’s trying to refute this idea, because he’s sure the truth is on his side – and then he’s very shocked to learn that the ID is the real deal. He knows that Gregson wasn’t there, but apparently his actual genuine ID was there, somehow, despite that?

Kazuma: “Unable to… You’re, you’re not suggesting…?” Ryunosuke: “Yes! It’s quite possible that he was killed before he had the chance to report his identification stolen!” Kazuma: “No!”

Kazuma’s “No!” here is really intense, and there’s a lot he’s not saying behind it. He knows for a fact that Gregson could not possibly have been killed by these redheads, but right now the evidence is making it look like he was. This isn’t just a “no” of “oh no, this hurts my case”, this is a “no” of “No, that’s not what happened at all!” If things continue like this then van Zieks is going to be found innocent based on something completely false, and Kazuma is helpless to explain how wrong it is without incriminating himself.

Kazuma: “But you will tell everything! …Or face the worst possible outcome.”

Kazuma’s getting very forceful at the redheads. He needs them to stop hiding things and tell the whole truth in their next testimony, so that it can be firmly established that Gregson did not die in their company that day like Kazuma knows for certain he didn’t but cannot say himself.

(He’s not saying it in so many words, but he is essentially threatening them with capital punishment here. This is not the only time Kazuma uses that as a threat to witnesses who are hiding the truth from him.)

--- Testimony 5 ---

Kazuma: “It would appear then, that on the day before the incident… the man who visited the park on Lime Street posing as an incognito inspector… was not Inspector Gregson at all!” Ryunosuke: “Objection! If that’s true, however, how do you explain the inspector’s identification?” Kazuma: “…!” Ryunosuke: “This is a genuine identification book, issued by Scotland Yard. It’s inconceivable that someone could have stolen such an important item from the inspector. The prosecution made that assertion itself!” Kazuma: “…!”

Whoops. Kazuma was happy to make that assertion when it helped his case, to write off the redheads’ testimony as obviously nonsense, but it’s suddenly not so helpful now that it allows them to continue to think that maybe the man they kidnapped was really Gregson.

(Still, Kazuma is the one gaining ground here, since mislaid ID is easier to explain away than a disappearing bruise, and he’s definitely glad about that.)

Ryunosuke: “…the person who these two red-headed men took prisoner that day cannot have been Inspector Gregson.” Kazuma: “In other words, your whole argument up to now has been a waste of time.”

Wow, Kazuma did not remotely hesitate to point that out the moment Ryunosuke conceded this. He really was waiting for this all along, knowing that it would be proven sooner or later, so that he could make the court see just how pointless it was for him to entertain Ryunosuke’s conjecture that maybe van Zieks didn’t do it. Again: see why he wanted to lead Ryunosuke into suggesting this avenue, so that it would seem like Ryunosuke’s wasteful idea.

(And yet, who really wasted the court’s time by subtly leading us onto an entire line of enquiry he knew full well would amount to nothing, Kazuma?)

Ryunosuke: “During his testimony earlier… I noticed something around the man’s neck: a red ring of bruising!” […] Kazuma: “What?!”

Haha, Kazuma didn’t notice the bruise on Gossip, because Ryunosuke’s observation skills really are a lot better than his!

--- Testimony 6 ---

Ryunosuke: (Ugh. Isn’t there anyone in this courtroom who thinks I might be onto something?) Susato: “I stand steadfastly at your side as always, Mr Naruhodo!” Kazuma: “………”

Aww, I enjoy the pan to Kazuma’s silence there. It’s not only Susato – Kazuma definitely also believes Ryunosuke must be onto something here, because his best friend always is.

Ryunosuke: “The victim’s body was discovered… in your rented room!” Gossip: “………” Kazuma: “I suggest, sir… that you start talking!”

Kazuma’s getting worked up again here. He may be completely convinced that van Zieks did the murder, but suddenly here’s the man who’s renting the room that’s the Reaper’s hideout, so surely he’s got to know something important and be connected to all of this somehow.

Kazuma doesn’t noticeably react to hearing that Boone is in fact Daley Vigil, or even that Vigil used to work as chief warder at Barclay Prison. But…

Ryunosuke: “Well, it’s been ten years since Mr Vigil worked at the prison.” Kazuma: “Ten years?”

As soon as he hears it was ten years ago that his employment there ended, he takes notice. Based on his reaction here, I don’t think he knew until right now that Daley Vigil was someone connected to his father’s execution.

Vigil: “Yes, it’s true… I am Daley Vigil.” Kazuma: “And you were the chief warder at Barclay Prison ten years ago…? ………”

And all of a sudden, that’s the only detail about this man that Kazuma cares about. His silence there comes with a screen shake, as if everything’s shifting itself around in his head as he realises that this man isn’t just some witness, just some guy who for some reason rents the room used as the Reaper’s hideout – he might well be the one who faked his father’s execution.

I did assume at one point, while I was trying to figure out Kazuma’s approach to this trial, that he’d already been looking into his father’s execution and already knew to look for a Daley Vigil. But this reaction of his pretty much confirms that he had no idea it was this man until now. Either he tried to look into it but couldn’t get Governor Caidin to reveal much to him (no surprise when his surname is Asogi), or perhaps, Kazuma didn’t want to look too closely into the part of the case where his father might have done something underhanded himself.

Vigil: “I was to… impersonate the inspector.” Kazuma: “What?! Impersonate him?!”

Kazuma is also very shocked to learn that Gregson personally asked someone to impersonate him. At that one point, I was also assuming that maybe Kazuma had learned about Vigil being Gregson’s alibi man from Gregson himself… but here it’s pretty clear that that is not the case. Which is fair enough, because that’s not something Gregson would likely tell anybody else if he could help it.

Kazuma: “Well… it would seem this confession completely destroys the defence’s case.”

Yes, Kazuma. Sure. Completely destroys it. There is definitely not a single chance that van Zieks is innocent now, never mind the still-very-convincing argument Ryunosuke made about the scene at Fresno Street being a setup.

Kazuma: “My learned friend’s assertion was as follows: The victim was killed at another location on the day before his corpse was discovered… at the hands of these two Red-Headed League men when they imprisoned the inspector.”

That wasn’t really Ryunosuke’s assertion. Mostly he was just asserting that Gregson was killed somewhere else by somebody. He never latched that strongly onto the idea that it was the redheads in particular. But, conveniently for Kazuma, there was that one point earlier on where Ryunosuke at least suggested that might have happened, to explain why Gregson couldn’t report his ID missing once it was stolen.

So clearly, that was the argument Ryunosuke was totally making the whole time, and since it wasn’t the redheads who killed Gregson at all, that must mean it was definitely van Zieks, no other possibility. Never mind the question of where Gregson really was on the 31st, which Kazuma is fully aware of. No. If Gregson wasn’t killed in a place he wasn’t even present at on the 31st, clearly it means he wasn’t killed on that day at all and Ryunosuke proposing as such was just wasting our time.

This is exactly the outcome Kazuma was expecting when he led the court – and Ryunosuke – into pursuing this redheads dead end, and he is doing a startlingly good job of making it seem like it matters to the question of whether van Zieks killed Gregson.

Still, as Ryunosuke freaks out about this (he doesn’t realise the obvious logical fallacy in Kazuma’s carefully-worded shut-down, because he idolises Kazuma and Kazuma wouldn’t be so obviously wrong, right?) and we get a wide shot of the entire courtroom… Kazuma’s pose isn’t confident; it’s thoughtful. This was supposed to be nothing but a diversion to manipulate the court into thinking his case held more weight than Ryunosuke’s, but… it unexpectedly brought him a very important lead about his father’s case, one he can’t let go without pursuing.

So, of course, as the judge is about to call an end to Vigil’s cross-examination, Kazuma interrupts.

Kazuma: “I want to know… exactly what your involvement was.” Vigil: “Oh!” Kazuma: “Answer me, man!”

And of course he’s being especially forceful here. He has to know the truth of that execution. (Never mind the part where it might reveal that even his father was involved in underhanded dealings, just don’t think about that—)

Judge: “Is this related to the current case?” Kazuma: “……… Naturally. It is the prosecution’s belief that this case and the events of ten years ago… are inextricably linked.”

Kazuma’s not making this up. With what he knows about Gregson helping to frame his father, and about an exchange assassin mastermind – who is also bound to be the same person as the Reaper mastermind – wanting Gregson silenced, he knows that the real motive for this murder is inextricably linked to Gregson’s role in his father’s death ten years ago. He just… hasn’t got around to revealing any of that yet, not when he’s still going with the totally false idea that van Zieks’s motive was simply Gregson discovering his hideout. But he fully intends to reveal the whole story, in time!

Ryunosuke: (Kazuma… You’re not yourself. You’re not as calm and collected as usual.)

Aww, Ryunosuke knows his friend, and he can just tell that Kazuma’s been a lot more forceful and desperate in this trial so far than he’d ever usually be.

Susato: “Poor Kazuma-sama. No wonder he’s acting this way. Mr Vigil’s memories of what happened ten years ago… would tell the tale of Genshin Asogi’s final moments. His own father…” Ryunosuke: “I know. I do understand that.” (But even so…)

And aww, both Susato and also Ryunosuke can empathise with why Kazuma’s feeling this way. But even then… Ryunosuke still has a strong sense of what’s appropriate in a court of law, and dredging up your issues about your father’s death in a seemingly completely unrelated trial isn’t it.

Ryunosuke: “Kazu— Prosecutor Asogi.” Kazuma: “…!” Ryunosuke: “Do you genuinely believe… that this question requires an answer in order to learn the truth behind Inspector Gregson’s death?” Kazuma: “I need you to trust me. …Please.” Ryunosuke: “……… Very well. Then the defence has no objection.”

Aww! Kazuma asking Ryunosuke to trust him that this is relevant, because he really does have good reason to think so but he can’t reveal any of it just yet. And Ryunosuke, despite recognising how emotional Kazuma’s getting over this, does trust that his friend has some actual reason to believe this is connected!

Also the way Ryunosuke initially goes to call him “Kazuma” as if he’s trying to talk to his friend on a close, emotional level, but then stops and corrects himself to the proper courtroom language of “Prosecutor Asogi”, because what he’s really asking is for Kazuma to put aside his personal feelings for the sake of courtroom etiquette. Aaa, my heart.

Vigil: “The, the truth is… I remember very little of that time.” Kazuma: “You’ve forgotten?!”

Kazuma has another strong reaction to this. On the one hand he must be frustrated that the answers he so desperately wants might not even be accessible. But on the other hand, maybe this is also making him think that, huh, forgetting important things, he has a bit of his own experience with that, doesn’t he.

Vigil: “As I said, I resigned from my role at the prison ten years ago. But for some peculiar reason… my memory of the events leading up to that moment is extremely hazy.” Kazuma: “………”

Kazuma’s also shown reacting silently to this. He’s bound to be thinking about what he knows it means, to have forgotten something so very important and likely painful.

Ryunosuke and Susato discuss between them that Vigil’s statement about resigning is strange, because they know that he was in fact fired. Kazuma does not have that piece of information as evidence – and yet, he’s already figured out exactly what’s going on in Vigil’s head.

Kazuma: “The human spirit is a fragile thing. It’s broken all too easily. Which is why… we have a tendency to wrap it up for protection.” […] Kazuma: “When we experience pain and suffering that we feel unable to bear… we block it out. Obliterate it from our memories. Seal it away. But it never truly leaves us. If the seal is broken, the memories resurface. And when they do… that fragile spirit may finally be crushed.”

Kazuma’s speech here is so heartbreakingly telling. The language he uses is so evocative, with “we” phrasings making it seem so much more personal. And the fact that he even realised, so quickly, that this trauma-driven amnesia is what Vigil’s going through also says so much. Kazuma’s amnesia was driven by trauma, too, and on some level, he’s realised that. But this is the closest he’s ever going to be able to get to admitting that. He’s talking about himself just as much as he’s talking about Vigil in these words.

Susato: “Kazuma-sama…”

Susato is shown reacting to his speech, making me think that she’s picking up on how this is a lot more personal for Kazuma than he might want it to seem. She of all people has enough emotional intelligence and empathy for him that I can definitely buy her noticing this.

Kazuma: “But if it must be crushed, then so be it! Because the truth will not stay buried! It’s coming out… one way or another!”

And yet, despite (or perhaps because of) his own experience with this, Kazuma is so fervently certain that revealing the truth is worth the pain it brings. He must have been in agony when he regained his own memories – but even worse would have been the realisation that he’d ever forgotten about something so very important. Nothing matters more than the truth – at least, to Kazuma, when it’s the truth about his father. No matter how much it hurts.

Susato: “………”

Susato is still staring at Kazuma with tears in her eyes. I think she really does Get It about what he’s gone through himself. Bless Susato.

Ryunosuke: “This is a dismissal notice ordering the immediate termination of a prison staff member’s employment.” Kazuma: “A dismissal notice…?”

(Confirming: Kazuma indeed did not know about Vigil’s dismissal, and yet, he still figured out he had amnesia before anybody else.)

Even the way Vigil clutches his head and sways as his memories begin to come back to him is similar to what Kazuma briefly did during the cutscene when he regained his own.

Kazuma: “Clearly… you did something.” [he slams his desk] “Mr Vigil! It’s time to break the seal and have you remember!”

Ugh, he’s still being so forceful about this, despite knowing exactly how much it’s going to hurt poor Vigil.

Kazuma: “Seeing as you were in charge of overseeing executions at the time… you must know the truth about what really happened! It’s in your head! Somewhere deep down!”

Tragically for Kazuma, it isn’t – Vigil was not involved in the plot and knows little about how it was carried out. Kazuma’s going to cause this man so much pain in ripping the truth from his mind for almost none of the gain he’s expecting.

(Well, not completely no gain, since Vigil’s memories – particularly of a certain scarlet-penned will – do eventually come in very handy in solving the case.)

As Vigil recounts the story of what happened with the Professor’s escape and subsequent death, the camera pans around the courtroom – and Kazuma can be seen folding his arms, his eyes closed, listening quietly. I get the sense this body language is a sign of him retreating in on himself and doing his utmost to suppress any kind of emotion he might be feeling from hearing in such detail about how his father was killed.

Kazuma: “I’ve reviewed the police records from that time extensively.”

Of course he has. He’d have been doing nothing else in the week after regaining his memories. By the sounds of this, he even did look a certain amount into his father’s faked execution, despite that this might reveal underhandedness on his father’s part. I suppose he just didn’t manage to find out about Daley Vigil in particular, one way or another.

While Kazuma was ruthlessly willing to drag the truth out of Vigil no matter the pain it caused, I suspect he wasn’t quite expecting the poor man to pass out from the sheer trauma of it. And even though he felt this was necessary, it’s not that Kazuma doesn’t care about the pain that resulted – he’s apparently very apologetic when he visits Vigil in his hospital room later, so he does feel guilty and responsible for the man’s suffering.

#ace attorney #the great ace attorney #great ace attorney #the great ace attorney chronicles #tgaa #dgs #dai gyakuten saiban #the great ace attorney resolve #twisted karma and his last bow

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sunlightfeeling · 1 month

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so..... how did you get into smap, anyway? (i would like to hear the origin story)

hiii anon! i would love to tell this story!!

first the elevator pitch version:

like a lot of more recent fans (i.e. post-JE launch), i was a victim (affectionate) of the RGG to SMAP pipeline

…bit of a boring story, and honestly isn’t a real indication of how I got to have this brain (affectionate, i love having five old men stewing in my brain all hours of the day 👍😬)

sooo im going to tell the story of how the pipeline hit me so hard 😄

the real origin goes back to 2021…

(im gonna make a cut for this story because this is gonna be long long - i promise this isn’t an exaggeration)

so back in 2021, i had an xbox one and game pass (side note: game pass is so worth it, actually fantastic)

and I found a series that I had never heard of…Yakuza

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hX9EomZwntU

youtube

sorry

anyway

downloaded Yakuza 0 and started it up

really dug the vibes, story, music, legitimately everything

then I reached Majima’s first chapter and ooooh the opening got me good

not too long after getting to this chapter, I was graciously gifted a ps5

and one of the first things i did was…

…impulsively buy every Yakuza release on ps4

…and the Judgments as soon as I realized they were under RGG’s umbrella

…after only playing like probably less than 10 hours of a prequel

(disclaimer: i do not mean to romanticize/minimize impulse purchasing; I’m more trying to give an accurate image of how deeply invested I got in a series that essentially sent me on my path; i was/am very fortunate and cognizant of how lucky i am to be able to cover/shield myself from consequences of my actions - so to speak lol)

probably six-ish months and 2 hiatuses later, I reached Y6

and i dont know if it was because the game was the last Kiryu game (at the time) and I was getting all emotional, or if it was because the likeness to Kuroda was pretty…

…preeeetty 🫠

i started developing (what knowing what i know now call) a hyperfixation on not just Y6 but also Kuroda Takaya lol

basically listened to his music whenever I could/on repeat; Y6 was the only thing I wanted to spend my free time playing; etc etc etc

(for reasons, this fixation actually led me to consider my possible neurodivergence; I wonder why 🤔..🥲)

finish Y6 and become baseline-which-isnt-really-baseline normal about Yakuza when I play LAD7

but then….

youtube

“Alex, stop hyperlinking sound effects”

(affectionate)

yeahhh it’s Judgey Time

okay so ive mentioned in tags somewhere but i actually didnt have high hopes for Judgment

at all

the cover just didn’t do anything for me at all…

…and i thought the protagonist was ugly 💀

(im actually genuinely serious, this isn’t me “not like the other girls”ing; i vividly recall looking at the cover when it was about time for me to start playing it and whining to my then-bf that I wasn’t sure I was gonna like it cuz the guy looks really weird 🤣)

but i booted it up and right when Yagami shows off his badge in the prologue

girl

giiiiiirl

I didn’t realize at the time but the seed had been planted and baby that beanstalk grew

Halloween 2022 (and I only know this date for a fact because I memorialized it texting then-bf about it) is the day I decided to look up who this guy really was

I can’t recall what made me finally look him up, whether lurking on the Yakuza subreddit or just something in the game, I dunno

i shared it once but I’ll share it anytime i can…

^^ this was my first Kimura photo

the first one I actually paid more than just a passing glance at anyway……

…i finished judgment in like two/three weeks [and not in a rushed playthrough by any means - getting all the cats, doing all the side cases/romance, etc.] (have a text trail of me going into the finale and date stamp is p exactly two weeks from Halloween 🥲)

started lost judgment immediately because i have texts days after this bitching about dropping money on the dlc before even starting it lol (again: not recommending/romanticizing; just giving perspective on how active my brain was about RGG/Kimura already)

now this…..this is where my timeline gets fuzzy

because i cant really remember how fast i beat lj before starting his dramas

or if maybe i started them before even finishing the game

skipping ahead to January 2023 and I’ve definitely wrapped lj by this point

and have watched a fair amount of kimura dramas (i genuinely cant give a number tho 😭)

around this point, ive determined that im fairly confident in being audhd

and i personally would have described kimura as a combined special interest-hyperfixation at this point (because the intensity would ebb and flow in a way)

started collecting things, starting with his albums and his live recordings (and eventually a lot lot more [I’ll get back to scanning consistently eventually I promise lol])

the defining moment to when I finally crossed from Kimura to SMAP…

…was actually watching Go with the Flow

I had heard bits of SMAP, but, as many unfortunately discover, accessibility to their music is…..well it’s just not there lol

I even got YouTube Music because I found playlists of SMAP performances and could just listen to them while I was working or driving

not that I could really hear them all that well since they were all live performances w screaming or muffled audio/crunchy audio/remixes/etc etc etc

(except for pams seigi shoutout to pams seigi [sorry goro 😔; also i linked that specific one for the tags but please look in the reblogs for a diff version of seigi that they did because it’s ridiculously good])

On Go with the Flow, Kimura performs “Style” which made me go on basically a witch-hunt to find the song since it wasn’t an album track and I didn’t know SMAP’s discography

Eventually found out it was SMAP (Kimura solo on s.m.a.p specifically) and decided that I actually really needed to listen to SMAP

aaaaaand I did ☺️

and then I found Jes yeah no I definitely didn’t

and…that is my SMAP origin story

#ramblin but not a gamblin man #thank you!!#anon genuinely thank you so so much for the question 🥹

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selenityshiroi · 1 year

Text

Random TOTK thoughts since I'm back in work today but am very 'head empty, only Zelda' so have some things I'm in love with:

I love how, although there is some 'who are you? Oh, yes, you're that swordsman' reactions to Link, in general NPCs (especially ones who had side quests in BOTW) know who Link is. It makes everything more cohesive and gives a depth to the world for both games

All BOTW side quests are canon. Link's house (which Zelda now lives in *wiggles eyebrows*)? Canon. Tarrey Town? Canon. Yiga Hideout? Canon. Weirdly presented penpal quest that creeped everyone out? Canon but JUST FRIENDS.

Mattison implies that around 5-6 years have passed (since she didn't even exist in BOTW but now is a walking, talking, reading child...unless Gerudo grow and develop quicker than we expect). And you can see that in the age of some of the younger characters like the Sheikah and Rito kids. And it also helps with the belief that they had time to dispose/repurpose the Sheikah tech into the new tech. Especially if it all stopped working.

Link is so much more expressive this time round but in appropriate ways. They took care to not just have him blank faced or generic emotional response. The first tower scene is panic and wtf but all the ones after that are slightly different than that first one because he knows what to expect. I wish they'd had different reactions for the different geoglyphs but the spoilery post final one has a much more intense reaction at least.

I still haven't stopped opening the item menu everytime I want to change abilities...

The cutscenes are getting me right in the heart. No spoilers but I had to spoil myself for the end because I got too emotional and couldn't wait the next 100 hours it's going to take me to finish to find out how certain things are resolved.

Yahaha you found me! I still love Koroks but, no, I can't help you find your friend right now. I'm busy. (But I am going to go back and do all the friend ones later)

Shrines are genuinely difficult at times. Probably because I keep underestimating some of the abilities. I've seen some uses online that are so 5 head it's unbelievable. I'm going to watch so many let's plays when I can to see how people did things differently.

Gimmie all the clothes. I will explore every nook and cranny of this world for a shitty tunic.

This whole game is 'Oh, what's that? Oh, what's over here? Oh, a quest marker! Hmm, that's weird I should check that out. BLUPEE! Wait...what was I doing?' And it's GLORIOUS.

Tulin my beloved...please stop jumpscaring me with your sound effects that are soft but just close enough to make me think I'm gonna get shanked by an enemy

I have stumbled across more than a few enemies that I have noped back out of ASAP. Even with my new confidence on fighting enemies from my recent BOTW playthrough. That is a later goal.

All the new characters and existing significant NPCs are amazing so far. And there is a lot of hope in the rebuilding which is nice despite the Upheaval. People are looking to the future everywhere and it warms your heart :)

#totk #spoilers #i love this game so much #i spent 70 hours on it over the last 4 days and i can't wait to get home and play it some more #if this isn't game of the year it'll be a crime

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dana-chan-the-control-brain · 1 year

Text

Here are some of my thoughts on Ruin gameplay wise:

Ruin isn't that great from a gameplay perspective.

I do like that Steel Wool took a lot of criticism to heart and they improved Ruin in the Story department way more comparitively to the base game ten fold.

Like imagine having a Rabbit antagonist show up more than twice and is a constant presence throughout the game???? Imagine a protagonist with actual motivation and backstory to why they are there with relatable emotions?

I'm sure Vanny is sure jealous of MXES right about now. (Gregory to Cassie too probably and that's how the game ended how it did but that's another post)

But here's the thing that really soured me on Ruin. Especially on repeat playthroughs, and it was something I was easily discovering as I played through the first time.

There's really no creditable danger in the majority of Ruin.

The atmosphere is darker, and it is spookier.... But it is all literally in your head. The danger and horror is all an illusion.

Mr.Glitchy Malhare man can't harm you directly. He can only summon animatronics after you, or send an animatronic to kill you automatically if you stay too long in AR. Which you tend to recognize the sound ques and can easily get out of situations if you're trapped in AR.

The thing about MXES summoning animatronics to you....

All the animatronics AI from the Base game has been severely nerfed.

Monty can no longer jump and you can out walk him fairly easily. YEAH. WALK. I had never had to run from Monty. He'll despawn if he loses sight of you.

Roxy and Chica behave in a similar functional way.

Chica is faster, and gets distracted less easily if you have her chasing you. And her tight corridors prevent her from despawning but she can easily be out walked.

Sun and Moon won't even chase you and have to go out of the way to see the jumpscare.

You can become invisible to the endos.

And you don't need to run into Roxy as an enemy if you don't want and just use the very obvious intended camera speaker mechanic.

All the animatronics move slower than your base walking speed so I never found them that credible a threat and tended to get bored by them.

The tedium of the puzzles didn't help ease that boredom that much.

The only times of this game that felt genuinely horrifying to play were the Bonnie bowl section and the Freddy chase.

Freddy moves faster than your base running speed and he WILL get you a few times if you don't know what you're doing. It was one of the most horrifying experiences in the game for me.

I know horror is subjective. But once I learned quick that MXES couldn't hurt me, and all the animatronics AI was dumbed down to extremely basic.... I found everything an annoyance rather then a threat.

Not only that, Cassie mechanically is not fun to play. (CHARACTER WISE I LOVE HER but for another post)

She runs slower then Gregory and jumping around and running just isn't as fun. I suppose it makes sense. Gregory is dodgy cus he lives on the streets. Cassie just came home from eating carrot cake.

I have replayed the base Security Breach over five times because it's so fun to play. And yes. I typically play the game straight without many crazy glitches.

Ruin, I have only played twice and I got sick of it. The animatronics aren't fun to run from if they all function the same.

I did like it when MXES was approaching as I was solving puzzles. It lead to some genuinely tense moments.

Steel Wool is so close to making the perfect FNAF game.

I REALLY think that the animatronics needed some more AI tweaking or just copy how their shattered AI worked in base game.

I'm kinda glad that the game wasn't TOO hard. But it lead to a lot of situations where I was just casually walking away from the animatronics and it wore off it's novelty in repeat playthroughs.

Meanwhile I can play Security Breach for weeks and never get bored.

Reminder, this is just my opinion, and I'm just talking about the game mechanically.

Story wise, it's definitely an improvement and I did enjoy it alot and I will talk more in depth on that later

#fnaf #fnaf ruin #fnaf ruin spoilers #fnaf ruin dlc spoilers #danachan's rants

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autopotion · 8 months

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For the gaming asks: 5, 12, 21 and 40?

5. Most memorable gaming moment?

HMM.... That is such a difficult question, it's really hard to pick! I think my answer to this is going to be an emergent moment, as opposed to a scripted plot event. Also I think I'm going to pick something recent lol, because I'd really have to sit and think about it if I was flipping through my entire video game history. So, how about a couple of little memorable moments from the last month or so?

Here's one. In Gravity Rush 2, I found an NPC busking. I stopped by him and applauded, then I used the sing emote. The guy dropped his guitar and started clapping for me! My jaw dropped, I was like, that was so cute, what a reactive sequence of events! (GR2 is full of pleasant surprises like that, and is my favorite thing about the game.)

I've also had a lot of memorable moments in my current Final Fantasy Tactics challenge playthrough, too. Outside of the hat guy stealing Gafgarion's sword and teleporting everywhere with Silky, I encountered an enemy Oracle in a random battle in Grog Hill, alongside a bunch of monsters. Since this is an invitation-only run, I had my eyes peeled for job classes I didn't already have (I also have the stipulation that any unit I invited has to keep their default job), so this Oracle was very attractive to me. When I got her in my party, I discovered she actually had more levels in Mediator than Oracle--which kinda makes sense, if you think about it on a mechanical level, because Mediator is the job that allows units to talk to monsters. Grog Hill is also located right near the largest battles of the War of the Lions, and we've encountered deserters there before. Zoe and I came up with a little backstory for her that was like, she used to be a Mediator with one of the armies, but got sick of the war and ditched, befriended some monsters in the countryside, and went Buddhist. (I find I'm creating a lot of interesting tiny narratives in my head for my generics in this run.)

12. Favorite game character?

How am I supposed to pick!!! My favorite characters are almost always from video games LMAO. I'll just name a couple.

Protagonist: Sissel (Ghost Trick) or Red & Mr. Nobody (Transistor) Party member: Aeris/th (FFVII & FFVIIR) NPC helper: Leliana (DAI) Antagonist: Tokiko Shigure (AITSF:NI) Of all time probably: Ovelia (FFT)

21. A game you thought you wouldn't like, but ended up loving?

Oh my gosh, I think the obvious answer to this one is also a recent pick, lol. I usually don't play games I'm expecting to dislike, true, but it does happen, especially if I'm just curious to test something out, or if I feel like I have to play it for whatever reason. Crimson Shroud is an example of the latter. Like, as a lover of Yasumi Matsuno and the other usual suspects he works with (like Basiscape), I felt like I owed it to myself to give Crimson Shroud a try, as the entry of his that I knew the least about, and especially because it's genuinely difficult to play it these days, so the game preservationist in me was like You Gotta.

But it seemed like everything I'd heard about it was designed to put me off. The oversexualized teenage girl. The fantasy oppressed ethnic group. The fact that the two main guys are named "Giauque" and "Lippi." The old and tired D&D tropes played completely straight. The fact that it was originally intended as a spiritual successor to Vagrant Story, a game that I admire specifically for its genre bending and cinematography, when Crimson Shroud wasn't doing the first thing, and, as for the latter, its characters are presented as static tabletop models... so I couldn't expect the kind of vibrant staging that Vagrant Story had. The dense mechanics (yes, I know that's a mainstay, but I do also have a habit of bouncing off of his games as well lol).

AND YET. While I still think it's probably Matsuno's weakest entry, it totally charmed me. I mean, you've read what I think about it already, but still. I think it was totally worth the playthrough, and it's got just as much charm as everything else he's written. I appreciated the dense mechanics much more because of the short playtime, and the tabletop figurines were genuinely interesting to look at, in the end. They were staged in amusing ways. YEAH. I DUNNO. I kinda like Crimson Shroud a lot.

Oh! I think another recent one is Misericorde. As someone who was never into visual novels growing up, I've become way more open-minded to them over the years (thanks to Zoe introducing me to Zero Escape tbh) and I was actively interested in the Nun Game, but I was admittedly frustrated when I belatedly realized that there was going to be no gameplay at all, not even basic exploration or a handful of dialogue options, outside of clicking through the text boxes. Partway through I was like "I don't think this is working for me." But after I got to the end, I found I couldn't stop thinking about it. Hedwig in particular really stuck with me. I'm actually extremely excited for the next entry, even if it's "just" reading. I know what I'm getting into this time, so I won't have any false expectations from the start, and I can enjoy it for what it is.

40. Best game cover art.

INTERESTING QUESTION..... Hmm..... I really like the cover for Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, and had a lot of fun trying to figure out who the characters were. Vyce running away in the background is also unintentionally hilarious. Her Story's cover is extremely clever once you figure out what's going on there. Zoe rightly pointed out that the Japanese Switch cover for Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is gorgeous. I also like the covers of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, Pyre... I guess for the most part I really like a well-made character ensemble cover??

#taupewolfy #thanks illy!! ❤️#quiznaibus

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broodsys · 1 year

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been a long time since I've felt like I HAD to write something, but I rly connected with Nessa's playthrough and I'm still kinda reeling even tho I knew what was coming. so, there's this, taking place immediately after the end of the main game. hopefully the formatting isn't fucked bc I'm on my phone and not using the app, but we'll see

They had won. It seemed an impossibility, yet here they were, celebration reaching all corners of Skyhold. She was happy, thrilled even, that Corypheus was gone, that the sky was mended, that she and her friends were no longer at risk.

The impromptu party Josephine had thrown was great fun.

Still, she felt hollow. He should be here.

When she slept that night, she expected to find him in the Fade. He had promised that all would be made clear. Instead, she fought Corypheus again. Instead, he left her again. Instead, she saw herself without her Vallaslin. Despite everything, she was relieved when she woke and saw the familiar markings on her face.

She knew she needed to remain strong, to not let her people see how torn she was, but it was hard. She kept remembering holding his hand, the simple joy she'd felt, the sense that he was finally acknowledging their relationship in truth. Instead, it had been the start of the end. A thin comfort before the storm.

Things had faded since that conversation, as though she was observing her life at a remove. She tried to hide it. She thought she had managed.

"Inquisitor, a word?" She was on the battlements, looking at the mountains, distracted enough that she hadn't heard Leliana approach.

"Of course. What is it?"

"I do not mean to be untoward, but…" She was confused as Leliana approached her, stunned as the other woman's arms wrapped around her. "Those who care about you can see your suffering. I am so sorry, my lady."

Nessa hesitated, momentarily uncertain, before returning the embrace. No one touched her casually - first, she had been seen as a criminal; next, touched by Andraste. Finally, she had become the Inquisitor. People don't just hug the leader of the Inquisition.

She hadn't realized how much she'd missed it until she realized she was crying, uncertain how much was despair and how much was relief. Leliana still did not pull away.

"I loved him. I- I don't know why he left." The words were pressed against Leliana's shoulder, thin and private, still catching in her throat. The tears were hot on her face.

"Nor I. I wish I could have found him for you."

"He does not wish it." These words were even smaller, as though to say it risked making it real. But she knew it was real. It was all real - the love and the pain. The hollow he'd left behind. Finally she pulled away, wiping her face, certain she looked a mess. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to…" She gestured weakly at her face, her tears. Leliana's smile was soft, warm. So genuine it took Nessa by surprise.

"Think nothing of it, my lady. My friend. You may lead the armies of the faithful, you may have sealed the Breach, but you are still a person. Those who care about you have not forgotten this."

Gratitude swelled in her as she turned back to the mountains, letting the cold breeze hit her tears and chill her. A sensation stronger than her grief, at least for the moment. "We walked together, the night before we faced Corypheus. I haven't told anyone…" Leliana came to stand by her side, also looking out at the mountains. Trying to make this moment easier for Nessa, she knew. "He told me about the Vallaslin, our markings. Corypheus spoke of it, too." She took a deep breath - this pained her as much as his flight. "They are the marks of a slave." Leliana, so often calm and in control, gasped and turned to stare at her. Nessa continued to look out. She needed to say it. "Long ago, owners used the Vallaslin to mark their slaves. They do represent our Gods, but… they are not as the Dalish thought."

"That's… that's horrible, I had no idea. Solas told you this?" Nessa nodded, new tears hot in her eyes but cold as they slipped down her cheeks.

"He offered to remove mine. But, I couldn't… no matter what they were, what they meant, they have meaning to my People now. It was an honor to receive my Vallaslin. He accepted my answer, he seemed to respect it, but…" Leliana put a gentle hand on her shoulder, a small touch that grounded her, helped her finish the thought that she hadn't dared articulate even to herself. "... what if it is why he left? What if he couldn't stand knowing I kept myself marked as a slave? What if he couldn't understand that it meant something to me as a Dalish, regardless of what it had meant in Arlathan?"

"My lady… I cannot speak for him, he always has been a mystery, but one thing I will say: he has never seemed to say something he does not mean. I do not think his acceptance of your decision a lie, although I can no more explain his flight than can you." It was a comfort to hear, because the words rang true. He was not one to lie - to avoid answering questions, certainly, but not to make his answers explicit lies. It helped, a little, to be reminded of this.

"I know he wanted the orb preserved. I saw that he mourned its destruction. But he left me before the fight, before it had been broken… I know it hurt him, that much was obvious." She shook her head, armor jangling slightly. She used to wear leathers. After their conversation she had switched to scalemail. She was still getting used to the sound, the weight of it, but the difference helped keep her in the moment. "He said all would be clear after the battle. Perhaps, at the time, he meant it. But nothing is clear." She finally turned to look at Leliana. The other woman had changed so much… when they'd first met, Nessa had been more than a little afraid of her. More afraid of her than of Cassandra, even. The longer they'd worked together the more she'd grown to trust her, although Leliana's willingness to go so far still scared her somewhat. But now the other woman had… softened. She'd found herself again. She still did what was needed, but no longer sought violence as a means in and of itself. "Except that I belong here, with all of you. Thank you for coming here, for listening. It means… more than I can say." Leliana's smile was so warm.

"You did the same for me, my friend." So simple, but the second time she'd called Nessa friend. A warm sentiment, a balm on the raw edges of her pain and grief. Leliana left her to her solitude, but she felt lighter. Her grief would keep, she knew, but she still had her Clan, still had her Vallaslin, and she still had her… family, here. She would live despite her grief. She would live. And in time, she would thrive.

For now, she left the mountains to their solitude and went back to the main hall. She no longer wanted to be alone.

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