#i had a great time watching playthroughs tho!

[best-fnaf-song-competition]

I’m so sorry I may sound like a loser cuz I know a lot of people don’t like the game, but are there any votes for “This Comes From Inside”?

You are not alone anon!!! It has 5 nominations, making it one of the most nominated songs so far!

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[Spoilers below cut]

save me SMG4 episode save me

(the following is my live reaction:)

moo-stache moo-stache moo-stache

why do I feel like Pedro's going to be here?

"bruh Pedro was just a one-time thing." they literally killed off Mickey, ANYTHING can happen

KAIZO YOU'RE BACK HI

OMG please tell me someone from the Team saw this fan animation and put it in the episode as a nod to the animator, that would be awesome!!!

btw great fan animation, go check it out if you haven't [link]

YAYYYY, c'mon Mario you gotta spend time with your brother :)

also I need to find a playthrough of this game while I work

whoops my hand slipped [*makes 4 say "I should've chosen the USB over you, 3"*] :)

Hey Shroomy :D ....oh *western spaghetti flashbacks*

like seriously, I can't hear that audio the same way again

helicopter helicopter (copter)

oh hey swag *he fades away* NOOOOOO

well, digging did (mostly, sorta) help the last episode

OMG HI HI HI MY SILLIES

Three, why are you here if you think it's stupid? unless... 🫵 🏳️‍🌈⁉️

it's giving "I'm only here to support my boyfriend's interests", like I'm starting to believe that they truly are dating behind the scenes

they're on a date, your honor 💙💜

and there they go bickering again smh /affectionate

I'd like to think that ever since Four drives a forklift, that's just his method of transportation. screw the car, we're taking this baby out for a spin :)

Mario, you need to be ✨forklift certified✨

sorry, just Three's gayass poses give me life

actually yeah why is the line not moving?

the boys :)

also that walk animation tho

HOW LONG IS THIS LINE?!

also c'mon Three, show us your dance moves :D

oooooh that editing i love that

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING

now that they've mentioned it, why are there so many conventions happening at the same time? hmmmmm *game theory theme starts playing*

SMG3: "Maybe they're lining up to go to your mom's house. That line's usually pretty long." DAYUM THREE

"the line doesn't end" ayo wtf????

shroomy, you've eaten mushrooms before and you had no problem with that

....it really is the end of the world huh

ONE WEEK LATER?!?!?!?

"there is no end" "the end will come" me, sitting in the corner: hmmmmmmmmm

whelp, it's confirmed, I kin Four now

Three's not going coo co crazy, he's just vibin' :)

THIS IS WARRRRRR

this whole fighting scene omg it's SO good!

....WOTFI? ok no :P

AWWW THAT WAS ACTUALLY SWEET DUDE

CAN WE PLEASE GET A HUG? FOR ME SPECIFICALLY?

.... yeah uh Boopkins, you're going to have to explain what the hell you mean by that

not that it's surprising, we've been through a lot. just another Tuesday (or Saturday in this case)

MY HEART CAN'T TAKE ALL THIS FLUFF

HUG HUG HUG

THAT'S MY BOYS

RAVE PARTY [*dances*]

....sonic, is that you? sorry, my mind is still in the sonadow generations phase so I can't unsee them

:O wait, Boopkins, what did you mean by that?

MARTY?!?!? WTF

SMG4: "Don't worry, Mario. There's one way we can fix this." Beat the shit out of him...? YEAH I KNEW IT HAHA

*explodes*

and congrats to samgagmincho for your art featured at the end credits 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

This was a fun episode, I loved it!! Seeing my boys is always a plus and I appreciate the return of some side characters. With how the world is right now, I really needed this episode. So, thanks Team, for keeping my spirits up.

I just enjoyed watching my silly little guys doing silly little adventures. Traffic is a nightmare so I don't blame Mario in the slightest. Anyway, 3 and 4, how was your date? /silly

Can we just talk about the animation? It was so good!!! You really see the quality they put in, especially in that fighting scene. I didn't expect MARTY of all people to be the cause of all this. I honestly thought it was going to be a gag of something harmless just being in the middle of the road for no reason (like a turtle or smth) and the Crew being like "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!" but NOPE, Marty was here and apparently A SORCERER?! I really shouldn't be surprised, what am I talking about here. And ofc the OG duo immediately beating the shit out of him is so fucking funny to me. He didn't die (I know that), but he's definitely going to be more relevant in the future.

...puzzlevision 2? ok I'm sorry

SMG4 show and jokes aside, I hope you all are ok. No matter what happens, we'll stick together. Don't give them the satisfaction that they want. You aren't alone, and we'll keep on fighting.

Going to be a Sonic fan here, Sonic 06 is famously known to be... augh. But there is a good moment with Shadow that I think is relevant now:

Mephiles (the villain of the game): "It's futile. The world will betray you. Why fight at all? Why risk your life for those who will persecute you later?" Shadow: "If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have."

Take care, my dear fellows, and I'll see you all in my next post!! Hmmm, there is "no end" [*game theory intro plays*]

[fenharel]

some of my thoughts after finishing veilguard a couple days ago before i start my second playthrough :)

ok i think its important to note first that the things i was most looking forward too was 1. solas, 2. solavellan, 3. lore. im self aware enough to know that this will have had some influence towards what i expected from the game and what i enjoyed/cared about or not 👍

good

solas: im honestly so happy. my man is finally happy and reunited with his wife!!!!!! my heart feels so full 😭 this game was a solas fans wet dream. absolutely loved everything we got. hunting down regrets and watching old memories. talking to him in the fade. the entire crossroads!!!!!! him shit talking elgar'nan. watching him go trickster mode and imprison rook. fighting the archdemon as the dread wolf!!!!!! i could go on forever. CHEFS KISS TO IT ALL<3333333333333 if anything i wish there would have been MORE im greedy what can i say

solavellan: screaming crying throwing up. i still cant believe it oh my fucking god

lore reveals: i found all the reveals about all our old theories so fun. i didnt like all of them (old gods are just dragons? c'mon.) but overall it felt so rewarding to have picked up on it all. or be totally surprised by something (mythal and solas the reason for the titans and the blight? wow.)

the executors, forgotten and forbidden ones: the next big bads of the next game huh!!!! loved what we got for the most part, the mysterious circle codexes where probably the most interesting in the game. anaris actually showing up shocked me. i wish bellaras brother didnt say "for plot reasons i must die" and actually told us something about him but oh well. im cautiously optimistic about the secret ending for now. what it implied could go either way for now...

main quest: not all of them, but a lot of them were awesome. dare i say some quests were up there with the best main quests in da??? weisshaupt was epic. or the blood of arlathan. every time we get to talk to solas (thehe<3). the final bits. the strong points were so strong that the low points got highlighted a bit too much imo

act 3: by far my favourite act. this was soooo good. the romance finally (?!) kicking it. suicide mission 2.0 stressed me tf out. the varric reveal? send me to the asylum. solas tricking rook? king behaviour i was cheering for him while crying about varric. the dread wolf transformation. the conversation between solas/mythal/lavellan at the end. i basically was in tears throughout half of the thing. couldnt read the credits at all. act 3 was amazing

minrathous vs treviso: i loved this especially with the angst of playing a shadow dragon who failed minrathous. and then the consequences and quest changes this causes throughout the game was really cool. i wish there were more bigger choices like this since it felt a bit flat choice wise besides of this one, but it was amazing.

villains: ghilan'nain and elgar'nan were great. they really felt like the tyrannical gods they were supposed to be. im so glad there was mostly no corypheus-esque cringe. (tho especially ghil had some video gamey lines but sdjkfhjksdf i still love her)

neutral

rook: i dont really care much about rook.. 🙈. mind you rook was certainly not the reason why i wanted to play this game so im sure a second playthrough will make me warm up to them more, now that my head is more free, but it just didnt insta click. rook didnt feel like a real person to me, almost nobody had any (to my taste) realistic reactions towards them. the stakes just were too high for them to get treated this way (nobody is pissed off that they freed the gods? everyone just believes them when they say gods are walking around? everyone just agrees to work with them? nobody cares how rook is doing? or who rook even is? idk.) i didnt like the introduction much either. the shepard treatment didnt work for me here, just believing that rook is fit for the job because varric says so wasn't enough for me. anyway i dont wanna bash on rook, i know i'll end up liking them later. the headcanons will be headcanoning<3

companions: i... don't have strong feelings about most of them? all of them got to me sooner or later, made me cry. but afterwards im still 🤷‍♀️ about most. i didnt feel like we get to know them as deeply as we get to know companions in the previous games. i really really missed sitting in the lighthouse for hours and talk to them, ask them about their profession or what they are about outside of cutscenes like in the previous ones. i think that would have helped me click with them faster. i didnt find all companion quests very strong either. the "high stakes" of the main story made some conflicts feel a bit like we can just fix that after the story lol. i did not like the mass effect 2 treatment of them much... (but me2 is overrated anyway sshh dont kill me<3) some companion quests i did find interesting lore wise (bellara, harding) even if i wish that some of them would have went a bit deeper there. anyway i know i'll probably end up loving them all after a couple of playthroughs, this almost always happens to me, dai is the best example.

combat: don't care. this isn't my type of combat, i don't play a lot of super actiony combo dodge dodge block combat games. still hate the limited abilities. at least it didn't feel too clunky on mouse and keyboard and it was "fun enough" to me so thats good

puzzles: i could put them into the bad category but at least they weren't too terrible so i don't want to be too harsh. but i don't enjoy doing them. i dont want to search for a crystal in a bush. i mean i did them all but at what cost. this felt like filler i thought they wanted to avoid by not adding fetch quests???

bad

pacing: this games hardest battle imo. the pacing of the game is... strange. act 1 is way too fast. it feels like we're running and have absolutely no time for anything. (makes sense! didnt work well though). act 2 then drags a bit with all the companion quests, and the mix really drags the progression of the romances as well to a ridiculous degree. at least with lucanis, idk how it is with the others. i love him and i can headcanon to fill in the blanks so i liked his romance, but it does make it seem like nothing is happening for 50 hours for everyone who doesnt like to headcanon around. anyway, the pacing/storytelling felt often not fitting. it was trying to be mass effect in a story that is too complex and the lore too rich to run through it. this felt like the main reason why we just never went very deep into the lore of the factions or new npcs, or learn or see certain things, the complex nature of the crows, or tevinter magisters and their slaves, we are just running all the damn time? we never get to explore certain things that would feel unnatural to come up in a conversation or in some other way because we are limited by the things the story "has time for". or what the devs had time for.

wishy washy writing: not everywhere but in some places and im not used to that in a da game so its a bit baffling. "the blight is different now so thats the reason for x trust me bro" ok....? "the first of my people do not die so easily" = mythal is shattered and lives on, makes sense. but the other evanuris are all dead, even the ones that were "dead" already? why? idk........ i shall stay delusional for now and hope i've missed something in my completionist run that i now in my next run will find somewhere lol.

limited worldstate: im not tooo hung about it but i certainly wish it was different. i had hoped they at least commit to it. but then adding little references that could have just been made personal by switching one line just made the reference a bit jarring sometimes instead of exciting. or making morrigan eat mythals memories for the regret quest....really? this could have been the well of sorrows choice, why could they not have just made the inquisitor show up in the crossroads if they were the one that drank from it. this whole choice thing + some other problems ended up feeling like something they didnt really want to do but ended up doing because the game was in development for so long they just had to finally fucking finish it. and it sucks for us.

the veil: why... is it still there? they left breadcrumps of clues throughout the entire series about all the positives it would do if it was gone, even add a damn prophecy, and then just dont do it.... ever perhaps? must the blight really be cured for this? demons forever feared? listen im just glad solas is ok at the end of the day but he could still have had his redemption/healing/forgiving himself moment after destroying it imo.

i wish the inquisitor was more involved in everything :((( the moments we did get made me SO happy but. yeah.

no quicksave and the skip button that ruined my screenshots deserve their own bullet point what the hell

anyway enough yapping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! overall i loved the game because the stuff i cared about the most was the best aspects of the game sdkjhsdjkf im not ashamed to admit that this is my new solas 2.0 game. ..... <3

[solavelyan]

i will

compile some thoughts. though tbh i'm not in a place to be terribly critical of this game right now, and may never be just because of the environment in which i played it. i'm also just... losing my stomach for Discourse and drama, so i'm concentrating on the positives

uh. maybe a list. full ending spoilers, tho, beware

I like how they handled Solas and his level of involvement. I wish we'd gotten more conversations with him, but considering his meddling with Rook's brain to keep them seeing Varric, I'm lowkey counting Varric conversations as "talking to Solas" or "Solas is directly involved". Having him there physically at the end was mega fucking cool

I've seen here and there that in The Missing, Varric is super cynical about Solas and it's a switch to have him insist on trying to speak to him in Veilguard. But I didn't read The Missing, and tbh Varric being the eternal forgiveness machine speaks more true to his character to me. Then again, I also generally think that if Anders is alive, Varric is prickly and bitter but also not about to let you, dear Inquisitor, know where he is or that they still talk

I wish we'd gotten a little more context of Rook and Varric's relationship, though. We know they've been working together for about a year, are clearly good friends, and Rook is so devastated by his death that The Everything happens. But in a game that is extremely blunt at all times, it did feel like it was missing a more explicit reference to "Rook" being Varric's nickname for them that stuck (which I'm pretty sure is supposed to be the case).

In general I feel like Veilguard isn't very accessible to people who haven't played Inquisition, at minimum. I honestly wish it had been marketed as a direct sequel to Inquisition rather than just The Fourth Installment, because I think that would've been more honest

Actually, speaking of marketing, Bioware's marketing can blow me because why was SO MUCH of the final sequence in the TRAILERS? The coolest parts of the game didn't get to be a surprise if you watched a TRAILER, and that's fucked up. Still extremely cool when you get there, but like, come on...

I have. So many feelings about Rook

(these feelings are positive)

Veilguard is Dragon Age by way of Mass Effect. The combat is very ME3/Andromeda, and the story structure is basically lifted directly from ME2 (positive). I LOVED Andromeda's combat, and Mass Effect 2 has a very tight and effective narrative scaffolding that served Veilguard well. It feels like Veilguard has ME2's bones, DA2's heart, and Inquisition's grandeur, and it adds up to a really good, character-driven narrative with some really wild boss battles

I like Rook a bunch. While I understand the complaints wrt roleplaying them, in that there's just less flexibility to do so, I generally prefer my custom protags to have the kind of "structure" that PCs like Shepard, Hawke, The Dark Urge, etc. have in them. It helps my immersion and gets me invested, and having bits and pieces of canon backstory to hang my details on is very satisfying for me

You can absolutely tell that Weekes worked on Mass Effect

Also I can't help but feel sometimes that Varric's bond with Rook is because Rook reminds him of Hawke, especially with "Rook" also being a bird name (a sneaky thing Varric would absolutely do and is fully my headcanon now)

Just. Augh. Rook! I loved my Rook! Francesca Ingellvar was a wonderful protagonist to spend so much time with, and I want so badly to play all of the factions because I got so much great Mourn Watch-specific content.

My Lavellan came out perfect. RIP to everyone else on this one, but as my playthrough was plagued with bugs, I feel like karmically I get to brag that Eala was perfection, and I felt like all of her dialogue was "in character". I was full "let these two be together" apologia in regards to Solas and Eala, and the ending I got because of it is, to me, the very best one

There were parts of things that definitely made me question the way they did previous worldstate stuff, just things where I felt like it would have been more naturalistic if we'd gotten to pick more stuff, and the choice not to consider who drank from the Well of Sorrows and do something cool with an Inquisitor who did it is baffling. I will be writing fanfic about it, I'm sure. Still, it's not really any kind of sticking point or dealbreaker for me, just something that makes me roll my eyes and go "...ok" whenever there's an awkward spot

I got a party member killed and I'm not sure if that happens to everyone?? But it was so satisfying and so good and I can't imagine the narrative complete without at least one death, even if it makes me sad that it's there

More obsessed with Solas now than ever my god what a cool character. I've watching the other endings, because I convinced him to voluntarily bind himself to the Veil (and he let Eala stay with him this time), and I fucking love them. I love that he accepts defeat if you trick him and that he has a full villainous breakdown if you brute force it. It's so in-character.

I hope there's a lot of bad ending Rook/Solas where they're trapped in the Fade together

(although honestly it might take me a while to play any of the other endings, trapping Solas in his own prison is just a little too heartbreaking for me right now. not that he doesn't deserve it and you know i love a good tragedy, I just don't have the stomach for that level of sadness right now)

I did Emmrich's romance with a Mourn Watch Rook and i recommend it, 10/10 it's like being god's favorite

I loved EVERYONE. They're all so good I honestly can't pick a favorite companion at this point if I tried. The effort and care put into fleshing them all out and actually building relationships with each other was great. I ended up getting Taash/Harding and Neve/Lucanis together (I CALLED NEVE/LUCANIS DURING PROMO I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT), and when I started Act 3, Harding died and Neve got kidnapped. GOD what a twist of the knife. So fucking good. I need to do a run where Bellara is kidnapped because I need to know what unique touches she gets when she's Blighted at the end

It really feels like this game was made for me, specifically, and I'm very glad I got to play it

[zeondraws]

I was wondering if you were planning a post showing the whole rig or if you knew where to find that? I've really wanted to see each of the rooms in full and where everything leads and connects and all the details, it's hard to see watching playthroughs, especially as the rig deteriorates and the player doesn't take their time to look around.

Thank you for all your time spent going through the game! I really enjoy in depth posts like yours!

Ah this is a great question anon! And thank you so much <3

Maybe in the future I will lay out some sketches how everything connects on the rig. The biggest thing is, there are only certain things loaded in, in each level. So it's always a wee bit of puzzling until I understood where things are located. Which also means I could never check the other parts of accomodation before the deterioration, most rooms aren't shown and/or doors lack the name signs.

However the coolest thing for me was, when I found where Finlay's room is located.

You're never able to see Finlay's and Davros' room, my screenshot of the other door is hard to read, since there is barely any light coming through this part.

They're behind this door at the right of "Campbell" room (and the door near Granstoun/Loudon on the other side). Screenshot a bit crusty but-

Hope I don't slide offtopic too much- I just find it interesting to explore it all and hope to find some random hidden detail here and there.

I know Raffs diving bell is floating across multiple levels, but it's hollow and nothing seems to be going on with it. Up until you see mutated Raffety before Caz enters Engineering again.

I just find this all interesting, because this reminded me of some random post I saw weeks ago. A person claiming the rooms are not properly in place anymore in the late game. They probably thought the devs "disconnected" Accomodations or "weren't consistent with the level locations".

But in reality, it takes multiple walkthroughs until one properly understands how it all goes together. Same with me not realising O'Conner is hanging inside the Forward Pontoon (the one you flood later). Or me having difficulties understanding how exactly Engineering works and being confused what area I have been in already (Where was Mud Handling again?? Where is Pump Control again?? I am slowly memorising it, but still get flabbergasted).

Tho, yeah I could try to make some sort of video or drawing to showcase where everything leads to on the rig. Might take a while due to moving soon. But could be interesting

It clearly makes me realise how much research goes into a topic. At the beginning when I first watched this game, I had no idea what was where (I still remember when I was confused where Muir and Innes were standing??). My first and second playthrough I also felt clueless. But with each playthrough I discover more and more details and finally understand what is going on. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I don't apply this for other things I want to learn (with art or idk finances, I'll figure it out!). But uuuuuuuuuh, you can see I could continue rambling for hours.

It's almost 2am so I have to cut myself short sadly XD But feel free to ask me more questions if you have any (or if other folk have questions too). I shall leave you with this screenshot of questionable amounts of recordings I have

Ain't even all, it's 315GB in total (because I record in 2560 x 1440)

[seattledaytwo]

🍒

didn't get a chance to play DE yet, but I humored myself with some playthroughs already and I'm... questioning shit rn. I just checked what max's phone has to offer in my ending (bae ending with pricefield as... hs sweethearts apparently). and I just don't understand wtf happened. I don't want to spoil the main plot of DE, but the way they don't offer any datas or timeframe... I'm kinda offended by the messages shown in max's phone. it looks so wrong. I mean, ofc there is the whole multiverse and I can believe that in some universe pricefield could've broken up but??? it feels wrong actually seeing it, I mean my expectations are my own mistakes, but... I need time to process

I mean, it could be great, but they promised to respect both endings. and the way I see it, most people who saved chloe didn't do it to see such an ending. I get that this stuff happens in real life, it's natural outcome for the relationship built on trauma, but for both Max and Chloe it's really off and out of character. I probably need to see more from the game to get a better perspective, but now i'm just sad.

how are u feeling tho?

OOF okay yeah I'm going to be brutally honest about my thoughts on Double Exposure.

So from the very first announcement, the concept left a bad taste in my mouth. It felt incredibly cheap to bring Max back, and I knew that even if the game was fantastic, that narrative choice would always rub me the wrong way. I don't like the idea of Deck Nine taking Dontnod's characters and continuing a story that had been tied up with a perfect bow already. It feels...I don't know. It feels gross, I guess, is the best word I can use.

Chloe's lack of presence stood out to me immediately, and combined with the pieces of the game we'd seen, I knew she wouldn't be part of it. At best, there would be some offscreen explanation about her traveling or something (like how Dragon Age explains where the Warden went if you romanced Leliana). What they went with was...worse than I anticipated, lol.

In my opinion, it's very clear that they brought Max back solely to bait people into buying and playing, and it's backfiring HARDCORE on them right now. I've seen so many people cancelling their preorders and turning away from the game. The promos for the games were purposely avoiding a mention of Chloe, not to be fun and surprise the fanbase, but to string people along until the very last second. Clearly, it didn't work out!

It's really a bummer because I think I would have LOVED this game if it featured a new protagonist. I mean, switching timelines, a university story, an older protagonist? Absolutely right up my alley! But the fact that they dragged Max in to be the hook immediately turned me off to it.

To be honest, I would be very unsurprised if this is the last Life is Strange game after all the backlash that's already starting. And honestly? I'm kind of okay with that. I have concerns about how Deck Nine and Square Enix would/could handle future installments, since it feels like the integrity of the series has been degraded so much with DE.

I never had any plans to play the game, but I don't even really feel like watching a playthrough now either, lmao. All that to say, I really don't consider this game canon. This feels more like a parody than an actual continuation of Max's story.

It's very, very sad to me because the first game came out when I was a teenager trying to figure herself out, and Max and Chloe were very integral to exploring and discovering my sexuality (even before I realized it)!

I love True Colors and I think Deck Nine is capable of writing a compelling (if not a little lacking in some aspects) storyline, but diving back into Max's story was a really bad idea and I think it might be the series' downfall.

And...wow, I guess I had more to say than I realized 😅

[bioshook-wynand]

Since my friend and I are playing Bioshock 1, i wanted to share some of the things that have happened so far:

- We sat and watched the plane fully sink

- "OUGH?!" < her reaction to the giant Ryan statue

- Right off the bat she didn't trust Atlas and said his wife and child aren't real

- Every security bot is named Jeff

- The wrench is also Jeff(rey Bezos)

- We spent 30 minutes trying to get to Steinman because I forgot I has to throw the bombs at the debris blocking the entrance

- We went through 4 nitro splicers before I realized something wasn't right. I do this everytime. I literally replayed Bioshock like 2 weeks ago and forgot how to do that

- I've died more times in this playthrough than I ever have in Bioshock 1

- Keeps asking me if Atlas is evil, I keep telling her no and that he's my babygirl

- I've been spoon feeding her Atlas propaganda so hopefully she'll trust him by the end

- LOVES the little sisters, terrified of big daddys. She screamed the first time we had to fight one

- I tried to get the first bouncer stuck behind the register in the Medical Bay, but absolutely shredded him before I could

- The women were too stunned to speak

- We sat under the floor of the McCracken Crab trying to kill a Rosie. I died.

- I also hid under the floor of the Fisheries and smacked Splicers that walked overhead

- I got killed by a (different) Rosie like 5 times before I finally killed her

- Also ran from the third Rosie repeatedly before I finally killed him

- She chose target dummy for our first real plasmid

- I've only ever used it when losing control of the plasmids. So I've only used it once-

- Me: God I hate Andrew Ryan

Her: Bash his brains in

Me: *Hephaestus flashbacks* Oh I'm gonna

- Spider splicer: *angry screeching*

Me: New wife for you

Her: Great, thanks

- Hates it everytime I say "Snappies"

- I spent way too long looking for the final spider splicer before realizing I could take a picture of a dead one

- She did trust Peach Wilkins though (Somehow??)

- "I've got a really bad feeling about this" intensifies

- Yelled "THIS IS YOUR MAN⁉️" When Atlas walked out and almost missed Ryan's speech and the splicers bc of it

- Predicted the sub would blow up, but was shocked when it actually did

- I think she begrudgingly trusts Atlas now, his acting is peak

- I also went on a 2 minute rant about him and she made fun or me the entire time

- *finds a crawlspace full of Atlas posters*

Me: Oh my god, this is where I live!!

Her: NO

Me: With my Atlas posters and my.. Pistol bullets??

Her: N O !!

- #1 Langford stan (she's in love with her)

- Got jumpscared by the Houdini splicer that appears behind you (We both screamed)

- I was laughing bc his shadow was looming over us, then slowly turned around and we had a staring contest before I finally shot him in the face

- I've literally never seen him just sit there before?? He always disappeared as soon as I turned around. Wild

- She compared Langford writing the code on the window to 11307 from Danganronpa (iykyk)

- Cue disappointed sighing (Not really, I laughed really hard)

- This entire playthrough has just been me aggressively hitting on Atlas and her reevaluating our friendship

- Not even the posters are safe

- "Who is Atlas?"

Me: My husband

Her: UGH

- Saying "This is for me!!" every time I see an Atlas poster

- She is genuinely considering killing me

- Made me harvest a little sister to see what would happen 😔 We reloaded tho it's okay

- I've found so many secrets in this playthrough, including a vent that goes to a meat locker in the Farmers Market

- It felt like I was getting chased by everyone in Rapture while trying to make the Lazarus Vector

- I also (somehow) shot the big daddy in Langford's office while fighting splicers

- That was terrifying

- *Enters Fort Frolic* Me: It's about to get real silly

- I've been hyping up Cohen this entire time because I knew she would like him

- Unfortunately, she does

- She gagged at the "expectant mama" line

- Got jumpscared AGAIN by the splicer in the basement of Sinclair Spirits

- "SINCLAIR WHAT THE FUCK"

- I can never find the record store when I play Bioshock, this time was no different

- I gave up and went after Hector instead

- When we met Silas Cobb she yelled "KITTENS??"

- She agrees Silas is a discord mod

- We spent like 2 minutes straight trying to catch Hector and Silas

- I also got jumped by a bunch of splicers every time I tried to kill a bouncer

- She lost it at Cohen walking down the stairs

- "HIS GAY ASS WALK"

- I smacked Cohen after his speech and immediately ran

That's all so far, but we'll hopefully play some more this week!

[i-dont-pay-taxes]

Umurangi Generation: The last generation who has to watch the world die - quick review/analysis

Umurangi generation is a first person photography game set in a fictional cyberpunk-ish world where humanity is facing an extinction level event. We follow our voiceless MC and his group of equally voiceless (yet endlessly stylish) friends on their trip around new zealand.

The game is split into 8 different stages, consisting of classic punk street slums, restricted rooftops and military bases. Our goal is to take pictures of certain objects or people around the map within the 10 minute time limit, these tasks are called photo bounties. The game also includes bonus objectives with every mission, like collecting all hidden film canisters, taking a photo of all your friends, or finding a spot to recreate the picture of a postcard you are shown in the pause menu.

Stage 1 - The start of your photography taking spree is a small rooftop brimming with graffiti and the punk spirit. This stage acts as the tutorial of the game, containing easy to find photo bounties and collectables. The main thing of note is about this stage is just how nostalgic it makes me feel. To be honest, I've never gone onto restricted rooftops full of punk graffiti, yet the amazing art direction and colour palette make this place feel like a sanctuary of teen angst, as if I've missed countless conversations between friends which have all moved on. It invokes that same feeling as seeing years old graffiti where someone confesses their love to a person you have never met. A painful hit of nostalgic melancholy. All in all an amazing stage which sets a great starting tone for this game.

Stage 2 - Turns out i forgot to mention that the indie punk environmentalist game has a complicated relationship with the government (the UN to be specific). The second stage is set on a UN military base which is riddled with tired soldiers and graffiti expressing anti UN sentiment ("I just wanted meaning in life yet here I am" and "My dreams of being an audio engineer are over." are some of the more notable ones). The base is a clear sign that the UN is trying to stop whatever world ending event is happening, much to the dismay of the people. The stage also contains a hint at what might be causing all this, with a sign counting the number of killed "squids" (they look like jellyfish but fine). Upon completion of every stage we get a new camera lens or picture editing option, and this stage requires smart use of the camera lens we got on the past stage to earn a bounty, teaching the player about smart positioning. At this point in my playthrough i had assumed this game had a strong anti UN sentiment, but later I found another way of looking at things, that comes later tho. Not my favorite stage, but a well done one nonetheless.

Stage 3 - Anyone else love cyberpunk? For me it's not the futuristic technology or sci fi story that's intriguing, but the lively backstreets and (depressingly) squeezed housing. This stage is just that, with even more anti UN (and cop! how political!) messaging, so much so that the stage is a no UN allowed zone, with cops not even responding to any crisis calls. From a gameplay perspective it's a way more vertical stage, with a few bounties being hidden up high on the rooftops. Not much more to say about this one, past complimenting it's amazing design.

Stage 4 - If the stage before was about realistic cyberpunk streets, that being dirty, cramed and depressing housing, then this stage is about the cyberpunk utopia. Bright neon signs and loud dance parties can be found above a tunnel filled with the homeless (and more dance parties!). This stage aint for me, as I dislike the bright neon colour scheme... still, it provides a fine, I'd even say amazing, set up for the next stage (remember that). An interesting thing we see are these huge UN walls blocking off all exits. While they were present in the first stage, their position was far away. This stage is, in my opinion, the worst in the game. Not that bad to be the worst stage in this masterpiece of a game tho.

Stage 5 - The bright streets sure were relaxing, what follows them is logically a warzone. Stage 5 starts on the same UN base from stage 2 (yay, reusing assets in a smart and clever way!), but a huge battle has started between the soldiers and... a giant jellyfish squid godzilla thing? The spawn point of the stage is like a flashbang, with people in front of you fighting for their life. The contrast between this and the rest of the game is amazing, and shows how it's not afraid to make darker stages to tell it's story if need be. The stage from a gameplay perspective offers a bigger challenge, with the player having to avoid squid corpses and find their bounties in a pretty dark area. One of my favorite stages as well.

Stage 6 - My favorite stage. A train ride after the battle that happened on the stage before. Everyone stands around in a surprisingly relaxed way, taking their time. From an outside perspective this level of stoicism (while admirable) is completely unnatural, yet when we take into account the seemingly inescapable and unstoppable ending of the world that is to come, that level of calm nihilism is only logical, even if depressing. The photography we do feels like a distraction this time, an unnecessary hassle. This game may present itself like it's about photography, but by now that's clearly not the case. It's about facing the end.

Stage 7 - The train stopped and the last bastion of human bureaucracy is left doing things that bureaucracy does. People stand in line waiting to get let through a UN checkpoint. We don't see anyone actually moving, or really doing anything, we just see people waiting, not even annoyed as it doesn't matter if they are let through or not. Some people are dancing, not even bothering to step in line, deciding a death embraced is the best way to go. We take our pictures as usual and continue, as there is nothing our camera can do to help.

Stage 8 - Back where it all started, back on that same restricted rooftop. It's nostalgic melancholy is finally realised as we watch the giant godzilla jellyfish squid thing threaten humanity. Humans arent really meant to face death, you know? Our friends stand around, some sit and look, some dance, we take pictures, but really none of us know what a proper response would be. The UN built a big fuck off robot thing to fight the damn godzilla, i mean that just aint the action of someone who's accepted death. And so we wait, our destruction ensured, taking out final batch of photos. I can't call that nihilism, I think it's not a lack of hope, but an acceptance that hope won't help.

One final photo - We are transported to a beach, no context is needed. We are dead. Humanity is dead. As we look up we see the thing that caused our doom, and our last action is clear.

After pulling out our camera, a click can be heard, following which are the credits. At the very end it says: "Umurangi Generation: The last generation who has to watch the world die".

My own interpretation of the story - At first, as I've said before, I thought this game had a straightforward anti UN message... and to be honest, it somewhat does. Still, I believe this is moreso a story about what being a generation that has to face the death of humanity is like. We are destroying the planet, to say the least. We are watching our world die, and the generation after us will also have to do the same, so to be the last generation who has to watch the world die is something both overwhelmingly scary, but also indescribably easing. The ending of a book is always somewhat relaxing, no matter if good or bad.

I don't think I need to point out the obvious connection between global warming and the story of this game, but i'll just add that one of your friends is a penguin, and I chuckled when i got the irony of being in the same position as the penguin, losing my life to something i can not stop.

The anti UN sentiment this game provides is a direct response to the mishandling of major national crises in the year of 2020, from my personal reading this game isn't so much against the UN as it's against the damaging of local citizens and cultures by the UN's mismanagement.

Conclusion - The game is fucking good go buy it already!

[bmpmp3]

ffffuuuucccccck i finally finished watching a playthrough of silent hill 2 remake.... ffffuuccccccck its good..... ffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

i already mentioned before how much i liked remake james's performance in regards to like his in-game uh. grunts LOL but i really loved how much, as he gets hit or beats up creatures his voice gets sorta heightened and hoarse like real ass screeches of disgust and upsetness... hell yeas

james's performance was great in general like of course i love his original bizarro world voice acting where you'll be like so horrified or scared one second and the next you'll burst out laughing. how can you just SIT THere and eat PIZza. etc etc. BUT in a high fidelity modern game like this its nice to hear a more naturalistic performance, and a really nice like emotional performance with this shift into disassociation so well... really good!

also a big fan of angela and mary and maria's performances too although their originals were also top notch. i think in some cases i really preferred marys old line reads especially with the letters but that might just be because ive heard it tooooo many times that im too attached. angela was great all around, her voice in the original was intentionally older sounding than she was which i thought worked well and interestingly in the ps2 game, but in the remake she sounds her actual age and i really loved that performance too, had such a viscerality to me, maybe because she looks and sounds like so many people i've known.

also really love her new design, although her sweater um. threw me off because uh. it was so like skinnyfitted and thin and i was like oh god post-2010 clothing trends..... oh god post-2010 quality degradation.... oh god the skinny armholes are still haunting me BUT actually i do think the odd fit really works. in the original shes designed and voiced older than herself, and here she's designed almost looking younger than herself in some scenes - like okay maybe its just because oddly fitting shirts with too tight armholes was just all clothing when i was middle school BUT it does make her look younger than 19 to me. and then in her performance shifting between her own age, seeming younger, and sometimes even seeming older and tired.... really good, i thought her performance was really great and really emotionally harrowing

I ALSO like marias new outfit, the little gag where she finds her old outfit and asks james what he thinks is so so so cute. i wasnt sure about her new outfit because low key i thought it was too bland as something just like two flat colours but in a closeup i saw that her dress has like a subtle leopard print and there was all kinds of other little details, so it grew on me a lot! although, her original outfit being ripped straight from i think christina aguilera at like the teens choice awards or something is one of my favourite things on earth and when they first announced the remake i did kind of hope they would rip a new outfit from different celebrity. steal some ariana look. give her those long ass sleeves. does the teen choice award still exist. oh god it stopped in 2019. oh god. oh god. wait im getting distracted

JAMES new design is also pretty great. i do miss the goofy patches on his jacket tho.... whats the usa flag doing there... BUT its good it fits. i also like how fucked up and exhausted he starts looking over the course of the game. really good

i also noticed - the remake focuses a LOT on the faces like james especially but all of the characters expressions. and i think that was a good choice because one thing the original has all the way over the remake is the like, super dark and exaggerated geman expressionist ass shadows in those prerendered cutscenes. in a modern realistic game like this that might still be difficult, at least to blend in with the gameplay lighting, so i noticed the lighting, while still solidly expressive, was a little more subdued. since you dont have those intense solid black shadows obscuring and exaggerating features anymore, focusing on the faces themselves and all the subtle mocap and tiny animations helps bring back that emotion in a different way. if that makes sense? i dunno it thought it was neat

i enjoyed basically all the new stuff ive seen (i still need to see all the endings, the leave ending was great tho) and all the old stuff was solid - there was also plenty of stuff i liked better in the original. but i didnt mind the new one. and a few things were better which is nice. OH and the line in the club where maria asks james to get up on the pol for her was really good. if only he would maria. if only he would.

OH and of course the soundtrack was fantastic. i mean its the same dude and that same dude happens to be legend akira yamaoka of course its fantastic. the mandolin is there. its great LOL some of the new arrangements really got me like, emotionally? the tape scene, whats the song. TRUE the new version of true.... holy shit. holy shit man

it also made me realize like damn. i havent heard a whole lot of games that look like sh2remake that sound Like This. in general most horror games i play outside of like VNs tend to be much more like, quiet atmosphere - sh2 and sh2remake by extension are so melody heavy and like, grunge rocky? i still think the original theme of laura might be my favourite piece of rock music ever LOL BUT like its nice.... hearing so much melody and rock song based background music, still atmosphere and moody but with much more present rather than fading into the background - maybe just because that's my favourite type of video game soundtrack LOL people say if you dont notice stuff like bg music, etc, that means the artist did their job BUT thats not the case for me i like stuff to be noticeable <3 it was so refreshing!!

very solid remake. i wonder if its successful enough that we'll get other remakes? i'd like 4 a lot. they would want to do 3 but itd be hard to without 1 so 1 is likely, although yknow im not sure if i can picture a sh1 remake. shattered memories is like. technically that? but its so SO vastly different i like, forget HJKDSHJDSD i think of them like separate games... a shot for shot-ish with expanded scenes etc for 1 like we got for 2.... i do have trouble picturing it. maybe its because 1 is my absolute favourite (2 is such a close second but sometimes i grade my favourite game in a series by how often i replay it. and i replay sh1 so much its absurd) maybe its because in my heart i picture harry mason in his blocky ps1 form at all time. but i wouldnt be opposed to a remake.... id be open... i think.... as long as they give you a costume that lets you run around as ur ps1 model. i think id be open if they did that LOL

EDIT: I JUST WATCHED THE OTHER ENDINGS

leave in water and maria were all great. leave is usually my go-to but i love in water as like a counterpart to it, listening to mary's final wishes or going against them. maria ending is also great as like oh fuckkkkkkkkkk.... It Is Happening Again.

rebirth i forgot about how insane that ending was. holy shit.

dog was so so fucking good the CAMERA ANGLES? the POLISH? awesome it added just enough to make it funny in new ways while still being a good classic joke ending

UFO I WASNT EXPECTING AT ALL like okay speaking of harry. im really glad they changed it from harry's ps1 model to it being fucking SPACE JAMES. ps2 james. i think that feels more fitting as a remake, referencing the game its remaking rather than the predecessor to the game its remaking LOL altho i would have still enjoyed seeing harry my best friend harry i think this is way funnier

THE NEW ENDINGS

bliss.... holy shit man. thats like. REALLY GOOD. like so good i almost had to remember like was that in the original? it feels SO fitting and so haunting. i love that james's voice is so much clearer than mary's through the tv speakers.... it was like a slow dawning realization. short and simple but so so SO effective, surreal and haunting, big fan

stillness was also really good as sort of an alternate in water? i think? the performance was CRAZY in that one it was so strong and resonant..... the new endings were great additions all around i think!! very happy with this remake overall :)

[unproduciblesmackdown]

i feel like you would have really fascinating takes on the transformers franchise if that was ever something something you got into (meant as complimentary. kind of inspired by the fast and furious zine you talk abt every now and then tho in tf case its much more transgender in the comics (kind of in transformers one as well?) than the live action verse. asia kate dillon in a transformers movie when...) sorry if this is random as hell :]

oh thank you, this ask is a treat to randomly get, fun insight on that connection & my theoretical fascinating takes is [takes the compliment] rn lol

i've never directly experienced any transformers franchise media besides Knowing Of It while existing concurrently with it on this earth, gleaned a tiny bit of info but any like. lol here we go: transformative &/or just fan analysis / discussion worlds are pretty entirely unknown to me, but i guess i both already assume & am distantly aware of like queer fanbase existing lol & like you really have to deconstruct ideas about sexuality & gender if you're dealing with stuff like alien robots fucking, i'm sure two trucks having sex has to be a thing for transformers fans more than even the average tumblr user. which like now that you've sent this idea connecting it to Fast & Furious: Transgender Style like i'm sure just as that is kind of an uphill battle (at least seemingly) to fix a trans lens on, like, well it's an uphill battle i'm sure if some transformer fan ships the transformers but has to draw mechs about it. however, "trans" is right in the name. just like on real, regular trucks sometimes

also like genuinely maybe you should pitch "trans / queer input on the transformers franchise" to https://www.girldadpress.com/contact as an idea for a potential upcoming anthology work again, like the first zine being that "all trans contributors doing works about the fast & furious franchise" (which i could contribute to without having ever seen any movies or knowing anything besides what was from the one relevant video game we watched a playthrough of on youtube. while also not being the only contributor who had never seen anything fast & furious / didn't know much / didn't particularly like it lol) & the anthology in progress right now being queer contributors doing works about the sex & the city franchise, which i also know nothing about, except maybe making the connection about the funny unlikely "and just like that" making billions have to quickly edit in some voiceover into an episode, & then i start talking actually about being the queer trans "also not a fan, also haven't even actually seen this" about billions lmao But. that'd be in writing so we can imagine a sprawling [just me complaining / analyzing a whole different media] all while like, i'm not the Wrong Audience billionswatcher with that insight + writing skill combo (that would be nothingunrealistic)

anyway they Are open to input / ideas like that lol & i didn't have any ideas to offer but like why not send it in? & then maybe eventually you could have a zine of fascinating takes on the transformers franchise. i really enjoyed the full 2 trans 2 furious zine as someone who barely already knew anything, so probably if i Did know shit it'd only be an enhanced experience.

asia kate dillon in the last(?) fast & furious movie, in a transformers movie sure, in Anything, anywhere in their range from Striking, Intense Presence to funny little guy (highest honor)

(bonus: from following a few blogs for cats (jellicle) (have been meaning to like watch the '98 proshot but haven't actually yet. know a bit & respect it / like it on principle / like it distantly b/c like Yeah Sure but again another thing i don't know much about. one time my costume for a show i was in was very cats style, which is great. unfortunately don't have access to any of the disposable camera vlogging pics i took. it was purple & i did my own face makeup whee) i see things about Starlight Express, the andrew lloyd webber musical about trains & their train contest & it's done on rollerskates & i also know basically nothing but it's, you know, people As Train Units in costumes that like at a glance are kind of giving transformers(tm) b/c how could it not, really. this is like my main trainsformers (keeping that typo, sure) thing to offer rn)

[just-a-carrot]

HELLO CARROT!

Given how apparently I’m immune to playing OW games without recording them now, you’ll audibly hear my thoughts within the next few weeks (I’m posting tomorrow because I’m an absolute maniac), BUT I WANNA SAY THINGS HERE BECAUSE APPRECIATION CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG!

Also Merry Christmas! It’s midnight when I’m writing this, so ‘tis the day of caroling and festivities and woah. Or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate!

Back to the Our Cinderella topic, I have only played Genzou’s route as of now (I’m sure that’s hardly surprising, he is my fav), but the others are next. Their time is coming. They cannot escape. SO SPOILERS FOR GENZOU’S ROUTE!

First off, I saw you included the little dancing in front of TV Iggy pose and the joy I felt seeing it was off the charts. I kept bringing it up, I was very happy. And seeing Iggy moving about was really cool in general, even without the novelty of seeing a suggestion I made exist in the game.

NEXT UP! Genzou drunk singing is an image I didn’t know I needed, thank you for the visual and the brain food. BUT ALSO I HAVE BEEN CONNECTING JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR SONGS TO OW FOR SO LONG AND HEARING THE MUSICAL BE MENTIONED BY GENZOU THREW ME FOR A LOOP. Great musical, very nice. Last Supper reminds me of Genzou and Orlam. Judas’s voice in general reminds me of Orlam. Musicals and OW can further connect in my brain hobby drawer.

The text interactions in general were really funny, actually. I liked the absolute chaos that was Iggy and Genzou’s text conversations, I was laughing while trying to read a lot of the time. I remember the aforementioned drunk singing conversation and the puddle one both got me pretty good while I was reading, and it was overall fun to see more lighthearted conversations from the characters, even if it’s in a different universe from the main canon.

To end things off, ‘cause again 1) I haven’t finished all the game’s routes yet, and 2) you’ll be able to hear my thoughts in the moment if you choose in future anyways, I wanna mention the version of Cinderella Bucks tells at the end? I can’t get it out of my head. When I was thinking about the game after having just played it, my mind kept flashing back to CinderJesus. It absolutely decimated my brain function, but in a very fun way. More slice-of-life Bucks, please, she’s peak comedy.

Very fun game, 10/10, very sad I couldn’t buy the Kirby in the first playthrough but it’s on my to-do list, aaaand yeah! Thank you for making this! I loved every minute of it, and I’m really excited to play the remaining routes once my irl festivities are over.

sob this is so sweet! 😭💕 i'm excited to watch your playthrough too -- things are a bit overwhelming in general for me right now as i'm still with my family and doing a bunch of things, but even if i'm unable to find time this week i will for sure watch once i'm back home next week. i'm really happy that you're enjoying it so much already tho ahhhh and that you're finding it so entertaining 🥺

i'm glad you liked the poses i had so much fun with them and also using some of the suggestions to add more! and LMAO JCS is a musical i grew up watching (my parents used to play the original album in the house lol) so i get the songs stuck in my head a lot, hence why it randomly worked its way into this (among many other random silly little references or inspirations from my own life hahaha). that is extremely funny to me 🤣

i'm glad you liked the convos they were the epitome of silly. and also bucks's part hahaha. i was half-worried it would end up being too ridiculous and random for people because it just got so weird in places hahaha

thank you so much for this lovely message and all of your thoughts and for playing the game! 🥺💕 i look forward to watching the playthrough so i can see all of your reactions in real-time lakjdfs

[zeico]

Long post request: how do you feel about BG3?

I didn't realize a new patch came out on final fantasy for about a week because Baldur Gate o Baldur Gate

currently in act 3 and trying to stock up on shit since I recently cleared out the bank. I'm TRYING to hold myself to not starting a new character until I finish this one but I see so many monk items and i want themmmmm (I have a half elf monk open in character creator right now)

Since I played a lotttt of dragon age origins, parts of the structure of bg3 felt very familiar to me like the camp itself and like how u interact with the companions. Like coming home in a way.

I'm also playing 5e a lot so that part of the structure of it was very easy to adapt to. I do still have trouble with like certain interface things like oh man gotta select the version of the spells BEFORE TARGETTING NO GALE WHY ARE YOU RUNNING TO THEM GET BACK HERE WHY ARE YOU HITTING THEM WITH YOUR 8 STRENGTH BACKED STICK

But its great and I do like the changes made to better facilitate it being a VIDEO GAME. Like I'm a Divination Wizard. My main Thing is portent dice. (There's also detect thoughtsing my way through all social encounters which is SO GREAT honestly scratches an itch I've always wanted to do but it would be such a pain in the ass for tabletop. Like first first ever dnd character I cooked up was an illiterate mind reading sorcerer that like got by through just that. But that would be so annoying to do with like.... PEOPLE AT THE TABLE of like 'so im just constantly getting ur surface thoughts...... i can't entirely control this... i'm sorry....' )

ANYWAY portent dice!!!!! in bg3 they have it at level 6 you fulfill little prophecies to get ur dice back to make the big boss miss their BIG attack or make SURE you hit (or my favorite, make the rogue crit on a sneak attack) instead of having it that when u cast a divination spell u get a spell slot back. since theres so few divination spells especially like using IN COMBAT so I understand the change.

I also like the variety of shit you can do. like my partner is one to summon 9 creatures btw the whole party so theres a small army of creatures following their main party. (also several buffed with mage armor and everyone has a higher level aid cast on them so they also have a decent amount of health its really funni to watch) I like wrote off the summon guys moves because I just dont like to have extra guys usually.

Something I wish I did on my first playthrough tho was simply long resting more I think I fucked myself out of a lot of social link scenes in act 1 bc I straight up didn't rest enough. The game is like 'oh no time is ticking' but things aren't REALLY like that (cept for like... 2 instances I can think of) bc its a videogame and thats fine.

It WANTS you to use all your abilities and not be dum like me and just cantrip my way through most the first act 'just in case i need my slots later' why am i like this. both short and lone rest more and just use all your moves its FINE

speaking of social links and companions theyre all great. I love them all. I DO wish some things weren't like... romance locked it feels??? well more like you HAVE to reject them???? idk I had a scene with gale when he's like 'but we're not THAT close tho' and i felt bad bc like... I want to be wizard friends with you. I'm SORRY I'm so weak to both vampires and elves.

heard some shit about astarion having like so much content compared to all the other companions and man imma feel so spoiled on my playthroughs where i dont smooch the vampire. I do wish everyone else had more scenes too its a shame.

something about bg3 thats HILARIOUS to me personally is that its all like 'recruit allies against the cult' and in another irl campaign im in thats been in hiatus for years but I still hope to come back its REALLY similiar. Oh no a huge looming death cult threat to the city. oh no the city has its own fuckmess of bullshit to deal with. OH NO a shapeshifting killer. Anytime theres strong parallels to that campaign it sparks joy.

A few technical problems I've had tho were around switching characters in and out of the party. like in a building and I wanna run back to camp to tag in someone. Wait why are they on the roof????

Or I tag in someone and WHY ARE YOU CLIPPING THROUGH THE FLOOR? Tbh the game is so enjoyable I just sigh and say "Video. Game." out loud and load a save. Like the last time that was REALLY frustrating is when it just would NOT let me out of a restricted area like please I persuaded u 3 times let me go I was on my way OUT.

Also why do all these 8 strength men have abs. This is Wrong. I'm bad with figuring out the technical shit of modding but holy shit I need them to not have abs.

Anyway I had this and the character creator open for like 2 hours now so Imma start that now.

[artastic-friend]

RUIN SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Not art) my reaction to some stuff as I watch the Dawko playthrough

Spoilers After the cut, don’t look unless you watched/played it yourself!

Y’ALL I’VE BEEN WATCHING THE DAWKO PLAYTHROUGH AND AM STILL CURRENTLY WATCHING IT- DECIDED I’D SHARE SOME OF MY REACTIONS BECAUSE OMG OMG OMG

FIRST DJ MENTION ALL GAME AND I’M REALLY EXCITED THIS MEANS WE HAVE HOPE GUYS!!!!!!!!!

I will continue to update this as I continue to watch.

Also idk what happened to these guys but omg the bunny ears are so cute what a little freak

GAY PEOPLE CONFIRMED!!! FREBONNIE REAL

——

Any time I see anything really big and shapely I immediately have a moment of “OMG IS THAT DJ!?!” Only to be immediately disappointed after realizing it’s not💀💀💀

—-

Ok also how the hell do they have PORTAL technology in this world!!?! Like- HELLO???

Is that normal!?!??

Everything in the V.A.N.N.I. Mask mode is super crazy to me bc like- how tf does that work!?! I have so many questions about this universe. /neu

——

His foot says Prototype!!!?!! HUH? Is this the same Freddy from base game??? Was he a prototype all along??? I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS

OK THE TORSO MOUTH IS REALLY COOL THO

GENUINELY

Man. Poor feddy… this is homophobic 😭 /j

The little pitter patter of MMM’s feet XD

——

I’VE BEEN SAYING OT SINCE THE TRAILER! GREGORY IS SUS AF

THAT IS NOT GREGORY HEAR HOW THE VOICE IS LIKE- CHOPPY?? It’s like something using clips of his voice to say things

We already know from the start of the game that these things can take your voice and use it- this has just been super Sus the whole time CASSIE WHY DO YOU TRUST THIS!?!

—-

THIS IS SO SAD DON’T DEACTIVATE HER CASSIE NO

SCREAMING

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

HEARTBREAK, TRAGEDY

HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK

——

Ok it’s getting to feel really late in the game now- and still no DJMM at all- only one word mention of him. THEY BETTER NOT LEAVE HIM OUT ISTG I HAVE BEEN AT THE EDGE OF MY SEAT THIS WHOLE TIME😭😭😭

CANDY CADET!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG BELOVED😭😭😭😭

I missed candy cadet 🥺

Same, Dawko, same /pos

——

Ok the mimic thing was really cool and all-

And Gregory‘s betrayal was brutal.

But

WHERE THE FUCK IS DJ!!!?!!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I’M SO GRRRRRRR RARARARRARARA /neg

——

On a different note, since I decided to start this post after the eclipse section had already ended,

DUDE!!!

Eclipse’s voice is so sweet!! Like, after they are rebooted and stuff!!?

Kellen did such a great job Omg

I love them so much-

Makes me feel like I can better imagine how they might have been when they were fully functional and everything was normal😭😭

[mythicamagic]

Otomes I played in 2022

I thought I'd do some quickie reviews of otomes I've played recently such as: Hakuoki, Cupid Parasite, Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly, Sweet Fuse, Taisho Alice, Variable Barricade, Theory of Fear, Diabolik Lovers HDB and MB, Birushana, Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Sengoku.

Whew, I played more than I thought XD remember all this ranting is just my personal opinion.

Aight so Hakuoki:

For the most part I didn't mesh well with this one. The months in game felt pretty drawn out and slow-paced, and I didn't latch onto any of the characters except for the demons. I'm not entirely sure why. I think I just didn't feel like mc belonged there- and that she was way more invested in the Shinsengumi than they were bothered about her. I did enjoy seeing some historical events play out in Hijikata's route, and I liked seeing Kazama show up to wreck shit. Kazama was great, Kazama gave me a few months of brain rot. I did LOVE the music in this game though, dayme it was beautiful, and it goes without saying but the art style of the CGs were gorgeous. I'm glad I played this one because it's seen as a classic but I didn't personally get the hype sadly. I actually watched a playthrough of a fan-translated spin-off game (SSL) and actually PREFERRED it, despite it being just a comedy game. Whats wrong with me?

Best boy: Kazama

Cupid Parasite

I remember having mixed feelings about this one, it was a mixed bag. Pretty ok! I really liked Allan's route and the voice acting was solid. Art style was interesting but it hurt my eyes after a while XD I think for me I just didn't find much of a 'replayability' factor. I enjoyed it fine, but it won't stay with me as one of the special otomes I love, capisce? I just couldn't stand Gil or Ryuki. Raul was fine and Shelby was fine, so overall it was just 'ok' for me.

Best boy: Allan. Really enjoyed Jupiters voice acting tho (from Yangs VA hehe)

Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly

I remember while playing this game my friend hated its art style but man I LOVED playing this one. It felt really unique in terms of atmosphere, with mystery/suspense elements. It took me back to the earlier days of visual novels because I didn't look up a walkthrough for a bunch of this and it led to a lot of frustration and dead ends, but even that was kind of fun to figure out. Loved its twists and turns and bittersweet moments. I also loved having a voiced heroine with Beniyuri (which was one of my first experiences with the feature) and wish more heroines were voiced. Also this one had a BANGING OP, whooo! Reminded me of early 2000's nostalgia cheese, love it.

Best boy: Hikage and Yamato

Sweet Fuse: At your side

Hi um WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT THIS OTOME? Yeah I think its a bit of a lost gem but if you have a PS Vita, I totally rec buying this one. It's such a fun ride, and with a great MC to boot. The Love interests in this game were all very unusual and not typical otome pretty boyz but I really enjoyed the way they were written. The groups chemistry was great as well. The age gap thing might bother some people though so keep that in mind before playing. Anyway, the setting and plot reminded me a little of Danganronpa 2 and I had a real fun time with it.

Best boy: Mitarashi

Taisho x Alice

Hooo boy people were excited for this on the otome subreddit. I sat down to try it and...

Well, I didnt think it was possible for an MC to ruin my game experience but here we are. I couldn't stand this game's heroine. Yes I understand why she was written that way, yes I enjoyed some of the guys and the end reveal was unique and impressive- but was it worth suffering through Yurika? Mn...possibly not. She seems to be somewhat divisive though and if you can stomach her 'memeing' and 'I'm not like OTHER GURLS' energy as she twirls, winks with both eyes and shouts to the world that she's SOOOO Quirky guyz- maybe you'll like this game. Thing is, even putting all...that, aside, I didn't like her attitude with Red by invading his personal space, and a certain thing she did in the last route made me incredibly uncomfortable but of course it was brushed aside bc she's the HEROINE GUYS.

Best boy: Ryoushi and lil gremlin man Alice- actually while I'm here, if you can stomach the MC, Alice's VA had probably the best performance I've heard in an otome. He was hilarious- and had super great range

Variable Barricade

Boy I was super hyped for this one, it was probably my most anticipated game of the year. Great art style, great common route, great voice acting...and then the routes went on. I've noticed people seem to share the same sentiment that they usually enjoy the boys routes but then shit hits the fan and the boy is insensitive, the main heroine is too harsh or dumb- the boy LEAVES, the guy is manipulative- point is, something sours the routes and they're hard to recover from. I really liked Hibari as a heroine at first but as the routes went on I was actively wanting her to NOT be in a relationship, as she demonstrated time and again that she just wasn't ready for one. I ended up selling this game as soon as I was done with it, which I feel sad about, because I really wanted to like VB.

Best boy: Taiga

Theory of Fear

I don't know why I played this game. XD I actually played a couple of 'indie' otomes like Trapped with Jester, Blooming Panic and Boyfriend to Death (the latter I wouldn't uh...call an otome...plus it awakened unpleasant revelations that I might be into some disturbing tropes so THANKS for that game. Never have I been more uncomfortable with being asked if I'd prefer a Hammer or Drill)

Anywho, Theory of Fear isn't discussed much. It's this awkward lil game with Russian voice acting you can find on Steam. Very 'this is someone's first fanfic' vibes, rife with sexual assault around every corner. Every time Yuki showed up I was like - oh boy here we go again. I found Sadaos route quite interesting in some ways though due to his way of 'fear exposure' and quite literally exposing the mc to her worst fears and mingling that with pleasure. I dunno, a twisted concept that made my brain itch in a good way. The game is bad no doubt about it and I don't rec it but I at least took something away from it. I really enjoyed Blooming Panic though and would totally rec that any day.

Best boy: Sadao- look don't you JUDGE ME

Diabolik Lovers HDB and MB

In keeping with this trend of dark romance stuff that shouldn't make my brain go brrr but does is Diabolik Lovers. It's not English Translated but with the first two games in the series now on Switch, I used fan translations to play through the games and had a grand ole time. This franchise is only for people who like trash men ok. These boys are awful in every way and quite frankly you can't defend any of their abuse or actions BUT... it's fiction. And if you enjoy your fav VAs whispering degrading things in your ear, moaning and blood-sucking noises (wear headphones for these games oml) then you'll lurve this series like I do. I found myself enjoying Reiji more than I thought I would and Shuu a little less than anticipated, considering I used to love him in my earlier fandom days. Subaru remains the undisputed champ though.

Best boy: Subaru

Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei

This game was aight! Better than Hakuoki in my opinion but I know people will come for my head by saying that lmao. It wasn't a perfect game and holy hell did some battles drag on (hi Benkais route) but it really introduced some unique elements plus the best Rivals/ Enemies to lovers trope I've seen so far in otome with Noritsunes route. I recommend this game just for his route, to be honest. I thought Tomomori would be my favourite but he fell a little short for me.

Best boy: Noritsune and Shigehira

Ongoing- Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Sengoku

I haven't finished all the routes in these mobile game otomes but yup they're my latest addiction. I'm obsessed.

I think Ikesen is my favourite of the three (I'm not touching Ikerev sorry) because of its writing being stronger in terms of just how fun and lively the world feels. Mc helps in a big way with that, and her chemistry with most of the guys is great to witness. Ikesen's menu layout is defo the worst though and could do with an update.

Ikevamp is aight, I didn't enjoy Comtes route like I thought I would and Leo made me sad but I'm loving Arthurs route, what a good boy. I have no gripes with the layout and the music is cute. I've spent the least amount of money on Ikevamp but still had a great time, which I feel is important if you want to be a free to play player. Also Faust route localisation WHEN?!

Ikepri's layout is the best no contest, everything looks super clean and stylish and the gacha systems are dangerous bc holy hell the cards look so good and pretty. Ikepri has hurt my wallet the most though and I defo feel the most pushed out of all of them to spend money. I think the writing is fine for Ikepri but oddly I enjoy the Events more the Routes themselves?? anyone else feel that way? I like it though, I just need to be stricter on myself not to get sucked into gambling because of it loll

Best girl and light of my life: Ikesen's MC Mai Mizusaki.

Best ikevamp boy: Faust

Ikesen: Mitsuhide or Motonari

Ikepri: Chevalier

[kiddphel]

do you have any recs for miguel comics??? ive been meaning to get into his comics n usually id just go chronologically, but i think youd have good recs for his comics :D

Chronologically actually works pretty well I think, cuz I do like a lot of his comics! I mean sure some of them suck but like. They're charming. And also there are like, 3 or 4 times where his universe/timeline just gets hard reset so just. Take a lot of that with a grain of salt.

His original run from 1992 is of course recommended, even despite a lot of the shitty writing at times. The art is phenomenal I love Rick Leonardi's work. And I do love the foundation for Miguel's personality and story that's built upon. He's very different to Peter Parker and it shows and it's shown in an interesting way that makes him an enjoyable character (just wish the writing wasn't so fucking overly mean to him for no reason sometimes).

There are some 2099 (World of Tomorrow) comics that show not just Miguel but the other 2099 versions of heroes but I'll be honest I haven't read those yet. I heard they were confusing. And also I think Punisher 2099 sets up a villain for Miguel's comic but god it's. Messy. I realized you asked me what's the best to read and I'm trying to give the comprehensive timeline KJDSHGJDS sorry autism moment

Going back to what I do recommend and like, it's a one shot but the Spider-Man 2099 meets Spider-Man is fun I love that one a lot. This is not at all required reading but he does join the Exiles in the 2001 run at around Issue 75 and ngl I skipped there cuz I really do like the Miguel bits in this one. He's not the main character but I think what he adds is fun :) It's a different canon from the main timeline Miguel but it's fun. Captain Marvel (1999) issues 27-30 also bring Miguel back and I think like, set up for future stuff but tbh you don't have to read this and I haven't yet so idk if it's good.

From here it gets. Messy cuz there's the 2014 run but that requires previous reading in The Superior Spider-Man but you can also technically just, skip that and start the 2014 run cuz they do kinda catch you up, but if you want backstory his stuff starts there. I did like his stuff in Superior Spider-man tho. ANYWAYS I like the 2014 run a lot. Then there's Secret War 2099. I cannot remember if I read that DSLJGHSLDJ. But from there is the 2015 run which again you can just kinda jump into and they catch you up. I like it! I think it's fun. Hate once he gets his white suit but hey. He's still cute in this run.

There is a 2019 oneshot that's... Fine. It's fine. I don't really like it but it's a hard reboot of Miguel's timeline and universe again. But not necessary reading. You can read it if you like! But I didn't care much KJLDSFHGHKF

After that there's Spider-Man 2099 Exodus which I DO really like! 2099 Exodus Alpha is actually really good and has one of my favorite covers. And then the latest run he had was 2099 Dark Genesis which I REALLY LIKE. There's Carnage 2099 and I fuckin love this one I actually own all 5 issues.

This got long sorry however I'm not done. Not a comic but if you ever wanna watch smth he's in, the video game Edge of Time is Very good and has Great Miguel characterization and dialogue. There are full playthroughs on Youtube and I really do love this game.

Ok now I'm done sorry for the TED Talk enjoy comics

[p-receh]

For an April fool's game, they have no right to make this good...but they still did it.

IT'S SOOOO UNBELIEVABLY GOOD LIKE HOLY HECK?!

Where do I start? Okay, history-ish lesson time.

This is not the first time that Sonic's PR team make a game specifically for an april fool's joke. During Aaron's era, there was an infamous website game titled 'Big's Big Adventure 3'. And as the name suggests, it tells a story of how Big showed up in random places like you might/might not see him as a cameo during the SA2 event.

Same format as TMoSTH, a visual novel style game with uh....flappy bird-inspired game, and of course the fishing segment as sub content.

And that's it. I like the story not gonna lie. I enjoy playing it. Full of meme content. But the existence of the game itself was huge in 2016. It may not be the best thing to re-live it in this era in my opinion.

I bet the website is down now but you can still watch some playthroughs from youtube though.

And after seven years, the new Sonic PR team create a game for another april fool's joke. But this time....I don't think this is not full of memes to be laughing by the community. It's...unexpectedly something else.

Sure the highlight of the trailer first and foremost: "Sonic is dead" was a real deal. It was all over the internet even though you were not active on sonic at that time.

I personally didn't watch the trailer yet I knew that highlight. So I play it blindly without any knowledge of what the hell happened before this existed.

But as I open the game, I was shocked. It starts with deep and slow music like typical mystery games you played, great art designs, and a nice choice of colors that encapsulated the title itself. Simple, yet the qualities that represent are almost like it was not made for such a free game, even as a joke for that day.

I have yet to start the game but it left me with such an impression.

I love everything about this game. They nailed every. single. one! Even with each traits that were being misrepresented by fandom, somehow corrected to their very core! What is this? What in the world am living right now??

And this is one of the stories that I want to read in fan fiction. Just a group comes together creating unexpected events or just doing their normal life. Whether Eggman got in the way or not is up to you. It has silly and quirky moments freely.

The jokes landed perfectly without making them OOC. In fact, I got a bunch of new headcanon from that game. It has so many memorable scenes that you might already see most of them on the internet.

For the protagonist, yes I can confidently say I related to Barry that much. Even at some point, I felt I was inside the train surrounded by these extravagant abnormal people. I truly thought every response that Barry had was exactly like mine if I was in that scenario. (looking at you Tails)

For a mystery game, I kinda think how they summarize the whole case cooouuld have been better. The sub-ones did a great job to wrapped up the messes. I don't hate the whole problem tho. I actually adore it. Hmm, I might need to replay it again soon and see if it could change my mind about it.

Mini-games! It might be my personal bias so apologize for my taste. If I want to, they should add an additional setting to adjust Sonic's position. I struggled A LOT during mini-games. God why Tails had to toss every thinking section to me, please stop T_T.

For Music... wow I didn't prepare how well thought out this music has. The ost of this game is uniquely true to its theme and It still stuck in my head for days. The theme song and the interrogation section are my favorites. Some mini-game section is also catchy and upbeat!

Artstyle! Oh I loooove the design throughout the game. Each character got well design clothes that are creative and also stay true to their character with a bonus to the lore of the story! Deegeemin has my list as one of fav sonic artists.

Conclusion?

please play the game