#i have like. 100 replays like this where i either drop a combo or just barely miss the kill with nago and just get completely fucked

[tragicallycrispygirl]

This game is so hard for us humble honest low-tier players... please like and reblog so arcsys knows you agree!

[crystal-methionine]

The Post-Eurovision ranking and comments from an American that nobody asked for:

1. Switzerland 🇨🇭 Gjon’s Tears - Tout l’univers: I absolutely was enamored by this song, its artistry, and the artist. He can really sing and one of my early favorites from this year. So happy for him to get in the top 3 bc it was well deserved. 100/10

2. Italy 🇮🇹 Måneskin - Zitti e Buoni: Deserved winners. As queer as you can get and I am here for it. Another early favorite of mine constantly fighting with Switzerland for the top spot. 100/10

3. Iceland 🇮🇸 Dadi og Gagnamagnid - 10 Years: A beautiful song dedicated to his wife and deserved Top 5 for sure. Last year’s song would have won hands down so I’m bummed he couldn’t win the first one for Iceland but brilliant song and I hope the group stays together to produce more music. 99/10

4. Bulgaria 🇧🇬 Victoria - Growing Up Is Getting Old: Eurovision fandom will forever say Imaginary Friend or Ugly Cry was the better song to send, but I don’t think they would have won the contest either. This year was strong, and I personally think Growing Up was a perfect choice from Victoria. It deserved top 10 so I was pissed that it came 11th on the night and received so few televotes. 97/10

5. Ukraine 🇺🇦 Go_A - SHUM: To all y’all who said this wouldn’t qualify when the new version came out, eat those words hun. This was a masterpiece, and the live performances just elevated it further. Honestly, Kateryna could step on me, and I would let her. Who doesn’t love an ethnic modern fusion rave? 95/10

6. Serbia 🇷🇸 Hurricane - Loco Loco: I honestly have to say when it came out, it was never breaking my top 20, but here we are. This group of gals is amazing. The choreo, hairography, and the still great vocals won my gay ass over. They served and deserved top 10 in my eye. 90/10

7. Greece 🇬🇷 Stefania - Last Dance: Much like Serbia, I kinda dismissed this as a top 10 song at first, but after many listens and then the live shows, it was one of the best songs this year. Last year’s song was nowhere near a qualifier for me, and then I thought they had a good chance of being top 5 this year. Amazing improvement and can’t wait to see what comes next from Stefania. 80/10

8. Malta 🇲🇹 Destiny - Je me casse: Not going to lie, the studio definitely did more for me. It was up with Italy and Switzerland for winner contention until the live shows. Don’t get me wrong, Destiny is still amazing live, and the song is a deserved top 5 song. However, the costume and staging just really didn’t add to the song and I think detracted a bit. Her song last year was also much better in my opinion. 75/10

9. San Marino 🇸🇲 Senhit ft Flo Rida - Adrenalina: Oh boy this was a party, and the fact Flo Rida actually was there made it even better. The staging and costuming was absolutely camp, and I was here for it. This was definitely not underrated by fans beforehand, but the jury and televote were beyond robberies in my opinion. Granted I know the backing vocals were carrying the chorus a lot so in terms of vocals, I can see where this song got dinged, but this should have been San Marino’s best ever result at Eurovision, and it wasn’t so I’m mad. 60/10

10. France 🇫🇷 Barbara Pravi - Voila: The new Edith Piaf and probably one of the most representative of the country’s culture for a song. A definite deserved runner up on the night but for me 10th place. I loved the staging, the costume, the emotions. It was all right for Eurovision and me. 50/10

11. Cyprus 🇨🇾 Elena Tsingarou - El Diablo: Come through Cyprus with another female pop banger. I’d say if the formula ain’t broke don’t fix it, but wasn’t really enough to crack top 10 this year. Another early favorite of mine this year but soon got eclipsed. Still going to be listening to El Diablo for a while. 49/10

12. Russia 🇷🇺 Manizha - Russian Woman: I can’t lie that at first, this song was absolutely trash to me but quickly rose the ranks and became one of my faves. Same thing happened last year with Uno. We also always love a good female empowerment moment with the native language thrown in. Manizha is a girlboss without the gaslighting and a true queen. Deserved top 10 the night of. 40/10

13. Lithuania 🇱🇹 The Roop - Discoteque: An earworm for first listen and was top 10 for a while for me but like Cyprus, lost out to some others. No doubt this is a deserved top 10 the night of. 35/10

14. Croatia 🇭🇷 Albina - Tick Tock: The first song to get me pressed on it’s placement. Deserved to be in the final over both Israel and Norway (please come for me I don’t care). They freakin rocked that stage during the semis and the song is absolutely a bop. Albina deserved better. 30/10

15. Sweden 🇸🇪 Tusse - Voices: A beautiful song by an amazing artist. Sure the lyrics were a bit cliche Eurovision but guess what...it’s Eurovision. I can hear the voices. Keep carrying on Tusse. 25/10

16. Albania 🇦🇱 Anxehla Peristeri - Karma: This song grew on me a lot. I liked it but wasn’t a don’t skip for a while on my playlist. The live performance changed it for me. She slayed and the staging was everything for Miss Thing. Also native language brownie points. 24/10

17. Finland 🇫🇮 Blind Channel - Darkside: Before you come for me for having this at 17th, keep reading. I’m not a big fan of the lyrics but the song is absolutely fantastic. This style of music isn’t something I pull out on a playlist often, but I had my middle fingers up for this one (and pointed at Germany but we’ll discuss later). Deserved top 10 as they rocked it on stage. 20/10

18. The Netherlands 🇳🇱 Jeangu Macrooy - Birth of a New Age: I absolutely do not understand the hate for this song. I was also a huge fan of Grow last year so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised for being generally alone again. The fact it got 0 points in the televote and only 11 in the jury is not surprising but extremely disappointing to me. This song is a masterpiece much like the ones ranked above it. Jeangu, you are amazing and deserved so much better than this. 20/10

19. Belgium 🇧🇪 Hooverphonic - The Wrong Place: Fantastic song but fantastic artists. Always here for a dark pop moment. Gonna go get my own Johnny Cash T-shirt. 15/10

20. Spain 🇪🇸 Blas Cantó - Voy a Quedarme: Such a heartfelt ballad. I enjoyed it quite a bit and don’t understand the hate it has. Didn’t deserve 0 points in the televote. 14/10

21. Denmark 🇩🇰 Fyr og Flamme - Øve Os På Hinanden: Look we all know this song is cheesy but it’s the cheesiest Velveeta queso loco so it’s ranked so high in my opinion. This is a nod to the whacky and weird Eurovision I love. It’s always in my head and I always find myself dancing along. Deserved to be in the final over two of the songs in Semi 2. 13/10

22. Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 Efendi - Mata Hari: As far as the song goes, it’s enjoyable, but the stage show was a hot mess in my opinion. The choreo looked a mess and the different sheer legging configurations on the backup dancers was not the correct fashion choice in my opinion as I was distracted by the thought of why are they all different. Did deserve their spot in the final though. 12/10

23. Moldova 🇲🇩 Natalia Gordienko - Sugar: The studio version of this song is a heavily replayed one on my playlist bc of the drop and dance-ability of the song. However the downfall of the song was it’s live performance. The staging was fine and the choreo was great but those attempted sexy whisper vocals were not the choice to go with. I don’t want to sugar-coat this 😝 so they were terrible. Glad she made it but I felt her position in the final was one of just pure luck. 11/10

24. UK 🇬🇧 James Newman - Embers: The nul points was a huge ass oof. This song isn’t bad but I can see where people didn’t vote for it bc it’s not super memorable in terms of who all was participating this year. I like the song and always sing and dance along. 10/10

25. Israel 🇮🇱 Eden Alene - Set Me Free: This is how to do a revamp and be successful. Eden is a fantastic artist who can clearly sing, but the live performance was not all that sans the whistle tones. Yet the whistle tones aside, the song is lacking a lot. When looking back at the songs available, this one should not have been the selected one. I was always on the fence with this one and still am. 9.5/10

26. Czechia 🇨🇿 Benny Cristo - Omaga: The live definitely hurt this song in the first minute and a half. The second half was absolutely what should have happened in terms of vocals. Still like the song and listen to it often. 9.25/10

27. Ireland 🇮🇪 Leslie Roy - Maps: This song was a victim of a super strong bloodbath and shoddy staging ideas. The song is arresting and a bop. Leslie’s gruff voice mixed with the modernized Irish sounds is a match made. The staging of this song that required Leslie to run along with the beat and the distracting and constantly changing bits of the performance we’re definitely it’s downfall. It didn’t deserve last place in Semi 1 though. 9.25/10

28. Portugal 🇵🇹 The Black Mamba - Love Is On My Side: I am the first to admit that while I don’t like the song, it deserved the final. The staging and atmosphere elevated the song. 9/10

29. Austria 🇦🇹 Vincent Bueno - Amen: In the battle of the Amens, this one wins solely based on the classy and amazing staging. Don’t get me wrong, Slovenia’s was also elevating but this one did it better. 8.5/10

30. Australia 🇦🇺 Montaigne - Technicolor: This song is a fantastic one for studio. The live since the Sydney Mardi Gras performance has been rough and didn’t necessarily improve. I feel bad bc I do really love this song but it definitely didn’t deserve to qualify. This being said, I love Montaigne, and Don’t Break Me was my runner up last year, and I still listen to it as my anthem when I’m feeling down. I wish I could rank this higher but I can’t. 8.5/10

31. Romania 🇷🇴 Roxen - Amnesia: This song is great in the studio but it got old real fast for me and I don’t know why. This mixed with the poor vocals and the bizarre costume:stage combo was really what did this in and got this low in my ranking. 8.25/10

32. Slovenia 🇸🇮 Ana Soklic - Amen: The loser of the Amen battle, but just barely. The song and vocals are better in my opinion but the whole package was just barely edged out in the end. 8/10

33. Latvia 🇱🇻 Samanta Tīna - Moon Is Rising: Look, this song is nowhere near as good as last years. The queeeeeen sashayed away with that annoying trap beat. 8/10

34. North Macedonia 🇲🇰 Vasil - Here I Stand: Leave it to the gays for bringing musical theatre to Eurovision. The song honestly isn’t that special or memorable but he’s higher up bc his stage and voice are amazing. 7/10

35. Norway 🇳🇴 Tix - Fallen Angel: A great message on mental health outside of the song and Tix seems like a quality fella but I do not like the song. I preferred it in Norwegian. And this low ranking is not at all influenced over him beating out Keiino (but maybe a slight bit tho). 5/10

36. Estonia 🇪🇪 Uku Suviste - The Lucky One: While this was 1000% better than last years entry, it still was relatively boring. The stage was equally as boring so sorry Estonia, but you didn’t make the mark. 4.5/10

37. Poland 🇵🇱 Rafael - The Ride: This throwback to the 80s was a bad one. The attempt at a one hit wonder vibe really hurt it along with the artist’s terrible vocals. Also half the time, he was behind the pyro and relying on backup vocals. 4/10

38. Georgia 🇬🇪 Tornike Kipiani - You: You really should not have to wait so long for the more upbeat rock ending of this. If it was that last 30 seconds for 3 minutes, it would be much better. A definite step back from last year. 1/10

39. Germany 🇩🇪 Jendrick - I Don’t Feel Hate: Jendrick might not feel hate but I do bc that is all I feel when this song comes on. 0.5/10

[killscreencinema]

Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

When Kingdom Hearts was first announced, I was excited to say the least.  By this point, I was still a diehard Squaresoft fan (let me emphasize - SquareSOFT, before the dark times... before Square Enix...).  I was also a lapsed Disney fan.  I used to be obsessed with all things Disney as a child, and even dreamed of some day being an animator for Disney, before I discovered not only how limited my art ability was, but how torturous an existence being an animator is.  Ah, to be steeped in the warm nostalgic womb of Disney, before life pulled me out and smacked my ass with adulthood.

Anyway, Kingdom Hearts appealed to me because it was the conglomeration of my childhood fandom with my mature fandom, smooshed together in a way that made every bit of sense, like peanut butter and chocolate.  When it released in 2002 (wow, has it really been that long???), it did not disappoint, and I spent countless hours playing and replaying it until I 100% completed it.  Oh man, sorry, I’m having ‘Nam flashbacks to the many fits of rage I had while trying to beat the Ice Titan.  Screw Sephiroth, the Ice Titan was a real bastard, what with his only vulnerability being knocking his projectiles back at him, taking off lil bits of his health at a time, while he relentlessly pounded you with area attacks or magic that freeze you. 

So obviously, I’m very well acquainted with Kingdom Hearts.  After playing the second game, though, I dropped off because the spin-off sequels became overwhelming and stupid.  I knew something was amiss when I booted up Kingdom Hearts II the first time, and didn’t know what the everloving fuck was happening (while the first game’s plot was more or less pretty straight forward).  I’ll dig into Kingdom Hearts II in a later post though.

So when Kingdom Hearts III finally came out, I was ambivalent... but curious.  I started to get that ol’ Kingdom Hearts itch.  I didn’t want to go into the game completely ignorant of the lore, though.  I want to give the game as fair a chance as I could WITHOUT having to play the umpteen games before it.  So I got the HD remix for the PS4 and decided to start from the beginning.

I’m glad that I did, too, because replaying Kingdom Hearts was a nice revisit to simpler times.  I forgot how well structured the game is and how well realized the Disney/Square amalgamation premise was.  The two properties were surprisingly compatible, with Final Fantasy characters seamlessly coexisting alongside the likes of Mickey Mouse, Aladdin, and other iconic Disney characters.  Speaking of Mickey, Kingdom Hearts is nothing if noteworthy of one amazing accomplishment - making Mickey Mouse BADASS!  Who saw that coming? 

The story still holds up - you play as Sora, a kid from the peaceful world of Destiny Isles, who dreams with his friends Riku and Kairi of someday leaving their humdrum existence and going off on an adventure.  Naturally, they get more than  they bargained for when their home is destroyed by an existential threat known as the Heartless, who have been ravaging worlds left and right.  Sora only survives after being mysteriously given a magical weapon called a Keyblade, which is the only thing capable of defeating the Heartless and sealing off worlds from their attacks.  Sora wakes up at a refugee world of sorts called Traverse Town, where survivors of the Heartless attack have gathered, and he teams up with Goofy and Donald Duck, both of whom are on their own quest to find King Mickey in order to hopefully beat back the Heartless threat. 

As the trio of heroes, you travel from world to world, each one based on some Disney property or another, teaming up with the likes of Aladdin, Jack Skellington, or Ariel from The Little Mermaid to vanquish the Heartless.  The gameplay is fast-paced hack n’ slash action, where you can only control Sora, leaving Goofy and Donald to the mercy of a questionable AI (which brings me to my first pro-tip:  do not, except under the most extreme circumstances, give Donald or Goofy items because they will burn through them in a single battle or two).  Like any other RPG, you eventually upgrade keyblades, buy and equip armor or stat boosting accessories.  Kingdom Hearts is a pretty accessible game for even the most RPG illiterate, no doubt because Square suspected the Disneyification would attract younger than normal gamers.  However, the game isn’t “baby’s first RPG” either, as it can get pretty difficult pretty quickly for the uninitiated. 

Speaking of difficulty, since this was my third play through of the game, I wanted to really make it count, so I played on the hardest difficulty setting - Proud Mode.  Phew, let me tell you, it kicked my ass for good long while before I acclimated to it.  Even weaker enemies at the beginning of the game can kill you in 2-3 hits if you’re not careful, and with Sora having not yet learned useful combos or the Cure spell yet, this was an extremely trying way to begin a game I hadn’t played in more than 10 years.  Eventually, as you level up, get better weapons, and spells the playing field evens up a bit more, but you’re going to need patience if you’re going to try this challenge.

I also decided to “platinum” the game since I was playing on PS4, which meant for this play through on “Proud Mode”, I needed to complete all the side quests (including the secrets bosses and all the Coliseum matches), obtaining all the weapons, completing nearly all the Gummi ship missions, never using a continue, and maxing out Sora at level 99.  Then after beating the game, I’d have to play it again, this time on Easy (fuck it, I’ve earned it), and beat it under 15 hours while using only the default weapons and armor.  So yeah, I really made it count this time around, and I’m happy to say I succeeded in getting the platinum trophy.  For those playing at home, that means I beat all the secret bosses, including Sephiroth and the aforementioned Ice Titan, like total bitches on Hard Mode.

I’m a goddamn Kingdom Hearts Master!

And I had a ball doing it, even when things got frustrating or tedious.  The game really holds up and I’m shocked that it be completed in under 15 hours (my speedrun clocked in around 10).  So it’s a surprisingly short game as far as RPGs go, if you just stay on the main quest.  If you’re a Disney fan and/or an RPG gamer, but haven’t play this game because you’re intimidated by the ridiculous lineup of sequels and spin-offs that it spawned, I say give it a try anyway.  It’s one of the best games on the PS2 and probably one of the masterpieces crafted by Square before they dipped in quality.

But all that  is about to change..... ohhhhh yess.... (Cue the first iconic notes of the intro cinematic to Final Fantasy VII)

[kasumiyoshizawas]

What To Play While You wait For The Next Persona Game

Posted this on r/PERSoNA earlier today. Enjoy!

So it's going to be a while for the next Persona game to drop, and while you could spend all your time replaying Persona 5 or its predecessors and their spinoffs, you could try something else as well. Here are a few games that really help me scratch that Persona itch.

Also reblog with your favorite games to get through the Persona hiatuses.

What Do You Like Most About Persona?

"Everything!"

You Should Play: Blue Reflection

Genre: JRPG

Most Accessible Game: Blue Reflection

Platform: PS4, Steam

Price: $59.99 + Costume DLC ($89.99 Season Pass)

Blue Reflection stars a high school girl, Hinako, who used to do ballet, but was forced to quit after a leg injury. She soon finds herself recruited by two sisters, Yuzu and Lime to travel to another world and fight the manifestations of people's out-of-control emotions.

Sound familiar?

While the tone isn't exactly the same, as BR is more down-to-earth than Persona, the story-telling and flow of the game very much matches Persona's. The combat may not be as in-depth as Persona's, but it's still turn-based JRPG combat. The world itself is also gorgeously rendered and lovingly designed. And who knows? You may fall in love with these girls in the very same way you fell in love with the cast of your favorite Persona game.

"The Combat!"

You Should Play: Atelier

Genre: Crafting JPRG

Most Accessible Game: Atelier Rorona DX

Platform: Switch and PS4

Price: $39.99 OR 3 game bundle with the next two games in the Arland Trilogy for $89.99

The Atelier series is very popular in Japan, and has existed for about as long as Persona. Your main character is an Alchemist, a person who can create items from other items. You spend most of your time going out to harvest ingredients and create items for your lovable group of clients, and usually solve a mystery along the way. Ever wanted to be the shopkeeper who shows up at the end of the super-hard dungeon? Now's your chance.

Like Persona, your party member's abilities are limited. Instead, to be effective in combat, you must create weapons and healing items to use in dungeons against your foes. You can be a super buff healer, or you can rain cannon fire down on the arena, it all depends on what you want to create.

Atelier Rorona is about Rorona, a young girl who is suddenly put in charge of her teacher's alchemy shop just as the kingdom was about to shut it down. It's your job to prove that alchemy is still worth something in an era of technology.

Also, some of the characters may sound familiar to fans of Persona 3 and 4...

"The Characters!"

You Should Play: Fire Emblem

Genre: Tactical JRPG

Most Accessible Game: Fire Emblem Awakening

Platform: 3DS

Price: $39.99 + Map DLC ($6 to $6.50 per pack)

Fire Emblem is a series of tactical JRPGs for Nintendo Systems that started in the mid-nineties. Despite their deep combat mechanics and interesting storytelling, their sales declined until 2012, with the release of Fire Emblem Awakening.

Awakening is a story about family, time, and fate. It has its own twists carried on the backs of its lovable and memorable cast of characters. As the Tactician of the Shepherds, you can get to know everyone, from the crown prince Chrom and his spunky sister Lissa, to studious and hyperfocused Miriel, to the sweet-talking thief Gaius, to the strong Panne, last of her kind...I could go on really. Each of the characters stands out in their own way, and like Persona, romance is on the table.

"The Aesthetics!"

You Should Play: Danganronpa

Genre: Murder Mystery Visual Novel

Most Accessible Game: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Platform: Steam

Price: $19.99

Danganronpa is a divisive franchise. You either love it or you hate it. However, one thing can be agreed on: the games themselves look crazy cool.

Each character has a memorable design and quirky personality, and the more you hang out with them, the more you learn what's underneath their surface. It almost makes you forget that you're all supposed to kill each other.

You're trapped in this school/island/town until you kill someone else...and get away with it. After a body is discovered, the whole class is put on trial. If you're found out, you're executed, in a brutally ironic way.

Have fun!

Now I know that not everyone is super on board with complete genre or tone swaps, so if you answer this question, I can help you out even more.

What's Your Favorite Spinoff?

"I Hate The Spinoffs!"

You Should Play: Shin Megami Tensei

Genre: RPG

Most Accessible Game: Shin Megami Tensei IV

Platform: 3DS

Price: $39.99 + DLC ($1.00-$2.99)

Persona games themselves are a spinoff of this franchise, one of the original JRPG franchises and the original "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" game. Nowadays, while Persona is more popular, SMT has quietly been improving its mechanics and storytelling, to weave a tale of a bleak world where human survivors must fight back against demons, with demons of their own.

And at the end of the day, will you bring Order to this lawless world? Or will you let it descend into Chaos? The choice is yours.

"Persona 4 Arena!"

You Should Play: BlazBlue

Genre: Fighting

Most Accessible Game: BlazBlue Crosstag Battle

Platform: Switch, Steam

Price: $59.99 + Character DLC (All-In-One Season Pass is $19.99, additional colors packs are $2.99 each)

Story may not be your thing, but quirky characters and fun designs and weapons may be right up your alley. If so, let me introduce you to BlazBlue by Arc System Works, who helped create Persona 4's Arena games.

The writing is laugh-out-loud funny, and all the characters (mostly) hate each other after years and years of lore and generations of feuds. What better dynamic for a 2D fighting game?

And if you're still not on board with the mainline games, try Crosstag Battle, which features characters from BlazBlue, UnderNight In-Birth, Persona, and RWBY, along with the recently joined Arcana Heart! It's easy to pick up, even for fighting game beginners, and you're sure to find someone you like.

"Persona Q!"

You Should Play: Etrian Odyssey

Genre: Dungeon-crawling JPRG

Most Accessible Game: Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan

Platform: 3DS

Price: $59.99

This is unfortunately the only series on my list I have not played. However, I would be remiss to not mention it at all.

If you loved the dungeon-crawling shenanigans of Persona Q, you'll be happy to find that it was created as a spinoff of Etrian Odyssey, which deploys very similar mechanics combat-wise.

"Persona Dancing!"

You Should Play: Project DIVA

Genre: Rhythm

Most Accessible Game: Project DIVA Future Tone Prelude

Platform: PS4

Price: Free (2 song demo) + DLC (Future Tone Bundle gives 220 songs for $39.99, Future Tone Season Pass gives the rest of DLC for $19.99)

Say what you will about the Persona Dancing games, but nothing feels better than getting a Full Combo on a song you've spent hours on.

Project DIVA looks are your P5D King Crazy's and scoffs. It laughs at your supposed "skill". It wants you to put your skills to the true test in its true series.

Make no mistake, it may be a game about Vocaloid...but its beatmaps get CRAZY hard. However, it's also crazy addictive. With hundreds of songs, outfits, and accessories, everything can be changed and feel brand new. And you'll need that change in monotony, because you'll play songs over and over again just to chase that 100%.

"I just want Persona 5 Scramble already!"

You Should Play: Warriors Spinoffs

Genre: Action Combat

Most Accessible Game: Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition

Platform: Switch

Price: $59.99

So you're waiting for Scramble? You want to rip through Shadows like butter?

Then pick up a Warriors game and get swinging!

I'm recommending the spinoffs over the originals because, if you know how their home games (Hyrule and Fire Emblem) play, you'll be able to grasp how integrated the mechanics of their originals and the mechanics of Warriors fully mesh together. Also, Hyrule Definitive comes with all DLC, so definite bonus points there.