#it can be a bit fiddly and annoying but its fun

[thatone-highlighter]

how do you normally make gradients in. Ppppppppppprrrrrrroooocreaaaateee sssssssssinnnceeeeeeee it doesn’t have a gradient tool? I normally just put my colors in a row however I need a Gaussian blur it? if I have to do it in a specific area and not just over the whole canvas I use a clipping layer

Yeah i do pretty much that. Sometimes i try to use the blend tool instead but it depends how many colours or how much of a gradient i need. The guassian blur doesnt even work well half the time tho just gotta make the best of what you got :/

The guassian blur thing is good for when i just want a bit of a gradient on part of the background but if i want a bigger one or one with more colours then it kinda falls flat for me at least

Sometimes alternatively i like to use i think its the water colour brush on a slightly lower opacity. It takes more effort but depending on the vibe or how much effort ur willing to put in it can look better than using the guassian blur.

I do still wish it had a built-in gradient tool it would be so cool i think. I love gradients my beloved <3

[matrixonvhsanddvd]

Here's my set up!

In England most ppl do use roll ups. U tend to find that ppl who only smoke straights (pre rolled) are older ppl, ppl who have more money and ppl who don't smoke often enuff to bother. A packet of straights can last a really long time and will keep better than a packet of baccy (loose tobacco) as there's less to dry out.

I use a rolling tin because i cant roll freehand for shit no matter what (and im a handy person, its just too fiddly for me), it's easier to do while walking and i have physical difficulties. It's rare that i see anyone else use a tin, i only started because my bff did! It's not uncommon for ppl to use a rolling machine tho, which is like a tin that's been reduced to just the liner and..rolling pins?

Tins are no more expensive than a good rolling machine and tend to last longer. I prefer to change the liner when it dies rather than but a new one tho. They can be annoying to clean if u care about that but they're useful in that they can hold ur supplies! And put stickers on :3

A packet of tobacco is usually about 30g for £12-17 (tho average is about £14) now from a regular supermarket. It did used to be less before the recent inflation :( a 20 pack of pre rolls is about the same price. To give u an idea of how much more cost effective roll ups are than straights; a 20 pack currently would last me 2-4 days (IV had to cut down coz i have no money lol but this is numbers only, not counting factors like poverty) and 30gs of baccy would last me 2-3 weeks.

It's still common to see empty cigarette packets littering places and u will occasionally see a tobacco packet. They're all decorated now with warnings and warning images due to the law, all packets. They have different warnings and related pictures they get used but I'm not sure how often new ones are added? This one is my favourite atm for sure:

It's also useful to at least have the ability and resources to make a roll up if ur ever desperate/smoke drugs. Old fags on the floor can be picked up and u can squeeze any unsmoked baccy out into a bag to use for a Frankenstein roll up. I tend to find certain brands of straight cigarettes only get half smoked ?? Very good pickings if ur bottom of the food chain.

Its also easier to roll a spliff if u can...roll lol (spliff as i know it to be is a regular fag sized roll up with a blend of baccy and weed) and any other combo of smoking materials (other drugs, herbs etc).

On community culture (i promise this is the last bit), rolling sumone a fag is way more intimate and thotful than just handing em a straight (tho depending on ur Poverty Status™ it may be difficult to accept a straight due to their higher value). There's also the act of passing on the rest of ur fag to another person, usually towards the end of its life. Here that's called, 'twos'. So itd be, 'can i have 2s?' or, 'u can have 2s if u want?' which is a fun word for it i think!

Sorry to ramble but i figured ud be interested and i enjoy teaching ppl about menial things like this lol

----------------------------------------

Holy fuck thank you so much for detailing all this to me, I was honestly really happy reading all of this because it interested me so much. It's funny to me still how the demographic for rolling cigs here is usually the polar opposite lol, it seems its always people who are a lot older who enjoy rolling them up more than just buying a pack of straight cigs.

Also I absolutely love the pack you showed off of course, I'm always a sucker for the ones with "gore" on them, but also I've just never seen a tobacco pack before so that's really sick, thank you!

I guess if someday I'm ever down in England for some reason, I will be very caught up on smoking culture at least. Thank you again for sharing lol

[emerald9d]

Crying tearing my hair out dying at how fucking annoying it was to develop group targeting in RPG Maker MZ. It was just a lot of fiddly bits that were complicated but also not that fun to mess with. I lost track of what I was doing a lot.

But it's done! I need to think a bit about its presentation, but the mechanics are all there and working. I need to figure out how the selecting should look. Maybe I should make a new kind of selection window (bottom right window) that specifically lists groups? Or maybe its okay for it to just be single select while showing the group of the selected enemy on the field? Oh also I need to fix up spell animations to play out on multiple targets more quickly.

Also, back/front row matters now. It gives the target evasion bonuses based on the attack type (melee, reach, ranged) and how "far away" it is from the attacker based on rows. Not only can a group member be front or back row within the group, but the group itself can be front or back row for the whole of their side of the battlefield. (The group selected here is a back row group) In either case, when all front members are dead, the back row members get counted as being front row.

The player party always counts as a single group in the front row of their side of the field.

[risu5waffles]

This was a cute little one, if maybe just a wee bit awkward. Usually i find homage levels like this to be a bit over-stuffed wiv the bit, but aside from the Egon puppet at the beginning (and that is a really nice puppet. LBP2 really was the era of puppet work, it feels like. Hardly ever see anyone aside from dstomp really putting the work in any more) and a little bit of branded stickering, it still feels like its own little thing. The creatinator power-up was fun, and well-implemented throughout, at a little bit nostalgic to play wiv; that's another thing we hardly seem to run into in LBP3 levels, tho' i suppose wiv the custom power-up maker, its time has probably passed. The actual effect was, to be honest, a little bit fiddly, and it could be a pain at times to tell if i actually had it on the trigger zone. Not so much of a big deal that it couldn't be managed, just a little annoying. It helps that you never really need to use it in a tight time situation, so you can spend a few seconds getting it lined up.

Can't believe i forgot to mention the book bridge in the takeaway; it must have slipped my mind. A real shame, that. Navigating the thing was a bit wonky, but it was a really nice effect, and i quite liked it. ----------- So, mentioned in that last post, but i do have the LittleBite-sizedArchive thing up and running now. Got an episode sorted for tomorrow, so that's cool. It'll be nice to have an excuse to really try and stretch wiv the creator's i try to look at. Wiv lbp.me being down, and going through hearted creators being such a strain on the servers, it's been hard.

[medlilove-fandom-brainrot]

The Coffee Shop of my AU dreams:

This post will be long. There’s nothing me or you can do about it. It is it’s own sentient being.

So, I had an idea for a Coffee Shop Steve x Tattooist Eddie Modern AU. Oh its all sugary sweet. Mostly.

The general bullet points are:

Steve and Robin work in a small cafe run in the same way they worked at Scoops. Just kinda left to it.

Eddie takes over the tiny Tattoo shop across the street after Wayne decides he’s tired of it and wants to retire. So Eddie moves from working for someone else in the city back to Hawkin’s and into their lives. 

Steve and Robin are childhood friends who stayed in contact but really reconnected when he transferred to her highschool to play Basketball. He fit in effortlessly with her, and her friends Nancy and Jonathan. Argyle moved to town the year they graduated. Billy he knows through Max who he knows through the kids who he knows through Nancy, Jonathan and Hopper etc idk.

Oh yeah! This is a Deaf!Steve Fic because it was rotting my brain out. But this time no injuries, just been pretty deaf since birth. His parents suck but have money, and send him off to a private school for the deaf with hearing aids. With Robin’s gift for language they are pretty good signers. I think I’m going to make Hop good at singing too, because his adopted daughter El, well for one reason or another she’s not much of a talker.

Eddie often spots Steve smoking out the back door by the bins on his break. When it’s dead quiet he and Robin both sit out there, Robin doesn’t smoke but usually has a can of something  fizzy and full of sugar instead. 

The Young Ones all are Season One little. They go there after school to wait for working parents and older siblings, play board games, annoy Steve and Robin and hang out.

The Coffee Shop also stays open late and works as a sort of bar/art/music space for locals. Regularly renting the space out on the cheap for local community art shows, music, workshop etc. Argyle usually organizes these events, with Jonathan's help.

Corroded Coffin occasionally plays in the bar down the street, can occasionally be found practicing in the cafes open space at night, only if Steve or Robin are staying late.

Robin lives above the shop or she’s staying at her parents. Steve lives in a tiny studio around the corner and does NOT talk to his family. Eddie lives above his shop across the street and has a great relationship with Wayne.

So here’s the THING. I actually created and fully renderd the shop for free over on Homestyler, because that is just how my brain works...

Please do click below for ALOT more images and information.

And if the ‘KEEP READING’ thing doesn’t format correctly I do appologise for how long this may become.

Hope you can read my handwriting......

Homestyler can be a bit fiddly, and VERY contemporary. It also has somewhat limted design options, so you might have to use your imagination a little bit on that DnD table:

I may have edited the wall art in this room a bit heheh:

Don’t underestimate the value of a good washroom!

I don’t have The Sims, so this free shit is what I do for fun.

I know it’s a tiny space, but I love small! Small but has something for everyone. I get that this was a very personal project that not many other people will be interested in, but I had so much fun! Highly recommend trying out Homestyler.

[lunnybunny12]

Sandor Clegane X Reader (Your secret sworn shield)

Thank you to @1ofjokersgoons for the request

A/N: here you go hope you enjoy it. This my mind to all kinds of places so sorry if it's not exactly what you wanted.

Master list

Word count: 1,787

Warnings: Swearing, fighting

Your nose burned in the frigid air, and you squinted against the sun reflecting off of the armed men around you.

The cold wasn't something you were used to. Hells, you'd only ever seen snow twice in your life and you weren't exactly fond of it then either. Thankfully It was the summer when your father roped your family into his campaign across Westeros.

"You can always ride with your Mother of you're cold, princess, " Your father said in a mocking tone as he rode beside you.

"I'd rather lose a hand to frostbite," You chuckled, adjusting your position on the saddle.

You were the eldest of the Baratheon brood and the jewel of Roberts eye. Unlike your siblings, there was no mistaking you were your fathers daughter. You had the looks and grace of your mother, yes, but you also had the attitude, appetite for fighting and signature brown/black hair of a Baratheon.

" And father please don't call me princess. You know how much I hate it,"

"Ah but that's the issue young lady, you ARE a princess and I want you to act like one. When we're at home you can come on hunts and roam about all you like, but not here. At Winterfell you need to put on those dresses you hate so much and you will watch your tongue in front of the Starks. Am I clear?"

Your jaw clenched in frustration. Your father had been saying this for the past week in not no nice ways but you understood full well why. One reason being that he was the only one you'd listen to. The second was that since you were born a girl, the Iron throne could never be yours. Your place as the eldest princess was to be wedded off to whomever your father deemed worthy of you, and thankfully (since the king held you in such high regard) that day was long overdue.

"Fine... But I want Clegane."

"The Hound? What need do you have of him?"

"If you want me to be a lady I will, but if I get attacked I can't protect myself properly while wearing heels and a bloody corset. I need a shield."

Another chuckle left your father. This time it wasn't out of cheer it was more in amusement.

"Ay you have the mind of a Lannister"

"One of the few good things that family gave me," you smiled.

When you got to Winterfell later that day it was a relief, to say the least. As much as you enjoyed the outdoors and hunting around the red keep, the warmth the castle provided was a godsend. It seemed like everyone from the north had arrived to catch a glimpse of your family but it's not like it was hard to miss. Your mother and siblings wore the bold Lannister red and their heir shone as brightly as the gold they mined. Your uncle Jamie in the white armour of the kings guard and you in the Baratheon colours, sat on your horse, taking it all in.

As you were getting ready for the feast a knock was heard on your chamber door. An audible gasp was heard from your chamber made then they saw the hound lumber into the room and holt at seeing you.

You were stood there in a long, (Favourite colour) dress with long sleeves and a matching cloak. Your hair had been styled the northern way, simple yet elegant. The southern styles were too fiddly for your taste.

"Ladies, you are dismissed" you said.

The women immediately scurried out of the door and shut it behind them with a heavy thunk. You smiled as you watched the man search the room for any threats or anyone that could eavesdrop. When he deemed it safe he was the one that spoke first.

"You wanted me, you got me. For the whole week"

"You're making it sound like a bad thing, my love"

"It is if I can't keep my hands off of you" he growled and pulled your hips to kiss you roughly.

You were 10 when Joffrey was born and he was more of a disappointment to you than anything else. He was brash, rude, inconsiderate, boorish, egotistical and above all a coward. If someone. When he was younger hed always be at your heels, annoying you to no end and constantly tried to get you in trouble (The keyword being tried) and since Sandor's purpose was to protect the future king, he was with you too. You ended up becoming his babysitter and whenever you were training the boy would shout and say nasty thing to make you lose your concentration. One day you had, had enough of his heckles and asked him to spar with you. However, instead of being a man and doing it himself, he sent his dog to do it for him.

"Clegane isn't always going to be with you little brother and neither will anyone else if you don't lose that sour attitude. So be a man, and spar with me yourself."

It was the way you said it that shook Clegane. He expected you to lose your rag or just leave the training area all together but instead, you talked like you would a scared child. Calm and collected yet firm. As expected Joffery took the challenge, lost and then whined about it like the boy he was.

You parted from the kiss with a cheeky grin as you held his neck in your hands, making him shiver.

"You've controlled yourself before Sandor, and you can do it again,"

"You put far too much trust in me Princess"

"No Sandor I put all of my trust in you. and don't call me princess."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days had passed since the feast and you didn't like who you pretended to be. You didn't like the dress or hair or corset but it kept your parents off of your scent for a while. A couple of times you were able to sneak off with Sandor and do your own thing and since you were there to keep up appearances, you weren't missed.

One evening as you were walking across the courtyard, you heard a scuffle coming from behind the stables. You were met with a fully stocked armoury and training area. The walls were lined with a variety of weapons, from knives and slingshots to swards and axes. You reached your gloved hand towards a sword a sudden voice made you jump.

"Be careful, your grace. They're sharp"

It was one of the Stark boys. He was on the older side, about the same age as you may be a tad bit younger. Admittedly you'd been too caught up in being with Sandor that you hadn't taken the time to know your hosts.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, your grace,"

"Don't worry about it... um... sorry I'm so bad with names" You said to the black-haired boy.

"Robb Stark, your grace," He answered kissing your hand.

A deep growl came from behind you, and an amused smile crossed your face. Sandor knew full well the boy was just being polite but he felt protective of you regardless.

"and please be careful around the swords they are sharp. We can't have a lady hurting her self,"

The tone Robb used was like he was talking to a child that couldn't tell the difference between a knife and a toothpick. Sandor picked up on it too. He knew what you were going to do before you did.

From what the boy had said he wasn't aware of your training, nor your personality in general and a fake, sheepish, smile spread across your face.

"Well I have had a little bit of training in how to fight but since I came to Winterfell I've forgotten most of it... you look like you know a few things do you mind catching me up?" You said, acting naive and from the look Robb gave you, it worked like a charm.

Robb agreed to "help" you and took you into the training area. He introduced you to Theon Greyjoy and his half brother Jon Snow.

Sandor watched as you continued your act with an almost invisible smile. Whenever you were in the Red Keep you were a completely different person, you were you but god's did he find that facade entertaining.

By that point, Rob had shown you how to hold a sword, jab and do a couple of swings and before you knew it you were going to spar.

"Are you ready, your grace?"

"I'm a little scared" you answered in fake concern.

"Don't worry your highness, I'll take it easy on you"

You could hear the boys chuckle in the corner of the arena and you knew they were laughing at you... or at least Greyjoy was. Sandor had taken it upon himself to stand by the pair and tell them to hush and watch the show.

The second Robb called "go" you swiped his legs out from under him, knocking him flat on his ass.

"Oh sorry," you snickered "I did tell you I had some training didn't I?"

The Stark stood up and brushed himself off. "Its alright princess, let's go again shall we?"

Almost immediately he lunged at you again, that time you blocked his sword with yours and then knocked him down.

Round after round Robb lost and each time your smile grew.  By the tenth round, Robb had finished "Taking it easy" on you and you were completely fine with that, If he wanted to hurt you he would have done it already. It was all in good fun and after one more knockdown, Robb yielded.

"Nice skills Stark, your father should be proud" You said as you walked up to him and extended your hand to pull him up.

With a smirk, he grabbed your hand. "Likewise your majesty. Although you could have told me before I made a fool of myself"

"Aww and wheres the fun in that?" You said handing the boy the practice sword. "Its been a pleasure Lord Stark that was quite entertaining, but I must bid you good night."

As you walked to the exit of the arena you saw Theon and Jon looking at you gobsmacked.

"Have a good evening Gentlemen." you bowed to the 3 of them and they bowed back.

Many, hot, steamy, lustful kisses were exchanged that night. Not out of jealousy or anger or hatred, but out of pure infatuation. After a particularly long kiss, he rested his forehead against yours.

"Do you know what you did today?"

"No."

"You made me fall in love with you,"

[zeta-in-de-walls]

My thoughts on the MCC games

So my mind is still dwelling on MCC. Damn, I loved it. 

I thought I’d share my thoughts about each game! (Note: I always watch Tommy for MCC.)

Big Sales at Build Mart. It’s alright. I think it’s good as an early game - I enjoyed that it was first this MCC, allowing the teams to get used to each other and it didn’t matter too much in points. Whereas I kinda dislike it late game - it’s not one I want to be high pressure. In some respects its a lot more chill as you’re less directly competing against others and more working together to build something. It still feels tense and as a viewing experience its alright but painful to see streamers making mistakes which they inevitably do as its so high pressure. The changes of getting rid of the boats was so, so good. Losing Buildmart before was often because you failed a turn and lose so much progress which was way too devastating. much easier to navigate now too. (I didn’t like how in one build Tommy couldn’t see a block properly under glass, but usually the builds are very nice. 

Hole in the wall - this one I’ve always really enjoyed watching. It’s a fun game with a great level of difficulty. Tommy’s pretty good at this one too and I like that he has a real habit of messing around in it. This game is the one where Wilbur lost his voice in MC11 after too much shouting. In MCC13 it was singing christmas songs. Something about it just makes everyone want to mess around. I like how although its mostly a solo game, team communication is useful ust shouting out colours and shouting out warnings. I saw Vikkstar being warned about approaching walls before they killed him a couple times by his teammates for instance and I like that. (Contrast ace race where its so hard to give much meaningful advice.) That said, the game is extremely glitchy! Hbomb demonstrated it this round but people have always been sliding through walls plus players with higher ping get an advantage. I would understand if they wanted to shelf it. I think it’d be hard to fix - 40 players in one area with moving slime walls will be so hard to handle. I wonder if they could have 10 separate maps instead or something to make it more feasible to play as I’ll be sad if it has to go.

Skybattle - really really fun from Tommy’s perspective! You can tell he loves it so I love it too. Rounds kinda have a tendency to all end the same way with little bridges towards the centre, might be cool if there was some existing narrow walkways to the middle as well and maybe new maps though I do like the current map as well! Hah, but yeah I love it! It’d probably be too much played too late but its the absolute perfect mid round game and every MCC there’s always really cool exciting plays. Its really fast-paced which sets it apart.

Survival Games - it’s a classic. probably a little frustrating points wise as its a single round meaning an early death is so costly. survival points in this one are worth so much. I seriously enjoy it though it is not one you want too late in the tournament. Also a good opener as its not too intense from the start, even if it gets pretty intense as the map shrinks. The maps for these games are always awesome and well-designed. (I think puffy might have fallen in an inescapable hole though? She was getting attacked at the time so maybe it was escapable but yeah - careful playtesting is important to make sure no spots like those exist. Which is hopefully the case!)

Ace race - I greatly enjoy this game. Tommy’s generally surprisingly good at it which helps. It just seems like a really fun minigame to play. Obviously this MCC the map had some errors and was maybe too confusing. The map was long and every moment had something new to process, a chiller section or two where you can observe and take it in a bit more would have been nice. It is a little fiddly with a lot of different mechanics leading to glitches. Tridents are just annoying! But its one thats a good time. I only dislike how its so much a solo experience - you can try and give advice to your team but its so hard to give useful input unless you’re right by your teammate. I quite enjoy this one being fairly late game as its exciting but not so harsh as the elimination games.

Battle Box: very cool game assuming the map’s fun! (Some MCCs had ones I didn’t care for.) And they remember to never ever give any players TNT ever again. There’s a bunch of tactics to employ, custom items, flanking. It’s just a really nice strategic mini-game. I like how its lots of ranged combat and there’s enough rounds that you don’t feel too bad about a mistake. It’s good anywhere in the tournament. Glad it got added to the practice server as its a lot of fun to watch streamers just play. Though they don’t ever practise the wool rushing tactics on there. xD Shame Tommy’s not built for this game though.

TGTTOS: I love this game! Lots of fun to watch and its kinda solo but also you can help your team and work together with some effort. Hmmm... though some of the individual maps for this game can be very hit-or-miss. I think generally you want like at least 80% of players to complete the map. A few of them have been too long and hard. Lots of punching goes on in this game and I kinda don’t mind. The one with the wool targets was probably a little too confusing. I like most of the original maps for this game aside form the cliffside punching one though I understand the same maps every time would be bad. Rocket jumping seems kinda finicky so I’m not a fan. Tridents, elytras, ice, and bridging are all great fun though and I do enjoy the variety. Again its good anywhere in the tournament! 

Parkour Tag - Not a fan. I like it in concept I guess but aah the scoring is annoying. It gives you points for survival which is so dependent on the person hunting you and it feels like there’s strategy about choosing the hunter for each opponent but in reality there’s not. I kinda wish the same person could be the hunter every round just so one person has that role. The maps have never felt that fun as it generally feels like scrambling around. Also this game rarely shifts the scores much at all, the ways points are awarded is just too strange. Maybe a bigger map and longer rounds? I don’t know though. This game is terrible as an end game and I guess its okay earlier. Yeah, I really wish there was a good parkour type game but this one isn’t it for me. (this is still much better than Parkour warrior mind!)

Rocket Spleef - Alright. I feel like this is one that’s hard on new players as rocket jumping is odd - getting kills in this game is also not easy. Hopefully they practice the mechanics on the practice server. That said I do enjoy this one quite a bit, it’s fun to watch. The deal breaker is the map. Some maps are just way better than others. I think by the end of a round the maps should be pretty much destroyed and I think it’d be awesome if rounds ended with only one or two people left alive. As long as its got a good map though it’s plenty of fun! It’s exciting without being really intense or high pressure and three rounds is a good amount. Good anywhere in the tournament.

Bingo But Fast - I don’t know how I feel about this one. Please don’t do it the nether again, that was too much. xD I think this game is too intense for me - it’s really fast-paced as completions start happening right away and earlier ones are worth more points. Also it’s another that is stressful to watch the streamer play non-optimally. That said it is an interesting game and I think its cool to have a mode like survival minecraft - generally I like how many games highlight different fun activities in minecraft. It’s such a varied tournament! Again I like this one best mid-tournament, not too late or too early. Maybe I’d like it a bit more without the locking out. like after the first five completions, the remaining completions of it still get a few points - a fixed amount. This is an interesting game but it’s also a really hard game! 

Sands of Time - This one is pretty awesome. A lot of fun to watch even if its so so painful for a streamer to lose.  Nice dungeon crawler feel, with cool maps and exciting traps. The vaults matter a lot to points. I like how less confident players can do safer stuff and its a very team-oriented game in the best possible way. As you don’t know how the other teams are doing it gets pretty intense and works well as a last game. Some traps are a bit annoying and I think ones requiring a second player are cool in concept but a bit too demanding. Also please please never make it out of snow again. People kept missing the snow! That was painful. Tommy’s interesting to watch and has successfully solved some risky traps even if he sometimes makes poor decisions xD 

Damn this turned out long! Listen, I love this event. All the games are delightfully unique and challenging and fun to watch. These are just my personal opinions. This is such a well-made and impressive tournament with such a great variety of games testing different things. 

Feel free to argue with me about any of these. Sorry parkour tags fans. xD

[unicyclehippo]

ollie i must say i really like when you narrate your adventures. like when we get successive additions to headcanons (though i love when the longer bits of writing end up under "read more", just for ease of scrolling- so kind of you to do that!) and i really like when we get to see you add to embroidery or create a map or any other creative endeavor you undertake. i like watching the process come together in step-by-step photographs or descriptions. it makes me feel like i'm there with you!

i fully didn't notice this message sorry! im so glad! i get nervous sometimes that it is annoying but then i just remind myself that y'all can unfollow if it is annoying & i can post whatever i like! but its still a relief to know that you're enjoying it. in fun news, my gma is stoked that im taking up embroidery & we are going to the needleworkers guild christmas fair together!

i have so many of these projects right now... i have a map i want to make for my original story, i have MULTIPLE embroidery projects for xmas presents & fan art purposes (whats up girls of dimension20s The Seven, my beloveds), obviously im writing my original story but i have a couple fanfics on the back-back-back burner that i need to get around to... it doesn't sound like many projects when i write them out but they're all Fiddly in the way that takes up a lot of time. oh i guess miniature painting & those crafts but that's on the backburner now bc we aren't playing in person atm :(

[tharglet]

EVA01 Test Type - Evangelion - LM-HG 001 Bandai

I couldn’t escape Japan without getting at least one model kit. So here’s EVA-01:

This one was a fiddly mess to build, and made me appreciate more modern model kits. The waterslide transfers were... a fair bit more tricky than I thought they’d be. From the front, he looks OK, but definitely a kit that could benefit from paint. Some of the areas are large and bland, and the blue plate could’ve done with some black dot stickers. 

Head:

Rawr. He’s lookin’ at you. Face looks pretty good from the front, wish there were some black insets or stickers to go on the front green parts. Head itself articulates well. 

Knees:

Just about got these stickers on OK :P. Here you can see the green stickers like to escape a bit. I like the use of colour here, and looks good from a distance. 

Left:

The purple stickers on the fins went OK. Here you can see the green decal didn’t go on too well, but the black ones were OK. From the left he looks pretty decent, and the colours work well. Here you can see some of the fluff stuck on the black parts of his arm already - this is a rubbery part. Not entirely sure why, but it’s kind of annoying due to being a dust magnet.

Head:

The triangular corners could’ve done with fitting on better. I like the green part on the lower arm though. His head looks good, though doing the stickers on his eyes was a pain. The head spike sticker works well though. The black parts on his arms articulate, which helps with posing.

Right:

So... no 1 sticker on this side? Yeahhhh... it didn’t go well and ended up breaking up into three pieces, then one folded over, making it impossible to apply. Shame, because it was on OK, but then I accidentally nudged it with a finger :(. Though the green part at the top fits better on this side. The ribbing that forms his back looks good from the side too. 

Close-up of the transfer that made it:

These ones worked well, once I worked out what I was doing. Still weren’t fun to do, but at least these look great once completed. 

Back:

I like the shapes on the back. Here we have some black inset stickers - much-needed for the back, otherwise it’d look too flat. And we can see a bunch of mould edges - this kit was rather prone to them and I’m too lazy to sand ‘em all off. 

Top of the head:

Here we can see some rather special pieces...

*Ptcffff*:

Here we can eject the entry plug! I like this little feature. And, um, I need to poke that sticker back on... The mechanism is a fun thing, but the little part that goes over the entry plug does have a nasty habit of popping off, and it’s a pain to get back on :/. The fact it has a few moving parts is nice, but could really do with having better ways of connecting! 

He also came with an oversized Shinji (well, a figure to fit that entry plug ain’t happening), which you could paint, but that got chucked in a drawer. It’s beige, doesn’t stand up on its own and looks rather meh. 

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this kit. The result is OK, but not really worth the effort imo. He did come with some other accessories I didn’t photograph, which could make for good posing opportunities, but they’re nothing particularly special. There’s a big gun, but it can have a habit of falling apart and is plain grey unless you paint it. I don’t have any other EVA model kits to compare him to, though. Maybe get this one if you plan on painting it, as it would be a fairly decent base for that. 

[ruteekatreya]

I’d pretty heartily recommend Troubleshooters: Abandoned Children with a few caveats.  I wouldn’t say the story is particularly complex, but the characters are pretty fun.  The gameplay is fun if you enjoy like, statistic fiddliness on any level - however, if what you really liked about Rabbids was that you just pick characters and go, this is straight up a non-starter.  You’ll fiddle with gear and a lot of skills, and you’ll do it with some frequency, especially taken across your team.  If you think that’s fun, the game is SUPER fun, and a lot of its UX feels like it was designed with ‘making XCOM less annoying’ overall (though I have a couple gripes personally, as one does with anything).  The game, unlike XCOM has a lot of content, for mostly weal.  I’ve put a ton of time into it, and feel like I can keep going. The other major caveat is going to be a thing you run into in the entire genre.  There’s gonna be at least some level of militarist or similar nonsense in pretty much every XCOM-like title, because you’ve got a bunch of people running around with guns.  In Troubleshooters, I’d say it’s relatively light copaganda.  I just kinda roll my eyes a bit when it happens and move on, overall, but if that would bug you, well, you’ll just have to wait for more Mario vs. Rabbids (or possibly, for Metal Slug, that _might_ end up an exception.) Of the like, 8 major gals, I’d probably say only like maybe 2 are particularly sexy?  It really is more cute overall.  And I honestly think the 2 is being maybe a bit ungenerous.  I’d honestly say the guys perform sexiness with as much frequency too, which may or may not help a little, depending on how you feel about.

I know I spent more time on the caveats here, but I really do find it an incredibly fun game.  I can’t recommend it highly enough if you enjoy strategy RPGs _and_ XCOM-style gameplay overall, and it’s worth giving a shot even then.

Looking for game recs, and while im sure the genre is extensive im wondering good options what there is with my specific caveat: turn based tactical RPGs like xcom/mario rabbids, but with really nice styles, either really pretty art or really cute/fun art style?

after playing mario rabbids ive been craving more, probably wanna pick up xcom at some point since ya know. thats the inspiration and all, but yet to play it. So im wondering if you got any recs for that style of gameplay, just in a really cute package, or art directions you think are just really unique? bonus points for really good stories, but a basic just servicable story is fine too

(note on cute: anime is fine, but probably wanna avoid the genre of ya kno, "cute=big sexy titty boobs anime girls and did we mention boobs and sexy". cause yeah. yeah...)

I'm afraid it's not a genre I have much experience with – most of the tactical RPGs in my library tend toward the Final Fantasy Tactics or Famicom Wars/Advance Wars end of the spectrum, rather than the turn based cover-shooter style of XCOM or Mario + Rabbids.

I do have one that I've quite enjoyed, though: Invisible, Inc. It's basically a stealth-focused roguelike running on a turn based cover-shooter game engine; you play as a team of special operatives breaking into a series of corporate facilities and robbing them blind in order to gather resources for a final showdown. The story is bare-bones, and I'm not sure I'd call the visual style "cute", but "unique art direction" it'll give you! Notable for having a very extensive suite of difficulty options, allowing you to mess with everything from how observant the guards are, to how stealth takedowns work (e.g., whether you can take out a guard from the front before they raise the alarm, or whether only ambushes from the rear will do), to the fine details of how security responses escalate as you draw more attention.

Alternatively, you could check out Pathway. This one blends brief combat missions in turn based tactics mode with a semi-randomised narrative built out of choose-your-own-adventure style nodes. That element of the game has been polarising in reviews (I found it fairly tedious, myself), so it really depends on how much you think you're going to enjoy playing out the minutia of travel and resource management between missions.

In terms of forthcoming titles, you might also keep an eye on Metal Slug Tactics, though that one might break your "no 'cute = huge boobs' stuff" rule, depending on you feel about the cutscene animations.

[bestfungames1]

New Post has been published on https://bestfungames.com/marvels-avengers-review/

MARVEL'S AVENGERS REVIEW

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MARVEL’S AVENGERS REVIEW

Marvel’s finest have never looked or sounded this good, but their best efforts feel in vain.

By Robert Zak September 07, 2020

As the Marvel’s Avengers campaign ends, to be replaced by samey missions, it reminds me of the dual identity of so many superheroes. Avengers straps on its tightest, glossiest spandex for the campaign and dazzles with its moves, but once that adventure ends and it returns to the daily grind of a multiplayer-oriented endgame, it blurs into the crowd. Inoffensive, yet indistinguishable but for its famous superhero superstars.

The frustrating thing about Marvel’s Avengers is that for the first few hours, you see hints of what it could have been—a visually spectacular and satisfying adventure—but then a functional, unoriginal loop of missions takes over, and you realise that that’s the actual game you’ll be spending most of your time with.

The campaign offers a simple story, following future Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan as she seeks to reassemble the Avengers following a disaster that creates a wave of new superheroes labelled as ‘Inhumans’. You’re pitted against floating-head-with-tiny-limbs, MODOK, who’s intent on wiping out all Inhumans with the help of AIM’s Scientist Supreme Monica Rappaccini and her army of robots.

A pretty regular Marvel setup then, and beautifully written, animated, and voice-acted throughout. I found myself actively looking forward to the cutscenes and snippets of in-game banter.

R relationship between Bruce Banner and Kamala Khan unfolds beautifully. Banner’s unsure body language and mix of irritation and avuncular care he shows towards Khan—whose chirpy teenage optimism is just what 2020 needs—is a masterclass of voicework and mocap. It also elegantly addresses the fact that, to a 30-plus curmudgeon like me, the fresh-faced Khan can be kind of annoying, but her convincing character arc soon gets me completely onboard.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

Given the amount of big names the campaign has to introduce, it’s understandable that not all the relationships get the same level of attention, but each character still entertains as you bring the Avengers’ floating command centre back to life. The villain MODOK, with his pustulent, hypertrophic head that seems to swell up with every scene, is brilliantly brought to life. The performance turns one of Marvel’s goofiest-looking heroes into a memorable, eerily soft-spoken villain.

However, once you’re aboard the Avengers’ Chimera ship, it becomes a little too obvious that you’re being roped into the publisher’s long game. You walk around on deck as your Avenger of choice, picking up time-limited challenges from vendors, buying gear using real or in-game currency, and using a map to freely drop into missions set across several biomes around the world. Some you do solo, others you do alongside up to three other Avengers, who can be controlled by AI or online players. I’d play with others where possible, and it speaks to the simplicity of the missions and combat that there’s not too much need for communication or a balanced squad.

I did get to play online alongside Hulk wearing a Hawaiian shirt and fedora though.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

PERFORMANCE

I’ve been reading a a little bit about performance problems on PC, but can say that my experience has been mostly stable. There were a couple of odd bugs during the campaign that forced me to restart the game, and multiplayer matchmaking has been very slow from my experience, forcing me to give up after minutes of waiting multiple times.

The combat is a curious mix of classic brawler moves like juggling, suspended aerial attacks and light-heavy combos with the counter-and-dodge-based style of the Arkham games (there’s even a move where you jump over a shielded enemy’s head to break their shield). Little icons on the edges of the screen tell you how close a missile or laser is to blasting you away, while enemy melee attacks are telegraphed by coloured circles, which let you know whether to dodge or parry them. Get enough attacks together, and your rage meter fills, letting you unlock spectacular special moves like Iron Man summoning his Hulkbuster mech, or Ms. Marvel turning into a long-limbed giantess resembling a wacky waving inflatable tube girl.

The icons give you a lot to think about while filling your screen with a confetti of mechanised enemies and special moves executed by your fellow Avengers, and it doesn’t always feel like you—or even the game itself—can keep up. A couple of dozen hours in, I’ll still often dodge instead of parrying when the enemy attack circle is white (dodge for red, dammit!), and that all-important telegraphing of enemy moves isn’t entirely consistent, and the camera’s a little too close for comfort – great for ogling Hulk’s slabs of back muscle, not so great for managing space in a scuffle.

Playing as the speedsters of the group, Ms. Marvel and Black Widow, feels much better than Hulk, whose lumbering style doesn’t sync well with the already slowish animations and floaty jumping physics. High-flyers Iron Man and Thor, meanwhile, definitely offer a buzz as you can freely swoop into battle from way overhead of your buddies. Unfortunately finer aerial maneuvering and attacks are fiddly and much weaker than melee. It may be fun to fly, but the action’s really on the ground.

But in a game so much about fan service, there’s something to be said for making each superhero feel unique, even if that is at the expense of balance. The characters move and attack just like you remember from the movies or imagine from the comics, right down to the disinterested way Hulk toe-pokes chests open. During these little moments, and amidst the on-screen muddle when you string together a bunch of counters and executions before letting rip with a hero’s special move, the superhero fantasy successfully shines.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

The bigger problems come later. Missions may be set all over the world, but levels themselves are sparse expanses of snow/forests/city where you hunt for crates hidden in metal bunkers guarded by faceless robots, before proceeding to complete a main objective—destroying a few structures, or holding onto some control points, Battlefield-style.

The game tries to spruce things up with awkward platforming segments and hunts for SHIELD stashes (essentially a slightly better stash among endless stashes), but they’re visually ugly and unvaried, in stark contrast to the elegantly animated and designed superheroes that run around them.

Also, for some reason the ‘Power’ level required for various missions is all over the place, greatly restricting the amount of missions you can tackle. I was quite up for a boss-fight mission that SHIELD offered for their daily challenge (which improves your faction rank with SHIELD, which lets you buy locked-off gear yada-yada), only to find that I was dozens of levels below being able to do it. These are the kinds of things that can be smoothed out over the coming months, but as things stand a good chunk of the endgame remains level-gated.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

Back aboard the Chimera, the metagame of daily challenges, endless gear upgrades (with daily ‘specialty’ items) and missions becomes particularly noticeable post-campaign. Without the more bespoke campaign-specific missions and story to break them up, the monotony begins to set in, and while there is an obsessive feedback loop to repeating missions, upgrading your gear, and improving your character in perpetuity, you don’t even get to see these gear upgrades. The only aesthetic changes are different costumes, which are a hard to find, and otherwise locked behind higher levels and real-world currency.

There’s nothing too egregious about the microtransactions, which are purely cosmetic and also include emotes, nameplates and execution animations, but there’s nothing particularly satisfying to work towards in the endgame either.

Perhaps a fleshed-out single-player campaign will never be enough to satisfy Avenger’s marketing aims. The story is worthy of Marvel’s movie canon, but it’s too short and ends up being a shiny wrapper for what’s currently a rudimentary game-as-service.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

This comes with the caveat that it’s just getting started, and there have been plenty of online-oriented games that started slowly. There’s enough button-mashy mileage in the combat system, especially as new heroes get introduced as DLC, but it’s the mission design and loot loop that let it down. It’s just not strong or varied enough to justify the long-term investment the game wants from you.

Not that justification beyond a 14-hour campaign and ‘it’s your favourite superheroes and they look amazing’ is needed for a day one purchase, based on the game’s early sales. But if Marvel’s Avengers wants to keep loyalists sweet and expand its player-base, it needs a lot more flesh on its vibranium skeletal armature. If only the game could carry some of its narrative prowess from the campaign over into the endgame.

[usedcarmania]

Everything About The Ford Fiesta

Imagine a city the size of Glasgow. Now imagine every single person living in it driving around in the same car. Well, that gives you a fair idea of how many people have bought a Ford Fiesta in Britain in the past decade. Yep, Ford's humble hatchback has been the country’s most popular car for years. And with good reason. Recent generations have been touted as the best-handling car in the small car class, earning the Ford Fiesta for sale a solid reputation for driver appeal. There are also some fine engines to choose from, too, the most noteworthy of which are the 1.0-litre turbocharged Ecoboost units that come in a variety of power outputs. There’s also plenty of choice regarding how your Fiesta looks. You can have a regular one that looks like butter wouldn’t melt, choose the far sportier ST-Line that apes the near-200bhp Fiesta ST hot hatch or opt for a touch of class with the chrome-adorned Vignale. Ford has even considered the booming popularity of small SUVs by offering an Active version, complete with tough-looking black wheel arch extensions, jacked-up ride height and roof rails.

Performance & drive

What it’s like to drive, and how quiet it is Engine, 0-60mph and gearbox The entry-level 1.1-litre petrol engine (called the 1.1 Ti-VCT) has just 84bhp so feels a bit gutless on faster roads; it’s certainly worth opting for one the pokier turbocharged 1.0 Ecoboost engines. These come in a variety of power outputs, starting with the 1.0 Ecoboost 100 (which actually has 99bhp). This a fine engine that's peppy around town and comfortable on longer motorway trips. The sweet spot in the range, though, is the 123bhp version (called the Ecoboost 125) because it offers stronger acceleration (0-62mph takes 10.0sec) for not a lot more money. Finally, there's the Ecoboost 140, which is slightly faster again and worth a look if you want something vaguely quick. However, the fastest Fiesta of all (by far) is the Fiesta ST, which we've reviewed separately. There are also two 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engines available in the Fiesta, but you’ll have to do a seriously high mileage to justify their significantly higher purchase price. For most people, the decently frugal Ecoboost engines make more financial sense.

Suspension and ride comfort

One of the most appealing things about the Fiesta is how it combines small car fun with big car sophistication, and that’s true of the way it rides. Steer clear of the larger optional alloy wheels and the Fiesta deals brilliantly with the sort of nasty sharp-edged bumps and potholes that are all too common on British back roads. The Fiesta is one of the most comfortable choices in the small car class. Indeed, only the Volkswagen Polo can trump it for comfort. ST-Line models have firmer sports suspension, so you feel more of the bumps as they pass beneath the car, but the ride is still extremely well controlled, so you won't bounce up and down wildly over undulations taken at speed. If you opt for the Active model, you’ll benefit from a subtly softer ride, thanks to higher ride height and tweaked suspension that enables the car to cope even better than the standard Fiesta with sharp jolts. On the other hand, the large wheels fitted as standard to the Vignale mean it can’t deal with surface imperfections as well as smaller-wheeled variants of the Fiesta. Handling The Fiesta may be a small hatchback, but it's as fun to drive as some sports cars, thanks to its sharp handling and precise, well-weighted steering. Indeed, it’s the Fiesta’s ability to put a smile on your face on even the most mundane journey that’s so endearing. ST-Line versions receive sports suspension with lower ride height. This makes the Fiesta even more agile and grippy, which is great if you want hot hatch handling without the bigger bills that a powerful engine brings. If you do want the full-fat hot hatch experience, the range-topping Fiesta ST is sharper and more focused still, but even the cheapest versions in the line-up can embarrass all rivals, even the Seat Ibiza, through the corners. Active versions, meanwhile, are slightly less agile than other Fiestas because of their 18mm increase in ride height. The car’s body rolls a tad more in corners and generally doesn’t feel quite so well tied down through fast, twisty bends – although the difference is only slight. Noise and vibration The 1.0 Ecoboost engines are remarkably smooth and quiet. Accelerate hard and you feel and hear less of a buzz than you do in rivals with equivalent three-cylinder turbo petrol engines, such as the Ibiza and Polo. The diesels are unsurprisingly noisier, but not horrendously so. There's some road noise, particularly on versions with larger alloy wheels, but not enough to really irritate. However, there is a fair bit of wind noise at motorway speeds, especially in models fitted with a panoramic glass roof, so the Polo is a slightly more peaceful cruiser. Meanwhile, the Fiesta’s accelerator, brake and clutch pedals are all positively weighted, making it a really easy car to drive smoothly. The six-speed manual gearbox fitted to most versions is also very precise and enjoyable to use, while even the five-speed 'box in the entry-level 1.1-litre models is almost as good.

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish Driving position and dashboardYou sit higher up in the Fiesta than in many small hatchbacks. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but some may prefer a lower-slung posture. Active models have a ride height that's 18mm higher, but it only makes a subtle difference. Height aside, the driving position is tough to knock. The seat holds you securely in place through corners while remaining comfortable on long distances. Some of the more expensive trims even come with adjustable lumbar support – a rare but important feature in this class. Happily, it’s a cheap option on Zetec, Titanium and ST-Line models. Meanwhile, the controls for the air conditioning (which is replaced by automatic climate control on some of the posher trims) are logical and clearly marked, although the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel are a bit fiddly. Visibility, parking sensors and cameras The Fiesta’s rounded shape compromises visibility slightly, with relatively small rear side windows hampering your over-the-shoulder view. Mind you, the high driving position gives a good view of the road ahead, and your view out of junctions isn’t too restricted. All Fiestas give you the convenience of automatic headlights, too. A heated windscreen that can de-ice itself in moments is a major boon in winter and is standard on all trims. Rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera are standard on Vignale and Active X trims; the former is optional on all other trims and the latter an option on all but entry-level Zetec. Sat nav and infotainment The Fiesta's 8.0in touchscreen infotainment system – with sat-nav on some of the posher trims – is relatively simple to use. On Zetec and ST-Line trims, it doesn't cost the earth to add built-in sat-nav, but we'd be tempted to use your smartphone instead because you can mirror its display on the Fiesta's touchscreen thanks to standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The upgraded Bang & Olufsen sound system is seriously punchy if a little flat in the mid-range. It's still well worth considering if you love music, though, and comes as standard on B&O editions and selected other upper trims. For those who still use CDs, a glovebox-mounted CD player is optional on all versions of the Fiesta.

Quality

The interior bits you touch regularly – the steering wheel, gearknob and indicator stalks – feel fairly upmarket by the standards of the class, and the Fiesta even has soft-touch plastic on parts of its dashboard. You won’t find any of that in the Ibiza or Skoda Fabia.

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter Front space Despite its steeply sloping windscreen and slightly raised driving position, the Ford Fiesta has plenty of headroom for those sitting in the front. That said, we’d resist the temptation to add the optional panoramic glass roof if you’re really tall, because it reduces headroom noticeably. Legroom is also good, and there’s enough elbow space for two broad adults to sit comfortably side by side. There’s a reasonable amount of oddment space, including an area ahead of the gear lever that’s just about big enough for a smartphone. The door pockets can accommodate a small drinks bottle and there's a pair of cupholders conveniently positioned between the seats. Rear space Rear space isn't the Fiesta’s strongest suit. A pair of six-footers will fit, with legroom similar to that offered by the Polo. Seat folding and flexibility Ford hasn’t given the Fiesta any special seating tricks to make it’s interior more versatile. All models get a simple fixed rear seat base and a backrest that splits 60/40 and folds down, but that’s the bare minimum we’d expect in this class. Front passenger seat height adjustment and lumbar support are standard on Titanium X, ST-Line X and Vignale trims and optional on others. Boot space Need a big boot? Well, we fitted five carry-on suitcases into the back of the Fiesta, which isn't at all bad. Dropping the rear backrests leaves an annoying step in the floor of the Fiesta’s extended load bay, but you can iron this out with the optional height-adjustable boot floor. Set in its highest position, this also reduces the otherwise substantial loading lip at the boot's entrance.

Reliability

The Fiesta finished a middling 9th place out of 13 in its class in the 2019 What Car? Reliability Survey. This puts it ahead of close rivals such as the Volkswagen Polo and Peugeot 208, but behind the Skoda Fabia. The Fiesta’s standard warranty lasts for three years or 60,000 miles; this is broadly in line with the class average. You can add an extended warranty that’ll cover your car for an extra one or two years, but you’ll need to sign up for it before your new Fiesta is first registered.

Safety and security

All Fiestas come with seven airbags, lane-keeping assistance and Ford’s MyKey system – a programmable ignition key that can be used to limit the car’s top speed, mute the sound system and prevent the stability control system from being disabled. This should give you some peace of mind if you decide to hand the keys to somebody who has recently passed their driving test. Upgrade to Titanium trim and you’ll also get traffic sign recognition and driver alertness detection, while blindspot monitoring and cross-traffic alert (a system that warns you of approaching vehicles when you’re backing out of your driveway) are on the options list. However, the big disappointment is that automatic emergency braking (AEB) doesn’t come as standard on any model. It’s reserved for the options list as part of the Driver Assistance Pack – which isn’t available at all on the Fiesta ST. All versions come with an engine immobiliser to deter thieves and a Thatcham-approved alarm.

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Article source: https://www.whatcar.com/news/10-reasons-to-buy-a-ford-fiesta/n14304

[entergamingxp]

Ian’s top ten best PSVR games of 2019 • Eurogamer.net

Welcome one and all to this year’s exciting instalment of the Ian’s VR Corner Top Ten list where I’ll be going over my ten favourite PSVR games of 2019. As per usual, the following list is completely my opinion and it only features games that I myself have played, so if I’ve missed out one of your favourites, chances are it’s either because I thought it was a bit bobbins, or that I just didn’t have time to give it a go. Either way, please do share the love for your favourite PSVR games of 2019 in the comments below and hopefully, together, we can inspire others to try them out too.

You can check out the video version of this list just below these words where you can watch footage of each game featured or, if reading is more your thing, you’ll find my entire top ten list just under that.

10 – Ghost Giant

Anyone who has watched the Ghost Giant episode of Ian’s VR Corner will know that I had a fair few issues with the game’s motion controls, or more specifically, the fiddliness of picking things up that were just a little too far out of reach. Thankfully, there’s a lot more to Ghost Giant than just its control scheme and I was able to push past those faults and appreciate the emotionally charged story at its core.

In terms of production values, Ghost Giant is way up there and it actually shares a lot of similarities with Moss, one of my favourite games of 2018. The level of detail in Ghost Giant is incredible and the paper-craft dioramas that make up the levels look stunning in VR. It almost feels like you’re sat, centre stage in your very own Tim Burton movie, able to reach in and touch and interact with every inch of the world.

I didn’t just enjoy playing around and exploring these ultra detailed, model villages though, I was also enthralled by the life and personality of the characters that were expertly animated and voice acted. If you can look past the unwieldy interactions caused by the less than accurate Move controllers you’ll find a beating heart which is full of sweetness and sadness and there lies a story that will stick with you for a long, long time.

9 – Everybody’s Golf VR

Someone famous once said that golf is a good walk spoiled, so it’s probably a good job then that Everybody’s Golf VR is a completely stationary experience. By cutting out all those boring strolls it means the game and its players can concentrate on pure, unadulterated virtual golfing across three gorgeous, 18 hole courses.

As the name would suggest, Everybody’s Golf is indeed for everybody. That means seasoned golfers will instantly be able to enjoy batting their balls around while newcomers can make use of an incredibly intuitive in-game interface to practice swings and judge the power and angle of each shot before going all in for a hole in one. The tracking of the Move controller is pretty much spot on with Everybody’s Golf VR and I didn’t notice any kind of drift or inaccuracy at all. Holding a single Move controller with two hands like you would the grip on a club feels just like you’re holding the real thing and this adds a lovely sense of immersion to the already relaxed vibe of the game.

While Everybody’s Golf VR is slightly watered down compared to other games from the series, especially when it comes to the lack of multiplayer, it does feel like a perfect fit for PSVR and it’s an ideal starting point for any golf enthusiasts out there who may be nervous about trying VR for the first time.

8 – Falcon Age

It’s hard not to fall in love with Falcon Age after mere minutes of playing it and a lot of that has to do with your cute as hell companion, whom I decided to name, Pudding. Pudding is a falcon that you raise from a squeaking ball of feathers into a fully grown, mech murdering bird of prey and it’s pretty safe to say that caring for Pudding is probably the closest I’ve probably come to treating a VR animal as if it were a real-life living being.

Falcon Age is a rather compact open-world affair in which you stick it to awful robotic industrialists one act of sabotage and rebellion at a time. You head out into this world with a neat whip-baton thing in one hand and Pudding on your other, and you can send pudding to attack things, collect things, yank things about and then hold them up while you give them a good shoeing.

Just having Pudding there on your fist makes you think about it on a very emotional level. Seeing Pudding get hungry was enough to make me want to learn the rudiments of the cooking system, but pulling spikes out of her after a fight genuinely made me furious in a way a dog owner might be if someone mistreated their beloved pooch while they were out on a walk. This is a game about nurturing, about trust, about friendship and loyalty and about having an awesome Falcon friend who’ll do your bidding and smash evil robots for you. I love you, Pudding.

7 – Sairento VR

You know that bit in The Matrix when Keanu Reeves goes, “I know Kung Fu!”? Well I had a few moments of realisation just like that during my first hands-on session with the PSVR port of Sairento VR. Don’t go into Sairento VR expecting to be a badass from the off though. There’s an incredibly steep learning curve here and there’s a lot of things you’ll need to learn in order to feel comfortable when navigating the levels.

In fact, this game should definitely be thought of as being on the extreme end of the comfort scale because it expects you to do double jumps, bounce off or run along walls and scale great heights. All whilst swinging swords, shooting guns and triggering super cool slow mo super powers. The first couple of levels really ease you into things, but by the third, the action is relentless and enemies come at you rapidly, shooting and hitting you from all angles.

This onslaught can be terribly frustrating at first but it forces you to learn quickly and it won’t be long before you’re chaining leaps and bounds together with slow-motion headshots and slick slide kills where you split opponents in two with your blade. When everything does start to click, the combat becomes so absorbing that it’s easy to forget about the normal world that exists outside of your headset. That’s why it’s well worth putting in the hours to practice your skills because when everything is going your way and you’re flowing through the levels, Sairento VR is one hell of an experience.

6 – Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion HD Renovation

Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion HD Renovation is the first game in the world to have ever made me swear at a piece of toast and for that it instantly gets a thumbs up from me.

This VR remake of the cult classic PC horror game sees you trapped inside an ever changing maze comprised of 1000 different rooms, each one potentially home to a jump scare or two. Despite the budget look to the graphics and a rather slow start, I was surprised by just how scary Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion could be. Being stalked through the rooms by some of the games more unsettling specimens would honestly be bad enough in the flat version of the game, but in VR it’s panic inducing as you can almost feel their physical presence gaining on you as you try to escape.

That feeling of being chased never gets old either, as the rooms, locations and your pursuers keep changing in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Basically it’s like dropping acid and going to a Halloween Horror Fright Night even at Thorpe Park, except you won’t need to drop acid and there won’t be a massive queue to get in. Now hurry up and release this in the EU please, Albino Moose Games!

5 – Trover Saves the Universe

If you didn’t already know, Trover Saves the Universe is made by Squanch Games, a development studio run by Justin Roiland of Rick and Morty fame. So, if that kind of wacky, sweary, tasteless and self-referential sci-fi humour is your bag, Trover Saves the Universe will have you covered. In spit and poop, mainly…

Playing a bit like an Astrobot for adults, Trover Saves the Universe sees you galavanting around the galaxy, intruding on the often disgusting inhabitants of Alien worlds, all whilst trying to rescue your two pet dogs from the eye sockets of the evil Glorkon who is hell bent on destroying life as we know it.

There’s a fairly big game here and it basically includes everything you’d expect from a standard 3D platformer like combat, jumping, bounce pads, puzzles and item collecting. Everything in Trover has this dark and disgusting Roiland twist to it though and this leaves you constantly surprised and occasionally sickened by the events that occur. The bonkers scenarios and the imaginative characters that live within them are often either comically creepy or absurdly annoying and as such, fans of Rick and Morty are bound to be in VR heaven with Trover. For some, this constant barrage of weird humour may be a little too overwhelming and that’s totally understandable, but I played it through twice because I’m also super weird.

4 – Borderlands 2 VR

Technically Borderlands 2 VR came out in 2018, but it appeared on the Playstation store so late in December that my Top Ten list for that year had already been published. In fact, I didn’t even feature it on Ian’s VR Corner until January when I came back from my Christmas holidays so its inclusion on this list totally counts. Totally.

Far from being a short spin-off experience, Borderlands 2 VR is a complete conversion of the flat game, featuring the full 25+ hour campaign. Plus, after the release of the free Bad Ass MegaFun DLC pack in September of this year, it also includes the four add on story missions and a bunch of upgrade packs too. That’s a lotta bang for your buck indeed!

I had a lot of fun when Borderlands 2 VR first came out, but when Aim controller support was added in another update, the game just got better. Being able to hold, admire and shoot any of the bazillion guns that are available to you in VR while holding the aim controller just adds to the immersion and it makes shooting all those Bullymongs and bandits feel super satisfying. Borderlands 2 VR is an incredibly well produced title that looks beautiful in 3D so it’s well worth revisiting if you’ve played the game before in flat version. If this is your first trip to Pandora however, this is a must buy that’ll keep you busy for ages. WUB, WUB, WUB!

3 – Ace Combat 7

I’m absolutely terrified of flying in real life but flying in VR? Well that is a completely different story, especially when it comes to Ace Combat 7’s VR levels. There may only be three unique missions available in the VR portion of the game but when they’re this gorgeous, this exhilarating and this immersive, you’ll find plenty of excuses to replay them. I mean, I certainly did!

There’s just so much to love here, from the ultra detailed, interactive inheritors of the cockpits and the adrenaline pumping intensity of the VR dog-fights, through to the way that water droplets roll across your aircraft’s canopy as you leave thick cloud cover and burst out into the sunlight and thunder your way towards yours foes.

The sense of speed, power and of just ‘being there in the moment’ is truly exceptional here, so it’s a damn shame that Ace Combat 7’s biggest fault is that only a small portion of the game is playable in VR. Please, Bandai Namco, give us a full VR campaign and I promise you, I’ll buy it twice! Ace Combat 7 may have come out right at the start of 2019 but I still think about its VR missions regularly and I pull out my HOTAS and strap myself into my jumpseat whenever I get the chance.

2 – No Man’s Sky Beyond

No Man’s Sky Beyond is almost the perfect VR game. It’s infinite, it’s incredibly immersive and if it wasn’t for the low resolution of the visuals, I could quite easily spend a large portion of my life just pootling around the galaxy digging through planets for valuable minerals like some kind of space age mole man.

The experience of exploring the universe in No Man’s Sky in VR is every bit as jaw dropping and massive as you could have hoped for but the ever present blur does kill the magnificence a bit. All those stunning vistas and the mysterious alien flora and fauna that you may remember from the flat version now look like indistinct smudges on the horizon and this works towards dampening that awesome sense of discovery that made the exploration so compelling.

Get past that though as you’ll find that the rest of the game is an absolute joy to play. The sense of scale in VR is amazing and the ability to fly around from planet to planet and galaxy to galaxy while being encased in the game is incomparable to anything else I’ve played in VR. This is a straight up, never-ending VR adventure and depending on your patience for the survival genre, you could easily end up spending countless hours exploring brand new world after brand new world. No Man’s Sky Beyond is an amazing achievement and I’d recommend it to anyone with a VR headset, if only to get a taste of what VR adventures could be like in the future, if the platform continues to grow and expand.

1 – Blood and Truth

Right now, at the point of writing this feature, everyone in the world is getting excited about a brand new James Bond trailer. Everyone that is except me, because this year, thanks to Blood and Truth, I was James Bond.

The beauty of Blood and Truth though is that I wasn’t just James Bond, I was actually loads of things. I was a soldier in a warzone, a cockney gangster literally riding shotgun in a sports car and I was even some kind of parkour hitman, dodging machine gun fire from a helicopter as I legged it across the floors of a barely built block of flats before throwing myself through some plate glass windows as I shot enemies in the face during some glorious scenes of slow-motion gun-fu.

In Blood and Truth you are the star of your very own action movie, no more passively watching the action unfold on a flat screen, oh no. Here you’re right there in the thick of it, catching and throwing back live grenades, dual wielding pistols and generally living out all of those action movie fantasies that you never thought would come true. There’s an excellent supporting cast who’re brought to life by some top notch voice acting and motion capture and this serves to give you a real connection to the characters in some of the slower paced scenes, while each action set piece is just varied enough to make you constantly gasp out loud with the thrill of it all.

The gunplay is excellent too and while the on rails nature of the gameplay could be seen as a turn off for some, it keeps the pace rattling along and allows the developers to do some really clever and unexpected things with VR. If you own a PSVR you need this game and that’s the bloody truth of it.

And that, my lovely friends, is that! Hopefully you enjoyed this look back at my favourite PSVR games of 2019 but if I did miss any of your favourites out, do remember to tell us about them in the comments! Before I wander off to snaffle some pre-Christmas mince pies, I’d just like to say a big thank you to each and everyone of you for the continued support you’ve been giving my VR coverage. Can you believe Ian’s VR Corner has been going for over a year and a half now? Crazy!

Here’s hoping things get even more exciting for VR in 2020, whether that’s for PSVR or for the wider range of headsets, because if 2019 has proven anything at all, it’s that VR just keeps getting bigger and better and it’s definitely not going to go away any time soon! If this list is the first you’ve seen of my VR coverage by the way, Ian’s VR Corner happens every Sunday on this channel so do pop on over and subscribe for more VR videos whenever they’re uploaded. Oh and of course, do have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful new year!

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2019/12/ians-top-ten-best-psvr-games-of-2019-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ians-top-ten-best-psvr-games-of-2019-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[kidslovetoys]

2019 Christmas Gift Guide: Toddlers

You'll often hear us say that babies don't need any toys at all. Some human company and a handful of household objects to investigate is plenty. At the risk of completely destroying the 100 Toys business model, the advice for toddlers isn't much different. Life for a toddler is about investigation. The way they learn hasn't changed for thousands of years and there were no iPads in the stone age.

Of course, toys can help - and that's why 100 Toys exists and hasn't gone to live in a cave in rural France and painted its face blue. They're great for breaking down skill-acquisition into more manageable chunks. Yes, you can learn all about stacking by piling one stone on top of another, but having neatly-cut, stable wooden blocks that fit perfectly in the hand means you can create much more elaborate structures. Your learning is extended.

That's not to say that toys are the answer to every problem. You can have too much of a good thing. In the 100 Toys house we have a lot of blocks because it's really annoying to run out half-way through a construction. But an unlimited supply creates dependence and dampens creativity. If you never have to worry about running out, you never learn to look around you for something that will stand in for the object you lack. 

Toys are good. Just don't have too many of them. Buy mostly open-ended toys and rotate them often to keep things fresh. And remember to leave your toddler alone. Playing alongside your child has enormous value but the majority of the time should be spent in independent play.

And so to Christmas, that famous pre-historic festival of educational toy gift-giving, invented by our palaeolithic ancestors because they had a surfeit of trees and nothing to put under them...

Ball tracks

If you've ever watched a toddler play, you'll know that they like to do things more than once. These repetitive actions are a feature of schema play, and ball tracks are a great way to see it in action. Marbles are a choke hazard for the under 3s and their small size makes them fiddly to handle. Ball tracks, on the other hand, are perfect.

This one, by HABA, seems too simple at first glance. No spirals or drops, no zig-zags or bells. It's so plain you can't believe it will still be in use a week later, but it is. Soon your child understands that the track can be broken up, recombined, mixed with blocks and extended in all kinds of ways. Bridges and tunnels are built and obstacles put in the way. Crashes and bumps are deliberately engineered. There are very few toys that elicit yelps of excitement but this is definitely one of them.

Over time it can be combined with other ball tracks, such as the chatter pack with bumps and bells or the musical sounds set. If your child develops a real passion for this kind of play, the next step is a more complicated marble run by HABA (whose pieces can be used interchangeably with the toddler ball tracks) or these brilliant alternatives by Kaden.

Water play

For a toddler, being in the bath is to be surrounded by possibility. So much to learn! Floating, sinking, displacement, pouring, splashing and bubble-making. This simple sailing boat by Plan Toys ticks all the boxes for a great bath toy. Sail and swoosh it across the waves, fill it with water and tip it over your brother, fill it with other toys and sail off into the sunset. Choose from a range of excellent navigators including a penguin, seal and polar bear.

You can also enjoy water play outside the bath. Best of all is to get outside but for those days when you're stuck indoors, why not try keeping a small play set like this in the kitchen? When I needed to keep a roaming toddler busy and within my sight I'd often bring the tuff spot inside and fill it with water. It was too big, and too tempting to climb into, so the results were mixed at best, but this Plan Toys tray is perfect. It fits on the table and you can fill it with just a jugful of water, helping to keep the post-play clean-up to a minimum.

Baskets and trolleys

Olli Ella Piki basket and Luggy, Moulin Roty puppets and Maileg bunny.

Olli Ella Piki basket filled with contents of Oskar & Ellen Farmers' Market Basket

Toddlers like to make use of their new-found mobility and most parents will spend many hours chasing a gleeful toddler around the house, up and down the stairs and in and out of every cupboard. A stroller or trolley can be a godsend as it brings a new dimension to the motion and independence your toddler enjoys so much. Toddlers also love to feel useful and important, so loading up a trolley with some blocks or a baby (a toy one!) and delivering it to you is a great way to help them explore their transporting schema and to make them feel like they are being very helpful indeed. Olli Ella has harnessed this toddler impulse brilliantly with their range of wicker trolleys and strollers. The rattan Strolley switches from pram to shopping trolley in one easy move and, thanks to its quality construction and materials, is likely to be a part of their play for many years to come. 

Dolls

Your baby may have enjoyed the reassuring presence of a soft toy or comforter but as they enter this new phase they start to use play figures and dolls as a way of understanding the world around them. You may notice them re-enacting real life situations like a trip to the doctors or imagining stories, often with themes of good vs evil or triumph over disaster. In this way your toddler is trying to understand the complexities of human behaviour. Olli Ella Holdie folk are a great bridge between the soft toys they have as babies and the more rigid wooden or plastic toys they come to later on. These little people have soft bodies and childlike features and clothes, and come in a range of skin tones that reflect the diversity in our children's everyday lives. 

  Alternatively, you can escape the confines of race and gender by offering animal soft toys. A bear can be a little girl one day and a grandfather the next. Moulin Roty's beautiful dolls come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Vehicles

Grimm's slimline car

Vroom! Vroom! Beep! Beep! Nee-naw! Nee-naw

Vehicle play can seem pretty one-dimensional at first glance. But look more closely and you'll see a world every bit as rich and subtle as the doll's house.

Language, science, co-operation. Vehicle play has got it all.

Heuristic play, also known as discovery play, is central to how young children learn about the forces that shape our world. It's the trial-and-error process that they go through as they attempt to understand the laws of physics. Vehicles allow children to test their hypotheses about many of these concepts.

Watching a two- or three-year-old with a toy car is a study in how to investigate gravity and trajectory, friction and acceleration. See how they build ramps for rolling down and launching upwards, marvel at the myriad ways they find to crash a car or derail a train.

And don't forget the language benefits of vehicle play. We usually associate role play and small world play with language development but even a single car offers many ways to improve thinking and speech. Over, under, through, behind, between. These prepositions get a regular workout. And how about ideas like stop and go, fast and slow, up and down, left and right? Then there are the stories children narrate as they play.

Take another look at vehicle play. It's every bit as educational as some seemingly worthier activities - and great fun!

Peg people

Grimm's Friends with Cocoletes natural blocks

Peg people are one of our essentials, a toy we recommend from six months and up. Easy to hold, and with a wide base for greater stability, these figures are brilliant for babies and toddlers. One of a young toddler's great occupations is learning to pick up objects and put them down again. Over and over they practise, placing, plonking, bashing and posting. There are so many ways to 'put'. A peg person's head is just the right size to grasp and the variety of pleasing colours extend the educational value of this kind of play even further.

Finally, if you're after something Christmassy...

Once again, Maileg have come up with some wonderful pixies and Christmas mice.

  from One Hundred Toys - The Blog https://ift.tt/2L7Rvl2

[terryblount]

Ashen Review: It’s Dark Souls but Much Worse

Last Thursday at The Game Awards the announcement was made: Ashen is out now, exclusive to the Epic Games Store (why?). This game, years in the making, is suddenly unleashed upon the world with almost no marketing and not available on the world’s largest game store (Steam). A dubious start. So what is this game, and is it worth the wait?

Ashen, quite simply, is a low-budget Dark Souls clone that’s inferior in every way. It’s fairly short, has no character choices or builds, is a bit floaty and imprecise with its combat, and has a nonsensical story. However, there is a certain charm to it if you’re a die-hard Souls-like fan, but Ashen does little to win over new players to the genre.

The Art Style: Pretty but Problematic

The most striking thing about this game ever since its 2015 reveal is the unique minimalistic art style. There’s certainly an appeal to this very bleak and drab world featuring characters with no faces. There’s some lovely views and inspiring environments that invite exploration.

This is one of the more colorful and impressive landscapes. The joy of exploration!

However, I can’t help but feel the art style choice was made more for the sake of easier art creation than good game design. From nearly the very start the art style gets in the way of playability. The enemies, clutter, and backgrounds blend together as mostly muted grays and browns, which limits the visual distinction needed during intense combat. More on that later.

The Story: Dark Souls but Nonsensical

From the start the game presents itself as almost absurdly inspired by Dark Souls. The introduction cutscene is a close copy of the original Dark Souls introduction…except without the quality art, excellent voice acting, and haunting atmosphere.

The story, as best as I can describe it, is about an old power that brought light to the world but fell and was consumed by the dark or something. You’re trying to figure out a way back to the light. Maybe.

The game also falls victim to fantasy term overload. There’s Listeners and Humans and Ashen and Elder Dark and Gefn (who’s totally not Gwyn from Dark Souls)…and none of this is allowed to have its time and place.

“Ake had the blood of chiefs in his veins and the brains of a fangfish in his skull.” – Eila

Dark Souls’ story gets away with ambiguity because it creates a living and breathing world for you to unravel as you play. Ashen has no such subtlety or depth here, partially because of it’s low-budget.

To prove my point, the characters speak quite seriously, with fairly low-quality voice acting (budget constraints again), as if any of their unexplained fantasy talk means something. Yet it’s easy to see that their quests are actually quite contrived, mostly being fetch or kill quests that conveniently pad out the gameplay time.

Here be a quest giver! She probably needs something fetched or someone killed.

Crafting: Thinking not Required

Continuing the trend of inferior copycat, the crafting/upgrade system in Ashen is also a lesser version of Dark Souls. There’s only two meaningful weapon types: one-handed and two-handed. And there’s only one upgrade path for each weapon. Your armor and shield can’t be upgraded, and the armor is simply one single piece instead of the mix-and-match sets of Dark Souls.

“A tinker without tools is like a lamp without fuel. A dull affair indeed.” – Flokir

What’s worse is there’s not really any distinct move sets between clubs or axes or whatnot (there are no swords for some reason). Therefore, you basically pick any weapon you want and dutifully upgrade it as you collect the plentiful materials. It’s very basic and the lack of interesting choices makes this feel all rather perfunctory.

I’m exploring this mountain pass using the club and shield because it’s all the same anyway.

Character Non-Building

Perhaps most puzzling is the complete lack character leveling system, which means there are no assignable stat points, which means there are no character builds. You earn points when you kill enemies, but these points are only used to upgrade or modify or purchase various items.

“You are stronger now, child of mine. In spirit, in body, and in the company you keep.” – Gefn

For the first few hours I kept thinking I must be missing the system that lets me, you know, build my character! But I wasn’t missing anything. There is simply no character building system. So bizarre.

There is a simply rune system you can equip and expand as you play, giving slight boosts to stamina or whatnot. However, there’s also no magic or spell system of any kind. I guess that would have been too much to ask?

The World Itself: Looting & Climbing

Things are looking pretty bad for Ashen so far, but the world itself is a bright spot. There’s dank caves, ruined palaces, peaceful rivers, expansive plains, bandit hideouts, and more. Many of the locations are inspired by (take a wild guess) Dark Souls, but even if the creativity is lacking, exploration is enjoyable.

I do enjoy a good treasure hidden around a corner! Poor little skeleton…time to loot!

One big reason for the enjoyment is all the hidden treasures stashed throughout the environments. It’s good fun entering new areas for the first time and finding the nooks and crannies often containing loot. Although most of these items aren’t very helpful since the lack of crafting choices limits the rare loot. Oh well.

I should mention there’s a climbing system that lets you grapple up roughly neck-high objects. It’s a bit wonky, but it let’s you explore in some unique and cool ways…and die often as you fail to climb properly and fall to your unfortunate death…

The One Unique Thing: Your Village

I must mention the one unique aspect of Ashen: the village-building system. The tutorial has you found a small village that is basically just some fields and rocks by a river. You’ll encounter various characters in the world that will join your cause and move in to your village.

Ah, home sweet home by the fire! Watching my village expand is a real highlight.

As you complete quests for various characters, you’ll visually see their houses being built. It’s a nice touch that serves to connect you to the world a bit more, and that connection is desperately needed to make things feel a bit more cohesive.

Note that there are zero choices to make regarding the building system. It’s all automatic. You don’t do anything except play and watch, which is fine I guess but a bit disappointing compared to what other games offer these days.

The Fiddly and Deadly Combat

Being a Dark Souls clone, this game lives and dies by how well balanced and solid the combat system is. On the plus side the “you can die in a moment if you’re not careful” threat is ever-present, giving a very nice sense wariness and accomplishment as you explore more dangerous and demanding encounters.

Less fortunate is the finicky controls and floaty-feeling movement. There’s very little weightiness to the combat. Often it feels like you’re just flailing about, hoping the targeting system puts you in the right attack direction.

Too many effects going off, too much chaos. Battles are far too messy to carefully study.

The combat balancing is mostly good, but there are several obnoxious locations inspired by the most annoying locations of past Dark Souls games (Blighttown, New Londo Ruins, Shrine of Amana).

It’s very dark and dangerous. There’s a bunch of enemies who may jump out at any moment…

Cooperative Play and AI Woes

Ashen is weird when it comes to multiplayer. It tries for some bizarre combination of Dark Souls and Journey and it’s kind of a mess. You can join up with other real players at times. However, most of the game will likely be played with an AI companion. Although sometimes you’ll play alone because the game is either broken or maybe it’s intentional…I’m not sure.

Speaking of the AI, usually the AI companion will attack the enemies and revive you if you go down. However, there’s plenty of times the AI will get stuck, be unable to follow, may stop attacking, and will stand next to your dying body refusing to revive you. Not cool at all.

My idiot AI companion is standing over there, refusing to come revive me. Very upsetting.

Overall, the cooperative system is unreliable. For a game that is so hard in spots and built for coop, there needs to be far better companion AI and an easier way to join up with a real world friend.

Conclusion: The Price is Too High

Ashen is a lesser Dark Souls clone with a nonsense story, no character building, messy combat, fiddly cooperative play, and a fairly small world by comparison.

On the positive side, the art style has its charms, and the village-building is a nice concept. I did enjoy my time with it, but I realize this is mostly because I’m a Souls-like fanatic who’ll enjoy even poorly made imitations.

However, there just isn’t enough quality here to justify the asking price of $40. If the game was priced at $20, I’d definitely recommend it to Souls-like fans because the game feels roughly one-third as good as a proper Dark Souls experience.

Stylized art, pretty views

Rewarding exploration

Village-building is nice

Semi-helpful companions

Mostly fair challenge

Totally stable

Super-fast loading

Few glitches for me

Tries to be Dark Souls

Floaty movement/combat

No character builds

Limited crafting/upgrading

Companion AI issues

Lore is mumbo-jumbo

Finicky keyboard mappings

Low-budget graphics

No new game plus

Fails to be Dark Souls

Playtime: 18 hours total. Nick finished all quests and explored nearly everywhere in about 18 hours.

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using an Intel i7-3930k CPU, 32GB of memory, and a nVidia GTX 980 Ti graphics card.

Ashen Review: It’s Dark Souls but Much Worse published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[cvagent2]

Review: No Man's Sky

Overtaking the sunset, I glide into the mesosphere hours ahead of darkness. Scattered islands beckon under shifting banks of white stratus. I veer toward one but lose sight of it in the clouds, emerging over an isthmus broad and gray in the oceans of Lahellt II. Knuckertail soars down and I land her upon a grass-topped arch, coiled slender and ominous over the shallows like an immense fossil.

After visiting a hundred vicious worlds, frozen or burning, gassing me with oxides or crackling with radioactive menace, I think I've found home. Dropping from the canopy to make footfall, I look at the glittering sea. A world warm and quiet and mine declares itself to the exosuit's sensors.

Something's not right.

•

No Man's Sky is a spectacular toy for exploring 18 quintillion uncannily similar worlds. Released a year ago to astronomical hype and sour reviews, it's since become a decent (and improving) game as its creators bolt on base-building, factions, planetside vehicles, narrative threads and evocative if slight multiplayer elements.

As of the Atlas Rising update, it's widely hailed as a much more involving journey. But for me, it's neither one thing nor the other. The procedurally-generated worlds still lack depth and intrigue, limiting the appeal of exploration, while the gamery additions call for endless self-directed fetchquesting to make progress. Tweet-length nibbles of story string one instantly-forgotten Mr. Potato Head alien to the next, all immobile but for their looping busywork animations.

But the weird dream at the heart of it - jumping to distant solar systems, visiting fabulous unchartered worlds, coasting over psychedelic meadows where bizarre and ungainly alien fauna swarm - sticks with me. Get a glimpse of what we hope our descendants will spiritualize on other worlds, knowing we'll never experience it.

Sixty dollars, though!

See, then there's the fiddly travel, maddening inventory management, and grinding repetitions. The generated worlds are smoothed noise with no suggestion of geology, nothing hot under the surface. Everything has a meaningless alphabetti-spaghetti name. Though every world is flavored with local color, all have the topology of a lightly whipped frosted cake, uniformly sprinkled with candy bits from the same jar. There are no cities or civilizations, no gas giants, no balls of boiling lead, no forests or fens. Just lots of porta-potties, abandoned prefabs, and glowing relics.

What's the point of going anywhere I want if the same things are everywhere?

This problem afflicts the flora and fauna too. Though adorable and strange, they're a roll of the dice with no suggestion of ecology, adaptation or habitation. Nothing connects to anything. Darwin would return to England certain both of God's hand and His zero fucks given.

Sentient aliens are, like the dumb ones, a hodgepodge of parts with no personality and nothing to remember them by. There are three species, hints of political backdrop, and actions and events described in dialog, but nothing is seen to happen or change.

More interesting are the tech tree and trade elements, especially the elaborate bases you can build and the ships you can buy, should you have the determination to earn them. Making a home, a career and a pile of money kept me going for twenty or so hours after I bored of visiting new planets - the key difference between No Man's Sky in late 2017 and last year - until I realized the next objective on my list might take twenty more.

The ships are the coolest thing about No Man's Sky, the hard steel heart of its splendid late-seventies aesthetic.

Space battles are dumb fun, especially once you have some power-ups. The pleasure of flight is occasionally marred by shifting and glitching in the middle distance, things popping into view and landforms deforming at different levels of detail. This becomes particlarly annoying when cruising low in search of specific things of interest, a constant reminder that No Man's Sky is random noise posing as empty space.

•

I slip down to a sloping meadow shadowed by the rock arch where Knuckertail perches. Off in the distance, a carved menhir rests at an odd angle and I skip toward it though platinum blooms and crystal hedges. Communion teaches me the Korvax word for sleep. I look back at the ship, a tiny shadow against the sun. The exosuit says it's 19˚ and balmy. As I entertain the idea of this being my avatar's homeworld, I realize that for me, it's perfect point to stop playing. Another step, and I'll just be shooting rocks again. Besides, I see what was bothering me: there's no fauna. But for the grasses and wildflowers on this perfect world, I'm the only thing alive. I rechristen the planet, instantly forgetting its original name, and upload the new one to No Man's Sky's mapping server so that other players may one day benefit from my discovery: "Lovely But Devoid of Life." Rob Beschizza is on Twitter and the e-mail.