#it's a fine time to be alive

[somethingwittyandweird]

It's that time again! What's your favorite game you played this year?

Hope you're ready for a response to rival last year's post. There are so many good games that I have so much yapping to do about. And, if I may say so, this year was an accomplished one: I made some notable progress putting long-standing backlog titles to rest, as well as some new games that won me instantly. So, let's dive in...

We started off VERY strong with converting one of last year's “I watched this game and it was cool” to “I played this game and it was cool”: Hi-Fi Rush. It absolutely captivated me throughout. It has everything- charm, style, writing and characters that are heartfelt, hilarious, and over the top all at once- and most of all it has an incredibly natural evolution of the high-style high-precision action genre into a rhythm-based brawler where the world moves to the beat. Do I even need to mention it has, not one, but two banger soundtracks? It's a game I look forward to replaying (a rare praise from me), and one I know I'll be in love with for a long time.

Around the same time I was working my way through Sea of Stars- I've talked more about that here but it also really had me engaged as a modern love letter back to the SNES JRPG era. Visually stunning, musically lovely, satisfying gameplay, and a story that I felt gave its well written characters the space they deserved.

Once those were out of the way, I had my mission for the rest of the year: get this backlog CLEARED. Throughout the year, I knocked out:

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia: a game beloved by many growing up that had passed me by. Experiencing it for myself years later, I could tell that I would have poured endless hours into this DS title as a kid, and even today I loved it enough to 100% its quests and Pokedex. Absolutely killer writing and fun gameplay that still holds up today. I am glad I played it as an older adult though for one reason: at this age I know how not to harm my DS’ screen when drawing endless loops.

NEO TWEWY: A sequel to a cult classic I never thought I'd see but I was so, so happy to see it come back. The new game massively shook up the gameplay (it had to, TWEWY for DS is very literally inimitable) but fully kept the spirit and updated it. As the OG wore its 2000s teen culture loud, this game carried the torch forward and gave us the same charm with modern Internet culture. It brought back old characters in excellent ways, added great new ones, had some of my favorite kind of time travel writing moments, and did it all with style, flair, and a rocking OST. In every way a worthy successor to the OG.

Indivisible: Another game I wrote about elsewhere, Lab Zero's sadly ill-fated entry into action platforming. As I said there, I'm glad I could give myself closure on it and I was glad to appreciate the parts of it that did clearly shine- the delicious visuals and combat gameplay. Hopeful to see where those devs end up and what they'll contribute their talent to now.

Triangle Strategy: In terms of strategy games this was a foray outside my usual Fire Emblem interest zone, but it is my friend’s favorite game of all time, so I had to give it a go. The differences took some adjusting, but I ended up enjoying my time with the game. Combat was engaging, visuals had me oohing and ahhing in places, I liked the characters (Julio and Jens my MVPs). But the standout was the story- as deep and politically thrilling as I was promised it would be. The narrative voting/negotiation system offered me some cool moments of choosing my path (or one time having it chosen for me) which culminated in a really really well set up three-way ending split; it wasn't just choosing a side but choosing an ideology, and the characters who wouldn't abide that choice felt completely justified in their refusal to follow you. I didn't get the golden route, but I may go back someday. Without a doubt my best narrative game of the year. (Plus, the final boss of the route I chose was really really tactically engaging and I loved it as much as i feared it.)

Along the way, a few non-backlog titles did sneak their way onto the list…

Case of the Golden Idol: a visually quirky detective narrative puzzle game that scratched the same deductive itch as Obra Dinn, I had a lot of fun deciphering its ersatz mystery. Each chapter is a death tableau and you use clues and logic to piece together who is who, what is what, and what has happened, with each scene leading to a bizarre overarching narrative that makes you want to keep going just to see how wild it gets.

Death’s Door: A little soulslite adventure title about a reaper crow working for Death and trying to straighten up some loose ends. The environments are really well modeled (though a map wouldn't have gone amiss) and the combat system had a satisfying loop with some unique twists. Its final boss impressed me by being a spectacle fight through multiple zones that showed off the boss’ powers thematically, let you learn what the boss was doing in each phase, and wasn't a drag to retry (the usual danger with set piece fights that keep shifting areas). 

Blasphemous: One of those “classics” of the modern indie metroidvania space, and one of the first to get overtly Soulsy with it, I finally got the chance to try it and it showed me just why it deserves its "classic" status. The writing was very Souls and the platforming very vania, both excelling in their own way. I really loved the sheer variety of collectibles, that's a strong point in my heart for any metroidvania. I absolutely adored the music, a masterwork of Spanish guitar tracks I still listen to. And visually the game’s strong Spanish Roman Catholic aesthetic absolutely oozed artistic passion, and it was clear that so much work went into its visuals… including the surprising amount of (well-animated) gore. Which leads me to…

Nine Sols: if I had a nickel for every soulslike metroidvania I played this year that turned out to be quite unexpectedly graphic, these would be my two nickels. But content warning aside, I can't sing Nine Sols’ praise enough. Its gameplay was thoroughly polished and at every turn designed to help you feel like a kickbutt martial artist warrior, running up walls and surviving lethal enemies with perfect parrying and a unique attack to give that iconic ‘dash past enemy, beat, they explode’ rhythm to the fights. Then it sells that mastery by making enemies increasingly lethal, requiring more and more skill, but the floor never ramped hard enough that I was frustrated (though the last two bosses had me baffled for a while). Exploration felt rewarding with a lot of cool and useful items to find, and seeing this game’s beautiful blend of "Taopunk" futuristic + traditional Oriental environmental designs was a treat unto itself. And lastly, there's a gripping story that unfolds as you get to know its characters- Yi, your mysterious protagonist, the friends he makes, and the enemies he ruthlessly cuts down.

Are we done yet? Almost, I promise. 

As of writing I'm in the middle of Echoes of Wisdom and Ghost Trick, so those, while both great titles, will I think be their own posts. All that's left then is to acknowledge the games I played that I didn't, or couldn't, “beat:” the multiplayer ones.

I played a bunch of MtG with my friends, and I played a lot of Civilization VI with other friends, and those both took up many happy hours. If this wasn't too long already I'd tell you about unstoppable bunnies and definitely not werewolves, or my friends and I allying to conquer the world. But I knew when I got my switch recap today that there's a clear standout in hour count alone: It's not a surprise to you or to me, it's Splatoon freshwater-freaking 3. 

How could I not give it the most love for this year where I fell harder into it than ever before? Where my elite Salmon Runner friend helped me climb to dizzying new heights of EVP rank 999? Where I appeared on so many friend’s multiplayer streams for Splatfests and Big Runs? Where I took it upon myself to fill out my weapon collection 100%? Where I did Side Order runs until I knew every floor by name? Every one of those things has given me a cherished memory… but none more cherished than attending an honest-to-goodness music festival in this game, with my friends, reminiscing on past triumphs, on the importance of living in the present, and with the thrill of looking to the future. I loved Splatoon 3, and with the Grand Festival, it felt like the game, the devs, and the community gave me that love right back. 

That, among all of these games’ memories and experiences, is the one I think I'll treasure longest.

Video games are cool. I'm so, so glad they're real.

[astrolavas]

have some permadeath hunter au sketches from 7 months ago, caused by accidentally getting way too invested and emotional while discussing "what if hunter hadn't woken up in ttt" scenarios with friends.

in which, uh, hunter wakes up in the inbetween realm instead of back at the old gravesfield cemetery...

[lotus-pear]

never forgiving bones for fucking up this scene

[cappycodeart]

CONCEPT DOODLES for an AU I dabbled in with a few friends after the winter king episode but kinda forgot about after the Fionna and Cake finale... I decided to revisit it and explore a little more after coming to terms with everything LOL... So, it's another "Winter King doesn't die immediately after his crown gets nuked" AU, but THIS TIME he's just dying really slowly (like Simon in the Betty episode) and ALSO joins Fionna, Cake, and Simon on their search for magic crowns. There's no logic behind this tbh, we just wanted to put him through The Horrors. And make them all friends. But mostly The Horrors. :) (he only gets to live as a treat, because I think he's funny).

Bonus (old screenshot), because this is still funny to me:

[existentialgaybirdnerd]

Ghost, put back in the coffin years later and losing what sanity he has left.

He unburies himself for the second time ofc, but this time he comes out inherently wrong.

Soap will try to get him to talk to him, to quip and make puns and dad jokes like before "the incident" as they've taken to calling it, and only gets blank stares that don't quite meet his gaze or drift just too far to one side to not be focusing on something that's moving when nothing is behind Soap but a wall.

Price, who tries to get Simon to therapy and gets reports of him ghosting (ha) his team of mental health professionals. Who will get responses from Simon, things a good soldier would say, and then hear frantic muttering as Simon's attention runs away to the corner of the room.

Gaz, who's the first to be sent on a mission with him, Simon's first since the incident because he needs to be kept in rotation because he's only a tool, because Soap is already deployed elsewhere. Who sees as Simon absolutely LOSES IT at the sound of gunshots and tears people apart with a ferociousness he didn't think humans could attain, only to be met with frantic whispers and wide eyes and shaking hands once it's all done. Hearing apologies to a Joseph and Tommy and Beth because Simon somehow got it into his head that it's THEIR blood on his hands, as he tries to claw it off and needs to be sedated to be brought back to base.

The 141, who all get a retirement house together after a couple of last missions simply so they can help Simon recover. So they can protect him when he's at his worst and celebrate with him at his best. The 141 who give up their lives in the military not because they don't care about their country or job anymore, but because their friend and brother and lover needs help, he needs them, and he needs to be reminded he's alive.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Rangi: I don't want to give you up to the next generation!

Kyoshi: Noted

Kyoshi: *doesn't die for another 7 fucking generations*

[triglycercule]

can the mtt commit more crimes that just murder please i know theyre the MURDER time trio but ppppleasse,,,, please,,,,,,

they'd be terrible to be next to on the highway. horror's going 160 mph amd has long past gone over the speed limit. dust's out for BLOOD and by blood i mean your tires. he's somehow sniping those round rubber wheels from the high moving vehicle with the precision of a master fruit ninja player. if your car explodes or flips over in the process that's not his fault. and then to make matters worse for everyone on the highway killer's in the backseat scratching up the doors and windows of your car with a knife everytime horror gets close to another car and oops he accidentally just disfigured your face also did i mention theyre all drunk during this

ok so theyve all got the classic face WHY DONT THEY ABUSE IT!!!! horror gets to do a little paper mache to cover up his head hole and then wearing glasses. killer i dont know what the FUCK he can do to get rid of his perpetual tears but let's just pretend that theyre conveniently gone for now. and then all dust has to do is put down his hood! anyways identity theft is cool. imagine how much they could totally fuck up classic's reputation with this. set up fake tinder profiles and then scam people for their credit card info/free dates (while ordering every expensive thing) and stealing wallets. walking into various grillby's's around the multiverse and telling terrible jokes. like ACTUALLY bad jokes. and then of course just being a huge piece of shit at the bar. god theres so many things they could do pretending to be classic. which one of us is hikaru looking ahh except the only difference between the three is the color of the stains on their clothes (either gray (dust) black (killer) or red. well faded red (horror))

ROBBERY!!!! ROBBERIES PLURAL!!!??? train robbery gas station robbery bank robbery GOVERNMENT robbery (what would you rob the government for?? documents??? idk) anyways. mtt robbing a train except its just a really shitty plan and they dont know jackshit about what theyre doing. killer's taken over the conductor's cabin and now he is booking it. how fast are trains allowed to go idk but the maximum. anyways meanwhile horror's on the tracks fucking up the rails with his strength or whatever (listen i know he's weak but picking and choosing what hcs i believe in is my art) and dust is there to teleport him away before the train crashes into him and turns him into a trolley problem victim. and then of course that shit doesnt fucking work and the train just ends up flipping over and catching on fire or something (killer survives because of course he does he's killer). and then in the end dust just has to flip the entire train over and they just stroll into the part that actually HAS the money

and then they go out and get ice cream. sometimes the murderers need to take a break from murdering and just do NORMAL crime yk???

[rotisseries]

planet of love

[luck-of-the-drawings]

OOH YEAH BABY ITS THE SURGERY EPISODE BABY!!! ME AND THE HOMIES NEED SOME NEW FACES FOR OUR NEW PLAN, AND WHO BETTER TO GET THE JOB DONE THAN THE TWO MOST EVIL PEOPLE WE'VE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF HAVING OUR LIVES VIOLATED BY? I MEAN IT WOULD BE FUNNY. IT WOULD BE FUNNY.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 184

“Well damn.” 

Jason wrenched his gaze from the mess of red and green spattered across the room, searching for the source of the voice. His head hurt, he wanted his Dad. He wanted Bruce. He… his head hurt. His everything hurt. 

“Honestly, didn’t expect them to find another half-breed. Didn’t think there was another halfa out there…”  

He tore his gaze away from the floor- when had it gotten there- finally finding the other… person? The person giving him an empty smile through some sort of muzzle and missing an entire arm. Well, he couldn’t judge, he’d torn his nails off while digging out of his grave before… this. 

“Hey, kid, don’t sweat it, it’ll grow back,” the man apparently noticed where he was staring, shoulder twitching as he shrugged and more green pouring out. Jason couldn’t stop staring, eyes slipping from the growing pool to the rest of the chains apparently keeping the person on that side of the… room? Cage? Cell? 

“Shit, hey, kid, kid, don’t cry, uh, fuck, shh, kid don’t cry-” the person made a noise, some sort of hum or croon that caused him to relax. To his already brain-damaged confusion. “C’mere, away from the door now, shh…” 

Oh, when had he started to move? It was like he blinked and was stumbling away towards the chained person, practically tripping over a limb before the person managed to catch him. “Ope, oh you’re just a little baby-” a hand, clawed, carefully ran through his hair, tucking him against a rumbling chest that nearly made him tear up again. He wanted Bruce. 

“It’s alright kid, shh, they won’t get you,” the man rumbled, everything about him green to his rapidly closing eyes. Pale skin like a corpse, black scales like rot, hair white like snow, all stained green with blood.  “They’d have to kill me again for that.” 

[somethingwittyandweird]

Have I mentioned it’s a fine time to be alive recently? I feel like I should take more opportunities to say that

[papanowo]

merry christmas !!

[ivanttakethis]

I could definitely see Till getting angry at Ivan for what happened during Round 6 and choking him as some sort of payback.

Only for Till to be horrified by the realization that Ivan would just let him do it…

[abowlofsourcream]

💫⏳Switch a Loop Interlude: House Haunted.⏳💫

Mirabelle: Um… Loop? Do you mind if we ask you something?

Loop: Oh~? Do tell~!

* Loop lays at the base of their tree branch, kicking their little feet.

* Mirabelle looks at the other address for confirmation before turning to Loop.

Mirabelle: Loop, do you believe in ghosts?

* Loop pauses a moment, before beginning to laugh!

Loop: Stars above, Housemaiden! What kind of fool do you take me for?! Ghosts aren’t real!

* They sit and look at the group.

* Bonnie walks in front of Mirabelle.

Bonnie: THAT’S NOT TRUE! I SAW ONE WITH MY OWN TWO EYES!!!

* Isabeau stand right behind them.

Isabeau: Yeah! Well, I’m not sure if it’s a ghost but… It’s certainly ghost-like!

* Odile rolls her eyes, as she pushes her glasses to the brim of her nose.

* Loop seems to think for a moment.

Loop: Hmmmm, well I might have an idea of what is happenin…

* They imitate the motion of picking up their nails, as they look past the group.

Loop: They are the echoes of the loops before… Whatever caused these loops clearly is having a hard time with all of your looping! Meaning of the doubles that you were seeing are just remnants of past loops before!

Loop: Right?

* … The group guest that makes sense.

* They had just broken to the 200’s.

* And, seeming as how fragile this craft seems-

* It only makes sense for it to be this awkward!

* …

* … But-

* Odile looks at Loop, a bit annoyed.

Odile: Then, wouldn’t that mean that there would be ghosts of all of us?

* Loop seems to be taken a back…

Loop: … What do you mean there would be ghosts of you? Who have you been seeing?

* Odile groans as she looks towards Mirabelle.

* Mirabelle clears her throat.

Mirabelle: Well, the thing about the ghost is that… Almost all of them… Look like… um-

* Loop’s face seems to grow more terrified as Mirabelle explains.

* Odile raises a brow, Bonnie steps closer.

Bonnie: Loop? Are you having a stomachache ? Do you even have a stomach? Cause your face looks like you need to go to the bathroom-

* Loop reachs out and grabs Mirabelle’s cloak to look into her eyes.

* The others are immediately taken back!

* Odile readies some offensive Crafts, hiding Bonnie behind her.

* Isa goes closer to the confrontation, acting as a mediator.

* Mirabelle looks at them terrified and confused.

Mirabelle: L-Loop?! Wha-?!

Loop: DO NOT GO NEAR THEM!!!

Mirabelle: W-why?! A-Are they dangerous?!

* Loop seems desperate.

Loop: PROMISE ME YOU WON’T GO NEAR THEM, MIRA! PROMISE!!!

* Isabeau raises his hands.

Isabeau: W-we promise! Just please, put Mira down… Okay?

* Loop blinks…

* …

* Then drops Mirabelle to the floor with a loud thump!

* They rush over to Mirabelle, checking to see if she’s okay…

* …

* She looks up to Loop and nods…

Mirabelle: … I promise, Loop.

* … Loop sighs and holds their head in their hands to regain their broken composure.

* After a bit, they sit back up and return to their bubbly demeanor.

Loop: Welp~! Is that all you wanted?

* The group goes over some other questions before leaving the Favor Tree.

* A bit shaken from the talk, but a step closer to their goal…

* Yeah!

* Those ghost are probably nothing!

* Right?

[sonknuxadow]

i genuinely dont get how so many people are uncritically excited for The Movie and have no issue with anything going on here i feel like im losing my mind a little bit . the trailers did not look good to me at all is everyone excited about it posting from an alternate dimension or something what are people seeing in this movie that im not .

[nymphaeya]

Why yes I'm completely normal about Joel being Grian's go-to guy for hearts. Yes I'm also fine with the fact that Joel admits he would help Grian with anything. Oh? Jimmy got assigned Grian as the person he was going to guide? Ehhh... nothing to think about, I'm neutral

After all, it's only "For the Bad Boys".