#just me making bug fables story and characters better

[ratatosk777]

I didn't think I will post it, but it turned out kind of okay. eh, Mothiva's happy for him anyway, but there difenetely will be a lecture about why zasp should tell some things her first :D

imagine these two making jokes about zasp/leif just cuz zasp and probably leif didn't tell them about their relationship

[galedekarios]

Hello! How are you? Thank you so much for your answers about BG3. I am a little bit frustrated because I try to get a glimpse of all thé romance but most of the videos are about Astarion which is totally okay don’t get me wrong but still. So thank you for providing us with some Gale content. Do you know any creators or people that romanced Wyll and Karlach because I saw à lot of négative comments about how Wyll romance is boring and got less content than the others. Thank you!

thank you for your message! i'm doing well at the moment and i hope you are, too. 🖤

i plan to make many more gale edits--especially of his romance--because i find it extremely well done on all accounts. i'm just trying to pace myself.

i have tried wyll's romance on a gale origin playthrough because with the choices that i picked, they just vibed really well together and wyll's approval and morals are very aligned with gale's own.

wyll's first romance scene, which you get in act ii, is actually incredibly sweet and i loved it very much. what i was a bit... disappointed with, i suppose, was the second romance scene in act iii, which felt very abrupt and just not at all on the same level as his previous one.

[spoilers below]

in his first romance scene in act ii, he shares a dance with the protag and it's just a joy to watch: it's beautifully animated, the music is amazing and i'm very sad it's not on the official soundtrack as far as i can tell.

the second romance scene you get in act iii feels... rushed and a bit out of the blue considering all that's going on. the animations are very janky. i don't know if it's due to being only rigged for a female body type at the moment or if it's a bug, but yes. that was the first thing that completely took me out of the scene. it's a really stark downgrade in quality, i think. i included screenshots because of this so you have a visual comparison of the level quality.

he basically takes you to a fabled old oak, growing near baldur's gate and he tells you a story that completely comes out of left field, picks up an acorn of said oak, tells you his mother always said there was a touch of wishing magic in it (again, it's completely out of the blue bc he never once mentioned his mother before and just doesn't match thematically with what's going on in his quest or the main quest). he then sort of proposes to you with that acorn--again, very sudden when all you did before was share a dance--and if you accept, then you get a kiss and a roll on the grass with a fade to black:

again, i cannot stress how rushed this scene feels, how unfinished and how short it is. i think it's a bit over a minute overall.

i'm very sad about it because the start of wyll's was very strong and he deserved better. all in all, i don't think wyll's romance suffers from being boring at all. his re-write is very good and i like his character a lot now compared to early access. what i do think it suffers from is that it feels rushed and has not received the same care and polish as some of the other companions have. there's little to explore in terms of how he feels about the protag even between those scenes compared to, say, gale's and, as i've heard, astarion's.

my next playthrough will perhaps explore karlach's romance. i'll definitely let you know how that goes!

anyhow, i'm sorry this got so long, but i hope it was helpful!

[youngerfrankenstein]

force you say something nice... how about game recommendations! Or just games you like?

You got me into ghost trick, psychonauts and to finish the great ace attorney! Currently go through the curious village again thanks to you as well!

You got great taste in games!

Oh! Interesting :D

(Which reminds me I really need to get back to Bug Fables it was really cute I’ve just been doing a lot of game-hopping recently 😅 Which is nice in its own way!)

Hmm. I’ll try to think of games a liiiittle less well known.

First off!

Shadow Hearts is a bit of a strange game in that it is both one of the most stereotypical JRPG’s ever made and one of the most distinctive (at least from what I’ve seen)

A lot of this comes from the setting; Europe shortly before WW1. Albeit in a world very different from the one we live in, since this one has quite a few more monsters. In fact it takes quite a bit from the horror genre, and a lot of its enemy encounters are pretty horrific. The whole game is a blend of creepy and silly, which could easily go bad but it balances them pretty well! The game also plays fast and loose with real historical events and people (one of your party members is technically Mata Hari. No really.) And you travel around fighting demons and trying to protect a young woman being pursued for unknown reasons. (Like I said, JRPG.)

The combat system is also pretty neat! Basically every character and ability hits based on button presses timed to a line swinging around a ring:

Closer to the edge gets you more damage but also if you wait too long you miss the hit. Sort of a risk/reward thing. There are also a bunch of debuffs and items that mess with the ring which can make things easier or harder for you. You also have to manage Sanity Points, which go down every turn and can be used on abilities, but if you run out that character becomes incapacitated.

That’s not even mentioning the music, which is… I’ve heard it described as a mix of Final Fantasy’s music and Silent Hill’s. Somehow both melodic and discordant, but definitely interesting. I may replay this in October actually, it’s a good spooky season game.

There’s definitely some humour that.. isn’t great as well. (Oh boy! I sure do love pervert jokes!)

It’s technically a follow-up to the game Koudelka, and a couple of characters from there show up here. But it’s its own thing and not necessary to play that one at all. I haven’t, though I may try someday. From what I gather it’s a surprisingly well-written and well-acted game with an ungodly mashup of turn-based combat and survival horror for gameplay. There are also two sequels. I’ve played the first which… I still mostly enjoyed. But while I know a lot of people like it better I was not particularly fond of how it went much farther into silly territory and less creepy (though the spider made of human fingers was a neat boss) and as much as I LOVE Joachim and find it funny to have Anastasia Romanov on the team the cast felt weaker. I have not played the third and I hear it is bad.

There is also a spiritual successor coming out… sometime (supposedly next year) called Penny Blood and I’m curious how that will turn out. But overall I really like this one!

Next!

…I am going to be honest, I still do not really understand a lot of the story with this one. It’s here on atmosphere alone.

You play as Ashley Riot, sent in to a dead town to take out a cult and what follows is… something of a hack-n-slash dungeon crawler, but a more slow and methodical one. Part of the game involves crafting your own weapons from the ones you find to best exploit enemy weaknesses and getting your timing right. It is not perhaps the most spectacular, but it can be satisfying.

But you really do play it for the atmosphere. The Shakespeare references, the melodramatic tone, the unsettling feel of the town.

It’s also technically set in Ivalice but that doesn’t really play into anything.

Next!

If I’m being honest, this is a really basic game. With basic gameplay. …But it has SO much charm! You play as a gang of Sky Pirates! Who find a mysterious girl and set off to find out why she had been captured. Again very much genre staples but dang if they ain’t being adhered to with joy. The characters are loveable, the palette colourful and the music lovely! It just feels like a nice world to be in.

You probably won’t be in for much of a surprise, but you’ll probably have fun.

I will say that personally I found the airship battles could get a little slow, but they are there to break things up a bit and, I mean, if you emulate it… (it’s uh. Expensive.) And at least on GameCube the skip button for specials is holding down “z” and you WILL be using it.

Also side note that the GameCube version has some stuff added, including most of the backstory for one of the game’s main villains. So maybe go for that one.

Also!

While I know you’re familiar with this one, still briefly bringing it up.

Don’t play this game while you’re depressed.

The gameplay is kind of neat in how it takes elements from shoot-em-ups in that you have to dodge waves of projectiles while hitting back (albeit much easier) but really this is a game carried by its main characters. The core group are just, really enjoyable to watch, even as worse and worse things happen to them and they do worse and worse things. You want to see them get through things even though this is very much a world where EVERYTHING FUCKING SUCKS. Also some very neat meta writing!

It’s odd because I normally hate things like this. Really bleak tones just lead to me not caring and if characters drop like flies why should I invest in them? …And yet.

But mostly I wanted to bring it up because I’m like 80% convinced that Papa Nier and Monkey from Enslaved: Odyssey to the West have the same character model. That one is a game which I’ll only really recommend to people who want to see Ninja Theory’s earlier work but it’s alright.

Lastly YES! The game propaganda is working >:D (I’m really flattered you think my taste in games is good!!!)

Edit: GRANDIA!

Honestly similar comments to Skies of Arcadia it’s just very fun and colourful!

[fly-sky-high-bug-games]

Just me thinking but brain compared how I feel about playing Bug Fables to Hollow Knight in this personal experience...

BF feels like I'm trying rollerblades. I suck at it, they seem cool to ride tho and if I take it slowly I can get a hang of it as long as there are no steep paths that will make me lose balance in an instant and tumble over. Learning to break with just feet is hard. No confidence in control, it's up to thinking of every move how I want to ride ahead. More practice will help me get more of that needed speed but not soon enough.

HK feels like riding a bike. Sure I fell down tons of times and hurt myself while learning but once I got the hang of it, the control is where I value it the most: In my hands. I can get more speed and excitement out of the fact that I don't have to think too much to just go! And I don't have to go super fast, cruising alone without worry is amazing.

So while BF really isn't my cup of tea, I appreciate it and I will try to finish the main story line at least. Turn based games don't keep my attention well enough for so long unless they're fast. I'm not good at comparing skills and items to know how to properly use them and while I can give my noggin a shake to do better, I mostly just want to put effort into discovering more about the characters and NPCs rather than the gameplay itself. Puzzles are fun but I am having a lot of issues with camera angle in such a 3D space.

And this isn't me nitpicking mechanics (albeit the camera thing is), it's honestly 100% just personal experience and preference from what I have of the game so far.

It's more of a game I would rather watch someone play (which I will after I am done~) rather than play it myself. It doesn't keep me motivated with this kind of repetitive battle system (even if I played turned based games before like Wakfu lol) but the story and characters are very VERY engaging~

[flame-shadow]

i feel the same with the canon characters thing :( any idea how to deal with it? cus i haven’t found one yet

While I'm clearly not an expert or all that experienced in writing for canon characters (as is evidenced by my griping over this very same subject :P), I can offer my thoughts and personal process for trying to get a better feel for the character(s):

-read the character's wiki page(s) to get refreshed on history, attitude, and dialogue (and shed a tear if you are looking for dialogue from a bug fables character, because it ain't there, chief)

-try not to reduce the character to just a few bullet points. I try to imagine them as people with complex thoughts and motivations.

-most importantly, I think, is to reassure myself that it's okay if I take some creative liberties to an extent for the sake of actually writing the story. I want to have fun with what I'm making, and sometimes it might require gently ignoring or altering small details or events. Nothing formative, since that would change the entire character, but like... what if things played out a little differently? How would [character] react to that? To me, the exploration of the character is the appeal of writing something over just drawing the One Scene That Started The Idea, so if that exploration leads in a different direction than canon, but the reactions and stuff leading to that point all make sense, then that's cool and fine.

I generally write my own characters, which is why writing canon characters is a little more daunting, but when I've RPed some canon characters, it's been received well. I just have to own it as my version of the characters using the canon as a framework.

[bluntforcefem]

bug fables roleswap au!

hi thank you @cyanopicacyanus​ most beloved i would LOVE to! fair warning to anyone reading the text under the cut that this au explanation will have spoilers for the entirety of bug fables! so if you’re someone who wants to go in entirely blind and hasn’t watched/played bug fables yet- don’t click!

similarly, this covers similar things to the original bug fables stories, including the themes and plots of the requests. so watch out if any of those bug you! (Bug You haha)

the central focus of the au is the swap between the three main characters: leif takes vi’s place, vi takes kabbu’s place, and kabbu takes leif’s place. however, it gets a little more funky from there, in the nature of telling a fun and fresh story AND preserving major & important parts of their original personalities and backstories!

this explanation will go over the characters, and then specific moments & such that i think would change as well! ft. vi & leif getting to do crime, as they deserve

VI AS KABBU

vi, her sister jaune, and a currently unnamed friend of theirs are from a hive outside of bugaria, beyond the wild swamplands. they all decide to go to bugaria to explore - vi for money and exploration, jaune to see the art there. on the way there, in the same fashion as kabbu’s master and bit, vi and jaune’s friend dies to the beast to protect them while they run away.

vi and jaune, fueled by grief and anger at the loss, have a VERY LARGE blowout fight that ends in jaune leaving the swamplands for their home hive, and vi continuing on to go to bugaria! wooooo

what you get here is. vi largely keeps her desire to prove herself and get rewards from exploring, but there’s an added layer of: “if i can just prove myself as an explorer, i can kill the beast, and show jaune that she was wrong and trying to go to bugaria was worth it all along.” (even if vi doesn’t fully believe herself that the loss was worth it! character nuance my beloved)

KABBU AS LEIF

HERE’S WHERE THINGS START TO GET FUNKY! stick with me here folks, because ghosts are going to be real and in your home (and in bugaria.)

it all starts with a change with what the roaches in snakemouth labs are researching - instead of trying to achieve immortality with cordyceps (which is relegated to another lab, which is a special tool that’ll help us later), the roaches in snakemouth were attempting to achieve immortality by finding a way to bind spirits to exist after death, subsequently to re-enter their bodies. snakemouth was chosen for this for the high concentration of magic that allowed this to be possible - magic that permeated beyond just where the labs were. however, no corpse fit the conditions for spirits to re-enter them, leaving tens of spirits lonely and wandering. eventually, they all ganged up on the roaches who left them this way and killed them!

enter: kabbu, his master, and bit, who entered snakemouth den during the reign of elizant the first to find the artifact! the same beat as leif and his exploration team in canon. they get ambushed by a spider while investigating, and kabbu wakes up decades later when leif & vi rescue him!

what happened in snakemouth den was this: all three of the exploration team that entered perished, including kabbu. due to the experiments going on in snakemouth, and the roaches’ adjustment to the area and its energy, all three of their spirits sustained after death, and All Three Of Them Went Into Kabbu’s Body! kabbu is fully unaware of this until his request is done, in which the final battle of snakemouth labs is not a zommoth, but an amalgamation of lost ghosts that kabbu (and master and bit) refuse to acknowledge any similarity too.

instead of using the royal we and slipping into “i” during his request, kabbu uses “i” most of the time, and slips into using “we” when he sees the amalgamation and realizes the truth about what happened to him and his old family. i have given the kabbu ghosts both metaphorical AND literal this time!

tl;dr: the theme of snakemouth labs is ghosts instead of zombies, and kabbu is very, very haunted.

LEIF AS VI

remember when i said that the cordyceps being in another lab would be my special tool that would help us later? yeah! so. the most important part of this is that both leif & muse are still alive! it hasn’t been decades, for him - he’s been around during elizant ii’s reign.

leif and muse were an explorer (muse) and scientist (leif) duo exploration team that was sent by elizant ii to study the lost sands and find clues on the roaches and the everlasting sapling. they were pretty good at it! and one day, near the sand castle gate, leif finds a cordyceps colony that acts a little weird, has some sort of magical ability. so he takes it back to his lab for isolated study!

while he’s studying it, bandits from the lost sands attack while muse is gone, hoping to find research, etc. to hand over to the wasps. the cordyceps’ tube keeping it temperate and lively is shattered, leif is heavily injured, and it isn’t looking good for him or the cordyceps. so they reach out to each other, and fuse into each other, and the cordyceps “patches up” leif. both of them are still kicking around in there! it’s a very confusing case of identity for a while, but in a similar case to canon, the cordyceps Wants to care about muse and the people leif cares about. this time they’re just aware of what they are!

HOWEVER. muse comes back! and leif fills muse in on the situation, but neither him nor the cordyceps are particularly interested in studying himself or the effects it could have on his body, or any form of self-preservation related to it - they’re mostly just content to take their blessings as it is. This Does Not Sit Well With Muse! they argue about it for a while, it causes a rough patch, and they both agree that it would be better if they took a while to think about it by themselves. for context, this happens about six or seven months before the bug fables canon Starts.

leif is also SUPER banned from the explorer’s association & science groups for unethical science practices, particularly when the queen herself condemns his actions (mostly after he refuses to share the information he gained about what this could mean for the everlasting sapling. the cordyceps’ dislike of the roaches and what they did to it sustains post-fusion!)

leif’s request, then, centers around him coming to terms with the idea that he can be both kind to himself as he is (him and the cordyceps, him-and-the-cordyceps) AND make sure that this fusion is healthy for him AND continue his work in some form. it’s all about accepting that although his response was reasonable for when he had it and his experiences, muse was also very right about the fact that he needed to take care of himself after that! and it’s also about reconciling with muse herself. they do NOT get divorced i promise they’re happily married and have a kid

OTHER FUN THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

this is longer than i thought it would be! but hey, here’s my favorite part - getting into some of the major/minor plot changes that result from the changes in the roleswap!

all of the characters keep their attack types! for the reasons explained (gestures above) in their plot. however, kabbu gets a ghost-related TP skill after his request is completed!

leif & vi don’t have a legal explorer’s permit until AFTER snakemouth den. vi isn’t allowed to get one by herself, and when leif offers to be her partner, he’s reminded that he is SUPER BANNED from doing that! so they both sneak into snakemouth den illegally to find the artifact and prove that they can be an exploration team, and along the way find kabbu. inside your local fucked up cave you will find a free moral compass and friend

also: both kabbu and leif have a SUPER weird reaction to areas with heavy magic/the artifacts/roach technology! in this thread, they also have a super fun reaction to seeing each other for the first time, while vi is Literally Just Sitting There. sorry vi you’re on a team with not one but TWO fucked up guys (affectionate) on it

vi’s request is similar to kabbu’s with setting up the gravesite in the swamplands, but team snakemouth also helps her write a letter to jaune! i think in a post-canon world jaune eventually comes to bugaria to see vi and they (after a very long talk and bribery via vi getting jaune into this hive’s art gallery) reconcile too.

muse is HERE and i like her SO MUCH. this isn’t much of a plot thing but she’s alive in this au and everybody gets to see how like. Much she definitely made the first move, etc. i think her and elizant ii are friends they have tea on saturdays

if you made it this far - thanks for reading!! this is an au i love dearly and have put a LOT of thought into and i hope to write some fic for it sometime!!

[abombihoney]

:< Man, I really do love The Hive and Chapter 3, and I was personally satisfied with how Vi's arc played out, but I suppose when you think about it super hard it falls apart somewhat? Luckily for me I think things pretty simple, lol. I'm pretty sure a lot of the game could have been done somewhat better, writing-wise (though, maybe I just say that as an excuse to give my favorite characters more dialogue and screentime). Not that I even disliked how the game was written either, but eh.

Once again, please don't think I'm trying to disrespect you or how you view the characters or the story or whatever: I suppose I just viewed them a bit more positively, or I gave things more leeway or something. I hope that doesn't make me come off as me being overly simple or something, I just prefer the fun parts of the game, so I guess I just try to avoid overthinking it. Thinking about it harder is valid, though, and can certainly raise interesting questions. Maybe I'm overthinking that, ha.

-

oh dude dont worry im the king of overthinking things! there's nothing wrong with wanting to be lighthearted! that's the way it was meant to be! i think it's just a lil bit of bad writing lol.

but i genuinely love the writing in bug fables! i love the characters so much!!! i like that the game is mostly lighthearted with a dash of sadness and danger!

for the level of actual writing that and lore that we get in game, vi's arc is fine! it's really cute and sweet and i was so excited when i finally got them to make up and HUG!!!

[unhappybarnacle]

Before I start, let me just say that I do NOT want to make anyone change how they do things (in terms of making content, interacting with others, or simply viewing what’s in a piece of media), nor do I want to shame anyone for how they do things. I’m saying what I’m about to say partially because I’M afraid of being shamed for how I do things, and that people might want ME to change. Of course, this fear is probably misplaced, I doubt anyone is actually thinking so negatively of me, but paranoia often doesn’t care for logic, does it?

That’s a whole lot of blabber, but to finally get to the point, I’m gonna rant about the Bug Fables community for a bit. It’s long as shit and I feel I sound mean at parts. Sorry in advance.

So, I think I’ve made it clear that I prefer light-hearted Bug Fables stuff over darker or angstier stuff. I certainly can like darker stuff, I’ve written angst and intend to write more in the future, and there’s some pretty dark or sad fics that I got a kick out of. Even still, at the end of the day, I very much prefer the light-hearted stuff. If I haven’t made this clear as well, I’m also kind of more interested in specific characters and how they interact with specific other characters over the environments those characters are in, the nitty gritty of the setting and how it affects the characters. “But they’re very much linked!”, I imagine a lot of people would say, and I know that...but I also don’t care. Sorry. Here’s a way I feel I can illustrate this point: another sorta niche game I played on Switch that I really, really love is Valkyria Chronicles 4. That game has quite a lot of newspaper articles and whatnot detailing, like, what the countries involved in the game’s plot are doing and stuff like that and I just did not care enough to read any of it. I wanted to, but I never thought it was interesting enough. You know what I was stoked to read, though? The descriptions for all your units! Every time I got a notification ingame that one of the characters had some new info in their description I’d go look through and read it and often times it was some small detail but I loved hearing it because I loved the characters. “This country was in the middle of a war between two other countries, so it’s economy is garbage and a lot of people here are depressed”. Me: Oof, that’s unfortunate. “This character likes dogs and befriends people that own dogs.” Me: Fuck yeah, you get those dogs and dog owners!”

But, like...a whole lot of BF stuff that I’ve seen (and it seems a lot of the really popular stuff too) focuses heavily on the darker aspects of the game, and that’s not necessarily an issue. Some people also wanted a lot more worldbuilding, they wanted the lore and histories and connections that the environments have to be stronger, and that’s not necessarily an issue either. It honestly kind of bothers me, though, because it feels like it’s hard for some people to (and the entire rest of this sentence can be prefaced with “for lack of better words”) accept it being more light-hearted? What I mean, I think, is that people being so unhappy about the “worldbuilding” and how certain parts of the story were done (Mothiva and Zasp are in an abusive relationship, Vi’s home was also really very abusive, Elizant II really is just a shitty queen and person, things like that) just strkes me as weird. Like, I don’t care nearly as much about the intricacies of the game’s world, I just take a number of things said in-game at face value or viewed them fairly simply because I just like seeing characters having fun. I have fun with what the game shows and I guess that I care more about characters than seeing the stories of each faction and whatever fleshed out. The biggest missed opportunity of Bug Fables, for me, isn’t that the game didn’t go into how the society Vi lived in was actually really shitty or explain every last detail of how the Wasp Kingdom functioned: I just wished the Queens (aside from Elizant) got to do and say more, and I wish the relationship that the devs say Mothiva and Zasp have (and that I like to believe they have) got more of a showing. I wished that Hoaxe got to have more of a presence like the villains of the first three Paper Marios did (and I know the devs didn’t want to do intermissions like those games, but there had to have been other ways to make him show up more often, right? Maybe have him taunt you throughout Chapters 6 and 7?) I wanted to see more anything with Yin because she’s precious and wonderful and I think it’s a sin that such a cute character could be removed from the game and nothing of value to the story would be lost.

And funnily enough, it seems to me that a lot of the people that are really unhappy with Bug Fables’ worldbuilding and/or make a lot of edgy/ansty stuff with it are really into Hollow Knight as well which...eh. This next bit might be the meanest part of this whole rant, so I feel the need to apologize yet again, but why’s it seem like some people really want Bug Fables to be just like Hollow Knight, with it’s somewhat depressing atmosphere and apparently deeply thought out world? Why can’t one game have a lot of sad stuff but with some nice characters and a world with a very rich and deep backstory, and another have generally more happy stuff with a world that’s maybe not quite as well thought out but still makes enough sense and has fun enough characters that it’s still great in a different way? I really don’t want to throw around phrases like “taking it too seriously” and “overthinking it” because I’ll sound like a prick, but that’s just what I’m kind of feeling.   And yeah, I get that Leif’s backstory is sad. I love Leif’s backstory too. But still, I like Bug Fables because it’s got good characters and is a nice, lighthearted story. The angst potential, the lore books explaining parts of the world, those really are nice. But I don’t see the lore or sad/creepy parts as nearly important as a lot of people seem to. I’m mostly happy with the game’s lore as it is. All I want is more stuff with the various characters doing things, getting to see their personalities more. (And to go on a bit of a whiny tangent, that’s why a very, very, very small part of me is slightly disappointed by how much fanart focuses primarily on Team Snakemouth. I know they’re the main characters and are the most fleshed out, but it just feels weird to me both ingame and in fan creations it seems like a majority of the cast are shafted...I love Team Snakemouth, though, don’t get me wrong.)

Did I make sense with this? I feel like I didn’t, but I feel that way about pretty much every big analysis-like thing I type out so I don’t know. I probably generalized a lot here, and I haven’t even played Hollow Knight so what I said about that game and its fans probably is wrong in ways too. I’m sorry, please don’t be upset at me. I swear that I’m not mad at anyone nor do I intend to bother or shame anyone over how they interact with Bug Fables and it’s community. Really, I fear that this whole thing just sounded like “Grr, people like this thing differently from how I like it!”, but I have zero intention of going up to anyone and saying “this is too angsty, I disagree with how you view this plot detail, why are you fussing so much about the WoRlDBuiLdINg???” I would hate to have someone do something like that over my silly creations, I don’t want to do it to anyone over their serious creations.

Honestly, I’m not sure I want to change minds or whatever with this little rant. Just wanted to give my two cents, I suppose. If you read through all this, thank you, and I hope you aren’t upset and maybe understand how I feel? One last time, I don’t want to necessarily change anything. Just felt it’d be better to let my thoughts out.

[vg-sanctuary]

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Moonsprout Games - Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC - 2019

I don't like the core gameplay of 99% of all RPGs, but the ones I do like have been some of my favorite games I've ever played. case in point, Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling, a modern interpretation of the classic Paper Mario formula and an ideal example of indie developers adding to the legacy of a cult classic. its main feature is turn-based combat with action commands, like old Paper Mario or the Mario & Luigi series, and strategy in its intentional design and small health and damage numbers that goes way beyond "spam damage and heal every third turn, use mana items as needed". (in case you want to be 100% blind for your playthrough, past the Keep Reading link are some very minor spoilers: an item a specific cook can make after a side quest, some basic enemies, environments that are about halfway through the game, and the names of some medals.)

“wow, vg-sanctuary posting about a game that's not even two years old at time of writing? and it's an RPG? are you not a retro/legacy blog anymore? who are you and what have you done with the writer?” I still am a retro/legacy blog, mostly, just this time I thought I'd share something that its developers still get money from, and whose developers aren't mega corporations. and I just beat it, enjoyed it, and really felt like writing about it because it still doesn't have the popularity it deserves even after that puppet guy on YouTube talked about it. not that this post is going to reach any significant number of people, but still. I'll write about some more indie games sometime in the future. (and indeed I am writing about another RPG and you better believe it has a lot to talk about.)

anyway, Bug Fables starts with a brash little bee called Vi and a polite and honorable beetle named Kabbu wandering into an explorer's guild and not having a partner to join the guild with. they reluctantly decide they're going to fight together because companionship is a requirement for this guild, foiling off each other and sometimes off their third friend Leif, a blue moth they find in a cave, for the whole game. every character has a distinct personality and all the party members get some valuable character development through a side quest, which I really liked, but I'm no connoisseur of RPG stories. while I'm on story, people that come here looking for a well-made world will get what they want from the many optional lore books hidden around the world.

the plot becomes more complex and compelling as the game continues, though it generally lets gameplay take the spotlight. which is great, because the gameplay is also mostly great. about a third of it is doing puzzles on the overworld using the abilities of each character to move forward a la the Mario & Luigi series. they generally make use of whatever your newest overworld ability is, and some areas early on have inaccessible things you have to come back to, sort of like a Metroidvania except it isn't required to do this for progression. some puzzles take longer they could because they involve using Kabbu's horn to repeatedly fling an ice block many times over a distance. it's never egregious, but it could have been faster if the guy would use his arms. this is a minor caveat and not a majority of the game.

a lot of people probably don't know how the combat for this or Paper Mario works, and it's really important to Bug Fables, so I'll explain that here. it's turn based, which is typical, but basic attacks and skills need you to time a button press to do as much damage as possible. you can also time a button press when an enemy attacks to take less damage. Paper Mario and Bug Fables also both have medals instead of other equipment that give characters higher max HP or a new skill, for example. you have limited medal points and stronger medals require more points.

this is going to sound like a lot, but any RPG's combat will sound like a lot if you try to detail it in a single paragraph. the game introduces these things slower than I am here. in Bug Fables specifically, the character standing in the front of the group does one extra damage but is more likely to be attacked, and you can pass turns from one character to another in exchange for that character dealing one less damage (which is a lot because basic attacks only deal two damage by default). certain enemies can only be hit by certain attacks; some enemies fly, so Kabbu can't hit them until Vi knocks them down with her beemerang. not a typo, beemerang. and many of Bug Fables' status effects have upsides -- being paralyzed reduces damage taken everything by one, poison has many medals that make it a good thing, and being asleep heals the sleeping character every turn. there are others that are straight up bad things, though, and usually don't come until later. all of this adds up to even small encounters having strategic depth, which is great, and if you don't feel like small encounters you can just avoid them. skills that would typically be relegated to one character, like healing and support skills all going to one, are instead split between party members to make decisions more difficult in a good way. there's also a lovely medal that instantly kills any enemy the game deems too easy for you, sort of like in Earthbound.

I figure I spent more time doing housekeeping like cooking (simple A+B=C or A-becomes-B crafting), buying items, and arranging medals in Bug Fables than in any other RPG, which is because it was designed that way. by the way, cooking recipes start hidden, but a foodie at each restaurant will share some strong ones for free, which is a big help early on. anyone who's played The World Ends with You (i.e. me) will be spoiled by its excellent quality of life: no consumable items and you instantly heal to full after every encounter. it makes items seem like a ridiculous formality that RPGs only still have because they've had them for years, but in Bug Fables any item that isn't simple healing -- a lot of them aren't simple healing -- has great strategic use, and the exact way you spend your medal points can determine whether you win or lose any fight, especially bosses. for example, one character having one extra damage for two turns when they typically only do two is pretty important, especially when they use an attack that does multiple hits, and having it in item form saves valuable medal points and skill points. part of that time was kind of a waste, though, because I generally had one set of medals I use for multiple enemies and one I use for single enemies like bosses. being able to save loadouts would have helped a lot. I would like to compliment Bug Fables on allowing you to restart any boss with different medals without having to repeat cutscenes, and commend it for letting you do-over your level up bonuses late in the game when it starts to matter.

it's not like spending a lot of time on strategizing before fights is strictly mandatory. I was mostly playing on hard mode where enemies have more health and more difficult attacks, and mostly with a medal called Hard Hits that makes all enemies deal one extra damage in exchange for extra money after each fight. it can be less difficult if you'd like, but it's never mindless; even if you're doing a strategy that manages 20 or 30 damage (again, a lot in this game) in a single turn, it takes effort to choose your medals to do so much damage and actually play the strategy out in combat. the combat strategy is the best part of Bug Fables, and it makes each fight almost like a puzzle. I've typed some form of "strategy" six times so far, which is fair because it's the best part of Bug Fables. don't let it put you off, though, it's RPG combat strategy, not chess-like or RTS or something, so if you've enjoyed any other turn-based RPG it should be easy to get used to.

it's also worth mentioning the ample side content. each chapter of the game unlocks a handful of side quests, some about trading, some about combat, and almost as many bonus bosses as main bosses. you're allowed to fight them fairly early on, and a few become available after the final boss that are actually a bit harder than it in classic Paper Mario fashion. basically, if you like Bug Fables, there's a lot of it to play. there's even a trading card minigame because of course there is. it's fairly fleshed out, too, and unlike the one in Chocobo Tales the animations between turns don't take six years. the reward for the whole card side quest isn't something that's important for combat, so you can skip it if you don't like it; I didn't especially like it so I think that was a great decision on the developers' part.

rewards for some of the other side content, though, are so good it's kind of a wonder they can be completely skipped. it doesn't make the game harder to not have those skills or medals, but they are some of the best in the game and undeniably really useful. they make great side quest rewards in that sense, but it's important to know for the people that usually wouldn't do side content. I don't know if that's a common kind of player, but just in case. (this game's 100% achievement has been earned by a sky-high 5.9% of players on Steam. usually it's more like 2% or less. the point is none of the extra content is overly obtuse.)

I will complain about the forced stealth sections though. and be astounded that they fixed the main issue with them in the last stealth section. these are minor caveats and take well under an hour total unless you're really, really, really bad at sneaking, but they bothered me when I got to them. I mean, I understand why they're in the game, I understand why Zelda has them, but I didn't really like them. the main issue for all but the last stealth section is that there's no vision cone or other indication that "if you stand here they will see you" or even an opportunity to recover from mistakes which are incredibly important for playable stealth. the last stealth section does have a vision cone and does have an opportunity to recover from mistakes, which is a great step up. I would like to use even more italics to remind you that these sections total less than an hour of gameplay. Zelda: Breath of the Wild's forced-ish stealth was much worse than this.

I don't know where else to put it, so I'll add here that the soundtrack is great and the graphics are perfectly Gamecube-y and the sprites capture the cuteness of Paper Mario really well, even though they're, you know, bugs. each environment is distinct and themed well, and each one’s music matches well. I really wish I knew how to talk about music because there are a lot of different songs in this game that work well for what they go with. boss music sounds intense and boss-y and appropriate for each boss you're fighting, the not-music hits just right, and everything else feels good. some songs use Nintendo 64 MIDI instruments, which I loved. and the bee boss music has a synth that sounds like bees buzzing.

anyone that likes RPGs -- and even some people that don't -- will probably enjoy the story and strategy that make up the excellent Bug Fables. it goes beyond being a homage to Paper Mario and becomes its own thing entirely, though its roots are obvious from the art style. not that this takes away from it -- Paper Mario is a great legacy, and this manages to be even better. for all its little bad things there are a dozen great ones. I admit I haven't played the classic Paper Mario games, but this made me want more -- I guess I'll have to go back while I hope for Moonsprout Games to continue forward.

[evajellion]

2020 vidya ranking: #1 Bug Fables The Everlasting Sapling

You already knew that I was going to tell you that this was the best game I had played last year.

Imo, this should have been indie GOTY back in 2019, but whatever, I guess I should explain why I ranked this one at the top.

Back in 2004, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was released. I had sadly missed out on getting the original game on the Nintendo 64, but I was nonetheless very excited for the sequel. I got the game, still have my copy even years later… aaaand I got confused in Rogueport Sewers because I was a dumb eight year old, but I swear I picked up the game a second time. Got through all of the chapters, and had fallen in love with the game.

I loved the characters, the battle system, the story, the chapter progression, the cooking system, even the hidden lore and the amount of side quest scattered throughout the game. I even cried. It was the first time I had cried over a video game.

I wanted more, but then, Nintendo didn’t do it again. Sure, Super Paper Mario had a fantastic story, and a lot of people treasure that game the way I do TTYD-- I wouldn’t even mind if the series stayed in that direction. After that though?

Well, Sticker Star happened and stripped away all of the things I loved. Two similar games and one spin-off followed after that. Needless to say, me and several other fans of 64, TTYD, and Super weren’t happy about it. Seemed like I would never get another game like the one that was so dear to me ever again.

Cue me finding Arlo’s video about a cute little game called Bug Fables, just around the summer time. It had come out in 2019 and had been in development for some time by an indie studio. I was skeptic, but at this point I wanted anything-- besides, I actually love insects.

And after the first two chapters, which were a bit bland, I found it. I found the game I had been looking for. I was so afraid that this would be another Mighty No. 9 or Yooka-Laylee, but Bug Fables was anything but. Sure, it took inspiration from Paper Mario with its gameplay structure, but saying that this game is “just Paper Mario” doesn’t do it justice, because game can stand tall on its own.

I loved just about everything here in the same way I loved TTYD. Characters (except for two), the battle system, the story, the chapter progression, the cooking system, the hidden lore and the amount of side quest-- and there was even more than that.

“Gee what did Bug Fables have that Paper Mario didn’t?”

More than one super boss

A card game

Three party members in battle at a time

An entire side quest chapter that you can miss

An in-game randomizer

Higher difficulty settings

FREE DLC

Actual quality of life improvements

And finally, a villain who doesn’t just get a mere slap on the wrist as punishment for their actions. It’s one of the things Super did far better than TTYD because Beldam being let off scott free in the ending always pissed me off as a kid. The final boss is less ham-fisted in general too.

You have three characters at all times-- they’re your only party members and the only ones you need because they’re all perfectly balanced: Kabbu, Vi, and Leif. The third of which you won’t even meet until a bit into the first chapter. You don’t have to worry about wasting turns by switching your members out in this game.

The story starts off simple with the team of three collecting artifacts for Queen Elizant II, who seeks the Everlasting Sapling for an unspecified reason. About half way through the game and into the fourth chapter, the tone of the situation begins to shift, as the wicked wasps from the Wasp Kingdom also seek these artifacts for their lord.

This game doesn’t skimp out on being accurate to bug details either, there are little nods to how things work in real life, which is something I always appreciate. There isn’t really a dull moment in the story or a second where you feel stuck, because with the amount of Medals you get, there are plenty of strategies you can play around with.

Bug Fables is also… surprisingly dark, which perhaps isn’t unfitting of a game inspired by Paper Mario, given the direction TTYD and Super would get into. I can’t really spoil anything in regards to that, because much like with Three Houses, I would rather someone experience that themselves.

In terms of the flaws in this game, I can only think of two. One is regarding a terrible Flappy Bird game that’s required for 100%. It just shouldn’t be there, or at least be easier on the eyes.

The other is that this game suffers from having too many characters, when only four of them get actual character arcs: The main trio and the queen. You have some characters that get more fleshed out in side quests such as fellow team members or NPCs, but I feel like other “major players” suffer in the process.

Neolith is a big one. Cute nerdy moth who just exists as exposition for the artifacts and is a part of Kabbu’s backstory, but he never really does anything besides that, which is disappointing because he’s very cute. I would have loved more lore to him and Kabbu’s past, maybe a future DLC quest can solve that!

Your “rival team” also suffers a bit in this department. The team leader, Mothiva, is a snooty diva who never properly gets her comeuppance or realization that she needs to stop making everything about herself. I guess that’s the point, to give that vibe similar to old Pokémon rivals. But we’re supposed to believe she’s an official couple with her partner; Zasp, who just seems to simp for her in a one-sided way. Perhaps this could also be fixed with another DLC quest.

The worst of the bunch is Kina, Maki’s overly protective and possessive sister to the point of it being creepy. Unlike Mothiva, who is your rival, Kina is supposed to be a supporting cast member, yet she has even less likable traits. She stalks her brother and constantly wants to be with him, gets upset at the idea of him needing space, threatens a small caterpillar character-- you could remove her from the story and it changes nothing. There’s not even a backstory reason for her to be the way she is.

Mind you-- these are very minor nitpicks that don’t really bog down the game. Some may say the main villain of the game suffers from this as well since he shows up halfway into the game, I personally think he was handled perfectly, because you can piece together his motivations and backstory through lore.

Speaking of lore, I hope with so much in this game, that we end up getting a sequel. There are so many questions left unanswered, so much more I wanna know about! 

Other than that thought? The trio of Kabbu, Vi, and Leif and their story is just about perfect. I can’t thank Arlo enough for introducing me to it, and I think this game will catch on more in the future since Chuggaconroy said he was playing it on Twitter, and Fatguy just completed his LP of the game.

I think… we’re entering an age where we should start expecting this level of quality from indie developers more often. This game didn’t feel like an indie game, it felt like a grade a RPG. Which is funny, because that’s what Paper Mario used to be.

God speed, Paper Bug devs. Keep up the good work in the future, thank you for bringing back a feeling I thought I’d never experience with a video game again. I know it sounds cheesy and stupid, but that’s.. just how much Paper Mario effected me back then. Even now, it inspires the books I wanna write, and it’s safe to say Bug Fables did the same.

By the way, can I talk about how delicious some of the food items look in this game? This is insect cuisine, and even I would eat these.

For recap on what the other games I had played this year were, just so you know how Bug Fables topped ‘em:

2. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

4. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

5. Super Mario All-Stars

6. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light

7. Final Fantasy VII

8. F-Zero

9. Star Fox

10. Puyo Puyo Champions

[siverwrites]

Trick or Treat Letter 2021

AO3: Siver

Thank you for taking this on! Here there are some general prompt details if you want them and if you already have some idea of your own, awesome. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Note sometimes I have some specific prompts for some characters while other don’t. This has nothing to do with priority or preferences. They’re just ones I happened to some specific thoughts for. Of course they’re only ideas and you’re free to ignore them!

All requests are for fic or art.

Art: Interactions of some sort: emoting at each other, talking, sharing some activity, taking a walk, hugs are always welcome, soft things, whatever suits the pair/group. I’d much prefer the character(s) doing something over just standing around looking cool.

Likes: fluff, hurt/comfort, found family, sickfic, fandom crossovers or fusions between requested fandoms, angst with a happy or at least bittersweet end, bonding, cuddling/hugs/holding, banter, mutual care and support, loyalty, pre-canon, post-canon, missing scenes, slice of life, supernatural stuff, mystery, adventure, world-building, creepy or unsettling atmospheres

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), non-canonical permanent character death

Any combination of character tags within each fandom is cool. I have specfic pairs and groups listed at points but those are only for ideas. Heck, any crossover/fusion between any of these fandoms is welcome too, go nuts.

For treats: you can’t go wrong with fluff! Friendship, familial bonds, found family, romance for the few ship possibilities listed here.

For tricks: I like it atmospheric. Unsettling atmospheres. Unresolved mystery. Making use of the stranger environments canon may already provide. The surreal. The strange. The supernatural. Much prefer a subtler creepy factor over ‘jump scares’ and gore.

Ghost Trick

Alma

Cabanela

Jowd

Sissel

Kamila

Lynne

Missile

Pigeon Man

Lovey-Dove

Mino

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), non-canonical permanent character death

Ships I’m good with: Alma/Jowd/Cabanela, Alma/Jowd, Cabanela/Jowd (where the focus is there but without infidelity to Alma), Alma/Cabanela (again no infidelity just where the focus is)

I love this game, its characters and pretty much everything about it, so whatever you want to do will be great I’m sure. New timeline mysteries and missing memories are always welcome where it makes sense. Alternate timelines and what-ifs are cool to explore. Fluff, comfort, family found or otherwise and friendships are always a go. Spooky ghost shenanigans, mysteries in the night.

Any combination of these characters is more than welcome too!

Any combination of Jowd/Cabanela/Alma or Jowd & Cabanela & Alma is always welcome.

Always down for various combinations of Pigeon Man with Cabanela, Jowd and/or Kamila. Or PM with someone less expected like Alma! Or Sissel! Or Missile! The Jowd family expands and you cannot escape. In other words found family with Lynne or with Pigeon Man (or both of course).

Animal shenanigans on their own or with each other and fluff is great.

Sissel settling into the Jowd household and the shenanigans that ensue from having a ghost-powered cat.

Mino: What is Mino? Who is Mino? This is trick or treat, go weird, have fun.

Alma: We just need more of our girl honestly. Sweet relationship or family stuff. Go supernatural and consider Alma ghost either during game or temporarily post-game before being rescued by Sissel (Maybe helping Sissel save herself in that situation?)

--

Final Fantasy VI

Celes

Sabin

Chocobos

Valigarmanda

Mog

Phantom Train

Gogo

Relm

Interceptor

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore beyond canon typical, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), Gogo as Daryl, non-canonical permanent character death

Valigarmanda: I just want to know more about them (she? he? your pronoun of choice). What led to them frozen in Narshe? Do they still hold some form of awareness in that state? Do the moogles look after at all? Some form of communication between them? How did they feel joining the party as magicite? What exactly took place between them and Terra? So many possibilities or something else entirely.

Mog: I just like moogles okay. Throw him at anyone here in the above list and see what happens. Or a moogle adventure in Narshe or elsewhere. Sky's the limit, dance's the limit?

Chocobos: I just like chocobos okay. Throw one or more at anyone here in the above list and see what happens. If you want something more specific I will never have enough serpent trench travel with Sabin and Celes in the World of Ruin. Give them chocobos and off they go. Figaro chocobos are also good. Chocobo anything.

Phantom Train: I have no particular thoughts here but what better exchange than Trick or Treat for the Phantom Train itself? Exploring more about it whether it's just it or throw characters at it. All cool.

Celes and Sabin: as stated I'm an absolute sucker for world of ruin travel with these two and anything more is good. That said if you want to focus on just one of them or one of them with someone else that's great too. I've only lumped them together for sake of convenience. Sabin in Figaro? Sabin with another here? Celes travels in the saved world?

Interceptor: Does he interact much with any of the rest of the party? Or... dog and chocobo... Or just you know can't go wrong with Interceptor and Relm things ever

Relm: Any interaction with anyone here. Leaning on her Sketch ability would be cool. Mimic paint off with Gogo?

Gogo: Gogo's just neat. More of them good.

--

Carto

Carto

Carto's Puppy

Granny Maldpo

Shianan

Shianan's Puppy

Storytender

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), non-canonical permanent character death

I just want to see a little more of these characters and this world. The game was so cute and neat. More travel or stories or some sort of cute moment with Carto and Maldpo, and puppy if post-game, on their airship! Granny Maldpo is so cool! Explorer pilot grandma hell yeah! A little adventure for her? More exploration of Shianan (and her puppy!)? A reunion with Carto again?

The story chalet was also just really neat so doing more with it and the Storytender is absolutely welcome. What does an average day for him look like in an ever-changeable library with books writing themselves?

--

The Last Guardian

The Boy

Trico

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), non-canonical permanent character death

Give me all the cat-dog-bird fluff/shenanigans/playfulness/warmth/coziness. Anything while they’re together. Barrel feeding, snuggle time, riding, flying. Sweet or silly (Trico has his moments for sure) or something else. I adore Trico. I adore the boy and Trico’s companionship.

Alternatively something in the future. The boy grown up reuniting with Trico. A flight with Trico. A temporary willing return to the nest. Meeting Trico babies!

--

Metroid

Samus

Chozo

Baby Metroid

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore beyond canon typical, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), reliance on manga knowledge, spoilers for Metroid Dread, non-canonical permanent character death

While I don't have anything particular in mind here, I'm all about the mood for Metroid and would appreciate really leaning on the atmosphere and environmental aspects--either more lush areas (eg Brinstar, Tallon IV landing area) but still isolating, or the darker more tense places. I'm particularly fond of Super Metroid and Metriod Prime.

Any singular focus on one of the above three or some combo is good.

Regarding the manga: I know next to nothing about it, so light referencing without needed knowledge is fine; anything deeper than that please avoid?

--

Monkey Island

Guybrush Threepwood

Elaine Marley

Murray

El Pollo Diablo

Feral Chickens

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), Escape from Monkey Island, angst, non-canonical permanent character death

Silly pirate-y shenanigans. Guybrush and Elaine team-up on something actually in one place? Any interactions with Murray are always a treat and we’ve never gotten to see those with Elaine in the mix.

Explore the legend of El Pollo Diablo in some way. What do the chickens get up to now they roam free across Puerto Pollo? What oh-so-nefarious schemes is Murray up to now? A feral chicken demonic skull team-up?? I mean, that’s kinda close to El Pollo Diablo right???

This is coming off as Curse of Monkey Island-centric (it is my favourite) but it doesn’t have to be. It’s just because of the chickens… and Murray. But mainly chickens. Anytime from the previous games, or future or off to the side is good too.

--

Bug Fables

Kabbu

Leif

Vi

Chompy

Elizant II

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), non-canonical permanent character death

I love the group dynamics! Party fun times while they’re travelling would be good. Really interested in more with Leif’s situation because that is a Lot and open to more introspection and dealing–Kabbu support go? Attempted Vi support go? Chompy being the best plant she can be? Snuggle that plant during hard times?

Exploring that lab more and cordyceps is welcome for the creepier end of things. Same with the Giant’s Lair and what IS that giant eye?

There’s also an interesting connection between Elizant II and Leif I’d be interested in seeing more. Leif’s out of his time but holds memories of Elizant I. Elizant II is a more direct connection he’s otherwise lacking and it’s nice to see how his opinion of her shifts and grows as she grows.

--

The Legend of Heroes

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, explicit gore, modern AUs (college, high school, coffee shop etc), spoilers for Hajimari or Kuro, Agate/Tita, Olivier/Schera, non-canonical permanent character death

Trails in the Sky

Estelle Bright

Cassius Bright

Lena Bright

Kloe Rinz

Alicia von Auslese

Celeste D. Auslese

Olivier Lenheim

Mueller Vander

Ragnard

Any combination of any of these characters could lead to interesting things. Some combo ideas:

In Phantasma, Kloe and Celeste talk... Estelle, Olivier or Mueller could be interesting too though... Or simply more about Celeste and the Hermit's Garden by herself.

Bright family time will always be welcome. And more love for Lena. Kloe and Estelle sister/best friend time.

Kloe and Olivier have a lot of potential for interesting interaction in how they parallel each other but are so wildly different at the same time. Kloe and Alicia family time!

Olivier & Cassius: I’m just really interested to see more interaction between these two whether while they’re still planning or something before Olivier goes back to Erebonia after Sky SC. Cassius can’t help himself when it comes to giving advice…

Olivier & Alicia: Royalty matters, knowing who Olivier actually is. Last meetings before he goes back to Erebonia?

Olivier&/Mueller stuff is all good

Ragnard: cool dragon is cool. Either something about him individually in the past? Or what he's up to now? A look at interaction between him and Cassius? Ragnard and Auslese (any of them)...?

Crossbell

Lloyd Bannings

Randy Orlando

Tio Plato

Elie MacDowell

KeA Bannings

Alex Dudley

Zeit

Sergei Lou

No ships here please.

Bonding and found family is the name of the game here! Tio and Zeit spending time together. Lloyd and Randy having bro time or Lloyd trying to remind Randy that he does indeed belong with SSS. KeA and “Uncle” Sergei time! What might they do together, or what does KeA get Sergei to do with her? Lloyd and KeA spending time together, Lloyd spoiling KeA, KeA being a comfort to Lloyd. KeA turning on the charm on Dudley. Dudley and Sergei interaction. Any combination of any of the SSS related characters is great if you want a bigger SSS gathering. I love them all.

Anything exploring KeA's powers is very cool too.

Trails of Cold Steel

Alfin Reise Arnor

Priscilla Reise Arnor

Olivier Leheim | Olivert Reise Arnor

Mueller Vander

Valimar

Mint

Alfin, Olivier, Priscilla: The Arnors have it rough dammit. Some soft moment for any combo of these three? Reunions after Olivier comes back and isn’t dead? We were deprived! Entertaining sibling times. A Priscilla bonding moment with Olivier when he was still getting used to living in the palace. And of course individually they’re interesting in their own roles and I’m always down for more.

Mueller: Of course anything with Olivier is good in my books. I’m running under the assumption that since he shows up with Olivier in the triumphant not-dead return, that he wound up at Valleria while Olivier recovered and I would be very soft for any moment taking placing during that time period. But when it comes to those two sky’s the limit. I’m good with platonic or ship. Mueller having some interaction with either Priscilla or Alfin would be great too!

Valimar: Given his history and knowledge it’d be interesting to see a conversation with Olivier or Alfin given also their family name Cedric’s positioning and, well, all the history there. Alternatively I love his interactions with Mint and how respectful of her he is, so anything between those two yes please. Or just something exploring him by himself in some way would be cool too.

Mint: I’m particularly interested in her during CS III and IV times and with Valimar as above. However, any Mint shenanigans is a fun time. She’s doing her best!

[notajinn]

Top 9 Games Played in 2020: Number 1: Bug Fables

Rising from the ashes of the once-great Paper Mario series comes a game I never expected.

A beautiful little game called Bug Fables.

Where It Excels

Bug Fables is thoroughly inspired by the first two Paper Mario games, and it shows. It uses a similar battle system, a Medal system similar to Badges, and even similar paper-like aesthetics. It would be easy to just say "wow, what a ripoff" and brush it aside.

But this is not a copy-paste of Paper Mario. This is clearly designed with love for those games, and for the people who enjoyed them. This is a game that says "yes Paper Mario was good, but how could it be improved?"

So let's talk about what it does differently (and arguably better) instead.

The story does not have the history of the Mario series to build on, so Bug Fables relies on having to be an interesting self-contained world. It does a good job providing lore as you move forward through the early story, and you can find optional Lore Books that give background into things like why some bugs evolved into intelligent beings, and the past conflicts between different groups. As someone who does not like most bugs in-person, they did a good job getting me invested. The tone is often lighthearted, but able to become serious when needed. The world feels more grounded than Mario, so there's a greater sense of danger during darker plot points.

I loved all three main characters (Kabbu the Beetle, Vi the Bee, and Leif the Moth) by the end, though some take longer to become interesting than others. Each of them feels well fleshed out, and get at least one important backstory sidequest.

And while it initially appears to follow the Paper Mario structure of "find the special items in episodic adventures, then go fight the final boss", it actually feels more like a traditional RPG because the story evolves over time.

In battle, you have three full party members. Each of them have their own HP and specials, and can equip individual Medals. You can change the formation of battle to decide who is in the front (more damage but more aggro) or back (less aggro but normal damage). Importantly you can also pass a turn to another party member, which depending on the enemies and formations may be your best option. For example if you have a bunch of flying enemies, you can just pass an extra turn to Vi so she can continue grounding them. There are certain enemy types that can only be reached by certain character's regular attacks, but you can often use a Special to overcome a lack of reach at the cost of SP. There are even combination attacks that take multiple characters' turns in order to deliver especially devastating specials.Each attack and special also have a unique action command that lets you make them better with good button inputs.

Medals are your equipment replacement, and can give you new active or passive abilities, or just raise your stats. However unlike Paper Mario, most the especially powerful Medals (like boosting your attack) are offset with a weakness (lowering your defense). This means you need more strategy than "I'll just equip this attack-boosting Medal." I'd argue there's less active ability Medals in Bug Fables than Paper Mario, but the greater strategy to the passive abilities makes up for it. There’s even strange setups like giving yourself poison but having +1 defense.

There are two EXTREMELY important Medals that Bug Fables copies from Paper Mario, but in a better way. One immediately defeats weak enemies on the field when you touch them. The other prevents enemies from getting a first strike on you. And Bug Fables gives you both of these extremely early with low MP cost. These make backtracking significantly less frustrating. The backtracking was one of the worse parts of the Paper Mario games, so I appreciate this. You also still get a fast movement option after a few chapters.

Quests are very well organized. You'll find a quest board in every town, and can take as many quests at once as you want. There's a quest log in your menu to keep track of them, and it updates as you go through steps of multi-step ones. And often a quest-important NPC will have an exclamation over their head to make them easier to spot. A lot of them have fun interactions and situations, so they’re definitely worth doing. Only one is a particularly long fetch quest with item trading, but it feels like a purposeful parody.

A lot of strengths in this game come from convenience. For example, you can fast travel between towns almost as soon as you unlock a new town. And you have two-item cooking unlocked from very early-game. These were things that felt unnecessarily gated in Paper Mario. Every party member can also scan the enemy to get stats and provide some information, whereas Paper Mario restricted it to one partner. As a bonus, this means you get three unique pieces of dialogue for every enemy depending on who you have initiate the scan.

Dungeons and their puzzles feel much more involved. There is less emphasis on platforming, and more on using your characters abilities like creating ice blocks. It's a step closer to a Zelda dungeon, which is appreciated. Save stones are well-paced enough to not make exploring feel to daunting either.

In terms of design and sound, it's strong for an indie title. They can't quite compare to a big publisher like Nintendo, but the world and characters look pretty good. And there's at least a few songs I still have stuck in my head.

The game also feels much harder than Paper Mario, which is good because I felt those games were too easy. It can be rough early on when you're learning, but fun once you get the hang of it. The game never gets to a point where you just steamroll everything either, so you'll have to continue paying attention for the whole game. I know some people like to overpower enemies, but I think that gets boring.

Where It Falls Short

While I don't like steamrolling enemies, I do like a sense of progression. And Bug Fables has that in many forms, like levels, and field abilities.

But at no point in the story do your standard attacks do more damage. Paper Mario would give you upgraded boots and hammers and you progress for more damage, but you'll keep hitting for your normal 2 damage here outside of Medals or an optional expensive upgrade. I know that in-universe it may have been weird to explain why Kabbu's horn is suddenly stronger, but they managed to give reasons for Vi not to fly despite being a bee for a long time.

There's also a dungeon puzzle near the end of the game that I found annoying. The solution to one section was actually to defeat a particular enemy. Given I was avoiding enemies at this point looking for a puzzle solution, this took longer than I'd like to admit.

You can also optionally get a fourth sort-of-party member, which I only learned about by accident when looking up Medal strategies. However it is not from an official sidequest that appears on the board, and I honestly missed any hints towards it. I was expecting them to show up in the late-game, but as I was getting ready for the final chapter I still didn't have them. Only when I specifically looked up what to do was I able to find them. I don't mind optional party members, but you need a little more guidance than what Bug Fables provided.

My final complaint may be strange, but...the game does not have a cliffhanger ending. It's a self-contained story that resolves everything important. Which means I don't think they can easily get another game out of this. But I'd love to see another similar game by this team.

Maybe if they do a time-skip and follow a different set of characters, it could potentially work.

Final Thoughts

Bug Fables is yet another indie title that proves you don't need to be a big studio to make an incredible game.

If you like classic Paper Mario, or just fun RPGs, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

[destiny-smasher]

My personal 2020 GOTYs

1) Hades

This game, dudes. THIS GAME. A fraction of the budget, a fraction of the dev team size, reportedly HEALTHY development schedule and management...and imo it offers at least some of everything I want out of a single player video game. I have poured over 60 hours into this and I see myself putting in some more over time and ALL of the time I have spent has felt rewarding and edifying. Clever design, smart writing, organic voice acting, sharp gameplay, and all done at a fraction of the resources of these big budget, bloated games. You love to see it.

2) Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Part 1?)

I went into this year not caring much about this game at all. FF7 was a game I played as a teen, enjoyed, respected, and moved on from pretty easily. This Remake, so far, has done more than I could’ve expected in terms of actually REMAKING a game. It’s literally a new adaptation, and I as pleasantly surprised at just how hard it went. From realizing the world of Midgar into something so full of detail and plausibility, to reiterating and doubling down on its postmodern anti-corporation themes, to making Barret the character I loved the MOST somehow?? Combining everything I love about real-time RPG action with a tactical strategy element long missing from the genre, reimagining and fleshing out characters and concepts into something deeper and more meaningful...I’ve never considered myself a huge FF7 fan but this game was really something, and I absolutely cannot wait for more (and praying they do my girl Yuffie justice). I’ve been super skeptical of Nomura as a director given...the mess that has become Kingdom Hearts, but as it turns out, when he has others to reign things in, some surprisingly nuanced stuff for an anime game can come out of it. It has its flaws, to be sure, but it’s still the most enjoyable experience I had with a big budget game this year.

3) The Last of Us Part 2

I feel conflicted over this one in particular - I feel Neil is not longer a director I respect the way I did back with the first game. I feel Naughty Dog is falling victim to all of the late capitalist issues plaguing big budget game dev. But I also love this game. It’s much more flawed than the first, but that’s mainly because it’s more ambitious and complicated. It’s THE most flawed game on this game, honestly, but overall as a game I am compelled to respect its writing, its gutsier decisions, its art direction, acting, presentation, etc. It’s an impressive game and the most technically impressive game I played all year if not all generation. Props where they’re due, but at the same time, I think this game was poorly directed and I love it in spite of issues with its production, rather than because of some strong vision. That’s the big Sony bucks, I suppose, matched with a dev team willing and apparently somehow able to fulfil what they want to create. I still get the impression there was a bit of ‘design by committee for a mainstream audience’ kind of shit going on - how could there not with something this big? - and as a result I think the game is a bit bloated. Shave off about 3-5 hours from a few spots and it’d be a more focused game, and maybe I’d feel more edified and satisfied rather than weirdly conflicted. Even so, a huge accomplishment and I hope to see more games tackle premises as ambitious as this down the road.

4) Bug Fables

This game technically launched last year but it debuted on console in 2020, and I didn’t play it until then. This is as close to a follow-up to old school Paper Mario as it gets, while simultaneously doing a lot to forge its own identity and even improve on the formula presented in the previous games. Its rough around the edges but that’s mainly because it’s an independent game, and it’s amazing just how well the dev team was able to reproduce the scope and details of this specific subgenre of RPG, all while continuously implementing new game design elements and multiple features that make it feel more modern in its direction. Fantastic stuff, I’m still not even finished with it because I’ve been taking my sweet time, though I intend to finally finish it this month, and I have to say, it’s quite a special game in my opinion.

5) Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

Absolute banger of a multiplayer game, really love the presentation, the concept, the overall execution, the way the team has been updating the game every month or so in response to feedback and implementing new content. So good to see the battle royale genre FINALLY pushed beyond just...arena shooting. Can’t wait to see where else this game can go over time.

6) Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Somehow this one slipped my mind when I first wrote this up, despite having poured well over 100 hours into it this year. I think part of it is that New Horizons did a lot of things I’ve wanted the series to do for so long, and yet is still far behind in terms of so many other things I wish they would do. Quality of life things prevent me from really re-investing into it, and yet despite that I have to admit it REALLY sucked me in for a solid few weeks and I continued to play off and on for months. It was the perfect game we collectively needed right when it came out and graphically I can’t think of how to really improve on that style. A really relaxing getaway I needed earlier this year, though like with previous AC games, I don’t find myself going back to it as much as I’d think I would.

7) Going Under

A surprise hit for me, this rogue-like swooped in from ‘heh that looks amusing’ to ‘oh wow this is legit just a great game.’ Its weird visuals, funky 3D gameplay, and surprisingly sharp storytelling make for a rogue-like unlike any other and one totally near the top for me.

8) Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Squeezed this in just this past week or so, and this one also satisfied me greatly. I wish we’d see more big budget open-world games like this -- laser focused, not wasting any time, and not being repetitious aside for completionists. So cool to see another team’s take on Miles after how much I fell for Into the Spider-verse, and very glad the team both homages that movie while subverting some expectations fans of the film might have, all while continuing to adapt Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man from a couple years ago.

9) Demon’s Souls (Remake)

As a big fan of FromSoft who never got too far into this one originally, it’s been great to visit it as if it’s a new Souls game with an alternate art style. And a very clean art style it has. This was a good pick to be remastered because many, even FromSoft fans like myself, missed out on it, and it feels unique from its predecessors while still showing a solid foundation they’d go on to build from.

10) Crash Bandicoot 4

An amazingly well done follow-up to the original trilogy, this game GETS what makes old school Crash games good, and it improves upon things in a number of ways, from making Coco the alternate hero, bringing back old faces in new lights, going ham with the visuals both in raw art and unique filters when replaying stages, and giving incentive for completion with so many great costumes. Well done, great old school platforming with modern design sensibilities. 

Honorable Mentions:

CrossCode

This also technically launched before 2020 but I didn’t play it until this year, and I don’t think it hit consoles until this year. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going in, just remembering that I had enjoyed the demo well enough. This game delivers in most ways you could want from an indie game, with an expansive world of sidequests and RPG growth, a flexible combat system that can be nailbiting and engaging, and old-school dungeon designs with lots of environmental and elemental puzzles that really ask a lot of you. All of this capped with a surprisingly great narrative with characters I grew to love, including a much needed protagonist with a unique identity unlike any in games that I’ve played, as well as extra bits of detail and production values invested at JUST the right moments where the story needs it the most. It feels a bit tedious at times and part of me wishes more of the sidequest content involved direct interactions with the named, recurring characters, but it’s still one of the most impressive and well-done indie games I’ve ever played.

Katana ZERO

Razor-sharp game design, this one. It’s a brief but intensely focused experience that feels like the video game equivalent of a slick, experimental indie film. Could do with some more replayablity for those who want it but what’s here is just damn good and I gobbled this game down like a fantastic, hand-cooked meal at an atmospheric dive bar barely anyone knows about.

Necrobarista

Haven’t quite finished it yet but this is definitely one of the best visual novels I’ve ever experienced just due to how hard it goes on presentation and pushing for a more cinematic and thoughtful vibe than any other VN I’ve ever experienced. The characters and writing feel ripped out of an early 2000′s webcomic, for better and for worse, but all the same, it’s some fantastic stuff and it’s so refreshing to see a game set in Australia tackling a well-worn genre by giving it a new spin.

Slay the Spire

Another personal pick since this released in 2019, and I’m not quite sure which consoles it hit or when, but I didn’t get into it until early this year, and was totally hooked. Fantastically addictive, probably the most well-design deck-building rogue-like I’ve seen, certainly one of my favorite deck-building games in general. Apparently I’ve sunk 50 hours into it this year, more than most on this list, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that number spikes up again at some point.

[thepixarenthusiast]

A Bug’s Life (1998)

Pixar’s second animated feature film takes us to the insect world.  A colony of ants spend their days collecting food to appease the predatory grasshoppers, who visit once a year to keep the ants in line (heh) and feast on their offering of seeds and grain.  The ants oblige out of fear of being squashed and/or eaten? by the grasshoppers.  (A quick google search tells me that grasshoppers, in fact, do not eat ants.)  The consequence of what happens if the ants do not provide for the grasshoppers or why grasshoppers were chosen as the nemesis of the ants is not exactly clear here, but nevertheless, they make a pretty seedy gang who would certainly make me jump in fear.  

Sorry, are those crickets I hear?  Are my puns bugging you?  Haha ok, no seriously I’ll stop now, but the writers of this movie must have enjoyed the bug puns too because the movie was crawling with them, from the slapstick stick bug, the mosquito ordering a Bloody Mary at the bar fashioned out of a tin can, and “flea circus” led by none other than, P.T. Flea.. Yeah, I think you get the gist.  How I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in that writer’s room.  

Ok, I’m done, I promise.  

In all seriousness, the details and jokes were funny and clever and there were a lot I didn’t notice as a kid.  I liked how the circus tent was an old umbrella laying in the grass, the “city”  was made out of old snack boxes and takeout containers, the lightening bugs lit up the traffic lights, and the circus train was made out of animal cracker boxes. It was all very clever. I’m sure you could watch it a dozen times and always find something new. 

Back to the plot summary. Our hero is Flik, a misfit kind of guy, an inventor who thinks outside of the hive, err, anthill...and marches to the beat of his own drum.  It’s your classic tale about the kid who doesn’t fit in, whose flaws end up being the strengths that help him save the day.  A Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, if you will. 

Flik’s well-intentioned inventions keep getting him in trouble and stressing out the anxious princess Atta, so to get rid of him for awhile, she agrees to let him leave to find warrior bugs to fight off the evil grasshoppers.  Of course, Flik mistakes some circus bugs for warrior bugs, and we meet our crew of misfits who keep the antics rolling.  We’ve got a walking stick who is constantly used as a prop, a classy black widow spider, a dung beetle who doubles as a helicopter, a hippie moth and praying mantis husband and wife pair, a fat caterpillar with a German accent, a duo of feisty pill bugs who speak another language, and a lady bug who is actually a guy, to ensure endless comedy.  They’re really the best part of the movie.  They’re cute, funny, and have some of the best lines.  Heimlich the caterpillar becoming a beautiful butterfly still gave me a good chuckle as an adult.  

Of course, all chaos breaks loose when the ants find out that the warrior bugs turn out to be circus bugs, but in the end our misfits band together, rise up against the evil grasshoppers, and restore peace to the ant colony. 

So it’s a story we’ve heard before, and it certainly follows the Disney formula, but it’s still entertaining and creative enough with some memorable characters that make it fresh.

Final thoughts. 

Pixar’s sophomore film was an enjoyable 95 minutes.  Was I wowed by it?  No.  It was a relatively straightforward family comedy with a familiar story line and a few memorable characters.  As a kid, I loved this movie.  I remember watching it often, probably even more so than Toy Story, but that was also probably because I was a bit older when this movie came out, when I could understand a bit better. Watching it now as an adult, I can probably imagine my parents taking us to see it, being glad it wasn’t a total bore to sit through, maybe even laughing a few times, and then mostly forgetting about it.  For kids, though, especially ones particularly interested in insects, this movie holds up great.  It’s perfect for young ones who may not understand all the adult themes in many of Pixar’s later films like Up and Soul.       

Overall, it was fine. It was a non-offensive, relatively entertaining way to spend my afternoon.  I probably won’t be revisiting it anytime soon, though, which makes sense as to why out of all the Pixar films that came out during my childhood, this is the one that I have re-watched the least as an adult. 

Fun Fact:

So I just looked this up and turns out that the inspiration for A Bug’s Life comes from an Aesop’s fable titled “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” in which a grasshopper begs an ant for food when winter comes and the ant refuses.  The moral of this fable is supposed to be about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future.  So there ya go! That’s why grasshoppers were chosen as the enemy of the ants, even though they are not predators to ants in real life.  Neat! 

Best Character: 

I’m going to give this one to Flik. He’s a lovable and relatable hero. 

Honorable mention: Dot. Atta’s kid sister, and (this will make you feel old), voiced by a 9-year-old Hayden Panettiere. She is very cute and believes in Flik from the beginning, when the other ants don’t. Dot genuinely loves Flik, even when he screws up, which Atta doesn’t really seem to until he proves himself. 

Tear-Meter: 

0/5 Teardrops. Haven’t experienced any waterworks, yet.

Current Ranking:

2/2

It’s good, but not as creative or interesting as its predecessor.  Toy Story holds the top spot for now. 

1. Toy Story 

2. A Bug’s Life

[raeofalbion]

No shade or anything, but I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I need to be a little salty right now. So here goes. I honestly take issue with the sentiment that people only focus on the later Fable games because they’re thirsty for Reaver. It feels really dismissive of what the later games have to offer and the interesting direction the games were going in.

To preface, I love the first game. It was a beacon of escapism and joy throughout my preteen and teenage years; I played it so much that I wore out four copies before Anniversary came out. The game feels like home. Almost sixteen years on and the game is still beautiful to me--Twinblabe’s camp, Lychfield, the Northern Wastes, the way the sun sets over Oakvale, the peace of Barrow Fields? Gorgeous, stunning. I can, and do, get lost in all the woods and caves every time I play. The humour’s fantastic, the creatures are scary. The nymphs still give me nightmares. Whisper and Briar Rose still give me heart eyes; all the characters are just so good. Yes, including the Guildmaster (he just wants you to be safe and to eat a healthy diet! <3). And Jack of Blades is honestly one of my favourite villains of all time. But. The reason it’s not my favourite game in the series mainly has to do with the fact that it’s a fantasy game set in a medieval world...in a literal sea of fantasy games set in medieval worlds. And that it’s the first in a series that continued to get better.

Fable II’s aesthetic is probably my favourite game aesthetic of all time. The soft, inspiring wonder of when you first leave the camp; the balance of very dark, unsettling themes, classic lit, and uplifting bursts of hope and warmth from a lot of the people you meet along the way--just really well done over all. I love that the protagonist and the antagonist are coming from the same viewpoint of “I lost my family and I’m going to do something about it”; I love even more that Lucien serves as a warning of what you might become throughout the game and that you can actually choose to act as he intended to by the time you reach the end of the game. The growth of the world and changes in lore are really interesting and I’ll never be over how stunning Bower Lake, Bloodstone, and Oakfield are in the shifting light as time changes. Or how eerie and sad Wrathmarsh and Rookridge are. The Heroes as a whole have such great, strong personalities and their interactions are wonderful; and Theresa has a grandeur and mysteriousness to her in this game that makes her difficult to not be somewhat fascinated in.

While I’m well aware some elements of Fable III are rushed and somewhat lacking, it really doesn’t lessen the game for me. The storyline’s nice and watching what effect your choices have on the gamestate (when you’re evil, specifically) is always gives me a lot of pause and things to think about. The characters, again, are fantastic and Walter is among the best mentors in gaming. Logan felt realistic and sympathetic without negating any of the damage he’s done and all of your allies have really well-defined motivations and personalities that don’t feel cookie-cutter or tacked on. The Crawler is genuinely scary and I’m still very much unnerved by his intro mission (and I still tear up at the end). But, above all, it’s just genuinely fun. Does it have the depth of the other games? No. Is it any less fun or entertaining than the rest of the series for it? Nope. It’s still a joy to play.

I know a lot of people didn’t care about the Journey and didn’t get a chance to play Legends, but they’re also really good and worthy of being talked about. The Journey had a fascinating storyline that filled in a lot of gaps in lore, explained character motivations, and seemed to suggest a new era of Heroes were about to come to the series. It was also beautiful, had probably the most cohesive storylines in the series, and was great fun--I’m really hoping it comes to gamepass with the upgrade to use a controller to play instead of Kinect because I’d really love to play it more. Legends was honestly one of the most visually beautiful games I’ve ever played...I can’t think of anything bad to say about it, actually (and this is with all the glitches and bugs and occasional bad matches in mind). It was just genuinely great fun and a delight to play. The storylines all were well written and had a nice flow and kept me both intrigued and emotionally invested (despite how difficult that is to do in a game where the characters and the people controlling the characters change often). The characters were all witty, charming, and easy to like; the villains were immensely enjoyable and the minor enemies were really great. The tone tended to vary from “light and fun” to “legitimately terrifying” depending on how good a player your match’s villain was and I could have easily sunk into that game like a warm bath for the next ten years if Microsoft would have allowed us to.

The series has so much to offer and it’s been really great to see the growth of the writing team throughout the years--the stories and the world have only gotten richer and more interesting over the years. The characters continue to be vibrant and more enjoyable to have as companions. That is in large part due to how good the first game was (you can’t build a good series without a good foundation), but it’s also a sign of how good the other games were. The devs have clearly put a lot of love and effort into the games and it really shows. The fact that they were willing to explore different time periods in a fantasy setting is a very rare thing that I’m grateful for--I wish more games would do it. So, to bring this to an end, do I like Reaver? Yes. Is he anywhere near the main reason I like the later games in the series? No. I love the later games because they’re fantastic games and I love the series as a whole. Don’t do other fans, or the games themselves, a disservice just because of one character.

TL;DR: Reducing the series to “people only like the later games because they’re horny” undermines the uniqueness and storytelling of the later games and how much the series had potential to grow. If you’re upset your favourite game isn’t talked about more, maybe you should consider making more content for it. We would love to see it! This fandom’s always begging for more content, make something, effect a change, don’t demean others for what they enjoy.

[blueskydreama]

Uncharted is my favorite action adventure video game franchise of all time. I tried my absolute best to be as unbiased as possible when writing this review, but I have to admit that I did fall into the trap more than once. Coming from the talented developers at Naughty Dog, creators of the smash hit The Last of Us, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End wraps up the story of Nathan Drake and his comrades in this last, massive and explosive adventure. The PS4 has long been aching for an exclusive killer app, and Naughty Dog has done everything in their power to make sure UC4 fits the bill. It does. Oh, sweet mother of God, it does.

 WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR UNCHARTED 4

Uncharted 4 picks up the story several years after the events of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Having retired from the life of a treasure hunting rogue, Drake has made a relatively normal life for himself, making a living as a salvager of cargo from underwater wrecks. However, his new life is quickly disrupted with the reappearance of his long-presumed dead brother Sam. Sam is in trouble. A Panamanian drug lord by the name of Hector Alcázar has demanded that Sam find the lost treasure of pirate Henry Avery in 3 months or he will be killed. Not an easy task, especially considering he and his brother tried once before 15 years ago and failed. Drake reluctantly accepts his brother’s pleas for help, and sets off an explosive chain of events that culminates in one of the best twists I have experienced in a long time.

Uncharted 4 will take players across the globe in a journey that puts some of the most epic adventures to shame. Players will visit Italy and pull off a high stakes heist at a black market auction, Scotland, visit Madagascar and explore the plateau, and the fabled pirate paradise of Libertalia. The story is larger than ever before, with betrayal, emotion and intensity the likes of which the previous games could only dream of. The pacing of the plot is near perfection, with an excellent balance of chaos, thrill and quiet moments, although the introduction sequence could have been better paced. However, after the (simply spectacular) opening credit scene, the pacing is far smoother, and really begins to feel like a summer blockbuster.

The voice acting is the greatest it’s ever been. Troy Baker is absolutely phenomenal as Drake’s brother, and Nolan North is at his finest portraying a worn out, tired Drake, while Emily Rose (Elena) and Richard McGonagle (Sully) also put on top acts. You truly feel that these actors have become their characters, and feel the emotional weight behind their performances.

The ending is controversial, I won’t deny that, and while it irked many people, I personally believe that it could not have been better handled. There is simply no better way to send off Naughty Dog’s flagship franchise.

Being an adventure game, it goes without saying that the locations will be exotic – and absolutely gorgeous. Naughty Dog has forced the absolute maximum potential of the PS4 for this game. The environments are huge and richly detailed, with lush foliage that bends and moves with the characters, and glistens and drips in the rain. Puddles splash when the player moves in them, and water refracts light. The animation is top notch, with characters having unique combat poses and idle stances. The level of detail and polish present in this game is beyond anything I have seen before, even on current generation games. While I can’t say anything for the authenticity in the locations, considering that Naughty Dog modelled Kathmandu in Uncharted 2 true to life, I can say it’s a safe bet they did the same here, although obvious liberties had to be taken for gameplay purposes.

Characters react realistically to the environment. When brawling in muddy locations, character react accordingly, flinging mud and becoming covered the gunk. They drip water and their clothing becomes heavy and darker colored when soaked. Skin shines and trails water, and hair becomes matted. I constantly found myself slack-jawed at the lengths the developers went for this game.

Graphics aside, the sound is unmatched. Gunfire is thunderous and jolting, and the environmental SFX are astounding. When in the jungle, you believe you are there, with howler monkeys screeching and birds calling. The wilds of Madagascar are populated with cicadas and typical wildlife. The hurricane in the opening level is terrifying. The music is astounding, with sweeping orchestral pieces during action and peaceful melodies that play during the more intimate moments.

The production values are through the roof. The game truly feels as if you are playing a summer blockbuster movie, and the near complete lack of bugs and glitches is the icing on the cake.

Not too much has changed since Drake’s Deception hit shelves in November of 2011. The gunplay is just as refined as ever, and feels smooth and very fluid, especially with the new lock on mechanic – although that can make getting headshots somewhat difficult; however, it can be disabled at any time. Many of the old weapons return, with some new additions such as the Aegis 9mm pistol and the HS39 assault rifle. Along with the new weapons comes the marking system, which allows players to tag enemies to follow their movements and plan routes of attack. In addition to this, players are given the option to completely avoid combat, a first for the series.

Another new entry to the series is the grappling hook and rope, which further enhances traversal and environmental interactivity. Drake can use it to cross otherwise impassable gaps, scale walls and even instantly KO enemies with a lethal dropdown attack. The rope enhances vertical gameplay to entire new levels, and truly feels like a useful tool. That aside, the rope can also be tethered to stationary objects and used as a pulley, or even attached to breakable things and used to create new pathways.

Hand to hand combat has been slightly upgraded as well, with new takedowns utilizing your partners and new combat moves, but otherwise stays the same. Environmental takedowns are still as flashy as ever and even seems to take queues from The Last of Us for some of them.

Stealth plays a much bigger role in this entry than previous games. As mentioned before, some combat sections can be completely avoided if you are stealthy enough. Sneaking up behind enemies and silently killing them is a lot more fun than it should be, but the terrified look on their buddy’s face when they discover the body is priceless. Enemy AI is intelligent and challenging. If they find you, they will continue searching the area even after you disappear. They flank you and use cooperative tactics to try and defeat you. It is a much welcome change from the brain dead AI of most shooters. The same goes for your partner AI as well – they actually kill enemies and do a spectacular job of aiding the player.

Treasures return, of course, only now there are 109 to find, and they are very cleverly hidden, which gives an excuse to meander around large wide open areas. Alongside these treasures are notes and journal pages to be found that flesh out the lore a bit more. By pressing the OPTIONS button, you can view these collectibles. Beating the game unlocks new bonuses such as skins and tweaks to make your next playthrough that much more fun and interesting.

 Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune blew me away the first time I played it in 2008 on my uncle’s PS3. I felt like a true adventurer, off to solve the mysteries of the ancient world. A modern day Indiana Jones – stop the bad guys, get the treasure and get the girl. I walked away dumbstruck. The game was hard, yes, but the presentation and quality spoke to me on a deeper level. That gaming could be a hobby, but could also be a way for talented individuals to tell a story, to create ART, and that’s what Naughty Dog did, way back in 2007.

Nearly ten years have passed since then. Uncharted has become synonymous with high production values, venerated storytelling, exceptional character growth, and the PlayStation name itself. Naughty Dog’s flagship series permanently landed them in the spotlight of AAA game development, and they have continued to prove that they earned their spot, garnering universal praise and hundreds of awards since then.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the culmination of all of that hard work and dedication, passion and love. I cannot recommend this game enough. Tears have been shed, blood has been spilt and stories have been told. It saddens me to see Drake’s story end, but I would have it done no other way.

 Uncharted 4 is a true masterpiece of modern storytelling. This is for all the Dogs out there.