#let me add that the first playthrough i died a lot but the second the deaths were on purpose to get dialogue

[solargeist]

your art convinced me to get in stars and time and now im a couple hours into my first playthrough and im scared bc things are going fine so far but i know it devolves? somehow? (i can already see some impact on siffrin. buddy this is the 4th loop are you going to be okay) but im having so much fun!

anyway your art is so cute always

ehehehehehe

i wont say much

but my first playthrough was 105 loops, my second was 219 loops

[thedrotter]

as a little treat i am sharing with you little Aya doodles I've done over the last few days to unwind ww just little expressions based on lines in-game because those are always fun to draw. nothing too special just biscuit

it's Aya because upon doing bizarrely throughout playthroughs of the game for still unspecified project purposes I've gained a soft spot for her she's my daughter now my mental tier list on my favorite characters is so confusing right now

[sun-marie]

I finished BG3 for the second time last night, and I have many spoilery thoughts about it (including PICTURES) so I'll put them under a cut. BG3 spoilers ahead, be warned!

I enjoyed the ending a lot more than my first playthrough (even Karlach notwithstanding, since this was the first time getting her sick Avernus ending). My first time I felt a little left out to dry by how it felt cut-off with no epilogue, but now that I saw that coming I enjoyed it more for what it was, if that makes sense! Though epilogues would still be nice, especially if there the same level of quality as Karlach's Avernus ending (but honestly I'd be fine with a slideshow too)

I have also made my peace with Ruathym becoming a Mindflayer. I don't think he wanted to do it per say, but I do think it suits him, and I'm cautiously optimistic in believing the game on him being an unprecedented mindflayer who may still retain himself and his soul. Plus it adds a really tasty tragic twist to his character, especially being in a romance with Lae'zel. Both Zephyr and Ruathym's romances have the potential for tragedy, but Gale's is seen ahead of time by the characters in the story, making it more satisfying to fight against it, while there's no way any of the characters could anticipate Ruathym having to become a mindflayer to free the prince of his lover and save the world, so it's more satisfying to lean into that dramatic irony. Plus, like, he lived in the Underdark anyway, and I don't think animals would shy away from him? So he'll be okay in the long run, I think. (Copium? Undoubtedly.)

I would really like to see like epilogue slides for the characters. If I wasn't romancing Gale I'd have no idea his plan was to go back to Waterdeep, and I had to look this up but if you romance Halsin he tells you he's going to start an orphanage! Why is that romance-exclusive information?? And like Shadowheart and Astarion are left out to DRY, people have already mentioned it before but there's no way the party would just let Astarion run off like that without following him. And if you let Shadowheart's parents die, there is zero follow up on what her plans are after all this. So idk, I know Larian said they're working on the ending, and I'm looking forward to it.

I would enjoy the ending much much more though if it actually worked. Like, I had to reset the game multiple times bc it just refused to render

Like idk I know it's a big game and my PC isn't the newest, but it's not ancient either and some people are playing this on their laptop for crying out loud!! I shouldn't be dealing with this level of graphical issues. (The same issues were cropping up during Gortash's coronation btw, which is what made pics for my mod such a pain to get). And while I do mod my game, I can't believe the mods I have are enough to cause this 😭

So, that kinda put a damper on things, but the *content* of the ending, I mostly like! It does feel very epic, and I appreciate that it was challenging but not impossibly difficult. It's also very satisfying to see everyone again, almost teared up when Rolan and Barcus Wroot gave their support to me! They were just That One Grumpy Tiefling At The Grove and That One Gnome We Saved From A Windmill, and look at them now!! ahhh that was really good.

And while I think it still needs to be extended, I do actually like the immediate nature of the goodbyes. Wyll and Karlach have to go to Avernus now, Astarion needs to get out of the sun now, and Lae'zel needs to leave for her people, and Ruathym is a Mindflayer now. It gives the ending an appropriately bittersweet note. We won, but we still lost people, even if we may see them again. It all happens so fast because the tadpoles died like *snap* that.

I loved this game, and I like this ending. I'm going to make myself wait before I replay it (bc this one of those games I want to be playing all the time), and when I do I want to see if I can squeeze one more oc or one more romance in there. I don't really do AUs, which include other playthroughs with different protags, and I'm not a huge fan of having a pc for every romance option, but I think between the options that are free (Halsin, Shadowheart, Wyll, Karlach, Astarion,....Minthara(?)) somebody could pair up! Even if it's after the events of the game lol. So I'm kinda tossing around the idea of a Wyll origin playthrough and finding who he'd romance, but idk yet, we'll see 👀

[asoulofatlantis]

Let me be completely honest with you. The only reason why I have a need to finish this game right now is because it would feel awful to start Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth without finishing the Remaster of Final Fantasy 8.

(And yes, in case I have not mentioned that before... I am ashamed to admit it, but I preordered FF7R(2) even tho I still to this day, hate FF7Rs guts. BUT - among other things - now that I have started that journey, I may as well go through with it till the very end. And if that means complaining through all 3 games that they suck then that is still an interesting way to play a game XD I might also add... I bought a PS5 just for FF16 and now its standing here and has not been used in months and there is hardly any game out there right now that I would want for the PS5 so... I might as well get al least FF7R(2) so the PS5 doesn't stand here for nothing ^^' IF I get the thing to work where I can play the game on my Computer via the might of the internet, I will do a live reaction for it. So you will have complain about this game live and in colors XD ALSO anyone in the mood of a prediction game? I say we do NOT get a Kiss in THAT scene and I dare to say Aerith will not die the way she should - not saying she is not dying at all tho. Anyone on the Tifa dies instead bandwagon? I mean, seriously... what if Clouds choice of who he is going to the Golden Saucer (or whatever it is called) with will end up deciding who is going to die? BUT what if Nomura as twisted as he is decided he sacrifice the one Cloud is dating in that playthrough and lets the other one live? I would not put it past him or this game to do that XD)

ANYWAY... lets get back to FF8. We have a Shumi to kill.

What kind of question is that? I was ordered to see the master - as you were I presume - so I am going to see him? And... you know... while I am at it... maybe... save the Headmaster? I am serious, why that question? Okay, sie was searching for the headmaster instead but still... it was a weird question. I mean... could they not come up with a better way to stop him in his tracks like: "Oh, you are here too? Do you search for the headmaster as well?" or something. But I guess I am just nitpicking here.

Its not like Cid didn't use us for this ridiculous "free Timber'" - mission too.

Here comes the big plottwist. The first one, that is.

Talking Squall out of his melancholy is actually Rinoas Job, but since I don't like her or the ship, I didn't bring her. Second in line for this scene would be Xell. So... yeah... I couldn't bring him either, even tho I do like him a lot. So third is finally Quistis, which I think is pretty hard, given how she was always there for Squall so far, even tho he never treated her nicely. But... not you see why I brought Irving along ^^'

Can I just leave without talking to her? XD

Pfff. I did it. *lol*

So... this is a pacifist city... but we get weapon-stuff here? ^^' ()Also... why is "Eyes on me" playing in the background? (The ball-version.)

I know its a JRPG thing to put people in leading positions without their consent but... Squall really has it rough ^^'

You can really not blame this boy for his abandonment issues. His father was never there (and likely never will be, because Laguna and Squall both suck when it comes to dealing with emotions and relationships XD) and so he didn't even know he had one until he was almost an adult. His mother died when he was born. Ellone, his sister-figure, was suddenly gone too. And he was stuck in an orphanage with crazy guys like Xell and Quistis and Seifer of all people ^^' Even tho he can not remember anything, his trauma is there.

I will repeat this a few more times in the future... but I will never understand how this ship ever actually happened.

I thought it nice that after all this time, we finally got an explanation to why Irvin was so dead set on Selphie from the start.

Here comes the next big plot twist by the way. We have all (Rinoa aside) been in the same orphanage! But... we can not remember? Why? Wait for the next big plottwist!

You know... I wonder how it must have felt for her, walking past Squall and the other but they were not remembering her at all. Must have been sad.

Since Squall is Lagunas and Rains lovechild... it kind of makes sense that there was a special connection between him and Ellone.

And here is our next plot twist! We use GF and that is why we have slowly but surely forgotten our past. OBVIOUSLY that plot twist has A LOT of holes in it tho. Like the fact that Squall, Seifer and Quistis would have needed to start out using GFs at rougly the same time, because otherwise they would have kept reminding each other of their past. Plus, as Xell was adopted and not mentioned by Quistis when she talked about entering the garden at the age of 10, he likely has entered the garden later and thus must have used GFs later so... he should still have remembered the other then and if Irving can kickstart their memories, why not Xell too?

Oh look! Another bombshell! I know all the secrets and I am still already exhausted XD

[randomboo256]

Four Swords Rant

I've been playing the Four Swords games for the first time recently, and they're honestly not as good as people hype them up to be. Specifically, I'm referring to the games Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Four Swords Adventures. I was really excited to play them because they're some of the only Zelda games I never touched, so to say I was let down is an understatement. Let me go one at a time with these two, because they're surprisingly different.

Also they're pretty old and are a pain to play nowadays (hell, they were a pain to play even back then), so I imagine a lot of people haven't touched them seriously in forever, so let me recap you as well.

Warning: This post will be long. I am sorry.

Firstly, Four Swords. It's probably the most obscure official Zelda game made for one of Nintendo's main systems. Four Swords was a freebie with the GBA version of A Link to the Past, and it's remaster Four Swords Anniversary Edition was a downloadable freebie to all Nintendo DSI owners. Needless to say, but there's no reason to be too overly harsh on the game. Honestly, the main problem with Four Swords is less to do with the game and more do to Nintendo's refusal to act normal for five seconds. Four Swords Anniversary was delisted just a few months after release, and the GBA original has never been rereleased (despite the fact Nintendo charges us a $50 sub to play GBA games with online multiplayer as being its main selling point).

Anyway the game itself. It's a weird one. There's four main levels, but they're randomized. It's kinda like a roguelike game or something. The gameplay is basic, but it's fun enough for a freebie. The original GBA version was multiplayer only, but luckily the (delisted) remaster added a singleplayer which works fine enough. I wanted to play it multiplayer with a friend (and believe me I tried), but it was too much hassle. As a singleplayer game, I can see it working very well as a way to get your quick Zelda fix on the go.

"But where's the complaining?" you might be wondering. Well, I haven't gotten into the bonus levels yet. Anniversary added two extra worlds... which consist of three levels each... which themselves are batches of three levels each. So 18 levels, except unlike the base game, these aren't randomized. These were all handcrafted, and are identical on every playthrough. The first 9 levels aren't bad at all, actually. They're loving homages to ALTTP, LA, and TLOZ respectively and the level design and puzzle were pretty good imo.

Now the second batch of levels are what grind my gears. They're positioned as like the greatest challenge yet but they're more like greatest test of patience. These levels are LONG (admittedly I play slow), and they're the only time in the game where Rupees became a real annoyance to me. Basically, Rupees are your extra lives. If any Link dies, you lose 50, then 100, then like 200, etc until it caps at 500 Rupees per death. If a Link dies, they respawn on the spot. Now critically, if you can not afford the death fee it's GAME OVER. You have to go back —not to the start of the level— but to to the start of that batch of 3 levels. Just one of these levels can take me like 30 minutes because they're huge and I'm looking everywhere for all the rupees I can get. Add them all up and that's like 90 minutes of progress I can potentially lose from not having my damn tax money. Even that wouldn't be too bad if these levels didn't have some downright horrible game design in my opinion. For example, the second batch of levels are all filled with ice physics that make the game near unplayable. Yeah, it's hard I guess. But the developers didn't seem to understand that hard things should also have to be fun.

You may think this is a lot of pointless complaining considering it's about 1 bonus world in a free and delisted remaster of a relatively obscure game, and if you do think that you're completely correct. However I was so completely miserable playing it that I just had to rant to get it off my chest, ok? Despite my whining, I think Four Swords Anniversary Edition is a good game for what it is, at least from my singleplayer perspective.

Four Swords Adventures on the other hand... I am not so forgiving to. Disclaimer: I have not finished this game yet. At this point, we only have a couple worlds left. Multiplayer games like this need scheduling, and we haven't had the chance to end it yet. Firstly, Four Swords Adventures is the polar opposite of Four Swords in terms of price. While Four Swords was basically just a free giveaway, Four Swords Adventures is perhaps one of the most ridiculously expensive games to ever exist on a home console. Between the $50 price tag of the game itself, you also need four $100 GBAs, and four $10 GBA to GCN link cables. If you just want to play your Gamecube game with multiple people the couch, you had to spend over $500 (including tax) when it was new. Keep in mind, I was using the pricing of back then when it was new. Nowadays it's even worse. Just one of those GBA to GCN cables alone and used can run you like $40.

You might defend this with, "So what? The GBA Four Swords required a bunch of consoles and stuff. You didn't give it shit for it." But there's a huge difference there. It's not unreasonable for a GBA game to need more GBAs for multiplayer. In fact, for simultaneous multiplayer it simply needs to do that. There's no other way it could reasonably work. Not only that, but Four Swords—again—was a freebie to a normal Zelda game. It was more like a bonus if you had the extra hardware to play it.

Meanwhile, it's completely UNreasonable for a Gamecube game that's literally all about multiplayer to require four separate game consoles on top of the existing home console that you needed to buy. Spoiler alert, but the GBAs basically just act like Wii U Gamepads before the Wii U Gamepad, and they're about as useless. You can see your health, force gem count, and if you're in a house or underground you appear on the GBA screen. Is it neat? Kinda, but not $500 neat. This game should've just had split screen, like a normal game. The GBA stuff could've just been optional if you own the hardware already. It's completely and utterly ridiculous, and it's insane that Nintendo got away with it.

Well for a game this expensive, it must be worth it right? God I wish it was...

Firstly, the good. I really love the combat. It feels like 3D Zelda combat adapted right into the second dimension. It took me a bit to get used to, but it feels great. I can't remember if any other 2D played like this, but I like it. Secondly and despite my upcoming issues, I do think the game is decently fun most of the time.

Ok I'm out of good. Now for the bad.

Firstly, WHY IS EVERYTHING RECYCLED FROM OTHER GAMES?! Graphics, music, enemies, everything! Everything is taken from either A Link to the Past, Wind Waker, or the OG Four Swords. Even some of the characters are just lifted from Ocarina of Time like come on Nintendo! Give this game some identity! The original GBA game felt like it had more of its own identity, and it was literally a pack in! It makes me feel like I'm playing some weird mod or fangame or something. It doesn't help that some of the graphics just look bad. Some of the bosses reused from Wind Waker, for example, just have some really cheap looking sprites. Combine that with the constant mismatch of assets from random Zelda games on top of this game's tacky UI elements and it ends up looking like a Newgrounds fan game.

Secondly, the multiplayer experience is seriously flawed. There's no way around it. So, it's a co-op right? After all, the goal is to work together to finish the dungeon. Well the co-op experience is frankly lacking. All the co-op amounts to is "Push thing together" or "Grab thing together" or whatever. There's rarely any creativity in it. Most of this game could be completed with a single Link, which ends up meaning that there's rarely any feeling of actually working together to get through it. Often, one person will just end up doing everything while the others are just following them around with nothing to contribute.

As for the puzzles? What puzzles? So far, there's hardly been anything at all. That's baffling to me, because four player Zelda is literally perfect for tons of super fun puzzles, but so far it's like they aren't even in the game really. It's such a damn shame, because that was the part I was really looking forward to. Elaborate co-op puzzle solving?? Like sign me up! But alas. The game is basically just exploration and combat. The combat is fun, but the exploration? Well, I'll get back to that.

So the co-op is already wounded as is, but what kills it the fact this game feels deeply confused on what kind of multiplayer game it wants to be. On one hand, it seems like it's a co-op. On the other hand, it adds a bunch of annoying shit to try to make it competitive. I don't mean the side modes or Tingle's tower or whatever. I mean the core level to level gameplay. The fact that things like heart containers and bracelets are only given to one person is terrible because it undercuts the fact we're working together here. When I get an upgrade like that I just feel bad about it. A lot of the intended competitiveness revolves around the Rupee replacements, being Force Gems. The game really wants us to be aggressively fighting each other over these damn gems that none of us give a shit about. So much so that the game has freaking friendly fire on at all times. Not only that, but we also have hitboxes and can bump each other around and get in each other's way. This means that this a co-op game where the other players are more likely to get in the way of each other (whether they like it or not) than they are to actually work together. Even from a purely competitive perspective, what's the appeal? Being a dick to your friends just ends up costing both of you in the end, so like???

Plus like, there's practically no punishment for death at all. The only punishment as far as I can tell is ranking lower on the end level tally, which again is just an unwanted competitive element.

Finally, the exploration has problems too. It's generally fun, but there's a constant sense of being tethered too heavily to your teammates. Despite the fact that the game forces every player to have a glorified Gamepad, there's still very little freedom in walking around. Sure, another player might walk into a cave, but you're all stuck on the same overall screen. That means that if one player has to backtrack, everyone has to backtrack with them. It also means that the four players can't multitask. Unless there's a bunch to do on one screen, and there usually isn't, it just leaves someone waiting for the other players to get finished.

It doesn't help that every player only gets 1 item each. It's so lame. They totally could've added an inventory menu and had you unlock items for at least the rest of the level, rather than temporarily putting them in the hands of one Link. Any excitement I feel finding a cool item is completely ruined knowing that I'll likely be forced to toss it aside for like, a shovel or something. Plus, it's the main source of obnoxious back tracking. God, it really feels good for the whole group to backtrack multiple screens because one of us needs to grab a certain item that we need to progress. Feels great. Definitely not wasting our time.

I know I've been really negative, but I don't hate this game. When I can ignore the issues, it's pretty fun. But man this game can really get on all of our nerves at times, and not in an enjoyable way. Four Swords Adventures just reeks of missed potential. Multiplayer Zelda??! That sounds awesome! But nah this was super underwhelming. My gameplay issues combined with the insane hardware requirements just makes this a huge no go nowadays. It's frankly not worth it, in any capacity. If you have to play it, just play it on PC if you can. It's too much money for a game that feels this uncreative.

What a let down.

[unmeiokaemasu]

I FINALLY beat Sacred Stones! :D

The "finally" is bcs the first time I played I literally set it down in the final chapter and just. never didn't pick it back up for like a year, at which point I was better fire emblem player so the idea of picking up a year-old savefile was abhorrent.

THEN, in the past year I've had two different software difficulties with it that led to losing save files. So yeah, the difficulty of finishing was not game difficulty, but software, including my own brainpower.

I'd been bashing my head against several maddening mode runs of Three Houses - since there are so many save slots I've got a run going for each of the four paths, and I'm not far on any of them - and finally got fed up and decided to see what I could salvage of my SS savedata.

The answer was not nothing, and...I honestly can't tell if this is an easier game than Blazing Blade or not; it might just seem that way because this time I was extremely cavalier (lol) about sending my units into danger...and I found out they could handle it. I think I used to just assume a magic unit had a more-than-50% chance of getting hit by a physical attacker and that a physical attack would shave off at least a third of their health, and the reality is very much not that. If you've trained your units, they're pretty tanky.

The first time I played through, I lots Vanessa in an early map and wasn't willing to restart it for her, and then didn't recruit Amelia when she threw herself into battle against one of my units and died before I could recruit her...so this time I was determined to not let any unit die, that's just my playstyle that's what I like, that and getting the supports I want adds a layer of challenge to some otherwise easier games.

And BOY HOWDY was Vanessa my MVP this time around. I think I did the same thing with Florina in my most recent Blazing Blade playthrough, insisted I'd make a good pegasus knight and damn, they do get good...although Vanessa promoted to a wyvern knight so not sure if that's a point in favor of pegasi? Anyway. Talk about a tank, I feel I really redeemed myself for letting her die the first time.

I went in the first time interested in the relationship between Ephraim and Lyon, knowing little about Eirika and kind of resenting that I had to start with her...and then by the time it got to picking a twin to follow I picked her instantly, even knowing Ephraim apparently accomplishes more story-wise in his route. I find Ephraim kinda boring, which I think is a consequence of splitting the protagonists like that, and Lyon...Lyon is honestly the second purple-haired softboi I thought was going to be my favorite and then was just kinda...idk. too soft. underbaked. Radiant Dawn fans @me if you know where I'm going with this.

(My real purple-haired softboi love is Knoll, idk why and I don't care, he's extremely disillusioned and sad and tired and resigned and I love him)

Anyway Eirika is in my top 3 favorite FE protagonists list, she's just probably my favorite version of a standard FE protagonist alongside Eliwood. I might like Eirika even a little more personality-wise but Eliwood's in my favorite game and I love him a lot so eh, I don't have to pick a winner.

So yeah, Sacred Stones is going to slot in very solidly at #4 for my favorite FE game ever. Blazing Blade just hit the exact right balance of gameplay and story for me, and Path of Radiance and Three Houses I think managed to both tell good and complex stories with excellent writing while also being fun to play (I'm so sorry Genealogy fans I'm a weak baby scrublord and I can't finish that game I know it has good writing but also it is more cynical I k n o w it's good I'm not arguing that I just cAN'T--)

Ahem. Anyway...oh yeah also the reason I was trying so hard at 3H maddening is...I finally have a hardmode-classic cleared savefile on 3H! :D

I think I may have beating Verdant Wind on that mode, but I don't have that savedata anymore so I can't check. Anyway I cleared hard/classic Azure Moon with these rules: no new game+ (so no bonus statue restoration, I think that was mechanic that let you buy things like support and weapons and professor levels so none of that either), no items from sources other than base-level gameplay (with possible exceptions, we'll get to that) so no under-the-bed items, nothing from amiibo gazebo, and no spirits of the fallen (I just played with online turned off), and no abyss resources other than the students (so no exchanging renown for items that the statue...honestly I don't even know what else is down there, I never used any of it even on easy mode, but yeah I defo didn't use it this time).

So the things I did allow myself were recruiting the Ashen Wolves (Yuri is basically always my dancer now and I always train up Constance so they can pass that paralogue and get Yuri's relic), and then stuff like Constance's quest to get the roster that allows you to to redo an answer once per teaparty, Aelfric's flower quest, the two Ashen Wolves paralogues, etc, all those things were allowed. Pouring exp into other students, esp the Ashen Wolves since they're available so early on, means sacrificing exp for your house's students, which means a harder Hunting by Daybreak, so I figured it was a fair tradeoff.

So yeah that was really fun. Glad to have both a hard/classic 3H and Sacred Stones savefile finally under my belt. What's next?

I honestly tried to start New Mystery and uh. ran into trouble getting it to. work. Will work on that more. Hilariously I saw there was a mod to minimize Kris's involvement, but I shan't be using that, bcs literally my main mission statement is to find out how annoying Kris actually is. I haven't beaten Shadow Dragon yet (the version of Marth's story that I've actually played), but I've gotten quite a ways in, and that really is the danger zone for me. I really do enjoy the early parts of Fire Emblem games more, when all the level-ups and unit potential and support-conversations-if-that's-a-thing haven't been decided yet. But I also like actually finishing!

So yeah I wanna start New Mystery, and finish Shadow Dragon. Then I've got a Binding Blade run that's like 2 years old at this point that I'll probably return to since that games...less fun to slog through...Shadows of Valentia I never finish, idk if I'd restart that or pick up my now like...three or four year old run of that...might fuck around and start Thracia...and might take another stab and Genealogy chapter 4 and see how I do. I won't ever get back to Radiant Dawn unless I can successfully transfer savedata from Path of Radiance, and at this point for me that means actually getting through Path of Radiance from the start again...which as I'm saying it actually sounds like a lot of fun. I might...I might actually do that. We'll see.

SO YEAH that's my Fire Emblem diary for today. I truly adore this franchise. I think there might be a lot of other jrpgs I might like for their story, but this mix of story and turn-based strategy is just absolutely perfect for me. I've noticed I've done well in irl board games in the past couple years, and it's definintely bcs of these games. I thought I'd be bad at strategy to the point of never enjoying these games unless they were on easiest-possible mode, but now I love the challenge! And yeah the fact that even tho in broad strokes the endings will always be the same, I adore the little things you can affect along the way (mostly who your best units are and which pairs make it to A-support). I may not have loved Engage, but there're still a bunch of great FE games in the back-catalogue for me to experience for the first time or have a new fun run of. Excited!

[lemonlurkrr]

@aureateart​ ok. My favourite parts of twilight princess  (and some other random thoughts about TP sprinkled in there) taken from my monster TP word vomit google doc :

Link lmao

Ok but for real, I like this incarnation of Link :)

I love Ordon (it just seems like such a chill and cozy village)

ALSO love how easy it is to interpret Link as being a sort of older brother figure to the Ordon kiddos. It’s just,, super cute? AND GHHH nice nice good thanks nintendo for giving me characters to care about/characters that I can imagine Link caring about

He didn’t sign up for any of this (tbh, none of the Links really signed up for this jshdjsd). But I mean like, dude was just going to take a trip to castle town, drop a gift off for the royal family, and come back. But haHA oopsies he did get to castle town eventually but definitely not the way he expected hsjdhsd

He’s just a little dude?

AND FUCK. HE REALLY HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ORDON UNTIL ALL OF THAT

everything is new for the player AND Link

Midna

She’s cool :)

she really just

*teleports into your jail cell* hello whore.

I am no master at writing but AYYYY she do got a character arc!!!

She was actually pretty helpful sometimes, I ALWAYS checked in with her before turning to a game guide

Other NPCs

NICE

Love all of the TP character designs (ASHEI’S ARMOUR??? AOWOAOAOOAO)

Saving Zelda and all of Hyrule was important yea but thinking back maybe it was more like, the Ordonians and the kids were what was pushing Link to keep on going

I like the Resistance members :) Very video gamey of them to have one NPC assigned to each dungeon but hey!!! Kinda cool getting to see a little glimpse of each of em

Idk, it’s just fun to imagine Link popping into Telma’s bar after each dungeon and taking a little rest :) (or to celebrate? maybe just chat, idk, give this man some downtime!!)

Honestly it was just kind of nice that Link wasn’t entirely alone. I mean, I know Midna was there the whole time, but I am always for giving Link a big group of friends (see my love for hyrule warriors, age of calamity, and LU LMAO)

Hero’s shade, very very cool, kinda sad he died with regrets but HEY. He got to pass on his knowledge eventually

AND the connection to OoT?? AND assumed to be related by blood too????? GOOD SHIT

Ilia, I REALLY really wanted to like her (er, it’s not like I dislike her, she’s just,,, kinda there for me).

It definitely seems like Nintendo was pushing to make her the romantic interest, but GHHHHH they really threw that out of the window for me by having her lose her memories

I saw a text post a while ago that said it would have been interesting if Ilia was Link’s sister instead and YES!! That would have been cool too :0

Wish we got to know Zelda a little more

I feel like we barely know anything about her

Idk man, like I said earlier, I never really had any sort of drive to save Zelda during my playthroughs

She obviously knows Midna, so maybe if they gave us just a little bit more of that relationship I’d be more interested in her?

TP WORLD BUILDINGGGG

Botw has good world building too, but each race felt kinda,,, isolated? I absolutely love the different architecture and vibe each town has (and all the the weapons too) but ghhh yea everyone felt so separated. As far as I can remember, we don’t see tooo much of the races interacting with each other? Now that I’m typing that out maybe that’s to be expected because of the calamity but KLSJDKJFD ANYWAYS THIS IS ABOUT TP

The world feels nice and alive, love how populated everything is

Castle town I like castle town a lot, it feels dense and busy and I really like how you can’t talk to every NPC you see

Very cool very fun that we got to see the Gorons hanging out in multiple spots

kinda wish we got to see the Zoras a little more (I guess they are a bit limited since they need water but GHHHH the tp zoras are so prebby,,)

BUT HEY, I do remember seeing a zora or two hanging out in the hot springs around death mountain after beating the lakebed temple (I think, might have been a different dungeon) 

but aaaa would have been nice to see them in at least a couple of other places. I think it would have really added to the “congrats Link!! You’re restoring peace to Hyrule” feeling you get from seeing the Gorons hanging out in Kakariko and Castle Town

ORDON

Love how chill it is and how it’s kind of separate from Hyrule proper

They really do seem to be doing their own thing apart from the rest of Hyrule

Just kinda adds onto the “he’s just a regular dude minding his own business” kind of vibes I get from TP Link

Also I like Ordona :)

THE LIGHT SPIRITS,,

Love their design

And love how they’re not exactly like a pure white?

Different spirit representing each aspect of the triforce my beloved

But yes hi I think Ordona is very cool

Who are you, how did you get here, which goddess do you represent? Do you even represent one of the three golden goddesses? Do the Ordonians know about you? Have any of them ever SEEN you??? Do they worship you? Does anybody even know about the existence of the light spirits?? FUCK so many questions but ghhh I like how they broke the status quo a bit by throwing in a fourth spirit :)

I feel like this one is kinda weird but I like that voice sample they used in the light spirit music. It’s spooky and pretty at the same time :)  

cutscenes mmmmm

Ok ok, the spooky lanayru cutscene is very good

BUT THE “Link, Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!” CUTSCENE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IT SO MUCH

IT just

Idk man

It just hit different

I like the music

And seeing the light spirits swimming around in the light juice water whatever it is

Summoning the light arrows?

AND HHHHH “Lend us the last of your power!” THIS IS IT. This is the final battle.

Seeing Zelda bow down, and then Link putting his hand out 👌👌👌

Link: ok bud, let’s do this together :)

Connection to OoT (did I already mention this? Maybe., Whatever)

Very cool nintendo :)

I love seeing connections between all the diff zelda games.

Because like, on one hand, they’re all separate from each other because of yknow, individual hero stuff. BUT ALSO, they’re all connected because of the reincarnation stuff

Grrrr walking through the sacred grove and going “The Hero of Time walked around here a long time ago” FUCK THATS SO COOL

Is the Hero’s Shade watching me? What does he think of me? DIsappointed? Proud? The Hero of Time went through HELL so this timeline didn’t have to deal with any of the shit Ganon was gonna pull with the triforce, better not fuck this UP Link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midlink is cute

Kinda hurts that she smashed the mirror but that was probably so Nintendo didn’t have to worry about people going “but what about the twili??????” for any of the other games LMAO

BUT ALSO LIKE SKJDKLJFJ There are some pretty massive plot holes in TP anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever it’s fine we’ll just use this for angst because GOD do y’all like angst

So is Shadlink

Honestly don’t know where this ship came from but it’s cute so whatever

THE MUSIC??

Love Midna’s theme and how they referenced the dark world theme from ALttP (I remember trying to learn the dark world theme on the piano and doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme at the little jingle I recognized from Midna’s theme)

Hyrule field theme SLAPS.

Apparently references a couple of the other over-world themes from the previous zelda games (I got this from 8-bit Music theory’s video on the over-world zelda themes, he talks about TP at around 11:40 but def recommend watching the whole video if you’re into music analysis stuff)

So there’s this bit of the Hyrule Field theme, I don’t know the official name for it but I remember seeing somewhere it being called the “at an advantage theme” since yeah, you hear it during the boss music whenever you expose their weak points. FUCKINGGG LOVE THAT. Didn’t notice it during my first playthrough, but hearing it during my second was like a little easter egg for my ears every time :)

Midna’s lament is very pretty (and fun to play on the piano)

COURAGE THEME.

I didn’t care for it too much when I started playing the game but hearing it in ZREO’s arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme literally makes me turn into a puddle of emotions. Also hearing it around and of the Ordon kids (I think it plays after Link saves Colin) AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Orchestra piece #1 and #2 HOLY SHIT???????????????? 

Literally, the first time I listened to those I just,,,, plugged in my headphones, volume 100, layed on the floor/against my desk and silently vibed. I don’t know what the hell it is, but those two just fit so well with TP?? I still avoid listening to them nowadays cause if I DO I definitely will get overwhelmed with the “god I love this game so FUCKING MUCH” kind of feels.

Wolf link sucks at singing

the first time I heard him howling Zelda’s Lullaby I lost my shit because LKSJLDKSGLKJFSKG god that was.,, Bad. Anyways, hearing him howl some of the songs from OoT was cute :)

TP STAFF ROLL??? 

VERY GOOD. IT’s like 10 minutes long and GOD do I love every single second of it. It doesn’t have the same energy as the skyward sword staff roll or the orchestra pieces but GOD does it hit good??

Nice and calm after that big exciting adventure. Maybe it would have been more fun or emotional to have a higher energy piece but it was really nice getting to sit back and watch the camera fly around Hyrule. Seeing like, the Gorons and the Zoras having a good time, the kids returning to Ordon? GOOD SHIT.

and AAAAA that end, when you hear the main Zelda theme and see Link riding off out of Faron woods on Epona… good shit. It gets you thinking, where the hell is he going? What is he doing? Off ot do more adventuring? Going to help out the resistance or something? Going to help Zelda? Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to restore the mirror of twilight? Whoooo knows.

hhHHHHhhh it’s just that final reminder that YES!!! YOU JUST PLAYED A ZELDA GAME. JUST ANOTHER STORY APART OF THE WHOLE EPIC OF THE ZELDA SERIES AS A WHOLE

I also want to acknowledge the instrument/samples they used for all the twili stuff.

They’re all just so unique and contrast SO well with the rest of the TP OST. LIKE FUCK!! Anytime I hear the screech from the Twilit Kargarok? Sends a shiver down my spine. I associate those sounds SO strongly with the twili realm. (Like, the same way you associate the BSHEWW VVWWMMM sounds with light sabers)

I love it so god damn much

literally any time there’s a certain sound or motif associated with something I lose my shit

Sacred grove sacred grove sacred gro-

lovely lovely lovely so much fun playing that on the piano. AND again, I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when I heard the theme from the lost woods come in GHHHHHHHH

shoutout to TP Faron Woods for helping me study and get through all of my schoolwork

BLEGUUHHH can you tell that I really love music?

and also yea I guess TP is kinda cool too :\

IF YOU READ ALL OF THAT THANKS I GUESS

[justagirlsearchingforamuse]

Since you guys enjoyed my male cyberpunk romance options post, I decided to finally get to work on the female/non-binary ones. So first of all, let's start it off with our main girls, Judy and Panam. I plan on doing a part 2 and currently working on the part 2 for the boys.

1st. Judy Alvarez:

I enjoyed her romance quite a bit and love her as a character and I believe since we don't have any lore for her or anything that convinces me otherwise that she should be bi. I think she should be strictly for female/non-binary V with and more feminine features.

I feel that she should've had her own ending and not one that ties into Panam's, one where you decide to leave Night City with her, and or I would've enjoyed it if you could've taken any one of your serious romance options out of town. I feel that an ending with V deciding to call up Judy and there is an option to pack up your things, at least your weapons and clothes and just leave to the next city over. It ends up with you helping Judy and packing up your things in her van, Judy decides to drive and asks you where do you plan on going, you can choose from 3 options. 

The first choice you can say anywhere and that you don't care, you just want to live your final moments with Judy. The second choice should be something like Atlanta to see your family and or to wherever Judy used to live in the past. The last choice you can choose to give Judy some money to leave town and say to wait for her in the next town over so it can lead to you choosing whether to go with Hanako's plans or Johnny's. I can imagine the last ending resulting in Judy being seen,   arguing years later to keep your stuff when she's selling some of her old things. She ends up fighting to keep the necklace that V is always seen with and she wears it, it ends with Judy entering her van and promising to never forget you.

Also, I believe that she and most of the serious romance options should have at least one quest where you can go on a date with your partner, I believe hers would be you helping her with Clouds. Though it's not much of a date, you insisted on helping her fix things, and you guys spend most of your time trying to protect Clouds from The Tyger Claws who end up trying to attack again. It ends with Judy losing hope in Clouds, almost wanting to give up on the place but you can choose to convince her to keep fighting for Clouds. Or to give up and just sell the place and let all the hard work you guys did go to waste. If you choose the first, it leads to Judy promising to come up with more things and saying how she'll make some calls to some more people. The first choice ends with you both making out and you falling asleep at her place after she orders pizza and watches a few movies with you.

The second choice ends with Judy being hopeless and asking to be alone for the moment, ruining the date almost and putting a small dent in your relationship.

I believe that Judy is pretty well developed for a love interest and as a character, she stands strong on her own and is an interesting character who fits well with V. I enjoy their relationship as I do with most of the relationships which are very adult in the way that V tries not to rush things and doesn't promise their love interests the world. The love interests have their own lives and don't act like a bunch of teens or young adults, trying to make drama out of something small. They respect V, they add more to V and give V another reason to keep fighting, another reason to want to live, to get the damned chip out of their head.

Also, I want more Johnny and Judy interactions in the sense that I want to hear more of his thoughts on Judy and hear how he feels about V and them being together. He doesn't seem to hate her and maybe even would like to see that if you romanced Judy and did the Temperance ending he tells only her or your romance interest that you're gone. Well, he does it vaguely or sends your romance interest an anonymous email, vaguely stating that V is gone and that they disappeared/passed. Judy I feel would react in confusion as well as emotionally, she's nearly crying in the voicemails and is talking about the email or voicemail Johnny sent and is asking where are you.

2nd. Panam Palmer:

I like Panam Palmer as a character and I feel that her quests do explore a lot of the nomad lifestyle, her quests explore more about the people of the nomad lifestyle. I feel that she should've been bi and I was hoping that she and Evelyn were the 2 bi options because literally in my first playthrough was worried I was gonna romance her. Cause she was flirting a lot from what I saw and thought that you'd be able to romance her during the sandstorm. I feel she should've been bisexual or pansexual along with Evelyn.

I feel she should be able to be easily romanced by male/non-binary V with a more masculine appearance and she should've been a little harder to get with by a female V/non-binary V with a more feminine appearance. Also, is it just me but I wasn't a big fan of her sex scene, imo I feel they should've changed the sex scene to possibly happening during the sandstorm or after V confesses to dying. Or even them making out in the big ass tower before being interrupted by Saul. Also, wouldn't have minded learning more about Panam in terms of hobbies, like I would've loved it if she was a singer or was a decent guitar player. I also would've enjoyed scenes where we actually just chill with the Aldecaldos and like chill by the campfire or help out with some of their everyday problems, etc.

I like her but I didn't feel a seriously deep connection to her like I did with the other 3 romance options, I wish they added more depth to her and more of a serious tone to her. I do like the more serious tone towards the end and how her path explored being a nomad, what it means to have family, etc.

I do wish everyone in terms of romances had as many quests, depth, and just effort put into but her path is decent just not my favorite personally.

I feel she and Evelyn should've been the main bi options, she should've been easier to get with a male' V but also should've been able to date fem' V. The paths should've been similar or even show Panam having fem' V be her first-ever official girlfriend, show a new side to Panam with fem' V. I would've seeing Panam being a little shy and or a bit reserved around fem' V, I would've enjoyed seeing her hesitate a bit first before having her first kiss with V. I would've also enjoyed love scenes for bi characters being kinda different in the sense that I would've enjoyed Panam and male' V's love scenes to be raw, a bit filthy, and Panam is not holding back. Maybe it's just me but I disliked her love scene with all the green and all the switching really turned me off tbh. I would imagine Panam and fem' V have a love scene either being in a tent or during a quest in which fem' V and her share some beers, look at the stars, and relax.

Her love scene with fem' V would show a more gentle, natural, and aesthetic kind of scene, a lot of kissing, Panam going down on you, you kissing/nibbling on Panam's ear whilst you slip your hand in between her legs. It ending with Panam's arm wrapped around you and you wake up to the morning sun above you.

I feel another quest she should've had was you and V (Doesn't matter what gender) could've gone out on a road trip all around the badlands and you guys just have a good time together. Blasting music and making fun of each other's music, drinking beers, turning up to some music, and you both kissing in the backseat much to Johnny's annoyance. 

3rd. Evelyn Parker:

So I feel she should've been the main female bi romance option and she should've held a much bigger part in the story, becoming either a replacement for T-Bug if she dies in your playthrough or just finding out about her. She at first could be bitter towards you considering how you treated her in the beginning or she can come off as distant and wanting nothing to do with you at first. She wants to run from you and talks about leaving Night City with Judy, how she needs a fresh start. Similar to Judy, she stays because of how close she's grown to you, because of how it's hard to leave you to your inevitable death all alone, she finds it hard to leave you after I'd say her first 3 or 4 quests. She'd be one of the mysterious and harder romances to get, considering that at first, V thinks Evelyn wants someone who can help her and help her solve her problems. But in reality, she wants someone who will have her back, someone she can trust, someone who will make her life worth living.

I'd imagine she'd have about 3 to 5 quests and 2 of those quests lead to a romance, her quests would be about finding The Woodsman, getting rid of him, taking care of T-Bug, etc. I'd imagine that her romance starts in her second or third quest, she doesn't quite trust you yet but she's finding herself falling you all the time.

One of her missions would probably be her either taking you out to a really expensive bar or something where it ends with a love scene that progresses to the car if you're male' V. But if you're fem' V I feel the love scene would progress to her apartment, Evelyn pegs me as being kinda kinky but nothing like Meredith who broke the kinky scale. I'd imagine in the love scene with fem' V she'd be choking you a little bit, caressing your face and she's in control this time, you eat her out, she fingers you right before you come before fucking you from behind with her fingers. She's also making you suck on her fingers. It ends with fem' V waking up to Evelyn rushing out of the door, saying she has business to take care of and that she enjoyed last night and would later text you asking to meet up at her apartment. She asks if you want something serious and you can choose what you want your relationship to be, if you choose something more serious she ends up giving you a key to her apartment. 

Male' V love scene would have Evelyn being more submissive but more like a power bottom, she gives male V' oral which leads to you fucking in the backseat of her car in the missionary position. Leads to her riding you until you both come. She'd be pulling on your hair, she'd grab your hand and make you choke her for a little bit, she's kissing on your neck a lot, etc. It'd end with Evelyn lighting up a cigarette and asking if you'd take her home, you take her home and it ends with you kissing her before she goes home and asks you to call her in the morning. This leads to her calling to ask you if you want something more serious or something less than serious with the first option ending up with you getting a key to her apartment.

She'd play a decent role in the game, actively working towards getting the chip out and getting things back to the way they were. I imagine in one of the endings specifically The Temperance ending, she'd be one of the few to know that Johnny took over and it ends with her begging Johnny to give her a response, to tell her something. I'd imagine Johnny is fine with her at least after a while but at first, he's not gonna be too nice to her.

4th. Meredith Stout:

She could remain simply a one-night stand but what I would enjoy is being able to initiate either phone sex or be able to meet up with these one night stands again. But she also could have a few more quests, maybe some that revolve around her missions she can't get done without you and it leads to V wanting to romance her and wanting something more serious. Call me a bitch but I personally can't see Meredith wanting or feeling as though a relationship would be right at this point in her life. To me, Meredith from our first interactions come off as kinda manipulative and a bit unhinged when things don't go her way, maybe V helps kick her entitled and stuck up habits. Makes her realize how she sees people who don't have as much as beneath her is a terrible way to see people and a terrible way to think.

Or you could just screw around with her and help each other with whatever missions and shit like I'd imagine that she'd be apart of the endings or plays a similar role to Alt being able to help you take down Arasaka. I'd imagine if you romanced her or made a big impact on her she'll agree but if you are just fuck-buddies and or haven't completed all of her quests then she'll hang up or say she can't. If you do she manages to get militech and what not to help as reinforcements to help you in some way so you can get to Mikoshi in one piece or at least help you most of the way. But the endings still are the same but in the credits, she talks about how she hasn't heard from you and how she just wants to know if she's alive. She says she respects if you just want to be gone off the face of the earth.

Sorry Meredith stans but I can't see her being too serious with you if so then she's gonna spend time bettering herself before she delves into a serious relationship with you. But I'd imagine if you did have an impact on her, in The Sun ending/Path Of Glory she'll be in your bed and she'll be a bit kinder towards you and you'll have relationship problems.

5th. Misty Olszewski:

I love her as a character and how sweet she is, I feel that she could've had a deeper relationship with V, and them becoming best friends could've also been a good thing. She gives me pansexual vibes very much and will be willing to date all V's just treat her with love and respect. But I do feel that if you were able to romance her, the relationship would happen almost like a one night stand or something, maybe you both get drunk and sex happens. I feel Misty would feel as though she's betraying Jackie and being with you, which makes things complicated and weird. If anything I feel she'd be included in DLC as a more serious romance option, any DLC where Misty has time to process Jackie's death and has time to grieve. Any DLC that is later on or caters to an ending such as maybe the Nomad ending or The Sun ending perhaps.

First of all, she'd have like 3 or 4 quests where you just try and grieve with each other and or just be good friends, I'd imagine that one of the quests would be you suggesting teaching her how to swim or something because something tells me she wouldn't know how. Misty comes off as shy but open to try it if you give her enough encouragement and make her feel like things will be fine. You both go hang out somewhere out of town and end up going swimming and you teach her, but maybe something happens similar to Judy with the relic where you end up fainting or passing out. She ends up saving you miraculously and expresses how she feels like she's losing you and how she feels you're withering away from Night City. It results in Misty taking you back to your apartment, insisting you rest and try and get some sleep but you can insist on her staying and if she does, she ends up sleeping in bed with you and a kiss happens. She ends up pushing you away or the night after and saying how it's not fair to Jackie. How she enjoys your company but things feel better with you guys being friends, insisting that it was wrong to have a romantic relationship just sometime after Jackie passed.

I imagine things with her can end up being weird and awkward for a little bit afterward but she remains your good friend and she genuinely worries for you a lot, she won't play too big of a role in the game. But would play a similar role to Judy, I'd imagine that if you didn't romance anyone but her or if you romanced Judy, you'd be able to pick her to take along with you in the Nomad ending.

She'd be apart of the small list of romance options/good friends you'd be able to take with you in the Nomad ending.

She's really sweet though and you learn about her insecurities, learn more about her relationship with Jackie and how he planned on teaching her how to swim, he planned on getting her a beagle or finding her a dog. You learn a lot about Jackie and her and she's a really good friend of yours who wants to take things slow and make sure things are great when you start a more serious romantic relationship.

6th. Claire Russell:

She should've been a romance option or at the very least a ons, she might be straight but I'd say she gives off strong bi or pansexual vibes, she'd date any kind of V regardless of gender. I'd imagine that sometime after you murder the corpo cunt who killed her husband, she calls you up asking for a drink or asks you to meet up at her garage. She expresses how she thought she'd feel better after hearing he's dead but she feels the same, you both get a bit drunk and talk about past relationships and struggles. You both end up dancing to some music and it leads to you both slow dancing and if you play your cards right then you'll end up being able to kiss her. Claire and you both end up on the couch in her living room and you both have a grand time, I imagine she kisses you a lot, gives you plenty of praise in between sex, and she gave you some oral.

Afterward, I can imagine she wants to be with you but she needs a little more time to just enjoy being alone, dealing with Dean's death and such. Also, she talks about cars a lot and you can find her at her garage fixing up Beast and you can talk with her about fixing up your cars and anything like that. She doesn't play a huge role but she'll call you and you can call her before the final mission, similar to River you don't tell her what's up and you tell her how you'll always be her biggest fan. How you want her to keep racing and keep living her best life, she gets a little suspicious but can't put her finger on why you're saying all this. In the credits, she keeps saying how you won't answer and how she just wants to get a text or something, saying how you disappeared and how she really wants to see you.

Also, she gives me very much into working out and homegirl stopped working out a while ago because she had little to no motivation to do so. But when meeting you, she'll text you pics of her at the gym, her muscles, and saying how she has better muscles so she can cuddle you better.

I'd imagine that she'd be apart of The Sun ending and you both have a decent relationship with her, she expresses how she'd follow you anywhere and to let her know if things are wrong.

In the suicide ending, just as she's calling to find out what happened to you she gets a knock at the door and drops the phone, you can hear Misty and Viktor tell Claire of your death and it ends with her breaking down in tears before she pitches her phone at the wall.

[blind-alchemists]

Support Mage Build for Dragon Age: Inquisition

With my first Nightmare playthrough, I wanted to play it safe, so I thought, 'what's safer than playing a tank?' I still died, a lot, but it got pretty fun after I started figuring out how tanks work.

So for my second playthrough, I thought, 'I want to play a support mage'.

Now, the issue is: I didn't find a support build for a mage online.

I didn't want damage, or crowd control, I wanted raw support. I wanted to have one mage who could do Barriers, Dispels, and Revivals and a few basic elemental attacks, so I could bring along the warriors and rogues I neglected on my other playthroughs.

Eventually, that morphed into a personalized build, but it works really well!

My idea of a support involves: Barrier, Dispel, Revival. There are brave and skilled people who can get through the game without Revival, but I'm not one of them. Staying alive is also good, but since I'm controlling the Inquisitor, that's on me. I've played Solas/Vivienne plenty on my playthrough with Verity, so I'm confident in my ability not to kill a mage. Can't say the same about rogues, though.

For that purpose, damage is negligable to me. I literally don't care about damage. I'm fine with doing none. I'd rather support the rest of the team (or play the sole tank).

In addition to that, having the Inquisitor as my dedicated support mage, it frees up a few skill points for the other mages: I can get Vivienne Mind Blast only (instead of MB + Dispel), I can get Dorian something else instead of Revival, and I can do something different for Solas (who always makes a great support, primary or secondary).

Now, onto the build itself:

General

Points spent: 19

Complete by: Mid-game (around level 16-18, depending on Amulets of Power, Inquisition Perks, Race, and your willingness to craft)

What it doesn’t do: good damage, good cc

What it does: support. Very well.

Keep in mind that you'll need a balanced party, because, well - little damage, little cc. You can't solo the game with this either.

The build at its core relies on Barrier as the main spell, a ton of cooldown reduction, and the interaction between Flashpoint + Mana Surge.

The goal is to have another barrier ready when it’s depleted or destroyed, revive/dispel when necessary, mobility, and lean into ‘elemental mage’ concept just enough to grab the good passives and deal a bit of damage to everything.

Ability Trees

The skills necessary to make this work are relatively equally spread out across all basic trees and the specialization, Rift Mage, with the heaviest investment being in the Spirit Tree.

Progression

When you get to Haven, respec. I went for Barrier, Winter's Grasp, and Fadestep, but it wasn't until later that I discovered how amazing Mana Surge is, so I recommend you go Barrier - Winter's Grasp - Mana Surge and then Fadestep.

From there, it depends. I like to make a beeline for Dispel next (easier time dealing with rifts + enemy mages), but after that I go for another damaging skill (Immolate or Chain Lightning), Revival, and the other one.

I usually prefer having Immolate first (damage over time + some cc), but if you’re running Walking Softly right off the bat and keep dying a lot, you might want to go for Revival above either damaging spell. (And balance your party out by letting Solas do the magic damage.)

By then, I spent a point on upgrading Barrier, Elegant Defense, to shorten its cooldown and add a ton of survivability to - well - everyone.

After you've (almost) filled your skill slots, it's time for passives. I recommend either the Flashpoint + Clean Burn combo before going for Stormbringer + Gathering Storm, but depending on how your mana is doing, you can slot in Winter's Stillness at any point.

Depending on your trials set-up and the difficulty you're on, the specialization will come into play sooner or later. I recommend going for it when your cooldowns are shortened enough through FP + CB or SB + GS that you run into the issue of lacking mana to cast your spells. Here, you go for Veilstrike, the Punching Down upgrade, and Restorative Veil.

I’ve also been neglecting other upgrades except ED and PD until now (level 16) and, I gotta say, once I got a few cooldown passives, I didn’t feel like I needed them. But, as I said, until recently, I’ve played a raw tank who had no damage output and now I’m playing a raw support with no damage output, so I don’t mind a slow playstyle and slow boss fights.

Spirit Tree

- Barrier: There’s nothing much to be said about this. Barrier is essential for any mage, more so if you’re playing support. Unfortunately, it's 24s cooldown can be impossibly long early on.

- Elegant Defense Upgrade: I prefer this upgrade for a number of reasons. First, cooldown reduction on your most essential spell? Every time it expires? When you’re throwing them out the entire time? It doesn’t get much better. You’ll have them ready before your barrier even runs out. Second, a shorter duration of Barrier synergizes nicely with the passive Mana Surge.

- Peaceful Aura: It’s partly a progression ability, but it’s nice to have early if your tank’s AI messes up the taunt. (Which happened a lot for me.)

- Dispel: It’s essential to deal with the mages early on who are so annoying on Nightmare. It also stops demons from spawning if you use it on a rift. And it can ‘disrupt hostile effects’, such as poison. It also acts as a detonater!

- Rejuvenating Barrier: I’d consider this an essential passive, because it greatly increases your (and your allies) stamina/mana regeneration while they have an active barrier. And who doesn’t like that? It’s nice for archer rogues and other mages especially, because the chances are good you’ll stand cluttered together anyway.

- Revival: Easy choice. It comes at the massive cost of 85 mana, but here’s to hoping you won’t need it often because the AI isn’t stupid enough to position your ranged, squishy characters right in front of the melee enemy. (... It happened. A lot. Also, refer to 'the AI messed up my tank's taunt'.)

(I’m not picking Strength of Spirits because I don’t want the barriers to hold for long due to Mana Surge. It also requires getting MB and I don’t feel like spending a point for that.)

Winter

- Winter’s Grasp: It’s cost-heavy at 65 mana, but freezing is such a good status effect. It lets you detonate an easy combo – ‘shattered’ – and it gets you to Mana Surge.

- Mana Surge: This passive is amazing for defense and adds some cc as well as damage potential. When one of your barriers is destroyed, the enemy who destroyed it gets frozen. And your next ability won’t consume mana/stamina. So, cast a barrier on a melee character and profit! Plus, the secondary effect carries over (to every character the barrier is cast on), which is a nice bonus. I also heard it has a knockback effect, but I haven't paid attention to that yet. For support mages, paired with a well-timed Flashpoint, it means two spells at the cost of one, whether for damage or support! Or, sometimes, expensive spells such as Winter's Grasp or Revival don't cost mana.

- Fade Step: It’s great. Whether you need to position yourself, get away from an enemy or get closer to a rift, or run away … Fade Step does it all.

- Winter Stillness: By standing still – what a mage does, except you’re playing a close-combat Knight-Enchanter – you get a 50 percent mana regen bonus and reduced cooldowns.

Storm

- Chain Lightning: It’s a good ability with a short cooldown that shocks one target. Meaning, it lowers one target’s elemental resistances. And isn’t that fun? It also gets you to Gathering Storm, an amazing passive.

- Stormbringer: It’s alright, I guess. Lightning randomly striking an enemy is a nice gimmick, even if it has a 15 seconds cooldown. It also gives you magic.

- Gathering Storm: Now, this one is good. Each time you do a basic attack – which you’ll do a lot as a support – you shorten your active cooldowns, bringing you closer to spamming barrier for Mana Surge or a spell for Clean Burn.

Inferno

- Immolate: It’s relatively cheap, does damage over time, and it’s a detonator! With the right set-up, you can hit stunned enemies so you can weaken them or shatter frozen enemies.

- Flashpoint: If you crit, your next spell doesn’t have a cooldown. The ability itself has a rather long cooldown at 10 seconds but you only need to stack a crit chance of around 30-40% to make it worth the investment. Until you get to that crit chance, it’s a nice gimmick and gets you to the next passive.

- Clean Burn: Every spell you cast shortens your cooldowns. You see where this is going: With a cheap spell like Chain Lightning or Dispel, Winter Stillness, Gathering Storm, and Elegant Defense (along the occasional Mana Surge and Flashpoint), you’ll be able to spam barriers non-stop. Often, in longer fights, it’ll be ready before it has even been destroyed! That is all I want for this build.

Now, my problem was mana. I didn’t restore enough of it. I could go and pick up the Energizing Step Upgrade, find a Tier 3 Masterwork that reduces ability cost, or I could pick up Restorative Veil and make sure I weaken enemies reliably (by giving Solas the necessary skills and taking him along, getting the Veilstrike Upgrade, or by using my detonators on stunned enemies).

Rift Mage

- Veilstrike: Mainly for progression, because it leads to Restorative Veil, but it is a relatively cheap ability.

- Punching Down Upgrade: It adds ‘weaken’ to Veilstrike and reduces the cost to a cute 20 mana, which makes it worthwhile in my mind.

- Restorative Veil: It's another insanely good passive. You get a mana regen bonus when you fight weakened enemies. Now, from what I heard, it’s 10% of the damage you do, and while this build won’t have the insane output to always have max mana, I think it’ll help enough to take care of my problems. Because, some simple math: You deal ~100 damage to a weakened enemy, you get 10 mana. Unless your staff element is resisted, you’re able to reliably do that damage by the time you get to this passive.

Past that:

I recommend picking up more Rift Mage passives, because if you have a reliable way to inflict weaken, why not use them?

You can also pick up other upgrades (I reccomend the Life Ward upgrade for Revival for JoH - you shouldn't have many problems staying alive otherwise) or the passive Guardian Spirit, if you want. Since this is a support build, I don’t think you need to upgrade your damaging spells because damage output doesn't matter. You do enough for the build to work. Plus, you already have enough skills (if you're playing yourself; you shouldn't give an AI too many skills either, but it can probably handle Stonefist in addition to the rest). For everything else, you have your designated DPS and CC.

Playstyle / Tactics

My eight active skills are: Barrier, Dispel, Revival, Fade Step, Winter’s Grasp, Immolate, Chain Lightning, Mark of the Rift / Veilstrike.

If you’re running this on the AI, fave Barrier, Dispel, Revival, and Veilstrike.

If you’re playing it yourself, you want to start each battle with a barrier (for Mana Surge and to get Elegant Defense started). You want to keep an eye out for your allies and when their (or your) barrier runs out, so you can immediately replace it with a new one. Be sure to let it fully run out or be destroyed though, to profit from the passives.

You’ll also want to use Dispel if any of your party members is suffering from any effects (poisoned, burned, chilled, …). Use Revival immediately when needed. Use Fadestep whenever enemies ignore your tank’s taunt, are immune to taunt, or keep focusing you down. It’s also useful for maneuvering, because mages have a long reach and chances are you’ll end up standing too far away to cast an AOE spell sometimes.

Winter’s Grasp, Immolate, and Chain Lightning are your main damage spells. Use them frequently, according to enemy resistances – I recommend using Immolate and Chain Lightning often, whether enemies take much damage from them or not, because they’re relatively cheap and work with Clean Burn to bring down your active cooldowns for each ability you use. Immolate is also great AOE with DOT, and Chain Lightning shocks enemies, which lowers their elemental resistances.

Now, before I got Veilstrike, I had Mark of the rift on my last skill slot. You want to use your focus ability on large, annoying enemy groups or high health enemies such as (mid-)bosses, promoted archers/mages/assassins, dragons, or bears. Veilstrike, especially with the Upgrade, you want to throw out early to weaken enemies so you can regain mana better. It’s also cheap (with the upgrade), so you’ll be able to use it a lot!

I've been thinking a lot about keeping MotR, but it's only occasionally that it's useful, while Veilstrike is always useful, so I'll probably end up replacing it.

As for combos, keep watching for your other party members to stun enemies, so you can chuck a detonater on them to weaken them. For some cc, you can do the Chain Lighting -> Veilstrike that'll make your enemies fall asleep. Add an Eldritch Detonator to the combo and you trigger the 'nightmare' status effect.

Don’t forget to auto-attack, since that also shortens your cooldowns (thanks to Gathering Storm)!

Equipment

Crafting

You can do pretty much anything you want.

If you want to free up a skill slot, you can get a Veilstrike or Chain Lightning Masterwork (remember, Upgrades carry over), which I'm considering for the late game because MotR is that good with an extended focus bar.

Aside from that, you can also go for an 'Abilities Cost Less' Masterwork early to reduce mana cost.

Generally, you'll want to invest into Critical Chance for Flashpoint, but whether through crafting, keeping good loot (I'm currently still using the Fade-Knocker with a +25% crit chance and a Veilstrike Masterwork), or accessories is your call.

A Fade Cloak or Walking Fortress Masterwork might also work well in terms of survivability, since mages are also pretty fast in their attack speed and thus have many chances to trigger them. If you want to be run this build on your sole mage, these two are good options to make sure you die less. If you have another mage who can revive you, you don't necessarily need them.

Guard On Hit is always a good choice if you're looking for safety; a DPS Masterwork (Hidden Blades, Walking Bomb) might also do well, though I personally prefer them on Cole and Dorian respectively (upgrades carry over!) or HB specifically on Vivienne and Varric, since they profit from them with their passives (Fade Shield and Opportunity Knocks).

Another option is the Sigil of the Great Bear (+100% Mana) because you can off-set its penalty (-50% Mana Regen) with Restorative Veil and Winter's Stillness.

As for additional effects: magic resistance. You can get elemental resistances well enough (if you do all of the Shard quests like I do), but mages are still a pain. Technically, you don’t need melee resistance or ranged resistance, but I’ll see how dealing with enemy assassins turns out before I put out my opinion on that.

Accessories

For amulets, I like any that reduce cooldown or speed up mana regeneration early on, or the Enhanced Amulet of Accord (generate less threat) / Enhanced Amulet of Evasion (dodge). You can also get the Superb Cooldown Amulet relatively early (Emerald Graves). In the late game, I’m probably going for the Amulet of Renewal (if I don’t put it on Dorian), Amulet of the Mage, or Master Cooldown Amulet (if I don’t put it on Cole/Sera).

With belts, I like to go for Spirit Resistance early (Wisps are a pain). You can also go for extra health or magic resistance. For the late game … pretty much the same, I guess.

Which rings you can use depends on your luck. You can get the Enhanced Barrier Ring (boost to barrier power) or others of the sort for Winter’s Grasp, Chain Lightning, or Immolate (boosts damage). Otherwise, Barrier/Armor/Guard penetration is always good. So is crit chance (due to Flashpoint). Staggering and Sundering are also good options if you get neither of the others or have already fleshed out your build in all aspects.

Late game, the Ring of Slicing (Emporium) is good if you’re looking for crit chance, or the Ring of Smashing (Guard/Armor Penetration). The Superb Ring of Critical Chance (the Descend) is better used on damagers, imo.

Conclusion

Like many builds, this one has a rather slow start and the early game can be frustrating, but it comes together well and it's a lot of fun to play.

It's also effective on an AI (tested by switching to my tank or damager or second mage); the AI will always give you a new barrier when yours is destroyed/depleted without delay and use the other spells however it sees fit.

All in all, I think this build makes for a solid support mage!

[piracytheorist]

Since the first thing that strikes me about re8, story-wise, is that it seems to be all over the place? Again, I’ve no idea how it ties to previous games but it feels like this parental/mother-child theme is just hanging there with no resolution at all? I mean yes, Ethan saved his daughter, presumably breaking some sort of abuse cycle, yay, congrats, but what about his wife/gf? Isn’t she supposed to be like the main protagonist of the story of a mother bereaved to the point of tyrannical madness

Or rather, this specific story is not the right choice for his character since there’s SO many ethical and philosophical issues and questions implied but never properly explored because of Ethan’s ‘fuck you, idc’ attitude (which is completely understandable in those circumstances but adds virtually nothing to the plot and arguably even ruins it a bit). Heisenberg could’ve been an excellent ally with fascinating grey morality (provided the writers wouldn’t push him to the point of absolute insanity and let freedom, not power-hunger be his main goal and motivation for rebellion).And again, aren’t the lords supposed to represent child development stages? In which case Ethan what? Kills the possibility of some evil version of Rose? Or his own chance to experience fatherhood throughout all of those stages? Either way, it seems a bit… weird to have a Parent destroy multiple people whose main relevance to the plot is that they’re children of an abusive antagonist in a storyline so extremely focused on parent/kid relationships.

I feel like the main theme of re8 is not just parenthood/motherhood, but the relationship itself of the parent to the child. There's a lot of mentions to "children being used". Miranda kidnapping people, experimenting on them and mutating them and then treating them like they're her kids; Miranda kidnapping and practically killing Rose; Dimitrescu making daughters out of reanimated corpses she experimented on; Heisenberg wanting to use Rose's powers, etc etc.

And it's important that Miranda is at the center of this. There's something very interesting she says to Ethan in her boss fight:

"Why do you interfere? Surely you have no need of Rose now, so close to death?"

And that's where her mistake was. Ethan wasn't doing all that because he needed Rose herself. He was doing it to save her, fully aware that he wasn't going to be a part of her life cause he knew he was dying. Miranda was way too dependent on her love for Eva - and like, I honestly get it that losing your child can devastate you (if anything my fear of that is one of the reasons I don't want to have kids) - so much that her life literally revolved around her child. Once Eva died, Miranda wanted to die. Once she found the Megamycete and discovered she maybe had a chance to bring Eva back, she dedicated her entire life and ruined multiple others to do just that. Her one and biggest need was to get Eva back. It wasn't a simple want or wish. It was a need. She'd get her child back, damn everyone else - including other people's children.

Miranda had no-one to blame directly; Eva had died from the influenza, it wasn't like she had any chance to change things. Ethan's case was different; he had people to blame, particularly, the one who kidnapped Rose and dismembered her, and her lackeys who kept said parts and fought him for trying to take them back.

So on one end, you have a parent who lost her child due to a tragedy, and ended up destroying other - innocent - lives in order to get her back. On the other, you have a parent who lost his child due to a crime, and ended up going after the criminals responsible in order to get the child back. Like, it wasn't even revenge, and it wasn't that he "needed" Rose in his life. He simply wanted to save her and ensure she'll be alright.

I fully agree it could have been Mia as the protagonist in re8, and that it was a wasted opportunity to simply fridge her and have her in the sidelines angsting over her husband. But whether it was Mia or Ethan as the protagonist, I feel like the theme that I explained above does offer a resolution, showing the opposites of Miranda and Ethan, and ending Miranda's tyrrany of her "need" to have her child back through Ethan's determination to ensure his child's safety and happiness - even if he doesn't get to be a part of any of that later on. Miranda showed obsession; Ethan showed dedication.

And this is how I see the abuse cycle breaking and the resolution is reached; an obsessed parent hurt a good parent's child to bring their own child back - the good parent's dedication stopped the former, allowing the former's tyrrany to end and their child to grow up safe.

Seeing as this is a horror game, I don't tend to focus on the morality issues (if I'm interpreting your second message correctly). Like, the developers are making a grant effort to put us in Ethan's shoes, first-person POV, plain character protagonist and all; our child got kidnapped and practically murdered, and we have the chance to bring her back. We'll absolutely raise hell to the people who are responsible for it and we will get our child back, fuck any moral dilemmas we might have. When someone is threatening your life, you have the ability to kill them to defend yourself. In the case of a caring parent, that ability may multiply by a lot when the threat is towards their child. And I feel that this is what the game explored in the end. Though the whole survival issue is taxing on Ethan, he doesn't give a damn about who he has to kill if it means saving his daughter - but again, it's only the responsible parties. We see how watching all the people at Luisa's house die affected him, and even before Elena died, he wanted to ensure her safety before he went searching for Rose; he is sympathetic and morally rational, but also capable of cold-blooded murder if someone is threatening his child. To a lesser extent, we saw that in re7 too. With his life on the line, he killed Jack (multiple times) and Marguerite, and at the end he recognized how they were actually victims of Eveline. But they were still actively trying to murder him so he wasn't given the chance to help them. With Zoe, he promised to send help, and he did, even wanting to talk to her once she'd been rescued by her uncle and Chris. The same applies to re8, but as I said, it's multiplied since it's his daughter who's in danger, and the end of re8 proves he cares for her safety more than his own.

Now, all that said, I think it's important to note how it's stil a Resident Evil game. I haven't actually played or watched any playthroughs of other games, but the basic concept in these games, from what I understand, is that the player shoots zombies; ex-human beings who have lost any human mentality and will just come for your throat if you don't kill them first. They're not humans anymore, they can't be reasoned or sympathized with. It's not really an issue of morality, ethics or philosophy. Your life, and the life of your child in the case of re8, are in danger. You don't give a shit. You just start shooting and hope for the best. Again, I don't know if the morality issue is explored in other RE games, but to be honest... Resident Evil doesn't sound like the kind of franchise that's thematically into going super deep into the morality of shooting zombies to save your life.

I have to admit I haven't thought of the Lords being representative of child development stages. I think they could be put as Moreau being a toddler, fully dependent on their parent - funnily enough, the Greek word for baby is "moro", pronounced almost exactly the way "Moreau" is pronounced in the game - Donna as a child, Heisenberg as a (rebellious?) teenager, and Dimitrescu as a late teen/young adult (if anything, Dimitrescu seems to behave like the eldest child of the bunch). But I'm not sure the connection that has to Ethan as a father, if anything because the bosses are fought in complete random order of age, if my analysis is correct. Like, I understand the symbolism behind the Lords' behaviours, maybe as you said they represent the obstacles Ethan had to overcome. In one single day and with his life on the line, instead of in the course of Rose's entire childhood and adolescence, but that's exactly why he hated being a protagonist of a horror game, lol.

Anyway, yeah. All in all, I don't think Resident Evil is a franchise where we should expect to sit down afterwards and ponder whether we were right to shoot the zombies that were trying to kill us. Again, I'm not the right person to ask this, since I don't know anything about other RE games, but that's the conclusion I'm making in a meta-thinking way.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Dumbest Things in The Final Season

I’ve played TWDG a lot, and I can confidently say that The Final Season is my favorite installment, and I’d argue that it’s the best of the series in terms of visuals, controls, characters, and storyline... but that doesn’t mean it’s a perfect game by any means. In fact, there are a lot of issues and inconsistencies you could pick out within the story and the arcs of our characters.

But today I don’t wanna tackle the big problems. The issues on today’s list aren’t a big deal and won’t ruin the experience of the game-- they’re minor and just really, really dumb. They’re things that you probably wouldn’t even notice during your first or second playthrough of the game. Honestly, most of these probably could be easily explained with “shhhh, don’t think about it.” 

But I’m thinkin’ about them because they’re dumb. So, here's my Top 5 dumbest things in TFS. Do note that these Top 5′s are all in good fun, and they’re my opinion. Obviously. 

[also, most of the screenshots used here are from @pi-creates​-- if you haven’t checked out Pi’s blog, I highly recommend you do! :D]

5. Doors make no sense. 

The doors in this game are dumb and make little sense. And you might be scoffing like, “Really? Doors?” and to that I say, “YES DOORS OKAY!”

If you’re like me, you like to look at everything in hopes of finding interesting details and maybe an easter egg. If you look at the all the doors after breaking out of the dorm in ep1, they all have different locks which... why? 

Wait, shouldn’t Clem be able to open this one...? The lock is right there on the outside. 

Why are they different? Also, why are the dorms lockable from the outside? Like, okay, I get it-- ya gotta lock up the troubled youth so that they don’t escape. Fine. Cool, I can accept that... except does this mean that someone had to go around and unlock all the dorms every morning before the apocalypse? What if you forgot a door and a handful got stuck in there for the day? What happens if you lock all these children in their rooms and a fire starts??

And don’t you look at me and try to be like “Pfft, there’s not gonna be a fire--” excuse me?? With Aasim hanging around, and Mitch for that matter, you’re gonna tell me that the odds of fire happening are 0%?

Well, y’know, fine. If there’s a fire, then the kids can just escape through the windows... oh wait--

Weeeeeell fuck the troubled youth, I guess. 

But the dorm doors aren’t even the dumbest doors here-- no, no. That would be the god damn basement door that apparently locks from both sides because game’s gotta game and I guess Marlon has the key?? This dumb door makes no sense. 

Again! I feel like this is a safety hazard?? Sure hope no one gets locked down there, otherwise, you’re fucked I guess?? because there’s no way to unlock or open it from the inside?? After Brody dies and Clem’s looking for a way out, you’d think that she should be able to just open the door at the top of the stairs now that she’s inside but nooooo-- game’s gotta game. 

Ugh, dumb doors!

4. Abel’s magic shotgun

Did you guys know that Abel actually has a special shotgun? A magical shotgun, if you will?

It’s true, he does. He uses a shotgun that, when he fires it, the buckshot curves around to hit the target when the plot demands it.

It’s true! And it’s dumb!

I know this, because if you yell for Violet to shoot Lilly in ep2, Abel will throw AJ to the grab, pull the shotgun out of nowhere, and fire at both her and Louis.... but somehow--

--only Louis manages to get hit.

Soooo.... I guess the buckshot swerves around and above Violet to ONLY hit Louis? Like, I know she ducks a bit but I still feel like something should’ve nicked her as well?? At least?? Like, are lesbians immune to shotguns and that’s why nothing hit Violet?? Am I only learning this now??

Not only that, but it only got Louis in the arm?? H-how??

But that’s not all!

After Louis and Violet flee the scene, Clementine and AJ are on the run with Lilly and Abel shooting BEHIND them... sooo...

If Abel was behind them.... how is it that AJ’s shot in the FRONT of his stomach??

Like, I guess Abel could’ve been at an angle when he shot but they only ever show him behind them soo?? Do I just not know how shotguns work? Do they curve to hit people in their front rather than shooting straight forward?? Because what??

On top of that, how is AJ not dead?? I know, I know, protagonist powers and whatnot but?? the boy took a shotgun to the belly?? other characters have survived lesser things??

But y’know, the dumbest part about this is the fact that I can’t take Abel’s magic shotgun for myself after the Ericson crew capture him. I could’ve just finished off every delta member if the shots curve and travel to hit their targets.

Or maybe Abel’s the only one who can harness its power.

Either way, Abel’s dumb shotgun is dumb.

3.You can’t hug Louis and Violet during their romance routes. 

Sigh.... Why?

Y’all know that I’m a clouis shipper, and now lemme tell you a fun story that isn’t actually that fun-- Do you remember when the trailer dropped for ep3? And we got some teaser screenshots, with one of them being a shot of Clementine and Louis hugging? Well, I was excited for a plethora of reasons, and that hug? 

I could not wait for this hug.

Then I got through my first run of ep3 and... no hug? Wait, no hug? Why not? I thought--

Oh. Oh, it turns out... it turns out you can only hug Louis if you don’t romance him. 

Ummmm. Huh. Wha- why?? Do you know how dumb that is?? What dingus who worked on this episode forgot to implement the hug option for the romance route?? Rather, what dingus thought it was a good idea to only give the Louis romance two options outside of doing nothing-- Slap Louis, or kiss him?? Where’s my hug?? Why is Clementine not allowed to comfort her boyfriend with a hug when he’s clearly anxious about everything that’s about to go down?

Look, the smooch is great and all BUT it’s not what Louis needs in this moment, ya dingus. 

I’m sure if I asked Kent for answers about this, he’d do one of two things-- go into a long winded essay about how the lack of hug and slapping him totally makes sense within the context of Louis’ character arc and route because of this and that and this subtle detail here... or he’d give a shrug and say “I dunno, reasons??”

Ugh, okay, well maybe they let you have the choice in Violet’s romance route--

...Why??

Again, if I choose to romance Violet, why am I not allowed to comfort my girlfriend with a hug before we do this rescue mission?? Sure, I can reassure her that I’m not going anywhere, which is definitely a better option for a love interest than, oh I don’t know, slapping. But the HUG!

They could’ve implemented the hug option into the romance routes but they didn’t and that’s incredibly dumb. 

2. Magic tree is magic. 

Know what I don’t like? The dream theory. Y’know, the theory that the overly happy ending we got at the end of TFS was all just a dream in AJ’s head to cope with the devastation of the real ending-- the one where Clementine died.  

Now, I can already hear you scoffing at me once more like, “Dream theories are dumb, CJ.” and this time, I do agree with you. 

However, there’s actually some compelling evidence that could subtly point at this theory, such as the backward graffiti in the dorms that was present in Clementine’s nightmare, or the fact that Clementine is, y’know, alive despite being seconds away from death in the barn...

Oh, and then there’s this fucking magic tree. 

Oh, you know... the tree that magically grows in in ep4! The one with the tire swing! 

Episode 3 vs Episode 4

This tree is dumb and makes no sense. What, did they just... plant a tree there? Did they push the tree up that was on the ground and use some magical wood glue to fix it?? Clementine said that Willy helped her with the tire swing so like... is Willy some sort of tree whisperer?? 

Or is this just further evidence of the dream theory where AJ’s lamenting the fact that Clementine never got to push him on the tire swing back at the train station and now she never will because she’s fucking dead??

I don’t wanna think about it. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s what the devs would tell me-- “Shhhh... don’t think about it.” 

This tree is dumb! 

1. What even is the greenhouse??

So.... the green house. It’s dumb. And inconsistent, both in the story and actual location of it. 

First of all, as you can see in the concept image above, it should be within the walls of Ericson, yeah? And if you’re like, “Well, it’s CONCEPT art so it might not be totally accurate CJ.” and I say, “Fair enough, let’s look that the actual in-game map the characters use then.”

Look at that-- still within the walls of Ericson, though in a different location than the concept art. Make sense? Sooo....

Where the hell is it?

Because it’s not within Ericson’s walls. No, no--

It is WAAAAY the hell out here! You can see the bell tower in the distance so like... huh? Where are we?? This is a long as walk to the greenhouse! 

Oh, and if the weird inconsistent locations weren’t dumb enough, there are different conflicting stories surrounding it, as well! 

First, Marlon says that they had it functional with lots of vegetables, but then it became over grown so they don’t go out there anymore. Then, if you go fishing with Violet and Brody, Vi will tell you she worked in the greenhouse the day the twins were killed last year, which... doesn’t add up? Especially when we actually go there in ep2 and see that Ms. Martin died and became a walker inside, but she died a while ago?? 

Also, how did Ms. Martin get tied up like that? Did she get bit, barricade the doors-- wait, that doesn’t work because how did she barricade the science lab from the inside when there’s a shelf in front of the door?? In fact, shouldn’t the walkers that are inside be students that died?? 

“Sshhhh... don’t think about it.”

Ugh, nothing adds up about this greenhouse and that makes it the dumbest thing in TFS.

---

Honorable Mentions

AJ magically teleporting behind Marlon with the gun. Because plot.

The dumb padlock on the gate Louis/Violet/Tenn climb over in ep4 that they could’ve easily broken

Louis’ jacket that somehow holds Chairles

The padding on Violet’s boot that’s rendered useless because they put it on the leg she doesn’t use to kick walkers away

---

Those are my Top 5 dumbest things in TFS, do you agree or disagree? Do you have anything from this game that’s dumber than what I have listed? Let me know! 

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Characters in ANF Who Would’ve Made Better Love Interests Than Kate

[yourwatchisbroken]

okay its kind of breaking my heart to see all of the negativity surrounding the last of us part 2, a game which is also breaking my heart right now... i have a lot to argue in favour of this game 

i am not trying to change people’s opinions, but i feel like there’s so much people aren’t seeing

(HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD)

The first thing that people are upset about is of course Joel’s death. Before I start defending this, I need to say: I already knew that Joel was going to die because I saw the leaks. When I found out that this was the story we were getting, I was angry and I wanted to cancel the game. Over the next few weeks, I came to terms with the fact that this was the route the story was going to take, and I simply hoped that it would be worth it. By the time I actually played the game, I was able to accept it for what it was. It still absolutely crippled me to see it, and I cried a hell of a lot, but I wasn’t angry about it anymore. I was able to see it with a clearer mind, and realise that he died for a brilliant story. And no, it’s not a revenge story. (I explain why later on.)

There’s also the criticism of how early in the game he dies. It surprised me at how early on it was too, but when you consider that Ellie and Joel’s final few conversations are some of the very last scenes that we see, it makes sense that we didn’t get to see much of him at the beginning. Several hints were made about their relationship at the time Joel died, but at this point, the player doesn’t even know that Ellie knows about the fireflies. We have no idea what is going on between them. Even if they had waited until later in the game to kill him, they wouldn’t have been able to show him with Ellie, because an important part of the game is when the player finds out that Ellie knows about the fireflies, and then in the very last scene where the player sees that Ellie was willing to try and forgive Joel for what he did. If they had shown a bunch of Ellie and Joel early on in the game, those key moments wouldn’t have been possible.

The second criticism I’m seeing so much about is the fact that Ellie didn’t kill Abby in the end. I can understand people wanting Ellie to finally finish her revenge mission after everything, but by the end of the game, this is no longer a story about vengeance. Everything that happened in Seattle was over a year ago, and Ellie has long since abandoned her hunt for Abby. When she leaves the farm to go and find her one last time, it isn’t out of hate. She doesn’t want to go, but she’s traumatised and desperate. She can’t eat or sleep. Tommy comes along and adds guilt to the list. Joel’s death messed her up so incredibly much and this story is so much more than a revenge story. It’s a story about grief, and how much it can affect you when you lose someone you care for so very very much. In some ways, it’s a symbol of Ellie and Joel’s relationship, and how much they loved each other, despite everything. Ellie doesn’t kill Abby in the end because this isn’t a story about hate and revenge.

Naughty Dog marketed this game as a hate story, which I think was a huge mistake. There is love in this story, especially in the ending. But when you’ve been sold this dark story of vengeance, of course you’re going to want Abby to pay for killing Joel. What she did was awful, and she took pleasure in getting revenge for her father’s death, killing Joel slowly and painfully while his loved one watched. Ellie isn’t like that. She chose to let go and walk away, tired and broken and with nothing left. When she pictures Joel playing his guitar, she realises that all she wants is him. Killing Abby wouldn’t have brought Joel back. Nothing would change, except that Lev would be left with nobody. He would’ve lost a parental figure just like Abby and Ellie lost theirs, and the cycle would continue. No matter how much Abby deserved to die, it wasn’t the answer. Ellie didn’t want to enact revenge in the same way that Abby did. She scared herself with her own behaviour in Seattle. She was shaken knowing what she was capable of, unlike Abby, who seemed to enjoy torturing Joel. Ellie is more than that. She is so much more than a hateful revenge story. It frustrates me that the game was marketed that way, because it blinds people to the love that is such a powerful force in this story. Ellie loved Joel, even after learning that he stopped her from doing the one thing she was so desperate to do with her life. She still loved him so incredibly much, and that’s the message I’m taking from this story.

The negative comments are breaking my heart honestly, because I get that people are upset, but if they looked underneath the surface of hate and revenge, they would see a lot of love and a lot of grief, and then maybe they would see that this was the meaningful Joel/Ellie story we wanted. It’s not a happy game, absolutely not. But I do think it adds on everything we loved so much about the first game.

Of course there’s also a lot of criticism about having to play as Abby and sympathise with her. I agree with this to some extent, and I wish that she didn’t have such a huge section in the game. I feel neutral about her. Don’t hate her or love her. She’s alright. But in comparison to Ellie, she’s absolutely nothing. Maybe if Naughty Dog hadn’t kept her so hush hush, we would have had time to warm to her, develop a connection to her, and then her section of the game wouldn’t feel so lacking. I’m on my second playthrough now, and to be honest, I already like her more than I did the first time around. Her part already feels more meaningful, and I do think that her side of the story adds a very interesting angle that is worth exploring.

Finally, there’s the criticism about the homophobia and transphobia in the game. It’s awful stuff, it really is. Seeing Lev be treated so terribly is heartbreaking, but I think his story adds something worthwhile. I think as long as it is never implied that this behaviour is justifiable in any way, it should be allowed in a story. Of course these things aren’t nice for anyone to see, but there’s a lot of not so nice things to see in this game, and as long as they’re done well, they can really add something. When bigotry is included in media, it need to be handled very carefully, and I don’t think this game did a bad job. If the seraphites were given a chance to defend their behaviour, or made out to be anything other than an evil, oppressive cult, I would have had a problem. Seth is given a scene where he apologises and tries to justify his behaviour but it’s still very clear that he’s a huge dick, so I don’t have a problem with that either. I don’t think the developers at Naughty Dog had any bad intentions with these things, and I think these characters and their stories are important.

[retphienix]

It's been 6 years :)

On March 30th, 2015 I decided I wanted a gaming side blog. (so we're early, but shush, it's the month for me)

I didn't know what I'd use it for exactly, but I had ideas- something I always have even if most of them only get as far as daydreamin' or writing out before closing them :P

For proof on the lack of direction the blog initially had- the March 30th date is the anniversary of my first post, an in-depth and lengthy review of Dragon Warrior Monsters for the GBC.

If you know the blog then you know "Extremely long and in-depth reviews" aren't the norm around here. As a matter of fact, that first post is the ONLY one I've done!

The closest I've come to ever repeating that would be the (word of the day) Directionless video I put out on Hades to get a grip on the concept of making videos, but that wasn't nearly as much of a 'review' as that first post is.

Tangent, definitely planning on trying my hand at videos some more for the foreseeable future. Probably not gonna use the tagline Full Impressions that I tossed as a whim for the Hades video but yeah- I'm excited to try my hand at a few videos :) tangent over.

It didn't take me long to come up with what I'd like to do for the blog though :)

A few months later I liveblogged a challenge run of FFT where I used only Ramza- a solo run. - Which maybe only happened because I tried a nuzlocke run a year prior on my main account-

(Nuzlocke | FFT challenge run)

Thanks to that haphazard liveblog experiment I started to realize a couple things which became the primary motivators behind this blog.

1) I LOVE sharing experiences. No brainer, I'm sure, but being able to share my experiences, and compare them with others' experiences, and just that mutual sharing is uplifting and feels good to do.

2) Liveblogging is an EXCEPTIONAL motivator to buckle down and play all those games I said I'd play (cue everyone laughing because I'm still way behind and have an immeasurable backlog).

But I mean that, on both respects. I have plenty of motivators toward the blog today, but if I were to be concise it's pretty much "It's easier to beat games if I liveblog them- otherwise I get distracted and play other games" and "I love sharing experiences and thoughts with people about my favorite thing- games."

Since 2015 I've tackled around 70 games as full playthroughs, and an untold ton as one offs or just to ramble about for a bit.

I've had a lot of highlights over the years, and I don't talk much about it as an overall experience so I thought for the anniversary I'd try to do just that. Not everything- I can't say I have photographic memory that would bring all of it up without prompting after all :P But whatever comes to mind as I browse some of my old stuff- as well as some thoughts on what I'd like to see in the future.

It's gonna be a bit self-centric I assume as I type this preamble to it, so let me say outright that this blog wouldn't be half of what it is without all the people who've given it the time of day over the years.

From recommending games they love or appreciate, to comparing thoughts, to offering kind words for analysis I've done over the years, to pointing out when I'm dumb and misread a situation :P- to, yes, even the people who decided "Fuck this guy's ramble" and deleted my captions before reblogging my gifs way back during Hamtaro (Of COURSE I remember that! It's amusing lol).

This is better because of others, because of the interactions and the people I've gotten the chance to chat with or befriend. It's just a liveblog more or less, my own little bit of fun I toss out for myself if for anyone- so seeing others enjoy this or that from the work I put into sharing my experiences or thoughts is always a joy in itself :)

Anyway, onto selfishly rambling about some tidbits of the past :)

Also sorry but no, opted to not shove a ton of photos in, it does have a handful of links to old posts though :P

This'll be disorganized as heck as I'll add to it over time before I feel it's worth posting (or the tumblr post editor becomes a hassle and more or less forces me to).

First~

FFT Solo Ramza Challenge: Considering it was roughly the first thing this blog has done, it's also something that's stuck in my head a lot more clearly than most of the other stuff I've done to be honest lol.

In truth, this is partially because FFT is my favorite game, bar none. But it's also because the whole experience was pretty new to me. Prior to it I had really only done one self-imposed-challenge that wasn't requested by the game in some manner and that was a nuzlocke run of Blue version.

So adding a challenge to my favorite game was a fantastic experience!

Notes I just wanted to say today about that run: If anyone enjoys FFT I honestly recommend giving it a shot for the unique story it lends itself to. I do recommend skipping the rules until after the second battle but that's up to YOU to decide.

My first post on the subject is me complaining about spending 4 hours grinding out the second fight and, despite hyperbole being my natural state, that was NOT hyperbole.

It DID take 60~ restarts to beat. It DID take 4 hours. The reason is that that 2nd battle is RNG as HECK, you HAVE to have Delita do some meaningful actions, you HAVE to have the enemies miss and make poor plays, you damn near HAVE to crit a few instances to save yourself from taking too much damage.

It's a numbers game to the extreme, so I wouldn't fault anyone for 'cheating' and skipping the 2nd fight for the ruleset lol.

The memory that stands out the most for that run is actually isolated in a post in which Ramza (Purrick in this run) talks like a total badass as just ONE DUDE running into a room full of enemies. I just think on that as a great encapsulated view of what it was like. The run started off face grindingly difficult, but because FFT is a game that offers so much freedom to the player it was extremely easy to 'break' the game into making Purrick overpowered as hell.

That's something I love about some tactical RPGs, I love having the ability to play smart so that I can play stupid later on, and breaking the game into making him one shot god is certainly a good payoff for playing smart early on :P

RetQuick: I miss RetQuick, it was primarily a short experiment I did in 2015 where I'd play a game for a short span of time (REALLY short, like 10-20 minutes) and record that for the purpose of making gifs and saying a short piece on what I thought.

It's one of those formats where the purpose was pretty shallow- but had a reason. I wanted to try making some gifs with some tools that existed online, so I made an excuse to do just that.

I also wanted to play a TON of games, usually through emulation on my sister's PSP, and this let me do that.

These two minor goals came together and so I spent a while making RetQuicks which were honestly more fun to make than they had any right to be. I mean the gifs were tedious but the playing? The thought sharing? The end product ocassionally having more appeal than just a photoset? It was fun.

I'm thinking whenever I have trouble picking a game for the blog I'll revisit the format... sorta.

I already reused it for a short stint to show clips I had no plan on expanding into a playthrough, but that died as well as it was too similar to Tidbits posts (another tag I no longer really use).

My thought is to rebrand retquick as something of a tryout for what game comes next. Play a handful of my backlog games for an hour or so each and say some thoughts before saying which one I'll continue as the main game for that period of time.

Old Tag Stuff: One of those things that only sticks to me since I made the decisions but it's always funny for me to look back on my old posts because I was apprehensive as hell toward making my posts visible. The reason my early playthroughs on the My-Tags page are variants of Ret instead of just "The name of the game so people can find this post" is because I felt like a liveblog would just spam the tag to hell-

Something I don't remotely feel bad for doing anymore.

So I avoided getting any sort of spotlight for quite a while on the blog for little reason.

Why Retphienix?: This is just a dumb thought I wanted to share and I'm sure I've said before.

It stands for retro!

Yeah!

Ain't that dumb and also not a real shorthand? lol

I think I have some sort of deer in headlights anxiety towards naming things, I mean do you think I think Full Impressions is a good summation for a video? I don't. But perhaps that's overshadowed by the other inexperiences and anxiety driven decisions that had- doesn't matter.

Retphienix is Retphienix because I sat there in 2015 and thought "Well... what do I name an alt account?"

My main is Redphienix, which yes, is ALSO a terrible name AND is misspelled. But it's that because of sentimental reasons. As a kid I misspelled Redphoenix when making my gamertag (I knew how to spell Phoenix back then as well, I was too excited about xbox live and misspelled it) and it's become something of a sentimental misspelling.

So I wanted to make a mix on that for my game blog, but I had no idea what. In the end I thought "RetroPhienix? I don't know. Retphienix is closer to Redphienix. I'll do that" and so it was done.

And just like how Redphienix is both bad and misspelled but exists because of sentimental reasons- Retphienix has acquired the same 'flavor' in my eye lol.

Aspirations for the blog: I have no immediate ramp up plans or road map or whatever, and in truth I'll be happy if the blog stays just as it is forever- up until tumblr ends- I cry over lost posts- and I reopen it on another platform.

But I do have blurry half-considered daydreams that I'd like to see happen for the blog through some hard work or shifts on my part.

One is something I'm already doing kinda, hence my embarrassing means of bringing it up a lot lately. Videos- I want those. I wanna make some looks back on series people don't talk about that I enjoy, I want to make videos sharing my thoughts on games I beat for the blog (like what full impressions kinda was, but I don't think they'll have a unified name from here on out). Maybe retrospectives, but mostly when I think of making a video tied to retphienix or me in general it's me looking at a game that said something to me, and saying it louder with my own interpretations on it.

You know the kind, videos where they talk about a video game but not the whole thing- just a singular message they really heard loud and clear from it intentionally or not. I dig those and I know I end a lot of games having plenty to say that could be directed into such a format.

We'll see.

And I'm along for the ride on that one as well- currently I'm keeping my eyes on whatever is directly next, which happens to be "I plan on playing Omori, if it clicks as something to talk about I would like to take a shot at that in a video too!"

The other is that I'd like to build a small community. Wouldn't know the first thing on doing that in a modern sense, but just a little online friend group to chat with and play games together. Something that could open up multiplayer and coop experiences being better shared on the blog and would just in general expand my gaming to what it used to be back on the 360 when I had a large group to play with.

Since the 360 era ended I've pretty much closed off- stopped playing competitive games due to lack of interest- and slowed down to playing all games either solo, with randoms (and no mic usually), or with my cousin. It's a rare instance when I play with some good people like @gamesception or another friend of mine, John.

When I diverted from playing competitive games nonstop toward other genres I didn't intend to also cut out all my online gaming buds, it just kinda happened, and I never really put any effort into rectifying that.

So more or less I'd like to one day sit down and work on a discord server, and then buck up and put the leg work in to make some gamin' buds again, but that's such a vague concept anymore.

Sounds all sad and what not but it's more ambivalent, I made decisions that

changed how gaming worked for me after the 360 and this is just where it landed for better and worse- I'd just like to see if I can make it a little better :P

General things I think when I think retphienix: Honestly? I think of how much fun I've had over the years and how thankful I am to have had an outlet that encouraged me to explore more of the medium.

I REALLY love games. I went to college for games, I've written LEAGUES about games, I've played countless games, my childhood was games, my adult life is games- games games games yada yada yada.

So when I think of retphienix I think of how without it I probably wouldn't have explored a lot of the corners of gaming that I have.

I genuinely, and I mean this, might not have sat down and beaten FF7 for myself and would have considered the amount I played as a kid to be enough.

I might not have played Chrono Trigger yet, and I KNOW I wouldn't have played Chrono Cross, and I'm happy as hell to have played both of those. CT was a mind blowing moment for me that showed me just how good an RPG can be, and CC gave me miles to think of in terms of innovating an RPG and how beholden to the narrative a sequel should be (I don't feel CC should have been chrono at all lol).

I DEFINITELY wouldn't have given New Vegas another chance. And I know I'm a sourpuss on NV, I've been that way since I maxed my achievements on the 360 for it, but replaying it really did reveal to me how exceedingly negative I was being.

My memories had become "It's brown and a boring location >:(" and "The factions all suck and it doesn't do anything with the idea of bad factions >:(" and became "It's... a little brown guys, not a big fan of the area" and "They didn't do enough with exploring the gray factions" while adding "Wait. This is pretty damn fun. And 90% of the additions are stellar. And I forgot about Dead Money, my favorite dlc in any game ever with a story that tears at my heart every time I think of it, NV good actually?"

Faxanadu would have remained a cool game I saw on SSFF and not a game I played to the end and fell in love with the aesthetic feel it has!

Also that's a game I cheated like crazy on lol, I would do it again! Save state scumming games meant to be rudely difficult is only fair :P

I probably would have never sat down to play through Windwaker which was such a positive and uplifting experience that I now get the most relaxed and warm feeling in my heart when I see those blue waves.

There's so many experiences I would have left on the table in favor of like... putting more hours into a live service title or something.

Maybe, and no offense to my cousin or anyone else playing it, but maybe I'd be no-lifing World of Warcraft nonstop just stagnating my interest toward the skinner box mechanics of an MMO?

Some offense, actually but lightheartedly lol.

But beyond the entire games I've played for the blog, when I think retphienix I picture all the time making gifs, all those games I played on the PSP for short stints, buying a retron 5 to add to what I could explore and being stoked when they shipped a freebie box of old controllers to go with it, getting angry at the retron for being a Piece Of Shit lol, crying at the end of damn near every game with an emotional story because I'm a big emotional mess of a person who finds investing and crying at a story way too easy thanks to empathy pulls, oh!-

Getting excited whenever I found that I had a "*controversial*" opinion that no one would care about lol. Like the one that comes to mind is that I thoroughly believe that Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza!! for the NES is WAY better than the fandom recognized and appreciated sequel/remake Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan!

How many people do you hear talking about either game, let alone saying the NES game that is roughly half of the SNES remake is the better one :P But I stand by that! The SNES one is a remake of DBZ1 and 2 for the NES but it loses all the charm and some of the fun of the NES ones by being a lackluster SNES game!

lol

I admitted wholeheartedly that this post would be a lit-

little directionless (gotta love the new tumblr poster making me break sentences like that), but to sum things up.

It's been 6 years. It's been an untold amount of work to be honest- liveblogging a game, at least for me, hasn't been the easiest thing. It's a lot of thinking out my thoughts (heh), it's a lot of learning tools to make the capturing process possible, it's a lot of experimenting, it's a lot of writing and editing, and, well, sometimes it's just tough.

I mean I went to school for coding, not video editing, not writing, not image processing, not this or that- but this hobby has introduced a lot of things even if only at a VERY base level (I admit fully to using online alternatives to make gifs for instance).

I learned a lot about, well, a lot of things in order to use this blog to learn more about games- and all that work has become part of why I've loved all 6 years of this blog.

6 years of gaming, work, and you all- and it's been worth the investment :) Here's to many more and all of you whether you stumble upon this post or not- literally anyone who's interacted in these 6 years, thank you, and anyone who hasn't I offer you well wishes as well.

<3

[lordbhreanna]

RE3 Ramblings

I finished a second playthrough and felt like sharing some random thoughts about RE3make. Mostly things I have been mulling over the past few days. As usual, don’t expect many organized thoughts, this is just me rambling away about certain things from the game (mostly the story and characters, to be honest). Spoilers under the cut!

— One thing I love about the initial sequence in Jill’s apartment is that it lets you know her more intimately than we’ve ever known any other main RE character. It shapes her personality a bit, as well as her current mental state after Arklay… which isn’t very good. Her place is a mess, there’s beer everywhere which might mean she’s been drinking more, the board tells you she’s obsessed with her investigation, she’s not sleeping well and resorts to pills, the whole nightmare thing. But there are other minor details that I truly loved, and what I mean is: the girly stuff. OH YEAH. There’s this trend to remove any trace of “femenine” elements from female characters that supposedly fit the mold of “strong female characters” (I hate this phrase with a passion). Because, sadly, more often than not, the masculine stuff is valued as cool or positive (things like strength, power, violence) while femenine stuff has more negative connotations. So I was gladly surprised that Jill was allowed to have the kind of stuff that most likely a 23 year old woman would have in her apartment, like make-up products and nail polish bottles scattered all over her bathroom, a fancy handbag in her wardrobe, even panties, those fashion posters on the wall. I know it’s a very minor detail, but I appreciated it. Jill is allowed to be human in this game, to be caring and compassionate while feral and a true action hero. This just adds more to that; she’s a supercop, but she’s also a regular young woman in her twenties.

— Talking with a friend, I came to realise that the reason why this game feels shorter sometimes is because of the pacing. RE2 initial sequence was shorter and you were quickly left out in the open at the police station. But from Jill’s apartment to the subway, a lot more happens and it’s very quick. Now, I think that part is well done because this is Jill’s escape and this is when the city is falling completely apart. So it feels right that it is so desperate, especially because Nemesis is pursuing Jill already at this point. My only wish would have been that the time spent roaming the city, before fixing the subway, was longer. Mostly because I enjoyed exploring the city and its surroundings. But, in any case, I still think the pace fits the game well and the internet tends to turn these things into an echo chamber, so it seems that it’s a bigger problem than it actually is. (I lived through Mass Effect Andromeda’s disastrous release, and I enjoyed the hell out of that game.)

— Let’s talk a bit about the story. I think all the changes made are there to tell a more consistent tale of the last days of Raccoon City, why it fell and what the city represents as a whole. As I mentioned before in other metas, RE is not particularly subtle with its themes, and it’s not really the point. That’s why I think Jill’s last words are so important to understand every other piece of the story: it’s a story about how true horror is human greed, and how it clashes against selfless people like Jill, Carlos or even Brad. It’s not a cynical story, by any means. As much as RE is horror-oriented, I always find its stories quite hopeful and its endings reflect that. Look at RE2R ending too, or RE5. It’s always daylight, because the heroes have escaped the nightmare, and there’s usually a line about never giving up because it’s worth it, despite all the troubles. 

This game deals heavily with the corruption that runs through Umbrella, the US government and the city of Raccoon City itself - which is something that already showed up in RE2R. I find that Bard is the perfect example of said corruption, and to be honest I believe that he is the worst of them all - because he’s the most real one, the kind of upper-class bastard that was part of the problem from the start, but would actually get away with it had he escaped Raccoon City. Yes, he had the vaccine - but he was complicit in all of Umbrella’s experiments, only took actions when Umbrella turned on the researchers and, well, he was a sexist pig. I don’t think the writers added that particular convo with the nurse for nothing, if only to highlight what a douche (as Carlos says) he is, and how this kind of person can do whatever they want without any consequences to their actions. (Luckily he got a bullet to the head. Nicholai is trash, but he’s trash husband material for things like this.)

Carlos is a super interesting case because he starts on the bad side, but you see clearly that he wants to do good, just like Mikhail. He’s honest about wanting to help people. And he does think they’re there helping, so I appreciated a lot how we got to witness this time his slow realisation that maybe he’s not working for the right people here. It adds so much more nuance to him, and it makes you root for him even more. I also appreciated his comment about how Jill even trusted him, despite knowing what Umbrella did. It speaks volumes about the trust and bond these two characters develop throughout the journey. And Carlos is also there to represent that kind selflessness we saw in rookie Leon, for example: he’s willing to stay in the city if it means saving people. He moves heaven and hell to save Jill, when he’s just met her. 

But Jill is obviously THE hero of the story. And one trait we get to see immediately about her is that she’s devoted to helping others - first she tries to convince Dario, then decides to help the UBCS (despite ALL her hate towards Umbrella, and we shouldn’t play that down) because she wants to save the civilians. Then, once she discovers there’s a vaccine, she rushes to get it, because she wants to help as much as she wants to escape the city. She doesn’t trade one thing for another, and she tries to get the vaccine up to the end. 

Then we have Nicholai, who is the main villain. I know a lot of people consider Nemesis the big baddie, but for me Nemesis is just the product of human greed & hubris, it’s a tool - monsters in RE are never the actual villains, they’re just there to have something to shoot at (there’s a great post around Tumblr that also explains why Nemesis may even have the saddest of stories, but that’s another topic altogether). But Nicholai IS the representation of said greed - he shows us to what lengths people can go for personal profit. This is something that is carried over from the original game, but the way it’s presented in the remake is more tonally coherent with the rest of the story, in my opinion. It becomes his main trait because that’s the underlying theme the story is talking about. Jill even calls him “greedy son of a bitch.” I think it’s super interesting that all his conversations relate to that and being selfish, basically. He wants Jill to see that you should only care about yourself and we see throughout the story that he only values things in terms of money and his own survival. He’s the kind of person who puts a price to everything. “There’s a price tag for everything, even letting the world burn.” “You can’t put a price on life” (meaning his own, as he decides to leave instead of getting the combat data of Jill’s fight with Nemesis’ last form.)

Which is the opposite of what Jill stands for and represents - her literal job was in law enforcement, she cares about protecting others, helping people, bringing justice. She’s a selfless person who can’t be bought by money, which is something that a greedy bastard like Nicholai can’t see. That’s why he tries to convince her to save him because of the information he has, adding that he would pay her anything. But that doesn’t work on her, because she’s not like Nicholai. Unlike the rest of Raccoon City, she remains “incorruptible.” She refuses to be part of that, and leaves victoriously while every other evil character dies along with the city (well, Nicholai’s death is debatable, but you know what I mean). In the end, she doesn’t get the vaccine and Raccoon City’s citizens aren’t saved, but Jill wins in a metaphorical way, I would say, and her resolve is stronger than ever. Her words highlight what was Raccoon City’s demise: 

“All this death wasn’t caused by a monster-making virus. It was greed. Human greed.”

[bandicoot88]

My Cyberpunk 2077 thoughts...

Gonna go into some spoilers, which I’ll hide under the cut, tho for now, I will share what I thought of the game. I finished my original playthrough a while back now, and did a second, with my same V but with a few different choices (and going back so I could take a bunch of snaps in photo mode, as you may have seen!)

  The game is definetely overhyped tho. Did I enjoy myself? Yes, but the game could’ve been better had it been worked on either more, or taken a step back... and made sure the game ran nicely. There are problems with it, and I’ll share this video here from videogamedunkey who does a good job of explaining the good and bad:

    The length of the game:

  Too short. For about 2 days I was doing side quests only to look for Brendan and Theo, voiced by Bryan Dechart and Ameila Rose Blaire, and even then, I felt like the story just... ends. When I went to do the final mission, I actually didn’t realize it was the final mission. It does say a point of no return, and I’ve experienced that once before in a game, but I just thought it’d be a really long mission, not the end of the game.

  There’s too many side missions I feel, and as mentioned in the video, a lot of copy and paste kinds which are boring, while some are worth doing, but you can’t tell which is which until you visit those locations.

  Game machanics:

  I’m an easily confused person, but I still felt like the game doesn’t really explain... much. All this tech, upgrades, add-ons, abilities, weapons, hacking, and WHY THE FUCK AM I OVERHEATING!? Like... did anyone else feel overwhelmed? I’d be hours and hours into the game, and I still didn’t know what did what. Heck, there’s stuff now I still don’t understand, like... consumerables. I never use them, EVER!

  I just find them kinda pointless, and they’re fucking everywhere, which is probably my problem because I pick EVERYTHING up. I just wanted the game to explian things better. Even BOTW just throws you into the wildness with little to go on, but it’s easy to pick up and understand once you know how (yes, I know the games are totally different, but CP77 could’ve learned something from games such as that on how to introduce players on how to literally play their game).

  Crafting:

  Did anyone actually craft in this game? I crafted very little, and by that I mean I crafted a few grenades to use. I thought weapons could be upgraded, but I was wrong I think, and legendary weapons could be crafted instead? Either way, I never found enough material to craft anything legendary, and with how often I looted... something ain’t right there.

  Selling stuff:

  On PS4, it’s a fucking nightmare. It’s sooooo slow. It would’ve been nice to have an option like ‘sell all commons/whites’ or selecting multiple items and then go ‘sell’. But no, you have to sell each item individually, and with how the game performs on PS4 currently... yeah, not fun.

  SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!

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

        The story:

Confusing. I got the impression that Arasaka were the bad guys, since y’know... killing Jackie, the son killing the father, etc. Then Takemura enters the scene, thinks we’re the killers, then we both get attacked by robo ninjas, who I haven’t got a fucking clue are, and then... Takemura is trying to save me. When it said ‘finish him off’, I thought it meant Takemura (I think I ignored the prompt, thinking Takemura would die in that moment).

I also kept getting confused on character names within the Arasaka’s, namely Saburo and Yorinobu, constantly getting lost on what and who Takemura was referring to, but I think that’s a me problem and not the fault of the game.

Romances:

  I still have yet to romance someone, but my first encounter with a romancable character was Panam. Little did I know... that she’s straight, so my female V cannot romance her. So. Lame. There’s 4 romances in the game, and we’re limited to 2 per gender? Judy is nice, but I really liked Panam... Why not just make them all bi so from a player perspective, there’s more choice? That’s what Joytoys are, with Skye and Angel as prime examples. Just put the gay/lesbian representation in game elsewhere, but not with romancable characters that are limited, because that’s just lame to me. AC Odyssey didn’t have that problem... It’s really not difficult. According to a YouTube comment on Kerry’s romance, in the Cyberpunk board game, Kerry was bisexual anyway, so... what gives?

Character deaths:

I hated that Jackie died. Seriously? That lovable goof giant just killed off in the most anticlimatic and lame way? If you’re gonna kill off such a great character, at least go out with a bang. The guy didn’t get enough screen time and he was such a lively character in the doom of gloom of Cyberpunk’s world.

It also sucked that T-Bug and Dex died too. T-Bug... how did she even die? The game doesn’t explin anything, and the way she went off comms like that made me think that we’d see her late, as I didn’t realize she was actually dead for a good while, expecting her to make contact at some point.

As for Dex... yes, he did screw us over, but I still liked him. The way he talked, his voice, his style... I just felt he could’ve had more to give.

Then there’s Takemura, another death that I thought had to happen, but the game fucks him over by giving no indication that he could’ve been saved. According to the PS4 trophies, it says 0.8% had Takemura get his revenge for Saburo’s death near the end of the game, so... hardly anyone knew he could be saved.

They couldn’t have done like a decision that could’ve saved him? If they didn’t want to make it obvious, fine, don’t label literally “save Takemura” and “leave Takemura”, but have a decision there at least. Or, explain at some point in the game (maybe near the beginning) that following what the mission says doesn’t have to be taken so literally. When gamers are told by a mission on what to do, they do. How would we ever know to crawl in a tiny hole and find Takemura that way? Again, I assumed we’d meet up later, waiting... waiting... Hanako makes no mention of him whatsoever, and eventually I realized he was dead. Even called him on his phone to confirm it. So lame...

  Smelting legendary weapons:

  I think I accidentally smelted down Johnny’s Revolver, and I fucking loved that thing! The damage, the sound, the awesome reload animation... So now on my other playthrough I’m gonna try and not mess that up. How on Earth are Johnny’s clothes non-sellable/smeltable, but his gun is? How do you mess that up!? Let me mark certain weapons so I don’t accidentally sell them. Again, CP77 can learn from other games...

  Buying cars:

  I’ve bought... one car, and I hate that buying cars are labelled as side missions. Why would I want to buy a hoard of cars? I’m not made of money? I can’t just spend 22k on a car I don’t even really want, especially when I got Johnny’s car, and the bikes of Jackie and Scorpion. Just... have a single place where you can go to buy cars instead of littering the map. I read somewhere that buying cars is the Corpo path only, but I’m not sure?

  The endings:

  I think the ending I got was a common one. I understand there are 5 endings? I chose to go back to Earth and... eventually die I guess, because I didn’t trust Arasaka. I picked the other choice to see what happens, and I wish there was some explaination. You’re just stuck in some program, waiting for a body? If one will even be available? I felt like both endings kinda sucked, and dare I say, the ending you can get much earlier sitting on the roof was oddly more satisfying to me, because you get an actual cutscene with Johnny, and overall, it’s just a nice heart to heart moment. Sure, it’s sad, but there was emotion. The other 2 common endings just felt empty to me. I still have to watch the other, more rare endings.

  Okay I’m done. This is mostly a big rant, but I did still like the game. It just wasn’t ready for release, even after 8 years, and it did had problems, outside of bugs and performance issues.

[secretsfromwholecloth]

Deadfire, day 7.

Oof, those nāgas. And when it’s not those nāgas, it’s those traps. I had to reload a couple of times, most notably after Serafen died. Properly, four-injuries-in-one-fight died. Ciphers are squishy, I’ve learned that quite well, but damn.

Wow, the rathun sure are friendly to a fire godlike Watcher.

After all this time, I still can’t not laugh when Tekēhu makes his “What a glorious hole” crack.

Talking Jadaferlas down is one of my unbreakable habits. I’m not even sure why, considering that across my various playthroughs I’ve killed both scarier dragons and ones with better arguments for letting them live. I guess because talking her down is so easy and has no negative consequences whatsoever, so I’ve never had to fight her, which would’ve reinforced that the option was there?

This is the first time I’ve brought Pallegina to Ashen Maw, as far as I can remember, and her habit of roasting unspeakably powerful entities that could squash her like a bug is as delightful as ever.

The conversation with Eothas about why the Watcher has accomplished great things, whether because they’re just inherently more capable or because of the situations their life has put them in...gnrf. The latter would be the obvious answer if a. the “strong soul” thing weren’t canonically true and b. there weren’t the whole extra meta-level of the Watcher being the protagonist and having a player behind them, and then I get to thinking about all of it, and, well, gnrf.

Xoti got an approval bump from Pallegina. That’ll be a red-letter day in everyone’s diary.

Why yes, I do have a whole bunch of feelings about Eothas telling Edér to take care of the Watcher, thank you for noticing.

I think Aeldys’ speculation about the afterlife merits another “gnrf”. Just one of those things.

Woedica, your “I <3 eugenics” speech isn’t exactly endearing you to me right now. No, that it’s magical eugenics doesn’t help.

I’ve gotten the second teleportation quest, and my regulars are all level 20, so I think it’s time to take some of the more neglected babies on a jaunt around the Neketaka hinterlands. Right now that means Rekke (level 16, I hope to all the gods I can give him some attention in the DLCs), Fassina (level 15, I’ll be needing her for you know what), and Xoti (already level 20, but I need a specialized healer with this lot, and Pallegina’s tankiness is unnecessary with Rekke to hide behind).

Yes, I’ve left it extremely late this time. I usually don’t eliminate quite so much of the mapping and bounty hunting before Ashen Maw, and sometimes I’ll make the rounds on foot when I get the bounty for Nomu rather than wait for Flaune to send me out there.

Ooh, hello there, Animancer’s Energy Blade. Yes, Anlaf would love a lightsaber to wield alongside Marux Amanth.

I normally make sure I have Pallegina along for Castol’s performance review, but you know what, I’m curious, I think I’ll dive in with the party I have.

Wait, which archmage is meant to be in attendance? Duc Remasi cuts Nirro off before he can say the name, and while there’s a person in a robe standing off to the left, I can’t pick out anything except their hair color (brown, I think).

Well, that’s done, Castol is safe. Unless he tries to come for me on the way to Ukaizo. We’ll see.

“I hear the Huana hate few things more than a food stealer.” Heh, yes, I’ve been to Tikawara.

Oh, hey, I got the box of, er, “beans”. Still no visits from any archmages on dragonback, though.

So Clelia actually saw Furrante hanged, but she didn’t go back to Fort Deadlight to finish the quest, because she wasn’t about to throw in with the Príncipi no matter who was leading them, and she got the epilogue slides for Furrante still being alive and in charge. We’ll see if I can get his death to register this time.

Looking at the Darcozzi oath, I see we have another Vailian name for a god—”Dicenas fiaces” in the Vailian text has got to correspond to “Magran’s flames” in the translation. Elsewhere we see that -s seems to be the possessive suffix, among other functions, so that’s Dicena for the Vailian name of Magran.

And I think this is the part where I turn down the difficulty and start doing the real fun stuff. First up, Splintered Reef, since I’m over here buying a certain ship upgrade anyway.

The additional challenge of Easy/Relaxed difficulty can be fun, but sometimes you just want stuff to die already. And that’s what Story mode is for. :D

Eh, the fuck happened here? Fassina, is there something you’d like to tell your casità?

...nope, I did not mean to disembark in Port Maje with Maia in the party. Nope. Maia, get back on the ship.

The reason I was in Port Maje in the first place was to buy that beautiful, beautiful bow. But who’s going to use it? No one who uses a ranged weapon and doesn’t already have their good one is going to be spending much time in the party. Maybe I can give it to Xoti. It won’t kill either of us to have her switch away from her sickle and lantern. I don’t think. And depending on who else is in the party, she could move from the melee squad to the ranged one. It’d be a way to give Rekke more attention, for one, if the fifth spot goes to someone like Aloth, Fassina, or Tekēhu who mostly does crowd control.

What’s that? My playstyle and taste in companions is tailored to Watchers with good support capabilities, playing a rogue was always going to be a trial, and I must be positively itching to rerun one of my favorites by now? You don’t say.

And now, we go after Concelhaut, because I very nearly forgot about him.

Bweeheehee, Concelhaut is so angry. :D Go on, Edér, needle him some more.

Yeah, his VO is so much funnier here. Something about all those trilled /r/s combined with the sheer indignation in his voice. And the hamminess. There’s hardly a piece of virtual scenery without bite marks in it by the end of the conversation with him.

The sheer speed with which Concelhaut was defeated only adds to the hilarity. I may be somewhat overleveled for this quest.

Oh, and the killing blow? Came from Ishiza this time. Never mind the farmhand, Concelhaut, this time you got taken down by an animal.

Hello, Tayn, and hello again, Llengrath. We’ll talk more later.

And I think Nemnok is up next, because I’m pretty sure I’m down to just that, DLCs, megabosses, and the endgame. And I’d like to get that last blackwood log to finally give my ship its good hull. But I’ll have to actually go after him in the morning, because it’s late.