#like I don't think I'll get even close to that number with the one playthrough on scarlet

[lollitree]

So my switch finally says how many hours I have in Scarlet (my in game profile isn't accurate because of a couple of crashes I had with auto save turned off) and it's 80 and I thought woah! And then I compared it to X on my 3DS which I only played this year and it's 292 skdfjs (which has now beaten the total time I had for Y over the past 9 years)

I know I took extra long to play through it to make sure I wrote down enough info on the story and other info, did the pokedex as I went, AND I've been opening it up to run around the towns and stuff for reference but wow that's a lot!

[nerdalmighty]

hey, sorry for randomly sliding into your inbox but! i just wanted to tell you that i'm about to start act 3 of bg3, would've started it sooner but i didn't get to play for a couple weeks as i was waiting to be able to upgrade my hard drive. and over the course of playing i've ended up changing several details of my tav's backstory as well as really fleshing out their character and getting into the roleplay, and i'm so attached to them by now that i almost don't want to finish my playthrough lol. i'm thinking of starting a gale origin playthrough once i do finish just so i can see more of tara. and i noticed that you're close to finishing the game as well! can i ask how birdie's adventure is going?

AHHHHHH DON'T APOLOGIZE!!!!!! I love talking BG3 :)

I am INCREDIBLY close to finishing the game. Like, about to go to the Nether Brain for the final battle close.

I've been putting it off FOR WEEKS because I'm so incredibly attached to Birdie and the companions and their relationships to each other and I don't want it to end!!

Since last we spoke, Birdie and the gang had just done the Iron Throne mission (breaking people out of jail). She decided NOT to go confront the other Wave Servants; that chapter in her life has closed. I won't spoil more of Act 3 since you're just getting into it, but I did I think maybe three other Big Plot Things and now it's time to actually do the damn thing and beat the game.

I'm a little nervous about some of the endings I may have gotten for myself (I'm concerned I may have accidentally condemned Gale to godhood) and I know there are some things I missed, purely because it was my first playthrough and I didn't know any better (I didn't get to know Rolan, didn't save Minthara, didn't get the Githyanki egg, etc), but I'm honestly excited for the epilogue sequence. Is it mostly because of happy/soft Astarion? YES! I LOVE THAT GUY! SUE ME!

My roommate and I have been playing the game at pretty much the same pace this whole time, so I'm about to watch HER beat the game this Friday. She's playing as a Gloom Stalker Ranger named "Sevyn" (yes, like the number 😂) who's romancing Gale, but we've made relatively similar choices throughout the whole thing.

I'm not too worried about spoilers since I know a lot of the outcomes, I just don't know how it happens or what the final battle looks like. But like I explained in my previous Birdie post, I like to look things up beforehand/during certain events because I like having help. Similarly, I love watching my roommate play and learning from/with her so I don't feel as in the dark when it's my turn. Granted, I played a lot without her during Acts 1, 2 and 3, but since we're getting to the end, I've slowed WAY down and have let her go first with most big things. It's not for everyone, but it's how I like to play!

I'm so attached to Birdie and this save file that I'm thinking of creating an entirely new account on my PS5 just to start a new game so that I don't have to save over previous Birdie saves.

Like, what if in a new patch, they add a new scene to Astarion's plot line? A new action (hug/kiss)? New camp idle animations? I want to be able to go in with Birdie and do those things, should they ever come up. Yes I COULD romance Astarion again (and probably will because I'm a weak woman) but as you said about your Tav and I've been saying about mine, I'm really attached to Birdie and I'm invested in who she is and how she fits into the world of BG3.

ALSO! Apparently they're adding mods at some point to the PS5 version? It's been taking everything in me not to buy it on my computer just for some of the mods even though I LOATHE sitting at my desk for hours on end. If mods come into play, I'll definitely want to see what kind of fun things I can make happen for Birdie and the gang. Additionally, one of my friends told me that people modded Skyrim to the point where they were adding new plot points and quest lines? If that happens, and they add like some sort of masquerade ball or event where I can dress up like a princess? You bet you're ass I'm going back to Birdie to let her do that 😂 I'd want to play new paths with Birdie in general, but I'm a sucker for a royal ball sequence 🥸

So basically, Birdie's story in Baldur's Gate may be coming to an end fairly soon. I don't know exactly when yet, but I've been having a blast and can't wait to play the game again and again and again. Right now that's hard to imagine, but I know I'll pick it up with a new Tav eventually because it's such a good game and you can't help falling in love with the world and the writing and the characters. I shall grieve the loss of this particular story, but I plan on keeping Birdie around for as long as I can.

[mushygreybrainmatter]

Okay but Turnabout Serenade is genuinely to the point of frustrating me to tears.

Let me explain why. (lots of spoilers below the cut)

I knew from the second I saw the crime scene that the gun there wasn't the murder weapon. It was literally inches away from Le Touse's hand. It's obvious he was the one holding it. Not only that, but the smudged writing was obvious, but I wasn't able to examine it more closely during the investigation. Moreover, it was way too easy to figure out that Le Touse was saying that the person who witnessed the shooting was blind. However, they decided to rob Apollo Justice of his brain cells, so this didn't get brought up.

Okay. Whatever. Sometimes Ace Attorney cases do this. I'll survive. We'll settle all this in the trial, right?

Cue me spending several hours playing through the rest of the investigation (I want Daryan's hair to burn in hell actually) and getting through to the trial.

This should be easy, I thought. We'll get to the handwriting and the gun and probably the witness. Everything will work out fine.

But no.

Ema Skye is on the stand. She goes over the crime scene and describes the circumstances, and Apollo corroborates. Expected. However, no one brings up the smudged handwriting. Whatever. There's still time, and this first part is pretty short.

Lamroir is called to the stand. Klavier is being cagey and more condescending than usual. Like. By a long shot. This behavior is not explained or called out. I'm convinced at this point that the witness was Machi, but whatever. Lamroir describes what she allegedly saw, then is dismissed from the stand.

We still have no addressed the gun, the smudged writing, or the fact that the witness is supposed to be blind.

Ema is on the stand again. More pointless cross examination. At this point, it's been a few hours of playing through the trial. Klavier is still being mean for no apparent reason. The same things are being said every two seconds. I'm getting fed up.

Then Klavier drops a bomb that should have been brought up at least an hour of playthrough earlier. Lamroir is blind. Not Machi. I can accept this, but it means everything from Lamroir's testimony is worthless.

Klavier has apparently known this since before the trial even started.

Frustrating as it is that Klavier has wasted hours of my time, I figure we might finally be getting somewhere. We've established that the killer had to be able to see the writing to smudge it. We've established that it was an Interpol ID number (which I immediately pegged as Le Touse's, and it doesn't make sense that no one in-game did). We've established that Lamroir is blind, but she can always recognize a voice.

Enter Daryan. I'm thinking we'll finally get to address the elephant in the room. Daryan is a detective. He would have standard issue handgun. Lamroir recognizes his voice. We know he's the killer.

We're finally getting somewhere, right? Right?? NO. We're NOT. Because pointing the finger at Daryan causes such and uproar that the trial has to be suspended.

I've had most of the key evidence pegged from the very beginning of the investigation, and now I have to play through another day of investigation for literally no reason???

So, yeah. Frustrated. This case is probably my least favorite case thus far. No case has driven me up a wall quite like this one.

Is this a hot take? I don't know. All I know is I'm kind of over how this case is making every single character except Klavier incredibly stupid (Apollo literally passed the bar. Ema is literally supposed to be a prodigy, and even considering gifted kid burnout, that doesn't mean she's blind or oblivious) and I'm done with Klavier's bad attitude.

I can extrapolate and make excuses and psychoanalyze but try as I might, I cannot forgive this case for not only being so poorly constructed but for committing such heinous character assassination.

[fereldanwench]

so since i had the tower ending available to me, i figured i'd run through it

disorganized, spoilery thoughts under the cut

so a few world-state items of note:

valerie had no romance (ofc)

valerie did the parade and saved goro (ofc)

valerie never met kerry

valerie didn't help judy with the clouds stuff so judy was also not a friend to call

valerie did have panam and river available as friends

valerie and johnny were very much not friends

i had only seen the ending with a friendship johnny, so getting to experience the rival dialogue was actually really cool. i did record the whole thing so i'll probably upload some clips from that and muse on it properly, but yeah, i love it when valerie and johnny fight. i loved being able to have her call him a narcissist 10/10. and i like that i could play her as still somewhat sympathetic to his situation

i love 2079 reed. his tie and office bod are precious <333

since valerie had no romance, i did get to hear goro during her in-and-out-of-consciousness scenes, which i absolutely loved

i knew about river and panam's phone calls/msgs and neither one of them are actually that close to valerie so the emotional impact there for me was minimal

much like with the devil ending, though, i wish goro was at least listed in her phone, even if it went to a disconnected number in 2079. valerie did tell him she was going to go with hanako prior to this, so having some kind of 'hey, are we doing this thing' msgs from him in 2077 would have been cool.

and like there seems to be some recognition from the devs that players who didn't get attached to any of the romances or had any other friends likely had some degree of fondness towards goro--hence using his voice in the coma. so once again, it just feels like there's missing content from him, basically. not even asking for romantic stuff here either--just more platonic interactions would have been very much appreciated!!!!

vik's situation depresses the hell out of me, even moreso than v's, although i did love getting to spend more time with him and see a different side to him just for characterization purposes. i loved the employee eval on his computer that said he talks to patients too much, because MUSE FUEL MUSE FUEL MUSE FUEL

(i'm actually in the process of working on some story sets for the events that happen directly after the heist, and vik gossiping to goro has been on my mind since the 'vik likes to talk' line v can deliver so this just compounded that)

connecting with misty briefly does kind of heal the soul a little at least

seeing valerie un-chromed and with a shaved head was pretty jarring, although not as much as seeing her in those clothes lmao. like wtf did the fia do with the clothes she arrived in??? even if she wasn't in top form, she would still make an effort to look somewhat nice going to see an old friend but i mean, i get it, at this point my vision of valerie is so beyond the possibilities of the game's potential characterizations for v

i also have a glitch in my game in which she's constantly holding a pistol during some cutscenes lmao so uh having randos try to beat her up while she's visibly armed was odd

the devil ending is still valerie's canon so this was just a curiosity playthrough, but i am somewhat intrigued by the possibility of another AU/alternate timeline for her and goro playing off these events.

the obvious scenario would be valerie becoming a fixer and goro becoming her bodyguard after they work out their shit since goro is clearly unhappy in 2079 lmao, but this ending plays on the convenient-lack-of-communication tropes that i fucking hate in stories (like really, the FIA couldn't find a way to get in touch with v's friends and let them know what's going on? i don't buy it) so it'd require a lot of rework for me.

and i really can't see valerie willingly going with the FIA, particularly after she told goro she was gonna go with arasaka, so i think a lot of that would have to change too

but idk, it's not a priority. i like having the AU stuff to tinker with when i need a break from their canon, which i currently do not. maybe it'll be like the nomad AU and suddenly hit me out of nowhere :3

but yeah im glad i experienced it for myself since there can be so many little personalized variations, but i also feel kinda out of sorts because it just felt really OOC for valerie and there were some major downers there, lmao. i feel like i need a bit of a palette cleanser

OH and i liked rogue taking nibbles, that was a pleasant surprise

[friendshipgun]

😈

💖-specifically, when did you start writing, what kind of things did you write, what inspired you, how has your writing journey looked?

and uh i fuckin forget the emoji but character headcanon(s) for mia winters and/or jesse evilwest (and his twin??)

hope these are fun to answer!

Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

i think maybe you asked this one the last time i reblogged this ask meme but there has also been Fic Progression so i also understand lol. but no, not really. a lot of the time i don't even clock something that might read like that until i get comments about it. i am however mean to Karl and Ethan on purpose and so there is probably splash damage from that lol.

(and i'm gonna have to readmore the rest bc it gets long, apologies) What made you start writing?

i don't know when exactly i started, just that i remember putting little books of "stories" together in elementary school. i wrote what i think technically counts as LOTR fanfic and MLP oc fic lmao. but what i mostly wrote was original fiction. a cousin i was close to as a kid was also big into writing and we ended up attending a summer camp for the arts together in middle school, so i was writing mostly poetry there, but prose too. i also started writing fic with another friend in middle/high school (stuff like pokemon crack fic lmao), but i was still mostly writing original fiction. in high school in particular i got BIG into writing poetry (idk if anyone else knows about allpoetry.com but i sure was spending a heck of a lot of time there), was editor of the high school literary magazine, etc etc. basically i was never not writing. i was also posting way more fic in high school, writing primarily angst at that point and largely for Final Fantasy.

then i went to college and stopped writing for a few years barring academic papers. started taking writing seminars the last few semesters i was there which got me writing again. again mostly original fiction. a lot of supernatural stuff, not really poetry anymore though, which is kind of a shame bc of how much i had liked it. started writing fic again too, a lot of Naruto stuff that i never posted anywhere. then my dad of all people got me into Supernatural and i wrote a bunch of fic for that that i also never posted anywhere. then i went to grad school and the "not writing anything except academic papers" thing started up again rip. really didn't pick it up again as a regular practice until after my dad died a few years back. wrote a bunch of stuff about grief that was uhhhhhhhhh pretty clearly me trying to process shit.

and then it was covid and i lost my job and i was watching playthroughs of re7 and re8 almost concurrently going "but what if you put Heisenberg in the swamp WHAT THEN." as for what inspires me, i guess just about everything? like the number of stories i wrote set in Japan after i'd studied abroad there...is a lot. and with fic it's just like "i just think it would be neat if character i like was in a Situation." when i was writing poetry a lot of it was teenage angst bc i was in high school but i'd also write about cities or people or fantasy epics. anyway this is already really long but yeah basically if i think about it for long enough that it becomes "I Just Think They're Neat" territory i'll want to write something about it.

Mia Winters Headcanon:

she doesn't trust easily and has for a long time kept things about herself secret, or lied outright, as a way to protect herself. she'd been doing this long before she met Ethan and then after...it was habit. and it was easy to keep things about her work secret because it did feel like she was protecting him. and it wasn't like it was going to be forever, she was planning on getting out. she was working on it. she hadn't even thought of something like that--a normal life--until she'd met Ethan, and then it had seemed like...like something attainable. there wouldn't be the need for secrets then, when it was just the two of them. (or so she told herself: it's like pulling off her skin, being that exposed, having nothing between herself and someone else. being seen. completely seen.) anyway this got away from me a bit lmao. but basically i like to try to reconcile her going back to lying post-re7 as a defensive move to protect herself, especially when the BSAA knows everything about her past. i don't think she was intentionally trying to hurt Ethan or anything, just that after Dulvey she'd feel ever more the need to have those secrets as a buffer, combined with a deep, deep fear that Ethan would hate her if he knew. (this is how i am personally smoothing down Mr. Capcom's writing decisions.) Jesse Evil West Headcanon: he has had a crush on Edgar since he was a kid and is outright tormented by it. i imagine him taking issue with how his dad treated Edgar. or feeling jealous of Edgar's loyalty to his dad. just let's give Jesse more issues regarding his dad lmao. the little joke he makes in the game about Edgar kissing him is a ""joke"" but like he is internally yelling UNLESS?????? as vehemently as he can.

thinking also about post-game events, how Bloom was joking around with Edgar and Jesse can absolutely get jealous about that too, like just he's a mess and i don't know if it's better (worse) if he has actually confessed to Edgar and was shot down or has just never confessed to Edgar for fear of getting shot down.

and if you want to bring in Jesse's twin (who is also named Jessie i guess we can just give him an extra vowel) i think it's very funny if both of them alternately fight over and tag team Edgar. co-op, as it were.

[sorcerous-caress]

Ugh, it finally happened! Khal'ian and Kira's saves are fully cooked! So close to finishing act3 with my boy! 😓

Well, it gives me an excuse to finally remake Kira or create Khal'ian's in-lore manic best-friend Issal.

Welp, time to test honor mode with new subclasses!🤗

I'll work on more Wyll/Kira drabbles later tonight, but I have a question.

Do any of your Tav/Durges co-exist? Would they be pre-game friends/foes/lovers? I find it fun to branch out and see the characters I create interact with each other.

-githzerai anon

You can try to downgrade the game version and script extender versions to finish the saves off if you were really close to the end!

Also in the new endgame epilogue, Voss sends a letter that mentions the githzerai canonly in game! I thought of you when i saw it. If you're okay with spoilers lmk and I'll post it.

Also dude, honour mode is fucking brutal. One save file, you can't reload and if you die in the tutorial ship the whole save is nuked. All the rolls are inflated with a higher check number, I couldn't recruit Us because i failed the mutiliate roll despite having advantage. So many other people mentioned failing the Wyll Karlach pers roll and the pulling Gale out of the portal roll too. It's full on sadistic and I'm loving it but I can't go far yet because I'm still waiting on my favourite mod to update.

As for the Tav/Durge question, they definitely share a common dragon theme, I based them on different dragon species for fun.

First Tav was based on a gold dragon, friendly, chatty, noble heritage, extroverted and flirty. Romanced Astarion. Backstory is them being a noble supposed to take over the head of their family soon but got kidnapped, comes back to finding out the previous head got murdered and everyone in their family is a suspect except them since they were far away. Their dream person was a half-elf women. Gets thrown off the ship with a small baby red dragon that serves their family, followed them here. Hoards eggs/gold/gems.

First Durge was based on a red dragon, prideful, rude, arrogant, easily jealous, competitive and loves flattery. Romanced Minthara. They're not native to Baldur's Gate and instead come from a far away land in the east, they don't remember much since losing their memory, they hold a lot of Gortash themed stuff in their inventory not knowing why or who it belonged to. Their dream person was a drow man. Hoards bones/skulls/corpses.

Latest Tav is based on a brass dragon, loves to talk/sing, overconfident, cute, bad at being humble, anime magical girl tropes. Romanced Wyll. Multiclassed into bard, backstory is that they are a famous popstar that recently went solo from their band, too used to only dealing with fans so they tend to be offputting to normal people, they were touring in Baldur's Gate when they got kidnapped. Their dream person was a dragonborn man (mod). Hoards books/art/statues.

How do they relate? I'm not sure, maybe they're the same person but a different dragon lineage each time that drastically alters their life? Maybe they're long lost siblings? Maybe they don't know each other.

Well except two of them. I made a durge high elf guy for Minthara to abuse on a playthrough once, he is friends with my first Tav and i made them his dream person but they got separated ontop of the ship.

I mostly think about how my characters would interact with other people's characters, I think most of my Tavs or Durges would be indifferent to each other.

Khal'ian for example, I can say my first Tav would consider him a friend, maybe get a bit protective.

First Durge would be condcending with him and compares his shortcomings to Laezel a lot.

Latest Durge would be very friendly and think he needs encouragement to get out of his shell, might even be pushy about it.

I try to switch up the companions too on each playthrough to make it like it's an alternative dimension where every shifted a bit. Aka the werewolf Shadowheart au or the younger Gale one, since the more playthroughs you do, the more dialogue and scenes you start skipping so their canon plot gets old quickly and writing your own sounds more interesting.

But i do make them all human, all of my characters except that one high elf guy made specifically for Minthara. I genuinely have the biggest hard on for humans. i really think they're neat.

And my first dnd character was a dragonborn paladin yet here i am in human sorcerer heaven/hell?

What about you anon? Do Kira and Khal'ian know each other? What about the best friend you mentioned? Do any of them co-exist?

First Tav - Gold Dragon

First Durge - Red Dragon

Latest Tav - Brass Dragon

[aylaaescar]

For the OC+different LI meme: Leeva Mahariel + Morrigan (I don't abide by her being straight), Farira Aeducan + Zevran (omg she's so pretty btw), and Quista Adaar + Josephine

you sure are right she isn't! idk how bioware expects me to believe Morrigan is straight when she has so many lines talking about how much she does not like men and generally looks down on them, like come on.

and oh man, these ones (sans Quista/Josie) are all pairs I actually really strongly considered for all of them and nearly made canon, fun fact ksdfjgsgk

Leeva + Morrigan

okay so Leeva and Morrigan were close from the beginning, and bonded because of how they were both comparatively "outsiders" to society, Dalish elf and forest witch. and I mean, Leeva did have a big crush on Morrigan, too. they just never pursued it for a number of reasons - mostly that they were still grieving Tamlen, and that they were wary about the idea of romance with a human.

I think that they could have worked well together as a couple if things had gone slightly differently! Leeva loves kids and would be such a doting parent to Kieran, for one. but at the same time, Leeva's a lot more shy and anxious and withdrawn while Morrigan is... not lol. and they might have been good for rounding out each other and being a balancing act, but I feel like it's just as likely that they wouldn't be able to mesh in that area and their personalities there would clash. idk if I'm explaining it particularly well, but I just get the feeling that Leeva's personality would sometimes be drowned out by Morrigan's bolder one, if that makes any sense at all?? whereas they're more emboldened by Tamlen and Zevran's personalities. but with all that said, I still occasionally wonder if Leeva/Morrigan would be better, so... :P

Farira + Zevran

let the record state that I haven't finished Farira's playthrough yet, or Quista's. (Farira appreciates the compliment, by the way! :D) so if I load up the game sometime and change my mind on her romances and decisions, well, such is how it goes when my mind and OCs are fickle and I haven't touched a playthrough in months. 🥴

anyway, Fari and Zev! I also really considered this one, since Fari and Zev can be on basically the same wavelength at times; Farira was sort of conceived as "partying sorority sister: Orzammar royalty edition" who has issues with Orzammar's society and emphasis on caste structure, but still loves her people. she's just not interested in ruling herself, and she doesn't like the idea that it's something she'll have to do, it's too much pressure and she doesn't want the job. but that's only marginally related and I talk too much LOL; I think they would get along well and they could also last for a while as a couple. the only issue is really that there just isn't that attraction between them, at least last time I played, but they're still great friends and they care about each other a lot.

Quista + Josephine

poor Quista, her playthrough is even more unfinished than Farira's is. that's my bad, I'll wrangle my brain into finishing it sometime (thank you, ADHD). but Quista and Josie would actually be terribly adorable together, I think, and they might be better suited for each other than my plans for Quista/Sera? my only issue with the idea atm is simply that I've done Josephine's romance already with Rionne Lavellan, and I really love Sera and want to see her romance with Quista lol. I like the idea that she'll be able to draw Quista more out of her shell and inspire her to have fun. but if Quista's more into Josephine, then that's fine too and I'll let her go for it. it's all pretty up in the air rn.

[dany36]

after ~165 hours, i finished bg3. i can't believe i almost missed out on experiencing this gem of a game. a couple of months ago i started watching john wolfe's playthrough of it, and after i made a comment about it to a friend once i got done watching the first act, he convinced me to play it on my own. and holy shit i'm glad i got to experience the entirety of act 2 and 3 in my own playthrough of it. i usually stay away from turn-based games because i don't consider myself very good at them (i think i can count on one hand the number of turn-based games i've played let alone finished), but wow, this game just blew me out of the water. when i watched the game awards last year where it won all those awards including goty, i looked up gameplay of it since i knew nothing of it, but the turn-based aspect turned me away from it. still, it was funny seeing all those bitter losers saying that z/elda should have won goty instead, to which i can't help but laugh even HARDER now to think that anyone would even THINK that t/otk even comes close to the fucking chulada of a videogame that bg3 is. honestly? top three of my favorite games ever. (spoilers below)

i mean, i usually post my thoughts as i'm playing along, reacting to things and such. but this game consumed me like no other game before had, and like, what is there to say that hasn't been said before about bg3? i honestly can't think of any big criticisms i have of the game. i knew nothing about d&d before starting it and i still had such a fucking blast playing through every single aspect of it. as someone who doesn't consider themselves a tactical person by any means (my character was a barbarian because no think, just hit!), i think i did pretty well for having played in balanced mode. only four fights gave me a hard time (house of grief being one of them...GEEZ what was THAT!!!), two of which i actually had to look up strategies online because well, i don't have all day to try to figure it out, you know?

the ending left me with such a big smile on my face: it just put me in such a good mood, and honestly i can't remember the last time a video game ending left me with that feeling of satisfaction and contentment. when i told my friend about me going around talking to all of my friends six months after we had defeated the brain, he was shocked because apparently that post-ending bit wasn't there when he originally beat it. and honestly? i loved talking to all of my party to see what they had been up to! lae'zel didn't outright hate me for not having freed orpheus and she looked happy, halsin gave me a duck!! :D karlach was full of hope at the thought of there being a way for her to get her engine fixed for good, and it looks like wyll and karlach are a thing?? I GOT TO ADOPT THE OWLBEAR WITH SHADOWHEART FUCK YEAH!!! like. finishing an adventure is good and all but it's even better when a video game gives you the chance to see how the hero and the rest of the gang are doing after saving the world. i just fucking love it.

as for my choices, i think i'm pretty happy with the ones i made. there are a couple that i think i'll change in my second playthrough (yes, there will be one :) not now, after ghost of tsushima for sure tho), but overall glad to see that everyone got a mostly happy ending (gale became a god ffs). although earlier i did say that i had no curiosity in seeing shadowheart's other option for her parents, the fact that she still alluded to it post-ending makes me curious to like, ok, is being a slave to shar really an option to consider at all in order to keep her parents alive??? because now that i think about it...gale becomes a god so he got his wish, lae'zel still has her people and is fighting for their freedom, jaheira has her children and is helping rebuild the city, karlach and wyll are at least together in avernus, astarion sounds like he is having the time of his life, and minsc is...minsc. shadowheart becomes free of shar and thus her parents die in the process, thus shadowheart no longer has any of her "people" that she can count on, her best friend from her childhood is still a sharran, and plus her parents are now dead. so if you don't romance her, like...what does she end up doing post game?? because the way things sound here sound pretty lonely for shadowheart unless you end up with her, so now i guess i'll have to finish watching john wolfe's playthrough cus i'm pretty sure he was going down the karlach romance path!

but yeah, that option and the orpheus thing are the options that i might consider changing in my second playthrough, but honestly for the latter, i'm fine with how things ended between me and the emperor even if lae'zel was angry at me because it sounds like she's doing fine 6 months later AND she was glad to see me :y i also didn't make much use of my tadpole powers and refused to consume the special one that the emperor gave me, so i can imagine if i HAD consumed it, i wonder if some of the later battles would have been easier....

usually i do a long-ass post talking about what i loved and didn't love about a game, but for bg3, i can't think of anything i just outright disliked. i know that i for sure missed some cutscenes because i was afraid i was long resting too much (the comments on john wolfe's playthrough scared me a little ngl), but i ended the game with like 1200 camp supplies, so now i know camp supplies are not as much of an issue as people made it out to be. gameplay, story, the insane amount of paths/choices you can take in this game...like....FUCK...it's all just so much to take in and really makes you appreciate and marvel at how in the hell such a beautiful game was crafted in the first place.

for now, it's time to take a break from bg3, but man, what a fantastic, unforgettable ride it was. i was thinking of going for the platinum trophy for bg3, but after seeing that you have to beat the game under tactician (AND also that you have to defeat the red dragon in the final battle? heeellll no), i'm afraid i'm gonna have to pass up on that one--i'm just simply not tactical enough for it lol.

[melancholy-thots]

Sometimes? The Vibes Aren't There

I'm gonna be honest. I didn't finish this one. I didn't even get close. But there's still something valuable in that experience.

Yeah. I played this in French. I felt like it. I don't think that effected my playthrough of this though. I'm fluent in French, I knew what was going on all the time. I just like going back and forth between languages, keep my skills up.

That being said... I did laugh when I picked up this item, lol. Also I'm noticing there's some weird copyright stuff on the bottom? I feel like most my screenshots don't have this. I'll have to check other games I played in French.

So yeah. Actually getting on to this game and why I didn't vibe with it. Obviously it's not the art direction. look at this stuff. It's gorgeous. Even the screenshot above of actual gameplay is beautiful. Colorful and clear and expressive. I really have no complaints there.

It's actually the gameplay that really didn't grab me. And fortunately, I was dumb and accidentally got a whole video of gameplay to show. Look at this! There's so many dudes that each one feels completely inconsequential. They don't even really aggro that hard, I'm just running around smacking dudes when I want. This would be a perfect "sit back and watch number go up while listening to a podcast" game, but you see that bottom left corner?? Dudes keep talking to me! I feel like a woman in a public space. Go away, can you not see I am simply trying to vibe??

I'll leave with this beautiful woman and also a final thought. This game is a wonderful work of art, I'd never say it's a bad game for sure. I'm even fairly confident that it's good at what it's trying to do and it's a good iteration of this style of game. But it taught me that I don't really like this type of game, I think. I want my brain off or I want there to be plot. But if there's a chance I might miss plot bc my brain is off??? Then I cannot fully enjoy the experience.

[toko-writing-imagines]

What about about Shuichi, Kaede and Chiaki comforting a sad s/o?

And remember, drink water. Water is really important. Water is life! 😼👍

-DanganChi

I think I did this for Chiaki and Kaede . . or one with a similar request. Oh well, guess I'll write more of it :>

You drink water too . . water good. Anyways enjoy your hcs ♡

Chiaki, Kaede, and Shuichi comforting their sad s/o

【Chiaki Nanami】

• Chiaki isn't much of a talker when it comes to comfort

• If you wish, then she will say a thing or two that may help. Or if you want any sort of advice then she'll probably give you some in the form of a video game reference

• She's more so to help you in actions rather than words

• Chiaki also won't push you to talk about whatever is wrong. If you wish to tell her, then she's all ears, but if not, then she won't push further

• She would most likely hold your hand, or pull you into a hug (really something that is a sort of physical touch) and just hold you so you know everything is okay

• But she would also have you play some sort of video game too. A good video game is a pretty good distraction to whatever sadness you have

• It'll most likely be a co-op game so you two can play together, but it could also be where she will be playing a game and you watch, or vice versa

【Kaede Akamatsu】

• Kaede usually acts upon instinct whenever she hears someone she loves is sad. That's just a fact

• Cheering up people is like a specialty of hers at this point

• If you are ever sad, Kaede always happens to show up just to make you feel better

• She does a number of things that could help. Peppering kisses all over your face, humming a soft melody, holding your hands while telling you so many sweet nothings, etc

• But she does understand if you don't want any sort of comfort or cheering up. Maybe you just want to be in the same room, but not be touched. Or maybe you just rather be alone, she understands

• All Kaede wishes is that you are safe, and won't do anything bad if you do wish to be alone. And if you want her company, then she will do her best to put a smile back on your face

【Shuichi Saihara】

• If you ever tried to hide that you were sad, then Shuichi would most likely notice it immediately. He is a detective after all, and even if you were tricky to figure out he would still know based on your actions and the different ways you act than usual

• He doesn't bring it up right away, and so just waits for the right moment to do so

• Once he notices you have calmed down a little bit, and it's just you and him, he then brings up the situation and offers you his help in any way he can

• Shuichi isn't really the best at comforting, if anything he is quite awkward about it. Though through his friends he had gotten better at it, but still a little awkward

• He gets you your comfort food, incase you are craving it. He also gets you any sort of needed comfort items. Maybe you have a old childhood stuff animal you keep around? Or maybe you got a certain blanket you need? He'll get it for you

• If you want, Shuichi will cuddle close to you. But if you happen to not be one for touch then he would just be close, but not too close. He will even play a show, movie, documentary, or anything that helps you distract your mind

• It'll be like this till you fall asleep. And once you do he will simply bring you back to your room so you can continue sleeping without disruption

꒦ ͝ ꒷ ͝ ꒦ ͝ ꒷꒦ ͝ ꒷ ͝ ꒦ ͝ ꒷꒦ ͝ ꒷ ͝ ꒦ ͝ ꒷꒦ ͝ ꒷

↳ ੈ‧₊˚ If you ask why Shuichi's part is longer, it's just due to this being my first time writing him

also Yo-kai watch has suddenly taken up my whole life I'm dedicated to watch a playthrough of all the games and I even have the spinoff japanese version (Yokai watch Puni Puni) on my phone

plus my motivation has been running low, I never really wanted to write anything and I apologize for that. School will also be starting for me soon, in like a week I think, so I will probably be busy and have less time to write, but I will most certainly try to keep writing

Take care everyone

~ Mod Toko 💜

[bibiana112]

(whips out entire deck of cards like yugioh and they all have numbers for comfort character ask game) aoi um 2 4 6 7 12 13 15. CAN I ASK HALF THE GAME i like talk about him you see

I took forever on this!!!! I hope that's okay aah

★ Comfort character ask game!

2. whether or not they’ve ever made me cry

Surprisingly I don't thiiink so? For all the hot girl summer breakdowns I do indeed be having and no longer feeling shame over crying it's still actually pretty difficult to move me to tears? If I say certain things or scenes made me cry it's probably not hyperbole it's just me highlighting it cause it was surprising and made me more fond of whatever it was for it, but that said, on my second playthrough I was like okay this is totally gonna get to me about like both the safe ending stuff and the true ending backstory stuff but,, then it didn't, I got all mushy and couldn't speak to my friend right but no tears. so like yeah I need a lot of preexisting investment on a character and surprise at new developments for it to get to me like that usually and it's so close to the last stretch of the game that you can really fully understand his character for it to count so what I'm saying is if he was in another game ever I'd probably definitely have cried

4. what about their personality i like

That's such a fun question about him since so much of what we see is an act lmao but like, even with that I still like how easily he seems to convert skin crawling anxiety into am angy energy despite not genuinely wanting to antagonize most people in there, like the character he's putting on is argumentative and very aggressive sounding but he's never like shown to be in any way physically violent when push comes to shove, putting the planned gun stuff aside and also like yeah less of a stretch that he'd have no qualms about hurting Hongou if need be, but even then with like when Door 3 happens for example and he has every reason to follow through when he threatens Junpei he immediately just drops it after Akane's outburst cause it's not his real response to the situation (also she'd be sadder if they fought), also I like how he has some slip ups here and there that like he recovers from pretty instantly but they're still more noticeable than whatever Akane ever has going on for example but okay, allll of that aside my favorite bit is definitely the little we know of him before everything we know he worked really hard to be a good sibling to Akane and was really considerate when taking care of her to the point of keeping up the Santa thing even through the harsh circumstances

6. the moment of theirs that made me the saddest

Good question, difficult question, you were right he's such an upsetting character to think about, uh hardly anything good happens to this guy doesn't it, I'm torn between hearing him over the speaker on the safe ending and well obvi the incinerator thing but also like, not exactly an Aoi moment, but Snake explaining how him and Akane were never reported missing always gets to me a lot too like hhh yeah I could be all day listing every instance that comes to mind couldn't I, hmm. I'll say. It's very especially heartbreaking to get to the part with tiny them in the lifeboat because he's just so damn relieved that whole nightmare is over but we know it's not,,,

7. the moment of theirs that made me the happiest

Reunion huuuug!!! That was the one I was the closest to actually crying during and like scenes that are like this that are happy and a relief are the ones that most get to me everytime but also honestly I can't think of any other genuinely happy moment we get from him

12. what i like about the way the fandom portrays them

I am trying to phrase this in the nicest most family friendly possible way but. I really like how we all decided his vibes are manipulate manslaughter manwhore with an emphasis on the latter akasjksnk probably the one time I took a look at fanon, nodded and said yeah I'll incorporate that into how I perceive the character, I think it works lmao

13. what i dont like about the way the fandom portrays them

THERE'S NO REASON FOR US TO BELIEVE HE IS A RUDE JERK WITH ZERO COMPASSION FOR OTHERS OUTSIDE OF THE ACT C'MON PEOPLE HE RAISED ANOTHER KID WHILE GROWING UP HE'D PROBABLY BE A CHRONIC MOM FRIEND UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES AKANE DOESN'T EVEN CURSE Okay but in all seriousness I guess the best way to put it is that I don't like how fandom portrays him as impulsive? Like, that was one of the traits he put on but that out of every other one I can't really see him genuinely being at all, no matter how you stretch it, like I do think he's more emotionally driven than Akane but they both are very much aware of everything they do, the stuff they both pull off are complex and intricate and have not inches of space for mistakes that acting like that on the regular could bring, even if he's being reckless I don't think he'd default to do stuff without thinking y'know he's not like Junpei who jumps no thoughts head empty into any fist fight out of a sense of justice or something I think it'd be out of being too antsy and anxious and needing something to physically happen and thinking okay this won't end well but I'm doing it anyway, like I've even seen people having him snap at Akane at the drop of a hat like?? Because of him feeling guilty no less??? I really don't like interpretations where he's not entirely on board with all the manslaughter too like c'mon people the thing that's weighing on him is not protecting his sister from these people plus the innocents that need to get involved, I think seeing the executives bodies genuinely gets to him but only in like a physiological sense cause he didn't get a preview of how gorey it'd all get but, like that has nothing to do with regretting the actions that lead up to it in any way shape or form, they kind of kidnapped and tortured him and other kids who no one actually cared enough about to get justice for and one of them brutally killed his sister in front of him I really don't think he gives a shit there but also c'mon that doesn't at all mean he doesn't give a shit about any human life other than those guys like c'mon guys some nuance here for him too pls people act like Akane's the only one allowed to have any

15. what i dont like about the way canon portrayed them

Actually I don't like how canon forgets to portray him at all more than anything, also the staircase comment thing really really bothers me but I'm willing to pretend for a second Uchi's horny bullshit doesn't apply and it was just a dumb thing for him to say while in character

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

Top 5 Dr Characters. Not exclusively to Triggrr Happy Havoc and characters are good

Oooh, this one is hard! I have a ton of characters I like, but favorites? That one is tricky. Well, obviously it's clear who my two favs are, but the rest, ha.

Here is a tentative list, though only the top three are my all time favs. (Note: There will be mild spoilers for DR 2 here, since I've finished watching the Game Grumps playthrough. Just saying. Oh, and DR, but I figured that'd be a given, ha.)

I'll put this under a read more, since it's a bit long. ^-^

Ask me my “TOP 5/TOP 10” anything!

5. I'll go with Sakura. I really like her character design and her personality. I like the strong and stoic types, the ones who look like they'll be tough and closed off but are actually really gentle and kind. I don't have too much to say about her, but overall I just really like her vibe.

4. I think this one would be Fuyuhiko, since I like how he started off angry and closed off from the group, but after what happened with Peko he began opening up and was actually a contributing member of the group. It's kind of like what I had wanted to happen with Byakuya in the first game, ha. I had considered putting Hina, but while I do like her character, I honestly wouldn't call her a favorite... She definitely is up there, though.

3. Now this is a legit favorite. Gundham Tanaka, Supreme Overlord of Ice!!! HA, I LOVE this dude. If not for Taka and Mondo, he'd be my favorite. I have two guinea pigs, and while they're definitely not hamsters, I've taken to calling them my Two Dark Devas of Destruction. They like it, I'm sure. ^-^ But he's super cool, and he acts all tough but gets flustered like any teenage boy, ha. I still have to watch all his FTE and see his dialogue for the Island mode, so I don't know too much about him other than what was in the main game, but even still. Love this dude. I also think his motive for what he did was a lot more noble than most.

1 & 1: Both Taka and Mondo are split for my favorite, since I really like them both for different reasons.

I love Mondo because even despite his flaws, he is still shown to be a good, somewhat righteous character, following his own moral code religiously. He also seems like he's gonna be this cool, tough, aloof character, but he's actually a huge f-ing dork. And while yeah, he did kill someone, I do like how the game had him acknowledge it and own up in the end. I think he was the only one in the first game to have someone else do his Bullet Time Battle/Panic Talk Action (whatever it's called), which I do kind of like. There's a lot more I love about Mondo, but if I talk about it all, we'd be here all day, ha.

Now, Taka, on the other hand, I really like because his sense of morality is not absolute. By which I mean, he is willing to accept that he does not know everything and accepts when something he believed in is not actually right. Like when he's talking to Makoto in one of the FTE and Makoto tells him that the purpose of watching TV or playing games is to relate to other people. While he accepts it in his own, weird way, relating it to things he already knows and is comfortable with (studying), he still is willing to acknowledge his failings and learn from his mistakes. A lot of characters like Taka I've seen are portrayed as the authority of righteousness or something, rarely backing down from their position, even when confronted by something that counters their belief. Taka, however, was shown to be the kind of person to fight strongly for what he believes in, but will back down and correct himself when proven wrong, like with Mondo. I really, really like that in his character. Honestly, I never would have thought I'd like Taka when I first started watching the game, since like I said, I'm not usually the biggest fan of overly stuck up, moral characters. But Taka is different, and is very sweet in his own way.

But the main reason I have Taka and Mondo as a joint number 1 is because I like them both more because of their dynamic together. If they didn't have each other in the game, I don't think I'd like either quite as much. In fact, I definitely don't think I'd like Danganronpa nearly as much either. I certainly wouldn't be here, almost two years later, still posting about it. But having them start off as seemingly opposite, only to learn that they actually have way more in common than you'd think? It's such a great dynamic to me. Even if it were only platonic, it's still such a good relationship to one another. They balance one another out in such a great way, and I kind of wish we could have seen their dynamic more in canon. Oh well, that's what fanfic is for, am I right??? But that's why I always have them be parallels to one another in my writing. It's a great dynamic that I adore.

Also! An honorable mention would have to be Nekomaru and mini Nekomaru. He's such an awesome character, ha. He's very similar to Sakura to me, though less stoic and more loose. His dynamic with Akane is so sweet, I love it. Also, mini Nekomaru is hilarious, I love him. I also... kind of like Kazuichi?? I dislike how gross he is with Sonia, but otherwise he's kind of a fun character, ha.

Thanks for the ask!! This was fun. :-D

[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

[ashanddreams]

Back in Time Glitch: Twilight Princess Wii (IDK about GameCube cause I don't have one and not for HD because IDK how to get back in time started)

So this is really me tracking down my progress with doing the back in time glitch with Twilight Princess. I'm doing this because no one else really has cause I think they get stuck at one part. So, here we go:

So starting this glitch is pretty easy; all we have to do is go to Arbiter's Grounds and die (fun amirite). We have to make sure that when we die, we only see the tip of Link's gauntlet (or fingers, since it's different than how I remember it). Now, there are two things we can do while performing the glitch: either take damage or get it on the first try. Getting it on the first try is good, but we can't push the a or b buttons (all other buttons are fine, the other two will crash the game and we will need to unplug the Wii). Taking damage (any amount is fine) will allow us to push a and b, which will bring up the title screen where we can push a and b together to go to the menu and select any file. Whether it's new or not will not change anything from normal.

(Here is the title screen without crashing the game)

The first thing that will happen when we perform the glitch is we will be taken to the title screen area with no map, health, music, or item/action abilities. Don't push a or b if we didn't take damage before (damage will not be saved between resets, only if we perform the glitch right). This is where we need to die again. Responding from this will give us the normal screen, but we will be at one heart. Now here is where things get kinda weird. We can save and quit here and we will be brought to Faron woods (this is the right way). However, dying again will result in a game over. If we continue, we will be brought to the King Bokoblin fight (IDK). Skipping the cutscene will allow us to fight him while letting play will get us stuck on the bridge. If we defeat him and save Colin, we’ll be taken to Kakariko. No matter what we do here, either skipping the cutscene or not will softlock us there and we cannot leave or do anything (side note: after having done this, I had a nightmare about twilight Kakariko and Barns' Bomb Shop, so now I don't like it there lol).

Going the Faron route, we will be in the save Talo sequence. Do what we’d normally do, save him and go to the next day. (Now this part is very fuzzy since I did this part a few months ago, so I'll come back later). Go through the day, heard the goats, leave and DO NOT SKIP THE CUTSCENE AS YOU WILL BE STUCK. Go about, go to the house, and if my memory is right there we can give the kids the sword (keep in mind we won't get the first bottle, fishing rod, sword, or slingshot- but we can still give them a sword). Before we continue, go into the mayor's house since the door is now open and get the iron boots. This will save us time later. Now, do everything as normal until we come back to the world of light. This is where people give up I think, as there is "no way to progress."

We cannot get the sword and shield as there are logs blocking the hole to get the sword, the area to get to the shield is closed, and there are no characters around. However, this can be skipped using the sword and shield skip (there are youtube videos showing how to do this on GameCube and Wii). We’ll need a Bokoblin from the are and DO NOT KILL IT AND SAVE OR YOU ARE SCREWED. We’ll need to bring it to the wall of twilight, align it with a black mark on the wall and do a really big double attack on it. If we do it right we’ll bypass the area where Midna will tell us to go back and she'll let us into the twilight. Please note: this glitch is the hardest thing to do (in my experience). It took me over a year to do this, as I rage quit a lot from doing it over and over and over again, and I got it cause I was very lucky.

So, after that long intro, it's all good. Progress as normal, get to the forest temple and prepare to think you're stuck. Everything was great and normal until the first room with the spiders on the vines. Remember: we don't have the slingshot. But, the solution is easy: find some Boko Baba seed things and throw it at the spiders. Easy peasy. Now before we leave, there is one thing to note: beating the mini-boss of this dungeon with jump attacks is a no-go, cause that will hard crash the game with a very fun sound playing. Beat him (and the boss) slowly and it'll be good.

Go to the Eldin province and we'll be at the glitchy part of the run (twilight and light). Go through normally until we get to the gate to Kakariko. Go through it and we'll be taken into a cutscene. Remember the King Bokoblin fight? Yeah, that's here now, just will no voices for the NPCs. Watch the cutscene. Now the world is weird cause it's the world of light with a twilight filter. Midna will tell us to help Colin and there will be no shadow monsters or dying spirit of light. To fix this, just leave the area (side note: this is where we go if we fight King Bokoblin right after doing the glitch and we'll be softlocked cause we're human, but now we're a wolf and can do things now). Going to a new area puts everything back to where it should, but we can go back to the gate and start the same cutscene as many times as we want, as there's no limit to this or the number of times we can fix it. When we're done, go on as normal, get the bugs, and save the land. Once we are done talking to the spirit, another cutscene will play, the one where we get our horse. The game most likely triggers this because we have the iron boots (remember?), and it has to play it for later, which starts the Epona scene. Get her and save Colin. Do that and go to death mountain.

(if we wish, we can go to Ordon spring to get the hidden skill from the stone we probably activated in the twilight, but we’ll be unable to do it because we need a shield. We can buy a shield, but we either lose the nice metal shield for a cheap wooden one that burns or we pay 200 rupees to tell the game "Hey, I have the shield now, even though I've had it the entire time," which is something I didn't want to do, so I'm not getting any of the hidden skills, which pains me cause I want the back slice)

(This is in the Arbiter's Ground area but it's the same thing) (Also grandpa Time is blind cause I GOT A SHEILD) (ok boomer)

Back on point, go up to death mountain and realize that we don't have to take damage from that Goron because we got the boots (we won't be softlocked so it's good).

Now play through the area normally. Actually, play through the game normally, as everything from here on out is just a normal playthrough. We just do get the slingshot, the Ordon sword or shield, fishing rod, two bottles (one from the shop in Ordon and the other in the fishing area since we need the fishing rod to get it), and six hidden skills (if we don't want to part with a FREE metal shield).

So, I bet someones thinking about a problem in the future part of the gameplay. Right now I am it Arbiter's Grounds. (I found out it is possible to perform back in time again (but I think the point of restarting is just a bit later than I remember, since past of Link's gauntlet had to be seen then, and now it's the tips of his fingers). I think everything will go fine until we get to Snowpeak, or rather, not get to Snowpeak. We need the fishing rod to get the reekfish, and guess what we don't have: the reekfish. I believe one of three things will happen-

1) The game will hard crash (or just regular crash) cause we don't have the fishing rod, and the game will get really confused and die.

2) Nothing will happen. What I mean by this is that we won't be able to accept the earing addition and either Ralis will keep the earing or it will vanish and we never see it again.

3) The game spawns a fishing rod for the player to have and we go on as normal. With this, we'd be able to get a third bottle.

With the first two points, we will be softlocked, as the game will put us back at the start if we go into the blizzard.

I'm not sure what will happen at that point, but no matter what happens, whether we get the rod or not, I'm going to keep exploring with this glitch; I'll find the do's, don'ts, and mega don'ts. When I find something new I'll add it here later. Hope someone has fun with this and wish me luck! 🤞

Edit: So there's actually a fourth option: the fish hook is a new item in your inventory and now we're stuck.

So.....not what I was hoping for but that's what we get for trying to kill the game. The sad thing is that if we go to Colin's house we can see a fishing rod on the wall. I even found out that we cannot buy the slingshot because it's not in the shop in Ordon and the wooden sword doesnt appear in our house. Another new piece of info: we dont have the Ordon Spring warp since we never got the sword and shield in the beginning of the game.

So I'm going to see if there's a way to skip snowpeak. However, this will definitely be a problem later on during the Zant fight since we need the ball and chain. Wish me luck on that!

TL, DR: go back in time and save Hyrule on hard mode.

UPDATE: So I saw a video on YouTube talking about having all of our items in the king bulblin fight. What we need to do is do back in time and take damage before doing so. I did it in Arbiter's Grounds and got there fine. Then we need to pull up the title screen and fall into a void. Right before Link starts screaming, we push a+b (or start since this works on the gamecube). If done correctly we should here Link screaming on the file select. Now we have to choose a game file. If we choose a new file, we go through naming Link and Epona and when we start this happens:

(I sat here for 10 minutes. We can't do anything except power off and press home, but pushing reset still keeps us at this screen and now we can't use the home button).

If we select a file that already has data, then we go to the bulblin fight with all the items we had before the glitch, including the master sword (I'm doing this on a file where I already did the back in time glitch so I still dont have the fishing rod).

UPDATE: THE RUN'S NOT DEAD

So, I was watching YouTube and looked up Twilight Princess glitches and saw a glitch for early City In The Sky. By doing this glitch, we can skip all of Snowpeak Ruins and the Temple Of Time. Seeing as how the ball and chain is not needed to finish the game after Snowpeak and the dominon rod is only needed for the search for the sky quest (which we can skip while doing this glitch), we will be able to progress without the fishing rod and skip three hours of gameplay. I was hoping we could find a way to get the fishing rod so we could 100% the game, but now we definitely can't do that.

Early City In The Sky glitch:

Requirements: Master Sword and visited the desert at least once (completion of of Arbiter's Grounds recommended)

As soon as we have access to the Master Sword, we need to head to Lake Hylia. We need to go to the desert. Once at the desert, I recommend completing the Arbiter's Grounds, but that's not necessary right now. Now we warp to Kakariko village and go to Renado's basement. By sliding with z-targeting into the space between the statue and the wall (right on wii, left on gamecube). The angle is kinda precise so finding a YouTube video is recommended for finding a good angle. Once we're positioned right, we need to turn into wolf Link. If everything is correct we will clip past the statue. Now, as wolf link, go up to the cannon and say you'd like to warp. Midna will say Shad is still standing there (even though he's not). We can still warp the cannon as long as we open the map right after Midna is done talking (spam the button it has to be right after she's done). Turn on portals and warp to Lake Hylia and Midna will warp Link and the cannon there (we have to be in wolf form. Also, DO NOT AND QUIT IN THE ROOM. Apparently doing this on the wii will trap us as Midna won't let us warp)

Now at Lake Hylia we talk to the cannon guy and cough up 300 rupees. Here we can do some side quests. I finally caved and bought the Hylian shield and got the four hidden skills I had yet to get. (Note: apparently if you dony visit the desert before asking the guy to fix the cannon the game might crash). I have yet to to to the sky so I will see how that goes later.

End of the game stuff: We will be able to beat the game with a max of 16 hearts, 43 poe souls, 23 bugs, 2 bottles, five hidden skills, no Ordon sword/shield, no fishing rod, slingshot, no ball and chain, and no dominon rod. This is the max amount of items we can get. I will attempt this run again but try and see what the least amount of weapons required to beat the game is.

Edit: oof speedrunners use this to go fast in the game. This is just a way if you want practice doing speedruns of this game so you can get gud