#like i started via fallout 3 but i hold no love for that game

[transdaughterofthesun]

So I realize that you might not want an actual answer, just shouting into the circus, but let me stand up and pull out my crayon PhD on game design.

TL:DR It feels so strikingly off in the 3D fallout games and feels neutral to good in baldurs gate due to the systems that surround it and what they are trying to accomplish.

With that out of the way let's start with a simple question, why did the original crpgs use this system? Simple answer, it was used to emulate tabletop rpgs. This might be obvious to anyone familiar with tabletop games, but it's always someone's first time learning something so it's important to set up the ground work. The games by no means were meant to replace tabletop games, but were most likely just a means of visualizing campaigns for their players, and serve as an introduction to both dnd and video games. For those into video games but not tabletop, these were the games that would show why people liked tabletop games and the freedom that comes with it. For tabletop players who didn't play video games, this was a great way to be introduced to the medium and ease of use, while still retaining what they appreciated about tabletop.

Personally, and most likely incorrectly, I would liken these games to early immersive sims. A very bare bones version of it. Now I say early but they are trying to be two different things. Let's look at Deus Ex, blessed be thy game, now tho to see where they differ, and yes I'll be referring to this when bringing fallout 3 up later. Deus Ex puts you in the shows of JC Denton. A very customizable JC Denton, enough so that very few Dentons will ever look alike, but it's still just Denton. You will only ever be playing as him, so right away some choices regarding game design are already made based on his personality. Now I have yet to play the game, heresy I know, but Denton will never pilot a helicopter. He can't lug around 10 barrels of oil in his pockets and toss them at enemies. He has a limited skill set. A large one, but limited. But in exchange you get precise control of the skills the games allow you to use. Think shooting and melee. You control your skill level in these, because that is what was deemed as fun.

Now compare that to Baldurs Gate 1. Not only are you not controlling one character, you're controlling up to 6, not including summons, you aren't controlling someone who has been trained in 50 different ways to shoot someone. You have to build up your skills to the point where dice checks are naught but minor annoyances. That's the big difference in my opinion. In games like Deus Ex you are the hero, you are the special in this world. In Crpgs, often times you start as no one, learning to do things, and like in the real world, fucking up while doing those things. Nobody who has ever learned a skill preforms it flawlessly all the time. You are just someone in this world. You could be important, but you could also end up a stain on the world.

So now what does fallout 3 do that makes this feel so wrong. Simply put, it tries to combine the two experiences into one, without understanding that they don't really mix. Essentially what fallout is saying in the story is: "You are the special, you are the key to this world, all the choices are yours, you are more then human." The speech check meanwhile says: "You are no one and you can and will say the wrong thing at times because you are human." Now one or the other systems by themselves? Great. But it creates such a distinct sense of cognitive dissonance when combined that it just stands out.

New Vegas tho fixes this by implementing a system that doesn't say: "You are no one." Instead it says: "Sorry bud you just aren't charismatic." Or: "Congrats special, you made it, here's your reward for being so special!" It celebrates the fact that you are special.

Now I could explain Baldurs Gate 3, but I would just redirect you to the segment for Baldurs Gate 1.

Thanks for reading and sorry for any spelling or grammer shit. I is tired.

Hey remember when Fallout 3 had percentage chances on speech checks and that just meant players would save scum every speech check until they got it and then in Fallout New Vegas they changed it so it not only made it a hard Yes or No based on how high your speech skill was but also added new dialogue options that would only succeed if your character had the right perks and everyone agreed that system was better

Why is it possible for my baldurs gate character who has 16 charisma and a proficiency in deception to fail a deception check

[benis-chillin]

Backlog Reviews 2024: Metroid Prime Hunters

Platform: DS

June 19th, 2024-August 10th, 2024(didn't finish)

(Note: The only Metroid Prime game I have previously played is Prime 1. Review can be found in THIS post)

(Also, here's the previous backlog entry. I'm adding hyperlinks to all of the posts like, the night before this goes out)

So…This is awkward.

As I've stated before, Metroid is the series that resonates with me just as much as Sonic does. I love the lore, the(2D)gameplay, Samus as a character, it all just clicks with me.

And the PREMISE of this game is absolutely baller! Samus vs a bunch of other, considerably less scrupulous bounty hunters in a cosmic battle royale for an ancient treasure? Sign me up!

But the actual execution? Eh…

Now, I am not entirely unfamiliar with DS FPS'. I still love the DS version of Bionicle Heroes(which the Prime series definitely had an influence on, especially in terms of its BALLER soundtrack which is good for listening to while you read this review)to this very day, and I thought this was gonna be more like that. Hell, I even got the mod that lets me utilize the C-nub and the gyro on my modded 2DS XL, which made aiming in this version a lot of fun…For a few sessions.

But then I ran into the major problem with this game: Nothing really HAPPENS.

(not my screenshot, obviously)

Like, in most Metroid games, stuff is constantly happening. New upgrades and paths are being thrown at you every which way, it's bananas. But here? You've GOT most of your arsenal from the start, and paths rarely lead to anything but yet another artifact, or an attack by a mob of flying enemies that are hard to engage due to the lack of a lock-on feature.

And if you could just hold down the fire button for these sections, it would be fine! But due to the charge beam, which REALLY could've stood to be cut for this entry, you need to constantly tap the fire button to keep on shooting, which was absolute HELL on my carpal tunnel!

Oh yeah, and the mod maps jumping to either the D-Pad or the touch screen, so you can either not move while jumping, or not do anything else while jumping.

So basically…

In addition, the levels are VERY aimless and meandering, not helped by your ship being your only way to save, teleport points to bring you back for a save being VERY scarce, and overall, what little puzzle solving exists in this game is WAY below par.

All of this is piled on top of the game using the same map system as Prime 1, when the touch screen is RIGHT THERE for a real-time map! Why would you make a Metroid game with two screens, and NOT use a real-time map!? And you can only manipulate it via the touch screen, even though the map is on the TOP screen, so my swipes just get massively misinterpreted!

The story…Somehow exists less than the ORIGINAL Prime's narrative did. Like, I barely even register it outside of the, again, baller premise. Prime at least tried to compensate its weak narrative with more scanning stuff, but what I could play of this game showed very little scanning potential. I keep on being told that Prime is peak Metroid, but two games in a row, I have not yet been impressed.

(I'm still gonna give them all a shake, though. Because Metroid)

So yeah, that's my short and sweet review of yet another game I did not finish this year. Well, Fallout New Vegas was more like I lost interest in the path I was currently taking after completing the personal goal I set out for my character, but you get what I mean.

(probably gonna do another New Vegas playthrough eventually. replaying older games between your new games is healthy for the soul, I think)

At least my non-enjoyment of this game got me trying out Super Metroid Redux. I'll give my thoughts on that in the year end post.

3/10

And next up? Well, I'm gonna complete Super Metroid Redux, and my current recording of a Sonic Frontiers let's play first to see if the weather will cool down first(house air conditioning is still out, and the window unit we bought for the kitchen doesn't extend to my gaming area), but by mid-September, I plan on playing Resident Evil 2(original via Gamecube), for at LEAST Leon's story. See ya then!

[metalgearkong]

Ghost of Tsushima - Review (PS4)

9/21/20

Developed by Sucker Punch Productions, released July 2020

Let’s not beat around the bush: Ghost of Tsushima may be my favorite game of this console generation, and one of my favorite games of all time. This is a massive samurai tale crammed with unforgettable moments, characters, and environments. After finishing this game, I felt like I had been through no less than the peak samurai experience in any entertainment medium. Never before have I stood up and given a standing ovation for a video game upon the credits rolling. While feeling complete and filled to the brim, there are small technical aspects that do have room for improvement in the potential sequel. Sucker Punch came out of nowhere and knocked the world on its ass with a fantastic stylized epic feudal Japanese journey, one I can never forget. 

Ghost of Tushima is open-world, easily comparable to The Witcher 3 or a modern Ubisoft title. What Ghost of Tsushima brings to the table is its incredibly realized medieval Japanese world, to the same extent Red Dead Redemption brought the mythic American Wild West to life. Authenticity can be found in every corner, and I set the game for Japanese voices and English subtitles to extend the immersion (something I can’t recommend enough). The Mongols have invaded Japan, and their first stop is Tsushima island. The samurai here are all that stops the massive army from reaching the mainland. The details themselves might not be perfectly accurate to 1274 Japan, but the world itself is consistent, which is what’s most important. 

The game begins with a huge battle, as we take control of our main character Jin Sakai (Daisuke Tsuji / Kazuya Tsuji) right away. An orphan raised to be a samurai by his uncle Lord Shimura (Eric Steinberg / Akio Otsuka), Jin holds guilt and shame for not being able to save his father in battle when he was young, and strives to be the best warrior possible. The explosive intro gives us a quick intro to the open combat, and leads in to a fairly typical tutorial, adding in brief lessons on stealth, and using evasive tactics & tools. I remember how panful the combat first felt, as each strike looked like something akin to a samurai film. The main villain and leader of the Mongols Khotun Khan (Patrick Gallagher / Tsutomu Isobe) establishes himself as a despicable person, and someone totally opposite to the samurai honor-bound code of combat. He wants to conquer Tushima by any means necessary, and Jin is the only one willing to adapt his fighting style to combat this new  dishonorable and overwhelming threat.

Jin Sakai is closer to a Geralt, rather than a blank slate avatar character of a Fallout or Elder Scrolls game; He has a specific personality, background, and motivation. Part of the overarching story is Jin learning to rely on tactics he would normally frown upon in order to stand a change against the Mongol forces. This is something his uncle highly detests and forbids Jin to do, leading to a secondary conflict in the story. This is useful for also explaining in the gameplay why the player can either face enemies out in the open, or scurry around and stabbing them in the neck. Of course, most players will do a bit of both, and whatever suits the situation of how you’re feeling in the moment. The best part is, it’s not an binary dilemma, as open combat and stealth can be used completely intermixed at any time.

Personally, one of my favorite parts about the game was unlocking and finding new apparel and color schemes for my outfits. This game (eventually) allows you to dress anywhere from humble peasant, to shinobi of the night, to fully armored samurai warrior. My only nit pick is I wish the game gave you more cosmetic options to buy or find earlier in the game, as I felt limited to just a few outfits and accessories at first. There’s nothing more awesome than manually sheathing your sword after slicing up a dozen grunts, all the while your cape and robes aggressively blowing in the wind. The game allows you to manually bow and play a flute as well, adding the immersion of every moment of the game. You travel the huge island via horseback, and can summon your horse at any instance with the push of the button. I also love how quickly you pick up items, by merely pushing R2. No needless animations or time spend slowing the momentum for the sake or grit or realism.

One of the most unique aspects of the game is using the wind as your guide. If you really wanted to, you’d never have to open your map to know how to get to your current quest. Simply swipe up on the touch pad, and the wind blows in the direction you need to go (the game doesn’t even feature an in-game minimap or radar). This kicks up leaves, twigs, sand, and other particles which add greatly to the visual appeal of the game, and help make you feel closer to the environment itself. Adding to this is how foxes and birds can lead you to hidden secrets, upgrades, or new gear. With so few HUD elements, focus on paying attention to the environment, and the gorgeous lighting and scenery, Ghost of Tsushima gave me to many moments where I felt spiritually uplifted in its world. Despite not having the budget of a super high end Naughty Dog or Rockstar game, Ghost of Tsushima remains one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, and much of that leans on the art style and environmental effects alone.

Missions are equally entertaining whether they come from a main character or minor character you happen upon. Most quests may involve (but aren’t limited to) tracking, fighting, sneaking, climbing, riding, and spying. I especially enjoyed quests with specific limitations, such as having to remain undetected and not to kill any guards. Eventually, however, due to the game’s long length, some of the missions do start to show their repetitiveness, and I don’t think it would have been horrible if the overall run time was 10-15% shorter. I also enjoyed the fact that so much effort was put into side activities that feel serene and peaceful, akin to the Buhddist and Shinto side of being a samurai. Composing haikus and bathing in hot springs to increase your total health felt very much in the spirit of a Bushido lifestyle; always a calm in between the storms of violence. The fact that not all side content is action oriented was a very neat and authentic detail.

Samurai duels were some of my favorite parts of the game. Occasionally Jin would come across an opponent or rival with legitimate swordsmanship skills, and has to face them in an arena. These locations where the duels would take place never failed to be more epic than the next. Duels act like boss fights in the game, and incorporate similar combat to the regular open world combat--only Jin can’t use secondary items such as kunai, his bow, or smoke bombs. These moments were ripe for the photo mode, something I used throughout this game constantly, as its packed with incredible environmental design and lighting effects to make almost every moment and location feel like a living painting. Samurai duels were usually never very difficult, including the ending boss fights, but they always looked awesome and felt damned satisfying.

The game does suffer from some minor technical glitches, but these small drawbacks mean next to nothing compared to how impressively the rest of the game was designed and executed. Frequently I would approach an enemy group and want to initiate a stand off (the samurai version of a high noon cowboy duel) but the game either didn’t give me the option or the option blinked on screen for only a moment and I was unable to do it. Something similar would happen for stealth kills, as sometimes instead of doing the assassination animation when prompted, Jin just did a regular slash attack instead, blowing my cover. Situations like this didn’t happen often, but were consistent enough to notice. I give Sucker Punch a huge pass on these small technical details, as they never ruined my experience of the game, remaining small frustrations on occasion.

Ghost of Tsushima is a greatest hits of iconic feudal Japanese visuals, sounds, tropes, settings, and themes. Countless details build upon this heightened version of Japanese history, making this game an all in one interactive Kurosawa film. Everything from the sword duel boss fights, to the multiple fighting stances, to the stealth, to the nature surrounding you, everything has been executed with extreme skill and thoughtfulness. It can have its small moments showing a lack of polish either in the visuals or mechanics, but Sucker Punch more than accomplished what they set out to do. Ghost of Tsushima is the best PlayStation 4 exclusive, and by far one of my favorite games of all time. If you have any interest in the open world genre, and love the Japanese culture and art style, Ghost of Tsushima likely won’t let you down. An amazing adventure wreathed in katanas, honor, blood, wind, and cute foxes. 

9.5/10

[sturdy-nerdy-stitchery]

1, 7, and 10!

1) How long have you been stitching?

I’ve been stitching since I was a wee teen! maybe around 12 or 13? I’ll be 35 in 2 months. All I know is, since my mom was big into cross stitching when my brother and I were tots, she thought it would be great to get me a small kit from hobby lobby. At least I THINK she was the one who got me the kit, now that I think upon it. Maybe I got the kit MYSELF with my allowance? I have no idea now...All I know is, my first ever project was a little bee, stitched on 11ct aida fabric. The kit came with all the pattern, thread, needle, hoop, and cloth From there, I just remember my ADHD getting hooked on this new thing, and as common with ADHD people, we tend to go big or go home while the adrenaline courses through our veins, and i remember buying more cross stitch pattern kit things at hobby lobby (a few still sit in my crafting drawer).Thought it would be a life long hobby, but also with ADHD people, we lose interest eventually (or quickly) and we have to move on to something else  that gives us that instant gratification/excitement. I lost that interest for SO many years..15 years, my threads just collecting dust...until one day, I got that inspiration again...that “go big or go home” and thought “OMG I SHOULD CROSS STITCH SAILOR MOON STUFF!!” and I had all these ideas, bought all these threads and hoops...then...never touched them. until about 2 or 3 years ago when i had this GRAND idea to stitch a baby bib for the baby still inside her comfy, warm, and wet, home. But I wanted my own patter, so i went to MS paint and started pixelating a T.A.R.D.I.S...and from there, that excitement kicked in, and it’s been kicked on ever since. 

7) Do you have any other crafty/artsy hobbies?  

any other hobbies? well, aside from cross stitch and knit? Uh, drawing used to be a hobby. I think mainly because I was in school, and one way that kept my ADHD attention focused was to fidget, and i fidgeted by doodling on my  notes/notebooks...Man, from middle school onward. Sketch books. Weeb art. OC characters. And as time progressed, my art skills got better. I took art classes in high school, in college...hell, even thought that getting an illustration degree was what i wanted to do, only because i was pressured to pick a degree by my mom, and illustration looked cool because i saw ONE portfolio that had an anime drawing in it. After college, it seems my art has taken a back seat. I never seem motivated or inspired to draw these days. other hobbies include reading (something i used to do A WHOLE FUCK TON until i got into a reading slump. I’ll be lucky if i read one short story a month. and by short, i mean...ones on my kindle that say “read time: 2 hours” or less. I own so many books and manga...and back in high school and college, i was a HUUUGE WEEB. the annoying kind of weeb who tried to use japanese words in everything. I used to read SO much manga. I hope i can get back into reading more...But i’m not going to hold my breath...I love to cook. This hobby i do often...or often enough when my anxiety isn’t running amok...I do it often BECAUSE MY FAMILY HAS TO EAT so i’ll feed them delicious meals! Thankfully, the rule in this house is: who ever cooks, the other person cleans up. I HATE CLEANING UP BUT I LOVE COOKING! works in my favor! great, now i have to think about what to cook for dinner tonight with the tofu i have. I would say sewing...but...i only do it out of necessity...when i have a hole in a shirt, or need to finish a commission book mark, or need to work on halloween costumes. I wouldn’t say that this is a hobby per se. Or maybe it is? I did take a sewing class through the park district for 2 sessions...in those 3 months...i leanred new techniques and things...but she didn’t teach any seamstress sewing, as the instructor doesn’t know how to sew clothes. Only projects, bags, etc. I saved all her hand outs and projects. I hope one day, to have the space in a new home so that i CAN get back into sewing. I’ll add gaming too! I don’t do it often, as i am very indecisive on what to play  next unless a new fav of mine comes out...and i know that when i DO play, i get addicted and i can play for 8 hours straight if you let me. I am currently playing FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS...as I’ve never played it before...and it’s been sitting on our game shelf for years. I’m the gamer type who like to explore too much...so games for me take 3x or 4x as long to finish because i can’t just do the story line and be done!

10: How/where do you get your patterns?

For the most part, I make my own via KG CHART (look up kg chart or kg-chart in the search when you are on my blog page). I got so tired of seeing nothing but cute bears and flowers, so I decided to make my own, and then sell them on my Sturdy Nerdy Stitchery Etsy page. 

I also may look on etsy and buy some patterns that I see that I like...or, since craft stores seem to be expanding, I can find more selection of cross stitch kits and things and they aren’t just limited to cute bears and flowers! I bought a unicorn one at the AC Moore craft store! 

[theundergrounddog]

Golden Lovers’ Night

For the most part, Kota Ibushi nights were Kota Ibushi nights and Kenny Omega nights were Kenny Omega nights. Extremeparty puts it something like: 'When it's Ibushi, or Kenny alone the place is packed full so what will it be like if they are together?'

(Although Kenny sometimes came to Ibushi’s ones to hang out anyway.)

Comment from Extremeparty 01.31.2009: "Ibushi and Kenny were talking, Ibushi was in Japanese and Kenny was in English in conversation. I heard it in Japanese / English, but surely these two people must be talking on radio waves."

But they did have at least one official event together. A Golden Lovers' celebration party when they won the New Japan IWGP Junior Tag titles in October 2010...

The staff are worried it will be busy but there are still some empty seats when the event starts.

Extremeparty: "Ibushi arrived at 18:58, Kenny (and Michael interpreting) at 19:05, first toast. Ibushi throwing the toast of the toast to Kenny (right photo). Kenny greets us in English, Michael interprets. "There are two people who captured the title, but thanks to everyone who cheers us, Michael here is also a member of Golden Lovers."​"

Kota goes to serve behind the bar, the writer admires his beer pouring skills and they chat. Apparently he was enjoying playing Fallout 3 at the time but I can't make out the rest of their conversation in any real accuracy.

Kenny comes up with the idea that they should make a special original Golden Lovers cocktail. Kota starts mixing it. The writer calls it a "terrible collaboration."

It turns out badly but some people still want to drink it. The lucky person will be decided in a game of pop-up pirate. The winner will get to drink it.

The first go is determined with rock-paper-scissors.

Ibushi stabs it.

Now he's nervous...

Kenny is defeated!

Ibushi: "Are you going to drink it?"

Kenny: "It's not a punishment game! The winner drinks it!"

A female fan won in the end and her description of the drink's taste was 'cold medicine syrup.'

After that they do some more toasts. It even looks like Kenny may actually drink something alcoholic here? But I really wouldn't want to say for certain.

At the request of a female guest: Kenny holds Kota like a princess.

(Side Note: If anyone comes across the source of that second picture I’d be interested to know it. I found it on a random website via google images and I don’t know where it came from.)

Extremeparty writer comments that Kenny kept the '下ネタ/Shitaneta' (rude/dirty jokes) at a conservative level throughout the night. (Nakazawa, the extremeparty writer and griffon591 all regularly comment on the frequency/intensity of Kenny's ‘shitaneta’ on the various nights they attended.)

In honor of that, bonus quotes on maturity or the lack thereof:

From Nakazawa's blog, February 2010: "Initially he (Kenny) presented himself nicely, but gradually expressed the nature of a second grade junior high school student who loves vulgar jokes from the second night on."

At Kota's 30th birthday party the Extremeparty writes: "Rather than 30 years old he (Kota) is 10 years old × 3" ​

All pics and info from: Extremeparty, Michael Nakazawa’s Blog and Griffon591

If anyone would like to take a go at translating the written accounts I’d be very interested to know the result! 

[black-winged-pippa]

And the word for today is...

As expected, because I overdid it yesterday, I really screwed myself up today. My legs and feet got so swollen that my ankles disappeared. I could barely be on my feet at all today, but I pushed myself to do it anyway so that I wasn’t just loafing around while everyone else was working.

We sold a shit ton more than you’d think we did, but we still had a shitload of stuff left at the end of the sale. My aunt advertised the sale starting at 8:00, but at 7:30, while we were still filling up tables and tarps, there were like 3 groups of people that showed up to shop. Rude. Two people actually tried to walked past our line of chairs behind the payment table to poke around the garage. Like, dudes, everything for the yard sale is in the freaking yard. There was one really awesome lady at the beginning, though. She was there for nearly 2 hours, and she just kept adding to this ever-growing pile of stuff she was going to buy. We filled up one of those moving boxes from Home Depot with everything she bought. She spent $60. Then, not even 20 minutes later, she was back and spent another $11. We loved her.

We had a little girl with her dog and her grandmother come and buy like half of my cousin’s Barbie dolls. We let her make a deal on it, and dropped the total by a few dollars. She was just so cute, and she was very polite when she asked if it was okay to deal. We didn’t get many people wanting to haggle, honestly. One of them actually made me and my aunt mad. We looked up the going price for one of their game consoles online, especially for a used one. We took off more than half of that price, and even threw in a charging cable and 2 accessory cases with it. She wanted to go lower. Honey, even McKay’s would charge you more than we are, for the console alone. This is the best deal you’re going to get. We ain’t stupid, and we need to make some profit.

Things were going great for the first 4 hours, with huge groups and a few small families, and then it just died. We had maybe 7 people show up after 11:00, and we were going until 3:00. At the end, we went through everything that didn’t sell and began organizing things into piles/boxes: trash, Goodwill, and re-sale. (We’ll be doing this again in October, by the way.) There were a few things that my aunt left with me that didn’t fall under those categories. I’ve been volunteered to take books, movies, and games to McKay’s, and a selection of 90s clothing to sell either online or to a vintage store. The Raggedy Ann and Andy bedding ended up not selling, so there’s that, too.

After the yard sale, we met up with Mom. We let her stay at home to get some much needed rest. She’s been super stressed out, but she’d also missed a dose of her thyroid medication during the week, and today ended up being her fallout day from that. Anyway, the 4 of us went and got dinner, and then we did some shopping. I got 2 shirts from Burkes, and a sweatshirt and sweater from Kohl’s.

God, Kohl’s turned into an adventure not even a minute into the store. A little boy had fallen and busted his head pretty much as soon as we got in. Cat ran back to ask Mom if she could help them out. We made our way over to see if they needed the help, and mother and child were both a mess. The mom was near hysterical and the toddler was screaming and crying. The older child seemed freaked out, but she was managing to keep her calm. The store manager was doing her best to keep the mom talking and stop her from panicking, all while calling for EMS. When Mom saw how much of a bleeder the head wound was, and we were too far from the bathrooms to get paper towels, she whipped out a sanitary pad and had the mom hold it against the child’s head. Mom started talking gently to the mother, letting her know that it’s completely normal for head wounds like his to bleed like this one was. Mom and the manager (via instructions from 911) talked her through how to apply pressure. Since she had both hands on her son’s head, I knelt down and rubbed his back and arm to help soothe him. Once we saw the lights from EMS outside the doors, Mom and I stepped back to give them a clear path to the kid. As soon as they came over to where we were, we decided to leave them in the hands of EMS. The managers and staff thanked us repeatedly for our help in the situation as we made our way to the other side of the store.

Honestly, I almost burst into tears throughout the entire exchange. I used to be more collected in situations like this, but I’ve been hypersensitive lately. The effort it took to hold back the tears forced my nose to start running. Still, I’m glad that we were able to help relax the mom and child. That’s a very frightening experience for a young mom and 2 little ones. The EMS team did a good job, too. The little boy barely cried while they worked on him. They got him bandaged up pretty quickly, and he was very comfortable with one of the men holding him while his mom talked with store employees and other paramedics. He didn’t get fussy until they were ready to leave the store. I think he was overwhelmed by the lights and activity outside.

After trying to calm our own nerves with some shopping, we came home, and my first mission was to soak my poor swollen feet. And, now, I’m going to try and relax. I doubt I’ll get to sleep before 3:00, but we’ll see.

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam season 3, episode 3 reaction

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting so far! I love hearing people’s thoughts on S3 and reading anecdotes about other viewing experiences. This episode has some moments with a lot of room for varying interpretations; I would love to hear other POVs if you got a different reading out of a scene. It’s also one of the episodes where we have the original scripts, so we can compare the first draft with the finished product. 

Episode 3 feels like an impending train wreck up until the very end, where Robyn intervenes to keep things on track. 

SEASON 3, EPISODE 3 - “Now you’re bonding too much”

Clip 1 - Damage control, part 1

Isak starts off literally on the sidelines as he deals with the fallout of his ill-conceived lies as Emma writes a long text saying it’s fine if he’s not interested but he doesn’t have to give her false hope. Well, he is giving her some false hope, but we’ve also see him express reluctance over hanging out with her and partying with her. I can’t help but feel a little bit bad for him because even if he did make this mess himself, he also didn’t want to do the party with Emma in the first place. He’s created his own problems but they’re a result of his struggles with internalized homophobia and his need to maintain a typical heterosexual dudebro exterior. He really needs to learn to stop waffling and giving in to what people expect or want from him and start speaking up for himself, but of course he can’t quite do that until he starts being honest with himself and others.

Emma demonstrates her maturity by writing a reasonable-ish text message at 21:35, then complaining that he doesn’t answer at 22:01, then apologizing and asking him to reply at 22:18, then calling him an asshole at 22:30. This is one of my greatest personal pet peeves so I’m not exactly feeling sympathy for her at not getting a text reply within an hour. Some of us take naps or go to the movies or do stuff that requires us to be away from our phones for an hour. 

I’ve been wondering why Julie chose to write Emma the way she did, because if you think about it, Isak could have had a female “love interest” who was really cool and smart and seemingly perfect for him, if not for the fact that he’s gay and can’t make himself be interested in her. If I had to guess, I’d guess Emma is characterized like this because someone more mature or level-headed might be able to pick up on the massive hints that he isn’t into her, or in any case might not be so doggedly persistent in getting Isak’s attention. Instead, she’s beautiful and sweet enough, if ignorant in certain aspects, but she’s not someone Isak can just shake off by being distant. He has to deal with the consequences of flirting with her when he doesn’t mean it, because she won’t just go away if he ignores her. 

Additionally, I guess having a “love interest” like her only make it more obvious how right Even is for Isak, not just in the sense of Even being a boy but being someone with whom he forms a natural connection. Isak with Emma acts fake, Isak with Even acts real.

I’m not trying to hate on Emma, by the way; I know there’s an ugly side of fandom that can OTT bash her or Sonja not for their actual flaws but for existing. With Emma it’s complicated because she does do some shitty stuff later on that is legitimately worthy of criticism. Ultimately I think she doesn’t come off as well as someone like Sonja, or even Ingrid or Iben in S1, who are similarly minor characters causing problems for our POV character, but at this point in the story I still had plenty of sympathy for her. Isak is being unfair to her.

Mahdi calls Isak a traitor as he sits down and goes in on him for cancelling the party. It’s not really a surprise that Isak ended up snapping at him later in the season - obviously I love the boy squad and things worked out well and they became an adorable friendship crew, but these two clashed a lot in the first part of S3. To be fair to Mahdi, Isak has in the space of two episodes lost the group’s weed and randomly cancelled a pre-party by lying to everyone involved. Not good bro behavior. 

More to add to my theory that they’re relatively new friends and Mahdi is in this group via Jonas: he has no idea about Isak’s mom situation. I can’t remember if Magnus knows - I don’t remember him talking about it although “Magnus” has known Isak for a while if you count David’s early appearances. But even if you assume Isak is holding back on the specific details, Mahdi doesn’t seem to know that there’s anything unusual about what’s going on with his mom.

Isak is lying here again by mentioning his mom but it’s at least a convincing lie for once. He knows that Jonas will realize the seriousness of what he’s implying, and he also probably won’t press him too hard about the situation. It’s a little shitty that he uses the very serious issue of his mom’s illness - something that Jonas has helped Isak deal with firsthand - as a cover story for the real reason he bailed on Friday. But Isak’s mom is also a constant source of stress and worry for him so there is some truth in it.

Nice acting from Marlon when Jonas’ face changes as soon as Isak mentions his mom. Jonas being so protective and concerned for Isak = 💛💛💛

Mahdi of course doesn’t get it, because moms being stressed is just a thing moms do, they get upset because the kids made a mess or the car broke down or the dog dug a hole in the couch. “Stress” implies something far more mundane than the real situation with Isak’s mom.

Jonas asks simply how Isak’s mother is doing, nothing more, and Mahdi then manages to pick up from Isak’s expression and a serious shared look with Jonas that more is happening with Isak than he realizes. It’s noted in the script that he realizes here. So he drops the argument and tells Isak to just arrange a new pre-party. Case closed, as Jonas and Mahdi say!

Of course, you can tell from Isak’s expression that the case is not closed. First of all, he’s still lying to his friends. Second, how is he going to get a new pre-drink arranged with those girls when Emma is pissed off at him? Third, arranging a new pre-drink will not solve Isak’s rather large problem of not wanting to drink with Emma because he is not interested in her in the slightest.

There’s an IG post from Isak of the boys playing video games the next day, so things were chill again pretty quick.

Clip 2 - The Gay Test

This clip takes place on Mandag, 3:03, for anyone who wants to keep track of the repeating numbers.

Man, this fucking scene. This is bleak.

We start with Isak staring at the ceiling, just staring. You can imagine the million things that are on his mind. He reaches over for his phone and we get one of those biblical texts from his mom. Not as apocalyptic as usual, but still one more thing to cause him “stress” to borrow a euphemism. All these texts are both reminders that not only his mom is struggling with mental illness, she might not accept him if she knew certain facts about him. Facts which are heavily on his mind as of late.

Also, I guess Isak just sleeps in his underwear since we see it happen a few times, but the fact that he’s not dressed works for this being a very stripped down sort of scene, where Isak gets down to the heart of the matter on his laptop. Confronting ideas about his own sexuality directly even if he’s just typing them into a search engine. 

This whole clip is the definition of show, don’t tell, and Tarjei does such excellent acting here, especially considering that he’s using a pretty limited range of facial expressions and body language. Which makes sense, to be clear - he’s alone in his room at 3:03, he doesn’t need to be projecting his feelings to other characters or overreacting. But despite the fact that he’s not asked to go through a huge range here, man does this kid get across everything you need to know about what’s running through Isak’s mind. In fact the stillness works in his favor here, emphasizing his dead-inside, hopeless stare.

His acting carries this scene when there’s no voice-over or exposition to walk us through what’s happening. For instance, when Isak looks at Emma’s picture on Facebook, there’s no explanation, but we understand. He’s trying to see if he feels anything toward it, any attraction at all. He’s probably trying to make himself feel some attraction. 

We don’t actually see the search that led to him finding the gay test, but you can probably assume it was something like how to know if you’re gay or am I gay or something like that. But it might have been interesting to see exactly how he phrased it, to note the level of detachment or certainty in the phrasing.

This fucking test. A real test, by the way! The scripts have the links for the websites Isak visits in this clip, so Julie did her research. This scene was written around the existence of this crap. Did she get advised by RL gay people about the “empty closets” website while talking to members of the LGBT community for this season? Did she just Google “am I gay” and “how to get turned on by girls if you are gay” in order to find some appropriate links?

I was reluctant to give that website hits, but I did want to see exactly what the rest of the questions were, so I went through the test. 

The quiz is 20 questions and they’re all about personal grooming and style habits, gay-friendly pop culture, and avoidance of emotions. Nowhere in this quiz to determine whether someone is gay does it ask questions like “Are you attracted to men?” “Do you want to have sex with men?” “Do you fall in love with men?” Anything that has to with the actual definition of being a gay man. It is all about the stereotypes of having a “gay” personality.

Not only is this quiz is very stupid (obviously), but it also covers a very narrow perspective of what it means to be gay. A lot of the questions assume a middle- or upper-middle-class lifestyle and a selective pool of interests. It’s also an American-centric quiz and one that seems rather dated. There’s one question about who won season 1 of Project Runway - a season that aired in 2004, when Isak was five years old. How can this possibly be an accurate judge of Isak’s sexuality? But for a vulnerable teenager, it doesn’t matter that the test is ludicrous. It’s just reinforcing his worst fears of what a gay man has to be, muddling his perception of who he is. Because on the one hand, if this is what a gay man is, then Isak can’t be gay. He’s not one of those gay guys. But on the other hand, he still feels like he has to distance himself from these ideas of what gay is so he’s not seen that way. It’s all very messy. 

This part is specifically mentioned in the script: Isak hovers over the time travel question, seeming like he’s going to choose Moulin Rouge but picking Woodstock, the less “gay’ seeming option. Trying not to get too high of a score on the quiz. It’s very depressing that he needs to monitor himself like this - I mean, this is a dumbass online quiz and he’s taking it alone at night! Who cares? Sometimes I take Buzzfeed quizzes like “Design a taco and we’ll tell you what tropical fish you are” but does it tell me anything about myself if it says I’m a suckermouth catfish? No. Really he just doesn’t want this insignificant test to confirm something he already fears about himself.

Also we never see him watch any Baz Luhrmann films other than Romeo + Juliet, but I wonder if he watched Moulin Rouge and that sparked his interest in almost picking that option. Baz Luhrmann’s filmography isn’t that large; he’s directed the Red Curtain Trilogy (Strictly Ballroom, R+J, and Moulin Rouge), Australia, and The Great Gatsby, plus the pilot of The Get Down. You could watch all of his movies in a weekend. I know Isak is pretty upset and about to get focused on being “straight” but he had time to research and listen to Nas’ discography sometime this week, so it’s not unreasonable he also checked out other Baz films.

(Only three of those five films are tragedies, by the way! If Isak had stumbled upon Strictly Ballroom, perhaps this season would have turned out differently.)

If he watched Moulin Rouge, by that way, that might add some extra hesitation over the question. A reminder of Even, a reminder of these feelings that are causing him so much pain.

He’s 20% gay, which by this test’s standards is not very gay,  but probably too gay for his liking. 

how to get turned on by girls if you are gay -  I think it’s the “if you are gay” bit that makes this particularly depressing, because Isak knows what he is. He might be taking The Gay Test but really he knows he is gay. This isn’t really about him struggling with feelings for a guy for the first time and figuring out what that means about himself. This season isn’t about Isak realizing that he is gay. He’s known for a while; he’s likely known since he had a crush on Jonas, at least. It’s just that this time with Even, these feelings are coming to the forefront; this time, he almost found himself in a situation where a guy liked him back, and that leaves him with a different range of options than crushing on a straight dude where it’s “safe” in the sense that it’ll never happen. If a guy likes him back, it’s more dangerous, because something can happen. This Google search is about Isak trying to find out how to force a heterosexual side from himself despite knowing it’s fake.

In the script he does a search for “how to get turned on by girls if you are 22% gay” which I’m guessing they changed either to get the right search results on screen or because that phrasing is kind of humorous despite the topic, and it’s at odds with the serious tone of Isak’s struggle here.

Actually, I take it back. You know what is the most depressing about this part? That these are all real forums and posts from closeted gay people. Not fake websites made up for the show, as you would see in most television series. Real comments from real gay guys, talking about how to force themselves to get aroused by women. 

“I get drunk and try to focus on what is attractive about the girl. Works for me.” A real person wrote that.

I wasn’t watching this in real time yet, and I actually saw the pre-drink clip before I saw this one so I wasn’t worried about the pre-drink ending in Isak sleeping with a girl, but I can imagine a sense of foreboding from this clip? Particularly with the focus on the advice about sleeping with a girl. I can definitely imagine that it’d seem like Isak was about to make himself have sex with Emma (or another girl). I am so, so glad that Julie didn’t put Isak through that. It’s depressing enough to see him just think about it.

Clip 3 - Damage control, part 2

Ahhh, it’s the first appearance of Isak’s locker! Things are spilling out of it, he has a hard time cramming his belongings inside and keeping it shut.

So to translate the metaphor of Isak’s locker of self-acceptance: Isak knows he is gay, he has spent the past week indulging in his attraction to Even, and now he’s going to force all those feelings back inside no matter what it takes.

Also, in the script, the locker is able to be closed once Isak says he won’t host the party, so he’s closing it by turning down this opportunity to potentially hang with Even - the whole reason he got roped into hosting in the first place by asking if there would be more kosegruppa meetings.

Lmao, Isak seems incredibly stressed out by his locker, like Tarjei is breathing heavily and he has these wild eyes at the end when he turns back to Vilde. Keeping his locker shut sure must take a toll on him.

Isak blames other people for not being able to host the party instead of owning up to the real reason, which of course he would never admit out loud. He wanted to know if there would be more kosegruppa meetings, in case Even would come, but now Even is the last thing he wants to think about. With this party, Even might not only show up, but could bring his beautiful girlfriend along.

Oh, Isak. Before you told this lie, you should have counted on Eskild having contacts with Noora’s social circle. Eskild, not want to host a party? Please.

He then pins it on Linn which is at least a more believable lie. Linn is the one who asks her roommates to keep it down and wants to stay home and chill. But Vilde makes the point that Linn is depressed and doesn’t want to do anything, and it’s their job to make sure she does stuff. Which is actually very astute of Vilde. Speaking as someone who has dealt with depression, people can definitely go overboard in trying to help. Like everything, there’s a balance: you should respect the wishes of someone with depression and not think you know better than they do about how to handle their mental illness. But it’s also good to have people who want to check in on you and pull you out of your shell. Not to mention, you know, this is additional foreshadowing for the importance of mental health issues this season. 

Also let’s note that Vilde knows this probably because of her mom’s own issues, that she realizes she needs to give her mom a push sometimes. Sure, she really wants Isak to host that party. But she’s also speaking from experience. (The execution of Magnus/Vilde is annoying but in the bare bones of them, they’re both naive/silly characters who are harder to take seriously on a surface level but have a lot of hidden wisdom and maturity about certain issues.)

But Vilde also thought Even was a psychopath so she’s not perfect about mental illness, either. 

There’s a gifset of Vilde talking during this scene juxtaposed with Isak staring at her blankly and it’s one of my favorite gifsets ever. 

I will never stop laughing about how Isak just gives in to whatever Vilde asks of him.

Vilde texts him afterwards about the party and he gives one-word answers that are about as enthusiastic as his texts to Emma.

It’s freaky how much Isak is able to switch on his cool straight guy persona. Just a minute ago he was all frazzled by a battle with his locker and then losing a battle about hosting the party to Vilde, and now he’s going to be all Smooth Charming Totally Digs Girls Isak.

Lol, I’ll say this, it’s a pretty good transformation. Once he gets going I don’t see any cracks in the facade even knowing that he’s struggling internally. 

Even in his apology where he calls himself an asshole, he manages to neg her, kinda. Or whatever you’d call it with that little twist at the end implying he’s got another “cute girl” and Emma. It’s a joke but damn, fake Isak is such a little shit.

I didn’t really notice before but Isak is a little similar to Even here, getting Emma to loosen up by his big talk and charm, kind of like how Even breaks through to Isak with his story about Sonja’s aluminum leg later on. Though Isak is using a truthful story to move forward with his fake interest in Emma, and Even uses a false story to move forward with his real interest in Isak.

This clip ends on such a superficially lighthearted note but it doesn’t make you feel good. Instead it creates this sensation of dread.

This scene is so frustrating because like … Isak could have let this thing with Emma die after he canceled on her pre-drink. Sure, he would have had a first-year girl who didn’t like him, but big deal, in the scheme of things. Or he could have just apologized to her with no flirtation, been upfront about not wanting to take this thing with them further. But he creates an additional problem here by stoking Emma’s interest again. You can see this crashing and burning from a mile away.

Clip 4 - Hello dance chicks

This dance routine goes on too long, lmao, like this lasts more than a minute. Which, to be fair, is probably how it feels when you’re a closeted gay boy having to look at dancing girls because your friends like the view. But it’s also kinda like someone on the crew was like, “Hey Julie, would it be cool if we showcase my cousin and her dance team in this clip?” and Julie was too polite to say no. (This is not actually what I think happened, for the record.)

As noted in the script, this is another instance of Isak trying to make himself feel something, some bit of attraction to these physically fit, tightly-clothed girls, but all he can get out of it is fixation on weird details like the size of one girl’s hands. 

“Did he have to be so gay?” Isak, no. Don’t do this.

This is a direct consequence of crap like “the gay test” that fixates on stereotypes and maintaining a masculine image. It’s really sad that we see Isak try to promote this stuff when he’s raw with insecurity over it.

Also, dude, legit no one in your squad cares about whether that guy is gay. They’re all preoccupied with salivating over girls in activewear.

Later on in the episode we’ll hear Even criticize the act of making generalizations against gay people, something that Isak himself is doing here: generalizing that people who act like that must be gay and generalizing that people who are gay act like that. Like Emma claiming that her generalization isn’t a problem because it’s not negative, Isak tries to defend his comment once Jonas calls him on it by saying that he’s not “dissing” him but merely pointing out a fact. A very weak argument when the comment starts with Isak complaining about the guy being too gay.

Shoutout to Marlon’s utterly baffled face when Isak pulls this shit out of nowhere. It is very ironic that Jonas did encourage some of Isak’s insecurity in S1 with his comments about gay songs and going along with OG Elias’ gay jokes, but now Jonas seems to have matured beyond that behavior between seasons, and Isak, the actual gay guy, is the one left behind, struggling with internalized homophobia. 

Also, whether or not Jonas suspects Isak is gay at all at this point, it’s good that he called out his friend for saying some offensive crap. A lot of guys would laugh along or let the comment pass unchecked. S1 Jonas didn’t call out Elias and even acted like Isak was unreasonable for being upset. S3 Jonas is one hell of an upgrade on that front.

Lol, if you didn’t like Jonas in S1, S3 is his redemption arc. I was biased because I came into S1 having seen part of S3, so I knew Jonas was going to turn out to be an awesome dude. But it is really striking how the alternating POV structure can reveal different sides to characters, and Jonas is one of the characters with possibly the biggest differences revealed. Eva’s season shows Jonas at his worst; Isak’s season shows Jonas at his best. Some of that is definitely getting a year between them to account for Jonas’ increased maturity, and some of it is just being able to know Jonas in the context of a romantic relationship vs. in the context of a friendship.

Jonas mentions that Isak has been grouchy, because Jonas pays attention to his best bro’s well-being, because he cares!! So damn much!!

Mahdi is still checking out the girls and not paying a lick of attention to this Isak-Jonas argument when Even walks up, by the way. 

GODDAMMIT HENRIK, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO TALL

It burns me up inside that Even was wearing the snapback before he throws it to Isak and we didn’t get to see it. Because Henrik is a long, long man. Well, mostly because Julie shot it at that angle.

On the other hand, the angle works really well to create more tension in the scene. Even is towering over Isak and the other boys. His presence is sudden and big. He’s the looming problem that Isak can’t ignore. Isak is sitting down, off-guard. Not only is Even suddenly dominating this moment that was between Isak and his friends, he and Isak are literally not on the same level, both physically and in their interaction. As helpfully pointed out in the script, “Isak doesn’t understand shit about what just happened.”

In the script, Even not only is wearing the snapback, but he sticks it on Isak when he returns it, and like, I can see why that might be considered too much (and Isak immediately panics and takes it off in the script) but god DAMN do I want to see footage where they tried it this way. 

Lmao, so did Even know where to find Isak? Or was he wandering around the school with Isak’s hat, hoping to run into him? Or wearing it just because he liked having Isak’s hat on his head?

How much do you want to bet that Isak left the snapback behind because he was desperate to get out of Even’s apartment and away from the Even/Sonja makeout session as fast as possible? 

Even, on the other hand, was probably glad to have the hat as an excuse to talk to Isak again.

This scene could have gone very differently had Even found Isak alone instead of with the boy squad. Or, looking at it another way, did Even intentionally approach Isak when he wasn’t alone in order to nullify some of the tension from the situation? Because, even apart from Sonja’s appearance, there was some serious chemistry happening on Friday, I’m sure Even fell harder for Isak than he’d even expected. But his relationship with Sonja hangs between them. Maybe he thought having other people there would make the vibe less fraught. You underestimated how much Isak does not want his bros to know, Even. 

The way the atmosphere changes when Even walks in … you can feel Isak’s blood freeze. He just watches Even toss the snapback to him with no effort to catch it because he’s too shocked by what’s happening. He’s so panicked he can come up with absolutely no lies to salvage this situation.

Even is bouncing a little after he approaches Isak, which seems to be a nervous gesture for him. He might seem like the cool confident dude, and sure, Even is often confident and makes the first moves in his pursuit of Isak. But he’s also got a lot of deep-rooted vulnerability. If something happens with Isak … it’ll mean he has to end things with Sonja, a person who has seen Even at his lowest points and still accepts him, cutting off a relationship that has been a source of stability and support despite its serious flaws. And it’ll mean taking a chance on a new person who might not be so okay with the parts of himself Even hates the most.

Even, bless him, reads the tense situation without Isak saying anything. Even though they’re not on the same page, Even can at least tell that Isak is hiding something from his friends. This is one of those early moments that made me really like him - how easily and quickly he can read the room and especially what Isak is feeling, and can act quickly to help him out, similar to how Even handles Emma wanting to pair off with Isak at kosegruppa. He’s a very perceptive person. And he throws out a lie for Isak very casually and shrugs it off and walks away.

Isak is very confused by this encounter, and with scenes where Isak has no idea what’s happened I like to consider Even’s unseen side of the story (to be fair, I like to consider that for ... pretty much all scenes). So I’m trying to imagine what Even wanted or expected from this moment. This is the first scene where he’s interacting with Isak after a life-changing Friday afternoon where they got to know each other and fell hard for each other. That meeting ended with Even’s long-term girlfriend came by, bringing a cold dose of reality to this magical afternoon. So what does Even think will happen when he finds Isak again? What does he hope will happen?

I think from Even’s POV, this certainly wasn’t what he wanted to happen the next time he spoke to Isak. Isak was very clearly not happy with Even’s presence in that moment, which is never a great feeling. But if Even turned this moment over in his head - what was that all about? - he would have to consider that Isak was hiding something from his friends, specifically that he hung out with Even on Friday. So why didn’t Isak want to tell them? What’s so objectionable about two guys randomly hanging out and smoking weed together? Because if there wasn’t anything to hide, why couldn’t Isak just say, “Oh, thanks for returning my hat, hey guys, this is Even?” So then Even would run through the possibilities. Maybe Isak had other plans with these guys, and he bailed on them. But then why did he bail? Because he didn’t want to hang with them, or because he really wanted to hang with Even? Orrrrr …. Was there something else to that afternoon that Isak feels he can’t tell his friends about, and if so, what was that?

IDK, if I were in Even’s shoes, I would be analyzing the hell out of what just happened trying to pick out some meaning from it. And I think while I might be really hurt and disappointed in the moment, when I had been semi-rejected by Isak, if I thought about it further, I might feel a spark of hope over Isak’s reaction. Because maybe this feeling isn’t one-sided. Maybe that afternoon had more significance to Isak than just a fun hangout.

Of course this is all assuming Even is like me and obsesses over the little details of a confusing social interaction. He might have just thought, “Time to try again!” and started picking out the perfect outfit for Friday. We don’t get any clues between this scene and Even showing up at the party to tell us what he might have been thinking. 

The script makes it clear that Jonas remembers that Isak was wearing the snapback when they left the school on Friday, therefore realizing that Even was lying. Let’s applaud Jonas’ observational skills because tbh, I would not remember what hat my friends were wearing last week unless it was super out of the ordinary. I guess if one of them were borrowing my own hat I might mentally keep track of it? Still, Jonas is killing it this season with recognizing stuff’s up with Isak.

Isak and Jonas share clothes and I love it, by the way 💛💛💛

Isak calling Even “just some revue nerd from Vilde’s group” stings, man. I know he is obviously lying and Even is already so much more to him, but I’m glad Even wasn’t around to hear that. Like Isak dismissing Even that way is painful on Isak’s part, too. If only Even was “just some revue nerd” Isak wouldn’t be feeling like shit.

Honestly, bless Magnus for interrupting this miserable scenario with his weird-ass BDSM dreams. If ever there was a time where you needed your goofball friend to start talking about getting tied up and punished with a whip, this is it.

Some of Isak’s reaction to Magnus’ story seems like Tarjei laughing at his friend David delivering these ridiculous lines and some of it seems like he and Jonas can’t help but look at each other all are you hearing this shit and at one point it seems like Isak casts a look at Jonas as if to be like so are we done with the topic of gay people and my bad attitude and the revue nerd now? Are you distracted enough to forget it for now? Are we cool?

That whole moment with Even happened so quickly, you know that it was one of those incidents that goes by fast and is hard to process while it’s occurring. But as we later learn, it stuck with Jonas for a while.

So far, Isak has lied or taken part in a lie in every single clip this week: his mom’s “stress,” the gay test (lying to himself or trying to figure out how to live a lie), lying to Vilde about why he can’t host the party, lying to Jonas about who Even is and when Even got his snapback.

Clip 5 - Neon pre-game

This was the first Skam clip I ever saw!

The clip popped up in my recommendations on YouTube, and I was pulling an Isak and messing around on my laptop late at night, so I decided to watch. I fully expected to watch for a minute and then switch to something else, but no, this one clip had me hooked.

I know this is just like, a fun party theme where all the kids can get dressed up in wacky wigs and bright colors, but I think there’s something to both this scene and the 21:21 clip in the next episode that the setting is out of the ordinary and that allows the flirtation between Isak and Even to escalate.  In this clip, it’s a party, the lights are turned down, everyone’s dressed unusually. Things are already out of the norm. It’s because things aren’t ordinary that this situation with Isak and Even can be pushed a little farther. It’s when the lights are low and everyone’s dancing with painted faces that Isak and Even can lock eyes while they’re kissing girls because it’s something off from their usual reality. When the lights come up and the music’s off and everyone’s grabbing their coats to leave and go back into the rest of the world, breaking the spell, and Even levels that stare at Isak - that’s too real, that makes Isak look away. But it’s that slightly surreal, slightly dreamy vibe that allows for Isak and Even to take a step forward.

I love seeing Linn dressed up and socializing! Vilde was right, she needed a push.

Chris is here, but not Kasper, which is probably just due to actor availability since he’s mentioned in the script. It would have been nice to get some more insight into that relationship and especially what ended it, since we get so little of Chris’ inner life. I mean, Vilde/Magnus is also a “joke” relationship in a lot of respects and we still got more of a clue of why they might have something genuine besides a shared interest in TMI.

The script had Jonas calling Isak and Isak presumably ignoring him, a detail that is left out of the final clip. Jonas does mention that he tried to call Isak in a clip next episode, though.

Notice we open the dialogue with Isak asking Emma what music she likes, aka the question that Even asked him on Friday. Which is a common enough icebreaker, but I don’t think these facts are unrelated! Like I realize Isak has dating experience but really Isak takes a lot of cues from Even in navigating a real romantic relationship, little things that come up later on. And also, as much as Isak might be trying to be straight, trying to make it work with Emma, his mind is clearly drifting back to that afternoon with Even. How right it must have felt compared to this thing with Emma or with other girls, and how, maybe without even thinking about it much, he’s referring back to his interaction to Even as a model of how to flirt.

Lmao I mean, Justin Bieber ain’t my favorite musical artist either, but I feel like Isak’s reaction to Emma being a fan is so typical of dudes. I will give Emma some credit, she laughs off his teasing and doesn’t get too insecure about his comments, at least not visibly. And when he asks her about ‘90s hip-hop she admits she doesn’t know much about it instead of pretending to (ISAK).

Isak also sounds like a typical dude when talking about his musical tastes to Emma. However, Isak suddenly being an expert on Nas is the funniest shit ever. Emma, let me tell you all about the greatest musical artist ever, who I learned about a week ago! Tarjei plays this moment really well because I kinda cringed and I also laughed really hard.

It also shows that, even with Isak taking gay tests and trying to flirt with Emma this week, he found time to research and listen to Nas, someone important to Even.

In the script Vilde throws herself at Even into a hug when he enters and then it’s mentioned that “Vilde awkwardly greets Sonja,” which is kind of a random detail. I guess the awkwardness comes from Vilde launching herself too enthusiastically into a hug at Even in front of his girlfriend? Was Vilde supposed to be kinda thirsty for Even, thinking he was a single dude and wanting to get with someone (out of jealousy at her friends hooking up)?

The script also has Isak deliberately ignore Even when he tries to say hi, which wouldn’t have worked with the positioning of the actors in this scene, but it’s obviously colder than what we get here.

Looking ahead to S4, I’m still on the fence about how much Julie really thought about the Sana-Even connection - there are things that make me think she did plan it to a degree, there are things that seem retconned - but I’ve never thought this moment of Sonja introducing herself to Sana has to be a big inconsistency with Even and Sana knowing each other. All he had to do was tell Sonja beforehand that Sana would be at the party and that he didn’t want to call attention to the fact that they knew each other before he went to Nissen, and she probably would have agreed to play along like they were strangers.

I think Emma placed Isak’s hand on her boob because he momentarily stopped paying attention to her by looking at Even. But I don’t think she realized why he stopped paying attention to her.

Emma: “My bra will be bothering me until I can TAKE IT OFF I mean just a suggestion really it’d be so welcome to get out of it ha ha ha.”

I was going to laugh and say Isak could not look less interested in touching Emma’s boob but then I took another look at Tarjei’s face and remembered that Isak is supposed to be forcing himself to be turned on by girls, and mentally he was probably thinking okay, here’s your chance, focus and suddenly it got a lot less funny.

Jesus Lord, that look Even sends Isak from across the room while draping his jacket over his shoulder. While clad in that tight white T-shirt. He means business. No mystery at all why Isak takes that moment to gulp down his beer and start making out with Emma. This is certainly a challenge Isak is undertaking for himself, trying to be straight, but it’s also a fuck-you to Even (and not in the way Even wants). Hey Even, we flirt all afternoon and then your girlfriend comes in? Then you bring her to my apartment and give me that look across the room? Well, fuck you, I’m not dealing with your mixed signals now.

There is such a clear difference between when Isak makes out with girls versus when he kisses Even. With Emma here (and with Sara in S2) you can see how calculated it is; the way Isak rubs his hands over her back, the way he tilts his head in a coordinated way, the length of the kisses. It feels entirely like a performance with those girls, like there’s something cerebral about it, his mind is working on how to make it seem real from the outside. When Isak eventually kisses Even, it just seems like he’s … not thinking. Or maybe he’s thinking, but not because he’s trying to perform. With Even, Isak just wants to kiss him. He’s not worried about making it look good, he’s concentrated on how good it feels, and he’s just reacting on instinct with what his body wants. 

I would pay to see a version of this scene where Even plops down on the sofa and Emma is like, “Endre, Isak was just telling me about Nas, he says he made the best album of all time!”

Also, it wouldn’t have worked with Isak’s POV, but don’t you wish we could have seen Even’s face when he noticed Isak had his hand on Emma’s boob, and especially when Isak broke their loaded eye contact to make out with Emma? Like can you imagine on Even’s end, when he’s kind of still in that conversational bubble with Sonja and Vilde, how he burst out of it? OK GOTTA BLAST BYEEEEEEE

And then he launches across the room like he’s auditioning for The Flash.

“I’m starting to think you’re bonding too much” Subtle, Even.

“I thought we were a team?” SUBTLE.

Even does do an admirable job of trying to seem cheerful and not possessive or jealous, but you can see him deflate a little once he shakes Isak’s shoulder and compliments his apartment and Isak is just not having it, and meanwhile Emma gets to lean in to Isak taking advantage of that proximity. 

Lmao, can you imagine if these three actually attempted to bake bread or whatever for kosegruppa? All the passive-aggressiveness and competing for Isak’s attention, and Isak wanting to sink into the floor? I’ll say it again, I will never not feel a little cheated that we didn’t get more actual kosegruppa shenanigans.

It’s kinda funny that Emma is raving about Eskild considering they could have met only like an hour or so ago. And already she’s like “HE’S GAY, LIFE OF THE PARTY!”

Shout out to Eskild, Linn, and Chris’ dancing though. Loves of my life right there.

Even is honestly a very nice person, I think kindness is one of his defining qualities, but man, he does not care for Emma. Though even when he’s calling her out on her generalizing about gay people, he’s not being excessively rude to her? He’s not calling her homophobic or ignorant or anything, he’s just challenging her and explaining to her why it’s offensive. And he’s justified in doing so anyway, it’s not like he targeted her over something stupid. What she’s saying affects him as a pansexual person.

Actually, Emma harboring generalizations about gay people is perhaps part of why she didn’t consider that the boy turning down a blowjob from her and giving her mixed messages might be gay. He’s not ~hilarious and fitting into her ideas about gay people. To be clear, I’m not trying to put all the blame on her, because Isak is also randomly making out with her and encouraging her crush on him, too. But she’s just got a limited view of gay people and their experiences, as evidenced by other stuff later in the season.

Man, the way Isak’s head turns when Even calls Emma out on using superficial generalizations. This conversation is just what he needed to hear at this moment. That his paranoia over stuff like the gay test, his criticisms of the dance instructor for seeming too gay, all of that crap, are wrong. They’re inaccurate. Just because he likes guys does not mean Isak has to be this way or that way. That he can be an individual rather than having to cram himself into boxes that don’t fit. That if he identifies as gay, it doesn’t mean that everyone can sum up his existence by that one adjective. And he’s hearing it from exactly the best person who could say it at this moment: the guy he likes. Imagine what a relief it is to know not only that Even doesn’t buy into this bullshit, but also that he will vocally speak out against it. And you know that Isak is also wondering more about whether Even is not straight based on this conversation because it sounds like Even has given this topic a lot of thought.

Also when Emma is objecting to Even’s comments, she turns back to Isak, maybe for reinforcement, or maybe because she doesn’t want to lose an argument in front of him, and he quickly lowers his gaze, because he doesn’t want to seem too interested in what Even is saying. But of course Isak is intensely interested. Emma isn’t even quite in focus in some of these shots. It’s all Isak zeroing in on Even’s perspective.

Even also uses the “All Muslims are terrorists” example as a comparison, and it was one of the moments that people took as potential evidence that Even had an interest in Islam and possibly knew Sana. After S4, we know that this example is personal to him because his best friends were Muslims and experienced the harm from those generalizations.

Additionally, if you consider that Even had a suicidal episode prior to this season that had something to do with shame over liking boys, this is quite a bit of self-reflection to have gained in the meantime. I’m not sure we ever learn exactly when Even’s suicide attempt took place (like what month and exactly how much school he missed)? But in the period between the suicide attempt and S3, Even appeared to have gained a lot of acceptance about his sexuality.

As I said above, this is the first Skam clip I ever saw, and this moment right here, with Even and Emma talking on the couch, was the one that really grabbed my attention. I was impressed with this part because it seemed to have more nuance and maturity than a lot of similar takes on homophobia - I feel like a lot of shows sometimes still don’t get that positive generalizations are still generalizations? And I definitely feel like many shows’ characters wouldn’t have a discussion about it. 

And for what it’s worth, I really liked Even after this exchange and it’s one of many moments that made it harder for me to think that he was two-timing or using Isak. This seemed very genuine and thoughtful, and like he was someone who had strong investment in the topic. 

Not to drag Emma too much again, but her calling this conversation “boring” is something that makes me, well, less than fond of her. In fact I find her calling this conversation boring and flouncing away a lot worse than making a generalization about gay people in the first place. Because people do say offensive things out of ignorance; Isak certainly says his fair share of crap regarding gay people this season. But people can also be educated about these points. For instance, Isak takes Eskild’s Pride speech seriously. It’s that Emma doesn’t take Even’s comments seriously that’s bad. That she doesn’t want to confront that she may be perpetuating harmful ideas. I don’t expect her to fall over herself apologizing but this conversation has not permeated her brain at all. This isn’t a “boring” conversation to Isak, who is gay, and who needs this conversation at the moment. The fact that Emma can call it boring and walk away is some massive straight privilege. I don’t want to demonize her too much because she is only like 16, but yeah, girl is very ignorant about LGBT issues. 

HERE WE GO, ANOTHER ICONIC S3 MOMENT.

I never really noticed but at the beginning of Call Your Girlfriend, when we’re watching Isak bop along (adorably), you can see Even’s neon bandanna at the side of the frame, out of focus. It reminds me a lot of shots where we are firmly in Isak’s POV, such as in the Talk Show Host courtyard walk, where part of Isak’s head is at the side of the frame out of focus, almost like we’re watching over his shoulder, or directly seeing through his eyes. So this moment in Call Your Girlfriend, whether intentional or not, almost seems like we’re watching through Even’s eyes as he looks at Isak dancing. It doesn’t work perfectly, since Isak eventually looks off to the side at Even (and not at the camera) but I like to think of Even watching Isak as he danced with Emma, turning back to Sonja a moment before Isak looked over at Even.

So I love the Evak nose rubs as much as anyone, that’s their special thing, but Even does it here to Sonja as they’re dancing. My headcanon is going to be that Isak saw this and deliberately instigated it with Even in the bed scene as a way of making it theirs. I really think Isak takes a lot of cues from Even, as mentioned earlier, more than he realizes consciously.

Also, while I think Even making out with Sonja at the end of S2 was for Sonja’s benefit, in this scene I think a lot of the Even/Sonja making out is a performance for Isak. Which is not really fair to Sonja, but well, there you go. Even saw Isak making out with Emma, he suspects it was for show (if nothing else he knows Isak was not enthused to be in a kosegruppa group with Emma and so his interest probably isn’t genuine), and this is his way of saying two can play that game.

never 4get the iconic script line by Julie in reference to Isak’s dancing, “lol Tarjei”

THIS SONG, by the way. This song is a jam anyway but talk about those completely on-point lyrics.

This is one of those diegetic music moments where the characters are listening to the music inside the scene. What makes it work so damn well is because Even knows this song and is deliberately making eye contact with Isak at the most apropos lyrics. You can’t tell me otherwise. It’s not just the soundtrack coincidentally happening to sync up and be lyrically relevant for the viewers, it’s the song syncing up within the scene itself, at the party - that would be loaded enough, but Even is also putting on a show for Isak here. There’s a reason he turns Sonja in place and looks at Isak exactly at the line “and now it’s gonna be me and you.” Yeah, I know I’m with her, Isak, and I know you’re with her, but I feel you looking at me, and I’m gonna look back. 

I mean Even, Gabrielle’s #1 fan, knows how to communicate meaningfully via pop songs to the object of his affection.

Possibly my favorite part is right after that scorching eye contact, when you can see Isak has just been struck to the core by Even looking at him, and then he closes his eyes and goes back to kissing Emma. Because you know he’s imagining he’s kissing someone else.

I feel bad for Sonja and Emma here but at least they remained happily oblivious to the boys eye-fucking each other across the room while making out with them. 

There’s not enough Eva in this season so let’s appreciate how gosh darn cute she is with her yellow hair bow.

Also Sana is so precious with her face paint and dimples!

How did Isak not burst into flames when Even looked across the room at him like that? The most smoldering look of the clip, for my money. That is the gaze of a man who knows what (who) he wants and is not shy to show it. Also note Isak quickly looking away and then “surreptitiously” back to Even a moment later, when Even has looked away and is deciding to play it more cool.

Emma touches Sonja’s teeth which is kind of weird, although Sonja does have very nice teeth! But I mean, even my close friends probably wouldn’t just touch my teeth for fun, let alone someone I just met. I assume this was something to do with the blacklight? Sonja’s teeth were very bright in the dark? Or else Emma is interested in amateur dentistry.

Lmao when Emma suggests Isak take a taxi with her, Sonja, and Even, you can imagine that is the absolute last scenario Isak would enjoy right now, Emma trying to get into his pants and Even mentally undressing him while Sonja is right there.

Here we goooooooo with another memorable Evak kitchen scene! Julie sure loves to have people flirt in kitchens, huh.

Guys, I got butterflies watching this scene. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it, but part of me is still like are they going to kiss????

“Didn’t you take a taxi with the others?” “I have a bike.” Lmao I don’t believe that.

I can FEEL the tension coming off the screen. Like I can imagine everything Isak is feeling here. The nerves, the attraction, the pull toward Even. Trying to fight it, trying to maintain some detachment.

You can imagine Isak’s heart beating so fast. SHIT Even is right here, in his personal space, they’re alone together.

Even asks about Isak having a good time with Emma - funny because we all know, and he knows, that Isak just made out with Emma while staring at Even. It’s a joke, an inquiry that would seem harmless except for the massive irony. Also not a joke because Even really is kind of jealous and Isak plays off his comment. No matter if they’re aware of this thing between them, Isak is still making out with someone other than Even and it stings.

The acting here is so so SO good. Isak is like “why are you telling me about this” when Even starts talking about Sonja, he’s cautious, he’s trying not to give himself away. Meanwhile Even is trying to find a way to break through to Isak. He’s trying to communicate that he doesn’t want to be with her, but that it’s complicated. And when Isak is not having it, he switches to making an outlandish joke about it. Both of them communicate these shifts so well with their microexpressions, body language, tone of voice, etc.

There’s so much delicious subtext in this scene! This is one of Skam’s strengths - we know what’s going on in this scene, they don’t need to spell it out for us with lots of straighforward expository dialogue because the strength of the acting, the pacing, and the carefully chosen dialogue tells us everything we need to know. On a very instinctive level, we can tell when Isak becomes more on edge or when he lowers his guard; we can tell when Even decides he needs to try a new tactic in getting through to Isak.

Even and Sonja’s relationship is pretty complex even if we don’t get many glimpses at it up close and personal - you have to take a lot of it in bits and pieces, based on what Even says, what Sonja says, what Isak sees. I think they really needed to break up whether or not Isak was in the picture, but the thing is, I can completely understand why Even feels he can’t break up with her. She’s the one who stood by him through his episodes, throughout a terrible point of his life, and he probably feels like he owes her or that it’s wrong to leave her after all that. Adding to that, she’s one of the most stable factors in his life - after losing his friends, having to change schools, having to repeat his final year, dealing with manic/depressive episodes, etc. And because Sonja calls the shots, she’s someone he can rely on. He’s used to her taking control and telling him what’s real and not real. He’s got so much insecurity about his mental illness and he’s used to Sonja for support, so you can imagine how it’d be hard to cut himself off from her judgment. How is he supposed to stand on his own? She’s his aluminum leg.

Again, Even thinking quickly on his feet, spinning this ridiculous yarn about Sonja’s aluminum leg. He really gets into it! And this dumb story does melt the tension so beautifully, so kudos to Even for being a giant weirdo.

That is a damn fine delivery by Tarjei on Isak’s confused “What?” Precious.

As has been analyzed many times, Even’s story about Sonja’s aluminum leg is not really about his girlfriend’s fake prosthetic limb. He’s talking about himself and his bipolar disorder. She’s doing a lot better now (Even is doing a lot better after his manic/depressive episodes at Elvebakken and his suicide attempt). She’s gotten a lot of help from physiotherapists (Even has presumably been to some mental health specialists. Although it would be nice to know this for certain! Something I always wanted more of - info on Even’s mental health treatment plan.) You can hardly see she limps (Even seems like a swaggering confident young man and at first glance you would not be able to see his mental health struggles or vulnerabilities).

Notice how Even moves in subtly closer to Isak after Isak’s clued in on the joke, and that the camera zooms in a bit as well, making us feel the distance closing. I think even Isak notices and needs a second to adjust (after Even says he could’ve joked about something way worse, he kind of sputters out a reply, which could be disbelief or could also be him taking a second to re-calibrate with Even RIGHT THERE OMG).

This is how you do on-screen chemistry. Tarjei and Henrik are really feeding off each other, responding to each other’s movements and eye contact, making this conversation seem natural.

Regarding Even’s comment about Sonja having a dick and that this would be way too far to joke about - I definitely get why this comment would bother people. I think part of the joke is that Even is quite fine with dick and “going too far” is ironic when Even keeps joking about dick and balls, including making a blowjob joke within seconds of his first conversation with Isak. Their reactions make it clear that talking about dick is a lot more charged when there’s all this sexual tension floating around in the kitchen. But the comment is somewhat jarring and is worded in an unfortunate way that’s close to common transphobic arguments.

Isak not being able to look at Even at this point slays me. He tries it for a second but quickly looks back down. Even is too close, Isak is too attracted to him, this tension between them is too thick, Even’s girlfriend is too much of an obstacle and it’s too hard to think about how Even can’t break up with her, and all his plans for this week about how to get turned on by Emma, how to act straight, are unraveling so fast because this thing with Even is too real. It’s too much.

And when Isak says Sonja’s name it’s palpable how much this situation upsets him. Sonja is very sweet and cute. She’s Even’s very nice girlfriend who he can’t dump. No matter if they’re flirting and there’s all this tension, she’s the elephant in the room. It’s like it’s the fact that Isak is clearly struggling and not even able to look at him that makes Even decide to kiss him, because he knows what it means. Show him it’s not about Sonja anymore. My heart hurts at how resolutely Isak keeps his head down, even when Even moves in for the kiss.

Can I just say I love the sound effects in this scene? Or rather, lack thereof? I think you can hear the door unlocking at one point, for Noora, but otherwise the silence, just their breathing, every inch they move, all of that is so perfect. Like this is all being laid bare, it’s hard to hide anymore when it’s just the two of them and there are no distractions.

I adore Julie’s bit in the script about Isak looking down at the hole in the sock. ADORE IT. I can completely see it even if it’s not physically shown on screen. I know it’s mostly to get Tarjei into Isak’s mindset but damn that bit is so perfect. 

Though this is the part in the season where I’m like, OK, Even should’ve broken up with Sonja. Even though I completely get why he doesn’t from a character perspective! The previous episodes contained this nebulous getting-to-know-you phase where I can accept Even still being with Sonja to a degree even if there is some emotional cheating going on, even if he’s deliberately trying to get close to Isak. But trying to kiss someone? That’s when you need to decide if you want to call it quits with your old partner or pursue this new person. Although again, I get why he wanted to be REALLY FUCKING CERTAIN before he broke up with her, considering it’s not easy to end this relationship and the last time he made a move on a boy, things did not end well.

Imagine being a Norwegian Skam fan and following S2 and being obsessed with Noora’s story which is this national phenomenon, and then S3 starts and Noora’s just gone, not only out of focus but gone, out of the damn country, and you miss her and want to see her again, and maybe you’re not really keen on this Isak kid but after a few episodes you’re warming up to him and his budding romance with Even is really cute and you hope they get together and then there’s this scene packed full of sexual tension and they’re about to finally kiss and it feels like ages even though it’s only been like three weeks and that is when some jackass interrupts this almost-kiss and you’re going to murder whoever did it and that is when you get your beloved Noora back. I mean. A+ trolling, Julie.

What did Even think of Noora, anyway, with that look he shoots Isak? Just a general “who is this and why is she preempting our makeouts” or is he wondering if she’s Isak’s ex or something?

I think so much about what happened right after this scene! How awkward was Even’s leaving? It seems from the next clip (at the start of episode 4) that they talked about hanging out the next day? I wonder if that was supposed to be a text message or something that didn’t make it into the social media updates. Did Even go home by himself, or did he go find Sonja and the others? I’m not sure if that’s clear from the texts. What would have happened if Noora came home like a minute later, after they’d kissed - would Even have broken up with Sonja immediately or 

I used to wonder when Isak got Even’s phone number. For a while I thought he had Even listed as “Even Kosegruppa” in his phone because he got his number at the first kosegruppa meeting - that seems pretty early in their relationship, but it’s also the only period of time where he didn’t know Even’s full name, and it would have made sense to call him “Even Kosegruppa” seeing that’s the only context he knew him at that point. But it did seem strange to me that they would have exchanged numbers but Isak wouldn’t be shown freaking out over this, or Even wouldn’t have “casually” contacted Isak. So now I’m thinking they only exchanged numbers after this party scene, when they were tentatively making plans to hang out the next day. Tbh I could totally see Even putting himself as “Even Kosegruppa” in Isak’s phone to be funny. Because clearly this connection between them has escalated and there’s a joke in suggesting that Isak needs to be reminded how he knows Even - oh yeah, that guy from kosegruppa - when they both know it’s more than that. And Isak would of course never change it.

The song over the credits (”Lite og Stort” by No. 4) is about finding your way back home, which is literally Noora’s situation right now. I think the lyrics are specifically about “home” meaning Norway as a country? I’m going off the English translation, though, feel free to correct if I’m missing something. 

Anyway this scene hooked me. I was blown away by their acting in the kitchen scene, I was floored by the level of chemistry. Despite not knowing anything that came before this scene, I needed to have these characters kiss! And I loved the pacing and the dialogue, how natural it all felt. I distinctly remember thinking. “Now this is the kind of television I like to watch.”

General Comments:

This week has one of my favorite uses of social media, the “If you don’t remember her name in the morning take her to Starbucks” picture. It went up after the clip with the dance chicks. Utterly perfect deployment, Isak posting that right when he’s concerned about seeming straight. All performative, all BS.  

Isak lies to the guys about the party, claiming he’s going home to chill and do washing. Magnus even mentions that there’s a revue party happening but Isak fails to mention that he’s hosting it.

Emma messages Isak after she’s left the pre-drink asking him where he is and later drunk texts him telling him he’s great and wanting to go over and be with him at like 3 a.m. Isak, you dug that hole yourself.

Isak asks Emma how everything went after the neon pre-drink and Emma is like, “Sonja is so cool!” and immediately Isak is all “I have to go now.” Sonja’s awesomeness is not something he wants to hear about in detail.

I didn’t realize but there’s an IG post from Magnus on Friday showing Mahdi hooking up with a girl and Magnus calling himself a third wheel. I didn’t remember Mahdi ever hooking up on screen with anyone so I mean, I’m glad he got some during the show?

I own exactly one Funko Pop (Brienne of Tarth) and I know this would never happen outside of my dreams but I would kill for some Skam Funkos, particularly of the last clip of this episode, with Even’s white T-shirt and neon bandanna and Isak’s pink paint streaks and Illuminati shirt. Complete with Noora for that special cock-blocking authenticity.

This is a total tangent, but I’ve been looking up Baz Luhrmann stuff for these recaps and did you know that there’s a Moulin Rouge stage musical that literally just premiered? As in, yesterday, July 10? Starring Aaron Tveit as Christian? I have left my middle school Moulin Rouge obsession out of these recaps but I’m wondering how a live musical version is going to work. There’s a ton of it that would translate fine but then I feel like a Moulin Rouge without Baz Luhrmann giving you motion sickness with his wild-ass editing and cinematography is missing that special something.

[spoookiepie]

Hey it’s me cha girl here to talk about Digimon games

Cause like, BOY DO I HAVE OPINIONS. We just got the announcement trailer fro Digimon Survive and it looks... fine? It looks fine. Far be it from me to judge it too much based off tiny snippets in an announcement trailer, but everything shown looks... just fine.

But not like... amazing.

It looks like the battles at least will be grid, turned based, so Fire Emblem-esque. I can’t say I’m excited about that, but I bet some people are. But if I’m being honest that just... really doesn’t feel like it fits the Digimon brand. The rigid turn based stuff never really did, even less so with the even more tightly controlled grid system here.

And look, I have a soft spot for the Digimon game series. (Not ALL of them, mind you. But enough of them) But even at their best, the series has always felt like it was about 5 years behind. Even at it’s best, it’s felt a little bit cheap. Even at it’s best, and with all the love I have for certain entries into the franchise, even I can’t really say I think there’s a truly amazing game in there.

The series need a huge overhaul, is what I’m saying. In this essay I will

Problem 1; It’s a huge thematic and mechanical mess.

If I asked you what the basic core themes and mechanics of the Pokemon franchise were, you could easily rattle off the game play and battle system, the themes of friendship, and adventure, and something about ‘Catching them all’. This would hold true for every main-line entry into the franchise, differing only on the spin-offs. (these themes and ideas also carry over to the show, an important point I’ll get to later) The same could be said if I asked you about Mario, or Zelda, or Fallout. Even the Final Fantasy games, for as old and varied as they are, carry SOME core ideas - that being that they’re generally all going to be long, epic games, with emphasis on characters and story, set in pseudo fantasy worlds, and having some form of an RPG battle system. (again only straying from this in spin offs).

The Digimon games though? Not so much. Remove the actual Digimon from the first three games, and they’d be practically unrecognizable from each other. The first is a semi-open world (about as open as many PS1 era games could be), where you have a single Digimon who you essentially have to take care of, similar to the Tamagatchi-like toys the series started as in the first place. Battles are real-time and you have p minimal control over what the Digimon actually does. Meanwhile the second game is a slow dungeon crawler, with strict, 1v1 to 3v3 turn-based battles. No open Digital World, no Digimon care taking. The DW3 goes for an isometric, pixel style game, with 1v1 battles (which ARE in 3D?), and attempts to have a more robust story and host of characters. And the series just continues to spin off from there.

For visual comparison alone, check out the first 3 games of the Digimon series to the first 5 of Pokemon. These are aesthetics alone.

(pokemon image via http://www.neoseeker.com/news/23873-pokemon-then-and-now-see-17-years-of-video-game-evolution-in-a-single-comparison-image/)

Basically, there is no “core” to the Digimon games, outside of the mascots themselves. It makes the franchise as a whole feel disjointed, and it means you never really know what you’re getting when you go to play a new one. While you certainly don’t want a franchise to get old and stale, you also shouldn’t be re-inventing the wheel every single time either, cause it stops looking like innovation, and starts looking more like you don’t know what you’re about.

Problem 2; They feel cheap.

It pains me to say, but almost every aspect of Digimon games feels like it’s just a step under what it should be. Everything is aggressively just ok. The voice acting (if the game has it) is nothing of note, especially in the dubs. And the weak dialogue certainly doesn’t help.

The art and characters designs are... also just ok. The main characters in the first handful of games are aggressively generic, to the point that the ones from 2 and 3 are basically the same model. Once the games started to stray from the style of the show, the designs started to get even weaker, and the already flimsy visual design fell apart even more.  (Some of the better character designs came out of Digimon Story Lost Evolution, which OOPS, never came state side) Say what you want about the character design of the original show but this

is a pretty recognizable art style and way of character design. Like Pokemon, it’s simple, but distinct unto itself. I could easily pick this style out of a lineup.

Whereas these?

Well... yeah. Not so much. I don’t even dislike the bottom two, from Digimon World Next Order (and in actual technique alone, they’re all solid). But, I also can’t say the style is terribly distinct, or what I would look at and immediately recognize next to a whole host of other anime and light novel illustrations.

The writing (when there is much of a story) is lackluster. And no, I will never understand the people who say Cyber Sleuth was great, and had a great story and writing. I just have to imagine, if Cyber Sleuth is the bar, then they’ve never picked up a Persona game. Or many RPGs/visual novels. Or... many games in general. I found it’s characters, story, and tropes all rather predictable, and nothing struck me as particularly clever. Meanwhile, Next Order had your p run of the mill but otherwise vapid ‘save the world from the Big Bad(c)’ story. Again, a bit predictable and cliche, and mostly there to move the game along.

Everything just feels a little... meh. A little like everyone didn’t put their all into the games. It feels like the studio is banking on fans buying their stuff through sheer nostalgia, rather than really putting their all behind the games. Again, even for the entries that I personally love. And that’s a shame.

Problem 3; They have very little connection to their anime counterpart.

Look, I get it. These are games, not the anime. This isn’t Pokemon, where the two have to be hand-in-hand almost all the time. And I certainly don’t want to just recreate the show in the games, or vice versa, hereby rendering one redundant.

But

I’d argue that the vast majority of Digimon fans, are fans of the anime first, and their love of the spin off stuff like the games comes after. There will be exceptions of course, but the Digimon show is the most well known and well loved part of the franchise. And the games really don’t feel like they reflect much of that. They’re a whole beast unto themselves, and not necessarily in a good way.

For a show that so heavily emphasizes friendship and bonds, you spend a lot of time in the games alone. And characters are often written lack luster and one-dimensional, giving you very little reason to care about them. They feel oddly lonely. For a show that so heavily emphasizes the special bond between a tamer and their unique, special Digimon partner, the Digimon you get in the games are frankly... disposable.

Hell, even the Digital World itself doesn’t always make an appearance in the games. I’d argue the Digital World is a vital component of the Digimon franchise and universe. It’s so unique, it’s practically a character unto itself. And to just throw it out feels like a whole part of the franchise is missing.

So, how would I start addressing some of these problems?

Before I begin, let me just say, I’m not a game designer. I’m judging this with an outside perspective, so take this with a grain of salt. But, I’m also not a newcomer to game OR the show, and have spent a chunk of my time analyzing both. I also tend to study up on design in my spare time for fun, so I’m also not completely talking out of my ass here.

1; Consistency and Vision.

So, for starters, the Digimon games need to buckle down and figure out what their core is. Figure out your themes, your mechanics, your visual style, and what are core concepts to your franchise, beyond just the Digimon themselves. These are ideas that will be carried throughout your series. This is your core, you theme, and your vision. You can tweak things, by all means. But when I set your games out on the table, SOMETHING needs to bind them all and make them a collection. Pokemon games are still Pokemon games, even when you ignore the Pokemon themselves. Persona games are still Persona games without the Persona. A Mario game is still a Mario game when you remove the plumber himself. Art style, themes, mechanics, and world building all amount to this. What - beyond just the Digimon - makes a Digimon game?

Personally, I’d like to see these things gravitate to a more Digimon World 1/3/Next Order style. I want an emphasis on exploration of the Digital World and more freedom than the likes of Digimon World 2/4/Cyber Sleuth had.

But either way, the game’s need to figure out what they are. Stop trying to re-invent the wheel every time, and please stop trying to copy whatever another popular game did 5 years before.

And also for the love of God, this is Digimon. Stop designing characters like this

If you want to appeal to a more “mature” audience, trying actually doing something smart, than resorting to T&A.

2; Figure out where to put the budget

Now, I can bet what some people are gonna say.

“Digimon is a smaller franchise than those you keep comparing it to! It doesn’t have the budget to be a huge title like those!”

And yeah, I get it. Digimon doesn’t have the kind of money Pokemon, or Final Fantasy, or Persona have. But money also doesn’t a good game make.

Once devs have figured out what’s core to their series (see; step 1), then that’s how they need to plan out where to put their budget. Is exploration one of your core themes? Budget needs to go towards the world and map design. Is it in the characters and story? Splurge on your writing team. Right now, the games feel like they’re all a bit lackluster in every department. Frankly, I’d be ok with one aspect being cut down a bit more, to make the other core parts really shine. I don’t need 100+ different playable Digimon, for example. Take some of those out and put the resources elsewhere maybe.

3; Hire better writers

Look, I’m just gonna say it. Your writing needs to be a core thing you splurge some budget on ok? I don’t expect the best of the best, epic story telling from a Digimon game, but at least try to reach the same level of writing the original show did maybe.

THAT SAID; I’d also move away from the talking head/visual novel style of story telling and cut scenes. I’m talking THIS kind of dialogue, btw

Games like Persona, Phoenix Wright, and Danganronpa can get away with it because they have A++ stellar writing. (2 of them HAVE TO since they’re visual novels, and the writing is the core of what they are. Also, ONCE AGAIN, these three games have very distinct character and visual design, that are a delight to look at)

Digimon? While I say you NEED - DESPERATELY NEED - better writers, you’re not quite here yet, where a talking head alone is enough to keep me entertained.

I’d rather see you’re characters moving and doing stuff while they talk. Have fully rendered cut scenes, and do a little more showing than telling. Again, you’ll have to budget for this, but I think it’s worth it. (also, you don’t have to have Final Fantasy level models if you just have solid character and visual design I WILL NOT LET THIS POINT GO) Seriously. The Digital World is one worth seeing in motion, not in static back and forth exposition dumps.

4; Seriously just include the Digital World

Like I said before, the Digital World is one of the most unique worlds I’ve seen in media. To. Date. It is a perfectly weird and whimsical synthesis between the natural and the man-made. It is a perfect visual representation for what it is; An AI built world, that attempted to grow organically out of completely inorganic data created by humans from all over the world.

That is a world of endless possibilities and I want to see it.

Without the Digital World, the franchise feels a bit more hollow. The whole adventure in the original show was in the kids being sucked into a new world! A world that was exciting, and new, and weird, and whimsical, and yeah, a bit scary and even dangerous. If we’re not in the Digital World, then we’re just... in Tokyo, basically. But with some Digimon.

5. The Digimon need to be characters

Okay. Here’s... where’ I’ll probably upset the most people who are fans of the games.

You should only get one -maybe two- Digimon partners and ONLY their basic digivolution trees ok!

You got Palmon? Well, ok, you ONLY have Palmon, and her evolution tree up to Lilymon. Maybe Rosemon if we feeling fancy. She does not have branching trees. She does not DNA digivolve. She does not return to an egg, and re-hatch as a new baby lv Digimon. You just. Have. Palmon. Or Agumon. Or Veemon. Or whoever you choose/or is that game’s Digimon.

Why make this limitation? Two reasons. 1. Less resources used on modeling, stat designing, and programing 100+ Digimon partners. Cut down on the amount of Digimon you can have as a partner, and the more resources and time can be put elsewhere.

2. More importantly, the Digimon partners need to be characters. The show gave huge emphasis to the fact that each partner and their Digimon had a special bond. It was special because it was unique. One person for one Digimon, each with their own unique personality and bond. There might be plenty of Agumon out there, but this one was Tai’s Agumon. He had his own personality, his own likes and dislikes. He was special. In contrast, the Digimon in the games are completely disposable. They have no personality, if they even talk at all. And oh, don’t want Tentomon? No worries, just digivolve him to something else or wait till he dies and hatch a different egg! It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter.

And for a show that made me so desperately want my own, unique, soul bound monster friend, that’s... really kinda sad.

So yeah, limit what Digimon you can have, and really, really write them as their own special, unique characters. And have them bound to their trainer. Want to allow your players to choose from multiple Digimon? I have a solution. Choose your trainer. Give your players the choice between 3-5 characters to choose from. You’ll be choosing that character and their stats, along with their unique Digmon and their stats. And hey, if you wanna go above and beyond, make these trainers actual characters with personalities too, who may change the course of the story, or at least the flavor, depending on who you picked. If we use Digimon Adventure for example. Your story and stats may vary greatly depending on if you chose to play as Matt and Gabumon, or Sora and Biyomon. Maybe you could go an Octopath traveler route, and have all the characters potentially converge. Or, maybe a Seiken Densetsu 3 route, where you choose 3 of six potential characters, and your story will differ depending on which you chose, and which of those three you picked as your main.

Either way, really emphasize these characters and their bonded Digimon. This isn’t Pokemon after all, right? So why have an emphasis on how many Digimon you can obtain?

Anyway, that’s my thesis on where to at least start in fixing the jumbled mess that is the Digimon game franchise. Many of these are opinions, yes, but I hope you can at least understand where I’m coming from with most of them. And hey, I guess we’ll see what the new game has in store for us.

[terryblount]

Here’s All The Game Announcements At The Game Awards 2018

The Game Awards 2018 promised over 10 new game announcements happening while they dole out the glamorous awards. And it certainly did not disappoint. Just like what we did last year, here’s a rundown of all the big game announcements that happened during the show.

Sayonora Wild Hearts

A Pop Album Video Game. Published by Annapurna Interactive and developed by Simogo. This team specialises in making mobile games, including Device 6.

This time, Sayonara Wild Hearts will be out on Nintendo Switch.

Journey To The Savage Planet

By 505 Games and developers Typhoon Studios. Alex Hutchison, director of Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 4, is part of the team. Not a battle royale. Not a survival game. But an adventure game.

Solve the mystery of the savage planet. More info will be revealed next year.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, Out On Consoles

2013’s narrative-driven comedy that throws you off every moment and, will be out on consoles. Now with new content and new endings.

It is also coming to PC.

A little teaser trailer pic.twitter.com/VfC0IAN3uz

— Among Trees (@AmongTreesGame) December 7, 2018

Among Trees

By Fjrd Interactive, it is a beautiful looking first-person adventure, coming to Steam Early Access in 2019.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

The sequel to the Diablo-style action game is coming to Nintendo Switch. Featuring many of your favourite characters from the Marvel universe, including the X-Men.

Rocket League New DLC: McLaren 570S Car Pack

A real car as DLC in Rocket League! McLaren has been flirting with gaming for some time and this is further commitment that they are seriously courting us gamers to like the Woking-based automotive company.

Far Cry New Dawn

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, it’s post-apocalypse Far Cry 5, set in the same map of Hope County.

Featuring more crazy weapons, beaten up vehicles, a very pinkish hue and two new leading ladies. It’s coming out on February 15th and hinted that it’s following a timeline set up by events of Far Cry 5.

Hades

A new game by Supergiant Games, creator of Bastion, Transistor and Pyre. Looks like it plays more like the combat-oriented of the earlier two games married with the visual-novel artstyle in Pyre. It is also a rougelike.

Hades is available now on Early Access at the Epic Games Store.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

New, actual gameplay of Patrice Désilets’ Panache Digital Games. The creative director of Assassin’s Creed Games takes you on a singleplayer open world adventure through the times. Starting as a monkey and into the early parts of civilizations somewhere in Africa.

Ancestors is set for release sometime in 2019.

Scavengers

Developed by new studio Midwinter. Powered by SpatialOS, the first tease shows a cold, frozen wilderness. Described as a multiplayer ‘co-opetition’, sign-ups are open at the official website here.

Dead By Daylight Darkness Among Us DLC

The asymmetric horror multiplayer game is getting another DLC. And boy does this game have a lot of DLC.

Also, the game is getting dedicated servers by Summer 2019.

New Anthem Trailer

A new trailer for Anthem, EA and Bioware’s upcoming looter-shooter. Here’s more plot and world-building for this new IP.

Crash Team Racing

The remaster of is introduced by the iconic man in the Crash Bandicoot suit. This is the same treatment as the previous Crash and Spyro remasters/remakes. The same game you know and love but built from the ground up with the latest tech. Beenox is handling the development.

It will be out in June 2019.

The Outer Worlds

The new game and universe by Obsidian and Private Division. It is a single-player first-person sci-fi RPG. It features an old-timey aesthetic in space played in the first person. A hint of Borderlands, but more gritty and you can make meaningful story decisions, hopefully.

This is the game the original creators of Fallout that joined Obsidian a few years ago, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, worked on. It will be out in 2019 for the PS4, PC and Xbox One.

Dauntless On PS4, Xbox One and Epic Games Store

First announced at the Game Awards, the Monster Hunter-style action RPG will be coming to the PS4 and Xbox One.

For PC, aside from its own launcher, it will also be available through the Epic Games Store.

The Last Campfire

Hello. From the creators of Joe Danger and No Man’s Sky, Hello Games’ next title is a very surprising one. It is described as “a story of a lost ember trapped in a puzzling place, searching for meaning and a way home”.

A calming looking adventure game.

New Winter Map for PUBG

New map Vikendi has been revealed. The map is smaller than the usual maps but larger than its small map Sanhok.

New weapons, new vehicles including a snowmobile and snow. Snow will play a part on strategy as it leaves tracks.

The map is now available on PC Test servers and are on its way to Xbox One and PS4, soon.

Atlas

New game by the developers of Ark:Survival Evolved. A world of pirates, knights and cowboys? and magic? Every fantasy trope collides in this open world survival MMO, with 40,000 concurrent players.

It will be out on PC via Steam on December 14th, with a release on Xbox One via the Preview Program coming soon.

"I suspect you have questions…" #TheDreadWolfRises pic.twitter.com/oT7L6LOFKA

— BioWare (@bioware) December 7, 2018

New Dragon Age Teased

A new Dragon Age game has been announced. While it’s an open secret one is existed, it’s good to finally have it properly revealed.

Though no name has been attached to it yet, but the tease suggests the next game will continue directly after the end of its last game, Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The Pathless

From the creators of Abzu comes a new adventure game, featuring fantastical ruins, forests, flaming mythical beasts, an eagle and archery.

It will be released on PS4 and PC via Epic Games Store.

Stranger Things 3: The Game from @BonusXP is coming to all platforms. Hold onto your quarters. #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/m00x1nGeFy

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) December 7, 2018

Stranger Things 3 The Game

Developed by BonusXP, the same developers that did Stranger Things The Game. Now it’s in a 16-bit style aesthetic instead of 8-bit and will follow along the adventures that will happen in Season 3 of the Netflix show.

Mortal Kombat 11

While Ed Boon was presenting an award, it cuts to the announcement of Mortal Kombat 11. It is a CG trailer but the game will feature a new graphics engine and Custom Character Variations.

A full reveal for the community is set to happen on January 17th with a full release on April 23rd for the PS4, PC, Xbox One and Switch.

Psychonauts 2

A new trailer for the long-in-development platformer Psychonauts 2.The trailer details the setup for our hero Razputin’s next mission.

It is still set for release sometime in 2019.

Demo May Cry Coming First to Xbox One

The demo for Devil May Cry 5, which we are dubbing as Demo May Cry, will be out on Xbox One December 7th. This is the Nero demo as seen playable at various events this year.

Alongside that is a new trailer, including a glimpse of how V, the third playable character.

Fortnite

The world of Fortnite literally changed with the introduction of The Block where the coolest content from the game will be featured. Goodbye Risky Reels. For now.

Rage 2

A wild new trailer for Rage 2 dropped. Featuring more of the wacky post-apocalypse open world.

There are no words! Joker from Persona 5 in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!? Wow! #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/uga2qxQluT

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 7, 2018

Persona 5’s Joker In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

For real?!?! It’s real! The Persona 5 protagonist is the coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the first of five as announced earlier. All DLC characters will be new to Smash and will be of this sort of wild pick.

Lookin’ cool, Joker!

For the list of award winners for The Game Awards can be found here.

Here’s All The Game Announcements At The Game Awards 2018 published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[darkspellmaster]

E3 2018 Microsoft’s Press Conference thoughts

Then we got Microsoft…

Whoa…On the one hand I was impressed with the number of games, on the other hand…most were games that were coming to other systems and, while I liked the rapid fire way of doing things, I really felt that they should have given time for a few of these so we knew who was making them. The few presenters that we got did a fairly good job of handling the situation.

Regarding the games I was kind of surprised by the choices there, although some have me thinking we’re going to see more online game set ups for these.

Halo Infinite to me seemed rather large for a traditional Halo game, and, while the trailer looks amazing, I have to wonder if this, like Anthem, and Fallout 76 is going to be an online game. Although we’re told that Master Chief is involved, so it’s up in the air if this will be a GAAS game, or a large open world First Person Shooter. Although, given the situation with Fallout 76 and the turn a lot of game companies are doing to have their own, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one.

Ori and the Will of the Whips looked amazing to see and I was really happy to see it. The fact that we see it growing the story from the beginning. It just looks really pretty and strong for a platformer. Not much to say other then Pretty.  Something about the Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, while looking really interesting, has me less interested in it, but given it’s From Soft, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this turn out to be very Dark Souls like. I was interested in exactly why he’s not dying. Of course it’s From Soft so I’m not not expecting some really dark themes in this game about death and the main being a living dead creature possessed by the death gods for some reason or another. Though the monsters in this look really unpleasant. Probably will end up with Ghost of Tsushima over this one, but I know From Soft fans will be getting this.

Todd Howard came out and talked up Fallout 76, which later got revealed to be an online game, so any interest I had over the idea of this game being something that won’t have weirdos being jerks, got thrown out the window. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit was okay. LiS wasn’t my cup of tea given the whole thing with the endings and that you couldn’t help everyone involved and the prequel never really amazed me either, so this one is low on my radar. Though the animations look a lot smoother than in the first game. Of course we had a Crackdown 3, no surprise there and not much to add on that.

Metro Exodus is intriguing given the location and story it’s telling. I’m going to take a wait and see set on this one as the original stories that the Metro series is based on is really interesting to me from a writing perspective.

The big one was Kingdom Hearts 3, and the surprise twist at the end with Aqua. Although I don’t totally buy that this is Aqua. One thing that got to me was the missing sound effects, and some of the voices, particularly Elsa’s as I don’t know if that’s Idina Menzel or not voicing her, but that is Kristian Bell and Josh Gad voicing Anna and Olaf. One thing of surprise is the fact that Xbox got to premier this over Sony or Square Enix themselves at E3 this year. Also we got the song now that will be the theme of this, and we got to see Lee and Kairie watching the sun, which makes me think that they may play a part in this…at least I hope they do.

Racing game Forza Horizon 4 looks really nice again. Not really surprised by this, and while I would love to play a driving simulation game, really not in the mood to be dealing with a racing game for me.

Now onto something that has me unnerved. Okay so I’m not against the idea of a studio being acquired by a publisher/Manufacture. The issue for me though is that Microsoft is not one that plays fair with their games, and tends to dictate things to the creative teams, less so than EA on it’s own Triple A games, but more so than EA does on it’s idies. What does this mean? Well given that they now have what Sony has with it’s World Wide studios deal, probably, with the Initiative, I really am worried that more games will have to follow a set look or style for Microsoft if they’re under their blanket. That’s not even the fact that they’ve acquired, Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Games.

On the one hand, it’s good for the studios because hey that’s money for them. On the other hand the pull back from creativity and only having it on one system, especially for smaller studios, and particularly Microsoft, it can become a problem over time if those games don’t sell well on that system. Games like NT build that won’t be an issue since a good number of them are more action oriented hack and slash, or dramatic types. But studios like Compulsion which is making We Happy Few this could be a bit bad as Microsoft can be notorious for shuttering companies that don’t produce enough in sales, similar to EA but not as badly. Certain games would, I think, work better on the PS and Switch as both systems tend to have higher numbers, but also both would be good to push a higher number of sales. My main worry with this is that that studios like NT, for example, just got off a strong game after the crash that was DmC, and the issues that came out of that…and let’s be honest Capcom through them under the bus. Given the issues also with recent game, mind it was a well made story, and the bugs either having this deal will help them…or force them to reconsider what they’re doing there. Let’s hope it’s not the later for these companies because we don’t need more shuddered studios.

The Division 2 looks interesting, but it also seems to be an online game. My main issue so far is the story for two big things. 1. The idea that the small pox can be transmitted via dollars seems really weird, and 2, and more importantly, the fall down of the whole system. Unless the state of Virginia and Maryland were blocked off and that area quarantined, the whole thing with the lawlessness doesn’t hold water. You have the CDC, that’s out of Washington DC, that would be on that case like a bad case of the hives, and that’s not to mention you also have Camp David and other locations that the President and congress can go to run things and get things under control. Thirdly, when you have a crisis of this nature, as we’ve seen, people tend to try to help one another. So I have a hard time believing that people would become this lawless and insane. Unless this is some underground militant group it’s hard to see this story holding water. At least it looks better than the first game.

Laura’s back in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and…I have mix feelings. While style wise the game looks very lovely, the colors of the jungle stand out and the story seems to have an interesting idea going on. The game play…is…uninspired. I get that the whole idea is to make Laura out to be badass, but come on, can we please try to show more of the puzzles and less of the killing of random baddies? Also another end of the world story? Really? Come on Crystal Dynamics; give me something more inspired in your overall story telling than that. Please.

Session…pretty much Skate 4. Nice designs but I don’t do well on these games and they’re not normally a game I would play…so not much to say on this.

Devil May Cry 5, on the other hand I have a lot to say about. Let’s start with….holy crap! How did they keep this under wraps! Seriously, I’m kind of surprised the DMC community didn’t dig this out while it was being made. So Capcom may finally be paying attention to what players have been requesting. As for the Trailer, I will say this much, I was at first thinking Nero was DmC Dante, with the haircut. However, fans did get some clues given that Ruben, Johnny and Daniel were tweeting clues that something was going down. So Nero’s over all look, again mixed feelings, I like that the shorter hair gives him his own look outside of Dante’s longer hair look, and makes him stand out more, and the story about the missing arm is going to be something different. Certainly, they’re trying to keep both sides happy giving a slightly darker edge to him, but there’s still the wise cracks going on, which is nice. Nero wasn’t the one that gives a lot of jokes. I will say I should have known it was him given Red Queen.

Nico, I’m pretty sure she’s going to be related to Nina, Dante’s arm’s dealer. Though the connections will have to come in time, but I really like her and I hope she sticks around. Dante’s sudden appearance was a pleasure, and…well he’s riding what looks like a devils arm, so I’m not sure when this story is coming from…though he apparently was missing so, probably after 2. What I want to know is if that’s Vergil as the third character on the cover image. Please let it be Vergil…Please Capcom!

Cuphead DLC: Yay we get to play as Ms. Chalice! That is all!

Jump Force is weird. Okay so I realize that this is going to be a Weekly Shonen Jump game with characters from all sorts of series (and how the hell do you fight Light given his attack would probably an instant kill, given the book and all that) and that the story is going to be all sorts of Camp. While I’m really excited, I’m also worried that it’s going to be something that only Weekly fans will like and people will be annoyed that various characters won’t be in there. For example, are we going to include a JoJo character? Will you have older characters from Japan that fans may not know about, or are we sticking only with American based characters? Like, yes we have Goku, and I’m sure we’ll have My Hero characters in there and Bleach, but are they going to put in Claymore? Kenshin? Allen Walker? The Leads from Claymore? New characters from the newer series that just recently came out? How do they determine who comes in…and more importantly, if Gintama is in there…do I get to break the fourth wall with him? Also can I play as L since you have freaking Light in there? Is L or Near the head of the good guy side? Are we getting female lead characters too, like the ladies of Claymore? I’m just worried this is going to be another Jump Brawl with the same characters as before.

No comment on Dying Light 2 other then, oh look Troy in another game.

BattleToads surprised me though, and I have to wonder if it’s going to be on all systems since the characters were on Nintendo when they first came out. I would think that Switch would get this too given the fact that it’s clearly going to be more of a platform game.

Just Cause 4, alright…so we’re going to Venez…I mean an unknown country in South America. I mean…it’s another Just Cause game. Not much to add here. Nice Trailer?

Gears of War came out with something funny with the Pop version, which I think could be fun to play for people like myself who couldn’t care less about the original Gears series. I will say this much It’s nice to see so many colors in 5’s trailer. This is a departure from what Gears 1 was like and seeing the characters have become far more mature and more like dad’s to our new female lead. Gears of Dad? Actually I kind of like this trend that games are taking with the idea of the insane killer male lead becoming a more mature father figure for the younger character. It shows not only how the company has grown, it also shows how gamers have grown in general. I mean a lot of the Gears fans are now, in some cases, parents of their own and they could understand that worry that the team has for their youngest member and the parental fear that they’re going to face. It’s a nice change. In addition, Gears Tactics could be a useful deal for those who abandon C&C given the mobile game.

So we have a new Xbox being worked on…Grand….Okay….Does that mean another new freaking OS Microsoft? Am I going to have to do a new one of those? Also where’s your Holo thing? Have you abandoned that?

Nier Automata getting on Xbox. I’m expecting them to be also working on an edition for the Switch as well. This really isn’t surprising at all. I was actually waiting to see that release because I have a friend who refused to buy a PS4 to play it even though he loves the game’s director and creator.

Several Collections and Expansions were announced including the whole thing of Sea of Thieves, a New MMORPG –which I can’t remember the name of, Halo –Master Chief Collection (running that thing down to the ground aren’t we MS).  

Tunic looks cute, but I have to wonder if it will sell well on this system or work better on the PC for them.

As for We Happy Few…what the hell happened there? This game has changed, dramatically. From what I can remember it was supposed to be more Bioshock like, but now we have a very trippy sort of dramatic story going on. I couldn’t really tell how you play because the trailer didn’t seem to indicate if it was a “hit the crazy people” or more a Tell Tale like story driven adventure game. I’m really confused as to what the whole mystery is or who we are. Are we the guy in the trailer, the woman, or someone else? How did this happen? Who’s behind this? The latter questions are fine to have, but the trailer leaves a lot of confusion as to what this game really is, and it’s kind of disappointing for someone who was hoping for more of a Bioshock experience. On the other hand the game goes boast some lovely visuals, so I’ll give them that.

Then there’s Tales of Vesperia, which is an updated version of the game, and is coming to all systems so I guess Microsoft paid to get the trailer. I’m going to be playing it on the Switch when it comes to that.

Lastly CD Project Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. I don’t really know what to say about it. While it boasts a great deal of visually arresting art, I’m not feeling it. Maybe it’s because when I hear Cyberpunk I’m looking for something different and we’re seeing a sort of Mix of Blade Runner here, and I wish people would knock that off. I get that a lot of people have connections to that series, and love it, but maybe I was hoping for something ala System Shock or maybe something along the lines of Watchdogs –but how it was supposed to be played with you using your phone to act as a trapping device vs. actively shooting and driving around Chicago. Visually it looks nice, but honestly, the world of Good and Evil looks more interesting to me. I hope that Cyberpunk 2077 does well, but I’ll probably watch someone play it rather than me struggle with it. Over all I thought they did a good job, honestly other then Ubisoft, I thought they did the best physically presenting things. So probably a solid B+ from me. 

[monkey-network]

Two Cent Riffs: My Little Pony Movie, BAYBEE

#BackAtItAgain #TSPOILERS #PonyCinemassacre

Julien: Why is it “The Movie”? It can just be “My Little Pony”. We all should know this version and the superior version that was the 80s. Roy: Excuse me? Julien: Hey, the Smooze song made that movie for me.

Roy: Man, I’ll never stop liking stain glass windows. Julien: Hold up. Twilight has wings? ...Okay, I have missed a lot apparently. Roy: Yeah, but it’s nothing to worry............. Julien: I can sense a pause. What’s up? Roy: Oh, I’m just getting flashbacks....of people bitching online [shudders]

Julien: AH YES, MOVE the sun, and MOVE it back. Roy: Doesn’t seem like a big deal for this celebration. We’re just depriving people from some possibly needed sunlight and fucking with the tides to sooth the feng shui of it. Julien: Can I call the “Pony Privilege” card?

Julien: Huh, I forgot Applejack existed. Roy: She’s a main character, bruh. Julien: Yeah, it the background. Am I right lads, or am I right lads? Dom: “You’re all right, lad.” Julien: Cheers lad.

Roy: Guess we know which couple’s getting the focus this time. Julien: Do we really have to ship right now? Roy: It’s been 7 years, dude. Fans practically learned about “shipping” thanks to this show. Julien: Hmm...that sounds pitiful, but I’ve wanted Princess Bubblegum to melt on Marceline since the beginning so what can I say?

Julien: Looks like Pinkie had her climax.

Roy: Okay, I’m all for Sia pony here (does have a lovely voice), but are there any rapper ponies? Julien: They’re an underground niche of pony musicians after 2Pon and Biggie bit the bullet. Roy: What about DJ Pon-3? Julien: Dub is not rap, brother.

Roy: Bowser’s back?! Julien: And we’re only what...12 minutes in? That’s an academy record. Shit, this movie’ll be over in a blink.

Julien: Okay, I’m liking this new villain here. Design wise, very coordinated. Color scheme is on point. Roy: I just wonder how she’ll be forgiven. Julien: Come on, man. Villains aren’t always meant to be redeemed. Roy: Ye, you need watch the rest of the show.

Roy: Oh no, all the other 3D piloted ships are slowly coming this way. Julien: Yeah, Futurama’s done better.

Julien: Oh shit, that is a fucking sweep down and over Pele kick. Roy: She would be great in WWE.

Julien: Well there goes two of the most powerful ponies in this series. Roy: Well hold on. Maybe Celestia, and Luna are only powerful in the fields or cutie marks they’re given. Like yeah, they’re powerful, but only in raising the sun and moon and whatever Cadence does. So really, they probably couldn’t beat Tempest’s rock spells as much as any powerful unicorn could have... Julien: So, they were useless to begin with? Roy: Kinda, yeah.

Roy: Hey, it’s Crissy. Julien: Wha? I thought her named was Derpy. Why Crissy? Roy: Oh no, Derpy is her name; won’t deny that. But Crissy’s just short for Criss Cross, like her eyes that are the ONE DEFINING TRAIT FOR HER EXISTENCE. It feels like a better name, you know? Julien:...You got me there. That does sound better.

Julien: WELL, after a daring escape via a gigantic waterfall, now they’re on their way to go seek the hippos. Roy: Hippogriffs. Julien: Goddammit man! *sigh* I mean what if they were hippos and I could actually see some awesome hippos in this movie or show?....Fuck, you know?! Hippos are cool. They’re big, strong, and awesome and you jus- *sigh* tch, you’re a bastard. Roy: Jesus man, I’m sorry. Julien: No, I’m sorry but it’s like...I just think hippos are neat is all.

Roy: Oh snap. It’s Ray Donovan. Julien: Okay, this may be a screenshot, but I could already tell Liev Schreiber was tap dancing for his check and was just having a blast doing so; like Jason Mamoa in the Justice League movie.

Julien: How I feel about Michael Pena. Roy: Come on, he’s got his good roles. Julien: Name one that’s memorable. Roy: Well..........................................................

Julien: Woo, that place looks like shit. How come the ponies haven’t help them out, they could spare the resources. Roy: Maybe the town didn’t want any help? Julien: Dude, no. How can just ignore a town that looks broken down, industrial, probably impoverished, smoggy, with some pretty disgusting water surrounding it? HOW can any pony worth their riches just ignore this practically desolate area while continuously celebrating whatever they want? Roy: Let’s....never mind all that.

Roy: Oh no, 1/5 of the fanbase. ⁽ᵂᵉ ᵃʳᵉ ⁿᵒᵗ ʲᵒᵏᶦⁿᵍ. ᵀʰᶦˢ ˢᶜᵉⁿᵉ ᶜᵒⁿˢᶦˢᵗˢ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᵗᵒʷⁿˢᶠᵒˡᵏ ˡᶦᵗᵉʳᵃˡˡʸ ᶜʳᵒʷᵈᶦⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉ ᵖᵒⁿᶦᵉˢ ᵗᵒ ᵇᵘʸ ᵃⁿᵈ/ᵒʳ ᶜᵒˡˡᵉᶜᵗ ᵗʰᵉᵐ. ᴬⁿᵈ ʷʰᶦˡᵉ ʷᵉ ʳᵉˢᵖᵉᶜᵗ ᵃˡˡ ᶜᵒⁿˢᵘᵐᵉʳ ᶠᵃⁿˢ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉᶦʳ ᵈᵉᵈᶦᶜᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠʳᵃⁿᶜʰᶦˢᵉ, ᵗʰᶦˢ ʲᵒᵏᵉ ᶦˢ ᵃ ᶜᵒⁿˢᶦᵈᵉʳᵃᵇˡᵉ ᶠˡᵃᶜᶜᶦᵈ ᵖᵘⁿᶜʰˡᶦⁿᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᶜʳᶦᵖᵗ ˢʰᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵈᵉˢᵉʳᵛᵉ ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ. ᴺᵒʷ ʰᵉʳᵉ’ˢ ᵃ ᵏᶦᵗᵗᵉⁿ ᶠᵒʳ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵘʳᵉ ʷʰᶦˡˢᵗ ʷᵉ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᶦⁿᵘᵉ.⁾

Awwwww, she’s sleepy

Julien: Oh boy, we got attractive felines in this universe. Roy: Eh, furry love aside, I’m more attracted to the comic’s nubian felines

Roy: Hello “Friend like me” Julien: Oye, don’t go pointing out the better things others have done. We’ll be here all week.

Roy: Can I say, “Suggestive?” Julien: Hey, they’re old enough to get some pussy in their life.

Julien: Okay, best character in the movie. Roy: Eh, I’m not convinced.

Roy: Okay, now I am.

Julien: That...is gonna cost ‘em. Roy: Pfft, like they’re gonna pay for it. Julien: I thought the ignorant rich of America were annoying.

Julien: Okay, there’s one thing that’ll never make sense here. So they’re oppressed and they work under the Storm King’s rule and they couldn’t be pirates. But it takes ONE song and they decide “Fuck it. We’re pirates again.” Roy: Have you ever had a song dedicated to helping you get your confidence and groove back?

[Gasp] The lesbian call.

Roy: I love how they play dramatic angry music over the colorful destruction that is their ship.

Julien: Hey, this reminds me of my Steven Universe fanfic. Roy: What? Julien: I dreamed and started a fanfic about Connie being an Arcane Knight that is seeking the original gems that helped salvage the land from the tyrannical Homeworld generals and this was where Lapis resided because she was originally master of nature but went into hiding after she, Peridot (master of metal) and Amethyst (master of animals) had a fallout.

Julien: When she goes so deep, she’s feeling your sunken place

Roy: WE GOT OUT THE MERCH SELLER, BABY! Julien: WE GOT THE MONEYMAKEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Roy: Now to be fair, she was trying to save her civilization while her friends were fucking around. Julien: Yeah, stealing from a civilization that suffered from the same enemies they’re dealing with now. Why didn’t the ponies help the hippogriffs when they clearly could have? This feels racist in a way. Roy: Specist? Julien: Yes. Thank you.

Julien: Okay, I can see where both sides are coming from, you know? However, I have a neutralizer that, possibly(?), erases both sides of this argument. How did it take them (the ponies) this long to try and stop the Storm King’s reign when it started to affect them personally? Where were any of them when the Storm King’s armada took over the Hippogriffs, the pirates, that city? I mean, I wouldn’t worry about this so much if the movie wasn’t so full of its “Friendship Solves All” theme to drive home how this will resolve when it could’ve been resolved LONG AGO! Roy: Jesus dude, it’s not that big a deal here. Julien: NO BRO, it is a big deal. Because they made 4 comics, so much merch, got good players like Sia, Liev, Emily Blunt, etc. all for movie that barely tries to integrate its new universe to a series that’s been around for 7 fucking years!

Ah good, we’re entered the third act.

Roy: Song time. Julien: I’ll allow it. Tempest is honestly the only best thing about this movie. Also, was Emily Blunt in Chicago???

Julien: So...let me get this straight. This girl stood up to a fucking bear and she gets shunned for her suffering? Fuck those kids! Roy: Yeah, I can see where she’d want revenge.

Roy: Okay movie, these Hippogriff designs are good. You live this time. Julien: This time? It’s still getting the slaughter, honey. [revs chainsaw]

Julien: You know Twilight fucked up when Sia pony is staring you down. Roy: With what eyes? Julien: Eye. Roy: I didn’t know you were Scottish.

I won’t question how they could breath in there.

Roy: Aw jeez, she was out for blood today. Julien: He’s getting creamed out there.

Julien: JESUS CHRIST, they brought flames to the party. Seriously, they are burning these beasts alive without fear.

One got consumed in the flames. Like, damn movie.

Roy: Okay, I get that Storm King’s a playful villain, but now he’s just monkeying around. Julien: Liev just wanted his paycheck. He’s doing just as good as everyone.

Roy: Looks like Pinkie Pie is on her a game this time. Julien: When she’s not yelling all her lines. Am I right lads, or am I right lads? Dom: “You’re all right, lad!” Julien: Cheers, lad.

Roy: Betrayal, I never knew could the Storm King could do such a thing. Julien: All I can think of is Twilight yeeting her into the cloud.

Gone with the wind.

Julien: Jesus christ. Roy: Exactly.

Roy: HA. He didn’t expect somebody to jump in the way of the bomb, only to then tag them and infect them with the spell as well. This doesn’t make sense in a way. Julien: Who cares, he’s fucking dead.

That’s right. Dead. On Screen. Full High Definition. YOUR MOVE, “DISNEY”.

“YEAH, WHO WANNA RIDE THE WHITE THUNDER?!”

Roy: So wait, what if Tempest actually got her horn back? Julien: Mass Genocide, everybody in Equestria incinerated; but hey: SPARKLY, COLORFUL EXPLOSIONS RIGHT?!

Julien: And that’s the My Little Pony Movie, ladies and gentlemen. Final thoughts? Roy: Fizzlepop Berrytwist is one of the worst names you could ever give your child. But other than that, I enjoyed what I got, mediocrity and all. Hell, I’m just glad there’s a 2D animated film in American theaters again. Could spell potential for the 16 mil. it earned at the Box Office. 👍👍 Julien: I thought it was alright and could’ve done better for their story beats than taking stuff from other better movies. A fun romp nonetheless.👍👎 Well, what now? Roy: Well, it’s Halloween. Wanna howl at the moon together? Julien: Sure.

[nedraggett]

Run ragged

It didn’t work.  And while I wasn’t surprised by that, I did want to tease out why, at least for myself.

I honestly was openly skeptical of Blade Runner 2049 for a while, so I can’t hide my bias there.  I wasn’t totally ‘salt the earth and never mention it again’ then and am certainly not saying that now.  But each new trailer left me feeling more ‘uh...really?’ and the explosion of immediate praise from many critics even more so.  I wasn’t contrarian, and neither did I think groupthink was at work, but I suspected a massive wish fulfillment was. 

So I generally avoided reactions after that and figured I’d wait for things to die down a bit -- even more quickly than I might have guessed, seeing its swiftly collapsing commercial performance over here. My Sunday early afternoon showing near here was about maybe 2/3 full on its third weekend, so it’s found an audience, but I’m in San Francisco -- I expected an audience there. Enough friends have posted theater shots where they were the only person in the room to know this is dying off as an across the board thing, and never probably was.

I’m not glad it failed, but I’m not surprised -- in fact, being more blunt, I think it deserved not to be a hit.  The key reason for me played itself out over its length -- it was boring.  It’s a very boring movie.  It’s not a successful movie except in intermittent moments.  

That said, of course not everyone agreed (I’ll recommend as an indirect counterpoint to my thoughts this piece by my friend Matt, which went up earlier today). And boredom is not the sole reason for me to crucify it -- there were a variety of things one can address.  I’ll note two at the start since they could be and in a couple of cases I’ve seen were particular breaking points for others:

* The sexual politics of the movie, however much meant to be in line with the original scenario as playing out a certain logic, were often at least confused or hesitant within a male gaze context, at most lazily vile beyond any (often flatly obvious) point-making.  I often got a mental sense of excuses that could be offered along the lines of ‘well...you know, it’s supposed to be like that in this world, it’s a commentary!,’ which is often what I’ve seen in positive criticism of, say, Game of Thrones. Maybe. That said: not that any sort of timing played into it, but the fact that Harvey Weinstein’s downfall began two days before release, and the resulting across-board exposure and on-the-record testimonials from many women against far too many men, couldn’t really be escaped.  Further, since the fallout was first felt, after all, in the film industry, seeing any film, new or old, through the lens of what’s acceptable and who gets through what hoops -- and who is broken by the experience -- is always important.  It’s not for nothing to note that the original film’s female lead Sean Young got shunted into the ‘she’s crazy’/’too much trouble’ file in later years where male actors might perhaps find redemption; the fact that she played a small part in the new film made me think a bit more on her fate than that of her character’s.  (Another point I saw a few women brought up as well -- having a key to the whole story be pregnancy and childbirth as opposed to infertility wasn’t warmly received.)

* It’s a very...white future. Not exclusively, certainly. But people of color barely get a look in, a quick scene here, a cameo there. A black female friend of mine just this morning said this over on FB about the one African American actor whose character got the most lines, saying: 

to have the only significant black character be this awful, creepy man who seemed to be an "overseer" type to the children, was really uncomfortable and another perfect example of scifi using an 'other' narratives or american slave narrative but within a white context. We all know what it's supposed to represent and so it's just straight up lazy writing at the end of the day and exploitative.

Meantime, another sharp series of comments elsewhere revolved around how a film perhaps even more obviously drenched than the original in an amalgamated East Asian imaginary setting for the Los Angeles sequences barely showcased anyone from such a background. Dave Bautista certainly makes an impact at the start, but after that? The fact that I can think of three speaking roles for actors of that (wide) background in the original, as in actually having an exchange with a lead character, and only one in this one, maybe two if you count the random shouting woman in K’s apartment building, is more than a little off.  Add in a ‘Los Angeles,’ or a wider SoCal if you like, that aside from Edward James Olmos’s short cameo apparently has nobody of Mexican background, let alone Central American, in it, and you gotta wonder.  My personal ‘oh really’ favorite was the one official sign that was written in English and, I believe, Sanskrit.  Great visual idea; can’t say I saw anyone of South Asian descent either.

Both these very wide issues, of course, tie in with the business and the society we’re all in -- but that’s no excuse. And there are plenty of other things I could delve into even more, not least my irritation over the generally flatly-framed dialogue shots in small offices that tended to undercut the grander vistas, or how the fact that Gosling’s character finding the horse carving had been telegraphed so far in advance that it was resolutely unremarkable despite all the loud music, etc. My key point remains: boring.  A sometimes beautifully shot and visually/sonically striking really dull, draggy, boring film.

The fair question though is why I think that.  A friend in response to that complaint as echoed by others joked what we would make of Bela Tarr films, to which I replied that I own and enjoy watching Tarkovsky movies. Slow pace and long shots aren’t attention killers for me per se; if something is gripping, it will be just that, and justify my attention. Meanwhile, the original film famously got dumped on for also being slow, boring, etc at the time, and plenty can still feel that way about it. Blade Runner’s reputation is now frightfully overburdened and certainly I’ve contributed to it mentally if not through formal written work; it succeeds but is a flawed creation, and strictly speaking the two big complaints I’ve outlined above apply to the predecessor as much as the current film, it’s just a matter of degrees otherwise. But if you told me I had to sit down and watch it, I’d be happy to. Tell me to do the same with this one, I would immediately ask for the ability to skip scenes.

I’ve turned it all over in my head and these are three elements where things fell apart for me, caused me to be disengaged -- not in any specific order, but I’m going to build outward a bit, from the specific to the general, and with specific contrast between the earlier film and the new one.  These discontinuities aren’t the sole faults, but they’re the ones I’ve been thinking about the most.

First: it’s worth noting that the new film brings in a lot of specific cultural elements beyond the famed advertising and signs. Nabokov’s Pale Fire is specifically singled out both as a visual cue and as an element in K’s two police station evaluations, for instance. Meanwhile, musically, I didn’t quite catch what song it was Joi was telling K about early in the film but a check later means it must have been Sinatra’s “Summer Wind,” featured on the soundtrack.  Sinatra himself of course shows up later as a small holographic performance in Vegas, specifically of “One For My Baby,” while prior to that K and Deckard fight it out while larger holographic displays of older Vegas style revues and featured performers appear glitchily -- showgirls, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis in his later pomp, Liberace complete with candleabra. All of this makes a certain sense and on the one hand I don’t object to it.

But on the other I do.  Something about all that rubbed me the wrong way and I honestly wasn’t sure why -- the Nabokov bit as well, even the quick Treasure Island moment between Deckard and K when they first talk to each other. The answer I think lies with the original film. It’s not devoid of references either, but note how two of the most famous are used:

* When Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty introduces himself to James Hong’s Hannibal Chew, he does so with a modified quote from William Blake’s America: A Prophecy. (This fuller discussion of that quote and how it was changed from the original is worth a read; it’s also worth noting that Hauer brought it to the table, and wasn’t planned otherwise.) But he doesn’t do so by spelling out to the audience, much less Chew, that it is Blake at all.  You either have to know it or you don’t. If, say, we saw Batty clearly holding a copy of the book -- or maybe more intriguing, a copy in Deckard’s apartment -- then that would be one thing...but it becomes a bit more ‘DO YOU SEE?’ as a result. Clunkier, a bit like how Pale Fire worked in the new film.

* Even in the original soundtrack’s compromised/rerecorded form, I always loved the one formally conventional song on the original soundtrack, “One More Kiss, Dear.” I just assumed as I did back in the mid to late 80s, when I first saw the film and heard its music, that it was a random oldie from somewhere mid-century repurposed, a bit of mood-setting. It is...but it isn’t.  It’s strictly pastiche, a creation of Vangelis himself in collaboration with Peter Skellern, an English singer-songwriter who had a thriving career in his home country. It just seemed real enough, with scratchy fidelity, a piano-bar sad elegance -- which was precisely the point. You couldn’t pin it down to anything, it wasn’t a specifically recognizable element. It wasn’t Elvis, or Liberace, or Sinatra. 

This careful hiding of concrete details -- even when the original film showcased other clear, concrete details of ‘our’ world culturally, but culturally via economics and ads -- is heavily to the original’s benefit, I’d argue.  There’s a certain trapped-in-baby-boomerland context of the elements in the new film that, perversely, almost feels too concrete, or forced is maybe a better word. It’s perverse because on the one hand it makes a clear sense, but on the other hand, by not being as tied to explicitly cultural identifiers -- whether ‘high’ literature or rough and ready ‘pop’ or whatever one would like to say -- the original film feels that much more intriguingly odd, dreamlike even. I would tease this out further if I could, but it quietly nags -- perhaps the best way I could describe it is this: by not knowing what, in general, the characters, ‘human’ or not, read, listen to, watch in the original, what everyone enjoys -- if they do -- becomes an unspoken mystery. Think about how we here now talk about what we read, listen to, watch as forms of connection with others; think about how the crowd scenes in the originals feature people all on their own trips or in groups or whatever without knowing what they might know. We know Deckard likes piano, sure, but that suggests something, it doesn’t limit it.  We know K likes Nabokov and Sinatra -- and that tells us something.  And it limits it.

My second big point would also have to do with limits versus possibilities, and hopefully is more easily explained.  Both films are of course amalgams, reflections of larger elements in the culture as well as within a specific culture of film. The first film is even more famously an amalgam of ‘film noir’ as broadly conceived, both in terms of actual Hollywood product and the homages and conceptions and projections of the term backwards and forwards into even more work. It is the point of familiar reference for an audience that at the time was a couple of decades removed from its perceived heyday, but common enough that it was the key hook in -- the weary detective called back for one last job, the corrupt policeman, the scheming businessman, the femme fatale, etc. etc. Set against the fantastic elements, it was the bedrock, the hook, and of course it could be and was repurposed from there, in its creation and in its reception. 

2049 is not a film noir amalgam.  Instead, it’s very clearly -- too clearly -- an amalgam of exactly the wrong place it should have gotten any influence from. By that I don’t mean the original film -- above and beyond the clear story connections, its impact was expected to be inescapable and as it turns out it was inescapable.  Instead it’s an amalgam of what followed in the original’s wake -- the idea of dystopia-as-genre -- and that’s poisonous.

Off the top of my head: Children of Men. The Matrix. Brazil. Her. Battlestar Galactica, the 2000s reboot. A bit of The Hunger Games, I’d say. A bit of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (not a direct descendant of the original at all, of course -- George Miller always had his own vibe going -- but I caught an echo still). The Walking Dead. A fleck of The Fifth Element. Demolition Man, even, if we want to go ‘low’ art.  But also so many of the knockoffs and revamps and churn. There could be elements, there could be explicit references, there could be just a certain miasma of feeling.  But this all fed into this film, and made it...just less interesting to me. 

Again, the first film is no less beholden to types and forebears.  But the palette wasn’t sf per se, it was something else, then transposed and heightened and made even uneasier due to what it was.  2049 has to not only chase down its predecessor, it has to live with what its predecessor created.  But did it have to take all that into itself as well? It becomes a wink and a nod over and again, and a tiring one, a smaller palette, a feeding on itself. And it’s very frustrating as a result, and whatever spell was in the film kept being constantly rebroken, and the scenes kept dragging on.

This all fed into the third and final point for me -- the key element, the thing that makes the original not ‘just’ noir, the stroke of genius from Philip K Dick turned into tangible creations: the replicants, and the question of what it is to be human. Humanity itself has assayed this question time and time over -- let’s use Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a start if we must for the modern era, it’s as good as any. We as a species -- if we individual members can afford the time and reflection at least -- seem to enjoy questions of what makes us ‘us,’ and what we are and what we have in this universe.  This much is axiomatic, so take that as read.

The replicants in the original film -- famously thought of differently by Dick and Ridley Scott, to the former’s bemusement when they met and talked for their only meeting before the latter’s death -- set up questions in that universe that are grappled with as they are by the characters in different ways. Between humans, between replicants, between each other, lines always slipping and shading. Their existences are celebrated, questioned, protested against. But we don’t live in these conversations for the most part, we tend to experience the characters instead; it’s often what’s unsaid that has the greatest impact. And if the idea of a successful story-teller is to show rather than tell, then I would argue that, again, flawed as it can be, the original film succeeds there be only telling just enough, and letting the viewer be immersed otherwise. (Thus of course the famous after the fact narration in the original release insisted upon by the studio, and removed from later cuts to Scott’s thorough relief.)

By default, that level of quiet...I would almost call it ‘awe’...in the original can’t be repeated with the same impact. The bell cannot be unrung, but that’s not crippling. What was crippling was how, again, bored I was with the plight of the characters in 2049. How unengaged in their concerns I generally was. One key exception aside, I never bought K’s particular angst outside of plot-driven functionality, and frankly they often felt like manikins all the way down from there. Robin Wright’s police chief had some great line deliveries but the lines were most often banal generalities that sounded ridiculous. Jared Leto’s corporate overlord, good god, don’t ask. As for Joi and Luv, Ana de Armas and Sylvia Hoeks did their best, and yet the characters felt...functional.  Which given the characters as such would seem to be appropriate, but their fates were functional too. Of course one would do that, of course the other would do that, of course one would die the one way, of course the other would die that way, and...fine. Shrug. 

So, then, Deckard? Honestly Harrison Ford had the best part in the film and while I found him maybe a bit more garrulous than I would have expected from the character, he did paranoid, wounded and withdrawn pretty damn well. Not to mention comedy -- the dog and whisky combo can’t be beat, and it’s worth remembering his nebbishy ‘undercover’ turn in the original -- and, in the Rachel scene, an actual sense of pathos and outrage. I bought him pretty easily, and it made everyone else seem pretty shallow. When K learns about the underground replicant resistance and all, the bit about everyone hopes they are the one was nice enough, but the rest of it, clearly meant to be a ‘big moment,’ was...again, dull, per my second point about the limited palette. A whole lot of telling, not much showing, and such was the case throughout. It was honestly a bit shocking -- but also very clear -- to myself when I realized how little I cared about humans or replicants or any of it at all towards the end. It all felt pat and played out, increasingly unfascinating, philosophy that was rote. It could just be me, of course -- maybe this is an issue where the stand-ins of replicants versus realities of robots and AI, along with the cruelties we’re happy to inflict on each other, means the stand-ins simply don’t have much of an imaginative or intellectual grip now.

Still, though, I’ll give the film one full scene, without Ford. As part of his work, and to answer the questions in his own head, K visits Ana Stelline, a designer of replicant memories. This, more than anything else in the film outside of certain design and musical elements, felt like the original, or something that could be there. It introduced a wholly new facet -- how are memories created for replicants? -- while extending the idea that instead of one sole creator of replicants there are multiple parts makers with their specialized fields in an unexplained (and unnecessary to be explained) economy. Stelline’s literal isolation allows for space and the limits of communication to be played out in a way that makes satisfying artistic sense, and Carla Juri plays her well. It builds up to an emotional moment that sends K into an explosive overdrive that is actually earned, and Juri’s own reaction of awe and horror is equally good.  But -- even better -- the scene ends up taking a wholly new cast later in the film, when more information reveals what was actually at play, and what K didn’t know at the time, and makes the final scene a good one to end on in turn (and by that I mean back in her office, specifically).

The problem though remains -- one scene can’t make a film. One can argue that it’s better to reach and fail than not at all, but it’s also easily argued that one gets far more frustrated with something that could have worked but didn’t. I don’t think an edit for time would have fixed the film but it would have made it less of a slog while not sacrificing those visual/sonic elements that did work; it still would leave a lot of these points I’ve raised standing, but it would have gone down a little more smoothly, at least. But sometimes you’re just bored in a theater, waiting for something to end.

[becky-helene]

Random video game wondering. Long post, sorry mobile app doesn't allow for "read more" and I'm too lazy to post this via means that do have ability to insert "read mores".

I have a question for people who play rpg games (specifically Dragon Age and Mass Effect since those are the particular games I’m more so thinking of, not to mention the only ones I’ve played….or played a bit of and plan on playing more of in ME’s case…but question also applies for Fallout, Skyrim, or any sort of game that allows for character creation and multiple playthroughs so as to experience different story outcomes)

Do you generally consider your first go through of the game/first created character as your main or “canon” game/character? Or do you hold off on really thinking about canon or main until you’ve found the “type” of playthrough (character, romance, story choices, etc) you like the most? (Or don’t think about canon/main at all and are just like “hey, chill, you’re overthinking”, which is a valid avenue to take too lol).

----(cue contemplating own Ryder options, feel free to scroll past if uninterested)----

I’m all bouncing in my seat waiting for Andromeda, and in that excitement I’ve been contemplating on my Ryder. For now, all I’ve really come up with is that I know it’ll be sisRyder, most likely she’ll embody the “precious cinnamon roll, with the occasional snark” archetype since I tend to gravitate towards that a lot, if hairstyle options include any curly or at least wavy options I'll most likely be using them, cause well duh lol, and….that’s kind of it. Well, there’s also practically a folder full of possible names that I either need to trim down or at least settle on some finalist for first Ryder while holding onto the rest for future sisRyders.

I’m still flip flopping on who she’ll romance. Partly because we don’t really know who is romancable by sisRyders…..but mostly because I can’t decide between Liam and Jaal (assuming they’re romancable at all, let alone by sisRyder). Liam is adorable and my Death in Paradise and Downton Abbey fan self is all “yes plz!” at Gary Carr voicing him (though good god I was not prepared for full Brit accent Gary/Liam. Oh god send help I’m dead).

And Jaal….well, Iron Bull is my #1 Video Game Boyfriend, and I’ve developed serious Garrus love even without playing the whole trilogy for myself. So, clearly large nonhumanoids (and sporting some sort of eye covering apparently, since they’ve all got that in common….oh, and scarring of varrying degrees) that invoke feelings of “fuck, I’d climb him like a tree” is my video game boyfriend type. I’m not discounting the idea of Vetra being my video game girlfriend for a later Ryder regardless of who she’s romancable by, but for now my indecisive ass can only handle two candidates.

A part of me is wondering if I should come up with in depth character study, personality, and what not, and really make Ryder to be like….the best and most (at least to me in my own head) fleshed out as she can be, as I've seen other people doing in preparation for their Ryders. But then another part of be is like “why are you obsessing? She’ll just be your first Ryder, who knows if she’s your main”. Which is true. None of my “main” Dragon Age characters have been my first.

---(long drawn out oversharing of Inquistors/Hawkes/Wardens, again, feel free to scroll past if uninterested)---

For Inquisition, what would be come my canon type of game (f!Adaar mage romancing Iron Bull, mage allies, Wardens stay, I think Orláis outcome that would later become my canon was first used here being reuniting Briala and Celene, Inquisitor drinks from Well, Leliana as divine) was my second ever playthrough.

But it wasn't until I'd played through different characters, romances, choices, etc, before I realized that was my absolute favorite. And it wasn't until my I think 20th/5th (if counting both current games and the games I lost when my PS3 had a meltdown and I lost all my save files/only counting that which I've played since upgrading to ps4) game in total that I declared Yasema Adaar (I think 13th/3rd of f!Adaar mage Bullmances) as my main/canon. And the only reason she beat out previous f!Adaars for "canon" title was because she was the first character (f!adaar and otherwise) I stuck through the entirety of all dlcs with, as supposed to giving up on JoH and/or Descent halfway through and moving on to Trespasser. So, that feat alone deserved the title of main/canon character.

As for my main Warden and Hawke, Hawke is somewhat similar---my favorite "type" of Hawke (f!Mage Fenris rivalmance) was maybe my 2nd or 3rd ever DA2 game (2nd was maybe mage and Fenris friendshipmance, 3rd was when I was like yeah I'm kinda liking the rivalmance). The particular Fenris romancing mageHawke that inevitably became my canon Hawke was just the one of many other mageHawke Fenrismances that I happened to have used in putting together Yasema's world state. So she became canon by default.

Ditto on my Warden. My first ever DAO playthrough was an f!Cousland rogue romancing Alistair and became his queen, my second was f!Amell romancing Alistair and became his mistress when he became king. My Amell became canon because, again, by default due to making the Yasema world state triple dose of mage ladies.

Although, if going by what type played most often.....I guess DAO stands apart from DA2 and DAI in that while those two my most played type became canon, I only have 1 Amell playthrough verses like....3 or 5 Couslands, if counting one that I was in the middle of when playstation had its meltdown and I lost saves thus incomplete game, and another that's from me trying to recently revisit DAO on a computer and I gave up on and is therefore also incomplete unless my console gaming preferring self returns to it at some point.

If we're counting only complete plays, then it's about 3 Couslands, 1 Amell, (also have half of an f!Aeducan that was meant to serve as the third Alistair romance outcome of the two remaining Wardens together, but that got cut short due to PS3 having a second and this time fatal meltdown halfway through playing).

And as for Mass Effect, well I'm still in the middle of attempting to play the original trilogy on PC. It's slow going due to my aforementioned dragging my feet when it comes to PC gaming. So, my Shepherd will automatically be my canon since she'll be the only one most likely lol.

----(okay, enough blather, back to the actual point)----

Okay, this got a lot more long winded and ramble-y than originally intended. Sorry about that.

Anyway, so yeah, just curious about anyone who does declare specific portags as their canon/main in any of these sort of games. Is first automatically canon to you, or do you take a wait and see approach before declaring what is your main play through?

Oh and somewhere in all my rambling I think I lost the reason by I started this post in the first place, which is that I'm treating my first Ryder as if she'll be my main/canon, when really my history has shown first ever play through=\=main or canon down the road. Isn't it fun when your ADHD makes you easily distracted *and* hyperfixated? :/ lol

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Tell Me Where To Find Shelter – The Absurdly Complicated Multiverse Version

Okay, so – remember this post about me vs my brain on the name of this AU (I'm still a bit torn between the current one and "Fallout of Darkness")? In which I revealed that I'd considered an even more complicated AU situation that brought Victoria and Emily in again via Portal and BioShock? And mentioned I'd likely talk about it one Thursday in the tags?

It's one Thursday – let's go ahead and talk about it, just for funsies. Now, for any potential fanfic purposes, I have basically settled on a "Sole Survivor Victor and Fledgling Alice" FO4/VTMB crossover. But when I first started coming up with crossover stuff, one of my first thoughts actually involved the Portal series – specifically, how Cave Johnson might have reacted to the Institute. And that reminded me that the Perpetual Testing Initiative is a thing in the sequel, and that reminded me of the "tears" in BioShock Infinite, and – well, for a tiny bit there, I had a crossover that more or less spanned every game in my Steam library, starring characters from Corpse Bride and American McGee's Alice. XD Let me try to break it down for you:

-->Obviously, for Fallout 4 and Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines, we have Sole Survivor!Victor and Fledgling!Alice, as per standard

-->I'd also already come up with a concept for Emily in BioShock – have her be a Wintry Houdini Splicer who, thanks to not completely overdosing on the cosmetic Plasmids, still retained her mind (if not her original skin and hair color)

-->That left Portal and Victoria, so I whipped up a backstory where Victoria ended up in Aperture Science as a test subject after her family's money finally ran out for good; she'd be part of the Perpetual Testing Initiative, with a modified portal gun that can make non-test-ready areas testable (that is, she has a gel sprayer to allow her to make surfaces portal-able)

-->Now, how do we get these all together? Well, you could figure out a way to have them all exist in the same universe (it would take some kludging, but I think it could be done), but as you probably already guessed, I went for "something makes it so they can access each other's universes." Portal already has a canonical multiverse thanks to the PTI, and BioShock has its tears, so I just had to think up ways to get Fallout 4 and Bloodlines involved. I figured something could go wrong at the Institute to get the former on-board (teleporter accident?), and the latter. . .well, the best I could come up with is that weird portal you use to get in and out of Ming-Xiao's inner sanctum interacting weirdly with one of the other methods. Though I guess a Tremere doing something inadvisable with blood magic also works. . . Basically, reality ends up getting ripped open and portals between all four worlds open up, and the characters stumble through them. Much WTFery ensues.

-->I never got very far with the potential plot for this absurdly complicated crossover, though, mostly because I never satisfactorily answered one of the big questions about the verse – where are the counterparts? That is, where's Alice, Victor, and Emily in Test Subject!Victoria's Portal verse, where's Alice, Victor, and Victoria in Splicer!Emily's BioShock verse, and do we have the same set-up with Fledgling!Alice and Sole Survivor!Victor in their verses? I came up with three potential answers, but never fully settled:

1. The Easy Version: For whatever reason, none of them met the others in their respective universes – Sole Survivor!Victor wasn't pushed into marrying Victoria and ended up with the default Nora, for example. They’re all meeting for the first time here, and finding they like each other. Makes life a little easier, but never really appealed to me.

2. The Funny Version: The others do exist in the other universes, though in varying states – Fledgling!Alice has her standard set up with Victor, Victoria, and Emily; while Victoria's verse now looks more like my RP verse "Aperture Wage Slave" (where Victor is a very disgruntled scientist at Aperture, and Alice also a test subject – Emily's probably part of that group too). This sets up some pretty amusing culture clashes between counterparts (Aperture!Victor probably thinks his company was somehow responsible for Sole Survivor!Victor's apocalypse despite not being in the same world), and I like the idea of people in various universes doing double-takes whenever two or more of the same person is together. However, I felt like the fun was dampened a little by Victoria and Emily being dead in Sole Survivor!Victor's universe. . .

3. The Angsty Version: Which is when I came up with the variation that the others did exist in all the other universes – but those who the "main characters" knew died right in front of them. For example, Fledgling!Alice arrived too late to save Victor and could only hold him as he died in her arms, while Splicer!Emily maybe saw Victoria murdered by some of her less-sane brethren during the fighting when Rapture was really going down the tubes. Naturally, this leads to the characters having some pretty distinct feelings when they see alternate, alive versions of their friends/loved ones/guy she felt really guilty about not being able to save. (And makes Sole Survivor!Victor, who would get that angst no matter what, stand out less.) Interesting story potential, but it did occasionally feel too dark.

-->Honestly, this AU was mostly about fun mental images from the main four all interacting with and trying to understand each other's worlds, with two particular ones that I kept coming back to:

1. A Super Mutant Behemoth getting loose in Bloodlines' Los Angeles, with the gang having to team up to try and take it down before it does too much damage – and LaCroix absolutely losing his shit (specifically at Strauss, because he thinks it's an escaped Tremere experiment – "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" "NOTHING THIS ISN'T OURS" "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO STRAUSS")

2. Cave Johnson Destroyer Of Worlds – aka Cave realizing vampirism means immortality when he gets a look at the Bloodlines universe, getting himself Embraced (he'd go Ventrue if he could), then making plans to use his new state to take over all of the universes on display, with a particular eye toward grabbing Rapture and/or Columbia first so he can also use Plasmids and Vigors to his advantage. If this weird overcomplicated thing had a plot, it would be taking down this version of Cave before he could ruin everything. Like he does.

And that's about it, really. Like I said, the idea didn't stick around that long – I quickly realized I was setting myself up for the same overcomplicated, overthought nonsense that basically killed my BioShock AU, and dialed it back down to the current "three games, one movie" crossover. But hey, what's this tumblr for if not to tell you all the weird crossover ideas I have? XD

[entergamingxp]

The Mass Effect trilogy remaster everyone wants is already here

“Stand by for clearance Normandy,” bellows Captain David Anderson as the iconic ship approaches Citadel Dock 422. Shortly thereafter the wonder of the galaxy’s epicentre hits you like a sledgehammer, its empyrean skyline a majestic marvel among the cosmos. However, there exists a monumental issue that has plagued this cutscene for over a decade: it has aged like a fine wine, if only said wine had its cork removed long before it was shelved.

Fortunately, there is a fix. After the divisive denouement of Mass Effect 3 ripped a fissure in the community, a group of fans banded together to rewrite the series’ disgruntling culmination. Thus the Mass Effect modding community was born, brewed from a chaotically potent cocktail of discontent and desire for more. “We only have Mass Effect 3 mods because of the terrible endings,” Spectre Expansion Mod author Tydeous tells me in a recent interview. “People hated them with such passion that it spawned an entire community that wanted to fix them.”

Although the ensuing ending mods were relatively renowned within Mass Effect circles, the movement didn’t stop there: accepting the unlikeliness of an official remaster, these dedicated tinkerers decided to work on a complete 4K overhaul of the entire trilogy, as well as orchestrating their own original mods to boot. The aim of this enterprise is to complete Mass Effect Modding Workshop creator Ryan “Audemus” Ainsworth’s own labour of love, ALOV (A Lot Of Videos), which is the result of a community-wide effort to remaster Mass Effect’s inaugural iteration.

Citadel arrival in Mass Effect 1 using the A Lot of Videos mod.

“We have 2TB of dedicated Nextcloud storage on a Gigabit connection thanks to our team member bosp,” Ainsworth says. “Another team member designed a script that can automatically check through hundreds of videos in the mod for errors such as missing frames or an incorrect framerate.” Meanwhile, a dozen team members volunteered to upscale frames to 4K using Gigapixel in an ambitious attempt to meet the mod’s scheduled release date last year.

However, modding Mass Effect is no easy endeavour, nor is it a phenomenon BioWare encouraged or even facilitated. “I can’t overstate how difficult it is to mod a PC game that was designed primarily for consoles on an engine that offers no mod support whatsoever,” Ainsworth explains. “Because of this, there are only a handful of people in the community that can use the toolset to its fullest capability.”

A prime example exists in the low-res story sequences in the original Mass Effect. “The pre-rendered cutscenes in Mass Effect are 720p videos that were heavily compressed to allow the game to fit on the disc,” Ainsworth tells me. “When playing the game at 1080p to 4K with texture mods, those cutscenes were the biggest thing holding it back from looking like a true remaster.”

There are other hardships, too. Modding Mass Effect is nothing like creating expansions for games like Skyrim or Fallout, Ainsworth adds. “Their Creation Kit was created and supported by Bethesda, while ME3Explorer had to be created from scratch by talented and dedicated fans.”

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 using the A Lot Of Textures mod.

Perhaps paradoxically, difficulty is part of what inspires Mass Effect modders to persevere against the odds while maintaining the harmony inherent to Ainsworth’s community. “The [Mass Effect] modding scene is small, but tight-knit,” ALOT (A Lot Of Textures) author CreeperLava tells me. “Any modder who lingers there ends up getting to know every other modder.”

“Perhaps because it is so small, or because the games are so difficult to mod, only die-hard fans end up dedicating time to learning how to mod them,” CreeperLava adds. Regular contributors also ensure each subsequent mod released via Nexus is cross-compatible with every other project in the community’s existing oeuvre. “This is impossible in larger mod bases like Skyrim, where the amount of work involved would be insane.”

CreeperLava also asserts this is likely the reason the Mass Effect modding process is so collaborative within the community. “They seek to make sure their mods work together from the get-go,” they explain. “It’s kind of like having a team with many heads, all trying to get the best out of the games they love.”

Ainsworth says roughly 30 people were involved with the Project Earth Overhaul Mod specifically, marking it as the biggest Mass Effect modding endeavour of all time. To this day, however, the team continues to rework the games they love. “We have over a dozen active modding projects going on, and everyone is encouraged to collaborate,” Ainsworth adds. “I would liken the modding community today to a loose development team, made up of programmers, writers, artists, voice actors and more. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve built together.”

“It’s not even about the game anymore,” CreeperLava adds, ushering the sentiment in a new direction. “The modding I did started as a personal quest for a more beautiful game, but ended up as a coming of age experience for me. Its development mirrors my own – ALOT matured and became much more than just a compilation of textures.”

CreeperLava goes on to explain they were joined by developers who conceived an installer for the mod while they learned how to implement their own textures. “I saw articles being published about my work,” they continue. “What amazes me the most to this day is that beyond just saying thanks, some people stepped forward and offered their help, knowledge, and time to improve the mod.”

CreeperLava also fondly recalls working at a LAN party on one occasion, where a random person came over and asked, “are you that CreeperLava? From Mass Effect?” As it turned out, this was a fan who had played through Mass Effect with ALOT installed. “Really took me by surprise,” CreeperLava adds. “I felt really good for the rest of that day.”

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 using the A Lot Of Textures mod.

Ainsworth echoes this passion, and proceeds to proclaim Mass Effect as an entity that has had a profound influence on him. “I don’t think many people can say they’ve been a Mass Effect fan for most of their life,” he explains. “But for me, Mass Effect formed the backbone of my love of sci-fi storytelling in the way Star Wars or Star Trek did for older fans.”

Tydeous shares this emotional connection. “I grew up watching shows like Stargate SG-1 and Star Trek: Next Generation, where teams of people work together to explore the galaxy, discovering new worlds, facing dire threats, and meeting alien cultures,” they say. “For me, Mass Effect gives me that chance to explore the unknown in a way I’ll never get in the real world.”

Tydeous explains that although the community almost fizzled out, it has bounced back stronger than ever, and many fans of the mod have voiced their gratitude. “The best compliment I’ve had is when one user said the new emails [added as part of the mod] and my ‘Ghost of Antilin’ storyline were BioWare quality,” they add. “They hadn’t realised those texts were fan-written.”

Alongside the praise, working on something of this caliber comes with a variety of unseen, humorous mishaps. Although Tydeous maintains most of their modding experience has involved bashing their head against the desk in a futile attempt to understand why something isn’t working, one such mistake resulted in a barrel of laughs for them. “During some experimental combat modding, I accidentally changed the number of Banshee spawns from one to eight, as I thought I was changing the amount of Husks that spawn,” Tydeous remembers. Despite their best efforts, they never managed to defeat them.

Meanwhile, a modder who goes by the handle “Mgamerz,” who is also part of the Mass Effect Modding Workshop community and is the founder of ME3Tweaks, managed to unravel an exceptionally well-hidden secret when tinkering with some scenes featuring The Illusive Man. “In my cutscene randomiser, I expanded it to support more branching characters, such as your squadmates,” Mgamerz explains. “I did not realise that in many cutscenes there are extra versions of pawns that are used for different angles, so we have The Illusive Woman.”

The same randomiser yielded other comedy nuggets. “I was trying to randomise cutscenes and the animations a bit – it’s meant to be something you’d play if you were somewhat tipsy,” Mgamerz continues. “I did not realise the data format for these animations was different from other animations and Miranda gained a lot of flexibility.”

Evidently, the Mass Effect modding community has achieved an astronomical amount since the polarising polemic that emerged in the wake of Mass Effect 3, especially considering the obstacles blocking their path. From a full-fledged PC remaster to some original voice acting sent to Eurogamer, this is the work of a group of people who have persevered without ever having access to modding toolsets or developer-established communities. Heartwarmingly, newcomers are welcomed with open arms to this day: “Seeing the 2019 N7 Day Modding trailer we put out last year, that was especially cool,” Tydeous explains. “Seeing the live stream comments about each mod was great – especially for newer modders showing off their work for the first time.”

However, despite the community’s investment in the original trilogy, modding Andromeda, BioWare’s ill-fated 2017 Mass Effect game, remains a complex affair. Because it runs on the Frostbite engine, none of the modding tools the community have used for the first three games are compatible with Andromeda. “As of now, it’s not possible to import new content into the game,” Ainsworth explains. “That means no new items, quests, weapons, [or] abilities. Because of this, there’s never been a community that’s formed around modding Andromeda like it did for the trilogy.”

Ainsworth adds there are people in his community who are already interested in modding Andromeda, but after enduring three long years without updates to compatibility, and after the departure of a key Frostbite modder named GalaxyMan – who, Ainsworth explains, works with EA/DICE on Frostbite proper now – “it’s looking more likely those features might never happen”.

It’s not all bad though. Recently, and for years past to boot, rumours have circulated about whether or not an official remaster for the Mass Effect trilogy will ever be released. However, according to Ainsworth, “the remaster everyone has been clamouring for is effectively already here.” Give a community this dedicated long enough and they’ll do it themselves.

“Had to be me,” I imagine the Mass Effect modding community saying. “Someone else might have gotten it wrong.”

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/01/the-mass-effect-trilogy-remaster-everyone-wants-is-already-here/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-mass-effect-trilogy-remaster-everyone-wants-is-already-here

[toomanysinks]

Can we ever evaluate technical debt?

Every couple of months, I talk to an entrepreneur who is interested in building a marketplace for buying and selling app businesses (i.e. the actual IP and ownership of an app or other piece of software). These markets always seem to suffer from a lack of liquidity, and one reason why is that it’s really hard to know how much technical debt is latent in a codebase.

First, the developer behind the codebase may not even be aware of the technical debt they have piled on. Second, until a software engineer really understands a codebase, they are almost certainly not in a position to answer a question on technical debt authoritatively. That makes it hard to get third-party opinions on anything but the most simple codebases.

This opaqueness isn’t unique to software though. We lack tools for understanding the maintenance quality of assets — physical or digital — across our economy. Even when we do perform maintenance or hire someone to do it for us, it can be hard to verify that the work was performed well. How long does it take for an auto mechanic to truly evaluate the maintenance of a used car?

I was thinking about this challenge of evaluating maintenance when I read this deep dive into the economics of old housing by Akron’s head of planning Jason Segedy:

It has been suggested to me, on more than one occasion, that indebted, college-educated Millennials could be lured back to the city by selling them these old, poorly-maintained houses for $1.00, and having them “fix up the house.”

People who say this do not have a realistic idea of what “fixing up” an old house entails—neither in terms of the scope of the rehabilitation work that would be required, nor in terms of the level of skill, time, and/or money needed to do the work.

Even in a low cost-of-living market like ours, $40,000 houses are generally not a “good deal.” They are almost always a liability. They are a ticking time bomb of deferred maintenance. They are an albatross.

In his own case:

All told, I have spent $93,400 on improvements to this house over the past 15 years. This works out to an additional $502 per month, above what I was paying in mortgage, taxes, and insurance. When you add all of that together, the total monthly cost works out to $1,439.

[…]

The total monthly cost for the brand-new house? $1,444. Which comes out to exactly $5.00 per month more than my 72-year-old house.

Maintenance is the secret challenge of any asset, physical or digital. We have been talking about the Tappan Zee bridge here a bit this week, and maintenance played an outsized role in forcing New York to spend even more money on a new bridge. From Phil Plotch’s book Politics across the Hudson:

However, he also recognized that the Authority probably put less money into the bridge after it decided to replace it. “When maintenance folks know that a capital project is under design and will soon deal with the problems they have been battling for years,” he said. “They often back down a bit and turn their attention and resources to other areas.”

That didn’t work out so well:

One of the reasons the Thruway Authority wanted to build a new bridge in the late 1990s was to avoid replacing the bridge’s deck. However, the environmental review process took so long that the authority had to spend $300 million dollars to do exactly that anyway — after five-foot-wide holes started opening up along the length of the bridge.

Back in the software world, we have gotten much better about quantifying test coverage over the years, but we still seem to lack any means by which to evaluate technical debt. And yet, technical debt from my limited experience is hugely determinative on how fast product features can be launched.

It would be hugely helpful to have some sort of reasonably accurate grading system that said “this codebase is really up-to-date and clean” versus “this codebase is radioactive and run away from it.” Right now, so much of product engineering seems to be making decisions in the dark and discovering software quagmires. There has to be a better way?

Why we can’t build anything? (Part 5?)

Image from Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit

Written by Arman Tabatabai

We’ve been obsessed with the infrastructure crisis in the U.S. lately and the question of “Why can’t we build anything?”. In case you thought the California HSR shitshow was an isolated incident, think again.

Construction Dive provided some more details around the DOJ’s subpoena of the Honolulu High-Speed Rail Project (Honolulu Rail Transit) last week, which ordered the project leads to open up their books. Just like in California, after decades of debate, Hawaii’s project has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. Today, the project holds an estimated cost of around $9-10 billion, compared to initial estimates of $3-4 billion, and some academics and industry specialists are even saying that number is more like $13 billion-plus. The court order came just after a state-led audit found that much of the cost overruns could be tied to poor contracting, planning, and management practices — just as in California.

Given the similarities here, it’s possible we could see the federal government try and pull back the $1.6 billion it had earmarked for the project if it doesn’t like what it sees. Despite calls for infrastructure improvement, the feds seem to be taking a tougher stance on the use of fed funds for these projects.

Construction Dive also highlighted that the $650 million renovation of Denver International Airport’s Jeppesen Terminal was delayed indefinitely after operators found structural deficiencies in the concrete. Sound familiar? Maybe it’s because in just the last year we’ve seen “structural deficiencies” mar SF’s Transbay Terminal project and DC’s Metrorail extension. Denver’s reclamation project is expected to cost $1.8 billion in its entirety and is a year behind schedule after breaking ground less than nine months ago.

India’s general election might also determine Facebook’s future in the region

Westend61 via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

India’s Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology announced it would be meeting with Facebook in early-March to discuss “safeguarding citizens’ rights on social or online news media platforms.” The government has approached social media with a cautious eye ahead of the country’s huge upcoming elections, as concern over the use and misuse of social and messaging platforms in global elections becomes a hot-button issue.

The topic came up in our recent conversation with The Billionaire Raj author James Crabtree. He believes the election will be a hugely important period for social platforms in India. Having experienced a number of major historical scandals, India’s citizenry has a fairly harsh — albeit somewhat selective — view on corruption, and Crabtree believes that if Facebook or others were to face blame for any alleged misconduct, the potential fallout from a political, regulatory, and public opinion standpoint could be devastating.

The prospect of such an outcome becomes even more alarming for foreign social companies as India has ticked up focus on data localization and movements towards a “national champion” policy that will increasingly favor domestic firms over external players.

I love triangulation negotiation

The trade kerfuffle between China and the U.S. is sort of just continuing at a glacial pace. Literally glaciers, because Greenland got involved over the past few months. Greenland power politics is very far afield of TC, but I wanted to point out one little nuance that offers a worthwhile lesson.

Greenland has wanted to upgrade its airports for some time (there are no roads between major cities in the sparsely-populated but huge country). But Denmark, which Greenland is a constituent country, has rebuffed those requests, that is, until the Chinese got involved. From a WSJ article:

After Kalaallit Airports short-listed a Chinese construction firm to build the new airports, Denmark conveyed its alarm to the Pentagon. After Mr. Mattis got involved, Denmark’s government asked a consortium led by Danske Bank to help assemble an alternative financing package.

Officials in Greenland were pleasantly surprised by the terms. “Even Chinese funding is not as cheap as this,” Mr. Hansen said.

Plus this quote:

“He was not into it at all—until the Chinese showed interest,” said Aleqa Hammon, Greenland’s former prime minister, speaking of [Danish Prime Minister] Rasmussen.

This is how you negotiate! Get two larger adversaries lined up on either side of the line, and just start going back and forth between them. This works with Google and Facebook, Sequoia and Benchmark, or any other competitors. At some point, the game isn’t just a deal, it’s also the face-saving that comes from not losing to the competition.

Japan joining the trend of looser fundraising rules for growing companies

Written by Arman Tabatabai

Earlier this week, we talked about how security exchanges around the world were looking to loosen fundraising rules for young companies. The softening of these rules might be indicative of a wider trend, with Japan now proposing revised rules to make it easier for startups to fundraise through traditional brokerages and trade shares of listed companies. While the motivation here may not be to attract IPO deals like it seems to be in the U.S. and China, with the creation of more funding alternatives and with companies opting to stay out of the public markets for longer, national securities industries seem to be trying to brand themselves as the best venue for young companies to grow.

Obsessions

More discussion of megaprojects, infrastructure, and “why can’t we build things”

We are going to be talking India here, focused around the book “Billonnaire Raj” by James Crabtree, who we just interviewed and will share more soon

We have a lot to catch up on in the China world when the EC launch craziness dies down. Plus, we are covering The Next Factory of the World by Irene Yuan Sun.

Societal resilience and geoengineering are still top-of-mind

Some more on metrics design and quantification

Thanks

To every member of Extra Crunch: thank you. You allow us to get off the ad-laden media churn conveyor belt and spend quality time on amazing ideas, people, and companies. If I can ever be of assistance, hit reply, or send an email to danny@techcrunch.com.

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/22/can-we-ever-evaluate-technical-debt/