#moacube solstice

[rpgchoices]

Sometimes I really want to read a short summary of what to expect from a game with a very particular description that CATER to my OWN SPECIFIC interests, so here we go.

(click here for other videogames)

what to expect from SOLSTICE

visual novel, choice based. The choices are dialogue answers, characters to visit and leads to follow

detective story, basically

pseudo-steampunk (?) world with magic, where magic is accepted as something that someone can normally study at school

amazing artwork and lovely music

different mix of lore and social commentary

you play as two characters at the same time, Galen and Yani, both investigating what is going on in this city built in the worst climatic conditions ever

a small cast of characters but all interesting and all hiding something

two possible romances (they are a bit fast paced, with almost instant falling in love, especially for Yani and her guy). Galen is mlm and he can romance the guard Kasiya.

some of the dialogue is a bit too slow and unnatural, but I still enjoyed the story and the characters a lot

the choices end up in four possible endings for the city and the main mystery, but your choices affect the other characters’ lives as well, so there are many endings combinations

plot? mystery story, your two main characters need to find out who is sabotaging the city and why gameplay? dialogue choices and which characters to investigate and find suspicious characters? all the characters are quite memorable, the cast is of about eight or nine characters and I would be able to describe all of them even after months since I played the game sadness level? medium  happy ending? deaths? (spoiler under cut)

The four main endings can be pretty devastating and in one of them no one survives. 

The main “villain” (the person who is sabotaging the city) always end up dead even if their story is pretty tragic, which is why their death leaves even the happiest ending a bit bitter. 

Different characters can have positive or negative endings based on your choice.

[moacube]

Steam is running a huge sale for games with LGBTQ+ themes! <3 Most folks here probably already own our Solstice, but there’re so many other great titles in there! 

[itsbenedict]

I’m currently playing a game called Solstice- it’s some kind of mystery visual novel set in a magic city in the freezing north, and there’s a lot of interesting threads that I’m not sure how to interpret so far.

The lantern has just exploded, and Constance is throwing her party. Galen is speaking to Slava, who asks if there’s any leads on Lev’s disappearance. Here’s what I’d like to tell her I’ve figured out so far, about who the culprit behind Lev’s disappearance and the city’s sabotage is:

Theory 1: Lev

Lev’s diary indicates that he has some kind of inscrutable magic agenda. His disappearance is not unusual, and he goes missing frequently. It’s entirely possible, albeit narratively unsatisfying, that Lev is hearing magic voices that told him to dismantle the safeguard on the lantern, steal the main control room access plans, and fuck with the system to blow up the dome, thereby... I don’t know, freeing Kala or something, because she’s being Omelas’d into sustaining the city. 

Theory relies entirely on unexplained magic motives and makes the rest of the cast irrelevant, so I don’t like it.

Theory 2: Istvan

Lev’s diary has a telling line- something like “I met with I today”, or something. Looks like a madman’s ramblings, but “I” could be an initial, representing the only person whose name starts with I- Istvan. Istvan, notably, is doing some kind of weird magic astronomy thing he won’t explain, and the map to the main control room that he supposedly was supposed to hold on to is mysteriously missing. The diary paints a picture of Istvan manipulating Lev somehow, encouraging his delusions and getting him to pursue some kind of unknown magical agenda.

The problem with this theory, though, is that Istvan doesn’t have a clear motive. He’s the man in charge, here- the main thing we know about the sabotage plan is that the result of the sabotage plan is that the city becomes an uninhabitable freezing ruin and everyone dies. This is his city, and he doesn’t seem to have any obvious troubles that would be solved by its destruction, even if he had some secret method he could escape the city and survive. It’s possible he’s behind this, but- while I’m pretty sure he’s behind Lev in some meaningful way, I don’t think the sabotage was his idea, unless there’s some desperate political situation he’s embroiled in that forces him to take drastic measures like this. An insurance scam, maybe?

Theories 3 and 4: Constance or Laura

As mentioned, the primary goal accomplished by the plot is the total destruction of the city and everyone in it, including the plotter. So... who’s potentially suicidal? Laura is very obviously depressed and angry at the world, that’s not hard to imagine- and Constance is clearly repressing some kind of painful past, and isn’t very happy with her current situation, though she pretends otherwise.

What points to Constance? Opportunity, primarily. If we assume a single plotter... her bathhouse is highly suspicious. Not only is it a prime place to poison the water (thereby killing Galen’s herbs), but it has that special whispering gallery phenomenon that allows her to hear everything that goes on there. It’d give her access to information no one intended for her to have, and... whispering galleries are two-way. If Lev is hearing the disembodied voice of Kala, and operating on her orders... who better-suited to trick him into thinking he’s hearing voices? As for motive... I can’t be sure, but hints at her backstory point to a possible revenge motive against whoever put her in this situation.

What points to Laura? Again, opportunity, plus the motive already discussed. Laura is closed to Istvan, which puts her in a position to do things like steal the main control room map, steal Lev’s key while he was visiting Istvan, and eavesdrop on whatever Istvan’s plan was and possibly hijack it for her own ends. She’s also terrible at tarot reading and blatantly lied about card meanings (wasn’t expecting that to be evidence), and is just generally well-positioned to interfere and complicate whatever’s going on between Lev and Istvan.

Who’s not a suspect?

Profile: Galen

I’m Galen. So I know I didn’t do it. But if I were Yani, and needed to evaluate him without that benefit, I’d say his timing is suspicious, his Academy affiliation is suspicious, and his attitude is concerning- but if there’s a motive, I can’t see it.

Profile: Yani

Again, I’m Yani, except actually I’m Galen right now. Yani has a few potential suspicious points: she’s the only source we have on the claim that the lantern’s first safeguard was deliberately sabotaged, the timing of her arrival is suspect- but most importantly, she nearly died just getting here, and clearly isn’t such a master schemer that she could pull off everything else but not avoiding a chilly death in the desert.

Profile: Kasiya

Kasiya is acting weird, but it’s weird in a way I think I have figured out. He’s refusing to properly look into Lev’s case, but also... he went to Sem, asking if the dogs could help find Lev. He snuck away from the party, thinking he had a new clue. He’s clearly looking into it- but he needs to look like he’s doing nothing. This points to Istvan ordering him to stay out of it, but him being too good a dude to actually do nothing. Also, he doesn’t strike me as suicidal. Possible weak link, vulnerable to Istvan, but not the one making moves.

Profile: Yakone

She’s an idiot- and furthermore, a hedonistic idiot who I doubt wants to freeze to death. She has some vague connection to Kala and the town’s history that I haven’t looked into enough, so she might have a role in that mystery and have some magic motive like Lev, but I doubt she’s too important.

Profile: Sem

Sem’s misanthropic and cunning, but I don’t know about suicidal- and moreover, this plan threatens the dogs. He just wouldn’t do that, plain and simple. Could be he’s up to something, but it’s not on the same scale as destroying the city.

Profile: Slava

Well, Slava, if I had suspicions on you, I wouldn’t tell you, would I? But I don’t see it- again, you’re distraught but not depressed and suicidal, and while it’s not out of the question that you schemed to get rid of your deadbeat husband somehow, that’s a selfish motive that doesn’t involve city-destruction, even if I bought the idea that you’re up to something.

Profile: Everything else

There’s space for two more character tabs in my notes. I bet one of them is Kala, but I don’t know about the other. The named characters aren’t literally the only people in the city- there’s guards at Istvan’s house, for instance. An unnamed culprit could be flying under the radar, though it’d bring Knox’s Decalogue down on our heads. The Academy and the Faculty also seem to have their own motives here, but it’s unclear to what extent Galen and Yani embody those motives.

That’s all I’ve got for now- I’m going to keep investigating and see what new tidbits I can dig up.

[lucrezianoin]

Romances for LGBTQ players in videogames: characters that can be romanced by everyone (gender is irrelevant) or by the same gender

Everyone and their neighbors (and me!) is sad about Anthem not having romances (for now), so here there is a list of videogames with lgbtq romances for players! This is only for non dating sims, so for rpg games and adventure games.

The format is Name game (characteristic, type of game): NameCharacter (gender of character, who can romance the character, anyone if the character is pansexual/bisexual) 

80 Days (choose your own adventure, the protagonist is called Passepartout and is male and bisexual): Vitti (m), Octave (m), implied that Passepartout could be in love with Fogg (m), the secondary character of the game

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (ancient Greece rpg): Thaletas (m, anyone), Kyra (f, anyone), Mikkos (m, anyone), Diona (f, anyone), Daphne (f, anyone), Kosta (m, anyone), Alkibiades (m, anyone), Aikaterine (f, anyone), Auxesia (f, anyone), Xenia (f, anyone), Zopheras (f, anyone), Lykaon (m, anyone), Roxana (f, anyone)

Baldur’s Gate 2 (D&D rpg enchanced edition): Dorn Il-Khan (m, anyone can romance him, i honestly only play this romance with the mod that fixes some stuff and gives a new ending), Hexxat (f romanced only by other female characters).

Baldur’s Gate 3 (rpg based on D&D): Gale (m, anyone), Astarion (m, anyone), Wyll (m, anyone), Shadowheart (f, anyone), Lae'zel (f, anyone), Karlach (f, anyone), Minthara (f, anyone), Halsin (m, anyone). Other characters have  smaller flirt/sexual encounters: Emperor (m, but can assume different genders, anyone), Mizora (f, anyone), Harleep (can assume different genders, anyone).

Baldur’s Gate Siege of Dragonspear (dlc between BG1 and BG2): Dorn Il-Khan (m, anyone), Corwin (f, anyone), Glint (m, anyone).

Black Geyser (isometric rpg): Isla (f, anyone), Bjalla (f, anyone), Hamlin (m, anyone), Arrax (m, anyone) , Jade (f, anyone), Alenar (m, anyone).

Cyberpunk 2077 (action rpg): Judy (f, romanced only by feminine body and voice characters), Kerry (m, only for characters with masculine voice and body). There are also other smaller encounters/flirt: Meredith (f, anyone), Ruby (f, anyone), Rogue (f, anyone).

Divinity: Original Sin 1 (isometric rpg): two player characters (of any gender) that can fall in love.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 (isometric rpg): Fane (m, anyone), Sebille (f, anyone), Ifan (m, anyone), Red Prince (m, anyone), Beast (m, anyone), Lohse (f, anyone)

Dragon age Origins (fantasy rpg): Zevran (m, anyone), Leliana (f, anyone)

Dragon age II (fantasy rpg): Isabela (f, anyone), Fenris (m, anyone), Anders (m, anyone), Merrill (f, anyone)

Dragon age Inquisition (fantasy rpg): Sera (f, romanced only by female characters), Dorian (m, romanced only by male characters), Iron Bull (m, anyone), Josephine (f, anyone)

Dragon's Dogma (fantasy rpg, not completely sure how well developed these romances are, so this is in maybe): Aelinore (f, anyone), Julien (m, anyone), Madeleine (f, anyone), Mercedes (f, anyone), Valmiro (m, anyone), Reynard (m, anyone), Selene (f, anyone), Quina (f, anyone)

Enderal: (skyrim mod but it is an indipendent rpg and story), Calia (f, anyone), Jasper (m, anyone).

Expeditions: Rome: (rpg, historical) Caeso (m, anyone), Deianeira (f, anyone).

Expeditions: Viking: (rpg, historical), Ketill (m, anyone), Roskva (f, anyone).

Fallout 4 (rpg, I am not sure of these romances): Cait (f, anyone), Magnolia (f, anyone), Piper (f, anyone), Preston (m, anyone), Maccready (m, anyone).

Gamedec (detective sci-fi rpg): Ken Zhou (m, anyone).

Greedfall (fantasy rpg): Vasco (m, anyone), Siora (f, anyone)

Hero-U From Rogue to Redemption (adventure isometric rpg, you play as a male character): Joel (m), Thomas (m),  Aeolus (m)

Icewind Dale I (dnd isometric rpg): Dusky (m, only males) from NPC MOD

Icewind Dale II (dnd isometric rpg): Jaemal (m, anyone) from NPC MOD

Jade Empire: Sky (m, anyone), Silk Fox (f, anyone)

Mass Effect trilogy (sci fi rpg): Liara (agender but coded as female, anyone), Kelly (f, anyone, only second game), Samara (agender but coded as female, anyone), Steve (m, romanced by male characters, only third game), Samantha (f, romanced only by female characters, only third game), Diana (f, anyone, only third game), Kaidan (m, anyone, only third game).

Mass Effect Andromeda (sci fi rpg): Peebee (agender but coded female, anyone), Jaal (m, anyone), Vetra (f, anyone), Gil (m, romance for male player), Suvi (f, romance for female player), Reyes (m, anyone), Keri T'Vessa (agender but coded female, anyone)

Morrowind (Elder Scrolls rpg): Julan (m, anyone) from NPC MOD

Pathfinder: Kingmaker (rpg): Octavia (f, anyone), Rengongar (m, anyone) or both of them in a ot3!, Kalikke (f, anyone), Kanerah (f, anyone), Nyrissa (f, anyone)

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (rpg): Sosiel (m, only romancable by a male character), Daeran (m, anyone), Wenduag (f, anyone), Arueshalae (f, anyone), Queen Galfrey (f, anyone), Nocticula (f, anyone). There is now a mod that allows anyone to romance Woljif.

Pendula Swing (isometric 1920s fantasy rpg, you play as a female character): Marla Lee (f), Joanna West (f)

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (isometric rpg): Aloth (m, anyone), Tekehu (m, anyone), Maia (f, anyone), Xoti (f, anyone), Serafen (m, anyone).

Rogue Trader (warhammer isometric rpg): Yrliet (f, anyone), Jae (f, anyone), Marazhai (m, anyone).

Skyrim: I am sure there is at least one modded campaign with lgbtq romance content! (example: interesting npc mod)

Solstice (visual novel, non costumisable player characters): Kaisya (m, romance for the male main character Galen)

Sorcery! (rpg, choose your own adventure): Flanker (m, anyone)

The Technomancer (rpg, player character is male): Andrew (m)

[interact-if]

hey!! Do you have any recommendations for heist/mystery sort of ifs?? I've been looking for some similar-ish to green warden or mind blind- (romance doesn't have to be a big factor here btw!!) Thank you sm :))

PS- Can you try insure they're sort of,,,free? I know this makes me sound like a cheapskate but I"m a broke college student who really can't afford to spend money;;;

Most of these are more mystery-oriented than heist oriented, but there are a few heist games here as well! Additionally, since many of these are WIPs, they’re already free at the moment. Nonetheless, we highly encourage you to support the authors however you can, even if you you can’t express that support financially at the moment. Share their work, support them, and provide encouragement and constructive feedback if you can!

If you have suggestions for any mystery or heist IFs, please feel free to let us know and we’ll add it to the list!

Ace of Spades (heist) by @steph-writing

An Angel’s Song by @melkstudio

Attollo by @attollogame 

Body Count (18+, mystery) by @bodycountgame

Breach: The Archangel Job by Michael Maxwell

Extempore (heist) by @extempore-the-game

Faith of Gods by @faithofgods 

Fernweh Saga by @lacunafiction

Frostford’s Mystery by @nemowrites

Greenwarden by @fiddles-ifs

Hollowed Minds by @shai-manahan

In The Shadows by @wynnakang

Invoker by @phyllistate (discontinued)

Just West of Autumn Boulevard by @westofautumnboulevard

Lure of the Gallows by @lureofthegallowsgame 

Nevergrove (VN) by Fulmen

OFNA: Birds of a Feather by ofna

Solstice (VN, Steam only) by MoaCube

Speaker by @speakergame

Sweet Home by @sweethomegame 

Tell Me If There’s A Way Home by @blood-teeth

Temple of Endless Night by @darielivalyen

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An Affair of the Heart by @doriana-gray-games

The Adventures of Scottie (heist) by Studio Fondue

The Eyes of the Moon (heist) by Neongrey

The Hunt: Demon Eyes by @thehunt-if

The Veil Prophecy (mystery) by @bertilak-writes

Thieves’ Gambit: The Curse of the Black Cat (heist) by Dana Duffield

Twin Coves (VN) by @twincovesgame

Underbelly (mystery) by @underbelly-if (hiatus)

Velos by @csn-quills

When It Hungers by @roast-ifs 

Up & Coming (no demo yet!)

All You Leave Behind (18+) by @allyouleavebehind-if

Evening of the Empires (heist) by @eveningoftheempires

Ichor by @ichor-if (hiatus)

Orthall Bay by g-f-t-a (discontinued)

Partially Stars by @partiallystarsif 

Record Time (mystery) by recordtime-if (discontinued?) 

Sleepless Angels by @sleeplessangelsgame

The Gilded by @the-gilded

 The Starless Throne by @illonius-if

Welcome to Portsmouth by @whiterabbitgames

[ilovevisualnovels]

A perfect combination eh?

Why does this feel like foreshadowing to me?

[linuxgamenews]

Bonfire RPG names Linux as a possibility

Bonfire the new tactical RPG game hits Early Access for Mac and Windows PC, but not Linux. We have feedback from developer MoaCube. The release is now live on Steam. MoaCube, the indie studio behind Cinders and Solstice. Both games also have Very Positive reviews on Steam. And ironically, both are missing official Linux support. Now we their bite sized tactical RPG Bonfire. Which is now live on Steam. Seeing this history of no Linux support. I reached out to the studio to see what's happening. Since Early Access means game development. And requests for a native port have been coming in since September 2019.

Bonfire is made in GameMaker Studio 2. So a Linux port is technically possible. However, I can’t promise we’ll do it just yet, as it depends on several other factors. And won’t be our main development priority for at least several updates.

So clearly we just have to wait a while before Linux happens. Since Early Access is set to last "no less than six months." Which means "ultimately for as long as it's necessary" before Bonfire hits a full release. But this also gives MoaCube time to really hone in and shape gameplay. Gaining further player feedback. And ultimately, Linux support after those "several updates." Which is also a benefit for the community. The developers want stability and more gameplay changes. So you have to give them props there. Also, I don't see any reports on ProtonDB yet. GameMaker Studio 2 titles usually run well. Should you be eager to play.

Bonfire Trailer

Bonfire is a procedurally generated, deeply tactical RPG. One that also comes with a fast turn based battle system. As well as heroes who care a little too much. A game of plans that go sideways and crazy builds that somehow work. But also quick gameplay sessions. Plus an elegantly gloomy story that binds it all together. Hildie's world has collapsed. She and her group of heroic misfits journey. Making their way through a bleak world that’s well past saving. Her quest to destroy the Faceless Overlord of the Mournfolk may be hopeless. But she's kinda into lost causes. Bonfire's design is all about distilling classic jRPG combat into its key strategic components. So that each battle is a puzzle to solve. It's quick, it's punchy, and it's deeply tactical. The story is heavily character driven. Focusing on the dynamic between fantasy heroes traveling through a world they already failed to save.

Features:

Rapid and clickety-click RPG with deep tactics emerging from simple rules.

A delightfully gloomy Bonfire story. A journey and failure told within a procedural structure.

Short, intense gameplay sessions of the "just one more..." variety.

More than enough room for going total nerd about builds, tactics, etc.

Showers of blood and golden coins!

Bonfire tactical RPG game is available on Steam Early Access. Available for Mac and Windows PC. But Linux support is a few updates away. But you can also grab a 10% discount until April 2nd.

[wickedbaggins]

2016 In Review - Games

Wow did I not finish much. But here they are!

Ladykiller in a Bind - This here visual novel is probably game of the year for me. This would mean more in a year where I hadn’t failed to finish nearly everything I started, but still. It’s funny and dirty and drawn with skillful personality (for those who dislike dirty, there’s now a Christmas sweater mode, although I’m not sure how much that’s really going to help). What makes it especially memorable is the hard-dropped relationship insights and the neat-o conversation systems. I love that you can hold out for a better option, I love that you have to negotiate suspicion. Christine Love is a game designer I admire, but I’ve found her work a little heavy and strident in the past. This mingles a few difficult themes with a lighter touch and also jokes. And, y’know, sex. I enjoy the side stories more than the main romances, but good stuff all around. Just don’t expect a treatise on consent or anything as carefully lecture-like as Hate Story. It’s a sex comedy first.

Undertale - Maybe should be my game of the year, it’s something, it really is, this beautiful, surreal, unnerving little game with skeletons and cow-dudes and jokes, jokes!! But I am really bad at bullet hell and my frustration with the mechanics made it a very nearly miserable experience for me. Still worth it, though. When it goes all late-stage what-the-hell Earthbound, totally worth it.

Solstice - Another runner-up for game of the year. Moacube’s latest is beautiful and fascinating, a lovingly nuanced and complex murder mystery with a whole lot of character-driven philosophy stuff. It’s a little short and opaque, but every moment is wonderful.

Tyranny - Half of it threatens to be Obsidian’s most interesting game (and that’s saying something). The other half is tediously under-developed. The good stuff is wonderful, though. Your party may not have any quest lines to follow, but they, like most of the characters, are fascinatingly awful people, except when they’re not, and then it’s even sadder. The dialog ranges toward the rich, dense. I could’ve personally gone without the combat and just wandered around talking to people and hovering over the green footnotes. Next time, Obsidian, next time.

Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition - I finally dragged all the way through it. The high points are really high, as in Sarevok’s got some actual depths, Durlag’s Tower is a great dungeon, and it was terrific to pretend to be a cat while robbing that one guy. The rest of it is fine, but maybe I’ve played one too many games with real time with pause. I just couldn’t get into the combat, and if you’re story-moding your way through that, it is an awful large part of the game to be disengaged by.

Baldur’s Gate Siege of Dragonspear - The new expansion! There’s more line-by-line writing than in Baldur’s Gate and it really ain’t bad, but the story bothered me a lot from a thematic perspective (our opponents had perfectly good points and were needlessly villainized) and was railroaded in such an obvious way as to be frustrating. I don’t expect a lot of choice and consequence in a Baldur’s Gate, and the game as a whole was fine, but I wish the greater amount of text had done it more favors.

Pillars of Eternity - White March - Pillaaars. White March is neat. A little more polished than Tyranny, if not quite as compelling. The new companions were good (up golems, man) and the worldbuilding exquisite as always. I think a lot of folk didn’t get around to playing it, though, as I still have achievements on my showcase everyone should’ve gotten by now.

Witcher 3 - Heart of Stone - I think I finished it this year. I think! Neat expansion, more focused and interesting for my tastes than the bigger Blood and Wine (which I still haven’t finished). Terrific villain, a lot of great weirdness, the guy I was supposed to redeem (and I guess did) was a loser, though, and his wife needed a little more— something.

The Shivah - Early Wadjet Eye game. The first? Very short, but good. Depressed rabbi solves a murder. Includes conversational boss battles with rabbinical answers and some theology. One of those things where I don’t agree with the protagonist’s perspective (we don’t need to), but he’s presented with a lot of nuance and personality. 

It’s Spring Again - You can finish it in ten minutes and it’s only challenging if you’re two, but beautiful. Everything’s done up in dense patterns. Sun, tree, dirt. Snow is beautiful, fall is beautiful, it’s all beautiful.

12 Labours of Hercules - A click-click-click time management game with a tiny touch of opacity, but mostly just nice, colorful fun, not too taxing. Prettily designed. I enjoy that Hercules doesn’t do squat 90 percent of the time.

Sorcery, Part 1 and 2 - I had a hard time with these games, which is sad, because they seemed up my alley. They’re nifty, the writing is good, the art is charming, but some of the gamebookiness in 2 I found frustrating and arbitrary. Missing one piece early on was enough to make the game unfinishable at the very end, or near enough. I have 3 and 4 left to play, which everyone is very glowing about, but I’m hoping for less old school “guess what, you never looked in the right place at the right time and now you don’t have that telescope!!” Rewinding can only help so much.

OZMAFIA!! (one route) - I got so excited by the art and the premise, but this was just dire. Maybe dire’s too strong a word, maybe, but all I can remember of it is a staccato, confusing sense of time, thinly drawn characters and— that’s it. The big sin is that it’s dull.

Little Lily Princess (two routes) - The crime is I’ve only done two routes. Hanako’s work is always very solid, and this light yuri take on A Little Princess is immensely charming. My problems with it are the problems inherent in the source material, but the game manages to wring some legitimate pathos from these relationships without feeling quite too sweet.

Psycho Pass Mandatory Happiness (one route) - Man, I know I need to get more than one of at least a half-score of endings here, but I found this really disappointing. Can I really expect too much of the creator of Madoka? Can I? The premise (your ability to exist in society is predicated upon your ability to perform mental health) is killer, but, man, I just didn’t care about anyone. I know from personal experience that writing a purely thinky narrative risks turning all your characters into cyphers, and Psycho Pass suffers hugely from this. I’m not sure the pleasures of the thinky bits are worth it.

One Way Heroics (bad end) - Cute little harried-retro thing where you have to outrun the Nothing— well, the darkness, anyway. You outrun the darkness to kill the dark lord. I’ve finished, but I haven’t won. Premise prompts some lovely bleakness. If you do defeat the Dark Lord, is there even anything left to save, or has it all been devoured behind you?

Epistory - Typing Chronicles - You’re a cool gal who rides on a cooler fox. You, the player, get to type a lot for the sake of murdering murderous insects. It’s appealingly designed and fun, even if the story is a bit of a nothing. It’s a typing game, y’know?

Planetarian - the reverie of a little planet - Short little weeper from Key. A good test of whether you dig their style or not. I do, if not passionately. Post-apocalypse thing about dude rediscovering wonder after finding a still-functional robot in a planetarium. The star bits are pretty darn effective.

This Book is a Dungeon - Cool, if cludgy game book with some entertaining bad endings. It’s cludgy because it has no real save system and making a mistake means replaying, replaying, replaying.

[non-sequitura]

Media I’d like to finish someday

...and the very little progress I’ve made in doing so

Films

-Spiderman, Into the Spiderverse

-Rosemary’s Baby

-Coraline

-Treasure Planet

-Monsters Inc.

-Terrifier

-Blue Gate Crossing

-The Dark Knight

-Portrait of a Lady on Fire

-The Farewell

-A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

-Marriage Story

-Little Women

-Ghostbusters

-The Car

TV shows

-The Owl House

-Queen’s Gambit

-Crazy ex girlfriend

-Batman returns

-Avatar

-Breaking Bad

Video Games/IF

===IF===

-Counterfeit Monkey

-Boat Prom

-The Next Day http://thenextday.nfb.ca/#/thenextday

-Emily Short’s Top 20 list of IF https://emshort.blog/2019/07/14/a-top-20-list-of-if/

-Cragne Manor https://emshort.blog/2018/12/08/cragne-manor/

-Creme de la Creme (from ChoiceofGames)

-Gilded Rails (from ChoiceofGames)

-Open Sorcery/Jingle BEL/S

-Tally Ho (ChoiceofGames) (I think I beta-tested this one)

===regular games===

-Cultist Simulator

-Danganronpa 2/3

-The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa

-Frog Fractions/Glittermitten Grove

-Gone Home

-Grim Fandango

-Judith

-Kentucky Route Zero (played through the first two acts or so)

-Last Word

-Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm

-LISA (started; didn’t get into it)

-Little Inferno (started; didn’t get into it)

-Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 2

-Reigns

-The Stanley Parable

-Subnautica

-Thimbleweed Park (I LOVE Mark Ferrari. And the original Monkey Island writers, ofc.)

-Thomas Was Alone

-Undertale (should actually play at some point when the plot has mostly evaporated from my brain. If you haven’t played it yet, don’t spoil it for yourself!)

-Deltarune

-The Walking Dead

-West of Loathing

-Where the Water Taste Like Wine

-World of Goo (started)

===2nd priority list of games to play===

-The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

-Castle Crashers

-Fallout (should finish)

-Just Shapes and Beats (I’d love to get good at this)

-Civilization V (played once but I don’t think I did it correctly)

-TF2 if that’s even possible these days

-Portal 2

Rewatch

-Kissing Jessica Stein

Finished

-Parasite

-Pan’s Labyrinth

-Us & Get Out

-Anna and the Apocalypse

-Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 1

-Death and Taxes (it was okay)

-Solstice by Moacube (surprisingly great)

-12/7/20

[salamanders-please]

Just finished my first playthrough of Solstice. It’s good, very good. But I wish MoaCube would embrace the Dead End. Like you made bad decisions, so you dont get to see any of the real endings, and you dont get answers because you lacked the necessary info/friendships/actions to get that far.

[rpgchoices]

100 lgbtq+ videogames characters (061): GALEN (Solstice)

[moacube]

Cinders and Solstice are finally available on GOG.com! At a 50% launch discount to boot! GIG has this cool no-DRM/optional client approach, so feel free to grab it if it’s your preference. Or simply help us spreading the word! ;) And thanks, everyone! We wouldn’t be able to do it if people wouldn’t ask for our games, make wishlist pages for them, vote, etc. <3

[shionch]

Mention some of your favourite videogames please

Oh boy, you have asked The Question! I’m a major video games nerd, and there are so many I love… if I had to choose a single one, I’d implode from the pressure.

This post is going to be LONG (sorry), so I’ll put the most important part first: currently, I am in the process of making a game of my own. It takes ages because other than a couple of people who helped me out with music and sound, I’m pretty much on my own. But we’ll get there eventually, just you wait. The working title is City Under Siege, and it’s a visual novel mixed with strategy and dating sim elements. Basically, you play as a General who arrives to save the besieged city, you meet local resindents, you investigate who started the war and why, etc, and naturally you can fall in love with almost any of the characters you meet, including the enemy general. I’m so excited to write that game!

(ask me at cityundersiege-vn for progress updates if you’re interested, we have a playable demo and everything)

Now, on to the actual games I play… putting that under the cut, because the post is super long, and I don’t want to clutter anyone’s dashboard too much.

My absolute favorite series has to be the Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 4 in particular. TS2 allows virtually unlimited control when you create your character’s face, something the latter games lack; the animations quality is also top-notch, the smallest things like getting in/out of the car, taking the frying pan out of the kitchen drawer, all kinds of things are animated. The Sims 3 is a step back in that regard, although it offers some spectacular building tools, probably the best in the series, but I don’t really like building stuff. So. Currently, TS2 cannot be run properly on my computer, so I’m playing TS4 which is actually good, it had body diversity and trans gender options (that last part solidified my love for it).

There is one sims family I’ve been playing for 9 years, almost a decade. Five generations with an accompanying story. I love them so much, they’re like my own family at this point.

I love BioWare games for their intricate stories and quality writing.

Jade Empire is the best in that regard, the story is rich and complex, all the choices are truly difficult because they all have moral reasoning behind every option. The music, the colorful graphics, everything in that game is so enjoyable! I would sell my soul for a good sequel tbh.

Dragon Age 2 is one of my all-time favorite games, again, for its writing. Sure, it’s a little unpolished in parts, but ultimately, I find the story very nuanced and multi-faceted. It shows how true evil can hide behind benevolence, and the finale is tragic and brilliant in that tragedy.

Mass Effect trilogy is pretty good, although I usually prefer fantasy to Sci-Fi. It raises some interesting questions, especially ME3, regarding sentience and how far “the good guys” are willing to go for survival, what makes us people, etc. When I watched that recent “Annihilation” movie, I kept thinking I saw those themes explored in Mass Effect, lol.

I love visual novels, too! One VN that I cannot recommend enough is Solstice by MoaCube. IT IS SO GOOD. Brilliant writing that keeps you on the edge of your seat, the intrigue, the moral complexity, and of course the stunning art… one of my favorite games ever, definitely! I especially love the Kala subplot there: a knowledge so powerful, even asking too many questions about it can drive you mad…

Coming Out On Top is a really fun game, as well as Dream Daddy. Both are gay VNs, and both have interesting characters and hilarious cutting-edge humor. The light tone, the lovely art, they’re the fluffy rom-coms you never knew you needed until you played them.

Most Choice of… games are fun if you like text games (which I do). They’re more like interactive novels, really. My favorites are Zombie Exodus; Affairs of the Court: Choice of Romance; Pendragon Rising.

Oh, I also love old adventure games like Sierra’s and Lucas Arts’ ones, and recently Telltale. The Day of the Tentacle and the Monkey Island series were a big part of my childhood, they helped me learn English, and overall they’re just very fun, witty, beautiful games. The remastered versions are even available for mobile phones, I think.

Technobabylon and Shardlight are great adventure games. Powerful emotional stories. A must-play if you like adventure games and/or cyberpunk.

The Legend of Kyrandia series is one of my favorites, too. The second game in the series, Hand of Fate, is probably the best one due to its humor and the peculiar game mechanic where you get to make magic potions.

I’ve recently played Expeditions: Viking, and while it might be not my favorite game yet, the start is rather promising. It has its problems, which I’m not sure I should focus on. It’s time-consuming due to its tactical focus, a single fight takes 10 minutes at the very least. I haven’t managed to finish it yet, but the beginning of the game looks promising.

When it comes to strategies, I love Age of Mythology and Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. Don’t let the titles confuse you, they’re completely different games. AoM is a real-time strategy, while AoW:SM is turn-based. In AoM, you meet a wonderful Queen Amanra (incidentally voiced by the same voice actress who plays Meredith in Dragon Age 2) and travel through Ancient Greece, Egypt, Norse lands, and in the latest DLC even China. Very fun. In AoW:SM, you play as a wizard in a war against shadow demons; not much in terms of story, but the soundtrack is one of the best I have ever heard in my life!! I even bought it separately, which I never do. That music is so good, it’s a balm that cures a wounded soul.

I could go on and on, because I have barely scratched the surface of the games I love, these are the bare essentials… but this post is too long as it is.

Sorry for the late and disproportionally huge answer ^.^’

[lucrezianoin]

Solstice (visual novel)

infinite list of favourite videogames

[pokemonlady]

So what is the problem then??

[rpgchoices]

Yani and Galen, the player’s characters in Solstice (and their romance options: Sem and Kasiya)