#not enough generic anime style zelda fan art in the world... from ME

[themortaldraw]

lil ravio design

[grad604-haydenmiddleton]

20 OBJECTS WRITING PT.1

1. WHAT IS THE ITEM?

2. WHERE DID YOU GET THE ITEM FROM?

3. WHY IS THE ITEM SIGNIFICANT TO YOU?

4. HOW IS THE ITEM SIGNIFICANT TO YOUR CREATIVITY?

Testosterone

This is my medical prescription for testosterone. I go in every 3 weeks for an injection of this stuff. It took a lot of time to get to this point in my life but I can confidently say it has made me a happier more confident person to finally feel like I’m comfortable in my own skin. My gender is an extremely important part of me as it is for anyone, cis or not it’s important for us as people to express ourselves authentically to be perceived how we want to be and when someone misunderstands you it can be uncomfortable. Before in my creative process a lot of my art and work was fuelled by sadness, anger and confusion and although some might say I created my best work during those times of emotional high now I work with more thought, care and consideration.

Wacom

I got my first Wacom tablet when I was around 12 after borrowing my sisters one far too much. Weirdly enough, I wasn’t a fan of physically sketching before this and was much more drawn to digital art and the effects and style with this medium, even now I’m actually a horrible physical artists despite all my time spent drawing digitally. Being apart of these digital art and design communities helped me improve and be inspired. This was the first step in taking me down the path of graphic design and helped me realise what I wanted to do for work later in the life.

Converse

I wore fake kmart converse hundreds of times before finally investing in an actual pair of REAL converse and now I think I wear them every single day. I got them at my mums insistence since I think she was sick of me getting blisters with the ill fitting dupe. I am really a comfort over style person and although I like the converse style I know there are plenty of other stylish shoes out there but the converse work for me and make it easy to pick what I’m going to wear into uni or go out for a walk in. These converse have taken me plenty of places and I even got a second pair for my birthday thanks to my nana. Shoes are extremely important to see the world in and to take in inspiration from the world around me for my creative practice.

Ticket receipts

Here are some of the ticket stubs or receipts I’ve collected from going to shows. I keep these to preserve the memory of going out with friends or family to watch something. My favourite are plays and then also animated films, some may think it’s childish for me to still be so invested in colourful movies typically catered towards kids or teens but I really enjoy taking in the art and beauty of animation as inspiration for my own bright and bold creative style which also then in turn influences my graphic design practice. It’s also just a fun experience, I love going to the theatre and it makes the whole movie experience really engaging and immersive as I’m someone who actually has a very bad attention span for movies if I’m just watching it at home for example.

3DS + DS

The DSi was my the first ever gaming console, I got it for Christmas one year from my nana when I was around 7. This began my love for Nintendo and video games in general. I played a lot of Zelda Four Swords and Animal Crossing: Wild World with my sister and then other niche games geared towards kids like Littlest Pet Shop, Petz, Nintendogs and others. But it is whenever I played with my sister that I remember most and hold closest to my heart. Video games are such a creatively stunning work of love from the graphics to the music to the story they tell and in a way it’s very similar and goes hand in hand with graphic design as they communicate a story visually and through a specific creative style.

Sticker Collection

If some of my choices of objects don’t make it obvious enough, I’m a bit of a collector and my stack of sticker sheets is further proof. I have tons of stickers which I’ve collected over the years from a range of places like online artist stores, stationary stores and artist alley stalls from overload or Armageddon. But for someone who buys heaps of stickers too I actually get really nervous actually using them, I want to keep all of them nice forever and when I do put a sticker on something all I can think of is how it’ll most likely eventually fall or scratch off or even get UV damage from the sun and the colours won’t be as bright as they originally were. I’m a bad hoarder and need to get better at using some of these things up, but for now I will enjoy keeping them altogether in a box for safe keeping and for me to admire. Since a lot of the stickers are made by artists they inspire me a lot and often they’re made as merch for a show or cartoon I watch. For a long time it was always my dream to sell things like stickers myself and maybe one day I will get to that point too.

Pokémon Cards

Despite actually finding a lot of the games boring I have spent a crazy amount of money on my Pokémon card collection. But for me it isn’t about pulling the crazy rare and expensive cards (although I do have a few pricey ones in my collection), for me it’s all about collecting the pretty cards or cards I find visually appealing. There are hundreds of different artists working for Pokémon and so each card is personalised and has its own style. There is a specific card artist, Yuka Morii, who specifically does clay models of the Pokémon and for me, despite her cards usually being common cards, are some of the coolest ones to get. I think collecting them now as an adult is a way to appease my child self who always wanted to get Pokémon cards but I was told I couldn’t because they were a waste of money and I agree with this sentiment but at the end of the day I’m a person who just enjoys things and collectables and so collecting these bring me joy.

Burts Bees

Lip balm might be a weird inclusion to a group of objects that is supposed to be related to my creative process, but hear me out. I use to not take good care of my body at all, I was really depressed for a long time and the way I lived didn’t help this either, I wouldn’t sleep, eat or drink well. I’m not sure when it happened exactly but at some point I realised I needed to make changes. I set up a routine for my life including a wake up and going to sleep routine which helped things slightly, I was still depressed which sucked since I was actively trying to get better now but I think learning to have a routine and self awareness about what my body and mind needed is a hugely important skill which I still have today. Lip balm is just a representation of the changes and routine I made, after brushing my teeth at night and in the morning I drink a large glass of water and always apply lip balm, being hydrated is one of the many things I think is important for my body. It’s also something a little self indulgent and perhaps falls under the self care umbrella of things to do but it’s a small thing that brings joy and at the end of the day that is important to me, my mental health and then in turn, my creative process.

Washi Tape

Another stack of items that relates to my obsession to collect cute things is washi tape. This is a staple at a lot of stationary shops and I use to go a lot with my sister to check them out. She has always been a lot more careful with her money and me, not so much. I cant handle the temptation and usually always leave a stationary shop with something. I’ve always had the idea of doing a bullet journal, dairy or some kind of scrap book and I try to convince myself that is why I have a stupid amount of washi tape and other kinds of stationary but then I’ve tried to start these things up and always fail miserably due to a lack of patience and discipline to sit down and add to a journal everyday and decorate it with all my things. And yet I still collect washi tape, it’s just something cheap and cute that brings joy. I also think the aesthetics and patterns of washi tape inspire some of my brightly coloured art ideas and sometimes I even digitally draw washi tape to emulate physical craft style.

Tote Bags

Tote bags are another thing I started using after witnessing my sister style them. Since shes my older sister its easy to look up to her and think that everything she does is super cool and high fashion and so when she went to uni with one I also decided that a tote bag for uni would be cool and convenient. In actuality it really hurt my left shoulder and was really inconvenient to rummage around in to find what I was looking for. I still have a considerable collection of them though because I do think it adds to an outfit in a way that is more stylish than just a basic bag so although it doesn’t work for uni or when I have to carry a ton of stuff, It’s still a staple in my wardrobe. I also think its an artist or designer staple too, it’s perhaps a cliche but you’ll typically see a tote bag as a creatives bag of choice and so I guess I’m just doing my duty as a designer.

[themattress]

My Top 30 Favorite Video Games

Inspired by @ultraericthered’s Top 30 Favorite Anime post. 

Although I’m doing mine in countdown form, ‘cause it’s more fun that way!

30. Super Mario Bros. - Arguably the first “blockbuster” game to be released, not only does Super Mario Bros. still hold up over 35 years later but it’s a gift that keeps on giving with how many different incarnations, remixes, fan games using its assets, etc. that we have now.

29. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - OBJECTION! While I cherish the entire original Phoenix Wright trilogy of the Ace Attorney franchise, I’ll always be the most partial to the original outing. The sheer audacity and hilarity of the concept, which is grounded by endearing characters and compelling mysteries, shines brilliantly in this little, easily accessible game. 

28. Trigger Happy Havoc: Danganronpa - While similar in many ways to Ace Attorney, Danganronpa boasts a variety of more actual gameplay than mere point-and-click text scrolling. But what really makes this stand out, beyond gameplay or even the strength of its concept, story and characters, is the atmosphere it creates. For good and for ill, traversing the pristine, neon-lit hallways of the abandoned Hopes Peak Academy looking for clues as I’m forced to play by Monokuma’s twisted rules is an experience that will stay with me forever.

27. Star Fox 64 - Beyond all the entertainment this game provides through memes, it’s really just a fun, reasonably simple but just moderately complicated enough game that’s accessible to any player even if they usually don’t go for aerial shooters. It’s also one of the earliest console games that I ever played, so of course it’s going to hold a special place in my heart.

26. Batman: Arkham City - It’s an impressive feat when an open world game can still feel so claustrophobic in all the right ways, and that’s what Arkham City accomplishes. This game is essentially The Dark Knight to Arkham Asylum’s Batman Begins, escalating the action, suspense and sheer Batman-ness, providing unlimited opportunities to enjoy yourself playing as Gotham’s defender and facing down the greatest Rogues Gallery in comic book history.

25. Red Dead Redemption - Look, I know that Red Dead Redemption 2 is technically the superior game. But its complicated story, sprawling cast of characters, and vast canvas of a world can be pretty daunting, whereas I feel like the original Red Dead Redemption struck a much better balance. Allowing open world freedom within the confines of the straight-forward story of John Marston’s redemption really makes you feel like you’re in an old Western film, and the way that choices you make as a player impact the way that film ultimately turns out is one of the strongest arguments for video games being worthy of consideration as true art.

24. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - So, ten years ago an open world adventure video game series releases its fifth entry...and to this day, we’ve had no sixth, in favor of expansions and updated re-releases of said fifth entry. But that’s not a sign of laziness; it’s a sign the developers know they hit such a peak in quality that they have no need to rush anything further out the gate, as Skyrim is a gift that keeps on giving. Addictive in how unlimited in possibilities it is, with each playthrough never being the same as the one before, Skyrim is a gaming masterpiece that I don’t think I’m going to get bored with playing anytime soon.

23. Super Paper Mario - This may be an unpopular opinion, but I vastly prefer this game’s action-platform-RPG hybrid gameplay style to the prior installments’ traditional turn-based RPG style, which feels more at home in stuff like Super Mario RPG and the Mario & Luigi series. But gameplay aside, I think this has the strongest story of any Mario game, trading in the usual “save the kingdom/princess” fare for saving all of reality, with legitimate emotion and drama and even character development. It’s one of the Wii’s shining gems, to be sure.

22. Epic Mickey - This game’s graphics are by and large unremarkable, its gameplay is fraught with issues (that camera is unforgivable), and it’s nowhere close to the best on its system or genre. But Epic Mickey is a case study in where the effort put into crafting the game’s world and story, not to mention the obvious love and respect for the material being worked with, pays off. Any Disney fan will love this game for its story, which puts Mickey front and center as an actual character rather than a mascot and dives deep into his history as he meets his “half-brother” Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and its mystical, unique atmosphere - what the graphics can’t deliver, the fucking music more than makes up for. All of the game’s flaws mean nothing compared to the sheer heart on display, and I treasure it greatly as a result.

21. Batman: Arkham Asylum - I already mentioned that Arkham City is the superior game, but as was the case with Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, personal preference strikes again. The simpler story and narrower confines of Arkham Asylum just appeal to me slightly more, and I feel like the borderline horror atmosphere this game has could never fully be replicated by all of its sequels and spin-offs. Also, you can play as the Joker in this. WIN.

20. Metal Gear Solid - And on the subject of Arkham Asylum, it owes much to this game, which created the template of a lone badass hero having to use stealth and weaponry to liberate a government-owned island from the lunatic terrorists that have taken over. Hideo Kojima famously never wanted this game to have any sequels, and I can definitely see his point, as it’s a complete and wholly satisfying experience in of itself and I don’t feel like it’s ever been topped. At the very least, it’s certainly the most enjoyable of the series to me.

19. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Also, speaking of “borderline horror atmosphere”, we have the freakiest game that the Legend of Zelda series ever put out. What was supposed to just be a gaiden to Ocarina of Time mutated into this beautiful monstrosity that’s become just as iconic. Nobody who plays this game is ever going to forget that fucking moon and all the constant jumping back and forth in time across three days as you try to prevent the apocalypse of Termina. It’s the kind of gaming trauma that’s well worth experiencing.

18. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Like Majora’s Mask, this game is a case study where you can take a bunch of recycled assets and gameplay, and then make something unique from it if you have a well-crafted story with a dark and disturbing atmosphere. It’s hard to experience or appreciate the transition between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II without playing this midquel, which takes the narrative and characters to deeper levels without being pretentious about it and sets the stage for the proper console sequel perfectly. And if you can’t get into it being on Gameboy Advance, then just play the PS2 remake (which is arguably the superior version anyway) and you’re good! Just...don’t mind the cards, OK?

17. Sonic CD - And now we have another game about jumping back and forth through time to prevent an apocalypse! See the common threads at play here by this point? Sonic the Hedgehog is at his best in 2D gameplay, and I personally enjoy this the best out of all the 2D games in the series. As obscure as the Sega CD was as a system, it was powerful enough to take the blue blur’s speed to its maximum level, set alongside beautiful graphics and a kick-ass soundtrack (well, two different kick-ass soundtracks; and I actually prefer the US one). 

16. Pokemon Black & White - While there were advancements made to story and graphics and gameplay features in the third and fourth generations of the Pokemon series, nothing felt as truly ground-breaking as the second generation games until the fifth gen with its Black & White games. This was arguably the game series’ peak in quality on all fronts, but its specifically the story that lands it on this list, as its well-written and paced, subverts many formulaic elements from the previous games, is set in one of the most unique regions in the Pokemon world, and has a timeless message that has only grown more relevant with age. 

15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - The whole series could really go here, but fortunately the most recent entry is the perfect embodiment of said series, with every playable character there’s ever been and then some. The sheer variety is unmatched by any other fighting game out there, and its story mode, “World of Light”, is quite possibly the greatest video game crossover in history given how many characters are featured as both fighters and spirits.

14. Super Mario 64 - I’m pretty sure this game used to be higher in my favor, but replaying it on the Nintendo Switch recently has made me aware of how, as the first game on the Nintendo 64 and the first 3D platformer, it’s poorly aged in several areas. However, I must stress that it is still a very good game. The fun of going to the various worlds within paintings in Peach’s Castle hasn’t changed, nor has how smoothly and seamlessly Mario managed to make the jump from 2D to 3D. Just like Super Mario Bros., the number of games that owe something to this one is too great to count, and that’s an achievement that remains timeless.

13. Dark Chronicle - Also known as Dark Cloud 2. I hadn’t heard a damn thing about this game before renting it on a whim many years ago, and I was caught off guard by just how good it was. It’s got a simple but effective story and likable characters, a timeless atmosphere, beautifully cel-shaded graphics, dungeon-crawling gameplay, action-RPG combat gameplay, literal world-building gameplay, and even a fishing minigame! This game can actually stand besides the Zelda series without shame; it’s truly an underrated gem.

12. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Oh, speaking of Zelda, this game goes full Lord of the Rings-style epic fantasy with it and it is glorious. Between the near perfect gameplay, beautiful 3D graphics, and one of the best stories in the series (with one of the best characters: Midna), Twilight Princess’ most prevalent complaint from critics all the way up to its own developers is that it wasn’t even MORE expansive and awesome given how long it was hyped, and if that’s the biggest issue with the game then I’d say it’s in pretty good shape.

11. Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario 64 may be held back a little by how its aged, but no such thing is holding back Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Odyssey might be as good or possibly even better, but I just don’t hold the same feelings of amazement and respect toward it that I do for this game. From the blitzkrieg-style attack on the Mushroom Kingdom by Bowser to the discovery of Rosalina’s space station, this game had me hooked from the first few minutes, especially with it blaring that awesome orchestral score the whole way through. To this day, I maintain that this is Mario’s greatest 3D adventure. It’s simply magnificent.

10. Final Fantasy X - Ha! See what I did there? This game has caught flak for some of the awkwardness that comes from being the first fully 3D entry in the series, but I think that’s tantamount to nitpicking when compared to all it does right. To me, this was the last really good installment of the main Final Fantasy series, with a story and world so brilliantly developed that the game earned the immediate breakthrough success and acclaim that it found in its native Japan. 20 years later and, as the HD remaster has shown, it still holds up as one of the most engaging JRPG experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of having.

9. Banjo-Kazooie - At the time, this was basically Rare’s copycat version of Super Mario 64, although considered about as good. Now, however, there’s a difference: the aging issues I mentioned for Super Mario 64 don’t apply for Banjo-Kazooie. Whether replaying it on the Nintendo 64 or on whichever Xbox you’ve got, this game is still just as fun, imaginative and hilarious now as it was back then. It’s quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made.

8. Pokemon Crystal - The definitive edition of the Gold & Silver games of Pokemon’s second generation, taking what was already a phenomenal advancement and improvement to the first generation and making it even better with additional features such as the ability to play as a girl for the first time and a more clearly defined storyline centered around the legendary Pokemon featured on the game’s box art. Pokemon had been written off as just a passing fad up until this point. This was when its staying power as a video game juggernaut was proven.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Talk about a win right out of the gate for the Nintendo Switch! This game returns the Legend of Zelda series to its roots while also applying all that has been made possible in video games since the original game’s release, and the result is an enthralling, addictive, open world masterpiece that has set a new standard of quality for both the Zelda series and for many modern video games in general.

6. Kingdom Hearts II - The Final Mix edition to be precise, although in this day and age that’s basically the only edition people are playing anyway. This game is the apotheosis of Kingdom Hearts as both a video game series and as a concept; filled to the brim with Disney magic and Square Enix RPG expertise and paired with some of the most refined action-based gameplay there is. And when it comes to bringing the original Kingdom Hearts trilogy’s story to a close, does this game ever stick the landing. The series could have ended right here and I would have been completely satisfied (and its reputation would be a lot better off, too!)

5. Pokemon Yellow - While I maintain that this game, the definitive edition of the original first generation Pokemon games, still holds up as fun to play even now, I’ll admit that it’s pure bias that it ranks so high. It was the first proper video game I ever played, there was no way I was leaving it off the top 5! Its blissful nostalgic atmosphere is always such a delight to return to.

4. Banjo-Tooie - Remember when I said Banjo-Kazooie was “quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made”? The “quite possibly” is because its in stiff competition with its own sequel! And personally, I’m in Banjo-Tooie’s corner; something about how inter-connected its worlds are and the addition of so many things to do all while maintaining your full moveset from the original game is just beautiful to me. Both it and its predecessor are like obstacle courses that I never tire of running through, which is the hallmark of brilliant game design.

3. Kingdom Hearts - Another case where the sequel may be the superior game, but my own personal preference leans toward the original. And in this case, it’s a highly personal preference: this game and my memories of playing it for the first time are so very dear to me. The characters and worlds of Disney put into an epic crossover RPG was like a dream come true for me and no matter how far the series it spawned has deteriorated, nothing can detract from the magic of this game. It’s got a certain, indescribable feel and atmosphere that’s never truly been replicated, and that feel and atmosphere still holds up whenever I revisit it. The gameplay may not be the best, particularly when compared to Kingdom Hearts II’s, but the charm of the story and the characters and the world and the very concept more than makes up for that. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of Disney and Square’s greatest masterpieces.

2. Final Fantasy VII - I was aware of the hype this game got and was totally ready to call it overrated, but damn it, it got me! I don’t know what it is about this game with its blocky early 3D graphics, poor sound quality to its excellent soundtrack, and frequently mistranslated script that proved to be so gripping and enjoyable to play through, but man did it ever Limit Break its way into my heart. This is considered a JRPG classic for a damn good reason.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Do I really need to explain this one? It’s famous for being frequently cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, and like Final Fantasy VII, its hype is well-deserved and totally justified. Whether you’re playing it on the Nintendo 64, the Gamecube, the Wii, the 3DS, and hopefully the Nintendo Switch in the future, there is a magic quality to this game that permeates through every step you take in its fully 3D world. It’s a triumph that has stood the test of time, cementing the Zelda series as truly legendary.

[ravenwolfie97]

2020 Art Summary

Yep, it’s 2021 already. 2020 is finally over. It felt like it lasted forever, and it felt like the end would never come, but here we are. Crazy how the time flew by.

I felt like I didn’t get much art done this year because of Current World Event, but I made a lot more than I thought I did. Even some of my new favorite pieces came out of this year, so I think that’s worth celebrating and looking back upon!

I was insanely productive during the first month of 2020, and looking back I was surprised at all the stuff I did, but then I remembered that that winter season was actually one of the best times of my life! I started being more socially involved, and I think my newfound drive at the time translated into all the art I pumped out this month. This is just a small fraction of what I made in January, but I only have so much space. Quite a few complex pieces in both style exploration and polishing my own style.

Apparently February was a rather intimate month. Things began to slow down in terms of my own art here, with me spending more time in social settings and school work ramping up, I didn’t have as much time to coop up in my room to draw. I did wanna do something for a friend’s Valentine’s Day OC art challenge, so I drew my lovey-dovey couple from Dance of 1000 Words havin’ a dance. Nothing actually came of that challenge, but it was fun to do regardless.

One of the things I was most proud of in the winter season was making more friends, and one of the closest friends I made was completely coincidental. I met a person named Kiri on the bus one night I decided to volunteer somewhere by myself, and we ended up chatting and getting along. They quickly told me their tumblr username, and I shot them a message immediately after they left. A couple days later, we met up for brunch, and we started becoming really close friends and creative partners!

Not much else happened in March cuz that’s when Current World Event started becoming an issue, but Kiri and I still kept in close touch and we randomly started developing a concept for a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Galar Edition. These are a handful of characters we thought up, with Skipper the Scorbunny and Dross the Dreepy as the main characters, Morgrem as the main antagonist, and some shopkeepers such as those of the Greedent Bank and the Indeedee General Store. This was also my first time drawing all of these Galar Pokemon (except Scorbunny, but I also made Skipper a bit more unique than a regular Scorbunny).

Lots of events happened this month. First of all, Steven Universe Future ended, one of my favorite and most influential shows was no longer continuing. I had to do something as tribute, both as a send-off to one of the greatest cartoons in the world and as a cathartic release for my feelings towards it.

A while later, I got the opportunity to start playing an MMO in beta called Fer.al, by the same people who made Animal Jam, which coincidentally I had also beta tested for back in the day. I ended up getting really attached to my first character, a Senri I named Sasha, and though I’ve made more characters than them since, they’re still my absolute favorite. Though I haven’t touched the game in a few months, I was really engrossed for a long time and enjoyed playing through the beta and early access phases.

At the end of the month, some friends of mine invited to a roleplay group with some mutuals, and we all played characters in a crime syndicate. Just a bunch of ragtag thieves and criminals who ended up together in order to protect an artifact called the Crown of Thieves, which was essentially a flag to be taken by other groups to prove that they are the best thieves in the land. My character was based heavily on my sona (if it wasn’t obvious) and was also influenced by Cloud Strife, since the FFVII Remake had just come out and I was super into watching the cutscenes at the time. My character’s (code)name is Valkyrie, and they are a mercenary, going between multiple different employers to carry out whatever duties they need to do. They have a more complicated backstory, but presently they were recently hired by recommendation of their friend Shark (played by @shmoots-universe​ who is also My friend now ily maya) who works with a group called the Court Cards who are currently in possession of the Crown of Thieves. Valk never really had a place to call home, but staying with this group of people had to be the closest they could get to that feeling. They still sleep with a knife under their pillow because of trust issue but that’s okay.

Okay, so technically these examples started in April, but I continued making content with them in May, and the month was just pretty void of art in general, so here I am addressing them.

There were two main things I worked on this month: a Steven Universe AU of my own and the whole #sixfanarts thing that kicked off around then. Let’s start with the fanart bits. I did two and a half of them (six in April and nine in May), and it was so much fun to be able to draw stuff I don’t normally do! My personal favorites are shown here: Blake Belladonna from RWBY, Roll from Megaman, Yuki Konno from Sword Art Online, and Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The other thing I’d been planning for a while was a Steven Universe AU, probably to cope with the show being over but also because I was inspired by a lot of those SU AU artists I started following at the time. I won’t share the details here because it’s gonna have its own blog at some point, but the example I’ve shown here is of a comic I made loosely in order to introduce a divergence in the plot of the story as well as introduce a character unique to my AU. It was a lot of fun figuring out how to draw the characters and get a feel for the style.

As the year progressed, my amount of art I made per month began to dwindle, this time mostly because school was kicking my ass especially hard with finals. However, I took what time I had to get some backburner pieces finished, like the Tigerlily picture which I sketched out a couple months back, and the Gunvolt picture which I started working on SIX YEARS AGO. I don’t quite know why I got the urge to work on it again after so long, but it was nice to finally realize. The other drawing for DOTS was done in the dead of night but I was really happy with how it came out.

Despite only having two summer classes left of school, this month was really rough because they demanded a lot of my time and attention. I did not have the gumption to do anything digital, so I stuck to my sketchbook to get out what I felt like getting out.

My friends and I did a stream of the game Helltaker, and I really enjoyed the concept, so in following my friends I made my own Helltaker demon OC named Raksha the Ravenous Demon (it’s a pun but also got mythical insp). I also got super into Hazbin Hotel at this point, mostly because the Addict music video dropped and I couldn’t get enough of it, so I doodled Angel Dust cuz I felt like it. The other drawing I did was actually a free commission I gave a friend of mine as a prize for a trivia game show I ran back in June. He along with a couple other friends got some free drawings from me for getting the top three scores, and this one in particular was fun because of how interesting it was. He wanted me to draw a video game reviewer called the Irate Gamer from a specific moment, and I decided to go ham and just make it as dramatic as possible.

University classes finally wrapped up and right after that I was in the process of moving out of my apartment and getting adjusted to living with my parents again. I did a couple of agg.io drawing sessions with my friends from the Court Cards group as well as a new Dungeons and Dragons homebrew group I had joined. I drew some more of Valkyrie and came up with a design for my DND character Qakuqtuq (or Kai for short). He is monkey grandpa and I love him.

My main focus was on finishing a polished piece for my friend Cake, whose birthday was in the upcoming month. I wanted it to be as amazing as possible, so I put a lot of time into getting more detailed and making them look good. In addition to that, I did a few TOME doodles just for fun. The creature on the bottom was for this month’s art challenge on my Discord server where we made original TOMERPG monsters, and I created Hundylow, a Crystal-element monster based on the Grindylow from English folklore.

This month was a lot more productive than the past few had been. I tried to do a 31-day art challenge called Creatober but failed to get past the third prompt because I was still swamped with other work. I’m still happy with what little I did, including the piece with my characters Kyle and Guarudan from DSWD.

I don’t remember how, but I also suddenly rediscovered an old Flipnote Hatena series called Tales of LostClan, a Warriors fan series that I would say was the most obscure thing I’ve ever been super invested in. It was what got me into the actual Warriors books, and I liked it so much I redrew the animations into a comic... twice. Didn’t get nearly as far the second time but clearly my love for this little fanfiction had not waned after nearly a decade. I felt like drawing a book cover/movie poster for the series, just to get it out there and see how much I’ve improved over all that time.

Also I felt like making a vampiresona just before Halloween because I never dress up for Halloween in art (or real life anymore, for that matter), and I wanted to do something like that for once. It was short-lived but I really liked the design!

The focus of this month was definitely on Pokemon stuff. As per usual I contributed to the current Gotta Draw ‘Em All collab, and I was tasked to draw Regieleki. It was really fun to figure out how to make it stand out and look like it was made of electricity.

I also committed a lot of my spare time to my Fakemon Gym Leaders, as I had been working on bringing them to life in the past year or so now. As of this post, I’ve finished rendering their full body poses and gym badges, but I’m still working on completing all eight VS portraits, the first half of which are shown here.

I... didn’t draw anything this month, actually. What I’m showing here was worked on in the last few days but has actually been in progress for a couple of months, and I just finished it earlier today, in 2021. But I needed to show something off, and it’s also about time I mentioned it.

Back in October, I kept seeing people rave about this game called Genshin Impact, and I was interested but not so much as to start playing it... until my friends started playing and I was like “fuck it, let’s download it”. Since that day, I have been super immersed and in love with this game, to the point I came up with my own canon based on my gameplay experiences. This also included the creation of an original player character: Astra, the non-binary Traveller. And now, I’ve finally drawn them and brought them to life.

It has been one hell of a year. I had some of the highest highs and lowest lows in 2020, lots of changes, and I have now officially moved onto the next chapter of my life now that my time at university is finally over. I’m very excited for what 2021 has to offer, and I’m going to go forward with great ambition.

[arecomicsevengood]

“Follow Your Own Star”

Lately I’ve found it hard to shake the feeling that everything of value is being destroyed, but we are being given simulacra in exchange, while we wait, to soften the blow. The relationship between the U.S. economy and what actually has value is basically nil, obviously, and COVID has only highlighted that, but beyond that, being in isolation has brought to light how much of what I consider “real” because it exists outside the bounds of money is nonetheless vulnerable. We’ve been given podcasts to fill our working hours with parasocial relationships where once we may’ve had genuine camaraderie with our coworkers. We’re given desultory political candidates to vote for in the absence of those who would govern in accordance with our actual beliefs. It feels like an elaborate art heist is taking place, where the masterpieces are exchanged for forgeries, and the endgame of those seeking to enrich themselves is to set a bonfire of all that’s made us human, all we’ve invested our true selves into. All this can occur only because our relationships have been made increasingly transactional already. I wondered at the start of quarantine how many couples, with the ability to see one another in the flesh compromised, had switched to having “sex” over Skype, how many intimate relationships were compromised by distance into resembling cam shows. Partly this curiosity was a way of comforting myself, as I came to the understanding that I would not be entering into anything approaching a real romantic relationship for the foreseeable future.

In the context of all of this, reading a book that feels reminiscent of the work of another artist feels like a minor thing, but it slips easily enough into the larger pattern. After reading Roaming Foliage by Patrick Kyle, I thought “Huh, this is very much a CF/Brian Chippendale thing.” Then, after reading Eight-Lane Runaways by Henry McCausland, I thought, “Oh, this is even more like a CF thing.” Both are, I think, appropriate for kids, which Powr Mastrs isn’t, but I also never read Powr Mastrs and felt like the thing that made it good was its BDSM pornography elements. People have been biting CF’s style for years — enough for him to address it with a little note in the third Powr Mastrs book, instructing them to “follow your own star.” Simon Hanselmann admits the similarities between the character design for Owl and a character in CF’s story in Kramers Ergot 5, Hanselmann’s subsequent popularity seems to suggest a moment where something becomes less of a direct influence and more just something that exists generally in the world. It’s art: Inspiration, influence, and appropriation are all part of the game. Reading Hanselmann, I’ve wondered what his work would’ve been like before exposure to his most obvious influences; reading these, I wondered instead if they would still have been made had Powr Mastrs 4 ever come out, to finish out the story and close the system; it feels like, in a transactional relationship between artist and audience, the fact of a work remaining unfinished makes it more socially acceptable to steal from. For instance, think of the debt Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain owes to Rene Daumal’s Mount Analogue. It feels like an attempt to create something with an ending, to satisfy a desire for the logic to reach its conclusion. The comics fulfill a certain set of expectations, I found them a pleasant enough experience, satisfying on a certain level. However, on a deeper level, I found them completely unsatisfying, because they speak so directly to a sense of unfulfilled potential. They lack the thrill that CF’s comics provide, of totally transcending any expectations placed on them.

Measuring the impact made by CF, Paper Rad, and the Fort Thunder contingent is difficult to calculate, because there were so many radical gestures inside that work, and while some have been metabolized, others have not. The “reclamation of genre material in an art-school context” is maybe the most readily understood. Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit probably wouldn’t exist were it not for these comics, but that’s such a “who cares” for me, such a dumbed-down and simplistic understanding of what makes these comics good. The silkscreening of covers is close behind, in terms of something that people really ran with. That’s fine, no one owns silkscreening, it looks great. What hasn’t really been reckoned with are the gestures against commodity fetishism. Paper Rodeo is progenitor of the free comics newspaper format, but the work that ran there is so much wilder than what you see in what followed, and most of it was anonymous. I understand why that was a gauntlet that wasn’t picked up, but is still one of the things that made an impact on its initial readership. Similarly, I haven’t seen anyone steal the CF format of the single-sheet xerox, with comics on the front and back. I guess that’s not surprising! But honestly? Sick format.

I’ve just been talking about comics, but Lightning Bolt playing on the floor is its own radical gesture, albeit one with an obvious precedent in the form of Crash Worship. The Forcefield oeuvre is its own thing. Those videos are great! The animation made out of photographing the cutting layers of multicolored clay… I wonder how much of this stuff hasn’t been picked up on because it’s the last stand of working with real world physical materials, before the coming of digital as the default medium for art students to work in. Obviously, the silkscreening has similar roots in physical media, and playing on floors relates directly to how you communicate with people when you’re in the same physical space as them. Real world community has distinct advantages, but many that came after took the trade for the benefits working digitally provides. Anyway. I could write a 33 1/3 book proposal for Lightning Bolt’s Ride The Skies that addresses all this stuff, but I also believe I would not be the best person to write such a book; I suspect those better suited would not be interested.

There is something so exciting about artists whose work feels overflowing with ideas, not just on a level of concept or drawing but also in terms of how the work is presented. That whole Providence/Picturebox crew was so abundant with this creative ferment that when I see others picking up on individual threads it makes sense on a certain level — you want more of a certain thing — but if it’s not backed up by something distinctly unique, as a reader I’m hyper-aware of what’s absent.

These artists also made books, and records, and it was their doing so that brought their work to a larger audience, including me. Not everything has to be a gesture against making money. But at the same time, radical gestures suggest the benefits made in fostering community work out better in the long term than leveraging oneself to be consumed as a commodity does. This is not to suggest that McCausland or Kyle are doing something wrong that will sabotage some sort of grand plan for utopia: I’m really just riffing here. If I buy electronic music mp3s online, I’m not necessarily going to lament the death of live music performance the same way I do when buying the mp3s of a jazz act. Looking at a contemporary superhero comic that feels dire and ugly will make me nostalgic for the Mike Parobeck comics of my youth, but a contemporary black and white zine exists in a completely different universe and might not remind me of anything. Certain things make you miss the world that was more than others.

It’s also worth noting that by all accounts Patrick Kyle has a bunch of people online ripping off his style but I have successfully been able to avoid such people. While Roaming Foliage is consciously modeled after the sort of weird adventure comics of not just Powr Mastrs, but also Brian Chippendale’s If N Oof,  What I am most often seeing and thinking “that’s a ripoff” is the presence of these geometrical patterns which are also similar to design choices made throughout his oeuvre. There’s a chaotic, obfuscatory energy approach to comics that he works with frequently, but so much of his other comics feel dark, melancholy, or paranoid whereas this feels much lighter in its tone. At the same time, compared to the claustrophobia of Don’t Come In Here, having his characters move about makes for an adventure narrative. Watching them wander, interact, and be given quests and goals belongs to this tradition that’s not unique to the Picturebox artists — but the feeling that this fantasy material was arrived at through adventure games like Zelda moreso than Tolkien makes for this sort of… generational level of familiarity, rather than seeming to occupy some sort of Campbellian myth-space, if that makes sense. The strangeness of Kyle’s art, where backgrounds overtake figures, suggests a sort of PC glitching, almost like the Cory Arcangel/Paper Rad collaboration Super Mario Movie, but achieved through photocopier technology of blowing up and distorting images. It is the sensation of a feeling being chased after that makes the book feel less exciting and more melancholy, though subsequently, that darker feeling might make the book slot into Kyle’s oeuvre so much that bigger fans of his might not even notice the resemblance I’m seeing.

McCausland has a list of acknowledgments in his book which includes CF alongside Herge and Otomo. I can sort of see them all, but Herge especially is an influence that’s been so widely absorbed by comics as a whole that I really only feel particularly aware of it in the case of Joost Swarte or something. McCausland’s resemblance to CF is reinforced by things as molecular as a resemblance in the lettering, which is really odd. The figures all have this youthful smallness to them, and I can’t tell if the characters are meant to be young specifically or if it’s just the way he’s learned to draw. I can see Otomo, but it’s definitely approached through the CF filter. Other trademarks, like the rendering of geometric shapes, the patterns of parallel lines, seems integrated, highlighted, by the “racetrack” premise that gives the book its name. However, he distinguishes himself because his work is more constantly busy, with the same general level of detail. There’s also these trees in the background, which seem like they’re rendered as these painted soft grey daubs, a type of texture you don’t see in CF’s darkened pencil work.

His storytelling is different, prone to large spreads, or showing the same character multiple times in a panel as they move across the landscape. (The dimensions of Eight-Lane Runaways are considerably larger than those of Powr Mastrs.) There are nonetheless panels that seem exactly like CF drawings, but with a less cryptic sense of humor. It feels more populist, like it’s based around what a person liked, and in the act of working it out, subtracted the mystery. What would’ve been a detailed “money shot” in a CF sequence is here the baseline level of drawing detail that never gets subtracted from. It’s really fascinating to me how this makes it less good, I think many people would prefer it.

I wrote most of this before learning that Anthology is releasing a new CF book next week. You can order it and see preview images at the Floating World site. You can draw your own conclusions. CF’s on his own path such that you might not even note a resemblance between his new images and McCausland’s. We’re all living on the same planet, orbiting the same sun in an expanding universe, subject to the will of an accelerating time.

[spoadicdeviance]

Division in Gaming: The Mislabeling of Skyward Sword

People describe The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword as “divisive”. They say that the game has the opinions of gamers split down the middle and no one can come to a consensus as to whether or not Skyward Sword is objectively a good game.

I say that the game is not as divisive as certain gaming journalists and internet personalities would have you believe, but rather the game has a minority of detractors that were loud enough to confuse the general public in terms of their perception of how Skyward Sword is received amongst gamers.

To prove my assessment, I show you user scores online from those who have actually played the game, specifically Google user scores and Metacritic user scores.

As you can see, the user scores for Skyward Sword skew towards the positive, with the vast majority of people liking the game overall.

Some of you reading may interject with a, “So what? Online user scores are flooded by fanboys who praise their favorite games to no end. This doesn‘t prove that the majority of people like Skyward Sword.”

While you’re partially correct, I would also add that it would just as open for users who spam “thumbs down” or user scores of 0, which is why I think the Metacritic user score for Skyward Sword is as low as 8.1 out of 10.

However just showing the user score for only Skyward Sword is not enough. I would also have to show user scores for other games that could be described as divisive or even universally panned.

How about the relatively recent Fallout 76?

As you can see, both user scores for the games are significantly lower than the user scores for Skyward Sword.

You might be saying “But Fallout 76 was hated by the majority of people. It’s not a fair comparison.”

Okay then. Let’s see the user scores for Mass Effect Andromeda, the game whose hilarious animations made the title infamous.

Or it’s predecessor Mass Effect 3, with its “multiple” endings that failed to satisfy anyone.

For both games, a relatively high Google user score, and middling to low Metacritic user score. Seems like a divide amongst fans to me.

Want some more examples? Okay! Let’s look at Pokémon Sword and Shield.

The game has been criticized for changing aspects of franchise that fans wanted Game Freak to maintain while simultaneously not changing the aspects that were seen as making the series stale. The backlash against the eighth generation of Pokémon seems more severe compared to the hate Skyward Sword got from “the majority of Zelda fans”.

What about Far Cry 2? That game decided to go all in on game mechanics that some players felt to be “too cumbersome” for them to enjoy the game.

While the game has retroactively been appraised as ahead of it’s time and a somewhat overlooked gem of the past decade, the initial fan reception of Far Cry 2 led to Ubisoft dialing back on the “divisive” mechanics of Far Cry 2 for a follow up designed with a broader audience in mind. 

Sounds similar to what happened to Skyward Sword, right? Even so both user scores for Far Cry 2 (especially the Metacritic user score) are lower compared to Skyward Sword.

The there’s Destiny and Destiny 2.

Years of hype and promises that weren‘t delivered led to a franchise that only the Bungie faithful have stuck around with.

The user scores for both games bear more resemblance to Mass Effect Andromeda and Mass Effect 3 than to Skyward Sword.

Then there’s Deadly Premonition.

The game was not viewed in a favorable light by professional critics and it initially confused gamers. The general public did not know what to make of the game. However, as time passed, the game through its eclectic charms developed a following. It’s even got an anticipated sequel in the works. Deadly Premonition is now described as a “cult game” rather than divisive. 

For the opposite end of the spectrum, look at Gone Home

While professional critics praised the game, general audiences didn‘t find the appeal and the title is considered, by some, to be the gaming equivalent of “Oscar bait”. Both of the user scores for Gone Home are lower than Skyward Sword’s user scores.

Silent Hill Homecoming got a lot of flack before release partially due to Team Silent not being the developing team. The initial release proved to be sort of rocky for the game.

Ask two Silent Hill fans what they think of Homecoming, and you’ll get two diverging assessments of the game. Once again, lower user scores than Skyward Sword.

And there’s Deus Ex Invisible War. The game was derided by Deus Ex fans for being a “consoleized” version of a Deus Ex game. Opinions of gaming journalists varied from Gamepro saying the game was superior to the original Deus Ex to eToychest calling the game mediocrity personified.

The game is the go to example for divisive games amongst PC gamers. Compare its user score to Skyward Sword’s. See the pattern here?

Even other Zelda games have received similar user scores and initial backlash that Skyward Sword received yet they are still considered classics.

Remember when Wind Waker’s art style sparked off so much rage and the game was considered “too kiddy” for everyone’s liking in 2003.

The majority of gamers now agree that the anger from fans over the art style was an overreaction and Wind Waker’s cel shaded look is part of the game’s appeal. For some reason, some of those same gamers are hesitant to give Skyward Sword’s motion controls the same reappraisal.

Then there’s Breath of the Wild. It’s wasn’t too long ago that certain Zelda fans were not sold on the idea of Zelda being open world. They claimed that doing so made the series lose what made it unique.

I remember the Metacritic user score for Breath of the Wild being much lower than 8.6 out of 10 during the first few months of the game’s release, and I think you all remember that as well.

Since there’s only a 2 percent difference in Google user score and a 0.5 point difference in Metacritic user score, shouldn‘t Breath of the Wild be given the same “divisive” label that Skyward Sword gets.

I know what some of you are saying; “But the 8.6 Metacritic user score Breath of the Wild got was due to troll accounts that spammed 0 out of 10 user scores in order to artificially lower the score.”

And you’re right. There were spam accounts created for the sole purpose of giving Breath of the Wild a low user score. Here’s the thing, Skyward Sword experienced that as well.

Go to the user score page for both games. You’ll see 2′s, 1′s, and 0′s from users who have either only given one review, or just spam low scores on all of their reviews.

Yet since Breath of the Wild used an already proven formula (that being open-world game design) to experiment with while Skyward Sword wanted to do it’s own thing with the then unproven motion controls (regardless if gamers wanted motion controls in their Zelda games or not), people label the 0 out of 10 reviews for Breath of the Wild as “troll reviews” while the 0 out of 10′s for Skyward Sword are generally considered legit.

Great double standards, everyone!

The point with this post is that the detractors of Skyward Sword are in the minority here, whether they realize it (or want to admit that) or not. I’ve shown you all the fan reception of games that actually are divisive, as well as games that are panned by the majority. I’ve even shown you user scores of other Zelda games that got a similar initial fan reaction to what Skyward Sword got and how hypocritical people were for dismissing the unjust criticisms of Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild while accepting the similarly unjustified criticism towards Skyward Sword as fact.

Now be honest with yourselves, after looking at all those games and their user scores; does Skyward Sword actually look like a divisive game, or do you simply want the game to be considered divisive?

Those that dislike Skyward Sword are too eager to call Skyward Sword “divisive” because its easier to convince someone else that their critical assessment is legit if it looks like more people share that same opinion. So they exaggerate the hatred thrown Skyward Sword’s way in hopes that other people are deceived into thinking that what they are saying is credible and not the overreaction of a fan who hates the idea of their favorite game series changing its formula. They hated that Skyward Sword was centered on motion controls and so they were determined to convince everyone that Skyward Sword failed as a game, regardless of if their claims were credible or not.

If you don‘t like Skyward Sword, that’s fine. Just stop perpetuating the myth of Skyward Sword being a divisive game because the game isn‘t divisive. Much like Far Cry 2, The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword is a game that is liked by the majority of those who actually played it and despised by those who couldn‘t be bothered to understand how the game works.

[laine-o]

who are some artists u take inspiration from / are some of ur inspirations? love ur art btw :)

Wow I’m so sorry it took me awhile to get back to you anon! This was a hard one. I haven’t thought of my inspirations lately since they have changed a bit. I tried to keep these relevant more to my anime art since that’s what I’m more known for, but some are influences on more of my original art that I hope someday I’ll feel brave enough to share with you all.

From left to right, top to bottom.

CLAMP (Magic Knight Rayearth) - they were the reason I started drawing manga/anime artwork at all back in early 2000′s for me. The only “shoujo” artists on this list, I was really taken by the eyes they drew at the time and it still can be seen a little bit today, though I’ve really tried to steer myself away from the large pointed eyes with thick lashes and elongated bodies that plagued my art for a long time. I’ll always love their compositions, use of color and just how they use marker.

Yusuke Murata (Street Fighter fan art) - known for Eyeshield21 and One Punch-Man. This man can draw anything. His sense of anatomy, foreshortening and movement is breathtaking. I love the lighting and rendering as well. He also has a knack for creating really original faces and he doesn’t have the “same-face” syndrome problem. Just top-notch. I don’t aim to be as shonen in style as him, but I hope to start being able to add more dynamic poses into my work.

Kyohiko Azuma (Yotsubato!) - known for Azumanga Daioh and Yotsubato! I really love the comedy and slice of life genres lately. I love softer styles and I really adore the more simplistic approach he has to his character design that really allows the slice of life genre to shine through his art. Despite the simplicity, it still is very anatomically technical. It’s simple, but warm and effective and very soft. His skill in backgrounds as well is phenomenal. I think it’s a whole atmosphere he creates and the story he tells in his illustrations that I would love to apply to my own work if I can. I also related a lot to an interview where he stated he struggles blending little Yotsuba into the world he created because she’s so different stylistically from all the characters, so it’s a lot of fun and helpful to see how he accomplishes this throughout the manga and the panels.

Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto) - of course one of my biggest influences due to all the SasuSaku I draw. I think his style is very effective. It’s also I think more on the simpler side actually (if you compare it to CLAMP and Murata’s). But it’s so dynamic and full of strong composition and memorable character designs. I really appreciate how by his influence, I never really stopped drawing thanks to the characters, Sasuke and Sakura, that he created that had such an impact on me.

Xia Da (Song of the Long March AKA Choukakou) - This one is a manhua artist. Her inking and watercolor artwork is absolutely phenomenal. Definitely someone I look up to when I’m inking my own pieces, I would love to be at her level of skill someday. Primarily an inspo for inking.

Kamome Shirahama (Atelier of Witch Hat) - another artist with phenomenal inking skills that I really admire. She’s also really good at drawing children! But I definitely believe she can draw anything, the fact that she has crossed the barrier to illustrate comic covers for both DC and Marvel is just incredible to me and a testament to how much skill she possesses. Primarily an inspo for inking.

Kozue Amano (Aria) - Known for Aqua, Aria, and Amanchu (lots of A’s!). Her ability to design precious soft characters, gorgeous scenery, and write a beautiful and gentle slice of life fantasy tale has always made her one of my absolute favorites. I absolutely love how she colors her works.

Adachitoka (Noragami) - this is a team who does characters and background art. It’s not a secret that I love watercolor. I also love the movement and action and fighting scenes from this manga. The fact that this team is female and broke through with a popular shonen series is simply amazing. I hope to be as good as they are in drawing figures and in watercolor someday.

James Gurney (Dinotopia) - the master of creating fantasy worlds and making it look like it EXISTS with his painting skills. His “Color and Light” book is an absolute staple (I have it always ready as reference) and it’s a must if you want to give your lighting that more realistic feel. I think my love of lighting really came from growing up with the Dinotopia series. He is always constantly sharing his wisdom as well on his website and twitter and just an amazing and inspiring person for generations of artists.

Makoto Shinkai (Kimi no Na Wa) - This movie’s aesthetics (especially the lush backgrounds), surrealism, and existentialism really spoke to me. I adore the starry skies and heavens and clouds. Screencaps of his movies fill my phone as a quick reference whenever I’m rendering some complex lighting or trying to create some sort of composition with the sky.

Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki (Kiki’s Delivery Service) - nothing really needs to be said especially given my love for the details in all the movies, the fantastic scenes involving flying in the sky, the gorgeous backgrounds, and the delicious food. Always a good choice to use as a reference for anything with nature or even cluttered cozy houses and rooms and greenhouses. It’s still a desire to delve more into world building for me and I’ll be using these movies for reference. I also keep tons of their artwork in my phone as reference.

Satoru Takizawa (Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild) - Known for his work with Twilight Princess and Breath of the wild. You know where I’m going with this - he is the MASTER of ambient lighting. I love his rough and loose painting style that I wish I could achieve someday, but I still have a tendency to over-render. A great resource for learning how to world-build and for concept art.

Andrew Loomis - anatomy and figure drawing master. At the end of this list, but not the least important by a long shot. His book I think is not the most beginner friendly in terms of seeing basic shapes and breaking down the form (I think his construction is still more on the complex side), but it’s a good place to start and keep grinding until it “makes sense.” It took me years, but once it started clicking, I have him to thank for it because my anatomy was an absolute mess because of my background of starting from CLAMP’s art style. Buy his book and make it your bible. Attend figure drawing classes. If you want to illustrate people no matter how simple, you must make studying anatomy a part of your process.

Lastly - some original artists to check out who I like the inking, watercolor skills, and concepts of that closely align with my interests for my own original art.

meyoco - twitter, instagram

maruti_bitamin - twitter, instagram, tumblr

Qinniart - twitter, instagram

Some mangaka honorable mentions -

Takeshi Obata (Death Note, Bakuman)

Kaoru Mori (Emma, Otoyomegatari)

Satsuki Yoshino (Barakamon)

This was super long, I apologize, but it’s something I’m passionate about. I love art to pieces. I think a lot of what I admire is very technical - anatomy and lighting. I think my influences also reflect my aim to be more proficient at watercolor and inking. And lastly, world-building, fantasy/cosmos, and background art. I think a lot of what I really love though, is color and lighting and that’s found within any of these artists. :)

Thanks for the question anon! You allowed me to geek out on art for about an hour while I wrote this out.

[legendarymasterwolf]

E3 2019: My Thoughts on What We Saw

Alright, E3 is over this year, which means it's time to go over what we saw and my thoughts on it.

This is late, so some stuff here will be out already.

I'll be going by publisher alphabetically, so first up, we have...

Borderlands 3

I'm so freaking hyped to get lost in this hilarious world again. I've played Mordecai in Borderlands 1, Zero in 2, and Claptrap in Presequel. Still trying to decide who to play as in 3, but right now, it's looking like I'll pick FL4K, since he specializes in long range and has a few cute beasties by his side. Also, we're getting not one, but THREE action skills with each character. Not only that, but you can sacrifice your grenade skill for two equipped skills.

The Children of the Vault look like some worthy successors to Handsome Jack for title of "Best Borderlands Villains", though we'll see how they pan out on release date.

The gameplay that we saw of Moze looks smooth. Heck, everything about this game looks sleek and refined without doing away with the art style. Also, guns with legs.

Anyway, we not only got the gameplay reveal, but also Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary, a new DLC for Borderlands 2 that sets up 3, so I'm scrambling to finish the Handsome Collection on my PS4, which just got a lot more difficult now that I've bought RDR2 finally, along with several other games.

Control

I loved Alan Wake, and this is from the same people, so I’m hyped. The game looks great, has a suspenseful atmosphere, and it seems to play well. I’m looking forward to release date.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reboot

I haven't bought a COD game since "Black Ops 2", though I have played the newer ones with a friend of mine. It looks good visually from the reveal trailer I saw, I'll say that much. No gameplay yet, but I know it'll be gritty, focusing on some of the more shocking moments of the original trilogy, like "No Russian" from MW2 or the nuclear explosion from MW1, so it seems we're bringing in more edge to the series. Still, I'm glad the campaign is back, and I'm interested to see how it will look.

12 Minutes

A twelve minute time loop where you're forced to relive the death of your wife and the only way to break it is to find out why she was killed? Sign me up.

Code Vein

I remember this one from last E3. Still the same opinion, too. Anime style souls game that I might buy for the story, which looks interesting.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

So this looks REALLY good. It's like a deep RPG, deeper than Xenoverse was, with mechanics besides fighting like fishing, and as for the fights themselves, they seem to be more strategical than before, with a healthy dose of classic DBZ fisticuffs in there for good measure.

Elden Ring

A Souls game written by George RR Martin? Don't know too much about it besides that, but it looks cool based on the trailer.

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan

Basically, another Until Dawn, but on the open sea during a storm. And I'm totally okay with that.

Deathloop

Another game from Arkane? The guys who made Dishonored? I'll take it. Besides, another time loop premise sounds interesting.

Doom: Eternal

If Fallout 76 was any indication, Bethesda desperately needs a win now to restore faith in their studio. Besides a few of the other games announced at E3 2019 that could do so, there was one that stood out in particular: Doom Eternal. I’ve already played all the Wolfenstein games, with the exception of one upcoming entry on this list, and based on what I’ve seen of Eternal, I’m going to like it due to the similarity in gameplay.

GhostWire: Tokyo

The presentation on the new game from the makers of Evil Within, another series to try now that I have a PS4, was memorable for a few reasons. First off, Ikumi Nakamura, the game’s creative director, was the main presenter and she was adorable. Seriously, it’s probably one of the best E3 presentations I’ve seen this year. I can’t remember the last time I saw one so genuine like hers, plus it helps that the Internet has fallen in love. As for the game itself, it looks great, with people disappearing in Tokyo and it being up to some guy with a bow and supernatural powers to find out why. The reveal trailer was all we got, but still, I can’t wait to play it.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

The first game I’ve ever preordered, and this comes from a guy who never preorders on principle. It’s a Wolfenstein spinoff with BJ’s twin daughters, so yeah, I’ll buy it. Plus, it’s co-op, so I’m playing this with my best friend. Still trying to decide which twin to play, though. Probably Jessie, since my friend is gonna want to play Soph.

Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory

Looks interesting, plus the gameplay reminds me of Shadowrun Returns.

The Sinking City

This one’s already out, but it looks good. Hopefully, it’ll be received better than Call of Cthulu before it. Plus, I’m all for a game where the protagonist is losing his mind, like Dead Space.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

Set in the World of Darkness universe, like Bloodlines, except you're a werewolf instead of a vampire and it's from a different studio. Gameplay was revealed behind closed doors, but it looks good from what I've heard. We don't have too many werewolf games around.

Cyberpunk 2077

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY!

Yeah, this might be the first game I preorder for myself, since now we finally have a release date: April 16th, 2020. The new trailer we got gave us a glimpse of a default male V as well as what may be Jackie’s death (please don’t kill off Jackie, CD Project RED, I like him too much already). After V’s employer tries to double cross him, V tries to kick ass with his twin arm blades, which look really unique, before said employer shoots him in the head. The trailer ended with a major surprise: as V comes to in a junkyard, a figure in jeans, a tank-top, and a silver left arm approaches, and kneels to reveal a face and voice that sounds suspiciously like Keanu Reeves.

Yes, that’s right, for those who haven’t heard by the time this is posted, Keanu Reeves is in Cyberpunk 2077 and he’s playing Johnny Silverhand, a legendary rocker in the world of 2077 who may not be what he seems.

After the trailer premiered onstage, Reeves came out onstage to promote the game. He could barely get through the start of his speech, people were that excited to see him in the flesh. There was even a great moment where he described the game as “breathtaking”, to which a fan shouted out, “You’re breathtaking!”, to which Keanu responded in kind. We don’t deserve this man.

Anyway, at the end of his speech, Reeves gave a new look at gameplay as well as the game’s release date. The glimpse was only about 20 seconds long, but still, the new look at the combat, hacking, and what is presumably a digital afterlife or something like that was enough to get me even more hyped for this game.

Seriously, I couldn’t be more hyped. This game is gonna be massive and I just might preorder it.

My Friend Pedro

Switch game, but still looks cool. It’s already out now.

Sea of Solitude

I need to play more games that make me feel like this. The art style looks gorgeous and the theme is depression, so yeah, I may buy this one if I like what I’m hearing.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Honestly, EA's part of the the expo was kind of depressing, especially when it got to Anthem. However, we did get more of Jedi: Fallen Order, and for that, I'm grateful, because this game looks great. Both the combat and lightsaber look slick as does the gameplay in general, and the voice acting is on point, from Cameron Monaghan to Forest Whitaker. We need a good Star Wars game for current gen consoles, and while The Old Republic is still my favorite, that's for PC. Also, while it has been announced that there are no microtransactions in the game, I'm sure EA will find some way to screw it up, but for now, it looks awesome.

Greedfall

I’m interested. Story and premise have me, a mix of 17th century colonialism with horror and the supernatural. Gameplay looks like my kind of jam, and we may be getting romance options too, based on some trailer observations.

John Wick Hex

Gameplay seems unique, plus it’s John Wick. I will always take more of Keanu Reeves.

Grandia HD Collection

I like JRPGs like this one, though it’s for Switch, so I can’t play it.

Way to the Woods

Looks like a cute adventure puzzle game. I might get it for PC.

Wasteland 3

This series looks like tactical Fallout, so yeah, I’m likely to give this one a shot since it looks good.

Blair Witch

A Blair Witch video game? That’s psychological horror?! With an adorable dog companion named Bullet?!?! Yes, please.

We didn’t get much besides a trailer and some gameplay, but I’m eager to see more.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sequel

Ugh, why is it that last year I was complaining about not having a PS4, now this year I’m complaining about not having a Switch?!

Anyway, this looks great and I want to see more. Especially since I’ve heard it’s going to be scarier than Majora’s Mask.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Looks good on the graphics front, plus the gameplay additions looks promising.

And once again, I can’t play it.

Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Out of all the games on this list, this is the one I want to play most that I can’t play because, you guessed it, I don’t have a Switch.

I loved the original Ultimate Alliance games, so I’m sure the new one is gonna be a hit, what with the new combos, character designs, and references to the MCU, plus it’ll tie us over until Marvel’s Avengers.

Pokemon Sword and Shield

The Pokemon look cute, it is set in the world’s version of the UK, gameplay looks improved, and once again, I can’t play it.

Empire of Sin

It looks cool, plus I need more Mob style games to play. It’s also made by the people who are responsible for the next game on this list...

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

It’s only in pre-alpha, but still, this one looks good. The original is on the Steam store, and there are fan made patches that improved upon what was originally a disaster. The sequel looks like a smoother version of its predecessor, with a few new abilities and mechanics put in. Again, it's in pre-alpha, so the final product will look much cleaner, but for now, I'm excited for its release date.

Shenmue III

First off, I’m royally pissed that Epic stole this one. That being said, the game looks great and I’m looking forward to continuing Ryo’s story on PS4. The gameplay looks great, the atmosphere is enthralling, and the English dub sounds good this time around. Still pissed about Epic, but at least I can play it on PS4.

The Outer Worlds

This still looks great. Since Fallout 76 took a nosedive and kept on going, we need a game like this to get that bitter taste out of our mouths. This still looks like a cross between Fallout and Borderlands, the true New Vegas spiritual successor that we need right now. The companions actually look helpful, have personalities of their own, and the Flaws System sounds really interesting, giving your hero a perk in enchange for a debuff for the whole game. Also the humor is great, too.

Marvel’s Avengers

Yes, the character designs don’t look so hot. However, those can be changed on the road to launch. That aside, I liked what I saw. The gameplay looks great, the voice cast has some top tier talent for the industry, and the promise of more heroes to be added after launch without the attached microtransactions has my attention.

Dying Light 2

I only played the demo for the first one, a game I still need to play, but I liked it enough to want a sequel. The usual free running mechanics look smooth, plus the addition of player choice shakes up the game, making your playthrough unique, so yeah, more of the good old stuff with a few new things sprinkled in.

Final Fantasy VII Remake and Remasters

The remake of FF7 looks AMAZING. The hybrid combat system looks like a dream, plus the character designs look top notch. In addition, the voice cast sounds on point for their respective characters. The hype around this thing was evident from the incessant cheering, we want it that much. We even have a release date: March 3rd, 2020. It’s been a long time coming, but it seems the wait to experience this classic for the second time on a different system will have finally been worth it.

Also, there was content announced for FF14 as well as two remasters: Crystal Chronicles and FF8.

Bet your ass I’m buying the remaster for FF8.

Biomutant

This has been described as Fluffy Devil May Cry. It’s accurate. I didn’t know you’d be able to customize your character, to! Combat looks fun, and it appears there is humor present if the narrator is anything to go by, so I’m interested.

Destroy All Humans! Remake

I never played the original, but I did read about it and hear about it from a friend. From what I’ve seen, the remake looks fun! Good parody of the 1950s and the updated graphics look great. Plus, Krypto seems like a fun, grumpy protagonist.

Gods and Monsters

This looks like a cross between Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Legend of Zelda. Considering it’s being made by the same creators of the former, I can’t wait to see more of this in the future.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint

I’ll be honest, I still haven’t played any Ghost Recon games, so maybe here would be a good place to start. Gotta say, I like the way Jon Bernthal presented. He just seemed at ease onstage. Plus, Bernthal’s dog looks adorable. Bam Bam is the real hero of the Ubisoft press conference.

Anyway, it seems Bernthal is playing Cole D. Walker, one of the antagonists of the game. Didn’t see any gameplay, but still, the game looks good. I need to play more tactical shooters in general.

Watch Dogs: Legion

I played the first Watch Dogs game. Thought it was cool, but overall it was a bit disappointing. I still need to play the second one, but I heard it was a major improvement, even if it wasn’t a financial hit. Still, this one put a smile on my face. The ability to recruit and play as anyone? A sarcastic AI as your companion? A grandma assassin? I will take all of it, thank you.

Also, grandma assassin.

Did I mention there was a grandma assassin?

Can’t wait for March 6th.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

The LEGO Star Wars games were some of the first games I ever owned back when I played on the PS2, so I’m hyped for a collection of all 9 films in one game. We don’t know much beyond the announcement trailer, but hey, I’ll gladly take this one when it comes out next year.

Baldur’s Gate III

A video game that plays like a DND game? I can’t wait. Haven’t played the other games, but I’m sure I’ll be fine once I play that tabletop prequel they mentioned.

Battletoads

It’s an Xbox and PC exclusive, but still, glad this is getting a remake.

Bleeding Edge

This looks like an Overwatch reskin. The combat itself looks unique, though, so we’ll see how it goes.

Gears 5

We got a little more on Gears 5 this time around. We’ve got a look at Kait and how the Locust influence is threatening to tear her apart (that’s what I’m assuming, I’ve never played the Gears games). We also got a new mode, Escape. I might get it, since it’ll be available for PC.

Halo Infinite

If this is what Xbox Scarlett looks like, then Sony might have actual competition for once. This is the best the Halo series has looked in years, and considering how let down some felt after Halo 5, it’s about time. We’re getting the same badass Master Chief back, this time with no AI companion, as Cortana has suffered corruption due to being around for longer than normal and has gone psycho as a result. Regardless, the graphics look amazing and I can’t wait to see how it looks when it releases Holiday 2020.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

I never played the original, but I might have to now, because this looks cute. The art style looks great and I’ll always be interested in games where you fight things ten times your own size. Plus, it seems to run smooth, and just by the sound of the story, it already has my heart.

Psychonauts 2

To cap things off, let’s end with a game I’ve been excited for since I finished the original months ago. The game seems to be coming along great, if the first level is anything to go by. Returning voice cast, new enemies and powers, new environments to explore, Jack Black voicing a Brain in a Jar, need I say more?

Also, this game looks to explore the water curse put on Rasputin’s family, so it will be a more personal and chilling story as well.

________________

So, there you have it. That’s my thoughts on E3 2019, half a month late.

What are you guys excited for? Leave a comment letting me know, especially if there was something I left out!

Until then!

[ashcraftscrap]

Digging a Little Deeper

In my last post I made a list of all the topics that I enjoy enough to feel they have a shot at becoming my brand, so to speak. I talked a little bit about Writing and why I think it’s going to end up being my primary focus...

Writing has been a long term passion of mine, probably the longest lasting with the exception of animals and nature. I also think it would be the best outlet for all the various things that I enjoy, because then I can work on individual books that cover the topics I love even if I don’t love them enough to make a career of them. Writing gives me the freedom to jump around a bit, to dabble in a little bit of everything without losing focus.

...but I neglected to talk about anything else in the same kind of depth. Why do these other topics have a shot at being my brand? What about them do I like, and more specifically if they did become my brand, what kind of content would I be making? These are rather general topics, so let’s go over them one by one the same way I did with writing:

Art (in various forms)

I’ve done all sorts of art from drawing and painting, sculpting, and photography all the way to glass blowing, jewelry making, and woodworking. I have basic sewing knowledge, I’ve played with resin a little, and I’m up for a DIY project pretty much anytime be it to improve my wardrobe or the space I live. I’ve discovered through my many years of trying different types of art here or there that as fun as two-dimensional art (drawing, painting, photography) is and can be, I prefer working with three-dimensional creations. Something I’ve wanted for years (about a decade now) to do is create dolls of my characters to use in photography that can act as the illustrations in books I write. If I were to make art my brand, it would be an adventure of trying new things and sharing my various creations, probably with a focus on these dolls and making art for my books, the secondary focus being on DIY projects for my wardrobe and home.

Animals

I love pretty much all animals (’cept wasps lolz) and I really love learning about them and sharing what I know. I think it would be a meaningful thing to get educated and share that knowledge, and I would be very humbled to get the opportunity to do something important and help animals however I can. One thing I’ve always wanted to do, but simply have not had the time nor means to do so, is volunteer at a wolf-dog shelter about an hour or so away from where I live.  Another direction that I feel I could easily go is getting into betta fish and/or ball python breeding. I’ve often had bettas present in my life, and I’ve almost always wanted a snake, particularly a ball python, so both creatures are something I’ve on-off considered breeding as a hobby, if I ever had the opportunity. I don’t know if I’d make a career out of it, I’ve never looked into it as anything more than a hobbyist, but I would definitely not be mad if it went that way.

Reviews (Books, Shows, and/or Movies)

My favorite genre, my bread and butter, is high fantasy, but second to that I probably read philosophy and supernatural fiction the most. When it comes to movies, I’m a big Disney fan, but my favorite types of movies are stop motion, hand-drawn animation such as Studio Ghibli or older animated movies, and I’m not sure what I’d call them, but films that implement puppetry and less CGI and such, films like The Neverending Story, the Dark Crystal, etc. Shows I enjoy range from drama and romance to comedy and horror, and I’m not ashamed to admit there are some really great cartoons and anime out there. I’m a theater geek and was a techie in high school, so I get nerdy over set design and ambiance and soundtracks, and would undoubtedly talk about that background stuff too. I don’t think I’d make a very good reviewer, but I think it sounds like a lot of fun, and I’d like to do it for the sake of the fun alone whether it becomes what I’m known for or not.

Video Games

I strongly doubt that this would become my brand/focus, but I really love video games and think no matter what direction I end up going in, I’ll likely still make Let’s Play videos and maybe even video game reviews just because it’s something enjoyable and fun to do. I strongly prefer playing games with my fiance and friends like Don’t Starve Together and Minecraft, but I also like playing games on my own too. I particularly like medieval-style RPGs, slice of life games like The Sims or those silly dating simulator games, and Nintendo, most particularly the Legend of Zelda series and Pokemon.

Gothic Subculture & Fashion

If I had the luxury of having enough money to truly express myself with complete and utter vanity, I would do a huge wardrobe rehaul and deck myself out as badass as It’s Black Friday. Everything would be black on black on black, and I’d live in my dark little black on black on black world with minimal if any color. However, my wardrobe currently is nothing spectacular and my fiance could not stand to live in all black the way I could, so I don’t think I’m in a position to dive into this world all in the way I’d like to. I strongly doubt it’ll become my brand, but rather it’ll be the primary aesthetic I strive for and will likely slowly develop over time.

Philosophy (Neo-Paganism) | Gender Studies (minus feminism)

Both of these topics are things that I have learned a great deal about and have personal, life-changing experiences within. They are also highly personal, controversial things to talk about, and don’t always jive well with people. There’s a particular crowd that these things get discussed with, and while I am a part of that crowd and am not afraid to talk about these things, I’m probably just going to leave my opinions about these things in places where they are more appropriate to discuss them, like Quora. Because I’m so passionate about them, I will likely talk about them in time, but I just don’t know if I’m comfortable attempting to make a career out of either thing. If I do, I think I’d be a lot more inclined to talk about philosophy and spirituality than I would about Gender. Even though I don’t know if I want it to be my main point of focus, I do think it’s important to share my opinions and perspective on these very personal things, perhaps by writing books about them at some point. I guess we’ll just see how much people hate me sharing more about this side of me haha

Music

As much as I love music, I know it won’t be my brand. The most I do regarding music is post good music to my instagram. I don’t play any instruments, and I’m not tone-deaf or anything, but regardless of that, at my very best my voice is simply average, so it’s not like I ever imagined I’d be making music. I might write some songs if I think I can even do that, but one this is for sure - I will talk about good music here and there, especially since my favorite genre (gothic metal) is fairly niche and deserves a little bit of a shout out.

The Furry Fandom

In my previous post I said that my prediction for the topics that are most likely going to be my brand are Writing, Animals, and Art. Well the furry fandom is pretty much made up of animal-loving artists of all kinds and sorts, writers included. So needless to say, I could very easily end up becoming a furry influencer, since it encompasses a good portion of the things I love doing, and is the fandom I’m most involved with as well. I wouldn’t be mad in the slightest if this ended up happening, and I have a hard time believing that my followers won’t end up being made of majority furs anyway. If I had continued my list beyond the top 3 predictions, the furry fandom would have been the fourth listed for this reason.

Hunting | Gardening | Food & Cooking

I’ve learned a lot about the food industry, and I’d like to learn a lot more and be more proactive in changing my lifestyle for the better in order to get away from all the processed, typical American diet shit out there that’s tainting our food. So basically for years now I’ve had this vision and goal for my lifestyle. I want to be a hunter, then I want to go vegetarian (may even vegan idk) with the only source of meat I consume being my own personally hunted game, or I guess maybe locally sourced meat from ethical farmers and such. I’d also like to learn a lot of skills that a good for a hunter to know, like leather-working, taxidermy, and skeletal articulation so that I can utilize all of the resources, not just the meat. I’d ideally like to have my own goats for milk, otherwise only drinking nut milk (preferably homemade), and my own chickens for eggs. I’d like to have a small farm where I grow as many of my own fresh ingredients as I reasonably can, and with all those good and healthy resources, I’d like to become a better at home chef. I’ve just never had the land or money to do all this with, so I’ve kinda put that goal on the back-burner while I focus on my career and finances first. Undoubtedly, however, I will learn more and talk more about this stuff as I get closer to accomplishing these goals, cook more, and hopefully get the money and means to learn more about it and actually become a hunter.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #380

Top Ten Favourite Moments at E3 2019

I have to concede it was a slightly disappointing year. Maybe I was just too excited and had set unrealistic expectations. But most of the big games were already announced, and Microsoft didn’t really say anything we didn’t know regarding their next console. But there were at least one or two really cool moments – one of which is probably going to be held up as one of the big E3 moments of the modern age. And so, with no further ado, here’s my list of favourite E3 moments. Nowt much to add, let’s get onto the list!

Keanu! Yeah, this is it. At the end of a pretty but very grim trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 (which, sadly, seemed to be a cutscene that failed to show anything about how the game played), all of a sudden a character appears talking to the player, and it’s only bloody Keanu Reeves. Then the doors parted, smoke billowed, and he is come among us. “You’re breathtaking!” someone shouted (less weird than it sounds in context). He was suitably hyped, seemed to have a vague idea of what he was talking about, and really just cemented his position as the grooviest, coolest, nicest guy in showbiz. It was during the Microsoft conference, and managed to steal all the thunder from Microsoft’s other reveals before they had time to make them; arguably, it even stole all the thunder from Cyberpunk, too. Who cares about violent Blade Runner homages when here’s Ted Theodore Logan to tell us that we’re breathtaking, too?

Game Pass Ultimate! I love Game Pass. I think it’s a really good deal. I also think it’s not really for me, not in the medium term; I have too big a backlog of bought games, not enough time, and, frankly, not enough money. I get my Gold and that’ll do for now. But Ultimate, which rolls in Game Pass for both PC and console, as well as Gold, sounds like it’s probably the future (especially once they roll in xCloud too). But really this is here just because they did the best deal I think I’ve ever seen in gaming. Try Game Pass Ultimate for £1, they said; cool, I said, gives me an opportunity to check out Void Bastards and get back on Crackdown 3. What they didn’t say is that, for £1, they convert your existing Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass Ultimate for the duration of your subscription; in my case, next May. So – having already paid for Gold – I’ve now essentially got eleven months of games for £1. £1. That’s crazy. Thank you, Microsoft.

Star Wars! They’d sorta shown Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order before E3, but the extended gameplay that they demoed during both the E3 presentation and the MS one has made me quite excited. I like both Titanfall games so I’m already fond of Respawn, and I’m a long-standing fan of Star Wars games. I’ve seen some sniffing at this, but I think it looks terrific; sufficiently like Jedi Knight (or, more specifically, Jedi Knight II and Jedi Academy) to whet my appetite. It looks more fun than Force Awakens; faster, frothier, brighter, and with better combat. In short: I have a good feeling about this

LEGO Star Wars! In a way, even more exciting, even if I’ve already played a LEGO version of two-thirds of this game. But my understanding is that this is all-new, a journey through nine films retold through the medium of LEGO. My near-religious adoration of LEGO games, plus Star Wars, plus the fact that LEGO Star Wars was the game that started this crazy franchise in the first place, means this will be a must-have next year.

Animal Crossing! I guess we all knew it was coming but it was simply delightful to see: the Switch version of Animal Crossing. Not being a fundamentalist Nintendo fan, I’ve not played a Crossing since the DS, but I am a big fan of the games (I remember insisting one December 31st that I ring in the New Year with my DS open, just to see what it was like over partying with the Animals). The new one looks gorgeous; beautiful, cute visuals, a really nice semi-tropical setting, little touches that I can imagine will just make day-to-day gameplay more appealing, and some great multiplayer options. I know everyone else is disappointed that it’s been pushed back slightly to next Spring, but that fits in better with other games I’ve got to play (including Fallen Order at Christmas) so job’s a guddun as far as I’m concerned. Roll on 2020.

Zeldas! Plural! I never had a Gameboy (or a NES, or a SNES; technically I never had an N64 or a GameCube either, although I did live with people who had them at the time); I never played the original Link’s Awakening. Everyone goes on and on about it but it holds precisely zero emotional attachment for me. But I do like Zelda games; even if I’ve never spent a phenomenally long time with any of them, really, I do like them, and I’d love to really sink my teeth into Breath of the Wild. The art style of the Awakening remake is phenomenal; it doesn’t look like it’s revolutionising the gameplay but it’s simply beautiful to behold. And then at the end, a darker-tinged Breath sequel? Even I find that exciting, and I’ve barely played Breath as it is. I suppose one of the true game announcement surprises this E3.

Watch Dogs! Yes, I know! I’ve never played a Watch Dog. They look a bit generic, if I’m honest. And dense. Another big open-world game for me to sink time I have into. The new one being set in London is quite nice, although prospect of playing a post-Brexit London just feels depressing, if I’m honest. However! The video they showed looked really good fun. True, the London they showed did not look recognisably London-ish, but the gameplay looked crazy. Helen, the geriatric assassin, flopping over barriers and tasering people? Yes please. More ninja grannies in games. And the lady who fought like John Wick, kung fu-ing mofos before shooting them once in the head? Incredible. I want an entire game of that. Will I get Watch Dogs Legion? Probably not. But I’d like to play it.

Scarlett! I know, I know. It’s not what I predicted, and not what I wanted. But when I think about it, I was being a bit unrealistic. I suspected, based on what I know about the industry and what I read about available technology, that in al likelihood the next Xbox console would be coming out Christmas 2020. So how much were they likely to show eighteen months prior? No name, no box, no price. Figures. So in that respect, I guess it was disappointing, but it was really nice to hear them talk about the future of Xbox. It’s interesting that, from what we know so far, it appears identical to the PS5. but, really, it’s the confidence of Microsoft in the future of the brand and the consoles we’ll play in years to come that’s reassuring. Bit bummed out that Nintendo didn’t offer any new hardware either, mind.

Double Fine! Microsoft’s rampant acquisition of companies continues apace, which reassures me when approaching a new console generation. It’s still too early, really, to see the fruits of these developer purchases: incoming games from the likes of Ninja Theory will have been well underway before they saw juicy MS dollars. Buying Double Fine is a surprise, and a welcome one for me; I’ve been delighted by so much of their output (Brutal Legend, Costume Quest, underrated puzzle game Scurvy Scallywags); and I’ve loved Tim Schafer since his LucasArts days. It was Schafer’s hilarious onstage appearance that most appealed though: claiming he’d do anything MS asked, “Halo stuff, Forza stuff”. A self-deprecating wit so rarely seen on an E3 stage.

Devlolver Em-Effing Direct! The Devolver Digital “press conferences” are a witty riposte to the earnestness of E3. Foul-mouthed, hyper-violent spectacles that lampoon sacred cows of the videogame industry and dare to ask questions of the way in which things are done – as well as actually announce cool new stuff – they serve as an amusing if throat-stinging chaser after days of corporate doublespeak. This year they turned their bloodshot gaze onto “Direct” videos; apt given the number of big publishers who eschewed a showfloor presence in favour of a tailored YouTube stream. A steady flow of deep-cut RoboCop references was the order of the day, along with some surprisingly dense continuity and another cliffhanger ending. Can’t we do these more than once a year?

There we are; not necessarily a banner year, given that it was the last gasp of a fading generation. But plenty to like and a few surprises. I guess it’s a bit weird that it’s not really the news of individual games that I will be taking away from E3 2019; rather, it’s moments and services and promises of the future.

So was I right about any of my ridiculous predictions? Well, a bit. Microsoft and Nintendo didn’t divulge any concrete details on their consoles; nor did Ninty really pull a classic out of their hat. But there was a second Star Wars game alongside Fallen Order (LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga); there will be “xCloud shenanigans” this autumn, if not quite in the way I predicted; there was a “Big game on Switch”, but it was The Witcher 3; no “Minecraft 2” but there was Minecraft Dungeon. Most of the other predictions didn’t really happen, however. I nearly suggested something big would end up an Epic Store exclusive, but I was trying to be positive, and I didn’t really want that to happen; lo and behold, here comes Shenmue 3. So – considering it was more of a wishlist than a realistic prophecy – I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

[sorio99]

Nintendo E3 Direct 2019: Reaction

I decided, for the second year in a row, to write my reactions to this years E3 Direct for all of y’all. Before the show starts, a couple predictions/guesses:

Obviously, we’re gonna get Smash Fighter Pack 2. I doubt it’s gonna be Banjo-Kazooie, just because that seems a bit too “Grinch-Leak”-esque to be realistic, if you know what I mean. That reveal will probably be either the first or last thing in the direct.

I imagine, like everyone else, we’re gonna be seeing a fair amount of Animal Crossing, just because there aren’t many other huge upcoming games we haven’t gotten exclusive directs about.

That said, we’ll probably learn a couple more things about Super Mario Maker 2, and maybe even Pokemon Sword and Shield. Nothing too huge, or game-changing, but a few additional details and maybe some later update stuff for SMM2.

We’ll probably hear more about the Link’s Awakening remake for Switch, just to tide over Zelda fans until Nintendo comes up with the next big 3D game (no disrespect to the 2D Zeldas, but the 3D titles are definitely big landmarks and game-changers).

Beyond that, some cool looking indie titles, even more ports, maybe a couple decent-sized 1st or 3rd party reveals, and that's about what I’m expecting. See y’all on the other side of the break.

So, before the show even starts, the YouTube live chat is memeing about tilt controls. Off to a fantastic start.

Ah, so mainly gonna be Switch. I’m down with that.

Like I said, starting with Smash. Though, this is definitely not framed how I expected.

Dragon Quest! Really? Okay! Wasn’t expecting it, but I’m sure this will make some people happy! Plus, as a sword myself, can’t say I’m too disappointed to have another.

Wait, are those three other skins? Like with the Koopalings? Cool.

And some magical abilities, looks cool to me, yeah! I imagine some will be disappointed, but I like it.

And, of course, they follow it up with the game the new guy’s from. So that's two characters who appeared in Smash before their game appeared on Switch. Odd.

Okay, starting with Mr. “Hired Just For His Name” himself. Gotta admit I found that entrance funny.

He’s...okay. Not the world’s most charismatic, but it’s fine. Koizumi is the hunk these days.

Ah, LM3. Should’ve figured.

Oh god, it’s Hotel Mario again.

Looks fun! I’m sure I’ll have fun with this.

Also, does this all mean Arlo was right?

Ah, so, Gooigi is an actually, like, thing? I guess that makes some sense.

And of course ScareScraper returns. It fits with the hotel theme.

Oh! It’s Tower of Terror! So, is this Rod Serling, or Jordan Peele?

Yeah, Doug Bowser is fine. He’s no Reggie, but then again, who is?

Ooh, Netflix? Whats this? Something from The Dark Crystal? Okay.

Ah, Link’s Awakening! This should be interesting.

I actually really like this chibi-esque art style. Seems like sort of an expansion on the style Link Between Worlds Used.

Wait, it’s Zelda Dungeon Maker too? Huh. That’s...unexpected. I dig it!

Alright, September! Sounds good.

Square Enix is doing a thing. What is this again?

Trials of Mana, huh? Fair enough.

...yeah, that’s about my feelings on the Mana series as a whole.

Okay, so Witcher? I guess. Why not? Seems weird to bring 3 over first, but I’ve heard good things.

Ah, more Fire Emblem stuff. Not much interest, and I feel like last FE direct did enough to advertise it, but I guess it makes sense. Odd we aren’t getting one of it’s characters in Smash soon, but I’m not complaining.

Yes, Mr. Koizumi, we all agree the Switch is an amazing piece of Hardware. No one is denying this.

So, play Resident Evil in an evil residence? Because it wasn’t scary enough to begin with? I guess?

Why does the guy sound surprised there are zombies in this game?

So they left went to a haunted house to play the haunted house game. Okay.

Why bother porting 5 and 6 over? 5 was generally regarded as average at best, and the less said about 6, the better.

I’m sorry, what?

No seriously, what the hell is this?

Wait, what? No More Heroes?

Didn’t we just get one of these?

Okay, so it’s officially 3. I guess that makes sense.

A Contra reboot?! Okay?! I mean, why the hell not?! Konami is officially insane.

Okay, seriously, what is up with Daemon X Machina? This is the third time I’ve seen this in a direct, and all I get is “Mechs blowing shit up.” Is that, like, just it? Whatever.

What the fuck, is this Joust or some shit?

Panzer Dragoon, huh? Looks like a Star Fox rip. Cool.

Ah, more Pokemon SW&SH. Pokeball Plus is always fun. 

Okay, so there’s more than one Gym Leader. It looks like things are still good. 

Okay, this is definitely a shift in gears.

So, there are just, like, two twins in this game? I think?

Looks like the Crash Titans games, but a sci-fi Hack & Slash ala other Platinum games.

Astral Chain. Forgot the name. Looks decent.

What the hell is Romero up to now? 

What? 

Ah. Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Still looks better than the new Avengers game.

Ooh, Ultimate Spider-Man AND Spider-Gwen AND Kamala Khan’s Miss Marvel? Looks cool!

Ah, Expansion Passes.

Ooh, Cadence of Hyrule. Nice to see Nintendo be friendlier with their IPs.

More Mario and Sonic Olympics? Was anyone asking for this? Wasn’t there a reason they didn’t make a 2018 one?

Holy shit! Already!?

So, there’s voice acting?

Deserted Island? This looks...interesting.

Okay, it looks like we can have at least eight players at once.

Ah, that Tom Nook. Always putting us in irreconcilable debt.

Damn, we have to wait until 2020? Ah well, as they say, a late game is eventually good, and an early game is always bad.

Woo! The quick montage! Yay

Spyro Seems fun.

Hollow knight sequel, natch.

Ni No Kuni, okay.

Can’t keep up, but wasn’t that the free-to-play Elder Scrolls game?

Alien Isolation anywhere, because we should be in mortal terror on buses.

Okay, was that a Stranger Things game?

The weird totally not Conker game, alright.

Just a few seconds of Mario Maker? Okay.

Wait, more DK? Smash?

Holy Shit, WHAT?!

No, seriously, what?!

Okay, I didn’t mention it, because it felt like that much of a long shot, but I figured they might reveal two fighter packs, since it’s been so long since Joker’s reveal, but...

BANJO-FUCKING-KAZOOIE?!

HOLY SHIT?!

Okay, so one last thing. Wonder what this’ll be.

Green squiggles?

Wait, is this...

Holy shit.

Holy Shit.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

WHAT.

NO.

NO FUCKING WAY.

DID THEY JUST.

ARE THEY REALLY.

OKAY.

NO.

I’M NOT RISKING SPOILING THIS BUT.

HOLY SHIT.

HOLY SHIT.

HOLY

FUCKING

SHIT.

...

So, yeah, I enjoyed that.

[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.

[mlpsimta]

Simta’s best games that he played in 2017

2017 has finally ended. I truly hope that everyone had a wonderful 2017 and that 2018 will be even better for any of us. As for gaming 2017 was remarkable. It started off really strong with games like Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza 0, Resident Evil 7 in January and was followed up immediately by amazing titles such as Nier: Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn. The year even got better with Nintendo’s highly successful new console the Switch. With an amazingly drop fed release schedule and top of the line quality of games it became one of the most seeked out system. Of course thanks to some companies who just couldn’t resist to spread some bullshit over the last months of this year we got some let’s just say underwhelming and disappointing titles too.

But this day is not for those games! Today I only intend to talk about the best games that I have played in 2017. There’s only one caveat. Because of the incredibly huge amount of amazing games that came out last year I just simply wasn’t able to play with all of them. Of course those games that I missed will have their own list. There are going to be some older titles because as mentioned before and my line-up is about the best games that I have played in 2017. So even if a game came out in the ‘80s but I only played it for the first time only now, it will be on the list. Let’s get started and see: what were my top games that I’ve played last year.

Dark Souls 3

I am a huge Dark Souls fan. Anything that is closely Souls Like I am going to jump upon it, but when Dark Souls 3 first came out I intentionally didn’t bought it. Mainly because I was waiting to get the inevitable GOTY edition of the game so I can power through all of that the title can offer in one or more painful weeks without touching anything else. So after a year of going completely dark and avoiding anything that is Dark Souls 3 I jumped into it knowing nothing and let the game surprise me. And oh boy it had quite the surprises! The whole game was a wonderful journey and not just in-game wise. I don’t know if it makes any sense but traversing through Lotrich showed also how the series evolved since Demon’s Souls. Meeting the Not Maiden in Black in the Not Nexus, fighting against the undead on the High Wall of Lotric, going into the Catacombs to get murdered by skeletons and every area of the game had that nostalgic feeling of you have been there, you have seen this. But From Software not just simply recycled previous ideas and maps from their games but evolved them, and learned from them, so the next time you came across something similar it won’t just be bigger and flashier, but better and more challenging too! And that is true for the game mechanics even! Every swing with my trusty Broadsword felt so right, every fight and even the spell casting felt for some reason better. No more gimmicky mechanics, no more overpowered stat, every build is viable! So it is only up to you how you are going to try and beat the game. Dark Souls 3 in short was a collection from the best elements of the Souls series, from Demon’s Soul, to Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The dev team picked all the parts that stood out of, and cranked them to eleven. It was a nice way to say goodbye to the Dark Souls series and I just simply can’t wait what they are going to come up with next!

PRAISE THE ART

Doom

You know whenever I see some YouTubers or other gamers talking about how their first game was Mario, Zelda, Sonic or Dizzy, I always find it funny when my time comes to talk about it and my response is: Doom. Yep my first game that got me started was Doom. So after the lacklustre Doom 3 I just kept waiting for a true successor and finally a true heir came in 2016! This game embodies everything that a Doom game has to be. It’s fast phased, filled with action and the story takes a backseat, because it knows that we are here not the get lectured or have life changing experience. We are here because we want to shoot, punch, blow up, and tear apart everything that stand in our way. This game truly understands what made the first two Doom games special and doesn’t shy away about it. It knows what we want to see and delivers on it with high octane! And you know what is funny? That it is able to deliver bombastic action while having one of the best story and main protagonist that I have ever seen. Doom Guy doesn’t say a word nor does he need to. You completely understand him simply by his gestures! Spoilers are coming up about the story so if you haven’t played it than please do so it worth your time. The whole plot is simply about your bog standard big evil corporation wants to get its hand on new ways to generate power for humanity. Obviously the best decision is to go to hell and use its energy to do so. Than shit hits the fan and that is when Doom Guy comes and saves the day. It is just so funny to see how your ‘boss’ tells you that you shouldn’t break some machines as those provides the power for humanity, and Doom Guy just takes a second to think and punches it and destroys it! These kinds of actions show that he not just simply doesn’t give a single fuck, but show that he understands hell the best. It’s bad, you shouldn’t touch it, okay you did it I’ll fix it by murdering everything that is demonic. I could go on and on about the game but I think that I have already carried away, so I just stop and you should go and play it.

I forgot to press the screenshot button during the whole campaing... So have this.

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

What more I can say about this game that I have already did in a few weeks ago in my review? Momodora is a true Metroidvania in every way or form. You play as a priestess armed to teeth with a leaf and your duty is to lift the curse of a city. With tight controls and a surprisingly deep customizable fight styles thanks to the items you found through the game you are in for a nice ride. It has a beautiful pixelated art style and an atmosphere remembrance of Bloodborne and the challenge you would see in games like that. You ought to yourself to play this little gem.

Read my review: http://mlpsimta.tumblr.com/post/168403269727/simta-reviews-momodora-reverie-under-the

Simple and beautiful

Persona 5

This year’s best game without a doubt for me easily. The Persona series always has been close to my heart and now after years and years of waiting I was finally be able to play a new one! I got this game just before the spring break and I completely no lifed it during the vacation. After exactly 108 hours later that took me one and a half week to achieve, I was looking at the end credits with a huge smile on my face and tears in my eyes. The game has an amazing cast of characters who you are genuinely care for and root for. The best designed menu system and visuals that you have ever seen! No joke! I often founded myself just moving from menu options from menu options to see every little detail that was purred into it. Also the game has a wonderful soundtrack too. From calm and relaxing music that plays during rainy days, to rock that just bursts and makes you pumped up during a fight! It has everything for every occasion and all of just clicks together so well. Now add all of it to a classic JRPG fighting system and you end up with turn based game that never feels slow. With the music mixed in, every battle can turn into a rhythm game where you try to keep up with the music, and paired all of this with the visuals it just simply looks and sounds amazing. I have to say it makes me really sad that I simply not literature enough to be able to make coherent sentences. Every time when I think about this game is just overflow with emotions of how great of a game it is. I just hope that everyone will get a chance to play it even if you are not a fan of Japanese games you ought to yourself to try this game and see through it. Believe me you are going to experience something wonderful.

YOU NEVER SEE IT COMING!

Tearaway Unfolded

While Sony tries to forget the PS Vita there are still some truly amazing games on that little machine that are begging for attention just like this one. Once a PS Vita launch title it got re-released on the PS4 so it can be finally played by more than a handful of people. The whole world of Tearaway from the trees to the houses, the animals even the water, everything looks like that it was handmade only and just only using paper. But not just the visuals even the controls have a unique twist to them too. You can swipe left to right on the controller’s touchpad to make the wind blow in the world, or press it to make everything jump. I’m not really into controller gimmicks because most of the time they just get into the way and make everything less convenient, but in this game this is not the case. Every function feels very natural and good to use. You can seamlessly move around, do your stuff, and interact with the world via the touchpad without you having to stop for a second, which is crucial as you have to use the wind during a lot of jumping sections to make you reach further platforms. The whole world is just filled with joy and happiness and it is simply a fun adventure that you should try. If you are looking for a third person platformer and for some reason missed Tearaway I urge you to try this one as it is one of the best that the genre has.

Read my review: http://mlpsimta.tumblr.com/post/158588857952/simta-reviews-tearaway-unfolded

Simply adorable and lovable

Undertale

Undertale became a huge hit in 2016 and while I was interested in it I decided to skip it. For some reason there are some types of games that I just simply prefer on a handheld device. Luckily the game got released on the Vita so I immediately purchased it, and I have to say it is truly as good as everybody says. With the premise of you can spare or kill anyone that you come across in the game which ultimately decides how every character will interact with you and the narrative to. Undertale has much more tricks up its sleeves, a game that remembers every decision of yours and adapts to it and judges you for them. It can deliver one of the most heartbreaking scenes that I have ever had the chance to experience. A well thought out world filled it loveable characters and truly unique game mechanics Undertale is tale that you have to hear. Go and play it!

It is possible that you should play this game

Wolfeinstein: The New Order

Besides Doom the original Wolfeinstein 3D was among my first games that I played as a child. While it had some good games since 3D for some reason I never really cared about them and ended up missing all of them (I should really play Return to Castle and the 2009 one) but not this one. While the game is old enough that a sequel just got released this year I kept putting this one into my backlog as one day I’m going to finish it. Well this summer I had a week off after my exams so I download it and decided to finally finish it, and it was a blast to play! Surprisingly this game just like Doom has an amazing storyline with a colourful cast of characters -who are depending on what timeline you decided to pick- and bombastic action that even takes you to a Nazi Moon base. This is another game that understands why we love this series so much and expands it. From one scene where you are planning with the resistance to another where Blatzko is silently taking out guards while monologing about his past, to another where you dual wield two automatic shotguns and mowing down even more Nazis, this game delivers in every way. Let it be story, a very well and tastefully done romance, sneaking or balls to the wall action this game has it all. If you love a good story, choosing your own play style (sneaky or loud) or just simply want to shoot some nazi bastards this game have you covered.

BJ is back!

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Last year I got my very first home Nintendo console a Wii. The main reason for buying the system was to try and show my family that there are games that even they can enjoy. While the system didn’t become a huge hit, and I am still the only gamer in my household it is still used time to time for some good old fashioned Mario Kart and Wii Sports which I consider as a success. But when it is not party time the Wii become a Zelda machine for me. Besides Mari Kart and Wii Sports I got a copy of Twilight Princess for it and as someone who has never played any Zelda games before was very excited to see what is all the fuss about. While I haven’t finished the game as of writing this (I think I am close to the end) I have to admit this is a really good game, and it is not just because I love games that have motion control gimmicks in them, but it has an interesting story that I want to see through to the end, and some brilliant level design. Maybe it will sound odd but I felt like I was playing a Souls game during my adventure. While the combat is not as unforgiving for errors as a Souls game would be, but traversing Hyrule and especially the dungeons made them feel like you are playing a Souls game, as you not try to beat the enemies (they are not challenging the least) but as you try and beat the levels itself. Thinking about how to use every item in your arsenal, how to combine them and what to look after is really exciting and keeps you engaged. Also the boss fights are stunningly good! The feel when you finally got the key to the dungeon’s boss after figuring out every little puzzle and looked under every pot, you go and open the final door to reveal what is the last obstacle, and go against it is the same that I have whenever I beat a tough boss in a Souls game. Twilight Princess is another extremely well put together game with clever level and boss designs with motion controls that don’t get in your way. I hope that Nintendo will port it to the Switch.

Image from: http://en.stargame.com/201511/0536855363.html

Doki Doki Literature Club

Doki Doki Literature Club is your basic visual novel dating game that you have probably saw countless times already. You play as a shut-in guy whose childhood friend makes him join a Literature Club. From there you are going to meet with four (j̨̛̛̀ù͘͘͜s̕͠t̨̛̀͟͢ ̴̸̨̛͝M͡҉o̸̵n̵͟i̧̕͡k҉̷a̸̴) girls who ask you to stay and help them with the upcoming school festival while learning the ins and outs of poetry and writing. On the surface level this might sounds boring but as you are getting to know the girls better (p̸̨ĺ̵̶͘è̴́̕à̕҉͠s͘̕͜͟͠é̵͘ ̢͟l͜͠o̵͜҉̴v̨̕͏é̸̵͡ ̸̵̸̸ḿ̴̷̷͢e͞͏̛ ̡͠t̶͟͢͠o̸̧o̸̴̢) you realise that Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki have some real problem not just accepting the other members opinions and viewpoints but also themselves too. So from here your job is to not leave them hͣ͊͏̱̜̼̹͇͚̥̞a͛͊ͤͤͤͭ͛҉̸̛̤̤n̷̬ͭ͒̄̋̓͡g͚̦ͫ̇̈́ͭ̒̾͑̉i̢̪̩̖̣̼̝̤͋ͫͫ̋ͦ̇ͯn̨̙̼͍̬͎̩̮͖̿̔͟gͩ͛̈́̆͗̋ͩ̑͏̪̼̮̻̙͎, try and c̸̛͇̖͉̏͒͡ǘ͕̜̜̗̌̅̊̌̂̀ẗ̵̹̠͚̉̃ͩ͐ͫ̚͘ͅ corners in your life while not b̨͚̊̌͆̔͛̽͠͞ŗ͙̣͓̖̔̌̄̔ͪ̽͝ͅe̫̞̗̜ͩ̓͢a̷̵͉̩̱̽̈̅́͂͛ͅk̮͔͚̖ͣi͈̯̙̩̱͉̗̎̇ń̪̗̣͖̍̀͟g̦̬͇̻͉̦͆͊̒ͥ͌̀͝ ̵̳̖̲̦͙͎̣̀̎͞y̶̰͉̮̙͑̀͠ͅo̼̭͔ͥ̐̊u̴͖͇̭͔̬̯̞ͬ̊͆͒r̛̤̘̭̣̮̩̭̲̓́̎͐̈̈ͧ̍͜͝ ̰̻̞̪̫ͨ͂̀͛͒̄̅͡n̢̗̳͚̣̣̻͎͋̐͌̓ͫ͐́͟e͔̪̰̬͔̬̤͙͓͒͐͗́͒̄̅̎ͬcͭ̄̀ͧ̈̊́͘͏̗̪͙̣̯͙̞̟k̊̎̏҉̢͎̪̙̫̭̕ while helping them to make sure that not just the plans for the school festival but their lives too to get back on track. Doki Doki Literature Club while short is an amazing game that can delve into some truly horrific moments while you try and save each of the girls and unravel the mysteries behind their hatred.

What a cute and depressing game at the same time

Katawa Shoujo

This year I tried and played a few visual novels. This genre of gaming never really interested me as I found the concept of them is simply boring. How naive and stupid I was... Me! Who can love a well crafted story and characters enough to suffer through some janky game mechanics or grind countless of hours to make sure that I can see the best ending possible. So after some research and reading online what visual novel should I try out everybody pointed me towards this little free game. Just like in any other visual novel your main job is mainly consist of clicking next and reading while occasionally make a decision. Depending on your actions you can become closer friends to a girl or become her boyfriend, or achieve the opposite of it and you’ll start seeing her less and less again. As for the girls in the game I was surprised how well written they were! You see them how they interact with each other, how their own disability affects their relations, their everyday lives, and most importantly how they deal with them. And it is true for the main hero too! He who never had anything life threatening condition to care for suddenly finds itself in this new situation, and his journey is also remarkable. Seeing him interacting with the girls in the school as they teach him that just because he has a disability he shouldn’t let it get into him and he can still have a normal life. A truly beautiful game with important life lessons that everybody should at least give it a try.

Read my first impressions: http://mlpsimta.tumblr.com/post/156280048037/games-from-my-backlog-katawa-shoujo

I still love her

Splatoon 2

There’s gotta be a Switch title on the list. That little system became really popular and most wanted among gamers and rightfully so. While many people bought it to play the new Zelda (I really want to play it too) I was waiting how the system will hold its ground, but most importantly I wanted to see if Splatoon will be on it. Time moved on and summer came and with it Splatoon 2 hit the Switch. So in December when I was able to afford the console I bought a copy of it alongside my new console. Online shooters and any other kind of shooting games have been always amongst my favourite. So to see something vastly different that is not just simply about firing towards one and other got my attention. In most online shooters your only worth is mostly measured in K/D, but Splatoon 2 breaks away from that tradition by rewarding players the most who went after the objective. While players who prefer hunting down the opposite team’s members still will be appreciated as they make sure the keep the bad guys away while the rest of the team can peacefully paint the map. Just this little simple idea of using paint instead of bullets not only makes the game family friendly but opens up a lot of possibility game play wise. Painting the map not just gives you scores, but the more map you cover the faster your team will move around it. A simple but brilliant idea that turns every match into a game where map knowledge and controlling it is a must if you wish to succeed in the game. Not to mention playing for the objective also builds up your ultimate faster that lets you use powerful attacks that can turn even a losing match into a victory. A very fast phased, well balanced, fun game where you always have to keep your eyes open as in every minute the table can turn. Not to mention that all of this with regular free updates and events! So if you have a Switch and don’t have this game go and buy it! It’s well worth of your money. And for the others who already have I have a question for you: Are you a squid or a kid?

Why thank you Marie!

Stardew Valley

My go to comfort game of the last year. After a long day when I was really tired and I simply wanted to relax Stardew Valley was there for me on my Switch. A simple but somehow surprisingly deep game where your only job is run your own farm the best way you could. There’s just simply something calming for me to go over tiles and tiles watering the crops, cutting down some trees or mining, that helps soothe my nerves. While boring as it sounds wanting to see my farm grow and improve were rewarding enough that I truly felt some pride and accomplishment as I saw my homestead got bigger and better. You don’t also just improving your new home but your character too. On the first day maybe you get tired after watering a couple of plants, but as you go on and on you start to see how your avatar grows too. Simple task that were previously hard to do are becoming more and more easier, you learn new tricks how to make everything go smoother and easier as you start to understand the game mechanics and unlock new crafting recipes. I remember making my first sprinkler. I felt so proud that now I don’t have to manually water four tiles, only the remaining 100, because it was a long way to get there and quite expensive. But now half of my farm has a sprinkling system that saves me a lot of work and in so allows me spend more time with the villagers of Stardew Valley. Going into Stardew Valley you can find a lot of interesting people who occasionally ask you to deliver some farm product, and will offer their services for some of your money. Some will have a steady supply of seeds, some can patch you up, and others can build you new stuff and so on and so on. You truly feel like that you are part of a community, and as you start knowing the people better you understand them more and more and care for them. But not just plants can blossom in this game but friendships and loves too. You can get married and live together with your wife or husband (same sex marriage is completely OK!) and even can have kids too! There’s just simply so much more that I haven’t even see in this game that I can’t wait to go back and experience. If you are a fan of games like Harvest Moon, Terraria or Minecraft I urge you to check this one out and if you happen to have a Switch this game is perfect for it!

Me and best girl in the rain.

There you have it, the twelve games that I’ve played the most in 2017. Sadly a lot of games haven’t made into the list because of me not having the time to play them or the money to buy them. 

If you are interested in what games I want to play that come out in 2017 here’s a quick list for you to see:

-Nier: Automata -The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild -Mario Odyssey -Gravity Rush 2 -Night in the Woods -Ladykiller in a Bind -Yakuza 0 -Horizon Zero Dawn -I am Setsuna -Nioh -Rain World -The Sexy Brutale -LawBreakers -Sonic Mania -Cuphead -A Hat in Time -Xenoblade Chronicles 2

As you can see the list of games that are waiting for me to buy them and play them is quite huge and I hope that I can cover some of them in this brand new year.

I hope that you are going to have a wonderful and successful 2018!

For closing I want to say thank you for your reading my post and of course have a great day!

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My Game Of The Year Top 10 List Thing, I Guess

Is this what you’re supposed to use Tumblr for? I have no idea. Anyways, here’s My Game Of The Year Top 10 List Thing, I Guess!

This list only includes games I’ve actually played that came out in 2017. I haven’t played all of the big-name games that came out this year, so here’s a list of every new game I played this year that isn’t objectively shovelware:

Android: Fire Emblem Heroes, OK Golf, Monogolf, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Nintendo Switch: Fast RMX, Infinite Minigolf, Kamiko, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Namco Museum, Picross S, Puyo Puyo Tetris, Snipperclips, Sonic Mania, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Ping Pong Trick Shot, Vroom in the Night Sky

PC: 100ft Robot Golf, Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, Golf It!, Guts and Glory, Jackbox Party Pack 4, Pictopix, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, Project Cars 2, Tacopocalypse

Xbox One: Forza Motorsport 7

I bought a few more decent games that came out this year, but I haven’t gotten around to playing them yet, so they’re not included in the above list. I also bought a lot of old games and shovelware this year; you can check out my Backloggery here for proof. Anyway, here’s the list:

#10: 100ft Robot Golf

One of the best concepts for a game ever made. The game itself is pretty good, too. I might personally prefer the live-action cutscenes from No Goblin’s previous game Roundabout, but the anime cutscenes are also cool. My favorite mode is the one where you control four robots at the same time, trying to hit four golf balls into the same hole in a given time limit. I also really like the mech that’s controlled by five dogs, they’re good dogs.

Technically this game first came out last year, but it didn’t come to the PC until February of this year, which is when I was first able to play it.

#9: Sonic Mania

I have a couple of controversial opinions related to the Sonic series. I think that Sonic Adventure 1 is the best 3D Sonic game ever made, and I also think that Sonic Generations isn’t any better than Sonic 06. But I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Sonic Mania is a great game. The first playthrough is kind of annoying because you can’t go back and do old zones again until you beat the game. Also, you go back to the beginning of the zone, not the level, when you get a game over. And most of the deaths I had felt cheap in one way or another. But it was fun! Unlike almost every other Sonic game ever made, all of the stages are designed with going fast in mind, even the final few stages. There are definitely slow-paced platforming segments, but there aren’t very many instances where trying to go fast will hurt or kill you, so you can hold right and enjoy the great graphics and scenery flying by. I also really enjoyed the new-to-Mania zones, more than the old zones, in fact. The music in these zones in particular is fantastic, although it’s great in pretty much every level in the game.

#8: Picross S

It’s Picross, on the Switch! What more could you want? Well, a few more puzzles would be nice. There are 150 puzzles, but none of them are larger than 20x15 pixels, so I got through all of them fairly quickly. There’s also a Mega Picross mode, which is the same 150 puzzles, but sometimes the numbers of two adjacent rows or columns are combined. It’s kind of dumb. I also wish you could draw pixels on the touch screen, but the pixels do get pretty small in the bigger puzzles. Hopefully we’ll see a Picross S2, Picross S3, Picross S4, Picross S5, Picross S6, etc. in the coming months and years.

#7: Forza Motorsport 7

I have a LOT of complaints about this game.

The single player campaign sucks. I haven’t played a mainline Forza Motorsport game since 4, as I didn’t get an Xbox One until recently. Therefore, I don’t know what the campaigns were like in 5 and 6, but apparently 7 was supposed to make the campaign races feel like an actual racing series, with more realistic points distributions and all that. Great in theory, but the execution is terrible. In real racing, even the best drivers lose more than half of their races. In order to beat a series in Forza 7, you have to win every race in the series. Forza Horizon 3 did it right by not requiring you to win every race; you could finish last in every race in a championship, and you’d still beat the championship. Credits rewards are tied to the difficulty of the AI, so you want to turn it up to get more money, but then you’re more likely to lose races, which makes you want to turn the difficulty down or compensate by using a bunch of assists, like the stupid one that makes you drive as fast on the grass as on the road. There’s also no qualifying, so everybody starts in the same position every race, and the AI tends to finish in the same position every race as well. You also have to finish every race in a series before moving to the next series, which is annoying. So basically, every mechanic in single player is designed against having fun. Great!

Then there’s the progression. It’s slow, to say the least. There was controversy surrounding the VIP credits bonus, as it initially only gave you a few temporary cards that doubled your credits. However, it was updated to double your credits after every race, so that’s good. It still feels like you don’t gain credits fast enough to be able to buy and upgrade as many cars as you want, and that’s after I abused a glitch that allowed you to get infinite rewards (which has since been patched).

The game is also crash-prone, to the point of being almost unplayable on PC. The PC version has a memory leak which crashes the game after a few minutes if you look at your garage or upgrade your car. The Xbox version is more stable, but it’s still crashed a couple of times for me.

You’d think all of these criticisms would push the game off the top ten, right? But here’s the thing: multiplayer is super fun. Sure, it takes about ten minutes to get into your first race, because you always end up in a lobby where the race has just started. And sure, half the races end up in disaster because the guy behind you crashed into you at full speed at the first corner, but when you get near the front of the pack and have a good race with some other drivers, it’s a blast. I tried ghost racing for the first time the other day, and it led to surprisingly close and fun racing.

So yeah, Forza 7 is a pretty fun game, as long as you only play multiplayer.

#6: Monogolf

Decent mobile games are hard to come by these days. For a while, my go-to phone game was True Skate, but then it stopped working on my phone. Thanks, Huawei! Before that, I played Desert Golfing, but it got a bit boring after 3,000 holes. I saw Monogolf in the Google Play Store recently, thought it looked cool, and downloaded it. Now it’s my new go-to game.

Like many phone-based golf games (believe me, I’ve played a lot), you simply drag on the screen to point where you want the ball to go, and how fast it should go. The catch is that you have to get a hole-in-one on each hole. If you don’t, you lose a life. Beat as many holes as possible until you run out of lives. It’s super fun to try and beat your record, and you often do, as you’re constantly unlocking new lives. You also unlock extra level packs for reaching certain milestones.

The game’s art style is also really cool. A lot of mobile games go for the modern look, but it ends up looking cheap. Monogolf’s graphics don’t, helped by the variety of vivid colors and textures on the holes.

As far as in-app purchases are concerned, you can pay about $4.50 to unlock everything, including all of the pieces for course creation and the maximum number of lives, but everything can also be unlocked through normal playing.

I said a lot about Monogolf. The top five games are all Switch games, that wasn’t intentional, sorry.

#5: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Tin, why is this game not number one?

Because I liked the four games above this one better. That’s not to say Breath of the Wild isn’t a great game, because it is. And it deserves the overwhelming praise it’s gotten, too. I’ve just never been a huge fan of RPG or adventure games. Having never played more than a few hours of a Zelda game before, I expected to only play the game for a few hours just because using the Switch was a novelty at the time. However, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. Running around the vast open world is fun, as are the shrines. Somehow, I managed to defeat a Divine Beast before finding a single korok seed, so now there’s a korok seed permanently in the middle of my Divine Beast orbs in my inventory. I really need to go back and beat the two Divine Beasts I didn’t get so I can try out the DLC, because that skeleton bike looks super cool.

#4: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

So this is just an updated version of Mario Kart 8, which came out three years ago. Some might say that makes it ineligible for 2017 awards, but I don’t care.

Deluxe adds several new gameplay mechanics, new characters and karts, and an updated Battle Mode. The addition of a second item box makes for an even more hectic experience than Not_Deluxe, and also adds a bit of an extra layer of strategy. Should you go for the double item box, or will someone else snatch it up, leaving you with no items? The triple boost is also nice. Deluxe adds the Inklings from Splatoon as playable characters, which automatically makes the game twice as good (this is a scientifically provable fact). The Battle Mode is also really good, although I haven’t played it that much, because regular racing is so great. Given how all of this was added on to an already-great game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is probably the best game in the series, and arguably the best racing game this generation (the other major contender being Forza Horizon 3).

#3: Puyo Puyo Tetris

Yes, I know this came out years ago. I imported a Vita copy back in 2015 for my PSTV that I never use. However, I’m including it in this list because it didn’t receive an English release until this year, which means that I can actually read the menus and story.

It turns out that combining two of the best puzzle games ever made creates another great puzzle game. Who would have thought? The story mode is great fun, and the story itself is surprisingly enjoyable, particularly the part where Schezo makes a bunch of innuendos. As far as the main modes go, Swap mode is objectively the best mode, as both players play both Puyo Puyo and Tetris, and do so on an even playing field. Versus mode is the next best, particularly when both players are playing the same game. Puyo vs. Tetris matches can be a bit lopsided, due to the two games having different garbage rules. Big Bang mode is alright too, particularly the Puyo version. You should avoid the Party and Fusion modes though, they’re bad.

Playing online is super fun, although most people play Tetris, unsurprisingly. Playing against someone at a similar skill level results in super tense and exciting matches, often with both players scrambling to clear enough garbage to be able to make a decent combo again. Lopsided matches do happen pretty often, though. Fortunately, you can disable matches in modes you don’t like, even in ranked mode. I usually just play Swap and Versus, although I’ll sometimes play Big Bang as well.

#2: Super Mario Odyssey

While a lot of games recently have focused on huge, expansive worlds, with various places to do things, Odyssey instead has relatively small levels with things to do EVERYWHERE. There are essentially as many moons in this game as there are korok seeds in Breath of the Wild, which means that moons are probably 50 feet apart from each other on average. There’s always something new to do that won’t take more than a couple of minutes when you go back to a particular level (unless you’ve gotten all the moons on that level, of course, but even then you might have to go back for a thing or two…). Some people have said that it feels like busy work to get all of the moons, and it is to some extent, but I found it wasn’t that difficult to get most of, if not all the moons in a level in a few-hour session or two.

New Donk City is one of my favorite levels in any video game, ever. The music, atmosphere, and level design are all so fantastic that I had fun for hours just messing around, jumping through the city and up to the top of buildings. It’s definitely the standout level of the game IMO.

Mario has probably the best movement I’ve ever felt in any video game. There are so many different things he can do that I feel like I still haven’t learned all of his abilities, even though I’ve 100%ed the game. The jump -> throw cap -> dive to cap -> jump off cap -> throw cap again -> dive to cap again mechanic is super fun to perform, and not as complicated as it sounds. It takes a couple of tries to get used to, but it’s very intuitive once you get used to it.

The capture ability is also amazing. It surprisingly doesn’t feel gimmicky at all, as each of the objects you can capture let you do the things you’d want to do in a given level. Cheep-Cheeps can let you swim more quickly, Goombas let you walk on ice without slipping around, posts let you spring up the sides of buildings, and so on. My favorite object to capture is probably the pokey thing in Bowser’s Castle that I don’t remember the name of that lets you snap to and spring up walls, although it’s also one of the more finnicky objects to use.

Overall, SMO is probably the best platformer I’ve ever played, and I thoroughly enjoyed 100 percenting it. It would be my game of the year, except I happened to like one game even more. Can you guess what it is?

#1: Splatoon 2

You probably guessed what it was.

Splatoon 2 is the only game from this year that I played for more than 100 hours. For comparison, I played one game for more than 100 hours in 2016, Forza Horizon 3, and three games for more than 100 hours in 2015: Super Mario Maker, Rocket League, and Splatoon. Super Mario Maker and Rocket League are probably two of my top ten games of all time, and Forza Horizon 3 isn’t far behind. Splatoon would also be one of my top ten favorite games, if it wasn’t for the fact that Splatoon 2 is objectively so much better.

If you’ve never played Splatoon, the goal is basically to paint the floor with more ink than the other team (also you should play it right now). It sounds silly, but it’s super fun. The ranked modes are also great, and your rank is now broken up per mode, instead of all the modes contributing to the same rank. That’s great, because now you don’t have to only play one ranked mode if you’re better at that mode than the others.

There are a bunch of new gear items, some of which are really cool. I really like the tye-dye shirt, and also the jungle hat that everyone hates. You can also wear a plant if you really want to. I need to make it as clear as possible that the visual aesthetic of this game just oozes with coolness. It’s probably the coolest game I’ve ever played.

There are several new weapon types, too. The Splat Dualies are neat because you can dash twice while firing, making yourself a difficult target. The Splat Brella gives you a shield, but it isn’t very useful in practice IMO.

The new stages feel a lot more open than the stages in Splatoon 1. Humpback Pump Track has an incredible name and is a great smaller level, while Mako Mart has a more open feel, and the supermarket design is fantastic. It’s definitely my favorite level in the series. Most of my favorite stages from Splatoon 1 have made also their way to the sequel, including Port Mackerel, Kelp Dome, Walleye Warehouse, and Moray Towers (yes, I like that map).

Splatoon 2’s single player campaign is similar to the first game’s, with the added twist that you have to use various different weapons throughout the missions, instead of just the Splattershot. This adds a lot of replay value, as you now have to beat each level with each different weapon to 100 percent (or 1000 percent) the campaign. I’m about halfway through doing this, and I intend on finishing it eventually.

Salmon Run is new to Splatoon 2, and it’s a great new mode. You have waves of hordes of enemies that want to murder you, and you have to murder them first. There are probably much better explanations of the mode available. It also makes you try out new weapons, as the weapon you use is randomly assigned at the start of each wave from a set of four weapons. My main complaint with this mode is that I wish there were more rotations with completely random weapons, as a lot of the rotations with preset weapons tend to have a lot of weapons with low firing rates, which makes the mode more difficult and arguably less fun. Also, you can only play the mode on certain days, which is kind of silly.

Splatoon 2 is one of those games that’s greater than the sum of its parts. On paper, it sounds cool, but not as amazing as it really is. I almost didn’t buy the first Splatoon, which is something I have a hard time believing now (the same thing is true for Rocket League). It’s hard to put into words why, but the finished product, with all the great gameplay mechanics and super cool style blended together, is simply amazing. It’s more fun and cool than any other game I’ve played this year, so it’s an easy choice for my Game of the Year.

Hooray!

Honorable Mentions

These are games that would probably be on the list if I had a PS4 so I could play them:

Everybody’s Golf: I like golf games, as you might have noticed by the number of golf games I’ve played this year. This is a golf game, therefore I should like it.

Gran Turismo Sport: Gran Turismo is one of my favorite series of all time. A lot of people haven’t liked the more serious mode of racing that Sport offers, but I think it’ll be right up my alley. The livery editor also looks super cool.

Wipeout Omega Collection: I really liked Wipeout HD, and this is basically that, but with an even higher definition! Also, it has the tracks from Wipeout 2048 which I haven’t seen before.

These games almost made the Top Ten, but didn’t:

Jackbox Party Pack 4: It’s fun, but JPP3 is better IMO. Don’t worry, I’ll still be streaming more Jackbox in the future.

PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS: I haven’t played this game much because it gives me anxiety when I play it. I really don’t like loud noises, so hearing a random gunshot after 20 minutes of silence startles me a lot. It’s also kind of slow-paced. I do like the concept more, so I’ll probably play it again soon, maybe with some music in the background.

Come back next year for my 2018 list, which will probably be the post after this one, given how little I use Tumblr!