#not me obviously being overly attached to the ai in the game

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Erin, who was the hardest non LI character to say goodbye to in ME 3?

This is a hard question!!! I can't say everyone, right? Because that's not the question.

I mean. Okay.

After a lot of thinking, I might have to say Legion? Legion going from "We would be alive and we could help you" to "I must go to them. I'm sorry." 😭😭😭😭😭 I just love Legion so much.

But then obviously there are Mordin and Thane and like how can I not say either of them because again. Heartbreak. Sobbing. Etc.

But if we're talking end of game goodbyes instead of storyline progress, I think EDI. Or maybe Jack. Or Miranda. It's about being able to see your impact on the characters and the growth and learning and I just... man.

THEY'RE ALL SO DIFFICULT.

[stingrayloveblog]

Anyways regarding mr grizz, i had a theory way back that i knew from the start was a bit outlandish, so dont take this too seriously now. Obviously this is all pre splat 3.

After octo expansion as well as the relationship chart, i studied mr grizz a bit more closely and came to the conclusion that there was a possibility of him being an ai similar to tartar.

Put under readmore bc of spoilers and also its just a long post that i rambled and trailed off like 4 times

My evidence for this was primarily started by the relationship chart. Mr grizz, despite how he speaks about the salmonids in game, only had "..." to say about the salmonids. And the salmonids have no arrow pointing back to him, implying that they dont even know he exists. They know the players exist, calling them "intruders", but they arent actually aware of mr grizz. Mr grizz says that he is relying on you. Obviously, to collect golden eggs, right?

But what reason did he have to collect golden eggs? Its implied that power eggs are commonly used as an energy source, and while its never directly stated what the golden eggs were used for (pre splat 3, of course), it would be a safe assumption that golden eggs are simply a superior energy source, just harder to come by.

Going back to the relationship chart, i found it interesting that mr grizz seemed to have nothing more to say about the salmonids, especially considering the way he talks about them. He seems to hate them a lot, almost if they had done something to personally offend him, but its also somewhat comparable to the way marie talks about octarians. And yet, he has nothing else to say towards the salmonids when we see what his relation is with them. I took this as meaning that he doesnt actually hate the salmonids at all. As if he only talks bad about them to get the workers riled up. Maybe he didnt actually ever hate them, he just needs everyone else to have no way to get attached to them. The "..." could even imply that he may even doubt what he's doing. It really does just seem like an act. And the training manual/salmonid field guide is also never worded overly negative towards the salmonids either.

So why keep it up? There was never an inplication of any energy shortage in inkopolis. We get very little information about the trade between salmonids and octarians, so its unlikely that grizzco has anything to do with octarians. Not to mention, the way he trash talks the salmonids is very different from how he talks to the player. He doesnt necessarily get angry, just disappointed. He seems more patient than one might assume just from a first impression.

An interesting detail that i noticed regarding this is the fact that he never encourages you to go after as many salmonids as you can. If he really did want every salmonid dead, power eggs would be worth more to your score. But he never says that you should kill every single salmonid, just that golden eggs are the priority and the lesser salmonids will get in the way and to take care of those when you need to.

An extremely interesting fact about mr grizz that we actually get from an interview is that mr grizz doesnt actually seem to be there, that hes just pre recorded messages. Which gives even more reason to put up an act of hating salmonids just to get everyone else to agree with you. So where is the real mr grizz then?

I dont know. But what i did want to figure out is, what real motive did mr grizz have to keep grizzco open for so long? Why did it close sometimes? Surely if he wanted every salmonid dead, it wouldve been open all the time (splat 3 really ruined everything about mr grizz for me im not even remotely joking) but it isnt.

There is a sunken scroll as well as something from the salmonid field guide regarding the very destructive nature of the salmonids. We all know of the "seven rings" (which continues to be unexplained) and how the salmonids rise from the ocean and destroy everything, and the salmonid field guide regarding the glowflies event (known as "rush") says how, in the past, many unprepared cities fell victim to the salmonid rush. Clearly, the salmonids are capable of destruction on a mass scale. Maybe mr grizz is just trying to protect inkopolis (god i hate splatoon 3 story mode plot) in an indirect way.

But even with that knowledge, how long has grizzco been open? How old is mr grizz? Has anyone else ever tried to reduce the salmonid population to a point where they wouldnt be such an immediate threat? And even if they could never be reduced to that point, if he really wanted to permanently protect inkopolis, then he would have motive to wipe out every salmonid. But that clearly isnt what he wants. But WHY?

Think back to the ruins of ark polaris. Its, well, an ark. Like, for animals. Like noahs ark. And in the story of noahs ark, the earth is completely flooded. In splatoon, its implied that whatever killed the humans happened suddenly. And we know that there is a lot less land in splatoon than there was in the human era. Almost as if... it were a mass flood. So we could assume ark polaris was supposed to take the role of noahs ark (this was confirmed in splatoon 3). Now, you wouldnt really need to put fish on the ark if theres plenty of water for them to be in. Salmonids happen to be one of those fish that evolved, not exactly the way cephalopods and some other sea creatures did, but they certainly evolved. Its also interesting to note that low tide ark polaris has signs surrounding the area that have a logo similar to grizzcos. As if mr grizz took inspiration from these signs to make it.

Now think back to tartar. Tartar had a prime directive to pass on the humans knowledge to the next dominant species but decided to go its own way about it, finding the evolved sea creatures to be unworthy. Tartar had been observing for over 12,000 years, watching as they all evolved, and came to that conclusion on its own.

This is a stretch, but i thought to myself, what if mr grizz was like tartar initially? With a different prime directive? What if mr grizz was supposed to be connected to ark polaris, but then was given instruction to make sure nobody ever dies of a natural disaster again like the humans did? Or at least to help them prepare?

Combining an initial role of preserving the many lives of various animals with this new responsibility, watching as the salmonids destroy entire cities time and time again, what if mr grizz simply marked salmonids as the "natural disaster" that people need protection from, while simultaneously recognizing that they are still a living species and should still be preserved somewhat? Through grizzco, he would be reducing the salmonid population, but never completely wiping them out, and by doing so, this would protect inkopolis and other smaller cities and towns while still preserving the salmonids lives as well.

To me, this explained why his messages are pre recorded and why he acts like he hates salmonids and why he never encourages you to kill as much as you can. And then, splatoon 3 was revealed.

I had so foolishly assumed that mr grizz being involved would mean that the salmonids would be involved too, considering how he built his entire identity around harvesting their eggs. The smallfry reveal made me think that, if mr grizz was truly another ai with that preservation/protection directive, then perhaps the story will be that he is.. domesticating the salmonids somewhat. As an attempt to keep them alive while also stamping out their destructive nature. This would cause issues as salmonids have their own culture, they arent mindless violent creatures. Doing this would erase what salmonids are as a society. And that would be an issue, because thats just a messed up thing to do, but clearly he doesnt see anything wrong with what hes doing, because to him hes killing two birds with one stone. This would explain the whole "save our salmonids" thing (I REALLY REALLY HATE SPLATOON 3 STORY MODE PLOT).

And then we got the actual splatoon 3 story mode and everything sucked and was terrible forever and ruined any and all character that mr grizz had and could have possibly had. Look, i wasnt expecting ny theory/headcanon to be true, i was just expecting a little bit of literally ANYTHING, but no. We got THAT. Not even a hint of salmonid. Like what was the point of it all then. Nothing. Most disappointing thing ever. It genuinely pains me. I hate it so much.

[goofygomez]

An analysis of The Last of Us Part II and its themes

I’ve seen a lot of people share their experience with playing The Last of Us Part II, and it’s safe to say most of it has been largely negative. It’s no secret this might be one of the most divisive games of all time, and it will probably stay that way for a long time after. I personally adored this game. I believe this is the masterpiece of masterpieces, and it’s the only game to ever top the emotions I felt when playing the first game, although I will say in terms of raw story (with nothing else like gameplay to support it) the first game is still a bit higher on the list for me.

But for all intents and purposes, when considering all aspects of this game, I think this is the single greatest accomplishment in game design and storytelling I’ve ever seen in a video game. That being said, I would like to try and respond to some of the criticisms this game has gotten, and furthermore, I’d like to try and analyze some of the themes I noticed when playing the game. Keep in mind this is MY opinion, and should not be taken as fact. This is just my experience, and I’ll respect yours one way or the other.

Take this as a MAJOR WARNING that there will be spoilers for both games in this post.

With that, let’s start with the common criticisms:

1.       “They killed Joel for no damn reason. He deserved better.” This is an easy one to tackle. For one, Joel most definitely did not deserve better. Even though we might love him for being the first game’s MC and have grown attached to him, there’s no way we can or should look past the fact that he, Joel, is a bad man. He even says himself in the first game that he and Tommy did some questionable things to survive in the 20 years between the outbreak and even during the events of TLOU. While he may be perceived as the hero of the franchise, when you look at his rap sheet, you start to notice he’s not so great after all. Take the ending of TLOU as the most glaring example, where Joel has been told Ellie must die in order for the Fireflies to develop a vaccine. His first and only reaction is to kill every single Firefly he sees and murder the surgeon who would have killed his “baby girl”. Would I have done any different in his shoes? Probably not, but that’s the beauty of the first game. Its ending and the ambiguity of Joel’s morality given his actions is one of the driving forces that make the first game so spectacular and why it’s still being discussed 7 years later. Now let’s talk about the second point to this criticism: “He died for no reason”. If you recall, the people who killed him were former Fireflies, one of which (Abby) was the daughter of the surgeon whom Joel unceremoniously killed. In their eyes, they had every right to go after Joel. Like Anthony Caliber, one of the best TLOU speedrunners, said in one of his recent livestreams, “Joel signed his own death sentence when he killed Marlene and the surgeon back at the hospital in TLOU1”. While it may seem overly zealous to us as players who have grown to love Joel, if the roles had been reversed would you not do the same? Would you not want revenge for the killing of your father? And isn’t that exactly what Ellie is doing in this game, which most players justify in this hatred of Abby?

2.       “Joel was out of character in giving out his name and trusting strangers. They dumbed him down for the sake of plot.” As I recall, Joel literally gave Henry and Sam his name and followed them out to their hideout barely 30 seconds after meeting them and beating the shit out of Henry. Joel may be an untrusting person at heart but he always does so with reason. The most common reason people give of this is “He didn’t trust the guy asking for help in Pittsburg and ran him over so why trust Abby and her gang”. First of all, that was literally the one situation Joel had already been on the other side of, and knew perfectly well it was rehearsed. On the flipside, he and Tommy had just saved Abby and literally mention there’s no other way to go other than with her because there’s a huge blizzard and a herd was after them. And especially now, after Joel has been living in Jackson for 4 years now and has been living comfortably in a community very obviously open to new people. Abby’s group gave them no reason to distrust them, and giving out his name, in any other situation, would have made no difference in the outcome. It was just unfortunate they happened to be after him.

3.       “I hate playing as Abby, why are they trying to make me sympathize with her?” That’s the whole point, they’re not. The entire game, you keep rooting for Ellie to find and kill this woman who wronged you, and when you’re forced to play as her, you’re understandably angry. You’re upset, and you feel you have to slog through this seemingly endless section of the game. But as you keep playing, much like I did, you start seeing the other side of the story. Abby is not the villain the game paints her out to be when she killed Joel. She’s another human being with human emotions and a very real reason to hate Joel and to want him dead. As I said before, Abby is doing exactly what Ellie eventually does after Abby kills Joel.

4.       “Why would Ellie go through all that effort to not kill Abby in the end?” I will touch on this in the analysis of the themes, but simply put, it was about breaking cycles.

Now I’d like to start defending how and why I believe this is a masterpiece by first taking a look at one of the admittedly less touched upon parts: gameplay. This aspect usually takes a step back when it comes to narrative-based games, and it is obviously not the most resounding part of this game, but it is clearly not taking a back seat either. The flow of both combat and mellower scenarios in this particular game is astounding. When battling opponents, the AI feels like one of the most intelligent I’ve ever seen in a video game. The way the enemies communicate between each other, telling the others when the player is out of ammo or when they’re flanking to create much more nuanced fight sequences, coupled with the expanded worlds Naughty Dog has come up with to create a seamless experience when fighting hordes of enemies without it feeling stale or repetitive, is one of the most immersive gaming experiences I’ve ever had. Each encounter feels unique and challenging in some ways you may not have felt before in the game, and by the end you’re so immersed in that feeling that going through the Santa Barbara group (to me, at least) was almost automatic and I could see so many different options for me to approach each situation as it came my way.

Likewise, Naughty Dog have managed to turn the puzzle solving from the first game, where you simply had to find a dumpster to step on or a door to open with a shiv, and incorporate the environment and world into it, finding clever ways to get over obstacles without simply having a step-up ladder be the end of it. The mechanics that went into the rope puzzles, breaking windows to get to previously unexplored territory (which is admittedly not new in gaming, but still a cool concept to add to the franchise) paired together with so many more new little features to bring the world they created to life, and bring you into it as well.

As always, and as was the case with the first one, you can’t talk about The Last of Us without talking about the soundtrack. The haunting score created by the masterful mind of Gustavo Santaolalla, a fellow Argentinean like me, brought to life some of the most heart-wrenching moments and the most beautiful ones as well, in a way that can only be achieved with amazing sound design and music. The main theme song, which is a sort of homage to the one from the first, takes a much darker approach, choosing instead to focus on the bass and that resounding low voice in the background, setting the tone for the rest of the game: a much darker, grittier, and grounded experience that will pull no punches. Santaolalla managed to create a score that mimics the first one in melody and rhythm, while succeeding in mirroring it to create a more dissonant accompaniment to the gruesome story you’re brutally killing your way through.

Another aspect of the game that deserves all the praise it gets, and one that people seem to at least be in consensus about, is the graphics and animation design. I can safely say this is hands down the most beautiful, gorgeous, astounding, breathtaking game I’ve ever laid my eyes upon, and that might not be enough adjectives to fully encapsulate how I feel about the graphics in this game. One can argue all day about the morality of the characters in the game or the balance between right and wrong that Naughty Dog so masterfully plays with in the story, but one thing is for sure: The graphics design team deserves so much credit for actually bringing the story and the characters we know and love to such vivid life. You can see it in the little things, like the veins in Joel’s arm as he plays “Future Days” by Pearl Jam and the facial expressions Ellie can make if you stand in front of a mirror during the museum flashback; you can also see it in the larger things, like the jaw-dropping backdrops that range from a beautiful mountain range in the snow to the downtown Seattle skyline. No moment will be wasted by stopping your pace to just admire the absolutely gorgeous view you’re presented with every time you enter a new game world. The attention to detail in animation is also not lacking at all, with so many little actions being given special treatment as we see Ellie patch herself up and still having the actual bandage over her arm instead of disappearing like any other game, or the way Ellie’s fingers perfectly (and correctly) play chords without resorting to generic hand gestures. You can see the love and care the developers have for this game in every tiny crack in the game that simply takes your breath away and that sometimes you won’t even see from the vastness of the world around you.

And finally, the story. It is definitely a divisive story, and Neil Druckmann did warn us it would be. There were times, namely the moment they switched the POV to show me the first 3 days from Abby’s perspective, when I was genuinely wondering what the hell they were thinking. My faith in Naughty Dog never wavered, though. I kept playing because I thought, “There must be some reasoning for this.” And to my greatest relief, it finally clicked for me a few hours into Abby’s section. Namely, the moment where she meets Lev and Yara, two Seraphites that defected after the former shaved his head. At first, it seemed weird that they would be cast out for such a stupid reason, but then you start to get to know them, and you understand the real reason they had to leave their religious cult. As I said before and will say again, this is a game about perspective. Up until that point, I just wanted Abby dead, albeit with some guilt since learning that it was her father Joel killed in that operating room. But seeing Abby’s willingness to help total strangers, much like Joel did at the start of the game, was what sold me on this game’s concept. The purpose of this story is to make you feel the regret and the weight of the actions you impart on the world, as you can see the carnage Ellie left in her wake during your time as Abby, seeing Abby’s friends butchered by either Ellie or Tommy, realizing they’re no different than the villains we have such tunnel vision about. The ending is something I’ll get to in the themes, but I just have to say I love the way it’s such a parallel to the first game’s ending, up to the point of divisiveness in the people who actually played and finished the game (which at the time of writing this is less than 4% of players).

Now onto the themes. One of the things people always praise about the first game, and rightfully so, is its themes and how well it portrays them through certain characters to create a cohesive and coherent story that pulls at your heartstrings and makes you root for the “heroes” of the game. This time it’s not much different, with the minor exception that this time, there are no heroes. Just like Neil Druckmann said many times during the development of Part II, “While the first game was about love, this game is about hate”, which is one of the main themes.

1.       Hatred: I can safely say there have been very few times of my gaming life where I’ve been so viscerally angry (in a “good” way) while playing a video game as I have as I tore down through countless enemies that got in the way of me and my target. This game will let out the worst parts of you in ways you can’t even imagine, and will make you take a look at the way we glorify violence in video games without the usual preachy tone of “video games cause violence”. Like I said before, this is a game that mirrors the first one while paying homage to its themes. To take a page out of Abby’s book, it’s like a coin. There are always two sides to it. On the one hand, the first game’s main theme was love, and how loss and grief can be overcome with it with the proper care and time. The Last of Us Part II shows us the uglier side of human nature, which is anger, despair and a natural desire for revenge (another theme). Both games show us the natural progression of a grieving person, but both of them take wildly different approaches. Granted, we don’t know how brutal and vicious Joel was right after losing Sarah, but it’s safe to assume he was nothing short of a monster, which eventually didn’t really help in dealing with that loss until he found love and hope in a little girl whose safety was now his utmost responsibility. In Ellie’s case, she’s still in that first stage. Ellie as a character has always been reckless and foolhardy, and her actions in this game are a testament of how well Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross know their characters. The entire game, right up until the final moments where she’s about to finish Abby off, her actions are fueled by a rage and desire to exert justice onto those who’ve wronged her. In other words, she’s looking for revenge.

2.       Revenge: Both main characters have at least one thing in common, and it is their desire to avenge their father/father figure. I truly believe that Joel’s death was not only justified (from a storytelling perspective) but also crucial to the development of a sequel that both enhanced the world of The Last of Us while building onto it with new ideals and perspectives. The idea this time is definitely not one we haven’t seen before in so many other mediums: “Revenge is bad and is never worth it” Seems trivial to even suggest it when we all know the outcome, but The Last of Us Part II manages to not only build upon the idea that revenge is a double-edged sword, but it also manages to balance the perspectives within that cycle to attempt to explore the psyche of the characters we’ve put into the boxes of “hero” and “villain”. And subsequently, they manage to break that characterization by showing us both sides of the aforementioned coin to see, in no unclear terms, that the consequences of our actions when dealing with vengeance always circle back to expose the nastiest side of our nature. It stands to reason that we, as the player, would at first be on board with Ellie “finding and killing every last one of them”, and demonizing Abby for not only killing but torturing possibly one of the most beloved characters in gaming history. We want her dead. We want her to suffer for the crime she’s committed. Yet, in our quest for vengeance and justice, would we not be succumbing to the same cycle that brought Abby to killing Joel in the first place? Did she not think, from her perspective, that she was entirely justified in killing the man who had not only destroyed the one chance humanity had against the Cordyceps, but also murdered her father in cold blood? Are we not the same as Abby for wanting her dead after she kills one of our own? When does it end? And that’s the real question. This whole thing, the lust for revenge that can only be quenched with cold-blooded murder, is just another facet to our complex and grey morality as human beings. It’s natural for us to feel angry and upset at this, and I believe all the hatred people give this game that stems from it forcing you to play as Abby is the exact nature the game is trying to bring out of us and show to us in a mirror.

3.       Cycles: While this may not be such an obvious catch as the first two, it’s still very much ingrained in the inner workings of this game’s narrative and how both characters view the world according to their reality and perspective. The concept of revenge, as stated above, is a repetitive one. One that causes cycles and events to repeat themselves if left unchecked, and The Last of Us Part II plays with these masterfully. Starting the game with a heartbreaking moment and setting the dark tone for the rest of the game is what starts the first part of this cycle, which is Ellie wanting to avenge Joel’s death, much like Abby avenged her father’s death after 4 years of despair, planning, and training. Ellie’s desire to kill Abby is what leads her down the path we would characterize, were she some random character and not the main one of the franchise, as the villain’s route, going down a dark path that prompts her to mindlessly and mercilessly slaughtering countless people whose names you hear from their friends’ mouths when you kill them, to the point where you end up getting to Abby’s closest friends and companions and murdering them too, not unlike Abby murdered Joel. It is a sobering feeling to realize the character you most love and root for is, in the eyes of the other main character, as much of a villain (if not more) as we as players make Abby out to be. It is at the end of the game, which a lot of players had qualms about, where Ellie is beating Abby within an inch of her life that she realizes this is not worth it. Killing Abby will not bring Joel back, and will certainly not bring her any satisfaction, as showcased by how traumatized Ellie was after the killings of Abby’s other friends and the fact that she still kept seeing Joel’s lifeless body as she attempted to drown Abby on that coast. Then, as we are mercilessly choking the life out of her, which is yet another example of the visceral anger the game elicits from the player, we see a different memory of Joel. One of hopefulness, where Joel is playing the guitar and smiling. It is at that moment that Ellie realizes the only thing she can do now is to move on with her life and accept Joel’s death as something that happened. To add onto this realization, it’s probably good to mention that Ellie must have seen some of herself in Lev in that killing Abby would have left him (if not dead) in a state much like the one she, Ellie, was at the start of the game. Coming back to the theme of cycles, if Ellie killed Abby, what’s to stop Lev from coming after Ellie the same way she came after Abby, and so on and so forth. Both these things coupled help Ellie finally break the cycle and go back to the farm, where she’s greeted with the consequences of her actions in a more emotional and real way than the PTSD: Dina being gone and Ellie leaving her guitar behind, symbolizing her letting go of Joel’s memory and accepting her reality.

The game scares us; it scares me. It is a harrowing experience that will only get better with time and will, in my humble opinion, go down as one of the greatest games of all time for years to come. No matter the context, and no matter the medium, I wish it were easy to find such real, emotional, and powerful pieces of art as this one more often. But alas, we will have to wait and see. As someone whose name I can’t seem to remember said: “This will mark the gaming industry and divide it between ‘Before TLOU2 and After TLOU2”

[danetobelieve]

Fairy Lights || Orion and Winston

Note: This happened before the eye chatzy

It was time. It was the day that they had both been waiting for. Winston and Orion had been prepping for this for days now and they finally both had a free day to fully set up the electronics, internet, cable and anything else that Rio wanted in there room. “I’m honestly beyond excited,” Winston said pulling their tool box down from the shelf in the workshop and making their way up the stairs towards Rio’s room, which was now opposite their room and beneath the massive attic that was Ricky’s room, “once we’ve got your room set up then we should definitely start thinking about how you want your corner of the workshop to look, obviously you’re gonna need a tonne of light for all the reading.” 

Orion still wasn’t completely convinced that this hadn’t all been some kind of idealistic day dream. He was almost afraid that at any moment he was going to wake up in his bed, back at the Quinn household being yelled at to get to the guest house for training. But instead, he got to wake up in a bedroom and be greeted by friends and most of the time, breakfast. It all seemed too good to be true sometimes. “I can’t believe this is real,” Rio found himself admitting to Winston, thankful that the resident tech expert was around to help make sure that things were hooked up correctly. For the most part, Rio was decent with technology. He was a computer science major so he hoped that he could function around the stuff. But it was nice to have some that knew for sure what they were doing. Plus it was just a good excuse to hang out with Winston. “I get a corner of the workshop? Woah.” What the heck was he supposed to do there? “Actually, never mind I’ll stress about that after we figure this room out.” 

“You know, living with us really isn’t that great that you’ve got to pretend that you’re in a state of disbelief about it,” Winston teased with a bright smile. Reaching up to their glasses, Winston shifted them for a moment before walking into Rio’s room backwards with their arms full of cables, a monitor and a keyboard. “Yes, you get a corner of the workshop, even if you don’t want to do anything with it I think that Ricky is insisting that we all have a space that we feel is our own. Which is super nice of him.” They had to admit that Ricky had been nothing short of saintlike, for the both of them. “Don’t worry, you don’t need to stress about it, you could even just turn it into the place that you do your college work. I only really use the workshop for college work and working on the technomancy.” They set the box down on Orion’s bed and looked around the sizeable room that had once been a library for Ricky. “So, what do you want to start with?”

 Orion rolled his eyes at Winston’s comment, clearly joking but downplaying how great the two of them had been since Rio has shown up at their door. They had gone way out of their way to make him feel welcome in the home. “I want to get my whole screen area set up first.” He waved in the direction of his desk, hoping to figure all of that out first and foremost. It was the most important part of his room by far. “This laptop basically has my entire life on it, so.” He smiled and waved the thing around for show. “After that I had some ideas... like Bluetooth maybe. Some colorful lights to go around the room. Okay admittedly that’s the end of my creativity. But it’ll be fun regardless! We can figure more things out as we go along.” Rio explained, digging into a bag that he had bought from the store with a few of the supplies and ideas that he had in mind. “My game system is already downstairs so I’m not worried about that I guess. Pretty much as long as the internet works that’s all I need. Ooh and a bookshelf obviously. But let’s start with the desk.”

“Yeah, that was obvious, I should’ve guessed screens first,” Winston replied with a smirk as they started to pull the brackets and mounts that they would need. “So you want like just the one monitor? Two? I think I have a third somewhere and you could always buy a fourth? Like basically we can set this up so that it works however you want.” They understood loving a computer more then yourself, Winston would literally kill someone if they lost their harddrive. It had everything, their research, their magical notes and less importantly their college stuff. “Well, bluetooth and mood lighting are things that we can make happen, and we can definitely hook it all up to the AI system that I am going to write to replace Alexa because I don’t trust Jeff Bezzos as far as I can’t throw him.” They pulled an extension chord from the box and plugged it in. “Can you pass me all of those metal things, I gotta stick the brackets to the wall so that you can adjust your screen height and shit.” They grabbed a screw driver and began rummaging along beneath the desk. “So, how are you settling in?”  

“I- uh, I don’t know” Orion stumbled through, “I’ve never had anything but my laptop screen I guess. I thought I was lucky to get a single monitor I’ve never even thought about getting even more screens.” What could he possibly use that much screen space for? He supposed it would be helpful for research purposes and cross checking. Though he would need to get farther into his project of translating the text before he could ever think about actually using it for research. “I can’t believe you can just build an AI. That’s so cool. And I could totally throw Jeff pretty far, but same.” He laughed and shrugged, tossing the requested metal objects over to Winston and standing off to the side as Winston grabbed a drill and explained that they could hang his monitor. Like on the wall. Winston was way too cool. “You’re joking right?” Rio has strayed away from the desk to take in the room and try to plan how he could hang the lights. He wondered how many lights were too many or if that number existed. “I don’t think I had much of a choice besides settling in. You guys forced me to a burden.” He was joking of course, he was overly gracious for all they had done, “You’re both like the best roommates anyone could ask for. Besides the fact that I’ve been thrown through a window and almost drowned now following you places. Which for the record, I totally did because you went there.”

“Cool so we’ll start with two and then you can decide if you need more, I personally think three is perfect but everyone is different.” Winston worked quickly, it wasn’t that hard really, most ot the work was done for them, all they had to do was mount the struts and attach everything securely to the wall. “I have never actually built an AI before, but I don’t think it should be that much hardwork, plus I’ve got a few side projects going on that mean that it might be easier, I’m kind of toying with a few ideas on incorporating magic into things further, we’ll see I guess.” Winston smirked gently at Orion’s joke, it was a cute joke. Frowning gently, Winston shook their head. “Not joking at all, you’ve seen some of the shit that Ricky makes, drilling holes in walls is nothing.” They laughed gently and shrugged. “Yeah, I think we’re now kind of duty bound to be extra nice to you because we keep putting you in dangerous situations, although, we got some good information from the lake and the mime place, the killer mimes weren’t exactly our fault either, so, it could be worse. We had Skylar over for a dinner party and almost got turned into dinner by the giant crabs that attacked.” 

“Yeah, for sure. It’s a good start.” Orion agreed, staring up at the walls of the ceiling. It wasn’t that the ceilings were unfathomably tall, but Rio was only 5’8. He would need a ladder or some kind of step stool if he had any hope of hanging those lights. “Oh right. Building an AI sounds so easy. Just a day’s work.” Rio stated nonchalantly just as Winston had made it sound. Magic or not, it was impressive. He rested his chin into the palm of his hand, pondering a plan of action. “You’re not duty bound to do anything for my technically speaking, but considering your mime fireballed me…” Rio shrugged watching as Winston worked their magic. Or well, considering Winston really could work magic, Rio supposed Winston was just plain old working right now. But Rio enjoyed watching Winston work. He pretty much enjoyed any time he got to spend with Winston. “Yikes. I can’t say I’m especially heartbroken that I never had to deal much with the creepy karkinoid things. But I’m glad you all weren’t hurt.” He fell back on the bed and continued watching Winston, realizing maybe a bit too late that Winston was working to put Rio’s monitor together for his own room. “I’m literally not doing anything. I should probably lend a hand. Considering it’s my room and all.” He face palmed himself and then jumped off of the bed, “Do you need me to hold something in place or do anything while you drill? Not sure if you heard or not, but I am pretty strong despite the lack of muscles.”

“I mean, the majority of the coding that it would require is probably accessible through open source software libraries, the majority of the other stuff that I would need it to uniquely coded to the home would be difficult, but I can’t see it being completely impossible, plus I really enjoy it so it isn’t like it’s work or anything like that.” Winston shrugged. They’d always found tech so much easier then anything. It just worked for them and they understood how to make it do what they wanted. “Yeah, I feel like if your mime had fireballed me then I would also be pretty pissed, and … sorry that I didn’t tell you about the magic and you had to find out that way. I’m … well believe it or not I am really new to all of this and I don’t really like telling people about the magic because there is a vampire that hunts spellcasters and it’s dangerous…” they swallowed gently and turned back to their work. “But she just thinks I’m good with tech so we’re safe for now.” They paused and sighed. “Thanks, I’m glad that I wasn’t hurt too, and I’m very glad that you got to avoid dealing with them.” Pausing for a second longer, Winston took a long breath and realised they needed something from their kit. “Pass me the pencil in the top of the tool and then can you hold the monitor in place whilst I make sure that it’s all lined up so it isn’t crooked.” Winston marked the various spots on the wall and positioned the drill before beginning on the holes. “Is that because you’re a hunter? Like genetically?” Winston asked curiously. 

“Oh right. Super easy. I think I’ll just do it, since you explained it and everything.” Orion laughed, not even sure where he would possibly begin to try to do something like that, and he had the basics of coding down. He wasn’t great at it, but he understood how it worked. “Don’t sell yourself short. I think you’re super impressive.” Rio assured, his face turning red immediately and trying to backtrack, “it’s. I think it’s super impressive. Like your tech skills is what I meant. Not that you’re not impressive. But like I was talking about it specifically. You know? Okay.” He needed to shut himself up immediately. He welcomed the opportunity to talk about secrets instead. “Please, don’t apologize to me about that. It’s not like I offered up my secret or anything either. You’re not obligated to tell me anything you don’t want to.” Rio was curious by nature, but he didn’t consider himself especially nosey. He liked learning but liked to keep that separate from learning about others private lives. He had learned from his mistake with Skylar. It was their story to tell, not his to seek out. “Right, well make sure to keep your distance. And let me know if she does anything sketchy. Not that I can really do much, but I want to make sure you stay safe.” He didn’t know anything about the witch hunter in town, but knew enough. A hunter was a hunter, no matter what it was that they targeted. They couldn’t be trusted. Rio jumped at the opportunity to help, picking up the monitor in one hand and reaching to grab the pencil with his free hand. He held the monitor up, balancing it against the wall and passed the pencil off. “Yeah. Being born a hunter comes with some perks. Or I guess you could call them perks. Enhanced strength, heightened senses. Night vision. All stuff I can’t really complain about, but wish I never had.”

“I’m sure you would work it out eventually and I could help, it could definitely be a group project.” Winston really liked Orion. He made them laugh. He was kind. He cared about helping other people, so much so that he had rejected a family of hunters because he knew that what they were doing was not right. Winston felt a warm glow over take them and gave Rio a bright smile. “Thanks dude, I’m glad that I impress you so much.” They weren’t sure that they had been called super impressive by anyone. But they knew that they liked it. “Either way, I think you’re trying to compliment me and I’m just going to take it.” Winston paused and nodded. “Okay, thanks, I just, I wanted to explain myself because I would really love to show off to more people but I can’t and I didn’t want you to think that it was because I didn’t trust you, because I cannot express to you how glad I am that I met you watching anime and then I sleep walked in on you and you know, this is awesome. I’m glad you’re here.” Winston was worried that they might have said too much in that moment, but they really enjoyed Orion living with them and they weren’t about to apologise for it. This definitely was not a mistake. “I’ll be fine, I’ve got it under control and Nell wouldn’t let her hurt me and you know then there's everyone else who might help.” Winston paused to consider Rio’s reply. “Just because you were born with gifts that has been used one way, doesn’t mean you can’t use those gifts to help others.”

“Well I definitely wouldn’t say no to a group project. I love helping you with stuff. But I definitely think I’ll let you take charge on the AI thing. I can help clean up coding along the way or something where I’m more involved like in a support role. I can keep the coffee flowing for you.” Orion felt himself blushing, and he was exactly sure why. Of course Winston impressed Rio, he shouldn’t be embarrassed by that. And yet the idea that Rio had something wrong or suggestive was mortifying to him. “I’m definitely complimenting you. Just not like weirdly complimenting you. If that makes sense. I don’t think it does. Let’s ignore that comment.” Oh boy. Now Winston was complimenting Rio. And Rio really didn’t know how to handle that. He couldn’t imagine how red his face must be at the moment. “I- uh feel the same way. Seriously, I just am really bad at expressing it apparently. But like... you sorta changed my entire life, when you accidentally strolled into the Scribe building, so I can’t thank you enough for your friendship and stuff.” His mouth felt dry as he tried to express his gratitude to Winston. Winston was a majority of the reason that Rio had finally gotten the courage to leave, and was certainly part of the reason he had made the progress he had with the Scribe building. It felt weird expressing feelings like this, but Rio didn’t mind it. “Good. I think you’re pretty capable by yourself, but it makes me feel better that Nell knows about it too. She’s awesome.” Winston made the same argument that others had made for Rio’s abilities, and of course they were right. Rio wished he could separate the powers from the family, to make himself hate the gifts a little less. “It just doesn’t seem fair. This... I don’t know what to call it. Curse? That doesn’t sound right either. But I just wish I was a normal human sometimes.”

“Cool, well, I’ll see what needs doing around here and if we think of something else we can work on that too.” Winston wasn’t going to say no to help, nor a chance to hang with Rio. They listened carefully, patiently to everything that Orion had to say. They were maybe the only person that they had ever met who stumbled over their own words as much as Winston did. “I get it, you’re complimenting me.” They smiled. Rio didn’t make them feel nervous or uncomfortable. Not like so many other people in this supernatural world. Miriam, Deirdre, hell even Athena. Not to mention all the other weirdos that were out there. Hunters, Slayers, Wardens, they were all just a piece of the puzzle but none of that seemed to factor into it with Rio. “Don’t worry, sometimes explaining things is easier … well I was going to say said then done but that’s not helpful,” they laughed and shrugged, “I get it. We’re both happier now we’re doing this shit. It’s cool.” They smiled and turned back to their drilling, placing the wall bracket and beginning to mount the monitors. “Curse seems dramatic, but I think you’re looking at it in the wrong light. You’re not a weapon or a tool, you’re a person. Sure, you’re not /entirely/ human but these days who is? I know i’m not, you now know for sure that Ricky is also … not. Some of my best friends are barely even a little human. The world sucks, and you’ve got super strength and regeneration? I don’t think that’s a curse at all. Sounds a lot more like a blessing to me. Not just for you, but everyone else that you decide to help with it. 

Despite the way Orion seemed to specialize at stuffing his foot in his mouth, seemed to understand what Rio was trying to say. Rio enjoyed how much the two had in common. He had made a good amount of friends the last few months, and they were all the kind of people that Rio never thought he would actually have made friends with. Winston was one of the few that Rio seemed to have a lot in common with. But for fear of embarrassing himself again, Rio decided that they two had already had their heart to heart. So instead of trying to form some sappy response, Rio laughed and nodded at Winston and focus on the human topic instead. “I don’t know what you mean, when have I ever been dramatic?” Rio asked innocently. He would reign a halo if one of his hands wasn’t be used to hold a monitor in place. “But yeah, I get your point. It’s weird. I want everyone that’s not human to embrace themselves and understand that they’re not a monster or evil like the narrative tells them. And then I can’t do it for myself.” For some reason, when Winston said it Rio actually wanted to believe the words. “Thank you, seriously. I really want to help. And I know you do too. I don’t really know much about your world. Magic and all. I’d love to learn more about it. Like your experience with it, I mean.”

“Well, there was the time that someone threw a fireball at you, there was the time that we were running from that mime spider, there was the time that you arrived at our house drenched from the rain because you’d been too dramatic to ask us to pick you up…” Winston scratched their chin in faux confusion, “need I go on?” They smirked gently, hoping that Rio would take the teasing in the good natured manner that it had been given. They finished placing the monitor on the wall and settled on the desk for a moment, drawing their knees up under their chin and drumming their long fingers against the wooden top. “Sometimes the hardest advice to accept is your own, believe me, I learned that one the hard way.” They pulled themselves to their feet and wandered over to the bed to take a good look at it from a distance. “That looks straight? Right?” Winston should probably get a spirit level, but if Rio couldn’t notice then they wouldn’t have to. “I mean, dude, I don’t know what to say, there isn’t that much to tell, I’ve been doing it for just more then five months now and for the first three months I was stumbling along uselessly in the dark. The last two months, well we’re getting there but I’ve still got a very long way left to go.” Winston shrugged gently and began hooking up the LAN cable that they’d need to hardwire Orion’s computer into the internet. “You probably have more experience then me.” 

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Rio faked a laugh in Winston’s direction and tried to go for a fake pouting face. “I don’t see how the fireball thing was my fault. Okay well I guess I was the one that actually dove through the window, but that was the only way I could think to get away from it.” He defended himself, though he was grinning the whole time. “Yeah, so I’ve heard. Not sure I’ve ever taken my own advice to find out for myself.” He shrugged. He meant it as a joke to keep the mood light, but his tone felt flatter than it had before. Self esteem issues were no fun, especially when he was trying to tone them down. He knew how Ricky got around self deprecation and he was trying to avoid anymore compliment battles with him in the kitchen. When Winston got everything screwed in they both took a step away and tried to figure out if everything was hanging properly, “I don’t know. I feel like we covered that I don’t really understand straight very well.” Rio tried to remain serious for effect, but was giggling by the end of the sentence. He needed to brighten the mood a bit. “Got it. So this world is all pretty much new to you then?” Rio asked them, absentmindedly pushing at the mounted monitor to see just how easy it was to adjust it. That was way cool. “I’ve known about the supernatural for as long as I can remember. I never knew much about witches aside from the existing. There were a few that helped out hunters sometimes but besides that all I know is how strong they can be. I’m glad you’re getting a better handle on it though.”

“In your defense, if someone threw a fireball at me then I would also probably leap through a giant pane of glass in an attempt to get away from it.” Winston smirked gently, Rio was cute. That grin was very cute, even if it was shit eating. “Well, maybe you should break that bad habit and for the first time in your life you should take your own advice, I know that seems like a novel thought but who knows what you would be able to do if you took some advice better then my own for once?” It was Winston’s turn to grin now. Rio was actually really funny when you let him get out of his shell. He was smart too. “Ha, you kill me dude,” Winston adjusted their glasses and shook their head as they laughed. “Literally dude, I found out that werewolves were real less then five months ago, maybe slightly more at this point but fuck, yeah, all super new, all super terrifying.” They were still wrapping their head around their new reality and there were many days where Winston simply sat there wondering what the hell had gone on to make all of this happen. “I’m starting to learn a lot more and there are lots of paths to take, like a coven asked if I wanted to join, I said know, but you know that’s always an option.” Winston perched on the end of the bed. “It’s pretty scary sometimes, this, whole deal, but then people like you are always here to help and … that really helps.” 

“You know, sometimes I take Ricky’s advice too. Works about as well as yours.” Orion seemed to be making some progress, as far as his anxiety went. He felt more comfortable around Ricky and Winston daily. He was able to joke around with them, hang out with them while feeling relatively at ease. He was even able to play some of his games around them, which he had never been comfortable enough with before. He had always enjoyed watching them play games, but had always talked himself out of playing any himself while they were there. “Yeah… that’s a lot to take in all at once.” Rio couldn’t imagine the culture shock. Once it began, it all poured in at once too it seemed. That must have been a pretty stressful time. “I think you’ve handled it all really well though. Considering everything.” And he wasn’t lying about that, Rio wouldn’t have known that Winston had just learned about the supernatural without Winston telling him just now. He really seemed like a natural. “But uh, you know I’ll always help however I can… Can I ask why you said no to the coven?”

“Ricky’s advice is usually better then mine,” Winston replied with a smirk, “he usually knows when something is a bad idea, I just don’t usually do anything that will probably get me killed. Usually. Ok, maybe it is the other way around.” Winston was glad that they were beginning to see Rio come out of his shell a little bit more, of all of the people who were new to their life Winston was beyond glad that Rio was among them. He was important. “Yeah, I won’t lie, it was a bit of a change, but some of it has been really cool. Like, I find it difficult to really find a good reason to complain about being given the ability to cast magic spells, there are much worse things that someone could have to deal with let’s be real.” Winston smirked gently and shrugged. “Thanks dude, it is what it is, can’t change any of it now, just got to keep going you know.” They considered it for a second. “The person who invited me, it’s their coven, like they’ve always been part of it and we’re really good friends, I just, I want this journey to be mine. I worry that joining a coven would get political and plus coven’s have rules and no offense, I kind of don’t want to be restricted by more rules.”

“Well we’ve lived through everything. So I think that’s all that matters.” Orion shrugged. Putting himself in danger wasn’t exactly Rio’s favorite thing to do. Nor did it make any of his top ten lists. But for Winston? Rio supposed he could make an exception or two. Rio was pretty sure he’d do just about anything for his roommates at this point. Especially because someone needed to be the levelheaded one. “The supernatural world can be really cool. Besides all the, like horrors and dangers of it.” Rio found his fascination with the subject was hard to explain. On one hand, he loved learning about the supernatural and their cultures. On the other hand, he knew that they had to live in fear. Of people exactly like Rio. “But it’s awesome learning about what others can do and what makes them unique.” And that was all he really wanted, and it seemed like his beliefs lined up pretty well with Winston’s too which was nice. “I’ve never thought of it that way, but I get it. You deserve that time to grow for yourself.” Rio wished there was a way that he could help Winston more. Maybe they could find some more information on magic at the Scribe building to share. Something that could help them learn about magic without the need for a coven. “Besides, a coven is just like a… family you know? And you already have that.” Wow that was corny. Rio sighed at himself, rubbing at his temples and now digging through the bag to pull out the lights he had bought. “I need a step stool if I’m supposed to be tall enough to hang these.”

Swallowing, Winston shrugged and looked to the rest of the room. They still had work ahead of them, but it wasn’t as if this was difficult. “I just wish it was less violent, maybe that’s naive of me but I just don’t see why everyone is so insistent on killing each other all of the time. Like, we get it, you don’t like each other. Chill out please.” Fiddling with their glasses, Winston straightened them on their face once more and shrugged. “Exactly, I’ve got my own coven; though most of them aren’t witches. It’s not even just the whole family thing though, I don’t know. There feels something different or difficult about it, I’m not ready for that step yet.” Winston bit their lip as they tried to think of how to explain it. Nell’s coven just left a bad feeling in their stomach. Winston looked up at the ceiling and tried to think of the best way that they would be able to do this. “Can you like lay out on the floor how you want your fairy lights because I’ve got a cool idea that I want to try out, but I need to know how you want it to look first?” 

“You and me both. But it won’t stop. Or well… they won’t stop.” Orion wished that it would of course, but he knew that it was just wishful thinking. The hunters would never give up on their quest.  They were too sanctimonious. Convinced that they had some right above others to extinguish life from this planet. It wasn’t fair or right, but they couldn’t be convinced of that. Of course, Rio wasn’t completely blind. They knew that the supernatural could be dangerous too. It was all a messed up situation. “I get it. And sorry… to bring it up and all. I support whatever you want to do.” At Winston’s suggestion, Rio knelt down, arranging the lights along in a row. “Maybe some kind of strings like this? I thought it might be cool to have a single wall of them that I could hang pictures or something on. I don’t know. I can obviously get the lower stuff but the top of the wall won’t be easy.

“It won’t stop if people take that attitude to it,” Winston replied with a shrug, “but it does suck, no one needs to be dealing with someone hunting and hating them just because of what they are.” Winston paused for a second and wondered how they would actually ever be able to effect real change on such a dangerous and difficult world. “Thanks, that means a lot. I don’t think I will do anything, at least not yet.” There was still too much for them to learn. There were so many points of view in the supernatural world and Winston didn’t want to become biased. “Cool, okay, let me try something new.” They smiled and grabbed the end of the fairy lights, plugging them into the wall, they flicked the switch on. Pausing for a moment before reaching out carefully, Winston extended their presence and will. Feeling the flow of energy surging through the wires and illuminating the tiny bulbs, Winston began to move the wire. It wiggled a little as they got used to the motion before carefully beginning to snake it’s way up the side of the wall before settling in place. “Like that?” 

“I don’t mean to be a buzzkill,” Orion started. He didn’t know how to explain it to Winston without sounding even more pessimistic. That people like his family wouldn’t stop until they were stopped. And Rio hadn’t figured out how to do that yet. “I just- I don’t know. Sorry. I don’t really want to be the kind of person that thinks that way. It’s just hard, I guess.” He didn’t really know what he was saying anymore. Rio was happy to focus instead on the lights, which Winston was putting up… like with their mind. “Holy woah.” Rio held his hand up towards the wall but stopped himself before getting in the way of Winston’s magic. “This is perfect. I can’t believe that you can just… do this y’know? That’s so cool!”

“It’s cool, I get it. The stuff you’ve experienced has tinegd your perception and I would probably feel the same. But I’ve got to believe that we can change things. Otherwise I have to live in a world I don’t like.” Winston wasn’t about to sit idly anymore. They could affect real change. “I get it though.” Winston felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of their temple. They could feel the exhaustion in them. A shortness in their breath. They were still getting used to magic and show off had taken it’s slight toll. “Thanks, I’m still fucking around with the tech magic, but I think there’s some real potential outside of wire hanging.” Winston couldn’t help but grin. It felt good to impress Orion. 

“No, you’re right. And I want things to be like that too. I just haven’t figured out how that’s possible.” Orion wanted to be like Winston, positive thinking and not willing to withstand any less than. How did Rio get himself to be like that? “Yet, at least.” Maybe the trick was to just stick around with Winston. That was assuming Winston didn’t get them killed first. Rio was staring at the wall, watching as the lights snaked across the wall. But he heard the change in Winston’s breath. He turned around, noticing the swear pooling on their face. “Are you okay?” Rio moved back over towards Winston to get a better look. “Is that what using the magic does to you?” Rio questioned. It made sense, thinking about it. The energy for the spells had to come from somewhere. But was it dangerous? It had to be, if overused. “You need water or something?”

“I don’t know either, but we’ll work something out and see if we can change things, but I know that’s not super likely.” Winston shrugged gently and smiled, it was a hard road but it was nice that they had friends along with them to help them along the way. Winston just hoped that it all worked out in the end. Though they weren’t sure how they would. “Yeah, I’m okay, I kind of need to keep trying to flex the magical muscles as much as I can so that I can develop more and keep the stuff going, I don’t know if that makes sense.” Winston shrugged and looked at their shoes. “Magic requires energy, I have a theory about using electricity to power magic but right now that isn’t the point, when I use magic, the energy comes from me which is exhausting. But this was worth it.” 

“I think if anybody can do it, it’s probably you. Or well, us I mean. Like us working together.” Orion shrugged. He still wasn’t incredibly optimistic. But he knew that if he thought there was a world that could change. It started with people like Winston and Blanche, others that were excited to learn about the supernatural and embrace the differences instead of fearing and condemning it. “And by us I mean like… all of us. Blanche and Ricky and Nell and others too.” Rio listened to Winston explain about the magic using up energy. He wasn’t going to pretend to understand how it would work to use technology to power magic, but Winston didn’t seem to have all the answers yet either. Rio would just let Winston work on that. “Do you exercise a lot?” Rio found himself asking. “Uh- Well having the enhanced strength and senses that hunters have, we expend a lot of energy when we do stuff. So we tend to have big appetites and get tired out quickly. So one of the big things that we are taught is training up endurance. So that you can go longer when the time comes. Maybe we could… try something like that? The more physical endurance and energy you have, I bet the same goes for your magical ability potential.”

“Well it isn’t like that is a lot of pressure to put on one guy, so let’s go with working together. But yeah, I think we can make a change. Winston bit their lip for a second and gazed at Rio thoughtfully, they were a good friend and maybe a better person. Winston paused for a moment and nodded. “I get it, we all have to pull our weight if this is going to work.” They shrugged gently and shook their head. “I know it looks like I’m super unfit but I’m also slightly asthmatic which makes exercise … interesting, so, you know I try and work out, but yeah, it would probably be a good idea to do it more…”

Orion still had doubts, for sure. He was skeptical that there was any chance he could convince the hunters that things could change. But he knew hunters that had already started to doubt the way of life. Maybe it wasn’t as far off as Rio thought it was. “It sounds really cheesy right? But whatever. Someone has to do it, I guess.” He wanted to stay positive for Winston and for Blanche and others that actually wanted the change. “I don’t think you look unfit” Rio mumbled, hoping that didn’t sound weird to say to them. “But uh- swimming! We could try swimming? Swimming is specifically recommended to those who have asthma. Sometimes chlorinated swimming pools can though so we would want to be careful with that.” Rio trailed off, thinking of places that they could try out. “I guess the ocean, but the place doesn’t seem like the safest right now.”

“I’m sure we can think of something, but usually I’m fine around pools. Besides it’s not like I’m going to die of an asthma attack any day now, it’s just something I have to manage. Usually it’s not even a huge problem at all, but yeah, it would be cool to do something like that with you.” Winston smiled gently and nodded, swimming was something that they could manage. Although the last time that they had been in water it hadn’t ended well, they were sure that wasn’t going to happen everytime.

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen Rambles About Three Houses

So last week I finished up my Black Eagles playthrough of Fire Emblem Three Houses. It was... okay. It wasn’t great. I had a few issues with the pacing how quick the plot move to the final battles and the lack of build-up for the big climaxes in the last few chapters, but I had a good time overall. Still, I was left unsatisfied. Between Fates, Echoes, and even Warriors, I think I enjoyed this game the most, but also had the most uncertainty with. 

Fates was a fun game with fun mechanics and fun customization options if you were willing to grind for it, but also had the worst stories and narratives. Echoes had the best story out of the three, but had some game mechanics I really wasn’t a fan of like dungeon stamina and enemy AI nonsense. And Warriors was just fun fanservice as a fan of Dynasty Warriors, but was overall boring and repetitive after completing the story mode. 

Three Houses honestly succeeds in every category so far. It has an engaging story, fun gameplay mechanics with a lot of customization options, and a lot of fun interactions and cute moments in it. But even so, I still can’t help but have issues with it. 

So... I want to talk about that for a bit. I want to cover what I like and what I dislike about this game so far. Just talk a little bit with the fanbase to see where my feelings and thoughts are compared to everyone else’s.

But first, as always, a synopsis for those unfamiliar with Three Housed. 

Fire Emblem Three Houses is a strategy game for the Nintendo Switch and the 16th game in the franchise. This game in particular focuses on three heirs to three different nations on the continent of Fodlan. The proud and commanding Edelgard of the Adrestian Empire who has great ambitions for her nation and its people despite how radical and blasphemous her manifesto seems. The kind well-mannered Dimitri of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus who’s smile and inviting nature hides a dark and maleficent past that still haunts and eats away at him to this day. And the easy-going and playful Claude of the Leicester Alliance who always seems to be planning something more sinister and malicious than his devil may care attitude shows. These 3 heirs all go to the same military academy at the Garreg Mach Monastery, both a religious and military center where the church resides. Together they enjoy school life, interact with students and classmates, compete in friendly competition, and learn the ways of war together. However, as political events, social changes, and possible wars erupting, the three friends are tested and eventually break part, now pointing their blades at each other for their own beliefs and goals. And as violence is all but certain as the years tick by, all the three can do is wait until they’re forced to kill each other for their beliefs, their goals, and their countries.

You play as none of these characters.

Instead, you play as Byleth, a new professor at the academy and former mercenary. You choose one of the Three Houses to teach and become wrapped up in their machinations as the plot thickens. How you train your students and ready them for the real world for the trials to come is all in your hands.

So... with that all said and the plot laid out, I think I should start with my issues first in the say way I did my quick thoughts. Just so I can at least end this on a good note after all my nitpicks and issues. 

With that said, I’m going to start small and first cover...

Things That Only Annoy Allen

So last time I tried to write this I had to make my first “small” grievance into it’s own part. I’ll try and keep this short since I really want to keep this to the actual small stuff:

I don’t like Byleth’s female design. I’ll go into detail later but for now just know the lacy stockings are distracting for the wrong reasons.

There’s no female brawling class and it bugs me greatly due to Petra’s and Ingrid’s high speed growths. They could be some extremely high DPS infantry in the right hands with those things, but there’s no really class to take advantage of that aside from maybe Swordmaster.

More for story reasons than anything, I wish there was an in-game limit to how many students you could have join your class. About 3 students per House if I had to put a number on it for reasons I’ll explain later. This isn’t an issue, but it’s something I’d like.

Magic only being accessible for certain classes bugs me. I understand the in-game reason for this as a physical unit that could use some emergency (if very weak) magic after losing weapons or fighting armored units would honestly break the game even further than it can be now, but still.

Something I might mention later, but after watching a Blue Lions playthrough by one of my favorite Let’s Players I feel that the game should had limited which House we could join first, as my Black Eagles playthrough would had been more fulfilling learning of some things I’ve learned in that Blue Lions run.

Class mastery should be tied to levels instead of as a separate experience bar. I understand why that’s done, mostly keep people from really min-maxing classes and abilities, but it’s still annoying in terms of optimization.

Edelgard, the only female lord, is the only bisexual lord. Now I’m not in the LGBTQA+ community, but as a gamer and self-proclaimed degenerate I know that denying the yaoi fangirls a male gay option for a main character is... suspicious, given the lovable bisexual rouge of Niles in Fates, and it clear that Claude could had easily been a bisexual option as well given his personality. Again, not in the LGBTQA+ community or trying to play the social justice card, but it is making me raise eyebrows toward the games marketing and aimed demographics.

Byleth in general just... bugs me as a character, but I’ll get to that later.

...

...

...

And now it’s later, so let’s get to talking about the main thing that bugs me with Three Houses, and that’s...

Byleth

I don’t like Byleth. I don’t like Byleth at all. I namely don’t like how they were executed, but the fact that we have another avatar character after how well Echoes worked as a story without a self-insert character, I’m just... baffled. I’ll try and break this down a little.

Byleth’s Design

I really don’t Byleth’s design, namely the female design. The male version looks fine, if a little too black for my tastes, but the female version is trying way too hard to look sexy. This only makes me mad because both Awakening and Fates had female avatars that didn’t look overly sexy or obviously pandering to the male gaze. They were just the female version of the male version’s outfit. Maybe there was some more boobs and hips because female, but it was mostly forgivable. 

And look, I’m not prude, far from it. Senran Kagura is one of my favorite video game series (cautiously hyped about Yumi being in Cross Tag BTW). Rumble Roses is a guilty pleasure I play every so often. One of my favorite anime is freaking Koihime, aka ‘Ikkitousen but better EVERYONE is a girl.’ I’m not saying you can’t have a sexy character or a bunch of sexy characters in a game or piece of media. However, that character should at least have a sexy personality to go with it. And with Byleth, who has the personality of cardboard has been with her mercenary father all her life fighting for her life, it doesn’t feel like she would actively be trying to look sexy since she doesn’t have the personality for it, or a personality at all. She looks less like a mercenary or teacher and more like Manuela forced her into some lacy stockings to make her branch out...

Huh, that would be a good paralogue/support conversation, but I’m not about to rewrite the game just for my satisfaction... yet.

 If you want my quick armchair redesign ideas in terms of design I’d just stick her in Male Byleth’s armor, maybe have a more pronounced/noticeable skirt instead of a long shirt, and dear God get rid of those lacy stockings. Byleth is suppose to be a mercenary that’s only known battle with her father, the Ashen Demon that rarely shows their emotions, not a sexy fashion model. The Enlightened One model is it’s own mess, but this section ate up enough of my time already so I’m moving on.

Byleth’s Personality

Again, Byleth having the personality of a damn rock really kills my attachment to the character. They don’t speak or emote beyond generic level up phrases and crit quotes. 

Which is a shame because Byleth has some really good crit quotes. 

However, from what Jeralt and other students say about Byleth I can gather that their someone that’s often quiet and standoffish. They don’t speak unless prompted to or needs to interject. They tend to observe more than act, even more so after they gain the ability to rewind time, but have a razor-sharp and deadly focus when in combat. And despite their distant nature, they do care about their students, friends, and family quite a lot, willing to break the emotionless Ashen Demon persona to crack a smile even now and then, even completely showing deadpan shock when something surprising or appalling is said, as rare as it happens. 

This is literally Yu Narukami’s personality in Persona 4 the Animation.

And that anime not only gave Yu Narukami more agency and personality than the self-insert the game made him out as, it also gave him a lot of a good back-and-forth with his friends and cast at large. 

Seriously, this could had been Byleth if they bothered to let them speak and actively interact more independently, and it would had been great.

But that aside, I’m moving on to something a little more important, which is...

Byleth’s Importance

[Spoilers for the Black Eagles Route Ahead] 

Again, I’ve only played the Black Eagle’s route, so maybe this changes in the other Houses, but Byleth seems way too important for his own good when we have 3 other “main” characters. He’s the crux of a lot of events and it doesn’t feel deserved or built up to well enough. In the Black Eagle’s path, you’re the one that convinces the class to work with Edelgard instead of Edelgard just explaining herself before the class of her goals. You’re the one leading the Black Eagle Strike Force instead of Edelgard or Hubert taking command and leading after years of not having the professor around and having to survive the war on their own. You’re the one that Rhea has a personal vengeance for instead of the woman that torn the church apart with both words of steel and blades of iron. And you just randomly find out that your the progenitor god from Edelgard and Hubert toward the very end. It feels really anti-climactic, but I also get the feeling that we were suppose to play Edelgard’s route last, something I’ll save for later. 

Among other things, I just feel that the focus on Byleth stagnants Edelgard’s character a lot. I want to see Edelgard struggle with the fact that her ideals, while noble in concept, are dragging the world in the flames of war and that she’s seen more as a tyrant than a savior, but instead we focus on Byleth’s mysterious birth and power after being gone for five years. This game, at least on the Black Eagle route, was so damn close to telling a really good war drama, but backpedals due to Byleth’s existence and perceived importance.

Sothis

[Spoilers for Mid-Game Ahead]

I wish she was more active in the story. Nothing too big, but if I had to deal with emotionless rock that is Byleth, I’d like to have seen Sothis sprinkling her commentary on everything they did. Just imagine Sothis sassing Byleth about how their always eat lunch with their students. Her commenting on the fish they catch. Her giving additional small hints about who owns certain lost items after failing so many times to give the right item to someone. Her sassing every student in their support with Byleth on C-rank. Her telling you to go to sleep when you run out of activity points. It’d add a lot to her character and it’d make the moment later in the game when you no longer have her voice around feel more impactful. Imagine catching a big fish after fusing with her and... hearing nothing about it how big a catch it was. Imagine trying to give Ingrid a lost sword for the fifth time, hoping to hear a hint from Sothis and... you hear nothing.

Again, just an armchair idea, but at least that way when Byleth is being a plank of wood we’ll have Sothis to add some literal flavor text to everything they do.

Ah, but that’s enough about Byleth, let’s move on to something a little more important. Like... 

The Gameplay

Thankfully, my issue with the gameplay are more nitpicks if anything, and I can actually have this in list form too.

As I mentioned in my quick thoughts, I feel like late-game/master classes are more of a pain to gain than most others. A lot of them need to have some heavy grinding in a stat you didn’t likely need to worry about before. Mortal Savant requires you to heavily grind either a physical class in magic or a magical class in swords, something that you likely didn’t do. Speaking of magic, it’s annoying that for all the customization in this game only certain classes can use magic. It makes raising a Mortal Savant or a more physical Holy/Dark Knight a nightmare. Again, I understand why this was done, but it’s annoying all the same.

Gender-restrictions, as I also said in my Quick Thoughts, are just dumb. Fates had removed this and it was great to have the freedom to give my male units the ability to become Falcon Knights, or my Female units to be... Okay, I only played Fates and Echoes, but the fact still remains that not being able to make a female Grappler/War Master or a male Falcon Knight really sucks and limits me quite a bit. Especially the inability to make Lysithea a Dark Mage. It’s practically wrong. 

A lot of these maps have the same issue that Echoes had. They’re big and have a lot of enemies, but not much creativity to them. Okay, they have some thought put into them, more than Echoes anyway, but a lot of them still just feel like big fields that need at least three flying units to be manageable. Again, I’ve only played the Black Eagle route so there might be some more interesting maps in the other routes, but from what I’ve played there was no real strategy to these maps outside of baiting enemies and maneuvering around traps. I think there were probably only two maps that weren’t giant mazes or an empty field with a lot of enemies in them.

To the point above, this made slow moving armored classes almost completely useless. What point is there in having a slow tank on maps that span to what feels like 60X60 tile maps? Plus the maze-like design? Yeah, I don’t know how these maps were meant to be interesting.

And that’s it for gameplay issues. Moving on to...

The Story

Again, something that can be put into list form due to the story having more nitpicks than actual issues:

[Spoilers for Black Eagles Route Ahead]

The split decision to join Edelgard or not is dumb, as is the requirement to have the option available. I think it’s foolish to think we wouldn’t agree with her after listening to her manifesto for so long, especially if you played a Blue Lions route and seeing how Sylvain and Ingrid were screwed over due to their Crests, or just... Lysithea’s  background in general. I can’t argue with her beliefs, only her execution.

The Flame Emperor reveal was... really anti-climatic. As if, again, they assumed we’d do Black Eagles last. Playing this route first just leads to a lot of anti-climatic reveals, especially on Edelgard’s route.

I just really wish Edelgard came clean with her classmates and commanders at some point in the story, to just tell them all that she was experimented on as a child and had two Crests as a result. That she wants to eliminate the nobility and Crests as a symbol of statu because of the harm it does to people both on top and on the bottom of the social food chain. It’d give a lot more weight to her cause.

Again, most of my issues with the story come from Byleth having too much screen time and importance compared to Edelgard as a whole. Especially when I did the route where I chose to go with her.

Alright, I think that’s it for all of my nitpicks, all the major ones anyway. I think I finally move to...

The Good Things

Again, this will be in list form since a lot of the nicer parts about this game don’t need as much breakdown as the bad parts.

But anyway...

As much as I don’t find the late game reward in terms of class advancement, the mid and early game are great for experimentation. I've had a bunch of fun on my second playthrough with some creative builds. I might suffer a little in the late game due to not optimizing everything, but that’s managable.

As I also stated in my quick thoughts, dismounting is hilariously broken. The amazing amount of utility you get from being about to dismount once you reach a destination and then mount at the start of the new turn for free while also being safe from arrows and horse-effective weapons is hysterical. I honestly think this was a bug that just didn’t patch and that dismounting meant you were stuck with the lower movement for the rest of the turn, but God am I going to use it until they eventually patch it out.

I’ve got... issues with the Black Eagle route, at least the route I went through, but I’ve been watching a playthrough of the Blue Lions route and it’s everything I could have wanted in a Fire Emblem game and more. If you want to play a good story I recommend the Blue Lions as your first route.

But to cut the Black Eagles route some credit, a lot of Edelgard and Hubert’s A-Supports were probably some of the best I’ve seen in the series... though I’ve only played Fates and Echoes, so...

Speaking of supports all of them were done very well. Like I said, Edelgard and Hubert had great supports, but Lysithea, Petra, Caspar, and Dorothea had great supports as well.

A lot of the supports and voice acting are great. It’s a key reason as to why I like the supports so much. The Lords are especially great to hear and were directed well.

And... yeah, that’s all the good things. Don’t let the short length fool you, folks. Like I said before, my issues are more nitpicks. The game as a whole is just fine.

That said...

In the Future

As much as I want to, even as a fun little project, I think it’s a little arrogant of me to be making any rewrites or “improvement” to the current story of Three Houses. I have various reasons for this that I might go into depth to in a later Rambling, but the short version is as someone that’s struggle to write their own story I feel like a hypocrite for trying to “correct” another’s. However, I think it’s far game to make requests and bring forth ideas for a future title, especially since this one is selling so well. And so, before concluding I’d like to present a few things I hope to be in the next Fire Emblem game:

No Avatar Character

Like I said, I feel Byleth’s entire presence can ruin scenes due to his lack of personality and engagement. And as easy as it would be to give him one that would also mean the play losing their use self-insert character. To this I say it’s probably best to just not have an avatar/self-insert character to begin with. You can easily make a character that has the stats of an above-average all-rounder as your main character/lord while still having a personality. I think Echoes did this well enough with Alm and Celica, especially Celica if we’re talking stats and utility as a healer/magic/swordsman hybrid.

No Gender-Locked Classes

This is more of a personal desire than something that needs to happen, but if the next Fire Emblem game is going to give us this much customization then I’d really like to have complete control and not be restricted by gender, especially when we’re talking stats. A War Master Hilda would be wild. As would a Hero Petra, a Gremory Linhardt, a Dark Mage Lythesia, and so on. To restrict us is not only screwing people who want to make quirky builds, but also those that want to make optimal builds. Either remove the gender lock, or have these characters with more straight-forward classes like in Fates.

One/Limited Routes

Again, I haven’t played Blue Lions or Golden Deer yet, but the Black Eagles route had a branching path that I honestly think shouldn’t have existed. Maybe this was for reasons I can only guess at, but the story of the Black Eagles Route I was on felt very rushed, or at least it assumed I had played either the other Houses or the “canon” Black Eagles route first. That left the actual story, while I personally found engaging, very rushed and underwhelming at the end. In the future I’m hoping for either one path, or for alternate paths to be locked until you complete the other “main” ones that give a fuller story, because a lot of what I’m seeing in the Blue Lions playthrough I’m watching would had been nice to learn in the Black Eagles route to see Edelgards view of things.

Smaller Maps

Like I said, the maps in Three Houses are a little too large, especially with slower armored/magic units in the early game with only 4 movement. In the next game I’m hoping for either smaller maps or at least maps that accommodate for that slow movement of early game and saving the bigger maps for when you’d naturally have some cavalry and infantry units with 5 movement. I think Fates’ Conquest and Revelations maps did this perfectly.

Brawling Weapons

No real critique here. I just really like the gauntlets and I hope they come back in the next game.

Conclusion

Overall, I think Three Houses is a good game, despite all my nitpicks. I hope the next game will be even better and hopefully have some of the things I want to see. I recommend this for anyone with a Switch wanting to play a decent strategy game.

Anyway, I got a draft to make on that story I’m writing, as well as draft up another Rambling. See you all later!

[samspicturesandwords]

Next Assassin’s Creed Game

Predictions about the next Assassin’s Creed game

(Please note that I am not a journalist and I have no insider info about the Assassin’s Creed series or Ubisoft. This is all speculation for fun. Also, FYI this is not a history paper! I am looking up some facts and dates, but also just discussing things I’ve read and heard before and am hoping I’ve remembered correctly. Don’t take this as a good source of history. I apologize for any mistakes this post may contain and encourage you to do your own research into the topics mentioned if you’re interested in them. Sources I consulted for the history I discuss here include Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia.)

It’s a safe bet that the Assassin’s creed series will be around for a while yet, but what’s less certain is the form that the next installment will take. It has long been rumored that there will be title set in ancient Rome, and it seems likely that the next release will be exactly that – Rome would be a nice way to close out a loose “trilogy” of games set in the classical/Hellenistic Mediterranean after Egypt and Greece. But the history of Rome is long and complex.

In early times, Rome was a kingdom; it then became a republic from 509 BCE to 27 BCE, and then an empire that stood until the late 400s AD (in the west – the eastern half survived much longer). The period between the traditional date of the city’s founding in 753 BCE and the fall of the western part of the empire around 476-480 covers more than 1,200 years, and though the empire is long gone, Rome itself still remains, a beautiful and remarkable city I have had the pleasure of visiting. Obviously, a lot changed over more than one thousand years of Roman history, and saying that a game is set in Rome or the Roman Empire would be quite vague, so I’ll attempt to narrow it down.

I once thought that an Assassin’s Creed game set in ancient Rome would likely make Julius Caesar the main antagonist, because (spoilers for Origins and for real history!) he was famously assassinated after becoming something of an autocrat in what was supposed to be a republic. In Brotherhood, players can find the armor and writings of Brutus, one of the conspirators who killed Caesar. It could be fun to play as Brutus, or, as I suspected, to at least have him as a major character, as a way to tie the game to Ezio’s story. However, as those of us who have played Origins know, Caesar is assassinated by Aya at the end of that game, so it would make little sense to re-visit that exact time period since Caesar has already been used as an antagonist.

What if we look back further in history? My best guess now is that an Assassin’s Creed game set in Rome will take place during the second Punic war, which raged from 218-201 BCE. It was a particularly fierce and dramatic conflict fought between Rome and Carthage, a state founded by in north Africa by Phoenicians. Rome had defeated them once before – we are talking about the second Punic war here after all. Although their earlier loss had undoubtedly weakened Carthage, by the time of the second war with Rome they were still formidable.

While there may be no Romans from this period who are as famous to us today as some later emperors are, this is the war Hannibal Barca fought in. Most of you have probably at least heard of his daring invasion of Italy, in which he and his army, including elephants, crossed the Alps to attack the Romans from the north. Hannibal was a great military leader and has a lot of name recognition (more than Scipio Africanus does these days at least). Imagine fighting an army of Phoenician soldiers, their ranks bolstered by northern “Barbarians” who had joined the cause, and by a bunch of elephants. Elephants were already present as optional bosses in Origins, but imagine if they were integrated into field battles like the conquest battles of Odyssey. Historically, Hannibal had a fairly limited number of elephants at his disposal during his invasion, but they could appear as occasional bosses during story missions.

The Battle of Cannae, in particular, is one of the most famous battles in all of history and saw Hannibal defeat a larger Roman force. It could be a spectacular set piece.

One strike against my theory is that some prominent works of Roman architecture, like the Coliseum, were built after this time period, and would therefore have to be omitted if any semblance of historical accuracy was being observed. Then again, many of us already climbed the Coliseum and the Pantheon as Ezio in the Renaissance and wouldn’t miss them too much if they don’t show up in this game.

What would gameplay be like in this setting? Well, probably similar to the last two games in many respects. One way they could differentiate melee combat could be to re-introduce shields, which were present in Origins and absent (for the player character at least) in Odyssey. Shields were very important to Roman infantry (though as Blue from Overly Sarcastic Productions on YouTube has pointed out in his video “Historical Realism Review: Assassin's Creed Odyssey,” shields are an odd omission in that game, so who knows). The Romans also made use of javelins – could they be integrated, perhaps having higher damage than bows but also a shorter range?

Speaking of Blue from OSP, in the same video he mentions that it was unrealistic to see Greeks fighting in a disorganized melee when they actually relied so heavily on the phalanx formation. He said that he wished the game had been able to “bridge the gap” between a rigid formation and a “Battle royale.” In the unrelated game “Ryse: Son of Rome,” battles are split between sections in formation and sections of free-for-all fighting on your own. The latter type of gameplay is by far more common, but there are a few points at which the player character forms up with other soldiers and commands them to advance, brace behind shields to withstand incoming arrows, or throw javelins. An Assassin’s Creed game could do something similar, with some story missions embedding the player within a formation of soldiers and controlling them as a unit. This type of combat would likely be less engaging than the freer one-person army whirling through the battlefield, but it could be used occasionally in story missions to show a more realistic version of combat tactics at the time and to change up the pace of gameplay.

Naval combat could return with a twist: why not give the player’s ship a corvus? This Roman innovation is a type of spiked drawbridge that could be swung down onto a nearby enemy ship, allowing the Roman infantry to storm across and capture the vessel rather than destroy it. Historically, the Romans used the corvus in the first Punic war and it fell out of favour before the time we’re examining, but it is historically possible that at least the player’s ship could make use of this existing technology. Then naval battles could become deeper (no pun intended): players could decide whether to ram an enemy vessel or set it ablaze with flaming arrows, or attach the ships and engage in melee combat. Boarding already exists in Assassin’s Creed games, but the corvus could be a way to differentiate boarding a ship from destroying it. In Odyssey, boarding was only possible once a ship had been disabled and was nearly sinking from battle damage. What if in the next game, ramming or burning an enemy vessel would destroy it, while using the corvus would allow it to be not only boarded and raided, but captured? Troops on board your ship could be a resource, expended to board and subsequently sail enemy ships. I can imagine a system in which it was possible to capture enemy ships during battle, have your soldiers take control of them, and then have those ships assist you as AI companions. Maybe only one or two ships could be taken over before you run out of troops, and maybe they’d only assist until the battle was over, or perhaps they’d have to be manually dismissed to regain your full count of troops onboard your own ship. I think this would add a new dimension to naval combat.

The nation struggle system is likely to return, especially if the game is set during a period of intense warfare. I have written the preceding sections under the assumption that the player character would be on the Roman side. I do not know, of course, if the player character would be loyal to one side or the other, and if so, to which. I hope that they will fight for one side, because being a mercenary with no allegiance or real moral code irritated me in Odyssey. I feel that if the protagonist is loyal to one side, it will likely be Rome, partly because Rome would actually feel like the underdog in this conflict in which their territory is invaded, and partly because of Eurocentrism and the greater pop-culture familiarity with Rome compared to Carthage. Maybe we’d even go back to a system with two playable characters, like in Syndicate, but this time with one on each side of the conflict, but that might be too complicated to implement.

And now, just for fun, what could the title for this hypothetical Roman Assassin’s Creed game be? I’ve seen “Assassin’s Creed Legion” floated as a possibility by someone online. I also think that “Empire,” the rumoured title of Origins, could be appropriate. What do you think?

Again, I only looked up a few things here (and hoped I’m remembering the rest correctly), so I apologize if I’ve gotten some historical facts wrong. I mean, I’m just spitballing about what a video game might be, I’m not doing much research. Thanks for taking the time to read. I’d love to hear your theories and hopes for the game as well!

[retphienix]

Since I’m a bit into the game (sorta) by now I figured I’d talk on the gameplay just a touch.

Putting it all out there since it’s obvious I keep making the callbacks.

I’m biased as heck. FFT is my favorite game, I’m gonna compare similar games, I’m gonna be slightly irked at first by anything that’s different until I accept those differences because I’m an idiot.

And with this being the predecessor or in some ways the prototype of FFT all those comparisons are a lot more relevant in my mind.

So with that out of the way I’ll say it. I prefer FFT. BUT. Not in the worst way possible. I am loving this playthrough- I feel like I’m playing a remix on FFT and it’s a blast. And it’s not all downgrades, to get that out of the way.

The game has some features that feel better than what FFT went with and a good chunk of features that are JUST BARELY not as good as FFT’s but are lacking in one way or another. That’s kind of the way of things with a game that was reincorporated into making FFT in the first place.

So with that bias and unwarranted ridicule out of the way let me point at some things as ‘better’ and ‘worse’. Not all things, just what’s on my mind at this point in the game.

In order of pics I suppose.

1) This is both a ‘better’ and a ‘more potential than actually being explored thus far’ and a ‘I just figured this out to be honest’. Equipment in FFT often have effects on top of raw stats. Not all, but pretty early on they start throwing a few things in. They get away with not making all early gear unique by virtue of having more stats to utilize like avoidance being on accessories and shields which is sorely missed in TO. That said, they do attempt to add effects to some gear to offset their stats and make you consider what you’ll bring.

And I didn’t expect some of the earliest options to include this line of reason but sure enough- some items give you a rank in some skills you could equip which is nice, on top of other effects that could be attached to gear. This is good. The prevalence this early on is good. It evolved into more in FFT but it being here is very good.

2) Unfortunately this leads into skills since those equipment often give points in skills. Skills. Kinda. Suck.

It’s obviously good in terms of adding a lot to the gameplay. But some of the decisions really make them feel less impressive. Namely, skills are class specific (duh) and transfer to only certain other classes (disappointing).

It makes sense on some levels, yada yada, class identity all that jazz. And in saying that I admit this is opinion in a way, but I’m looking at my preferences and how FFT handled it since that’s my metric for the best way to handle it. I get why it’s this way on some levels but it really REALLY hampers creativity and giving your units any sort of personality based on how you play them.

To lay it out- say, Rampart Aura. It’s a skill that makes it so enemies can’t walk past you and, ideally (but not because it’s pretty bad and there aren’t sufficient tools to make a character a ‘tank’ that draws fire) attacking that unit since they can’t walk past them.

You spend some sp, learn the skill, slap it on- it’s all well and good. But then you change to an archer and decide you want to keep that skill for some stupid reason. You can’t. You have it, sure, but you can’t USE it. It’s incompatible and that customization is taken from you.

Or more egregious- spells. Want to slap divine magic on some units so you have makeshift heals available without a dedicated cleric? Too bad! Most units can’t use it and some (like Vartan) CAN equip Divine magic but can ONLY cast the offensive spells instead of heal.

That specific tidbit gets under my skin a lot- having the Divine Magic skill or the Dark Magic skill doesn’t mean “Cast these spells” it means “Cast whichever cherry picked types of these spells this class can specifically support”.

Basically, in FFT, imagine equiping white magic on a thief and finding out they can only cast support spells like protect and shell despite having all the spells learned. It’s that- an arbitrary limiter on what you can do with cross-class interactions meant to make each individual class seem more empowered- but it just feels like all classes can’t do jack because every class can do like 1 thing.

Sorry for bad train of thought, but also the Vartan guy you end up with is grade A I like him.

3) I’ll speed things along- the equipment screen sucks. Stats aren’t as expansive as I’d like, equipping anything is a mess where you click “Equip” “Slot” “Type of equipment” “The Equipment” and now you’ve got that one slot done and couldn’t compare it effectively with all the options you had. Messy. I don’t recall the original version being better or worse so it’s something this psp version could have improved on.

4) Buying stuff! Kinda sucks! No fitting room like FFT, you buy thing and equip/compare thing LATER in your bag. It works too much like oldschool FF games where you go to the shop and just buy things to equip later- in a tactical game this is a pain. Having to look at the item, look at its stats, hold square and scroll to see what classes can equip it, try to remember what said class has equipped now, buy it or not.

It’s messy as hell.

5) And finally, as implied earlier, the classes are really kind of a disappointment because of the way skills work.

Like, as a whole, it’s because of that. Classes rarely learn anything valuable to another class, so you don’t really change around to learn those skills. Classes don’t bring too much to the table on their own, likely because a lack of transfer skills would mean 1 strong class would become the only class that matters. And all of them feel kind of one note because, again, lack of interesting skills and lack of transfer skills.

Warrior can spend tp to hit harder. Archer can spend tp to shoot harder. Wizards have spells. Clerics can heal. Rune can heal too AND hit so screw clerics. Knights can heal too AND hit AND are supposedly tanks but the ai and skill choices don’t really make this applicable but otherwise screw clerics. Terror knights can debuff and hit things. Berserkers can hit all forward tiles ahead of them in a pattern like this I believe it was

XXX XOX with the o being them, they spend tp to do this once btw. Dragoon learn specific tp costing skills that raise their attack against various monster types like beasts or dragons, basically they just hit things. Ninjas can dual wield and swing both weapons (Good!) Rogues can backstab (Good!) along with other thief like skills and even laying traps?! Beast Tamers just learn alternative recruit spells to bring in beasts and dragons and then empower them by spending tp to buff them- the whole beast thing seems too convoluted since it seems like tamers or otherwise buffing the beasts is needed for them to carry their weight.

And there are more classes I’ve yet to unlock but reading on them it isn’t too much we haven’t seen. Better mages, raising undead which sounds interesting, a dancer/bard equivalent.

Most classes simplify down to one action that is usually “Hit thing” or “I cast this type of spell” and that’s a little disheartening when FFT usually gave you a ton of options per class AND the ability to mix and match these skills on your units so you end up with a powerful spellcaster tossing damage and heals or a ninja monk or an archer time mage.

I’m sure I sound aggressively against all this- but no.

I get why, it’s a pretty incredible title for its time and it lead to FFT in the first place, I’m just seeing where some of the ideas didn’t pan out or where some of the ideas first started and would later evolve. And it’s REALLY fun in it’s own bubble- but I’d be lying if it mostly just makes me want some of the cut threads modded into FFT so FFT was even bigger.

Toss in ninjitsu into FFT as an alternative to thrown weapons! Ninjitsu in this game is basically the sword arts from samurai in FFT but who cares, give it to us twice!

Give Mediators more buffing abilities like what beast tamer apparently gets!

But there’s some overly critical of a breakthrough title nonsense from me that very few if any will have the patience to read. **I DON’T BLAME YOU LOL**

[movietvtechgeeks]

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What I'm Playing Now: Among the Sleep and Fallout 4 Far Harbor still

This week, I began my island journey through Fallout 4’s Far Harbor DLC and completed Among the Sleep on the PS4. Let’s take a look at what I’m playing now! Fallout 4 Far Harbor Fallout 4’s biggest expansion to date, Far Harbor, has finally arrived, and things haven’t sailed entirely smoothly thus far. The mixed reviews were interesting before I tried the DLC, but now, the various impressions of critics make sense. To highlight how they make sense, I’ll recap my exact experience (without spoilers) of the downloadable content. I started off completing some of the initially available side missions, but primarily, exploring the island. Perhaps it was the new atmosphere that pulled me in, but in any case, I usually explore areas of Fallout games before completing quests, for the most part. The environment was excellently designed, and barring some minor glitches; I was having a great time; it was awesome to not only find new locations in a Fallout game but also, to learn about Far Harbor itself, which is supported by a rich and intriguing history. The missions up until this point were great as well. The tasks assigned were straightforward, and more pressingly, each of the missions had purpose, and were well-written—not just tacked-on to increase playtime (like, in all honesty, the constant barrage of “your help is needed” settlement quests, which force players to re-explore areas they’ve already cleared out, are). Then, just as I was about to villainize critics who awarded the DLC a low score, it hit me: the godforsaken mini-game that I noticed was identified in most every official review. I won’t mention when this mini-game comes-up, or exactly what it entails, but I will say that it is attached to a main quest; players must progress through this game (or games, more accurately) to complete Far Harbor’s main story. Here’s how it went down: I started this mini-game, found myself completely lost (as the lacking instructions are all audible and not overly helpful, like those of settlements, and I was still trying to understand what the hell was going on while they were being relayed). Grudgingly, I made use of a YouTube guide, not for an answer to this initial puzzle, but to find out what exactly was expected from me; things appeared straightforward enough, and I continued. The mini-game was unorthodox, but still, I wasn’t about to vilify it, given how I am always advocating innovation. I progressed, things were going well, and then, everything stopped. Once again without spoilers, I did everything I needed to complete the game, but the AI simply wouldn’t allow me to progress. I verified this point with videos, reloaded saves, restarted the game, and finally, after a few tries, things function as they should. Nevertheless, after I checked Bethesda’s Twitter, interested in a potential patch, I found that they actually did develop one for the PS4 specifically. Although I eventually made it over this hurdle, it is obviously a massive, massive issue; having difficulty proceeding through a mini-game that completely separates itself from the core title’s mechanics is a surefire way to aggravate fans. I will say, though, that I don’t have a problem with the mini-game itself or Far Harbor as a whole. On the contrary, I was having an excellent time enjoying the island and all that it had to offer before being temporarily glitched-out of progress on the main story. The environment is detailed and thoughtfully designed, the missions are fun, and the characters, in coordination with these other positive elements, seal the deal. Moreover, I believe I know exactly what went wrong with this mini-game (besides making it a requirement to progress through the main story): lacking play testing. The evidence supporting this point is abundant; the mechanics don’t work perfectly (and the AI commonly falters or stops responding), certain areas are difficult to traverse as opposed to being difficult to solve, and perhaps most pressingly of all, the “quit the simulation” message that appears each time one falls off of the map is a MASSIVE annoyance, with really no viable reason for being included. Hopefully, things are worked out soon for other gamers (they will be). This begs the question, though: is it fair for initially present glitches to affect critical reviews? Sure, technical deficiencies shouldn’t be found as a game is released, but if they are repaired in a prompt, professional, and free manner through an update, can they even be considered “detractors”? It’s a difficult question, and its answer is accordingly complex, but in a broad sense, it’s important for players to not underrate Far Harbor because of this deficiency. It’s a well-made, intricate, fun, and entertaining DLC entry in a riveting game, and when it is properly functioning, it stands tall as one of the best downloadable pieces ever made for Fallout—mini-game or no mini-game. With all of this said, that damn quit option adds insult to injury, and has to go. Among the Sleep The less I say here the better, as I believe this unassuming experience is best enjoyed with a blank palette. I bought Among the Sleep during a PSN sale a while back for next to nothing, and after playing, I can say, without hesitation, that the decision was more than worth it. Once again, I’ll work to limit the details, but anyone interested in a horror-esque title with a truly thought-provoking style and writing will have a great (and memorable) time here. Moreover, the game isn’t particularly long and can be completed in a single sitting. Don’t let the lukewarm reviews deter you; if played with an open mind, Among the Sleep will entertain. I’ll be sure to keep up on the future projects of the studio behind the game, Krillbite Studio. I’ll also make a conscious effort to play more than two titles in the coming week, and to also assure that like Among the Sleep, these titles are lesser-known. Enjoy the games!

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