#not new to hoyo games though I been playing genshin for 2 years

[pocketjeeble]

Okay, so I haven't posted for a while. That's because I haven't been playing ZZZ a lot. I have decided to play Honkai Star Rail now. And I have so many thoughts, so this is kind of a rant post. This is a long post, so yeah, but here's a TLDR if you want to read my thoughts:

It took a few days for me to adjust to the game, and at times, I got overwhelmed, but I'm enjoying it a lot now. The turn-based combat style isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think the story is very interesting and I'm invested. I'm a Sampo fan. I have decided to become a Trailblazer main until I get Boothill and Welt. Peppy is so baby I love Peppy.

Please don't spoil anything for me guys, ty! Also does anyone know who did the voice for HooH? To me it sounds like Dan Green when he voices Yami Yugi.

So my thoughts so far are that it took a little bit to adjust to the turn based combat, but it really isn't as bad as I thought. I'm enjoying it a lot! Sometimes I make stupid decisions but when I'm used to an enemy I know how to defeat it quickly, so that's good.

I was also overwhelmed by the amount of side quests at first, because there was A LOT. But I got through them and it's all good now. It's probably gonna get worse later on though welp😭

Story wise, at first I found that there was too much information to take in and I got confused, but I just kept playing and now it doesn't feel like that. Yeah, there's always new information being thrown at me, but it doesn't feel as confusing as it did before. I think because I'm so used to Genshin Impact, when it comes to other Hoyoverse games, I have to unlearn all of the Genshin stuff to enjoy the other games. I had to do it with ZZZ, too. I kept calling 'Polychromes' 'Primogems' for a good bit😭😭. I am enjoying the story so far, and I'm really looking forward to playing and learning more. I just defeated Cocolia. She was CRAZY and idk if to say poor Cocolia or not. Maybe because she was under the stellaron's influence. Stellarons really do some wild things😭😭. Also, when Trailblazer unlocked the path of Preservation, I thought that cutscene was really badass. Trailblazer out here being the coolest Hoyo mc fr imo.

As for characters, I have to admit it. I am a Sampo fan. For days, he was the only thing on my mind/srs. I want to crush him to a pulp but also smooch him. Idk, maybe I need help. I like Serval she's so cool, and Gepard reminds me of Xavier from Love and Deepspace (long lost brothers fr/j). When I played as Welt in a trial, him casually summoning a black hole BLEW my mind, so now I really want him along with Boothill. I'm saving up for Boothill, and I refuse to pull for any event banner until he's back. Idc who's meta, I need the cunty cowboy man. Also, I want Gallagher, but I know nothing about him. (DON'T SPOIL). But for now, I'm gonna be a Trailblazer main. Whatever characters I get for free or on the Standard warp are who I'm gonna be using. I'll probably keep using Destruction trailblazer, but I'm also gonna build Harmony because I don't have any characters with Imaginary powers.

Some other thoughts as well. When I had just first started playing and I was using Kafka, and I got to the walkway thing that shows outside the space station, I was so hyped and terrified to see all that space and stars. It's like if you actually shot me up into space, I'd feel the same because space is so vast and intimidating but so awesome.

ALSO PEPPYYYYY. Every time I see Peppy I malfunction for a second and then I take pictures because Peppy is so CUUUUUTE. I want to cry every time I see Peppy.

That one quest where the guy was making androids to keep his past lover alive in a way was really sad, I actually needed a moment to process because holy shit dude. And when I was on my way to Herta's office I saw he had a new android after I told him to destroy the other one, that kinda fucked me up for a sec. Also the quest where this other guy had a crush on this lady and some time stuff happened to her, that was really sad too. But I gave him the true information, so now he's gonna go chase after her.

And that's all I have to say for now. If you read up until here, holy shit lmao hi. I'm very sleepy writing this, so I know it doesn't sound like the most comprehensive, and definitely not concise, post but I just wanna yap because whenever I get introduced to a new game I want to talk about it.

[enden-k]

I'm so glad someone said it...

Like, Genshin is THE toxic ex of gachas. I feel so sorry for those who had it as their first Gacha/current one and only one because of how they are. Like, no Gacha games (that I play) are this bad with rewards, literally they give out A LOT of rewards just for their half anniversary. Hoyo's Genshin team is just money hungry and expect the fanbase to stay loyal and just now they're giving a free 5 star because it finally has competition and their player base is declining. I'm so glad I played for less than a month (the story and gameplay wasn't fun for me) because I was able to see other Gacha games I enjoyed like wuwa (literally what I wanted from Genshin) and Nikke (I went for the csm collab but their story and music is actually good), heck, even crk (though I stopped after 2 years) because they're what normal gachas are. Gachas aren't meant to give low rewards like genshin, they usually reward players for playing with a good amount, even surpass the normal amount because their dev team cares.

im not much of a gacha player/enjoyer (my first actual gachas i enjoyed were 7k before it ended and fgo and i mainly started bc i love fate universe) but from the few i tried out to the ones i actively play (fgo, hsr, etcetc) gnshn rlly is unrewarding, always has been

every year the subject of their anniversary and how unrewarding and sucky it is (useless gadgets you use maybe once and some pets) comes up, its lit nothing new. i dont know if some remember but when we had this topic 2 yrs ago (i think??) i lit suggested they could gift a free standard 5star for anni. now 4 yrs later, just when player base is shrinking, they offer a super belated selector of standard characters that 90% of the players already own since its BEEN 4+ YRS and are easily bested now by the *checks character archive*

37 other 5stars that most players own some at least now (nari and dehya i can understand that some ppl are missing them since they were added much later) its like they hand them over only bc theyre of no use compared to the rest of the roster anymore

im not complaining abt a free 5star selector, i jsut think ppl are blinded so easily by gnshn dangling it in front of them to lure them back/keep them after being so unrewarding to their player base for years compared to other gachas. i also thjink its just silly bc they waited so long with that that its not of use for the entire player base anymore but only for new players or ppl still missing the unit they really love but never managed to get. it doesnt feel much of an anni reward, it feels like bait after all these years idk man

[msviolacea]

why you should play honkai: star rail in 2024

Question and answer style, because it's what I like to do. It's long, y'all, and probably doesn't cover everything, but I've been typing and adding for like three hours so I'm yeeting it into the Tumblrverse now.

What is Honkai: Star Rail?

Honkai: Star Rail (from here either Star Rail or HSR) is an anime-style space fantasy RPG with turn-based combat and gacha mechanics for obtaining characters. It is the most recent (full) release from Hoyoverse (formerly Mihoyo), a Chinese video game company who is also responsible for Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, and Tears of Themis, as well as a bunch of older games.

What platforms can I play it on?

PC and mobile are free, PS5 costs $10 to download for what I assume are Sony reasons. I most enjoy it on PC or PS5, but the mobile version is very easy to run, and a good choice for using up your daily stamina and doing the character leveling grind in a casual way.

What's the story about?

A character (known to most in-game as the Trailblazer, see both gendered versions below) wakes up on a space station with no memories and a mysterious destructive energy contained inside of them. They are taken in by a group of interstellar travelers known as the Nameless, who travel the universe in a space ship shaped like a giant old-school train, and visit various civilizations to observe, help, and learn about the strange energy trapped inside of them.

More below, including information about the gameplay, characters, and the important caveat about why particular people may not want to play the game.

What's the gameplay like?

The combat is turn-based, using a four-character party. The game gives you a good number of characters for free just by playing the game, which is more than good to get you through the story elements of the game. There is exploration as well, though it is instanced and far more limited than you might be used to if you play Hoyo's 2 ton gorilla, Genshin Impact. I personally like that it's more limited, though - I've gotten really overwhelmed by Genshin lately, and I like that HSR lets me finish things without feeling like I'll never be done.

(An in-game screenshot showing you what the gameplay looks like, visually.)

How's the writing?

Snappy and modern - a good combination of sincere and humorous, with a lot of pop culture and meme references all over the place. The English localization is top notch, in my opinion, but it's obviously written in Chinese, and you can choose to play in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean as well.

What about voice acting?

The main story is fully voice acted, by some top-notch talent overall. There's a good bit of crossover between Genshin and HSR casts, for what are probably obvious reasons. The side quests are mostly text only, with a few exceptions.

The Trailblazer - your player character - is also voiced to a smaller extent. The dialogue you choose during quests isn't voiced, but you'll hear your character say some random things while you run around and explore.

What kinds of storylines are there thus far?

There are ... three and a half? areas so far in the game. If it follows Genshin's formula, they'll add another new world/area annually.

Herta Space Station - the tutorial area, mostly, but there's also some ongoing story there about scientists of dubious ethics. It's also the area we go back to when they want to make a point about the larger universe, usually.

Belobog/Jarilo VI - Space Siberia. A planet that was previously cut off from the galaxy 600 years ago, covered in ice and snow due to ... science magic plot bullshit. Steampunky in technology, Russian in a lot of naming conventions, stories that revolve around people learning how to live together and rebuild their society.

The Xianzhou Luofu - Space China. One of several world-ships of the Xianzhou, who lost their original home planet to ... lore bullshit, it's complicated. Very technologically advanced, home to a race of humans that have been cursed with immortality, along with a race of fox people and a race of dragon-people. Stories revolve around the ethics of immortality, overpopulation, and the consequences of war.

Penacony - Space ... Disney World? IDK, it's very weird so far. Centuries ago, it was a corporate prison world, but has since been taken over by a religious organization and turned into the most exclusive resort in the universe. But the resort part is entirely contained in dreams. So it's less of a planet and more of a hotel where you lay in dream water and experience a theme park in your mind. Story themes are still developing, but they're real fucked up, y'all.

So what is the Hoyoverse anyway, other than the company?

Hoyo is very clear that all their games take place in the same multiverse. There are characters who appear in nearly every game they make, in different forms, sometimes with the same names, sometimes with different names. (See: Raiden Mei and Raiden Ei from HI3 and Genshin respectively, or Bronya Zaichek and Bronya Rand from HI3 and HSR.) Knowing about the other games may give you some interesting character things to chew on, but have no doubt - you do not need to play any of the other games in order to enjoy one particular one.

HSR is uniquely tied to Honkai Impact 3rd by virtue of the fact that at least one character is the actual exact same person in both games. (There will probably be at least two later, but ... don't mind that right now. Unless you want to go down the HI3 YouTube lore rabbit hole like I have. In which case hit me up.) Welt Yang, the Astral Express's Team Dad, crossed universes after getting his start in HI3. His past is SUPER interesting, but again, not necessary for your HSR enjoyment. For my folks with more Western fandom backgrounds, think of him this way - what if, instead of the bullshit at the end of Endgame, Steve Rogers realized there was another version of [insert your favorite character Steve loves here, romantic or platonic, I'm not getting involved in that drama here] that he could help, and he found a way to jump universes to do so. That's Welt's vibe, more or less. He's amazing. I love him.

Anyway. There's a lot to the Hoyo multiverse, a lot of philosophical stuff that revolves around order and chaos and how the universe balances it, mixed with some Mass Effect Reaper-style bullshit, but if it ever becomes relevant in HSR, be sure they'll explain everything we need in full. The story of HSR stands on its own.

... but if the idea of multiple versions of the same person and different universes gives you a headache, well, this is your warning, I guess?

(Welt's splash art has a lot of HI3 references, which are partly what made me go down the lore rabbit hole, but mostly I wanted a picture of him because he's hot. You're welcome.)

What other fannish-type media would you compare it to?

There are a couple of easy ones. Genshin Impact fans will find things very familiar here, for a wide variety of reasons - more on the larger Hoyoverse below. For those with more western media experience, it's got the swashbuckling adventure of Star Wars combined with Star Trek's "explore strange new worlds" ethos. I'm sure there are a bunch of animes and Chinese/Japanese video games it can be compared to, but I haven't been in that audience particularly, so I can't name any for you myself. I can say that some of it tickles the same parts of my brain as FFXIV - they're VERY DIFFERENT games, don't get me wrong, but there's a similar tone in the "wink wink" punny pop culture English localization sometimes that makes me happy.

Okay, you know everyone here is from fandom, right? You know what we really want to know.

This question is inspired by my nostalgia for the old crack_van community on LJ - I miss the "here's a brief overview of the actual canon and here's what you can find in terms of pairings/fic/etc" format. So, if you want to know if it's worth it to get into this game for fandom reasons, here's a bit of what you can expect.

Popular pairings, according to AO3, and a brief description:

The juggernaut, if the fandom has one: Blade/Dan Heng, which has multiple permutations due to immortality and rebirth and such. This one's for you if you like a lovers-to-enemies vibe, or like creating happy endings where there are none and never will be in canon. Two very attractive men who were once lovers (pretty much canonically, as much as a mainstream Chinese video game will probably get, thanks to some word choices made in the in-game descriptions), made a huge society-shaking Very Big Mistake, and ended up each paying the price in different ways. Several hundred years later, one is regrettably immortal and certifiably insane about it, one has been reborn into a mostly different person and wants nothing to do with his past self, and they just keep running into each other on what seems to be a fated collision course.

(Dan Heng and Blade fighting, as they do. A lot.)

An alternative to above: If you like the immortal attractive dudes vibe but aren't as much into the forever enemies vibe, there's a good amount of fic pairing both of them with Jing Yuan, who is a former friend who got left cleaning up their mess after their Very Big Mistake and now has been the leader of their society for hundreds of years and both misses them a lot and also does NOT want to deal with their mess again. But he'll happily manipulate them into coming home when he needs them.

Oh look, we have women too! And people pair them! Seriously, there are two different f/f ships in the top 10 on AO3, which is refreshing! One is Bronya and Seele, who are the wholesome choice, the sweet stoic leader of her people and the blunt fighter who loves her. The first full story arc of the game is really their story, and it's a lovely less fraught enemies-to-lovers vibe.

If you want your yuri a bit more toxic, or at least less wholesome and not at all canonical, perhaps Himeko and Kafka will be your thing? Himeko is the elegant engineer/navigator for the Astral Express, your Trailblazer's team mom, smart and classy and a gorgeous redhead, what's not to love? Meanwhile Kafka is the sociopathic leader of the Stellaron Hunters, a group of dubious morality who exist to manipulate things in order to bring about a supposedly pre-written future. They only have like one scene where they actually talk to each other, but hey, that's more than enough, right?

(Kafka and Himeko, in their one scene together. Fandom has worked with far less.)

The ridiculous boys: Gepard/Sampo is still going strong, bless. If you don't want any of the drama of the boys mentioned above, just some attractive dudes doing ridiculous things, or if you like "cop and criminal" type pairings, here are your guys. Gepard is the leader of the local guard, Sampo is an underground criminal with his fingers in almost every pie. Cue shenanigans. Sampo is also a member of a very mysterious organization of galactic tricksters and clearly has larger lore relevance somewhere, but hey, you don't have to deal with any of that. Just let him and Gepard do their Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd thing and all is good.

(The stuffy military dude and the Loki-ass motherfucker. What could go wrong?)

OCs are always love: There's always plenty of Trailblazer fic out there. Male Trailblazer (Caelus)/Dan Heng seems to be the most popular, but you can find Caelus or Stelle paired with pretty much anyone out there.

There's also PLENTY of characters and pairings that are under-utilized, and deserve an influx of new energy. As usual, of course.

So, you said there's a reason I shouldn't play it?

Yeah. As mentioned before, it is a gacha game. It's a very forgiving gacha game, to be sure, and it's entirely possible to play as a free-to-play player, you do not have to spend a single cent on this game. However, gacha games are inherently problematic in many ways. So my caveat is this - if you have financial impulse control problems, gambling issues, or really sharp FOMO problems, I don't recommend you getting started playing this game. If you're good at being financially disciplined and not spending outside your entertainment budget, whatever that may be, you'll be fine. But if you have any doubts, then I suggest looking up someone on YouTube and watching a Let's Play instead.

Anyway. If anyone wants to add to this post, reasons why you love the game, fannish recs, whatever, go for it! I miss crack_van, y'all, and want it back on Tumblr terms. Maybe I can wish it into existence starting with this post. We will see.

[nmarfo]

Opening Night Live kinda sucked

I'm back with one of these cause why the fuck not. Gamescom is another big show that Geoff Keighly hosts, where there's usually some cool stuff, but MAN. all of the games besides the ones I'm about to mention here didn't look appealing to me.

Also, I'll just start off with this. Geoff, you have got to get better security, my friend. How has a dude twice now got on stage and said something? Granted they were both harmless, but pattern recognition tells me something bad might happen soon.

Anyways, let's start off with the 1st hype thing, which was Tekken 8!

Once again, I don't play fighting games, but honestly, this and Street Fighter 6 are VERY much tempting me too. They showed off a new mode called Arcade Quest, which seems to be making up for the idea that Tekken 8 is not being put in arcades, and honestly it looks great. That being said, we also have 32 character roster and 6 more were revealed. all of whom are returning. Yoshimitsu, Steve Fox, Sergei Dragonov, Leo, Shaheen and Kuma, who seems to take up some of Heihachi's move set. Honestly, I still think young Heihachi will at least be some form of DLC, cause with canon in that case, who gives a shit?

Honestly, given that so many of these characters are from Tekken 5 and 6, and Leroy Smith is coming back, I'm surprised they didn't include Lidia Sobieska, given how popular she seemed to be. Also still no Alisa, which kinda sucks up hey, I can have hope.

Image Credit: @kittymiya (Commishion her if you can, her art is amazing)

Onward to Mortal Kombat 1, where we got 2 new characters announced, the returning Sindel and Shao Kahn, or in this case General Shao, as well as Kameo's for Motaro from MK3, and Shujinko, from Mortal Kombat Deception/Unchained.

They did also announce a board game mode, which looks cool, but Mortal Kombat 1 feels like it might be a bit lacklustre, especially given that Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 are really packed with a bunch of game modes outside of the story mode. We'll see if they manage to pull it off, and I am looking forward to the story, but IDK I just feel like there might be not a lot there.

Up next, anime in GranBlue Fantasy Relink. I honestly don't have much to say on this other than it looks cool, and I'll probably pick it up when I get the chance, cause I know nothing about GranBlue.

The other thing that I saw that I might be interested in was Wukong, which looks very cool! I might play it when it comes out, cause action games are fun.

Anyways, on to the last thing, Hoyoverse showed up with a bunch of stuff, all of which I'm going to talk about.

First up, Genshin showed up with a trailer to promote the current update. I've finished the story that is currently in the game, and it's honestly really good, and I'll be writing about it for my main site soon! The big thing here though is that they announced a consort tour, which is awesome! I'm hoping to attend the one in London if I have enough money.

Up next, they showed a trailer for Fu Xuan in Honkai Star Rail. I don't really have anything to say here, but I'm Star Rail still looks very cool!

The big thing I want to talk about personally is Zenless Zone Zero, which got another trailer to show off things they have been working on over the past year.

They showed off 3 new areas they are working on adding to the game, a new hangout sorta mechanic where you're protag can hang out with different characters, as well as minigames and new mechanics, such as an offence and defence assist. I've been a big fan of Hoyo's games since Genshin really showed off what they can do, and I personally can't wait to see where this takes them.

But yea. that's everything. Honestly, this is the 1st time in a while it feels like one of these shows by Geoff Keighley has not been worth it, which I guess is a good thing, but hopefully, some more cool stuff shows up at TGS, where it's gonna be pretty hard to disappoint me I think.

I'll probably show some work works in progress and also maybe talk about Bandai Namco later this week(cause where the fuck did all the anime properties go), but for now, have a good rest of your day. Bye!!