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burr-ell · 18 days ago

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If it's alright, can I ask why you like the Golden Deer house more than the Blue Lions or Black Eagle houses? Like, what caught your eye about them over everyone else?

So I actually got into FE3H through a friend of mine, @dar-draws, who I already knew through mutual good taste (Dickkory), and fanarts like this one, this one, and this one plus the way she talked about Claude and Claudeleth caught my attention. I watched a couple playthroughs of the Golden Deer route on YouTube and absolutely fell in love (before finally getting a switch just to play it myself, for which I was violently bullied here). So like, I was already going into the game biased, which is part of why when I got it I went ahead and played through Golden Deer before doing all the other routes in turn; it was genuinely important to me to personally see all sides of the story. But even as I've played the other routes and replayed SS and AM and gained even more of an appreciation for them, I'm still always sort of drawn back to VW and the Deer.

I think it's ultimately vibes-based, but I'll try to articulate it. I'm not really a big fan of "cozy" sorts of games—I've played and enjoyed ACNH, but the things I most enjoyed about that game were finding things to do and goals to complete, like completing the main quest line or filling up the museum. So it's not so much that I find the Golden Deer to be cozy so much as adventurous. They're not inherently personally invested in the conflicts of White Clouds (they don't know Lord Lonato or Miklan, and their house leader isn't [gestures generally]), but they're also not just ping-ponging through the story. They go through the same events as the other two houses, but they're coming at it from more of an outsider's perspective, and their choice to get involved and react and respond feels more active.

The Deer also don't have any real reason to follow Claude, either, and in the early game they make sure he knows it; none of them are really all that concerned that they're speaking to the future Grand Duke of their country. Lysithea snaps at him, Leonie shoots the breeze with him, Raphael is jovial with him, Lorenz undercuts him, Hilda is blase with him, Marianne tries not to talk to him, and Ignatz gets into theological debates with him. Over the course of the game, they develop the same loyalty to Claude that the other house members already have for their leaders almost by default, and it feels a lot more earned because we see it happen. And that in turn makes scenes like the one at Myrddin, where Claude reveals his true goal of opening the border with Almyra and embracing foreign cultures and the other Deer are surprised but trust Claude and follow his lead, that much more satisfying.

I was a little surprised, when I played through the other three routes, that aside from the designated talking-with-the-cast scenes every route gets, the characters who aren't house leaders or retainers don't really have all that much to do in the story. On Verdant Wind, you pretty consistently have members of the Golden Deer appearing in other cutscenes and giving their two cents; there's even a unique scene where Lysithea realizes there's something up with the Empire's mages because of her backstory and approaches Claude and Byleth about it. It's nothing too obtrusive—they do still have to accommodate the potential for character death—but it's those small details that make a difference to me. Every house has a particular dynamic with odd silly quirks, but the Deer being just that little bit more integrated into the story really helps sell the idea that they belong here and they're making this story their own.

There's also the matter of where specifically their adventure takes them. I respect the choice to focus on Dimitri in Azure Moon, because it does handle his character and arc very well and I think also does the other Lions justice (with the exception of Dedue), but it's also focused largely on Dimitri's personal arc and the Tragedy of Duscur and doesn't really follow through on a lot of the events of White Clouds. (Which some Blue Lions stans have been okay with because they think the Agarthans are bad villains, which...that's valid, but stories still have to like, address plot elements they set up.) Verdant Wind, by contrast, does actually pull back and try to figure out the real impetus behind the whole conflict, and it ends with them beginning to properly lay Fodlan's true problems to rest.

So while the route isn't flawless and I do think there are issues with how characters are written that are part of larger trends within the game and the series as a whole, there's a very specific kind of fantasy adventure energy with the Golden Deer that I enjoy. I think the stories I'm most drawn to are the ones that keep their eyes on a specific goal but still make you feel like the characters would bring that same energy to goofing around with each other, and I think that's something Verdant Wind does very well.

#fe3h #golden deer #fe3h meta #asks #that reminds me i should really replay cindered shadows idk why i haven't #also reminds me. dar followed up that post a year later bc we both got a 3ds to play awakening to romance chrom #the ground is level at the foot of the cross

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petrichor-and-moondust · 7 days ago

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You know, I recently got my PC upgraded, so I've been playing this game I was obsessed with in 2018. I never had the chance to play it before because I didn't have anything that was powerful enough to run it. It's called Detroit: Become Human and I've fallen completely in love with it again as I go through the levels and get to explore it myself and make my own choices, rather than scrounging YouTube to see different playthroughs.

I've completed my first playthrough, so I'm slowly going through to try and unlock every possible ending. 100%-ing every level- you would have no idea how MANY times I sat through that damn interrogation level.

One thing I discovered, which I didn't realise before, is- Kara doesn't have to deviate.

Like, I knew Connor doesn't have to become a deviant- it's kind of a key plot point, the whole, choosing between who you have been raised, trained, expected, and believed to be, versus what you are, what you could become, what you believe- what you want yourself- to be. But I had assumed that, like Markus, Kara just... becomes deviant. As in, you get pushed into the "break programming" sequence automatically after Todd gives you the order, but... you don't.

If you don't try to move, at all- no accidental button press, no nudge of the joystick- you sit (or well, stand) through a nauseating, painful monologue from Todd, before he heads upstairs to where Alice has hidden in her room. Then you hear the sounds of their scuffle, and it is so painful to sit through, and, well, it leads to a final cutscene where Kara enters Alice's room to see Todd lifting her lifeless body to her bed, tucking her in, before turning on Kara to now attack her.

It was...really nauseating to watch.

But what got me is...That's it.

The next Kara level -which for anyone wondering is Fugitives- is just... skipped over. I half-thought it might just reset her back to "Opening", but if her and Alice die in Stormy Night, that's IT. It really- baffled me, so I went through the flowchart, and sure enough, every single one of Kara's stories is skippable after Stormy Night. Her solo levels are all set off from the main chapters, and ones she shares with other characters will just exclude her POV play if she dies before reaching it.

Unlike Connor, who is simply replaced with another model over and over, gravestones increasing again and again in the zen garden with each visit, or Markus, who gets resurrected, rescued, and even has other characters rip out their own biocomponents to keep him alive- at least until the plot is progressed far enough- Kara is just. gone.

And it maybe shouldn't grab me as much, but it does. Because from a gameplay POV, killing off a main character permanently, and so early on in the game, is generally a pretty bad move. But from a narrative point? God, it's fucking genius. Because Detroit: Become Human is a story-centric game. It is told from the three different groups of people that are involved in every war, conflict, and genocide, regardless of the cause, the time, the place, the outcome.

The Opressors: the group who is suppressing, invading, enslaving, or otherwise actively causing harm to the others.

The Rebels: the ones of the oppressed group who are fighting back against the oppressors.

The Victims: everyone caught in the crossfire.

A war cannot happen if one of the opposing sides is not there to continue- if one side loses their leader in such a way that doesn't convert them into a martyr that spearheads that side's cause, it's over. It's won. This is why both Connor and Markus have -admittedly unconventional- plot armour until they get to a point in which it is no longer necessary.

The sparks have caught fire, the revolution has begun- everything is in motion and can no longer be prevented.

Connor is on the side of the Oppressors. Markus leads the Rebels.

Kara and Alice represent the Victims. They're a family forged through their lived experiences, both desperate for something the war has stripped away from them. And the war has stripped EVERYTHING away from them except each other. Kara and Alice are displaced refugees seeking asylum. The war defines them; it impacts every single aspect of their lives. Your actions as Markus and Connor impact the path of Kara more so than they ever impact each other. This is how war works- it ravages and destroys those caught in the crossfire far before it ever reaches the enemy side.

But Kara's actions have very little impact, on the other two's paths, other than a few guilt-tripped cutscenes. In fact, you can functionally complete the game through to its end without her. And it just- it really grabs you by the shoulders and forces you to confront the fact of how victims of war and refugees are treated head-on. Because that is what Kara is, and what her role in the story can be twisted into:

Inconsequential.

The actions of a victim have no true impact on the tides of a war. Whether you flee, barter, or even kill in order to continue on Kara's desperate bid for the border, it has no true impact on the overarching story- and that in itself is a HUGE point of the story. Because whilst everything Kara does has practically zero effect on the way androids are viewed, every single one of Markus' choices - which affect the way the public view androids- impacts her journey. If the public become sympathetic to androids - achieved through the pacifist route- they are sympathetic to Kara and Alice, who can then safely make it across the border. If the public become hostile towards androids, more and more opportunities in which Kara and Alice might be found out arise, and they end up anywhere from shot dead, to seperated, to discarded in a recycling plant.

The lives of victims do not matter to the powers at war. They are meaningless, disregarded, and of no consequence- seen as expected, or even as necessary sacrifices. Every sacrifice made by Markus and Connor in the game- be it their friends (leaving Simon to be found at the Tower or killing him), their comrades (choosing to chase Rupert rather than helping Hank), and even themselves (Markus setting himself alight; basically every damn choice Connor can make, but for example pushing himself off of the roof with Daniel) is done in order to further their mission- to advance the cause of their side: to free androids, or to eradicate deviants.

Kara doesn't care about that- her only motive is to defend. Every sacrifice Kara makes in the game is to protect Alice. She doesn't care if she is harming or helping the image of deviants as long as Alice is safe. Kara doesn't care about the war, because it doesn't care about her.

Everything Kara is, everything she does is functionally useless in the face of how she is perceived. Whether she shoots Todd or escapes out the window doesn't change how the bus driver treats her. Her choosing to stay in the abandoned house with Ralph instead of robbing the shop to stay at the motel makes no difference to Rose, and whether she kills Zlatkov or leaves him to the whims of his "creations" is of no interest to the border control guards. This is because her choices are not made freely, regardless of deviancy- they are forced by her environment. Every decision Kara makes is between a rock and a hard place.

There is no room for morals when you're fleeing all you've ever known with barely the clothes on your back. Do you trust that the shell-shocked, trembling stranger holding a knife to your daughter's throat is only acting out of fear and try to talk him down, or do you take no chances and shoot him- traumatising your child further, yes, but at least keeping her alive? Do you forgive the one who helped trap you, watched as your very identity was ripped away, on the grounds that he wasn't truly alive- do you trust him with your life? With Alice's life? Knowing that he had once endangered them, willingly or not? Will you trust the woman offering you safe harbour across the border, after all you've experienced- well, you have to, you don't have a choice- there is no other option because you're desperate, you're terrified; and even a false hope is better than none at all, because you know you will die if you stay, and if you die, who will look after Alice? Who will care for your daughter if you are not there to do so? She is all that matters. Everything you do must be done in order to protect her.

So you shoot the deviant and you trust Luthor and you kill every soldier who raids Jericho before they slaughter your family first.

And none of this matters to anyone, none of it does, because you are acting out of desperation and the reality of a kill-or-be-killed world- you are not systematically hunting down every android that steps out of line, not trying to capture them, destroy them, enslave your own people. You are not going out of your way to build an army and fight, raise a revolution; to demand civil rights, equality, respect. You are scared and running and there are so many just like you, doing the same. This is not worthy of note, of news coverage, of knowing. So it is not known, not plastered across every news station, not taken note of.

You are just trying to keep your daughter alive, and because of this, you are entirely expendable.

You haven't betrayed your people and seperated yourself from them by creating categories of "good" androids and "bad" androids -because you don't have time, and you're all made of the same silicon and thirium, and you'll never be treated human, so it's pointless, it doesn't matter- and you haven't spearheaded an explosive revolution and caused the city, the country, the world to really think about whether or not you are an individual or a piece of property.

And because you are not doing anything like this, nothing noteworthy, newsworthy, or public- because you are acting just like everyone, like the general populous (and God knows, no, They know, that that is much more dangerous than a revolutionary- because people can't find out you are just like them, because then they empathise, and it is MUCH harder to control the masses when they find out that the "others" are exactly the same as them, and always have been-no, that creates room for the masses to realise that the war is not for them, but for Them- for profit, for control, for power) and thus, like the general populous, you are of no real importance to the "Bigger Picture."

You are dehumanised to such a point that you are met with only extremist reactions- of contempt, of violence, or- rarely- of pity. What people know about what is actually going on is so tightly controlled that even you, living through it, experiencing it, don't truly understand what's happening. The public are so thoroughly desensitised to violence against your people either by constant exposure, fear-mongering, or total indifference, and you don't know which is worse, and you don't know how to go about stopping it, so you run. And you tell yourself everything will be better once you're out of the town, the area, the country.

Everything will be better once you cross the border; you will be safe and happy. Your daughter will be safe and happy.

Everything will be okay once you cross the border, once you escape, once you make it- you don't have papers or money or a connections or a place to go, but it's fine, because the people there will understand, the people there will be different, because at least you won't be here, and surely that's what matters.

Surely they will see and know what you have gone through. Surely the people there will be different than the people here. Surely they will be compassionate and kind and help you- help your daughter.

Because who could look at her and feel hate? Who could look at her and act out of vitriol and fear and derision?

Detroit: Become Human is a story about an android uprising. It is a story that has been told a million times- a war story, where the protagonist leads the rebels to victory, where he realises he's been fighting for the wrong side and has a last-minute redemption, turning the tide of the war and the oppressed rebels are victorious. It is a story that is blatantly and directly inspired by POC civil rights movements, by the US civil war, and the Holocaust; it is interactive yet cinematic in a way not many stories of its calibre are- generally restricted to one or the other.

It is also a story about refugees- about the people caught in the crossfire. And not in the typical standard, where they are used to tug on the heartstrings of the protagonist, to guilt the enemy, or lament a heart-rending monologue about how the war has destroyed their life that suddenly changes the public's opinion so drastically that the war is over within a week, but in a more blunt, realistic manner.

The public's opinion of a group isn't swayed by the actions of the displaced and imprisoned because they are not made aware of their actions. All that the public know is what they are told by those in control, who are using your people as a tool to keep them in line. All the public know is of the worst events- of "terrorist attacks" and "murders" and "violent, unsolicited attacks"- which aren't even those, not really.

It is twisted truths and gaslighting and flat-out lies: it is withholding evidence. Reporting on an android "viciously murdering its owner", but failing to include that the death was caused from an initial act of self-defence, that the man had attacked the android with a bat, intent to kill (not to mention the months of constant abuse leading up to it), it's reporting a news-station hijack as a "terrorist attack" when nobody was killed- nobody except one of the hijackers, but of course, they don't count- when the act was not meant to strike terror but to demand that they are seen as equals and not "other".

It is about the vice and choking control that corporations and the government have over information and everything we see, hear, experience- the complete lack of regard for human life fundamentally stemming from corporate greed, systemically taught to a whole nation, country, world, setting them on each other, to distract them from what's going on. Smoke and mirrors and gunfire disguised as fireworks.

Law enforcement do not grow to treat the androids as anything other than subhuman and the public do not accept them and apologise; CyberLife does not relinquish all androids and admit fault. The government only step in to call off their attack dogs when there is no other way for them to come out of it without making a martyr of Markus and villainising themselves. It is not out of goodwill, not out of morality, not out of a belief that androids should be treated as actual living beings. It is a purely strategic play to regain control before they lose it completely and the situation crumbles to anarchy. It is harsh and cruel and an uncertain victory in even the very best ending, and still it has no positive impact on Kara and Alice's life.

Their best outcome includes them fleeing to another country, seeking refuge with relatives of people they met just the day prior, away from everything they've known to a place with "no android laws"- but that means there's no laws protecting them either. The revolution is over, it's successful, they won, but it's no use to the people whose lives were already broken, ravaged, destroyed. No amount of laws passed will bring loved ones back from the dead. No number of people charged for crimes against androids will make up for what they experienced.

It is too little, too late; the flames of revolution engulfed it all and no amount of firefighters can turn the ashes back to what they once were.

War does not care for who it harms and what it destroys, and ceasefires do not undo the damage already done.

#yeah this turned into an essay but its been cooking in the back of my brain all day #not to give david cage too much credit but by god if this game doesnt kill me every time #dbh #d:bh #detroit become human #dbh kara #dbh alice #dbh meta #character analysis #plot analysis #detroit: become human #kara dbh #look the whole “remain as you are and what you are meant to be”#vs “change and become who you want to become and what you feel is right” realy got to me but this #this was a complete accidental blindside while trying to unlock every part of the flowcharts #the dbh brain worms are back from hibernation and goddamn if they arent a devastating invasive species #psuedobirds

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marvelhead17 · 1 month ago

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Baldur's Gate 3 Dribble

Do any of my mutuals play? This game is absolutely addictive, especially when trying to get certain outcomes. If Marvel had come out with anything similar I would have sold my soul for it probably.

In the last week and a half I've played another 70+ hours so I have 389+ hours and do you know how many playthroughs I've completed? Just the one. Only have 36/54 achievements. Some people have played 1500 hours and said they've discovered new things along the way (whether exaggerating or because they've played since it's earlier phases, it's constantly getting patch updates and new content).

I've got another campaign going that is nearly there, but I've been into character creation again and UGH it's just so fun to do the stuff for the Emerald Grove in Act 1.

But also, there so many companions whether you romance them or not, just to do their quests sometimes. And then you can still get good and bad endings for EACH?

Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, Wyll (these first ones are the main ones that you can even play yourself and get g/b endings for), and then Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc can join you later. I don't know if the last 2 on the list are romanceable, but there are still bad characters you can have that I haven't explored yet.

Gushing about my Tavs below, and possibly spoilers for anyone who hasn't gone beyond Act 1 if you are playing, so just be aware.

In my first playthrough it was Karlach that I romanced, gods what a beautiful Devil. My character is a wood half-elf barbarian named Narriel. And she joined Karlach in Avernus when she had to return, so they look so badass in leather and everything!

Second playthrough, the beefcake and 'my heart' Halsin (no I did not do him in bear form, as tempting as it was, maybe on another run). I stuck with Narriel, (it's my fave name for a fantasy character okay?) as a wood half-elf cleric. This campaign is nearly there and I hate to see it go.

Third playthrough (I tried Astarian with another Tav but lord is that man difficult to please unless you are playing a bad guy) is with Gale. They are a non-binary wizard wood half-elf named Phoenix and they are stunning. I've just arrived in Baldur's Gate and so the final quests begin.

Fourth, I've started a Durge (Dark Urge) Playthrough, a White Dragonborn named Minerva, and it's going good so far for her (I'm not accepting The Urge, because I'm a simp for these characters and they don't like you doing bad shit). I've only completed the Grove so there is much more to go. I'm not quite sure who to romance yet, but I like that idea of Halsin saving her.

Possibly restarting Morgan's story (again, which sucks cause I played nearly 70 hours, realised Astarion was never gonna make a move based on a missing cutscene in Act 1, and now dedicated another 8 hours just to be frustrated) to go for Shadowheart instead, as being a tiefling makes it impossibly difficult for Act 1 to please Astarian without going against your own race, like damn. But also she's not that dark and Shadowheart is so easy to please, in most of my playthroughs she's tried to come on to me in the beginning, so I see how she was the most romanced.

Made a bard named Callon, he is (surprise) a wood half-elf who is starting off with the Lute. Going for Wyll the Blade of Frontiers because I watched Neil Newbon (Astarian's actor) play BG3 and invited the actor to speak about him, and it made me want to try! It's been adorable so far and I'm barely in it yet.

Made a character for fun named Nixie (based off of the All for One DnD YouTube series by Deerstalker Pictures), who is a pink tiefling sorcerer that loves casting firespells and is mischievous. We'll see where she takes us, but without that in mind I've decided to ignore her playthrough so far haha.

That leaves us with Lae'zel who I haven't decided a character for just yet, and Astarion who I need to reconsider for. As well as Minthara? I'm not sure what other companions can be romanced that aren't in the initial party, all I know is Minthara is easy for a Durge playthrough. I also think there was a possibility with Mizora? I don't know.

Send help.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 rant #bg3 tav #video game #romance #playthrough #astarion #gale dekarios #karlach cliffgate #wyll ravengard #shadowheart #lae'zel #minsc and boo #jaheira #halsin #baldurs gate

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ngc-5194 · 1 year ago

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yknow i could very easily accept someone not liking the mobile kh games if people actually gave... understandable reasons??

mostly i've heard that they're 'inaccesable'. which. they're in general more accessable since the console they run on is a phone, a device more people have than a ps4. though, granted, it is the offline version of both games only.

however, if you don't have a phone, have limited space on your phone, or are uninterested in a mostly unplayable game, all of which are understandable, there are cutscene compilations (ux (story important, all), dr) available on youtube too!

if the lots of reading is the issue then there is a completely dubbed version of the cutscenes of ux and you can easily find voiced playthroughs of both union x and dark road on youtube as well.

(for instance, here is a playthrough of dark road that i watched as my phone needed repairs by the time i had caught up with the series enough to move onto khdr. but, of course, there are many more options if you simply search up 'kingdom hearts [dark road/union x] playthrough' on youtube. find whichever one suits the kind of videos you like to watch best!)

if you don't have the time to sit through all of the cutscenes, there are summaries also avaliable! here is a video one for union x, and though unfortunately i can't find a similar one for dark road, it is also always acceptable to just read the wiki section on the story of the game! (here is the union x wiki section as well)

the other major complaint i've heard is that it's 'too confusing' or that the story 'doesn't make sense in parts'.

to which i first must ask, what part of kingdom hearts does make sense to you then? many many signifigant, heavily important parts of this series can be the most mind boggling things you have ever read or heard. so much so that we are known as the fans of that overly complex and insane disney game. that is what we are known for!!

and more to an actual point, there are many many people out there in this fandom who would be thrilled to talk to you about parts of the plot you found confusing. who have posts pages and pages long on minute details.

we are all fans of this weird ass game series and we all can. i don't know. help each other, newcomers and people who have been here awhile alike. us fans who like the mobile games are no different. we are willing to share and help and explain anything you need.

and as for the take that the mobile games are 'unimportant'.

strelitzia, someone deeply important to marluxia, larxene, and ventus' backstories, is seemingly implied to be one of the main characters in kh4 and if you have no knowledge of union x, then you likely have zero idea who she is.

the foretellers and the master of masters are being set up as potential villians in the next arc of the series. all of these characters were introduced in union x, four years before back cover released. and while yes, back cover gives the perspective of the foretellers more while union x is from the eyes of the keykids, there are many interactions with the foretellers in union x, beyond the scope of back cover, that are deeply important to the plot and establishment of their characters.

while yes, dark road has drastically less set up for the future in it, as all of the characters featured are now dead, it gives a lot of depth to xehanort and eraqus both. eraqus' behaviours and motivations are given reason—not necessarily morally good ones, and certainly not ones that always provide justification for his actions, but actual fully defined reasons for it all.

as it has always been with kh, every game is important to understand the story. you couldn't simply play kh1 kh2 and kh3 and expect to understand everything, and you can not expect to understand everything if you don't at least know surface level of the stories of the mobile games too.

you do not have to play them yourself. they do not have to be your favourite games in the series. if you are reading this and you hate them, you can stay not liking them even for all i care.

but you have to accept that they are important to the plot of the series. that they can not simply be ignored if you want to grasp the entire story of kingdom hearts.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts union x #khux #kingdom hearts dark road #khdr #khuxdr #long post #SORRY #i am just. can barely stand it here anymore #like. you're perfectly allowed to just Not Like them. thats literally fine. who cares #but at least just come out and SAY that you just dont like them #stop burrying it behind 'it's not important and it's a phone game waah wah'#just say you don't like the games. i really don't care if you hate them with all your heart and soul. just. stop being a coward. and Say It #anyway. uh. who wants to talk about khml with me :3

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governmentintelligence · 7 months ago

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less a theory and more drawing connections

i literally dont know whats compelling me to make this post, but i was watching the game theory on indigo park/uniquegeese's reaction to the game theory on indigo park, and when unique mentioned that there's stuff people haven't caught on to or mentioned....

spoilers, i guess? and i have links to all the timestamps in youtube videos im using linked on the images themselves.

I thought a bit about the lloyd's limo's sign that's in storage. and the lloyd statue that's in storage.

(ID: screenshot from Youtube of backstage space Mane Stage in Indigo Park, with gold statue of Lloyd amids storage boxes with his hand outstretched and holding a microphone)

the lloyd statue very clearly looks like it used to be where rambley is now. holding isaac indigo's hand at the entrance.

that implies that the rambley statue isn't the original, and that lloyd used to be the one holding isaac's hand.

(ID: screenshot from Youtube playthrough showing golden statue of Isaac Indigo holding Rambley the Ractoon's hand and waving his other, mimicing the Disney partner's statue)

similarly, in the intro cut scene historical footage of isaac on the park's opening day, a mural of lloyd is on the wall at the entrance. when the player character visits the park, the mural in that location is of rambley.

you can really see it highlighted in this screenshot from the intro scene, as the camera zooms out from the historical footage and shows the present day indigo park website.

(ID: screenshot from Youtube playthrough of intro cutscene. Two monitors sit on desk, one showing black and white footage of Isaac Indigo speaking in front of Indigo Park's entrance on opening day, with Lloyd mural behind him. Second monitor shows website for booking Indigo Park stay with an image of the park's entrance on the website, showing that the mural behind Isaac now has Rambley.)

now, there are a few other allusions to rambley having taken over after lloyd. the painting of them both shaking hands is really reminiscent of the painting in disney's winnie the pooh ride, showing owl shaking hands with mr toad while mr toad passes along the deed to the ride. that painting is an allusion to how the winnie the pooh ride replaced the ride "mr toad's wild ride," so passing the deed is literally passing along the baton.

another is the player character's comment when you view the lloyd plush — "I feel like as a kid, Indigo used Lloyd a lot more."

what i feel is more foreshadowing to why the change between lloyd and rambley was made, however, comes from this sign that's also in the mane stage's backstage. it's sideways and the screengrab isn't the best, but it reads "Lloyd's Limos".

(ID: screenshot from Youtube playthrough, where a dirty sign reading "Lloyd's Limos" can be read between the bars of a metal frame shelf)

the idea of a limo ride immediately reminded me of Disney's California Adventure's infamous Superstar Limo which, to make a long story short, sucked ass. it was such a monumental failure of a ride for quite a few reasons and i'd recommend Defunctland's video on why it all went tits up, but the tl;dr for our purposes is just that it sucked. it was not received well by park attendees and was closed in less than a year after opening.

the comparison makes me really curious to know just what kind of ride lloyd's limos was, but knowing that lloyd had a ride that then flopped feels as if he was the main mascot until he flopped. similar to superstar limo, the entirety of california adventures was received pretty poorly upon opening.

maybe a similar expansion or rebranding was done at indigo park, while lloyd was losing popularity, and that's what prompted the switch? and maybe there's now a return to retro happening for indigo fans, as suggested by the retro lloyd plush (but not of other characters)?

either way, i feel like i haven't seen a lot of people point out the Lloyd's Limos sign and its potential ties to the old Superstar Limo ride, but i do feel like that's hugely intentional. same as the handshake painting's clear nod forward the owl and mr toad painting at the parks. im interested in seeing how these similarities might be foreshadowing or otherwise connected to the lore!!

#indigo park #lloyd the lion #idk what else to tag this as honestly #rambley the racoon #maybe people have pointed this out and im just out of the loop but like. it annihilated me that gametheory didn't point this out lmao #in a weird way it's benefiting to know a bit of disney parks lore while analysing this game

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aethershroud · 2 months ago

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So "Sonadow Generations" huh

I decided to bite the bullet and watch a playthrough of it on YouTube. I was so scared they'd flub the landing after a year of near-perfect marketing. And it's finally out. I didn't get spoiled. So I decided to see how it all played out. My verdict?

...

THEY STUCK THE LANDING WE'RE SO BACK GUYS HOLY SHIT

Of course, it ain't perfect. I think there are a TON of missed opportunities with the story and some stages and despite the same tier of padding as the main game it's still pretty short. But man. I haven't felt this good about a Sonic project in a long time. I will happily admit the final cutscene (no spoilers, obviously) almost made me actually CRY. A SONIC GAME. Nearly made me cry. Fuck yeah, dude.

All I can say now is, God I hope we get proper DLC this time. Not just a pinball table. Give us more levels, Sonic Team! You can do it!

#shadow generations #shadow the hedgehog #sonic x shadow generations #also i'm gonna be honest #ben diskins as black doom is obscenely good #like he just got the voice down PERFECT holy shit

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randomthefox · 2 months ago

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before the final event? What made you think that? "oooh he trusted her so soooon he wanted to help that evil girl because Sonic in Frontiers resembles IDW" ( slaps the living shit out of anyone who believes this shit ) HE DID NOT BELIEVE SHE WAS GOOD. SHE TOLD HIM TO FUCK OFF. AND WHEN HE DIDN'T, SHE ATTACKED HIM.

Have people just...not played the game??? Sage is telling to LEAVE. Sonic goes against her warning and she attacks. THAT'S NOT HIM BELIEVING SHE CAN TURN GOOD. That's like ignoring the warning of a guard infront of a palace. DUH.

Also, Sonic didn't know she made by Eggman. He thought she was some kind of spirit haunting the ruins.

Why are these people so dumb fhdskfsdkj

"Have these people just...not played the game???"

Indeed, they have not.

I can say with pretty reasonable confidence that whenever someone says something exceedingly stupid about any Sonic game, they haven't actually played it.

Watching some streamer playthrough of it doesn't count as playing it. Watching cutscenes on YouTube does not count as playing it.

Video games are an INTERACTIVE medium. You have to PLAY it.

I also find it hilarious the suggestion that Sonic would be inclined to give a little human looking girl the benefit of the doubt BECAUSE of the IDW comics, when humans don't exist in IDW =P and also this was IDW!Sonic's knee jerk reaction to meeting Belle

So Sonic being so patient with Sage in Frontiers is proof AGAINST the IDW comics being canon from where I'm sitting. If Sonic was acting like how he does in IDW in that game, he would have reacted to Sage with immediate and unwarranted hostility and treated her like shit until someone else twisted his arm.

Anyone trying to argue that there's any characterization or plot from the comics that acts as a backbone for the characterization in Frontiers is delusional and probably hasn't read the comics nor played the game. Sonic was patient with Sage because he has a soft spot for the ladies, and because he didn't know she had anything to do with Eggman.

And frankly he REALLY starts to run out of patience with her by the time the Cyber Corruption starts wearing him down.

#sonic #idw sonic #sonic idw #sonic the hedgehog #sonic frontiers #sage the ai #sage robotnik

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eldragon-x-moved · 8 months ago

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should i play a pokemon mystery dungeon game? i only have a switch atm and the only one they have is Rescue Team DX

ive only really played the main series of pokemon so far so i dont know anything about the pmd games but lots of people seem to like them and being a pokemon sounds cool and i miss pokepark

ANON. ANON YES YOU SHOULD PLAY POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON if you like plot driven games because pmd is basically pokemon for story-driven games enjoyers.

I havent played Rescue Team DX buuut as far as I know the story is basically the same as the original Rescue Teams plus it functions better so youre not missing out on this one unless you'd like to see how the old game looks with the 2d pixel style.

Explorers is the fan favorite and deserves it tbh. It has the strongest story which probably has the darkest tone and while you can play Explorers of Darkness or Time, Explorers of Sky has much more mechanics, Dungeons, and storybeats, including Special Episode 5 which is one of my favorite things in the PMD series. However physical copies of Sky are expensive as shit so you might wanna look for a rom or just play Time/Darkness and check out the extra story stuff on youtube. There's whole cutscene compilations of those.

Gates to Infinity is the first 3D PMD title, my personal favorite, and criminally underrated even within the community. I admit the gameplay is kinda bad but it has the best cast of characters and a really moving story about hope and nihilism and the importance of community. It also lets you build your own Pokemon Paradise with shops and fields around your house which is fun and Munna is one of my favorite characters of all time in anything ever please for the love of god give gates to infinity a chance even if you just watch a playthrough if you dont wanna deal with the gameplay i fucking love gates to infinity

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is the final installment before we got the Rescue Team remake. The plot can get kinda messy but its still really enjoyable and has a unique charm and imo the best soundtrack in the series alongside Explorers of Sky. If you get into the series I'd ask you to get to this one last as the stakes get high, theres references to past games, and the ending hits harder when youre familiar with the series (though its not required to understand the story).

#pmd

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p5x-theories · 2 years ago

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I’ve skimmed enough playthrough videos of the beta at this point that I think I can give kind of a rundown of what plot we get from it at this point! Since there’s no official translation, I’m leaning on what happens visually, along with the bits and pieces of context I can understand from the Japanese voice acting (in scenes that have it), and taking into consideration what I’ve seen of some rough translations people have attempted. Contrary to this blog’s name, this post is going to have as little speculation as possible, and stick to confirmed facts.

Disclaimer: I have done some skimming of the gameplay, as I don’t have the time to sit and watch an entire 5+ hour video (let alone multiple) unfortunately. This covers the scenes + the gist, but doesn’t have all the finer details.

Two things to note about the beta: 1) Some scenes seem like they’re cut/missing right now. At times it’ll cut to a screen with just text, which I think explains what happens in between proper game cutscenes, but I can’t read Chinese so I can’t confirm that or cover whatever information those contain. 2) It appears the beta only lets you get as far in as shortly after completing the first Palace, which is apparently about 5.5 hours or so of story content.

The game starts with the protagonist in class at Kokatsu Academy, with a teacher, Kumi Katayama, having the students fill out a form (that sounds like it has something to do with their futures). This form is where you input the protagonist’s name in the game.

After this, the protagonist falls asleep, and wakes up in the Velvet Room for the first time.

He’s only there briefly, before being woken up by Motoha Arai.

Katayama comes over and reprimands them, then collects the forms.

After getting out of class, the protagonist steps out into the hallway, and runs into some girls gossiping. They mention something about a “phantom”.

Another student comes over to interrupt them, and says something to them that makes them bow in apology to both her and the protagonist before running off, calling her “Tanemura-senpai”. She tells them not to run in the hallway.

As the protagonist goes to leave, he walks by Luffy atop the shoe lockers. Luffy says something (to himself) like “Is it really him?”, with kind of a skeptical tone.

The protagonist boards a train at the station.

Something happens after he gets on the train- it’s only described in text, so I’m not sure what- and when the protagonist opens his eyes, he’s sitting in what we can recognize as a rest stop in Mementos, facing Luffy.

Luffy starts to lead the protagonist out of Mementos...

... but they run into some shadows. While Luffy handles them at first, some start to slip by him, and target the protagonist.

This leads to his awakening, of which there’s a video of uploaded by Faz on Youtube, and probably better to just watch rather than reading a play-by-play haha.

After that, Luffy gives a battle tutorial, then they proceed onward, still trying to get out of Mementos. Close to the exit, though, they run into some kind of boss shadow or something- certainly not a shadow we’ve seen before.

They take care of it, then finally leave Mementos, emerging in Shibuya station. Luffy parts ways with the protagonist for now... but Motoha sees the protagonist standing there and seems surprised.

The protagonist heads home and goes to sleep, dreaming of the Velvet Room again. The next morning, he’s awoken by Luffy tapping his head.

Luffy’s Confidant is established.

As the protagonist goes to leave his house, he receives some texts from his mother.

Outside his house, he runs into Kayo Toyama, who apparently knew him when he was younger and comments that he’s grown up into a handsome man, in that tone of a family friend or relative being surprised at how big you’ve gotten since they last saw you.

After talking to her, he heads to school, and runs into Merope in Shibuya station, who contemplates the Rise poster there before turning it into a Velvet Room door.

On the train ride, he overhears some more female students from Kokatsu gossiping, possibly about him. When he steps off the train, he realizes he’s lost something, only to have another Kokatsu student (that’s voiced) approach him and hand him whatever it was.

At school, the protagonist has a math class with Katayama, who asks him a question (similar to how the teachers in P3, P4, and P5 all do).

At the start of lunch break, Motoha talks to the protagonist, and mentions something about person riding a bicycle and a train. She also talks about some kind of website, and asks the protagonist about how he disappeared from a train yesterday and reappeared in Shibuya (explaining her surprise at seeing him in Shibuya station).

Before he can answer, though, the girl in the pink sweater from earlier walks up, and asks Motoha about having lunch together. Motoha apologizes for asking something weird and leaves, but we get a glimpse of her phone, which has the MetaNav on it.

Once Motoha and her friend are gone, Luffy flies over to the window, with a sign telling the protagonist to come to the roof.

When the protagonist steps out into the hallway to do so, Motoha’s friend comes back, and introduces herself as Tomoko [Last Name] from Class D, though I’ve admittedly had trouble figuring out exactly what she says her last name is. It may be Noge, considering it’s written as 野毛.

On the roof, the protagonist runs into a guy eating instant ramen, who says nothing and leaves once he sees the protagonist standing there.

Luffy flies in, and says he’ll answer the protagonist’s questions. He talks about Mementos and shadows. He also says something about phantom thieves, but in the more general sense of being a phantom thief, not as if Luffy’s referring to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Then he flies off, and the protagonist leaves the roof, but literally runs into Motoha, who apologizes and says something like she was “lost in thought”. Somehow she has his phone (possibly he dropped it when they ran into each other?), and she gives it back to him, except she wants to ask him something...

... but then Tanemura from earlier (who Motoha refers to as “Riko-senpai”, making her full name Riko Tanemura) shows up, and talks to Motoha for a moment. She and Motoha leave, and game jumps ahead to the end of the school day.

The protagonist exits their classroom, but Motoha stays behind, looking at her phone. She comments to herself that she noticed the protagonist had the same app (presumably the MetaNav app) as her phone does, and also says something about his disappearance from the train again. Tomoko then approaches her and asks about going somewhere together.

We cut to the protagonist arriving in Shibuya station, where Luffy flies over to him and immediately crawls into his bag.

Luffy gives some kind of explanation for why he went into the bag that I can’t follow, and says something about a target named Takeyuki Kiuchi, who the camera cuts to show running into a lady and apologizing.

Then going out of his way to run into a Kokatsu student.

Luffy explains something about how Palace rulers work, I think, in addition to saying Kiuchi is one.

As the protagonist leaves the station, Motoha runs through the ticket gate, having just missed him. She wonders what the protagonist was doing, then seems to recognize Kiuchi, but Tomoko runs up to her, and asks what’s wrong.

Motoha brushes the question off, and they leave.

Back to the protagonist and Luffy, Luffy talks more about phantom thievery, and asks the protagonist something about whether he’s ready to become a phantom thief, I think. When the protagonist says yes, Luffy says they’re headed to Mementos.

In Mementos, Luffy says the protagonist needs a codename, and suggests Wonder, then says his own codename is Cattle. As they start to run off, Wonder gets pulled into the Velvet Room by Merope, and gets the teammate gacha tutorial as well as the start of Merope’s confidant. Once he leaves, Luffy demonstrates his ability to turn into a car.

While Wonder and Cattle are traveling around Mementos, Motoha and Tomoko talk more in the real world, and Kiuchi notices them.

The game cuts back to Wonder and Cattle in Mementos, and Cattle explains that the thing behind him (it looks like a larger version of the portals that led to people’s personal shadows that hadn’t developed their own Palaces in P5) is the entrance to Kiuchi’s Palace, there’s no mistaking it.

They enter Kiuchi’s Palace, but can’t get very far before running into an obstacle- they can’t get up to an opening that’ll get them into the stadium.

After returning to the real world, Luffy talks to the protagonist some more, probably about how they’re going to get in, and I think says something about crafting. Then Kayo shows up again, and after the protagonist says something to her, she mentions the secondhand shop in Yongen-Jaya (where you could get the TV, game console, and laptop in P5).

Following her suggestion, Luffy and the protagonist head to Yongen-Jaya, and the old man who runs the secondhand shop gives the protagonist what I think is a crafting table/crafting set.

Meanwhile, Motoha and Tomoko eat and chat at Big Burger, where Motoha calls her awesome for something apparently related to baseball. Tomoko also mentions something about a person, and Motoha asks if the person goes to Kokatsu Academy, and if Tomoko likes (as in has a crush on) whoever it is.

The protagonist and Luffy return home, and Luffy talks about infiltration tools (presumably in relation to the crafting topic that came up earlier). Once they have infiltration tools, they can go back into Kiuchi’s Palace.

The crafting tutorial comes up, and the protagonist makes a grappling hook.

That night, the protagonist visits the Velvet Room again. In the morning, he wakes up to Luffy again.

The protagonist heads to the train station, but there’s been some kind of accident that Tomoko was involved in (that’s her on the other side of the door thing, you can see her pink sweater). Motoha is calling her name in distress as the protagonist walks up.

The officer pulls Motoha away, and asks if the protagonist is her friend. Leaving her with the protagonist, he walks away.

The protagonist and Motoha go somewhere else to talk, where she finally confronts him about disappearing from the train and reappearing in Shibuya station the other day. Luffy says something from within his hiding place in the protagonist’s bag, and Motoha reacts with surprise at the owl noises coming from his bag.

Another officer approaches them as she’s asking about the owl in confusion, and informs them that an ambulance is going to take Tomoko to the hospital. Motoha says she’ll go with Tomoko, and the protagonist heads to school.

Katayama addresses the class, and the students gossip, with at least one mentioning something about a “phantom” again. Motoha arrives in the middle of this, to Katayama’s surprise, and when asked, Motoha says she’s okay, before heading to her seat. She says she’ll wait for the protagonist on the rooftop at lunch.

At lunch, the ramen guy is once again sitting up there, and once again leaves without saying anything when he sees Motoha and the protagonist arrive (the text in the box isn’t a word, I think it’s a sound at most).

Motoha says Tomoko’s okay now, but now can’t participate in some kind of baseball thing that’s happening that she was originally going to be in (probably what they were talking about at Big Burger yesterday). She mentions Kiuchi by name, and then asks the protagonist about the purpose of the MetaNav app they both have on their phones. Luffy emerges from the protagonist’s bag, and Motoha asks about him again.

But this time, she can understand him, and introduces herself. He talks about the MetaNav, and stealing Kiuchi’s heart. After she leaves, the protagonist and Luffy head back into the Metaverse, and are now able to grapple up to the opening with ease.

As this happens, in the real world Motoha returns to where the accident with Tomoko was, thinking about her, when Kiuchi approaches her.

He says he remembers her, and Motoha responds to him angrily, mentioning Tomoko and saying she’ll take him to the police. He was probably responsible for the accident? He doesn’t seem too concerned about Motoha’s threat, and smugly replies to her before leaving. Motoha, distressed, wonders what she should do.

After this we cut back to Cattle and Wonder in the Palace, the gameplay for which I’m going to kind of skip over because it’s a lot of running through a Palace and fighting shadows- as I’m sure everyone reading this is familiar with- and I assume getting to know what particular brand of distorted person Kiuchi is, which I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to understand much of, if it’s even voiced. They of course eventually run into Kiuchi’s Shadow. Palace infiltration stuff, you get the gist.

Eventually, they discover Motoha here in the Palace, already taken captive by Kiuchi’s Shadow. This leads to Motoha’s awakening, which is another thing Faz on Youtube has uploaded a video of, and I once again recommend just watching that haha.

After her awakening, Wonder and Cattle take her out of the Palace, and head to Big Burger to talk.

None of this conversation is voiced, but I saw Kiuchi’s name in one of Motoha’s lines. After this scene, it cuts to a screen with Motoha Arai- codename Closer- unlocking as a teammate, not unlike if she’d been rolled in the gacha.

The protagonist heads home for the evening, and gets some text messages from Motoha, indicating they exchanged numbers here.

The next day, they talk after class, though this is again unvoiced.

Motoha, Luffy, and the protagonist head to Shibuya Central Street, where she leads them to Untouchable, and the weapon gacha is introduced. The player then gets free time to spend with Confidants, work at 777, etc. I’m not clear on whether it’s possible to go into the Metaverse this day or not.

The next day, the protagonist runs into Motoha at the station, much like what happens in P5 where teammates and the occasional other character will sometimes run into the protagonist in the morning before school and make some comment about current story events.

In school, some other NPC who isn’t voiced and doesn’t even have a talk portrait appears to talk to the class, and asks a question like a teacher would.

Motoha talks to the protagonist after school, and the Metaverse is able to be returned to. Interestingly, the map for Mementos strongly implies it has a set layout, in addition to containing the entrance to Kiuchi’s Palace, as it has the outlined red areas that haven’t been visited yet, like Palaces (but not Mementos) in P5 had.

In Mementos, after yet another tutorial battle, Wonder talks to a Pixie, and gets his first mask (just like Joker does). Before they can proceed into Mementos, he’s literally pulled into the Velvet Room by Merope, and he learns about Persona fusion.

There are also apparently some kind of challenge battles that can be run into in Mementos as well (in addition to Velvet Room challenge battles, like in P5R), with entrances like Palaces except purple instead of red. At least in one stream I found that tried one, the area the challenge battle took place in looked like a museum, though a bit different from Madarame’s Palace in P5.

Not sure if this ties into the plot later, so I’m mentioning that here just in case.

Anyway, back to the plot, after more exploration of Kiuchi’s Palace, they reach a big curtain with a heart on it.

After reaching this point, they have an unvoiced conversation and return to the real world. They talk for a bit there, still unvoiced, then go right back into the Palace and head for the curtain, which now opens.

They confront Kiuchi’s Shadow, who stands on the big stage (still no voiced dialogue, so I have no idea what they’re saying).

And then the boss fight begins. The first stage is just Shadow Kiuchi normally (or, as normal as you can call a Palace ruler).

But after he’s beaten, with another conversation, he turns more monstrous, as Palace rulers do in P5.

When he’s defeated, then he turns back into the more humanoid form, and breaks down into tears, the way the P5 Palace rulers typically become after beating their boss fight.

Closer talks to his Shadow, and then it does the animation like he’s returning to his real self. Cattle, meanwhile, is focused on this big gold baseball thing that seems to be Kiuchi’s treasure.

The Palace starts to shake, so Cattle turns into a car, and they load the Treasure into the trunk.

Then make their escape.

Back in the real world, the Treasure is what looks like a normally-sized gold baseball, but it’s honestly a little hard to tell. Luffy tosses it to the protagonist, who catches it.

And that seems to be the end of the actual game plot content available in the beta!

#persona #p5x #persona 5x #persona 5 the phantom x #game content #p5x spoilers #wonder #closer #cattle #motoha arai #luffy p5x #kumi katayama #wind #merope #moko #soy #takeyuki kiuchi #okyann

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