#play pentiment its AMAZING

[envvu]

„Art is illusion, storytelling, but in their most sublime form, these images form a path to truth.“

I fell in love with Pentiment.

Mags is my beloved and quite under appreciated I think, so here I gave her Mucha-esque artwork. Best girl.

[fictional-library-tournament]

Prelims round 2, poll 1

Propaganda

Junior Woodchucks Guidebook, Guardians of the Lost Library by Don Rosa:

"The Junior Woodchucks Guidebook?", you no doubt ask. "Isn't that just a book? A single book does not a library make?" And yes, it is just a book - and at the same time, no, it absolutely is a library. The library, actually. This tiny book is the actual, literal lost library of Alexandria, and contains all its lost wisdom and lore (except, sadly, the plays and poetry) preserved and expanded through the ages as various keepers cared for the library, preserved it by constantly transcribing and transferring it into the newest media and adding more and more content along the way - for instance, Marco Polo added all the books he brought back from China - until eventually, the library came to Duckburg, where it was collected in one single, huge volume - which a bit later became the very first "Junior Woodchucks Guidebook" - with some added modern knowledge and an entire organization dedicated to it's continued safekeeping. So, yeah - Junior Woodchucks Guidebook = Library of Alexandria + more

Endless Athenaeum, Critical Role – Campaign 1: Vox Machina:

The endless library of Ioun, the amazing goddess of knowledge from Critical Role!

Noumenon, Final Fantasy XIV:

This multi storied library is FFXIV equivalent of the Library of Alexandria. Organised by mini robots called mammets, largest repository of written works in all of Hydaelyn and has its own restricted section that would make many people's toes curl from what lay inside.

Kiersau Abbey Library, Pentiment:

You know how libraries these days are places for more than just books? This was one of these 500 years before it was cool. Here you can find old heretical texts, hot nun goss, secret passages, gay sex, delicious symbolism that represents the crumbling of an oppressive religious institution and increased education for the masses... what more could you ask for?

Neo-Gotham Public Library, Batman Beyond:

Mad Stan thinks libraries are just contributing to information overload, and the constant stream of All The Things is hurting people. Terry argues that it's not the information itself that's harmful, but rather the way of processing it, and that's the thing that needs to be addressed - not blowing up all the libraries.

Vault of Knowledge, Sky: Children of the Light:

It's ancient. It's magical. Its employees are all ghosts. There's so much information here and all translations have been lost

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Hello! I wanted to let you know that your blog is where I heard about Pentiment, and I wanted to thank you for it! I'm very much not a video game person and really don't keep up with anything related to that industry, so I would definitely not have heard of it otherwise, and it would have been a shame because it was an amazing discovery! It felt like a game that I was the perfect audience for: 16th century Germany, protestantism debates, illuminations and far too many literary references... I had a blast, and I will definitely play it again to try some of the other routes (I saw the developer's - I think? - post about some of the heresy being based on The Cheese and the Worms by Ginzburg, which is one of my favourite micro-history book, so I will definitely re-play it with that in mind too).

Thank you again, and I hope you're having a lovely day :)

Omg and here I was thinking I was just screaming into the void :OO

This is so sweet, and I'm so glad that my silly Pentiment posting inspired you to play; that game deserves all the love <3

And yeah this game has also inspired me a lot to read up on its inspirations, so I've got the Cheese and the Worms saved somewhere for later

Thank you so much for the kind words :3

[servantofclio]

6, 8, and 14, please!

6: Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you?

The last episode of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity was incredible. The whole miniseries was incredible, but that last one... wow.

8: Game of the year?

The game I spent the most time playing this year was Wildermyth. I keep meaning to make a post about it, because I think more people should know about it. It is a game that cares so deeply about storytelling: the story that unfolds as your characters move through the world, the stories they tell each other, the stories that underlie the damaged world they inhabit.

I also just finished playing Pentiment, which gave me so many feels and also really invited me to think about my actions as a player character. Set in a small village in 1500s Bavaria, it's so specific and thoughtful in its setting and creates a really beautiful experience.

Maybe I should give each of these games their own post, I could say a lot more...

14: Favorite book you read this year?

Nona the Ninth, being the book I was most looking forward to. I'm continually amazed at how each book in this series is a whole different experience, and how each adds layers and questions to the whole setting.

[thedreadvampy]

Yeah I mean just generally even before this.......really inexplicable plot point, the game has not felt amazing to me. I feel like it suffers for me playing it right after Disco Elysium which is a lot more open and also tbh more polished imo.

I like the ideas in Pentiment but not the execution overmuch, and I feel like navigating the game felt really needlessly confusing and draggy, especially when time-sensitive events kept happening without any reminders in your notes of what Book of Hours time (bunch of unfamiliar Latin words, and nowhere on the screen are you told what time it is right now) you need to be there.

Everything is time sensitive but it's wildly unclear how much time you actually have in each chunk of the day, and so much is being unnecessarily explained that useful information gets lost.

also the other side effect of the glossary thing is that half the time it feels more like an extended GCSE Bitesize History revision game, it's like looking at an interactive display at a fucking museum. Have a bit of faith in me, the player, to figure this stuff out from context or know it already - you literally do not need to add a glossary entry for every town or saint or Latin words someone mentioned in passing. can't tell me what time it is but gonna stop to explain the danse macabre apparently.

playing Disco Elysium I got moderately stuck at times but there weren't a lot of times where I felt like the game was the problem. so far with this one I constantly feel like I know what I want to do and what I think Andreas might do but I'm wrestling against the game and it also is giving me all the wrong information because like. Andreas clearly knows stuff like what time it is and where he's meant to be going but I don't because all the game wants to tell me is who's married to who and what the expectations on me are. That shouldn't feel like new information! That takes me out of the story so hard. it's not new and revealing information pertinent to the case bc it's an obvious fact of life to every fucking person here!

like maybe it gets better but the first chunk of the game just feels like it's focused on all the wrong information. and it ends super suddenly without really having a sense of how much time you have to talk to people or capacity to balance your day. it wants to be bitter and guilty but I'm not immersed enough for that because I still feel like I'm using a kid's educational CD ROM because if I click in the wrong place you pause a vital conversation to tell me what Matins is (not when though. that would be helpful.)

obviously DE gave itself a head start by giving its protagonist amnesia. but like. even then it didn't feel like the point of the game was to give me a list of background information about the norms and general knowledge of the world. this thing just feels. more exposition than substance. it's like reading a children's history book with plot to keep you engaged, not like an engaging story that happens to take place in the 16th century. more horrible histories than name of the rose.

[chilly-moss]

Not a mutual at all but this seemed really fun so I did it anyways :) Preface: I am probably wrong about this list in some ways because I forget a lot of games I used to play! Even the really good ones!!! So most of these are games I played in the last 2-3 years or so, except for the final row, you'll see why :) Row 1 and 2: the ones that stuck. These are the games that don't really fit into one cohesive category other that wowsers!!! I really really liked these ones, for one reason or another.

Disco Elysium: My explanation cannot do this game justice. Watch a spoiler-free review or video essay about or just play it yourself! The only game in this list where I remember I cried.

Pentiment: There is so much love put into this game!!!!! The style, the letters, the story! There's so much research done into its history and so much time spent meticulously crafting every fine detail! The game itself is in no way perfect, but it dangles the pretty keys well enough in my face that I loved every second of it anyways!

Dishonored: Got this on sale when I remembered all the praise for it and wow it's deserved! I love how I can still be stealthy without needing to be hitman-levels of patient (no offense to hitman, just really impatient). The story is pretty fine and I imagine the second one is just as good, though I didn't finish it yet.

Cultist Simulator: Impeccable worldbuilding! Or...lack thereof I guess? IDK, Alexis Kennedy is notorious for being "anti-worldbuilding" though there's still a lot of it here hmmmm. Still, the Hours and the lore are something on a scale I haven't seen before (though that might just be me).

Ghostrunner: Amazing soundtrack, killer boss fights, makes me feel like a badass, not really anything more to say. It's the first movement shooter (slasher?) I played.

Card Shark: I kid you not this game sent me into a card magic phase. They actually use irl tricks and teach them to you (although mostly on a gameplay level only). The story is awesome and the art is too!

A House of Many Doors: I love the story and the inclusivity of all the characters. It's all very vibrant but doesn't fail to set the bleak undertone of the story.

Inscryption: I can't talk too much about this without spoiling a lot, but if you know you know. Great soundtrack too :)

Cassette Beasts: ohohohohohohohohohoho. The SOUNDTRACK, the ART, the STORY, the CHARACTER, MWAHMWAHMWAH ALL MY KISSES TO THIS GAME.

Danganronpa (the whole series): Honestly was a little hesitant to add this considering the rep the community has, so I don't dwell on it too long. I like the games, especially because me and my friends were live dubbing the second and third game.

Ok this is a lot longer than I expected oops, SPEED ROUNDS

Row 3: The chillaxers. Just some games I like if I had a rough day and want to wind down.

Row 4: The thinkers. Puzzle games! I'm not the best at them but I like them nonetheless.

Row 5: The originals. The first games I played! LBP 2 is the absolute first one ever and watch dogs was my first "18+ rated" game. The other three are all games I played very early on.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (aka I messed up and completely forgot about these but remembered while writing and am too lazy to edit the list): Sunless Sea, Splatoon (HOW COULD I FORGET YOU), Mario and Sonic winter Olympics (Nintendo DS), Nintendogs, Spyro (on my nephew's PlayStation) and Kirby's epic Yarn

Favourite games chart!

I saw everyone doing this fun little thing on bsky and I wanted to join!! (Here's where you can make one if you want: https://topsters.org/ )

It was actually so hard to pick so many "favourite" games without feeling like I was watering down the concept of favourite. I overcame this feeling by sorting these into different little categories.

First row is my current top 5 (in no particular order).

Second row is the artsy kids, the ones that really have beautiful music and/or artistic direction, that I could recommend to basically anyone and they'd at least agree that they're really pretty games even if they didn't like them.

Third row is the nostalgia corner, the ones I played when I was a kid and that really stuck with me.

Fourth row is the fun ones, I don't necessarily have a strong emotional connection to them but I had so much fun playing them I want more.

The last row is the joker row, where I put games that either are unfinished (Ultrakill, Deltarune), I haven't finished yet (Ultrakill, Library of Ruina), or… are just as bad as they're good (Genshin Impact). Seriously don't get me started on Genshin Impact. I love it I truly do but man.

Special mention for Othercide for the 1st boss experience that absolutely blew my mind. I would have put it on the list for this alone, but it gave me anxiety and that made me never finish the game. I'll get back to it one day. Listen to the soundtrack, folks, it's got some bangers.

(I tried not to put 2 games from the same series/franchise, like for ex I only TOTK even though I also played BOTW and I like it about as much, I put 1 Ace Attorney -well it's a duology but whatever- eve though there's many others that i also really love. I did put 2 zeldas but they're different enough imo that's it's fine. I also put 3/4 Supergiant Games ones but is it truly my fault if all their games are so good. And yeah there's 2 FF games too. What do you want me to do. There's so many FFs out there and they're probably all good I've only played these 2 from the main series and they're both in my favs I can't do anything about that.)(Anyways I think that's all.)

[the-lady-general]

Thanks for the tag, @curator-on-ao3! ;) In honour of Flat Fuck Friday 🐊

1. Three ships:

Leto/Eudocia from Roadwarden. They work in just about every constellation the game allows. I love them as friends to lovers, especially when you don't give her, uh, "flowers". They're so disgustingly wholesome, they give me stomach butterflies.

Andreas/Lenhardt from Pentiment. Because they almost murdered each other and then had theee most uncomfortable and grumpy glacier sex and nobody can tell me otherwise.

Mulder/Scully because he just tried to arrest a computer virus and she shot a robot and it worked.

2. First ship ever: In the interest of mixing things up since I last played: My first video game ship was the Normandy. :o) Specifically Shepard/Tali.

3. Last song: Having A Lark, I mean Lois and Clark, I mean Beer in the Park, I mean Fear of the Dark (maiden help me spreadsheet the lyrics have lost all meaning)

4. Last movie: del Toro's Pinocchio. Hoo boy. It was amazing. I'm never watching that again.

5. Currently reading: uuuuuuuuuuh the pile of shame keeps growing. i want it to be caladeniablue's search for una.

6. Currently watching: Enterprise

7. Currently consuming: Tea

8. Currently craving: whatever the hell is keeping me away from mental endeavours to sort its shit out and let me read and write, dammit

Tag yourselves!

Tagged by the delightful @vegawriters. 💕 Thank you so much, vega!

1. Three ships:

Una Chin-Riley/Christopher Pike — cozy vibes, mutual respect, implicit trust, a long history, a smidge of teasing, and she literally washes while he dries. Yes, I know they’re besties in canon and I love that, too.

Will Riker/Deanna Troi — sometimes love is circular.

Laira Rillak/Charles Vance — and sometimes love is in the past … mostly. (I really like the idea of these two holding the Federation and Starfleet together while their partners were sent away for safety. Then, later, we see their respect for each other’s spheres of influence and him calling her the conductor whom others should trust. Happy sigh.)

2. First ship ever: Will Riker/Deanna Troi. From the word go … or, should I say, from the Encounter at Farpoint voice-over: “Do you remember what I taught you, Imzadi? Can you still sense my thoughts?” But here’s the thing, if you ship Troi/Worf, it’s all good. I get it. Deanna and Will went round and round and Worf knew what he wanted. I prefer Imzadi, but all respect to those who like other combinations (for all ships).

3. Last song: “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities.

4. Last movie: My dude, I have no idea. I cannot remember the last time I saw an entire movie.

5. Currently reading: “Making Time: Lillian Moller Gilbreth — A Life Beyond ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’" (For those who notice such things, yes, this book has been my answer to this question for years. It’s really good, but other books keep cutting in like jerks at the club.)

6. Currently watching: Star Trek: Picard, season 3 (cautiously) and the Night Court reboot, which I am finding delightful. Dan Fielding was always great and now he’s even better.

7. Currently consuming: Oxygen? I’m not sure how to answer this.

8. Currently craving: A US government that listens to the will of the people and institutes universal healthcare, affordable college tuition, and meaningful economic reform that taxes the shit out of money-hoarding corporations and the uber-wealthy in order to fund education, public transportation, and infrastructure. Let’s get government big enough so it no longer fits in my uterus or my bedroom, and instead provides services for those who need it.

As y’all know, I love being tagged but have tag anxiety for tagging others. If you want to play, please consider yourself tagged! ❤️