#realized i know the lore better than the actual gameplay

[nothanksbr0]

the way that i felt silly for not knowing every step of resident evil 2 despite knowing most of the codes and safe combinations, so now i’m reading through a walkthrough and enjoying it

[ganondoodle]

I honestly find it impressive how totk managed to fuck up so bad as a sequel. But truth be told, good gameplay aside, botw already was a whole lot of nothing as far as story and lore were concerned. I just feel like amnesiac Link going out into the world to save some voice is not a good premise, even though botw Zelda has an interesting personality. Idk, I guess botw felt like an experiment that was supposed to pay off in totk, but totk being a disappointment makes botw kind of feel like a waste of time as well

yes and no to that (in my opinion .. just gonna add that to be sure)

what hooked me in botw was less the story that was told and more what was implied, bc it seemed to imply so much, there was so much design that felt intentional- like an introduction to a world with subtle hints towards much much more that would be perfect to dive deeply into in an expansion or second part- just like you said

i personally am a sucker for big environments with enviromental storytelling more than direct dialog in your face- it might be a small detail to some but for me the choice of music, or how little and broken there was really spoke to me (in part bc i am very noise sensitive, id gladly spent hours in botws hyrule field, but id want to get out of twilight princesses hyrule field bc it would get unbearable to me after a while)

but mainly .. it was the world, botw made me feel like no other game has before, it felt so real to me, that this is a world with deep history, most of which unknown, so much mystery and things that existed with no explicit explanation (like man do i love botws dragons ...... and i will not forgive what totk did to them lore wise)-- like with the ancient shiekah especially, they were, or seemed, so drenched in lore you can only guess but yet it felt so intentional, or how calamtiy ganon was this strange being like a force of nature and the gerudo having had no king in so long it was basically forgotten it was ever a thing?? so much to speculate and think about, so much you could do with all those things; you probably didnt aim to get this kind of talk from me but when i talk i talk unfortunately, and botw is my second favorite zelda game (grinding my teeth to dust trying to ignore what totk did to its lore)

if you look at just whats told to you, botw isnt that special either (though at least coherent in itself lol) but its the world and design and mystery that got to me, that i care about so much, care that got almost utterly destroyed by totk bc it made me realize that there .. might have been no intention behind anything, it didnt mean anything actually

its a thing that hurts me so much to know, to think about, that totk cannot be separated from botw, they cheapen each other, people think its just botw+extra, when imo its more like .. botw again but worse, or them saying that botw was jsut a tech demo to the grand game that is totk (i couldnt disagree more to that wtf, totk is more of a tech demo for ultrahand tbh)

i cant even decide whats worse to me, the fact that botw isnt gonna get that deep lore dive in a second part that got me so excited like i never was before after the first trailer, that everything i cared about in it isnt gonna have a follow up ever, the knowledge that there might be no intention and no meaning behind anything in their games, that the next games might be like that too, that its inseperable from totk in the worst way, or that they only damage each other, botw functions better on its own than totk does, but together it worsens both

(i basically just said what you said in long form .. sorry- though i do feel more positively about the amnesia thing in botw, theres tragedy and emotional weight in it and helps immensely to let you and link explore the world like for the first time- plus its a drawback to an otherwise pretty overpowered piece of tech/magic- unlike some other things in a certain other game)

[lunatic-pudge]

Lost Running With Scissors Games

Hey, girlie, don't mind me sliding into your Tumblr. Just here to share some interesting lost media with you.

Now if you follow me or lurk around on my blog, the chances of you being a fellow Postal enjoyer are high. Can't blame you, it's a good games series that I'm most definitely normal about. Yup, very normal about this game. But I'm not here to talk about Postal (for once in my life). I'm actually here to share some lost Running With Scissors media with you.

Yep, RWS has some lost media. I was looking around the Lost Media Wiki to see if Postal had any lost media and found this. It's called Guardian and Flesh & Wire, cancelled shooters that were developed by Running with Scissors and would've been published by Ripcord Games. For those who may not know, Ripcord Games published the first Postal game.

(Here's the logo for Flesh & Wire. There hasn't been one found for Guardian at the moment)

Due to how controversial Postal was, Ripcord had told RWS that if they wanted to continue working together, they would need to ditch the idea of making a Postal sequel and make a new IP. Since Ripcord owned the license of Postal at the time, RWS weren't able to break off and make a sequel. There were two games proposed but got rejected

We're gonna follow the wiki and start with Guardian. I'm gonna put direct quotes for what the gameplay/story is about.

"The story would revolve around Rakk, a fighter who joins the Umbreks to stop the Nullids who are about to "have earthlings for breakfast." According to the lore, the Umbreks were oppressed by the technology advanced Nullids and killing and indigenous species became a real taboo for them. It's unknown if the developers planned to implement this in the game. If true, it's possible that, Unlike Postal, killing them would punish the player. You would've started off with a core set of moves including a traditional Umbrek weapon called an Arraka, As the game goes on, you acquire new skills through genetic assimilation, a process consisting of the ability for Umbreks to absorb the minds of the Nullids. The absorbed skills would simply disappear after a certain time. Excessive use could cause the protagonist's mind to change for the rest of the game."

Guardian was announced at E3 1998. It was meant to be RWS second title.

According to Vince Desi, the game was to use motion capture and was all about "flesh and wire". It was originally a third-person shooter that was to use 3D characters and real life background that were digitized, and multiple camera angles, dynamic lighting, and special effects. It was planned to be released on PC in 1999 and have a DVD version that would have better graphics.

Now for Flesh & Wire. Again, I'll be quoting the Lost Media Wiki for the gameplay/story.

"Unlike, Guardian, Flesh & Wire would've centered around a sleazy cop name Angus. One morning, he woke up to see his city being engulfed by a bio-ship named Nulloid. Not only that, but he also found a blob-like creature devouring his legs. Rather than calling a doctor, he came to the realization the he could control the blob and use it for good. From there on, you would've moved around levels, utilizing special abilities and solved puzzles, such as creating either a ladder to reach high places, a bungee to get down or even a shield to protect yourself from enemies. It bears many similarities to the 1989's A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia, a game developed by Imagineering for the NES. Unlike that game however, Flesh & Wire was a far-less family friendly and featured grotesque monster designs. You could carry weapons such as a gatling cannon, an electric gun and poison gas, to which you could even combine to make even more powerful weapons. The game would also encourage players to collect as much material as possible to increase the amoeba's size and speed, and would even lose some of its mass the more the player moves."

The animation for Flesh & Wire would be done in rotoscoping live martial arts students. The movements would be recorded on synchronized digital cameras set at 90 degrees apart from each other. They were to be digitized and loaded onto Softimage 3D, an animation software, and to be used as reference for the animators to use. Randy Briley, the studio's art team leader, came up with the idea pf building the levels of the games using miniature layout, using scraps of PVC pipes, copper tubing, old VCRs, and other items that were glued and painted. This was done to save money and resources. The results were successful.

The game was announced in March 1999. It would've been RWS' first game released on console

That same year, Panasonic Interactive Media, Ripcord's parent company, announced their closure. The senior management team at Panasonic made a deal to acquire Ripcord and make it an independent company. RWS announced that they would still continue working on Flesh & Wire on their own and that they'd support Ripcord's new team. But then Ripcord drooped their support for Flesh & Wire. RWS had spent $1.5 million into Flesh & Wire and had planned to released it in the next year, but they were unable to find any publishers that would support the project which had ultimately led to the cancellation of Flesh & Wire.

Here's some of the concept art from the Wiki. Both these games would've been really cool to see. It's sad that they weren't able to come to fruition though. Hopefully, we can find more out about these games.

I'm sorry these pics are blurry, I took these all from the wiki and that's how they were. And to be honest, F&W concept art gives me big Postal vibes. I don't mind though. I enjoy it. And here's a link to the Lost Media Wiki article.

[antisocialxconstruct]

You already made me play shadowrun, convince me to play elden ring as well 👀

oh HMMMM an interesting challenge :o

In one sense it might be an easier sell to you personally, I know you're more into fantasy than scifi to begin with and Elden Ring is definitely a familiar "swords and dragons and magic" kind of setting, albeit with the gothic and eldritch sensibilities you'd expect from FromSoftware. In my opinion this is a major selling point, it feels distinctly high fantasy without just feeling like, y’know, Skyrim But Harder. (And considering I'M someone who's definitely way more into scifi than fantasy, I feel like it's noteworthy that I was still really compelled by the setting.)

The infamous Soulsborne Difficulty is obviously the big sticking point for most people. I can't confidently compare it to other Fromsoft games, but I can say that as someone who doesn't have a ton of experience with soulslikes and generally doesn't think of them as a genre I'd actively seek out, I DID eventually get extremely comfortable with Elden Ring. It can be challenging if it's not a gameplay style you're familiar with, but especially early on you have a lot of opportunities to experiment and mess up long before mistakes start feeling really costly, so it's a good time to try a lot of things. Look up guides, read the wiki, skim some recommended builds... that way if you realize you picked a starting class that doesn't have optimal stats for the skills and weapons you want to use, you can reroll early (unlike me, suffering with a steep faith handicap despite it being like the second or third most important stat for my build =_=) Also, just approach the game with the knowledge that you WILL die and you WILL have to try things more than once, especially if you're not well versed in the genre. I feel like it's much easier to have fun with this kind of game if you approach the challenging fights as earnest attempts and experiments to build a strategy on, rather than "failures" that just mean you have to Do Better. And of course, if something is just too hard to be fun... you can go somewhere else 🤷 hardcore fans might be horrified by my approach but often I would drop one thing that was too hard and wander off somewhere else, get caught up in some other quest line or dungeon or something, and come back to the first challenge so long later that I would be comically overleveled and just get the satisfaction of steamrolling it.

The equally infamous Oblique Soulsborne Storytelling is probably the OTHER major sticking point, and on that I have to say... it is extremely oblique lmao I think @axperjan got way more out of the lore than I did because they actually stopped to read item descriptions and such, so I guess my advice there would be take the time to read item descriptions if you want to know who the fuck everyone is and what they've been up to. But even with the minimal amount of lore I was actually absorbing, I still felt like I was absorbing the ~vibes~ and a lot of the time, that was enough for me to feel like I understood the kinds of struggles and conflicts I was dealing with and how I was meant to feel about them. I got very invested emotionally in several specific characters, and actively want to play the game again in order to absorb more about others and understand them better. Overall I really enjoy the tone of Elden Ring's narrative: there's an unavoidable sickness and despair to the world you're exploring, but an equally clear and distinct note of hope and optimism, a feeling that everything is on the brink of a dramatic change and an earnest desire for that change to be for the better, even if the cost is high.

The game's soundtrack and art direction are beautiful, and MOST of the combat encounters (especially boss fights) feel elegant and satisfyingly structured, so even if you never engaged with the story or lore even a little bit you would get the pleasure of playing through an expansive and competent work of art. There are definitely some recycled maps and enemies that can feel a bit tedious after the first couple times, and some sequences that feel just a little too mean-spirited to be fair, but maybe that's a bit inevitable and in my experience even the ones that made me rage-quit for a night were never enough to sour my opinion of the game as a whole.

I think Elden Ring is a great soulsborne game for people who WANT to like the soulsborne genre but are intimidated by its reputation. It's not so much "easier" that it feels like a disingenuous introduction, but it allows you to be a little more patient and go at your own pace long enough to understand what the genre is actually asking of you and start engaging with it on its own terms. I'm only two boss fights away from finishing the core game and I'm excited for the dlc, which is further than I've ever gotten and more time than I've ever invested in any other soulsborne/soulslike.

Also you get a cool goat-horse and you can feed him snacks while you're riding around 🐐

[someonebeatyoutothisuser]

I'm just gonna place my honest opinion here.

Genuinely, the more I look at cookie run, the more I wonder what I see in it.

Most of the characters are either

A. Stereotyped.

B. Boring as hell.

C. Assassinated

Or D. Certain character tropes that I DESPISE.

I understand that some adults are short like that but why make them sound like a child, look like a child, and act like one. But they aren't children, and I know that PLENTY of other things do this but... Some of these updates had potential that was quickly ruined by stereotyping and/or just shitty writing.

Some characters had their chances to shine only to be ruined by poor writing which makes the update simply mid.

Some updates just feel like there was wasted potential, there could've been more to the update and now that I look at it, some of these writers are scared to get better.

As a GingerBrave fan myself, I will admit, There are some updates where he shouldn't even be present, simply just because he feels out of place.

And that moves onto my next problem, devsisters are way too bitchy to get GingerBrave removed from a certain plot because they are afraid of something the mc isn't involved in.

It's honestly annoying, and even with a few updates where GingerBrave isn't mainly involved/ isn't even involved in at all, some of it is still mid. Some story plots make it feel incomplete or empty. Like I said, there's so much wasted potential it actually sucks.

Also, devsisters cannot help themselves but be racist. There are a few updates in which it wasn't even needed and made the story/update plain unlikeable.

Also, there were so many unnecessary things that didn't need to be confirmed cannon, hell, it being confirmed cannon sometimes made it worse.

Some characters would've fit certain updates much better but devsisters clearly don't care.

Also, there was some dialogue that just didn't need to be added.

And back on the fact that some things doesn't need to be confirmed, I don't like shotas/loils. I don't. So when I found out that dozer was old AF, I immediately just got disappointed. They didn't need to say that him being the first batch was cannon. They didn't even need to speak on that, same goes for Milky Way, like I said, some adults can be short, but why have the need to make them act and sound like a child if they aren't a child? It's extremely unnecessary.

And no, it's not weird, it's pretty obvious once you take a small look at a few characters and realize that devsisters unnecessarily made them a shota/loil.

Also, now that I look back, some of the lore gives me more questions than answers, the lore can be extremely confusing and makes the gameplay just unsatisfying at the end of the day. Some updates were just rushed and heavily forced, some of the characters had no business being in the lore let alone even alive for some of them.

I understand that not everything has to be exactly perfect but they could've tried with some of these updates.

At the end of the day, devsisters needs to get better fucking writers.

If you don't agree, then either scroll, block me, or just tell me how I'm wrong without being rude about it. Have a nice day/Night.

[klug]

Ranting

This post is kind of annoying to me because I have always hated the divide of "lore/character fan" vs "gameplay fan" as someone who doesn't identify strictly with either category. I love playing Puyo Puyo and I love the characters and the world of it. I do not think I slot into either box easily.

I also just kind of don't really like how this person says the sub communities don't get along when I feel like that is mostly because a lot of competitive players in the eng speaking community act like they're too good to care about the characters... This sentiment is not as prominent as before, true, but I still see echoes of it now and then and I actually think it just further alienates the casual audience of the game from interacting with the community and its competitive aspect.

There is a lot to like about the competitive community, but I've met so many people who feel embarrassed about their skills because of how people talked down to them about it. And like. I'll be honest guys: let people suck at the game. I'm never going to be a high level player and I'm just barely scraping by as an intermediate player and that's actually fine.

This point also doesn't make sense to me. I thought this was obvious.

Ever since it was Madou Monogatari, Puyo Puyo has always featured the characters as a selling point. that anime aesthetic maybe wasn't prominent in Japan because it's normalized there (it's just cartoons...) but I don't think people played the original Puyo Puyo because it was a competitive game, I think they played it because of the characters.

Additionally the interesting visuals (spells, characters, chain animations, general UI stuff) of Puyo Puyo are appealing to people that don't know the game (and it's also highly satisfying)

This point doesn't make sense to me either because Japanese and American boxarts are not very different for Puyo Puyo.

It is not a fault of how it is marketed to..."the west". but a larger issue here of how it is marketed with a focus on its brand than what makes it unique from other puzzlers. The last Puyo Puyo game to feature characters on its boxarts was Puyo Puyo Fever 2 anyway.

I concede that this person brought up Moo Niitani emphasizing the characters more than the actual gameplay when Puyo Puyo was still owned by compile and that Sega just lost sight of that along the way, but I don't think this should be surprising.

The characters of Puyo Puyo have always been part of its draw (and that sometimes means the lore is important)

Additionally: the people who will be going out and buying new Puyo games are going to be mostly casual players who like the characters or have some nostalgia for the series.

If the competitive community can stick with Champions/eSports until the end of time, there is genuinely no reason for them to be buying new games every time it comes out. There's no innovation on the main competitive game mode (Puyo Puyo Tsu) outside of minor tweaks and adjustments between games as far as I am aware.

But the people who like the characters/stories or want to play it with friends etc are going to be most of the people going out to buy the game...and that's what speaks to Sega. I don't really know why people think targeting the competitive community would be better. In fact, in a perfect world, a game would have a lot of single player and local multiplayer content for an average casual player but also good online, tournament support, and more customizable features for the competitive players. We don't live in this world right now, but I really don't know what point OPs post was trying to make in the first place? A lot of this is stuff you realize if you actually engage with "both sides" of the community and don't stick to a small bubble

[fayesdiary]

Congrats on beating 3H !! So what are your thoughts of the complete Fodlan experience ?

Jokes aside, honestly I'm not sure I can give a straight answer.

Overall I'd say it's been one of if not my least favourite Fire Emblem, but that really doesn't sum it up.

A more accurate description would be that it had a good chunk of things I loved (above all the Nabatean fam, Dimitri and his story and Claude as a character)... But it's buried beneath a mountain of boredom to slog through, decisions I just don't vibe with and The Bullshit™. Sooo much tedium and Bullshit in this game, and the fact I was kinda done halfway through VW and only persevered through the end out of sheer spite doesn't help.

And it's such a shame because when I liked the game I REALLY liked it and think it has some of the best/most interesting ideas of the entire series... But was it really worth slogging through hundreds of hours playing the same mediocre at best maps and story beats over and over and having to constantly bear that. Fucking. Monastery? Right now I'm inclined to say no. As much as I love those things, it was not.

Playing all the routes one after another really lays some of the biggest issues of this game, like the repetition. SOOO much of this game is recycled between routes and also in a single route to honestly insulting levels, and it doesn't get that much better in Part 2. The fact the devs somehow didn't think people would want to play more than one route is just. Baffling.

Something I realized in the final playthrough is that they also recycle maps for what are supposed to be completely different locations. So you get shit like Brigid somehow looking the exact same as a forest in the Alliance filled with Demonic Beasts, or Rhodos Coast and a beach in the Sreng Peninsula perfect copies of each other. Complete with the monuments for Cichol and Cethleann. Also like damn, Seteth's wife was so dead they had to bury her twice. In two different locations.

The writing is all over the place as a result of the chaotic development where not even the devs could agree on what the story was, and the whole game could be used as a test study on the sheer damage scope creep can do as well as the obsession with lore and worldbuilding that they contradict as soon as it's convenient over making an actually coherent narrative. And also why you don't throw literally any idea you can come up with to the wall hoping something sticks.

Because of the overreliance on telling over showing, what with the bland recycled maps and all, that Garreg Mach almost feels like the only real location in Fódlan, and that's something no amount of in-game libraries or novels worth of lore if those ten thousand years of lore are even real and didn't just make it up

Speaking of Garreg Mach, dear Sothis I hate that place now.

The monastery was fun the first time around, but then it became a chore to something I actively dreaded doing. It's monotone, you do the same shit every time, it lasts FOREVER compared to, you know, the ACTUAL Fire Emblem gameplay I'm playing for. And while you can technically skip it, you're losing on so much stuff to progress your units if you use it, so it feels like the option is just there to mock you. Getting into Persona and realizing how well the calendar system can work if done properly did nothing but sour me even more on the monastery.

The characters having new dialogue every chapter is really neat and something I wish got properly carried over to Engage, this game manages to turn even that into a chore.

And like - I really want to like this game, and in a sense I do, there's quite a bit of it I love. But so much of it makes me actively groan that I don't think I'm gonna replay it for at least a year. And if I do it will be with the No Monastery mod.

[martymcflown]

Oh boy, okay. I just finished Veilguard. I'm going to split my thoughts into non-spoilery and spoilery. I yap a lot.

Non-spoilery:

In terms of enjoyment? I'd say a 8/10. I was emotionally invested in all the characters. I enjoyed the fight mechanics a lot as a warrior (we'll see how I feel in my mage playthrough). I actually felt a lot of motivation to complete as many quests as humanly possible, which is quite different from how I felt during DA:I where a lot of the time I felt like I was running in circles most of the time to complete quests that felt like they didn't matter (and I say this as a DA:I defender).

I do completely understand the critiques from people who say the lore is really lacking. I didn't personally feel like the rich history of Dragon Age mattered much during gameplay. Even choices that can be made in the beginning for your Inquisitor didn't seem to matter much for me (I didn't even get to see the partner I'd chosen for them, kind of lame). I've only heard tell of one variation that matters to the narrative and it's only at the very end. I wish choices like that mattered more, and that the sociopolitical aspects of the series had a greater impact.

HOWEVER, I'm also not as invested in the lore as others clearly are so it didn't detract enough from gameplay for me to say I was unhappy. More like, I think it could have been better. Most of my negative opinions are in the spoiler section though. So, uh. I do recommend this game! I think it was a ton of fun! I'm already playing through as a different character because I was itching to try different choices, even knowing the ending. This is definitely one I'll replay a lot, potentially even more than the last game which I invested hundreds of hours into.

Spoilery thoughts:

Complaints:

-The Varric twist had some emotionally impactful moments, but also I find it pretty cheesy and hard to believe? It was something I'd guessed early on because Varric never interacted with anyone else, but then I convinced myself it was too cheesy to be the actual twist. WELL.

-I thought the ending was pretty anticlimactic, all things considered. I'm pretty sure I got the "good" ending (I only lost one party member...well, two in my opinion because I count Assan as a party member). I guess I sort of expected something like DA:I where there's a celebration at the end where you get to have pleasant goodbyes, as opposed to just "Hey we're about to die but I love you kiss kiss."

-In general, the pacing of the game felt kind of bananas. I can't tell how much in-narrative time passes in the entire game, but if you told me it was only a week I'd believe you. I don't know if I have a great solution to that. Maybe some indication that seasons are passing, or maybe a wait time is necessary between certain quests ("We have to wait for the frost to melt before we can go through the Gate of Blorbus" or something). Part of my disbelief for the Varric twist in part is that NOBODY talks about his death, not even Harding? They've known each other for years. But I guess the breakneck pace is partially to distract you from that.

Random things I really liked:

-Manfred and Assan. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE ASSAN IS GONE, BYE. I also just realized some people have played a version of this game where you lose both Manfred and Assan. I'm so sorry. ANYWAY. Positives. I just think they're precious.

-Loved the environments. Dock Town was probably my favorite, but I enjoyed exploring every map I encountered. Which, big improvement on DA;I (where if I saw one more green expanse where I had to run for three hours to get to a quest marker I would have killed everyone in this room and then myself).

-Thought it was a great touch that companions would continue their conversations after a fight. "Where was I?" etc. It's a small thing but I found it really added to feeling engrossed in the world.

-I like that the companions all have relationships to one another and that there are little touches throughout the game to show they each think about each other. I know there were complaints that everyone...acted like friends? Which, I dunno man. Have you ever made friends? I guess to each their own but their bonds all made sense to me, as well as how the various pairings developed their relationships.

-Even if some of the gender identity stuff felt clumsy at times, I love that it's an option to explore. I love that being trans or nonbinary provides specific dialogue options or changes Rook's relationship to certain characters. I can't imagine playing the game as a cis Rook now.

-I thought there were some fantastic performances from a lot of the cast. I really liked my Rook's VA and was shocked at how moved I was at certain moments in the ending. I think the performances were a major contributing factor to how attached I became to everyone, particularly Lucanis and Emmrich and Taash for me. Oh man, and Harding during her personal quest? Amazing.

-THE LIGHTING!!!! SO GOOD!!!!

My romance with Lucanis:

-Loved it. This is one thing I really don't understand the complaints about, but maybe that's my asexuality showing. I found his character arc really moving and I think the romance added a really nice layer to that. Also, the fanfic potential of Lucanis falling asleep and Rook + Spite playing naked cards? Come on.

My friendship with everyone else:

-I think most of the companions had one really strong theme that carried through each of their narratives. Some of them connected more with me personally than others, but I enjoyed all the personal quests and I cried at pretty much all of their resolutions. I think the only one I found lacking was Neve's? But that's probably my fault for certain choices I made. I'm so sorry, Neve. I doomed our city for the sake of Crow bussy.

-Some of the writing for Taash's storyline felt a bit cheese. However, I'm coming at that from the perspective of a trans and gender nonconforming person who's consumed a lot more media that discusses queer themes than vidya games. So, Taash's storyline sometimes felt like "baby's first coming out", but that was probably for more general audiences who consume the game (and I think the complaints about the game being "too woke" are just...outrageously stupid).

[lorillee]

ok finished kiwami 1. had to do something for a bit but time for loose thoughts

i know i said it before but like actually insane imagining this as somebodys first yakuza game like before i started i was looking up on reddit peoples recommended playing order and i thought it was weird they were all saying you should play y0 first because i knew y0 was released later but like no theyre absolutely correct.

kiwami 1 throws so much at you all at once and doesnt really spend the time to build up a lot of the characters or their relationships and how they know each other and so like this story flows a lot better coming in with the knowledge that comes from y0 but if i didnt have that its like. Well that was a lot.

also with the additional context from kiwami 1 i think some of the stuff that i felt was a bit of a loose thread or didnt really seem like it went anywhere wrt the plotline for y0 feels a lot more complete now. theyre kind of like two halves of a whole and one without the other kind of leaves you hanging <- and for this exact reason im soooo so excited to replay y0 at some point. Itll happen. TRUST

ok lets take a brief sabbatical to talk about gameplay and other non-plot related things

to be honest i feel like the combat was more challenging in kiwami than in y0 and some of the fights rlly kicked my butt. but definitely like the worst was the one on the rooftop after reina gets shot like omg that one was actually like kind of dreadful

a SIGNIFICANTLY smaller amount of quicktime events in this game but honestly i feel like i got pretty good at the quicktime events i miss them

every time i walked past maharaja's corpse i felt a part of my soul die

to be so honest i liked the y0 renditions of the karaoke songs better........................... that being said im never getting over how they changed the baka mitai mv picture to FIGHTER?????? too funny. actually too funny.

absolutely and entirely fascinated by majimas role in this game. which is mostly just to show up and be a menace and occasionally sprinkle in a bit of his lore before bouncing right back to the usual brand of insanity. im honestly still thinking about that scene at shangri-la where he turns that girl loose and pats her on the back

i miss fighting in majimas slugger style so bad you actually dont know. it breaks my heart.

ok plot time.

something that im starting to realize is i cant really approach the yakuza games with the expectation of a more traditional story. like one of my mild frustrations with kiryu's story in y0 was that it kind of just felt like a string of events occurring, particularly in comparison to majima's storyline which felt generally a lot more like. im trying to find the words but the only thing i can come up with is tightly wound. i dont know if that makes any sense but this isnt an essay this is my personal feelings so im not going to bother explaining any more than that.

anyways kiwami 1 felt a lot closer to kiryu's y0 story and this lack of . i dont want to say cohesion because its still a cohesive story but the lack of whatever it is is almost definitely the point - like kiryu's plots feel less like a story and more a portrayal of life. where not everything wraps back around in the cleanest way and it kind of is just a string of events that builds off itself and sometimes the conclusion it finds itself in is soul destroying and the ending of everything youve ever known and sometimes its the beginning of something new. anwyays its really fun i love it

haruka i would die for?

also can we stop killing our beautiful women

whatever though the men die too so i guess its equality

actually im kind of devastated that kazuma is dead not because i like super like him or anything but im actually fascinated by him like you know how entomologists pin dead butterflies up on displays or whatever. Yeah kind of like that. really really interesting character particularly the dichotomy of who he was vs kiryus opinion of him like I WANT TO KNOW MOREEEEE but also to some degree hes one of those characters thats more fun hearing about them 2nd or 3rd hand and piecing together a picture based on a thousand different impressions with not a clue of whats actually going on inside his head at any given moment

really and truly though im very im soooo excited to see where haruka's story is going in the future like kind of obsessed with how quick she is. like because in the scene where the cop stops her and kiryu the dialogue options are to claim to be her father or run and i chose to run because i was like ok if i made kiryu claim to be her father shes like 7 shes proabbly going to go "Huh? no youre not" but she took care of the situation not only by lying on the spot but making it convincing after kiryu epicly fumbles the getaway attempt. like i am soooo im so excited to hang out with her more

im not worlds biggest nishiki stan so honestly i dont have all that much to say on his front but i did really like his story and i wish he was given more of a direct focus/role in the climax as opposed to just showing up at the end. im also kind of disappointed they gave him a sister and then never let us see her or their dynamic or get to know literally anything going on with that other than the fact that she was nebulously terminally ill and now dead. SIGH

i want to get sss rank for majima everywhere but i want to play the next game SOOOOO BADDDD because i think majima gets a more active role in the story and Well hes my babygirl..........

anwyays good game much enjoyed

[1moreff-creator]

Not related to DRDT, But I saw in your pinned post you like FNAF. If you haven't answered this before, which FNAF game is your favorite? Or who is your favorite animatronic/character? I like fnaf1 foxy :)

Yee FNAF! I might not talk about it here much, but it is the fixation that Always Comes Back for me, so I’m glad to have an excuse to ramble about it :D

Favorite game is a bit complicated because I haven’t played all of them (my computer couldn’t handle the FLAF demo it is not running Security Breach), but depending on the day, it’s one of FNAF 1, Sister Location or Help Wanted.

FNAF 1 gets a ton of nostalgia points, the atmosphere is immaculate, and the little story it has is fantastic, though without as much complexity as later entries.

Sister Location is horrible on the replayability department… except I count the Custom Night DLC as part of the game, and that’s pretty fun. The game itself is fine on a first play through, has pretty good atmosphere, and (in my opinion) beats FNAF 1 in terms of self-contained story, themes and narrative weight, wider lore and character building. Night 5 is (in my opinion) one of the best written segments of any FNAF game, both Real and Fake ending.

Help Wanted also beats FNAF 1 in terms of self-contained story (those tapes are genuinely an awesome evolution of the Phone Guy concept), and the introduction of Vanny is genuinely captivating (regardless of how much they fumbled her in later entries), but it also added certain elements to the overall plot that I don’t quite like the ramifications of (even if I tend to ignore the “in-universe games” debacle, I dislike what it represents for theorizing). In gameplay it’s generally better than SL, but it’s not as charming as FNAF 1. Though I feel my opinion of it would change if I could actually play it in VR, but alas, that is not my situation.

It’s hard for me to pick between those, frankly. Probably Sister Location though, I just like the characters too much…

What shit I forgot Into the Pit. Yeah no it’s Into the Pit probably. Even accounting for recency bias the game’s insanely peak lol. Still gonna leave those other three there, for posterity xD

Speaking of liking SL characters; Baby and Puppet are my favorite animatronics, though admittedly that’s more of an extension of my favorite characters being Charlie and Elizabeth (that order). Btw, FNAF 1 Foxy is a very good and solid pick, I respect it :D

I genuinely think Baby in Sister Location has an argument for best written character of the entire franchise bar maybe Movie Mike, and I am willing to defend that take. A ruthless killer born of horrible circumstances, yet compassionate at heart (see: the very fact she chose to form Ennard instead of leaving with Michael’s body on her own, “the scooper only hurts for a moment” line), in her eyes betrayed by those she saved because of being… well, a child.

Shame her character got absolutely assassinated in FFPS. Unless she was trying to manipulate William. I know it’s not ever even remotely suggested, but I genuinely would have no (serious) complaints about Baby’s character if that’s what she was going for in the “I will make you proud” speech.

As for Puppet, old fan favorite for a reason. It was always a standout of the cast, which obviously meant I loved them, and the exploration of its personality in UCN in particular is pretty cool. To be clear, my enjoyment of Charlie as a character is based on highly specific interpretations of certain lines, but when literally 90% of the story is up to interpretation, I feel that’s not too surprising.

In particular, taking Charlie as a deeply regretful person, who realized how badly she fucked up by reviving the children only after dozens of night guards had been killed and they’d already been trapped for years, with possibly hundreds of deaths on her hands, just trying to make things right again. And, just, so, fucking, tired, by the time Lefty happens (see: Lefty UCN lines). And don’t even get me started on the angst potential of being tortured by her supposedly loving father in the Bear Torture Contraption, the mistakes of her past haunting her because Henry sees her as the bloodthirsty night guard killer that no longer exists (see: she doesn’t attack Michael in FNAF 3), and hearing that he wants to “save her now” as she burns half-alive. Etcetera.

Again, hyperspecific. But I like it, so.

For the sake of completionism:

My favorite Silver Eyes character is probably Elizabeth/Adult Charlie/Baby (why is this character so hard to refer to).

Favorite Frights character is probably Eleanor. She’s just so sassy and girlfailure and somewhat intriguing she’s fantastic (or, at least, better than other Frights characters in my books).

Favorite Steel Wool Era character is Gregory if he dropped the elevator and probably Vanessa if he didn’t (I wonder what that says about me lol).

Favorite Mega Cat games character is Oswald (not that many to pick from tbf).

Favorite movie character is Mike. Just a really amazing spin on the already solid basis of Michael Afton.

Favorite Interactive Novels character is Ralph (is it cheating if I mainly like him cuz he’s Phone Guy?).

And… do I really not like any character from Tales? I don’t remember almost any of the stories very well, but I guess if I’d liked the characters enough, I’d remember them.

Since I don’t care about Edwin for now, I guess the Mimic is the only real option, but I’m not the biggest fan. I have hope Secret of the Mimic will sway me to actually caring about the guy, though! I’m already enjoying what we have of Jackie, because in case it wasn’t obvious by the fact I picked Eleanor over Jake or Larson, I kinda enjoy the fucked up clown women quite a bit! Mimic will never be Ennard, but he can get close, and there’s worse things to be than worse-Ennard.

Thanks a lot for the ask! I might have been wanting to write about FNAF more than I’d realized lol.

[orchideae]

I'm a little late to the party, and I have a few more of those 'before 2023 ends' to answer in typical me fashion— which means answering them incredibly late: on the 4th of January (okay, it's the 4th over here). Who's surprised? Okay, but, but! Better late than never, right? So here we go: Happy New Years, you fellow-obsessers over fictional characters! (And let's be honest here, they're the real reason that we get up in the morning, right?)

Now, while 2023 proved to be a year of many tribulations and changes in my personal life, it also proved that not all of that change was bad at all. Relocations and all kinds of stresses aside, 2023 was also the year where I finally caved and got into Genshin Impact. I've forgotten how many times people have told me that 'It's right up your alley, Sae!' And honestly, every single person who ever did was so right, 'cause I haven't enjoyed a game as much since the peak of Warcraft. Its gameplay is engaging and diverse, its storytelling is one that I thoroughly enjoy, and its lore is deep and vast and never-ending that I'm given crumbs in corners of Teyvat where bread shouldn't even exist! And the latter is, as anyone can guess, my favorite. I just don't feel like I ever run out of things to dig into and research.

But most importantly, Genshin has slowly been giving me something back that I lost numerous years ago after a very big loss in my personal life, which was/is my desire and will to write. Throughout the last few years, I've tried to get it back, but nothing ever quite nudged me enough, and I only recently realized just how much of an effect the prospect of losing a passion of that kind of magnitude, had come to have on me. But my enjoyment of the game ultimately led me to its RPC, and through the likes of Guizhong and now Yelan, I think I've found my next 'home', a place where I want to stay for quite some time to come. And that's because of you guys, it's because of all of you who engage with me every time I surface (even the tiniest of likes has me smiling), all of you who read my ramblings, and express an interest in writing with me despite the fact that I'm slow as a snail, and most of you haven't even gotten a thread or ask response out of me yet. And that has to change. I always preach that words don't mean much if your actions don't back them up, and so it's time I really make this a proper resolution this year: I will do better. Not just for you guys, but for myself. I can yap all day about how much I want to write because I really do, but what does it mean if I don't actually... write? There's so much that I want and need to say and talk about, there's so much that I want to write with so many of you; and so it's time I proved that. I have numerous resolutions this year, but actively engaging with my passion again? Yeah, that's a big one.

Here's to 2024, may all your resolutions and wishes for it come true, may Hoyo bless us with not only more quality of life updated, but also more ways to gain primos, because sanity knows I'm running out! And here's to you guys, for making this fandom, and my time in it so far, truly great and rather memorable. 💙🤍

[townofcrosshollow]

Not to be too SCREE on main but I just got a frankly magical opportunity! Guy on Reddit invited me to a Vampire the Masquerade game that he was forming with a pre-existing group, I guess somebody probably couldn't play in their new campaign, so they invited me. I was nervous because Vampire is a more complicated system than I'm used to, but the GM actually took the time to hop on a call with me ahead of time to discuss the game and the rules, and gave me some one-on-one time in session 0 to help me fill out my character sheet, and even planned the group's backstory around my character (so the other players' first goals are going to be to teach my character some of the mechanics in-game).

Since it's a pre-existing group of people he's already played with, I already knew going in that the players would be cool, and ofc they were! They were all really nice and made sure I felt welcome, even though I couldn't contribute much since I don't know all the rules and lore. Everybody made a point to ask me what I thought about the ideas they had.

In one of my previous games I tried joining I was happy to see people talking in the discord a lot but then a lot of the players turned out to be very... terminally online? Y'know? Like in a bad way? So I was a little worried about joining a group that might be the same! It's so uncomfortable to get out of it once you realize you don't vibe with them. But I think I'm going to vibe with all these folks! They're all very funny, a lot of them are also queer, they seem to have similar interests re: roleplaying and what kind of game we like to play. I didn't get much chance to speak with them since it was a lot of rules talk, but once we get into gameplay, I'm really excited to start roleplaying with them and getting to know them better.

And the rules of Vampire are really cool now that I've gotten the chance to learn them! I'm always scared about more complicated games like that, but I love the mechanics, they're all really interesting and well crafted. It feels like... a bunch of super simple games mashed up together. All the mechanics are recognizable from rules-light games I've played, so it's way less confusing when they're all put together.

And I'm excited for my character, he's a combination of a bunch of ideas and aesthetics I love and he's going to be so much fun to play.

Basically we're feeling JOY in this Wendy's tonight!!!!

[genopaint]

I'm having a bit of art block at the moment. So I thought this might be a good time to go back and talk about the 3 games I released this year to give them one little bit of love before the year ends!! As well as some thoughts on where they'll be going next year!

First Up: Released August 10th, BOYZ: WORLD WIDE WEST! (x)

 This was a "pseudo-multiplayer" quickdraw game. Make your very own BOY, and battle foes in quickdraw matches! The big draw was using codes from other's wanted posters to duel their BOY in your game!

This was the game I actually planned to make at the start of the year. I had the idea in my head for a bit, and I think it came out pretty good! Sadly very few people actually participated in the #BOYZWWW tag to share their wanted poster. But I stand by this concept! I've got ideas for updates to make to this game in 2023. I would really like to add real back buttons to each option so it's easier to enter codes and build a boy. But I think there's also potential to touch up some menus and make them look more original and less like RPGM menus. I wouldn't hold my breath for it coming out any time soon. But yeah... I do already have a small idea for a sequel to this game! It's a bit more ambitious than I can do at the moment, but I'll keep my mind on it. This was my favorite game I made this year! 

Next: Released November 6th, DaRoach! (x)

A maze running arcade styled game. Play as DaRoach and try to collect gems and treasures! There's a 10 stage arcade ladder with a small story, and an endless mode with various layouts to try and master! 

This game was something I wasn't planning at the start of the year, but randomly I had the idea that I could make a simple arcade game pretty easily. It took a bit to figure out what it should be about and how DaRoach should look, but I think it came out pretty good! This game really needs to get touched up a bit in 2023. Thanks to SumRndmDde's custom menu plugin I can FINALLY add a score present during gameplay. But I also would like to potentially touch up tilesets and gameplay to look and run a little better. I know this sounds silly. But I already have plans for the next 3 DaRoach games. I'm not joking. The whole DaRoach lore is already figured out. 3+4 won't be able to be made soon. But DaRoach 2 isn't entirely out of the question eventually. But I'd still need help to get it done.

Lastly: Released December 13th, FLYTRAP! (x)

FLYTRAP is a simple Game & Watch styled game where you control Marty the Flytrap and stop flies from biting your stem! It's a simple blocker game, jump in front of the flies before they reach the center!

This game was completely spur of the moment. After playing Garden Gaurdian and redrawing old G&W fanart. I realized I could make a GW game pretty easily. And people seemed interested so I sat down and made it quickly over a weekend. I'm still shocked by the love this one got! There's not a whole lot to the game that can be cleaned up in 2023. But I certainly think there's room for improvement with playing on phones. However my main goal is to add additional game modes that make the game harder/slightly different since it's easy to edit. I do have an idea for a sequel to FLYTRAP but it'd be more of the same. Nothing too fancy. I don't know when I'll get around to it but it's one I could even potentially do in RPG Maker. Maybe. We'll see. No promises.

---

And that's all the games I made in 2022! Thank you all so much for your support, and thank you for playing anything I put out there! It all means the world to me! As always, these smaller games are leading up to me finishing Once Upon An Adventure, my full scale RPG. I don't know when it'll will be done. I'm at a point where I'm pushing myself to just be happy with what I am making currently, I want this to be the last round of asset making I do. I don't think it'll be done by 2023. But I'm hoping I might be able to show more videos by then. Currently Im working on the maps! I'm on the second to last chapter for dungeons. Then I can do towns, then hidden areas! Once that's done I can build them all in game, then start working on overworld sprites and then when its all put together I can record footage of maps! There's still a LOT of work to do on Once Upon An Adventure, but please look forward to it and please look forward to more updates in 2022!

I do still plan on doing 1 short game per year. And I have a couple of ideas. I'm thinking of maybe letting people decide which one I should attempt? We'll see. A big goal I have for game making in 2023 is to try and enter some game jams. I've made games in really short times already so I think entering game jams could be a ton of fun. So don't be surprised if you see stuff like that from me. And as always I'm working with @CloudyGamesLLC and @SeafloorGames for various projects. Please check them out!

Once again, thank you all so much for your continued love and support. I hope I can make even cooler things next year! Here's to a great 2023 with many more video games to come!

[talsgarthewanderer]

Hello, followers! If I started posting more about my ESO adventures, would you be interested in them?

Like, I play ESO a lot. I play on my own account with 10 characters AND my sibling's account with their 6 characters AND occasionally on our parent's account with THEIR 6 characters. (I'm keeping my family gender neutral here because I dont know whether they'd want me putting them on blast to all of you)

I mostly just think that it would be fun to talk about the lore and environment and stuff as though Talsgar himself is traveling around Tamriel. There's so much content in ESO and very little of it conflicts with what we're familiar with from the main elder scrolls games (in that, there is definitely stuff that conflicts, but when you compare it to everything else that is lore-compliant, it's really quite a small amount), so I think it would be fun.

Plus, maybe I could convince some of you who are on the fence about playing to make an account next time they have a free-to-play event where you don't have to buy the game or any of the DLCs just to bop around and see the sights. I've put the story of how I, personally, got into playing ESO under the cut, so you dont have to read it if you dont want to lol

What got me into ESO was seeing a post on here with gifs of the city Shimmerene on Summerset, the biggest island of the Summerset Isles. Those gifs made it look gorgeous--the colors were vibrant, the water looked realistic as heck, the plants also looked realistic as heck, and the architecture was compelling to me as someone who studies classical antiquity.

Then, when I was getting a tattoo a few weeks later, I was able to chat with my tattoo artist about ESO and its pros and cons. He had recognized me as an elder scrolls fan several months earlier when I had gotten the Oblivion mages guild seal as a tattoo, so I figured he was a good person to talk to and thus I made an appointment specifically with him for another tattoo. And during my actual appointment, man was tattooing my spine and gushing about how fun the game was, how intuitive the gameplay is for someone who was used to playing Dragon Age games and could never really get hooked on Skyrim, and how ESO actually motivated him to go back and give Skyrim and Oblivion a try. It was super fun talking with him and I realized that if ESO can attract non-Skyrim folks, then it must be at least a decent game. Of course, it then took 2 more years of me researching the game to figure out if it was still a subscription-based model to play the base game.

Luckily, by the time I was doing this research, they'd actually switched from a subscription for the game itself to a subscription for a thing called ESO+, and the base game was actually available for just a single purchase of the game. I brought the idea up to my parent, who was almost 60 at the time and needed something other than skyrim or fallout 4 to play, and they were like, "we'll just get ESO plus because you want to see Shimmerene and it's part of a DLC that's included in ESO+ that we would have to buy separately without it."

And I gotta say, in person, Shimmerene is better than those gifs. My parent and I ended up going all over Tamriel in the first hour of playing, going to random places just to look at them, new and familiar alike. We went to Anvil and I was mad that Benirus Manor was a BANK, and not a house for sale. We went to Windhelm and I was like, "damn, everything's made of wood and the citizens are so much nicer to my dark elf." We went to Vivec City and I was like, "hold on there are only 3 cantons, wtf," and then we went to Balmora and it looked almost exactly the same.

And then we went to Elden Root and were like, "holy shit, thats the biggest tree I've ever seen in my life," which, we live in california and have seen the actual real life redwoods. The devs of ESO somehow made the elden root tree absolutely towering and evoke that same majesty that the redwoods evoke.

We went to the city of Daggerfall and it was delightfully medieval european, and then we went to Wayrest, and it was essentially just a bigger Daggerfall. We went to Rivenspire and immediately left because it was a blasted hellscape of dead trees and vampires.

We saw the swamps of Shadowfen, the jungles of Valenwood, the Alik'r Desert of Hammerfell, the snowy tundras of Eastmarch and Wrothgar. And ash-covered Vvardenfell and southern Morrowind.

Going to Mournhold and seeing the tribunal temple again was WILD. And Almalexia NOT in a murderous rage chasing me through the place.

Going to Vivec City and seeing them floating serenely above their throne.

Seeing Sotha Sil in the Clockwork City alive!! and talking!!!!

Seeing the cherry blossoms of summerset and auridon, the stuck-up high eleven nobles turning up their noses at my little dark elf not for being a dark elf but for not being a high elf, which was weirdly refreshing after skyrim.

Seeing several different kinds of Khajiit furstock! Big senche-rahts! Tiny alfiqs! Towering pahmers! Absolutely mind-blowing.

Also having to walk everywhere? because you gotta discover places to fast travel back to them, like in skyrim? Arduous as heck, because the land is so big and you are so small, and there are so many places to visit, and you have to explore them all. You just have to.

Anyway, thats my propaganda for playing ESO.

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm Gonna Play: Dragon Age: Inquisition

I've always heard good things about the Dragon Age games. It's not my first time trying out Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI) although I was never in the mood to fully go through it. But considering that The Veilguard is coming soon, I thought to give it a shot. I did try Origins and although I don't mind playing old games for the most part, I find it harder to play games with old UI/UX systems (graphics don't really bother me). But I was also intrigued in how I could handle the story blind in my first completed Dragon Age game.

Having been in the fantasy mood lately thanks to Baldur's Gate 3, this was the next game to jump into. I did subconsciously compare the two at first, but I will try to refrain from doing that here, since both games had different visions in different times.

DAI seems to have held up nicely in some regards. Visually, it still looks quite decent to an extent with the other games that have released at that time. It does have a sort of porcelain look to some of the character models in some scenes, but does look better if there's some strong lighting around the area. Environments, especially from afar have aged better than the characters.

The combat is simplified which is quite standard for action RPGs. It has an easy learning curve so that anyone can jump in. Although I've noticed at points that enemies can get very spongy. This can be attributed to poor gear, in which the opposite happens if you have adequate gear. I couldn't find a balance to it and mostly felt like I was spamming my attacks as a warrior, without much tactics involved, which gets a bit dull at some point. Other classes on the other hand, seemed to require you to position yourselves well which adds to some variety in their cases.

However, I do like the variety in the skill trees. I've heard that previous games have a more broader selection and are therefore better. I can see how that applies as I noticed a lot of the skill selections can overlap between multiple party members, and you can only unlock unique paths well after you're halfway through the game. It's also frustrating that you cannot reverse skill point selections so that you can revise your builds more carefully with each member. The gameplay structure in paper is somewhat fun. It's akin to hub based design games like Monster Hunter where you can visit a variety of places in an open world fashion and do quests, loot materials which you can craft,upgrade,sell or use for completion purposes. Although there is a lot happening which can get tedious, so I ended up skipping many side quests at some point. It doesn't help that although some side quests tend to have some interesting lore behind it, you're essentially given MMO-like tasks like fetch quests, killing a number of enemies or collecting items. I'd love to see side quests be given more meaning than just be a checklist in future installments. Baldur's Gate 3 is a great example of how to make sidequests fun and not tedious yet integral to the story.

Although I mentioned that I didn't feel like playing through Origins due to outdated looking UI, DAI has made me realize that a more modern game does not equal to better UI/UX. I don't know if it applies for keyboard and mouse, but there's a huge reliance on radial menus that felt clunky to navigate, but even worse is the actual menus in terms of inventory and skill trees (the former is worse). There is no way to immediately see what's being equipped, or any sense of filters or proper categories apart from weapons. This made rudimentary features like equipping and selling, or even switching characters massively frustrating to deal with. Apart from menus, the minimap is also a poor example of its own feature due to its extremely minimalistic design. This makes navigating terrain a very difficult task when you can't tell which route to take to get to a marker (and there are instances where the marker for a quest isn't placed properly, forcing you to search around) as the game doesn't allow you to jump your way through to climb them like other games would. But I still appreciate the experimentation so that designers could learn from this example when working on future projects, or projects in general.

That isn't to say that the game isn't lacking in plot. I've heard that DAI was rushed during development, but I do appreciate the amount of story you get in a short campaign like this. Along with the potential of having decisions carried over from previous games (if you've played them) makes each playthrough a little unique. The lore hasn't sent me down a rabbit hole like Baldur's Gate 3 has, but has me intrigued enough to be curious about the next installment.

One thing I appreciate about the story is how three dimensional the characters are. For a story about saving the world, you're met with very imperfect people who are trying to make the best of their own situation and the bigger picture that's happening. It's quite refreshing to see that and figure out what kind of path would they be led to. I also found it interesting how the game tackled sexual preferences in the romance aspect. It's not a new concept for older games, but it made me realize the up and down sides of it. It adds personality and realism to the characters, but can also potentially mislead players if they wish to romance someone in particular. I played as a female human inquisitor and found characters like Cassandra and Morrigan interesting, but realized that they're locked for male Inquisitors instead, which forced me to look towards other choices. Perhaps a way to mitigate this is to subtly hint their preferences in dialogue/banter or collectibles early on so that the player can decide early on who they would like to pursue. A feature that I really enjoy that I haven't seen in a game so far is that you can respond to certain banters in the field, it makes it more immersive as you're actually engaging rather than being a passive listener. Although I also have a gripe about the options as I've often had mismatched expectations selecting something which caused an unintended outcome. This is unfortunately a common flaw I've seen in choice based games which really hampers the enjoyability of this aspect. I've often been in situations where my player character says something in a negative tone when I meant positive, and vice versa. Choices should be clear on what the player character intends to communicate so that the player gets the intended outcome that they want. The icons that represent an emotion or direction are an improvement to what I've seen from the Mass Effect series (which I intend to visit in the future).

Overall, this was an interesting title to play from a series that's been on my backlog for a while. I'm not sure if I'll give Origins another shot as that's the most popular (although I hope I do), but I do look forward to seeing if The Veilguard could be an improvement.

[shirajellyfish]

Ooh this looks fun! I don’t like the ask game format much and this is too many for tags so I will just. Answer all the questions. Under the cut because it’s long

1. Shandzii. I saw the jester because of Shandzii and was like wait wait WAIT  minute is that a robot jester where can I get more of this because I need MORE

2. Robot! Jesters!!!!I have always loved robots and robot things. I also realized a few years ago how much I love jesters. I spend hours on ebay looking at (... and occasionally buying) weird porcelain jesters. Most are terrible and it’s hilarious. I love them. So when I saw ROBOT JESTERS it was already all over for me. The lore and phenomenal voice acting only worsened my brainrot.

3. Uhhhh. I don’t know. Over a year by... some amount. I haven’t been counting oops.

4. Nah. I don’t think SB actually seems like that good of a game? As an interactive space to explore it’s cool, but the actual gameplay inside that space doesn’t particularly make me want to play it. (I would say I’m also too baby to play horror games, but SB fails so hard at being spooky 99% of the time that I can’t say that would be an issue here.)

5. I mean I did write a 470K word fanfic (”I see you, Sundrop!”) so it would be weird if I didn’t say that

6. I love biblically accurate art the most. I don’t think that style is necessarily better than any other, it just scratches my particular brain in just the right way. For fics I will read literally anything with a plot if the writing is decent. I will read a story where Sun and Moon are your shoelaces if you can make it work. I devour fanfics and I love them.

7. Mer AU is my favorite! Mermaids are also a thing I like a lot like a whole lot. Though really any kind of creature or cryptid makes me so excited.

8. Riley Greene! A character built to find answers for all the silly questions I have about the details of how animatronics work haha

9. Biblically accurate DCA my BELOVED. I honestly don’t see why people think he’s creepy. Maybe it’s just my face blindness talking but he is perfect and good to me.

10. Fanficfanficfanficfanfic.Ohhh so much fanfic. So tasty fanfic.

11. Sun. I’m sorry, Moon... If both were in a trash compactor and I could only save one, I’d dive into the compactor and die trying to save both. But if I was just casually hanging out with them for an hour and I had to choose which, it’d be Sun. Time for arts and crafts.

12. What’s not to love about Eclipse? Feral fandom Eclipse or combo Eclipse goodest boy canon Eclipse or spooky BB world glitch Eclipse, all of it is great.

13. I’m one of the people that doesn’t think of Sun as affected by the virus, as he doesn’t harm Gregory at all. Maybe he would have been a bit calmer though, he seems lonely in SB.

14. I’m torn between “what if he was SCRUNKLY” and “Maybe like the in game ads where he’s calm and sleepy?” because both are so good.

15. Definitely two people. That was my headcanon before Ruin, but Ruin pretty much confirms it.

16. Robot stuff! I looove the little details about how robots work, how they think, what it’s like to be one. Repair scenes are my favorite.

17. Sexual content. Not shaming, I’m just asexual myself and would just rather not see it because of personal preferences. If you like that kind of thing you are valid, it’s just not for me.

18. New chapters from sooo many fanfics. So so sososos many FANFICS feed me new chapters.

19. YES let’s sit down and do crafts let’s play games. (After I finish hiding behind things panicking because I am SHY, anyway)

20. If you (literally anyone reading this) has a fanfic I want to eat it. Let me eat it.

alright dca fandom, here's some questions bc i'm curious. the funky jesters make our brains go brr, but why? treat it as an ask game or answer in the tags if you feel like it! :)

how did you get here?

why these characters in particular? what was the hook for you?

how long have you been here?

have you actually played fnaf sb?

if you make content, what's your favorite piece you've contributed?

what's your favorite sort of art or fic? what genre/flavor/style?

what's your favorite au?

do you have any ocs, or have any ocs you're fond of?

what do you think of the dca's canon appearance? Scary? Cute? Something else?

what keeps you in this fandom despite the very small amount of canon content the dca had?

be honest: if you had to pick only one, sun or moon?

thoughts on eclipse?

thoughts on pre-glitch sun?

thoughts on pre-glitch moon?

do you interpret sun and moon as two sides of the same person, or truly two separate beings in one body? does it matter?

what's something in the fandom you'd like to see more of?

what's something in the fandom you'd like to see less of?

anything you're looking forward to?

do you think you'd actually get along with the dca if you met them irl?

free space! talk about whatever's on your mind!