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laureviewer · 5 years ago

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Dragons Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age—A Review

WARNING: (not full) spoilers below.

‘We did it darliiiings!’

That’s what I cried, a-la the Great Sylvando, once I finished this game. 112 hours in, and all the way through it showed no signs of slowing. Which, for a shameless JRPG-lover like myself, is exactly what I want in a game. Hours and hours of combat, exploration through stunning scenery, empathetic and deep characters and, most importantly, a completely immersive and entertaining story that I can’t wait to see the climax—but, crucially, I can.

The Chosen One

The story begins in Erdrea, where monsters have invaded the fantastical world—why, we’re not quite sure. All we know, as the infant protagonist, is that we are found washed up on the riverbank by a kindly old man named Chalky, who takes us to his village and gives us to our adoptive mother, Amber.

And, guess what? He’s the Chosen One—the Luminary. You’d have thought our hero would have realised something was different about him with the presence of a very specific birthmark tattooed on the back of his hand, but he and his childhood friend Gemma do come from a sheltered town with very little knowledge of the outside world, after all. True to form for a lot of adventure games, he’s the only one who can save the world. After finding this out in a coming-of-age ceremony a few years later, Amber tells him to go to King Carnelian of Heliodor, who is sure to help him understand what all this means. Right?

If our silent protagonist could talk, this is where he would be screaming, ‘I’m not the Darkspawn!’ as King Carnelian throws him in the dungeon. But thank Yggdrasil he did, or we wouldn’t meet our first companion in our band of loveable misfits.

The Power of Friendship

I’m still unsure why, after so many hours of gameplay, why Erik endears himself the most to me, but he does. Sure, he’s the first one you meet, and you team up to escape the dungeon (running from a giant dragon along the way!), but he’s also a dishonest thief. Throughout the game, you never quite know if he’s in it for himself or to help you save the world. I’ve concluded that he’s actually doing it for you, and your budding bromance…or, at least, that’s my own head cannon. He’s misunderstood. His cutting sarcasm is welcome in a story of overly keen optimists (see: Sylvando). And he’s who the hero seems to look at whenever there’s a sweet, sentimental moment in the story, cementing their true friendship.

Or, maybe it’s because Akira Toriyama drew these characters, and his colourful hair and spunky attitude remind me of my childhood DBZ crush, Trunks. Either way, I’m Team Erik, with his knife-wielding, quick-thinking style of fighting, all the way. My only gripe is that his damage wasn’t that great for me until endgame, unfortunately.

Even though we don’t meet Sylvando until later, it seems that my mind demands he be the next to discuss—much like Sylvando demands much of the attention within the game. We first meet him at the circus, where he is a beloved performer. His quest is to make the people of the world smile—a noble endeavour in a world where the Dark One is coming to rid the world of happiness for good. He is the absolute epitome of flamboyance: he calls your band of companions ‘darlings’; he has a half-naked ship captain with bulging muscles and a pink face mask called Dave, of all things; and he even leads a peacock-feathered parade at a certain point in the game, which the hero must cheerily join in, feathers and sassy sway absolutely necessary.

And yet, he doesn’t simply function as comic relief. He is brave, charming, sympathetic, and quite often the heart of the group. He is always the one to ask if a character is okay, or if they need help, and has conviction that only Henrik, our resident knight in shining armour, would rival. Plus, he’s fantastic with a whip (because of course he is) and has some fabulous healing moves that have saved me more than once in a tough fight. The group would be nothing without Sylvando—and he absolutely knows it!

Veronica & Serena serve as our other characters who are bound by destiny. They are Keepers, born to protect aid the Luminary on his quest. As twins, you’d expect them to look the same…but, after an encounter with monsters, Veronica was turned into a child, and is stuck that way. As an offensive mage who hates being treated like a child, she serves as the brash one of the group, quick to anger, much like her fiery spells.

Serena, on the other hand, serves as the yin to Veronica’s yang. She is temperate and always willing to help, if somewhat hapless. The primary healer of the group, she excels in restorative and defensive magic, and has a harp to while away the less hopeful days. As a pair, these two are steadfast, loyal, and…to be honest, aren’t much more interesting than that, unless Veronica is being goaded into an argument.

Until the later game, anyway. I won’t spoil that here, but will just say I underestimated both their spell casting abilities and their importance in the story.

You know how the hero is the Chosen One, the Luminary and the absolute saviour of the world? Well, he also happens to be a Prince of Dundrasil. Had the fates been kinder, he might have been brought up in a huge castle, with loving royal family around to raise and guide him.

Rab, a fierce, playful and wise old man (with a banging Scottish accent) is ready to heal, attack with offensive magic, and guide our hero around the expansive world. And, as we find out after defeating him and his sexy companion in a battle competition in Octagonia (see: Jade), he is also grandfather to our hero, and thus a Lord of Dundrasil himself. He may seem old, but not only does he have royal blood, but he is a capable spell-caster and martial artist, making it apparent that he is one of the most capable companions in the game. If I were to ask anyone for advice, knowing that he would neither mince his words nor omit anything important, I would go to Rab.

You know what any game directed at kids needs? That’s right, a sexy warrior princess that you can stick in a bunny costume for most of the game. Even if you choose not to do that, her combat outfit doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

Thankfully, Jade isn’t just eye-candy. She has far more going for her. She’s a Princess of Heliodor, the hero’s childhood companion who lost him as a baby. She just wants to find him, her younger brother figure (sadly), and help him fulfil his destiny. Plus, as a battle and spear fighter, she has some of the strongest moves in the game—albeit mostly from her sexy, love-based moves such as ‘Hip Thrust’ and ‘Sexy Beam’, only comparable with Sylvando’s equally as sexy and flamboyant ‘Lashings of Love’ and ‘That’s Amore’ moves. She’s a badass bitch who takes no crap from lovestruck men or monsters.

Though, she has her very own Princess Leia moment, where she is captured by a horrific, giant, evil and ugly monster and made to wear a sexy outfit (hey, there’s that bunny girl outfit again). It is heavily implied she has been under his mind control, and that he’s been having his ‘wicked way’ with her. Good thing she comes out of it with sexy vampire powers, isn’t it?

HEAVY SPOILERS NOW. I warn you, don’t go any further if you care about that kind of thing.

Our final companion is one who doesn’t show up until late game. Sir Henrik, a Knight of Heliodor, is the hero we all need. He defends his ruler to the last (which, spoiler alert, nearly ended up being his fatal flaw), is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of all, and defends the weak: a true knight, with chivalry, bravery, and total care for all others. It’s a shame he hated the hero for the first half of the game, really.

But do I care about that? No, I care that his greatsword abilities make him an absolute tank. On a one-on-one fight, I needed him front and centre of every battle just for his incredible damage output. Against multiple enemies, he is less useful, but with his supplementary healing and defence skills, he isn’t just an attacker, but a true defender of the people to the last.

Calm it with the Combat

My god, this game has a lot of battles. While that’s expected for a turn-based JRPG, and there were a lot, unlike others such as Pokémon, you can choose which battles to avoid as the figures traverse the overworld. This is useful in such a slow-burning game, and also helps you find the monsters you want—again, a definite improvement on the way Pokémon works, as it saves you having to fight hundreds of creatures you don’t want to find the ones with the best EXP.

A notable exception to this is when you have to find and defeat a rare monster for a quest, which don’t traverse the overworld. This means you have to fight potentially hundreds of more common monsters to find the one you want, which can be frustrating, especially as it is all done on chance and not on how many you have defeated. While you can increase your chances with various items or equipment, it still adds a frustrating amount of time to an already long game.

Another vague annoyance is how much harder the game gets post-game. I actually did not have an issue with this, as a friend told me how to farm the elusive and high-EXP metal slimes using a particular Hero-Erik-Jade Pep Power and so I could use this ability throughout post-game. However, for those not in the know, the potentially grinding at the end of the game may put some people off finishing an already saturated game.

What I loved about the combat was how it kept getting harder and harder. I never worried about over-levelling (as said above, I was more worried about being under levelled) and that meant I could do what I do best: do all side-quests before the end of the main story. In other JRPGs, the completionist in me has always made me want to do all side-quests, but this has meant the final boss has been underwhelming and easier than it should be.

The variation of powers and attacks was also really interesting. You can spec into different forms of fighting for each character—I went for Swords with the hero, Whips for Sylvando, Boomerangs with Erik (after using Daggers for most of the game), Heavy Wands for Rab and Veronica, Wands for Serena, Spears for Jade, and Greatswords for Henrik—and this makes all the combinations of them in the party very cool. I normally just controlled the hero during the fights and let the others fight wisely, unless there was a specific quest to fulfil or a particularly hard boss. Not only did this speed up combat, but it also helped me to learn which of their moves were the most effective against which monsters automatically and quickly, which was easier than picking moves and trying them out myself. It’s easy, with enough gold, to respec if you like, and this I’m sure could make the game fee different every time if you wanted to play with different specs.

Pep powers were also a lot of fun. While it was sometimes annoying waiting for some or all of the characters to pep up and therefore use these moves that combine different characters’ moves for ‘Ultimate’ attacks, they provided fun cutscenes and made the battles more interesting. Plus, they reminded me a lot of DBZ moves, especially the epic ones with the hero and Rab!

Top tip: you can swap out characters and they will keep their pepped-up status. I wish I’d known about that a lot earlier!

The monster designs are great, as per usual Akira Toriyama style. There are lots of different kinds, from slimes, to mechs, to really weird ones like the kissy lip monster and the Bongo Drongos. The bosses are also amazing. Just all the character designs, from human to monster, to anything else. I see a lot of DBZ in all of them, which is fantastic.

You know what? Here’s some pictures. You’re welcome.

Mini Games & Challenges: Hey, I actually want to do these!

I often have issues with mini games, as sometimes they are so different from the main game that I just don’t want to spend time playing them. Gwent in another of my favourite games, The Witcher 3 is a good example: I never really learnt the rules, which I’m sure would have helped, but it was so detached from the main game I just didn’t care. Plus, it had no effect on the story or game at large, so what was the point?

In DQ11, sure, you don’t need to rack up 500,000 casino tokens in poker or the slots to buy better gear. You don’t have to finish first in all five Gallopolis horse races. Forging items isn’t totally needed to advance the game. It’s not necessary to win all five rounds of the Wheel of Harma in a certain number of moves (though this is much more like the rest of the game than the other mini games). But I did all of these, and it was great fun. It’s what’s helped make the game such a time suck (especially the casino) but I never felt like they were a chore.

Apart from the crossbow bullseyes. I did none of them as apparently I only noticed about three out of however many there are. They can suck my Sword of Light.

What’s a good JRPG without me questioning the point of life after it’s over?

JRPGs do it best—fight me.

The story of DQ11 is immersive, interesting, intricate and, at times, incredibly heart-breaking. Following the hero and his friends for over 100 hours really means you get to dive into their adventure, and more so, their relationships. You truly believe why they have chosen to follow each other into danger, to protect each other as well as the world. Sure, he’s the Luminary, so Serena & Veronica, the Luminary’s guides, at least have a reason to follow him to the end. The fact he’s the Luminary at may mean the characters have more faith in him than they would anyone else without lightning powers. But, even without that, you get the impression that they trust him for his innocent and yet resolute determination to do the right thing, whatever the cost.

The NPCs in the game also provide variety and are a lot of fun. There’s a lovesick mermaid, a brilliantly incompetent prince, two brothers in Laguna di Gondolia who are trying to sell the same things to you for different prices, and Silvando’s Smile Brigade, to name just a few. Their backstories, personalities and current stories all bring life to a game already chock full of it, and makes even simple fetch quests interesting and well worth doing, if you value a good story like I do. These little touches explain why the game clocks in at well over 100+ hours, but at the same time gives true justification to why that is. It’s the difference between a boring game, and one I loved to turn on and just relax of an evening. I might not have done all that much in three hours, but I still enjoyed every minute.

With everything considered, I will remember DQ11 fondly as one of my favourite JRPGs to date. The storyline, characters, combat and score are all fantastic and makes me wish I played the older games. Thank you, Dragon Quest, for giving me 112 hours of fun.

#game review #dragon quest 11 #dragon quest xi #dq11 #dqxi #games #gaming #review

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justauthoring · 6 years ago

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No Reason To (17/50)

Prompt: “And I guess… when it comes down to it, I trust you.”

It has come to my attention that by adding links to my posts, it stops that post from being seen in the tags tagged. So, sadly, I will no longer be able to link previous parts of NRT on new chapters. BUT all part can be found easily on my “No Reason To Series MasterList!” found in my bio.

A/N: I did it, lol. I got this part done and ready by Saturday (today) - *insert me patting myself on the back* Hope you enjoy!

Oh, and, as of now, the next part will be uploaded next Saturday, not Tuesday.

Send me a little comment in the ask section or leave it below on what you thought of this chapter. As usual, I hope you all enjoyed!

AGAIN, remember if you’d like me to continue this series, just leave a little comment or an ask letting me know. I will NOT continue the series if no one wants me to.

Please don’t plagiarize my work - I spend a lot of my time writing, copying and pasting destroys that. If you want to repost my work. please ask first - but even then I might say no.

Pairing: Stiles x McCall!Reader

Based off of: Teen Wolf 03x09 and 03x10

Hopping out of the passengers side of Stiles’s jeep, the two of you meet up with Scott who’s just gotten off his motorcycle. Almost instantly, Stiles questions; “where is she?”

“Over here,” a distant voice calls, pulling your eyes on Allison and Lydia who are stood just a few feet away from you. Making your way over to the two of them, you shake your head at Lydia, staring down at her in deep concern; “Lydia?”

“It’s the same thing,” she breathes, obviously panicked. “Same thing as the pool. I got into the car heading somewhere totally different, and ended up here. And you told me to call you if there’s a dead body.”

“You found a dead body?” Stiles exclaims, glancing briefly at you and Scott before turning towards Lydia once more.

“Not yet.”

“Not yet,” Stiles repeats, “what do you mean not yet? Lydia, you’re supposed to call us after you find the dead body.”

“Oh, no,” Lydia immediately shakes her head, raising her pointer finger. “I’m not doing that again. You find the dead body from now on.”

“How are we supposed to find the dead body?” Stiles questions, his patience obviously wearing thin. “You’re always the one finding the dead body.”

Something within you, a feeling you can’t explain, spikes, and you turn your head towards Scott. His attention is stolen by something to the left of him, and then suddenly, before you can ask, he’s walking forward. You move your gaze past his shoulder, your eyes widening when you see what he has.

“Guys,” he calls, interrupting Stiles and Lydia. “I found the dead body.”

There, on the Beacon Hills High School sign, is... the dead body.

“Honestly, Scott, i’m fine.”

“I know you’re not.”

Pausing, the grip you hold on your locker door tightens, even for just a moment before you recollect yourself. Plastering a smile on your face, you lean back, shutting said locker door to meet your brother’s eyes. “See,” you call, brightening your smile. “Fine.”

Scott steps in front of you before you can walk off, blocking your path before setting his hand on your shoulder. Guiding you back towards the lockers, he glances around, making sure no one’s in earshot of your conversation before letting his eyes fall on yours once more, his gaze considerably softening when he does so. “This connection we have,” he begins, “it isn’t just physical pain. It’s emotional pain too.”

Sighing, you bite your lip, glancing over to your right.

“What’s the matter?” Scott continues, voice dripping with concern. “And don’t lie to me. I can hear your heart beat.”

“You’re creepy, you know that?” You snap lightly, glaring up at Scott who only offers you a lop-sided smile in return. Sighing once more, you shake your head as you cross your arms over your chest. “Isaac and I broke up... Or, well, Isaac broke up with me, I guess I should say.”

“What?” Scott exclaims, his voice pitching in anger, catching the attention of a few students standing near you. Eyes widening, you grip Scott’s arm tightly, silently telling him to calm down while sending a reassuring smile to those you’re able to catch eye of.

“Scott, calm down.”

“What do you mean calm down?” Scott gripes, “he broke up with you? After we let him stay with us?”

“Scott,” you exhale heavily, “yeah, he broke up with me, but... I probably would’ve done it myself eventually. If he’d given me like a week or two more, to be honest.”

“I don’t understand,” Scott mumbles, shoulders falling. “You two seemed happy.”

“We were... I guess, at one point,” you explain, shrugging your shoulders as you glance up at Scott. “I loved him, I still do, but just not in the same way. Ever since that party,” meeting Scott’s eyes, you tell him all you need to know. “It just hasn’t been the same.”

“But... at the lacrosse game, you and him-”

“He stayed, instead of going with Boyd and Erica. I thought that meant he’d chosen me, and it did, but, I don’t think I ever completely forgave him,” you finish, smiling sadly. “I think, at one point, I really, truly, could’ve loved him. But... not after that.”

Scott just frowns, his hand slipping into your own and squeezing. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you assure, nodding. “I wanted to break up. Like I said, give me a week or two more and I would’ve done it myself. I just... I want to know why it hurts so much.”

Scott doesn’t answer your unsaid question. Instead, he slips his hand out of yours, opting for a hug. You fall into the embrace easily, allowing yourself a moment of weakness as you let your head sink against his chest.

In some ways, maybe this twin connection was a blessing. Scott had always been able to understand you, you were twins after all. He understood you better than anyone else, just like you understood him better than anyone else. But now, it’s like he just knew, without even having to ask.

He just knew what you needed.

“Why are you even talking to me?”

“Why are we even talking to him?” You retort Ethan’s question, crossing your arms over your chest with a raised brow the boys way. His eyes narrow, falling on your own, and you’re also not oblivious to the glare Scott gives you, silently telling you to play nice. Of course, that’s not who you are. “No, honestly,” you continue, “he helped killed our friend. He killed Boyd.”

With a small twitch of his lips, Ethan takes a step towards you; “you’re right,” he nods, voice lowered threateningly. “I did kill your friend. How do you know i’m not gonna kill you?”

“Are you threatening her?” Stiles snaps before you can say anything, causing your gaze to fall on him, eyes widening in surprise. He shoves himself off the wall, taking a step towards Ethan. “You know what i’m going to do, i’m going to break off an extra large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe and shove it up your freaking-”

Scott steps forward, grabbing a hold of Stiles’ arms and cutting him off before he can say anything more. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Stiles. Okay. We get it.” Still, even as your brother pats Stiles’ on the chest, signalling him to step back, you can’t help the smile that grows on your lips. You’ve never seen Stiles that protective over you, in a physical sense, and even though, in reality, you can handle yourself quite fine, it’s nice to know he cares.

You meet Stiles’ eyes, sending him a shy smile to wish he returns before Scott speaks up.

“We’re talking to you,” Scott begins, turning to Ethan. “Because I know that you didn’t want to kill Boyd. And I think that if something like that happened now, you wouldn’t do it again.”

Rolling your eyes, you shake your head.

“You don’t know what we owe them,” Ethan mumbles, voice soft, “especially Deucalion. We weren’t like Kali or Ennis when we met him. We weren’t alpha’s.”

“What were you?”

“Omegas.”

“What?” You exclaim, “I don’t-”

“In actual wolf packs,” Ethan cuts you off, sighing slightly as he leans against the wall behind him. “Omegas are the scapegoat, the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack.”

“So you and your brother were, like, the bitches of the pack?” Stiles questions, and you can’t help but giggle lightly at his terminology.

“Something like that,” Ethan snaps.

“What happened?”

“They were killers,” Ethan begins, “I mean, people talk about us as monsters. Well, they were the one who gave us the reputation. And our alpha was the worst of them.”

“Why didn’t you guys just fight back?” You ask.

“Yeah,” Stiles nods, “form voltron wolf, you know? Kick everyone’s asses?”

“We couldn’t,” Ethan snaps, voice raising slightly. “We didn’t know how to control it back then.”

“Deucalion taught you,” Scott concludes.

“And then, we fought. We took down the whole pack, one by one. And by the time we got to our alpha, he was begging for his life. And we tore him apart. Literally.”

Huffing, you twist your face in disgust, “heroes of your own story.”

Scott gives you a warning glare, before turning towards Ethan once more. “What about your emissary?”

Ethan pauses a moment, before shaking his head.

“They’re all dead. Kali and Ennis’ too?”

“All of them. Except for Deucalion.”

“You mean Morrell?” Stiles questions.

Before Ethan can answer, he suddenly gasps loudly in pain, his hand immediately falling to his chest.

“What?” Scott stammers, body tensing. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Not me,” Ethan shakes his head, “my brother.”

Running in behind Scott, you step in front of Aiden, therefore stepping in front of his target as both Ethan and Scott move to hold him and the weight in his hands back and away from Cora. You turn your head slightly over your shoulder, watching as Stiles falls next to Lydia and crouches before Cora, hands falling on her in concern.

“Aiden,” Ethan bellows, as the weight drops to the floor with a clatter. “You can’t do this!”

“She came at me!” Aiden growls.

“It doesn’t matter!” Ethan reminds, dismissing Aiden. “Kali gave Derek until the next full moon. You can’t touch him or her.”

Knowing Aiden isn’t the main threat anymore, you turn around, falling by Cora’s side as she rolls onto her back, moaning out in pain. Leaning forward, you inspect the wound on her head, noticing Ethan leading Aiden out of the room out of the corner of your eye.

“Hey, guys,” Stiles calls softly, “I think she’s pretty hurt.”

Wincing, you hug yourself tightly as you watch Cora wipe away the dried blood stained on her forehead. While you don’t necessarily blame her for being upset, it’d been pretty stupid of her to attack Aiden on her own like that. Still, the wound definitely looked painful.

“You okay?” Scott asks softly, concern.

“She doesn’t look okay,” Lydia mumbles, shaking her head.

Glaring at Lydia through the reflection of the mirror, Cora drops the paper towel in her hand and spins, turning to face the four of you. “I’ll heal.”

She stumbles back slightly, Scott and Stiles the first ones to rush forward, making sure she doesn’t fall. Scott grabs a hold of her arm, to which she quickly pulls away, glaring up at him. “I said i’m fine.”

“Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was?” Stiles questions, narrowing his eyes in thought. “What were you thinking going after them?”

“I did it for Boyd,” Cora cries, “none of you were doing anything.”

Nodding quickly, Scott whispers; “we’re trying.”

“And you’re failing,” she spits, “you’re just a bunch of stupid teenagers running around, thinking that you can stop people from getting killed.” Meeting Scott’s eyes, you sigh. “But all you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies.”

Turning her back of the four of you, she walks out without saying anything more.

“She’s definitely a Hale,” Stiles comments a moment later, interrupting the silence. “I’ll make sure she gets home,” he finishes, slipping past Lydia and Scott.

“I’ll help,” you call after him a second later, stepping forward. At the looks you receive, you shrug your shoulders, feigning innocence. “Not much else for me to do anyways.”

“Philosophers?”

“And guardians,” Allison adds over the phone, slightly out of breath. “Which after last night has to mean something like law enforcement, right?” Meeting Stiles’ eyes, even for just a second, you’re not unaware to the panic that surfaces. “Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need but you have to get him to believe. Tell your dad. Warn him.”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Stiles stammers, “I know.” Ending the call, he inhales deeply.

“What are you going to do?” Cora questions, staring at Stiles.

“I’m gonna tell him the truth,” Stiles breathes, and it’s obvious by the way he’s acting he’s scared. Nervous. But you don’t blame him. “And i’m gonna need the both of your guys helps.”

Sat on Stiles bed, next to Cora, you watch, with your hands clasped tightly in your lap, as Stiles paces back and forth. You can tell with each step he takes, Noah is becoming increasingly more and more frustrated, and you can’t say you blame him. Even you’re getting a little annoyed by Stiles’ frantic pacing and procrastination of what he just needs to say.

But of course, you don’t say anything. You keep your mouth shut, and wait. Wait until Stiles needs you.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Stiles mumbles to himself. Then, “yes, okay.” Spinning to his father, he looks like he’s going to say something before; “no, oh--”

“Stiles?” Noah calls, patience growing thin.

“Dad, i’m sorry, okay? I’m just-- I’m trying to-- I’m just trying to figure out how to start here.”

“Hey,” Noah snaps, “I don’t have this kind of time.”

You meet Cora’s eyes, sighing.

“Um,” Stiles starts, voice shaky. “For the last year, you’ve had all these cases that you couldn’t figure out, right? I mean, all the murders involving Kate Argent, and then Matt killing all the people who had drowned him, and all these murders right now. It’s like--It’s like you’ve been playing the losing game.”

“Stiles, the last thing I need right now is job performance review from my own son.”

You wince slightly at the anger and frustration leaking through Noah’s tone of voice.

“I know,” Stiles sighs, rubbing at his forehead before something seemingly catches his attention. “Okay, see, but that’s--that’s just it, dad.” Rushing over to his right, he grabs the chess board off the top of his drawer, taking it over to his desk. “The--The reason that you’re losing the game is ‘cause you’ve never been able to see the whole board.”

He opens the chess board, the pieces stumbling about within before taking a step back.

“I need to show you the whole board.”

“Scott and Derek are werewolves?”

“Yes.”

“And Kate Argent was a werewolf?”

“Hunter,” Stiles corrects, “that’s-purple’s hunter.”

“Along with Allison and her father,” Cora adds.

“Yeah,” Noah mumbles, “and--and my friend Deaton, the veterinarian, is a Kanima?”

“What?” Stiles explains, face scrunching up in confusion. “No, no, no, no, he’s a druid, okay? Well, we think.”

“So who’s the kanima?”

“Jackson.”

“No, Jackson’s a werewolf.”

“Jackson was the kanima first,” Stiles explains, “and then Peter and Derek killed him and he came back to life as a werewolf. Now, he’s in London.”

“Who’s the Da-rack?”

“It’s the Da-rock.”

“We don’t know yet,” you answer for Stiles, shaking your head.

“We don’t know yet,” Stiles repeats quietly.

“But he was killed by werewolves?”

“Slashed up and left for dead.”

“We think,” you correct once more.

Noah’s eyes fall on yours, narrowing; “and what are you?”

“A witch,” you answer, smiling slightly. “Pinks witch.”

Leaning back against his seat, Noah exhales heavily. “Why was Jackson the kanima?”

“‘Cause sometimes, the shape that you take reflects the person that you are,” Stiles explains, eyes twitching slightly in hope that his father is understand (and believing) him.

“And what shape would an increasingly confused and angrier-by-the-second father take?”

Apparently, he wasn’t understanding it so well.

“Uh,” Stiles stammers, “that would be more of an expression, like the one you’re currently wearing.”

“Yeah,” Noah nods, shoving himself up to his feet to walk away.

“Dad--dad,” Stiles calls, desperate as he too pushes himself to his feet. “Would you--I can prove it, okay?” Jumping in front of his father, Stiles points to Cora, “look, she’s one of them. A werewolf. A-And Y/N, she said it herself, she’s a witch.”

“Stiles, Stiles!” Flinching, you bite your lip. “That’s enough,” Noah demands, stepping past Stiles.

“Dad,” Stiles calls, spinning around to face his father. “Can you please just hold on?” Reluctantly, Noah pauses and Stiles turns to you and Cora. “You ready?”

You move to stand up as Cora nods, bracing yourself.

“All right, dad, just watch this, okay?”

The moment Cora stands to her feet, her eyes roll to the back of her head and she drops. You jump, spinning to help her just as Noah comes rushing forward, her body falling to the ground with a thud.

Rolling her to her back, Noah’s eyes widen at the bleeding wound at the top of her forehead.

“Call an ambulance.”

“What did you see the night at the bank when Scott was trying to save Deaton?”

Two steps behind Stiles and his dad, you gnaw on your bottom lip. Even from the back of his head, you can see the patience on Stiles’s father almost gone, and any second now, he’s just going to burst. Not to mention, you want to get to the school as quick as possible and help Scott and the rest try to save the last philosopher sacrifice as Allison had informed you it was teachers now law enforcement.

But you couldn’t leave without Stiles, given that he had the jeep. Not to mention, even if you could, you wouldn’t.

“Nothing,” Noah replies shortly, never wavering in his step.

“Dad,” Stiles sighs, “you saw him healing himself after he tried crossing the mountain ash.”

“I don’t know what I saw,” Noah corrects, holding up his hand.

You feel your body tense with anticipation as Stiles doesn’t relent; “you saw something you can’t explain.”

“Stiles,” Noah snaps, falling stopping and turning around to face his son. You halt to a quick stop yourself, still two steps behind the two of them as you awkwardly glance around, unsure. “I have seen a lot of thing I can’t explain in this town. That doesn’t make ‘em supernatural and it doesn’t make ‘em real. They just found another body. That’s real. And that’s the lead i’m following.”

Noah takes a step back, Stiles quick to follow; “yeah, and another teacher's going to die if you don’t start listening to me.”

“I am listening!”

With a frown, you glance down at your feet, your eyes falling shut as Noah finally snaps.

“I have been listening!” He bellows, everyone growing quiet and all eyes falling on him and Stiles.

“You just don’t believe,” Stiles finally says after a moment.

Noah opens his mouth to say something, but can’t seem to find the right words. Another moment of tense silence, he shakes his head, turning away and walking off. But, just before he can walk out the door, Stiles mumbles; “mom would’ve believed me.”

You suddenly feel out of place. Like you shouldn’t be there, and it isn’t your place to be there.

Noah halts in his step just as Stiles turns to you, walking past you and back the way you came. You only hesitate a moment before following after your friend, but not without a weary and final glance back at Mr. Stilinski.

Stepping into the recital behind Stiles, you fall next to your brother, offering a short smile in greeting before glancing around yourself. Somehow, you meet Isaac’s gaze from afar, stood next to Allison. There’s a moment, where you just stare at him, meeting his eyes before you offer a short smile, turning back to the conversation Scott and Stiles are having.

Something about Lydia not answering her texts.

Once again by Stiles’ side, the two of you rush after Scott as quickly as you can. He’d just suddenly ran off, saying something about how Lydia was in danger before just leaving without another word of explanation. But, the moment you reach the classroom Scott’s in, only having a moment to look inside, Ms. Blake shoves her desk forward, with no strain at all, barricading the door shut.

Stiles immediately begins slamming his body up against the door, it finally registering within you that not only is Scott and Ms. Blake in there, but Lydia and Stiles’ dad as well. But, no matter how hard he shoves, the door won’t budge.

Stiles’ wide eyes fall on you, “can’t you push it open? Do something?”

“I-I...” Words trailing, you step forward, focusing your gaze and attention on the door and only the door. “It might take a while,” you warn Stiles, “I don’t have my full powers yet.”

He doesn’t say anything in return, instead, he slams up against the side of the door, peering in through the tiny window at the top of the door. Bracing yourself, you inhale deeply, your entire body tensing as you let your lips part, trying to force the desk away. You see Stiles flinch from the side of you just as you push the desk back, him running through not a moment later.

Taking a deep breath, you follow in a second later, just as you hear Stiles call out; “dad?”

Looking around the room, your eyes widen when you realize that both Ms. Blake and Stiles’ dad are gone. As if they’d disappeared in thin air.

“They’re already here, aren’t they?”

Stepping around the wall, you narrow your eyes at the sight of Ms. Blake, not to mention stood so closely next to Derek. She hadn’t been your teacher, except for when she was filling in for Mr. Harris, but to think... that it had been her the entire time. Right under your noses. And now Stiles’ father had been taken because none of you had noticed soon enough.

She turns to face the three of you, you, Stiles and Scott, her lips curved downwards into a deep frown. “So...” She starts, speaking to Derek, but her eyes on you. “They told you it was me? That i’m the one taking people?”

“We told him you’re the one killing people,” Scott corrects, his voice pitching in frustration and betrayal.

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice tears in Stiles’ eyes. They’ve never left, since his dad had been taken, but still, it breaks your heart to see him this way.

“Oh, that’s right,” Ms. Blake chuckles, “committing human sacrifices? What, cutting their throats? Yeah, I probably do it on my lunch hour. That way, I can get back to teaching high school English the rest of the day. That makes perfect sense.”

“Where’s my dad?” Your eyes fall on Stiles as he speaks up, your eyes softening when you notice a tear fall down his cheek. You turn to Ms. Blake expectantly, practically willing her to answer that question.

Of course, it doesn’t work. “How should I know?”

Biting your lip, you slip your hand into Stiles’. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t pull away either, and with no words yourself, you squeeze his hand, trying your best to reassure him as your eyes fall back on Ms. Blake. She turns to Derek at your guys lack of reply, pleading; “Derek, tell me you don’t believe this.”

Derek doesn’t reply right away. His gaze flickers past Ms. Blake, glancing at Scott, Stiles and you. For a brief second he gaze meets your own, and shaking your head, you tell him what he needs to know.

“Do you know what happened to Stiles’ father?” Derek questions Jennifer.

“No,” she whispers, shaking her head as she takes a step back.

Feeling your anger spike, unable to control yourself, you let your narrowed eyes fall on her. “Ask her why she almost killed Lydia,” you spit, just as she turns to look at you.

“Lydia Martin?” Jennifer exclaims incredulously, “I don’t know anything about that.”

“What do you know?” Derek snaps, pulling Jeniffer’s eyes back on his own.

“I know that these kids,” you scoff, “for whatever misguided reason, are filling your head with an absurd story.” Turning to you, her eyes flare; “and one they can’t prove, by the way.”

Raising the container held in his hand, Scott rebuts; “what if we can?”

Confidence wavering, Jennifer swallows nervously; “what is that?”

Stepping forward, Scott slowly begins to unscrew the lid. “My boss told me it’s a poison and a cure... which means you can use it... and it can be used against you.”

“Mistletoe?”

Scott throws his hand forward, throwing the mistletoe, as Jennifer had guessed, towards her, a gasp immediately leaving her lips. When the smoke and mistletoe clears, you revolt at the small images that flash of Jennifer’s true appearance and the screaming that comes along with it.

Derek backs up, eyes wide with betrayal and hurt as Jennifer recollects herself. Then, just as she runs forward, attempting at escape, Derek catches her by the neck, his claws out as she begs; “Derek, wait, wait!” He listens, halting. “You need me.”

“What are you?”

“The only person who can save your sister,” she groans, clutching at the wrist of the hand wrapped around her neck. “Call Peter. Call him!”

Doing as Jennifer says, it doesn’t take long for Peter to answer Derek. You can’t hear the conversation, but, by the end of it, all you hear is Derek whisper; “mistletoe,” before hanging the call up, looking at Jennifer with great pain in his eyes. Jennifer lets out a gasp of pain the next second, Derek’s grip obviously tightening.

“Derek,” Scott calls out, panicked. You take a step forward yourself, just as Scott continues; “Derek, what are you doing?”

“Her life--it’s in my hands!”

He raises Jennifer by the neck, gasps of pain leaving her lips.

“Stop,” Stiles begs, taking a step forward. “Derek, stop!”

“Hey!” You call, your voice booming as you glare at Derek. “Stop. You can’t kill her!”

“Stilinski,” Jennifer breathes, “you’ll never find him.”

Taking another step forward, you move so you’re in sight of Derek. “I know you’re angry,” you breathe, “I know you’re hurt. But we need her alive, like it or not, to save your sister. To find Stiles’ dad. So, you need to stop this. Now.”

His face twists, his body tensing.

“Derek,” Scott calls, “Derek!”

A moment of tensed silence later, Derek finally lets go of Jennifer, practically dropping her to the ground. She groans out in response, placing her hands before her as she pushes herself up, groaning. “That’s right,” she says after she’s collected yourself, “you need me. All of you.”

“I don’t know, something feels wrong about this.”

Leaning forward, you gaze at the side of Stiles’ head. “How so?”

“We proved it to Derek,” Stiles begins explaining, nodding. “But she still had this look like it didn’t matter. You know, like it was all still going according to plan. You guys saw it, didn’t you?”

Meeting Scott’s gaze, you sigh. You did.

With quick steps, you follow Derek’s pace and direction, next to your brother. You keep your gaze carefully trained around yourself, unsure of what would happen once you reached Cora. Jennifer obviously wanted something, or had some kind of plan, you just didn’t know what.

“Scott! Y/N! Hey!”

Pausing, you turn at the sound of Melissa’s voice, both you and Scott just managing to turn as she’s running up to you. Slightly out of breath, she shakes her head; “What are you doing here? The hospitals evacuating.”

Briefly meeting Scott’s gaze, you turn back to your mother; “we’re here for Cora.”

“What, all of you?” Melissa breathes, letting her gaze fall on the rest before stopping on the bat in Stiles’ hand. “Why does Stiles have my bat?”

“Mom,” Scott calls, “just trust me on this. You need to get out of here.”

Taking a step forward, you nod; “right now.”

Shuffling backwards slightly, Melissa nods slowly, “the building is supposed to be clear in thirty minutes. We’ve got two ambulances that are coming back. Once’s ten minutes, the other’s twenty. Cora needs to be on one of those. They’ll be picking up in the basement garage.”

Nodding, you shuffle back towards the rest as Scott confirms; “got it.”

“Okay.”

As you fall in step with the rest, you glance back, noticing Melissa watching after you and Scott. You offer her a small, reassuring smile, before turning your attention head on.

Stepping out of the elevator, you glance up at the lights briefly in response to them flickering, raising a brow. You shrug it off, coming to a stop when you notice Derek has, only for your lips to part, brows to furrow at the sight of an empty hospital bed and some black liquid that looks like it’s been spit of the floor. And a lot of it.

There are a few blotches that continue forth, creating a path.

“Derek,” you call, eyes on the floor. He turns to look at you, before following the direction of your gaze, eyes falling on the double doors in front of you. Soon, sounds of grunting and thuds can be heard, and all five of you just stand there, waiting to see what’s on the other side.

Soon enough, a body comes sliding through. It’s Peter.

“We got a problem,” he pants, raising his head. “A big problem.”

Raising your head, your eyes widen at the sight of the twins-combined, stood before you.

Almost instantly Scott and Derek transform into their werewolf selves, Derek taking charge of the situation as he positions himself in front of the twins. You step off to the side with Scott, hands at the ready, just in case, as Derek lets out a warning roar before running forwards.

He grabs the twins around the waist, shoving them back a few steps before the twins, in return, digging their elbow into his back. Derek delivers a hit to the stomach, but the twins easily gain the control, grabbing Derek by the back of the neck and hitting him repeatedly in the head. Scott, quick to help, lets out a roar himself, rushing forward.

Snapping out of your stupor, you step forward, finding a decent side bed to the left of the twins, and waiting for Scott to be out of the shot, you send it flying towards the twins. It knocks them back, allowing Scott to get back up to your feet. But before you can do anything else, Stiles and Peter are suddenly running past you, Stiles grabbing a hold of your wrist along the way and yanking you forwards.

Just as the twins slam Scott up against the wall, you, Stiles and Peter fall by Cora’s side, gently turning her onto her back to make sure she’s still breathing.

“Ethan, Aiden, stop!”

Turning your head, your eyes fall on Scott as he continues; “you don’t know what you’re doing!”

“All we want is her!” They growl in return, and instantly, your eyes turn backwards, falling on Ms. Blake, who, having seen her chance, is now retreating into the elevators.

“No!”

“Don’t stop! Don’t stop!”

Running past Stiles, you turn to help Peter get Cora through the door before Derek calling Stiles’ name interrupts you. Spinning, your eyes widen when you realize he’s started walking back the way you just came, instead of following after the five of you.

He positions himself behind the right door, the twins combined stepping through a moment later. Your lips part when you realize what he intends to do, and before you can try to stop him, he swings his bat around the back of the twins head, it immediately cracking in half in response. The twins growl at him in response, to which Stiles stumbles back in fear, going along the wall to reach you.

Grabbing a hold of Stiles, you yank him back as your brother jumps up, breaking off the light panel from the ceiling and slamming it towards the twins.

“Where’s the big guy?”

“He’s close.”

“What about Ms. Blake?”

Turning to Derek, you bite your lip as he slowly turns to face you, Stiles, Scott and Peter at Stiles’ question. Stiles’, after receiving no response from Derek, turns to Scott who only shakes his head. Sighing, you frown, just as Stiles begins to panic; “what do you mean? Like, she’s gone? Scott, are you kidding me?”

“Shh,” Derek snaps, “quiet.”

“Me be quiet?” Stiles huffs in response, taking a step towards Derek. “Me, huh? Are you telling me what to do now? When your psychotic, mass murdering girlfriend--the second one you’ve dated, by the way--has got my dad somewhere, tied up, waiting to be ritually sacrificed?”

“Stiles,” you breathe, stepping up beside him. “They’re still out there, okay?”

“And--And they want her, right?” He asks, “which means now we don’t have her either, so my dad and Cora are both dead!”

“Not yet,” you remind, meeting his eyes. You don’t say anything more, but, just by looking at him, he stops, letting out heavy breaths as he tries to calm his nerves and frustration.

Scott meets your eyes, before making his way over to Peter with Cora; “is she really dying?”

“She’s definitely not getting any better.”

Exhaling heavily, Scott shakes his head; “there has to be something that we can do. We have to help her.”

Your head snaps to the door on your right as it slams open, eyes widening when you see Ms. Blake step through. “You can’t,” she pants, “only I can. I can save her, and I can tell you where Sheriff Stilinski is. But there is a pack of alpha’s in this hospital who want me dead. So i’ll help you... but only when i’m out of here and safe. Only then.”

Without a second to wait, Derek lunges forward, intent on attacking her before Scott grabs a hold of him, pulling him back. “Derek, wait!”

Raising his hand, Derek points at Jennifer menacingly. “She was trying to get out!”

“I was trying to keep myself from being killed,” Jennifer defends herself, voice pitching. “You can’t blame me for that.”

“If you want to show you’re one of the good guys,” Stiles speaks up, taking a step forward as he points at Cora. “Then heal her.”

“Not until i’m safe.”

“I’d like to volunteer a different method of persuasion,” Peter offers, “let’s torture her.”

“Works for me.”

“For once,” you growl, eyes narrowing dangerously, “I agree with Peter.” You move to step forward, Scott calling out your name, before the sound of the P.A. system squeaking catches your attention. Halting in your step, your eyes widen considerably when you hear your mother’s voice.

“Um, can I have your attention? Mr. Deucalion--excuse me, just Deucalion--requests you bring the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake to the E.R. reception.” Heart sinking, your shoulders fall, ignoring Stiles’ gaze which falls on you. You hate the shakiness of Melissa’s voice, so obviously scared and you hate imagining what kind of danger she’s in. “Do this, and everyone else can leave. You have ten minutes.”

“He’s not gonna hurt her,” Jennifer says almost immediately, clearly thinking of only her own safety.

“Shut up,” you growl, taking a leap step towards the woman. You feel your nails dig into the palm of your hand, your body shaking with worry and anger as she turns her narrowed eyes to your own.

“He won’t,” she insists, before letting her eyes fall on Scott. “Scott, you know why. Tell them it’s true.”

Turning to Scott, you meet his eyes.

“What does she mean?”

He takes a step back, remaining silent.

Huffing, Jennifer sighs. “You’re not the only one he wants in his pack.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Deucalion doesn’t just want an alpha pack,” Jennifer begins, “he wants perfection. That means adding the rarest of alpha’s to his ranks.”

“A true alpha,” Peter finishes, causing your eyes to fall on his.

A moment of pause then, “what’s that?”

“The kind that doesn’t have to steal his power from another,” Peter answers Stiles, “one that can rise by the force of his own will. Our little Scott.”

Derek looks at your brother, to which Scott only shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he dismisses, “we still need to get her out of here.”

“Scott, our mom-”

“Our mom,” Scott cuts you off, eyes meeting your own, “said there’s one more ambulance coming in twenty minutes. And I don’t think we’ve been here that long, so if we can get down to the garage, get to the last ambulance, we can get out of here.”

“The twins aren’t just gonna let us walk out,” Peter reminds.

“I’ll distract them.”

“You mean fight them.”

“Whatever I have to do,” Scott assures.

Taking a step back, you shake your head, rubbing your hands over your head.

“I’ll help you,” Derek promises Scott.

“Um,” Jennifer speaks up, “sorry, but i’m not going anywhere without you, Derek.”

“I’ll do it,”

You blink, turning to Peter in surprise as he lets out a smirk; “but i’d prefer to be out there with an advantage.”

“An advantage like what?” Stiles asks, “you mean like a weapon?”

“Something better than a baseball bat.”

Helping Derek and Stiles set Cora down, you shuffle backwards, making room. Your hands gently set the girls head down, making sure it doesn’t slam, before turning to Derek. You do best to ignore the pain that floods you, guessing it hasn’t something to do with Scott and the fact that he’s currently fighting the twins.

He’s losing the battle. You can tell by the amount of pain you’re in.

“Derek,” Jennifer calls, “over here.”

Stepping back, Derek peers over the edge of the doors, before moving to where Jennifer is. Briefly glancing at Stiles, you make your way to the back exit of the car, stepping off the ambulance and following after Derek. Your lips part, hands falling to your lips when you see the dead police officer before you.

Derek and Jennifer slowly creep forward, but, feeling weary, you stay put, clutching onto the ambulance door. Sure enough, a moment later, you hear Kali’s familiar voice call out; “Julia,” with the followed sound of keys jangling before as she steps before Derek and Jennifer; “it is you.”

You jump when Stiles’ hand falls on your wrist, tugging you forward and pulling your eyes on his. Understanding his meaning, you crawl back onto the back of the ambulance, as quietly as possible, helping Stiles shut the doors behind you. Turning the Stiles the moment the door is shut, you pause, wondering if that was the right thing to do.

You should be out there helping Derek.

“I have to help him,” you whisper, shaking your head and turn back towards the doors.

You hear Stiles mumble something under his breath, grabbing you by the waist and yanking you backwards. Because of the small size of the car, you end up practically in his lap, staring up at him with wide eyes. “You can’t,” he whispers, before pressing his pointer finger against his lips, signaling you to remain silent.

You do without argument, too busy trying to ignore the racing of your heart.

Before you know it, the shadow of Derek and Jennifer running past pull you from your stupor. Eyes widening, you sit up, lips parting.

Well, now what?

Watching Stiles lock the doors out of the corner of your eyes, you shake your head.

“I should’ve helped him.”

“And what?” Stiles questions, sitting back down in front of you. “And get yourself killed?”

“A lot better than being stuck in the back of an ambulance, doing nothing,” you snap, clenching your fists. “Stiles, he has my mom.”

“I know,” Stiles whispers, “but trust me, Scott won’t let anything happen to her.”

Meeting Stiles’ eyes, the sincerity and certainty in his own gaze, despite his own predicament, reassures you. Letting out a soft, small smile, you let out a heavy breath, nodding your head. Scott will protect your mom, just like he always has, and for now, you can protect Stiles and Cora if anyone comes around.

“She’s not breathing.”

“What?” You exclaim, eyes falling on Stiles before lowering to Cora. Pausing a moment, you feel your chest tighten when you notice the lack of movement of Cora’s chest. “Wait, what? Stiles--”

He leans forward, tilting his head to the side so his ear is towards her chest and listens. You remain silent, gnawing on your lip just as Stiles pulls back, panicking. “Oh, God, oh no. Oh, no, no, no, no.”

“Why isn’t she breathing?” You exclaim, shifting in your seat. “Come on, Cora. Breathe!”

“I’m gonna give her mouth-to-mouth.”

“What?” You exclaim once more, eyes wide as you meet Stiles’ gaze. “Do you even know how to give mouth-to-mouth?”

Pulling up his sleeves, Stiles shrugs; “it can’t be that hard, can it?”

“Can’t be-”

Before you can even finish your sentence, Stiles grabs Cora by the jaw, gently tilting her head back before, pinching her nose with his pointer finger and thumb and leans forward. Your entire body tenses as he presses his lips against her own, blowing, pulling back, and repeating the process.

“Come on,” you whisper, “come on, Cora. Come on.”

He continues the process multiple times over, and, despite yours and his mumbling of encouragement Cora’s way, you feel your heart fall, hope dwindling when nothing ever changes. Just as the realization that she’s most likely dead hits you, Cora gasps loudly, coughing immediately afterwards.

Stiles throws his hands up in the air, lips curving into a small, victorious smile as you mimic his own.

“Oh my God,” you breathe, letting out a small laugh, “you just saved her life.”

“I just saved her life,” Stiles repeats, clear disbelief in his voice.

Smiling brightly, eyes twinkling, you meet Stiles’s gaze, unable to help yourself as you laugh out.

“You’re a God damn hero!”

“You just hold on a little longer, okay?”

Blinking, you raise your head at the sound of Stiles’ voice. After the both of you knew Cora was safe, silence fell over the two of you, just stuck there waiting. It’d been like that a while, so the sound of Stiles’ voice surprises you, even more so when you realize he’s talking to an unconscious Cora, rather than you.

“Trust me, if there’s anything that can get us out of this, it’s Scott.” You frown at his words, watching as his face widens, and he chuckles half-heartedly. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

It’s then that you meet Stiles eyes, and though he’s still talking to Cora, he never leaves your gaze. “You know,” he continues after a moment, setting his head in his hands. “I actually used to be the one with the plan. Well, or at least a plan b.” He pauses, sighing; “well, I don’t know, now i’m thinking maybe you were right. You know, maybe--maybe we are pretty much useless. Maybe all we really do is show up and find the bodies.”

You don’t reply, you aren’t sure how to at first. Stiles lowers his gaze to Cora, and you can tell that even though he’s just spoken the words, they’ve been bothering him for a while. “It’s not true, you know,” you say after another moment of silence, causing Stiles to turn to you once more. “What she said. It isn’t true.” Flickering your gaze upwards, you nod determinedly, “we’ll find your dad and we’ll save Cora. We have to.”

“Y/N,” Stiles whispers, his voice cracking. “I don’t want to find my father’s body.”

“You won’t,” you reassure, leaning forward and taking his hand in your own. Squeezing it tightly, you promise, with no hesitance; “I swear to you that i’ll do everything in my power to save your father.”

There’s a moment of content silence between the two of you before it’s interrupted by a distant banging. Stiles and yours eyes widen, immediately becoming alert as you both make your way to the back doors, peering through the windows.

Your heart falls when you see the twins.

“Stay here,” you whisper, “I can distract them.”

“Are you insane?” Stiles exclaims, his voice hushed as he grabs a hold of your wrist, practically yanking you back. “If Scott and Derek can’t even fight them, how are you suppose to?”

“I never said i’d fight them,” you shrug, eyes narrowing. “I’ll run, distract them that way you and Cora stay safe.” Though, guiltily, your main concern is Stiles. It’s always Stiles.

Stiles lips part, and then, he’s adamantly shaking his head. “No,” he refuses, “you’re not doing that. You could die.”

“Stiles-”

“No,” he cuts you off, meeting your eyes. “I won’t let you.”

Leaning back, you let out a sigh, body tense. The twins, without even seeing them, you know are somewhere close. You and Stiles remain in complete silence in the moments that follow, unsure and frightened, anticipating the worst.

A few moments later, you sit up straight the moment you notice Stiles pressing his ear against the side of the car, obviously having heard something. His eyes meet yours, silently telling you that something was wrong, which is followed by distant footsteps, this time, ones you can hear. Snapping your head around to where the doors are, you slowly inch forward, mentally preparing yourself for the worst, when Scott suddenly appears before you. A nearly-unconscious Peter is in his hands, and he’s rapping against the windows, glancing at you and Stiles. “Open the door, open the door!”

Instantly, you and Stiles rush forward, unlocking the door and then pushing open each of the doors. “Help me get him in,” Scott says the moment the doors are open, and reaching forward, Stiles grabs Peter’s arm, pulling him into the car beside him.

“Where’s Derek and Jennifer?” Stiles asks.

Shaking his head, Scott mumbles; “I have to go back for them and my mom.”

“If you’re going back for mom,” you speak up, stepping forward, “so am I.”

“No,” Scott instantly argues, eyes falling on you. “You need to keep them safe,” he gestures to Stiles and Cora. “Stay here.”

“Scott-”

“There’s two problems,” Stiles cuts off, causing your lips to part. “Kali’s got the keys to this thing, and I just saw the twins, like, thirty seconds ago.” Followed by his explanation the distant sound of banging, no doubt coming from the twins, can be heard.

“Stay here,” advises Scott, stepping back to shut the door.

“Scott,” you call, ready to argue that you come with him. But, the moment you meet his eyes, you pause, sighing. “Just... bring back mom, okay?”

He nods, shutting the door behind him as you slump against the wall in defeat.

“All right, come on, come on, come on!”

Stepping back, you help pull out the bed with Cora on it, moving out of the way of Peter and Stiles as they prepare to carry her over to Isaac and the car. Peter eventually just takes Cora in his arms, taking lead of the situation as you move to help Stiles shut the door. You shut the one in front of you, turning to Stiles expectantly, only to pause in confusion when you see him halt.

It’s obvious something has caught his eye.

“Stiles,” you call, taking a step forward. His hand is on the sheet in front of him, a sheet you’re guessing parents have to fill out if their child is hurt. Though, his hand hovers underneath the section made for parents or guardians to sign. Then, it clicks. Parents... or guardians.

“Stiles! Y/N!” Your eyes fall on Isaac who’s waving at you to follow; “come on!”

Glancing behind him, seemingly past you, the gears in Stiles mind seem to work quickly and then suddenly he’s running past you. You hear, in the back of your head Isaac call after him, and you feel stuck. You know what he’s realized, and you know what you need to do. So, turning, you move to run after Stiles, only for the sound of Isaac calling after you causing you to halt.

“Where are you going?” He exclaims, “we have to go!”

“I need... I need to,” you whisper, shaking your head. “I just-” You say no more, ignoring Isaac this time as he calls for your name, picking up the speed in your step to catch up with Scott.

After a while of running, directly behind Stiles, your eyes widen when you see Scott hastily turning the corner, bolting off despite Stiles calling after him. Stiles, in return, slows to a stop and you nearly crash into him, grabbing a hold of him as your eyes fall to the elevator before you, where Derek lays unconscious.

“Mom,” you whisper, your voice barely audible. In the next second, you find yourself running, Stiles calling after you and then his footsteps can be heard. But you don’t slow down. Don’t slow down to think. When you reach the rooftop, you feel your heart plummet when you see Scott slowly inching towards Deucalion.

“Scott,” you cry, your voice pitching. “Please Scott.”

Stiles falls next to you then, out of breath. “Scott,” he calls, “Scott, don’t do this. Don’t go with him.”

Turning his head slightly over his shoulder, Scott shakes his head; “I don’t know what else to do.”

“Please,” you whisper, “we can figure out another way.”

“There’s got to be something else,” Stiles adds, nodding in desperation. “We always--we always have a plan B.”

Turning around, with tears in his eyes, Scott cries; “not this time.” Then, he moves to turn back around, only to be halted by Stiles calling for him once more. “I’m gonna find your dad,” Scott promises Stiles, before his eyes fall on your own. There are tears in your eyes, threatening to fall out as a hand falls against your lips.

Not only has your mom been taken, but the thought of Scott joining Deucalion, feeling so hopeless, breaks your heart. You can’t...

“I’m gonna find mom. I promise.”

let me know what you thought?

part 18?

Tag List: @potterheadbbc - @sunsetblake - @mythicalamphitrite - @loverofwaytoomanythings618 - @minuteandahalf - @mnk - @gazebros- @colie87 - @quilliamfears - @quellum - @pessimisticbullshite - @desired-love- @kaylinfayezink - @maiabiovillage - @tr1chst3r - @arkcangel - @quirkytwinkles - @thegirlwhoimagined - @noones-girl1980 - @illumminated - @fairchild345 - @all-will-be-well-love - @animemes-trash - @starryrevelations - @literallyhelpme - @theskytraveler - @jinandton1c - @ilovemymoose-blog @bibliophilesquared - @stilessarcasmqueen - @mersuperwholocked-lowlife - @newtsshelbys - @wyattgoleft - @pancakefancake - @saturno-in-the-night - @pizzamelon7384 - @riskregretting - @mdgrdians - @ravenclawnerdfromnarnia - @franchisefan14 - @lovingpeterparker - @audreysduvxl - @kararanae23 - @alioop3818 - @a-gir1-has-n0-name - @andyl394 - @sclestial - @jayymocha - @2ptonpt - @itsfangirlmendes - @deafeningmusicdetective - @alex–awesome–22 - @nicholerodz - @kellbell44 - @serrahruby - @agentmarvel13 - @egg-in-a-spork - @nickigv - @vxidnik - @marvelousgab - @emmaleighrose - @danielag1969 - @digicharr - @shantayok - @cherry3bombshell - @thatprofessionalfangirl - @itsjaynebird - @grippleback-galaxy - @dafukbish - @randomfanfictiontime - @unicorn-sparkles123 - @sammyrenae68 - @myfanficlibrarium

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sillyfudgemonkeys · 5 years ago

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so apparently P5R just usurped P4G and is now the best selling Persona remake/remaster/whatever; how do ya feel?

Dunno why I didn’t see this, phone’s not giving me updates it seems. ;w; Anyway.... Short Answer: Meh, I really don’t care, I’m more interested in Scramble/Strikers numbers. Long answer tho....(gonna be long, not a rant just I’ve had A LOT of thoughts about sales numbers since P3/5D’s and PQ2′s releases).

I’m not surprised, I mean it’s a remake on a mainline console, combined the fact that it was popular too (I’ll come back to this when I talk about the other Persona games but for now put a pin in that). But there are two things I’m more interested in, 1) P5R’s lifetime sales, and 2) Scramble/Striker’s numbers.

1) Will possibly show how many newcomers we’ve retained. And I’m interested in that because....P5 sold a few million right? If Atlus can retain that that’d be amazing! We won’t know till the Western releases tho. But if it doesn’t, and sells say.....as much as P4G’s life time sales, then....all P5 did was retain the hardcore original audience, it didn’t win over as many new people as we thought it did. Which isn’t a failure, but it’s.....a crude way to say it (sorry I just woke up words are hard), it’s that P5 isn’t as really as hot shit as we all thought it was (and it probably just sold well due to timing and crazy marketing).

2) What I REALLY want to know is P5S’ sales tho, even more than P5R’s. Since I think that might indicate P5′s standing if it’s as much as a fan favorite as P5 vanilla′s sales show. And it might be the first time we have a clearish answer without any other possibility being the reason for sales numbers. Lemme explain, P5R might do well because is a mainline game instead of a spinoff (but it could do meh compared to P3P and P4G in terms of lifetime sales due to the new comers not wanting to rebuy the game for whatever reason: Same console [which is a double edge sword, PS4 is popular but also people might not want to buy the same game for the same console twice], not worth the price, not enough new changes in their eyes). P5D did poorly, but is it because it was just bad, was it cause of the shitty DLC practices, was it because it didn’t have a lot of content (aka no real plot like P4D)? We don’t know. PQ2? Was it cause it was bad, was it cause it was released on a dying console (as opposed to PQ1 being released at the peak popularity of that console), was it on a console that P5 was it released on, was it cause it featured P3/4 cast and it was aimed at P5 audiences who have no idea who those people are? We don’t really know (this one is probably the dying console tho, which means could it have done well/better if released on the Switch instead?). Did both do bad cause they weren’t really sequels (both technically take place during P5 so yeah)? But P5S? It’s releasing on two very popular consoles, and it’s set as a sequel, so far doesn’t look like there’s a lot of scummy practices going on, actually looks like it has content (so if there are some scummy DLC practices, at least that’s not the ONLY thing you can think about, like with P3/5D). It has A LOT going for it in terms of a spinoff, that even non hardcore/new fans can get into. And I want to know what kind of impact P5 left on the fanbase as a whole and so far it’s not doing so hot spinoff wise (maybe anime too, when the anime was still in the middle of it’s run it wasn’t doing as hot as P4′s first anime or P3′s movies....at least sales wise I found, but that was in the middle maybe it got better), merch sales are probably doing fine tho (since they keep announcing new things). So to me P5′s......all over the gd place.

tldr; I think P5S will show us a decent idea on how P5 as a series is doing compared to P3/4, it started off strong with it’s main game but has struggled with it’s spinoffs which might be because of other reasons than people just being “meh” on it. P5R will be a good chance to see how many people stayed.

Now let’s look at the other games. You should know, considering hurdles P5 didn’t have (except maybe P3P, but on the other hand it probs could’ve excelled more on a home console), the modern day Persona games (Tadashi/Old games got screwed and I’ll explain but it’s probably for the same reason as PQ2, or at least for P2EP) did well despite these hurdles, well both original and remakes but I’mma focus on the remakes (all you need to know about P3 Vanilla and FES and P4 vanilla is that they were both released post PS3 and/or towards the end PS2′s life cycle and still did great).

Now P3P probably had the easiest, released during a very popular time for the PSP, and it ended up selling better than EITHER of it’s two PS2 counterparts Life to date (now if you cheated and combined Vanilla and FES, then yeah P3P sold 80,000 less than those two/all their versions, but that’s 2V1 and it’s still amazing how well it did).There was def an uptick in sales, maybe it was all newcomers or maybe it was half old and half new people, but it still resulted in more people buying it than it’s original (which is why I still wanted to talk about it despite it not having the same hurdles as P4G).

P4G however, that’s where the biggest hurdle comes in (and why I really bring this up). The Vita. A console that sold peanuts compared to the PSP, PS2, PS3, and PS4. No, less than peanuts. 10/15 Million compared to the 80-150 million the other 4 ranged from. I mean yeah a million is a lot, but now you need to market to those million, no, you need to get people to BUY this console first (it was released roughly when the Vita dropped). You need to convince people to ditch their PSP, for a console that isn’t backwards compatible, for this semi-obscure Japanese title. But god damn it did, it almost got all it’s sales from the PS2 back. Hell it exceeded it’s original run L-t-D if you don’t count “The Best” re-releases (Vanilla’s cheaper re-release sold more than P4G’s cheaper re-release). I don’t know if these are also new people, or all hardcore fans, but it did really damn well! It got people hyped and it got people to buy this game AND console! (tho I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at the sacrifice of poor P2:EP, may you rest in peace ;w;). And that was a BIG hurdle for it to overcome!

Like P3P and P4G really make me wonder how well they’d do with a real remake on the PS4/PS5. Like a port would probs do well, but imagine if they actually improved the graphics and changed/added new things, I think it’d sell about as well as P5 vanilla.

P5R’s biggest hurdle is justifying itself as a full price game remake on the same console. But like FES could do that (so I think P5R’s outlook is fine, no real hurdles like P4G had to go through)....and just for fun cause I hate myself (jk I dunno I just wanna see if I can take a guess at JPN’s possible sales based off of numbers of past re-releases). And FES’ first week compared to it’s vanilla is 10% higher than Royal, but Royal has more units sold obvie, FES sold about 80% the total the vanilla did, Royal did 70%, L-t-D for FES was 78% not counting cheaper-re-releases, 82% counting re-releases...but I think that’s because P3 Vanilla didn’t have a re-release cause of FES. If I use that as a base.......P5R’s numbers (going off of the graphs from Personacentral like this one and of course the P5R one, which I think are all Japanese sales). If P5R follows a similar patter to FES’ sales %.... I’ll give P5R 72%-82% of Vanilla’s sales (including the cheaper re-release), and we’re looking at maybe L-t-D sales of Royal ranging from about 334,955 to 381,476 units sold.

If Royal follows a similar pattern to P4G however (cause P5R is more similar to FES and P4G, I’ll do P4G’s too for fun, but I won’t do P3P’s). So there are two life to date numbers, one before factoring in P4/P4G’s re-releases and one after. Before P4G sold about 111% more than vanilla, after re-releases it sold about 96% of Vanilla’s total units. So a low ball and high ball of Royal with P4G’s % would be.....446,606 to 516,389 units sold.

So combining those two together, I predict (aka this is a theory that I wanted to do for fun for WHATEVER reason, made by someone that JUST woke up and trying to get my math out as quickly as possible, maybe if I have time next week I’ll go back and check my work....I’m very busy this week sadly ;w;) P5R’s L-t-D (pre- cheaper re-release)sales to be somewhere to be 334,955 to 516,389 for Japan.

But that’s Japan, Japan it feels like they’re more willing to re-buy games on the same console, the West might not be as inclined tho (if we re-buy something, it’s because it’s on a different console). So while P5R could sell about as well as Vanilla did in Japan, I dunno so much about the west.

tldr; P5R did about as well as I thought in Japan, but not sure about the West. Some number predictions for P5R. If P5R does poorly in the West it could be because it’s was released on the PS4 instead of a different system. P5S I think will give us a better idea on how P5 is doing as a franchise compared to P4.

(also I should note, I prefer vanilla P4 over P4G, there’s some good stuff in P4G, but 1) I prefer Tracey Rooney as Chie, I prefer her down to earth approach more, and 2) there’s some things in P4G that ruins my enjoyment and outweighs the new positive stuff. I like all the remakes barring the guy who directed P4G/P5R, I haven’t finalized my thoughts on P5R yet tho. I do like Kasumi more than Marie tho just on a personality level, still thinking over how they handled her tho. I will say P5R has a lot of gameplay improvements that fixed a lot of gameplay gripes I had so like that’s all I feel like saying/can say about P5R, gameplays better!).

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jedimordsith · 8 years ago

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Dancer (Part II)

Another piece of my never-to-be-finished L/M story Dancer. Picks up right where the first part left off.

//What took so long?// Chewie whuffed as soon as the hatch of the Falcon closed behind them.

“Success, buddy,” Han told him, tiredly. “At least I think it was,” he muttered.

//What do you mean?// The wookie huffed suspiciously, watching his friend drag off his fine silks and dump them on the dejerik table in a heap.

Han grabbed a spare shirt from over the back of the bench seat and dragged it on, sighing in relief to feel a bit like himself again before answering.

“I mean we did the job,” he said, frowning. “We convinced the contact to stay and feed us info, just like Command wanted. But she’d a kriffinggirl, and something don’t sit right about making her stay with those filthy Imps.”

//A girl?// Chewie tipped his huge, furry head in surprise. //I thought the contact was Imperial Intelligence?// Everyone knew that women didn’t usually get far in the Empire’s biased ranks.

“She’s an Emperor’s Hand,” Luke explained, removing his own cape and folding it neatly before setting it aside and slumping in a seat.

The wookieharned in disbelief. //His Hands are women?//

“Girls,” Han corrected, gesturing at Luke. “She can’t be any older than the Kid, if that. Tiny little thing, too.” Like Leia. He didn’t have to finish the thought; they both knew what went unsaid and how unsettling it was.

//Is it wise to leave her with him?//

“No,” Han griped. “But we don’t have a lot of choice. She can get us intel we won’t get anywhere else – stuff that will save entire planets.”

The wookie howled sadly, understanding both the incontrovertible reasoning and his friends’ distress.

“She’s coming by in the morning,” Luke told Chewie. “To teach me how to shield my mind.”

//She has the Force?//

“With a little training, she could be incredibly powerful.”

“She’s already pretty powerful,” Han protested. “She formed some kind of bond thing with the Kid. Can talk directly into his head now.”

//A training bond?//

Both men stopped at stared at Chewie. “You’ve heard of this stuff?” Solo demanded, incredulously.

The wookie favored him with an exasperated look. //I knew many Jedi before the purge. Such things were not uncommon.//

Luke wanted nothing more than to pick his furry friend’s brain for more information on this fascinating new development, but reconsidered when he was unable to suppress a huge yawn.

“Right,” Han said, catching him. “Bed. Now. You have to be up and watching for Dancer in the morning.”

Luke nodded, then looked thoughtful. “I wonder what made her choose that name.”

“Aside from obviously bein’ one?” Han looked at him curiously and waved a hand. “You couldn’t tell? Being in her head and everything?”

The Jedi shook his head. “She shielded it – she obviously didn’t want me to know.”

“Oh well, make sure you learn how to do the same thing,” Han ordered. “I don’t want her to end up knowing blackmail-worthy secrets about me just because she can read your head during our drunken sabacc games.” He pointed to his friend. “Now I mean it. Bed.”

Luke rolled his eyes, but headed off without complaint. As he fell into his bunk, he gently brushed the place in his mind where Mara was cradled. She’d retreated, erecting some kind of mild privacy barrier, but her presence was still firmly anchored inside him and he savored the feel of her. The mechanics and protocols of this new bond would have to be explored and would take some getting used to, but he knew already with absolute certainty that he never wanted to be without her again.

- -

Luke blinked, and looked around. The nudge came again, and he grinned.

Mara?

You better be up and brewing caff, Farmboy. I’m on my way over.

She cut off, retreating again, and Luke immediately rolled out of bed. He took a record-fast shower and dragged on clean clothes before jogging out into the corridor. Thankfully, Chewie already had caff brewing. Han wouldn’t be up for hours yet, but the Jedi and the wookie often enjoyed early caff before getting started for the day.

“Jade’s on her way,” Luke told Chewie as he headed for the ramp. He lowered it just in time to see her approach, swathed head to toe in a long grey cloak.

She stalked up the ramp without a word, and he closed it behind her. She waited, allowing him to lead her into the common room before she pulled down her hood, releasing a coiled braid the fell down her back to her waist.

“Mara, this is Chewie. Chewie, Mara Jade.”

Chewie harned. Before Luke could translate, Mara responded. “Thank you, I’d love some caff.”

Luke blinked. “You speak Shiriwook?”

“Being a polyglot comes with the job.” She accepted a mug of caff from Chewie gratefully. “Though to be clear, I understand Shiriwook perfectly. I speak it abominably, and only under duress.”

The wookie huffed in amusement. //A dancer and speaker of languages. You have many talents for a cub so young.//

“They told you about the dancing, huh?” She eyed Luke warily as if suspicious of what he might have said.

Oblivious, the Jedi looked up from the mug of hot chocolate he’d made himself. “How old are you, Mara?”

She smirked. “Even farm boys have to know it’s rude to ask a lady her age.” Slipping off the cloak, she settled into the bench seat, curling her feet underneath her. The black cargo pants and fitted sage green tunic suited her just as well as the dancer’s outfit had.

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that,” he frowned.

“I read your file last night.”

“Ah.” Deciding that he really didn’t want to know exactly what his official Imperial file said, Luke returned to his previous tack as he joined the other two at the dejarik table. “Then you know how old I am, and my question is fair.”

Mara sighed. “Seventeen, I think.”

Luke barely stifled a wince at the thought of what Han was going to say when he realized they’d convinced a seventeen year old girl to stay at Palpatine’s feet, spying for them.

//You think?//

Mara deliberately sipped her caff and decided it would do before replying. “Details on how I came to be in the Emperor’s possession are sketchy at best. I have no reason to believe the birth date in my file is anything other than a placeholder.” She shrugged. “It hardly matters. Birthdays aren’t exactly something one celebrates in the Imperial Palace.”

“Wait, you were raised in the Palace?” Luke asked, startled.

She looked at him curiously. “Where else would he keep me?”

Luke didn’t have an answer for that, but the idea of a child being raised literally at Palpatine’s knee was deeply disturbing.

Sensing his friend’s distress, Chewie broke in. //Do you need me to leave for your training?//

Mara shook her head. “It’ll probably be boring from your perspective, but you’re welcome to stay.” Taking another sip of her drink, she focused on Luke. “All right, Farmboy, I don’t have all day, so we’d better get started. You need some shields.”

Four hours later, Han was up enjoying a cup of caff and Luke was once again simultaneously exhausted and elated. He was a quick learner and Mara had taken advantage of that, teaching him the basics of shielding and some valuable intermediary steps. Her shields were intricate and mind-boggling, and he eagerly looked forward to the more advanced techniques she’d promised to teach him. They’d also covered the essentials of etiquette – no unauthorized peeking, no poking around without permission, shielding during anything personal or intense. She’s also taught him a nasty but – she insisted – necessary emergency close-off measure, just in case. It was painful and ugly, but every pilot knew the value of emergency protocols.

Wearily, Mara slid off the bench seat and stretched. Reaching for her cloak, she pulled it on and tucked her glorious braid out of sight. “I have to go”

//It was good to meet you, Dancer.// Chewie huffed.

Mara paused and nodded with a small smile. “And you, Chewbacca.” Her eyes shifted to Luke for a moment, her expression suddenly terribly serious. “Clear skies.”

“May the Force be with you, Mara Jade,” he answered softly.

Then, once again, she was gone.

#luke x mara #unfinished fics #force bond

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lurkingcrow · 8 years ago

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Obi-wan shaves the beard... and no one can recognise him. Later once people finally figure out who that clean shaven, auburn haired Jedi is they continue it as part of some elaborate joke, Obi-wan doesn't know wether or not to be amused or annoyed.

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gamerszone2019-blog · 6 years ago

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FIFA 20 Review

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/fifa-20-review/

FIFA 20 Review

I’ve had to reassess the way I’ve played FIFA this year, which is something I haven’t had to do in many years through all the tweaks, changes and so called “game-changing mechanics”. FIFA 20

feels different to previous years; in some ways for the better, but in others not. Volta, a brand-new way to play FIFA that offers a breath of fresh air to the series – albeit not without its own faults – is here, but does it come at the expense of the game as a whole?

Every IGN FIFA Game Review Ever

Last year, many of FIFA 19’s gameplay innovations were based on the attacking game, from timed-finishes to the basics of how the ball could be nudged into space with a flick of the stick. FIFA 20 swings the pendulum back the other way and puts much more emphasis on the other side of the ball. The way you defend has been overhauled and has never felt more crucial. You can no longer heedlessly charge at a defender, hold down the tackle button, and hope for the best. You’re punished for not thinking about defensive play to the same extent you would building an attack, due to the high level of risk-reward when going in for a challenge; time it well and you’ll likely take the ball cleanly and win possession. Misjudge the timing, however, and you’re punished with a foul or left watching as your opponent skips over your trailing leg.

The way you defend has been overhauled and has never felt more crucial.

“

This is due in part to a new weapon attackers now have in their arsenal in the form of strafe dribbling. You can square up to a defender by holding the left bumper and attempt to shimmy past, ultimately creating a yard of space needed for a cross or shot. It’s a useful tool that provides more options when in control of the ball. If successful, at the very least you’ll get fouled, giving you the chance to try out the new way set-pieces are taken. EA has seemingly taken inspiration from the now-dormant PGA Tour golf series when it comes to taking direct free kicks, because now you first place a target where you want to aim, then add spin with the right stick as the taker approaches the ball. This technique opens up new possibilities and can produce some great-looking finishes. It’s initially difficult to get to grips with but I found myself enjoying it greatly, especially in comparison the simplistic ways they’ve worked in previous games.

For more on specific gameplay changes, check out the video below:

Get past your man without being chopped down, however, and you’re in luck, as you’ll likely have the pace to ward them off and bear down on goal. This is thanks to a welcome adjustment of how player speed works in FIFA 20. A common FIFA 19 frustration was how easily slow defenders would often be able to catch up with much faster attackers; I’m happy to report that’s no longer the case here, and the sight of an aging Mats Hummels quickly closing in on a spritely Raheem Sterling is no longer a regular occurrence.

Add another new addition, the set-up touch, and a devastating combo is possible. By rolling the ball into space by holding the right bumper and flicking the right stick, you’re then able to hit a vicious shot on goal. This often creates some blockbuster moments and, when pulled off correctly, feels great. Sadly, FIFA 20 provides little opportunity to actually achieve this, because the set-up animation feels like it takes an age to complete, and often you’re crowded out by tenacious defenders before getting your effort on goal away.

FIFA 20 and VOLTA Mode

This loops back to the defensive overhaul implemented in FIFA 20. Defensive AI is far more intelligent and they’ll intercept passes and block shots much more often. Lofted through balls are no longer anywhere near as effective as they once were, as defenders are better at reading the game and provide more of a challenge than I’m used to when playing FIFA.

As a result I’ve found myself playing more on the counter-attack, which in turn has led to my biggest frustration with this year’s outing: it feels completely two paced. The players have returned to being lightning-quick, but that feels completely at odds with the speed at which the ball wants to move. New ball physics cause it to bobble and get slowed down grass more realistically, which admittedly looks great, but it also interrupts the flow of the game. It’s like listening to a song with someone sporadically pressing the half-speed button every time you hit a groove.

My biggest frustration with this year’s outing: it feels completely two paced.

“

This, coupled with the more realistic ways players turn, both on and off the ball, slows down the pace considerably, and some players’ turning circles are unusually large. I’m all for creating as authentic a football experience as possible – and something that FIFA excels in its presentation – but I fundamentally want it to be fun first. For me, football games have often been at their best when they don’t take themselves too seriously and embrace the silly side of the game. Whether that be the long-lost penguin outfits in the golden era of PES or the pure slapstick, arcade fun of FIFA Street. Luckily, there is still room for plenty of that in FIFA 20, even if it’s hard to find in its core 90-minute match modes.

For more a full match of FIFA 20 in 4K, check out the video below:

The Marred Volta

Volta is the grandstand addition to FIFA 20 and is an amalgamation of FIFA Street and the more recent story-based Journey mode. In many ways it’s a successful combination: there’s a lot of variety and perhaps even enough to do to to warrant a standalone release without provoking too many gripes. That alone nullifies the argument that FIFA 20 is just a reskin of the previous year’s version.

There are three ways to play Volta: Tour, League and Story, each of which is appealing in different measure. Tour is where you go to play matches against the CPU, using squads pulled from the server that have been built by other players. Once you beat a squad you can recruit a player from that team to join yours, similar to Need for Speed’s pink slip system. It also allows you to choose which of the 17 worldwide locations and forms of street football you’d like to play. Each of these global arenas has been beautifully crafted and has its own unique atmosphere, while also offering a genuinely different gameplay experience – though some with greater success than others. I much preferred the larger pitches like Rio de Janeiro’s favela or the Berlin gymnasium rather than the claustrophobic cages of Tokyo’s sky-high rooftops.

To see all of the different Volta modes, check out the video below:

Matches on these smaller pitches often descend into chaos, with balls bouncing between knees, concrete and chain fences, and very little football actually taking place. Repeatedly hitting shoot to see where the bounces was often the most successful tactic, repeating until it finds the back of the net. But on more open pitches, Volta really comes into its own. There’s time and space to pass the ball around, with enough scope to add flourishes like tricks and flicks. That said, if you overplay flair you’ll be punished, because Volta is much more rooted in classic FIFA than the old Street games. There are no bonus points for skills moves, they’re just another way to help win the match. It feels good to achieve a balance of the two, even if in my heart I yearn for the days of getting Peter Crouch to panna every opponent in sight.

If you overplay flair you’ll be punished, because Volta is much more rooted in classic FIFA than the old Street games.

“

There are subtle differences between the matches, some more engaging than others. Futsal is the pick of the bunch and the one most grounded in the traditional 11v11 game. The lack of walls to bounce the ball off provide an extra challenge and prevent matches descending into something akin to pinball. 4v4 and 5v5 play much like Futsal and are also enjoyable, with the major difference being manual shooting. This takes some getting used to, especially if you’re used to the assists the core game gives you, but it’s ultimately rewarding.

3v3 rush and 4v4 rush aren’t quite so enjoyable. It is essentially a three or four-aside match with one crucial difference – there are no goalkeepers. You therefore rely on defensive players to block incoming shots, something they’re often not that great at doing. Countless times I’d watch tame shots trundle towards a defender, only for them to let it roll past and straight into the goal. This happened regularly, with both AI and player-controlled defenders, leaving me infuriated when matches ended up 15-14. On the rare occasion a player blocked the ball, it would more often than not ping back to the attacker, who would then score anyway. This, coupled with the compact arenas, means you rarely ever feel in control of the outcome of a rush match, so it’s doubly frustrating a majority of Volta’s campaign mode is made up of these games.

To watch the first 11 minutes of Volta Story, check out the video below:

As for Volta’s story, it’s pure cheese and its cliché-laden plot will be familiar to anyone who has seen an underdog sports movie. The Journey’s branching storylines are gone, replaced by a rags to riches narrative that’s functional if forgettable. The acting is mixed, with one-dimensional robots sitting alongside more believable characters, like your loyal best friend, Syd. Although the cutscenes often feel repetitive, Volta is never the slog The Journey was, and is over in five to six hours. Progress is only halted if you lose a match, meaning you have to start the whole tournament again, which can mean replaying up to three or four matches. This can be frustrating, especially if it consists of the less appealing three or four aside rush ruleset.

Volta is never the slog The Journey was, and is over in five to six hours.

“

Naturally, there’s a wealth of customisation available. Importantly, these vanity items – tops, shoes, hairstyles and so on – can be purchased only with Volta coins, a currency earned through playing matches within Volta, which is currently a microtransaction-free zone. While I spent time tailoring my player’s look at the beginning of the story mode, I soon settled on a style I liked and little attention to it afterwards. However, I can really see customisation coming into its own in the Volta League mode.

League is Volta’s online game and is where you’ll likely spend most of your time, especially after completing the story mode, which offers little replay value. The premise is simple: face off against other online opponents to climb the rankings, while at the same time showcasing your squad and vanity items. Its approach is similar to Seasons in the core game, opening up every match type and location.

Volta is also available in kickoff mode should you fancy a quick game, alongside the options to add house rules. Last year’s selection are still present, with survival mode a particular highlight, especially as Volta means you’re reduced to one player each.

Modes, Modes and More Modes

Outside Volta, there are numerous additions to other modes in FIFA 20. House Rules gets a couple of new options: King of the Hill is a possession-based mode I can see myself spending little time with, while Mystery Ball is pure madness. Every time the ball goes out of play a new appears on the pitch, with a different ‘perk’ altering its physics each time. These include dribbling, speed and shooting boosts, to one ball that has all three combined. Panic ensues every time this ball comes into play, because the player in possession can breeze past defenders before slapping the ball into the net. It’s the kind of silliness I want from FIFA and continues the trend of last year’s fun additions.

Mystery Ball is pure madness.

“

Ultimate Team also benefits from House Rules modes this year, with a couple exclusive to FUT. Max Chemistry and Swaps modes are fun, but I can’t see them being a massive time suck for people already invested in FUT’s loop. They’re found in the new FUT Friendlies section, meaning you can take your assembled squad offline and play with a friend. It’s a quality-of-life improvement for those who don’t want to worry about player fitness or contracts running down.

For a full match of Mystery Ball, check out the video below:

For those going online, there are new Season Objectives. Much like a battle pass system, it sets challenges which rewards items only exclusive to this mode. Some are vanity items that express more of that welcome silliness in FIFA, introducing such things as a retro 16-bit ball and a dabbing unicorn tifo for your stadium. These are all positive changes that add a bit of personalisation to the FUT experience, which is much needed when a lot of squads are filled with the same handful of players, causing the whole thing to become a little homogenised.

Unsurprising Mechanics

One thing that hasn’t changed are the microtransactions. Card packs are still available and people will continue to buy them. EA has stated it has no plans to alter its approach to “surprise mechanics” unless laws are passed. As of yet, very little progress has been made on this front, but who knows, maybe by the time FIFA 21 comes around things might have changed. There have been baby steps made this year in regards to cards. Icons will now cost less on the transfer market, but the chances of obtaining one via a pack are still ludicrously low. In short, microtransactions still look to be an issue in FUT 20, with many fans vocal about their inclusion and inherent pay-to-win nature.

For more on changes to FUT in FIFA 20, check out the video below:

Another thing people have been hoping for is an overhauled career mode. For years now, it’s been overlooked. To be fair, in FIFA 20 some additions have been made, but none are big enough to make it an instantly more appealing game mode than it was last year or the year before that. Much as in Volta, you can now select to be male or female when choosing your playable manager, which is a step in the right direction. But apart from that, a largely ineffectual morale system and unimaginative press conference sequences are entirely underwhelming. It’s sad to see a mode that used to be my go-to in FIFA continue to formerly be my go-to in FIFA. Hey, there’s always next year.

Source : IGN

#Game News #Game Reviews

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osakaso5 · 8 years ago

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Mitsuki Izumi i7 Roman Rabbit Chat Part 2: A Know-It-All Reporter!

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Mitsuki: Manager, good job with the briefing today!

Mitsuki: Iori was listening with a serious face, but you could see his satisfaction slipping through!

Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san, good work! Could you really see it? I didn't notice at all..!

Tsumugi: As expected of you, Mitsuki-san.

Mitsuki: But, Tamaki was the most excited. Even though Iori would normally tell him to stop fooling around, today he was talking to Riku and Tamaki without paying it any mind.

Tsumugi: Y-you're right..!

Mitsuki: The tea cup ride got them the most excited, lol They were talking about stuff like how fast you'd have to make the cup spin until Yamato-san's glasses would fly off his head, lol

Tsumugi: I'll make arrangements so you can all go visit the park once it opens!

Mitsuki: Oh, thanks! You don't have to force yourself. Just the sentiment makes us happy enough.

Mitsuki: But I gotta say, I didn't expect to get paired with the old man. Do you think he'll even take it seriously?

Tsumugi: H-he should take it seriously! ><

Mitsuki: I mean, I have no idea how to get Yamato-san fired up, lol

Tsumugi: Really? ><

Mitsuki: I'll just be having fun drinking with him and suddenly he'll do a complete 180 and start lecturing me, then just when I think his sermon is over, he'll go "Mitsu~" and start acting spoiled.

Mitsuki: At that point, all you need to do is cover him with a blanket and sing a lullaby for him to fall right asleep, though. lol

Tsumugi: I've learned something new about Yamato-san...

Mitsuki: But I guess that's what makes him so perfect for the role of the mystery man.

Tsumugi: I look forward to seeing his chemistry (1) with your know-it-all reporter character..!

Choices/outcomes:

1. Were you interested in any of the other characters?

Mitsuki: I also thought Nagi's foreign aristocrat role fits him like a glove, lol I don't really know much, but doesn't he seem to be some kind of rich kid? He even knows all sorts of wines with names that sound like the final bosses from a video game.

2. Do you think you'll be able to escape safely?

Mitsuki: Well, that'll be up to the old man, lolol I'm always giving 100%!

3. I can't wait for the attractions of Panda Nameco Village, either!

Mitsuki: Right! I feel like I'll turn into an excited kid, too! But since I'm bad with heights, I don't think I'll get on the roller coaster...

Mitsuki: To escape, we have to find Panda Stones that are hidden in the park, right?

Tsumugi: That's right! You'll need to work hard with Yamato-san.

Mitsuki: Roger that! Ordinary methods probably won't work, but now that we're doing this, I don't want to lose!

Mitsuki: Ah, manager. When I was on that program with Kujo and we got invited to the closing party, I told you about how we talked about all kinds of stuff, didn't I?

Mitsuki: We had a really long conversation back then... Didn't Kujo say anything?

Tsumugi: Yes, he told me he was glad to have talked with you!

Mitsuki: Really? I wasn't bothering him? Talking to Kujo makes me a little nervous, lol Even though I'm fine with Momo-san.

Mitsuki: Still, I'm happy to hear that. We talked about our troubles as big brothers!

Tsumugi: What did you discuss, specifically?

Mitsuki: How there's always that moment where you realize your parents think your younger sibling is cuter than you. No matter how much you love your little brother, as a kid you still get jealous sometimes.

Mitsuki: But even so, you'll eventually have to draw the line at those feelings, since you're the big brother. Your sibling is weaker than you. Younger. You feel like you have to love them.

Mitsuki: For Kujo, it was how often Riku would get hospitalized, after all. Even if he wanted to get spoiled or cry because of something that happened at school, since Riku was the frail one, he never got to show his own weak side.

Tsumugi: That's true...

Mitsuki: But still, you put up with your siblings because they're cute and you love them. And since we went through all that as older brothers, we managed to have such a long talk. It was the first time I'd talked to Kujo that much, lol

Tsumugi: It seems Kujo-san and Riku-san have been fighting lately, did you talk about that?

Mitsuki: We did!! He griped about why Riku has to hate him when he thinks Riku's so cute, lol I also went through a period where I wouldn't talk to Iori, but I didn't mention that to him...

Mitsuki: We came to the conclusion that we should talk to our brothers instead of making assumptions. Since that's sadly how I misunderstood that Iori was looking down on me.

Tsumugi: The more I listen to you, the more I'm convinced that a sibling is someone you have too deep of a bond with to just cut out of your life.

Mitsuki: You don't have any siblings, after all!

You can think of me as your big brother! Though it might be difficult, lol

Tsumugi: May I? ><

Mitsuki: Actually nevermind!! Now that I've said it, it's embarrassing, lolol

Tsumugi:

Translator’s notes..?

1) lit. ‘chemical reaction’

#idolish7 #mitsuki izumi #i7 roman #translation #i7 #rabbit chat

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maskedheromaskedchampion · 8 years ago

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Magic Design History - Legendary Creatures

Hello everybody, we’ve finally reached 2017 and I have returned from a night of heavy drinking to dive into an aspect of Magic with you to discuss the history of it’s development. This installment will focus on an aspect near and dear to my heart and the larger purpose of this blog, Legendary Creatures!

This topic has a number of story points, in fact its probably more nuanced than I’m even choosing to outline. That said, this could be a long one!

In the Beginning…

In the beginning, there were no Legendary Creature (Legends for the sack of my fingers). Actually, there were no multicolored cards either. I guess that is kind of important for my story.

Then came Legends in June of 1994 as the third non-Core Set expansion. This set was designed mostly before the official release of Magic and brought about the idea of Legendary Creatures - specific people who existed in the world we were visiting. To highlight these characters - who by the way, many were based on the designers’ D&D campaigns - the choice to flip the script was made and they made as Magic’s first multicolored cards. Every one of them.

As a history lesson, I believe the Legend Rule started out being that if I had Dakkon Blackblade out any new copies of Dakkon Blackblade would immediately go to the graveyard when played, thus marooning all other copies in either players’ hands. Because, like, why bother casting a spell that was just going to the graveyard?

I feel this addition to Magic canon was hugely important. But I am biased as I participate in a format that is driven by the quality of Legendary. It is funny to think though that Gold cards were also introduced here and many players will never know realize that all Legends in Legends were Gold and all Gold cards were Legends.

Continuing Trends

Because Legends was an expansion existing before the official release of Alpha, that means that sets following it were aware of legends during their design. That meant that Legends became apart of every set, by my research. So the trend of kicking out a handful of Legends began and with the Legend Rule in its beginning state, it became a design tool to help control the power level of some cards deemed too powerful in multiples. This would be the design philosophy for Legends for the next three years.

I don’t know that anything remarkable happened in this era, this is a point in design that I often flip through in hopes of finding a creature worth building around for it’s color identity and abilities. I am often disappointed. As the next section’s influences begin to come into focus, some of the Legends designed before Tempest would get retrofitted into the story.

Introducing Story

As I stated before - and is terribly obvious - Legends are fabled people existing in the worlds we visit and some time around 1997 - with the release of Weatherlight and Tempest - the cards started introducing more story elements. This meant the Legends being printed began showcasing the characters of those stories. I think this was a great choice that pulled in or retained many of the community personalities we love that identify as a Vorthos.

The story that started it roots in Weatherlight ran through the next four blocks and culminated in the final set of the Invasion block, Apocalypse. Through out all of this, Legends like Mirri and Gerrard were being featured on cards to help showcase their place in the story. My one complaint during this era was that aside from a few characters like Ertai and Croax, we never saw more than one card appearance of characters, leaving the players with no sense of the character’s arc.

Everyone is Legendary

Around the tail end of 2004 Magic took a trip to the new plane of Kamigawa, a Japanese-Shinto inspired world that made the mistake of putting Creative before Design - making for an ill-received block - and now us Samurai enthusiasts must forever pay the price. This was also where the Legend Rule was retooled to make any copies beyond the first destroy all copies of a Legendary Permanent with the same name.

The giant flag waving over all of the Kamigawa block was that it was featuring Legendary Permanents in mass - 163 by my count. Suddenly everything was legendary, including the enchantments and lands and sort of the spells. I think this is real cool in concept, but in the 13 years since, I can see how it might have lessened the special nature of Legends in one way or another.

I personally loved this influx of Legends as a Commander player, because more than half were not linear to build with. The major set back was that Kamigawa was almost entirely mono colored and meaning we were never given allied/enemy paired Legends for any of the tribes used such as Samurai, Ninja, Foxes or Rats.

Thankfully, the following year - Ravnica block - also featured Legendary Creatures in high numbers - 20 in total - and brought about allied/enemy creatures that would also prove to be relatively open-ended once Commander gained popularity. This was an important block in Magic history, because it gave an identity to each of the two-color pairs, something that wasn’t defined until 2006.

Lastly, from a lore prospective, this era of Legends were a mixed bag of important to the stories being told in the novels and completely unmentioned.

Displaced Heroes

Capping off a prolonged period of Legends, Time Spiral block could be described as a nostalgia block. Occupying the space that I see Commander products slowly embracing more and more, the designers turned their attentions to defining the characters of early Magic in card form, sometimes being as fleeting as appearing in flavor text of one card. Thankfully we were not restricted mono colored creatures this time around.

This was another stage of design that I think had it’s ups and downs. Part of the nostalgia also meant making the creatures feel like cards from their respective ages of design. In some cases this made for really interesting designs, like Ib Halfheart or Jhoira of the Ghitu, but (to me) there was a large batch of confusing designs that were more in-jokes than anything, like Mangara of Corondor, Tivadar of Thorn or Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder.

While I think this was an important time in Magic design, I don’t look as fondly back on this time as I might Kamigawa or Ravnica. And while I would more than love another Time Spiral block, I think it’s more for the wink-nod designs of the cards filling the entire set than the Legends specifically. In my eyes, this was a weak point in design, as the Legends were often confusing, though not yet pandering.

The Rise of Commander

Now we’ve reached Magic circa 2009, and the rise of Commander.

Fun fact: Commander was popularized in the 2008-2010 era, but its roots have been said to go as far back as a 1995 Duelist article, with the format being cultivated in 2001 [x]

As the 100-card singleton format began to take root in the general Magic community - and designers started designing towards it - the use of Legends evolved and their significance began to ramp up. Suddenly, the state of being legendary and the colors that creature occupied were a huge deal. In this era we also saw the Legend Rule change with Theros, now Legendary things only exploded if they occupied the same side of the battlefield.

The reasoning for this explosion in popularity, to me, comes from the release of Shards of Alara and the heavy influx of 3-color Legends, many of which were also well suited for themed decks or archetypes. My one gripe being that many of the Legends in Shards block were very linear. But Wizards heard the community’s love for the format and gave us Magic the Gathering: Commander in 2011, which took the number of wedge colored cards from a handful to double digits.

But that leads up to the final or better yet, most recent, point in the design of Legends…

The Fine Line

So now Wizards is going out of their way to design a product for us, becoming yearly in 2013. And with this attention towards Commander, I think two things began to come into focus:

1) The Commander community started complaining when a Legend didn’t work well in the format.

2) Wizards tried to give us what we asked for, but missed the mark.

Truthfully, both points have merits to both sides of the issue.

With the first point, Commander players got a bit of big head, Dragonlord Kolaghan probably being the best example in recent memory. Yes, Kolaghan is legend, sadly it doesn’t work well or at all in Commander.

We want cool legends, and it sucks when one of a cycle doesn’t fit into the Commander mold. But maybe it wasn’t designed for us. Or maybe just the being a Dragon part was.

The second issue more leans towards my hatred of being pandered to, I liked Kamigawa block because the Legends were never built with Commander in mind and thus, they worked as both build arounds and just unique creatures. With Wizards constructing creatures per our requests, it was nice, but there was a communication error that would occur (see Ulrich or the not-yet-confirmed lack of a UR legend that cares about artifacts in Aether Revolt).

And so, as much as I want to knock on @markrosewater‘s door and request specific things, it takes some of the fun out for me. Though, it does make the game I love feel more approachable.

The End…

Man, are you still here? Wow. Thanks.

So, we’ve just covered a solid 1000+ words on my thoughts about the design of Legendary Creatures across Magic’s history. I hope I educated and not just spouted my shallow thoughts, because this took a lot of research and several attempts on my part. What did I skip over that I could highlight in the future? Where would you like to see the series go in the future?

Either way, thanks for any feedback and I hope to catch you later!

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osakasshitpit · 4 years ago

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My adventures with my PS4 and Night City

Here is what nobody asked for, my thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077.

Well well well. This certainly is a hot button topic right now. The game’s out, everyone is playing it and a fuck ton of people are complaining about it. Me as well. Playing it I mean, I spend the majority of this weekend playing it, actually, and I haven’t lost a word about it online. Full disclosure, I am playing on PS4 because I don’t have a PC that can handle it, let alone a PS5 (those fucking things are almost as rare these times as graphics cards, swear to god). I also could not play right on launch day, for a whole bunch of reasons. First, my Tabletop RPG group plays Thursdays and I’m the game master, so I can’t just drop off of the face of the earth and play Cyberpunk. I know, what a fucking nerd I am. Anyways, if that wasn’t enough, the fucking delivery service was fucking with me. My package didn’t get delivered on Thursday, for unknown reasons. Friday, it was finally due to arrive, but the mailman just didn’t think he should deliver my package. I only found out through tracking that he apparently was there and I wasn’t, despite the fact I was. Fuck that guy. I went to the post office to complain later. It turns out due to the ‘rona and the game being rated for mature audiences only, they could not deliver my package and I indeed had to pick it up from the post office, so I could verify I am of age. Usually, when this sort of thing happens and you gotta pick it up, earliest date you can pick it up is the next day, 10am... which would’ve been Saturday. Luckily for me, I was able to pick it up on Friday, despite the fact I shouldn’t be able to. Well, lucky me I guess. After coming home from work, I put the game in the console and had to wait pretty much the entire rest of the day for the fucking thing to install and patch, so that was a fucking bitch and a half. I played

After all that, I was finally able to at least make a character and play through the tutorial before going to bed.

Saturday and onward, I played roughly 20 hours, I got through the game’s story a bit and did a looooooooooot of side jobs. I played most of that time on version 1.04, the tutorial was on version 1.02.

So after explaining my situation, here are my thoughts.

The short version is, it’s a really good game that is sadly a little rough around the edges.

The long version... weeeeelll.

The game, even on PS4 with admittedly low graphics settings (the game was just not made for the thing and it shows from time to time), can look incredible. Most of that is in the lighting. By night, the city is glowing in this harsh neon tone I simply adore. By day, the city is bright and shiny, like polished chrome. The back alleys are dark, dingy and littered with trash. The city is like a maze made out of roads, alleys and underground walkways. The atmosphere this game has is what I expected and what I wanted, so A+ in that department. They also did an excellent job on the motion capture. When it comes to open world games, I’m pretty used to the shit bethesda sells you, so I was very very happy to see all the characters you meet move and emote like that. There were some rough spots, especially with everyone's favorite sleep paralysis demon Johnny, but over all the animation quality is top notch. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though. The texture quality is pretty low, at least on the environment (I think the quality on the characters is pretty okay for PS4). It is noticeable in many areas, but I guess I’m okay with that. I kinda wished the environments had better texture quality but I guess it’s a small prize to pay. What was kind of distracting for me was the visual glitches I encountered. They were not as frequent as many made them out to be, but when they occurred it was very noticeable. Bodies clipping and getting stuck in geometry, being violently distorted as they are trying to get unstuck to the ground I probably propelled them into with a shotgun blast. Things flickering in and out of existence in the distance. Light effects flickering from time to time. And of course, the odd model being rendered in low-res before blending into the high-res model. The later seems to be a major gripe for many a people, but I had this happen like, maybe 10 times? At least I actively noticed it like 10 times. It usually only took about a second or two until the game caught up. It mostly happened when I took a motorcycle to get around. After going like 200 km/h and stopping at my destination, the game sometimes took a few seconds to catch up and render the area properly and granted, it’s a bit of an annoyance but well, it happened rarely enough to bother me. My theory on why this happens is it probably has something to do with how the engine (which is the latest version of their own proprietary engine, the RedEngine) handles Level of Detail. To explain, in short, level of detail is when a game uses lower resolution models and textures for objects that are far away. They look like shit because they are not meant to be seen up close. They are meant to be seen from a great distance. At a far distance, it doesn’t matter if that model has 10000 polygons or 5, because all you see is a few pixels in the vague shape of something. Its a neat trick engines use to render more on screen without using much more power, and everyone is using it. If you have played Breath of the Wild, you might have seen this when you zoom in really close with your shieka slate towards something like a shire or a building that is far away. Anyways, my theory is that due to the way the engine handles this, the game gets confused sometimes and it takes a bit until the high res model loads in, which is why you see low res models up close. It’s bad, but probably just a thing they need to patch out. I have to admit though, that I only played it on a 26 inch 1080p screen so people with larger screens might find these graphical shortcomings more distracting.

One thing I found rather annoying in regards to graphics is that sometimes UI elements take a while to load. This happens very inconsistently so I don’t know why this happens but it does suck.

I’ll be honest though and say what was important for me was less the graphics and more the gameplay, aesthetic/atmosphere and story. I already stated that I think the game delivers on the atmosphere and aesthetics, but what about the gameplay and story?

Well, it’s pretty good I’d say. Gun play is good, Cyberware is integrated well into the game, granting you new perks and abilities and the RPG Mechanics (while not being the most in depth and faithful to how the Pen and Paper Games worked) are also pretty fun to fuck around with. It works like this: You get Stat points you distribute to get bonuses to stuff and that allow you to do certain actions. Some things have a stat requirement to do, like breaking down doors or hacking into a device to collect paydata. There are also dialogue choices that have stat requirements. These are optional, but very helpful. I have to say though, it’s pretty easy to have a jack of all trades that can get past most of these things. You can see that as a positive thing or a negative thing. Outside of that, you have skills that improve when you use them. What that grants you is perk points you can freely distribute among the many, many perks you can acquire. These usually enable you to do some stuff or grand you a pretty nice bonus to something, like being able to carry a lot more shit, increasing reload speed for weapons or granting you a passive health regeneration in combat (which is pretty good). Also, pro tip, if you are playing a netrunner, get the perk that allows you to get RAM back during combat as quickly as possible. Shit is vital for you to be able to actively use your hacking abilities. Netrunning is another thing I liked. So here is the deal. There are two types of hacks: Breaching and Quick Hacks. Breaching is basically breaking into the enemies network and leaving behind malware that give you an advantage. These can be pretty strong and don’t cost you resources, but you have to do a minigame to activate the effects. How it works is that you have this grid with HEX Values. You have to hit a sequence of values to activate a malware. There was some in world explanation onto why, but I forgot. Anyways, You can chain these together to trigger multiple effects and if sequences have some overlap, you might be able to trigger multiple effects at the same time. The catch is, that you can only hit the values by going along the top most row, then the column of the value you hit first, then the row of the value you hit next, and so forth. It sounds more complicated than it is, really. As soon as you hit your first value, the timer starts ticking, so you are encouraged to first find an optimal path and then execute. It is a pretty fun and quick mini game that gives you just the right amount of challenge to make you feel like a hacker when you activate all the effects. I like it a lot. Other thing is quick hacks. These are just programs you can fire off that do any number of things. For devices like cameras, there are a set number of things you can do with a quick hack to manipulate it. I think these also tie into your hacking perks? Not sure. For people and enemies, you have programs you slot into your cyberdeck. These can do all matter of things, suited for stealth and combat. These are extremely useful for a lot of things, like blinding someone momentarily so you can steal stuff right in front of their noses, making their weapon jam so you can either run past someone or fight them without opposition, disabling their cyberware to weaken them, and plain just dealing damage. The promotional material made it sound like you have to play stealth to hack, but that's not the case at all. You can very easily specialize in shotguns or melee combat and hack your opponents to give you an edge in combat. I think it is more suited for stealth because hacking (as far as I got at least) is very focused on 1v1 encounters, but there are some things that affect a whole group of enemies, so you can still use netrunning pretty effectively in the thick of things.

The story is also pretty good. only played till chapter 2, but so far I like it. I can’t say too much and promotional material spoiled a few things about the first chapter but there were still some twists and turns I did not see coming, I’m excited to see where this goes. Outside of that, there are a lot of side missions in the game, which are also pretty good in my opinion. You don’t have dialogue choices that influence the outcome of every quest, but even the more linear quests are pretty enjoyable. At least they usually give you the ability to approach a quest your way. You can’t always solve things with words, but y’know, it is rare that you talk a gang into getting fucked over by you so it does make sense that sometimes, violence is your only way out. For those who want to play nice, there are non-lethal weapons and even guns can be made non-lethal with the right modifications. So, you can play as a pacifist, I guess. I don’t know if that does anything but there you go. What is pretty neat and sometimes challenging even, is that some quests require you to use non-lethal force. Be careful though, some quests can be failed by just walking away or doing them to late or missing dialogue options. If a dude comes to you and says he pays you to drive him somewhere RIGHT NOW, you have to get a car RIGHT NOW and drive him there. If you go away to get a car, the quest fails. I wish they told you that but I guess it makes sense. Thankfully, autosaves are usually pretty merciful and you rarely loose much progress. There was one quest that really fucked me over because apparently I didn’t talk through all the dialogue options when I should’ve. Without spoiling anything, you had to talk to a guy. After doing that, you can go to the guy who asked you to do that and get your reward, but the quest isn’t finished. If you didn’t do a thing before getting your reward, you will fail the quest down the line. You still get paid but... well, I guess you could say you get the bad end for the quest.

Sadly, Quests are also where my main issue with how the game is right now lies. There are some bugs that can render a quest objectives broken, or stuck in limbo. Some of these issues fix themselves after a while or after loading a save before the quest, but it sure as shit is annoying to do things twice because the fucking game wouldn’t let you finish the quest objective. This happened a few times for me. Two side quests got stuck in my quest log, with no quest objective. I think I even got the reward for the quest but the quest just wouldn’t register as finished. That sucks a lot. Twice or so I had to reload a save because I couldn’t progress in a quest because the game didn’t register me doing the objective. One time, during the main quest no less, I couldn’t fulfill the objective at all because the item I needed for that couldn’t be interacted with. That sucks and shouldn’t happen.

There are also the crashes. Thankfully, crashes only happened like 4 times for me in over 20 hours of playtime but still, it’s annoying.

Overall, I’d say Cyberpunk 2077 is a very good game that is plagued by some technical shortcomings, but it is very enjoyable despite all the flaws. I hope they fix these issues soon but by the look of things, they are hard at work on getting shit patched, which I can appreciate. It not as bad as some people make it out to be and it not a scam as some people have called it, it’s just another game that might have needed a bit more time in the oven.

#cyberpunk 2077 #rant

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douglassmiith · 5 years ago

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What do local SEOs really think of Google My Business support?

It’s already hard to remember a time when a local SEO Company’s priorities included having to deal with Google My Business’ various support teams across email, phone, live chat, and social media.

Earlier this year, though, it was a different story. So, inspired by serious issues with incorrect recommendations, errant listing suspensions and very long wait times for reinstatements earlier this year, I sought to find out what the local search experts (many of whom are GMB Product Experts) really thought of the quality of Google My Business’ support, and compiled the following reactions from a long list of local SEO Company pros, including Joy Hawkins, Ben Fisher, Greg Gifford, Dan Leibson, Dana DiTomaso, and more.

I have it on good authority that the quality of support isn’t likely to magically improve once the virus clears, so let’s consider this the “wayback machine” of GMB support gripes, and just hope that the future doesn’t so clearly reflect the past.

Search Engine Land’s Greg Sterling will lead a Live with Search Engine Land discussion with two leaders in the local marketing agency space: Foursquare CEO David Shim and PlaceIQ CEO Duncan McCall. They will discuss how brands and marketers can use location intelligence as they plot a way forward at 2 p.m. ET May 15. Learn more here >>

Incorrect or misleading information and advice

One very common response from almost all sides was around the issues with incorrect information being presented as fact. While experienced SEO Companys may be able to see through the misinformation, any local business owner looking for help from GMB support runs the risk of being told to do something that either won’t help with their problem at all or will actively damage their business’ visibility.

Ben Fisher (Steady Demand): Phone support is a gamble: if you get someone untrained, they will destroy you with the wrong information. On the other hand, if you get someone who has some sympathy, they will not only help you but follow up to make sure all went okay.

My tip for phone support is to listen to their voice and see if it’s clear that they’re talking from a script. Interrupt them and ask them: “How are you doing?”, “What time is it there?” If they stick to the script, tell them you need to run because of an emergency or something.

I do love live chat, but it is severely understaffed. The staff they have added in the last six months or seem to be the same staff, experience-wise, as phone support.

The worst cases of misinformation I have experienced are where support is telling a user to create a new listing because of the actions of a previous manager. This problem can be overcome, but it’s really difficult and usually requires the involvement of a GMB Product Expert.

Phil Rozek (Local Visibility System): We avoid and dread support at GMB like it’s the DMV. It can be good for simple requests, like moving reviews or redirecting a closed page, but I pretty much never contact support. My clients occasionally do, simply because that’s more efficient than my acting as a conduit, but that’s a big time-taker because it’s extremely tough to speak with a human at GMB.

When you do get through to someone, often there is a quasi-language barrier that leads to misunderstandings. Then there’s the conflicting advice: over the years, Google reps have claimed things like that keyword stuffing in the description helps rankings, call-tracking numbers aren’t allowed, and that clicks are a direct ranking factor.

I chalk that up to a lack of training, or a lack of clear SOPs from Google, or both. In any event, the time it takes to get help that may or may not help, and the confusion caused by well-meaning GMB support reps, often makes business owners wonder whether they’re too reliant on the “local map” and going about their local visibility all wrong.

Jason Brown (Sterling Sky): To say that the latest round of new hires is not properly trained is the understatement of the year. I know more about Google’s policies and procedures, and find myself having to train the support staff. It’s worse for the average user that doesn’t know any better.

We’re at Google’s mercy, and sadly, they don’t seem to care (at least, that’s the message that they’re conveying). I’ve had to point out countless flaws and issues when I contact support, and have had to contact another Google employee for assistance. The average user can’t do this, and so is left hanging.

Dana DiTomaso (Kick Point): The recommendations coming from official GMB support channels can definitely be misleading. For example, they have said that a listing was suspended because we updated the categories on the listing, yet egregious spam lives on.

There also seems to be a high number of suspended listings right now [this was in late February]: we have a client who has a suspended listing (one out of their several locations) with no reason given, and no response yet to our request for help.

Tom Waddington (tomwaddington.com): While I think GMB support wants to help users resolve their issues, I feel the overall priority, at least for a phone support agent, is to convince you that the issue is resolved or will be in a day or two, so that you leave positive feedback regarding your experience with them.

There is typically a survey you will be asked to complete at the end of a support call, but there have been times when my talk with support didn’t go well, the issue wasn’t resolved, and the call disconnected during the transfer to the survey.

GMB is a complex product and support agents aren’t going to have the training and experience to understand all issues. I think the desire for positive feedback along with genuinely wanting to help a user can lead to bad or incorrect advice from a support agent that is trying to placate the user.

Gyi Tsakalakis (AttorneySync): There seems to be a lot of inconsistency in the quality of support depending who happens to field your inquiry. Some of the GMB support folks seem knowledgeable about the platform and common issues, while others seem to lack even a basic understanding of GMB language and core concepts.

Tim Capper (Online Ownership): Getting some odd advice from business support can be frustrating to businesses as well as the community, especially when said advice is broadcasted publicly: because people think it’s from Google, it must be legitimate advice.

On the contrary, business support is basically a call centre, with set procedures for set issues. They’re not in direct contact with Google My Business product managers, and equally, no single Googler knows or understands what are exact ranking factors are.

I can only surmise (having listened to countless hours of recordings from account managers for GMB listings during compliance auditing), that call handlers who feel confident with the product will offer their own advice whether they think it may help or have heard other agents offer similar advice.

Some particularly troubling pieces of misinformation I’ve heard are:

Adding keywords into your listings, shop code and labels will help your listing rank better (they won’t!)

Deleting a suspended listing and starting again will solve the suspension issue (it won’t!)

Edits made to your GMB listing will ‘reset’ the account’s authority (they won’t!)

A ‘permanently closed’ listing will go away eventually (it might not -– I have a business still showing ‘permanently closed’ after 12yrs and three different businesses at location later!)

Greg Gifford (SearchLab): Every once in a while, I’ve gotten some bad help. We had an issue with a duplicate listing, and got it fixed, and then a month later GMB support finally replied to the initial request we’d put in… and then a month later they answered again.

We’ve also seen the Twitter team send out a few questionable tweets, like saying that keywords in the description help in ranking. Some are more helpful than others, and i think that sometimes they just answer ‘off the cuff’ and don’t realize it’s bad information.

Colan Nielsen (Sterling Sky): Users need to exercise caution when taking advice from GMB support. I’ve actually written a piece detailing the questionable advice I’ve heard.

Dan Leibson (Local Search Guide): I think their support channels suck. I think there is no meaningful way to report systemic, broken things. Everything is treated like you want the secrets to their system or are trying to game the system when you just want them to fix their broken stuff.

Advertisers get no benefit regardless of spending a ton on ads, despite the fact that they are disproportionately affected by these problems and are more trustworthy sources of reporting.

Speed and efficiency issues

Another commonly-raised issue was the speed efficiency of advice. When your GMB listing is suspended you’re likely to be losing a lot of money every day, and from my chats with the local search community, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

(It should obviously be noted that as of right now, Google has advised that GMB support is going to be slower than ever while they prioritise certain actions related to Covid-19, and social support has been entirely switched off.)

Phil Rozek (Local Visibility System): I had a years-long saga of trying to get Google to remove the “Dentist” category from my Local Visibility System GMB page. Why was it there? Well, as a local SEO Company, I tinker all the time, often using my own GMB page as a lab chimp.

In one experiment I changed the primary category to ‘Dentist,’ but I couldn’t change it back. I I contacted them through Twitter and email, and while the reps were helpful, after some back-and-forth they were stumped, and apparently kicked up the question to a supervisor. I never heard back. (In Google’s defence, I didn’t attempt to call them, but that’s because I didn’t have a business day to spare!)

Gyi Tsakalakis (AttorneySync): GMB issues can have significant consequences for local businesses. When a listing is suspended, it can be really frustrating to get a response like:

Tim Capper (Online Ownership): Support channels all vary in efficiency, especially when there has been a large swath of suspensions. When these happen (and they’re happening more and more), support grinds to a halt. Last year we had an unprecedented 6-week delay in getting reinstatements getting looked at.

I’ve personally found Twitter support to have become swamped as it has become more popular and delays are occurring. You also have to DM details of the issue, which isn’t ideal when it’s a nuanced issue.

Ben Fisher (Steady Demand): According to those whom I talk to at Google, 90% of accounts have only one listing in them. This infers that the majority of listings that are on maps are single users with a single account. In other words, most of them are ‘mom and pop’-type businesses.

So, therefore, GMB builds things that address single account holders the most. Makes sense that support would acknowledge this, right? Heck, no! Have you ever tried to get a reinstatement completed? You get back this email telling you that they need more information, or they are not compliant, or there is a problem with the… whatever.

In the example below, they didn’t tell me the name of the business and supplied a generic response when I asked for it.

However, if you go elsewhere and submit a contact form, you get back this beautiful template that tells you the business name and address!

Claire Carlile (Claire Carlile marketing agency): Personally, when I have an issue, I usually turn to Twitter DMs, but the support I’ve received there has been variable in terms of quality and timeliness.

It is frustrating to send a DM about a problem and then have to wait weeks to get an answer. By the time you get it, you’ve usually found a solution or the problem is no longer a problem!

Personally, I turn to an internal network of fellow GMB aficionados, and the forum, for insight. I just can’t wait two or three weeks for an answer from Twitter support. Also, if you have multiple questions about multiple accounts, it’s very hard to manage responses there.

It’s not all bad, though!

At the time, given the severe slowdown in GMB support responses, the misinformation being shared, and the backup in suspension investigations, I was fully prepared for an onslaught of rage towards the GMB support team. And while I did indeed get that in some quarters, I was really pleasantly surprised by the positive stories, understanding and empathy shown elsewhere.

Joy Hawkins (Sterling Sky): Bad advice is normally given out when users expect Google support to be able to answer questions about ranking tactics, like in this example.

Google My Business support is generally good at fixing issues with listings but there is a limit to what they’re able to do when technical issues and bugs are frequently a problem with the platform. If you’ve been told something by GMB support that you think is incorrect, it’s always fine to get a second opinion by posting on the GMB forum.

Greg Gifford (SearchLab): The support team is trying, but so often they’re completely overwhelmed by the volume of support requests that things don’t work out so well. Overall, I’ve had great experiences. You just have to wait a bit for your reply or solution.

Gyi Tsakalakis (AttorneySync): I’m really empathetic to folks working the GMB support channels. They’re regularly inundated with issues from all directions.

From my vantage point, Google just doesn’t allocate the resources needed to appropriately support GMB. That being said, they’ve definitely moved in the right direction. It wasn’t that long ago that support requests simply went unanswered into the Google abyss.

I’m extremely grateful for the ability to have some means to escalate issues. For example, in dealing with a particularly troublesome law firm listing suspension issue late last year, I got a response within thirty minutes that led to a rapid reinstatement:

Tim Capper (Online Ownership): I really like the original ‘contact support’ form. You can give a pretty detailed report on the issue, then when you get the reply email, you can reply with additional screenshots to help the agent.

By providing the agent with all the details at once in the form, I normally get the issue resolved within 24hrs, with no ‘back-and-forth’ required.

Claire Carlile (Claire Carlile marketing agency): My main point would be that, however frustrated one might be with lack of advice, quality of advice, or speed of advice, we need to remember that GMB is staffed by human beings who are doing their best given whatever resources or internal guidelines they have or do not have.

My tips would be to always be polite, not to be snarky, and to always thank people for their time – whether it’s Max, Flip, Brad, Liz, Mark, Dany, Zach, Matt, Tori or Jenny!

Colan Nielsen (Sterling Sky): Over the years, GMB support has evolved from being virtually non-existent to something that has become very useful for solving most types of GMB issues. Looking at the evolution of the ways that you can contact GMB support alone is a testament to the attention that the GMB product is getting and the progress that they have made.

The future of Google My Business support

While it’s hard for me, here in the spring of 2020, when nothing is as it should be or as any of us would have expected it to be, to summarise the current status of Google My Business support, I do have some closing thoughts on its future courtesy of some of those I spoke to.

Gyi Tsakalakis (AttorneySync): While I’m not very optimistic that it will happen, I’d like to see Google take more accountability for addressing GMB issues and providing support. Like other support contexts, it’s neither fair nor productive to attack the front-line support people.

Instead, I’d suggest putting more pressure on Google to take Google My Business issues more seriously by allocating the necessary resources to properly support and address these issues. Lack of support is harmful to both businesses and their customers.

Andrew Shotland (Local SEO Company Guide): As is often the case with Google services, the scale of the problem must be in a way overwhelming. And while Google has been making incremental progress, it still feels like a drop in the bucket.

There has been a lot of speculation over the past year that Google is going to roll out a paid GMB service. While we all cringe at Google taking even more money from our collective pockets, if a pay model allows it to more effectively address some of the glaring problems with GMB, I imagine the majority of local businesses and agencies would hold their noses and willingly pay it.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Jamie Pitman has worked in digital marketing agency for over a decade and is currently Head of Content at local SEO Company tool provider BrightLocal. He specializes in local marketing agency and the many factors that affect local search performance, from Google My Business and consumer reviews to branding, content marketing agency, and beyond.

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Via http://www.scpie.org/what-do-local-seos-really-think-of-google-my-business-support/

source https://scpie.weebly.com/blog/what-do-local-seos-really-think-of-google-my-business-support

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riichardwilson · 5 years ago