#so its really just skyrim walking sim | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ubormaci · 8 months ago

Text

So today I sat down to write a comprehensive list of the wizard-games I played and how well they fulfilled my wishes of wizardry, ending with this ranking you see.

As this lacks the precedings, here are some of my explanations/justifications without which it would be easily questionable:

The main thing I was looking for was games which contained spells that were unique and versatile. A rule of thumb I used was that I was looking for spells which couldn't be described as 'deal x type of damage' or 'affect x stat'. My favorite example would be Water Walking from Morrowind: it's such a simple spell, it really feels like something wizards would have thought up as a small thing to help themselves.

Of course, the general gameplay also played part in my ranking; anotherr thing that influenced placement was how easy/common using magic was in a given game: most games with restrictive mana (Dishonored 1&2, Baldur's Gate 3) had that as a large negative from the start. It needs to be mentioned that in the case of Skyrim and Morrowind I circumvented this restriction, adding some, frankly unreasonable, magicka regeneration. (As soon as I used up some magicka it filled back up, is the speed I'm talking about.)

There are also some games here which are not very outwardly wizard-y: Cruelty Squad, Supraland, Control, Prey, etc. The explanation is that for all these games, I was looking more at the actual effects; it doesn't really matter wether it's called a spell or a superpower. Prey's mimicry skill is one of my favorites from the entire list, and it could fit in any fantasy game as some form of polymorphism.

With these explanations done, let's get onto the placements themselves:

Dishonored 2 is at first place because its spells are well-integrated, provide interesting interaction with the world, and generally it's my favorite to play, it's immersive sim derived aspects helping to enhance the feelings of versatility. The 1st and 2.5 are also high up, but the second one is my favorite because it has the largest selection of spells, with the only negative being the limited mana supply.

In A tier I put the two large CRPGs I played through, DOS2 and BG3, since both of them contain a lot of spells, but most of them are boring, with few of them being usable outside of battle/in interesting ways. (Notable ones include Teleport, Nether Swap, Invisibility, Speak with Animals/Dead, Feather Fall.) Prey was also put here because of . . . mostly mimicry, and, like with Dishonored, the feeling of versatility that is delivered by the environment that has been created to host an immersive sim: a lot of the games further down the list are there because they fail in this regard, such as Skyrim and Morrowind just feeling very static. (I do understand the limitations that led to this, but still.) (Control was also put there because it has the best flying in any video game I've ever played, and a telekinesis that is very satisfying due to the environment's reactivity.)

In B tier is Deathloop because its spells are more boring than Dishonored's (and I just don't like it as much), Skyrim and Morrowind which have boring spells and boring combat and little reactivity/versatility but still feel somewhat good due to their large open world; Cruelty Squad, which is an unorthodox pick, but particularly the grappling hook implant and it's equivalent of Dishonored's "Dark Vision" made it fit, I think. It doesn't really have spells, per se, but the implants themselves are enough.

Two other games which are less well known are Tenderfoot Tactics and Moonring: the former is an open world, in which you play as a rowing band of goblins trying to rid it of a magical fog. Magic is only used in battle, and even there, it is almost exclusively in the form of damage spells, but the thing that made it special is the environmental manipulation the entire game is built on top of: almost every spell either raises or lowers elevation, and you have to constantly keep it in mind. Moonring (which is completely free on Steam, by the way, 100% with no microtransactions or DLC of any kind) is a retro, open world RPG: imagine Pixel Dungeon and you wouldn't be far away. (I've seen it compared to older Ultima's, but I haven't played those, so alas.) It has a unique magic/spell system, but it's held back by its stingy mana system. (Some standout spells include: puppet, making an enemy mimic the player's movements, traps in the form of a poison trap/exploding doll, teleporting but being blinded.)

In C tier and lower are the games which I rarely actually want to play: Supraland is a linear puzzle game, while Wildermyth just became boring for me pretty quickly. EYE is a campaign based game which I enjoy the idea more of than what it actually is; the spells are cool though. (A very good video on the game; I recommend watching even if you never intend to play it.)

In D tier are Noita and Wizard of Legend: I played the former for 20 minutes, the latter for 5 hours, but I like neither of them. I am aware of Noita's depth, but it doesn't appeal to me: it's "godmode" endgame I find excessive, and, as previously stated, it is full of spells that are different flavors of damage. (I am oversimplifying it, I know; sorry Noita players. (And yes, I am aware of the alchemy system, environemntal reactivity, secret bosses/areas. They don't change the core of my issue.)) It's just too focused on combat for my taste, same for Wizard of Legend: all the spells are just . . . damage. I don't find them wizard-y at all. (And yes, I've been aware of the start of how subjective of a ranking that is; that didn't stop me from making this list.)

In E is Super Grave Snatchers, which is a necromantic arcade-style game; it is centered on combat, spells have little versatility, and it got boring for me fast.

And in F tier is Hogwarts Legacy, a bit of a joke placement (but also not).

#wizardposting #dungens and dragons #rpg #crpg #magic #wizardcore

1 note · View note

deathbypufferfish · 2 years ago

Text

Recurring things in my dreams because I just need to get it out of my system. Like I am constantly back here to the point I'm like "fuck this again" when I dream it again.

It's the zombie apocalypse AGAIN (I'm with the walking dead guys). I am amazing at shooting zombies.

I can float and no one thinks it's even a little bit cool. I've dreamt this for as long as I can remember. To the extent that I forget that is not real.

Skiing I'm always skiing I don't ski but I'm convinced I can ski now.

The weirdest longest narrowest public bathrooms ever.

I'm at a water park! Oh God I forgot to shave my bikini line. Half of it is standing in line getting into the park?? There is an air of danger to the water park.

I'm just buying souvenirs at Disneyland. Usually pirate stuff or christmas ornaments.

At CVS but they have REALLY cool stuff just for ME!

Buying Japanese blind boxes for like $1 each and I never open the goddamn things in the dream.

Buying beanie babies that do not exist at thrift shops! yippee!

This very specific concept for a sims world and it's starting to get to me. New England coast vibes. There's a boardwalk with half rabbitholes (movie theatre, bookshop) and half visit-able shops. There is a roller rink in the center. downtown is old brick buildings and there's small little apartments in them. BASEMENT apartments too. The brick apartment buildings are centered around one long main street instead of a neighborhood. You can own a business in one of the storefronts. There are fruit vendors, a grocery store, and other rabbit hole shops along the main street.

I'm in an elevator in a really big hotel and I don't know my floor OR room number.

Petting bears .

A super cool magical world and oh god I have to save everyone and there's a conspiracy.

Genuine horrors!

Hiking through a big forest with big streams and at some point we gotta run out of there parkour style because a big magical goo is coming.

Climbing this huge snowy mountain (usually with my mom or friends) and there is a tiny cabin at the top and a beautiful statue garden. It is very peaceful.

I'm in Skyrim and I'm stealing these rich bad guys lodge aw man I can't live here what the fuck I did this quest for nothing.

Beating up guys from my highschool.

Walking around this huge mansion/museum but we can't go to the top floor because the king is sleeping there..

I'm in a shitty arcade connected to my local movie theater that does NOT exist and also it is so shitty and the prizes suck.

God I'm in a Mario game and I have to do parkour fuck.

I forgot my bikini top on vacation so I just swim without one and I think everyone is looking at me but they do not give one shit.

Fancy beautiful wonderful showers ohohoho and I take a great shower OH SHIT I GOT WATER EVERYWHERE.

Exploring my grandma's old house but its a weird mansion with bathrooms that have little stairs going up to the toilet right under the ceiling and also the bathrooms are carpeted.

There is this giant secret part to my grandma's old house. Historical shit.

The freezer is filled with gas station ice cream yippee!!!!!!

I'm driving a car oh my god I can't drive oh and I'm driving from the passenger seat??????? How am I doing this?????? Whatever it's on autopilot I'm fine. I hope a cop does not see me driving this car from the passenger seat.

There's an apple orchard in my old town (there isn't).

I'm just trying to find the bathroom in this freak combination of all the schools I've been to someone help me.

Oh I found the school locker room oohh now I'm in a big open-air area in a barn??? Warehouse???? It's so sunny and warm and there's all these wooden stalls for outdoor showers yippee!!!!!

I'm getting fast food with my friends. I accidently order three sandwiches. I'm severely distressed over this.

I'm at the mall and I am looking at all the tasty snacks (great ice cream and coffee selections) and trying to find a hot topic oh no I'm lost.

QUICK TO THE ESCAPE POD ON THIS SPACESHIP.

I'm in a musical or dance recital and I do NOT know ANY of my lines or ANY choreography and I just have to wing it and NO ONE seems to notice.

THERE'S THIS HUGE T-SHIRT STORE. IT'S JUST T-SHIRTS BUT THEY'RE ALL THE WEIRD THRIFTED ONES I LOVE. I NEVER GET TO GO IN.

I'm at my Babushka's apartment building but it is 3 of them attached to each other and it's dystopian and scary.

I'm speaking Russian (I have not spoken Russian since I was like three and it wasn't even a lot).

I'm trying to break in to my elementary school (let me in).

I'm on a huge oh my god gigantic playground jungle gym I am going to die if I fall.

oh hey it's my sims hey you guys.

oh hey it's the munch story sims hey you guys.

sometimes I think I'm just walking through a wetland and that's it. Unclear if I am a wetland creature or not.

I'm sneaking through my ex-friend's house (SOMETIMES invisible)

Triple bunk beds

there's so much more but i can't morally make this post longer thank you for listening. Um tag yourself.

#puffer talks #sorry #i think this says a lot about me

16 notes · View notes

poisoned-peppermint · 4 years ago

Text

Part 4 of incorrect quotes because i feel obligated to make more due to the sheer number of people who liked it

Dream: My dearest beloved fuckos, is a fun, gender-neutral way to begin a speech

George: See also, esteemed bastards

Bad: Gentlefolk, Ferals, and Domesticated cryptids.

Sapnap: My fellow yees and haws

~~~~~~~

Techno:Hey I know skyrim is revered as a classic but are we just going to ignore the fact that the entire game only had like 3 voice actors

Wilbur:Stop right there criminal cum

Techno:My ancestors are smiling at me, bastard, can you say the same

~~~~~~~

Foolish:When's your bedtime :)

Purpled: Whenever I next collapse in purely up to the gods

~~~~~~

Ranboo:Human skin is a fursuit for skeletons

Tubbo: i’m going to debone you like a fucking trout

~~~~~~

Bad:You’re enough

Bad: love yourself!!!!!!! or suffer my wrath!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dream:And by wrath I mean love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad:no I mean wrath!!!!! You reading this, if you don't love yourself I’ll beat you with a stick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~

Bad:I hope everyone is today well! And tomorrow!!!! After that you’re on your own.

~~~~~~

Bad:what am I supposed to do all day while you’re at work

Skeppy:I don’t know, what do you normally do while I’m gone

Bad: wait for you to get back

~~~~~~

Velvet:For my next stunt, I’ll wake up at 5am on the day I can sleep in

Ant:Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

Velvet:Early to bed and early to rise makes me a massive bitch

~~~~~~

Tubbo: 3:23 AM make a wish

Ranboo: I wish that you would go to sleep

Tuddo: Yeah well I wish I grew an inch taller every day as you get an inch shorter until you’re as flat as as a piece of paper and I’m 11 feet tall

Ranboo: You’re going to die of a mixture of skeletal instability and heart disease.

Tubbo: Yeah but I’ll look good while doing it.

~~~~~~

Bad:Disrespect me again and I’ll determine your bodies resonant frequency and play a jaunty horn solo that boils your miserable organs inside out

~~~~~~

Quackity: If I were dating you? Well, heh. Let’s just say horses wouldn't be called horses anymore

Karl: hey what the honk does this mean…..I’m shaking what does this mean!

~~~~~~

Skeppy: Are you ok?

Bad wrapped in a burrito blanket drinking his 6th cup of coffee: Yes, this is exactly what mental stability looks like

~~~~~~

Sam: My hands are cold

Ponk: *holds their hands*

Ponk: better?

Sam: My lips are cold too

~~~~~~

George at dream’s funeral: can I have a moment alone with them?

Sapnap: of course *leaves*

George leaning over dream’s casket: Now listen, I know you’re not dead.

Dream: yeah no shit

~~~~~~

Skeppy, jokingly: I should have Bad kill you for that.

Bad, peering around the corner: Who do I need to kill?

Skeppy: Wh- no, I was just kidding around.

Bad, pulling out a switchblade: No, who’s bothering you

~~~~~~

Bad *watching the news*: Some idiot tried to fight a squid at the aquarium.

Skeppy *covered in ink*: Maybe the squirt was being a dick.

~~~~~~

Peacock: *spreads feathers at Bad*

Skeppy: It’s trying to attract a mate

Bad, extremely confused: *shyly lifts top*

Skeppy: No!

~~~~~~

Sapnap: Karl, do you eat olives? My dad wants to know

Karl: No, I hate olives. Olives are the spawn of satan. I hate olives so much my mom forced me to live in Mount olive for the rest of my childhood as a curse from the olive gods. Do you understand how much olives have ruined my life? I'm so offended that you asked me that have some consideration for people who have been abused by olives please!

Sapnap: K A R L ……….they’re just olives!!?

Karl: JUST OLIVES EXCUSE!

~~~~~~

Tommy: If you’re bored you can simply close your eyes and rotate a cow in your mind. It’s free and the cops can’t stop you

~~~~~~

Wilbur: is there anyone even named sheldon irl?

Tubbo: my class turtle from 6th grade :)

Wilbur: that’s a turtle

Tubbo: When god sings with his creations, will a turtle not be part of the choir?

~~~~~~

Ranboo: No bcuz why do ppl like salad?? What’s so good about it

Tubbo: chew leaf like god intended

Ranboo: No

Tubbo: Abandon god and see what he does next time you lift your hands in prayer

~~~~~~~

Tommy: Guys, there’s a monster under my bed and it’s really ugly.

Wilbur, on the bottom bunk: Honestly, fuck you.

~~~~~~

Quackity: So according to the cease and desist order I got, apparently you can’t ‘legally’ be a lawyer if your license is ‘cut out of a cereal box’.

~~~~~~

Puffy: If you had too, what would you give up food or sex?

Bad: Sex.

Skeppy: Seriously, answer faster.

Bad: I’m sorry honey, when they said sex I wasn’t thinking about sex with you.

Skeppy: It’s like a giant hug.

Puffy: Ant, what about you? What would you give up sex or food?

Ant: Food.

Puffy: Okay, how about sex or dinosaurs?

Ant: ……...Oh my God it’s like the movie Sophie’s Choice.

Gumi: What about you Velvet? What would you give up sex or food?

Velvet: Oh… um… I don’t know, it’s too hard.

Gumi: No, you gotta pick one.

Velvet: Um, food… no, sex… no, food…sex… food. Ugh! I don’t know! I want both! I- I want Antfrost on bread!

~~~~~~~

Tommy, holding a gun: If the conspiracies about life being a simulation are true WHOEVERS CONTROLLING MY SIM I JUST WANNA TALK.

~~~~~~~

Bad: Why are you guys acting like this?

Boomer: Oh, we’re not acting. We really are like this.

~~~~~~

Techno: Dream has only knocked me out three times this week. Our friendship is really developing.

~~~~~~

Tommy: You’re pathetic!

Wilbur: You’re pathetic-er!

Techno: You’re both losers.

~~~~~~

Bad: I wish I could help you, but I shorn’t.

Skeppy: Bad, please!

Bad: What part of shorn’t don’t you understand?

~~~~~~

Tubbo: Why did you leave Wrestlemania on for Michal?

Ranboo: They need to learn how to protect us.

~~~~~~

Antfrost: I regret getting dragged into your heterosexual tomfoolery.

~~~~~~

Bad: Strawberry milk doesn’t taste like strawberry OR milk.

Skeppy: Go the fuck to sleep Bad!

Bad: LANGUAGE!!

~~~~~~

Ranboo: Tubbo, please calm down.

Tubbo: I asked for two large fries!

Tubbo: *dumps fries onto table*

Tubbo: But all they did was give me a MILLION FUCKING LITTLE ONES!

~~~~~~

Bad: That was the worst throw ever. Of all time.

Skeppy: Not my fault. Somebody put a wall in the way.

~~~~~~

Wilbur: When you’ve been on the internet for as long as I have, you develop thick skin.

Tommy: Navy blue isn’t your color.

Wilbur: Navy blue brings out my eyes you prick! *Chases after Tommy*

~~~~~~

Bad: *Pulls a glass a water from out of nowhere*

Puffy: Where did you get that?.

Bad: My pocket.

Puffy: How do you keep a glass of water in your pocket?

Bad: Skills.

~~~~~~

Tubbo: I will come to your house after work and knock on your window at 11 AM. You will not open the curtains, knowing full well what awaits you, but the knocking only grows louder, more demanding. Finally it stops, your ears ringing. You nervously let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. You're safe now. Minutes pass by and you start to relax. And then you hear a knock at the front door. Like before, you stay still and clutch the blankets around you. You try to tell your self that it's just your imagination. Maybe the milk man? But why would he come so late? Everyone else was asleep, save for Naomi who was playing video games down stairs. To your relief, the knocking stops after a few. Minutes and you breath easy once more. Until you hear a knock on your bedroom door. You don't move. It's just your imagination. She isn't here. She can't be here. You tell yourself, shutting your eyes and willing yourself to sleep. The knock comes again, but with horror you realize that it came from the closet inside your room. You know that you have no choice. You get up, climbing out of bed with shaking limbs. You walk to the closest, trembling, and holding back the tears threatening to spill over your porcelain cheeks. You hesitate with your hand over the closet handle. Maybe it's just your imagination? She's not really there. You can go to sleep and laugh it off in the morning. Your naive thoughts are cut off by another, more demanding knock on the closet door, inches from your face. You know what you have to do. You open the closet door, and there she stands. Chuck e cheese, the mouse looms over you in the dim light. It's soulless eyes boor into you. It raises its arms, and you flinch as it begins to floss at lightning speed. Tears spill over your cheeks. This is the last thing you'll ever see.

Ranboo: Wait, Chuck e cheese’s pronouns are she/her? Trans Chuck e cheese? Good for her.

~~~~~~~~

Bad: Would you like something to drink? *They opened the fridge* We have water, milk, juice, spiders, Dr. Pepper-

Quackity: Spiders?

Bad: Spiders it is then.

Quackity: No, that wasn’t-

*But they were already pouring him a brimming glass of spiders…

~~~~~~

Puffy : Make her pussy wet not her eyes.

Velvet : Make his dick hard not his life.

Punz : Break her bed not her heart.

Skeppy : Play with his boobs not his feelings.

Ant : Get on his dick not his nerves.

Bad : Always salt your pasta while boiling it.

~~~~~~~

Wilbur: Bet you can’t eat 15 crayons!

Tommy: Bet you I can!

Phil: *sips coffee, checks to make sure 911 is still on speed dial, and goes back to reading the paper*

~~~~~~~

Ant: We need a way to lure in new customers?

Ponk: Maybe we could have some fun, interactive events!

Skeppy: Badboyhalo bath water.

Bad: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

~~~~~~~~

Fundy: GET BACK HERE YOU DUMB FUCK!

Wilbur: LET ME RUN FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF MY ACTIONS!

~~~~~~~~

Bad: Mint is just cold spicy.

Pummel party Squad: …

Gumi: What the actual fuck is wrong with you.

~~~~~~~~

Quackity: Isn’t it amazing how I can feel so bad and still look so good?

~~~~~~~

Tommy: Why does my arm shake and turn bright red when I’m eating dirt?

Phil:

Phil: Why are you eating dirt?

Tommy: Did I ask you if I should eat dirt? No, so answer my question.

~~~~~~~

Tubbo: I wish I could control wasps and bees to sting my enemies.

Quackity: You’re too young to have enemies.

Tubbo: You don’t even know.

~~~~~~~~

Skeppy: Is there a cactus where your heart should be?

Puffy: What’s up your ass this morning!

Bad: *walks in* …Hi!!

Puffy: Hmm… nevermind.

Skeppy: WAIT NO!

~~~~~~~~

Skeppy: Ha! Don’t you know the trappers trap can trap the trapper?

Skeppy: I must be losing it, I’m quoting Bad.

~~~~~~~

Skeppy: Bad, I sense hostility.

Bad: Good, because I hate you

~~~~~~~

Bad: Are you a painting?

Skeppy: What-?

Bad: Because I want to pin you to a wall.

Skeppy: OH GOD I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY YOU WANTED TO HANG ME OR SOMETHING-

~~~~~~

Tommy: You’re giving me a sticker?

Phil: Not just a sticker. That is a sticker of a kitty saying “me-wow!”

Tommy: I’m not a preschooler.

Phil: Fine, I’ll take it back-

Tommy: I earned this, back off!

~~~~~~

Dream, sweating: George, there’s something I need to ask you-

George: Finally! You’re proposing!

Dream: How’d you know?

George: Dream, you’ve dropped the ring five times during dinner.

George: I even picked it up once

~~~~~~~~

*Bad and Skeppy looking at a locked gate into a park*

Bad: Aw. :(

Skeppy: You know what they say.

Bad: Please don’t-

Skeppy: BE GAY DO CRIME! *hops gate*

Bad: Frick-

~~~~~~~~

let me know if ya’ll want more <3

302 notes · View notes

mxddyhero · 2 years ago

Note

top five games you've played!

Oohh,, this is a fun one!!! Tysm for the ask addy!! ^^/♡

Skyrim. I cannot overstate how much of my time at university was consumed by this game. Everything about it is wonderful to me,, from the scenery and story to the characters and lore like. It's just this huge, sprawling place to escape to. I usually play as a nord mage and use the mace of molag bal >:) serana is my fave follower bcs pretty vampire lady... 💖 anyway I played it so much in my final year it broke my play station but that's okay,, I still think about it a lot and maybe one day I'll buy it on switch-

A3! I feel like this is soo self-explanatory but also stupid but hear me out. The gameplay is repetitive and borderline boring and the gacha is predatory, BUT. the story was so fucking compelling and literally every single character is awesome??? Like how do u even do that for a cast of 25+ charas? Ask liber ig bcs they did it. Anyway,, a3! gave me some of my best friends fr and it holds such a special place in my heart. I'm glad we still have jp at the very least or idk what I'd do fr..

Genshin impact head in hands. Listen. Hoyoverse fucked up sumeru fr and I'm boycotting the sumeru chara banners for that reason. The game itself? It's very much like skyrim, but with cuter charas... and so so so much lore.. the storyline is interesting as hell and some of the characters own my heart traveler aether my beloved. I'm sorry its just very fun 😔

What Remains Of Edith Finch. God this fuxking game is a masterpiece. It's a gorgeous walking sim type game trying to figure out the mystery of the family curse and its beautiful and harrowing and- it's one of my favourite ever. The soundtrack is amazing, some of the characters' deaths are absolutely heartbreaking and the ending just punches you right in the gut. It's a really wonderful game and I adore it sm

Monster Prom/Monster Camp !!! It's a fun, silly little dating sim and it SLAPS. the characters are all fun and unique, the ending credits songs bangs and the talent they have for this game omg. It was a media I originally got into bcs of... someone I no longer like and I'm glad I could hold onto it despite that bcs oz really helped me figure out my gender and he's just such a comfort chara to me !! It's just a fun, silly romp whether you're performing blood rituals for the prom queen or letting spicy red baby demon punch the literal sun.

#beloved mutual #omgitsaddyc #ask game

3 notes · View notes

slade-neko · 4 years ago

Text

Saw this video game tag thing pop up on my dash a few days ago. Wanted to do it.

1. First game you played obsessively? Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I believe I was 5yo. Still waiting on that FF7 Remake treatment.

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc. Well if I play a game and like it, then I'll create sims of it. Does that count?

3. Who did you play with as a kid? My brother from the day I was born.

4. Who do you play with now? My brother FROM THE DAY I WAS BORN.

5. Ever use cheat codes? I wasn't lying when I made this post. {link}

6. Ever buy strategy guides? Yes! Mainly to look at the artwork though. (Don't need no guide!)

7. Any games you have multiple copies of? Lots of games, most being Left 4 Dead with 6 copies (3 Xbox 360, 1 PC case, 2 PC digitally.) What can I say, its a GOOD GAME!

8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection? Gold cartridge Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (maybe that's rare?)

9. Most regrettable purchase? I don't regret my purchases, but I have received games I have never played like Cubix (PS2) no clue where that game came from, but I have it somehow. Madagascar (Xbox 360) came with my Xbox 360, never opened it from its case. And Monsters Inc. Scream Arena (Gamecube) or something... it was a gift.

10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours? No, because then I'd have to interact with people.

11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games? I'm only friends with people BECAUSE of video games, so yes.

12. Ever get picked on for liking games? No, that'd be ridiculous.

13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has? Probably a lot, I'd say Call of Duty, but I technically played CoD 1, 2, and 4. The campaign mode was alright, but I don't really care for CoD games at ALL.

14. Favorite game music? Koji Kondo and Grant Kirkhope are two BIG ones.

15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick? Triforce is the most basic option, but I'd rather not get a tattoo.

16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL? Super Smash Bros. Brawl with hacks, but that was over a decade ago.

17. Ever lose a friend over a game? No, that'd be ridiculous.

18. Would you date someone that hates gaming? No, that'd be RIDICULOUS.

19. Favorite handheld console? PSP. 3DS is great, but PSP Monster Hunter has ALL of my portable gaming memories. Like playing in school after End of Grade tests with my friend.

20. Game that you know like the back of your hand? Sims 4 I like to think I know everything about Left 4 Dead. Quite a bit about Monster Hunter, more so of a series though than a specific game.

21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now? I'd say Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. I loved it as a kid, but had a lot of complex pen & paper RPG mechanics that I never understood. I understand a lot more of it now, but its still complex as all heck. I just know you hit things, they die.

22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories? That's the only thing I wear.

23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into? Not sure so I'll list a few. Sims 4, Smash Bros. Brawl, Monster Hunter (its a series though), or Left 4 Dead

24. First Pokemon game? Leaf Green

25. Were you ever an arcade game player? No, don't like paying to play.

26. Ever form any gaming rivalries? No.

27. Game that makes you rage? I don't get mad at games, but I had a custom modded Hard Eight mutation in Left 4 Dead that is absolute bullsh*t!

28. Ever play in a tournament? No, because then I'd have to interact with people.

29. What is your gaming set up? A giant wall of video game consoles spanning from NES to Switch, 4 TVs, but I sit at a desk with a PC.

30. How many consoles do you own? "I own every console that's ever existed." - I Don't Play Games When I Play Games (My STRENTH) original song by Smooth McGroove BUT no seriously I own 32 consoles including handhelds.

31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches? Yes. 3DS gave me headaches though I only really played with the 3D feature in Ocarina of Time 3D. I think my eyes broke because I couldn't get my 3D to work very well after.

32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic? Sure I play games based on a lot of things. Literally any anime game. If I had to pick Dragon Ball Xenoverse is kinda like a dream Dragon Ball game. Oh, Attack on Titan 2 is pretty neat too!

33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games? Some SEGA plug-n-play thing once. Played it like once and now its lost to time (or my closet.)

34. Do either of your parents play video games? Yes. Mom and Dad played NES Super Mario Bros. My Dad went HARD at that game until he saved the Princess. Then he quit forever.

35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop? "Hi. Welcome to Gamestop!"I never want to hear that again, but it was my main store until I went full digital/ online orders.

36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game? No, I don't tend to get upset or emotional, but Bill dying in Left 4 Dead made me pretty pissed.

37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination? Never played it. I don't really play "bad" games, but maybe Sims 4.

38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like? The Sims 4

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make? Dragon's Dogma 2 WHICH I think is actually in development, so I'd have to say Fallout New Vegas 2. C'mon Bethesda you cowards, hand the keys back over to Obsidian so they can make another good Fallout game!

40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls? Two part question, two answers. VR Headset to immerse in world, yes. Motion Controls, no.

41. A genre that you just can’t get into? MOBAs and MMOs. I don't like paying to keep playing.

42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness? Nintendo 64 opened me up to what video games could be as a kid. Sad to say my parents' NES didn't really do that for me. And years later Fallout 3 was a big game changer for me too.

43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else? Every day of my LIFE.

44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters? None. I'd rather emulate.

45. How are you at Mario Kart? Pretty dang good. 3-STARS MARIO KART WII, BABY!

46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon? Yes, both of those. I preferred when Animal Crossing had more character to it. New Horizons looks so pretty, but feels so bland compared to classic AC.

47. Do you like competitive games? No. Not really. Usually amongst friends or if I can get competitive against AI Bots. I love my machine bot friends cause they don't cry like 10 year olds when they lose.

48. How long does it take your to customize your player character? Too long. I've seriously restarted games because I wasn't happy with my character's appearance.

49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character? Yes, I am always the magic man, my brother is always brute warrior, and my friend is the ranger.

50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create? I don't really know. Honestly, I'd rather mod already good games to make them better than create something completely new.

51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep? No, that'd be ridiculous. But I've had a friend fall asleep playing games at my house 3 different times and currently dozes off during our Minecraft sessions. So, maybe that's not a completely ridiculous thing after all.

52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid? Kirby 64 apparently. My brother tells me we had to count out pennies to buy it. I must've been too young with no recollection, but I believe it.

53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days? It's good if its not in the game's files from the beginning and is actually developed AFTER launch... and pre-order bonuses should be standard DLC a month or two later. Some games have content lost to time because of that pre-order bullsh*t.

54. Do you give in to Steam sales? Of course. If you want a game and its on sale then why not? I typically wait just for Steam sales to get games.

55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them? No? I typically make people and characters I like in Sims. I've made villains like Dio, but he's an anime villain and I don't really HATE him despite the horrible things he's done.

56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests? No. Never played that game.

57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements? I try to for all the games I really like.

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick? The Sims 4, Skyrim, & Fallout: New Vegas. Mods make them live forever. Left 4 Dead and Monster Hunter are good choices too.

59. Do you play any cell phone games? Those aren't games.

60. Do you know the Konami Code? No? But I'll take a guess. Is it make an IP and forget it exists?

61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever? Keep forever... even the bad ones.

62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game? PS4 Pro for Monster Hunter World. It was basically for early access since the PC version was being developed and releasing after PS4, but I don't like waiting.

63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? Sort of. Been to anime cons and walked into the gaming tournament rooms only to walk out less than 10 minutes later.

64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming? No, but I'm going to be doing that soon, hopefully.

65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file? GameShark for N64, PS2, Gameboy, and Action Replay for Gamecube, DS, 3DS. And no not really, I would cheat responsibly... but there was this one time at school my friend and I borrowed another friend's Gameboy game, loaded it up with my Gameshark, tried playing, it crashed, loaded it back up, save file corrupted... we just stared at each other jaws dropped, "Here's your game back, dude. Make sure you don't play it til you get back home!"

66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it? No, but I remember seeing them on billboards in the game DRIV3R on PS2.

67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share? Every game I play is filled with happy memories (mostly.)

68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool? These tiger plushes. My brother got white and I got orange. They were the coolest. Got a butt load of tickets from some jackpot spinning light game thing as I was good at the timing with repeated jackpot hits.

69. In your opinion, best game ever made? I've played quite a few masterpiece games, but to pick one, I'd say Fallout: New Vegas

70. Very first game you ever beat? Super Mario 64. I was a mere child on a Sunday morning and ate celebratory pancakes made by my Dad.

Wow, that was long... I get the feeling this was supposed to be a "send me ask with numbers" thing, but answering all at once is more fun.

#personal #video games

8 notes · View notes

loadet851 · 4 years ago

Text

Pc Games With Character Creation Offline

Games With Character Customization Pc

Steam Games With Character Creation

One of the things I love most in a RPG (Role-Playing Game) is the possibility of creating my own character with tons of different options and add-ons. I made a research yesterday and found some interesting PC Games I already knew about, adding them to the titles I have or plan to get with the best Character Customization. I’m going to list them here for you guys also attaching a few videos so that you can see directly how they work and what kind of possibilities they offer.

It’s the main reason I enjoy games like Skyrim and Fallout. But there seem to be so few good (single player) games with decent character creation - and not just picking from a few presets. The character creation in Dragon Age: inquisition was amazing (although I struggled to enjoy the game) as well as Saints Row (which I really enjoyed). Addicting Offline Co-op Games For PC You’ll Want To Play. Dennis Patrick / Features / Best Co-op PC Games, Co-op, Cooperative. Sonic the Hedgehog is a staple video game character. Best MMORPG with Character Creation. Final Fantasy 14 has one of the most complex and sophisticated character editors. In this game, you can change the smallest details using different sliders, pick a unique voice, or add unique tattoos, accessories and facial paint. What Are Best RPGs With Character Creation? Role-playing games let us live out some of our greatest fantasies like slaying dragons, saving the world and owning a house. Whether your main character is dead, alive, or somewhere in between, these games will let you adjust your appearance and abilities to however you see fit. I've always loved games that give you the option to create your character before you start in the world. I enjoy the game even more when it has role playing or social aspects added to it, allowing you interact with NPCs, or other players if the game has a multiplayer feature. Just character creation would interest me enough to check any game out.

Follow me under the cut if you’re curious!

I’ve been introduced to this type of creation with a game I still keep in my heart and consider one of the best of all times; The Sims 2. Seriously, I’ve created so many 3D characters that if I could win an award I’d have 200 on my shelf by now.

With that said, here you are my personal list of PC games with their awesome customization in no particular order:

I tried this game myself (the free beta that is) a few times in the past and I swear the CC included in it is currently one of my favorite. Without the complete pack I probably didn’t have a lot of additional options available in terms of clothes, makeup and hair, but what truly mesmerized me at the time was the shaping tool, not yet common in games when they released EVE. You can grab and drag different parts of the head and body, modeling unique characters every time.

2. Black Desert Online

This game has been released recently with two different packages and it seems to be quite a popular MMORPG (Massive(ly) Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) in Russia and Korea. I’m not surprised considering the quality this game seems to have and its customization is clearly no less. Just like EVE Online, Black Desert offers a good sculpt instrument to shape faces and bodies as much as you like, plus a beautiful variety of colors and combinations.

UPDATE: The game is also available on Steam!

This patch lets you play Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks with mostly non-touch based controls. The new control bindings are Control Bindings: D-Pad=Run Y+Dpad=Walk B=Wide slash B+Dpad=Long slash Y+B=Spin Attack A=Interact A+Dpad=Roll. Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks D-Pad Patch This patch implements non-touchscreen controls for essential actions in Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks. Legend of zelda spirit tracks xenophobia patched rom.

3. Blade&Soul

This is another Asian MMORPG with the classical ‘Anime’ style, you cannot freely reshape the character’s structure, only pick one of the available presets and play around with the sliders to modify the whole body. Andy mckinney molly hatchet. Still, I honestly like the bright colors, the races/classes and the fact that you can actually recreate other existing characters using additional content (just like this guy did with Cloud from Final Fantasy VII).

4. BLESS Online

Yes, another Asian online title. Hey, it’s not my fault if they look so pretty! Bless is quite recent and not yet released in its final stage, but judging by how the CC works you have as much freedom as in EVE or Black Desert and the same unmistakable Fantasy touch.

5. The Sims 4

Didn’t I mention The Sims 2? Well, looks like the latest title in the series has improved quite a lot in this area. The shaping/sculpting method is here as well, considering that we finally have more possibilities I certainly won’t complain!

Note: In this video I can see the woman has a few mods installed. If you decide to get this game (or even the previous chapters) I definitely suggest you to do the same if you don’t like the default character design.

6. Fallout 4

Another recent (and quite famous) game. Apparently you can only work on the face here, but once again we see the sculpt tool in action. Even if the hair options are a bit limited you can still customize your character and create unique features playing around with your cursor.

7. Dragon Age: Inquisition

Who knows me is well aware of the fact that I am completely OBSESSED with this game, thus I couldn’t really leave it out. The hair options are definitely questionable and just like in Fallout 4 you do not have any body morph nor slider to alter, but as you can see from this video example you are still able to personalize your Inquisitor in a good way, also using real people or other characters as reference. To be honest I like some of the default presets too, if you don’t like spending two hours working on a face (I do that all the time, but I am a basket case so please ignore my madness :P), you can pick those and get a good result nonetheless.

And don’t forget about mods! 😉

8. Skyrim (The Elder Scrolls V)

This one has been around for a very long time and it remains probably the top 1 Fantasy game out there. If you’re not into mods at all and want to keep your game vanilla be sure that the overall quality is not as improved as the current generation, you can see that from the low-res hair and general textures. The reason why I’m including this CC in the list anyway is because even if old, Skyrim looks quite good compared to other games where you only get 3/4 slider options.

9. APB Reloaded

The last game I’d like to mention (and I literally just discovered it) is this not so new title which has a kick-ass Character Creator. Not only it shows some quality graphics there, but the level of customization is unbelievable! You can make hair shorter, beards longer, create beautiful tattoos (and place or rotate them wherever you want!), add patterns to clothes and even get your personal car! 😀

Chose one serial + PILIH Salah satu WORKING 99% per 13 Januari 2013 1330-1971-4830-1762 1330-1912-2628-0850-0232-4869 1330-1148-0472-2735-6555-0617 1330-1544-4195-8131-3034-5634 1330-1886-0283-4688-9152-2034 1330-1118-3174-6558-8260-5378 OR 1330-1971-4830-5668-6067-1762 1330-1912-2628-0850-0 232-4869 1330-1148-0472-2735-6555-0617 1330-1544-4195-8131. The serial number for Adobe is available. This release was created for you, eager to use Adobe Cs6 master collection full and without limitations. Our intentions are not to harm Adobe software company but to give the possibility to those who can not pay for any piece of software out there. Adobe cs6 master collection activation key wondershare.

There are of course many other games with a Character Creator, but they all seem pretty similar or not good enough to be mentioned in my list.

What do you think about these? Let me know with a comment if you like!

Those late-night multiplayer sessions can be really fun sometimes. Surely, everything is better with friends, they say and you’ll agree with that at some point. However, after a long day of work and studying, I like to relax with offline games. Sometimes, it’s satisfying to let yourself indulge in a great single-player story and forget about any problems bothering you. So, if you are like me, then welcome to the club! Below is my list of 20 best offline games for PC and I hope you’ll enjoy them.

1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

W2k16 pc download. Well, you’ve guessed it! The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes first place on the list with its epic setting, characters, gameplay, and those breathtaking visuals! It’s a compelling game that will offer you more than a hundred hours of non-filler gameplay, and there’s always something to explore. The game looks amazing, and the combat system is great. This open-world title is everything you need on your free days! Combine that with the great RPG elements and fun dialogues with NPCs, and you got yourself a pretty good offline game! Go and play it now, it’s a must-play.

2. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

Wolfenstein series has been once again revived with Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. The positive reviews flashed all around the globe, and this game quickly became one of the best shooting games of 2017. B.J Blazkowicz is such a badass protagonist and the characters surrounding the game are interesting. You’ll quickly start to care about each and every one of them, making this game a worthy offline title. Bethesda said that they won’t be focusing on multiplayer, so they can bring an immersive single-player experience. Well, you nailed it, Bethesda; great job!

3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Bethesda is one of my favorite companies when it comes to gaming, at least they were a few years back. A few years back, this masterpiece called The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released and it took the Earth by storm! This offline open-world title offers hundreds of hours of exploration and you’ll probably never get bored of it! The combat system might be dated, but it’s damn fun to play and explore every corner of the game. After six years since its release, I’m still eager to give Skyrim another go. It’s that great!

4. Fallout 4

Games With Character Customization Pc

Fallout 4 is one of those top offline games that you either like or dislike. It’s a great single-player experience, as you explore a huge world of fictional city Commonwealth. I mean, the story here is scattered here and there, and our protagonist is in search of his abducted son. However, the game often steers away from that and let you have some freedom and exploration. It’s a fantastic reboot of the series, and it’s surely the best game in the franchise. If you are up for that Stalker-ish feeling, then give this a try!

5. Hitman (2016)

Hitman isn’t a strictly offline game, but I included it because it has a great single-player campaign. While the previous entry in the series Hitman: Absolution relied more on linear, claustrophobic, and confined experience, Hitman (2016) went in a different direction. Here, you’ll experience a vast, open-world with lots of stuff to do. The levels are not that numerous, but they are as big as hell! You can complete your missions in various ways and earn certain rewards and points for doing so. Hitman is a challenging stealth experience, but once Agent 47crawls under your skin, there’s no going back!

Steam Games With Character Creation

6. Nioh

Nioh is a less-known offline game released this year, and I feel like this game is very underrated. It’s a child of Dark Souls and Bloodborne series, which can tell you much about this game. It has a single, crushing, and unforgiving difficulty that will leave you begging for mercy. It’s hard, and you’ll need some blazing fast reflexes and huge gaming skills to finish it. There are more than twenty bosses in the game, and every single boss will kick your ass! Don’t expect to finish this game in a few days; you’ll need weeks to finish it and it will be painfully slow as the bosses shame you every little time… you helpless gamer!

7. Nier: Automata

Another underrated game – Nier: Automata. How could the gaming community overlook this game? Are you blind, or what? This game offers thirty hours of a pure, refined, and amazing experience! It’s a hack-and-slash title that mergers several genres with it. The open world in this game is huge, and the post-apocalyptic environment looks depressing and feels like a void. Nier also introduces RPG elements so you can now level yourself up, upgrade weapons, buy stuff, etc. On top of that, there are some 2D sections that feel like a great platformer, and that’ very unique! Nier: Automata is better than most AAA titles and costs double the less of that price, which is one more reason to get it.

8. Dark Souls 3

Dark Souls series got a fantastic reboot with Dark Souls 3. Just if it wasn’t enough for the previous games in the series, and now we got this punishing game. What can I say? Prepare to die a LOT in this game, as it’s created to kill you. I’m not joking, the whole game is against you, and you can’t do anything about that except fight like a lunatic. Even when you die, the enemies around you respawn and you must fight again and again, which is really frustrating. However, if you have the balls to play it, and manage to finish it, then you deserve a medal, Sir!

9. Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite is the newest installment in the Bioshock series. This cheap game can give you a huge value for your buck, especially when the Holidays come. I mean, for just a couple of bucks, you can get a fantastic FPS game, which campaign isn’t short and definitely isn’t boring! Bioshock Infinite continues its tradition with great shooting mechanics, various powerups, and that fast-paced shooting in a beautiful environment of the game. Get ready to cause mayhem!

10. Alien: Isolation

Alien: Isolation is that PC offline game that will haunt your dreams every time you try to sleep. It’s a horror game in which you try to stay in one piece and escape that damn space station called Sevastopol. Sounds similar? Well, that’s because the game is based on Alien (1979) movie, which was a very disturbing experience at the time. It’s an intense game that makes your palms sweat and your heart beating so fast that you’ll think it’s gonna come out of your chest! Try this horror if you dare, and watch yourself getting swallowed by the Alien, in a single bite!

11. Far Cry Primal

Elephants are cool, but mammoths are so badass! In Far Cry Primal, you can hunt mammoths and even ride them when you get to higher levels! How cool are you from zero to riding a mammoth? This beautiful-looking game is set 10,000 years BC and no, you aren’t going to shoot guns, but bash the hell out of your enemies. The arsenal of weapons might not be that huge, but the combat is great and requires more thinking, as the enemies are sometimes overwhelming and can easily kill you. If you have the luck to tame a sabertooth tiger, you may survive in this harsh world!

12. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

There is something special about that claustrophobic feeling, especially when it comes to horror games that you can play without internet. That sense of dread and despair when you don’t have much space to move is priceless. Don’t think of me as a psycho, but I LOVE the horror genre! RE7: Biohazard is a game that caught my attention as soon as it was released. This bad boy will provide you with a horrific experience that will leave you scared to death! As the game plays from the first-person perspective, it’s much easier to get yourself immersed, but also scared.

13. Outlast 2

Outlast 2 is yet another offline horror experience, where the developers decided to leave your powerless. There aren’t weapons for you to use, and surely no means to defend yourself. So, what are you left with? Well, a camera and a journal should do the trick! The game does a damn fine job of melding the horror and the dread with stealth and great storytelling. In the end, you may feel a little let down by the ending, but I know you’ll enjoy it until the very end.

14. Dead Space 3

Cat et 2015a factory password generator. While the past games in the series focused more on that horror experience, Dead Space 3 is more of an action-horror game. Sure, there are Necromorphs and they are vicious and all, but the action part is more prominent. Needless to say that Dead Space 3 is an amazing game and I’m very sad that Visceral Games is closed by EA in October. This survival horror game is hugely underrated, but it’s awesome and I recommend you to play it. It’s just a couple of bucks for this experience, don’t be a niggard!

15. Portal 2

There’s something awesome when it comes to Source Engine. The games made with this engine looks amazing, yet they run smoothly. How did Valve manage to do that? Well, as I am not a game developer, don’t ask me! But ask me about Portal 2, which is Valve’s magnum opus, and a compelling puzzle game. The whole point of the game is to use a Portal gun in order to create portals and pass through them. However, the game isn’t that simple and requires some brain skill to finish it. Grab your Portal Gun, and let’s go on a venture!

16. Limbo

This 2D game is straight-up terrifying, dark, and misanthropic from the start to finish! In Limbo, you are a little boy that needs to survive this colorless world of the game as he overcomes various obstacles and escape scary monsters. I like the game’s artwork and the atmosphere is simply top-notch here if you like the dark ambient in the games. It’s a must-play for every offline Indie games lover!

17. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Speaking of the atmosphere, very few great offline games can replicate the atmosphere as it is in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. That post-apocalyptic atmosphere of Pripyat looks great, and the game isn’t colorful, which is the whole point. Everything has that grey-ish tint, as this town suffered greatly when the Nuclear Powerplant in that area exploded. It’s based on a real-life event that occurred around 1989, which gives the game a certain weight and meaning.

18. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

With MGSV: The Phantom Pain, Hideo Kojima proved that he still has what it takes to create such immersive PC games without internet. This stealth game is challenging and full of stuff to do, due to its open-world nature. The characters are badass and the game feels somewhat dark, with a very serious tone. Oh, and not to forget that plot twist at the end that’s worth those thirty hours I’ve spent on this game!

19. SOMA

Horror fans will be pleased that I mentioned another horror title here. SOMA is an absolutely spooky and nerve-wracking experience! It creates that atmosphere that’s very unique, and with the story being told in the shape of various documents scattered through the game, it’s even more badass! You are all alone here and you’ll fight for your life, only to find out that you aren’t actually alive! A truly wonderful offline game for Windows.

20. Superhot

Superhot is a cartoonish-looking offline game that revolves around time. To make it simple, the time in the game moves when you move, so if you are standing still, nothing will happen. Vice Versa, if you are moving and shooting, then the enemies will do the same. It’s a lot of fun, but a lot of challenges too. I played it with some of my favorite death metal albums, just to ensure that I’m hardcore enough to beat it!

As we are approaching near the end of our journey through the offline PC games, I’m here to ask you a question. What is your favorite offline game for PC? I tried my best to count some of my favorite offline games, and although I’m maybe going to start a war for not including some of the games, I stand behind my words. Oh, and why don’t you tell me what game did I miss? Do you have any favorites besides these 20 games? Please, let me know, and don’t forget to do some gaming today!

3 notes · View notes

murfeelee · 5 years ago

Text

TS4 Werewolves - Rant Alert

I got this one comment that sent me off on a whole tangent, so I decided to reply to it separately.

slade-the-neko replied to your photoset “The Wolves:This world is slowing down How can I fight it? How can I?...”

Dang Murf, that's very impressive! Really makes me wish Sims 4 had werewolves. I'll definitely try porting the Skyrim model to TS4 if they ever add them.

Y’all know TS4 is my trigger -- wtF is EA even doing over there? That Tiny Living Stuff Pack was a JOKE, like....seriously? o_O For as much money as they’re swindling y’all for TS4, EA’s Sims team is creatively BANKRUPT. ZERO innovation, intuition or inspiration.

EA just takes popular concepts/crazes like the Tiny House Movement, Baby Yoda, and Harry Potter, and waters it down to the barest of minimums: tiny homes with huge AF Murphy beds instead of bunk beds or convertible futons/sofa-beds; a decorative Baby Yoda you can’t even interact with; no school of magic sims can go to (and no magic for kids YET). I’m so tired of them!

People keep comparing RoM to TS1′s Makin Magic, and I keep going WHERE? I said in my initial trailer reaction for RoM that it made zero frikkin sense for the RoM magic land to have that perma-nighttime full moon, without even bothering to have werewolves in the so-called realm of magic.

RoM would’ve been the PERFECT chance to add werewolves. What better way to have a magical pack than to also introduce werewolves as the local denizens of Glimmerbrook’s forests. Missed opportunity, EA. (－‸ლ)

They could’ve added a werewolf household living in the woods, that your sim either befriends or gets bitten by, so your sim goes to the Magical Realm to either find a cure for lycanthropy (for the werewolves or for THEMSELVES if they’re bitten and are gonna turn in a couple days), or wolfsbane poisoning if one of the wolves is made sick by the brand new harvestable Wolfsbane *cough cough!* (Wolfsbane comes in the Vampires GP, but they could‘ve totally made more types of Wild Wolfsbane, Yellow Aconite, Purple Monkshood, etc.).

Either one would give your sim a REAL impetus and incentive to go learn magic and talk to the RoM residents and mess with potions & alchermy. Which is another reason I said (I’ve BEEN saying) I wanted HEDGE WITCHES, who could do HERBOLOGY. U_U

The RoM Game Pack NEEDED to be its own Expansion -- it wasn’t a realm at all; it was a Diagon Alley ripoff and everybody knew it. HELLO, EA! Part of worldbuilding is creating a EFFING STORY that gives your game a FRIKKIN PURPOSE. EA didn’t go the distance at all; they did the mere basics of adding magic to TS4, with a lot of style but not much substance. But ironically they did the same with the mermaids, which did get their own EP, and everyone agrees that TS4′s Island Living was worse than TS3′s Island Paradise, so wtf. (－‸ლ)

But I doubt werewolves would get their own Game Pack like the Vampires & Spellcasters -- EA would do Faeries/Elves before wolves, I suspect, cuz faeries are in a sense easier. Wings, mushrooms & flowers, glittery magic, LOTR-esque art nouveau inspired furniture, etc -- everyone knows the standard faery.

But if TS4 werewolves got a pack all to themselves it would force EA to effing give a crap about lycan culture & lore, and the complexities of things like pack dynamics (alphas, betas, omegas, etc), moon cycles, transformations, lupine physiology & locomotion; diet & hunting (adding new flora & fauna), etc.

While heavy in gameplay expansion, with werewolf-specific abilities, interactions & animations, what other stuff could you stuff into a werewolf stuff pack? Y'all saw how in TS3 the Supernatural EP didn’t give wolves a single bloody thing other than their CAS stuff -- for build/buy mode wolves got ZILCH. We didn’t get busted furniture or shattered windows or blood splatters or more fur patterns -- NOTHING. Everything in build/buy mode was for witches & faeries--all wolves could do was tear the crap up with their claws.

And even their CAS stuff was lackluster - no hairy skins, makeup or tails, but we got body hair & face sliders, claws, fangs, etc.

I like TS1's werewolf design from Makin Magic the most, since their heads/skins looked like wolves.

TS2′s was the biggest downgrade in terms of the LOOK of werewolves, in that it was just a skin.

If EA does do wolves for TS4, I’d hope they make it so the werewolves look like effing WOLVES. At least let them turn into animals, like the ones in TS2 PETS. (WHY TF was TS2 the only time Sims had ACTUAL magical pets!? >_< TS3 has dogs! TS4 has dogs! DO IT ALREADY.)

youtube

Considering the cartoony PG13 angle EA insists on keeping TS4, I don’t imagine they’d EVER make wolves look like @camkitty2’s amazing werewolf mod at MTS:

And certainly not the scary Skyrim werewolves that I converted.

Or even the ones from EA’s other property, Dragon Age (which are effing ugly, IMO).

(The ugly anthropomorphic bipedal version, btw, not the more wolf-like version.)

TBH, If TS4 did werewolves at all I BET YOU MONOPOLY MONEY the template EA’d use would be a lot like Bigby Wolf’s design from the Wolf Among Us video game:

Bigby goes through 4 phases, from man to gradually being an actual wolf in his 4th phase/Final Form. His 3rd phase has a face that not really wolf-like so much as Jekyll/Hyde; beastly enough that you pretty much know Oh that’s a werewolf they’re doing, without it actually looking like any animal.

It’s big and scary with muscles & claws & hair, but cartoony enough that it’s not drastically different from a regular sim. EA’s wack enough to pull something like that, rather than going the extra mile to give us the kind of Skyrim-esque werewolves many simmers want.

Or the full-shift magical WOLF that I personally want.

Don’t get me wrong; Bigby has a great design for Wolf Among Us, made by AA developers Telltale (who do The Walking Dead video games). But Electronic fArts is a AAA developer, with billion dollar budgets, massive teams & bookoo resources. But by god EA’s the laziest AAA company around; just the kind of twats to do AA level work with AAA finances, as we’ve seen in TS4 and TS3.

Bigby’s 2nd phase is basically what TS3 did for werewolves, with the scrunched up brow/nose, pointed ears, hairier face, etc.

This kind of werewolf design is fine, but it leaves A LOT to be desired, especially if it’s the only form you see in certain werewolf franchises. It reminds me too much of how Teen Wolf makes werewolves -- basically as hairier vampires from Buffy (which makes sense). But come on EA, go the distance; go FULL WOLF SHIFT or go home.

In Eastern Europe werewolves ARE vampires/witches -- they’re connected to nature magic, druids & wicca, neopaganism, etc: magic runes & symbols, stones & metals, scyring, bonfire festivals (having Celtic holidays would be so cool!), enchanted woods & nemetons & ley lines, the effect of moonlight on water #TuckEverlasting style, shamanistic sacred animal totemic power and such. Tap into that tribalistic Slavic, Norse & Celtic lore on werewolves, EA, you effing COWards!

In TS1′s Makin Magic and TS3′s Supernatural, witches and werewolves came in the same pack, and had gameplay elements tied to each other -- in TS1 it’s the Beauty & the Beast charm that magical sims can use, and in TS3 werewolves can be used as witches’ assistants to Gather harvestables/collectables used in alchemy potions. So for TS4, having werewolves in RoM would’ve made SO MUCH sense. Hell, they could’ve fit into the Vampire GP, too -- why was wolfsbane even IN that pack? o_O

So if TS4 adds werewolves, I hope they add something NEW to the lifestate, and do more research into other portrayals & iterations of werewolves.

Everyone knows about Norse Berserkers (were-bears), but less attention is given to the Wolves of Odin, the Ulfhednar/Ulfhedinn (werewolves). A lot of Nordic neopagans are into them nowadays.

A werewolf GP would make it so EA would have to flesh out werewolves -- if they live in the woods, give them woodland build/buy mode CC. Let them live OFF THE GRID as technophobic naturists, cuz electronics like tvs, PCs & radios hurt their sensitive eyes & ears. They could be more modern, sure, but it would be so much cooler to have sims who only use well water and hot springs and compost toilets and woodfire ovens.

Bring back hobbies/skills like bone/woodcarving, gem cutting, basket weaving & looms, soap/candle-making, pottery, horticulture, tree-cutting/tree-hugging, animal husbandry (could you imagine werewolf shepherds? XD), sparring, (arm) wrestling, boxing, hunting, bird watching and more. Basically: fullblown medieval-rustic hunting lodge aesthetics: animal pelts, antlers, mounted taxidermy, COME ON, EA, stop being boring!

#replies #Realm Of Magic #the sims 4 #TS4 #Electronic Arts #more like electronic farts #EA you suck #like wtf #RANT ALERT #sims 3 horror #sims 3 werewolves

62 notes · View notes

good-or-bad-luck · 4 years ago

Note

moon, white dwarf, betelgeuse, riegel, corvus, ursa major!!!! do whichever ones you want :>

ursa major: what are the character traits that define you the most?

uh yeah! i can only think in video game its the sims traits for creative and friendly :discord heart:

corvus: what are 5 things you appreciate about yourself?

i very openly lesbian at my school

i can acknowledge when something is bad for me, doesnt mean i can change it, but sometiimes knowing is half of the battle

i actually really like being as short as i am :)

ideas :) [looks at aus and characters]

he/him lesbian no one can change that <3

riegel: put your music on shuffle and give us the first five songs

youre not allowed to call me emo

Message Man - 21 pilots

Little Miss Perfect

Vampire - The Orion Experience

Nico and the Niners - 21 pilots

Konami Code - R. Morgan Slade

plus a bonus 4 u uwu

Not the End of the World (Even As We Know It) - Faded Paper Figures

betelgeuse: which video games gives you nostalgia for a place you have never been to?

two games, one: no mans sky,, something strike a little different in space game,, it feels safe and peaceful even if youre, alone

two: oblivion. skyrim might have been my first elder scrolls game but the forests and hills of cyrrodil will always just feel like, That!

white dwarf: post a picture or video from your favourite trip!

i dont, have any pictures. specifically i was in virgina before i got to see the beach and the ocean for the first real time. it was a college town? we were walking between old brick streets and went from an old nicknack shop with a deck of cards that was all cats, and then there was the ice cream shop with the pride flag in the window and i remember just feeling so safe,, and last was a book anc comic shop :> i got a lumberjanes campfire songs and the moon is up book i think? i remember going back to our hotel after wards and reading both books in one sitting and pulling out my notebook and drawing the janes,,, thats when i made my super natural lj au! when i got home after that trip i got Really into lumberjanes,, started drawing digitally my au for the janes and drawing mal and molly a whole lot,, and then i would eventually join the lj discord!! where i of course met you cynda, and lots of other wonderful people. its nice.

there were also a bunch of dogs next to the bookstore, it was very nice

moon: “A man is made of memories. It is all we are.“ (Lawrence) what do you think this means? Do you agree?

i mean if you ctrl alt deleted all my memories i sure wouldnt be the same person i am right now. no one would.

#everyday i think about that little comic shop and ice cream store...#i wonder what itd be like if i went back i wonder how happy it would make me #maybe when all of this covid is done with and i can drive ill go back but i cant remember the name of any of the places..#seraappreciationday

2 notes · View notes

trans-corvo · 6 years ago

Text

Steam rec List (AKA great games not a lot of people might know about that are currently on sale on Steam)

As of 7/7/19, until 20/7/19

· Arx Fatalis (2002) - $5.49 (currently $2.74)

Arkane Studios’ first game, a post-apocalyptic fantasy about an underground city. Like all Arkane games it has a large variety of possible playstyles, each making for a completely different experience. Is bogged down by a weird and slightly unintuitive UI, but once you get past it, is genuinely a ton of fun to play. It also has the best magic system I’ve seen in a game – if you can get it to work. Downloading the fan-built Arx-Libertalis mod is pretty much a must to get the game to run on modern computers. Takes about 20-25 hours to beat.

· Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006) - $9.99 (currently $2.49)

Arkane Studios’ second game, pretty much a proto-Dishonored in terms of controls and animations. As such it can be a little tougher to control, but still familiar (though the stealth system isn’t nearly as good.) Uses the source engine for tons of whacky physics hijinks. Very goofy/cheesy, but still a lot of fun. (The game is probably most famous for it’s melee attack, a kick which will send most enemies into orbit. Like I said, very goofy)

· Echo (2017) - 27.99$ (currently $13.99)

Beautiful sci-fi game from ULTRA ULTRA, looks like it would melt your computer, but ran shockingly well for me. Has a fascinating story/world and smooth, intuitive gameplay with an interesting hook. A very unique experience. Takes about 6-8 hours to finish

· Islanders (2019) - $6.69 (currently $5.01)

Fun little minimalist city builder (for lack of a better word.) Has a cute little low-poly art style and a pretty score. Excellent for relaxation.

· The Long Dark (2014) - $33.99 (currently $8.49)

Survival game from Canadian developer Hinterland Studio. Takes place in the Canadian north after a societal collapse and a shifting of Earth’s magnetic field (because apparently one apocalypse scenario wasn’t enough.) Has both a sandbox survival mode and an ongoing episodic story mode featuring Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer. There’s a difficulty slider that allows you to toggle between hardcore survival and a relatively peaceful exploration. It also has a nice art-style and much more beauty/character than a lot of its peers.

· Northgard (2018) - $33.99 (currently $16.99)

A Viking story with mix of real-time strategy and city building from Shiro Games. Has a sandbox mode and a pretty good story mode, cute art style, and some genuinely fun characters (including a couple queer characters.)

· Pathologic 2 (2019) - $39.99 (currently $31.99)

Don’t let the “2” fool you, this isn’t really a sequel so much as it is a remake of the original Pathologic from Russian developer Ice Pick Lodge (but this time with an English translation that doesn’t render it almost unplayable!) Very much an immersive sim that doesn’t hold your hand, even with the decent translation it’s still very much a difficult game, but one that’s worth the struggle. Has an amazing story about a small russian town in the early 20th century that is stricken with an unusual and deadly plague, it also has this fascinating lore based off nomadic cultures of the Russian Steppe. It’s a wholly unique gaming experience that I cannot recommend highly enough.

· Pillars of Eternity (2015) - $32.99 (currently $19.79)

Classic high-fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, directed by Josh Sawyer, the same man who directed Fallout: New Vegas. Good art, good story, good characters, good everything. It’s a longer game, taking about 30-40 hours to beat.

· Remember Me (2010) - $29.99 (currently $5.99)

Made by DontNod Entertainment, the same studio that made Life is strange, and has a similar episodic format. It’s a cyberpunk thriller about a world where people are able to alter their memories. Doesn’t place the same emphasis on decision making as LiS, instead being more of a combat focused action type game with a few puzzles thrown in. It has a beautiful art design and excellent world building. Relatively short, taking about 6-8 hours to beat

· Sunless Sea (2015) - $20.99 (currently $10.49)

A strategy RPG by Failbetter Games which builds on top of their mobile game “Fallen London.” In it, you play as the captain of a ship tasked with exploring the underground sea of it’s strange steampunk/cosmic horror world. Graphically simple, with most of it’s story being told through text. Very quirky and rather addictive. Has excellent queer content, including the ability to make your captain trans and non-binary, as well as being able to choose the gender of your significant other.

· Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) - $9.99 (currently $1.09)

The third game in the Thief series and the final before the reboot, though you don’t really need to play the first two before this one (I’ve heard they’re good, but haven’t yet had the chance to play them.) It’s just modern enough that the controls and graphics aren’t too clumsy. The Thief series was a huge influence for Dishonored and if you enjoy Dishonored (especially the stealth), you’ll probably have fun with this. Also, the main character is voiced by Stephen Russell, the man who voiced Corvo in Dishonored 2, not to mention several dozen Bethesda npcs such as Mercer Frey, Codsworth, Nick Valentine, and pretty much every sleazy merchant in Skyrim. Takes about 15-25 hours to beat.

· The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014) - $21.99 (currently $4.39)

A puzzle/walking simulator game from developer The Astronauts about a paranormal detective who arrives in a mostly deserted small town to investigate the disappearance of a young boy. Practically dripping with eerie atmosphere, it’s an excellent little horror/thriller with a gripping mystery. Relatively short, taking about 6-8 hours to beat

............................

I haven’t played enough of these three give much of a review, but what I did play and what I heard was very good

· Tyranny (2016) - $33.99 (currently $16.99)

Made by Obsidian around the same time as Pillars of Eternity and has virtually identical art style and gameplay. Is a high fantasy RPG about an evil empire that has nearly enveloped the entire world, with you playing as an agent of said empire, tasked with carrying out the words of it’s godlike ruler.

· SOMA (2015) - $32.99 (currently $4.94)

Made by Frictional Games, the studio that made Amnesia: The Dark Descent; though mildly less scary and with a much stronger story which follows a man who wakes up one day in a strange base on the ocean floor long after the fall of mankind. Manages to be both terrifying and deeply sad at the same time.

· Tacoma (2017) - $21.99 (currently $9.79)

Made by Fullbright, the studio that made Gone Home. I actually know relatively little about this one aside from it being a sci-fi narrative about the crew of a space station in 2088. It has also apparently got that good queer content.

35 notes · View notes

writingonjorvik · 6 years ago

Note

hey, do you have any thoughts on the inconsistency in writing character reactions in their quests sometimes, for example *gasp*, (you gasp) and -gasp- (i think i've seen a :O somewhere too)? (sorry, english is not my native language). love your blog x

I sure do but first: Your English is great, don’t apologize for it. English is a dumb, stupid language and half of its rules are based on math because people thought it was going to die off. I majored in English, so trust me on this, I speak a dumb language. It’s complicated for zero reason other than people are short-sighted and English-speakers have historically had an issue of not standardizing. Anyway.

As for the inconsistencies, that can have a lot of factors. You are remembering that correctly though, there is a dialogue box that has just :O as the text. And it was in a major story beat too! When we found out Anne was also in Pandoria, with the whole “One does not simply walk into Pandoria” meme reference.

And there’s the sticking point. A lot of SSO’s writing has gone through phases. Very early quests said damn before it was censored out for I imagine only the States (largest market to be fair, but still). There was a long period of time where spelling mistakes were very common (and still are in older quests). Now you’re more likely to hit a technical error and your name won’t load in properly, but not so much spelling mistakes. Early quest writing, like the very first stuff, was pretty basic, or kinda campy. Then it transitioned to being “Modern” with a lot of hip references (see the Mordor meme from earlier), and then there were parts where SSO came down hard on tropes. Loretta and Tan are the biggest relics of this. A lot of it has been rewritten now, but there was a time where the first time you met Loretta she was just kinda…meh, most popular girl but not awful to now where she’s a prime drama queen, It Girl trope.

On the gasping thing, that seems to be a combination of these phases and also kinda a fault in storytelling for games. At least on a budget, which SSO, for an MMO, kinda is a lower budget game. Like film, you don’t really get in the head of the player character as much because unless it’s a character-driven narrative where the player isn’t just self-inserting, you can’t really do much on stage-direction. For comparison, Life Is Strange is a very character-driven story. We get a lot of thoughts in their heads because we’re not supposed to be Max, we are experiencing Max. Compare this to, say, Breath of the Wild, where Link is just a player insert and his personality is a moot point. So if everything is dialogue, how do you indicate stage direction, or actions, in just text?

Now, this is why I say SSO is kinda low budget. Because most game companies would animate the stage direction. Or if they don’t animate the models themselves, they would update the character icons in the text box, like in Harvest Moon games or in dating sims. The illustration indicates the mood, which removes the need for stage direction because it can be inferred. Or they would use voice acting to make the intent clear. And SSO does none of these things, so they have to write out a lame stage direction like gasp, which, just as a side tangent, takes away the dramatic reveal’s effect if we’re told we’re supposed to be surprised.

But as for that, and generally all of it being inconsistent, it’s because there isn’t a writing team for SSO, or at least it’s not listed anywhere on SSO’s credits. Which means whoever is doing the writing has another job too. There is no one dedicated just to writing, which isn’t uncommon in the industry, but it’s really stupid for a game like SSO where the primary focus is the story. It’s possible they bring in ghost writers, therefore they don’t need to credit, but that furthers the point of inconsistency. And I get to double back to my points about English and how SSO has no standardized tone to their storytelling. This doesn’t mean that their story is bad, but because they are dealing with a massive world that needs to be filled and there don’t appear to be any overall rules other than “Don’t be offensive” in the writing, style kinda gets thrown all over the place. There is no professional team, a group of writers, researchers, and editors, whose sole job is to write SSO’s quests and make sure it’s consistent with itself. So the job is likely pushed randomly onto artists and coders who are putting the text in themselves to write that dialogue. And when it’s their turn to do it, all they have to go on is their past times doing the writing. This later part is mostly speculation, but it’s based on how other companies have done this in the past.

If you do what to see what having a writing team can do for consistency and worldbuilding, might I suggest Skyrim. It’s a little broad for everything to be to be masterpiece writing, so there isn’t very much that I would consider particularly deep, but there is a massively wide area of topics covered and the writing is consistent within the world, even if some of it is subjectively bad. And it’s done by eight people. Here’s a fun video on it.

youtube

So, there are some thoughts.

#sso #star stable #starstable #star stable online #starstableonline #woj analysis

12 notes · View notes

dailyarcticvaporeon · 7 years ago

Photo

Just an update on what’s going on with my ask blogs!

Personal stuff:

I recently graduated high school at the end of May. I’ve been going to a technical college to become a Vet Tech. I go weekdays from 8 to 12, which I wake up at 6 to get there on time. I am a night owl, I love to be awake at night. It’s been hard for me to wake up early.

I’ve always have had trouble with fatigue. After going to a new doctor she’s put me on B12. I am taking supplements and go in to get shots. It helped a ton at first, but now it feels like I’m even more tired. Being a Vet Tech means being on your feet all day, which I’m 100% not used to. I went from sitting all day to trying to stand all day.

Now I either go to class or to a clinic to help out. I also work every Tuesday. Then I take care of whatever my mom or dad need me to. They have been gone off and on for three weeks. We have three dogs, one cat, six fish, and eight chickens. We also live in a decently large house. I have to wake up and let the dogs out, let them back in and prepare their food (three different kinds of food and wet food), get them back into their kennels, prepare the cats food (kibble and wet), feed fish, and then while everybody inside is eating and calm I go into the garage and grab the water bucket, back inside I fill it up, grab any left over food, their food, and a snack for them. Then I walk around the house carrying bags and two buckets to the chicken coop. I empty their old water and then refill it and then scatter food for them. After all that, its usually 6:30 and I finally get to sit down and eat. I do my hair, get dressed, and pack up my bag. I leave at 7:30 to get to class. In class I either am on my feet helping people restrain or enjoying time with puppies, dogs, cats, and different kinds of reptiles. Restraining a large dog can be really hard, even if they’re the sweetest.

It may not seem like a lot to some of you who do a lot more, but this is my personal experience. I even have time in the afternoon to do whatever I want. I have a lot of choices to do in the afternoon; Skyrim, Splatoon, Pokémon games, Animal Crossing Games, sketching, drawing, coloring traditionally, coloring and lining digitally, study for my final, play Minecraft on the mac, play flight rising, play spore, sims 4, niche, and that’s a lot. That’s not even my excuse, my excuse is that I’ve fallen back into the haze of depression. I’d rather sleep than do any of the above. Laying in a comfy bed resting my body. I try hard not to sleep during the day so I can sleep at night, and lately I’ve been napping and then passing out at 10 until waking up for school. So I’ve been extremely tired, so I’ve had a hard time regularly drawing like a used to.

Now to more interesting part:

I don’t even want to call this a hiatus, because I’m not taking a conscious break. I need more asks to motivate me to keep updated, so please don’t be afraid to ask my characters or even me! I’d love to make some deeper friendships!

#ooc #personal

10 notes · View notes

pride-vns-blog · 7 years ago

Text

LGBTQ VN Week: Day Four! (6/21)

Wow, we’re already at the fourth day of LGBTQ visual novel recommendations! You’ve probably seen this preface on previous parts of this list, but if you haven’t read my first post, that writeup’s “One note before we get started” section, explains more clearly what this list is and why I’m writing it!

Plenty of visual novels talk about sex and intimacy, so for today, I’ve set aside four with my personal favorite approaches to the topic — CODE:Phantasm’s 404 Error: Connection Not Found, parade’s No Thank You!!!, SugarScript’s Cute Demon Crashers, and Mitch Alexander’s Tusks: An Orc Dating Sim, plus a conversation with Mitch about his creative process on Tusks.

Head on in to hear about your little brother dyeing his hair pink, a truly inscrutable protagonist, freeloading demons playing Mario Kart, and inspirational Skyrim mods!

404 ERROR: CONNECTION NOT FOUND (CODE:PHANTASM)

Itchio Tagline: “Sometimes connecting to others is harder than loneliness.” Genre(s): Slice of life; drama. Release Date: July 30th, 2017 (demo); TBA (full version). Content Warnings: Text-only depiction of sex and sex work; adult content.

404 Error: Connection Not Found is the story of Ren Matsuura, a camboy who ran away from home after turning eighteen and supports himself financially through camming — but thanks to his agoraphobia and general anxiety, he rarely goes outside, to the point that he’s pared all his social connections down to casual conversations with his clients and lying to his younger brother Haru about what he does for a living. When his brother decides to come visit for the first time since Ren moved out, Ren is forced to confront the fact that his guilt and shame have driven him into a corner with no support system. In the span of the demo, he starts to try and reach out to the clients he has a more regular relationship with to prepare him for Haru’s eventual visit, ending on a cliffhanger that seems to be leading directly into the plotline of the main story.

This visual novel’s demo is the shortest of all the stories on my entire list, to my knowledge, but it’s also the most memorable demo I’ve played in a long, long while. As someone who’s had to contend with similar mental illnesses in the past — paranoia and agoraphobia unsurprisingly have a pretty high degree of comorbidity! — I felt like Ren’s slow struggle to make progress for the sake of his younger brother was written sincerely, thoughtfully, and believably in the timespan of a single demo playthrough. Ren can be funny, when he’s not spiraling internally, and his rocky progress at trying to talk to others more honestly is loaded with plenty of funny jokes and quips about his takes on things. He’s a sympathetic, well-rounded protagonist who comes across strongly in the demo alone, and I ended up really rooting for him to make it to a place where he was happier with his life.

There’s another aspect to the story that I ended up really liking, too: the fact that sex work, especially jobs like camming, can be extremely common among LGBTQ people who can’t support themselves financially in other ways. Ren can’t go outside and can’t interact with many people without severe, earth-shattering anxiety attacks (a few of which we see in the demo!), so this job is what he’s got. It’s a job that’s sustained him for years, and although it’s certainly fed into his own relative isolation, 404 Error seemed to walk that careful balance of making it explicit that it’s Ren’s own lack of steady support for his mental illness instead of the simple fact that he does sex work that causes his interpersonal problems. I’m optimistic about the remainder of the story’s handling of those kinds of things, too, because what was present in the demo was sympathetic and sincere! There’s not very many sex workers or camgirls/camboys in visual novels outside of an extremely tiny handful, let ones alone in conjunction to stories that acknowledge of the way LGBTQ people as a whole can struggle with more convential jobs, so Ren’s genuinely empathetic personality and the hope I have for his future makes me excited to see where CODE:Phantasm takes 404 Error from here.

404 Error: Connection Not Found’s free Yaoi Game Jam demo is available now, and you can follow the CODE:Phantasm team on Itch.io, Twitter, or Tumblr to stay updated on their progress with Ren’s story.

NO THANK YOU!!! (PARADE)

MangaGamer Tagline: “This summer vacation begins with a car accident...” Genre(s): Comedy; drama; mystery. Release Date: June 28, 2013 (Japanese); February 27, 2015 (English). Content Warnings: Adult content; multiple sex scenes; frequent sexual harassment; blood; drugs; violence; death.

Right off the bat, I think parade’s debut visual novel (as a studio, at least) does a lot of interesting things and definitely seems to be aiming high with creating distinct, memorable stories. The art in No Thank You!!! is gorgeous, its voice acting is top-tier, a lot of the side characters are compelling even beyond the space or role the narrative gives them, and the love interests alone are all fully-realized characters with interesting stories. Romance option Ryu’s route, in particular, fleshes out the larger sense of mystery and the other characters to an astounding degree! That’s to say nothing of the most unique mechanic — which I mostly call the NTY!!! button — that offers you the chance to say “no thank you” in a variety of scenes without always telling you what it is you’re saying that to. It’s occasionally a little too easy to guess, but at certain points I ended up lulled into a false sense of security with that easiness that the game was all too ready to take advantage of with a much less obvious choice.

One of the sticking points with No Thank You!!! that I’ve seen other players express, on the other hand, is the way protagonist Haru is written. That’s not to say his writing specifically is bad — parade clearly had a vision in mind for Haru’s personality, and from his sketchy beginnings to his clearer end, he’s a coherent character with a consistent narrative. While the crux of the story is more insight into Haru, where he came from, and what the truth behind all those mysteries might be, though, Haru’s behavior still underpins a lot of what drives the romance routes forward. And his behavior... The official quote on his personality, “[s]exual harassment is an everyday activity for him,” can at times seem like it’s underselling exactly how often he tries to grab an ass. It’s no surprise that a fair few other players I’ve seen have walked away with pretty strong opinions on Haru as a character. (I’m personally not a huge fan.)

But to me, a divisive protagonist who you don’t actually fully understand as a character — Haru’s thoughts on a lot of key things are far less accessible than the likes of Aoba Seragaki or most Western M/M protagonists, which leaves you knowing most of his thoughts or feelings via his interactions from others — seems to go perfectly hand-in-hand with the way the visual novel as a whole operates. No Thank You!!! puts you at a distance by Haru’s viewpoint being occasionally “indecipherable” (to use the official phrasing), and then it throws you further with its sometimes-unpredictable NTY!!! button mechanic, but the strength of its other individual pieces taken together still sold me on it as both a solid set of mystery stories and an 18+ dating sim.

Also I really like Maki.

No Thank You!!! is available for a sale price of $19.95 on MangaGamer’s store (18+), and you can read more about parade’s story and characters on MangaGamer’s designated No Thank You!!! page (also 18+).

CUTE DEMON CRASHERS (SUGARSCRIPT)

Itchio Tagline: “A short and silly consent-friendly and sex-positive VN!” Genre(s): Modern fantasy. Release Date: April 7th, 2015 (Mirari and Akki’s routes); August 15th, 2015 (full version). Content Warnings: Multiple sex scenes; detailed uncensored nudity.

I don’t think I could sum up Cute Demon Crashers better than the Itch.io tagline does — it’s short, it’s hilarious, and it’s got an emphasis on consent that meshes perfectly with its goofy “a bunch of incubi and one succubus come to the mortal realm to have sex” plot. The characters are all charming and fit perfectly into its universe, with distinct personalities that come across clearly without ever feeling hamfisted in the limited time that the script lets you spend with them. Although this isn’t necessarily a romance game, especially given that incubi and succubi are “closer to what people know of as aromantic” according to the SugarScript FAQ, its cute, thoughtful writing and adorable design in everything from the characters to the user interface mean that there’s plenty of love infused in every aspect of Cute Demon Crashers.

Like yesterday’s We Know The Devil, Cute Demon Crashers is one of those visual novels with a distinct, memorable mechanic that almost placed it squarely in Tuesday’s creative design list. Cute Demon Crashers is one of the first visual novels — or, by my experience, the first altogether — to implement a mechanic specifically themed around stopping in the middle of sex. If you’re ever uncomfortable or you just plain want the scene to end, you can hit a button and protagonist Claire will talk with her partner to bring things to a close. (There’s also an option to just plain old not have sex with any of them, and spending time with the characters!) A lot of the dialogue in these scenes in particular is thoughtful, nuanced, and reads to me as being a pretty realistic depiction of how someone like Claire might ask those questions or express those kinds of concerns.

The way Cute Demon Crashers handles intimacy and sexuality, by another measure, is one of those things that I think has also had a not-insignificant impact on the visual novel community as a whole; I’ve seen a fair number of people who’ve apparently never enjoyed an 18+ dating sim before talk about how its portrayal of sex resonated with them or brought them some measure of comfort. Because of the SugarScript team’s relative investment in the English-language visual novel scene as a whole, too — this project was born out of NaNoRenO and I’ve seen them promote development forum hub LemmaSoft or other small visual novels more than once — the compassion for the player that’s written into every aspect of Cute Demon Crashers seems to extend naturally to everyone else around the team in real life, which is something extremely special.

The entirety of Cute Demon Crashers is available now for free, and you can find out more information on its upcoming sequel (Cute Demon Crashers: Side B) on the SugarScript Twitter, Tumblr, and Itch.io!

Itchio Tagline: “GAY ORCS available in YOUR AREA.” Genre(s): Romance; fantasy; community building. Release Date: July 18th, 2015 (First Day demo); January 1st, 2018 (FUARLANG/full main story); TBA (individual route endings). Content Warnings: Adult content; sex; mentions of violence.

Mitch Alexander’s Tusks: The Orc Dating Sim, from head to toe, is one of my favorite depictions of sex and intimacy in video games — and with every gradual update, especially the most recent FUARLANG build that finished out the mai storyline, I’ve only become more sure of that. There’s an endearingly genuine quality to its art, character dialogue, and even in things like the NPC autonomy feature, where your companions have just as many chances to sway things like group votes or decide who’s on watch as you would without NPC autonomy being enabled.

Interested to hear Mitch talk a little bit about his design process and the inspiration behind Tusks, I got in touch and asked him a few questions!

Thanks for taking the time for an interview, Mitch! While the title might be fairly self-explanatory, haha, how would you outline Tusks: An Orc Dating Sim in more detail to somebody new?

Tusks is a visual novel where the player joins a group at an annual orcish gathering, in a forest at the edge of a semi-mythical version of Scotland, and you then travel with this new found family and get to know them better. Most of the game is your group getting into adventures, talking to them one-on-one at camp at nighttime, and making decisions about how to go about your travels. The game's cast are all queer, and the game itself is an exploration of queer identity, community, history, and our relationship with the idea of monstrosity/Otherness.

I think it's fair to say that Tusks, as well as your larger body of work, deals a lot with intimacy and sexuality, especially the intersection between those two things; this is probably a question you've thought over yourself a fair bit, but what in particular interests you about those topics that drives you to explore them in Tusks and your other work?

Part of it is the fact that intimacy and sexuality are areas that can be massively important to queer people (especially since many of us are marginalised as a result of our sexuality being seen as deviant) but there aren't a lot of mainstream sources that play with intimacy and sexuality in relevant ways. And part of it is just because exploring sexuality for its own sake can be fun as well!

Definitely! There's always room for more fun with depictions of sexuality, haha. The premise for an all-orc dating sim is definitely a memorable one, and one you've fleshed out incredibly well with the thoughtfulness of your worldbuilding and character dynamics. What was the original inspiration that you built Tusks on, and what helped carry you across the finishing line of completing (for the most part) its story?

It was a lot of different threads coming together: I'd been playing a modded Skyrim save with an orc character who, in my head, was gay and had left his stronghold so to find other orcs like him and establish his own wee found family. That happened at the same time as me finding out about the NaNoReNo visual novel game jam, plus wanting to work on a game that actually put queer characters and discussions first and foremost rather than us just being a token presentation.

As for what carried me through, there was lots of things: the excitement of getting to tell stories that you just don't see in mainstream games, getting amazing feedback from players, and then at the end when I released the full main story on New Years', it was sheer bloody-mindedness.

There's a fair few interesting mechanics in Tusks, especially with regards to NPC autonomy; can you share a little bit of insight on why you decided to include those and how they function in the code?

NPC autonomy's a small but effective way of just slightly upsetting this idea that in visual novels, the player character gets to make all the decisions -- it automatically puts you in a decision-making leader role, and it's up to the writer then to narratively justify that -- which can be difficult if you're wanting to tell a story about a group of equal partners. So instead, NPC autonomy lets characters vote on things or lets characters potentially turn you down for romantic encounters.

It's an optional feature, so it's possible to play the game without it being on -- it just slightly changes the flow of the story and makes it seem a tad-bit more like you're part of a collective, if that makes sense.

Yeah, that makes sense! I think my playthroughs where NPC autonomy was on were definitely more interesting, by and large, because it really does add a lot to that sense of cooperation and community.

If you had to pick just one, what non-human (and non-orc) creature do you think more people should appreciate?

I'm really interested in exploring things with strong mythological connotations like minotaurs, since they're surrounded by particular ideas like labyrinths, being half-human and half-animal. I'd also really like to see someone explore the monstrousness of hags from [Dungeons and Dragons], because I think there's probably a way to talk about them and explore their relationships to femininity, presentation, glamour magick, witchcraft, and power.

Good choices! Those are both definitely really interesting ones. To wrap things up, are there any LGBTQ visual novels from other developers that you'd like to recommend?

I'd recommend checking out The Bitter Drop, by Isak Grozny; Ladykiller in a Bind by Christine Love, and We Know the Devil by Date Nighto!

Perfect! It's been a pleasure talking to you, Mitch, and I'm looking forward to your future projects.

Tusks: The Orc Dating Sim is available now for a reverse-sale price of $2.02, and you can support Mitch Alexander’s work on Patreon or follow his “nonsense” on Twitter and fully-released work on Itch.io!

5 notes · View notes

miuplays · 5 years ago

Text

Miu’s Games of the Decade

Hello all! Wishing you a Happy New Year wherever you are in the world! It’s already January 1st where I am, but I’m sure people are still counting down in other parts of the world. But anywho! I wanted to end the year with a celebration of some of my favorite games released this decade. The 2010’s have been an incredible year for video games, I think. With strides made in graphics, scale, and storytelling, I think this has been easily one of the most innovative eras on all fronts. I hope you enjoy this list of a few of my favorites, and hopefully some of your favorites are here as well! If not, make a list of your own and share it with me! I’d love to see some of your opinions.

But without further ado, on to the countdown…

2010 – FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS

This game, for me, set the standard for what every RPG game should be. From its worldbuilding, to character interactions and on-the-nose commentary, to the way it expands the Fallout universe both mechanically and through storytelling. Of all the Fallout games, this is the one that left the biggest impact on me, and it’s the one I still reflect on to this day.

Honorable Mentions – Bayonetta, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2

2011 – DRAGON AGE II

So I looooove Dragon Age. It’s, in my opinion, one of the best RPG franchises ever made, and this game in particular is easily my favorite in the series. The writing is at its best, and every character is so loveable that I found myself playing it multiple times just so I could romance everybody. Despite some structural issues in the overall story, I still consider it to be one of the most memorable in the franchise, and I don’t regret a single hour put into this campaign.

Honorable Mentions – Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dark Souls, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

2012 – DISHONORED

As RPG-heavy as this list is, I do wanna give some love to immersive sims. Another favorite genre of mine, and Dishonored is by and large one of the best. I found myself entangled in a number of sticky situations that I had to sleuth and stealth my way out of one too many times. Yet they somehow managed to make that the best part of the game. Player freedom and creativity are practically the foundation of this game, and it’s something that made this game not only an enjoyable and unique experience the first time around, but its replay value is through the roof. I do think that later installments in the series, as well as other immersive sim games like Prey, definitely improved upon this one in a lot of areas. But regardless, I still really enjoyed Dishonored, and I’m holding out hope for the future of the series.

Honorable Mentions – Sleeping Dogs, Mass Effect 3, Borderlands 2, The Walking Dead

2013 – THE LAST OF US

I’m sure you’re all surprised, but yes. The Last of Us is my GOTY for 2013, and possibly my favorite game of all time. Before playing this, I’ve never had a game put me in such a state of emotional duress for an extended period of time. Not even MGS3’s ending did what this game did to me. And even as I’m typing this, I realize that the technical aspects of this game—the graphics, mechanics, level design, etc.—aren’t what makes it stand out in my opinion. My favorite part of this game has to be the journey. The connection between Ellie and Joel (two characters so brilliantly portrayed by Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker). My love for these characters and my desire to see them succeed despite all of the hardships and challenging decisions they were faced with. That’s why I love this game. It is, for me, the most incredible storytelling experience I’ve ever had.

Honorable Mentions – Grand Theft Auto V, Tomb Raider, The Wolf Among Us, Injustice: Gods Among Us

2014 – BAYONETTA 2

The Queen has made it onto this list, and I have nothing but praise for the greatest hack n’ slash game ever made. Character design? Stellar. Combat system? Robust, intricate, and absolutely flaw-fucking-free. Improves upon its predecessor in every way imaginable and still remains as stylish and fun as ever? 100%.

If you haven’t played this game yet, please stop reading this and go play this game. It is… phenomenal.

Honorable Mentions – Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dark Souls II, Alien: Isolation, Tales from the Borderlands

2015 – THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT

What can I say about this game that hasn’t already been said, like, 9 million times…?

It’s legendary. Simply put. A flawless and unforgettable RPG experience that simply cannot be replicated. Also, I would die for Yennefer. And Ciri of Cintra is the love of my life.

Honorable Mentions – Bloodborne, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Life is Strange, Mortal Kombat X

2016 – HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER

The only indie game on this list, but its spot is well deserved. What has always set video games apart from other storytelling mediums is interactivity. Despite this, I feel like most games still rely on heavy dialogue and cinematic cutscenes in order to spin its narrative. Which is why I’m so appreciative of games like this, where art and exploration are key to understanding the world and the happenings around you. Hyper Light Drifter is a gorgeous game, with challenging combat and beautiful, stylish music and design that will have you feeling both nostalgic and mesmerized. Even in its quieter moments the game remains so rich and thoughtful, and even now it’s hard to decipher my feelings afterwards. A mixture of melancholy, delight, and solace. It’s a journey I thoroughly enjoyed taking.

Honorable Mentions – DOOM, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Titanfall 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

2017 – HORIZON: ZERO DAWN

This year was a solid year for games, which made this decision insanely difficult… but after a lot of deliberating, I decided to go with my gut. Aloy stole my heart the moment she came on the screen. She’s an incredible leading lady who’s strong, determined, complicated, and layered in ways that both intrigued me and that I could relate to. But beyond just my crush on the game’s protagonist, the scope of this game is just… fantastic. The way they mixed post-apocalyptic tribalism with futuristic technology, the physics of every monster you encounter being so dynamic that every battle feels viscerally intense, even just the combat mechanics and how much effort was put into designing Aloy’s bow and her diversity of combat options, I’m just so!!!! In LOVE with this game!!!!!!!

Honorable Mentions –Tekken 7, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Butterfly Soup

2018 – GOD OF WAR

Yet another game that I’ve showered in so much praise that I don’t think there’s anything left for me to say about it anymore. This game is flawless for a number of reasons. Its meticulously crafted combat system, amazing graphics, beautiful character and game design, gorgeous score, and seamless transitions from action to story that make it feel like a film taken in one single camera shot are all key selling points. But what sold me on this game, and makes it my top pick for this year, was its compelling narrative. The story is one that’s very personal to me. I felt for them and their loss at the very start of the game. I resonated with Atreus and his struggles to connect with his father. And I understood Kratos’ inner battle with coming to terms with who he is and the things he’s done, and trying to be the father his son deserves. I related to these things, as they resembled all to closely the relationship I had with my own mom. God of War moved me in more ways than one, and I’m very thankful that this game exists. I felt like it was my own story being told on that screen as well.

Also… the boss fights are just so fucking fun.

Honorable Mentions – Spider-Man (PS4), Red Dead Redemption 2, Gris, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

2019 – RESIDENT EVIL 2: REMAKE

This may be a more controversial pick considering the amount of quality games that came out this year, and I know most of my viewers were probably expecting Control or The Outer Worlds to be here considering how much I hyped those games up. But in my defense, Resident Evil 2 was already one of my all-time favorite games, and this remake nothing short of a masterpiece. To me, it’s what every horror game should be. The atmosphere is dark yet engrossing. Every aspect of design, from sounds to levels to enemies, make this one of the scariest horror games I’ve ever played, all without relying on jumpscares, or grotesque imagery (although there’s plenty of that as well, it’s not what makes the experience so horrifying imo). It’s one of the most beautifully crafted survival horrors, while manages to improve upon the original while still remaining faithful to it. I consider it a masterclass in how to approach any remake. Capcom truly earned back my trust with this one.

Honorable Mentions – Control, Katana ZERO, The Outer Worlds, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

And so concludes the list! I hope you enjoyed reading, despite how lengthy it got. I wanted to get out as much praise as I could because every game listed here deserves it. I’m in love with every single one, including so many more that weren’t mentioned. It was truly an amazing decade for gamers and game developers alike, and I’m nothing but optimistic for the future.

See you all next year.

– ミウ。

2 notes · View notes

tevis-larsen · 8 years ago

Note

do all the video game asks!!!

jeez okay….1: Do you try to stay away from walkthroughs?i don’t actively try to, but if i’m stuck i will absolutely look it up

2: Company you’re always loyal to?Bethesda owns my ass3: Best game you’ve ever played?:0 this is hard, i want to answer it objectively but i honest to god don’t know. Daggerfall is my favorite though so we’ll say that4: Worst game you’ve ever played?i have a deep, passionate hate for dark souls. i’m sure there’s worse that i’ve played but none that i disliked more5: A popular series/game you just can’t get into no matter how much you try?the witcher for sure. it looks so fun but i just can’t do it for some reason6: A game that’s changed you the most?Skyrim showed me what games actually could be. until then, my only video game experience was the lego games and COD, i had no idea they could have depth like that7: A game you’ll never forget?dragon fable was my absolute favorite game when i was a child. every once in a while i’ll remember it and get back into it for old times sake

8: Best soundtrack?already answered

9: A game you turn your volume off every time you play it?Destiny. I always have to listen to music when i play that game. its got a good soundtrack, just not for me10: A game you’ve completely given up on?vtm bloodlines. i played it for a while and it was fun but its set up in a way that i just dont personally like. i’ll probably watch hella let’s plays though11: Hardest game you’ve played?Dishonored. I’m so unbelievably bad at any sort of stealth game and for some reason that one in particular12: Shortest time you’ve beaten a game in?I beat the halo reach campaign in a single night. nothing else even comes close13: A game you were the most excited for when it wasn’t released yet?ESO. i didn’t get to buy it for years and didnt get into it until even later but i was so excited for a new tes game right after i discovered skyrim14: A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting?definitely daggerfall would be really interesting, i wonder how they would do that15: Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover?id love to see a tes-flavored arcade game if that counts16: Character you’ve hated most? From what game?already answered

17: What game do you never tell people you play?i want to say i dont care but explaining why eurotruck or flight sim is fun is hard lmao18: A game you wish your friends knew about?i wish more of my irl friends played morrowind i think everyone should19: Which game do you think deserves a revival?Daggerfall!! no really, like give it a remastered version with fixed sound thats all i want20: What was the first video game you ever played?i had this little handheld game thing that only had educational games and there was a batman math game that i Loved. idk if it was my first but its the first one i remember21: How old were you when you first played a video game?8-9 i think is when i got that batman game. i also got a couple other computer games and things that year22: If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do?ESO just let me walk around Orsinium and talk to all the orcs i love them23: Biggest disappointment you’ve had in gaming?already answered24: Casual, Hardcore, or in the middle?casual difficulty but hardcore roleplay25: Be honest; have you ever used cheats (like ActionReplay or Gameshark)?idk what either of those are. the only cheat code ive ever used was to unlock all the costumes in force unleashed26: Handheld or console?I like handheld as a concept but i really dont have opportunity or reason to anymore?27: Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry?Most of halo:reach every time i play it28: Which character’s clothes do you wish you owned the most?I just want to dress like an ashlander is that too much to ask29: Which is more important, gameplay or story?gameplay for sure. unless we’re counting the worldbuilding as the story in which case it really has to be good but i will suffer through the worst game for a good world30: A game that hasn’t been localized in your country that you think should be localized?i have no opinion

#asks

2 notes · View notes