#square Enix is treating us right

[clouds-hair-gel]

Great news! My raging crush on Sephiroth is back and worse than ever

[cryptiam]

Tomb Raider Reboot - Lara Croft Outfits (2 sets):

Special thanks to F.M.M World for the commissions <3

She made a Sims animation movie with the outfits, check it out here:

High LOD Warning! LOD0 are roughly around 15k polycount. This is due to a lot of the gadgets on the outfits, I tried to lower it but there's only so much that can be done with these kind of models.

Includes:

Lara Croft Survival Outfit: 

Full-body outfit

Watch (Right Wrist)

Necklace

Boots

Gloves

Rise of the Tomb Raider Winter Mountain Outfit: 

Top/Pants (treat this as if it were Full-Body, neither part functions without the other)

Boots

Hat

Backpack (Left Wrist)

Fur on coat hood (Left Ring)

CC Info:

Feminine Frame

Teen-Elders

Base Game

High Polycount (~15k on LOD0)

Credits:

Tomb Raider/Lara Croft and the assets are owned by Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics.

▼Download | Patreon (free):

Terms of Use:

~~~

If you like my cc, consider tipping to my Ko-Fi or supporting me on Patreon! I do this as a hobby and it's very time consuming per cc. I also have commissions usually open if you really want something specific from me! Thx!

[sapphicteaparty]

SAPPHICTEAPARTY REBLOGGED MY POST?? I'VE LOVED YOUR ART FOR YEAAARRS! THANK YOU 😭

Genuinely can't believe my complaining over DE is pulling OG LiS fan blogs out of their hibernations

omg!! 💛

i've been done with LIS for years and fixated on other things in the meanwhile. but i still like to complain about it every now and then. i used to be really angry about it haha (specifically because of certain things about the first game and certain segments of the fandom). but i've also made my peace with it. i did play true color last year and liked it quite a bit!!! alex was a great protagonist.

i think LIS as a franchise should just have completely new settings and characters for each new game but of course square-enix is gonna milk it for all its worth which is why they're bringing max back. gotta hit those sales targets after all. also not pleased to learn about what's been going on at deck nine, yikes.

i want the dev studio to treat their employees right and i want this franchise to succeed and i want them to make cool interesting narrative games. but making a direct sequel to LIS1 is the safest most boring thing they could work on tbh. i get why they're doing it. i don't think it's for me though.

extended rant over. thanks for reading!!

[alertarchitect]

Full disclosure, this is a long one. It's also a vent post. I'm mainly writing this out to help get the thoughts and feelings regarding this kind of organized and out of my head, makes dealing with them just a little easier. Maybe it'll help you put to words your own thoughts & feelings on this kinda shit, too, and if it does, I'm glad my screaming into the void at least helped out someone other than myself! After all, if anything I say, write, or do ends up helping at least one other person, then maybe I'm doing something right :]

Sometimes having long-time special interests in an ongoing franchise FUCKING SUCKS. Perfect example - I am both a big Halo nerd, and really enjoy the overaching lore of Bungie's connected worlds (with how Marathon, Pathways into Darkness, Myth, Destiny, and even the ways Halo originally connected before it had to become its own thing thanks to Microsoft). Here are the ways that currently sucks:

The state of Halo Infinite, the most recent Halo game, both currently and at launch. At launch, you had a buggy mess, with multiplayer that barely functioned, lacking feature parity (even just on the multiplayer side of things, not counting the campaign) with Halo Reach, a game from 2010. Currently, 343i has admittedly fixed a lot of the launch issues - there's more customization than the game has ever had before (still not as good as Reach's customization imo, but at this point I've given up hope on any multiplayer AAA game having that level of customization for free ever again), the desync issues (in my experience) are no longer happening, and it has the most powerful Forge mode in any Halo game to date. The flip side of that, though? Egregiously horrendous monetization, an armor core and coating system that both hurt the customization more than help, and a drip-feed of content with little to no communication from 343 on anything past the most recent update. Not to mention the issues that come from a focus on "Live Service" bullshit.

The issues at 343 Industries itself, which come part and parcel with the massive issues related to Microsoft as a company. Massive megacorporation, horrible management, staff getting screwed over, crunch culture, and more - it just goes on and on.

Halo 5, despite its generally negative reception, is horrendously inaccessible to those of us that want to experience it as a piece of history and/or try out the multiplayer. A perfect example of how little companies care about game preservation, despite the decent track record 343i has had in that respect thanks to the Master Chief Collection, its PC release and addition of Halo Reach, and the efforts to find, occasionally recreate from almost nothing, and implement lost & cut content in the MCC titles.

Being a fan of Bungie's overarching stuff... really bad when you are at PEAK investment into their stuff, namely my Destiny 2 hyperfixation, and they not only announce that their new Marathon game is going to be a fucking EXTRACTION SHOOTER, and thus unlikely to have one of the most interesting things about Marathon in it (that being its lore) while also being very hard to get into thanks to people treating that kind of game as a massive sweat-fest, but also suddenly lay off a bunch of employees (when previously they had a good track record of treating employees decently...) due to Square Enix levels of profit overestimations of Lightfall, the BEST SELLING DESTINY EXPANSION EVER only getting 45% of the expected sales. Because why be realistic, right? Just fuck over employees, that certainly won't hurt us in the end!

The fact that, despite ALL OF THIS and my moral convictions against the shitty nature of this stuff, my dumbass brain still wants me to just spend spend spend on it anyway because of how much of a special interest Halo & the Bungie lore are to me - it almost hurts. I generally prefer fantasy stuff, but I can't stop myself from loving the lore and stories associated with this stuff. I have to fight myself every goddamn time I have money to not fall into the traps. It's easier with Destiny - I uninstalled it, replaced my PvE needs with Warframe and Risk of Rain 2, replaced my PvP needs with Halo Infinite, and just keep up with the story from a distance. But now that Halo Infinite is back in my life? I love the gameplay, hell I'd go as far as to say it has some of the strongest gameplay in the series (though some modes could use a bit more work, for example the Infection mode just isn't as fun as the Infection from Halo Reach), but the monetization just... AAAARGH it hurts me that I want to spend on it, both for customization and to have little goals to work towards in the (thankfully well-implemented due to them being available eternally) battle passes.

I just want to be able to love something that's been so central to me for so long - I played a cracked version of the CE PC demo for countless hours growing up, to the point that to this day I know the mission Silent Cartographer back to front from memory & could do it in my sleep, and associate Blood Gulch with countless memories of Halo's multiplayer from how often I'd play it with my sister, and to add onto all of that Halo Reach is one of my favorite games ever made, period - without caveats and moral hangups. I just want to love something without justifying it every time I think of it, both to myself and others.

I know this is a massively first-world issue, having the luxury to whine about my Favorite Things going through years and years of getting fucked by their own successes driving them into corporatism, but it still sucks. Obviously not as much as other issues both myself and others deal with, and DEFINITELY not as much as the horrible shit people are enduring in several parts of the world, but just enough for me to want/need to vent about how much corporations like to shit on the little rays of sunshine that we use to feel better about life.

[ereborne]

Hello, happy holidays! For the End of the year ask meme if you'll like to answer any of the following: 8 (game of the year), 25 (a character you created), 14 (fav book), or 18 (a memorable meal)

Happy holidays! I hope they've treated you well <3

8: I don't play many games myself (only Stardew Valley, Minecraft, and silly seek-and-find puzzle games) and my laptop was too tuckered for games for most of the year, but even if I'd been farming nonstop I think the game of the year would still be Final Fantasy VII Remake. Pretty sure it'll be the game of every year until it's all out, and then maybe a couple years more for good measure. I am having such an incredible time following the game as it comes out and @kaylithographica plays through it, and I can't wait to see how Square Enix keeps going with the meta and story changes.

25: Some of the more complex edits I've been trying to work on this week actually revolve around a particular OC, so we'll talk about her. Her name is Mercy, and she was not supposed to be important (folks who have lived with me may be familiar with this refrain). She was supposed to be a filler character! She's an archetype! Her name is Mercy and she has none! Grr rar tragic backstory vengeance quest knife collection! But nooo now she's got layers. She's got depth. We're emotionally invested in her character arc. Damn it. Anyway she befriends her local main characters to use them as pawns in her revenge plot, spends a lot of time with them waiting for them to vouch for her to her target, gives up her first chance at revenge because she has to go save them instead (in a scene so terribly close to the classic 'stand at crossroad, look longingly at selfish goal down the left, turn back fully on goal to run to friends down the right path' that I may rewrite it to avoid cliche shame), and then eventually gives up her scheming entirely because it would be too much of a betrayal of her very best friends the main characters. She was supposed to die in the first rescue, and then the whole story locked up and I had to go back through trying to find the writer's block instigation point, and I realized I've made too optimistic a world to kill her off without friends or redemption. She's (big sigh) thematically significant now. At least she's also very cool.

14: I'm going with my favorite book that came out this year, to help narrow things down: "The Innocent Sleep", by Seanan McGuire. Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite authors and this is my favorite of her ongoing serieses, and usually we get one a year (usually just in time to be my birthday present to myself! a joyous coincidence) but this year we got two. "Sleep No More" and "The Innocent Sleep", paired stories, one from Toby's point of view and one from Tybalt's. The current state of their world means that these two POVs of the same happenings are wildly different, and it's fascinating (a little heart-wrenching sometimes) to see. Also, Tybalt and his friends dimension-door into Costco in the dead of night and steal all their catfood. It's amazing.

18: The vegeble man had a special on collard greens one time, and I bought a 'bundle' thinking it was your standard grocery-store greens bundle, a generous handful at most. It was more like an armful. Apparently the special was because they'd been sold a literal truckload of greens (perfectly good but disqualified as 'organic' by some neighbor shenanigans) and needed to offload them quickly because the fridge wasn't ready for such a bumper crop. I cooked them in batches with andouille sausage and bacon and just a touch of this amazing miso ghost-pepper hot sauce Duncan has, and we ate them for our next four meals (with grits, with cornbread and grilled tomatoes, with fried eggs and beer bread, and then the last of them mixed into red beans and rice). I really miss not just Southern food but access to Southern ingredients (the 'andouille' sausage I get here is pitiful, and bacon is no substitute for a proper salt-ham, and neither is beer bread always a good alternative to a buttermilk biscuit or quickbread) and it was so nice to have a proper mess of greens again.

[anakinh]

all of my other posts on rebirth have some complaints or just pure complaint, which does not reflect my feelings on the game, so i'm going to now post a thing i like with each complaint. my current complaint is 'none of the words "queen's blood tournament on the shinra-8" is in the original game.' (and that includes shinra-8, shut up). here is a list of compliments about the game:

Starting as Zack generated SO MUCH hype. i was screaming

the music around the midgar wastelands is 'hollow'! I love it so much

playing as sephiroth was so fun. he's amazingly designed and his VA acted the hell out of nibelheim. very well done

i like the additional tension between cloud and tifa, with both of them suspecting the other of being an imposter

baby chocobo cute

the combat is very fun. yeeting tifa is great

it's so pretty! i have so many photos! of so many things!

FROG QUEST BEST QUEST

weed canon in ff7-verse

despite my imminent complaint, queen's blood is pretty good

in fact, most of the mini-games weren't terrible

also, the queen's blood weird subplot is very intriguing, as is the sucked into queen's blood subplot (until the timing made me want to kms). i do like it when i get to yell 'WHAT THE FUCK' at the screen. sometimes you have to remember that ff7 is a very silly game.

okay, now that i've paid my dues I just wanna say that there are so many minigames all at once. Literally most of chapter 4 were mini-games and then we jump into chapter 5 and it's another mini-game tourney?? jenova is RIGHT THERE in the boat. please just let me jenova boss fight. I'm forgetting what the plot is. (and this is also a general problem with open world games. even in BG3 I was spending time shopping in the Lower City instead of helping my friend who got kidnapped by murder cultists. sigh)

anyway they turned this game into 100 hours by filling it with padding. again. (imagine cloud narrating 'and then I got the vacuum to clean the air of mako so i could use the elevator... and then the cord WAS STUCK.' he remembers that but not killing sephiroth?)

also I don't like the way they're treating Shinra right now, especially Rufus. If I trusted Square Enix I wouldn't be blinking at it, since there are so many times where people talked about how horrible Shinra was... but I definitely don't trust Square Enix, and especially not how they write Rufus. Shouldn't he be talking about ruling with fear now? stop trying to sanitize the evil capitalist. I hope Barret is right when he said joining was a bad idea. I shouldn't have to hope. It should be obvious. It would be if I trusted Square Enix.

lastly, seriously, wtf is up with glenn T_T why is he here. why do i dislike a person from a mobile game showing up here when people from prequels showing up is fine? i mean definitely part of that is because crisis core is not a gatcha game.

... and that was like 4 complaints. it's just easier to say things when you're complaining instead of praising. I gotta work on that.

[whumperofworlds]

Whumptober Day 14: Drown

Now on AO3!

Fandom: Final Fantasy: Record Keeper

A/N: Had to do a bit of research on this one. This idea is a treat for me; it gives me a chance to torture Keme as usual LOL!

Drusus, Keme, Veles, Taika, and Aric all belong to me. Everything else belongs to Square Enix!

TAGS: @gala1981

CONTENT: Drowning, near death experience, CPR, strong language, panic attack, death mention

ENJOY!

_____

@whumptober Day 14: Flare | Water Inhalation | "Just hold on."

Under Junon was a quaint place, according to Cloud before Keme and the team entered the seventh realm. And Keme could see why. The area was filled with beautiful sights, including the beach that was known as the Dolphin Offing. Despite his fear of water, Keme had to admit that Cloud was right; the area was beautiful, and he would love to vacation here someday if Dr. Mog and the other Record Keepers allowed it. Perhaps on his and Drusus' anniversary, they would come here.

As of now, the group separated, with Veles, Taika, and Tyro out to the town nearby to gather some supplies, while Drusus and Keme walked together towards the Dolphin Offing.

"Man," Keme sighed in a daydreamy manner, watching the sea's waves crash on the surface, "I have to hand it to Cloud, this place is beautiful!"

"I was honestly worried that you wouldn't want to go due to your fear of water," Drusus attempted to joke, a smirk on his face. He punched his husband's shoulder slightly in a playful manner. "I never expected you to say that about the sea."

"Oh shush," Keme chuckled, giving Drusus a playful punch to his shoulder back. "I can appreciate the sea without going in it. Not gonna risk myself like that."

"You know that I can keep you safe while you're in the water," Drusus reminded, reaching down to take his husband's hand and squeezing it. "There's no need to be scared about it."

"I appreciate the offer," Keme said with a smirk, squeezing Drusus' hand back, "but like I said, not risking it."

"Your loss," Drusus merely shrugged.

The two glanced around the beach, searching for any clues. According to Dr. Mog, a monster known as Bottomswell lived here, and had attacked a girl named Priscilla that Cloud and his group had to rescue. The monster had to be here somewhere, but from what the two could see, there was no monster or enemy here.

"See anything?" Keme called to his husband, who was a few feet away from him. Drusus was still searching, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't find the monster at all. He turned and shook his head sadly.

"I haven't seen anything here. Just the beach," Drusus called back.

Keme's heart jumped. If the Bottomswell wasn't around the sand, could it mean that it was…

Drusus seemed to have the same idea, as he approached the sea. Keme's panic rose then, as he rushed forward to pull his husband back by the arm.

"No," Keme gasped, his heart pounding in his chest. "I'm not letting you go out there."

Drusus turned to face his beloved, his frown intensifying. "Babe, there's no other way to find it. It has to be in the sea."

"Don't you see?" Keme argued, gesturing at the wide sea that was in front of the two. "The place is huge! You'll easily get lost if you go out there!"

"Then…" Drusus sighed, shaking his head. "What should we do? We can't just wait around until it comes. It would likely attack us quickly if we do that."

"What other choice do we—" Keme tried to argue, only to stop when the two heard and felt rumbling on the beach. No, not on the beach; in the sea.

Keme released Drusus then, pulling out his dagger, ready to strike as soon as the attacker reared its head. Drusus did the same, pulling out his Nunchakus, aimed for the large bubbling that was close to the shore.

Something was coming from the sea. Was it the Bottomswell? Was it a regular enemy?

Before both of them could react, a large silhouette emerged from the water, letting out a deafening roar. Drops of water dripped down from its colorful scales, as it reared its head back. Something was forming in its mouth that neither of the men could see.

Drusus recognized it almost immediately. "The Bottoms—"

He didn't get a chance to react. The Bottomswell spat out a large bubble, aimed directly at Keme. It came at him fast; he didn't have time to dodge. Before he knew it, the bubble submerged him, trapping him inside.

The moment he felt cold water touching his skin, he panicked, flailing inside the bubble as a panic attack began to rise in his chest. Oh Cosmos, nothing but this again! NOTHING BUT THIS!

"KEME!" Drusus screamed, eyes wide as he watched his husband struggle in the bubble for a moment. He remembered what this monster could do now; the Bottomswell used an attack that could trap a victim in a Waterpolo, and then drown them in the Waterpolo.

Drown—OH FUCK!

Drusus' panic grew then. Keme's fear of water. The way he was panicking. He would surely drown if he couldn't get him out of there!

Drusus turned to face the Bottomswell, ready to fight it, but as fast as it appeared, it disappeared into the water, never to submerge again. Drusus struggled to fight the urge to follow it; he needed to save Keme, and fast!

He rushed towards his panicking love, his hand reached out in order to pull Keme out of there. As soon as he touched it, he was unable to dip his hand inside the Waterpolo. Panic rose further, and Drusus' breathing grew more frantic as he tried to find ways to get Keme out of there. Keme banged on the bubble with his fists, eyes wide in fear and panic, as he tried to hold his breath to no avail. The panic attack had reached to a boil, and Keme began to gasp, swallowing water in the process. He coughed, as bubbles flew out from his mouth, as tears began to form in his eyes.

"FUCK!" Drusus cried, grabbing his Nunchakus from his belt. With a swing, he hit the bubble with full force.

Nothing. It didn't leave a dent on the bubble.

Tears flew up from Keme's eyes in the form of bubbles, as he tried to keep his breathing under control. However, his panic attack had grown stronger the longer he was trapped here, and Drusus knew that due to that, he didn't have much time left.

"Babe, hold on!" Drusus cried, tears shining in his eyes due to the panic. "I'll get you out of there! Just… fuck! How do I even…"

Keme could only hear his husband's muffled cries due to the water filled up in his ears. He wasn't sure what he was saying, only bits and pieces. Something about hanging on?

Drusus threw his Nunchakus to the side in frustration, before he began to punch the Waterpolo with his own hands. Despite his best efforts, however, the Waterpolo remained, without a single dent on it.

Keme could only cry at this point. He was going to die here, as his husband—someone who went through more than enough already—could only watch as he suffocated. He didn't want to die like this. No.

Drusus stopped his incessant punching, panting from the sheer amount of strength it took him to pull those punches. He glanced up at his husband's panicking brown eyes, his own eyes spilling tears. Oh Cosmos, there was nothing he could do—all he could do was watch Keme drown in front of him, and—

"If someone is trapped in the Waterpolo, use magic, kupo!"

Dr. Mog's voice echoed in Drusus' head. The one piece of information he gave before the team left for the mission. Magic… but Drusus didn't know how to use magic! How could he—

Veles and Tyro.

He glanced back at the town that was nearby. Apparently, the three of them were still gathering supplies, as they all agreed to meet here.

He needed to get them. But he couldn't just leave Keme here. What if Keme died by the time they arrived?

But if I don't get them now, Keme will surely die. If there's even a slim chance of saving him…!

Drusus took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself about the situation, before turning to Keme.

"Keme," Drusus said as loud as he could, hoping to Cosmos that he could hear him. "I'll get Veles and the others! Just hang on, okay?!"

Keme, unfortunately, couldn't hear exactly what his husband was saying—his words were garbled into something incomprehensible. Was he saying something about Veles?

Keme's eyes grew wider in panic as his heart raced when Drusus turned and fled the area. Keme's eyes were glued to Drusus' back, as confusion and sadness hit his heart. Why was Drusus leaving him?

No! Don't leave me, please! Keme could only think, reaching out a hand, as if Drusus was his only lifeline. Tears flew up as bubbles, as intrusive thoughts swam in his mind. Surely, Drusus was just getting help, right? He would never leave Keme behind like this.

That was the last thought he had, as his lungs burned before he gasped for nonexistent air. Water entered his lungs, before everything turned black.

_____

When he returned with the others, Drusus' heart nearly stopped at the sight of his beloved. Keme was rendered unconscious, as he floated slightly inside the Waterpolo, his body lifeless. As if he was—

Was I too late?

Veles and Tyro sprang into action almost immediately. They raised their arms, chanting their spells under their breaths, before they both unleashed Thundara spells towards the Waterpolo. They had to be careful; they didn't want to accidentally hit Keme while they tried to free him.

Their spells hit the Waterpolo, and like bubblegum, it popped. Water splashed around the Waterpolo's area, before Keme dropped to the ground.

Drusus rushed forward, and took Keme in his arms before he could hit the ground. He hugged him, as if Keme was his lifeline, before he had to release his beloved after remembering the situation at hand.

He gently placed Keme on the soft sand, before placing his ear on his husband's chest. A weak heartbeat. Keme was still alive, but barely.

Oh thank Cosmos…

He glanced at his husband's face. His lips had turned blue due to the lack of oxygen for a long time, and his eyes were shut, as if he was in a peaceful sleep.

Drusus gritted his teeth. He knew what he had to do. He thanked the Cosmos that Aric taught him what to do in a situation like this.

He placed both his hands on Keme's chest, before he pushed down. Hard. He could have swore he heard a crack as he pushed down a few more times, but he decided to ignore it. He'd rather have Keme have broken ribs than letting him die like this.

A few more pushes, before he opted to do mouth-to-mouth. He gently opened Keme's jaw, before his mouth met his. He blew into his mouth, as his heartbeat rang in his ears. Would this be enough? Would he be able to save his beloved? Or was it too late?

After the fourth mouth-to-mouth, it finally yielded results. Keme coughed, before he sat up, spitting out excessive water that was stuck in his lungs. He coughed again, spitting out more water. His eyes were wide as saucers, as he gasped for air.

Drusus had never thought that the sounds of his husband vomiting water could bring him relief.

Keme coughed again, as if making sure that there was no more water to get rid of, before he began to breathe heavily. Drusus didn't think—he tackled Keme into a tight hug, as tears sprang at the corners of his eyes. Keme's eyes widened for a moment, as if registering what was happening, before he returned the hug.

"I-I thought I lost you…" Drusus could only mutter, his body trembling from the trauma and fear. He could have lost Keme in such an awful way…

Keme rubbed his savior's back, burying his face in his shoulder. He too was trembling due to the fact that he nearly died from his worst fear.

Drusus helped the Thief stand, before Taika used a quick Heal spell to get rid of the minor injuries he had sustained. Keme muttered a "thanks", his arms never leaving Drusus' body. Drusus didn't mind one bit—he knew his beloved needed the comfort.

"I'm sorry," Tyro apologized, looking down at his feet. "I shouldn't have sent you both here. I should have let all of us go together."

"You did what you felt was best, Tyro," Drusus said, a small smile aimed towards the young Record Keeper. "What matters is that Keme is okay, and that we got what we needed."

Tyro glanced up at the Monk, a small smile on his face. Drusus was right—he was still learning, and Keme was all right regardless.

Tyro snapped his fingers, and a midnight blue portal appeared behind him. With the injured Keme in tow, Drusus followed the rest of the team back at the academy.

One thing Keme knew for sure; the Dolphin Offing wouldn't be a good place to vacation at, especially with the Bottomswell still at large.

[sapphire-weapon]

Okay so hc time, I think Capcom went so hard with Ashley's redesign not only because they knew people complained about her but because they were planning on bringing her back...?

Like I just hope Capcom is giving us hints that the Remake timelines will be a bit different and it might even include characters that had disappeared from the narrative like Ashley. To me this would seem logical since now she is a fan fave and a lot of people already loved the models/cosplayers who represent her in the game.

Also the fact they keep making you acknowledge that Ashley and Leon are a team, and a good one at that, maybe hints that we might see her again? Or at least give us info on what she's doing atm... idk man, I really think Capcom knew what they were doing with Ash like how they did with Lady D in REVIII, they knew the fans would love these characters and want more from them. Maybe even dlc? I would love for DLC before Leon arrives like the scenes with Ashley from the trailer that wasn't in the game. Or at least maybe we get something in Separate Ways from Ada's POV or from Luis' since he knew Ashley was captured before Leon arrived.

So, I... go back and forth on this.

Right now, I'm kind of at a place where, like. I don't think that Capcom looked back on Ashley Graham and was like "We need to bring her back" when there are other characters (like Billy Coen) who were much more beloved and would fit much more neatly into the narrative that they could've focused on bringing back instead.

I think they looked at the task before them of remaking Resident Evil 4 and asked themselves, "What are the fans going to expect from us after we make this game? How do we follow this up?" Remaking RE4 is such a bold fucking endeavor, and they knew that this was going to have a massive effect on RE's branding and fanbase.

I actually feel that the RE4 remake was a much riskier, gutsier, more influential move than remaking Final Fantasy VII was. Both games were arguably the same level of influential on their respective releases, but FF7 has been fucked with over and over and over again by Square Enix, and they knew even as far back as the PS2 era that they were going to have to inevitably remake that game (the story Tim Rogers tells about it is fascinating, actually).

But RE4? Has always been treated as this sacred, precious, sacrosanct thing by Capcom. They have not fucked with RE4, they have not dared to even suggest fucking with RE4. Hell, they treated RE4 as so sacred that they wrote themselves into a corner with Leon and Ada just because of how RE4 handled the relationship -- which then bit them in the ass with the fan reaction to RE6. But it was all because of their steadfast position that RE4 is not to be fucked with.

So, to actually do it was a really, really big fucking deal. They knew that the fanbase was probably somehow even more protective of that game than they were.

So, step one: make sure that a remake of RE4 is hailed as "one of the greatest games ever released" all over again.

But step two was: anticipate what the fanbase would want next as a direct result of RE4make's existence and follow through with it.

And that's where I think the focus on Ashley actually comes from.

To make this game one of the greatest games ever released all over again, they had to turn Ashley into a character that would be beloved. We now live in an era of games that were influenced by RE4 and took the formula and built off of it. Ashley had to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with characters like Ellie from TLOU, or else the game would fail.

And, if they were to make Ashley into a character that beloved, they knew that fans would want more of her.

So, yes, from a business standpoint and a practical standpoint, it stands to reason that Ashley's final appearance will not be RE4make. Capcom will bring her back.

The question is how and when.

The story of RE has now moved forward nearly twenty years into the future without her. In order to keep using her character, they either have to execute the greatest rug-pull in video game history and slap her back into the story twenty years into the future somehow and make it work, or they have to completely remake the series from the ground up.

And then I look at Infinite Darkness, and my brain goes, "either ID straight-up retcons Degeneration, or it's secretly Remake-verse and Capcom just hasn't said it yet." Because Degeneration and Infinite Darkness cannot coexist in the same timeline. They just can't. Degeneration takes place after RE4, and the president in that movie is not President Graham -- and even if he was, that motherfucker resigns at the end of it.

Infinite Darkness can't take place in 2006 if Degeneration is still canon. Or, Degeneration can't take place in 2005 if Infinite Darkness is canon. It doesn't work. It's impossible.

And you know who's mentioned and cameo'd in Infinite Darkness? Ashley motherfuckin Graham.

So, I mean. The table is already set for her return. It's just.

I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen or how Capcom is going to handle it, but I'm fairly certain Ashley will be back again. All we can do is wait to see what Death Island does, then wait to see what Separate Ways does, and then wait to see what happens with the RE9 reveal.

That's all we can do, man.

[mister-e-muss]

Backlog report time: How did February ‘24 treat me?

Turns out this was a bit of a light month for me.

AI: The Somnium Files

I blame a fun demo, a very generous eShop sale, and my mutual @sakuracat96 for getting me into this one. I don’t really play visual novels. Ever. To my mind the only exceptions to this are the Ace Attorney games, 13 Sentinels, and now this game, and that’s because there is actual gameplay attached to the story.

If there’s one thing about the game that I can say it’s that it is fundamentally weird. It’s concept is about entering people’s dreams, and trying entirely off-the-wall solutions to progress. Even outside of the dreams, there’s a careful balance of humor and grit.

I loved this game. I feel almost bad for stealing this game for 8 dollars. While I’ve heard that it’s sequel is a mixed bag, I can’t wait to see where this series goes.

Chrono Trigger (DS)

Honestly what can I even say about this one. It’s goddamn Chrono Trigger! We’re talking about one of the original ‘best game of all time’ best games of all time! This is one of the founding fathers of JRPG greatness: a game that compares unfavorably with, depending on who you ask, maybe two other games! There is literally nothing I can say about this game that hasn’t been said at least three times before.

For being almost 30 years old, it is incredible how well this game holds up. Combat isn’t as large or complex as more modern entries in the genre, but it’s effective and fun. The soundtrack is just as good then as it is now. The story is involved, with reveals and new characters coming at just the right pace to keep you hooked.

I genuinely think that this game has not aged in the slightest. That isn’t to say there aren’t games that do certain things better, but it is great as a total package. Do I think that Magus and Frog are deeper characters than say Renne Hayworth/Bright? No not really. Do I think the soundtrack is better than The World Ends With You? No. Does it have a long runtime wherein every nook and cranny is packed with content? Again, no. In fact the DS versions’ extra content is just plain tedious, and feels like padding.

But I think its short run-time is an under-appropriated aspect. I play Xenoblade and Trails, so you know that I love long-running games. Especially when they use that time to really dig into the world and characters and how things work. That said, a long run time is not necessarily a good thing. If you’re gameplay loop isn’t fun or is just tedious, then long run times just extend the discomfort. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in English, it’s that bigger is not better. It’s not a writer’s job to bend the dictionary over their knee, or break a thesaurus’ spine, or demand the reader suddenly memorize an entire Glossary’s worth of terminology to make a book make sense. A writer’s job, in plain and simple terms, is to tell the story as best they can. This is Chrono Trigger’s hidden strength: it’s compact and succinct. Frog might not be as fully realized a character compared to others, but there’s enough of an arc to make the player feel for him. The story might be comparatively short, (my run clocked in at 28 hours, and I spent two of those doing that annoying bonus content I mentioned) but it does so much within that time.

I genuinely feel like Square Enix could release a remake or port in every console generation, and it would still stake up. In fact, I have no idea why Square isn’t using their HD2D engine on this one.

[grave-bride]

trick or treat amaya i am not being wary of your blog title pvp me

Welcome to the Amaya Trick-or-Treat hour where I arbitrarily decide if PvP is active or not, but I also pull some niche game off my shelf for a random recommendation, and you get to go out and play it to decide if you've been treated with a hidden gem, or tricked with the new worst game you've ever played... or just not play it all I guess.

For this guest we have... Threads of Fate, originally released for the PS1 in 1999, this is an old forgotten action RPG from Square Enix themselves! Being an action RPG on the PS1 it's fairly simple all things considered but the narrative is made more interesting by the fact there's two playable campaigns, and at the beginning of the game you choose your protagonist and see one version of this interlocking narrative from the perspective of the banished princess Mint seeking to reclaim her right to the throne, or a man on a quest to revive a woman he cares deeply for. Each one even has a bit of a gimmick, with the girl more magic focused while the boy can shapeshift into 'captured' monsters. The grind is a little awkward though, since there's not real levelling up to do, but your HP and MP increase a bit at a time as you get hit and use magic...

As an additional fun fact, the original Japanese title is "Dewprism" which is referenced in the Hildibrand questline in Final Fantasy XIV.

[top23console]

Forspoken - Best ARPG developed by Luminous Production

Forspoken has been considered one of those gaming titles exactly where I was cautious right from the start. The concept was intriguing as it would be my sort of genre. However, the tiniest bit of gameplay that was shown caused me to pump the brakes somewhat. After an extremely disappointing trial, I used to be prepared for disappointment. This didn't take time, but when I finally got into the overall game, I came to discover that I was completely incorrect.

Story

Following the narrative, the video game follows Frey Holland, who is transported from New York to the land of Athia after trying to take an amusing Cuff. She then finds herself in the middle of a war that has been tearing the kingdom apart through an unimaginable force often known as "The Corruption," twisting the animals, people, and terrain of the entire kingdom into nightmare-like, broken versions of their own.

Combat

The fight is extremely enjoyable and enjoyable, with Tanta's battles with bosses being the absolute highlights, but I would have preferred more movement. Flow's use is determined by your stamina meter, as exemplified by the diamonds just above the wellness pub. You need to keep watch over the meter in the battle to ensure people don't get caught with no ability to escape, but it's also noteworthy to keep track of it while traveling across the globe. The moment you initiate Flow, it will cost you one gem for each time you press the switch and use up another after a short time (when Frey dashes somewhat again). You can readjust this timer by interacting with the surroundings, just like when auto-jumping over a small obstacle. There is a lot of energy from the launch and even fewer steps to reestablish it, so when anyone's running out, you'll have to run to recover. Our website is the best place to buy cheap New PS4 games.

Graphics

Visually, Forspoken is a treat. You'll find three graphics game modes you could use, or six if you're playing with the latest TV or monitor. Performance mode is the "worst," while high-quality mode has by far the most detail while dropping the frames per second in certain instances. Hurry up, cheap PS4 racing games are on the market. In between these two modes is the ray tracing system mode, which provides the most efficient lighting while still preserving the features of the quality mode. If you are hooked up to a monitor that can handle 120 refresh rates, you can toggle this off or on for each illustration mode likewise. I had this turned on during my own time playing Forspoken, and turning off the feature was a very jarring wisdom as the frames per second slowed to an absolute halt. In any case, whatever game mode you play in, it's hard to notice the difference in precision when you play the recreation because things are so fast you're barely able to figure out if there's additional aliasing happening with some of the vegetation that is visible in the distance.

Sound design and music

The sound and music raise the book's overall adventure just as much. From softer, more catchy beats to explosive orchestral arrangements mingled with singing choirs, the soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to the snarling of the creatures and humans.

Bottom Line

Forspoken is an impressive new IP. It has its fair share of challenges, but the more time you spend in Athia Forspoken, the more its world entices you with its fascinating combat system and, additionally, the pure pleasure of honestly crossing vast environments that are enthralling. Luminous Productions is undoubtedly onto something with that one, but it needs much more focus and sophistication. At the very least, Forspoken attests to its worth in its own right and reflects its potential to one day be a part of Square Enix's main franchises.

[maguro13-2]

Legacy of Shinra ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Chapter 1 Pt.10

[Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean]

Ashley : I know it has to be here somewhere. Anything possible to find this Shinra person?

Red the Demon : Beats me. It doesn't seem like that it doesn't exist after all. We don't know where the Chao World is, but I believe there might be a way to find Chao World and look for the Shinra Person. That Shinra guy is the one who created Soul World and Shinigami as well.

Ashley : Which I was preparing for a full on attack with backup. It's time to make my meeting with the Gorgon Sisters with a crazy nasty--[exclaiming] Hello!

[Sonic SFX : Chaos Control]

Ashley : Huh? Where the heck are we? Looks like were in Prison Island.

Red the Demon : Prison Island? You mean that beautiful island that is super strong and super tight with security? Why wouldn't I?...I would love to see the beautiful and historical Prison Island...Hey, Ash.

Ashley : Yeah?

Red the Demon : I think we're in the "Wrong" Prison Island.

[Prison Island (Shadow the Hedgehog) - Jun Senoue]

Ashley : Did some "thing" managed to teleport us into Sonic's world? This must be Prison Island, but the entire place is all broken after it was exploded by that mad doctor.

Red the Demon : B-Blown up by that "Mad Doctor"? This was the place took place in the Dreamcast Era around 5 years ago. This is no longer a military base since the island was blown up about 5 years before Shadow's game was released.

Ashley : And yet, it was about 2 years before my debut. Still no sign of what did Wario have to do with me when I face new people into Nintendo. But there's gotta be a place where I can find Chao World. This way, follow me!

Red the Demon : Okay!....Uh-Oh! We got company! [G.U.N Robots appears]

Ashley : Looks like the Island has left out it's mere toys! But I gotta put them away first! [Battles and defeats all the robots with her magic] That should be done by now! Right now we got a move on!

[Scenes of Ashley venturing through Prison Island Ruins and battling the G.U.N Robots]

Ashley : No wonder why this place was abandoned, it feels like that Prison Island was being built underneath the Iron Jungle, that's where the Mad Doctor is currently at right now.

Red the Demon : Eh, no way point. But I see it clearly, tho.

??? : [Being chased around by G.U.N Beetles] Help! Help! Somebody help me!

Ashley : That voice! That sounded like...[realizing] Penny Crygor?!

Penny Crygor : Uaaaaahhh! Help! Don't just stand there, shoot these things! They're starting to piss me off!

Ashley : Oh boy, after getting her a treat of licking my "Soles", I was hoping that she would go on her own by herself, but then again...I have to save her from being in danger. [Destroys the G.U.N Beetles to save Penny]

Penny Crygor : Thanks for saving me, Ashley! I Could've done it without your help! That was a close one!

Ashley : Quite thankfully. Anyway, Penny, what are you doing out here in Sonic's world? I told you to stay put and look after the mansion. How did you ended up in a place like this?

Penny Crygor : Well, when I was on my way back to your place, I just noticed that a strange "Thing" that came from out of the portal, I heard that it was the Time-Eater entity that came from "His" World and somehow used Chaos Control to warp into Sonic's. He knew exactly what the entity told about the Kusakabe Legacy, I believe that Soul Eater, the Japanese manga from Square Enix, isn't the only manga that is set in one universe, It's also the universe where the Kusakabe Legacy is connected to them, Death Weapon Meister Academy.

Ashley : It's that what Soul Eater was all this about, protecting the Legacy of Shinra that he created their world from being fallen...

Penny Crygor : ...Fallen into "Despair". "Despair", I've known that word somewhere before. If the Author putting Soul World into "Despair", then this so-called "Despair" is also affecting people's hearts and souls. Maybe perhaps it's connected, with "Sin" and "Madness" throughout the same Ohkubo verse. Or that "Despair", Sin", and "Madness," are linked to each other as vibes. I did not think that the author of the manga would use religious things like that. But eventually, what's gonna happen to those guys would be done for...especially your old partner, Kimial!

Ashley : [gasped in shock] My partner? [visions shows Kimial holding a wounded Jacqueline (her lover), crying in despair]

Kimial Diehl (As seen in vision) : I'm sorry, Ash. I'm Sorry. *snffing*

Ashley : Ugh! [flashes back to the two] You're right about that. I sense that my partner is in danger. Whatever she is there doing in the real world, we gotta get to meet in Chao World now. I know of a shortcut that could lead me to Chao World, I found this "key" to Chao World [holds up to show a Chao Key in her hand] With this, we'll might know that we would meet Shinra in person. But if you want your treat of licking my...(groans) "Soles" at least, we're going to have a visit to the Chao World as friendly visitors. But this is going to be such a Total Drag.

Penny Crygor : Alrighty then! Let's go! [the two runs off]

Red the Demon : I never thought that I never met the "Shinra" guy before, but I think clearly why would he live in Chao World that is near San Francisco? Does that mean that if...H-Hey, guys! Wait for me! Don't leave me out here! [runs after them] I don't wanna get left alone in the middle of this Iron-Jungle of the Former Prison Island! I've got devilish things to do in the demon world! Please, I'm begging you to not leaving me here! WAAAAIT!

~ 10th Scene : Meeting the Devil ~

[adenial-a]

🔥

      listen . square enix ? has a problem . it has a huge problem with taking things from judaism , and making villians out of it . i mean , the whole world does let's be honest , anti-semitism isn't dead it's still pretty prevalent and on the rise in my country , but i just wanna focus on squeenix's bullshit right now .      i preface this by stating that this is of course a westerner's opinion , and i understand that , but it's also an ashkenazi's opinion so ... bare with me .      the most blatant and obvious one to me , at least , has to deal with ff7 , so i'll use that as an example first before once again talking about ff14 .      a lot of ff7 is based off judaism . not all of it is just villians , which is interesting , like for example the ancient's are a peoples that believed in a holy land that would be delivered to them , i think they even called it a land of milk and honey ( which alludes to jerusalum ) . often times if you see an ancient race , that was displaced from their home , and are treated terribly , it's either about indigenous peoples or it's about jewish people .       and then there's the villian , the most famous ff villian i'd say , sephiroth , who is literally based off the sefirot , the 10 emanations of god from jewish mysticism . the sefirot , to simplify it from what i remember , is how god will make himself manifest to his people . which , is kinda semi cool when you think about how sephiroth is the child and a next evolutionary step for jenova , who ... is jehova , one of the names of the abrahamic god .      one of the ways god makes his will manifest is through his messengers , angels . it all comes together in a nice bow .      that would be cool ! if it wasn't as though we were killed ! a lot ! for our varying beliefs . not just looking at the holocaust , not just the spanish inquisition , but like . i can't even begin to describe the history the jewish people have had to endure of persecution . you get what i'm saying ? dkhjbgfdjhf      anyways , back to ffxiv , i'm gunna once again talk about emet . did you know that emet is tied to judaism ? golems are part of jewish mythology , and they're created in times of great need to protect the people by a rabbi . emet , אמת , means truth . a rabbi will carve that into the golem , and it will bring it to life . emet is also where we learn the truth about amaurot .      after the golem's purpose has been fulfilled , interestingly enough , the rabbi will cross out a part of אמת carved onto the golem's head and turn it into met ,  מת , which means death . which , the seat of emet - selch is a role dedicated to someone who can look into the aetherial sea , into death , and ... hades .      so , it's , very easy to see with that information why i think that emet is really jewish coded ? which , like the use of the information once again is pretty cool , if . it wasn't for the history of making jewish coded characters into villians .      it's very conflicting feelings for me , because i love these connections , but i also hate them . becuase square enix has a huge problem when it comes to this stuff , and . sigh . i'm tired .

[usagi-mitsu]

Werlyt & Gaius - a bunch of thoughts.

I am a little late to the party. I know. But I just finished the Emerald weapon and before I go to try out the „not Zenos“ weapon as in „Diamond“, I need to get my thoughts on the story straight.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by 5.0s brilliant MSQ and cannot appreciate the inherent beauty of at least decent writing any longer. But this felt so wrong and out of tune with the rest of the game. I started writing this 2 hours ago! I wanted to one in bed by now! XD But I had to get it out of my system… so….

Spoilers for the MSQ and Werlyt incoming??? And no I did not re-read this so not just spoilers but also writing errors incoming. -.-

The good

These fights are epic! I have only ever cleared the normal versions, but I loved those. They are amazing. The callbacks to Eula (her being a woman here! When did they discover that???), Regula (may he rest in peace) and Gaius himself in his prime were delightful. But I could do with a little less rotating, ok? A dragoon has positional, you know? And being allowed to pilot my very own mecha was like *chefs kiss*. On that front? Well done Square Enix!

I am also glad they were able to get another use out of Porta Praetora! That place looks amazing with the wide open field and the lake – and Ala Mhigo across it. It was one of my favourite Stormblood areas and I am always glad to return there. And of course… being able to visit the allied camp again… And Werlyt itself. It’s simply a beautiful place. It reminds me very much of southern Greece. If you’ve watched the movie Mamma Mia you know what I mean.

The music too was really nice. But I don’t think I’ll… you know… listen to it on repeat as I am doing with other parts of the soundtrack.

I’ve also loved how much amazing lore we got about Garlemald and especially the garlean military. And the military abroad. The way soldiers not from the mainland get treated. I love learning about these things.

Gaius

The man. The legend. The guy yelling in Prae.

He’s so very boring here. He has so much potential as a character and maybe I’m missing something, but all throughout this story he has been nothing but passive. He’s a reactive character in this storyline. You know. The guy who made deals with Lahabread (the d is intended), tried to take over Eorzea, lead a whole army, stood idly by as the moon dropped, almost died but then decided just not to die and then though „hm… I’ve got so much freetime now. How about I go and hunt some ascians?“ That guy is NOT a reactive character. He is active. He goes out of his way to make shit he wants happen. And in here? He seems too starstruck and devastated by his adopted kids actions to actually have one clear thought.

The only explanation I have is that he might have gotten hit in the head by something on his way to the ruby weapon. I get why he would rely on Cid for help, but the WoL??? The alliance? If you wish to be an ally and help or something, fucking act like it. You were a former legatus and I expect you to live up to your name – even after retiring.

And yeah.. I guess it’s hard having to watch your kids willingly, knowingly dying. But you fucking raised them. You are a big part of the reason to why they are in that predicament. So like… Aside from that I don’t even get why you are in this story at all.

And for the record: I’m not sorry for him. I’m just flabbergasted by all the bullshit we’ve been learning about him.

To be quite honest, I think this story could have worked just as well or maybe even better, if we got another man as the „hero“ of the story. I am talking about none other than our engineering, hammer-swinging, ex-enemy - of course talking about Nero!

The MSQ has long established that his research into the Ultimate Weapon had been taken, twisted and turned – Estinien had to experience this first-hand. I’m not saying that Nero was in need of a redemption arc and I cannot remember if these weapons were of his creation or even stem from anything he did, but it would make so much more sense for me, to have him confront his past in the garlean military like this and be responsible for the death of his former colleagues. Soldiers that he served with, whom he faught with. Give me Nero and them working together to get the weapons going and him bonding with them as his pilots to a degree. Comrades. Not that strange familiar bond that Gaius appareantly has with them. … Scratch that: Let Gaius be the father figure. Him being that wouldn’t change Nero’s relationship with them, but maybe his with Gaius as his superior.

The story wouldn’t even need to try and redeem Nero: He has already gone through major character development with the MSQ and the Omega raid tier. It would simply be Nero, confronted with the things he created, hopefully instilling more morals and a sense of responsibility for his creations. Heck: Let Cid yell at the guy! Seriously! Cid sticking around to help out would make so much more sense if it was Nero instead of freaking Gaius! Cid hated the guy! He might be a professional, but he is not one to torture himself by staying around a guy he (as far as I know) detests.

Make Nero the central figure and give Cid and Gaius the roles of „angel and demon“: One desperately trying to reach out to his old friend, reminding him why they became engineers and trying to make him realise that he can’t just run around designing weapons and leaving the scematics for everyone to read; while the other has trouble letting go of his imperial past and is struggling to see the errors of his ways – if Nero was wrong, than he (Gaius) was wrong too -and of course they did all of this for their home, to further their cause, and to bring peace to the savage lands of Eorzea, who had been fighting amongst themselves for so long… You get the point.

And you could still have these gundam themed fights. But I think everything would make so much more sense in general.

But speaking of which-

The children

I do not truly care for any of them. And that is a shame: I do think there are great characters and dynamics hidden behind these very few cutscenes. When they were first introduced I was wondering why I was suddenly watching „heartwarming“ cutscenes of my foes as children – until I realised that I was supposed to care and that they were supposed to make me feel pity for Gaius. I was supposed to feel bad for him, because they died and he blames himself. But while their fates so far have been gruesome, I cannot say that I am sad they died. They chose to die as they did. There were a myriad more options. And they chose that.

Actually. Their whole story makes me feel like they were huge masochist from the very beginning. They could have just run away and gotten help from someone more competent than them, but they stayed in an abusive military arrangement just so nobody else got hurt?? Please. Use your brains next time. And for the Berserk-like torture scene? I mean. I get what was implied here. But was it necessary? As a writer myself I follow the rule that torture and sexual violence should never be used in a story, unless it must be in there for the story to work or to bring across a vital point important to the story or it’s moral (or if you are writing porn and you are into it – but we are talking official in-game content here). But the violence towards these „children“ seems unnecessary for the plot and the violence of their deaths by piloting the weapons is already gruesome enough. Sometimes it’s better to leave things like this out – the emotional torture of feeling stuck and having a martyrs complex would have been enough here, I think. If the rest of the story had been well written at least.

(I believe my utter lack of sympathy shows how little character developement they had. I love tragic characters, who choose to suffer for the good of other people – even better if those people don’t even like them. It’s just my thing. And those kids are just… well.)

Their reasons and especially why they were making Allie out as the one who would need to survive was also just… weird. Like. I feel like 75% of what happened would not have happened, if they actually talked to each other, used their brains and had done something about their problems. But no…

These characters are also so exchangeable with basic anime/j-RPG character tropes… I only remember Alfonse, Rex and Allie – because I just did the Emerald weapon. And right afterwards I thought, „huh. So… Fullmetal Alchemist?“ Which brings me to my third point …

…the story at large.

„Pacing is a virtue“ or was it patience..? Anyhow: The author of this story should have had more patience with his story and characters and taken a bloody break! And I am not talking about the obvious blunder of „How is Allie feeling?“, „she is in shock and you cannot talk to her“ turning to „oh yeah if you are careful you can talk to her now“. I mean. WTF. That was MAYBE 10-20 in-game minutes of dialogue.

But everything was moving so very fast – and not even in a good way. There are few things better than a fast paced, action rich story about a group of young people trying to safe (their) world. But if you try to cram in two expansions worth of character development and story telling into about two hours of content each patch.. Well, then you get whatever the hell this is.

Gaius is a very interesting character and while I did not understand why they needed to bring him back in 4.4 (?), I do see how he could be a good asset for endwalker. And his involvement in 5.0 with Estinien was just a dear delight. So I am not opposed to learning more about him, to watching his character grow and changed with time. But I am not ready for badly written content of which 50% get told by suddenly induced echo-sequences. I mean – weren’t there rules for the echo at some point???

I’m not sure which one of the devs said it, but the feature that let’s you play an NPC is super convenient for them to tell the story, because before they could only show what happened where the WoL was.

And that’s just it. Rule number 1 in writing anything is „Show don’t tell“. It feels like they literally turned this one around for these cutscenes. While Valens torture and diet-Fandaniel-routine were very much „show“, the rest of the story was one long cutscene of exposition: We get exposition by Cid, by Gaius, by echo, by Gaius and his crew again, then by Allie. Before having to watch scenes we are not there for.

BTW. Dear square Enix: Your writers are capable of writing amazing villains, antagonist and despicable assholes. You don’t have to write „asshole, must die“ on Valens name card. And I also think the „WoL, strike here“ sign above his head was a tad bit too much. Nuance, dear writers. Nuance. Or perhaps I just got spoiled by these last few foes in the MSQ.

When I said I wanted to just be able to punch a bad guy for once and not feel bad about it, I did not mean this! I meant that I just wanted to play training dummy with Danny-Boy.

(Oh! And as far as I’m concerned you can just… sideline Gaius … „would be killer“ and the lady? Make them targetable NPCs with Dialoge to read. Let them stand somewhere accessible and comment on the latest developement. But ffs don’t give me hour long speeches about how you are going to kill Gaius if he does something you don’t like. The guy could and would wipe the floor with you if he felt like it. -.- So. Please. Shut up.)

Conclusion

Basically. I have to finish the Diamond weapon. But I doubt it will change my perception of this story line even in the slightest.

To be perfectly honest though … bringing Gaius back, having this story with and about him, forcing a sort of redemption ark here. It feels like they are really „grooming“ him to be a morally grey ally in Endwalker, with perhaps a big part to play in the endgame. At this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if they pulled a GoT and made him „King in the North“. Or if they had him die a heroic death to save the world, but especially his country. And to do so they need us to think his sacrifice means something. Or that he is the right person to lead Garlemald into a new future (I don’t think he is). But: For one, neither we (the players) nor the characters need to find him worthy of throne or death by heroism for his sacrifice/ascension to work. To be a useful tool for the story, only the other garleans who might oppose the alliance and scions need to deem him or his sacrifice „worthy“. And only they. And Ishikawa-san has all of 6.0 to accomplish whatever the hell she needs him for. He did not need to be the center of his own botched redemption ark. If that’s what they wanted to do. Or maybe I’m looking at this all wrong and all they wanted was to give the writes in training some literal training grounds to test their abilities.

But! On a positive note: I have yet to be told that raids and other side content are canon to any degree. So when playing the next story quests I’ll blissfully ignore all that happened in Werlyt and if it get’s mentioned (because they do that sometimes when you’ve done certain content) I’ll just ignore it.

Happy ignoring! Also: GIVE ME MORE NERO CONTENT!

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Can someone do the Lord’s work and edit Kairi into the ending credits of Melody of Memory? Because it will piss me off until the end of time that she wasn’t in them.

Like, Naminé... as much as it sucks, I can get. Because they don’t have a playable model of her flying in the game--which is bullshit in its own right--but they literally had that for Kairi and then just didn’t use it when they had everyone else! It’s such a fucking slap in the face.

I think it’s supposed to mean that Kairi isn’t at their level yet--which is why she isn’t with them--but one day she will be. But that’s just stupid.

Why would you not include her just in credits of a game that was, arguably, supposed to be her game (at least somewhat), when everyone else is included! Even if you are going for some deep meaning with it, it’s just credits! Who cares?! Don’t take yourself so seriously sometimes, Kingdom Hearts.

It’s times like this where I feel the people who think Square Enix has some sort of vendetta against Kairi might not be wrong. This stuff is just bizarre. I feel like you have to actively try to treat a character this badly for some reason.

And now Naminé’s getting the same treatment, too. Ugh.

[silver-wield]

Now, no matter what, it's the main devs who have the say on FF7R's story (and they're certainly not being ambiguous about a certain topic), but I do find it interesting that the Square Enix marketing team likes to focus on Cloud and Tifa's shared moments, unlike other marketing teams (IGN, Game Awards) that are more focused on trying to fuel the illusionary LTD. Eye-catching, right?

Because ign and those other idiots are NA companies who are still stuck 23 years in past thinking the game is about player choice and they can make their own canon. What made me laugh about those salty dumdums is they're so obvious with their bias. Like the kupo awards for best VA, they gave Briana an honourable mention when Britt won, but then the ign VA award had two female vas from the last of us and the loser didn't get an honourable mention. But you can bet your ass if Britt and Briana were there they'd have forced Britt to share the spotlight. Because anything to do with Tifa can't just be hers, she has to share with Aerith, but Aerith is always treated as the only heroine or main character. Hell, a dumdum called 7r Aerith's dlc under an official tweet and tried to convince se she's more than what they know she is 🤦‍♀️

And then you have SE JP only liking cloti content and using them for their banner

The hearts are added by a cloti, but you can check their twitter and see they've updated their banner to this. There's also a ton of likes for cloti and zerith. Because they only care about canon, and nothing any salty dumdums say will change canon.