#starfield and spiderman

[sapphire-weapon]

it’s FFXVI release day

and i am fucking shocked actually

[sketchupnfries]

Since it's nearing the end of the year, here are some sketches of the games I played in 2023! By far my favorites were the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC, and Jedi Survivor. I'm hoping next year to finally get around to playing Baldur's Gate 3 since I really want to play it. Here's to another year of gaming!

[madame-helen]

[floette777]

PlayStation after seeing the Xbox showcase 2023 and Nintendo direct 2023.

Seriously what was Sony thinking. Besides spiderman That 2023 showcase is terrible.

[gregolwman]

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." - Nelson Mandela

Hey, hey, people, Greg Owlman here. What? Did you expect someone else? Now, I know that it has been nearly a year since last we saw one another, but I have a valid excuse this time. Stuff happened. That's right, this is my excuse, and I am sticking to it. Sufficient to say is that on the Internet, it's best not to give away too much about yourself. However, posting your opinions, whether they are relevant or not, is another matter entirely. Where was I again? Right, I was just about to tell you about our newest offer. A THREE-IN-ONE COMBO PACKAGE, ALL FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. You heard it right folks, its three ideas for one post. A real doozy and a downright steal considering the economy. Not convinced, let me give you a taste of things that might have been.

"I need more photos of Spider-Man!" ; a classic meme about our favorite Web Crawler, but you want to know what's not a classic or favoured by anyone with taste? The answer is the current run of the Amazing Spider-Man title, which it's best described as the Paul Rabin SI/OC story. Dear lord, I can't even call this a narrative let alone a story. Are we sure it isn't Dan Slott writing under a pseudonym? He is doing another Superior WHO run afterwards? Jeez, not only is there another lame fanfiction in official printing, but we also have to deal with the Superior Spider-Man 3: The Revengeance instead of the Amazing Spider-Man 3 for crying out loud. Anyways, let's clean up this mess shall we? First off, no more Paul. Forget he exists and let's assume everything done following the Spider-Man Beyond didn't happen. Peter Parker has finally beaten those allegations and gotten his doctorate, hallelujah. Let's be honest, Peter is nearly in his late twenties and he doesn't need to deal with academics anymore than the rest of us. He is back working at the Daily Bugle again under Robbie as his go-to guy regarding science since it neatly combines two aspects about Spidey, his past working for the press and his love for science. But, Peter wants something more suited towards research and development. Here comes old Norman Osborn, stalking Peter once more since he wants the two of them to work together and is trying to break the ice regarding the fate of baby May Parker. You know Peter and MJ's newborn who supposedly died, but was actually kidnapped by Norman? Yeah, that May. Anyways, besides these things, Peter is facing his biggest challenge yet, which is being content with his life and beginning to find his happiness. Who is he dating, you might ask? Well, the way I see it, Peter might just deal with a burgeoning polyamorous relationship between him, MJ and Felicia, after all if it worked for the X-Men, it will work for these guys. Also, the way I see it, Peter is doing a lot more team-ups this time around rather than being forced to solo it. I want a proper New Avengers reunion, dang it!

Todd Howard at it again with his newest classic, Skyrim IN SPACE! I am not the first to say that Starfield is average at best, but that has to do mostly with the fact that Bethesda kept under wraps and didn't interact with their audience to receive feedback while they could still change the game. But I am not here to rant about the game, there are plenty of people doing that. Instead, I will present my own vision about what it could have been. First of all, I would restrict the number of systems to only a handful, after all quality trumps quantity every time. Second of all, I would move most of the major settlements to one world. That planet being Proxima Centauri b since apparently Alpha Centauri is a bust and we can't blame the Stranger from Outer Wilds regarding cloaking those worlds. If you are curious about how the maps would look like here are some Reddit threads that had the closest things in mind to my idea, the images belong to their respective creators. Here are the links: https://reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/s/ASsmDhI3du and https://reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/s/bVFWQGzk33 . Personally, I would have liked for all recruitable crew members to have a loyalty mission or even some recurring mini quests other than the stuff we needed to do in order to get them. With that in mind, maybe they could have added more dialogue options for the members of Constellation that don't get to interact with the main character as much. Looking at you, Mateo. Or maybe have the same aforementioned treatment, but sadly, old Toady boy decided that it isn't too cash money to implement. Also, am I the only one not really interested with whatever the Freestar Rangers plotline is doing? Sure, exposing the corruption hidden in plain sight within the Collective is all fine and dandy, but maybe we could have gotten something more exciting like uncovering a conspiracy to create psychic super soldiers and agents of a vague, yet menacing, government agency à la Firefly. Would have been way more fun than playing Space Texas Ranger. Speaking of factions, maybe they could have added some benefits to joining them other than getting a nice apartment at the end, like a monthly salary, the ability to skip contraband searches every once in a while or even discounts at affiliated shops for crying out loud. Honestly, at this point maybe it would be better to play Star Sector rather than give you guys idea about modding an economic simulation in a Bethesda game, thereby letting you play the role of a space merchant à la Salvor Hardin from Asimov's Foundation series. The books, not the TV series.

Star Wars is a long way from home. Honestly, a lot of the stuff that Disney has done is a hit or miss, therefore the expanded material such as books and especially comic books have been carrying the franchise moreso than the movies or the shows. If it were up to me, I would just send the Sequels down the way of the dinosaurs, but sadly they are here to stay in all their uncreative glory. Therefore, I will not waste my time or yours with talking about anything after the Original Trilogy in terms of chronology. Oh, dear readers, what I have mind will take us all over the timeline. Honestly, I like the High Republic era, but they could have just said that the Republic lost contact with the Outer Rim territories after the Great Hyperspace Disaster than saying they haven't even been explored yet. Another thing that I liked is Star Wars Visions, which explores various themes and ideas while using the GFFA as background material without necessarily incorporating the stories into the timeline. Where am I going with this? Well, I have been wondering what if there were stories set throughout the Star Wars galaxy that we just haven't heard about and they are canon? I mean, we have a blank slate spanning thousands of years past and future, where we can incorporate our own stories regarding this galaxy far, far away without worrying about existing material contradicting us and these small chapters in the very large book that we call history could have consequences on the movie era stories or even happen long after these events passed. This is an opportunity, that too few authors online that I have seen have taken since most of them prefer to stick to what we already seen. As such, I duly elected myself to notify you about taking this chance by the jugular and see how far you can stretch the material. Have fun!

Now that I have presented my offer, all I can say that it's good to make a comeback even if no one will take notice of it. Also, I will take this opportunity to mention that my last post regarding Star Trek Discovery and how it could have been improved has done better than expected, therefore it would be great if you would spread the love to those other lonely posts of mine. Enough shilling and let's properly end this new chapter in my little corner of the platform.

This has been Greg for Owlman's Previously Owned Ideas. We do not advise you to trust Todd Howard's little lies ever again. We also do no refunds.

[theoutletonmychest]

Created a portfolio blog since Twitter decided to explode right as I tried to use it in a professional capacity.

If you like video game screenshots, and maybe a few videos, give it a follow.

Might even be doing a fun project when Starfield launches, if I can get someone to support me and get me what I need to play it.

Has FF16 spoiler pictures if that matters to you.

It's here.

[luxlightly]

Listen, there were 2 options at these awards: bg3 winning everything or bg3 being robbed of deserved wins. Spiderman game #2547 was never a real contender and any butthurt gamer bros who hate rpgs on principle can die mad about it.

I heard spiderman was fun. I heard the gameplay was fun. It seems like a perfectly good game. But I heard the story was standard "this isn't a story kind of game" quality. And there's nothing particularly new or groundbreaking about it. Same with totk. I played that and it's a very good game.

But neither one is anywhere in the same league as bg3. It's not even a contest. Bg3 is one of those one in a million masterpiece games that shifts the whole industry. It's just such a stand out game and Neil's acting was better than basically any other performance I've seen in my life, game, mocap, voice, or otherwise.

People can complain. Lord knows they will. But there was no contest and if you insist there was, you're lying to yourself.

Also starfield just sucked and everyone knew it. No surprises there.

[juicifrost]

I really want to eat the chunks.

I played about three hours of Starfield yesterday (which is to say I played it up until it CTD'd on me and then I went to bed). I did the first "dungeon," an abandoned research lab overtaken by space bandits, got to the first city, and then walked around and explored it for the rest of the evening. Which is to say I did not play very much of Starfield, mostly of my own accord. Skyrim trained me to play videogames wrong, as a joke. Sarah told me we were about to advance the plot, and I responded, "No the fuck we're not."

This game sure has some Bethesda-ass NPCs. I went into a coffee shop and found a guy who was just absolutely heartbroken that someone he knew had stolen a priceless gem from him, and he told me all the fuck about it. It was a relic from earth, he's obsessed with earth relics, and he had a plate from earth he was willing to part with if the thief would trade it for his gem. When he mentioned this plate, I pictured maybe a nice piece of china, or maybe some kind of plastic novelty plate with a sports team or Spiderman on it, or maybe he was misusing "plate" to mean like the panel of a car or something. But no, it was a generic-ass orangey-yellow dinner plate.

Bethesda NPCs have always been a little janky, a little awkwardly animated, but Starfield has taken that to truly upsetting extremes. Everyone moves like a Chuck-e-Cheese animatronic. It's deeply uncanny, and the level of graphical fidelity doesn't help. When Skyrim's animations looked bad, they looked cartoonish and robotic, like the Honda Asimo -- clearly inhuman, but charming in its attempt to create the facsimile of humanity. When Starfield's NPCs look bad, it's like watching your coworker drop the masquerade and reveal his identity as a skinjob.

Kris Wolfheart made a remark on Twitter not too long ago about people who play videogames to "knock over apples and then stare at them." I think Bethesda's games practically invite you to do that with them, and it doesn't do them any favors. (I don't want to dwell on this specific topic too much; I haven't played enough of the game to critique it along this specific vector.) When you open up your inventory, you're treated to a full-screen render of each item in it, a nice big close-up so you can look at all the details of the fuckin'… empty vape or Capri Sun or rifle you just picked up. The spiders in my brain want to dig onto every residence and shopfront and office and abandoned research outpost and shit I find, look at how their clutter is laid out and just nitpick the shit out of it from an aesthetic and narrative standpoint. Like I said, I don't want to harp on this point too much, but Skyrim and especially Morrowind have taught me some bad habits, and I worry their (read: morrowind's) attention to detail and worldspace design have written a check that Starfield can't cash.

[sokumotanaka]

The post where I get on my soap box about Fable 4's style (but also on the video game industries reliance on realism)

-

Long as post below, also if you disagree know that you don't have to engage with the post, you don't have to argue or have a take on everything. Thanks, now let's move on down!

I'm remembering the recent Fable 4 trailer again and lamenting the lack of stylized art going into it. I've always hated that the video game industry, at least in the west always has to follow the same bog standard "realism" for no real reason or gain. For example looking at starfield most of the companion characters faces never change expression, so you're hanging out with someone like Sarah starfield, that's her full name, Todd coward told me so /sarcasm -

and she always looks like she's got so much cologne in her she can't emote. (Apparently they don't use facial muscles which is such a bethesda thing it's funny.) I heard someone say that if they gave Starfield a stylized different style from Fallout and Elder scrolls that it could give it it's own identity and I couldn't help but agree.

This goes on to my point and franky my argument in fable's lack of style.

(This was the only image of both of the hyper realistic characters I could find in short notice)

I think that Fable should of never "graduated" from it's cartoony/shaded style, the series has always been about kicking chickens and shrek esk humor, sticking to it there's a fairy in the opening, that looks pretty and cute and when she gets grabbed by the frog, her face goes from dainty, to an exaggerated expression you would expect from you know- getting attacked!

(obviously this is the first trailer and we'd get an update a couple of years later.) But it almost feels like they're embarrassed to be goofy or silly! This game- no this series would of been so better going for a Cel shaded look like many old and new games for example: The wolf among us, Hi fi Rush, No more heroes 2 and Ultimate spiderman (ps2) And they still look great despite three of these being older titles sans Hi-fi rush.

Fable would look phenomenal and you can still work with great expressions, exaggerated humor, a unique art style too, something different! ( while also taking it easier on your workers ) Everything looks hyper realistic and it also takes an age to come out because every follicle of hair needs to look great, every wrinkle and hairline has to be perfect, so perfect it can flow in the wind in the same direction as the grass; and that's the problem!

Fable is a comedic medieval fantasy game, and there's no problem with looking realistic, Baldur's gate 3 looks GREAT but it also has the most issues, with characters hair disappearing, or invisible NPCS and other hilarious glitches- that's not a jab, the same game happen in the above but I feel with a stylized look it could be something set aside from the constant hyper real games we constantly keep getting, something new, something with personality and a style that could turn heads! Cringe anime game take below! vvv

Not to bring this up (cause for some reason people get really mad at people even mentioning one of these for some reason) but Persona 5 looks very cel shaded and stylish, Gravity Rush too! And I can't help but wonder how amazing fable could be with such defining artistry and how much cartoony and silly and outlandish things it could get away with, with a more storybook or painterly art style.

And I can't help but see people clearly are drawn to the style of games like South of Midnight and again there's a massive fanbase of the wolf among us, to the point they're making a sequel to the tell tale game as we speak! (for the lack of a better term)

And know this doesn't come off as me saying that if the game is good that it won't matter, I just think games and media as a whole, shouldn't restrict themselves by going for one style or way of presenting themselves; especially western RPGS. This sadly extends beyond fable!

This should be a discussion that goes towards the entire video game industry, I mean look At Beyond good and Evil 1 in comparison to it's sequel in production (I think, it's been YEARS!)

The first obviously has a cartoony style, and this style suits the word and characters! Then its younger sibling looks expressive to a degree but I mean- we can tell why it's taking so long to come out, making indivisual worlds, and trying to apply realism to a world with animal people and future tech is a recipe for crunch!

We shouldn't have to stick to one style, just because it's become the norm in the industry, the point of the industry, should be to make video games and to experiment and try something new cause making video games IS an art!

[dustward]

It's interesting how Elden Ring was the big pivotal game of last year because it was open world Dark Souls - you know, a series largely perceived as unapproachable. Suddenly every soulsborne fan and many, many more outside of that circle fell into playing that game and it basically became the game of 2022.

This year saw three highly anticipated open world ventures and none of them came close to Baldur's Gate 3. Zelda's fanbase is likely permanently divided after botw2 doubled down on taking the series in a completely different direction. Even the usual Bethesda mod scene is struggling to commit to Starfield. Spiderman 2 seems to have faired the best without any major problems, but for whatever worth you'd consider it - it was 0/7 at those funny little game awards while the more narratively focused Alan Wake 2 thrived.

The thing that's especially ironic about Alan Wake 2 garnering so much attention instead is that it's become something of a mini-mcu situation via the "remedyverse," where playing Alan Wake 1, Control, and their dlcs is highly recommended (and if you want to hard commit, American Nightmare + Quantum Break). What's more? People are doing it! Alan Wake 1 is admittedly a bit of a slog to get through, but people are very much open to diving into it all the same, knowing the payoff that awaits.

This could be nothing, but I'm kinda hoping it's a sign that open world gaming has peaked and we can start shifting focus away from a genre that's gotten a bit too bloated (well, GTAVI will have its day but after that one). Guess we won't know for sure till the next zelda, spiderman, and bethesda games release in 2028~2030.

[sawsomethings]

Starfield Shoot for the Moon: And it Can't Miss

In a rare display of punctuality, the surprising smash hit Baldur's Gate 3 was actually meant for an original September release date. Michael Douse, Larian Studios’ Director of Publishing, was quoted in a press release, saying that the reason for this change was to avoid 'holding back the PC version when we knew we’d be ready,' adding that doing so 'felt like the wrong move in such a busy launch period.'"

2023 is still bracing for a barrage of AAA titles begging for gamer TLC. We've got Spiderman 2, Alan Wake 2, yet another Assassin’s Creed game (because we needed that), and the sixth game in the long-rested Armored Core series.

But there's one game that stands out. One game that made Larian sacrifice five weeks of potential polish for their PC release. A fresh cosmic vista for players to explore.

That game, dear readers, is Starfield.

Starfield is Bethesda's latest attempt to regain trust after two decades of building brand awareness and a reputation for... let's call it "unique" quality control. Both the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series are central to the studio's DNA, but with Starfield, Bethesda has a chance to make us forget the buggy, broken, and greedy releases of the past.

Remember Fallout 76's disaster of a rollout? Or the hollow shell of a game that was Redfall? Yeah, Bethesda's reputation isn't exactly sparkling.

But hey, maybe Starfield will be different.

I've got my gripes with Bethesda's writing quality, but that's subjective. What's not subjective is the comparison between Larian Studios' storytelling capabilities and Bethesda's. Gamers are expecting a lot from Starfield, and so is Xbox, its new boss. With reports of Game Pass’ stagnation, Starfield is not just desired; it's expected to bring in new players.

So keep an eye on Starfield and its critical reception. It could spell the trajectory for Bethesda Studios, and possibly, the games industry as a whole. Or it could be another broken promise. Only time will tell

[cruisinmississippin]

According to Wrapped from each console - Ive played atleast 180+ games since Covid and wow I idt I had to go that hard for a hobby or pursuit.

No regrets tho because I fell in love hard with the Elder Scrolls series, that it sjsgshsgsh yeah idk how to describe it really. But it was prolly better or equally as enjoyable as childhood, yall. Nuff said.

But still tho- was it really all that necessary to get all the consoles from Playstation, Nintendo, n then the PC? Mf was bored in quarantine n started scouring the net for 100 best games of all time list, n then 200, n then ughhh.

Which is why Ive been branching out now because things have slowed down a lot for video games - itll be a while til they come up with GTA 6, Elder Scrolls 6, n what else, ya know? Jyeah just the S tier games.

Im retiring til big studios come up with game changing titles so till then ill get obssesed with figuring out things by ear on whatever music I find witty.

The new Spiderman n Starfield can go stay in a corner somewhere cause im sure they wont be anywhere near as legendary. At best theyre probably A tiers. I aint comin back til RDR2 mya level of creation. Tht sht is game of the decade, not even the year.

[ayuranslounge]

Unfortunately gamers are a demographic with poor impulse control and very little interest in discovering things outside their comfort zone.

We see this with d4 being the best advertisement for poe.

People calling spiderman 2 or Starfield the best game ever, while baldur's gate 3 is sitting right there... because they never heard of bg3 and eeew turn based combat?!

Add to that the campaigns from studios and publishers calling for people to "support the devs" and you end up with people believing that a cash shop, battle pass, season pass, day 1dlc are normal and needed...

I wouldn't put all the blame on individuals, but also the corporate greed, or the standard set for "free" gaming.

Now we get apple charging .53c per download per year in the eu regardless of whether you make money or not. Regardless of whether you upload it to the app store or not.

it really is unbelievable that gamers aren't the most anticapitalist demographic ever. like imagine if mobile game devs had their needs met and could make actual videogames instead of brainless filler between ads for other games that are also brainless filler between ads. imagine if games didn't need to be shoved out the door a year before they're ready filled with microtransactions because shareholders wanna see a line go up. imagine if studios were owned and run by the people making the games and not business bros who have never touched a videogame. how is this not an automatically won battle

[thathomestar]

the full report card, click here for a full size pic

looking forward to:

doom eternal

devil may cry 5

sekiro: shadows die twice

resident evil 2 remake

keeping an eye on:

spider-man

trials rising

my friend pedro

death stranding

ghosts of tsushima

babylon’s fall

skull and bones

smash 4 switch

where the fuck is

serious sam 4

wonderful 101 switch port

ace combat 7

quake champions release date

EA: it was fucking nothing

Microsoft: had arguably the best showing this year solely because of the sheer amount of multiplatform games shown off. the DMC5 reveal stole it for me, and i was never bored between games that much. lots of neat stuff throughout the conference. what the fuck is halo infinite. why did anyone think a funko pop gear mobile game was something anyone wanted. it was at the very least entertaining.

Bethesda: i came for one thing and one thing only: a sequel to new doom. they show me doom eternal. i am satisfied. besides that, bethesda had a neat lineup. the andrew wk thing was fucking hilarious. getting deets for fallout 76 was good, the TES phone mobile game is at the very least interesting. i’m still not interested in rage 2, but i’ll probably play it eventually anyway. starfield could be cool, and i’m glad TESVI is a thing.

Devolver: expected a meme, got a meme. i was really hoping they would show off more games (LIKE FUCKING SERIOUS SAM 4), but getting metal wolf chaos is an ok trade off.

Square Enix: it was fucking nothing

Ubisoft: i missed the first 20 minutes of the conference because of work, tuned in to see a guy ride a minibike to the stage and then destroy a podium. the new trials game looks good, i might actually pick it up eventually. the pirate game might be neat, but we’ll see. nothing else they showed was interesting to me. i’ve given up on ever liking assassin’s creed ever again.

PC Gaming Show: yakuza on pc was a nice surprise, even if they have denuvo drm tied to them. rest of it was a shitshow. i spent more time workshopping jokes in the discord voice channel then actually watching the show. long like the drake duck

Sony: the first half was a shitshow. i do not and will never give a shit about TLOU so the entire first part of the show was boring. guy on a banjo followed by an extremely scripted sequence of gameplay followed by 30 minutes of stalling on stream before they show the next game. thanks to audio issues on the streams, it killed the impact of ghosts of tsushima’s gameplay reveal. the rest of the show was okay i guess. RE2make looks fucking baller and spiderman looked better than it did last year. death stranding was neat to see but that just needs to come out already. i don’t remember anything else.

Nintendo: i seriously, legitimately would have bought a switch right then and there if they had showed wonderful 101 during this direct. but they didn’t. instead, new mario party and fire emblem! whee. smash 4.5 ft. ALL THE WARRIORS was cool to see. i appreciate snake being back. still not buying a switch until i see wonderful 101.

[imjustthemechanic]

The French Mistake

Part 1/? - A Visitor Part 2/? - The Kulturhistorisk Museum Heist Part 3/? - Cutscene Part 4/? - The Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 5/? - Breathless Part 6/? - Escape at Last Part 7/? - Fox in Socks Part 8/? - Things Go Wrong Part 9/? - Downey and Out Part 10/? - Road Trip Part 11/? - Temptation Part 12/? - An Awful Reunion Part 13/? - Unreality Intrudes Part 14/? - A Call for Help Part 15/? - Loki’s Guests Part 16/? - Stan Lee Cameo Part 17/? - Reassessment Part 18/? - Midnight Invasion Part 19/? - Elevator Fight Part 20/? - Courage Part 21/? - Unwelcome Back Part 22/? - Darkest Hour Part 23/? - They Are Here Part 24/? - The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Part 25/? - Word of God Part 26/? - Avengers Assembled Part 27/? - The Houston Underground Part 28/? - Houston has a Problem Part 29/? - Onward and Upward Part 30/? - The Chi’Tauri Queen Part 31/? - Through the Wormhole

I’d hate to disappoint kiralamouse.

The first plan that occurred to Steve was the self-sacrificing wanker one – he could crash the Leviathan.  That would probably kill them all, but it would take the queen with them…

That wasn’t what they were trying to accomplish here, though.  Their whole purpose was to get back home alive.  There was self-sacrificing, and then there was self-defeating.

Suddenly something moved on the console.  The screen Steve had been using to navigate shrank into a corner, and another open popped up.  This was the point of view of one of the remaining soldiers, and it was looking at a tablet, being held up by a terrified NASA employee.

The image was of Ochoa, standing in front of a metal door that Steve recognized as the same type in the tunnels of the Houston underground.  She was still filthy and sweaty, but she had washed her face and was standing up tall, with Colleen and Kevin on each side of her.

“This is Ellen Ochoa, director of the Johnson Space Center,” she said, “and I have a message for you, visitors from space.  You said we have no heroes, but you made two big mistakes.  The first was assuming we can’t make our own wormholes. It just so happens that Dr. Kevin Farinas here is one of the world’s experts.”  Next to her, Kevin held up her drawing of the inner workings of her wormhole machine.  They did look very technical and impressive.  “You may have some of the Avengers,” Ochoa went on, “but we have the rest!”

The metal door behind her rolled up, and a group of figures stepped out.  They were brilliantly backlit and at first it wasn’t possible to see anything but their silhouettes, but those were in themselves familiar.  The stuntmen representing Steve, Thor, and Natasha were not there, but Elizabeth Olsen was, and Jeremy Renner, and Colonel Rhodes, whose actor’s name Steve hadn’t caught.  Spiderman was there – that must be Donny – and Sebastian Stan, dressed as Bucky complete with a special sleeve to represent his mechanical arm, and Pietro, who must have arrived late but there he was, alive and whole.  And finally, Bob Downey, dressed in a tailored suit and red sunglasses that were perfectly Tony Stark.  He stepped up beside Ochoa and took the glasses off.

“That second mistake she mentioned?” he said.  “That was assuming we wouldn’t come for our team-mates.  Avengers,” he turned and pointed at the others.  “Assemble!”

With that, the video was over.

It would never work, Steve thought.  Even with the re-write, the Chi’Tauri would know now that it was a bluff, a distraction.  Just for a split second, however, the queen stopped, staring at the screen and trying to figure out what importance to attach to it.

A split second was all Natasha needed.  She kicked out and hit the pink gem on the queen’s belt.  The force field protecting her flickered and died.  Loki grabbed the end of the staff weapon the queen had taken from him, its shaft still in her hand, and set it off.  The bolt went right through her arm, severing it at the shoulder.  She shrieked and dropped Thor and Natasha, and Loki jammed the muzzle end of the weapon into the bloody stump and fired again, directly into the queen’s flesh.  This shot went right through her and out the other side, spattering Thor with blue-black gore, and the queen collapsed.  Steve had to dive out of the way to avoid her massive body coming down on top of him. Natasha rolled under the console and curled up, preparing to be crushed.

The corpse hit the console, slid a bit, and pushed against the control stick.  The Leviathan rolled over and went into a dive.

Steve dragged himself upright again and tried to push her off.  Thor, on the other side, attempted to pull.  Natasha, trapped under the edge of the console, joined Steve in pushing, and after a moment Loki dropped the staff weapon and did as well.

“You cannot blame me for breaking this!” Thor said.

“Don’t you two dare start!” Natasha ordered.

Warnings blared all around them as they dropped, but the queen’s body was literally dead weight, and it refused to move.  Steve could barely believe this was happening. He felt as if he were outside himself, watching this all go on in slow motion from a million miles away.  They couldn’t have survived everything so far, from the movie set to ruining their alternates’ lives and careers to fighting the Chi’Tauri, only to die in a stupid, stupid accident only moments after they’d won.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the screen with the starfield on it.  There was an icon in the corner like a pulsating circle, spinning end over end. They had nothing to lose now – no harm in experimenting.  He reached up and touched the icon.

It shrank to a point and vanished, and there was a flash of light.  A blue sizzle passed through the cockpit of the Leviathan, bringing with it a prickling sensation and a metallic taste in the mouth, and then suddenly they were weightless.

Zero gravity was not a sensation Steve had felt before, and it was a deeply disorienting one.  His gut told him he was falling, but the air around him was perfectly still.  Loki, who’d still been pushing on the queen, was thrust backwards by his own efforts and set spinning in the air.  Thor, pulling from the other side, could no longer keep his feet on the ground, and grabbed the queen’s arm to keep from floating away.  Natasha squirmed out from under the console and hung there in midair, waving away globs of dark blue blood that were now floating freely.

“I think I just activated the wormhole,” Steve told her.

“Oh, really?” she asked, her face perfectly, sarcastically neutral.

“Yes,” Steve said.  “As a matter of fact.”

The star map screen had now grown larger, to take the place of the front view.  Steve couldn’t identify any of the stars they were seeing, but he wondered…

“Do you think we’re back in our own universe?” he asked.

“We’re certainly not back in our own bodies,” Loki observed.

Like the rest of them, the body of the queen was now floating gently, leaving the controls once again accessible.  Steve took the column and flew the Leviathan in a wide arc, hoping for a look at what was behind them.  He was out of the habit of formal prayer, but in the back of his mind he was murmuring please, God, please… please let him find himself looking down at Earth.  His own Earth, where he was, or had once been, Captain America.

Stars rolled by.

Steve’s hopes sank slowly.  It looked like there was nothing out here… just the black void in all directions.  Then he realized that stars were winking out in one part of the view, and back in a moment later… there was an object there.  Multiple objects.  Multiple big, dark, symmetrical objects, floating out there in space.

The Leviathan’s computer recognized them.  Outlines appeared on the screen of giant ships with smaller companions, and Steve realized they were looking at an entire armada. There were at least six of the big vessels and too many of the small ones to properly count… and here were Steve and the others with their one relatively tiny ship, in bodies that had barely survived four Chi’Tauri.  Who knew how many thousands more were waiting for them out here.

Stark had said that he’d seen what was coming on the other side of the wormhole over New York.  Was this it?  No wonder the man was scared to death.  Scared enough to do anything, even try to use the Mind Stone, if he thought it might save the world from this.

“Steve,” said Natasha, her voice calm but wavering very slightly, “whatever you just did, I think it would be a good idea if you did it again backwards.”

“What if we crash into the ground?” asked Steve.

“Then I guess we crash into the ground,” said Nat.

He reached for the circle icon, which had reappeared in the corner of the screen, but then suddenly the starfield flicked back to being a side image rather than a focus, and a different screen took its place. This one was for communication, and it showed another Chi’Tauri queen even more ornately armored than the last one, draped with metallic cloth and, Steve realized a moment later, much, much bigger.  The tips of staves were visible on either side of her, and the tops of guards’ heads that barely came up to her waist.  She was nearly twenty feet tall.

Steve and Natasha, Loki and Thor all pulled themselves off to the sides or ducked under the edge of the console, hoping they would not be seen.  Perhaps they were not, but there was nowhere to hide the dead body of the smaller queen. It was plainly visible, floating inertly along with its own severed arm.

Other screens lit up, and Steve heard noises as machinery came to life.  The bigger queen vanished again and the star map returned, but this time it had a blinking crosshair on an outer corner of the nearest mother ship.  For a moment they seemed to be standing still, and then Steve saw a few more stars vanish behind the outlines.  They were moving towards the armada.

The group exchanged some glances.  They were all injured to various degrees, beaten and bruised and exhausted.  Nobody felt capable of another fight.

Loki reached out and retrieved the staff weapon, which was floating nearby.  He checked it, and then nodded.  “Still has a charge,” he said.

“Thor,” said Natasha.  “Let’s get some more weapons.”

“I’ll see if I can disengage the autopilot again,” said Steve.

He’d done that before just by pushing hard enough on the steering column, so he tried it again.  It was much more difficult now.  In the lack of gravity he couldn’t push against the floor, so when he tried to rotate the controls he ended up rotating himself.  He had to tuck his knees under the edge of the console for leverage, and then pushed as hard as he could, but it did nothing. The mother ship had control and was not going to relinquish it.

Thor and Natasha returned, and Nat handed Steve a plasma rifle.  It was, as Loki had discovered on the ground, surprisingly heavy.  If Steve had been fighting humans, he would have wanted to use it as a club rather than a gun.  His arm was just barely long enough to reach the firing mechanism inside, and he understood why Loki had found it so awkward to aim.

“Where’s that force field switch?” asked Nat.

“Here.”  Loki showed it to her, on the bottom of the device.  “Just remember that it will not fire with the field activated.”

“Got it,” said Nat.

The mother ship was looming very large in the viewscreen now, like the Death Star dwarfing the Millennium Falcon.  Steve wondered how big it was.  It had to be at least the size of Manhattan.  If one of these had come through to Earth, SHIELD’s helicarriers would have looked like mosquitos buzzing around it.

“My friends,” said Thor, “it will be an honour to die by your sides.”

“I would have counted it a greater honour not to have died at all,” Loki observed.

“Same,” said Nat.

Distant sounds echoed through the structure of the Leviathan as it docked.  Steve heard metal scrape on metal, clicks and thumps of things sliding into place, and then with a final dull, reverberating clang, the gravity came back on.  The queen’s body hit the cockpit floor with a sound like dropping an enormous leather coat, and Steve squeaked as he came down on his bad ankle, but quickly silenced himself again.  Everybody double-checked their weapons, and Steve observed that he was proud of them – all of them, including Loki.  They had no fight left in them, but they were going to keep fighting anyway.

Something below them rumbled.  It must have been a door open.  Perhaps it was the Leviathan’s mouth.

Heavy, leathery footsteps were heard, very loud now that the motion of the Leviathan had ceased.  The ladders creaked.

The first soldier poked its head through the entrance on Steve’s left.  Natasha took aim and shot it in the face.  It dropped out of sight again, with a series of cries and thumps that suggested it had fallen on top of several of its fellows.  A second soldier popped up on the right.  Loki blasted it with the staff weapon.

The Chi’Tauri were not stupid, though – the next ones that appeared had their force fields on.  That meant they couldn’t shoot, but they also couldn’t be shot, and Steve and the others would have to take them on hand-to-hand.  Thor tried Steve’s move from the foyer at the Johnson Space Center, throwing himself at a Chi’Tauri’s legs to knock it down.  This worked, but the next alien behind it grabbed him and held him off the floor by one leg.  Loki slashed with the staff weapon’s bladed end and stabbed one Chi’Tauri in the belly, but another one wrested it from his hands with ease.

It didn’t take long, just a few desperate, panicky, painful seconds.  None of them were capable of putting up a decent fight in their current state. Steve, too, was lifted off the ground. His captor snarled at him, and Steve could only hope that wherever he was now, Chris Evans would forgive him.

[darkspellmaster]

E3 2018 Thoughts on Bethesda

Second weakest presentation I thought in regard to how the set up was. Andrew WK did a great job with his song for Rage 2, but man, no one knew what to do and the audio made it hard to hear. Also the presenters jokes were…um…not that great. Plus though was the line about "fuck Nazis on every platform possible." Really liked that one.

Rage 2… I have no idea what is going on in that…because I couldn’t see any of the screens because it stayed on Andrew. While I appreciate that factor for seeing a great singer, I wanted to know what they were putting out for it. Maybe next time intersperse the singing and the on screen video? Again I never played the first Rage, so I have no idea what is going on with this one. I will say that having the very tall developer who was nervous and the average developer on stage was visually amusing in a Loony Toons kind of way, but seemed that something didn’t click right regarding the timing of the trailer and their talking. 

Finally got to see the trailer and I have to laugh about something regarding this trailer. So you got to see game play as the Ranger Character Walker, and I can already see issues coming out with the vehicles in regard to the camera. I’m sure that’s going to be worked on till it has to go gold. The other thing was that it seemed to be a cross between Mass effect and maybe Doom, and possible other games of a similar nature...Reboot’s episode that became the Mad Max Fury Road Movie...that’s it. Also nice movement from cut scene to playable moment, sound track sounds great. 

Funny moment...So I’ve been watching Troy Baker and Nolan North on their Youtube series playing video games. It’s rather funny and enjoyable to watch. Mind you these are old games, so retro. Anyway...Walker seems to be voiced by Nolan, and all I kept thinking was of his struggle to beat the Spiderman Atari game, and began to wonder if somehow parts of Walker’s days, when he’s not out killing things, are spent chilling out trying to beat old Atari Spiderman games. Just something amusing. 

Side note...I do want that talking head for some odd reason. 

Doom Eternal is coming out…yay? Not a Doom player, so I can’t say much on this. It’s nice to see the old suit back on, although my gut is telling me this may be an online thing like Microsoft’s new Halo game will be. 

Prey was an interesting game that actually got into your head and showed a lot about your character and person given it’s story. Prey MoonCrash should be an interesting one dealing with Mimics, and it looks to be a game of Hide and Seek. Not sure what else to say about it other than, find the Mimic. and also a VR game that will be coming out. I kinda felt bad for the presenters when their jokes didn’t land. 

Hey look we get an expansion to Wolfenstein II, Wolfenstein II: Youngblood. We’re going to play the twin daughters of the lead character from the latest game. Awesome. We’re going to be in Paris. Very cool. We’re going to be fighting Nazi’s again. Rockin! We got no game play…crap. While the trailer looked cool, I would like to know more about it before I put down my money on this. Also...co-op...am I going to die a lot...I think I’m gonna die a lot. 

Hey we have more expansions to Elder Scrolls online…Okay, and Scrolls Legends are getting stuff…alright…Oh and now you can play a mobile game of Elder Scrolls called Elder Scrolls Blades that you can play with one hand, and you can do it while you’re in a meeting with a boss. Yeah that really inspires confidence in your co-workers who are not fiddling on the phone. Does Blades look good, yeah, but I’m not downloading. If you like that, go for it.

Oh and if you haven’t gotten enough of Skyrim Very Special Edition, that you can now play on you Alexa….Bethesda, I think you’ve milked this game enough…although it was very funny, and you can actually play this…Yeah I’m Skyrimed out.

So what else do you have…Well we have a new Fallout Game that we debuted just a few Hours ago at Microsoft’s presser.

Fallout 76 had my attention for a bit. I loved the idea of it being an early story, the location using West Virginia was a nice change of pace from random locations, and certainly looked gorgeous in design. And the choice of song brought a tear to my eye due to Whisper of the Heart, but I like the song Country road. And the use of the urban legends and folk lore in that area came to light in the monsters and creatures that you run into. All awesome…until we get to the fact that you can get your hands on Nukes…um….why? How? What for…? Then the big reveal, oh by the way it’s all online with other people playing with you…And there went my enthusiasm for the game. At least the servers can be locked for just friends, but playing Fallout as a GAAS is going to be annoying because you can Nuke each other, which is something I pointed out with Skull and Bones. You have assholes who ruin the fun, and when they’re around you’re screwed. Also not a single player game, though you can play it solo…yeah….pass for me.  Also game play was basically walk out of your room in the vault. Fun?

Lastly we had two very short trailers for a new game coming out called Starfield…which made  me go, “what?” when I saw it. We see space, we see a planet, and we see a station…then a blast of white light and what looks like a hole and warping to some place…but that’s it. So not much on that front…

Oh and we’re finally getting an new Elder Scrolls game, Elder Scrolls VI. When is it coming, we don’t know, what does it look like, not much given it’s a landscape and a castle. Other then that, we got nothing. There are some hints that it might be a bit like Fallout 76, so I’m holding my breath on this. Given the way it was talked about...please don’t make this an online game...please. 

Over all I’d say a C for this presentation. Jokes didn’t always land, the videos, while nice, felt like someone was asleep at the wheel. While it was great to hear Andrew WK playing, the stream I was didn’t let me hear him properly so I couldn’t tell what he was singing. Nice Trailers, but I do think they need to work on the jokes. Glad to see the teams though getting shout outs.