#the dialogue prompts still pop up too early causing skipping

[galedekarios]

it only took them [checks notes] 7 months but the blanket they promised in patch 3 is finally here

[wlntrsldler]

Toothpaste Kisses (Bucky Barnes Imagine)

PROMPT: The reader is superstitious and she discovers something when she tries a folklore. 

WARNINGS: kinda a plot twist? a lot of dialogue, that’s new for me, best friend tony, smitten bucky

A/N: The title has no correlation to the actual prompt I was just listening to Toothpaste Kisses by the Maccabees and it reminded me of sunshine and love and this is what this imagine gives me. 

-

“Y/N,” Tony scoffed, tinkering with one of his suits again. “You are one of the most brilliant scientists I’ve ever worked with and you mean to tell me, you’re superstitious and believe in fairytales.”

“Folklores.” You corrected, pushing the glasses up from the tip of your nose. “And yes, I am proudly superstitious and I believe in magic. I work with the goddamn Avengers and I’m friends with the God of Thunder and God of Mischief, for crying out loud! Anything is possible at this point.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “The Avengers all have a scientific explanation to all of us. Thor and Loki are different. Shakespeare in the park, I say.”

“Tony, just please take me out to the field.” You begged, growing impatient with your boss’s lack of understanding. 

“Truly, Y/N, you surprise me.” He replied, throwing one of his pens at you from across the table. “I cannot believe you still don’t know how to drive.”

You were about to hit him back with a snarky comment about how he never gives you the time to practice how to drive so you never learned, when a voice interrupted the two of you. “I’ll take you, Dr. Y/L/N.” 

Your cheeks flushed at the familiar voice. Bucky Barnes. 

You met him when Steve first brought him into the compound. You were assigned to be his medical doctor, supplying him with meds and injections when needed. How you managed to stay upright and not melt at the sight of the beautiful super-soldier remains a mystery to you until this very day. 

Tony smirked at you, eyebrows raising suggestively. Tony may be your boss but he also doubled as your best friend who you tell everything to. It wasn’t like you even had to tell him anything. He knew you like the back of his hand. The minute you started to tense up when Bucky walked into the room and how your cheeks grew embarrassingly pink under his gaze, Tony knew right away. “Barnes! Thanks for offering. Y/N, he can take you.”

“Tony, shut the hell up.” You muttered under your breath, not wanting to turn around as you heard Bucky walk closer to the table where you worked. 

“I’ll be glad to,” Bucky sat on the chair right beside you, turning his body to face you in the swivel chair. “Where we going, Doc?”

You let out a shy chuckle, rubbing the back of your neck with your palm. “Bucky, it’s okay. I was just trying to give Tony a hard time. I’m sure you have plenty of other things you should be doing, anyway.”

“I insist.” Bucky smiled. Dear God, he is perfect. “Where are we going?”

“If you say so,” You breathed out, eyes focused on your tablet. You always found it hard to look Bucky in the eye after the one incident where you literally tripped over your own feet when his blue eyes met yours. “I wanted to go to the field today and pick some flowers.”

“Sounds like a plan. What time do you want to leave?”

“I should be done here in about an hour.” You chewed on your bottom lip, staring at the clock ticking on the corner of the room. “That good with you?”

“Perfect.” Bucky got up from the chair, placing a hand on your shoulder to get you to look at him. You obliged and instantly regretted it. His features were so defined under the light and he was so close to you. You gulped, mouth slightly agape. “I’ll come back over here in an hour to pick you up.”

You gave a small nod, holding in the whimper in your throat. He just flashed you another one of his award-winning smiles, completely oblivious to what he does to you, and made his way out of the room. Once Bucky was out of ear shot, Tony bursted out laughing.

“You’re a fucking ass, you know that?” You glared, hitting Tony on his bicep. “I fucking hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” He snorted, stifling his laughter to get through the conversation. “I just got you a date with Barnes.” 

“‘s not a date.” 

-

“So what are we here for, Dr. Y/L/N?” Bucky asked, leaning over to turn the music down from the car radio. He rolled down the windows, letting the scent of fresh, country air fill his senses. The sun was beginning to set in your front view, making the sky a perfect blend of yellows and oranges. “You experimenting with nature for the cure for cancer?”

You sat with one leg tucked under the other, elbow propped up on the window. You looked to your left to take a look at Bucky. He was already staring at you, sunglasses resting on his head, pushing his hair back. You giggled at his question, not missing the way his eyes lit up at your reaction to his joke. “No, I’m not. We’re here for personal reasons.”

“Too personal to share?” His eyes drifted to the road for a second before returning back to you. One hand gripped the wheel while the other tapped mindlessly to the beat of the song playing in the background.

“It’s actually pretty stupid.” You confessed, suddenly growing self-conscious of your reasoning. It wasn’t just Tony who made fun of you for your superstitions. The rest of the team often made playful jokes about it, with the exception of Bucky and Steve who were too polite to say anything. Of course, you knew it was all just for fun, often you’d join in on it, but it still made you feel a bit awkward when people talked about it. “You know how I love learning about and trying folklore?”

“Mhm.” 

“Well, I heard one that’s supposed to help you meet your soulmate.” You explained, beaming up at him. You haven’t been able to truly talk about it in detail because Tony would scoff and change the subject every time you tried to bring it up. You didn’t blame him. You two shared a bond through science, folklore and superstition was not up his alley. “I needed to get seven different types of flowers for it to work so here we are.”

“You meet your soulmate?” He asked, genuinely intrigued by the idea. “How do you do that?”

“Well, you don’t really meet them.” You started, twisting your body to angle towards him. He was slowing down, recognizing the familiar off-road path to the field. “They come to you in a dream. You put the flowers under your bed while you sleep and they pop up. I wanted to try it, seemed interesting.”

Bucky pulled into the small area, putting the car in park. He unbuckled his seatbelt and faced you, “Can you pick some flowers for me too? I kinda wanna try it.”

You looked at him, “Why don’t we pick some together?”

The sun was still partially up, the darkness of the night not being too prevalent yet. You grabbed the basket you brought with you from the backseat and exited the car. Bucky was standing in front of the car, staring off into the field of wildflowers. 

This was one of your favorite areas. The team had a picnic here one time and you fell in love with it since. If the team couldn’t find you, they knew you somehow made your way over here to detach from the hectic life of working with the Avengers. You’d disappear here for hours at a time, getting lost in the sea of words in your novel and with the scent of nature. 

You motioned for Bucky to follow you as you walked across the grassy field. You leaned down to pluck some wildflowers along the way, placing them gently on your clothed basket. Bucky watched you skip happily, smiling to himself as you stopped ever so often to smell the flowers around you. Bucky had seen you in this field once before, when Tony ordered him to pick you up for the day. He saw you, laying on your stomach, eyebrows knitted as you turned a page in the book you were reading. You looked at peace, very different from how you looked at work. 

But seeing you now, almost carefree in nature, was a new side to you that Bucky absolutely adored. He knew it was unprofessional, falling for his doctor, but he couldn’t help it. You were breathtaking. He could never wrap his head around the fact that you were a woman of science and technology but still believed in fairytales and happy endings. You were surrounded by so much gloom in life, yet you managed to muster up the courage to believe in the good. Bucky loved that. 

“Y/N,” He called out, jogging a bit to catch up to you. “I have a question.”

“What’s up?” You turned around, cocking your head to the side. Bucky looked down at the basket, foolishly grinning when he saw that there were definitely more than fourteen flowers in your basket. You blushed, “Yeah, I got a little carried away.”

“Here, I’ll hold it for you.” Bucky reached over to take the basket from you. Your hands touched in the process, causing his heart to swell at the sensation. He was whipped for you. Absolutely smitten. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. He cleared his throat, trying to relieve himself from the awkwardness that followed. “I was wondering, what if someone already met their soulmate?”

“Well,” You started, thinking about it for a second. “Then they’re one of the lucky ones.”

You turned back around to continue your hunt for flowers, completely oblivious to the fact that Bucky was asking for his own sanity. He was praying to the heavens and to the Gods above, if there ever was such a thing, for you to be the one to surprise him in his dreams tonight.

-

Bucky was upset the following day when the folklore didn’t work on him. He knew that these things rarely worked but he got his hopes high for this one. He fell asleep with the flowers under his pillow, hoping that you came to visit him in his dreams. When the sun peeked through his curtains and he realized you never came, he huffed disappointedly and walked down to the kitchen to get some breakfast. 

Tony was sitting at the head of the dining table, coffee in one hand and a tablet in the other. He cocked an eyebrow upon seeing Bucky’s disheveled state, “You good there, Manchurian Candidate?” 

“Too early for this, Tony.” Bucky replied, mixing his coffee to retreat back into his room.

“What crawled up your ass today?”

“I tried Y/N’s soulmate thing,” He sighed, leaning over the counter. He rubbed his eye with his flesh hand, trying to wipe away the tiredness from his body. “Let’s just say it didn’t work.”

“Maybe because it’s fake,” Tony laughed, taking a sip from his coffee. “And even if it did work, your brain’s been fried like a hundred times. I doubt that would work on someone like you.”

Bucky pondered Tony’s statement for a few minutes. It did make sense that it wouldn’t work on someone like him, given the fact that he was heavily brainwashed and tortured for years. His mind probably put up walls to prevent any other mind-altering revelations. He mumbled, “I’m going back to my room.” 

You came into the kitchen thirty minutes after Bucky left, face as red as ever. You were glad to see Tony still there, sipping his third cup of coffee, unbeknownst to you. You pulled out the chair next to him and turned his tablet off. 

“Wow, I totally wasn’t doing anything important there,” He grumbled, placing the tablet down on the table, face down. “What’s got you in a mood?”

“You know that soulmate thing,” You said, palms rubbing together in nervousness as you explained. “So I tried it.”

“Let me guess, it didn’t work?”

“No,” Your eyes widened, scoping out the room to make sure nobody was around to hear you. “I saw my soulmate.”

“Yay!” He cheered but halted when he saw your worried expression, “Why aren’t you happy? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Well yeah, sorta.”

“I’m confused.”

“I’ve always wanted to meet my soulmate, you know.” You began, using hand gestures to further your point. “And I was so excited when I got to meet them in my dream. It’s just that… Tony, I know them in real life.”

“Okay, I’m even more confused now.” He placed his coffee mug down beside his tablet, blinking trying to understand your point. “Isn’t that a good thing?” 

You sighed, “Yeah, it would be if my soulmate was anyone other than him.”

“Who is it?”

“Steve.” You cringed, the name bitter on your tongue. “I saw Steve in my dream last night.”

-

MAIN MASTERLIST

[jpat82]

Cherries

My lovely sister @devilbat requested 9, 25, 29, cherries and my uncle tony series. Dialogue prompts.

9.) oh, so you're an assassin now?

25.) did I ever tell you that you make the moonlight beautiful?

29.) do I dare ask, what did you do this time?

    It had taken a while, for everything to settle. With moving in the amazing apartment the your uncle had provided, constantly having one crisis after another, it had seemed like years since the last time you had relaxed. With both brothers out of the home it was quieter then you had ever remembered your life being. It was nice and at the same time alittle too quiet.

    They had went on a group bonding retreat or whatever Tony had called it. Though you doubted how much bonding would happen with Loki in the same room as your uncle or Clint or Bruce, hell even with his own brother. Actually maybe it was a bad idea that he went, one wrong quip and he could easily be tied up, duct over his mouth, while the rest of them did there own thing.

     You sighed, shaking those thoughts from your head as you went about finishing making yourself some dinner. You looked at the overfollowing pot of soup and realized that you had been making enough for yourself and the brothers for so long you forgot what it had been like to cook only for yourself. You let out another heavy sigh as you realized that you would have to put most of it in the fridge and save it for tomorrow.

     You spent most the evening catching up on shows you had missed. Even though you had attempted to watch American Horror Stories with the brothers Thor's constant questions could be over the top and sometimes frustrating when you would get really into the episode. And then there was Loki who would try and draw your attention away from the screen anytime the room was dark to steal kisses, or you for that matter. You loved them both but, sometimes a girl just needs a break and to get her horror on.

     Once you had finished binge watching the reason, cause you had the entire day off and could do something like that, you picked up the empty bowl from early and took it back out the kitchen. That’s when you looked over to the freezer and remembered you still had some ice cream left that Thor hadn't eaten all of. The bananas sat on the counter, and you knew you had whip cream and cherries in the fridge. Oh, temptation, how cruel.

    Giggling to yourself you pulled another bowl from the cupboard, and skipped over to the freezer when a flash of green caught your eye. You stopped, hand on the freezer door and slowly turned your head to face the haunting color just peaking around the entry way to the kitchen. There was no doubt in your mind the owner for the elusive fabric.

     "I spy with my little eye a hint of emerald green, might I take a guess? Loki?" You stated, turning fully and placing your hands on you hips. "What are you doing?"

    "My love, isn't this what assassin's do, sneak up their potential victims?" He purred as he stepped around the edge, that sly smile of his gracing his face.

     "Oh, so you're an assassin now?" You asked, taking a step toward him. "I thought you were a king?"

    "I would be king." He retorted, raising an eyebrow at you.

      "What are you doing home so early? I wasn't expecting you or Thor back till later tomorrow." You asked walking over and wrapping your arms around him.

      "Did I ever tell you that you make the moonlight beautiful?" Loki smiled, giving you that grin that melt your heart. One that usually meant he was no good, and being that this was Loki that meant he always up to no good.

     "Uh huh. Do I dare ask, what did you do this time?" You asked, keeping your arms wrapped around behind his neck.

     "I may have accidentally sent your uncle to another realm." Loki said, biting his bottom lip. Quickly you took a step back, you jaw hanging loose as you stared at him.

     "You what?" You asked, slowly releasing him and crossing your arms in front of you.

      "Well, we were all drinking, Thor still has a flask of Asgardain ale. And you know how much your uncle and the rest of his cohorts love his ale.” Loki stated, walking over to the fridge, he pulled the ice cream out of the freezer and you watched him not bothering to move.

     "Captain Rogers was discussing some of the more wonderful parts of America, and Wanda started talking about her home Solvokia." He continued as he closed the freeze door and the set the container on the counter.

     "Clint and Natasha began telling every some of the places they had been and describing them beautifully. They went into great detail of a place called Bucharest.” Loki explained further obviously stalling by this point as he had opened the fridge and pulled out the rest of the items needed for an ice cream sundae.

     "Loki, you're stalling, why? Where is my uncle?" You demanded.

     "Oh, don't worry, I brought him back, well mostly anyway." Loki replied as he peeled the banana. It was about this point you had this feeling that some thing else was going on.

     Suddenly you turned, knowing a distraction when you saw one, only to see Thor raiding the pantry, his bag already stuff full. The shelves be him bare of anything breakfast related, including the poptarts. Marshmallows in hand, a bag of chocolates held firmly between his teeth. He stopped mid movement and gave you a wide eyed look.

      "Thor!" You stated, and then turned back to Loki who already had the jar of cherries open looking innocent. "You made this whole ruse just to get snacks?"

“Maybe.” He replied before popping a cherrie into his mouth and vanishing.

Permanent tag-

@kitkatkl

@octobermermaid @ajosieface @instantnoodlese @crystlblu @coffeebooksandfandom @thisismysecrethappyplace @the-wayward-robot @lokilvrr @shynara51 1 @fourtyninekirbygamzeegirl @loislp @savedbyimagination @bubblycypres87 @ifyousayyouloveme @courtmr @blue-cat-1989 @saharzek @lokiodinsoninwriting @silverhart93 @rynabarnesrogers

I can’t remember my Tom/Loki tags so I’m tagging a few that know that like him.

@theoneanna @jewels2876 @devilbat @sarahivi

[terryblount]

Far Cry New Dawn Patch 1.0.4 available for download, full patch release notes revealed

Ubisoft has released the first post-launch update for Far Cry New Dawn. According to the release notes, patch 1.0.4 brings numerous mission fixes and tweaks, adds a tip to guide players towards the Homebase’s helipad and brings various weapons balance tweaks.

Furthermore, this update features a number of gameplay fixes. For example, it improves ragdoll reaction against some vehicle types, fixes an issue where weapons were disappearing after the Outpost celebration cinematic under certain conditions, an issue where some vehicle textures could be missing under some specific conditions and an issue where a button would trigger multiple actions when driving with the “Shooter” control configuration.

It’s also worth noting that this patch brings various stability fixes. Going into more details, it fixes some stability issues caused by general gameplay, some stability issues caused when client connects to the host to play in CO-OP, a stability issue caused by breaking windows during a specific mission and a stability issue caused by the character customization menu.

As always, this patch will be auto-downloaded from UPLAY or STEAM and you can find its complete changelog below.

Far Cry New Dawn Patch 1.0.4 Release Notes

Missions

Fixed an issue where an entity would fail to spawn in an expedition.

Fixed an issue where the player can be stuck on a roof when parachuting during an expedition.

Fixed an issue where a note could disappear when playing in CO-OP.

Fixed an issue where a mission objective would not update under some conditions in a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where the player could push a NPC just before a cinematic.

Fixed an issue where the client’s camera could be stuck during cinematics.

Fixed an issue where some NPC would suddenly be hostile towards the player.

Fixed an issue where reinforcements would not spawn during a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where the player could be stuck in a black screen during a specific mission after triggering an event.

Fixed an issue where a specific mission would fail when the player entered a vehicle too early.

Fixed an issue where Carmina would fail to teach the player about the workbench when starting a second new game.

Fixed an issue where the whole game world could be covered in fog under certain conditions.

Fixed an issue where a specific mission could fail if the player took an enemy vehicle.

Fixed an issue where the player would be unable to complete a specific mission if some objects burned.

Fixed an issue where a dialog line was missing during a cinematic.

Fixed an issue where some dialog lines could be repeated twice in a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where dogs could be missing in cages in a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where a specific character could still be highlighted by Timber after being defeated.

Fixed an issue where a mission would not fail if a critical character died during a specific objective.

Fixed an issue where a character would not enter a helicopter after the completion of a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where the player could jump out of the arena and be unable to complete a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where a helicopter could spawn out of reach of the players during a specific expedition.

Fixed an issue where a splash screen would not be displayed at the end of a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where the player had to go through an extra loading screen towards the end of the game.

Fixed an issue where some Guns For Hire would pop out at the end of a specific cinematic.

Fixed an issue where a lightning flash was too intense during a specific cinematic.

Fixed a typo on a note located in one of the expeditions.

Fixed an issue where some vehicles could not spawn at the beginning of a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where the water would not lower if the dialogue was skipped during a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where an objective was skipped after a reload in a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where the windmill puzzle visual was not updating if the player moved away from it.

Fixed an issue where Hurk was getting out of the vehicle and blocking a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where it was possible to push an objective bag using the Wrath ability.

Homebase

Added a tip to guide players towards the Homebase’s helipad.

World

Fixed an issue where the player was unable to pick up a Baseball Bat at one location.

Fixed an issue where the player was unable to pick up a Medkit at specific locations.

Fixed an issue where unresponsive enemies could be found at a specific location.

Fixed an issue where some enemies could spawn inside a rock at a specific location.

Fixed an issue where some enemies could spawn under the ground during an Outpost reinforcement.

Fixed an issue where the user could be stuck in a black screen if an Outpost was completed while the player revived his Gun For Hire.

Fixed an issue where the Outpost name wouldn’t display during the celebration cinematic.

Fixed an issue where it was possible to have an interactable placeholder asset on the helipad.

Fixed an issue where the player was appearing in combat at the Blacklung Mine fast travel point.

Fixed an issue where a Highwaymen flamer had a bad pathfinding.

UI

Fixed an issue where driving control tips would not be displayed if the player spawned inside a vehicle.

Fixed an issue where the button prompt to track some animal pelts was missing.

Fixed an issue where the player was unable to equip upper and lower body items under certain conditions.

Fixed an issue where the amount of materials left would not be correctly updated after crafting a Medkit.

Fixed an issue where the player’s clothes would not change if he moved to another menu too quickly.

Fixed an issue where the default outfit would briefly appear on the 3D model when the player changed his appearance.

Fixed an issue where the player’s customization was not applied if the player used the randomization option too quickly.

Fixed an issue where some menus could become unresponsive.

Fixed an issue where the icon to find Timber would be missing from the map after acquiring the intel.

Fixed an issue where the ability to track a specific material would be unlocked after discovering a specific location.

Fixed an issue where a warning would still be red even with the colorblind mode active.

Fixed icon inconsistencies with some expedition rewards and some options in the interface tab.

Fixed a misleading message when attempting to upgrade weapons.

Fixed an issue where the ammo count in the Weapon Wheel would not update after purchasing ammo in the Homebase.

Fixed an issue where a freshness indicator would appear in the store menu after purchasing a piece of clothing.

Fixed an issue where mission specific outfits could be unequipped when entering the clothing store.

Fixed an issue where the grapple icon would still appear even if the player turned off the HUD.

Fixed an issue where the weapon’s highlight in the workbench would remains in other menues.

Fixed an issue where a button in the In-Game store would not restore the connection to said store.

Fixed an issue where the highlight of a category in the workbench would disappear if the player pressed two buttons simultaneously.

Fixed an issue where the menu selection’s highlight could disappear when changing tabs.

Fixed an issue where the clothing icons could revert to default in the character menu.

Updated the description of a perk to reflect all of its functionalities.

Fixed some discrepancy issues between the display of the 3D models of some flamethrowers in the shop and the weapon workbench.

Fixed an issue where a weapon thumbnail was mismatched with the workbench.

Fixed an issue where it was possible to have an empty menu after a Far Cry® services error.

Fixed an issue where the upper body customization thumbnail was mismatched while wearing the Space Ape outfit.

Improved fog and cloud effects in the expedition Alcatraz Island.

Updated the Unicorn Flamethrower thumbnail in the Premium shop.

Fixed an issue where Facial hair, headwear and gloves icons were still showing in the customization menu after being unequipped.

Fixed an issue with the scavenge pop-up that was not appearing under certain conditions.

Fixed an issue with the Talk prompt that was displayed during the cinematic transition screen.

Fixed an issue where the outfit icon was not displayed if the player equiped each piece one by one.

Fixed an issue with Timber’s health bar being offset while driving a car.

Audio

Fixed an issue where some door sound effects would be looping under certain conditions.

Fixed an issue where helicopter sounds would keep playing in some cinematics if the player was piloting that vehicle.

Fixed an issue where some music could keep on playing if the player disconnected his controller during certain cinematics.

Fixed an issue where sound effects could be muffled after respawning during a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where a radio call would be repeated twice.

Fixed an issue where water splash was heard outside of water if a 4cab was moving underwater.

Fixed an issue where players were losing part of the sounds after disconnecting their controllers during an expedition.

Gameplay

Fixed an issue where a button would trigger multiple actions when driving with the “Shooter” control configuration.

Fixed an issue where a bag would not grant the loot inside of it.

Fixed an issue where the Guns For Hire’s command icon would still be displayed on Elite enemies even when they are not visible.

Fixed an issue where throwables were misplaced in the player’s hand while driving a specific vehicle.

Fixed an issue where the Wrath effect would not stop when the player was in downstate.

Fixed an issue where the number of kills for Guns For Hire doesn’t match between the Challenge tab and the Roster tab.

Fixed an issue where some vehicle textures could be missing under some specific conditions.

Improved ragdoll reaction against some vehicle types.

Fixed an issue where weapons were disappearing after the Outpost celebration cinematic under certain conditions.

Weapons

Adjusted melee damage of some of the shovels.

Fixed an issue where some ammo would be missing upon reloading.

Fixed an issue where a visual effect could be stuck on some sniper rifles when picked up by the player.

Fixed an issue where the AJM9 – Blood Dragon highlight was being seen through the host body.

Fixed an issue where the rumble effect was missing when holstering and unholstering the Saw Launcher.

Photo Mode

Improve the visual of the Recurved Bow – Blood Dragon in Photo mode.

Fixed an issue where NPCs was getting hurt by the flame from the flamethrower while in Photo mode.

Fixed an issue where some glow effects were very bright in expeditions when changing the time of the day.

NPC

Fixed an issue where Guns For Hire would stop being highlighted if the player revived them in water.

Fixed an issue where the player could still find old animal models in the wild.

Fixed an issue where Carmina could drop her weapon when she died.

Fixed an issue where the Highwaymen & Survivor NPCs had a sniper weapon attached during binocular animation.

Localization

Fixed an issue where the Spanish subtitles would not match the dialog in a specific scene.

Fixed an issue where the voice-over button would be displayed on the difficulty selection screen when playing in languages other than English.

Trophies

Fixed an issue where a trophy would not trigger for the client after completing the requirements.

Fixed an issue where a trophy was triggered too early.

CO-OP

Fixed an issue where the player could encounter an infinite black screen while playing in CO-OP during some specific missions.

Fixed an issue where the client would spawn in a bad sector when joining the host under some specific conditions.

Fixed an issue where the client could trigger a vehicle booby trap when spawning in a helicopter.

Fixed an issue where the client’s health would not fill up after upgrading the infirmary.

Fixed an issue where the splash screen could be stuck on screen when playing treasure hunts in CO-OP.

Fixed an issue where the client was not restricted by the host’s workbench level when attempting to craft weapons.

Fixed an issue where expeditions could not be unlocked when playing in CO-OP.

Fixed an issue where pill bottles could be highlighted and visible through the host’s body.

Fixed an issue where expert level expeditions would not be counted as completed for the client.

Fixed an issue where the player could end up being unable to finish a specific mission if the client died during one of the objectives.

Fixed an issue where the client would spawn out of the world after dying during a specific mission.

Fixed an issue where the host and client would be stuck in a black screen if they triggered a mission under some specific conditions.

Fixed an issue where a player’s tag would overlaps with some text in the workbench store.

Fixed a replication issue with the World Map.

Fixed an issue where it was possible to see Joseph in T pose near the New Eden compound while playing in CO-OP.

Fixed an issue where completing expert difficulty expeditions were not count toward the client.

Fixed an issue where some parts of the semi-legendary vehicle were disappearing upon connection in CO-OP.

Fixed an issue where one of the players could get teleported out of the radiation zone while using an inflatable boat.

Fixed an issue where the camera for the client was misplaced after getting up from the ground in a cinematic.

Fixed an issue where it was possible for the client to lose the consumables visual from the combat supplies sections.

Crash and Stability

Fixed some stability issues caused by general gameplay.

Fixed some stability issues caused when client connects to the host to play in CO-OP.

Fixed a stability issue caused by approaching certain locations while the CO-OP partner is in spectator mode.

Fixed a stability issue caused by breaking windows during a specific mission.

Fixed a stability issue caused by some menus during a specific mission.

Fixed a stability issue caused by jumping in a water tank too early during a specific mission.

Fixed a stability issue caused by the character customization menu.

Fixed a stability issue caused by Photo mode.

Far Cry New Dawn Patch 1.0.4 available for download, full patch release notes revealed published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[slapegg]

Quick Critique: Dragon Quest 8

Re-release or not, Dragon Quest maintains its position as a C-tier RPG. Dragon Quest just... exists. It's not awful but it's not great or exciting by any means. It's harmless. It's a game you play while doing something else, like watching TV, surfing the Internet, or listening to a podcast. I spent most of the early parts rewatching It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and that seemed to work out pretty well. I never played the original version of the game, so if anything I mention is a new feature or spoilerish, sorry?

DQ 8 has terrible pacing. The first task is to talk to everybody in a town followed by constant running back and forth between people or places. The whole game suffers from a lack of motivation. You're just kind of wandering around trying to find a vaguely defined bad guy, who then gets away, and you have to meander around until your paths cross again. The time in-between is usually spent doing filler quests that typically involve helping royalty. And royalty in the game is constantly corrupt or incompetent but it treats saving them with the utmost importance. Almost all the interesting stuff in DQ8 happens before the game and is rushed over in flashbacks rather than being something you experience.

The game couples its lack of purpose with a terrible sense of direction where it doesn't guide you to what to do next or where to go. Without direction or even an indication of why you're on this journey, you wander around until you stumble upon the next thing that drives the plot forward. There are multiple points where your guidance is simply "go west" or "it might be somewhere in the east". There are a lot of things "west" so some more information would have been helpful. Sometimes you have to talk to people in a specific order or else you can't advance, so it leads to a lot of time wasted running in circles repeatedly talking to townspeople I didn't want to talk to in the first place. When it does give you directions, even those are usually horrible. One person told me my objective was on a hill upstream, but in reality, I had to go down to a beach and follow it downstream to get to the hill. Or your objective might only be available at a certain time of day, so if you don't set out at the right time, dusk will come causing your magical bird shadow to disappear with the damned objective in sight and you trudge back to town, rest up, and do the whole follow task a second time.

Story issues aside, it just doesn't play well. The camera is in too tight and can't handle close quarters (like most of the caves and dungeons!) or slopes so it zooms in even more and your character's head takes up most of the screen. The walking speed is slow, and your ship is even worse so you quickly learn to just take the mainline path and not bother exploring (thank you, over a decade of people posting maps and FAQs!). You get a mount 20 hours into the game, but it can travel faster than the game can handle the pop-in, so enemies will spawn inside you. The text is super blurry. Like, my eyes start to hurt if I play this for long periods of time kinds of blurry. It shows its age in how grindy it is with the costs of items and experience it takes to level up versus what enemies actually pay out. It has a crafting system so I was always afraid of selling my previous equipment in case I'd need it for a recipe later in the game, which meant I could never sell it back to make some money back and speed up the process. Bosses spam status effects, making beating them luck-based and there are bosses that can cast instant death spells on your entire party. When I died, it didn't feel like it was my fault because my party was usually confused, asleep, cursed, and/or paralyzed at their time of death, but then when I beat bosses, it didn't feel satisfying because I won due to the RNG just working for me that time. There are DLC downloads that grant you... crap once a day? The first day gave out an item that was good against Metal Slimes, but by the time I actually met Metal Slimes, I had an ability that was more effective anyway. I never got anything decent out of the downloads again so I'm not entirely sure what its purpose is.

One of the side quests is a series of monster battles, but you can't control the characters so you have to rely on the AI. And the AI is braindead. It will sit there with near full magic and let its entire team die without using a healing spell. Every time you make an attempt at the series of three battles, you have to sit through overly long and repeated dialogue scenes that you can't skip through, because even if you skip the dialogue, you still have to wait for camera pans or character animations to play out before you can advance. It doesn't take any skill, you just need to be there to mash on the Fight button over and over until the battle progresses and a random number generator decides to work in your favor.

The best thing I can say about DQ8 is that it has a really fun skill tree. It doesn't actually tell you what the abilities do and you don't know which weapon to spec towards because of that, but after looking up an FAQ and making my decisions based on that, I really looked forward to the skill points I got from leveling up more than the actual stats I got. I beat the final boss and post-game extra boss by throwing an old man at them as the final blow with an ability I learned from the skill tree. So, thanks, skill trees! Also, the game has a sexy pirate lady that joins your team and that is a wonderful combination of three words. There's a quick save that's pretty handy for a handheld game. Given everything else the game does poorly, that seems worth calling out as a plus. You can see the monsters on the map, but that's not as helpful as it sounds because dungeons are cramped and monsters are faster than you so there's frequently not much you can do when you see one in your path. If you pause the game and go to a settings menu that replaces the regular game screen, the game will unload all the monsters on the map and then reload them when you close the menu. You can use this to scum your way around some monsters blocking your path. The monsters also only appear when you're on land, so during the tedious and slow sailing segments, you still run into random battles.

It took me about 50 hours to complete the main game and major sidequests, but they weren't 50 enjoyable hours. It really felt like it could have been 10, at most 20, hours long for how little non-grinding, non-backtracking, non-aimless wandering content there actually was. I would have much rather played the 10 hour version of Dragon Quest 8.

The game also has a really scummy treatment of the lead female characters. Jessica is little more than eye candy. My introduction to her was in Dragon Quest Heroes where she has a big personality so it was jarring to now play this game and she's barely more than just T&A. She rarely says or does anything of her own will after she joins your party. And the Akira Toriyama art style does nooot do T&A well. Her forehead is ginormous and she has the worst outfits, so she doesn't come across as sexy, she comes across as the game being sleazy. The princess is treated like a prize or an item rather than a character, with your final acts in the game having you decide which woman to marry but none of them really seem to have a reason to want to marry the main character. It's like one of those "Mario/Link saves the princess and all he gets is a kiss. She owes him!" discussions but somebody actually had the terrible sense to put it canonically in the game. The initial driving force of the story is that the princess is turned into a horse by evil bad guy magic. The princess may have been transformed but she still has her mind and you don't actually have to treat her like a horse! There's a character in the game that tries to ride her and the game treats that as a "he's such a jerk!" moment, but the difference is that he doesn't know she's more than just a horse. You KNOW she's a cursed human being and you treat her like a horse anyway. You're way worse than that guy. And later in the game, you find a magic spring that can turn her human for a brief period of time, but the story and game won't let her drink from the spring without your permission. There's actually a prompt to "Let her" drink and return to being human. Why is that this nameless, personality-less jerk's decision to make? The silent, bland as beige hero wound up being the character I hated the most. Sure there's an evil dog that goes around murdering old women, but I was kind of hoping for the horse princess to kick the hero in the head so I could play as somebody else.