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ganondoodle · 1 year ago

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I was at first in love with totk, and I still think mechanical wise, its quite impressive

And when I collected all the tears and saw the "story" I genuinely got upset in a good way (at first), because man! Did they really got the balls to go that far? Is there nothing I can do for her? Now I MUST do all the temples, see how it plays out and --oh, I've got this cutscene already. Why are all the people so dumb about Zelda, I KNOW where she is, Link say something-- Link??

After finishing all the temples and almost falling asleep, I stopped playing the game, looked up the last boss and remaining cutscenes and went "Thats it?"

Watching other people (including you) being critically about so many things, both character and mechanical wise, I've almost startled myself with a realization what the gnawing feeling I constantly had, actually was.

Totk feels like a fanfic.

And don't get me wrong, I love fanfiction, I think its great and important, I adore fanfic writers, I love finding gems, I love reading self indulgent stories, see new spins and interpretation of characters. I love the casual, the passion, the creativity!

But totk gives me the same feeling everytime I am reminded that Fifty Shades is a Twillight fanfic.

The world is there. The faces I know and grew to love are there. But everything is ever so slightly different, uncannily so. Just how some characters talk, how they act, how they were placed in the story. The Zonai appearing out of nowhere, but no, they always had been there you see, they were these super magical advanced people but they all died, the king is so tragic. And you see, the king is super cool and powerful and-- oh I dont get to interact with him outside of the tutorial. Did they try to do another King Rhoam-- but wait, that only worked because we didn't knew he was a ghost-- totk wait stop why do you take him out of the story, why couldn't he be a companion, he IS ABLE TO TALK THROUGH THE ARM LET THE OLD GOAT COMMENT ON STUFF?? If you bring up all this ancient stuff and you still got a ghost lingering, let him talk?? (I never ended up getting Mineru but I smell wasted potential as well)

Im not even mad, I am disappointed. It feels like the devs saw what all the lore hunters got attached to and talked about and then just... took the "cool". All the Zonai stuff could've easily been Sheikah tech, but got just reskinned to look more exciting instead of being its own thing.

Like... at this point I prefer what fans are doing over what Totk gave us. The characterization of Rauru (and everything Zonai), projects like you do of what totk couldve been, the little nuggets of actual highlights and details of love fans find in the game. I found much more enjoyment in these concepts than I got from a 70bucks game. And thats depressing.

I love fanfiction. I dont love it when my corporate 70 dollar, six year development, console exclusive game feels like a story that passionate fan couldve written miles better in a week (and I've already seen much cooler and interesting rewrites and ideas).

Zelda has been a huge part of my childhood and its depressing seeing it treated like that. It always was about the story, the epic, its The Legend of Zelda for crying out loud. To be courageous to enter a dungeon, to be wise and solve all the riddles. To become powerful over the journey you embarked on. Zelda to me is the campfire story you tell to others and go into the woods or the beach and imagine what monsters you would slay. Zelda is not the sandcastle you build in the sandbox and then add dinosaurs and star wars ships because you didn't had any other toys, and just stumble into and over some story to entertain yourself until lunch is ready.

I'd have an oracle of seasons over another totk any day at this point. They should've just make the mechanics of totk its own thing, but I guess they were scared it wouldn't sell if it doesn't have a Mario or Zelda skin straped over it.

Anyways, sorry for the mini rant - love your art, love your thoughts and insights, and I am looking forward to see more of it - Zelda related or not (your original characters look amazing, I adore your style sm)

Hope you have a great rest of the day!

*nods along through this entire rant*

idk how many of my rants you have read but yeah ... yeah ... and the further you think about it the further it all falls apart, the wasted potential of it all and the goddamn audacity of them to do those interviews in which they make it EVEN WORSE is just

i know the expectation for a direct sequel to botw was huge and understandbly so but i really REALLY think it would not have been that hard to make it a good follow up even taking into account that totk was originally a DLC, pretty much all of botws aspects could have been developed further, i dont know what could have happened to make totk have turned out like this .. literally it feels like something had to have gone wrong, its like someone who doesnt know zelda nor botw at all was given a few prompts and then just made some generic fantasy story while the rest worked on ultrahand for 5 years

the technical impressive things ARE technical impressive, but i dont think it was necessary nor served the game well in any way (and i LOVE building games- however totk is neither a building game nor a story game nor a zelda game nor an exploration game nor a sequel imo) but zelda, this zelda, is not made for that and i cant help but think it was mainly to encourage people to make some ridiculous mechs so it can go viral on tiktok (not trying to discredit them, it IS cool what they are doing but i .... have my doubts if zelda is the right place for that)

ill stop there bc i have ranted so much about everything i dont wanna repeat it here again; it just doesnt feel like a real game (derogatory), it feels extra bad bc i was not really into zelda when botw came out and while i did get it as soon as i could (months after release since i just started a minijob and didnt have the money) i only over time grew to love zelda this much again, devouring any theories and anything about it bc i loved it so much- i was never into it like this when a new title was announced and dont own any special editions so i bought the totk collectors bc i was just so damn excited for it after the 2019 trailer dropped (god i want that time back ... it looked so much more like it was going to be an actual sequel) even if i was already worried it wouldnt be good at that point given how much i started to sense stuff i dont like about the newer trailers

i recently sold it at our local gameshop bc it was like a thorn in my side given how expensive it was and how dissapointed i was in the game, i genuinely think that, technical impressiveness aside, totk is the onyl zelda i truly cannot stand (for alot of reasons) and im genuinely worried for the future of the franchise

i bought an Oki (Okami) figurine for what i got back and i feel much happier with that :3

(also on a note, i did finish the game two weeks after release but stopped playing it right then and hadnt touched it since, i also streamed all of what i played and its still up if you want to see my slow descend into madness fjkdhkdhjk though its been a long while since then and i by far did not talk about everything back then, just what my most immediate frustrations were while still playing)

(also the gameplay isnt as good as people make it out to be, so much is so frustrating and punishing to use i am kinda baffled it got through like that and most people call that its best aspect ..... though i guess if the rest is so much worse even mid gameplay can seem good ooooooooh how dare i)

also thank you for liking what i do!!! <3 it means alot to know it is appreciated by someone :D

#ganondoodles answers #zelda #totk #ganondoodles rants #in my playthorugh i genuinely tried to be super open to what its offering me #but i think its pretty clear that i could see were it was going pretty soon and tried to fight my fear #and then i ended up being right #like i even went out of my way to get the memories and dungeons in turns so i wouldnt spoil anything #and still you can see me get sadder and dissappointed with each new memory i got #and the time it truly all started to crumble was when i discovered what they did to the shrine of life #pretty sure after i got all the lightroots and all i got was a you did it sticker i jsut gave up and went to the end #and after that i found the endfight fun so i played it a few more times #but the last few streams were mostly me ranting jkdfngvkjdfnhgjkdf #for this price its pretty bad #idk why so many people are okay with this tbh #zelda fans deserve better #i think the wasted potential and insulting treatment of both lore - botw and even the player is what frustrates me so much #sidenote i love the username bc there sure are words #alot of them even #(good)#i have done so much ranting it feels good to read someone elses rant about similar frustrations

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 1 month ago

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Dangancember 2024 - Danganronpa Top 24 Class Trials - Number 10: Danganronpa 2 Case 1

//It was very very difficult to decide what between this case and the first case of Another 2 would be the one to manage to breach the Top 10, but ultimately, I had to give it to the OG series because of how significant an impact this case had, and how it set itself apart from the opening case of the first game.

//And it largely has to do with how much better than SDRA2 it does at setting up what a sequal can offer, even if its not by an awful lot.

//Personally speaking, I think if you take a step back and look at all the opening cases of this main series and the Another games, this is definitely the most engaging mystery and narrative of all the opening trials.

//And I know what people are going to say in response to that. And yes, we do still have one more opening trial to cover. And LORD KNOWS what that could be (he said sarcastically.)

//But I feel the need to remind people what this list is about. I am not ranking these trials based on how good I think the mystery is alone. I'm ranking them based on how much I, personally, feel they resonated with me. How much I cared about them.

//I can reflect upon myself and say that 2-1 is a better mystery than 1-1, V3-1, A-1, and A2-1, but that doesn't necessarily make if my favourite because maybe there are others that I felt were more impactful for me.

//But for what it's worth, 10th place and second favourite opening trial isn't bad.

//Right out of the gate, I think what makes this trial so much more impactful to me as an opening is the simple fact that, DRASTICALLY unlike Case 1 of DR1, it's a tutorial case, but it doesn't feel like one.

//Ergo, it doesn't give you a painfully simple mystery and/or hold your hand throughout the duration.

//It instead introduces both old and new gameplay mechanics organically, almost tricking you into learning while you’re too busy untangling the chaos of all the wacky shit that goes on here. Like being fed your vegetables but disguised as a pizza.

//The game sprinkles in trial mechanics and investigation tools gradually, so players grasp concepts without realizing they’re being taught. For example, the glowing paint on Nagito’s knife not only advances the plot but doubles as a clever way to demonstrate how evidence ties to crime scene analysis.

Plus, the setup; a pitch-black room full of panicking Ultimate students; makes the case feel dynamic and complex, while still being manageable for a first-timer. It's a much more complicated and thorough mystery thanks to the not-very bathroom-like liminal space that the first game had.

//By the time you’ve solved the mystery, you’re already an expert in piecing together alibis, reconstructing timelines, and using testimony against suspects, all without a giant neon sign saying, "Press this button now."

//In contrast, the first Danganronpa case felt more like a guided tour of Murder Mystery Land, complete with monotone Monokuma hints. Here, Danganronpa 2 tricks you into thinking you’re a genius detective right out of the gate, when really, it’s just doing a great job at teaching the ropes. It’s the difference between a boring school lecture and a fun, chaotic group project where someone (probably Nagito) brings a flamethrower. The result? A tutorial that feels like part of the narrative instead of a checklist.

//The large reason why I think DR2 leans way more into the chaos is that it assumes you've already played the first game, so you already know what's at stake here.

//In Danganronpa 1, the rules of how the Killing Game work are different than most other iterations, because you're walked through it one step at a time. Monokuma introduces the fact that you're stuck here, and murdering someone might be your only way out, but it isn't until AFTER Sayaka dies that the concept of the Class Trial even comes up.

//Monokuma introduces it immediately in Danganronpa 2, and explains it quite thoroughly, if a little suddenly.

//I genuinely believe the tension among the characters and their reactions to being thrust into a mutual killing game feel much heavier in Danganronpa 2 compared to other games. I even think the stakes are automatically higher than V3, despite how terrifying things seem right from the get go in that game.

//Right from the outset, there’s a palpable sense of unease, and the characters’ behaviors reflect that in spades. Take Kazuichi, for instance. We know this to be common with him now, but his paranoia is cranked up so high at the beginning that he flat-out refuses to attend the morning meetings. Something that everybody agreed to do in Danganronpa 1, and didn't get broken up until halfway into Chapter 2 earliest when Byakuya went off to do his own thing and Toko started following him.

//This isn’t your average "we’re all in this together" camaraderie; this is "I don’t trust any of you, so I’m staying put" energy. Moments like this amplify the weight of the situation and make the entire atmosphere more ominous and unsettling than its predecessor. Even though Jabberwock Island is way more out in the open than Hope's Peak was.

//The setup for the murder itself is also quite clever. Byakuya, a returning character from the first game, (or so we think at the time) decides to host a party to keep everyone in one place and prevent a murder.

//Because what could possibly go wrong with that plan?

//Well, everything, as it turns out.

//Fuyuhiko refuses to attend, probably because he’s too busy being the resident jerk, and in a twist dripping with irony, Byakuya’s noble attempt to maintain order directly leads to his demise. The dramatic irony here is so thick you could cut it with Nagito’s glowing, conveniently placed knife.

//Which we will get to.

//What really elevates this case is the setting and investigation. And as I already eluded to, the first case always takes place in a typically liminal setting, and that applies to the Another games too. Makoto's bathroom, the Old Building, the Library, the Girls' Bathroom, and the Belltower are all very simple areas, with the SDRA2 Belltower being the most vast.

//But in DR2, the quirks and layout of the Old Building are taken full advantage of, more than any of those other places where they contain at least one minor nitpick that insinuates there's more going on than there appears to be.

//Instead of snooping around in someone’s private bedroom, as we did in the first game, we’re exploring an old, creaky building full of mysteries and logistical challenges. From the blackout setup to the hidden compartments, every element feels like a classic whodunit sprinkled with that signature Danganronpa flair.

//Sure, there are death flags waving furiously, but the execution makes it all worthwhile. It’s a standout opening case that sets the bar high for tension, creativity, and character dynamics.

//But yeah, let's start talking about how this case pans out, starting with the first death itself.

//If you were to ask me who I think, of all of the first victims in the series, was the most shocking to me, I'd probably say Rantaro, but Byakuya in this game is definitely the close second.

//And Rantaro's death wasn't as emotionally captivating as it just was shocking, given how the game REALLY set him up to feel like he might be important, then went a different route than what they had already done with Kyoko and Hajime.

//Sayaka, Yuri, and even Kiyoka in contrast were raising so many death flags, and although it became obvious to me from the fact that Byakuya wasn't there by the time the lights came back on that he was dead...Good lord, it got me regardless.

//One of the best ways to kick off a killing game is by hitting players with a truly unexpected victim, and Danganronpa 2 nails this in its first case.

//And then Kodaka just went mad with this idea with V3 and Rain Code later.

//That aside, Byakuya was already so important from the get go because he's a (seemingly) returning character from the previous game, and even though he's gained a lot of weight since then for some reason, he's also gained a newfound dedication to leading everyone to safety.

//Upon reflection, he’s practically dripping with death flags, because he gets so much significant screentime in the same way Sayaka did in the first game. But even so, it's because he's been through this already that when he ends up as the first victim, it’s still a huge shock.

//Of course, the twist that he’s not actually Byakuya but an Impostor pretending to be him adds another layer to the surprise later on. Obviously, we as Survivor writers and readers know him as Ryuji Mitarai now, but I'm just gonna call him "Imposter" here so we don't get things twisted.

//Impostor is a surprisingly likable character in spite of his short screentime, especially when you consider he’s imitating someone who’s iconic for being, well, a complete jerk. Unlike the real Byakuya, Impostor exudes a level of care and selflessness that makes him stand out in the group.

//His decision to host a party in an effort to bring everyone together and keep them safe is a solid plan, at least on paper. As said already, the irony that his attempt to protect everyone results in his own death is just the kind of cruel twist that Danganronpa loves to serve up these days. However, because we don’t know at this point that he’s an Impostor, his actions reflect more on the character he’s pretending to be than on himself, leaving him feeling a bit thin as a character in this particular moment.

That said, Impostor shines in other parts of the franchise, particularly in the Danganronpa 3 anime. Now, we all know that DR3 kind of sucks, but Impostor’s moments are a rare highlight. His actions there show more of his true personality and make him one of the few redeeming elements of the show.

//So while he doesn’t get as much depth in this first case, his later appearances prove that he’s more than just a stand-in for Byakuya. In hindsight, his role in Case 1 is both ironic and tragic, but it sets up an intriguing foundation for his character.

//The investigation begins quickly after his body is discovered under a table, and it's already off to an amazing start.

//I found this investigation surprisingly enjoyable, and honestly, it felt oddly realistic to me. Maybe that’s a weird take, but hear me out.

//Whenever I go to indoor parties or events like that, I tend to get flushed and a little lightheaded, whether it’s from the heat, the crowd, or the questionable air circulation. Even though I wasn’t physically at the old building, the atmosphere was so immersive that I actually started feeling that same wooziness.

//The setting, with its dim lighting and creaky vibes, reminded me of places I’ve been to for dinner parties, which only added to the mystery’s engagement factor. It’s like my brain decided to simulate party-induced fogginess just to make the experience more authentic.

//Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this might be a "me" problem. I’m not claiming to be the sharpest tool in the shed, and maybe I’m just a bit of a dummy for letting myself feel this way over a game, but still, the sense of immersion here was real. While the investigation itself wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it had this subtle charm that kept me hooked.

//There’s something about piecing together clues in a claustrophobic, slightly disorienting environment that made me really feel like a detective, albeit one who probably needed to sit down and drink some water.

//Genuinely, this setting makes this case the most "clue-like" case in the series for me. Someone is murdered at the party, now you simply need to find out who did it, where, and what with.

//In the grand scheme of things, the mystery in this case isn’t exactly revolutionary, as solid as it is. But the combination of the setting, the clever use of the blackout, and my own personal haze made it a uniquely enjoyable experience.

//Either way, I had a great time racking my brain, even if half of that effort was spent fighting off imaginary dizziness.

//And as I kind of said already, both in this analysis and the previous one, the sequence of events here is just generally super cool and clever.

//The use of the blackout during the party as the centerpiece of the murder setup is a stroke of brilliance that emphasizes both creativity and logical deduction, despite being very simple on paper. In a scenario where vision is compromised, spatial awareness and timing become the key elements in unraveling the mystery.

//With that being said, one major reason it falls short is that the actual murder mystery itself can feel a bit contrived. While the blackout during the party is a clever setup, the sequence of events that leads to Teruteru’s accidental killing of the Impostor feels somewhat forced.

//Teruteru’s motivations, though sympathetic, still hinge on some rather convenient coincidences, like Nagito's manipulation and the unexpected turn of events during the blackout. It's a little too convenient for the sake of shocking twists.

//But even so, that's still a very minor problem, and not one I think about too regularly. Sometimes you need to take a few leaps in logic, and DR is famous for doing so. It's only with cases like 2-3 that do it a LOT that makes it kind of questionable.

//The trial builds on this foundation by introducing innovative mechanics that align perfectly with the unique circumstances of the case. For instance, the glowing paint on the knife becomes a pivotal clue, as well as a Chekovs (I've definitely spelt that wrong) Gun that at first seems like a red herring and not part of the case, only to be an integral part of the real scheme later.

//Similarly, the use of sound adds another layer of depth. Unlike 1-1 where you literally have to use your eyes and the culprit is just spelled out for you, here, they do basically the exact reverse.

//What makes this even more effective is how seamlessly these mechanics double as a tutorial, as I've kind of already gone over, but I want to elaborate on. The game gently introduces players to its more complex investigative tools without making the process feel like a chore.

//You’re not just learning how to use Truth Bullets or analyze contradictions, you’re actively piecing together a mystery that feels compelling and genuinely challenging. By tying these mechanics to a clever and memorable setup like the blackout, this case manages to be both instructive and immersive, making the trial a standout moment that’s as fun to play as it is to solve.

//And then there's how it all critically ends with "ON-THE-MEAT-BONE!" And speaking of which...

//One big issue that I see a lot of people take with this trial is who ends up being the killer, and...yeah, I understand why.

//But in case I haven't made it clear so far with this blog, I actually don't dislike Teruteru at all!

//Again, just as Imposter is my second favourite victim for an opening case, Teruteru is...well...he's technically my FAVOURITE first-case killer, but assuming we count the killer of Danganronpa V3's first case as Kaede, then he's my second favourite.

//Teruteru is, understandably, one of the more polarizing characters in Danganronpa as a whole. His behavior often crosses the line into outright predatory territory, making him difficult to defend.

//But, if we’re being honest, he’s also a more entertaining and complex character than certain other franchise favorites like Yasuhiro or Hifumi . While those two often devolve into comic relief without much depth, Teruteru has layers to his personality that make him more interesting to watch, his involvement in this case be damned.

///...Even if those layers come with a side of sleaze.

//I genuinely think that every killer in Danganronpa 2 has a certain degree of sympathy and likeability to them regardless of their motivations, and that includes both Mikan and Teruteru.

//What sets Teruteru apart is that, despite having traits like being short and uncomfortably perverted, he’s nothing like your stereotypical perverted, touchy anime character.

//My Hero Academia’s Minoru Mineta, for example. That character gets a lot of flak for being a one-note pervert (and, let’s face it, deservedly so), but Teruteru has an actual backstory, genuine character motivations, and even some moments of surprising emotional depth.

//His perversion, while still off-putting, isn’t his sole defining trait. Instead, his actions and decisions stem from a mix of personality quirks, life circumstances, and emotional vulnerability.

//When you dig deeper into his motive for murder, you find a blend of noble intentions and tragic desperation that make him far more nuanced than he initially appears.

//Teruteru’s reasons for killing are multifaceted. He learns that Nagito is plotting a murder of his own and, in an effort to protect the rest of the group, he tries to stop him, albeit in the most reckless way possible. The murder plan was supposed to ensnare Nagito, but things go horribly wrong when the Ultimate Impostor ends up as the unintended victim.

//Beyond that, Teruteru’s desire to escape the island and return home is driven by a surprisingly selfless motive: his sickly mother. After realizing his school memories were erased, Teruteru becomes desperate to leave, fearing for her well-being while she struggles to run their family diner alone.

//His guilt over accidentally killing the Impostor feels genuine. He doesn’t wish he could undo his actions entirely, as his intentions were arguably good, but he deeply regrets the unintended consequences.

//And it's even more gut-wrenching upon reflection when you realize that not only is Teruteru's mother most likely dead, but that as a Remnant of Despair, Teruteru likely killed and ate her himself.

//I would argue that Ayame did the half-heroic, half-realistic goals for murder thing better, but hey, I can't stay mad at Teruteru for this, despite himself. His motives were noble, regardless of whether they were selfish or selfless.

//It’s easy to argue that Nagito manipulated him into this situation, making Teruteru’s downfall all the more tragic. Beneath the inappropriate jokes and questionable behavior lies a character who’s more human than he initially lets on...and that complexity makes him a fascinating, if controversial, addition to the cast.

//But of course, let's not beat around the bush.

//The characters are what makes these cases as great as they are, but even so, it's not the involvements of the Ultimate Imposter, or Teruteru's motivations that make this narrative as engaging as it is. No...We all know who the REAL highlight of this goddamn trial is...

//Nagito...fucking...Komaeda...!

//Arguably the best antagonist in the entire series, and this case perfectly solidifies why right from the get-go.

//Nagito initially seems to fit neatly into the archetype established by characters like Sayaka in Game 1. He’s the friendly companion who walks the protagonist through introductions to the rest of the group, acting as kind of the first true friend you make on the island, and the one that you feel like you can rely on, and he treats you with the same respect.

//It's incredibly interesting to think about how vastly Nagito and Hajime's relationship changes throughout Danganronpa 2, when what starts out as mutual respect eventually turns into shared animosity. But that comes much later.

//As of this moment, much like Kyoko in Danganronpa 1, Nagito keeps his true nature hidden until the first trial, when the cracks in his façade begin to show.

//And wow, do they show.

//We all know this by now as DR fans, but instead of being the slightly awkward but otherwise kind-hearted nice guy he appears to be, it turns out Nagito is completely, utterly, spectacularly UN-FUCKING-HINGED!

//Once the trial begins, Nagito transforms into a ENGINE of pure CHAOS, derailing conversations left and right and dropping bombshells like he’s hosting a fireworks show.

//The kicker? He's not even the killer!

//Nagito actually manipulated Teruteru into committing the first murder by instilling a degree of fear in him about what would happen. He openly reveals his plan to Teruteru, chancing that Teruteru's pre-established paranoia will trigger his hidden desire to murder and escape.

//Which is effectively the same tactic that we're used to seeing JUNKO use to light the fuses.

//But it's still somehow not as simple as that. Because in his warped worldview, starting the killing game was a necessary step toward creating a brighter Hope.

//And in his twisted logic, sacrificing both Teruteru and the Ultimate Impostor was just a means to that end. On top of that, he confessed to the crime, fully admitting his role, even though he wasn’t technically the killer.

//Which means the literal FIRST HALF of this trial is chasing after Nagito's actions that gets you no closer to the actual killer, and it's only in the second half that Teruteru's involvement becomes much clearer.

//I will say that this is kind of one of the reasons why I don't like this case as much as others, though it's an incredibly minor complaint for what it is.

//While Nagito’s chaotic presence adds an interesting layer to the trial, it does sometimes overshadow the actual clues. Rather than focusing on the specifics of the crime, the trial often feels like it’s more about Nagito’s antics than the methodical unraveling of the murder, and that kind of takes away from the actions of the Imposter and Teruteru.

//His erratic behavior, while entertaining, makes it harder to stay grounded in the actual mystery, and as a result, the case feeling more like a dramatic spectacle than a carefully crafted whodunit, due to how little focus there is on the actual specifics of the murder.

//With all of that being said, what the case actually does do with that wasted time, cementing Nagito's role in the story going forward, REALLY leaves you with some intense feelings. And again, if it had REALLY wasted Teruteru and Imposter's characters, then I wouldn't have nearly as much to say about them as I have done.

//Nagito is one of the most fascinating and complex characters in the entire series, and there's no one who can argue that. His dramatic shift from friendly companion to mastermind of mayhem is executed flawlessly, making his first trial a rollercoaster of emotions.

//Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that he makes a hell of an impression, and his antics in this case set the stage for his chaotic brilliance throughout the rest of the game. Whether you’re laughing at his absurdity, recoiling from his insanity, or begrudgingly respecting his intellect, Nagito manages to steal the show

//In summary, what makes this case such a compelling opening is how it immediately subverts the expectations that the first game established, and shows that this game is just a whole new beast.

//When you boot up Danganronpa 2, you most likely expect the sequel to follow the tried-and-true formula of the first game. You know the drill: a few quirky introductions, a grisly murder, and a trial where the guilty party is unmasked with relatively straightforward reasoning. But Case 1 here throws a Monokuma-shaped wrench into that structure right from the start.

//The shock of Byakuya’s death, the one character returning from the first game and someone who seems too important to die so soon, is a massive curveball. Nagito's unhinged behavior makes the courtroom feel more like a theater of absurdity than a place of justice. And yet, amid all this madness, Teruteru’s surprisingly heartfelt motives shine through.

//It’s a case that toys with your emotions, your expectations, and maybe even your sanity, which is why it stands out as such a brilliant opening act for this wild sequel.

#danganronpa survivor #danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #dr2 #mod talks #ranking #teruteru hanamura #ultimate imposter #nagito komaeda #dangancember 2024

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dailyrandomwriter · 5 months ago

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Day 688

Another past indie game that has clearly influenced this year’s set of demos is Unpacking. Unpacking was a fun little game that leaned into the mechanic of unpacking moving boxes and putting it away, all while using this as a vehicle for storytelling.

By the way, narrative storytelling through game mechanics and visuals is actually really hard to do, and was one of the strong points of Unpacking despite the simple idea.

That being said, it has resulted in people taking that idea, and expanding upon it. There were three demos this year that had some form of packing or unpacking mechanic to it.

The first was The August Before, a story about a young woman getting ready to go to college and she is packing up her life, and through the objects we learn more about her. There is also a mechanic of keeping or leaving behind certain objects that may change the narrative (this is something one other game has also done but that one didn’t have a demo yet). It’s an interesting concept, though the ability to move around in a 3D space means there is some jankiness in the controls at the moment. Hopefully that will be solved.

The second was Camper Van, where you unpack to live in a Camper Van. This means you’re trying to figure out where everything is going. Judging by the album in the game, there is probably a narrative involved, but the demo focused more on the decorating and unpacking aspect of the game. While I have it on my wishlist, I don’t know yet if this is a game I would really want to commit to.

The third was Urban of the Jungle, which is technically more of a puzzle game with some unpacking elements. In each stage of life you are trying to unpack and rearrange your belongings to fit as many plants as possible into your living space. It has a point system similar to Islands, in that you need to reach a certain number of points to complete the level. Points are gained by putting plants near other preferred plants and making sure they have an optimal environment to grow in. So it’s far more playing with the idea of space than the other two demo games. This one was particularly fun, though I hope for a better tutorial because I’m pretty sure I could have moved the camera around but didn’t know how to.

#indie games #demos #game demos #indie game demos #Camper Van #Urban of the Jungle #The August Before #unpacking #unpacking games

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miloscat · 3 months ago

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[Review] Sonic Free Riders (Xbox 360)

They made hoverboards fun and exciting, then the fans made it actually playable.

After Zero Gravity, Sonic Team were apparently not done with the Riders series. Not done using it for motion control experiments, that is. The next and final instalment was a launch title for Microsoft's ill-fated Kinect motion sensor accessory. This camera apparatus could track a player's full body and so you needed a large, empty area to play your games in, which has never been practical for me. So I considered this game essentially lost media as far as I was concerned, until I recently learned about a mod that reworked the game for traditional controllers that I could use on an emulator. The updated version of this patch was buggy but the original release worked a treat and I was finally able to experience this title.

Compared to previous entries, the plot is very low-stakes. Eggman is hosting another racing tournament in disguise, shenanigans ensue. The cutscenes are merely static character portraits, the dialogue nothing but banter and posturing with the framing device of Omochao reporting on the racing for a TV broadcast. But the strength this has over prior Riders games is including a broader range of the cast, with Teams Rose and Dark being involved and playable in their own story modes in addition to the usual Heroes and Babylon stories. Well, Team Dark is missing Omega and substitutes a random eggbot who is more than it appears in perhaps the only notable story development. And Team Rose is Amy, Cream, and... Vector... so Team Sonic Racing wasn't the first to randomly force him in to fill out another team, or to have a weird addition to Team Rose.

As for the racing, from what I could tell from the tutorial, there's a lot of actions you need to be able to do. It seemed complex and the pace of gameplay quite fast for something you control just with various body motions to an unresponsive IR sensor grid. In other words, compared to Zero Gravity it didn't feel as compromised by the control scheme, and translated reasonably well to a controller, so it's a shame they never officially offered that as an option. The game reviewed terribly at the time on the basis of its controls, but with a pad in hand I had a fun time. Sure it was easy most of the way through, but by the very last stages it did even offer a decent challenge.

There's no drifting, but a heavy turn assist helps with cornering. There's a boost function that drains your air meter, as well as a "lean forward (tilt control stick up) to go faster" mechanic. Stunts are done in Zero Gravity style, by jumping at the right time off a ramp, although you can spin to do a better trick (not supported in the original mod release). Arm flailing is a factor, where you can lean to grab rings that are just off the course, throw items that skew a little more Mario Kart in their effects while still being unique, rub steam or splatter off your screen, or grab poles to swing around and take shortcuts. As a power character you can punch to destroy obstacles, and flight characters have to have arms outstretched to remain airborne when necessary. It sounds exhausting but all these functions are mapped pretty well to a controller in the mod, and I got to grips with them quickly. And while it may sound overloaded with gimmicks, I thought it was a better balance than the previous games of keeping up your pace while doing them, or being ignorable entirely.

It may sound like I'm being contrary but this quickly became my favourite of the Riders games. Because it expects you to be flolloping around, it's so much more forgiving and I found I wasn't constantly struggling against the game and its demands. It integrates a mission-like structure into the campaign so most of the time you're doing various objectives and single-lap runs of the courses in story mode, which moves things along at a quick pace. It also looks gorgeous, the environments varied and ultra-colourful, helped of course by being in HD for the first time. The tracks have fun setpieces like toboggan or minecart sections, jumping onto rooftops, or surfing while being pulled by a dolphin.

Free Riders kind of fulfilled the promise of what I wanted the series to be, for the first time. Fast-paced and bombastic, not overly punishing or bland. It's such a shame that that lively energy had to be locked behind an impractical peripheral gimmick. The assets were all there for a potential conversion or fourth instalment that takes the strengths but makes it play like a normal video game that people can actually play... but alas. As is often the case in the Sonic series, it was up to the fans to fix what Sega had broken, and I'm very thankful to Rei-SanTH for doing so in this case (please fix not being able to turn right on v1.1!).

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic riders #sonic free riders #sonic team #review #xbox 360

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jester-dragons-aus · 9 months ago

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Ah fuck I've done it again

Amalgam AI AU

I've seen some AUs about the humans being AI instead of Caine and I thought that might be the simplest way to get this monstrosity to happen with a massive glitch without abstraction playing a part.

I think I just really like horror AUs and doing stuff like that is just so fun so I made another one with a better title than "Horror House" cuz c'mon what the hell does that mean lol

The only characters I don't have designed currently are Zooble, Caine, and Bubble but I'll add them soon. Caine will be a human, Bubble could be something to help him out and what not.

Inspired by AUs like Sm-baby's and The Horror Circus AU, but like, different ofc.

Think this: the game wasn't originally supposed to be a horror game, just a game you go through for fun. Like Undertale, I guess? But not quite

[WARNINGS: LOTS OF EYES/ARACHNID IMAGERY, BODY HORROR, EYESTRAIN]

So first and foremost, I think people would wanna see Pomni, though Jax was the first to be designed.

Pomni is supposed to be some sort of anti-virus or some sort of protecting thing. Supposed to fix bugs and glitches and prevent viruses from getting into the game. Like a firewall, I guess? I tried to make her look like "right/wrong" esc thing. She was the last to be designed and it was like 1 am when I designed her. I had no clue what to do with her, I'll be completely honest.

Story wise, she'd be trying to find a way to undo this massive glitch and get the game back to normal before she can even rest. Once Caine pops up to try and fix the game from inside, as a dev himself, she does her best to protect him and help him fix the game.

No there is no shipping in this AU, they're just helping each other basically survive. They might become friends over time but nothing more. :V

Next up: Ragatha and Gangle! I actually really like Gangle's design but Ragatha definitely needs a few tweaks I think.

Ragatha, before this massive glitch, would have been an NPC that would help a player out at the start but end up getting lost after a certain point, like a tutorial. She was the most caring character in the game before everything went down.

Gangle used to be someone who ran a little theatre thing in the game, as I've seen from other AUs and took inspiration from, but she's usually nice no matter what mask she has on. More arms means she can help more people at once, right? Game mechanics wise she was like a little shop keeper for costumes if they're needed and she can help with newer mechanics on stage if something new is added. Friendly NPC, you know? Love her design, too!

Now for the first two to be designed, Jax and Kinger!!

So Jax was like a reoccurring villain, I guess. Always trying to make the player quit the game or just scare the shit out of them, despite him not being very scary himself. He's more played off to be a joke character, if I'm honest, always failing with his antics and what not. It's part of the code! I actually like his design, small lil paws and just so shapey over all.

Kinger was like a final boss, I guess? The scariest of all of them at that time. He was a king, ruling over his pawns and such, all of which were also bug themed! I love making Kinger bug related it's so fun. He's a big softie in reality but hits like a train if you ever went against him. He had terrible vision despite all of his eyes and was very slow despite the amount of legs.

Now for what everyone has been waiting for.

The reason for the AU title.

The MASSIVE glitch that caused everything to go downhill.

The Amalgam.

I still think it needs a few tweaks here and there but this is one of four concepts I've had for it.

One time all four of these characters were together, which was relatively rare but possible, a glitch happened in the game. Pomni doesn't know where it started from and none of the game devs understand how it happened, but it did. Some devs think there's a hacker. A massive glitch pulled those four characters together into one terrifying being, always hostile and destructive. All the code of the characters were merged into this thing and somewhat scrambled. The game has now been broken to where once you're in, you can't escape until it's fixed, yet no one knows it, which is why Caine went in.

So much has happened and it's still being fixed, but a hostile blob of characters constantly attacking whenever it's near? It will be hard to fix.

It seems to be guarding something.

Concepts for the amalgam:

You can see in the first one I was going to put Zooble there but I still need a good design for Zooble. Let's see what they'll be.

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc caine #tadc kinger #tadc pomni #tadc jax #tadc ragatha #tadc gangle #tadc zooble #tadc au #amalgam ai tadc au #aatadc au #tw body horror #tw spiders #tw eyestrain #tw eye horror #don't tag as ship

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tornioduva · 6 months ago

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A thought on Botw's items

So, first of all, if you were left dissatisfied and somewhat angry by Totk, go watch this wonderful video and enjoy your catharsis:

youtube

So, after watching this my mind started to fix upon this godforsaken series again and, a thought about how the wild saga handles things and why.

Now, i'm not a seasoned game designer, i don't know shit on how to deliver these massive projects, and i'll admit i haven't done proper research like in interviews, manuals, artbook, ecc., this is all very much a stream of consciousness.

What i reflected on is how many of us struggled to really bite deep with criticism into the structural exploration systems of this games, because it apparently "works", and in a somewhat elegant and cohesive way. It's much more difficult to critique the decision of adding shrines, of the dungeons, of the pad tools, of the rewards, because it easily justifies itself with the various "time limits, sacrifices needed to be made, streamlined exploration" and so on; it's much easier instead to go to the throat of the story, or characters, or the durability, because it's a much more direct frustration i think.

But then again, thinking about Botw: was giving the player all of their tools right away really the only right decision?

I honestly think that having the player roam around hyrule, letting them explore and find obstacles for which the tools are required, and then giving them said tools, would've been much better. You would accumulate small frustrations here and there, places to return to, for which you would use those pins in the map, and then you'd have the satisfaction of having finally found the solution to your troubles and a unique reward from wherever you might've taken them.

"Sure", you might say, "but then all the major dungeon and "story areas" should take into accoutn wether you have them or not". ....Yes. what's the problem in that? maybe a character, like one of the descendant could say something along the lines of "if only we had a way to freeze the water to resolve this issue that i feel might be present in the divina beast" or similar, that way the beasts would be centered around fleshing out one mechanic. i guess that might make them a bit more monotonous, but i think not; they are already kind short and boring, they might as well be a a dungeon designed around fleshing out just one of your tools in a satisfying way.

That to me would've resolved a good amount of issues i have with it with the game already, because part of the joy of exploring, at least in the first like 10 to 20 hours, would've been the anticipation of finding a tool and to finally use it! and i'd have something more memorable to remember while roaming around than just pretty sunsets.

Also, this would resolve the B I G issue i have with the intro of both of this game, of it being an unskippable slog. If you remove all of the tutorial aspect out of it, and outsource it to a later, further away area of the game, you can reduce all the time the plateau takes out of you to like, an introduction to combat, crafting, effects and that's it, you're free after that.

plus i always found stupid that the game won't let you have the paraglider before finishing it. like, just leave the tutorial there if someone wants it, but le me find the paraglider as an object and then let me go down, it's not an essential item, just a convenient one; plus, if players went around hyrule without the paraglider, you could just remind them in other ways later on that they might find one on the plateau, or let them find another one in other areas of the game. that could've been fun: "where did you find the glider? here? really? wow, these devs really thought of everything, i found it there instead, and mike down south".

i dunno, i just don't want to think about botw as the only correct way of doing this kind of game.

#tornio #tornioduva #torniod #torniotalk #zelda #zelda fandom #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #zelda totk #loz #botw #loz botw #critique #nintendo #Youtube

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blazehedgehog · 9 months ago

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Thoughts on Dr. Robotnik's Ring racers and the current version of SRB2 Kart?

I never dug too super deep in to SRB2 Kart because I very rarely play online games with randos and I had no real consistent group to play with otherwise. Like, I tried to play the few times Tracker hosted a server, but he lives in the UK and I'm on wifi so it just didn't really work out.

So I was kind of waiting for the singleplayer campaign mode. I could see the potential in SRB2K. "The Mugen of Kart Racers" has been an idea in the back of my head for literal decades at this point. But I did not care about time trials because there were no items.

I streamed about four hours of Ring Racers (obviously) a couple days ago:

youtube

And I've also seen a lot of SRB2 Kart diehards lose their mind over some of the changes and problems in Ring Racers.

As someone who has never really put more than, say, two hours in to SRB2 Kart, Ring Racers is... fun? Yeah. It's fun. I'd say I enjoyed myself.

But it's also got problems. Broadly speaking, the entire game is way too complicated for its own good. It's nice that they really sat down and thought very deeply about kart racer mechanics and tried to elevate things to a new level, but it feels like they overthought a lot of it. And I mean beyond the fact this game opens with a very wordy, 30-60 minute tutorial. Don't get me wrong, it needs at least some of that, because it's a very mechanically dense game, but that's also sort of the problem.

Like I literally just bailed out of a Discord conversation about this because I wanted to write it over here, but let's take, for example, the spindash.

The spindash mechanic has three primary functions in Ring Racers:

You charge up a spindash at the right time during the starting line lobby segment to get a boost going into the first lap

You charge a spindash to get through one of the speed barriers for secret shortcuts

This game has Sonic-style physics and there are slopes where, if you aren't already going fast, they are too steep of an incline to drive up. So you have to stop and charge a spindash to clear them.

What value does this actually bring to the table? What's useful about it?

The starting line lobby segment is annoying because even CPU racers will bump you into a FAULT state, forcing you to start in last place. Lobby segments are also different sizes, different lengths, so as a newbie like myself, that already puts me at a disadvantage. Charging a spindash for a starting line boost does not add anything you could not already do with Mario Kart's more traditional starting line mechanic. So that means everything around it is just to make the game less friendly to newbies.

Unless you are an ultra-skilled sickos player who optimizes ring consumption to the max, or you're lucky enough to have a boost item, you are never going to be setup to crash through a speed barrier. I certainly never am. I only touch them by accident and they always make everything worse for me when I do. I would never stop and deliberately use a spindash to clear one of these, and places in the map where I get owned are never near one for it to act as a shortcut to get me back in the race faster.

The only time you need to use a spindash on a slope is if you get blasted by someone else's weapon, and there's always this deep dread to that where it's like, if I have to spindash to get up a slope, the race is already lost. Getting slammed by a weapon can already be very devastating on its own, but adding the extra step of having to come to a complete stop, wait 2-3 seconds to charge a spindash, and then crawl up the incline? It's insult to injury.

So, then, in practical terms: what value does the spindash bring to this game? The shortest summary is it's a recovery mechanic that adds an extra step to systems that are tuned to be very difficult and maybe don't even need to exist. You could remove the spindash (and all the systems that depend on the spindash) and I think it would be a better game.

And there's a few systems like this in the game, like the ring tether system, the air drop, and so on. It's nice to finally see someone trying to meaningfully evolve the kart racer into something with greater depth, but I also feel like people who liked SRB2 Kart liked it because it was a very good one of those. And it had extremely friendly mod support.

I get the desire for what's happening here. People were unfairly harsh about how "SRB2 Kart is a bad name" and the developers wanted to both establish a fresher identity and push things in a new direction. But they're also kind of reinventing a lot of wheels and adding all of these extra steps, which will and is hurting the pick-up-and-play element of "it's just a good kart racer." If you roll up on a friend group with Ring Racers and say "hold up, you gotta play the 40 minute tutorial first", that's a killer, and that's still considering they've already trimmed the tutorial length once since it launched only a few days ago.

A kart racer with the depth of a fighting game is definitely an interesting idea and like I said, I was having fun in the stream, but it's just one of those things where the more I think about what the ideal form of this game is trying to be, the more I wonder.

And that's not even considering that some things that worried me about SRB2 Kart are still here, like how many very narrow and winding tracks there are. Sometimes you get what is effectively a rally racing track but there's 8 other hyper-aggressive cars on the road with you and they're all armed to the teeth with projectile weapons. Even in SRB2 Kart's time trial mode, when I was the only one on the track, it could be hard enough to stay on the road. Now that I'm being knocked around by other racers at the same time? It can borderline on feeling impossible.

Again, I don't hate this. It's just that there's a lot of weird friction in places I feel like it does not benefit from or need.

#questions #Anonymous #srb2kart #dr. robotnik's ring racers #kart racer #mario kart #sega #sonic team #fangame

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celestemodder69 · 4 months ago

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For as interesting and rewarding as learning and mastering a speedrun can be initially it doesn't change the fact that you are engaging with a game in contexts where no design work was put in, sometimes actively avoiding the actually designed contexts and modes of engagement and running the game to its limit and its breaking point.

What happens to Celeste's story when you avoid any and all of it's manifestations? To the ludonarrative sense of overcoming when you already start winning? What happens to the stamina puzzles when you just use neutral jumps? To the level design when you can hyperdash the length of a screen?

What exactly are you engaging with?

Forsaken city is a tutorial for the basic mechanics I already know, an introduction to the characters I already know, it sets up a tone that I'm gonna ignore and mechanics I'm gonna bypass, its so input dense it make my hands hurt.

Old site, has an open section that I would have explored and wandered around in casually, a chase section that would have pressured me to constantly move (lol) and relaxed wind-down section at the end (TASawake here I come!!).

Celestial resort has you timing your inputs to avoid the dustbunnies (here's a setup to not have to worry), was there some story at some point? Remember the first time I passed though here it was so slow and frustrating, things are better now. Damn that last room is annoying, if I could skip it I would.

Thank god this game has no autoscrollers, no good speedgame game has autoscrollers, wind is a mechanic that pretends to impede the player.

So you know how the point of temple is that you have to wander and get lost, yeah fuck that. Anyway isn't it fucked up that seekers aren't meaningfully deterministic that's bad game design!!! Do you remember how the walk with Theo was slow and tedious, how carrying him was supposed to be a burden, remember how you had to improvise because the seekers would throw everything off, do you remember how to do a gultra?

So like the whole thing with reflection is that after a slow reflective section were you are given the option to go through the fast path and the slower path a few times (it's meandering, or was rather). You confront yourself in an explosive battle were all the hampering elements of the previous levels are not there and the screens get easier so you feel like you are constantly making headway (as opposed to the previous sections) and it feels awesome, this is likewise significant for story reasons. What actually happens now is you progress through a slog of unengaging screens that is way longer than it has to be and it's the most dogshit experience of the entire speedrun.

Chapter 7 exists, I guess, the previous one was so utter garbage that I never decided to route from 6 onward, I would practice 1-5 then kinda hope for good results on 6-7 whenever I decided to do actual runs, did not give a shit. Also shoutout to all the strawberries I didn't get.

At some point you can't say you are playing Celeste anymore, not to any practical degree, not from a game design or player experience perspective.

#celeste #game design #speedrunning #celeste speedrunning

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stekken · 23 days ago

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Almost exactly two years ago, I purchased my first fighting game. I had technically played fighting games before, when visiting friends, but I played them like party games, and they were designed to be played that way. None of us were especially competent with the controls, and the games were built to be flashy and exciting in spite of that. Thanks to Core-A Gaming, a YouTube channel covering fighting games and the culture surrounding them, I was aware that this wasn't really the fighting game experience.

Fighting games are a treasure trove of interesting subjects, and Core-A Gaming is very good at exposing and sharing them. What the videos inspired in me was envy, I think. Lee, the voice behind the Core-A Gaming videos, said that a good match in a fighting game feels like an engaging conversation. My feeling, then, was that of looking in the window of a locked room at a conversation I couldn't be a part of.

I remember dropping 60 dollars on my game of choice, but having looked at the Steam price history, it was apparently only ever 20. This error in my memory is likely because it was a big purchase for me at the time, more than a 60 dollar game would be for me today. I remember thinking "If I'm going to put this much money into this, I better follow through and make good on it."

The game was Granblue Fantasy: Versus. It was new, so I could count on being able to find matches quickly, and it was supposedly beginner-friendly. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I tried to become competent before ever fighting another player. I worked my way up to being able to beat the highest difficulty AI, at least some of the time. The scope of what I wanted to accomplish before entering my first match kept growing. Eventually, I was aiming to beat every character at the highest difficulty with my main, and to beat my main on the highest difficulty with every other character. After less than 30 hours playtime, I dropped the game, never having fought a single real opponent. It wasn't a conscious decision, I just stopped feeling the pull to replay it.

Fighting game culture isn't only unique among gaming cultures, it's isolated. Fear creates a boundary to entry, and attempts to circumvent the boundary circumvent the very appeal of fighting games. The source of fighting game's value to me was the same as the source of the fear: other people.

2 years later, I'm returning to fighting games. I've purchased a budget fighting game controller with directional buttons instead of a joystick, to lower my barrier to entry and avoid wrist pain. Incidentally, it cost what I remember Granblue costing: sixty dollars.

I'm attempting to connect with the community more this time, joining subreddits and Discord servers for my new first game of choice—Guilty Gear: Strive—and for the fighting game community more generally. I'll dabble in a variety of fighting games, including those gimmick games with only one mechanic, like Footsies and Divekick. I'll write down plans and strategies and practice guides and record my thoughts and feelings as I go.

Most importantly, though, I'm going to try and put the fun first. I'll start playing real matches early, record them, and use the replays to guide my practice.

To get used to my new controller, I launched Celeste. I've completed the base game and most of the DLC, and the DLC is where I started this session. In seconds, it became clear this was a bad idea. After a few deaths, I started a new save file instead. My bumbling around the early areas made me think of Razbuten's Gaming for a Non-Gamer series, where Raz's wife is so new to keyboard-and-mouse controls that every movement is a problem to solve. After about an hour, I'm feeling more confident, and continuing would likely just make me better at using my controller for Celeste, not better at using it in general. So, I switch over to Guilty Gear.

After completing a few tutorials, I go straight to an online match. I wonder if there'll be a messaging system, so I can share that this is my first match. There isn't. I pick the character I think is prettiest, which is this one:

I enter the lobby, make a lesbian-ass avatar,

and start a match. My opponent is using the same character the first tutorials did for my AI opponent, this guy:

I don't know my character's moves, and throughout the matches, it never even crosses my mind to use directional inputs like quarter-circles to launch projectiles. I almost never jump, mostly just dashing about, blocking, attacking, and occasionally grabbing. I do much better than I expected, actually, but that's still not very good at all. I was ready to be totally bodied in the first match and decide where to go from there, but that's not what happens. I was totally bodied by any normal standards, but my expectations for my performance were very low. The real goal was to inoculate myself to facing other people. There's some actual back-and-forth, though, and my heart rate goes up. After two games, my opponent declines a rematch, no doubt wanting someone who can actually play. It was fun!

I have high hopes for this. Eventually making friends through fighting games would be an incredible experience. I also want a broader view of video games both as a player and a as nascent game developer, and need to get out of my bubble. If there aren't growing pains, I mustn't be growing.

I plan to keep documenting my experiences with this, for a variety of reasons. I want to stretch my writing muscles and get used to putting myself out there online. I want to hopefully connect with other people who play fighting games, and play with or learn from them. I want to for my own views on fighting games, instead of trusting others to do that work for me. And I want to be able to look back on where I've been. Playing fighting games is supposed to be a journey, after all.

#fighting games #fgc #ggst

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ghostofacrow · 1 year ago

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Crow plays Gubat Banwa part 3: Together

I originally wanted to write the next post right away, but the reason I haven't is that I actually got to play with other people for a bit. My regular tabletop groups all got cancelled over the holidays, so I spend the days around new years introducing some of them to Gubat Banwa by putting them into the fucked up meatgrinder fight from my last post. Originally I just wanted to explain the rules while we had some more free time then usually, but we had so much fun we've since started the Sword Devil module - which I'm not going to talk about as much on here because it involves other people and spoilers for the intro module.

I was curious how the same battle was going to play out with a normal 1 gm 3 players setup and a different party composition (Murderglave, Heavenspear and Bladeweaver) and they did way better then I did, despite me controlling the enemies normally. The thunderbolts did really matter and the Murderglave in particular did surprisingly well while being outnumbered, but they still got saved by me forgetting about some of the demon mechanics. Also the 1.6 Patch 1 Update happened inbetween the tutorial battle and us starting the Sword Devil game.

We're trying to play the Sword Devil gmless, which is a bit awkward and weird because we're still following the book, so there is some weird suboptimal friction where we are still following a guided scenario, but we're all aware of all the hidden information at all times because we're reading through the book together, but it's been a fun experience regardless. I'm reusing Haraw for the game, and despite her being meant for a different game originally and none of us coordinating our characters at all, rolling for complications for our group led to us coming up with a whole previous adventure our characters went on together.

Similarly, coming up with the battle maps together led to a great feedback loop of "yes and"ing ideas that I don't usually see in tactics games. On the combat side of things, the update cut everyone's POS in half, so we were really surprised by how quickly the fight ended, our Murderglave and my Flower Balyan both got screwed by the fight only lasting for 2 resounds, even after we spend gaba to add more enemies. Because the Murderglave had to spend most of their first riff crossing a river and I couldn't play off my poison spreading and fields as much as I'd like. Weird opposite problem to what the first fight had, but I'm sure we can figure out how to balance the encounters over time.

But that's enough about what I've been up to, let's see how our Kadungganan are doing since I left them. I'll write the following scene in prose, if there's square brackets in the text, that means I did a Divination roll, the format is [Character Skill Result]. I'm leaning into the random elements more then I usually do here since I don't have anyone else to play off of, but I'll keep the mechanics discussion aside from noting the rolls out of the text.

The blood on Dranreb's hands was drying, clumping his fur together in dark, uncomfortable spikes. The river was right there and it would be do easy to wash it off, but the thought of leaving the shadow of the tree and wading into the water or turning his back to the forest made his skin crawl after what they just went through. He looked at the stranger lying before him. He had barely managed to still their bleeding after they had passed out, but they were still unconscious.

The leaves above him rustled as the other stranger shifted their position. They had climbed up into the tree when the demons attacked and had stayed up there since, and didn't respond to any of his questions. When Dranreb introduced himself and asked the stranger for their name in kind, they had stared down at him in silence before answering "You don't need to know.", and that had been the extend of their conversation. Sometimes he could hear whispers coming from the treetop, but he had soon realized that they weren't meant for him, but the stranger's gun. [Nasirakna Observation Even Succcess]

It had gotten dark before he could figure out a way to transport the unconscious Kawayanon, and Dranreb was about to drift off to sleep, when a gunshot woke him right back up, a jarring, violent intrusion between the sounds of the nighttime forest. "What are you doing?", he hissed up the tree. "Another demon.", the stranger simply replied, their voice flat like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Their eyes were fixed on something in the distance that Dranreb couldn't see from the ground. "I scared it off.", they concluded.

"We need to do something about them, we can't just let them run around the forest like this.", Dranreb said out loud, not expecting an answer.

A choked laugh came out of the tree. "And what are you going to do? You saw what happened when we tried to fight them."

"Yes, we won."

"Look at them." They pointed the butt of their weapon at the bleeding Kawayanon. "They're dying, I wouldn't consider that a victory."

"You don't know that.", he said, but still stopped to check their breath. Still stable. "Where do the demons even come from? There's so many of them suddenly."

"I have some ideas.", the witch answered. Dranreb stayed quiet, waiting for them to explain their ideas, but the follow-up never came.

The ensuing silence bothered him, as unpleasant as the conversation was, it at least kept his mind occupied. So he started talking again. "I still need to bring them to safety so they can heal."

"You mean die in peace."

"Stop it!", he yelled this time. "I don't care what you think, I'm not giving up this easily."

They discussed plans for a while. The path to the coast and Alimpulos wasn't that far, but they couldn't swim through the river with an unconscious, bleeding body, and the forest was more dangerous then usually. There was the Virbanwan battalion was camped out somewhere closer, but he wasn't keen on returning there, and the witch seemed even more put off by the idea. The witch scoffed when he suggested following the river to the next crossing downstream, where it fanned out and became flat enough to wade through. "You can leave if saving someone's life bothers you so much."

The witch took a moment to answer. "I'd like to pretend otherwise, but sticking together does make it easier to get to Alimpulos alive." Dranreb didn't notice that he drifted off to sleep until he found himself in bright sunlight, with a gun barrel poking into his side. "Wake up.", the witch said, standing before him. He scrambled to his feet.

[Haraw Toughness Even Failure]

The stranger was still unconscious, but their bandages hadn't bled through, a good sign that there injuries were less bad then they had seemed at night. Now he had to find a way to carry them. "I can't count on your help here, can I?", he asked the witch while lifting the body over his shoulder. "Listen.", the witch answered, "I accept that I can't prevent you from dragging dead weight around, but at least one of us should keep their eyes open and their hands on their weapon."

This was a good point, which made him more frustrated, but the Kawayanon, in their haze, at least managed to meekly grab onto him, and after he tried and failed to grab his spear and shield while holding onto them, the witch wordlessly picked up his gear. As they started walking, they'd occasionally mumble something that he couldn't understand. The Kawayanon was short of stature, but so was Dranreb, which made them difficult to carry, but he quickly found that he hated stopping more. The witch walked ahead of him and occasionally signaled him to stop, climbed into another tree and kept her sight on demons he could only sometimes see as dark spots in the distance. When this happened, he carefully placed the Kawayanon on the ground, picked up his weapon, hid between the undergrowth and listened to his breath, waiting for the witch to open fire. But the gunshot he was anticipating never happened. The demons passed them in the distance, his unpleasant companion climbed back down and they carried on.

The river became wider and wider, until the finally reached the crossing. Dranreb steeled himself for wading through the rushing water, but the witch put a hand on his chest and held him back. "Not so fast, look."

Confused, he looked out across the water, and noticed the spots were the waves broke. "Fish? They are large for river fish..." He furrowed his brows, noticing their rattling teeth and the steam clouding the other shore. "Yawa?", he asked.

The witch nodded. "We can't wait to cross the river much longer, unless you're prepared to spend another night out here."

What Dranreb had mistaken for fish from the distance were the demons, jumping and dancing in the waves. The river boiled where it touched their skin, their shapes obscures by the steam, only their cackling laughter reaching the shore.

#crow plays gubat banwa #gubat banwa

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