#the gameplay looks great

[inquiscissors]

!!!!!

LOVED the gameplay trailer! Now that it's been a minute, so for posterity, here's my first take on it all:

- I'm choosing to enjoy the stylized-realistic art style, glad everyone looks like they belong in the same game (was a little confused after the trailer, bc especially Harding and Emmrich kind if seemed to be in pretty different styles? but all seems to be in order after all✌️)

- to be entirely honest, I was a little worried that it would be hard to take things seriously in a more stylized game (despite origins looking, well... like it's from 2009, DA2 looking like it was made in about a year, and inquisition's over the top sad face™️, but somehow my nervous shit brain chose to completely ignore all that and worry anyway), but that scene at the temple hit me HARD.... I could write a whole thing about how Varric goes into it so boldly and jokingly and how this persona just evaporates when he sees how serious and SAD Solas is... All that just to say, I'm not worried about that anymore🙏

- so excited to see all the different ways we can move compared to earlier games!! balancing! vaulting!! (climbing and swimming, maybe?? hopefully??👀)

- incredible scenery, VERY cool atmosphere in Minrathous - it feels big and imposing, and like you could really get lost there

- on that note, I'm really hoping for day/night and weather cycles, though I'll be fine with keeping to the zones rather than an open world - but I hope we get to see Minrathous in daylight as well❤️

- I could honestly do without the sci-fi leaning design elements, but I don't mind them - I am hoping for a creative in-game explanation for them though👀

- LOVE the return to having both short and long range weapons equipped! I've really missed this since Origins, so it's cool to see it return🙏

- You actually have to aim with a bow! And you have limited ammo! in general the combat felt more up-close and personal than inquisition, and I feel like things like limited ammo lends itself really well to the small, grassroots-like group like the Veilguard, where you don't have the unlimited resources of an organization like the Inquisition (the Inquisitor can't really be seen running out of arrows in the middle of their heroic moment, surely), as well as from a game design standpoint where you can do limited ammo BECAUSE you have the option of melee, which you couldn't do in DA2 or inquisition

- the ability/tactics screen seems a bit daunting, and I'm glad the game pauses when you go to use it😅 I'm confident it'll be easy enough to get familiar with though, as figuring out the mechanics hasn't really been part of the challenge of beating the game before

once again, my most pressing concerns have been put to rest, and I'm so excited for this game🙏 completely unrelated to the game-play trailer, one of the biggest assurances I've seen these last few days is that BioWare has been keeping council with a selection of prominent fans of the franchise for the last few years(!) of development, meaning that they have made a big effort to actually stay in touch with what the fans want from the game, which was HUGE news (to me at least, idk I'd this was kind of an open secret that I hadn't picked up on or smth, but I had no idea lol)

[timethehobo]

The way Rook stiffens up when they drop from a ledge tho. X’D

[stiwfssr]

[pybun]

"lets get out of here"

the map:

[exhabigou]

his pool boy era.

[naturally-dazed]

She has serious video game protagonist vibes and i love her!!

[maranull]

how can you make something so good, add so much lore and flesh out so many characters so well

and at the same time have the most underwhelming, boring ass conclusion to a story line THAT YOU COULD HAD MADE INTERESTING, AND WAS, UP UNTIL THE "SOMEHOW, RADAHN RETURNED" SCENE

fucking. s8 of game of thrones looking ending

[biffybobs]

Down time between challenges for the final four. Mikaela and Charlie didn't approve of the flirtation between Natasha and Valentino but guess what? We don't care 🤭

[tianhai03]

been wanting to draw luis for a while now

(no context re4r spoilers under the cut)

i just really wanted to draw this if im being honest.

[crescentfool]

i've been doing a bunch of tartarus runs in reload lately, and it got me thinking about how i miss certain ways FES's clunky gameplay can characterize minato… (ramble about the great clock mechanic + leveling up party members in reload vs fes under the cut)

when i got to yabbashah block in tartarus (block 3), i remember commending the developers for adding the great clock mechanic. it's a much more convenient way to keep party members at the protagonist's level- so when you think about p3 from the perspective of trying to make it easier for people to play, the mechanic succeeds in this respect.

but now that i'm in adamah block, and that i've done lots of my once-a-month tartarus runs… i think that i got a little too dependent on it, and the way that i played through reload feels like a vastly different experience from how i played FES.

in reload, my party's levels are very lopsided. minato, yukari, akihiko, mitsuru, and fuuka are all level 90+, meanwhile junpei and aigis are at level 79, and then… poor ken and koromaru are at 71 and 64 respectively. (i never got to have a great clock for them…)

meanwhile, in FES, my party's levels were much more evenly distributed and were at least level 90. i did all of this manually for every monthly tartarus run because i enjoyed having options available for the taratarus guardians and monthly operations.

with how i perceive minato, i feel that the way i played FES feels more in-line with his character than me dawdling around waiting for the great clocks in reload.

FES's gameplay loop left me with the very strong impression that minato has to work twice as hard as everyone else in SEES does. it makes sense because, yeah, he's the leader, but something about having minato run through tartarus multiple times with different groups of people just to make sure that they are adequately prepared speaks volumes about his character, to me.

and while the tired mechanic is present in reload to some degree, most notably with allowing you to freely raise your courage stat when you visit edogawa after school… the tiredness system doesn't hit the same way that FES does, i think.

the way your party members in FES will call it quits when they return to the entrance floor at tartarus when they're tired, versus minato, in spite of all his tiredness and sickness, still pushes through tartarus because it's his responsibility…. idk!!! i miss that! i feel like this really hammers home the difference between minato and the rest of SEES, how minato doesn't really see himself as a human with needs worth respecting as long as he's useful to someone.

i don't think that tartarus being tedious (in FES especially) is not what most people would describe as fun, and i can respect people thinking it's a slog. but, regardless of how it feels to play, it doesn't change that FES's gameplay loop is a fundamental building block in how i perceive minato…

of course, i do recognize that you can just opt to NOT use the great clock in reload (and it's great when players are offered the choice to not partake in mechanics)! i definitely think that if someone really wanted to, they could manually level up party members, but i do feel that kind of playstyle isn't necessarily "incentivized" to the type of people who are into playing games for Having a Good Time. it's kind of like… "why would you do that when there's a much more convenient option available to you."

in any case! despite my woes, i do want to emphasize that i'm glad that reload has a much more smoother gameplay loop than the original P3 did, because it does make the game more accessible to people. having played both FES and reload, it feels very strongly apparent to me how the core gameplay formula of persona has really been refined in the past 18 years (to think og p3 was 2006 and reload is 2024.. time flies!). and reload has made revisiting a story that i love so dearly much, much easier because the gameplay just bops!

at the same time, due to my "i miss characterization informed by weird and dated FES gameplay quirks" woes, i still think that playing FES is worthwhile. (really, i feel this way about all iterations of p3! i think it's worthwhile to see what each version and side media has to say even if it doesn't Land™ for you.) but i also understand why people wouldn't want to play it, so i will keep writing posts about things i liked from FES's gameplay because i'm still very fond of FES (especially in respects to minato. these mechanics are so telling about him!!!) 💪

[fagbearentertainment]

Just saw someone say mario and luigi brothership looks bland but it’s ok I respect other peoples opinions even the wrong ones :)))

[bridgeportbritt]

Margaret Royal History Museum | Hallow Slough, SimDonia | 1 Day Until the Wedding

Admiring her work

Glass clinks and conversations wine down

Grayson: Hi, everyone. I hope you're all having a good time. Some of you may not know this, but Olivia and I actually spoke for the first time here at this museum, so it's pretty special to us. And it's even more special since we're here with you. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for being here. It means so much to Olivia and me to be able to celebrate this moment with all of you.

Grayson: Thank you to my Simerica family for flying all the way out here, even a week before to support us and make Liv feel welcome in our gigantic fam. Thank you to our wedding party for standing by our side on the big day. And of course, thank you to our parents. We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you for letting us have some say in your wedding (looks at Bria).

Bria: It's our wedding, sweetheart!

Laughter

Grayson chuckles: Thanks, mom. Anyway, enjoy! Thank you again!

Olivia: Wonderful speech, my love. Excuse me, while I go to the ladies' room.

Later

Esther: Marissa, have you seen, Olivia?

Marissa: Hmm... actually last time I saw her, she was headed to the restroom. That was about 10 minutes ago.

Esther: Thank you. I'll go check on her.

Donovan: Hi, sweetheart...

[thehappiestgolucky]

Monster Hunter Wilds really said fuck gender. Fashion time

[exhabigou]

a self indulgent photo session with tobias. also trying out @nectar-cellar's torso because i missed it when it was released.

[yharnams]

I have decided to blacklist Veilguard for now because I don’t care for how many spoilers BioWare is sharing 😔 Wish instead they would share more about the Rook’s background/what their last names are & actual footage from the cc so I can plan my playthrough 🥲