#the update and dlc has been so good I cry

[alpaca-clouds]

Y'all really need to understand what makes a finished game. Nothing of this makes the game unfinished, no matter how unhappy you or I are about it.

A finished game needs a plot that reaches from beginning to end and is playable without bugs. Ideally there are no more quests (that actually open quests) in the game that the player is not able to resolve. That makes a finished game. Baldur's Gate 3 delivers on this.

Am I unhappy with how Karlach and Wyll are both handled in terms of their companion quests? Yes, I am fucking unhappy about it. The two of them deserved so much more.

Does Act 3 in general feel very unpolished in comparison to Acts 1 and 2? It absolutely does.

Would I have loved some DLC or post-game involving the Upper City or Karlach and Wyll in Avernus? Oh yes, I would have.

Does any of this make the game unfinished? No. It doesn't.

Y'all also need to learn that cut content does not make a game incomplete. Sometimes content gets cut for time. Yes. Sometimes content however also gets cut because the creatives behind a piece of media do not think that whatever they had originally planned would work with other changes in the plot (pregnant Minthara and guilty Halsin might well belong to that kind of cut content). And if it gets cut for time, it is still stuff that gets cut down on DevTime it is still the stuff that the game does not need to be considered a finished product.

I am sorry, but really, the BG3 fandom is quite a bit entitled in these regards. BG3 is a game with a ton more content than any other game currently on the market does offer. This absolutely is facts. And Larian supported this game longer with new content patches than any other AAA studio supports their games with free added content.

Yes, there is absolutely reasonable criticism to be had here. Because yes, it is quite noticable that Karlach and Wyll as the only two non-white companions got handed the short end of the stick in regards of content. This might well be subconscious bias on whoever made the decision (a lot of people blame the writers, but let's be clear, we do not know who made the decision - it might well have been someone higher up), but it still does not make the game incomplete.

Would I have written both characters quite differently? If I had been given the chance, I totally would've.

But here is the thing folks: You whining on tumblr about how the game was unfinished (which, again, it was not) might get people to agree with you, but it is not gonna change shit. And there will nothing be changed about BG3, because in the end WotC is shitty and working with Hasbro is clearly a nightmare.

Expecting even more content in the end also creates an even more toxic envirionment for gamedevs, a lot of whom already have to do a lot of unpaid crunch work.

What you can do: Write a carefully worded email at Larian with well formulated criticisms, that does not blame them for "not finishing" a game that was more polished on release than basically any AAA title I have seen in the last 5 years (though the bar is on the floor - given that half of the AAA studios do not manage to release a playable game on release at times taking a week to get the game to actually start), but rather brings up good points. Stuff like: "It is noticable that the non-white characters get treated way less carefully than their white counter parts."

But really, you will not get any studio that has delivered a very polished game on release and then has supposed it for more than a year after the release with new FREE content updates, to listen, when you just cry that it was "unfinished".

larian studios never released a finished game. here's a list of things that got cut, or had to be added in a later patch, or just never included in the first place

completely cutting the upper city in act 3

cutting a bunch of lore in the shadowlands in act 2, including halsin's connection to isobel

cutting the cazador plot down till there was no connection between astarion and the nether brain

wyll. just everything to do with wyll.

similarly, a lot to do with minthara (recruiting her, having her in camp with halsin at the same time, pregnancy plot)

duke ravengard. he's a strategic and political player in baldur's gate and yet after he's rescued he just hangs around in our camp

withers' party after saving baldur's gate

evil endings of course

the letters you receive at the end

karlach's engine (was it ever supposed to be fixable or was her sacrifice/death the whole point of her original arc?)

feel free to reblog with more

[zaidepersonal]

some recent acnh photos, for fun :3

[gb-patch]

Asks: Wedding Reactions

I appreciate all the lovely messages sent in about the Wedding DLC since its launch! It’s been wonderful to see that players enjoyed the experience. Thank you so much for playing, everyone ;v;.

FAQ    

Ask Archive    

Update Only Side Blog

I just finished the Wedding DLC for Cove, and I’m in tears, thank you for such a wonderful game, and for letting us grow up with Cove

♡

Im not that good with expressing my feelings with words, but at least.I wanted to thank you all, really, thank you so so much for everything, I love you all and I hope all of you can be as happy, joyful, and whole as you maybe unkowingly, already made me. Thank you with all my heart.

♡

I hope you’re happy, this game has made me cry like a little baby all over again. What can I say other than that this is amazing. The writing was amazing, Cove was amazing, everything was just amazing. Thank you for creating this game and thank you for the unforgettable experience!

♡

Played through the wedding dlc, loved it. Super cute. Also I'm now a bit in love with Baxter, idk if that was a goal but you've accomplished it anyway.

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I just finished the Wedding DLC and *guys.* I am so full of love for this team, this game, this family, and this wonderful, beautiful crybaby. I want y'all to know what a special thing you have created here. Our Life is beyond words, really. I wish I could go back and play it all again for the first time, and fall in love with it all over again. But since I can't, I thoroughly look forward to living it again and again, and falling in love with Cove Holden and Sunset Bird every single time. xoxo

♡

i live in texas and the recent freeze has been a lot, to say the least, but the wedding dlc coming out has been such a massive delight. it makes me a little sad to see cove’s story come to an end, but i’m also so happy to see him come so far, both him and the team. there’s really no way to fully express how deliriously happy i was playing through everything but i just wanted to thank you for the experience and the joy! i’m eagerly looking forward to the baxter and derek dlcs and ol2! have a wonderful day and thank you again!! 💝

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Cliff's speech during the Wedding DLC is what made me break and brought out the waterworks I love that man so much-

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I haven't finished playing through the wedding dlc yet but oh my gosh, the way you made me love Baxter even more...thank you so much for all of these wonderful characters ;-;

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I loved the game, it took me a while to finish the wedding DLC, I was checking every day for a release date but I got a little emotional at so many points, fudge at my wedding, of course the speeches, the vows, the ending dance with Cove. It really just made me so happy and even though Cove is fictional and maybe not totally realistic, does help remind me to not settle for a man who wouldn't say "She's picky" so our food should be stuff she eats, and just how sweet and considerate he is.

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I cried so much at the wedding holy 10/10 thank you im going to replay the entire game now <3

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Okay so I'm out here finally playing the wedding DLC and holy sht Baxter's voice literally got me melting😭😭 I didn't expect it to be so rich and just... WOW😩

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Finally got some time off to play the Wedding DLC...and I'm ugly crying. It was such an emotional adventure. Thank you for letting us experience this beautiful story. 

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My friend bought me the Wedding DLC a couple hours after release and I played it smiling the entire way through. I found myself really feeling for Baxter during our scenes with him and it makes me even more excited for his DLC. Even when I was starting to cry from how sentimental the cast was being, such as during the vows and reception, I ended up laughing a few seconds later. Thank you so much for developing and creating such an amazing game!!

♡

I'm sure you're flooded with asks right now, but after finishing the Wedding DLC I can't contain my gratitude! This game means a lot to me and how I relate to my own personal experiences with childhood and growing up (currently in Step 4 myself-) but thank you to anyone and everyone who worked on this game and offered inspiration! The writing is very dear to my heart, and that option to talk to Baxter during the dance about importance... teared me up I tell you! 

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The fact that Kyra is probably learning about how Cove tried to run away for the first time at his wedding is making me wheeze rn. This DLC is absolutely adorable 🥰

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Baxter took me by total surprise in the wedding DLC! I had no idea that MC left such a deep impression on him since he's usually flirty with everyone. I simp for Cove all the way but I'm kind of really intrigued by Baxter's dlc

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Hello ! I just wanted to thank you for this amazing game and all the effort put into it. The wedding dlc is amazing and seeing Cove one last time made me a bit emotional. Also the scene with Baxter where he told us why he never called us made me even more impatient for his dlc !

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I’ll just begin by saying thank you so much for all your hard work! I’m really enjoying Cove’s Wedding DLC in OL1, although it’s a bit sad to know that Cove’s story has reached it’s conclusion. It’s bittersweet, but I guess the rest of his life is up to our own imagination, so it’s not so bad.

I’m also glad we got a glimpse into Baxter before his DLC will come out. I didn’t expect myself to relate to him in a way, but I really enjoyed seeing who he is before we get to know him in full. (Possible spoilers ahead)

I can sort of understand why he chose not to keep in contact with Cove and co. At least in my case, with old acquaintances, I feel as though once circumstances don’t let you be together, your part in a another person’s life is essentially over. Even if you’ve made a large impact in their life, your role in their story is over after that and you’d feel like you’d be interfering too much if you tried to make contact again. It might be the same vice versa. Well, that might just be me though.

(Spoilers end) Anyway, I’m really looking forward to more OL content! Stay safe and happy, everyone!

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congrats on the release of the wedding DLC!! my birthday’s tomorrow and it was the perfect early birthday gift ❤️ thank you for all of your hard work!

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The wedding dlc was beyond amazing, I cried almost as much as Cove did. I can't put into words how beautiful everything was and I cannot wait to play it over and over again <3

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Congratulations 👏🎆👏🎆! I want to congratulate you for the amazing work and especially for the release of the wedding DLC! I've played a lot of visual novels and games with integrative fiction features and the Our Life series of games is one of the ones that has the most variations of choices and makes us really see ourselves in the story. You are amazing! Keep up the great work, I'm extremely excited for Our life: Now and Forever and also to play the wedding DLC! ❤️ 💓 

♡

realizing that the wedding dlc is the last of cove's. i kind of wanna cry lmao. he's brought me so much comfort over the last year. i'm sad about it but I'll definitely be looking forward to the other dlcs and ol:nf. thank you for putting your stories out into the world.

♡

I just discovered this game like a few days ago when scrolling through Steam for some free games. I couldn't stop playing for the whole day and I just can't believe that so many good content comes from a free base game, Cove Holden has my heart and even the other characters are all so loveable. I wanted to buy the DLCs but then I found out there was a wedding DLC coming shortly so I decided to wait for that first so I can buy all of them altogether. SO EXCITED TO PLAY AND RE-EXPERIENCE THE GAME AGAIN but this time with more Cove  moments!  Thank you so much for all the hard work and I'm excited for the second serious of Our Life and all your future work as well !!

♡

I just finished beta 0.99 and it was beautiful. It was such a beautiful conclusion to the games I’ve been in tears over it for the last five minutes or so. I started playing our life during the summer of 2021 and it’s gotten me through some very frustrating times. Being able to play this game has honestly helped me destress so many times and I’m so glad I found it. The world and characters you’ve created are so wonderful and I love every moment you created. This wedding was such a beautiful ending I’m going to replay it again and again. Thank you.

♡

tbh I was trying so hard to stop playing our life I was obsessed with the game and everytime I open it and hear the music my eyes will just burst out tears the nostalgic and emotions hit me so hard I did stop playing our life after my steam account got banned but after seeing your tweets about the wedding I just can't hold myself and play it again. I love the game but it took me atleast 2 months to get back to reality all I did was crying, play the game and daydreaming about cove all day 😭 I wonder if there will be short moments after cove wedding he's so precious 🥺

♡

I wanted to let you know how much I adored the beta of the wedding dlc, and I'm sure you've heard this many times before. Thank you so very much for your hard work! ♥ If I remember correctly, it's very unlikely Baxter will get a DLC for OL2 but he seriously won over my heart with how he feels he's unimportant and just 'someone' which would've opened up so many possibilities of a really adorable and bittersweet reunion for OL2, if there ever was/were feelings for the MC in OL2. My heart 😭 

♡

[geminigeek]

E3 2021 (Updated!)

E3 2021 is less than a month away, and one thing I love is video game rumors, so here is a list of all the rumors and leaks I have found from the corners of the net! Nothing is confirmed, so take it as you will, but I think it's fun to dream of what could be! Starting with...

Nintendo:

- The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild sequel (big info drop, gameplay trailer, release window of spring 2022) UPDATE: Gameplay was shown, release year of 2022 is the goal, could be pushed into 2023

- Fire Emblem (an all new entry made by Intelligent Systems, or a remake of Genealogy of the Holy War) NOPE

- Donkey Kong (new game made by Mario Odyssey team) NOPE

- Splatoon 3 (new gameplay trailer) NOPE

- Bayonetta 3 (gameplay reveal, 2022 release) NOPE

- Mario Kart 9 (reveal) NOPE

- Metroid (new 2D game reveal) UPDATE: Announced as Metroid Dread, releasing on October 8th 2021!

- Super Mario Party 2 (reveal trailer) NOPE

- The Legend of Zelda (Switch ports of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess) NOPE

- Radiant Historia (Switch port, sequel reveal) NOPE

- Ring Fit Adventure sequel (reveal) NOPE

- Earthbound reboot (reveal) NOPE

- Detective Pikachu sequel (Switch reveal) NOPE

- Pokémon Diamond/Pearl remakes (new gameplay trailer) NOPE

- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (teaser) NOPE

- Super Mario Odyssey 2 (teaser) NOPE

- Super Smash Bros Ultimate (next fighter reveal, immediate shadow drop on eShop) UPDATE: Announced as Kazuya from the Tekken series, no release date yet

Playstation:

- E3 "season" State of Play

- Dreams + (PS5 port)

- Back 4 Blood (new gameplay trailer) UPDATE: New CGI trailer, and PvP mode shown

- Project Cars 3

- Symphogear Unite

- Stray

- Sonic Colors Ultimate (PS4 Remaster) UPDATE: This was confirmed on May 27th, Sonic Colors remaster coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, with gameplay and visual upgrades, releasing September 7th, 2021!

- The Mitchells VS. The Machines

- Grand Theft Auto V (PS5 gameplay showcase)

- Sunset Overdrive Refreshed (PS4/PS5 remaster of Xbox game)

- Sunset Overdrive sequel (reveal)

- Metal Gear Solid Remake (reveal)

- Last of Us Remake (teaser trailer)

Microsoft:

- 1 to 3 hour long showcase UPDATE: This was confirmed to be taking place on June 13th, at 12:00 pm CST, approximately 90 minutes total including Bethesda content

- Acquisition of Sega?? NOPE

- Announcement of new studio formed/acquired NOPE

- HALO Infinite (new gameplay) UPDATE: New trailer shown

- Psychonauts 2 (gameplay trailer, possible reveal of a very soon release date) UPDATE: Psychonauts 2 is releasing on August 25th 2021!

- Age of Empires IV UPDATE: Releasing on October 28th 2021!

- Forza Horizon 5 UPDATE: Announced, takes place in Mexico, looks incredible

- Far Cry 6 (gameplay reveal) UPDATE: Releasing on October 7th 2021, DLC announced where you can play as the villains from Far Cry 3, 4, and 5.

- Witcher 3 ("Next-Gen"/current gen remaster) NOPE

- Hellblade 2 (gameplay reveal) NOPE

- State of Decay 3 (gameplay reveal) NOPE

- Everwild (gameplay reveal) NOPE

- Alan Wake 2 (teaser trailer) NOPE

- Elden Ring (reveal set for 6/14/2021) UPDATE: This was shown during the Summer Game Fest on 6/10/2021, with a gameplay trailer and a release date of January 21st 2022!!

- Dragon Age 4 (teaser trailer) NOPE

- Dying Light 2 (new gameplay, 2022 release year) UPDATE: This was confirmed on May 27th to be releasing on December 7th 2021!!

- Fable (gameplay teaser) NOPE

- Gears Tactics sequel NOPE

- Perfect Dark (gameplay teaser) NOPE

- Battlefield 6 UPDATE: Announced before E3

- Knights of the Old Republic remake NOPE

- Shadow of Mordor 3 NOPE

- Baldur's Gate 3 NOPE

- Netherealms next game (Marvel themed, maybe Avengers vs X-Men) NOPE

- Guardians of the Galaxy UPDATE: Announced at the Square Enix show, releasing on October 26th 2021!

- Avowed (gameplay teaser) NOPE

- Starfield (full reveal with gameplay) leads into Bethesda's showcase UPDATE: First preview shown, releasing exclusively on Xbox, November 11th 2022!

Bethesda:

- joint showcase with Microsoft (because of acquisition) UPDATE: This was confirmed to be taking place on June 13th, at 12:00 pm CST, approximately 90 minutes total including Microsoft content

- Starfield (discussion) UPDATE: Expected release on November 11th 2022!

- "OMEN" (reveal, new IP from Arkane Studios) UPDATE: Arkane announced vampire focused action title, Redfall, exclusive to Xbox.

- Deathloop (gameplay) NOPE

- Ghostwire Tokyo (gameplay) NOPE

- Wolfenstein 3 (teaser) NOPE

- Elder Scrolls 6 (full reveal) NOPE

- Prey 2 (reveal) NOPE

Square Enix:

- Final Fantasy XVI (new trailer with gameplay) NOPE

- Forspoken (new gameplay) NOPE

- Dragon Quest XII (teaser) UPDATE: This was announced on May 26th, title art shown, officially named "Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate". More adult in tone, gameplay revamp, and being made in Unreal Engine 5.

- NEO: The World Ends with You (new gameplay) NOPE

- Final Fantasy VII Remake part 2 (teaser, showing Cloud in a forest apparently) NOPE

Capcom:

- Resident Evil Village DLC (teaser) UPDATE: Village DLC announcement

- Resident Evil Revelations 3 (reveal) NOPE

- Resident Evil PS1 Collection (reveal) NOPE

- Dragon's Dogma 2 (reveal) NOPE

- Monster Hunter Rise DLC (reveal) UPDATE: DLC announcement

- Monster Hunter Stories 2 UPDATE: DLC announcement

- Pragmata (teaser with gameplay) NOPE

- Ace Attorney Chronicles UPDATE: New gameplay mechanics shown

Bandai Namco:

- Elden Ring (same footage as Microsoft show) UPDATE: This was shown during the Summer Game Fest on 6/10/2021, with a gameplay trailer and a release date of January 21st 2022!!

- Tales of Arise (new gameplay) UPDATE: Gameplay announced two additional party members

- Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm NOPE

- Digimon Survive NOPE

- Scarlet Nexus NOPE

- Guilty Gear Strive NOPE

SEGA:

- Persona 4 Golden (Switch port) NOPE

- Persona 5 Royal (Switch port) NOPE

- Sonic (tease of new game series) UPDATE: this was announced on May 27th, a brand new Sonic game made by Sonic Team releasing in 2022

Other:

- Bioshock 4 (reveal) NOPE

- Borderlands (spin-off reveal) UPDATE: spin-off title Tiny Tina's Wonderlands was announced at the Summer Game Fest! Game will be a full length fantasy-themed title similar to the DLC of Borderlands 2 "Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep"!

- Jedi Fallen Order sequel (reveal) NOPE

- Grand Theft Auto VI (reveal) NOPE

- new IP from Rockstar games NOPE

Again, nothing has been confirmed, these are just rumors. We shall see what happens, but if even a few of these are true, we could have a good E3 this year!

[dogydayz]

SPOILERS FOR SONIC FRONTIERS AHEAD!!!!

So i was playing Frontiers for a few hours today- okay most of the day actually. But like, i nearly fucking cried already??? And im not even at the end??????? Im at the last island though. It physically pained me seeing his idle animations slowly start to show him more and more tired, and how he looks in cutscenes too. The whole Tails quests have left me REALLY hoping we might get a Tails game, like one literally just based on him and his own independent adventures and shit like that. That'd be such a neat way to build off of what Frontiers has set up for him! The brotherly relationship between Tails and Sonic makes me so fucking happy too man,,, Like god fucking damn it, SONIC CALLS HIM "LITTLE BRO" LIKE THEY'RE ACTUALLY JUST BROTHERS,,, I played a lot of the fishing minigame stuff with Big and it made me really want a post-game DLC where you can keep the fish you catch if you wanna and like.... put em in a fishtank or smthn, like a really BIG fishtank that you can decorate and shit, and you could buy decor and details + space for it with the tokens you get (because infortunately it seems that Big's fishing spot stuff has little purpose after the story is finished). On the fourth island, Rhea Island, I nearly started to fuckin cry i was hit with so many emotions. The Ancients having to leave then being destroyed in the end, Sonic's idle animations showing the worst of his condition, the corruption taking over him more and more each tower.... AND GOD. FUCKING. DAMN IT. You start off the island before the first tower and are in a MASSIVE FUCKING FIELD OF LAVENDERS. Afaik that's one of the only places in the game with a lavender field???? So now im just begging SEGA to make the Twitter Takeover stuff about Shadow liking lavenders canon by referencing him in that area, like.... if you go back there after the story (since having Sonic randomly mention Shadow while he's about to fuckin keel over would probably ruin the moment entirely lmao). LIKE COME ON. It's SUCH a pretty spot too you better fuckin believe I'm gonna draw art of Sonic bringing Shadow to the Starfall Isles post-story and shit like that just to show him the fields and the sights. You absolutely know I am. The game overall just has such good fucking MUSIC!!! I'm like 90% certain that every mini-boss (big crazy battle enemy) has its own entire battle theme, which is ABSURD. There's none of the eventual monotony that BotW unfortunately ended up having, the enemies on every island differ AND they have features to them that actively prepare you for what you'll have to do in the future with the bosses and Titans. The game design, sound design, controls, designs.... It's all just so fucking amazing I can't even explain it properly. Every goddamn time I ran into another boss I'd be like "the fuck is this thing" and have to learn "new" mechanics that had ALWAYS been there, yet I'd just never used before. The world is INTERESTING, it's FULL and FUN to explore! That was one of the fanbase's biggest fears when the game was first announced, that the world would be empty and boring due to how Sonic needs space to go fast properly, but holy FUCK they nailed it!! They actually did it!! There are so many small locations that are just so beautiful. I really am excited for that future photo mode update, that's gonna be such a blast auuughh!!! I really hope they continue to add more through DLCs as time goes on. While I'd KILL for a "Dark Expansion" DLC that adds in Rouge and Shadow (or even Omega as a secret borderline OP playable character lol), I know it probably wouldn't be able to work into the story so I doubt it'd happen? Would be fun though, to get to explore as different characters during the post-game, hell maybe even have some characters explore together and interact in various locations somehow.... I wonder if someone would end up modding that or some shit lol. But yeah, the game is fantastic and I'm going crazy over it, I just hope we do get some good stuff for the post-game, even if in the future.

[beyond-a-name]

Before the announcement, I was expecting to be bitter if it was Sora even though I really like Kingdom Hearts, but watching the direct today was lovely.

He seems a little unbalanced but most dlc fighters do. He just looked so cool! He's all floaty and hits people into the air for big aerial combos just like in the games!!! And the particle effects on his hits are the same cartoonish clouds! He has a reflector and a very spammable special, but I really like how they were changed to make them distinct from the other fighters and hopefully less abuseable. And he's so floaty like in his home series! Bouncing and jumping around. I just loved watching Sakurai get excited about the character and all the little details they added, like how he's lighter than Isabelle not because of his mass but "because of his characteristics." That's so cute and fun! AND HIS OUTFITS OH MY GOSH

Seeing Sora kind of helped me see the game a little less seriously and get excited about it again. We get to see Sora team up with Link and Banjo and Kazooie to fight everyone from Ryu to straight-up Pac-Man!!! And he kept all of his delightful adventurous charm to boot!

Watching Sakurai get sentimental through the whole thing really hit home. He talked about how long he worked on the game and how it'll be the last time he gets to play to show something off like this and I wanted to cry. It was really nice to see him be so sentimental about something that's been so close to my heart.

I think I get more upset about online play and the nature of competitive Smash and the game's balance more than anyone I know, but I think this update really helped me take a step back and get excited about it again. I think I get so upset because it's been so close to my heart for so long and meant so much to me every step of the way, so I want it to be good and to be able to have fun with it while it grows with me and my skill level. It always feels like a DLC fighter will in some way take away from the game by making other characters less viable (Kazuya), but watching base game characters still be significant in tournaments and still getting bodied when I play as DLC characters I think helps me see past that.

I'm still gonna be mad about netcode and complain about balance, but I think Sora was the perfect character to bring a playfulness back to a game full of so much wonder and, well, play. I think Sakurai knew that too, and it was reflected in Sora's announcement trailer. The fire of Smash slowly dimming and dying out until Mario reaches out to invite someone to breathe new life into it and its other characters. Of course that someone would be an adventurer that already travels distant lands to return joy and hope to them. They really let him ooze charisma and charm and poured so much love into his design, it took me back to the excitement of the games' roots. We get to see all these characters mushed together in one place! And have fun with them all while getting to show my friends!

This seemed like Sakurai's farewell to the game, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's not involved in the next game. Again, I'm sure I'll still find plenty to gripe about, but for the first time in a while I'm excited about Smash again. I think I'm ready to really, truly have fun with Smash again.

Thank you Sakurai. For everything.

[askamnesiamoonjumper]

🌙Au explanation/blog rules🌙

Welcome! this post functions as a basic tldr of the plot with links to the master post and mostly functions as a faq post

Under the cut you will find my au my hat game obsessed monkey brain made known as the Amnesia!Moonjumper au (lovingly referred to as a!au)

!!🌙I would suggest look at this before going forward🌙!!

🌙ask box is open! MoonJumper is available for asks!

🌙look at the masterpost please-

UPDATE: A!AU IS GETTING TURNED INTO A FIC SOON! SO KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR THAT! ^^

(Proshippers get of my lawn)

anyway here we go:

🌙What’s the au about?

The au itself is centered on moonjumper and their struggle with the amnesia of their past before they died, plus him adjusting to life in subcon/outside the horizon and learning about how his magic works.

The found family dynamics formed of the characters is also a big player in plot, specifically the one between mj and hatkid, mj and snatcher, basically just a bunch of dadjumper/moonparent + snatcher moonjumper sibling indulgence lol

you’ll find losta angst here folks get ready to cry (but fr theres lots of tw topics later but specifically some later chapter go into dark stuff, ill tw everything when that chapter actually happens)

🌙Things to know about the blog:

-the au is post game

-Vanessas curse dlc is non canon because the au was made before it came out but the lore stuff that was in VC is canon (aka the curse magic/ability itself is canon to a!vanessa)

-M!anon is not allowed sorry

-no nsfw based asks please that’s weird bro- (though suggestive jokes are fine just yk don’t cross boundaries)

-no shipping unless specified

-the au has lots of hcs/backstories for characters I’ve made myself so even though the au is canon leaning most things are just my own original ideas ^^ I mean it’s not called an au for nothing lol but yeah basically just expanding on the og characters/info we have of them(plus some stuff from Shane frosts versions of the characters are used as some inspo too it’s a number of things lol)

-anons/askers are portrayed as dwellers (though will be replaced by other npc characters in any non subcon areas ex if they are in the metro the anons will be the cats or alps will be nomads etc)

🌙 “what should I do if I want to use your art for a pfp or post it somewhere else? Etc”

IF YOU DO ADD CREDIT (or ask first!) But Yes that is fine BUT JUST DONT STEAL MY ART!

🌙 “can I voice/dub your comics/fic/au?”

YES YES YES, i would love to help out too! ive done dub editing before and i love voice acting too so I have some experience, I would die on spot oml that would be so cool😭

🌙 “am I allowed to make image descriptions of your posts?”

YES! ABSOLUTELY! PLEASE DO!!!

I would do it myself but I’m really bad at describing things (theres a reason im a comic writer first and NOT a fic writer lol) so I’m gonna leave it to the people who are good at it and actually have experience...

🌙 “can I write a fic for your au?“

YESYESYESYES HOLY CRAP YES PLEASE SHAKING AND CRYING I AM BEGGING!!!!!! KILL ME ON SIGHT WHY DONT YOU?? YES PLEASE!!!!!!ASFHKPITWWHBSQP/POS

🌙 “can I make fan art/animation/comic/animatic etc?”

Ofc! Yes!!

🌙 “can I write a song/music for this au”

GRABS YOU OMG YES YES YES YES HOLY CRAPPPP THAT WOULD BE AMAZING??

🌙”is this a comic?”

yes! ...and no? its a comic yes! But some events later on will be shown without comics, such as drawings or fics or still frames with dialogue wrote under the post or maybe some animation etc etc its mostly a comic but sometimes breaks that format when it needs to (either if I don’t feel like drawing a full comic for a scene OR a full comic won’t be enough for a scene etc you get the idea)

EDIT the au has now been converted to a half comic half fic! So this is sortof half right now?

🌙who is the mun/mod?

my name is grace! Just a kid who thought way too hard about unimportant details if this game and made an au about it lol, my main is @gracebeth3604!

I tried to list as many fan content/faq things as I could think of but if there’s anything else you can think of just ask! please @ me so I can see Anything y’all make I would love it!

if one of y’all ever catch someone stealing my art without credit please lmk asap!

oh! And if anyone needs to know one of the characters pronouns ill be happy to let you know (seeing as a lot of them use they/them or different pronouns from their canon/cut character counterparts)

like I said earlier PLEASE check the Masterpost bc half of the art on the blog is just drawings/non canon stuff the Masterpost is really good for if you need to catch up with stuff in order

The blog is a big passion project thing so it’s not the best most amazing writing at all times and definitely not the most organized (especially seeing as it’s still my first time running a big story blog) so excuse that;;

but yeah that’s all have a good day!^^

-mun grace

[lulu2992]

I posted 340 times in 2021

258 posts created (76%)

82 posts reblogged (24%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.3 posts.

I added 516 tags in 2021

#far cry 5 - 175 posts

#john seed - 58 posts

#joseph seed - 44 posts

#photo mode - 38 posts

#far cry 6 - 35 posts

#my art - 34 posts

#traditional art - 34 posts

#far cry 5 screenshots - 34 posts

#vaas montenegro - 34 posts

#fan art - 30 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#it’s impossible to change the time of day in the photo mode in that dlc so I sat there for maybe 15 minutes waiting for the sun to rise :’)

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

See the full post

257 notes • Posted 2021-03-29 00:17:25 GMT

#4

What the Far Cry 6 Gameplay Reveal got me excited about

(Besides the story, of course)

Dani Rojas

The Far Cry 6 protagonist has a name, a date of birth (May 4, 1996), a voice, a backstory, and a strong personality. The least we can say is that Dani is in stark contrast to the nameless, voiceless Junior Deputy who was more of a vessel for the player than a character. And even though the game will let us choose between a male and a female Dani, it’s clearly the latter who was in the spotlight in the gameplay reveal. A first in the series!

Non-violent encounters with enemies

In Far Cry 6, instead of immediately getting shot by any enemy we meet, we’ll be able to hide our weapons to blend in or find clever, non-lethal ways to infiltrate guarded areas. I didn’t know how much I needed this until now!

Minigames

In the video, Dani is briefly seen playing dominoes. That brought back poker memories from Far Cry 3.

Healing animations

Good news: they’re back! I can’t wait to cauterize bullet wounds with a cigar (ouch).

New weapons

New Dawn’s Saw Launcher has a worthy successor (or predecessor, technically) and it can shoot… CDs. Dani also has a customizable backpack that can fire missiles, among other things. And it seems we can use tanks!

Companions

We don’t know if “Guns for Hire” are back but animal companions sure are. Besides Chorizo the (very cute) dog, we can ride horses and have a pet crocodile. And that sounds pretty awesome.

274 notes • Posted 2021-05-29 00:03:23 GMT

#3

What John Seed’s clothes say about him

People generally assume John is a self-centered man who only wears luxury clothing and that he must have a well-stocked closet. While, at first glance, this assumption makes sense, I think his outfit tells a different story.

Firstly, his clothes are surprisingly dirty for a man who supposedly cares a lot about his appearance. There are mud stains on his shirt, pants, coat, belt, and shoes. There even used to be blood on his shoes but it was removed in an update. Secondly, his shirt looks like it's been mended in several places. If he really owned plenty of shirts, why would he bother repairing and wearing this one, again and again?

See the full post

375 notes • Posted 2021-05-10 01:18:19 GMT

#2

"The thing that started the whole avalanche of the character was, in the audition room, I thought it'd be interesting if he started his back to the camera, and I was pretending that he was eating. And as he starts turning around, he starts licking his fingers... until he gets to his middle finger, and he does this really, kind of crude gesture and just licks his middle finger. And I thought to myself they weren't gonna like it at all."

Michael Mando explaining how he eventually got the role of Vaas Montenegro in Far Cry 3, from “How Far Cry’s Iconic Villains Were Created - IGN Inside Stories”.

414 notes • Posted 2021-11-06 01:29:45 GMT

#1

Ah yes. Me. My girlfriend. And her dog, her cougar, and her 600-pound bear.

1133 notes • Posted 2021-01-23 01:43:26 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[ronnytherandom]

I started Writing My Thoughts On Things Again, I'm Sorry

15/8/2021:

Mass Effect Legendary Edition (Whole trilogy w/ all dlcs, Adept Class, Hardcore difficulty, 68 Hours):

Still brilliant! I adore this series. The first Mass Effect was one of the first games I ever played back in 2010 and Mass Effect 2 is one of the games I’ve played the most accruing several hundred hours over multiple playthrough from 2010 onwards, while Mass Effect 3 is a game I greatly appreciated but have more mixed feelings towards. Retrospectively as much as I liked the first Mass Effect, I did not nearly appreciate it enough back in the day. For a first entry in a new IP it is incredibly fleshed out with interesting Lore, an intriguing story and a cool galaxy to explore. I appreciate its combat far more now than I did back then but would still argue it is relatively weak in comparison to more modern titles and its own successors. Though the VA is rough in some places it is excellent where it matters, especially in the case of Sovereign whose iconic dialogue on Virmire is etched into my brain. A key element of the first mass effect I felt was sorely missing from the later entries was its exploration. While the galaxy grew routinely larger no game after the first had a drivable Mako, a vehicle I adore, and further lacked the opportunity to land on and explore the terrain of alien worlds for resources and side missions which I feel lends a lot to the atmosphere of the setting and could be made even more compelling using updated technology and a larger selection of assets and interiors which might have emerged from the higher budget successors. As it is I appreciate its inclusion in the first game. Mass Effect was also my first encounter with impactful choices in a video game and this is certainly something I appreciate but leads me to a major criticism specifically targeting the dialogue wheel layout as it is strange to me how you can puzzle out all of these possible dialogue outcomes but put exactly all of the positive outcomes behind the Upper Left dialogue option. While this is less pronounced in the First entry as the Renegade dialogue fills roughly the same purpose while sounding more badass, it becomes truer throughout the series as renegade options routinely just become nasty and exclusionary.

Mass Effect 2 innovates in some key ways which I have grown to appreciate more in the past 20 hours of play than I did when it launched. Primarily, its focus on characters and your relationships to them. Barring a couple of notable exceptions I found myself greatly invested in every single member of the Normandy crew and I think it’s a remarkable feat that each crewmate could be written to be so sympathetic, relatable and interesting in a world so full of appreciable elements. I would go into specific examples but id end up listing every character except Miranda and Jacob. This of course plays well into the Suicide Mission narrative which is perhaps my favourite overarching plot within the trilogy as it incorporates not just all of these incredible characters and plays upon your investment in them but also relies on the threat of both the Reapers and Collectors which are two excellently designed enemies which I find significantly more compelling than Saren and the Geth or Cerberus and the Reaper Husk Armies. Mass Effect 2 has a powerful horror element composed of the Collectors phobic horror and the reapers cosmic horror and it does wonders for the game’s atmosphere. I remember at this moment the Collector soundtrack which, like the rest of the soundtrack is absolutely excellent. Inasmuch as I would criticise it from a purely musical perspective for being simple at times and perhaps overly repetitive it perfectly fits the camp space opera that is mass effect. Galaxy Map and Suicide Mission are absolute bangers. I would hesitate to call the combat great. Playing the game as a weapon heavy class is superior, I’d argue as even with an armour build dedicated to decreasing ability cooldown it is too long to adequately utilise the powers of ability heavy classes like the adept. Additionally, ability play feels far more limited than in the game’s predecessor due to the limitation of this games skill tree elements which are frankly a step too far in simplifying the interface. It doesn’t massively affect enjoyment of the game but I couldn’t help but note every time I visited the abilities menu how much I missed Mass Effects abilities menu. So while I would say Mass Effect maintains a very well balanced game with regards to combat, roleplay and story, Mass Effect 2 eschews combat and mechanical roleplay in favour of an excellent story. Additionally while lacking an exploration aspect the more structured side-missions found by scanning planets throughout the galaxy create a lot of fun moments and interesting gameplay, emblematic of the fact that mission design vastly improves between this game and its predecessor.

Mass Effect 3 goes some way to resolve its predecessor’s imbalance as the majority of the game possesses enhanced combat, a much better abilities mechanic and an excellent story. First the addition of more mobility, loadout and engagement options benefits the combat greatly, while the addition of more complex enemy types than previous games pushes you to fully utilise these new options. A massive reduction in ability cooldown combined with liberal cooldown reduction bonuses in the skill tree means that abilities are very useful and versatile and you generally feel very powerful. Sometimes too powerful if you’re thinking from a balancing standpoint but given it’s a single player game this criticism is much diminished and being powerful is fun regardless. The skill tree system in this game forms a synthesis between its predecessors’ systems and comes out the better for combining a regular sense of empowerment with interesting choices within your own character build. All of this contributes to a much-improved combat experience, especially over Mass Effect 2. This also lends itself to the old multiplayer system which I honestly enjoyed when it launched (who cannot love a playable biotic Volus?) and feel is sorely lacking from this legendary edition. I would argue the only real problem with the multiplayer was requiring a player to engage with it in order to achieve the best story outcome; the actual multiplayer gameplay was thoroughly enjoyable and it gave players the opportunity to experience combat as an STG agent or a Krogan Warlord which were both fulfilling experiences from my memory. The aforementioned story is truly excellent and successfully builds off events in previous games but primarily succeeds due to Biowares exceptional character writing which persists from Mass Effect 2. Even in the case of its worst side mission content but especially in its primary missions the stakes and outcome of events are thoroughly compelling and the involvement of beloved Normandy crewmates is bound to incite intense emotions. This is possibly the only game that makes me cry multiple times throughout a normal playthrough. Unfortunately my goodwill often runs out when it comes to consider the ultimate ending of this series which I do not approve of. I admit there are mitigating factors: you should not play the mass effect series for the culmination of its plot. This series lives and dies with its characters and all of the major character arcs reach satisfactory endings before the final moments of Mass Effect 3, so the final moments have no real meaning as the thematic purpose of the series is achieved by galvanising the galaxy and uniting all these disparate races into a single force to fight the Reapers. Thematically the game is a success but the extent to which it utilises the choices the player has made, upon which the series builds its reputation, is limited in scope. This can likely be laid at the feet of the leaks of the original story ahead of the games launch which pushed the developers to create a new ending to avoid spoilers, but the quality of that ending is poor as it boils all the choices made throughout the series down to selecting the colour of a space laser. To make an odd comparison, this is why I think Game of Thrones’ and Mass Effect’s endings are different kinds of bad. Mass Effect reaches a fully satisfying conclusion in the moments immediately after launching the final mission, whereas Game of Thrones built its whole series asking the question “Who Will Sit The Iron Throne” With the final answer being “Actually, no one” after slogging through multiple series which did not live up to the quality of the first. Mass Effect answers its dramatic question of “Can Shepard Unite The Galaxy Against The Reapers” satisfactorily following sixty hours of excellent content and the colour of the space laser doesn’t actually matter. It just hurts to think that the finale could’ve been so much grander and more interesting. I would recommend the games, the disappointment of the finale doesn’t even come close to outweighing the grandeur that is the rest of the experience of Mass Effect 3, let alone the whole series.

There are only a few pieces of content I had not encountered prior to this Legendary edition playthrough. The Mass Effect DLC Bring Down The Sky is fun in that it adds an interesting combat experience with incredible stakes and immerses you in a stellar scale event, but the experience is very short. As part of the legendary edition I recommend it but having to pay extra for it at its time of launch I would have found it disappointing. Mass Effect 2s Overlord DLC is very good, introducing fun combat encounters, an opportunity to operate the fairly fun Hammerhead vehicle (even if it doesn’t live up to the Glory of the Mako) and explore a nice open environment with a truly haunting ending which is a kind of non-choice but it is gratifying to make that choice anyway. Additionally the visuals in the final station when interacting with the VI elements are very nice. The Arrival DLC is also quite fun, with a pseudo stealth section to open it, something which I believe occurs nowhere else in the series. The general element of operating solo is quite novel for mass effect as I believe outside of this moment, the opening of the Citadel DLC and the final moments of Mass Effect 3 there is no point where you fight alone. The indoctrinated nature of the project team does not come as a shock but regardless the dlc is enjoyable as a combat experience and the scale of destruction shown necessary to even slightly inconvenience the reapers lends a lot to the scale of their threat. I do not believe I played any DLCs in Mass Effect 3 before, insofar as I did not consider From Ashes DLC content as it was already on the disk and all buying the day one dlc did was activate it. Leviathan is very interesting from a lore perspective and does interesting things with its investigative process but I find it to be a relatively passive and uninteresting experience for the most part. Omega was more my style with a lot of good combat and interesting new enemies and a bit of bombast besides but still left me largely unmoved. Citadel was excellent but mostly for its “endgame” content rather than its story content. Despite featuring many hilarious moments throughout the actual plot it failed to interest me but I was definitely there for all of the fun character moments and the party is absolutely hilarious.

Ultimately a hearty recommendation but with tempered expectations for the finale.

Deaths Door (True Ending, 13.7 hours):

A Delight. Deaths Door is a charming little game about a bird that stabs things and I love it. It is incredibly impressive that this was made by a team composed of two people. The gameplay is fun in all regards. Navigation is a good time especially when all of the environments are lovely and full of personality. Obstacles come mainly in the form of puzzles and these are at a sweet spot between ease and frustration without being at all complex. Combat could’ve used a bit more work, primarily to create more meaningful distinctions between weapons or add a little depth, but it is still engaging and good fun. While the main bosses are challenging and satisfying to defeat, I worry over the side bosses; perhaps something could’ve been done to make them more distinct from one another? But a small gripe. I like the world, the aforementioned environments are well realised, the general aesthetic is artful and distinct and the story is good if slightly sparse. One notable element is the dialogue which is very good with a quick wit. The finale of the main game has the right amount of spectacle and weight while the endgame is cool and fantastical, with an ample supply of secrets and collectibles to find. Over all the music is incredible, soundtrack full of absolute bangers. I really enjoyed completing this game and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s into action adventure and souls-like games.

The Bad Batch (season 1):

This was Allright. To open I cannot overstate how good the animation and art of this series is. It is routinely beautiful and well-choreographed. Visually there are no complaints. The problems begin with the opening episode which I feel overpromised on a relatively dark take on the Star Wars universe by immediately dropping us into an Order 66 plot full of death, danger, brainwashing and the threat of an emergent empire. Now granted this series never explicitly promises that all of this would continue but I enjoyed these elements of the first episode and I was dissatisfied by their limited usage throughout the rest of the show. This is not to say I disliked the show, I did enjoy the characters who are all good fun, and most of the plots were good. This series I felt had a lot of filler episodes, which I’d simply describe as episodes I enjoyed less due to underwhelming plot or conflict, but they were still enjoyable despite what id perceive as a lesser quality. The show also “suffers” from what I’d called Star Wars Syndrome of Filonitis which is how Everything Must Be Interconnected, with regular cameos from extended universe characters which I feel is beginning to get a bit much. These features feel to me more often like nostalgia grabs rather than organically featuring a character in service of the plot and development. For example, I appreciate the Captain Rex feature as that served to highlight the inhibitor chip problem and drive the characters to seek a solution, however I appreciated Rafa and Trace’s feature less both because I’m less attached to those characters (especially Rafa) but also because the episode didn’t serve any particular purpose or create any particular set piece which couldn’t have been achieved without those characters. This is a similar issue I have with The Mandalorian, I adored season one as it was relatively self-contained and only featured vague or subtler references to the wider canon: to contrast season two is full of cameos from the wider universe sometimes for no reason other than to have a cameo when those roles could easily have been filled with new and creative content which doesn’t rely upon nostalgia to make something interesting. Ultimately Bad Batch is worth watching for the characters and the good episodes, it is fun and entertaining, it just has its issues.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 1: The Phantom Blood:

Its uh, its not good. Now that’s a very broad statement, as to assess this show critically at all is to take it far more seriously than you should, but to be more even handed the show certainly has a bunch of fun elements. Only from a story perspective, there isn’t really that much there; and from a pacing perspective it needs to be seen to be believed. I’m certain that if you condensed the show down to a reasonable size for the amount of content it has, you’d probably have a movie with a two-hour runtime at most which would be quite enjoyable but on a whole this first part wastes about 80% of its time on overlong drawn-out internal monologues and the dilated timeframes of the show’s fights. It also has an annoying habit of overemphasizing the weight of a moment or the genius of a characters unexpected action usually with no less than three people commenting on any slight manoeuvre which ruins the pacing beyond belief. Now I understand this is a staple of the Jojo series, only part 1 handles it very poorly in comparison to later parts. The fighting is especially hindered by this as most actual combat usually involves only four or five punches but they tend to take twenty minutes getting to each one. Additionally, Johnathan Joestar is pretty boring as a character with no notable qualities aside from being good both morally and at fighting. The intrigue of the stone mask is cool but this part deals in that very little. Like I say though, Part 1 is still fun to watch if you can disengage your brain and admire the potent meme quality of the series. It is not “good” from a critical perspective but it is incredibly amusing and the campness gives it a degree of charm. If you just want to watch a bunch of beefy men shout at each other and perform magic punches this is a good time. Speedwagon, despite being the worst offender of the “Explain Everything Twice and Ruin the Pacing” category, is still entertaining for the awful accent and endearing character. He’s also definitely in love with Johnathan and I will not be taking questions on that. Baron Zeppeli has a cool hat. Theres a lot of fun to be had as the show embraces the weirdness of everything that’s going on. So, check it out, it might just be a So-Bad-Its-Good Masterpiece.

300 (film):

This film was not so great in my eyes. I think there was one particular shot of the landscapes around Sparta which I felt was visually cool but everything else about the film lacked quality for me, barring practical effects which have aged significantly better than the graphical effects. The visuals are largely uninspiring, the washed-out colour pallet doesn’t help. Perhaps the dialogue was amusing at release but for me it’s all been memed to death. I can’t say any of the performances are particularly compelling, nice to see Magneto and Faramir though. The action could’ve been good and there are certainly moments where it has impact, but the constant application of slow motion I feel reduces the sense of power that should be there, like watching people fight on the moon. Ultimately, I can’t stomach it for two primary reasons: Historical inaccuracy and Racism, which feed into each other. The values of the Spartans do not accurately reflect ideas that historical Spartans held to and I must ask why? Historical accuracy is the default state, so to usurp those ideas in favour of others means the author of the graphic novel Frank Miller and director Zach Snyder replaced those ideas with purpose, in order to make the film more appealing to a mass audience or to express their own ideas perhaps? And the values they chose for the Spartans were freedom, justice and democracy which were things the slaving and monarchical Spartans did not believe in at least in the modern sense. This reeks of an imposition of the propagandised values of western nations on a historical society. This in itself would not be so much of an issue without the demonisation and perversion of the Achaemenid empire and the peoples therein. To establish the primary conflict as one of Civilised white westerners against barbarous non-white easterners, when historically the conflict was between two nations of a broadly similar heritage both possessing facets of good and evil, in the early 2000s? It feels as though some reactionary interpretations of the War on Terror have simply been recreated here with classical history as window dressing. Add to that reactionary attachment to the battle of Thermopylae as a representation of the western world’s struggle against the eastern world, in addition to other more problematic interpretations, and this film plays straight into extreme right-wing ideas of race. Cannot recommend, there’s a lot more better things you could be watching.

18/08/2021: Darth Vader (2015) comic (incl. Vader Down event):

This was really cool. The first comic I’ve ever actually read so I don’t have much frame of reference but I certainly enjoyed this. It was compelling, I’ve blitzed through this whole run in a single day. I think it serves a valuable purpose of demonstrating Vader’s potential and development between Episodes IV and V, as well as the nature of internal conflicts within the Empire. A side note, it is amusing that Palpatine identifies infighting as a factor in the fall of the Sith Empire and yet encourages it for his own political purposes anyway.  I felt that the art and style was very good and fit well with the Star Wars aesthetic, though I couldn’t say if it is truly excellent or just standard: it certainly wasn’t bad, though I think a few designs such as Dr Aphra’s ship were hard to read as it were. Speaking of, I think characters new and old were well portrayed. The titular Vader is unmistakably the same character as appears in the classic trilogy, similarly for Han, Luke and Leia etc. And it was a pleasure to see Chewbacca absolutely destroy someone. The aforementioned Aphra I thought was fine but she lacks distinction to my mind, the real star was Triple Zero and by extension Beetee who I thought were excellent comic relief in addition to being a genuine threat, something I can’t necessarily say I felt with regard to the antagonists. This latter part doesn’t matter overmuch, I think the purpose of these antagonists was more to present Vader with pressure to fulfil his personal goals rather than actually oppose him and they work well in that regard, but are unmemorable beyond their basic attributes. What I think this comic does particularly well is create a kind of puzzle narrative and its almost thrilling at moments when Vader’s plots might be discovered. As a result of this I am looking forward to reading more comics in future.

The Suicide Squad (2021): Highly enjoyable! A big step up for the suicide squad as a franchise and a lot more fun, playing into a brighter and more humorous genre than its predecessor to good effect; This time with good editing, soundtrack, direction… well good everything in comparison. I enjoyed all of the characters and their acting particularly the rivalry between Peacemaker and Bloodsport and Margot Robbie is still fantastic as Harley. They all pale before King however, who is endearing beyond belief and a lot of fun to boot. The “villain” if that term is applicable is very interesting and actually threatening, no mere beam of light into the sky! And the willingness to engage in more mature elements such as gore and character morality is of immense benefit, serving to distinguish it from generally more childish superhero media and reach towards more interesting themes around colonisation, foreign intervention, America and such. Only a reach towards however as I don’t think it ultimately says anything beyond “This thing, kinda bad and dumb”. As I saw noted, it observes the theme but doesn’t comment on it which is a shame as that would bring it all together quite neatly. I feel it can drag a little at times and sometimes the dialogue and specifically its humour don’t hit right but the rest is of such quality that it hardly matters. It looks good, sounds good and offers a chance to engage in a little mindless and bloody violence. I hope Harley keeps the javelin.

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27/08/2021: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency: TW: Mention of Nazism, Discussion of Sexism

This is MUCH better. Part 2 covers most of the problems I had with Part 1. The Monologues are less egregious so the pacing is much improved; the lore is fully integrated into the story and creates a genuinely good narrative and Joseph is a much more compelling and interesting protagonist with a quirky and entertaining personality. The Pillar Men are excellent villains and the fights are fully engaging. Even when you know that Joseph will pull out a “And next you’ll say” twist at the end of a losing fight it’s still surprising simply by dint of the strange and wacky solutions he creates. And these adventures are even more bizarre, playing into the weird camp of the series which works so well. All in all, the quality is excellent here HOWEVER there are some highly problematic elements. The show being set in the 1930s is a neat part of the travelling through time factor of the series but when you’re globetrotting around Europe you need some solution to the problem of Nazis popping up everywhere and this show does not provide one, and fails so drastically to offer even a slightly critical perspective on the fascist characters. The noble sacrifice of Von Stroheim and his later resurrection and heroism serve to idolise a Patriotic German Nazi Officer, which is not good, and this unchallenged perspective on an Actual Nazi is troubling especially when the character himself is an unrepentant mass murderer. Additionally, the show has a horrible attitude towards women, who exist almost exclusively for sex appeal and romantic interest in this show. Lisa Lisa does demonstrate ability and character but when presented with genuine combat is relegated first as a bit of eye candy during the fight with Esidesi (notably eye candy for Her Own Son) and later as a Damsel in Distress during her fight with Kars. Women are frequently used as objects in this part; Caesar Zeppeli uses women as props by controlling them with his Hamon powers and Suzi Q exists only to be rescued from Esidesi and then to be romanced by Jojo. It’s pretty ridiculous to be honest. I am informed that this improves over the course of the series but as for this part in particular it is a lot of fun just so long as you can ignore some incredibly troubling portrayals.

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13/09/2021: Rick and Morty Season 4:

There is ultimately not much to say as Season 4 is simply more Rick and Morty and operates as such. It is good, even very good. It’s still very funny. Its voice acting is still the pinnacle of such work. It is still smart and has a lot of interesting ideas, only not to the extent of the copypasta fan boys. Its sci-fi universe is cool and its design and aesthetic are still excellent. I feel the show has passed a threshold however as there’s only so much time you can spend on the “dysfunctional family is dysfunctional theme”. I hope season 5 proves me wrong once I get to it, but season 4 is fun and I’d recommend it all the same, it’s just more Rick and Morty and I think that’s enough.

Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings: Spectacular! Very easily amongst the best if not The Best Superhero Movie (aside from Into the Spiderverse). To begin with complaints as they are limited, the colour grading was a bit dark in a couple of the fight scenes and in some moments of the climactic fight the CG effects are a little Too Much and distract from the central action of Shang-Chi, Xialing and a Dragon owning the shit out of a multiversal super spectre, which incidentally is fucking epic.  Additionally, the standard MCU comic relief dialogue is a little meh at times but what’s new there? They still need to get a handle on that, especially because this film was really strong when it was serious. As much as I love Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery, he was just a tad much here. Aside from a few moments of weak dialogue however the rest of the film is excellent. Acting is good, effects are good, the film is quite beautiful primarily once Ta Lo is reached and the score is bangin. I appreciate most of all the fight sequences which to me look well-choreographed with interesting arenas which were always appropriate to demonstrate the characters abilities; the sequences serve to develop character and plot at key moments also. The way the camera is handled during the fights is also a big step up, with wide perspective and long shots rather than the snappy close shots of old which serve to really show off that choreography and don’t muddy your understanding of the flow of combat. There is a good thematic line throughout the film of reconciling the bad and the good of your familial and personal history, to understand yourself better and channel that into developing and achieving your ambitions and I adore how that ties in with Shang-Chi and Wenwu’s final confrontation due to the nature and treatment of the Ten Rings themselves. They are a very interesting fantastical element especially once Shang-Chi acquires them and the way that he utilises them create a very cool combat style I can’t wait to see more of, even considering that their full potential is yet to be unlocked. I additionally approve of how they have been differentiated from their comic counterparts which to my understanding are just slightly weaker infinity stones; thus, a one-to-one reproduction would’ve been a boring mistake to make. It’s a fantastic film, go see it.

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26/09/2021: Sable (20 hours, 99% complete) Sable has the makings of an absolutely fantastic game, it just has a few hiccups and hurdles to deal with. Thankfully most can probably be dealt with by patch as there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the game; but a game should never be released in a state where it needs a patch to function normally. This game is incredibly buggy. Probably one of the buggiest games I’ve ever played at launch, and I preordered Skyrim. Most of my complaints are with the menus, which simply do not work properly sometimes, but there are other documented issues with collision detection and weird bike movement among others including one annoying persistent issue with the soundtrack being replaced by random ‘bong’ noises. For these reasons I cannot recommend the game Right Now until it is patched or if it is on a significant sale. However, once the bugs are fixed this game will be a stunning achievement. The story is good and leads to powerful emotional moments, aided along by an excellent atmospheric soundtrack and beautiful visuals. The style and colour give this game an exceptional look, though diminished by a fairly rapid day/night cycle. I understand that this creates a visual contrast to make the daytime feel more vibrant and impressive, but I would also hold the sun still in the sky if that were an option. The world is well built, with interesting lore and cool design work. Varied environments show off a range of colourful landscape all with their own distinct atmospheres and landmarks which are good both for navigation and exploration, this being the bulk of the game. Exploring these environments is satisfying for curiosities sake but also offers collectible Chums that I adore and an intriguing backstory and world history to consider. Riding a hoverbike is cool and fun, and the customisability is nice though I would take issue with the “balancing” of bike parts as the best bike can be acquired only a few hours in and must be bought, where bike parts earned through long quest chains pale in comparison. This annoys me as I believe players should be rewarded more for great deeds than for acquiring currency, besides which the quest bikes look cooler. This is of little importance however as the game is a very casual and chill experience, keeping an excellent balance where it is not strictly challenging but does maintain your focus and attention. This world is full of strangeness and a little sci-fi magic; though I would argue it could use more of this I think that would threaten to overwhelm the player when even this world’s most mundane elements are still stunningly cool. I think a thick coat of bugs covers what is ultimately a magnificent game with many cool things to explore and even marred by its worst features I still had a great time playing it.

27/09/2021: The Matrix

Brilliant. A very cerebral action movie which definitely earns its place as an iconic work of cinema and its clear to see why its influence is so widespread. Fantastic action with a clear and open perspective which utilises the interesting and dynamic cinematography that runs throughout the movie. I particularly enjoy how over the top the fights are in terms of environmental destruction and gestures as a whole, with a great deal of emphasis added by practical effects which I enjoy. Cool characters, good dialogue and excellent performances across the cast. And, an interesting world well-built and designed. The robots particularly are quite intimidating and I like their arthropodal form. All of the design works well to create the feeling of a greasy industrial post apocalypse which contrasts sharply with the boring homogenous simulation, the latter having its own value as a setting due to its familiarity which would’ve been especially prevalent when this film first released. I love the soundtrack, especially the final feature of Rage, but most of all I love how deeply you can read into this film and its meaning. Having watched many videos about it I was primed on the trans allegory going in and it is very clearly a present part of the narrative before even considering the context around the Wachowski sisters and their own experience. It is a very interesting part of the story and plays well into other themes built around deconstructing the illusions pressed on us by our society, drawing strong parallels between the struggles of living as a trans person and fighting against an imperialist capitalist society. It is worth watching for any of its constituent parts but together they form a magnificent work of art.

28/09/2021: Star Wars: Visions

The series is a bit of a mixed bag. It definitely overpromises with its first episode which is of a remarkably distinct style, is incredibly cool and has great wacky moments in addition to tasteful call-backs to the wider Star Wars canon. I love the umbrella sabre, it’s a fantastic idea and there needs to be more of them. From there a few episodes are fantastic, The Elder and the final episode, and id rank the Ninth jedi just below them, but the rest of the series is definitely not to my taste. The wide variety of styles on show are all fantastic and the animation is universally very good, just some of the plots are more childish than I would appreciate and the rest are simply not engaging for me to the point that despite a great deal of spectacle occurring I would often be distracted. It’s worth a look if you’re into animation and unique takes on star wars but I find generally lacking.

Django Unchained (2nd Watch) TW: Discussion of Racism and Slavery

Red Flag: Tarantino Movie is good. Very good. Stellar performances from Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Leo Di Caprio, Christoph Waltz and everyone else in the movie to be frank; a special note for the trivia about Leo Di Caprio’s cut up hand during the dining room scene, a lot of respect for a man who can keep working through that kind of injury. We can go through a Tarantino Checklist say the film is well shot with beautiful environments; has excellent and witty dialogue with good attention to detail and mannerism; and finally has great and gory action which does not flinch from terrible injury and really appeals to a perverse bloodlust that seems to crop up from time to time in normal people. Strangely enough however, I could not recall if Tarantino indulges in his predilection for feet here. This film does indulge in Tarantino’s other predilection however and that’s the N-word, but here I respect it. Unlike his non-period works, the use of the N-word is a facet of slavery just as chains, whips and plantations are and slavery is the subject of this film which seeks to be historically authentic. If anything, the absence of the N-word would be very wrong in this case despite being the project of a white man as without it the film would lack the context of a key form of oppression that still exists today. I think Django does an excellent job documenting and commenting on the institution as it existed in the pre-war period. Django experiences every level of status a black person would encounter in this setting: first a slave, then a freedman, a black slaver and finally a Liberator and the final message of the film is that slavery deserved to be destroyed and any argument made for its return is horseshit which is kind of a “Duh” statement but with the state of modern politics and the state of education in the US it’s something that needs reiterating. You can interpret this beyond the bounds of slavery itself in addition, by arguing that there are existing powers in this world which seek to discriminate based on skin colour amongst other factors and create oppressed minorities for the benefit of a wealthy few with power and should the systems that create this environment be completely destroyed it would be cause for celebration. Beyond this I particularly enjoyed the historical authenticity of the environments, of the very varied biomes of the wilder parts of the US at the time, and the contemporary outfits especially King Schultz’ coat which I desire more than any item of clothing I’ve ever seen. The film is good at building suspense both in the moment to moment and through longer story arcs, particularly the second act, but I do feel like the 2nd act lulls a little, perhaps spends slightly too long reaching its climax. This is a great spectacle of a film which looks and sounds fantastic, puts excellent performances on show, tells a great story and has quite a bit of meaning bundled into it.

29/09/2021: The Road to El Dorado (Unfinished)

Despite not finishing it I think this film is actually really good. It certainly has a few elements which don’t fully gel with me but I enjoyed my time with it; I only felt like I should really be doing something else and that I wasn’t fully engaged with it, potentially as I’m not keen on cons and high stakes acting as it feels like a form of vicarious embarrassment for me which makes me immensely uncomfortable. Personal hindrances aside most everything about this film is excellent, I loved the animation and the very colourful world. The characters were fun, the voice acting good, the constant horniness was a great bonus also. I take issue with the music, much as it’s not my right to criticise Elton John, I feel it would’ve been better fully incorporated into the film. I enjoy animated musicals more when said music is diegetic and I think them beginning to employ non-diegetic music is part of what led to their downfall, outside of market saturation. Additionally, I was not a fan of The Trail we Blaze, just not a song that worked for me. I also appreciate the integration of 3d and 2d animation here as I felt the styles were reconciled better here than in most movies, especially for the time. I might take issue with what seems to be a plot about two Spanish men of the colonial age coming to central America and “enlightening” its people through humanitarian acts and music as that would reflect some troubling attitudes but I hold out hope that by the end of the film they decide to come clean about the lie, return the gold and help defend El Dorado from Cortez and his troops. Its enjoyable, I don’t feel drawn to finishing it though.

 30/09/2021: Hunters Moon, Ghost

Here’s a new one, music reviews. This single is pretty good I enjoy it a lot. Opens slow and gentle and rapidly builds into some strong rock with a very 80s feel which scans with Ghosts whole historical rock and metal style they’ve always employed but have gone in extra hard on since Prequelle. The lead riff the track opens on is really nice and I would love to have seen it explored further, but the heavier style that ramps up progressively as the song continues is still great climaxing on the 9/4 post chorus riff which goes hard as fuck and I love that bit especially. It feels like it would be spectacular to witness it live. The bridge is a moment I’m not so keen on, the initial bass work is a little bare bone and overly repetitive but it definitely picks up once the guitar and vocals come in, even if just for the final moments. The final chorus leads into a good finale though I think it’ll serve better on an album version with a transition into another track, as I usually prefer to be fair. Technically I enjoy all of the different sounds and effects employed on all the instruments, especially in that leading riff, all of which are played well with good time. The vocals are great as usual. It’s a great track, I feel it was maybe a little short and could’ve explored some of its musical ideas or given them a bit more time to breathe; perhaps less time could have been given to overrepresented elements like the bridge and given over to work more into the very atmospheric leading riff but this is still a hard and heavy rock track and I enjoy it greatly.

[repentantsky]

6 Things I Want To See At The Nintendo Direct

After nearly a year and a half, we are finally getting another full on, Nintendo Direct. I am one among many who thought the Direct as we knew it was gone, but I am also so very happy to be wrong. While I’m also one to not put any expectations on a presentation like this, and please do not let this list hype you to the point where you are disappointed if they don’t happen, I can’t deny how fun it is to speculate. So, with only a little less than 12 hours to go before the show begins, let’s talk about 6 things that will hopefully be at the show. Please remember my lists are not ranked based on how much I want something or how popular it is, so much as how much I want to talk about it. That means your favorite possible thing can be in the first, or last spot of the list. Now let’s begin.

6. A Zelda Collection of some kind

There are a lot of important anniversary’s in 2021 for games, and none may be more important to many fans than Zelda itself. The series is turning 35 in four days if you can believe it. Mario got a lot for it’s recent anniversary and while it’s pretty likely something is planned for Zelda, getting a good idea of what that might be, would be nothing short of fantastic. Perhaps we’ll see Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess HD, and something completely out of left field to round it up. Who can really say, but it is absolutely the perfect time to announce something, and something big at that. Nintendo does love to surprise people, so let’s hope something surprising pops in. 

5.  Falcom get’s some much needed attention

Falcom, one of the oldest developers in Japan, has been releasing hit after hit, after hit, but like many other fantastic developers making the best double A experiences, they’ve never really made it into the limelight like they deserve. With two games coming for the Switch YS IX: Monstrum Nox, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV set to come out in April and Summer respectively, and with so many eyes on Nintendo, it’s time they got a proper slot to be talked about. It would also be nice to see something new come from Falcom that isn’t previously announced, as even though the focus of the direct is seemingly about the next 4 months leading up to E3, hints of something more are always possible. Falcom is a brilliant developer, so hopefully, they manage to get their time to shine. 

4. A Sonic Collection of some kind

Sonic is yet another franchise that’s hitting a major anniversary, as it’s turning 30. With that kind of history behind it, Sonic has a lot of ups and downs. Surely more than enough to make an enticing collection. to be...sure. Perhaps a remake of Sonic Adventure 2, a remaster of Sonic generations and maybe a fixed version of Sonic ‘06? Wouldn’t count on that last one especially, but Sonic has such a rich history of games it could pull from that could get everyone hyped. There’s also rumors of another 2D Sonic game, which would also be nice, but what’s an anniversary if you don’t target nostalgia in more ways than one? Hopefully, we’ll find out soon. 

3. Something Indie

While Nintendo has had some...issues with quality checks with the Switch, there’s no denying that it’s absolutely got hundreds of amazing Indies, and that the Switch is a great source for them. A couple of possible exciting indies could be Windjammers 2, Atomic Heart, Mineko’s Night Market (please gawd let’s hear about that one) Sports Story, Hollow Knight Silksong, Eastward and Garden Story to name but a few. Indie games need love just as much as any other game out there, and with so many potential high quality indies coming our way so far as plans go for 2021, it would be a sad thing to miss out on some spectacular games that are headed for the Switch. 

2. The next Mainline Pokemon game

Rumors were abound a few weeks ago that Pokemon’s 4th gen was already set to be remade for release this fall, 2021, and while as I’ve said this direct is planned and meant to tide us over until Summer when E3 comes along, it doesn’t change the possibility that something coming out past that point, if not several somethings will still be given an update or announcement. I think it’s safe to say based on the hype of the rumor that for a lot of people, Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum are top tier games and in a lot of ways, and rightly so. Sure, they could use a good number of updates, but that’s what remakes are for, and while a Pokemon direct on Pokemon day itself would suit just fine, I feel if something is coming for Pokemon 25, this is the time to get it out there. Just please, don’t throw in any DLC Pokemon you get for buying a special item. 

1. Metroid/Bayonetta/Breath of the Wild 2, get something. 

Am I mashing a whole bunch of entries into one, yer damn right I am, otherwise I’d be here until the direct started, and where would the fun in that be? Jokes aside, these franchises all of have been lying kind of dormant in the mainline entry department at the very least, and while it’s like I said, something for Zelda is going to be announced mostly likely anyways, to see a continuation of that as we look to the future for the series would be amazing. It would also be nice to see Metroid Prime 4 get an update, or see the original trilogy hit the Switch. Bayonetta 3 is the Devil May Cry of Switch these days despite having DMC on it, and darn it all, it’s time we got SOMETHING for it. Sure, none of these games are coming out before the holiday season this year and that’s fine, but just to know they are on their way, would be good enough. 

And that’s my list, did I miss anything you’d like to see? I’m sure I did, especially since I left Smash on the table as that was confirmed. Let me know what else you want to see at the Nintendo Direct today, reblog this if it interested you, and feel free to leave a note. 

[sugarandspice-games]

Okay, so I finally got through Saeran's good ending, I might go back and play the normal and other bad endings later if I feel like it, but as that was an emotional rollercoaster, I need some time to recover. But I'm going to put my full review under the cut.

Will I be releasing my rewrite outline at this point (though not really a rewrite, since I made it before the AE was ever released when I was drunk and salty at the lack of news)? I'm not sure. I wasn't 100% satisfied, but we'll call it a good 65% as I feel like there was more I liked than I hated. I'll leave that decision up to my dear readers, whether or not they want to see it. (Though there are only like... 8 of you here and I know you're probably here for Obey Me content and not MysMess)

I do plan on playing the Jumin Bad End DLC, but I may not liveblog it as I haven't really heard good things. This seems like another ploy for fanservice, but I do want to get more lore about Jumin's backstory, and honestly... I'm gay and want to see those sexy CGs. That being said... this is the last I will discuss the canon material on this blog, and it may be the last time I engage with the canon material (as I believe cheritz has announced that this is the finale anyway, and will no longer update the game). I will most likely continue to create fan content for it, as Sugar and I have our own sort of... fanfic thing going on with the characters and our OCs. But this is a personal and huge special interest of mine, and rather than go through everything and pick it apart for the rest of my days... I want to leave the game and the characters I love so much with only my happiest memories. They'll live on in my heart.

But I digress... here is my semi-condensed review. Sugar may talk about it as well, though I do not speak for them. THIS SHOULDN'T NEED TO BE SAID BUT HERE THERE BE SPOILERS. DO NOT READ IF YOU DID NOT COMPLETE THE GOOD END OF RAY'S AE.

The Good:

Saeran. Saeran was the best thing about this route. His character development was beautiful, and every time I saw him, I felt my heart swell with pride and love. His new sprites are so adorable as well as his beautiful CGs, and he looks healthier and happier in a lot of them. He's grown to be such a loving, gorgeous, wonderful man despite everything that happened in his painful life, and his story is nothing short of inspirational. I have a lot of love for Saeran, I have from the moment I saw him but this route really drove it home for me. He will have a special place in my heart among my fictional loves that can never be replaced.

Jumin Jumin Jumin! Jumin was one of the absolute MVPs this route, he was doing the most and boy... I just want to hug him. Even though he was in horrendous pain he was doing the absolute best he could to help everyone. He's been a love of mine for a long time, and that love only grew in this route. I was also glad to meet Driver Kim and see the interaction between him and Daddy Han Sr. (Because obviously Juju is the junior Daddy Han lol)-- even though I have mixed feelings about the Chairman, it makes me happy to see Jumin getting the caring he deserves from his father. And the fact that he even turned his back to let Jumin express his emotions without feeling embarrassed... Fucking killed me.

They did Rika right this go around. Yes, she got off to a really rough start, but she was very human and bearable here... and complete with her realizing her wrongdoings and working to right them in the end. It was a gorgeous arc, I'm so happy for her. I have a love hate relationship with her character, as she used to be a very badly written villain IMO... but one of the good things about Another Story in general is that it gave her depth that she didn't have before. And if they wanted to redeem her, they 100% did it right here, even if she had a rough beginning and had to make mistakes to get to where she was. I thought it was very human. Good on you, cheritz.

Vanderwood got a lot of good interactions here, and I'm really happy they gave us more Van content. Even if we're not getting a route for him, it's enough to me to finally see him expressing the affection we all know that he holds for Saeyoung, and working to help him.

The twins finally get to be happy! Need I say more?

Everyone doing well in their lives made me really happy too... most of the other routes had this problem where if one person got to be happy, someone else would have to suffer in exchange. I'm so glad that everyone got a happy ending.

The new chats made me extra emotional... I'm not sure why, to be honest, I think I'm just happy to see everyone again. It had been such a long time since I played Mystic Messenger, and talking to everyone again just like old times felt like returning to a childhood home (though I was 19 when I discovered this game initially, haha). I cried a lot, which is extra weird for me since I don't tend to cry in general.

Yoosung loves Saeran soooo much... in fact, everyone does. It made me happy, bc I was initially worried that he wouldn't have made friends with the RFA or that it would be awkward, but seeing everyone loving him and him being sweet back to them was adorable. Jumin also loves him and you can't change my mind (though maybe that's my wishful thinking of being in a Jumin & Saeran sandwich talking...)

So many good messages in this AE, and they hit very personally. I came to the same realization last year, that in the end, nothing in life matters except love, since you can't take anything else with you when you die. I shan't elaborate more!

Everyone's voice acting was so good! It was so beautiful and emotional, I could feel it through their voices. I usually skip the voice lines since I read so fast, but I'm happy I didn't.

The Bad:

Oh Jihyun... what have they done to you? I know I said he wasn't OOC and I stand by that, but it really feels like the writers hated him this AE. Even his sprite looked so awful and blurry. And he didn't get any good realization that he deserved better or anything, the literal cult leader and prime fucking minister got to be redeemed when he didn't. What the actual fuck. Sugar will definitely have more to say about it, and probably in a more articulate way, but let it be known that I don't like it either.

Furthermore, even if it's not OOC, it's structurally sloppy for him to come to some realization only to stay the exact same as he's always been. And same with Rika too. As I said in a previous post, having them both go through these realizations only to make them the villains again really felt like beating a dead horse. What can I say except AAAAAAAAA. WHAT THE FUCK?

Again, I must reiterate... why'd they make it so you have to be a bitch to Rika to get the good ending? I get that it's probably wish fulfillment for some people in the fandom, but it isn't for me. I really don't have any desire to berate or insult her bc in the end she needs serious help (even if I wanted to throw hands with her sometimes), and if the point was to call her on her misbehavior... some of it went too far (looking @ the "Don't stab Saeran's eyes out!" choice. I didn't like that at all, especially since it felt like you were making fun of Jihyun's trauma.) It especially made the end of her arc fall flat when she's like "Thank you for being kind and trying to understand me..." like, gurl... the game didn't let me do that without making me bad end! Jeez.

Also, literally why was it necessary to redeem the prime minister? He's a monster who tried to murder his own children. It's okay if they needed that scene where Saeran and you tried to understand him, but having him actually come around made no sense... why would he want to listen to you or Saeran when we've seen time and time again that there isn't really any good in him? He's just not a good person. And no, I'm not saying this because I wanted him to die or anything! ...Okay, maybe I did. Fuck that guy. I hate him. (Also the whole "you're only this way because you're lonely!" was so corny, I didn't choose those options but gjkgkgkfk)

The Ugly:

Have y'all heard about how much I hate the agency Boss? I hate him so much... I want to drown him in the toilet. I want to feed him taco bell laced with laxatives. I want to-- anyway, I digress. Not classifying this under bad because cheritz did their job by making him hateable and oh boy, did I hate him. He made me want to barf. I also commend his voice actor for somehow making me feel greasy through the screen. Seriously, dude, hats off to you. You are a genius.

That's about all I have to say for now... you can peruse my talk tag if you want to see any of my other thoughts on this game, but they don't tie into the good and bad. Despite the flaws, I enjoyed myself this route and I'm happy I played it. Even though there will always be things to improve upon in this game... I'm happy I picked it up, and I'm happy I met everyone. I would write them all letters or something but that'd be kinda corny since they're just game characters and won't see it anyway, and I know I'm not the only nor am I the most attractive MC out there... so this is Spice, signing out! Byebye, Mystic Messenger. You'll always have a special place in my heart.

All of the... weird horniness between Rika and Saeran made me feel grossed out. Her having him in a collar with a leash, and the game options that insinuate she has a thing for him... ew ew ew. Please stop it. That shit is so disgusting and I'm going to puke.

@ Both Saeyoung and Saeran: stop fucking trying to die all the time! Seriously! Let me love you and want to save you, when will you get it through your thick skulls that one gay ass MC who loves you very very dearly would NEVER be happy if you died? AAAAAAAA

[loghainmactir]

Y’all, I dunno what to say anymore.

The thing is, this recent Kotaku article on Bioware isn’t new.

We’ve now had two games with REALLY similar atrocious launches (three, if you count Inquisition). These reports of crunch, terrible management, and overall bad business practices are consistent with the ones that come before it, anonymous sources or not, and we need to start holding Bioware accountable.

Anthem currently has abysmal drop rates, the exact opposite of what a looter shooter should have, was literally killing people’s consoles a few weeks ago, has a terrible storefront that’s insanely expensive for a $80AUD game, and comes littered with bugs to boot. There is little to no dev contact about changes they’re making or where they’re going with it, despite the promise of constant contact pre-launch.

Andromeda had facial animation you’d expect from an indie game, had bugs and glitches for days, and the fact that it had some of the worst management (arguably in the history of game development) was really, really well recorded. There are hour long videos on youtube about it. Seriously.

Inquisition, similarily, had footage of gameplay shown at PAX and similar conventions that wound up being entirely cut. Like, HUGE swaths of content were just removed without warning. It came with leagues of gamebreaking bugs (some of which are 100% still present today), had a multiplayer mode w/ lootboxes tacked on, and its’ PS3/Xbox 360 versions were just abandoned update/DLC wise.

And a lot of people have been brushing all of this off because Bioware is the company that’s made SO many of their comfort games and “We need to cut the devs some slack! These are all anonymous sources, if it’s so bad, why aren’t people with names stepping forward?!”

And I get it. Trust me, I do! Dragon Age: Origins is always, always ALWAYS gonna be my favourite game. Neverwinter Nights is such a comfort game for me it’s incredible. Mass Effect holds a special place in my heart, too.

But these claims that Bioware has dangerously terrible management & employee work conditions have been around for what is now decades. People have been suffering because Bioware can’t get their shit together for years. We cannot let this go on any longer.

The reason these people remain anonymous is so that their entire careers don’t get destroyed in an instant. It is notoriously hard to get a job in game development. There are more game devs out there than there are game dev jobs. EA and Bioware are such huge companies that without unionization, speaking out is dangerous (career wise, at least).

And, yes. Part of this is absolutely EA’s fault. But this also predates Electronic Arts all together. This is a Bioware issue.

Now, you’re probably rightfully asking: what can we do? What can we do to fix this issue? And the answer is... frankly, not much. We can raise awareness of the issue. We can contact both EA and Bioware (through their respective sites and on twitter, of course) to let them know that this isn’t on. We can stop preordering their games and wait until launch to buy them. We can support indie developers and devs speaking out about these issues.

Game Developers themselves? Y’all need to unionize. IMMEDIATELY. This isn’t a joke. Things can’t change unless y’all group together and make a stand for your rights. Much like with Telltale, companies have absolutely no right to treat you like something disposable when you put so much of your heart and soul into your products and then take all of the money and credit for themselves.

But we, as fans, need to recognize that Bioware aren’t the Good Guys we thought they were, regardless of how much they cry “but game dev is hard!” in response to this. Because, yes, game development is hard.

But you know what’s not hard? Treating people like they’re actual human beings, and not conveyor belts made for pumping out games.

[adaru32]

October 2020 Devil May Cry News Updates

Someone mentioned in September’s news updates about how they don’t like visiting Deviantart due to what’s happened to it. So here’s the full list and links I’ll be sharing here that I’ve shared in the Deviantart journal so you don’t have to visit there.

Hey, how's it going? Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Here are this month's Devil May Cry related updates: 1. Asmus Toys has announced a devil Dante Qbitz figure up for preorder. 2. More promo images of Lady for the Pinnacle of Combat mobile game. 3. Rumours of a Devil May Cry 6 in the works are already surfacing. 4. Devil May Cry V getting a SSS pack, which contains a soundtrack, tshirt, and poster. b) Speaking of which, they haven't forgotten about releasing an official Vergil coat. c) Famitsu Interview regarding what may or may not happen in Special Edition. d) Other inclusions and exclusions of Special Edition regarding features, the official Vergil DLC release date, etc. 5. CapCom at one point released stamps to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the 1st Devil May Cry game. Someone got their hands on them. 6. 90 Day Fiance, featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series. 7. Interview of Kyo (aka RedgraveKyo) talking to the voice of Trish from DMC4, Danielle Burgio. 8. Some drama regarding how "casuals" and "elitists" react to different opinions of Devil May Cry 4 and V.

My Thoughts On These Updates:

1. That Qbitz figure's adorable. A friend of mine in my one Facebook group mentioned about how Asmus Toys announces all of these Qbitz figures, but no mention about a release date, which is frustrating. 2. As I mentioned in the previous roundup of updates, Yunchang Games really loves showing off more promo work than their actual work. They are nice images, but they could at least give small tidbits of updates about what's happening with this game. Last I heard, it is supposed to be fully released some time this year. Well, we still have another couple months before the year ends. The other thing I heard for why it's getting delayed again is because of the pandemic, and they're actually listening to feedback from their beta testers so they're fixing whatever they can to please the fans. 3. I'm not surprised that rumours about a Devil May Cry 6 is already in the works. Especially when this rumour is coming from DuskGolemn (aka AestheticGamer1). Sure that person has some history with CapCom, but it doesn't mean whatever comes out of this person's statuses are always 100% true. It's plausible since Devil May Cry V did so well with their sales and such, but I'm gonna be cautiously optimistic about this info given. 4. I feel like for CapCom's SSS pack, they should include a Vergil figure from Prime1Studio or Kotobukiya. Sure a soundtrack, tshirt, and poster are nice, but I feel like there should be more. b) Nice that they haven't forgotten about Vergil's official coat being available for purchase. Sucks that these official coats/jackets are so damn expensive. They're way more than a used or new car for crying out-loud. c & d) Sucks that we PS4, PC, and XboxONE players have to wait longer for the Vergil DLC, but better to be late than never. It's also too bad about Xbox Series S players, but I guess some technology does have their limits. I'm very curious as to what Special Edition has in store. I like how CapCom's not giving away too much info to make up for the mistakes they've made of releasing major spoilers in their trailers for the original game and DMC4. 5. I think I've heard about those stamps before. It's cool that CapCom does things like that. Japan gets really awesome gaming merch stuff...Even their advertisements are more entertaining than us westerners'. 6. Funny how a little tidbit of someone cosplaying as Dante pops up in a TV show. Wonder what was happening down there in San Diego with that guy? 7. I haven't checked out the interview, but it's cool how specific fans can interact with these voice actors to get some more details and such. If any of you watched it, and anything sticks out that seems interesting, don't be afraid to share your thoughts. 8. (Warning: Very long rant, brutal honesty, and swearing ahead)...It really sucks what's happening with the Devil May Cry fandom as of late...More people have been leaving the fandom because someone was trying to be "funny". I'm aware that these kinds of things also happen with other fandoms like Undertale, Bayonetta, etc. for these kinds of drama to occur. I'm just sick of people shitting on one another... Yes, there is good that happens in this fandom as well like fundraisers for good causes, fans supporting other fans, even chill folk that don't like to start drama (Like that wholesome status post I shared in the list of updates for example). My problem is how people are either living under a rock, or are being in denial with the problems that surface with this fandom. Let alone being hypocritical where they share an opinion regarding another opinion that they disagree with in a rude manner, then turn around and  share something more positively eye-opening that's not so rude so they cover their tracks with their mistakes they've made before (Not sure if I worded this properly. Hope you get what I mean. One example is how one of the "elitists" mentioned about how "casual fans" are the most toxic people he's come across. Meanwhile he's complaining and whining in a toxic manner about PC players not getting Special Edition, then he turns around and shares that wholesome post about DMC4 players vs fans to make himself look good). I just want everybody to keep the peace with one another instead of being entitled, egotistical, self-centered, spoiled-rotten, hypocritical, idiots. The other issue this fandom is facing is content thieves. They've been on the rise for quite some time now, and people aren't doing a damn thing. I've been fighting with a few Facebook groups regarding this kind of act, but all they want is clout...Which is ridiculous if you ask me...I ask that if any of you see fan artists', screen captors', meme and mod creators', and cosplayers' content being posted where they state on their images or profiles that they don't want their content shared, or need permission to ask about their content being shared, message these artists or report the images. Even say something to these content thieves. As an artist who's had my stuff stolen before, I don't condone content theft... For those of you who know me in my Original Devil May Cry Sanctuary group on Facebook, and The Red Devil's Chronicles page on there as well, I always credit the content creators for their work, but I am also cautious on who wants their stuff posted or not. And as of late, I've pretty much stopped sharing others' fan art to respect these artists' wishes of not wanting their content shared without permission. If any of you want your stuff shared on the Facebook page, don't be afraid to let me know on here or there, I will give credit. I've been debating about whether to completely delete the fan art album on there and start anew. What do you guys think? As I've said, not all things are bad in the Devil May Cry fandom. We do have the good side of it, too. I'm hoping it gets better regarding that good side of it. It really sucks having to see stuff like this happen. But we good fans can change things for the better if we do something. This may come off as nerdy or cheesy, but as Alucard from Castlevania states in Symphony of The Night, "The only way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing".

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 2

And here’s the next part of the long answer set of the day!

When will OL: N&F take place? Beginnings and Always took place during summer breaks, will now and forever take place during a fall break or will the characters be going to school at the time of the events we play through? 

It takes place over all of the fall season, so school will be happening in OL2. Some events do take place in school, though many times events only start after school is already out for the day, haha.

Hey!! I have kind of a weird question?? I’m sorry if it’s been answered before and I just haven’t seen it but is OL 2 taking place during the same years as OL 1? I’m just curious, thank you for such amazing games!!! 

It’s a similar time frame, but not 100% exactly same.

Do you have any idea when the demo for now and forever will be available? 

Hopefully this fall! But that’s not a guarantee.

Okay the crime show in Step 2: Growing up. Long blonde hair, police station, crime series? Was it The Closer? Because I’m the same age as MC and Cove and my mom was constantly watching that when I was 13. 😂 

Haha, yeah! The Closer and, to a lesser degree, Medium were the kind of shows I was referencing there. My mom also used to watch those back in the day.

Hey um this might be an odd question but if the setting of OL: N&F is  fall/autumn, what country or city will it take because my mind tells me it is either Poland or Canada. Also I can't wait for the game I am hyped 

It’s set in the USA again. We’d like to be able to have cameos and that’s easiest to do if the OL games take place in the same country.

Is it possible for the PC of OL to have non-seriously dated other people in the in between years even if they’ve had a consistent crush on Cove? 

You can causally date Baxter in Step 3 if you get his DLC and then ultimately choose Cove in Step 4. If you mean off-screen people, it doesn’t really come up, but you can certainly headcanon that. The game never says Cove is the only partner you’ve ever had.

Is there going to be a Kickstarter for Now and Forever as well? For like voiced names and stuff again? Didn’t find B&A until after it was released and I’d really love the opportunity to hear my name in the game 🥺 

Yeah, we are gonna have a Kickstarter with getting a voiced name as a reward! Though, it will be more expensive than it was for OL1. I feel bad to raise the price but we realized too late the first time around that it was being super undersold for the amount of work it took, aha.

Do you know how much the remaining DLC for OL will cost? (Step 4, Derek, Baxter) 

Step 4: Free

Wedding DLC: $2.99USD

Derek DLC: $4.99USD

 Baxter DLC: $4.99USD

Has an artist for the new position been picked yet?! I'm super excited for the new game! 

We did fill that spot. Thank you so much for taking the time to apply!

hmmm what would it take to get each of the XOXO jerk squad to feel the need to hug you? 

They’d have to first like you a fair amount, otherwise the most you’d get is maybe a pat on the shoulder. If they were attached, they might hug you if you broke down crying or if you gave them super good news.

Unless it’s Shiloh, of course. If you want a hug you only have to ask!

May i ask how the Derek DLC will work? I believe that there aren’t any memories in step 4 and doesnt derek’s dlc take place during that step? So will the dlc add memories? Thank you! 

Derek’s DLC will add five Moments to Step 2 (a new page will appear on that screen if you get the DLC). Then in Step 4 you’ll have to choose between playing the default epilogue or going through the Derek romance story.

Is the pc version on itch,io different from the steam version? Like an offline one or something? 

Steam has achievements, but that’s about it. Both can be played offline, if you prefer.

I've been wondering this for awhile, what determines if cove winds up with a ponytail in step 3? I've done multiple runs with different MCs with varying hairstyles. Or does it have to do with a particular moment in step 2? 

I’m afraid I can’t say exact choices that determine things. But generally it’s preference based options in the Step before that decide those things.

Any Floret Bond updates? 

No, the artist had to leave the project and it’s been on-hold. I’m not sure if I want to try working just with what we have or replacing it all entirely. The design is a bit too specific for us to easily find someone who could mimic it. Hopefully we’ll work things out later, though.

In step 3 is Cove's plan always to stay in sunset bird? 

Yeah. He is never ready at 18-years-old to make a big life change.

I love your content! If it's alright to ask, you answered in a previous ask about how Jeremy was too particular with what he likes his types to be romanceable with just any MC and it's sort of got me wondering.. What /are/ his types and/or preferences and such? Sorry if it's a lot! 

Jeremy likes stubborn jerks and will not date someone who’s sweet or even generally a decent person, haha.

uh, excuse me if you said this somewhere before, but how will step 4 be actually? Will it he like an actual step and have moments and dlc and all? Or will it be more like a long epilogue of some sort?

Will the step 4, the wedding and extra routes dlcs be paid too? Im just confused, sorry if im asking too much

Step 4 is only an epilogue, so it’s just a long series of scenes one after the other rather than a collection of Moments you can choose from.

The Step 4 epilogue is free, the wedding DLC, Derek DLC, and Baxter DLC cost money.

i’m not sure how much of the wedding dlc you have planned already, or if this would be to spoilery, but what kind of wedding traditions will be included? i keep thinking about how flustered cove would get over a garter toss & was wondering if we’d see a scene like that haha. obviously no worries if it’s not included, i’ll enjoy literally anything cove related 

I don’t know for sure yet, haha. Right now we’re focused on the parts before the big day. We’ll see how many scene alterations we can include for the wedding itself later on.

Hello! Firstly, thank you for creating such an amazing game like OL, and I couldn’t be more excited for OL2! Out of curiosity, are you looking for any writers to come on for OL2 or are you all pretty much set in that department? Just thought I’d shoot my shot haha but I’m still excited regardless ^^! 

We will be hiring writers for OL2 later this year! Thank you for the interest.

Will we be blessed with a spin-off Yandere Cove, like XOXO Blood Droplets? 

Sadly, no. It’s a shame but there’s not enough time to keep making OL1 bonus/spin-off content.

How is Q pronounced?

I’m afraid Q’s full name hasn’t been publicly announced yet so I can’t answer here (Q and T are the first letters of the names for the new LIs in Our Life: Now & Forever).

Question; is the steam version getting a Mac update?  I purchased the dlc there thinking it had Mac support without realizing it and just wondered if I’d need to refund it to purchase on itch.io 😭 

I’m really sorry, you will need to get a refund from Steam. We do hope to have it there for Steam eventually, but have no idea of when it’ll happen. Apple requires special notarization to be an officially accepted app for their devices. We don’t have that. Steam requires having that, Itch will let you release it as an non-notarized third party app. That’s why Itch is the only place that has the Mac version right now.

would you mind posting outfit sheets for Cove in every step? it would make things a lot easier for us artists. it would save a lot of time spent looking for references 

I think we did do the earlier steps when they were finished way back in 2019 (this game took a long time to make, aha), but we can probably repost them sometime!

In our life n&f, will we be able to get into qprs/will there be more options in regards to having deep platonic relationships with the love interests? Because as an aroace individual, it would be great if there could also be emphasis on platonic love so that it's more aspec inclusive. 

It’s a little hard to say at this point. There may not be things like a wedding DLC for OL2 and so the relationship for platonic and romantic feelings might not go as far as it did in the first game. We’ll kind of have to see how much we can do based on timeframe/budget constraints that will only be set near the end of the year. But we will be keeping things like that in mind at least.

hi! i really really like your game and im absolutely in love with it! i cant wait to try your other games like xoxo droplet and future OL NF :))

during the step 3 erands moment i got curious, which fudge flavor is his favorite? it seems like he likes all of them, but which 4 do you think he would like best?

also i noticed that in some playthroughs cove would let me give him a piggy back ride, and in some he wouldn't, how come?

how does your choices affect cove's interests or looks? i replayed the game without changing any choices but i got cove to look different, is it just random?

thank you!

Cove’s favorite flavors are ones with nuts and that are fruity! But he appreciates them all. Whether or not you can give him a piggyback ride depends on if your MC is fit/large enough to hold a muscular 6-foot-tall beach boy, haha.

Cove’s appearance does depend on choices and it’s generally tied to choices that are preference based rather than emotion/action based, such as which key chain you pick in Step 1.

Is it possible for cove to reject MC's proposal at the end of step 3? 

Nope. He’ll always accept.

hi! i was wondering how heavily the side characters will be featured in the our life wedding dlc? obviously it'll be cove & mc focused, but i was thinking it'd be sweet if we could take lizzie dress / suit shopping or dance with cliff at the wedding or something. 

The side characters are there about as often as they are in normal events. So, it’s clearly focused on Cove but he’s not the only person you have any meaningful moments with.

When will responses be sent out to applicants? 

I’m afraid we don’t send responses out to all applications, only ones we’re interested in offering the position to. Not everyone likes rejection emails and the amount of applications is too high to contact them all to say we’re not hiring them. We post updates on the job page when a position has news. Right now we’ve filled every role that was open.

Is there also going to be the option to keep your relationships with the love interests platonic in Our Life: Now and Forever? That's something I really appreciate in Our Life: Beginnings and Always

Yeah! OL will never force you to end up in a romantic relationship with someone.

I was wondering, in the Step 3 Happiness moment, what are the different fishes Cove can compare MC to? I got "you'd be a paradise fish, because being with you is paradise," but my friend got "you'd be an angelfish." Are there more variations? 

He says paradise fish if you’re a couple, angelfish if he’s just crushing, and then a royal dottyback/queenfish/emperor tetra (based on your gender) if he likes the MC platonicly.

Hello! So, in one of the Step 3 DLCs, Cove's arm was gone. I think it was to show him putting his arm behind his back. But if that wasn't the case, did it get yeeted? 

Thanks for letting us know. That was an error we tried to fix a little while back. When did you make the save file you were playing? If it was older that might be why it happened. Or maybe the error wasn’t fully fixed after all.

Asking for your opinion, but do you think Cove would at all be into ABBA? Because all I could imagine during the car trip in step 3 was him and the MC belting to Mamma Mia. 

Haha, yeah, there’d definitely be some ABBA songs he was into.

So throughout the game, Cove can develop different interests depending on the player’s choices; does this mean that he can have different careers in Step 4? Or his is line of work in adulthood never mentioned at all? 

He can have different career paths in Step 4!

Hi!! I'm so so sorry if this has been asked before but I just acquired knowledge about the so famous nsfw dlc for OL and nearly chocked on my bubblegum 💀💀💀 So, my real inquiry is if that specific moment will have any kind of impact at some point of the fourth step OR if it will just be treated as a side-story-ish “what if” scenario.Also, is there any chance there'll be something similar for Step 4? Haha jk,,, unless 😳Questions apart let me thank you profoundly for making the best visual novel I've ever played 😭 Really really looking forward the epilogue and OL2 💕 Have a nice day 

It’s just a bonus side story that’s fully separate from the main game.

It would be nice to have one for Step 4 too, but I sadly don’t see us having time to actually do it. I don’t know, if people are still asking for more OL1 content several months from now it might be doable and worth doing.

I'd just like to ask, when is Baxter's birthday :0 -- I'm really curious esp with their zodiac signs so ;w; 

I don’t know, haha. Maybe I’ll come up with one someday.

Please help!! I bought the Step 3 DLC but I still have no idea how to get to where you can propose to Cove - any tips? 

&

How do I get the option to propose to Cove at the end of the game?

You can click HERE for a discussion on that.

I love that Miranda and Terry are getting together! I'm curious if you have canon sexualities for them? Also just wanted to say how much I love OL and how much joy it brings me everytime I play it <3 

Terry likes ladies and Miranda likes dudes!

ngl Step 4 Terry's design reads like y'all see trans guys as their assigned gender more than you see them as men to me (a trans guy)... like maybe if he isn't heavily dysphoric, I could see it, but everything you've said about him doesn't line up with that. Even then, immediate warning bells go off in my head looking at him. I wouldn't have touched the game if I saw him ahead of time.

I’m sorry you aren’t comfortable with the way the design looks. The situation with Terry is that he’s now open about who he is, but the body he was born with is still physically the same. He only came out recently as an adult and hasn’t gone through any treatments/procedures yet (his chest is flatter because he wears a binder). However, even though his body hasn’t transitioned at the point Step 4 happens, no one treats him as anything other than the guy he is. Having a trans character who’s identity is supported/respected from the start is what we’re going for in this case. But what we’re doing with Terry isn’t the only trans content we’ve ever had/ever will have in the future.

how would baxter react to bae pyoun and vice versa? and can you please detailly explain both love interests personalities from our life 2: now and forever? i was just curious, sorry for dumb question!! 

I imagine it’d be pretty opposite experiences, haha. Bae would initially think Baxter is pushy and thoughtless, but would quickly realize, oh, he’s instead a soft, considerate boy. Very cute. Baxter would first be struck with the impression that Bae is charming and gentlemanly, but then would realize that, no, he’s a sarcastic asshole. And I’m afraid we can’t reveal the personalities for the next game yet.

Sorry if you've already answered this, but I have a question about the patreon exclusive moment you're working on. I was wondering if it's mainly going to be CGs or if it's mostly character sprites + backgrounds with some CGs.

Either way, thank you for doing the Lord's work and not only making Cove, but making this bonus moment as well 😌😌😌

It’s mostly sprites/backgrounds with two CGs!

—– —– —– —–

Thank you again for the interesting questions everyone :D

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[medea10]

Medea Plays Pokemon Sword (&Shield): Part VII

Well, it has been a couple of months since the last update. Quite honestly, I did a few little tidbits with my games when I got the opportunity.

Like give my team the Gigantamax treatment.

Make more items on the abomination-o-matic

(nice callback to Kurt)

Get my certificate (only for the first pokedex)

I made this little bitch cry again.

I celebrated my birthday!

Honey, 2020 has been a trip and I hope to God it ends faster than a battle against a Magikarp that only knows Splash.

Pound my friggin’ head against a wall because this dex entry made me recall an unpleasant Pokemon episode.

My rage is rising...RISING DAMMIT!

And watch Honey quickly become best girl of the game.

Did, um...Did she kick his ass for real?

Can we please see her in anime form?

ON TO THE TUNDRA!

South of Galar is the frozen wasteland known as the Crown Tundra. As soon as you arrive, you’ll get an update in your pokedex and you’ll run into some trouble.

Is this a stranger danger moment or just some snotty teenager moment?

Either way, you battle this fella so that his daughter can escape his clingy father’s clutches.

Heads up, this fool has level 70+ steel-type pokemon. Much like a certain other person in this game. But we’ll get to that when we get to that.

Peony’s daughter leaves and goes to a place called the Max Lair. A place filled to the brim with legendary pokemon.

You rent pokemon. Go down different paths. After three rounds, then you can go up against a legendary. The automatic players aren’t as useless as normal raid battles. And you can always ask friends and relations on the internet to join you.

Let’s talk to our good mate, Peony.

No wonder his daughter wants to ditch him. Peony’s a fall-down drunk.

Wow, he very well could be a fall-down drunk. And then this...

Good eye. Actually, Peony is in fact Chairman Rose’s brother. Even Oleanna was confused.

Let’s head off to the one town in this frozen tundra.

Freezington? Oh, Pokemon...

Before I get to the tasks, let’s go skulking around the areas.

FUCK!

Nobody. Absolutely no-fucking-body missed these blood-sucking, annoying as fuck, blue-balled fucks. Say what you will about this game and the lack of essential pokemon, not seeing Zubat for a straight 11 months in a game was a God-send!

NEBBY IS OUT OF THE BAG!

NEBBY IS OUT OF THE BAG!

Lady, that’s not a Fwoofy. That’s a Nebby!

You will receieve Cosmog after you save the town of Freezington.

Only I could be so fucking thrilled about being followed by two Clefables. To be fair, only one of those is wild. Missy was just following me and ignoring the wild one.

I got my sixth OG pokemon pal, Lucy the Dratini.

FYI, not every pokemon is in the Crown Tundra pokedex. I still await Ampharos. But the Dratini line-up makes me very happy.

This giant tree. You can shake it. No fruit comes down. But if you shake it just right...

Giant, fat squirrely. Gigantamaxed!

Well, onto the missions with Peony.

In the tundra, there’s a huge tree you can see from a long ways away. That’s where the Galarian Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno are.

And I disturbed the harmony of fire, ice, and lightening.

If you don’t get what I just said, fuck off.

The three birds took off in different directions and start causing havoc throughout the Galar region.

Moltres will flap around the Isle of Armor

Zapdos will run around in Wild Area

And Articuno will troll you in the coldest area of the Crown Tundra.

It should also be worth mentioning that the Galarian forms are different types. Moltres is part dark, Zapdos is part fighting, and Articuno is part psychic.

Disturb not the harmony of Dark, Psychic, and Fighting.

Next up...

*singing incoherently* YEAGER!

Sorry, force of habit.

Throughout the tundra are giant buildings that require you of something in order for it to open. Much like the Ruby/Sapphire games, you go through some tedious tasks just to get the Regi-trio. On top of that, they give us the same OST.

Once you capture Regirock, Registeel, and Regice, you can get one of the new Regis. But you can only pick one. Either the dragon type or electric type.

And finally...

This one is kind of a lengthy mission. It starts with taking the head of a statue from Peony (who has been using it as a pillow).

Dude. Why would you think the head of a statue is a fucking pillow?

Lay off the Absolut, would ya?!

Once you return the head onto the statue, a new pokemon would like a word with you.

But wait Medea, pokemon can’t talk.

Taken care of!

Here’s a human host.

And this happens time...

And time...

And time again!

Shouldn’t have insulted Calyrex’s head, mate.

It’s been eons since anyone has sighted Calyrex and only some of the elders of Freezington know about it. So after asking village elders, talking to the mayor, buying carrot seeds, and planting carrot seeds, we’re about to meet Calyrex’s noble steed.

Calyrex does not have that much power, but if he has his noble steed maybe it could happen. Just that Rin Sohma over here is stubborn. And we have to chase it to the highest, coldest part of Crown Tundra. Plus have the mayor and Peony craft an item that’ll attach both pokemon when they’re together.

God Peony, get it together.

Once these two are together again, you may battle them and catch them.

Once captured, you can detach both pokemon with the special item you crafted during the mission. FYI, Pokemon HOME will not allow you to put the fused one in the box.

Now that all three missions are finished, Peony’s daughter Peonia will show up.

And totally ruin the moment with his daughter.

I thought he was trying to propose to her to be honest. After Peonia runs off in disgust and Peony chases after her it looks like the adventure isn’t over yet.

Eh...I’ll take a break from this portion.

Another thing to do in the Crown Tundra...

Tracking footprints.

And suddenly I remember having to complete that fat-fuck, Zygardre.

Sonia is doing some research and once you get 100% in three areas, it’ll open the doors to some more legendaries.

And finally...

If you’re from the Trump campaign, I’m reporting you to the police for harassment.

Oh God, it’s Leon.

Well, the hammy, former-champion wants to flex his muscles by doing yet another tournament. Where you can battle alongside someone.

Fuck’s sake, this skank is here too?

Yeah, depending on what game you play Klara and Avery return to compete and to tell you that they are now a gym leader (in the minor division).

Old age?

If Leon is old to Raihan, what does that make someone like Opal?

It works much like the league rematches, except you’re in doubles with the person of your choice.

Well, this has been a wild ride filled with legendaries. Lots and lots and LOTS of legendaries.

And no Ampharos!

One can only wonder if there’ll be another game expansion with more DLC’s in the future. I mean, there’s a good chunk of the entire pokedex that’s still prohibited from being in the game. Now, are these expansion packs worth the extra $30 per game? I found joy in these. But I know some people who are disenchanted by how small these side quests are or the lack of their favorite pokemon or some other such bitching.

I honestly don’t think there’ll be any more surprise areas of the Galar region for there to be another side quest. Unless they create an Ireland for us to fly to that has a town full of Wooloos and Mareeps. It should be a thing, but it isn’t. What will the future hold for Sword and Shield? Will we get more in the coming year or will the creators move onto bigger and more exciting projects?

In the meantime, I’m going to fill up these pokedexes.

I’m sure there’s gotta be some more fucked-up entries that rival the ghost types.

And just like that, I have vivid Cell from DBZ flashbacks.

[doubleddenden]

I just saw the trailer for final fantasy 16

Will it take another 10 years to develope? At this point idk if we're gonna survive 2020 let alone 2030

The combat style seems similar to Devil May Cry? Possibly? Its definitely a tad different from 15

The setting is neat and definitely feels fresh compared to all the high tech sci fi fantasy stuff that's been going on for many many years. But this is FF so it could easily drop a motorcycle or air ship in 1800's London.

Idk how I feel about the mc. It doesn't feel like a big enough shift from Noctis if I'm being real. Sure they look different but shaggy black hair, pail skin, I guess he styles it at some point but it's still a bit too samesy. Actually, it kind of gives me the same vibes that the guy they show in FFXIV trailers so, so maybe we can customize him?

I do like that it sort of looks like it will be a knight protecting a prince sort of deal. I can see that as a brotherly bonding story. But I do hope it's not another testosterone fest. 15 was 4 bros on a road trip which was nice but idk, could use a bit more of a diverse cast. Hopefully things will build up as more trailers are revealed

I wonder how much will change by the time 16 comes out? Keep in mind 15 as Versus 13 went from a Kingdom Hearts style to something different, and the plot changed significantly if the trailers say anything. Character designs changed, even characters as a whole were changed. My hope is that 16 doesn't try to make a franchise out of itself like 15 did. We shouldn't need DLC, books, an anime, and a movie to tell one story. Just one solid story in one solid game would be nice.

Overall I think I'll hold off on buying it until most if the reviews are out. I liked 15 but I made the mistake of playing it when it first came out instead if waiting for the QoL improvements or story updates.

Unrelated note... that ps5 cost. $499 with disk reader, $399 without. Oof man. Just OOF. I'm getting ps3 vibes here again. I know that's about the standard but jeez. The only way I'll be able to actually play anything will be with the disk reader one since I live in the boonies.

Then again maybe this is also just a good time to wait. I think maybe a year after I got my ps4 they announced the pro version. I kinda felt cheated. Same when I got the Xbone launch model instead of waiting for one of the sensible models. At least it probably won't matter much for the first year and a half or so since the ps4 still has plenty of life left in it and it seems like they're dual releasing for ps4 and ps5 for plenty of their upcoming games.