#their character designs are so good... the gameplay looks so fun..... even the music so far in the cbt is nice....

[baeshijima]

oh my.....

sir i do not know ur name but i am staring respectfully. very respectfully.

[cerastes]

I’ve gotten asks a while ago about my thoughts on those other games but I can’t find them so here:

Wuthering Waves: It has the same strengths and weaknesses as PGR in relation to Honkai: It wants to be Genshin With Good Gameplay so bad that it forgets about everything else. It’s got good gameplay, the systems, the feel, the Nioh 2-esque way you add monster attacks to your moveset, it’s really fun, with a dash of late PGR goodness, like parries (attacking the enemy in precise moments before they launch specific attacks) and cohesive stamina/economy of action balance. Unfortunately, the writing is just so immensely bland and the characters forgettable beyond their One Quirk + Loving The MC that it’s kinda hard to get attached to anyone or anything if you have any standards above No Standards, and it’s all delivered with the charm and prose of a wiki article. Worst offender is Yangyang, who spends the first 60 minutes of gameplay not shutting up about exposition. Devil May Cry if it was Wikipedia out of ten. Designs are pretty nice. Music is very mid, not bad, just mid, which is disappointing coming from the devs that brought us Narwhal. Overall it’s pretty ok and if gameplay is all you care about and you dig it, you’re going to have a good time.

Zenless Zone Zero: If it’s Hoyo, it’s got production values, and that is true for ZZZ, it looks phenomenal, and frankly, I had a pretty good time playing it, so congratulations to Hoyo for making the first game of theirs I don’t hate. Characters are pretty fun and dynamic, it certainly tries with how not everything is about combat, and delivers a pretty cohesive package, all things considered. Biggest complaint would be that it’s still Hoyo on the wheel, so they are god awful greedy with horrible rates on pulls and expensive top-ups. Second biggest complaint is that the main meat of the gameplay, the combat, is pretty barebones; it does a phenomenal job making it look stylish (and I mean that, it’s not a backhanded compliment) and cool, but combat all boils down to dps racing with very basic gimmicks, even if sometimes entertainingly skill demanding (Soldier’s just frame attacks, Alexandrina’s doll management). Writing is very charming, actually, the plot isn’t trying to be super Deep And Complex off the gate and wants you to get to know (thus, care about) the characters through smaller, simpler lead ins onto their bigger plot, and characters don’t exist entirely to tell you how much they love you and how you are the center of the universe, which is pretty cool. So, yeah, I’m actually saying something positive about a Hoyo game, pretty nice integrated package.

NIKKE: Nikke honestly blew my mind, it looks like a maximum coomer game — and in many ways, it is — but the plot twist is that it’s a charming maximum coomer game with plenty of other things going for it. It’s a game where ��mixed bag” is used positively: The setting is as generic and braindead as they come, Things Were Nice Until The Threat Attacked, Only The Hottest Women Can Stop Them (And You Are The Only One That Treats Them Well). But then your starting crew is basically anime girls Ed, Edd, and Eddy, legitimately a really fun crew. Events either are — intentionally — simple but fun and low stakes character studies, or higher stakes storylines that usually land. The music direction is also REALLY good: Normal stages have very utilitarian music that is just a compliment to the sounds of combat, boss themes do a 180 and are full of personality and pretty memorable, Ominous Cross lives rent free in my mind. My only complaints is that I personally dislike models where you NEED multiple copies of a character to truly realize their gameplay potential, and Nikke sadly has this, the skill ceiling is pretty low and it all comes down to a numbers game/dps race, and non-boss enemies are pretty uninspired. In fact, battles are just… Really not fun, and where the game shines, boss battles, are really also not that good either. Honestly, the only thing that kept me from sticking with the game is the low skill ceiling, and in a world where Nikke had tighter gameplay, I still play it. On a more personal note, I sincerely love the designs, first and foremost Scarlet Black Shadow.

[emblemxeno]

"So tell me... How was it, being alive...?

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Replay Overall Thoughts!

I blazed through the last 3 chapters in about a week cuz I've been on a crazy high with this game lmaoooo, so here's a last post about my replay of this game and how much I like it overall. Spoilers ahead just in case!

-Gameplay! XC2 is a definitive example of having a high learning curve, but being so exceptionally rewarding.

While I'm less aggro over the game's tutorials than some are, I still agree that the game doesn't go into as much detail as needed to fully exlore the mechanics. A double edged sword of the game as a whole is just the amount of stuff that's involved in just its battle system. Arts, Specials, Blade arts, driver combos, blade combos, accessories, pouch items, affinity charts, etc. Being lax in just one of these things makes the game more of a chore to play than one would expect. But being aware of all of them makes the combat fast paced, strategic, and explosively fun.

But the gameplay isn't just fighting. It's also exploration and quests. XC2 features many gorgeous landscapes to behold and places to visit. Comparing to XC1 though... I like XC1's exploration mechanics, locations and secret ares just a tad more. However, XC2 has the worldbuilding trophy down pat. Certainly XC1 has its justifications for some areas not being populated or the backstory being lined with populous centered conflict, but it is that difference that makes XC2 more appealing in a "worldly" sense.

The politics of Alrest, its underlying message of idealism vs nihilism, building a future that defines and shapes future generations, even the nods to environmentalism and climate change. All of these are poignant and everlasting messages just as applicable today as they were when the game released. So IMO while Bionis and Mechonis are more fun to traverse, Alrest is more fun to experience.

Similarly, quests differ in this game compared to its prequel. XC1 had quests from the moon and back, at times to its detriment, especially the generic ones. However, it made up for that with a strong affinity chart made relevant by NPCs with memorable personalities and objectives. XC2, on the other hand, cut the chaff with the number of quests to be had, but along with that there was a noticeable dip in NPC quality. While I can't easily remember names of townsfolk in either game, XC1 still has the benefit of ties and links being foundational to its questlines that I can pick details and objectives from them out of my brain. XC2 sadly doesn't have that. A best of both worlds scenario exists in the next game, truly fitting tbh.

-Aesthetics, Presentation, and Music!

The game looks great, though definitely dated, most notably in animations and FPS performance. The worst of it happens in crowded city areas, especially Torigoth, which isn't a good sign for such an early locale. Overall, though, it turns out not to be too bad in the long run. You'd expect Mor Ardain and Tantal to have similar issues, but they really don't, at least as far as I know. For sure there's room to improve, but for a launch year Switch title? Very nice.

The ultimate dead horse of this game is its character designs and voice acting. For the latter point, it is pointedly rough especially for the middle chapters of the game, as you can hear the lack of direction from normally great actors. The last 3 chapters though is one stellar performance after another, and proves that talent along with even half decent direction goes a long way, and that it should be a lesson learned that a glaring issue like this not be repeated.

Character designs is touchy obviously. Pyra and Mythra sharing the lead role with Rex while having... let's say 'eclectic' outfits is very much a choice. I won't go into optics of such, as I'm not a woman and therefore don't have the wisdom or experience to comment on this point in a way that's very informed. What I will say is that it's nothing new for Xenoblade, or for the Xeno series as a whole. Is that a justification? No. But it's tried and true at this point.

I like their designs just fine (I also like Rex's for what it's worth). Now some rare Blade designs? Could've gone back to the drawing board. Dahlia is even more of a dead horse subject, but even Nim and ESPECIALLY Newt are ones that I just get the ick about. Talented artists for all Blades no doubt, but the designs themselves are just... yeah.

MUSIC oh god the MUSIC of this fucking game. Great orchestral tracks, electric guitar prominent rock, CHOIR LEAD PIECES, and the solo singer songs like Drifting Soul??? PEAK. Absolute peak. Every track hits where it needs to and then some.

-Characters and Story!

To repeat my earlier points, I adore the touches on the politicization of stuff like usage of mass weaponry, war resources, idealism/nihilism, religious dogma, climate change, and even identity optics. Every one of those points is supported by a stellar main cast, and a surprisingly solid supporting cast.

Rex starts as an idealistic child, with very staunch black and white beliefs. But being mentored by not just Vandham, but also Morag and Zeke, gives him perspective and growth to be the leader and hero Alrest needs.

He can say he's not involved in any war efforts by refusing to salvage weapons, but he realizes that war is more than just weapons. He can have a grand idea of going to Elysium, but how's he gonna do it in actuality. He may share Pyra and Mythra's physical pain, but how does he, as their partner, respond to their pain of being? Their emotions, the fear they carry, how they feel they're threats to the world and are better off erased?

Being an adult means respecting your loved ones decisions, being a hero means not going back on your promises or your fight to do what's right, being a leader means sometimes you have to work with compromises, being the Driver of the Aegis-no, the driver of ANY Blade, means accepting them as all they are, the good and the bad.

But all these lessons would be a bit meaningless if Rex wasn't so in tune with himself in the first place. Rex is more than just optimistic, he's full of love and hope! He's at his strongest when he remains true to that, and only falters when he lets his doubts get the best of him.

It helps that his friends give him something to learn, support, or aspire too, all while having their own developed characters besides that. Nia being of a similar age to him shows how even young people can be jaded by the world treating them horribly, but can just as easily propped back up when they no longer have to fear being themselves. Tora serves as someone who Rex can inspire and share a journey of growth as a Driver, and there's no better path of learning about your own strengths and weaknesses than being a teacher/leader yourself. Morag and Zeke show a positive example of what adulthood is towards the new generations; the former retains her love of her homeland and helps ground the party in reality while becoming more accepting of leaning on others to help without her pride getting in the way; the latter challenges tradition and stagnation, but instead of throwing the whole past away, he wants to confront it and find the most authentic and honorable way to move on.

The politics of Blades' relationships with humans as well... Gramps and Dromarch provide unflinching support to fall back on, being wise "older" members; Brighid and Pandoria deal with the idea of self, the former wanting to learn more about her past despite its apparent futility given the memory loss and the latter going through a then secretive (and possibly dangerous given what happened to Haze/Fan la Norne) procedure because she loved Zeke that much. And Poppi is such a smash hit character, being a composite of impressionable yet idealistic youth, the trials of finding your identity despite abnormality, and being fearful of your own capabilities should they come to harm people in the future.

Jumping off from that, both Pyra and Mythra are just so damn good. Besides their general personality difference, Pyra is surprisingly forceful (chapter 6 climax) and Mythra surprisingly sentimental/sweet (chapter 5 end). They treat each other as sisters because Mythra is just that kind of person, she's not snappy or controlling, she lets Pyra be herself. Both are afraid of their power, hence they want themselves erased from the world; but bonding with someone who was never scared of them or what they could do-something Addam admitted that he was unable to-changed their outlook: they love this world. No longer the pitying "this place would be better without us" type of love, but the "I want to remain and work to sustain this beauty and kindness" type of love.

In contrast, Amalthus is what happens when you let the world's ugly parts dictate your entire outlook-he hates himself just like Pyra and Mythra did, like how Jin and Malos do. Rejecting change by using religious dogma and enforcing control over the world through the core crystal cleansing. Killing Torna's legacy, and blackmailing Tantal. When you hate the world, hate yourself, and have the power to end it, be it through swift destruction or 500 year long stagnating rot, you'll do so.

That outlook is poisonous and is easily spread-look at any far right campaign today and see how they use similar fear mongering, rejection of change, and discriminatory exclusivity! That's unfortunately how a lot of people operate, and that's how people get broken by the systems that harm them and either led to violence (Jin) or wanting to escape by any means possible (Pyra/Mythra). That's why the hero being Rex, an upstanding youth wanting to change the world through optimism, love, and acceptance, means so much as a message. It's incomprehensible to those who don't want to listen (or who benefit by rejecting it) but is given support by victims looking for an answer.

That's the difference between existing and being alive, and ultimately that's what broke me during the final scenes of the game. Malos never existed as more than a machine, basically corrupted by a virus that was Amalthus' misanthropy, but Pyra and Mythra got to live. To witness cultures, meet and talk with people, fall in love with them, have laughs and shed tears. And when that light was reciprocated, they learned they didn't want to die for Alrest's sake, they wanted to live for it.

"So tell me... How was it, being alive...?" is terribly tragic and incredibly heartfelt, because, as Morag says "Most people go their whole lives without finding a meaning to it." I still don't even know if I have mine, or if I'll even find it, and when Malos said his final line that's when the tears started running. A being who sees himself as a monster, who never got to be anything but a destructive burden on people, but who went out with a smile when he realized that had he been awakened by people like Rex or Jin before Amalthus came into the picture, he could've had a life full of love like his sisters got. A life that we all can get. A life that we aspire to and deserve.

How this game manages to capture the emotion of the human mind, is endlessly impressive. A splendid journey from beginning to the end, in spite of some rough spots here and there.

I'm probably gonna take a break from Xenoblade for a little bit and jump back into FE in the meantime. Thanks to all who kept up with my XC2 shenanigans lol.

[sexybritishllama]

after many, many, MANY hours, i have finally completed persona 5 royal and am now presenting my thoughts. overall i think i have to rate it a 4.5/10, with a note that rather than being generally mid, it swings so wildly between the good and the bad that it evens out just below average for me

spoilers for ALL of the game under the cut including 3rd semester

the good:

this game is STYLISH. that is probably the first thing everyone says about this game but it's true and it has to be said. everything from the hud to the settings menu is themed, it's slick and fun and just really well done

the music slaps. again, gets said a lot, but has to be acknowledged. so good

in theory the gameplay loop is fun. the swapping between dungeon crawling in the palaces and the daily social links is interesting, and for the first good 40 hours of the game or so i found it really addictive and well balanced (yes in spite of the tutorial)

the characters were (mostly) likeable and there were some good social link stories- notable mentions include futaba, sojiro and yoshida

i loved walking around tokyo, it felt very immersive. i used to travel to shibuya all the time for work and it was a lot of fun recognising the spots and even the way you walk out of the train station!

the bad:

IT'S TOO LONG. it's just too long. my save file is at 119 hours after completing the game. i spread this out over an irl year of playing the game. i was still so burnt out when i got to the end my main emotion was RELIEF. you could cut this game down to like half of this run time and it would only benefit it. there is so dialogue spent just repeating points you already know, or scenes that you have to play on a regular basis (eg me spamming through doing affinity readings or kawakami making coffee or WHATEVER), and it is not to the benefit of the game at all

the excessive length also makes other parts of the game that would otherwise be forgivable into absolute slogs. stuff like the combat being mostly way too easy (with the exception of random frustration spikes like okumura), or the fact that so many of the confidants follow the exact same pattern down to which rank you’re going to be asked to arbitrarily go to mementos to solve their problem- these would be much less annoying if i didnt have to do it SO MUCH AGAIN AND AGAIN

on that note oh my god mementos. i fucking hate mementos. most boring content in existence and when i found out they made more of it in the third semester i screamed out loud

ren/akira/joker as a self-insert main character did not work for me and that negatively impacted just about every character relationship with him for me (especially the romances) because it just felt like there was nothing for people to connect to. he’s just so… nothing, but at the same time wasn't enough of a blank slate for me to feel like i could fully project onto him as a self-insert

i think joker could have worked better for me if they either a) made him a more defined character (my preference), OR if they insist on sticking with a self-insert, make the dialogue options were varied. i don’t expect branching options but i do appreciate it when you at least pretend to give me some agency about the replies my character gives, it can mean a lot in a roleplaying game to actually feel like you're, yknow, roleplaying

i generally like the bombastic wild designs persona has for enemies and stuff but i really struggle to take some of the characters seriously when their masks look like this

IN PARTICULAR why is futaba's whole metaverse outfit so ugly. do my girl justice

akechi is a character who i feel will make for very compelling fanfiction but unfortunately i found his actual canon depiction underwhelming

the entire way they handled kawakami as a confidant and the fact you can choose her as a romance option. INSANELY uncomfortable and negates the point of her entire story arc about deciding to care about her students again and not get extorted anymore, but then you as the player character can date her, can continue to get her to do your manual labour for you and give you massages, which you're heavily incentivised to do because it's so useful as a gameplay mechanic. it is SO UNCOMFORTABLE

maybe i'll make a separate post breaking down my thoughts about each confidant because i have other issues with other peoples arcs but kawakami was the most egregious. as if people havent heard me rant enough already

in general that thing of the game undermining its own messages for the sake of either very bad comedy or fanservice is a reoccuring issue. unfortunately very anime in that sense. as well as kawakami: - you spend the entire first dungeon of the game talking about how shitty this perverted teacher is for his treatment of ann and trying to assault her and then i have to spend the rest of the game sitting through MULTIPLE fanservice jokes about ann (this underage girl btw) being really Hot and Sexy and forcing her to strip for yusuke - ryuji risked his life to save the others and then the girls... beat him up for it? it was clearly meant for comedy, but god did it land flat - the game proves over and over again that the police and justice system is corrupt and ineffective but they never actually seem to... want to do anything about it? makoto literally says she's going to become a cop at the end of her confidant arc!!! girl!!!

their solution to the justice system being shit is to get people to confess to their crimes and Feel Bad, where the villains then proceed to.... be handled under the same justice system we have i guess? as though the issue here was just the fact that bad guys wouldn't confess, and we don't need to look at, hey, why do these people commit the crimes they do, how do we handle punishment vs rehabilitation, etc.

it's weird because they do sort of dance around this topic sometimes (like with akechi's fucked up upbringing) but it always feels like they're scared of diving too deep into it. i don't expect a full marxist re-examining of society from highschoolers but idk man, for SUCH a long game i feel like it was a weirdly shallow reading of the societal issues around authority and crime

also: why does the 'rebel against social norms!' game still not let me romance same-gender confidants. let me date ryuji you cowards

[xxinkyshadowxx]

games that i think more people should know about cause they are so good oh my goodness

TW For blood, gore, and disturbing imagery

GOHOME

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM IM GOING TO EAT THE ENTIRE GAME OM NOM NOM NOM NOM I DO NOT HAVE THE WORDS TO DISCRIBE THIS GAME SO THERES IT DISCRIPTION DOWN THERE BUT IM GOING TO EAT IT ALL QUICK READ IT BEFORE I EATED ALL THE DISCRIPTION TOO

"This is a third-person horror game set in a residential area in 2000s Japan. It's the complete version of the free horror game GOHOME, which was released in 2019 and caused a boom. The map has been doubled, and six more ghosts, including hidden characters, have been added to the game. There's no grotesque , so even kids can enjoy it.

You've been separated from your parents and you're going home alone. It's the usual way home, but something's wrong. You're being chased by someone so you run away and go home. It's a sad, scary and mysterious game, but I hope it will be a lovely memory for you."

House

yeah it's less of a witchtrip(do not pay attention to how i use this word the way i use it makes sense and you know it does) than GOHOME is but oh my god the music the gameplay the plot i just this game would blow up a microwave and come out scratchless

A review: "a carpet killed me👍"

Literally any arcadekitten game

my personal favs are Cemetery mary and sweet no death but i swear all of their games are bangers)

game so good i stole a character's name that should say enough

A sweet no death review: "this was such a cool mix between cute and horror- loved it ! the game was pretty fun too, lambchop was so entertaining, and the music and visuals, so pleasing. "

A cemetery mary review: "Bro, I made an account just to say how much I enjoyed this game. This game was truly a pleasant experience and I genuinely think this is one of the best indie games i've played IMO."

Blackout hospital desc: "Blackout Hospital is a game where you play as Vasilis, a nonbinary janitor at Altobuck Hospital. When the power goes out while working the night shift, the emergency lights come on and bask the halls in an eerie, ghostly glow. Bizarre happenings start to occur at the hospital, and Vasilis wants no part in it as they try to look for a way out! Along the way they will fight off mysterious enemies, meet strange characters, and make a few allies--but will any of it mean anything if they can never return home?"

It's not me it's my basement desc: "Mom and Dad are away. But you're old enough to take care of yourself now, aren't you? You'll be fine, there's no need to worry. You're more than capable of keeping everything under control...right?"

It's Not Me, It's My Basement is a short horror game following a nonbinary child and their daily life. It takes about 30 minutes-1 hour to complete. There is only one ending."

Crowscare desc: "Crowscare is a short horror game, RPG game, and a love letter to the autumn season.

The game follows a young boy named Ryo, excited for the upcoming Harvest Festival in his hometown. Wouldn't you know? This is going to be his first one! He was never able to go to one before, as it always started past his curfew...but soon he'll see why he was never allowed out at night.

The game takes about 1-1 ½ hours to complete. There are two bad endings, and one good/true ending. "

World's end club:

AEWRT%UYTYRERSFXFGTY *EATS IT ALL IN ONE BITE* If you like danganronpa then you're gonna like this game as it's made by the same people this is just danganronpa but like more interactive and pg13 and im going to eat ALL of it the designs *eats the designs* oh and im not sure how true this is but i heard that one of the designers who worked on this made Top champion geeta's design soooooo

"Brought to you by Zero Escape series creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, and Kazutaka Kodaka, mastermind behind the Danganronpa games. With twists and turns aplenty, this mysterious, captivating tale of friendship and adversity will have you hooked from the get go.

Dive into this easy to pick up fusion of puzzle platforming and choice-driven story adventure, and surround yourself with a cast of charming, quirky characters as you set off on an unforgettable trip!

In an elementary school in Tokyo, a group of oddball kids from across the country have banded together as the "Go-Getters Club." Reycho and the rest of the Go-Getters are, to say the least, a little different to the rest of their classmates.

One summer's day the group is riding the bus on a school trip when disaster strikes. They wake up to find themselves trapped in a rusted, long-abandoned underwater theme park. As they struggle to get their bearings, a sinister clown appears out of the blue and informs the Go-Getters that they'll be playing a "Game of Fate"—pitting their lives against one another in a desperate struggle for survival!

Bewildered and confused, prospects look bleak for Reycho and the gang, but when all hope seems lost, out of nowhere, strange powers start to awaken in the daring Go-Getters.

What in the world could happen next!?"

Motherhood

i just i i just i AIUYTEWGEHYUDZIOR*(E&FUDTYGHJUIDS

A review: "Really good game with nice and disturbing aesthetics. The story was quite cryptic, but you get most of it by the secret ending.

It was a nice experience, I want to play the rest from Enigma Studio if the other games are as cool as this one!"

Bad end theater

i want to dissect this game like its a damn frog and then i want to go OM NOM NOM NOM NOM

Review: "PLEASE LET ME GIVE YOU MORE MONEY OH MY ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ GOD, ALSO LIKE ADD AN ART BOOK I NEED ACCESS TO ALL OF THIS ART AT ANY GIVEN TIME EVER"

Review: "While I cannot spoil why, this is possibly one of the sweetest, most thought out and unique short games I played in years.

Go in blind, you will find everything more meaningful that way!"

Loomian legacy

*Dj Khaled voice* Life is roblox

Formerly Pokemon brick bronze so i feel life that should be enough info for those who know of it

Emily wants to play

I I HYYDUIEUUI THIS SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF LITTLE ME I LOVE THIS GAME

Desc "It’s 11pm, and you are at the last house on your route. The lights are on, and the front door is opened. But, the windows are all boarded up and the grass is overgrown. It seems like a strange place to deliver a pizza, but at least, it looks like someone is home.

You run to the front door since it’s storming pretty bad.

“Hello!? Your pizza's here!" You announce. No one answers. There's an eerie silence.

You are getting soaked from the rain, so you hesitantly step inside the door and look around. The front door suddenly closes behind you.

You just wanted to finish this last delivery and head home for the night. Now you must figure out how to get out of this stupid creepy house.

Freely roam the house and try to figure out what is going on. Three dolls and a strange girl named Emily will also start roaming the house as the hours toll by. Stay away from them, but if you do end up in a room with one, figure out how to stay alive.

This may be your last pizza delivery."

I need to stop eating all these games im going to get a stomachache not from eating them but from the joy and whimsy i feel when these games are even real

[aotopmha]

I caved and watched an entire playthrough of Sonic X Shadow Generations. Both sides.

Sonic Generations just looks like the same old fun and honestly, not being re-released as a broken mess is what I wanted for it the most and that's exactly what it seems to be.

They somehow struck the (almost) perfect balance between edgy and heartfelt for Shadow Generations. (I think him getting the powers the way he does is just on the brink of overdone edge, but the package is more sincere than edgy, so I'm cool with it.)

I feel like in the case of Shadow's character, you have to go fully sincere for it to work at all because of the archetype he is. I think this is why I liked him in Sonic Adventure 2, at least.

Don't earn the dark elements or put in the character work and combine this with basically zero levity and you have shallow, tedious melodrama on your hands, which is the issue with Sonic 06.

(I think Shadow's story in 06 actually had the least of it, but Sonic's and Silver's absolutely suffered from weightless melodrama the most in my eyes.)

Lean too much into emphasising how dark and cool you are and you become childish, which was the issue with Shadow The Hedgehog.

Shadow fits inside the Vegeta archtype, specifically more leaning into post-redemption Vegeta.

Distant and stoic on the surface, but deep down good-hearted and a softie for the people he cares about.

All of this aside, though, Shadow Generations looks like a polished, consistent and complete package.

I think the entire playthrough I watched only had 2-3 instances of true glitches.

All of the elements making it up are unified: there are no strange discrepancies in music, the visuals have flavour and a consistent style they're going for all the way through and from start to finish, the story is a complete whole.

They basically have the open world of Frontiers without the pop-in, the fantastic level design of the Generations stages and a further refined version of the power-up system introduced via Wisps back in Colours (latest variation of which was in Superstars), but outfitted for Shadow.

And all I can say is that I think they should flesh out all of the characters exactly like this. I at least want to see this treatment for Tails, Amy and Knuckles. I think Blaze is my own big wish for cool 3D gameplay in this style because I think it just has the potential to be incredibly fun.

Keep Sonic as a template as with Shadow, but give them abilities fitting to their characters, making them variations of Sonic (which the best playable versions of them have basically been since the start).

My big worry here is the lesson they might take away from Shadow Generations, which is to keep shoving Shadow into everything without ryhme and reason now because that's just what "people like" now.

I can easily see his character and gameplay style eventually fall victim to poor implementation (and on the side, writing), just like the end point of all cool and successful Sonic gameplay styles: Adventure gameplay, Modern Sonic, Classic Sonic and the Wisps, to name a few.

I hope the lesson is to do cool stuff like this with all characters, maybe go back to doing multiple stories with multiple gameplay styles with solid effort put into all of them, not make the franchise consist entirely of Shadow games.

Maybe make Shadow one of several gameplay styles next to Sonic in the next game and even use what they've done here to further refine Sonic's gameplay?

To me it really stood out how smoothly some of Shadow's abilities seemed to work.

Above all, I know this game skyrocketed on my list of to-gets after seeing some of those levels.

Circumstances in the past few days actually also maybe have made it possible for me to get it earlier than I thought, but it's still pretty pricey for me currently.

Eventually, for sure, though.

The impressions are so much better than I ever thought they would be and the game just looks so much better from footage than I ever thought it would.

[c6jpg]

natlan 5.0 brain dump

i did this in a lot of small chunks so i already forgot all of my detailed thoughts so i'm gonna try to keep it brief

general environment/exploration:

first off music and scenery is 💯💯💯

i particularly like how much wildlife there is and i really love the saurian gameplay (for me its hydro > dendro >>>> geo)

i feel so awful every time i accidentally kill a capybara they should be immune like the rhinos

it makes sense that there isn't "one huge city" like the other nations since natlan is composed of tribes, and each tribe looks like it gets a decent amount of attention, but i was still kind of disappointed by how small the stadium of the sacred flame feels in comparison for being the "main" area. i feel like they could have done a lot more with it

archon quest:

tldr; it was... not good? or at least very underwhelming? especially coming off fontaine/sumeru which had incredibly strong opening acts

act 1 was particularly like. whatever. felt more like a kachina story quest that rolled right into a mualani (but npc-focused) story quest

like for how important the pilgrimage is it just felt so. underwhelming and anticlimatic. yes yes i know kachina is precious and everyone loves her but i wish we spent less time doing kachina support group and focused more on the pilgrimage itself like can we at LEAST see some of the other playable characters participating instead of just hearing about it in passing

literally was soooooooooo fucking annoyed with the entire atea plotline. i wrote a whole rant in my first write up but basically that entire arc only existed so that they could bring back the purification plot device which WE HAVEN'T SEEN SINCE MONDSTADT

i was just incredibly annoyed with how that was all handled lol atea is also just such a non-character how am i supposed to care about her. she didn't even die in the end!!!

also mualani's tribe's whole thing being super stereotypical hawaiian tourism left a really bad taste in my mouth i wanted to get out of there as fast as possible

act 2 was weird because like. i felt like they were saying a lot of things that were like "this is a serious national crisis" but it didn't... feel that way? and a lot of the lore itself was pretty glossed over

i think a problem with the natlan story is that you need the first acts to set up the stakes but we just spent the first act gallivanting around with kachina/mualani and then when they DID get to the "main problem" in act 2 it just info dumped so hard to the point that i. didn't care?

pacing in general just felt all over the place

the only investment they gave us is through caring about kachina and i guess hating the abyss/not wanting a nation to be destroyed on principle but idk. especially with the "nah we gotta wait for the last 2 heroes first" the stakes are Not there for me

reminded me of when nahida was like "yeah i needed you to figure this out for yourself bc if i told you directly your head would explode." but at least that one was fun/could just chalk it up to nahida being cheeky and didn't like. prolong the plot for too long

SHOW US DON'T TELL US DAMN IT. i might just have recency bias but i genuinely feel like natlan might be one of the worst cases of telling and not showing as far as archon quests are concerned

also capitano's appearance felt so random LMAO he really showed up, said some cryptic shit, got his ass beat, and then left. at least the cutscene was cool?

chasca girl i'm shaking crying throwing up somebody get that girl a full pair of pants and brown contacts PLEASE

i find it interesting how detailed/fleshed out chuychu (chasca's sister) is, both in terms of design and personality/character. it kind of felt like they originally intended for her to be playable but turned her into an NPC instead

also citlali is definitely some kind of faruzan situation where she's old but young looking

night kingdom was cool i guess nothing really to say here. i am very interested in the wayob lore though especially in regards to how it ties into the rest of teyvat/why natlan has particularly weak leylines

i feel like mavuika's younger sister might also become relevant in the future... in a bad way. like the insistence to not being forgotten/seeing mavuika again, the fact that mavuika doesn't "really" know what happened to her. also she also got a pretty unique npc model. or maybe she won't be brought up ever again idk

in general that whole reminiscence sequence with mavuika was like. fine but again you just info dumped the shit out of me i have no emotional attachment to feel anything about whats going on right now???

also we all know that was fucking ororon at the end with capitano like lmao come on. but im willing to bet both he + chasca are the last two heros bc like. who tf else do we have left LMAOOO

capitano was supposed to be cool but he's just giving goofy villain right now. sorry capitano fans they flopped so hard with him in this act

[shima-draws]

Hi Shima! You have a lot of Pokemon content on your page and I’m sorta curious about the like, world of Pokemon, so would you have any recommendations on what like game I should start with or what I should watch first? Thanks!

!!! YOOOOO OKAY I GOTCHU ANON. Buckle up bc my 20 years of being a Pokemon fan is about to kick in

As for where to start with the games--this is all really depending on how your own personal playstyle! Do you like games that are more easy going and light on plot? Or do you like ones with heavy amounts of story? Or do you prefer games that are a perfect blend of the two? Pokemon's got a mixed bag of all of the above so you really can't go wrong

If you're into that really nostalgia feel I'd recommend starting out with the first Pokemon game I ever played as a kid, which was Pokemon Emerald! You can actually play this for free by downloading a Gameboy Advance emulator and the Emerald ROM. I have a lot of fond memories of Emerald and it's still one of my favorite games to date. I actually even prefer Emerald over its remakes (Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire) bc it just doesn't quite hit the same lol. I think even without having played Emerald as a kid it'll just spark that nostalgic feeling? It's that kind of game, at least to me :")

Going off of that if you REALLY want to hit nostalgia central and start where it all began, Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen is also a good game to start out with. It's a remake of Pokemon Red/Blue, which were the first ever Pokemon games that were made. Personally I'm not a super huge Gen 1 fan bc I feel like it's been WAY overdone at this point (it's had two remakes already) but if you've never played a Pokemon game again it's definitely a good starting point. It's barely got any plot so it's really a game you can just dive into and enjoy without focusing too hard on the story. AND as an added bonus, Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver is the direct sequel to Gen 1 (and a remake of the original Gold/Silver/Crystal) so I'd definitely play that one as well, it's lots of fun!

Of course I will also recommend Pokemon Black/White and Black 2/White 2, which is generation 5 and my FAVORITE mainline Pokemon games of all time. BW released right before the transition to the 3D games so it still has sprite art. It's a GORGEOUS game honestly and I think it's really well balanced with story VS gameplay. It's got great characters and fantastic design elements (with everything honestly like the Pokemon designs are great, the character designs are great, the city/town designs are great, etc) and the most KICKASS soundtrack ever (looking at you Driftveil City AKA Toothless dancing meme music). I could go on and on and on about Gen 5 for hours lmao I really hold it near and dear to my heart. Also it's one of the very few games that actually has a sequel which I LOVE. BW2 takes place two years after BW and I love the story and character progression 🥰

Shouting out Pokemon Platinum as well, I know it's a huge fan favorite and honestly I also love it very much!! Platinum came out before BW did so it's got that early DS era feel to it. It's got a decent plot and classic fun gameplay elements. Also Pokemon Legends Arceus which ties directly into Platinum as its prequel (but you should play Platinum first? I know it's confusing lol). PLA is SUPER fucking fun, it's got a completely different gameplay style and mechanic than regular Pokemon games, and it ties in with Platinum so well.

And to my last few recommendations -

Pokemon Sun and Moon!! There's mixed feelings about this one from a lot of people but it's one of my personal favorites...I think people dislike that it's so plot heavy, there's a LOT of dialogue even when starting the game so if you're not into that I wouldn't go with SM. But I LOVE games that are heavy with plot and SM just does it so well. The characterization is really well done and I love watching Lillie go through her development arc 🤧 But yeah it's SM NOT Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon which are like. The same games but Worse. USUM took SM's plot and stomped all over it so I would not go for those lol

And, of courseeee. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet! These are the most recent mainline games to release and ohhh my god. Is the game laggy and bugged out as hell? Yes. Is it also fucking FANTASTIC and has made me cry multiple times? ALSO yes. If you don't mind occasional shitty graphics then please please PLEASE play SV. The open world aspect is a ton of fun, the new Pokemon designs are so charming, the characters are wonderful, and the STORY??? The plot literally blew my socks off the first time I played it. SV endgame you will always be the king of my heart. It's definitely heavier than any previous Pokemon game and it had me reeling for DAYS after. The story is just. So so so good. And we get a continuation of the story kicking ass in the DLC. I love SV to death it really redeemed Pokemon after the disaster that was gen 8 for me (and it's REALLY fun to shiny hunt in).

And LAST but certainly not least. My favorite Pokemon game of all time period ever in the history of Pokemon. Not a mainline game but a side/spinoff game--Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky!! If you want the classic Pokemon experience I probably wouldn't start with this since it's so different from the mainline games but I'd 10000% play it after finishing your first Pokemon game. It's a dungeon crawler, you get to BE a Pokemon, the music is phenomenal, the gameplay is phenomenal, the story is PHENOMENAL, everything about it is incredible and I will love this game until the day I die. I CANNOT recommend it enough. It's so so SO good and it means so much to me I can't even. Please play PMD Sky this goes to everyone who hasn't played it I prommy it's worth it

So basically:

Easy games with no/light plot: FRLG, Emerald, HGSS

Games with a perfect blend of actual gameplay and plot: BW/B2W2, Platinum, PLA

Games that hit HEAVY with plot/storyline: SM, SV, PMD Sky

Honestly you really cannot go wrong no matter where you start out. Even if it's with one of the games I DIDN'T personally recommend, all the mainline games have their own unique charm and each generation has its die hard fans (UNOVA GANG RISE). I've played all of them and they're all enjoyable!

As for the anime, my personal recommendations are the XY saga and the SM saga! The SM saga is my ultimate favorite, it's really cute and charming and fun, with some heavier plot arcs sprinkled in so it's a good blend between lighthearted stuff and more serious story. XY is VERY plot-heavy especially in the latter part, there's a lot of character development and crazy stuff going on, so I'd go for that one if you want to get hit hard with Feels. I haven't watched as much of the anime so I'm sure other people would recommend other seasons (I know the original saga, the Hoenn saga and the DP saga are fan favorites).

I'd also recommend watching the sub instead of the dub,, especially if you haven't grown up watching the Pokemon anime like me the dub is VERY hit or miss. I prefer subs as well bc the dub actually cuts out a LOT of stuff? I know for SM they had fun extra little bits at the beginning and ending of each episode that the dub just. Didn't include. For some reason? Like they'd cut out entire scenes. Idk. It's up to you either way tho ^^

And that is my introduction to Pokemon list.........if anybody has anything to add feel free! These are just my personal recommendations based off of what I like so naturally not everyone will agree lol. If you have any questions anon don't hesitate to ask, I'm always down to talk Pokemon. And I hope you have lots of fun playing whichever game you decide to go with!!

[fuckentoastybitch]

My VN List!

I'm listing them according to ones I've played and ones I plan to play (as well as brief notes about either my opinion on the game or why I'm interested in them, formatted like this.)

This is for my own personal collection tbh, I just need to put them all in one place.

A. Have played:

The Arcana. Played since I was 16, all time favourite and Julian is my husband. This game shaped my interest for fantasy settings and magic. BUT! As a long time fan I must warn new players that trying to get the full experience for this game is difficult because of its coin system. The only reason I manage to keep playing for years is because I literally take a year's worth of breaks in between routes and logged in every. Single. Day. to collect coins and keys. It's literally been 6 years and I still haven't 100% the game yet cause I simply didn't have that kind of energy and time to do that anymore, but I still love the characters very deeply till now.

Blooming Panic. Second all time fave. Fell for Quest first, fell for Toasty hardest, for some reason is obsessed with xyx. I've revolved my entire personality around BP since 2023.

ERROR 143. Fun! Micah is technically not my type but I really like the general aesthetic and humor of the game. Iirc there are still more content to come to the game so I am very excitedly and patiently waiting.

3 Seasons. This was short and sweet. I think what I liked the most about this was the unique character designs, especially Rye and Briar's. I heard the dev's are working on more content on the current LI's + Briar's route, I'm really excited for those.

Our Life: Beginning & Always. Our life was INCREDIBLE, to put it simply. The entire game and story was very well thought out that it even made me reflect on my own life at each phase along the game. It gave me a really strong sense of nostalgia and reminded me of my own feelings during every change I had experienced. I actually wanted to make a whole post about OLBA but I got busy and already forgot everything I wanted to say, ehe. I still have to play the DLC and get the remaining locked CGs though.

Assignment Due: Project Blue. THIS GAME IS ADORABLE. I already made a blog post about what I like about it and I will again emphasis on how this game felt like it was made specifically for me. I love Asher so much aaaaa. I heard rei, the dev is working on another game for Eden, I'm looking forward for that, too.

Coffee Talk. Coffee talk was so so good! I need to play more non-romance VNs too cause this was so enjoyable in terms of its storytelling, setting, gameplay and design. Every character had such a nice story that tied up nicely, even the MC who's supposed to be just an observer throughout the entire thing. Also the cozy vibes and music is a 10/10 would recommend.

A Date with Death. This one's so cute too! I played only one route last year and just picked it up again recently. I have only one route left to finish and the new DLC!. Anyways yes the Grim Reaper is very babygirl I can attest to it.

seekL. THIS IS SO GOOD. SO SO GOOD. If you didn't see the one week phase where I basically went insanely obsessed with seekL, you missed out. Hacker man save me.. save me.. hackerman..

B. Want to play:

Lost in Limbo. Really pretty art and interesting concept. The theme seems very fantasy/magic centric which really pulls me in. But this game is still a WIP iirc

When The Night Comes. Technically I'm currently playing this one, but only the intro and hadn't touched the game in months cause I've been busy. Again, the fantasy setting caught my interest aaand I just met Ezra but I already love him. Will continue this as soon as I can!

Infinite Blue. I've played the demo! Very mysmes reminiscent lol. The game looked very cute so far and Brooklyn reminded me that I'll never run away from my old man liker allegations. It's already out so I def gotta play it soon.

Coffee Talk Episode 2. Don't really need an explanation for this one except that the new characters I've seen so far looks really cool.

Tavern Talk. D&D inspired Coffee Talk! If it's not obvious already, I LOVE fantasy settings so even though I've never played D&D, it is right up my alley and I wish I could play it someday. I've been eyeing the production of this game for a while so I'm really excited that it's finally out!

Obscura. This one looks really REALLY cool but I haven't actually read into what it's actually about. The art alone looks good enough to get my attention. Really curious about it, I hope I'll play it soon.

Intertwine. Just from looking at the 2023 Otome Jam entries overall I thought this one looked most visually appealing to me. I love the color scheme, and the aesthetic reminds of the string of fate myth (that probably is the theme)

DATA BR<3ACH. I'm usually not a fan of cyberpunk setting but this one seemed pretty intriguing to me visually!

Innerlog. By Jenny V Pham! I enjoyed Error 143 so I have no doubt I'll enjoy this one too.

Andromeda Six. My impression of this one is "space D&D" lol. I can't believe I haven't played this one yet.

TOUCHSTARVED. I can NOT believe only the demo is out cause the quality looks like it should've been a long existing popular franchise. One thing I'm a little hesitant about playing this game is because it's goth themed and in case you haven't noticed, a lot of the media I like have a softer, more pastel aesthetic. lol. But that's a personal preference and yet I definitely need to play it sometime soon.

Cupid's Chatroom. There's really not much to say. Pink aesthetic? Mysterious chatsim that appeared out of nowhere? My cup of tea 100%

Na Daoine Maithe. I've played the demo of this one and it is sooo interesting. I like myths but I've never really read into Gaelic ones. The art is so pretty and the story so far is very intriguing. I can't wait for the full game.

Swiped!: Double Shots of Love. FINALLY AN INDIE VN WITH OLDER MALE LOVE INTERESTS DFKJFDSJKD I played the demo, it was really really cute! The professor LI was made to call me out lol

Wake Me Up If You Need Me. A game made by rice! Someone who I've seen around in the fandom and who's really talented at making songs and audios. I had no idea they made a game but I just found it recently and I have to play it.

Keyframes. It looks really good but I'm interested mostly cause I found out Charlatean (Toasty's VA) is in this kjsdhfgkjd

Rekindle. I follow the lovely artist that's creating it and the DEMO IS OUT!. I saw one (1) art of Jules and he is EXACTLY my type so I'm already looking forward to this game.

Our Life: Now & Forever. Baxter's OL game! I already loved Cove's so I'm really really interested in this version of the game. Plus, I actually really like the autumn aesthetic compared to Cove's beachy style.

Hummingbird's Crown. Has a very interesting premise: a time loop mystery. I'm definitely interested in this one for its story potential rather than the romance, I love me a good mystery.

Aaand that's it. Thankfully "( – ⌓ – )

There's actually a few more that I added in my twitter bookmarks but those are relatively new and I haven't decided if I really want to play them yet. I'm following the devs though so that interest might grow over time. These lists are long enough as they are already, haha.

[wariopunkdesign]

Chrono Cross Heroes

This drawing was probably the most ambitious project I've undertaken since I started this hobby, when a few years ago I prepared the illustration "Videogames Rumble" I drew all the characters individually and then assembled the entire composition, this time instead it was a single drawing, the composition is in fact much more tidy and without empty spaces.

Another technical detail is that having such a complex drawing and with smaller characters than I usually do, I couldn't use my usual filters to manage the shades as they would mess up the characters with each other, so this time the shades are rougher and less similar to brush strokes.

Let's move on to talk about Chrono Cross, another game from the golden age of squaresoft that I played only recently, a game I knew absolutely nothing about in terms of history and gameplay.

Chrono cross has a wonderful graphic style as well as the character design, that period of square with 3d models on pre-rendered backgrounds is my favorite and the one I'm most fond of, FFVIII, FFIX, Parasite Eve and Chrono Cross are spectacular from an artistic point of view.

Also the music in Chrono Cross is fantastic and incredibly ambient.

The gameplay is definitely experimental, there are many new aspects and overall they work and the game is never boring.

Moving on to the story, I found it ok, up to about half of the game I was really disappointed, thinking that square had made a game with such a banal progression worthy of a fanfiction of one of their titles was quite discouraging me, things simply happen and we chase the character with bad guy written on his forehead because there is nothing else to do, obviously the bad guy is looking for the macguffin of the day.

Then something happens in the story and finally the plot starts to be captivating and deep, too bad that the first part of the game is so empty and despite being full of "adventurous" moments there is no real motivation.

I also hate protagonists who don't speak and finding something like that in a game from that period of the square is for me a big negative point and is probably the reason why Serge is not a protagonist who is remembered.

The choice to have numerous companions was handled better than other similar titles, although it is "annoying" not to be able to have them all in a single gameplay it is also true that there is no real reason to use more than 5 or 6, and the fact that everyone has a mini quest or in any case a hidden chest for their final element and dedicated dialogues at various points in the game is very nice.

Also the way in which the various alternative endings are unlocked is very intelligent considering what the game is about, even the humor especially in these endings is very funny.

Chrono Cross is a game that I liked but didn't love, I don't think I'll play it again but it definitely left me with some good memories, my favorite characters were among the strangest: Mojo, Starky and Skelly.

I also played Radical Dreamers, the prototype of Chrono Cross and the game was very fun and well written, recommended.

If you like my illustrations, you can find my custom merchs on Redbubble, TeePublic or my Threadless Store.

TEEPUBLIC https://www.teepublic.com/user/wariopunk

REDBUBBLE https://www.redbubble.com/people/Punkkommando77/shop?asc=u&ref=account-nav-dropdown

THREADLESS https://wariopunkdesign.threadless.com/

[starryoak]

Thoughts on Undertale Yellow

Just wanted to write some thoughts down on this amazing game! Spoilers below, obviously.

I’m going to split my thoughts into the positive and negative, because while it is an amazing game, there were a couple pretty significant flaws that IMO brought down the experience.

THE POSITIVES

This game positively oozes creativity and passion from every pore. The fact that I’m going to be complaining about some things shouldn’t take away from the fact that this is an amazing game that took 7 years to develop, and clearly shows in how polished as a product it is. The criticisms, when they come, should be taken as just a part of life; nothing can be perfect, and I don’t think that pretending that a game is flawless does it any favors. It’s certainly better than I can do, just for releasing a finished product, lmao.

This game is visually gorgeous. Obviously it’s still a pixel art game in the style of the original game, so it keeps itself simplistic, but there are so many little animations throughout that are so smooth and charming that I really was impressed. Genuinely just very pleasing to look at, from the animation to the character designs, which fit perfectly in to Undertale’s universe, which I found very impressive.

The game’s humor is very reminiscent of Undertale, and I was really surprised by how much the incidental dialogue and setpieces felt like they would fit right in with Undertale’s humor, while still being original and clever in its own right.

The game’s worldbuilding was really impressive to me, it felt like the Dunes fit perfectly into the Underground in such a natural way, the lore of the Wild East, I really loved the underlying story of how it used to be the Meadows before the Mines uncovered a massive swelterstone, a giant heat generating gemstone that slowly turned it into the desert it is in the present. It felt very true to the melancholy nature of the Underground and how the Monsters are running out of space, wishing on gemstones in the ceiling because they’ve never seen the stars, it just really clicked.

The story is just. So good. Well, up until a point. I’ll get to that in the negatives, but like. 80-90% of the story is just full of the same infectious fun that Undertale itself had, Starlo’s antics and getting accosted into being his deputy, the rest of his gang, the Wild East in general, game just really gets you to love these characters so much. And in the Neutral Route, killing Starlo and how it leaves his family worried about his sudden disappearance, how nobody really suspects you, it’s a very good gut punch! Starlo is definitely the highlight of the game, but he’s not the only one, just one that really was plain to see.

The ending and final boss of the Neutral Route is just. Very brilliant. Yes, technically a retread of Omega Flowey from canon, but it’s just so good at it that it can really get away with it, it takes it even a little further than canon in very fun ways. The art is just fucking gorgeous in every way, I’m so impressed by what they pulled off with that. Bravo, bravo.

In general, there are so many little details that really shine in the different playthroughs, like El Bailador’s fight in Merciless reverting to the traditional bullet box gameplay instead of the Guitar Hero style it normally takes, stuff like the long final chase in the Steamworks changing from Axis chasing you to you chasing Axis in Merciless, the music in battles being unique for each area and also if you’re in Pacifist/Neutral vs Merciless, it’s incredibly impressive and really helps set the mood.

Most of all, what I found the best part of the game, and really the most interesting and amazing, was the innovation in the battles! Undertale did a lot of fun things, but I felt like this game really pushed the limits of what I was expecting from the bullet box gameplay style. Stuff like aforementioned fight with El Bailador’s Guitar Hero gameplay and the way his fight changes in Genocide, Starlo’s lasso holding you in place and how you have to snap the rope, not just the unique bosses; even the regular enemies have incredibly clever attacks, like Goosic’s attacking in the same side of the bullet box as the music is coming out of your speakers/headphones, genuinely just very interesting and clever. They clearly thought a lot on how to innovate the gameplay of Undertale, and it really worked. Incredible, really, cannot praise the gameplay enough.

THE NEGATIVES

This is most likely going to be an unpopular opinion, but I did not like Martlet, and she’s such a major character that not liking her is a problem when we spend so much of the game with her. For one, the audio clip used for her dialogue was grating, but that’s really a minor quibble. The more important reason I disliked her is that it felt like the game was constantly yelling in my face “LOOK HOW FUN AND QUIRKY THIS CHARACTER IS (: DON’T YOU FIND HER CUTE AND/OR RELATABLE?”. There were times when she was enjoyable, but the overall experience felt like they were trying to recreate Papyrus without really succeeding at making her an interesting or unique character. The fact that she’s the final boss in the Merciless Route feels very… predictable. Like, there wasn’t really a possibility that she wouldn’t be, y’know? They couldn’t avoid it, what with the decision to parallel canon, they were going to have to have someone be Undyne the Undying/Sans. The thing is, the boss itself isn’t bad, because as mentioned above, the actual mechanics of this game are brilliant, but narratively it felt very expected. Plus, I don’t really remember if they ever adequately explain why she has the serum in the first place, it feels like it raises too many questions.

As I said, like 80/90% of the story is really good!… but the thing is that the entire last bit of the Pacifist ending just completely collapses in on itself, and it’s really such a shame, because the rest of the story is dragged down by it. What’s such a shame is how it felt like it was going somewhere, I was incredibly invested right up until the reveal of the tapes, and the somewhere it was going is just. So disappointing. In some ways it was inevitable, what with Clover’s canon fate being what it is, but it felt like, just like with Martlet, they really stumbled over themselves in their desire to parallel canon’s plot beats. It feels like they wanted to copy the original Pacifist ending, with the Amalgamates and all, and it just wasn’t a good fit for the story whatsoever. Part of it, admittedly, is just that I disagree with their take on Boss Monsters not being specifically Asgore and Toriel’s species, but the thing is, it’s not just that. Chujin in general just feels like a massive tumor on the plot once he stops being a robotics engineer and suddenly for some reason is a generic mad scientist who suddenly has the knowledge and ability to be experimenting on Not!Determination and suddenly is a Boss Monster and suddenly we’re supposed to care about him and it just all becomes a muddled mess, built around living up to twists that it can’t successfully emulate because they were a one time success.

Ceroba is just not compelling as a character! The thing is, actually, I’m lying, she’s compelling and fun and interesting as a character right up until they actually reveal what her deal is, and suddenly it’s just, like. Well, suddenly I don’t like her all that much. Her husband specifically asked her not to involve their daughter, and then her daughter asks nicely and she does? Her daughter is like six or something! Why on Earth did Ceroba listen to her? I saw people say that, well, lots of Undertale characters have done bad things, but the thing is that those bad things are either not taken very seriously by the narrative, like how everyone tries to kill Frisk before they make friends and are forgiven, or make logical sense for them to do, like Asgore’s whole deal. Ceroba and Kanako’s story is in a unique cross section of ‘taken seriously by the narrative’ and ‘makes no logical sense to do’, where it completely destroyed my investment in her as a character, where suddenly she’s a woman who killed her daughter through her own stupidity against her husband’s wishes, while claiming she’s fulfilling them. And in another world, that could be compelling, but the game doesn’t seem to recognize that’s what she did, so I’m just left feeling numb to her entire deal, and given she’s the final boss with multiple cutscenes where I’m supposed to be invested in her plight, that’s not a good thing!

This is just a completely unfair nitpick, but what’s up with Ceroba’s name? The rest of her family and her last name follow Japanese style, if not specifically real names, but her first name is just. Gibberish?

This one is more nitpicky, but it ties into the final problem of the game, where felt like the 5 previous children didn’t get mentioned enough for being the entire motivation Clover has for being here. They’re mentioned in passing several times, but it feels like they could have done more with it. This is mostly a minor problem, though, it felt much more like something that needed just a little tweaking, rather than a huge flaw or anything. But the problem is that at the end, it really doesn’t feel like Clover has a compelling reason to give up their SOUL, and I wish there was something more to justify it when they just spent a huge fight to not give up their SOUL to Ceroba, y’know? It just feels like the game falls apart at the end because they couldn’t figure out how to end it while keeping to canon.

The thing is, the complaints I have don’t detract from how fun the game was or how much I loved most of the story, but I just had to share them because they were weighing heavily on my mind. My complaints are so long because it’s easier to put into words what I disliked, when going into every little thing I liked would take much longer and feel more like a liveblog of the game itself.

[dr-spectre]

What other games (other than sonic and splatoon) do you like?

I shall show you some of my favourite games! Not a lot but some of them!

Ultimate Spider-Man is phenomenal. It's a short yet sweet game where you get to play as a really fluid feeling Spidey and a fucking awesome take on Venom. The first Venom mission is him EATING A CHILD AND FIGHTING WOLVERINE! THAT'S SO RAW!

The art style, THE MUSIC!!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT THE MUSIC! IT'S SO GOOD! I mean sure there's a couple of missions that make me groan, but most of them? Oh my GODDDD!!!!! Top tier game design and boss design too. You cannot top the Spider-Man vs. Venom fight on top of the Trask building, with all that fire and rain my GOD! IT'S SOOOO COOL!!!!!

Ridge Racer Type 4... I'm gonna tell you to do something that will change your life.

Listen to 'Move Me' from the OST. Just listen to that single song and it will all come together on why this game is amazing. I am not gonna elaborate on the phenomenal gameplay, controls, track design, art style, etc, just listen to that song. PLEASE!

This game right here, top tier, a near flawless masterpiece in puzzle design. It's difficult yet fair and i only got stuck at the very end of the game where i feel like it's at it's weakest. Act 1 and act 2 of this game is nothing short of fantastic art direction, storytelling and mechanics. It even has J. K. Simmons bro. J. K. FUCKING SIMMONS! THE GOAT! THE LEGEND! If you don't know who that is i will actually punch you i swear to god....

And the final two songs?... That shit makes me CRY MY EYES OUT! WHY IS IT SO EMOTIONAL?! HOW IS IT SO EMOTIONAL! GAHHH I'M GONNA CRY ME A RIVER BRB!

Yeah... Yeah this? This is awesome. I was so impressed by it's visuals when i first played it, i was thinking to myself "how the hell is the ps4 rendering all this grass?!?" EVEN ON PS5 IT'S SO IMPRESSIVE! HOW CAN THAT CONSOLE RUN THIS GAME AT 60FPS?!?!? IT'S MAGIC I TELL YA!

The story of this game, holy shit the STORY! It's awesome. It's packed with intriguing character arcs, Jin Sakai, what a phenomenal protagonist.

The combat feels so fluid and brutal, the music is so atmospheric, the world is so dense and packed with so much detail. It's an awesome game.

And the final boss... The last 30 minutes... Don't even talk to me about it because I'm gonna start crying again.

I mean do i have to really say anything? Do i even need to add any sort of reason or explanation on why i like this game?

I haven't finished the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series and i got stuck at 3. The games are long and can be filled with a lot of cutscenes. But I'm telling you, this game? This game rocks and it's a god damn rollercoaster of fun, drama, insanity, etc.

I decided to save this one for last. Because this game means a lot to me and it's sequel too. I remember playing the re-release on Switch and i had to have a moment after just sitting around in the Comet Observatory, like i stopped playing and i had to cry for a solid 10 minutes. I'm not sure why i broke down randomly but i can figure out why. This game is the perfect encapsulation of my childhood and the sort of vibe i grew up in.

I had a Wii as a kid and so this game captures that sort of aesthetic and atmosphere that part of my life had. Playing this game, thinking about it, hearing the music, seeing the visuals... It makes me cry. It makes me sob. Space Junk Galaxy, the domes, Freezeflame galaxy, Honeyhive galaxy... Man...

The power of visual storytelling this game has is just... 100/10 for me.

And... Rosalina's storybook.

I'm actually crying so much looking at this. I'm actually breaking down right now as i type this. Just this single image is enough to destroy a man's soul. It is some of the most powerful pieces of art I've ever had the pleasure of viewing.

And i wanna end it off with this. The Garden. The final dome in the game.

This is just... I... Man...

I'm crying again.

Anyways, that's all!

[fly-sky-high-bug-games]

I still plan to my biannual HKtober prompts and like I mentioned last year, I'll make the prompts weekly this year instead of daily!

I don't know much I'll be able to do these personally BUT have the discord copy pasted message where I explain what these prompts could look like. I'll make an official post with more clarification maybe so if something feels unclear, odd or you if you have suggestions to improve prompts like this let me know!

Notice that the prompts can be applied for any art format so it's not just drawing! You can type about them like answering questions or even write a short story or make a video of the experience etc. YOU get to choose what moment within (or broadly around) the prompts you want to work with and how! I want these to be as open as possible (which I understand can be detrimental but it relies on your experience you remember within the game so it's still prompting something?)

Anyways

:

Since they will be weekly prompts, I can choose something broad and the general idea is for prompts to cover the span of the gameplay sort of. I think I need five prompts if it's gonna be one per week? So they could be something like

1. (Avg 30th- Oct 6th) The Beginning: First impression? A moment that made you feel like this will be a fun game? Something you saw or heard that made you start the game? A moment at the start that really drew you in? Dirtmouth.

2. (Oct 7th- Oct 13th) Finding your way: Moment you got lost? An area or a place of an area that you favor? Some place you like you revisit? Backtracking? Maps and Conifer

3. (Oct 14th- Oct 20th) The struggles/hurdles: Hardest moment in the game? What part made you feel super victorious for overcoming it or made you feel clever or cool or lucky? Parts that felt like you'll never get through or haven't enjoyed as much or didn't have fun with at all? Bosses or platforming

4. (Oct 21st- Oct 27th)The favorite bit: Kind of self explanatory lol. Any moment or a character that left a huge impression? Favorite music or art of the game? A concept or thought that stayed on your mind the longest or still thinking about today? Something you didn't expect but surprised you in a good way? Overall impression of the game?

5. (Oct 28th- Nov 3rd) Free space/Something small you put love into: Any dialogue or items or designs that you adore? A theory that is either canon or not that you enjoy a lot? Something you like the fans added to the experience (characters, ideas, worldbuilding, mods etc.)? A special thank you to someone for getting you into hollow knight or is keep having fun with you even years later? Mr Mushroom theories lol

NOTE: these might be edited by the time I post an official prompt post!

[davekat-sucks]

i was doing some research cause i wanted to get into indie dev cause i want to make one of my ideas into a visual novel, came across a video called Why 96% of Indie Games Fail on youtube and so much of it was about market optics. understanding your target demographic is really important when it comes to marketing and it got me thinking about homestucks current devs and how they dont get what made homestuck fun to begin with

The Homestuck devs probably only know the basic surface levels such as cool character designs and music, but don't know the deeper stuff such as the adventure dos game style the original comic was inspired from. Or the premise was more simple back then before it got big. After all, the beginning of Homestuck was just about 4 kids playing a game. Another is that some take the easy route, which is using visual novel gameplay as a means to pump it out faster. Not realizing there is a market to visual novels and there are different ways it is appealing to others, despite it's simple nature. There are ones that have mixture of other gameplays such as seen with Ace Attorney or Danganronpa. Another is story tied to it that invokes readers emotions such as crying whenever someone reads CLANNAD. Even something like sound novels, visual novels that only have music or sound effects in the background with no voice acting, can leave a lasting impression with a good story, as that's what made Higurashi successful despite having few resources. As well as the time and placement the series was released in. Homestuck was made with old flash in years 2009-16. They should have a better understanding of people who played flash games on sites like Newgrounds. How can you bring something old to new people who have never seen it? Henry Stickmin Collection was able to do well because they were able to weave the separate flashes into one. And the different choices of each one gives a lot of replay-ability as well for people who want to see every possibility. The most important thing that Homestuck devs struggle with the most as well is something that has been going on ever since Hussie had even released the Kickstarter game. And that is PR. Public Relations. I get that the series is based on fandom interactivity. But the problem lies when stuff like Andrew Hussie starts to antagonized the audiences. It may work for some, but not all, especially if you want to draw in new readers or players. This extends out to members of WhatPumpkin and HICU too. Certain members do not have self control on what they want to say or do on social media. Thus, they may end up looking bad or unfavorable to the crowd. Nobody is told to not post or share certain shit. Freedom is speech is one thing, but it's another when you are working on a project that needs to make money that whatever your post is tied what you are working on that people know. Even stuff like a political posts that is unrelated to the project, will make audiences assume of what the person is like and how it could affect the game. PR in a way, does go hand in hand with Marketing. Not only you have to research the right audiences, but you also have to have a good image too when showing off your project.

[thegongoozlerreacts]

Dead Plate (Part 1)

hello!! its been a while since ive posted but here i am!!! so this game is Dead Plate created by STUDIO INVESTIGRAVE

i had played one of their games before, Elevator Hitch, and i really really enjoyed it! so im very excited for this new game that theyve released

though, this game is probably really different from Elevator Hitch, because that game was a visual novel type of game while this one has restaurant tycoon gameplay

still, im very excited

i hope i can get all the endings today (but probably not) as always, spoilers under the cut!

i know its literally just the title screen BUT it looks very classy

also the music? its a bop like yo BellKalengar is the composer and sound designer and like yo!! amazing job its literally just the title screen and im amazed already LMFAO

alright then lets begin

lolol i like the way they named the buttons for doing the tutorial, skipping the tutorial or just leaving the game on auto progress time to show up at 5 am then

the art is really cute these characters are really cute too esp the protag

i know its just the tutorial but i am very nervous LOL doing service jobs make me nervous (even tho this is only a fictional one)

bro protag why did u skim the interview thing 😭 is that why u've had 28 jobs in 7 years 💀

ooh interesting the cooks have an order in which they cook meals i need to remember that

wow so theres a lot to do huh theres seating the customers, taking their orders, bringing those orders to the kitchen, serving the food, going to the cash register to take their payments, cleaning up the tables AND throwing out the trash its a lot more than i was expecting,,,, lol good luck to me i guess

so like fun fact im actually not that good at playing games LOL esp this kind of game where theres like people and they have like a happy meter kind of thing going on i wonder if any of the endings will be tied to how well we do during the work day ?? probably

also can i just say that the music is really good i like the kinda jazzy (is that the right word??) vibes going on

it makes me less nervous about serving customers since its very chill LOL

WHY IS THIS CUSTOMER HITTING ME WITH A HARD QUESTION

I HAVE NO IDEA IF WE HAVE TO-GO BOXES OR WHATEVR WHAT HUH ?????

there is a right answer and i have no idea what it is im gonna lose my mind please. ok well lets pick an answer

im gonna go 'no' since the restaurant has a strict menu that changes daily right? so maybe they wouldnt do to-go boxes or ordering ahead and stuff (RIGHT???)

oh phew ok i picked the right one

LOL the banter between the protag and the tutorial guy (i dont know his name)

??? what the hell this customer just left right as i got the food bro 😭😭 have some patience damn this aint a fast food place

now i have to throw away this perfectly good meal (sorry cooks)

oh no now the real game is starting uhh aight alright then lets go

ok so that was like only three customers, i did pretty well but the day's not over yet shdajhsdsakhj i feel like a disaster n it was only three customers LMAO

oh it was only 3 customers for day 1 nice (i got jumpscared by the sound effect for the day ending LFMAO)

ooh green onion rolls,,, it looks good damn now i want to eat LOL

BITCH YOU LIVE LIKE THIS?????? damn,,,,

the music for this area is pretty chill tho

THE BATHROOM IS FLOODING??? AGAIN ?!??! BRO ??? THATS DISGUSTING

the window has a horrible view its just another building

oho? she? who???

bro dont leave the dishes for later thats sooo gross

??? HOW DID YOU BURN CEREAL???? WHAT DID YOU EVEN DO ??

i am appalled at the protag's lifestyle i cant even

so he has not finished writing lyrics and love letters for this girl he mentioned earlier the game is not revealing her name and im wondering why hmm its very sus

sorry im laughing so hard??? its mostly empty except for some cans and the fucking green onion rolls im cackling?? they look so out of place in this fridge LMFAO

bro how are you so bad at cooking that you burnt food in the microwave??? what are you doing???

wait. is his bed the couch???? bro i feel so bad for this guy

he biked through the rain,,,,, and he thought doing it fast would dry him,,, in the rain,,,,, im starting to understand why he somehow managed to burn cereal

he doesnt own an umbrella

aww this is cute thanks boss

he LIVES here??? wow damn his apartment is upstairs thats very cool

LOL protag keep ur mouth shut

day 2 here we go

SHIT HELP I TOOK TOO LONG ONE OF THE CUSTOMERS LEFT NOOO im restarting jkdsljlds its a good thing i saved

ahh i did way better this time but the day ended right as i was about to take out the trash LOL

oooh those look tasty too

oops ok so like i started day 3 right

well i was like 'i'll take out the trash before serving any customers' so that i can just easily clean up the tables right

uhh but then suddenly this happened ??? so like protag dropped the bag and cut their finger and the boss is having an odd reaction to the sight of blood methinks

HTHE BOSS JUST SLAPPED HIM ??? WTF

bro he just slapped him then was like 'oh dw someone else will clean it up' hello???? you just slapped ???? me ???

ok then moving on to the rest of the day i guess??

kinda weird looking but it still looks appetizing (the magic of art LOL)

oh shit theres a magazine ?? oops im gonna go back and read through previous ones oh nevermind its just the same one lmao

ohhh so this is where i buy items ok aight

and this catalogue is how our protag knew about the job for a waiter it also has an interview with our boss (Chef Vincent Charbonneau, i finally know his name) about the low number of employees i was wondering why we were the only waiter in the restaurant and i guess thats why

ok i bought the rollerskates cuz i need to be faster for the customers

oh and u can interact w the telephone to call 'her' but she doesnt pick up oof

sorry what is happening right now

what is that weird squelching sound?!?!?

BRO?? WTF WAS THAT ??? so like his body felt itchy, pressed Z to scratch and then suddenly lines were all over his body and then knives came out and i am so very confused

i think that was just a dream but what a weird nightmare

i guess onto day 4 then ?? at least i have my sick new rollerskates now

ooh that looks tasty

man i think im too slow cuz the timer always runs out while one more customer is still around lmfao, oh well

oh shit another nightmare

ohh so i can only equip one item at a time hmmm well since i bought the watch anyways i guess i'll use it

PFFT A CUSTOMER LEFT SORRY LADY,, she was waiting to be seated but i was preoccupied with serving food oopsies

restarting the day then

the nightmare hmm is the protag's name Rody since thats what it says on the label

DAMNIT I TOOK TOO LONG AGAIN

ok im just gonna use the rollerskates this time

AGGHH I KEEP TAKING TOO LONG ON THIS ONE CUSTOMER

restarting again,,,,

should i just let it go? probably but im not going to

IM GONNA LOSE MY MIND IVE RESTARTED SO MANY TIMES

ok well youve not seen it but i have restarted day 5 soo many times and i am hungry so,,, here's where i'll leave it for today

even though i am struggling and getting frustrated, im really enjoying the game so far! i wish i wasnt so terrible at playing it so i could see more of the story LOL

like what is up with the boss? who is this girl that the protag likes so much? what is up with his weird nightmares??? and will i ever be able to finish day 5 ?????

tune in next time LOL byebyeee

[arseniccatnip-thoughts]

sonic adventure got me in its grasp!!!

okay, so originally i was going to write a review for the quest 3, because i just got one and its cool but honestly? writing a review for hardware is BORING!!!! so instead im going to "review" (gush about) sonic/sonic adventure 2 for the next little bit

i fucking LOVE this game. dont get me wrong i like the 2d games (especially s3&k and cd), but there is something genuinely special about sa2 - it is literally oozing with style from the movement to the animations to the music it is literally all peak

dont even get me started on this games soundtrack, it is literally all good. especially the themes of radical highway, city escape, all of knuckles stages, and of course the main theme of the game, live and learn.

the music in this game fits so perfectly with literally everything that happens!!!

by far though, the best part of this game (other than the actual stages) is shadow. he is literally one of the best sonic characters and his FUCKING DESIGN. IS SO COOL. JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!!

he is just so cool.... i love his design and how it parallels both sonic and knuckles, considering he is narratively what knuckles was supposed to be, and is literally an evil fucked up version of sonic. everything about him is just great. speaking of shadow, he and sonic have some really amazing stages in this game, and i love how their stages parallel each others. (sonadow forever btw)

another character made for this game is rouge, i have less to say about her, but i like her alot and think her dynamic with knuckles is alot of fun!! they are very pitch coded and that is really cute.

i also like all the hidden big the cats in the stages, they are fun to find and go "haha look! its my favorite fisherman cat!" anyways... i started writing this at the start of the month and didnt finish it until now, so let me talk about the end of the game! this game ends with three amazing stages, one that is kind of a victory lap of every gameplay style, playing as every major character (other than shadow) fighting through the ARK as it is about to explode? fall down to earth? maybe both. after that stage, sonic and knuckles work with the master emerald to neutralize the power of the chaos emeralds, which are powering the ARK, and made the biolizard show up. shadow is fighting the biolizard while sonic and knuckles work together, eventually beating it, and sonic and knuckles succeeding! before they can kill the biolizard though, it uses chaos control (did i mention it is a prototype of the ultimate lifeform? thats what shadow is!) to fuse itself with the ARK, forcing it down to earth.

sonic and shadow then use the power of the chaos emeralds to go super, then fighting the biolizard in space, eventually beating it, and using chaos control to put the ARK back into space! this overuses shadows power though, with him falling down to earth, presumably dead.

i want to mention here that the biolizards theme is great, go listen to it!

anyways, after sonic shows back up at the ARK, he and the rest of the game reflect on shadow, and the events of the game. the game ends with sonic saying goodbye to shadow, as the credits start to roll. i fucking love this game man

anyways, i could go on FOREVER about this game, but im going to cut myself off here. i hope everyone who reads this has a good day, and i love you all! goodbye for now