#this gameplay trailer slapped

[cowplantrelish]

Oh, it's official official.

[sonic-adventure-3]

i really like the new radical highway remix. it’s some real zardonic type stuff, metal & bass

[best-fnaf-song-competition]

I’m so sorry I may sound like a loser cuz I know a lot of people don’t like the game, but are there any votes for “This Comes From Inside”?

You are not alone anon!!! It has 5 nominations, making it one of the most nominated songs so far!

[wickedghxst]

just remembered alice asylum got cancelled by ea. man… i can have Anything i like, huh? bloodlines 2 gets turned into a bastardization. bge2 is most likely cancelled or having the same fate as bloodlines. bloodborne & gravity rush will never come to pc. sr2 pc patch is dead. see? god hates me. -_-

[felassan]

Notes and thoughts on the companion Abilities we learned today -

just for reference a quick note again of what they are:

Harding - Seismic Shot; Heavy Draw; Shred; Adrenaline Rush; Soothing Potion Davrin - Battle Cry; Death from Above; Heroic Strike; Assan Strike; In War, Victory Bellara - Fade Bolts; Enfeebling Shot; Replenish; Time Slow; Galvanized Tear Taash - Fire Breath; Dragon's Roar; Dragonfire Strike; Spitfire; Fortune's Favor Lucanis - Eviscerate; Abominate; Soothing Potion; Debilitate; Adrenaline Rush Emmrich - Final Rites; Replenish; Entangling Spirits; The Bell Tolls; Time Slow Neve - Icebreaker; Blizzard; Glacial Pace; Time Slow; Replenish

Some Abilities are shared between companions. For example, both Lucanis and Harding have Adrenaline Rush and Soothing Potion, and Emmrich and Neve and Bellara all have Time Slow and Replenish. I think this is to do with the "core kits" that were mentioned before. like "Time Slow" for example as a part of the core kit for mage characters.

some of these Abilities we've seen demonstrated in gameplay videos so far or had shown/described in screenshots/articles before, like Death From Above. :>

Seismic Shot: since "seismic" can relate to earthquakes and other vibrations in the earth and its crust, this is a really cool name for one of Harding's moves (dwarf, Deep Roads, the Stone, Titans, her new earthbending skills etc) and I'm curious about both its gameplay effects and if it's tied to her new magical powers

Shred: arrowfire that shreds armor presumably

Soothing Potion and Replenish: both sound like heals

Heavy Draw: a heavy attack of Harding's? (Rook at least has access to both light attacks and heavy attacks)

Battle Cry: similar in name to previous abilities like War Cry and Battle Roar. Applies Taunted to enemies in the area

On Death From Above and Assan Strike. Death From Above deals high Stagger and can be used to deal damage from afar, presumably Assan Strike can also be used to deal damage from distance

In War, Victory: the Grey Warden motto will never not slap and evoke a great sense of heavy emotion.. 🥺 it was this part of the Grey Warden motto that was featured as a dialogue line in the release date reveal trailer. A+ name for a Grey Warden's move, no notes

Galvanized Tear: this ability is like a gravity well, it pulls enemies together. you can use it to draw enemies into one place

Adrenaline Rush: a buff that grants enhanced damage/enhances Rook's damage stats

Heroic Strike: applies the overwhelmed debuff. This causes the target to take additional Stagger ("deals high Stagger")

Eviscerate: At half health of less, this deals bonus damage, increasing in effectiveness the closer the target is to death. can be used to detonate a combo and strike a whole group of enemies

Abominate: Deals high Barrier damage and applies Knocked down to enemies in the area. can be used to knock enemies down. also, implications

Final Rites: it's giving finishing move vibes. I love the allusion to cultural practises like Last rights. very appropriate for a thoughtful, caring necromancer whose character is about exploring death and necromancy in a thoughtful nuanced way

The Bell Tolls: For Whom The Bell Tolls (two) reference? :) it's giving a 'your time alive is ending' or a 'your time as a spirit inhabiting this dead body is ending', clock strikes midnight, Cinderella-kinda vibe. bells toll in some places of worship when someone has died (funeral bells), or during other important life rites. also very appropriate for a necromancer

^ No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.

Fortune's Favor: Lords of Fortune allusion, 'fortune favors the bold' :)

Taash has three abilities involving her fire-breathing and two with "dragon" in the name. 👀 they are really emphasizing the dragon connection/dragon symbolism and she is really living up to the "Ataashi" ('dragon, glorious one, great thing') in her name. in Trespasser Dragon's Breath was a Qunari conspiracy to kill most of the leadership of southern Thedas, involving explosives. I'm really curious about the specific mechanism or origin of her fire-breathing; like is she doing it the way fire-breathing performers do it irl (sounds kind of DA Artificer-y), or has she literally gained or developed some kind of literal innate fire-breathing draconic ability?

throwback to this post:

Maybe it was Taash who wrote this Codex, and the title is alliterative, “Taash Talks”? The writer comes across like a dragon enthusiast and it references being near the shore/sea. Iron Bull once said “So, when you face a dragon, does it get your heart pumping? Do you breathe a little faster, feel the blood racing?” (in the DA:TV trailer, Varric says that they will need someone “with fire in their blood” to face dragons).

Varric was being literal in that line huh. :D

the Qunari are known to hold dragons sacred. they have a physical similarity and some believe that the Tamassrans cultivate dragon blood within the Qunari, allowing some to tap into combat abilities similar to Reavers. is that practise the source of Taash's fire-breathing power? Kieran comments that Adaar's blood doesn't belong to their people. Cory also has weird comments about qunari blood. or maybe she just drank dragonblood? Reavers unlock powerful abilities by drinking it and a dragon-hunter would have access to dragonblood in abundance. Cassandra has dialogue where she tells the Inquisitor that her family used to be known for their Reavers. she says that too much dragonblood caused them to grow deformed, they grew scales and became more draconic than human. if there are legends of Reavers growing scales and draconic appearances after overindulging, why couldn't someone also breathe fire dragon-style? :D "igniting everything with draconic fury" makes me think of Reavery stuff too. Taash is out here living my Inquisitor's (who was a Reaver) dreams.

[yakool-foolio]

New gameplay trailer for Tribe Nine looks sick! Excited to see more of these characters, as it seems a lotta them aren't seen in the anime (but I haven't seen it so uh I'm not a reliable source on that). Kazuma seems like a super fun antag and I'm already predicting that Yutaka, Miu, n Kazuki may end up being my 'trio of favs' for this game. All of the designs slap hard.

Can't believe Tsumugi Shirogane and Martina Electro fused. Welcome to the world Minami Oi.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 8/6/2024

people mad at a video game for being woke, i'm mad at it for not being woke enough. so it goes.

also i wrote a yeehawgust fic

listening

another addition to the "SOMEBODY COME FUCK THIS (GAY)" playlist, thank u charli xcx and billie eilish

-

reading

im still really annoyed with Retraction Watch for platforming a terf last year and then not doing any sort of sockpuppet damage control in the comments. since they got acquired by crossref they've done way less guest editorials. not to be all "stick to sports!" but stick to sports, retraction watch.

they did introduce me to this substack series i will be following with great interest about the rise and fall of hindawi. wiley acquired a paper mill a few years back, bc they seemingly did zero diligence, and then blithely ignored the problem for two years before being forced to do the single largest retraction of papers in scientific publishing history, somewhere above ten thousand articles because it is STILL ONGOING.

i do love following various retractions bc i like seeing what finally made someone go "wait a minute", and, as i have just written in a cover letter, "I studied astronomy and have held several data jobs because I’m fascinated with how and why systems work and fail..."

-

watching

my best friend has decided while i'm at her home in the evenings eating her food and bothering her children (for my mental health, it is very important i am fed tiny bits of mushed up banana by hand by her one-year-old), our new project is watching all the xmen movies. i have no particular desire to do this or special affinity for the xmen, and i would like to keep eating very good texmex and bothering her children (for my mental health, it is very important i play hot wheels with the five-year-old). this sounds so super bitchy of me but it's hard to convey that these are essentially on for background noise.

saw the first two. the two things i know about them are that hugh jackman is in them and they're at the statue of liberty in one

-

playing

an ideologically baffling little environmental game free in the epic store this week, LumberJack. this is on PC and Switch for $13, which is far more money than the playtime anyone can get out of this game. tiny tiny tiny little Spain-headquartered studio without an active website, it looks like one guy hired out to make this and two more games and then went back to single-dev projects. i can respect that!

steam reviewers are mad at this game for being woke, and i'm mad at it for being woke in a very strange way. your one mechanic, as a bear, is swinging a big axe to remove cars and trailer offices and portapotties and various garbage from the landscape.

i wish the movement and look controls are inverted, and i wish they weren't, or at least had an option to make them normal. i know Why this isn't a mobile game (can't monetize something with twoish hours of gameplay and twenty levels) but it's a very straightforward and simple game that would translate very well to mobile. much like donut county.

now for being picky about the political mindset of the developers: as much fun as it is to be a bear swinging an axe around, lumberjacks are not the people i associate with wild preservation movements.

saving the land and turning it back into pristine and perfect land for wild animals in this game looks like erasing every hint of human activity from a site and turning it into sheer recreational use. many levels are heavily polluted, but some can definitely be read as recycling centers. im confused by the erasing every hint of humans in early levels, and then this level where you break down a radio station, slap the host with your axe, and she turns into a park ranger who starts gardening and taking care of chickens?

i don't think that removing all the traces of people from the landscape will magically fix everything, nor do i think simply being in unspoiled wilderness will magically fix me.

there's a golfing level where you whack bombs into various small buildings. i think golfing to save the environment is a strange choice to make for designing a game.

i also briefly thought this bird in every level was an extinct ivory-billed woodpecker, which was a little alarming bc there are some real nutjobs out there with very strong beliefs about this bird and government overreach and how much the government is lying to you about the extinctness of various animals.

i stopped playing about halfway through bc i was not having fun and found the underlying environmental message a little confused. they've managed to sell at least 10k units which is...not very good. i am not surprised this is free on epic, and i wonder what their payout for that was. would not be surprised if they negotiated a payment to their nonprofit partner ecologi as part of that.

-

making

yeehawgust fill! i have another bitchy blond babygirl!

what the fuck is the prisoner? cult 60s british spy tv. with all the surreality and anxieties about the cold war and midcentury psychological horror you could possibly want

He’d been drugged enough times to recognize the splitting migraine rapidly galloping down his neurons. “Where am I?” He fought down the taste of bile (ketamine? xylazine, by the aftertaste) and the rising panic. Oddly enough, the migraine was always worse with veterinary sedatives. One would think a mind would adapt to nearly three hundred years of irregular drugging and constant experiments. One’s body had adapted and ghoulified, but in equally unhelpful ways. The tycoon flickered, approximating an appraising blink. “This meeting has been a long time coming, hasn't it? You've come a long ways, literally and, I suspect, figuratively as well. You’re in the Free Economic Zone of New Vegas.” They’d pretended the prisons were so many different places: across the Continent, in various parts of London, up and down and all around the East Coast of these wretched States. Rarely this far west, aside from the awful escapade in the faux pre-War Western town. “What do you want?” He managed to swing his ankles off the saddle (also pre-War? Heavily used. It certainly wasn’t his, the equestrian event had always been his worst event in the pentathalon) and jolted what felt like every half-dead nerve in his half-dead body.

[dalishious]

Do you have any concerns with the trailer you just saw? I really hate that I sort of feel bummed out by the gameplay trailer. There are some beautiful and exciting things about it. Don’t get me wrong. I just sadly relate to some of the people I see hating on the game on YouTube. People, I normally don’t agree with because they are living in a world where the game never evolved from Origins and what they really want is the Witcher, not Dragon age.

I do know animations can be fixed, but it’s odd they would show it so rough. Like…Darvin and Rook are super cross-eyed? The npcs we saw, they were well voice acted and I loved their looks, but their voice actors speak faster than the generic, non-refined movements of their mouths. I was personally so excited to play a Qunari warden, but…and this one may just be either Corrine’s aesthetic choice to smooth everything for her character, but gameplay trailer Rook had no texture. Rook looked super human with horns just slapped on. It’s a very odd thing. Combinding that with the mass effect gameplay…idk. I play this game for the story and the characters. I really love the world and I’m excited for where the narrative goes. It just felt so incredibly bland to me in some ways. Like all the flavour was stripped. I guess, I’m hoping you or some of your followers see what I see but have hope and can provide some encouragement. lol. I have been on such a hype train for this game, but I honestly felt so low after finishing that one.

I didn't notice the cross-eyed thing or the mouth thing you're describing

I do not think it's fair at all to draw assumptions on the entire CC based on what one Rook made in it looks like.

I do remain a hater of every bit of gameplay we've seen though, and I am dreading trying to learn it myself. Looks disgusting.

[ladygwyndolin]

Sorry if you already answered this, but what were some things you wanted/expected out of SOTE that we didn’t get, either narrative/lore or new gear/spells/mechanics etc?

HOOBOY do I! SOTE was a masterpiece but it definitely missed on a lot of things I hoped it would hit. Most of it is lore related, but there are some major gameplay-side elements I wish had been included as well. I'll divide it into categories to make it easier.

NARRATIVE:

I've already talked about this a lot, but where the FUCK was the Godwyn/eclipse lore? An entire plot thread from the base game that needed elaboration and seemed primed for exploration in the dlc got tossed out the window for the sake of Radahn fanboy pandering. So infuriating.

Interaction with Miquella. The trailer showed us what appeared to be one on one interaction with Miquella, something that just wasn't there in the final release. The dude is barely a presence in the dlc; hell, he doesn't even get a line when he dies. For a DLC that was supposed to be about him, he was the weakest part of the story by far.

More lore about the giant skeletons in Nokstella

Literally anything about Malenia. At least fucking mention her name.

Torrent lore

More info about the outer god of rot/formless mother/three fingers

ACTUAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE DLC AND THE BASE GAME. The total lack of these when said interactions were a thing all the way back in DARK SOULS 1 was nuts. So many areas where they could have done that both inside and outside the dlc to the point where not having it actually creates major plot holes.

GAMEPLAY:

Hey fromsoft, where did you put the int/faith scaling affinity? Hey fromsoft, could you not find the time to grab chaos/dark infusion and slap a new name on it? Hey. Hey. Can int/faith builds have something please.

SUPPORT SORCERIES! INT users really got left out to starve in the dlc which extra sucks since they get way less stuff in the base game as well. The DLC legit has TWICE as many incantations as it does sorceries, which is like...come on. I'm not even a sorcery person and it bugged me. I was hoping for some more utility type sorceries, since incantations have had a monopoly on those.

More sleep enemies! More stuff to do with sleep in general!

More boss lines/cutscenes. Rellana and Romina not having any whatsoever is such a massive letdown.

They still haven't added the option to let you sell items at the twin maiden husks. Still.

No mechanic to kiss Ranni

[linuxgamenews]

Get Ready for Intense Battles in HeistGeist Cyberpunk RPG

HeistGeist cyberpunk RPG game launches the story-driven experience on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Developer Doublequote Studio’s creative talents bring this release to life. Now on Steam with a discount and 94% Positive reviews. Get ready to dive into the gritty cyberpunk world of HeistGeist! The latest single-player RPG from indie studio Doublequote Studio is finally here. Now live on Steam for Linux. This game has all the ingredients to keep you hooked — high-stakes heists, intense battles, deep storytelling, and that cyberpunk aesthetic. In HeistGeist, you step into the shoes of Alexandra, a skilled thief on the run after a job goes south. Set in a fictional Central Europe in the 2040s, the gameplay drops you into a world where corporations rule, tech is everywhere, and every choice you make could change the course of the story. Your mission? Build a crew of specialists to help you pull off some truly epic heists while staying one step ahead of the powerful corporations who’d like nothing more than to see you fail. What’s unique about HeistGeist is its cyberpunk and unique approach to combat and strategy. Battles are card-based, meaning you’ll use a deck of cards to outwit security systems, guards, and other obstacles in your path. You’re not just slapping down random cards, either — HeistGeist lets you create killer combos, level up your deck, and even adapt your cyberpunk strategies depending on your playstyle. Whether you’re into all-out offense or a more tactical approach, this title lets you play your way, with controller support..

HeistGeist cyberpunk RPG - Launch Trailer

The hacking system takes things up a notch. Rather than just pressing a button to hack into these cyberpunk systems, HeistGeist makes hacking a title of its own. Imagine cyberspace as a grid, and each move you make involves placing programs and viruses to break through the servers’ defenses. It’s strategic and totally immersive, keeping the hacking experience fresh and engaging every step of the way. Of course, no cyberpunk game would be complete without a solid storyline, and HeistGeist delivers. The title is fully voiced, so you’ll get to know the personalities of each character as you progress. The story is full of twists, so you’ll always be guessing who to trust and what might happen next. Doublequote Studio has created a rich world that feels both futuristic and grounded in the gritty reality of a tech-obsessed society.

Here’s a quick look at what makes it all special:

Heists: Every mission is more than just a job—it’s a test of strategy and skill. Plan carefully because every choice could change the story.

Story: HeistGeist follows a gripping, original cyberpunk tale set in a very cool, reimagined Central Europe. The full voice cast brings every character to life.

Combat: Engage in card-based battles that demand quick thinking and powerful combos. It’s all about timing and strategy!

RPG Elements: Build your character by constructing a deck that fits your style. Install cyberware to boost your abilities and give you the edge.

Hacking: Jump into cyberspace and take on grid-based hacking challenges. Install programs and run viruses to crack systems and get to the good stuff.

If you’re into story-driven games that mix cyberpunk RPG elements, card battles, and a fresh hacking mechanic, then HeistGeist is your next go-to. Launch into it on Steam, build your perfect deck, and see if you’ve got what it takes to survive the future. Which you can play now on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC.

[yarpharp]

Okay so I was beginning to tell myself that DA4 is not gonna be as bad of a trainwreck as the reveal trailer was. I really was. But then I finally just watched the DA4 gameplay trailer and like....

Alright Varric I respect your desperate need to convince Solas not to be a dumbass. I really do. I would do the same with more cussing. But also DO YOU WANT TO DIE IN THE INTRO SEQUENCE? And why is your hair black but grey???? Dude you are strawberry blonde what is this shite. Gimme going-grey-with-a-hint-of-red. And where is your chest hair, old man???

The character models are so... Valorant blender smooth. I keep seeing Battle Royale designer vibes and it's very strange. I know that is industry standard by this point but still... where's that Bioware stylization?? Secondly: the iconic DA design style is SOOOO muted in this. Where are my angular and pointy Tevinters? I got some of it, but like viciously sideways. Why are the demons so fuckin weird? They don't even look like the demons from the LAST THREE GAMES. They look like Bioware was running on a tight schedule given to them by EA at gunpoint and decided to cut the models down to save on time. Which... Yikes. Yikes my guy.

The dialogue wheel is janky. I know this is still supposedly pre-launch but... Did they really just slap the old UI with a different visual style? Bro you had TEN YEARS. And also, who the hell wrote your dialogue? And when was Varric ever that close to Solas? They respected each other, sure. But best bros? Solas is notoriously introverted. People made jokes about it. This is some fake news.

Thirdly, I'm a little puzzled by the hyper drama of the Arlathan forest ritual shite. I am aware the stuff behind the scenes in the comics have been talking about shit happening in the forest, but... Okay, correct me if I'm wrong: Solas raised the Veil at Skyhold. His theoretical resources to raise said Veil were his orb and the central locality of said castle. Cool shit. What the fuck are these statues? Are they supposed to represent the gods? If so, what the fuck are you doing USING THOSE, SOLAS? AND ARE THOSE FIGURES EMERGING FROM THE HOLE IN THE VEIL SUPPOSED TO BE THE CORRUPTED EVANURI?? WHY ARE THEY DESIGNED LIKE A FUCKIN HYLICS 2 CHARACTER? (no disrespect, I love Hylics 2) I just... I recognize that Solas is desperate to fix his wrongs and theoretically save everyone from the Evanuri (because if the theory the elven gods are inflicted with the blight is still true, then yeah ya gotta kill the source of the blight) so he's seeking out dangerous shortcuts, but... Idk man. Idk. I am just sooooo skeptical of this. This has so much more obvious "EA has its paws on a franchise and proceeds to ruin it" energy. I am sooooo skeptical.

My positive opinion? Solas looks great. Did he fuckin growl like a wolf when he smashed Bianca with his glowy eyes? Yes, yes he did. Are the landscapes awesome? Yes. Is the companion programming still janky even in the new game? Yes. Is that floating building a magical panopticon?! Possibly, and that's fascinating. Are the voice actors the same? Can't quite tell, because I can hear voice mixing happening to their voices so either they aren't the same VAs but they're tuning them to sound close or they are not putting full effort into the VA shit until release. Am I an EA hater?

Yeah, but that's because I have been burned too many times to believe EA won't ruin a glorious RPG franchise. I'll try to stay optimistic, but I am struggling.

[littlethingwithfeathers]

I'm grumpy about Silent Hill again...

TW for discussions of suicide, self harm, abuse (both parent to child and amongst peers) and general spookiness. Y'know... the usual Silent Hill rigmarole of trauma and despair. Also be warned that I'm going to spoil a lot of the Silent Hill series, in particular Silent Hill 2 and the Short Message game that just came out. ***

So... one of my most popular posts out there is this one. It's about Pyramid head and the loss of subtlety in media. And I couldn't help but feel like we hadn't moved an inch from when I posted that back in... *checks date on post* hrrk. my bones... 2017. I'm going to die soon. Anyway. Today I watched Second Wind do a run of the short, free-to-play Silent Hill: Short Message. I admittedly had a good bit of trepidation going in just because of the marketing. Which, for all of you marketing majors out there, that is called "Not a good sign." Marketing should make you want to play a game... especially if you're a fan of the series already. But this... it was a bit of a wet blanket, largely due to the fact that it spoiled a lot of the focus of the game. It basically said "this is a game about how bullying and being chronically online is real bad. We're gonna be spooky about it now." And... straining to push aside how incredibly reductive that is... why give it away? Why say it out loud? Why did you tell us what you are doing? Can you imagine Silent Hill 2 if we'd known it was about James killing his wife from the jump? We didn't. We hadn't the first clue. We knew nothing other than that he was looking for her and she was maybe dead? But we didn't know how... possibly lung cancer or TB given that she had the most pointed coughing sequence since the movie Tombstone. And hey... the last game had someone looking for a loved one too. Maybe that's the deal with Silent Hill. Who knows? No one did at that point. It was still a big old mystery for the most part. And then the E3 trailer... like there's the weird pretty lady in jail? But what's she talking about? Who the fuck is Mary? Is that... his wife? Well then who the hell is Ms. Miniskirt? No wait... is that his wife in the VHS tape? What the hell is going on? Oh look gameplay! And... a little girl? And a weird guy with a gun... This soundtrack slaps. I'm gonna go see if it's up on Napster yet. (this was 2001... again... my bones etc) I remember combing over low-res copies of that video for HOURS when it came out. Why are the nurses different? It's not snowing? Who are all these people... And why do they all sound like they put ketamine in their coffee. It was like a great big puzzle to work out and we had a ball theorizing and researching so when it came out we were HYPE. And that was largely because in short... we knew SOME things at release. Fog. Nurses. Big stick. Weird people. Banger soundtrack. Dead (but probably not) wife. And we presumed or supposed more... cult activity? New beasties? Radio maybe? But we effectively knew nothing about the plot. And the best part was, while they had a solid hook (Find dead lady who we love so huggy buggy much) and instant intrigue (Angela in the cemetery being weirder than a film by David Lynch), and a very familiar setting (we may have improved draw distance on the PS2, but we don't have to use it!), we still didn't really know what was going on. The plot was essentially unfolding out of a black box. Silent Hill 2 was quite content to be a slower burn than trying to boil the Lake Superior with a signal flare. You don't even see the main "villain" Pyramid Head until a few hours in and, as I pointed out in that other post, there's no flashy cut scene to introduce him and go WOOOOOO SCARYYYYY. He's just chillin' behind some prison bars (which that totes is normal in an apartment complex) and staring at you like I stare at the inside of my fridge when I really would like some cheese to materialize.

And then... like we're not even really sure what the hell is going on for the longest time. We meet our wife's hot twin with the key to a strip club and she keeps getting killed over and over... and things keep getting increasingly rapey and lewd in a way that's just uncomfortable more than anything... But even at the end. Even with the big reveal of "You killed your wife." they still don't ever explicitly state "And you killed her because you couldn't have sex with her anymore." It wasn't until you finished the game, and talked to someone else about it, or let your brain cook on it for a bit that you went... heyyyy... he's a horndog! (In fact... if I'm going to chide SH2 for anything it's that right at the very VERY end they tried to frame James's actions as understandable because the woman who was dying and frightened and in pain was mean to him. Yes, being a caretaker is hard. But Christ... pick a topic for discussion.) But contrast all that with Short Message. The marketing and such all said out loud "THIS IS ABOUT BULLYING" so even going in... I was already like "yep. The bully is probably us, but we had reasons because we have to be complicated and you aren't allowed to make the player feel bad" And lo was I correct. There was no... intrigue. I was never curious about the character or the people around her because I knew this story. They already told me what story they were telling so I could practically sing along, especially as a millennial that had to grow up watching little videos and skits in school about the evils of bullying. And when you are going to tell a trope-ish story, and you tell the audience what the trope is, it becomes "say the line" writ large. This isn't me advocating for super twisty unexpected plot arcs (looking at you, Supernatural). Far from it. You absolutely should tell a story in such a way that the audience understands how you got from point A to point Z, even if there are some surprises along the way (See Sixth Sense for that masterclass). Rather, what I'm missing from this (and frankly a lot of the Silent Hill games and honestly... media in general these days) is a sense of restraint. A sense of trust in their audience to "get it." They can't just plonk us in the fog with a radio and a stick and say "You're here to find your best friend/dog/cousin/wife/business partner. Good luck. Here's a weirdo to prattle cryptically at you in order to unsettle you immediately. Bye!" No! They have to tell us what kind of story they're telling and what themes are important. They can't just... give us a Silent Hill Game and trust that we know what to do with it. It's... insulting frankly. Especially as a longtime fan of the franchise who remembers when they did trust us and they did have faith in their work. I will say this in compliment to Short Message. The environment design was pretty cool. Especially the sticky-note hallways... they looked like leaves... and sometimes teeth... and like tightly packed bones in an ossuary. It didn't... say anything really. But it looked cool. And you can't go wrong with Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack. But... while I'm on the subject of design. Y'all. An animate sakura tree in an oversized hoodie is not scary. But bless you for at least having the restraint to not make her Pyramid Head.

[nekodatta]

Everyone is understandably talking about hot Ganondorf and Buckethead guy, but have you guys noticed FEDORA DUDE?? And in the exact same scene of the trailer, another dude is wearing a pot.

Now.

A couple of questions:

1) Can LINK wear a bucket/pot/fedora?? Because I can already see the fedora speedruns incoming.

2) Can we.... Can we ARM THESE GUYS? I don't think that this is some cutscene but actual gameplay footage because we see some guys pushing a cart around while Link charges ahead, almost like some "protect the cart" mission with a battle happening all around.

In Breath of the Wild, two of the greatest problems were inventory management and weapon clutter. You gathered all this random stuff and monster parts that you would use mostly to sell or cook some food after you were done using it for sidequest or upgrading armor. This looks to have been solved with the fuse system, you can use all that random stuff to infuse your weapons/arrows/shields with various properties.

Another problem was finding a cool weapon but being reluctant to pick it up because you had no inventory space, or simply didn't want to drop one of your current weapons. What if we can actually GIVE better weapons and shields to the NPCs?? This would actually ENCOURAGE you to run around looking for cool stuff because you are making your ragtag bunch of Hyrule Avengers stronger as a whole by giving them better stuff to use.

And... I feel like, again, part of this was already present in BOTW. Every single NPC equipment is literally something that you CAN pick and use for yourself, to the point that taking pictures of them shows up in your Compendium as an entry for that object. So why not take it a step further?

3) The ultimate question: we know for sure from the gameplay demo that enemies can use fused weapons... CAN FRIENDLY NPC DO IT?

Could I literally slap a royal claymore to a torch and give that one dude rambling about the Master Torch the weapon he's always dreamed of???

Please tell me this is what's happening Nintendo. Because it would be amazing. Literally endless possibilities. And it fits with the whole vibe of the game, the tagline.

"Explore. CREATE. Discover"

I've got another crazed rambling incoming about this, I'm sure I'm not the first one that has thought about it, but I'll think about it some more first.

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

Guys, I have a confession to make. I have zero interest in playing the Elden Ring DLC atm. I still will open up headcanons for it starting August 1st. I spoiled myself on the lore and I made screenshots and got screenshots from friends for the most important characters. I think a couple are still missing like Ymir or Bayle, but I find a way around. But now under the cut I want to say the why I can't bring myself to play the Elden Ring DLC right now:

So... I was genuinely excited for this DLC. It would give us Miquella lore. It would finally tell us what his deal is. We can finally see his plan to save his sister etc etc. And then I saw people being REALLY disgruntled about the DLC. Mostly Mohg fans. So I got curious... far too curious. "What are they so upset about?" And so I looked up spoilers. I looked up who the final boss of the DLC is. Only to be slapped in the face with Radahn. Freaking Radahn! Apparently he and Miquella are doing a twin princes situation?! After that relevation I ran to AO3 to look at the ship tags...

Not. a. single. Miquella/Radahn. fic. had. been. written. pre. DLC. That DLC... just gave us a crackship that had nobody on the agenda and made it CANON! I couldn't believe it. But I first wanted to play through the DLC and see if I can take something from it that I like. And yeah, there are things I like from the lore, but I cannot help but think that final boss is bullshit that someone pulled out of their ass. Malenia whispering to Radahn in the story trailer is not enough for me. Okay, so I played the game, but... ...while the exploring is as fun as in the main game... It suffers from the same problems I have with the Elden Ring main game end game. Enemies with bloated HPs, FAR too long combos and I just don't have fun learning a boss when I heal after a combo and the animation is too slow so they hit me again with the start of their next combo. I don't want to summon my mimic tear for every single boss. Really not. But sometimes the DLC feels like it forces me to because I am not fast enough anymore. Why are all these bosses on speed? Sigh... it just isn't much fun to me anymore. What I liked so much in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, the hard and fair gameplay, seemed to have reduced to "hard for the sake of being hard". And yes, I collected Scadu Tree fragments. Doesn't change the fact that the bosses still have insanely long combos that my brain cannot comprehend. One day I will play through the DLC. I paid money for it after all... but after that sorely disappointing final boss reveal and the game being more of the weakest part of Elden Ring (at least for me), I don't feel like playing atm. I kinda hope that FromSoft takes a long break from Soulsborne now and thinks about where they want to go with it.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

my separate ways analysis  (spoilers for gameplay, story/plot, characters, aeon)

for my re4r post, click here (it was written without the knowledge of SW so my opinions there may not be the same as here.

gameplay

as many of us anticipated, the separate ways campaign ended up having a lot of the "cut content" from the main campaign

similarly to the original SW, the campaign is a lot shorter than the main one however it does have a few added scenes and similar style of gameplay where Ada runs faster or is faster than Leon and you're also able to travel throughout the map faster with the help of her hookshot

because of the changes between the main campaign and SW, the laser scene, which was given to Ada- which always made more sense stylistically and for her story as well

overall her chapters did seem a bit short, but I think it's this is due to the capacity of the game in general because you're going through the same locations as Leon but you're able to go through it faster so it only makes sense that you go through the areas faster

I do think that there should've been additional time spent in each location but I'm not exactly sure how they could've implemented this (but also with the new locations as a lot of ada's missions were easier than leon's)

ADA'S SOUNDTRACK FUCKING SLAPS SO FUCKING HARD

also WHY WERE ADA'S DEATH SCENES SO MUCH MORE INTENSE THAN LEON'S

ada's campaign is objectively way more fun than leon's

story/plot

what one the main changes from the original campaign and the remake one is the addition of Ada's infection

it made sense to me when we were first presented it in the trailer, however I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities with her infection

because she ends up just throwing up the plaga after she defeats the "mother" one, all tension essentially is gone afterwards. Because this is so early in the campaign it feels like her infection doesn't really matter, and I guess it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, as we know that she's going to get out of it at some point- but because it happened so early it just feels like there's no tension with this further along in the game

one of my main complaints is that in the main campaign, because we are viewing the mission through Leon's eyes, I think we were free to speculate that he is hallucinating at points during the game.

(this was a way to have potentially added the choking scene if he were hallucinating the entire thing and we wouldn't have seen it from his POV but we would have seen it from ada's.)

And because separate ways was always meant to be a mirror, an alternate side of the game- it would only make sense to have additional scenes that we wouldn't have seen in separate ways

I feel as though even though we did get additional scenes that are from Ada's perspective- they weren't really enough to supplement the amount of scenes that actually cut from in the original separate ways

especially because a lot of the main changes such as ada saving Leon from krauser which was changed to luis saving leon, instead

I still hold the opinion that a lot of scenes that were originally ada's in the original game and were given to luis- and I see a lot of arguments that "this isn't the case" but I find it funny that most of the arguments that I hear from people saying that luis didn't take Ada scenes- are funnily enough from luis stan's

(so i find this opinion to be fairly biased. there were absolutely scenes in original re4 and SW that are strictly ada's that were just given to luis instead. you can not argue away from this, this is just objectively true)

Circling back to Ada's infection, because it was gotten rid of so early on in the game. It removes any sort of tension for any sort of follow up with Ashley and Leon's infection.

many people, myself included along with several of the actors for re4r, have pointed out that in the main campaign when Ashley is miraculously able to lift Leon up onto the chair and cure his plagas- that it is not questioned and it is simply accepted as truth-

one of the potential pivotal changes could've actually have been because of ada's new infection in the remake, she would have to get her plagas removed as well at some point. but because her plagas was different and she was able to get rid of hers earlier it removes this potential scenario to happen

many fans were speculating that because of her infection, she would have to meet up with Ashley and Leon afterwards, and help Ashley to actually put Leon onto the chair so that they could both rid their infections at the same time, and this would've also actually potentially added a aeon scene as well (which would've fit into the narrative without feeling forced) which would really help with the story as well and keep in the infection for longer as well as providing more tension for her health as well

Because the SW remake was changed in some aspects but kept the same in other aspects in ways, (as in it didn't really seem like they were pivotal to the story) it felt as though we were missing more scenes that kept us on our toes. A lot of the things that were changed were rectified fairly quickly and because of this, a lot of the scenes that followed the original beat by beat, felt too predictable and felt like the same

I was left wanting more because all of the changes that were made were fixed too quickly or they weren't really that pivotal and everything that could've changed things weren't added

that being said, i do love the contact lense update as the glasses were a bit much for today's standards, and i could suspend my belief enough for a high tech contact lense in 2004 lol

characters

Ada

although I think a lot of the "criticism" for ada's changes in the remake are in bad faith, I feel like a lot of the changes makes sense with the potential route that they want to go with ada

i've always held the opinion that remake ada was meant to show a fatal flaw and then to have her have her redemption arc as soon as possible. ada was never meant to be evil, she was never meant to be a villain, however people were unable to disconnect her with this idea.

because of the remake highlighting so many aspects of her having a heart and "changing," it really goes to show how much effort they've put into characterizing her.

we have to remember that up until 2011 even, all we really had were these hyper sexualized flirty iterations of ada where she is really just as femme fatale with little regard for the people around her, but people who have seen and played re6 and have actually spent more time with her character has seen her grow.

arguably re6, has always been her redemption arc, but because this happens so late in the series, it's hard as an audience (particularly people who don't pay attention) to really see her be this multi-faceted character.

sure, we have original SW where she essentially spends the entire campaign saving leon's ass, but it lacked a lot of her characterization beyond her desire to keep leon safe and a few quips here and there about the villagers and her interactions with wesker and krauser.

and because i don't want to talk about her voice too too much, i do LOVE ada's voice in SW. it's clear that a few of her lines were fixed in a sense, the audio changes are small but there, but a lot of her lines are adorable and really add to her being more than just a femme fatale.

the colder aspect of her makes sense with her narrative opening, that she had made peace with what she was doing. but that she still questions everything

additionally i do think that her infection was a way to make the audience sympathize with her and make her seem weaker and more human as she's particularly overpowered in og SW imo

Leon

we had very few additional scenes with leon and i was hoping for more but wasn't expecting it, it just would've been nice

the two ish scenes we got with his face were nice lol

Wesker

the changes with wesker being near or on the island were fairly interesting, it makes us question why he was there or if he was just so concerned about it ada's "incompetence" on her mission. the banter between her and wesker about leon was interesting and furthers the ideas that they had much more history that we know of.

I saw a lot of criticisms between the scene where ada passes out and wesker saves her and brings her to the bedroom. And the discourse seems to be somehow shaming ada for "flirting" with wesker despite the fact that I never interpreted as genuine flirting.

It's clear at this point in her campaign wesker has commented several times on ada's incompetent and insubordinate nature and that because she is in a position of being "dismissed " or "taken off the case" or just plainly, "gotten rid of," she resorts to "flirting" as a way to keep herself in a position of power. she knows that wesker finds her unuseful at this time, and sees no real issue with doing this as a means to keep herself safe in sense.

she doesn't fear him, but she is wary of him. but she'll still go against his demands several times.

i thought it was interesting that we could've seen potential repercussions for her ada's. wesker being told about the explosions not all going off and the ability to take down her helicopter, but he decides to let her go anyways.

the "think that gun's gonna be enough?" "interesting..." MADE ME PURRRR HELP

Because we finally have more lines with wesker, I feel like I can appropriately gauge my opinion on his voice now. I thought that I was on the opposite side of things where I held an unpopular opinion of liking wesker's new voice... but it appears a lot of people actually enjoys his new voice far more than the original. i have already stated before that i've never been a fan of the comical voices from before, and obviously due to the controversy with wesker's original VA, it makes sense that he was recast. and it would've felt a bit gross for the new VA to emulate the same kind of voice IMO

Krauser

because of the changes in the remake, it made sense that ada and krauser barely interact, (mostly due to the removal of ada saving leon scene and was changed to luis) so it didn't make sense for ada and krauser to talk. i don't think that i hate this change (the removal of them talking) but it does make this relationship odd because it removes a lot of tension between the two and also makes it so that krauser's vendetta against leon a bit odd

it felt more interconnected in the OG, whereas in the remake it really did feel like multiple stories happening at the same time where they don't connect

Luis

since seeing more of SW and more of Luis (unfortunately) I've started to hold the opinion and I believe that I actually had this prior to SW, I feel the luis' redemption arc and backstory is severely lacking any actualization.

And I think this may actually be because of the additional scenes of luis, that it has been detrimental for his overall story

the more I was forced to see more luis the more I felt like his moral standing and his desire to help Leon and Ashley and Ada, it felt like it was lacking any motivation. His desire to "do the good thing," because it "makes him feel better," has never been enough, and WILL never be enough (for me and some audiences who like to gauge WHY characters do things)

we get the verbal confirmation on why luis is doing these things, but it doesn't align with his actual desire to do the good thing in the end. his redemption arc (to me) seems pointless, and i guess that adds to the pointlessness of his character arc and his unfulfilled desired to really right the wrongs he had already done.

his dying act could serve as his last chance to really do the right thing, but it feels undeserved.

(regarding his connection to nemesis and re3r) sure his bloodshed is "secondhand," but it doesn't excuse what he had already done. i just felt as thought even though we got this expansion of his character and it helped the story of re4r and SW-

his characterization was used a plot device RATHER THAN ACTUAL GOOD STORYTELLING. every time we need something- it's luis. every time there's a problem, it's luis. every time there has to be something ELSE happening, it's luis

he was a plot device MORE than an actual character (and i don't think to praise him for his characterization in this way is THAT GREAT OF A THING TO DO)

AND THAT'S FINE. we were never meant to see more of him in the long term. luis was always meant to die and in the remake, he was at least fleshed out more

but i still feel like it was at the detriment to ada's expansion. a lot of her story was "given to luis" and a lot of her scenes were ALSO given to luis, and you CAN NOT OBJECTIVELY deny this as fact. the fact that these scenes were ORIGINALLY ADA'S in the og and then were luis' in the remake, is an UNDENIABLE FACT THAT THEY GAVE THOSE SCENES TO HIM.

we got more luis, we should've NEVER HAD MORE. this is STILL ada's story. and so much additional luis for the sake of plot felt like a disservice to Ada AND Luis.

THAT ALL BEING SAID I STILL LIKE LUIS. I THINK HIS ADDITION WAS GOOD, I JUST WISH THAT ADA HAD MORE. I THINK THEM ARE COOL AS FRIENDS. still see luis as the gay friend sjkbfsjkf

Ashley

i thought it was weird that ashley had weird npc behaviour for the ashley ada interaction

also ashley had weird 90s yaoi hands and i couldn't unsee it

enemies

WHY WERE THE ENEMIES SO MUCH FUCKING SCARIER WITH ADA

aeon

a lot of people were complaining that the aeon moments weren't as pivotal in this campaign, and while I do agree to some extent, I don't think that they were necessarily required for this remake

this may seem contradictory because of what i had said prior (luis taking ada's scenes) but because of the route that they went, i feel as though the scene where (potentially) ada saves leon from krauser couldn't have been written any other way. because of how they wrote luis to be with leon nearly constantly, it would've been difficult to change this scene.

because ada is much more in the shadows in this remake, we still have some scenes, like the boat and reunion scene. but the eagerness of ada saving leon was seen more as an afterthought than a outright desire like in og

i don't think these are wrong decisions per say but they do allow us to see a progression of ada obviously still caring for leon afterwards as the plot gives us these scenes of convenience. (like ada ringing the bell because she was supposed to meet luis there as opposed to her directly going to the bell to ring it. she still does it, noticing that leon is struggling. which i think is enough tbh)

the changes of the original boat scene having additional dialogue helped to change things, particularly in conjunction with ada's monologue that she did change, just maybe not in the overt ways that leon had expected.

i still feel as though although we lacked a few aeon scenes, it made sense with what we had.

allegedly nick apostolides opted out of saying the "she's like a part of me i can't let go," because he felt as though this line belonged to the previous VA, but i can not confirm this as fact.

i never expected nick to say this line as it didn't appear to fit narratively, however the the "true ending" of SW really showed more wesker than more of aeon which was disappointing but not surprising.

the fact that re4r had an ending with ada, and sw had an ending with just wesker felt blegh.

one of the biggest complaints i kept getting was that re4r retconned aeon. which is just kind of a weird thing because why would capcom retcon a relationship in the second date? we have to remember that re4 has always been their second meeting. they still have damnation, re6 and potentially even more aeon that we haven't see like off screen re5.

one of the biggest things that they criticized was that leon and ada, "fell in love immediately," and they wanted to rectify that with a more realistic interpretation of the ship. this makes sense to me, and although it's a lot more angst filled, we still have to remember this is early as fuck in their relationship.

additionally, i still think that when ada gives leon the rocket launcher at the end, he has a sudden realization that ada had been helping him all along, that she was the one that gave him the one in raccoon city. that the keychain for the jetski was always her making sure that he could get out as well. because TO BE FAIR. he HAD LITTLE WAYS OF ESCAPE. he lost track of hunnigan and his potential route off the island. realistically, leon was FUCKED and he had no way off the island. even if ada didn't give him the key, he was STILL KINDA FUCKED because of the bombs because of wesker.

once the things fall into place, he realizes things along the boat ride, and i think that's also for us as an audience to speculate. older audiences knows that leon and ada see each other again. i want them to see each other again to bridge the gaps.

things to note

SW being made by the same team that did re3r is a bit funny since re3r was a pretty big disappointment to a lot of fans

similarly a lot of people were mad at the $10 price tag for SW despite the fact that this is a additional campaign and was longer than re3r and funner.

OG SW was always free, which is why a lot of people were mad, but like- get fucked dude. if you want to be mad at that, you also have to be mad at the microtransactions in the main campaign then.

SW was still well done, i just have a few things that i thought were lacking.

wesker absolutely had ada's DNA (from the bed scene, i think he also injected her with an inhibitor (of sorts like luis had) but also took something from her, and i think it would tie nicely into a re6r if he and simmons had contact prior to re5.

we still never got to see what was in bob bear kennedy (is that the name? lol)

gameplay 9/10

story/plot 7/10

characters 7/10

aeon 7/10

overall 30/40

i might have additional things to say but that's all i got for now lol

thanks for reading my garbage

and again

“take it however you like it.”

[rad-hound]

Skullface character analysis. Could even be bullet points if you would rather create a separate post for a more in-depth analysis.

THESIS.

If you've either played Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—or opted against doing so due to some of the... unsavory, disrespectful, and frankly disgusting contents within it, in which case I completely understand why one might not want to so much as graze it with a yard stick—or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which, to me, contains the more memorable (as insufferable as it can become) depiction of their titular antagonist... of whom I can safely assume was universally recognized as such, you and your fellow man may come to similar, near-identical consensuses in regards to aforementioned character's most ineffable traits.

Perhaps, as either a gamer or a mere onlooker, seeking to simply absorb the story, you felt yourself either taken or disgusted by the antagonist's appearance... or perhaps you found yourself inadvertently fauning over his voice—provided by actor James Horan—only to later slap your own hand. Or, maybe neither such sentiments ever crossed your mind, and you found yourself parts-amused, parts-ashamed that a simple one-off character was shoehorned into one of the most important roles in the series; his presence now highly-implicated through the whole of the Metal Gear series's canon upon his own pilot, with no semblance of question or doubt to the canonicity or legitimacy of such implications.

The character in question being, of course, Skull Face, whose identity throughout Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's development no doubt underwent a multitude of bouts of trial-and-error to arrive at the 'alpha' version of the character we know—and hate—today. And so, before I get into the nitty-gritty of the character in question, I would like to take a moment to reflect upon these bouts of 'trial-and-error,' the art direction which led to the base version of this character, as well as aspects which may have initially been left out, or dropped entirely, between the conception of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and whether or not core facets of said character underwent any major (or minor) changes between the progression of aforementioned games.

DEVELOPMENT / PRE-GAME CONCEPTUALIZATION.

The very earliest—if not painfully vague—hint the public was ever given about the conception of Skull Face as a character, would be within the gameplay / cinematic trailer dedicated to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, released in mid-to-late 2012. With the phrase, which was later utilized within the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," alongside a very brief glimpse at the back of the character's head, for a duration of two seconds, or so.

The earlier quote, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," of which was later believed to have implicated both the protagonist and antagonist of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; Venom / Punished Snake, and Skull Face, both mere phantoms of not only FOX as a whole, but of one another. A sentiment which is greatly accentuated throughout the duration of the game within which they are both present, especially between aforementioned characters in their every interaction.

Coupled with the release of Ground Zeroes, as though to break tradition in regards to how extra information / concept art was usually released alongside or a year or so after the initial release, Skull Face—despite his initial debut being within Ground Zeroes—appears to have not been featured within any sort of official artbooks. At least, not until the release of The Phantom Pain a year or so later, in 2015.

Though, this could easily be because of just how closely linked Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain were in both theme and in conception; the former being described as nothing more than a "prologue" to the latter, whose IP later received an official artbook. Which, predictably, consisted of concept art for both games, despite the 'uneven' distribution of said art between them; the latter receiving a lot more than the former, likely due to Konami Digital Entertaiment's own priorities at the time.

And, only within the shallows of the artbook's contents are we granted but a glimpse of how the character's appearance—and perhaps the very fabric of the character, both in concept and in execution, in its entirety—may have differed from its base version, given the very few minute footnotes concept artist Yoji Shinkawa left sprinkled neatly across the page. (Rough descriptions of each image are available within each image I.D.)

Even still, I believe there is only so much information we can gather from the concept sketches—and the hand-written footnotes which accompany them—alone. However, if I were to wager a guess, if any, I would come to the assumption that Skull Face, as a character, was meant to be far more different than what we may perceive him as today... for better or worse.

For example, the sketch at the right-hand side of each image, encompassing the notably smooth, scarless visage of Skull Face from another plane entirely; one of which—located within the second image, just to the left of the sketch embodying Skull Face's 'beta version'—is accompanied by a blurb of hand-written text, which reads the following: "WASP" / "アングロ," a possible acronym for the term "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant." Which seems a little strange to me, given Skull Face's own background as a man born in war-torn Hungary. But, admittedly, it is interesting to learn about how things could have been, rather than how they turned out.

Allegedly, in the same manner—while his name in both the preliminal concept art and within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's game files was "WASP," his unit being derived of the very same moniker—I believe his initial name was meant to be "Scar Face," at least outside of the game's North American release. Likely due to the phonetic similarities between it and "Skull Face," as per an interview between Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu and Metal Gear creator, Hideo Kojima, in 2012.

Though, the already-existing information we've been bestowed regarding Skull Face's past, the hardships he was subjected to endure, and the nature of his... 'upbringing,' as it were, should prove to be equally as intriguing. At least, if we are to follow after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain... where we are then provided a much fuller picture as to what kind of a man he truly is. To delve into his mind, so to speak.

BIOGRAPHY / PHYSIOGNOMY.

Skull Face, legal / real name unknown, is said to have been born to two lower-class bomb factory workers in a remote village in northern Transylvania, which at the time had already endured a number of power struggles; at points being caught in the crossfire of both Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as the Soviets during the Cold War.

With this information, it is but a given that Skull Face likely never experienced a day of peace throughout his entire childhood, of which was horrifically interrupted the moment the factory within which him and his family worked tirelessly—located in Almásfüzitő, a rural village in Hungary—was carpet-bombed by the Allied forces in World War II. The... 'franticism' which resulted from this attack, this commotion, resulting in Skull Face being doused in searing rapeseed oil; the resulting wounds not only exacerbated by the mobs of panicked escapees trying to outrun the worst of the attack, but by foreign hands later in his life. Presumed to have been colonizers.

This exact moment, I would identify as the primary turning point in his life, as tragic as it may be. Not to say that Skull Face's own situation, or... 'the cards he'd been dealt,' were anything but convenient, but when we take a moment to regard the nature of the injuries he endured after the bombing, one would have to be blind to not unanimously recognize how such an event would no-doubt traumatize a child beyond compare. The scars which so ornament his body weren't acquired when he was an adult, no... he was but a child when his flesh burnt and rotted away. And, worse yet, they were only added upon as his home country was... 'passed between hands,' so to speak.

In the worst fashion possible, only to be accentuated upon by colonizers, the very precipice of his childhood—and, by definition, his identity—had been stripped away from him in a near-instant.

Within the contents of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, we can very clearly bear witness to how he may have coped with such intensive trauma. Adorning nothing but a domino mask upon his visage—likely symbolism, more than anything else, given its absence in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—and claiming to have "[worn his] broken visage — [his] skull, out in the open, so that [he] may never forget what [he's] lost," in a bitter conversation with his superior. Likely not only just referring to the gnarled burn scars which adorn his visage—stripping him of any sort of visual genetic traits—but also in reference to how—with the near-constant colonization of his home country—Skull Face never truly had a home language; having been forced to learn new language after new language as his home country of Transylvania, later-Hungary was overcome with war and annexation.

I also feel that his upbringing served to be a great influence to the sort of 'character' he puts on; not only the metaphorical—and very literal—mask he wears upon himself to camouflage his deeper trauma or intent, but his manner of wardrobe and style, all the same. Of which consists of primarily dark, mute, and moody colors, underscored by the very clear Western influence that is present within his apparel, complete with a sort of 'Big Iron' of his own; a custom lever-action rifle, whose basis is said to have been upon that of the 'Mare's Leg,' a shortened rifle of the same caliber which is used by actor Steve McQueen's character, Josh Randall, from the television series, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,' which aired between 1958 and 1961.

Even outside of references to pop culture, there are even instances in-game—or, more particularly, between the likes of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain—where third parties or flat characters acknowledge such a unique trait in regards to both Skull Face's unsettling appearance and his style. Even going so far as to, at some point, jokingly refer to him as "just a Republican"; likely not a jab at his intrinsic, terroristic nature, but in primary regards to his style, of which also leads Skull Face—within the very same context—to being described, wittily, as a "costume party."

In lieu with this very discernible influence to his style, and—by default—his identity, I could also reasonably come to the assumption that Skull Face likely intended to come across as some sort of lone-wolf, lone-ranger-type character. If we were to combine both his wardrobe's Western facets, and the very gloomy color scheme which was chosen to compliment it, it is no surprise that Skull Face is also regularly referred or compared to the Grim Reaper, as evident by the line of dialogue, "that grim reaper lookalike," present within Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

Such comparisons being drawn may also be evident within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as well, outside of the otherwise humored dialogue which was present within its predecessor; in reference to the words Skull Face speaks—in Hungarian—to one of the diseased bodies within the Devil's House, before proceeding to shoot the party of reference in the head, "I accept your grace, your sorrow, unto myself. Rest in peace."

However, I firmly believe that it was due to Skull Face's own unapproachability—a neat splicing of his physical, mental, and tactical traits—which segue into those around him holding otherwise varying views about him at a first glance. The intentional and tonal differences and implications between "costume party" and "that grim reaper lookalike," as it were... as though his innate lack of identity is so misleading that those around him simply do not know what to make of him. Whether or not to take him seriously, or to take the piss out of his wardrobe. Even if it was more than likely that his actions spoke louder than his words.

STRENGTHS / VICES.

A core facet, and theme, of Skull Face's being—of which I believe to be both a strength and a weakness in its own rite—would be his undying, harrowing thirst for revenge, of which regularly reiterated and built upon within dialogue between himself and several of the game's characters, but whose interactions were most prominent around the likes of Big Boss, Venom Snake, and his superior, Major David Oh, all of whom Skull Face claims not to hold any animosity towards, despite his actions—in this case—speaking louder than his words. And, if anything, allows his thirst for revenge to overcome any kind of abstinence he could have exercised, and thus, resulted in his downfall.

However, despite this very clear flaw, it would be disingenuous to claim that Skull Face was a sloppy, uncoordinated individual, both in the flesh and in the battlefield. Even in his youth, it was said that he was quite competent in the realm of reconnaissance and espionage; particularly in the Soviet Union, where it is rumored that he was responsible for the death of Eurasian dictator Joseph Stalin, in an act which Skull Face sought as a means to have "gotten revenge for his people," for the erasure and destruction of his culture and first language, the blame of which already fell partly upon the Soviets, the fact of which likely emboldened Skull Face to have made such a move from the beginning.

This instance, alongside several others, helped to sow his otherwise terrifying reputation in the battlefield, with how discreetly and effectively he performed not only assassinations, but interrogations, as well; to the extent where any and all ethical concern was thrown completely out the window, as though his own moral bankruptcy knew zero bounds—even going so far as to resort to lechery—so long as he could 'fish out' the information he sought. Whether such a trait would be a strength, or a weakness, is up for your interpretation.

Such a harrowing presence in the battlefield—in particular regards to Skull Face's skills as both an assassin and spymaster—was what initially drew together both him and his future superior, Major David Oh, who found himself quite taken by not only the man's talents, but his outward appearance, in its own rite. Already having had a tendency to recruit oddballs, as they were... it seemed almost inevitable that the Major would later promote the man to be his very own Executive Officer; at the time, beneath the jurisdiction of the British Special Air Service, only to later resign and stem off into his own covert branch of operations beneath the American CIA — FOX. And tightly woven they appeared to remain, even as the Major's priorities begun to change.

One priority of which Skull Face grew to loathe, despite claiming to have not felt such antagonism towards the subject at all: Operation Snake Eater, or rather, how much time and energy the Major appeared to have put into the project, all the while treating FOX's covert support team, later turned strike force, XOF—of whom Skull Face commanded—as a little less than cannon fodder. Or, rather, perhaps Skull Face simply needed a character—or, rather, a kind of personification or physical manifestation of all he hated about language as a means of executive communication—to inflict his inward, aggregated spite upon. And Major Zero—given his English background, and his ploy to unify the world through information control—appeared to be the perfect scapegoat, despite Skull Face's seemingly heartfelt proclamation that, "[The Major] never left [him] to die," and that, "[he] owe[d] [the Major] [his own] life," upon concluding his interrogations of Paz Ortega Andrade. Yet another one of his own weaknesses on shameless, open display: his hypocrisy, of which is a recurring trait of his that is rather difficult to ignore.

This alone, the mere presence of the Major within his life—the grievous sense of revenge which lay dormant deep beneath Skull Face's bones, only to later take out upon this once-former superior—would prove to be both his greatest strength, and his greatest weakness. A strength, because of the sole fact that Skull Face was successfully able to 'pull the wool over Zero's eyes,' taking it upon himself to finish what his superior had begun so many years ago... but a weakness, for not only falling short of his genocidal goal, but being so foolish as to believe that the Major—a spymaster of his own caliber—simply didn't think to have a backup plan, let alone such a multitude of them, given how he'd already safeguards in place in the event that his XO betrays him. Such a flawed, heavy-handed means of underestimation eventually coming back to 'take an axe to Skull Face's knees'... literally.

However, despite all of his flaws, it is well-observed from a variety of angles and perspectives that Skull Face himself was a rather eccentric, charismatic character; a likely explanation as to how he grew to hold such unwavering influence over not just the mind of his own superior, or the minds of his very own unit, but entire regions of war-torn countries, as well. His unit of whom, while terrified of him, also looked up to him as a leader for both his tact and his efficiency. Of which was accentuated and amplified tenfold throughout the events of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as Skull Face appeared to pull every possible stop to put an end to Snake's life, even going so far as to deploy the world's first and only bipedal, self-operating weapon upon him. And, if Skull Face had gotten his way, the entire world would have likely crumbled before his knees, or died trying.

PHILOSOPHY / TRAGEDY.

If I were to describe Skull Face in theatrical terms—in all of his imperfections, trials and tribulations, his wrongdoings, and the actions of which he performed out of genuine good will, no matter how grotesque, bankrupt, or questionable—and if I were to place him upon a scale between both a theatric comedy, and a theatric tragedy, you likely already know which term I believe would best suit the progression of his life. Though, despite all of his quirks, it isn't as though anything within his life would have constituted as a comedy, anyways, even upon his very conception.

Every instance within his life, ever since his birth, appear to have done nothing but inconvenience him; tempting a deep, broiling hatred to stir within his soul... and thus, if I were to briefly put myself in his shoes, would it be incorrect or bankrupt to state that his anger was justified? Throughout the duration of his life, hand after hand, he'd been shown nothing but animosity by his fellow man, and thus grew accustomed to, or perhaps comfortable with the sensation of it; of both being resented and holding equal-parts resentment towards others.

Upon the violent, abrupt loss of his cultural identity, instead of simply losing his linguistic faculties, they were simply replaced. Replaced with a language of nukes, of spite and hatred towards the world and its inhabitants. A kind of sadistic nihilism, of which made no reservations for any sensations of hope. Of which he found to be nothing more than a survival skill—akin to mankind's tendency to try and predict events to better assimilate themselves with the unknowns of the world—and thus, did not regard it as important. Likely due to the fact that he himself had lost the ability to feel, and thus no longer held such anxieties about the world as his fellow man does.

Though, at the time of his inevitable death, as though to plead for one last kindness from a world which so abandoned, abused, and betrayed him, he was granted with a bullet to the skull upon request, thanks to the lingering, almost pitiful obedience of that of Emmerich. One of the few people which—even with his own unapologetic evils—Skull Face sought as nothing more than scum-of-the-Earth, impossibly lower beneath his own standards. The revelation of which brings me to believe that, even a man as lowly and morally-corrupt as Skull Face still cultivated some kind of moral superiority over others, and thus, likely viewed his own incentive as nothing more than him acting upon what he thought was right and just. Just as his superior, Zero, truthfully believed his acts of evil were simply an extension of his late friend's will, rather than a power grab. Rather than a simple, misunderstood exchange of words.

But, even after Skull Face's death, yet again he appeared as a phantom within Venom Snake's peripheral; Mother Base's own phantom pains never having eased, even after the object of their collective resentment had been purged from the Earth. And, given Skull Face's once-similar convictions towards those who dealt him a bad hand within his life, I truthfully don't believe that he would have ever been satisfied, in the end. As evident by his carefully-chosen words to Venom, as they encountered one another for the second time, "You hope hatred might someday replace the pain, but it never goes away."

With this, it is only fitting and appropriate that Skull Face's tragedy be recognized for what it is; a tale—doomed from the start—of an individual, tainted and torn from his elders from the very beginning, only to be excaberated upon as the years trudged by. Only to result in being downtrodden beneath the heavy rebar of a steel platform, begging for release... as though he hadn't spent the majority of his adulthood tormenting others, in a manner near-identical to how he himself was esteemed.

Because, as per the scholarly definition of a tragedy, Skull Face was nothing more than the architect of his own demise.

CONCLUSION.

To reiterate the material present within this analysis's thesis—of which already breached any sort of reasonable limit for thesi, and so I find I must at least attempt to reasonably cut back upon my own rambling—Skull Face as a character is most definitely not without flaw, within both an internal and external point of view. While a lot of his more unsavory, frankly cringeworthy traits may simply get passed off as nothing more than an error upon the writer's behalf, or as 'non-canonical,' I feel it is still important to acknowledge it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Given his broad, but very understandable controversies and vices within the fandom, do I believe that there should have been any chance of redemption or reconsideration in regards to mending his character, or at least in regards to how his most fatal flaws were executed? Yes, I do, without a shadow of a doubt. I find that the... particular manner within which he's written in his pilot is nothing short of shameful and grotesque, and that it all could have been handled with a lot more care and delicacy. Does this mean that the remainder of his character was handled with the same largess of sloppy carelessness? Not necessarily.

Were I in the position or shoes of the primary antagonist, would such a scenario bring me to better sympathize with or understand the perspective from which Skull Face comes? Perhaps not, as I can't say for sure whether or not I'd even hold the mental capacity to do, or want to do, so. Though, I wouldn't mind forming a sort of open discussion about the topic, so long as it is metered. I would prefer it if discussions surrounding this character remained appropriate, were they to occur, but I don't at all mind any sort of speculation / theorizing. In fact, I'm a sucker for it.

But, I digress, as problematic as he is, it is difficult for me to deny how taken I am by him and the dilemma which surrounds him. Perhaps that is simply the appeal; to bear witness to a kind of 'forbidden fruit,' from an outsider perspective, and to provide my insight as to what it truly means. To be unafraid to hold these discussions, and to provide my criticisms with utmost care, as opposed to simply 'dogging upon' and dismissing a character entirely, despite their flaws and strengths alike. As though the whole of the Metal Gear series isn't already bountiful with a plenty-problematic cast of its own.

After all, what could possibly be more problematic than a franchise whose main villains—and protagonists, in part—are war criminals? Such, as it is at this moment, shall be left up for debate, as that is simply another topic for another time. And I'm all out of time.

So, I want to thank @miz-orque for this very contemplative, but very controversial ask, of which I wanted to handle with as much care as I possibly could. So I hope this shall suffice.