#this is hands down the game I've completed the most playthroughs of and most likely the one I have the most hours in

[tabaquis-creatures]

also the girl with the gun is actually a space dinosaur using a hologram to disguise herself. i want everyone to know that

if you've never played fossil fighters please watch this clip. for reasons

[finn-writes-stuff]

Hello! Can you write for Gale, Astarion and Halsin's reaction to tav wearing the wavemothers robe? Nsfw please😳

An Intricate Jewel

Tales tell of a most wondrous fish, scales resplendent, an intricate jewel that shone beneath the sea. When it died, the Wavemother gifted its hide as a robe to her most devoted follower - and demanded she drown the sailors that killed her gem-bright fish. - Item Description

Halsin, Gale & Astarion x Reader

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Format: Headcanons

Gender Neutral Reader

Masterlist

I haven't actually gotten to this robe in my own playthrough yet, but I've seen plenty of it online lmao. This one isn't fully nsfw but it's spicy. -Finn

Halsin

"Oh. You look stunning, my heart."

He is openly admiring you any chance he gets. It is shameless because why would he be ashamed of looking at you? Of admiring all of nature's bounty before him.

He's handsy if you allow it, holding onto your hips where the slits of the dress show off your skin. Pressing kisses to the back of your neck just over the collar. Halsin always loves getting to see more of your skin, and this dress is certainly showing it off.

In general, he is a big believer in wearing whatever you want and enjoying it. He's hardly going to get jealous about others getting to admire you, so long as he's allowed to look as much as he pleases as well.

Even better, when you still have water clinging too you after being healed, dripping down your skin and making the dress cling even tighter.

You'll have him pressed up to your back to murmur in your ear about what he would like to do to you the moment you can both slip away.

And once you get the chance, he'll be between your thighs with the skirt pushed up around your hips. And you'll get to see just how long he can gold off before tearing the dress off of you completely.

Gale

"Oh! Yes, well, um, you look lovely! That sure does, well, show off your figure. Hmm. Yes."

This man is bright red and cannot look away from you. Yes, he can be blatant in his own flirting, but you make his brain shut down sometimes. And in this dress? Oh Gods

He is trying so incredibly hard to be a gentleman. He is NOT staring at your legs or the cut out in the back of the dress or how much it reveals of your chest or the way it clings to you as close as he wants to be. He is definitely not thinking about any of that. He missed his spell for unrelated reasons.

Show off in front of him, put yourself in his line of sight constantly. He will be going insane trying to stay polite and focused. And it's always a fun game to see if you can make him trail off in the middle of a monologue about magic.

Gale will spend an entire day suffering and watching you and trying not to say anything about it, but the moment the party breaks camp, he is dragging you into his tent to show you just how much he likes this dress on you.

You've left him so pent up after the whole day. He can't get enough of you, touching and grabbing and kissing you like you're the air he needs to survive.

The dress stays on until he's made sure you are both fully sated for the night. And he swears that if you wear it again he won't be so patient.

And if he's going to make a promise like that, he shouldn't be surprised when you wear it the next day.

Astarion

"Ohoho, please do say you're all dressed up for me, love."

He thinks this is delightful and would do the same thing if he could find something flattering enough.

Trying to tease him with it? No, that's his game. He's teasing you by letting his hands just barely touch you, appearing behind you to whisper in your ear about how delectable you look. Then slipping away before you can say anything back.

If he's noticing anyone else paying you too much attention, he'll make fun of them for it, but he's also likely to stick closer to your side, his arm around your waist. Showing the world that you're his.

He's the least worked up about the dress, but he likes it when you still stay by his side regardless of how much attention it gets you. He's just as much yours as you are his, and he'll be more than willing to reward you for being such a sweet thing all day.

He wants to see the way the fabric presses into your skin when you arch your back and let him sink his teeth into your neck.

[eurydicees]

pls can u tell me everything about fhq and esp fhq iwaoi i don’t really know what it is but every time i see you repost one of those beautiful heart wrenching artworks i want to die in the best way

YES GLADLY I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING I CAN !!! under the cut because you're getting everything.

ok so some of the history lesson portion of this may be a little off, it's been a hot minute since i've done much research into this lol. but final haikyuu quest first appeared as a spread in one of the bonus pages in the manga! throughout the manga's run were occasionally drawings of the characters in little fake movie posters, one of them being an action/fantasy movie called final haikyuu quest:

this first poster and the original character designers are drawn by furudate! from there, it went on to become a mini bonus game in the haikyuu 3DS game, which is kind of crazy if you think about it too hard.

there's a playthrough uploaded on youtube here, but it's obv in japanese and i don't think there's been a translation of the game. there's a translation of part of it here on tumblr, but i don't think it's complete. poster from the 3DS game:

from there, it went on to be a CD drama (videos 8-10 on this youtube playlist, with subs), which is super neat. it's also one of the haikyuu light novels, but i have yet to find a full english translation of that.

i haven't read the novel or watched the videos with the CD drama audio myself, so i'm not sure how much it differs from the 3DS game. i assume they're pretty similar though.

so the premise at its most simple is that hinata and his party of adventurers are off to defeat the demon king oikawa and his henchmen! those are the basics.

the "canon" characters in hinata's party are hinata, kenma, aone, iwaizumi, and kageyama. on the opposing side we've got oikawa (the demon king), kuroo, and kiyoko. kiyoko has servants in the form of tanaka and nishionoya (they don't care for oikawa, they're just there for kiyoko). there's also michimiya, who is in the "fair princess kidnapped by oikawa" role that hinata & co. are trying to save. the full character profiles can be found here (everyone in game) and here (heroes only)!

now this whole premise is like. a little silly. the whole deal is a little silly. this is a volleyball manga.

with THAT being said, though, sometimes the most fun to be had is when you take the silly thing and make it devastating. and it's so easy to do that with FHQ. so let's talk abt iwaoi now <3

so in the story, oikawa is the demon king. because the premise is so simplistic and boiled down to good v. bad due to, like, this not being a real piece of media, oikawa is objectively on the "bad side." iwaizumi, on the other hand, is a knight, presumably human, and "oikawa's (former) friend."

iwaizumi being oikawa's former friend is literally his speciality and i think about that all the time btw. for context, kageyama's specialty is "prodigy" and hinata's is "strongest decoy." and fucking iwaizumi is out here like yea hey guys i used to be on the bad side but im mad at oikawa so now i'm with y'all. also my specialty in this fantasy universe is that i used to be oikawa's friend :)

like. what the hell. as you may imagine, the iwaoi angst potential here is ENORMOUS. iwaizumi who has betrayed oikawa and joined the heroes' side to take him down, iwaizumi whose greatest strength comes in knowing oikawa in and out, because the villains you love are both the hardest and the easiest to destroy. iwaizumi who loves oikawa, and who cannot save him.

(**side note, there's a lot of kuroken angst potential involved in this au as well, but let's focus on iwaoi for this post and save kuroken for another day)

so, as i said, the game's interpretation of all this is pretty simplistic and pretty silly. but personally i love thinking too hard and finding depth in things that are so not that deep. and it seems like most fhq fans also employ this as a favorite hobby because holy shit the angst people put in this au is INSANE.

the way i've interpreted it myself has been that iwaoi were besties/lovers/unclear situationship until oikawa kind of "fell into the dark side," because this is an au of every fantasy trope possible, and his reign over aoba became corrupted and "evil." iwaizumi betrays him to join hinata and take him down--save the world, at the cost of the demon he loved so much. but that demon, who oikawa was, is gone already, isn't he?

one of my favorite comics about them is here by @/ichigomaniac, where oikawa falls to the dark side and iwaizumi kills him to save the kingdom he loves. another FAVORITE similar one is here by @/hawberries! the premise of a lot of fics/art in this au run along these lines <3333

another super fun interpretation is a 5 part comic by @/duskisnigh, where oikawa and iwaizumi are running a kind of underground rebellion/safehouse in a world demons are oppressed by the human race. but as oikawa sees more and more evil on the behalf of humanity, he gets more and more unhinged until iwaizumi feels that he no longer knows him--and runs away with kageyama, with the intention of taking oikawa down.

personally i think the BEST aus are where iwaizumi--so loyal, so in love--is forced to leave because he can't stand to watch oikawa fall to more darkness, while oikawa himself is so devoted to iwaizumi that it's his love for iwaizumi that is corrupting him.....

in the fic i wrote, it's a story about forbidden love and how oikawa just wants to be allowed to love iwaizumi and he'll fight a war in order to do it. but iwaizumi can't watch oikawa fight this war anymore, because he's getting more and more dark as the war rages on. so he leaves, and was any of this ever worth it?

ggaahadhgjkadg . fhq. its crazy. i have a tag for it here, where i have been curating my favorite art. special shoutout to @/amezure who has some GORGEOUS pieces in their tag. OH ! and some of my fave fics in this au :

in the arms of loyalty and the hands of devotion (iwaoi, 23252 words), self promo lol

i can go anywhere i want (just not home) (kuroken, 3662 words) by keplcrs

wondering if your heart's still open (iwaoi, 683 words), by birdintheriver

Diorama (iwaizumi & kenma, 2027 words) by PlumTea

the ao3 tag is beautiful everywhere you turn, but i have a special love for those fics <3

so yeah that's the general deal! if you ever want to talk more about it, i am HAPPY to discuss !!! pls pls plsplsplsplsplssplsplslpslslslss!!!!!!

[runningpsychic]

Why Goodbye Volcano High resonates with me as...

...a musician

As a musician, it's hard not to immediately identify with Fang. What musician doesn't want their music to be heard, to play at music festivals, and have music as their career. I can wax poetic about how music is about self expression and it doesn't matter if I have an audience, but in the end, I still want my music to be heard, and enjoyed. And Fang is on track to making this their entire career.

Making music has been a minor hobby for me. Even as a kid, I knew there's almost no chance I can make it as a musician, so I went down the route of being a software engineer instead. It's such a minor part of my life that I don't even bother identifying as a musician, I just fool around with instruments. But something about GVH ignited that passion in me, and during my first playthrough, I wrote six songs inspired by themes in the game. Even if I'll stay an amateur, I want to make the most from life, and not let the fire die. (See last section)

All that said, I felt very bad for Fang throughout the game. I know how tough the life of a full time musician is. The industry is just completely screwed. And unlike me, Fang doesn't have another option other than music. The game also drives it in that Fang's friends all have viable career paths, while Fang doesn't. But then, the meteor throws an interesting wrench into this, as now Fang is the only one who achieved their dreams. I'm not sure what the point of this paragraph is besides fuck capitalism, give musicians a living wage.

...an enby

Fang really made me more comfortable about being non-binary. It's amazing seeing enby representation that doesn't feel shoehorned in, or merely an afterthought. It's actually integral to the story. Both Fang and Sage struggle having their parents take their identities seriously, and that mirrors my own fears of not being taken seriously as an enby myself, which leads me to only come out as non-binary to my closest friends, and just remain a binary trans woman to everyone else.

It's honestly amazing to see everyone in Caldera Bay being accepting of the queer cast, like being queer isn't a big deal at all. And that's how it should be. Everyone just calls Fang by their name and pronouns (except their parents of course), and no one seems to mind that Reed brought Alvin to prom. This really makes me feel more comfortable about my identity, and I feel proud to be queer. We don't owe them normal.

...an immigrant

It's so rare to see stories about the intersection of being trans and being an immigrant, so when I read Rosa's story, I felt it must've been written by someone who also has first hand experience. There's a distinct feel from my family that me being trans is a "western" thing, not something they could ever understand. Or worse, that I'm being corrupted by "the west" in some way by moving there. There's so much extended family I can never see again because I'm now an abomination of the family tree.

I find it really difficult to talk about this as I fear I'd be misread as being racist for suggesting that my home country is more queerphobic or something, but that isn't my point. I just want to tell my story, and my experience of being alienated for both culture and gender, in both my origin and destination countries, is one that most folks can't emphasize with. (Venba also does do a good job with the culture part, so you should check that out too)

There's a separate rant about how this brand of queerphobia was actually planted by Christian missionaries and not at all "traditional culture", but that's for another time.

...someone struggling with mental health

I've been obsessed with the game for months since I played it. I went through what everyone calls "Dino depression", but I think it really helped me, and it was the game I needed to play at this moment in my life. I struggle with depression and burnout. At times it can be hard to know what the point is, or feel that any of this is worth it. The first few weeks after the game, I actually felt more depressed, as I thought about what the point of life is if it all is temporary anyway, and what I would do if a meteor were to hit in 8 months. And I was scared, because I felt like my life wasn't under my control. Over time, I've learned to think about it more positively. If life is temporary, then it's up to me to make the most of it. If life has no meaning, it's up to me to make my own meaning. I have amazing friends around me, and I still have tons of music to make.

[cybershock24601]

Not to say Veilguard's writing is perfect or doesn't have any problems because it does but I feel one of the biggest reasons people don't like it is because it treats the dragon age fandom like it is, stupid and reactionary.

When Inquisition dropped in 2014, those were some dark fucking days. People were coming out with the most wild hot takes and ready to start putting heads on pikes over differences of opinion. I totally get why the devs choose to file down some of the rougher edges and not put some of the darker and more problematic elements of the setting into such sharp focus because if my memory serves me right, people were pissed the fuck off that bad things were depicted at all in Inquisition. There were pages and pages of discourse over every little thing so trying to side step the stuff that made people start frothing at the mouth probably seemed like a smart move to the devs especially since the way the fandom talked about a lot of the stuff was like they didn't want to see any of it onscreen at all. It's not like Veilguard doesn't have fucked up stuff going on but its more in the background now and I can see how that decision was made considering fandom sentiment over the years. Also a lot of people who like to roleplay oppression don't get to do that in Veilguard, not saying that's the reason for all the push back on the shift in tone in Veilguard, there are a lot of legitimate criticisms, but there were definitely people that took rping as a fictional minority a little too seriously back in the day.

The other reason people can't stand Veilguard is because it definitely holds your hand sometimes when it comes to the narrative which people get upset about because it makes them feel stupid because duh, its so obvious I didn't need the game to treat me like a child but is it just obvious because the game is explicitly spelling it out? Considering some of the horrendous fucking takes I've seen whenever the writing has some nuance or requires some critical thinking, yeah no shit the writing team decided to be a lot more explicit when it came to certain aspects of the game because oh boy does a whole lot seem to go over people's head. Things go over my head too sometimes since I'm usually more focused on playing the game then analyzing it especially on a first playthrough, but my god do I get why the writing is a lot less complex in Veilguard. Some of it is definitely a result of rewrites and budget and time constraints and EA doing what EA does but there is a reason Veilguard can feel like Dragon Age for babies because when the game does choose to treat people like adults, so many people seem to completely miss what the game is trying to say when it isn't hammering the point into directly into your skull. There are things Veilguard could have done better on but I've seen a lot of common complaints that just seem to be the result of people refusing to do any deeper thinking about what the game is saying and doing very surface level readings.

[conkreetmonkey]

So. I'm tinkering with something that will probably not pan out in the end. Rather than try to create an OC character for my latest Fallout 4 playthrough, instead I just went with fully vanilla Nora, down to the name, who I've never played as before, and am attempting an rp run where I try to act reasonably and realistically, and I'm recording the whole thing in hopes of putting it on YouTube eventually. I want to evolve her character over time, and reflect her evolution visibly with looksmenu as her tale unfolds and her character develops, for example adding scars after a big fight in which she sustained damage, cutting her hair for a big moment of emotional catharsis, or making her visibly buffer as her strength stat increases. My thought is it might be cool for the Nora that the story ends with to look completely different from the original, with sick sci-fi gear and battle scars and shit, despite starting out fully default. Of course, there are already some issues with this idea (longie under the cut):

The first episode (yk, the important first impression one) will be boring as hell, simply because everybody has seen the intro to Fallout 4 at this point, and watching somebody play through it as vanilla as possible as a default character will probably be very uninteresting. Even people who haven't played the game know the plot of the intro.

This being a decade-old Bethesda game, the animations are janky as hell, and so as early on as the pre-boom intro segment it's hard to remain immersed. Objects appearing and disappearing, characters bugging out and clipping into walls, voice lines constantly getting cut off... you never realize how unpolished this game is until you try to record "cinematic" and "immersive" footage of it. Codsworth cries upon realizing Nate and Shaun are really gone while half clipped into a doorframe.

The story of Fallout 4 is, let's face it, kind of nonsensical. I know some love it and some hate it, as with most things about this very controversial game. For me, personally, I love the aesthetic and art direction, and while the vanilla building system is pretty limited, with a few modsit quickly becomes ridiculously good. But the story? Wasted potential incarnate. I love the idea of synths and the Father reveal and all that, but the stakes never feel real, both because, unless you speedrun the game, your character gets sidetracked in their quest to find their infant child, who was kidnapped by their spouse's murderer very quickly. That's some of the strongest motivation imaginable, especially when from Nora's POV the murder-kidnapping, as well as the end of the entire fucking world, the death of everyone she ever knew, and travelling 200 years into a nightmarish future, happened like 30 minutes ago. Like... lady, you just experienced 5 lifetimes worth of trauma. You just saw the city you live in get nuked, and escaped the blast by mere seconds. Then you got locked in a pod, frozen, thawed out, helplessly watched as your husband was shot in the face while trying to defend your can't-even-crawl-yet, still-breastfeeding infant, and then your baby was literally ripped from his cold, dead hands and abducted by nasty looking men. Then you got frozen again, before finally being ejected from the tube, dumped hacking and coughing onto an ice-cold linoleum floor. Your beloved husband's corpse limply slumps over the edge of his pod, still covered in frost, and all your neighbors are dead. In fact, everyone in the vault is dead. You, a lawyer, have seen like 25 dead bodies within 15 minutes. And then you were attacked by terrier-sized cockroaches, narrowly escaped a slow death in an abandoned bunker with no food left by sheer luck, and emerged into a dead world littered with bones. You just stepped over the sunbleached skeleton of your neighbor to see your house dilapidated and overgrown. You enter to see your baby's crib, pristine the last you saw it, now an empty, battered husk, his toys scattered and broken, the cheerful wallpaper you saw just minutes ago long since having rotted away. All of this, from your point of view, happened within like half an hour tops, and you'd just woken up. You never even ate breakfast. AND YOU JUST... SHRUG THIS OFF? Lady. Lady. I'd have vomited from stress and had a gibbering, scream-crying, wall-punching emotional breakdown by the corpse part, like Jesus Christ. No wonder the emotional stakes in this game don't feel real. Codsworth, your off-the-shelf, basic model robot butler (which is kind of a problematic thing to "own" btw, especially considering that the game's plot), has a far stronger reaction to this than you, despite being a series of ones and zeroes with the computing power of a pregnancy test. He cries, despite lacking tear ducts or a face to emote with. Despite believing all three of you were dead for the past century or so. Meanwhile, you, a human mother who just had her baby stolen, don't shed a single tear or shout one expletive over any of this. But you do immediately risk your life leaping to the aid of a bunch of American Revolution larpers without even understanding the context of their plight. You've got your priorities straight I see, mama bear.

Finally... the game is very clearly written around Nate. It at least makes sense that a seasoned veteran could withstand the sight of mutilated corpses and gore, and immediately know how to use guns and power armor. You've done all of this before! You've seen active combat! You executed resistors in the invasion of Canada (you piece of shit)! WHY would Nora, a lawyer, immediately know how to hold, aim, and reload a pistol with no guidance, let alone a suit of power armor or a fucking aircraft-grade minigun?? Ma'am, you are an academic. You fight legal battles. Prior games established that you need special training to operate power armor, which makes sense because it's basically a lite mech that quadruples the width of your fingers, removes your external sense of feel, adds two feet to your height, halves your FOV, adds two tons to your net weight, and superimposes a UI over your vision. It makes sense for the devs to bypass this by making the MC already experienced with power armor, and to establish this in the opening cutscene so the player doesn't question it. BUT ONLY ONE OF THE POSSIBLE MCS, THE ONE THE OPENING CUTSCENE ASSUMES YOU'LL PICK, HAS THIS BACKSTORY. The other is basically an emotionally healthier Kim Wexler. Her ass ain't ever held a rifle. Get real. It's like if Pokémon Red and Blue had an opening cutscene where the player character talks about how much they love their charmander, and THEN you get to pick your starter, and throughout the story people reference your love of fire types and charmanders, and you're inexplicably able to start fires at any time "thanks to your pokémon partner!" It's just bad writing when picking one of the gender options is going against the narrative grain, especially when older games were able to handle it seamlessly.

Regardless, I think I'm giving this a try. I'm still at the stage of recording footage and installing mods, but maybe I'll have something to show for it in a few weeks? Or maybe the project will piddle out or prove itself unviable. Who knows!

[loupy-mongoose]

Did you make any fanart for Bug Fables? (Also secondary bug related question- thoughts on Hollow Knight?)

I'll answer the second one first. I've never played Hollow Knight myself, but watched a playthrough of it. I never got into it as much.

I've done a fair bit of Bug Fables art, some of it for MasaeAnela when she played through it on Twitch.

Now, a lot of the art contains spoilers, big and small, so I'm gonna put a Read More. (It also ended up being super long lol)

You've been warned.

I'll try to order it from least to most spoilery so it's harder to accidentally see them.

*Note for the art, the character Leif, the blue guy, refers to himself in plural. Saying "We/us" instead of "I/me". Just so you're not confused. X3

First I'll share a little Bug Fables version of a bug I saw at work one day.

This was made in response to Masae getting endlessly distracted by sidequests in her playthrough. XD

Leif has ice powers, and one of his moves requires the player to hit a button as it pops up. If they fail, the power backfires and Leif does a little animation where his hand freezes. Masae kept pressing the wrong button, so this came to mind. XD

At some point I decided to draw them as dragons. There are a few more down below, but there's a spoiler bit of text, so it goes in the depths lol.

Based on a bit of optional dialogue in the game. X3

I still like this artwork. :>

And a few comics I've done.

Fetch gone wrong~

The following arts relate to massive and/or end-game spoilers, so continue at your own discretion!

More dragons~

Very spoilery comic

Mood Music

Uh oh

And some existential dread.

Hoo! Okay, that's all that I have to share! A lot of this probably makes very little sense without context, lol.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that! It was nice to look back at all these. Some are good memories, and some I completely forgot about. X3

[danwhobrowses]

So I Finally Finished a Playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3

It's been months of playing over my holidays and the weekends, but I've finally completed my first playthrough of what was deemed Game of the Year for 2023.

As someone whose only D&D experiences come from the two movies (the bad one that traumatized me as a kid by killing Snails and the good one that deserves more love) and Critical Role, I didn't know much of what I was getting into, only my coworkers saying 'buy it, it's a masterpiece' unanimously when I inquired about it. Having no idea how to play or the lore, I was very much entering blind.

Continued down the Keep Reading

So, I'm sure we gotta get through the first set of questions so let's get to them.

What was your Tav? It took a long time to realise that 'Tav' meant your player character among fanpages, I can't tell you why it's Tav still, but I only pieced it together from Durge naming too. My Tav is Dec, short for December because that's when I started playing and I couldn't waste too much time on stream thinking up a clever name. He was a High Elf Guild Artisan, for Class I started as a Beast Master Ranger, ironic that Ranger is deemed one of the lesser classes among the community, I was adamant to not use archery at the start but by the end of it I was a Crossbow Expert. I went 9/3 with Rogue to get Assassin, but then respec'd my Ranger into a Gloomstalker, since I never really summoned the bear (probably should've learned from Sam's constant dissing of Trinket eh?) plus when I remembered Dread Ambusher it gave me 3 attacks on the first turn. He has combustible blood thanks to Araj and some tadpole powers after consuming them after the creche incident made him more open to trusting the Dream Visitor; Charm - which failed 90% of the time - Psionic Backlash, Favourable Beginnings and Luck of the Far Realms used mainly, I had Stage Fright and Force Tunnel but didn't use it, same for Cull the Weak. Likes to talk things through, especially with Persuasion/Charisma buffing invisible hats. Has the Duellist's Perogative Sword and the Swire's Sledboard Shield for Melee, and the AC bonus, plus the Armor of Agility giving him an evasive 24 AC with Advantage thanks to 20 DEX and the Cloak of Displacement.

You can't see his scar and tattoo too well from here but I had to show off his Black Furnace and Red dye on his armour it looks too good. Here's a better look of his face:

For his tattoo and scarring I like to think he got the tattoo after the burn, in some ways distracting it from the scarring.

Did you Save Scum? Don't Lie to Me! Yes and I'm not sorry about it. If you wanna invite me to a D&D table I'll follow the rules and how the dice lands but there's a lot more wiggle room there than in a game where there's finite dialogue options. I was also not going to sit there and let my companions turn against me just because the game fancied throwing continual Nat 1s or low rolls at me, nor would I let Omeluum die in the Iron Throne, or end up leaving the Mirror of Loss empty handed. I bought the game so if I wanna carve this experience this way I shall carve it this way, I get some people see the Morally Good path as boring for this kind of gaming but I like to be good, it feels good, and I want good things to happen for my allies, even if it means having to undo most of their religious indoctrination. But, it did take a while for me to start save scumming, really it was freeing Halsin that started it but it didn't become regular until Auntie Ethel. I only really did it for dialogue/lore expansion (or when there were two dialogue options I was between which I hoped would be interpreted how I expect it to) and for necessary buff rolls like the Mirror of Loss, but sometimes I did it to keep some key NPCs alive like Jaheira, who died at Moonrise the first time.

Who did you usually team up with? Kinda a harem squad since I had Lae'zel, Shadowheart and Karlach. I was very combat-oriented; Lae'zel adding support to Karlach's melee or Dec's ranged combat while Shadowheart made up for most of the magic with heals, summons and like 100 scrolls in her bag (Dec horded about 100 different arrows and poisons too, sometimes pays off). I respec'd her to Light Domain after the Nightsong stuff to fit her character and hair change - though I must admit I preferred the black hair - and gave her my Adamantine Splint Armour for defences plus the ring and Balduran's Helm for +5 healing each turn. Lae'zel was a Battle Master, clad in the Helldusk set, though I didn't use much of her Superiority dice moves; the enemies often made saves against it even with 18 strength (20 after the mirror of loss, and higher at endgame thanks to an Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength), I relied more on her brute force, plus reaction skills like Executioner and Sentinel, plus the Silver Sword of the Astral Plane. Karlach was a 9/3 Bear Heart Barbarian and Champion Fighter, I did respec her for the Feats but the Bone armour, Balduran's Greatsword and Brutal Jump also helped at times, plus the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength and the Amulet of Greater Health made her a high damage, near-200 Health-on-Rage machine (over 200 thanks to the +30 extra health at the final battle). I tended not to swap around a lot, I couldn't abandon my healer, loved Karlach's personality and I had sentiment for Lae'zel being the first person I encountered, she has the sad eyes too, but I did do some rare switching for personal quests. Initially I started with Astarion, but that's because of a misunderstanding of who Karlach was - more on that later - and it turned out that I wasn't doing much for stealth, I brought him for Cazador though, much like I brought Wyll for Ansur and Gale for the Book of Karsus. Later in Act 3 I played around with dyes and equipped everyone, out of fear that I may be sprung unprepared like with Orin - Halsin only had a torch - by all campmates joining the fight, it didn't happen but everyone at least looks stylish.

I go between whether I like Wyll's colours though, on one hand he looks like a Templar and the white would stand out in Avernus, other times he looks like a cosplayer XD Minsc and Jaheira needed no dyes the colours already suited well, but I do love the colours I chose for Astarion, Halsin and Karlach.

Who did you fuck? (romance) Probably would've been asked sooner but sadly Dec became an unintended bachelor, at least outside of the headcanon. He did share a night of passion with Lae'zel after freeing the Emerald Grove but it wasn't something he wanted to pursue further, our dynamic was more befitting of two soldiers, or at least a dynamic where we think we're the General and the other the Advisor. Had Shadowheart took 'later' for her drink offer as 'I want to see all the dialogues other characters have first' rather than a refusal there might have been a romance there, instead I feel we fell into a more sibling bond, she can be a bit too sassy at times in passing dialogue - I had hoped to see more development with her and Lae'zel eventually being friends. Wyll did his best to throw sad puppy eyes at me when I refused to dance with him but it just made things more awkward, Gale meanwhile probably was gonna make moves when teaching me the Weave but he was very hung up on Mystra for me to entertain it, I sat with him when he felt the mortal coil though. Astarion I think made a passing suggestion but nothing of substance, Halsin left it late after he got kidnapped by Orin - I didn't realise he had to physically join the party to be a part of the group until Act 3 - coming onto me right before I confronted the Brain which was quickly turned down. I believe Minsc and Jaheira are unable to be romanced atm, and I did not fuck the Emperor; it weirded me out that he just was there shirtless chilling next to my unconscious dream state. We killed Minthara, didn't know you could recruit or romance her in a Morally Good path. Which left Karlach, fuck did I want to romance Karlach, not for lack of trying either; but because when I met Wyll he was talking about killing her I immediately assumed 'oh Karlach must be that woman on the cover with him' (aka 'the bitch who could've been cool if she wasn't such a bitch' Mizora, who I also wouldn't have romanced given the option) and stuck a pin in it, I was also unaware that most Act 1 romance stuff would come to a head at the end of the Emerald Grove quest which I prioritized so I only encountered Karlach after I saved Halsin and the Grove, meaning I couldn't reach Dammon until Act 2. By then Karlach seemed to be locked out of romance, perhaps for another misunderstanding on my part too since I did upgrade her engine twice at Lost Light very swiftly, but it still was a knife to the heart after all that and the date at the circus that she called us 'just mates' to Fytz. All this and then they give us a better kissing patch ¬_¬

Yes so sad, anyway what about ~Astarion~? Astarion is popular, and I know why he's popular, and the scene of him killing Cazador was very well done...but Astarion for me though was just fine; I mean you guys see Karlach right? Part of the reason she stays my group was that I can't bear to part from her. A lot of the times my Morally Good options didn't align with Astarion's brand of pessimistic chaos, so he spent a lot of time in camp as I mispronounced his name until I heard it be properly said, which probably hampered his story a bit more, but we had a close enough friendship that he heeded my advice with the Ascension and the spawn, wish he reacted to me getting a painting of him since he can't see his reflection though, felt like something could've been done there. Jaheira was a fun personality too, angry old lady who says it like it is, kinda wish we had more to her quest, seeing her home and her interacting with her wards/children was interesting, Minsc was charming too in his simple way, would've been cool if he had more of a presence as well, like we could hear about Minsc and the Stone Lord in separate lights earlier in the game to build up to him. On that topic, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a companion for each role, I suppose there were constraints but Aylin and Zevlor both worked as Paladins, Alfira a Bard (though I don't think anyone would dare put her in the line of fire), I suppose there's little need for a Sorcerer when you had a Wizard or a Monk when you had a Fighter and Barbarian but it was strange, you get 2 Druids and your Ranger is built more like a Fighter or Barbarian (the latter I added to Minsc). I'd later learn that there was cut content for a halfling companion who was a werewolf, but I can see why that one was cut, with Chetney and all, but yeah not any halflings, Barcus could've been a companion even without the Artificer class, or a Dragonborn.

So how did your story go? Being the Morally Good Guy I was I went through most of the best options I could, but I also tried to avoid combat earlier on when I was struggling to work with it. I was friendly with the Goblin Camp for starters, since they thought I was with the Absolute and Dec is willing to put shit on his face to avoid conflict, it all went tits up after freeing Halsin and having to kill everyone but it may've had some benefit to how I could walk freely through Moonrise. Ironically it was the same with the Githyanki, friendly up until they wanted me to hand over the prism, though the Creche was a lost cause anyway, they're lucky I didn't ransack the place, could've gotten a lot of xp and loot there. I let Viconia live, so she can dwell on that burn Shadowheart gave her but oftentimes I was not so merciful, do wish I didn't kill that one Sharran with the letter of hating being there though, why'd you fight me girl? Same with the Bhaalist with the parents at Elfsong, and the goblin children, I was using nonlethal but arrows don't count as I'd soon learn. Allies were mostly good-to-neutral creatures like the Tieflings (though I wish I saved more, nobody told me about the harpies and I thought convincing Rolan to stay would mean the Grove not the Shadow Cursed Lands - also why send refugees who struggle with goblins through the SHADOW CURSED LANDS?) and 90% of the Ironhand Gnomes because fuck Wulbren - I didn't like Barcus too much at first, thought him rude, but when Wulbren didn't even show gratitude for his attempts I softened to him. Kindness made me quite the enemy to others however; the infernal naturally did not appreciate my deeds of pact breaking but saving the Duke anyway and pilfering the House of Hope, but to be fair Raphael (and his clear portrait of himself I clocked onto immediately when he was in his human guise to know he was untrustworthy) never repaid me in-game for 'killing' Yurgir, and Mizora would've squirmed a lot more in her Ilithid pod had it been a table interaction - though, the latter two were more than willing to help me with the Absolute, 'cept Raphael because he's dead - but in my defence I loved outwitting and being a sassy little shit to demons. Slaying the Chosen was a given, as a very Pro-Karlach guy I was never letting Gortash live, got the Father/Grandfather-Daughter set with Bhaal too. Killing the former Balduran was disappointing; as much as he was on my side he always felt like he had his own ulterior motives, he also had a superiority complex to him with his constant urging of being half-Ilithid; thinks it's not important that he's Balduran either, dismissing Ansur's legend until confronted by Ansur's spirit. Stealing the Orphic Hammer was an insurance policy at first, I could understand Voss' disdain for us using Githyanki Jesus in a box like a forcefield, but it's a shame that the guy who was all about trust decided not to trust me in releasing Orpheus; we could've stopped the brain together! Omeluum would've heard me out. I mean Orpheus was a bit salty but he at least was willing to negotiate and not immediately side back with the brain like a petty bitch. I'd say the gods have mixed feelings with me; friendly with Selune and Lathander at least, and whatever Withers is - though the guy roasted me about my love life. The rest either neutral or anti; Shar and Vlaakith (if you can call her a god) definitely hate me, because they're sore losers, think Myrkul and Bhaal likely hate me, Bane however seemed to respect game not sure how I feel about that. I don't quite like Mystra, think she's a bit extreme with her treatment of Gale, but I understand her role, valid god but shitty person. On the other hand I probably have Cyric's favour for helping the Strange Ox, which might be bad...but Milil was happy to be recognized.

In the end, most of the allies got to live somewhat happily; Gale got the orb out of him and became a professor, Lae'zel - having dealt the final blow to the brain - leads the charge against Vlaakith after Orpheus became a Mind Flayer and was mercy killed, Shadowheart has her family (Shar would've always been with her regardless of her choice), a bunch of pets and can maybe reminisce with Nocturne again one day, Jaheira and Minsc - once he survives Zhentharim execution, didn't realise I needed to have him talk to Nine Fingers - also can rest with her wards and probably share drinks with Nine Fingers until the next fight, Astarion sadly has no cure for vampirism but he is owning it and killing the right people (I like to think he'll get to see the sun again, maybe Omeluum and the Mycolids help), plus Halsin has a bunch of kids in Moonrise to look after, plus Thaniel, Oliver and a new Owlbear who I'd rather had left with Dammon given the option. Isobel and Aylin can settle down, Rolan runs the Sundries, Hope is free, Alfira and Lakrissa got their bard's school, Florrick and Ravengard resume leadership to rebuild, Dammon has his forge, Scratch found a new home in this Mindy (but I remain best master), Mol I'm sure will be running the Guildhall in a few years, Thrumbo has a shelter for his brothers, Mayrina will raise her son without the threat of a hag, Vanra won't become a hag (but does need therapy), and Arabella will probably be the next Withers after reading some more rocks. Yenna didn't seem to have an ending so I'll assume that she found a loving home too, maybe with Halsin or as one of Jaheira's wards, or maybe Gale wants a Sous Chef since she did bring her own carving knife if you didn't know. I wish Alfira got invited to the epilogue, god of song is fine but not the familiar face and it would've been cool for them to meet, nice to get a letter at least, and we'll have to visit Art's grave sometime. Surprised we got no word about Mizora, I didn't get a letter from Geraldus even though he survived, Naaber apparently had more in him after wanting to be a dog, sad not to get anything from Rolan, Devella (I know Valeria mentioned her but c'mon), the Gondians, Mol, Omeluum, or Aylin and Isobel from the epilogue, did we really need the ramblings of Ettvard? Plus the papers must've glitched they said Stelmane's killer was still at large? Post-credits scene felt a bit weak mind you, but guessing Withers is that old God of Death Jerghal? Least he's not a surprise villain to fight. As for me, well, I was never one to give up on people and neither is Dec, and thus Dec and Karlach brave Avernus to seek a fix for her infernal engine, punch a few demons and whatnot, Wyll is there too as the Blade of Avernus, a role he embraced twice after barely contributing to killing Ansur but that's more proximity. We'll chill in the House of Hope especially after her letter, but soon enough we'll all return to Faerun on a more permanent basis.

So you enjoyed it? Yes, very much. I did of course make a lot of mistakes though; kept forgetting about Dread Ambusher for one, my earlier failures at romance still stung, I think the game wasn't as welcoming to those unfamiliar to it. The dice did not like me many times, I once got a Nat 1 in a 2 DC with +2 bonus, I also have had several instances of back-to-back Nat 1s, even had 6 in two different streams. Combat was an adjustment period, I missed a lot of the time which was frustrating, or the enemy would make saving throws on my gambits, Karlach even got pushed into the abyss at the Temple of Bhaal, I was livid. I think I probably would've experienced more if the game established better that you can long rest as much as you like without turning into a Mind Flayer, because much of Act 1 was me reluctant to Long Rest because they say you can change 'within 2-3 days', as a result that affected some romance options too, nobody to spend the night with if there's no night, as well as other in-camp interactions - Astarion never tried to bite me for instance, and I'm sure Raphael would've arrived to reward me for killing Yurgir had we not dealt with a backlog of interactions. I remained quite the hesitant player too, I ignored Gale stuck in a portal for a while fearing some magical backlash was gonna vaporize me, oftentimes I expected worse than what actually happened. Graphically there were a few characters whose cheeks were being pulled to the far left side of the map which was weird, and some battles would have enemies who would just do nothing for their turns, and some areas didn't render quick enough to not be noticed, but it was small stuff in comparison, I didn't do much for camp clothes or dyes until late on but probably for the better since style should be for the final act. I also keep seeing stuff that I somehow missed in my playthrough; like there's an angry squirrel near the grove? A frog in Ethel's house? A bird who wanted help with the giant eagles? What? Where?

What was the most difficult part? Act 3 had a lot of tough shit going down, though one of my most memorable struggles was against Auntie Ethel in Act 1. Already deep in her domain at lv4 it was a rough run to start with, continually hit by Hold Person by her projections, only when I learned they were one-hits did it become a little easier, but without Extra Attack it was still difficult. After that combat was here and there, sometimes it was just the environment like being jammed in a pipe when fighting Minsc; Lorroakan was annoying, Grym I had to be tactical with the hammer, the Assassin at the Facemaker was quite difficult too because he'd Haste himself and hide. The Death Shepherds in the Mountain Pass were surprisingly difficult without the Blood of Lathander, much easier with its Sunbeam. The companion quest final battles of Cazador, Ansur and Viconia were each difficult in their own way; the former was most annoying because my party would be downed but the thrown healing potions weren't working (plus those downed members were the ones with Radiant damage and holy water), wasn't even Bone Chilled like with Viconia, Ansur was difficult because of his burst attack. Raphael hits fucking hard, but once I realised that Hope kept dying because she was getting backlash from dealing Radiant Damage it was just attrition and lots of potion throwing. Combat-wise I think the toughest battle was Cazador due to the glitch of thrown potions not healing, otherwise the toughest boss was Ansur. Overall the most difficult experience I found was the timed operations of the Iron Throne.

Will you play again? Most likely, which is something I don't tend to say so Larian did do their job well. Though I might wait a bit to play other games first and give Larian time to add more content and finer polishing, I think I'd have a better time with it the second time around, would definitely try to resolve previous wrongs or missed opportunities, though I doubt I'd look forward to everything there; killing the Goblin Camp was still difficult work, same with the Steel Watch and all the turn limit stuff, I'll at least wait until I have Extra Attack before dealing with Ethel in Act 1 and take more Long Rests, maybe rotate the party a bit more and try out some other classes - but you will pry Speak with Animals out of my cold dead hands! Learning later about there being a bunch of cut content would entice me to play a third time if they reach a stage where all the intended content has been added in, but there's not exactly a time frame for that or a clear show of intent so far, so we'll see in that one, for all that is cut it seems like the end product is the tip of the iceberg. Enjoyed the play, played for a long time, would play again: money well spent.

[kyndaris]

Non-Stop

As someone who likes to dabble in the art of writing, there is something to be said of the process in and of itself. Like many, I've often wished for the ideas circulating in my head to appear on the blank Word document fully formed. A novel come to life before my very eyes. Instead, I often myself chained to my desk, pecking out words and then scratching them out and coming up with a whole new sentence to describe the exact same thing. Except bigger. And better. And more readable.

Writing, it should be universally acknowledged, is no small feat. Especially for someone who holds down a full-time job (which is completely unrelated to my dreams of becoming a bestselling author), has a myriad of other hobbies, and also wants to squeeze in some social interactions with my friends during the week.

And yet...

Were I trapped in the Dark Place, hammering out my words in a bid to escape, I wonder what sort of narrative I would spin. Fantasy has always been my go-to genre as both a writer and a reader. But as some of the short stories I've provided on my blog can attest, I am no stranger to other genres. And if I'm being constrained by the Dark Presence's emphasis on grim and dark emotions, why, I think I might churn out fantasy horrors a la T Kingfisher.

How they might lead me to freedom is a mystery although I imagine there will be swords aplenty. Maybe I'd write in a local LARPing group coming to my rescue instead of a federal agent.

One can only dream.

All of this, though is to say I've just finished playing the latest in Remedy's catalogue: Alan Wake 2. This game released on the tail end of 2023 and takes place thirteen years after the first. For many, its announcement came as a surprise, although there had been some teasing threads in Remedy's previous game: Control. Despite having no physical copy available, I was still eager to try it out. Alas, with the slew of video games I had to get through, it was not until the end of 2024 that I was able to enjoy my time with the narrative brought about from the creative mind of Mr Sam Lake himself.

Just to shake things up, however, let's start with the gameplay. Why, I hear you ask? Well, there's a lot to unpack with the narrative. Especially with the symbolisms present within. So, you'll forgive me for wanting to discuss it afterwards.

Alan Wake 2 is a third-person shooter that plays like many a horror game: resources are scant and there are jump scares every few minutes to keep one on their tones. Of course, these jump scares are mostly prevalent when tackling overlaps. But what disconcerted me the most was how these were all live-action. Thankfully, though, the game wasn't too terrifying for me. The music cues helped in preparing myself for what might happen next even as it had me looking around every corner as it helped build up the atmosphere.

From a combat perspective, Alan Wake 2 expands on the first game. Yes, you still shine your torch and then shoot the Taken but there are now a myriad of weapons and other tools at your disposal. Saga and Alan are also able to duck away as the enemies take a swing. Yet, I'd have to say the game is also quite a bit harder than the first. Especially when Saga or Alan are overwhelmed by foes. These were few and far between but it was enough that during the Final Draft playthrough, I put the difficulty down instead of making it harder.

The other gameplay aspect of the game I liked was how different Saga and Alan played. While their loadouts are similar, they each have their own respective upgrade and ability system. But what stood out to me was how the different characters had access to a unique menu to assess the information the game presents. Saga used a mind palace and often utilised a case board or profiling to help solve the murders plaguing the town of Bright Falls. Alan, on the other hand, thinks very much like a writer. In his mind, he has a plot board to the side where he can brainstorm the ideas he stumbles upon and change the scenes of the story he's in. Doing so impacts the immediate environment, an important factor allowing Alan to progress through his chapters.

Now here comes the bit where I try to analyse the shit out of the game.

Alan Wake 2 begins with Saga Anderson, an FBI agent, arriving at Cauldron Lake following the discovery of the body of former agent Nightingale. The man had lurched out from the lake and was then murdered by masked cultists. Or so it was believed. Later, at the morgue, Nightingale returns to life and takes out several officers before escaping.

It soon becomes clear something supernatural is happening. Saga soon finds a manuscript page from a new novel: Return. Seeing how the words change the world around her, she puts her faith in the writing and sets out to Cauldron Lake. And like the traditional hero, she follows the plot beats as set out by the story. Along the way she uncovers more of her family history, figures out the true mastermind behind the Cult of the Tree, and tangles with corrupted forms of the local townsfolk. All culminating in a final confrontation with the Dark Presence where the other hero, Alan Wake, pays the ultimate price.

Alan's story sees him trapped in the Dark Place, looking for an escape. The way he does so? By writing. This allows him to project out of the writer's room he is trapped in and navigate a gritty and dark version of New York. There, he tangles first with talk show host: Warlin Door, where it is revealed he has written a sequel to his seminal piece from the first game: Initiation. However, Alan has no memory of ever penning the piece.

Fearing for his mind, he manages to escape out into the streets of New York. His first order of business? Finding a murder site so he can then transport himself back to Parliament Tower where his wife is.

Once he does enter his apartment, he finds another manuscript entitled Return. Another story he does not remember ever writing. Before he can contemplate the piece further, the Dark Presence catches up with him and Alan wakes again in his writer's room.

Thus he returns once more to his story, projecting himself back into the fake New York to find a way out of the Dark Place once and for all. During one such loop through, Alan partakes in a wild and chaotic musical: The Herald of Darkness. But always, the set route he takes follows the same rhyme. Like most writers, Alan is a creature of habit and he follows the rules of three to bring him ever closer to solving the mysteries he no longer remembers.

In the Dark Place, Alan muses, time loops. And while there are slight variations, it inevitably brings him back to the beginning where he must try again.

This, in and of itself, is important when it comes to discussing the themes of the game. I think it obvious that the Dark Place is a stand-in for depression. Of being at rock bottom.

Alan's journey, unlike Saga, is about trying to claw his way out. Of escaping the cycle he finds himself in.

For most people suffering from depression or mental illness, it can often feel like you take one step forward and two steps back. Progress can easily be obscured by backsliding. Especially during crucial moments.

There is no concept of time when you're depressed. Emotions are raw. Memory, too, is unreliable.

Yet, as we all know, the tortured artist is the one who can present to us, the audience, the most exquisite of works. Think Vincent Van Gogh or Sylvia Plath. In the Alan Wake videogames, our tortured artist here is Alan Wake himself. Tormented by his own words and living a tormented life trapped in the Dark Place, how could he not be the quintessential trope we all know and love?

The way the game plays with the use of light and darkness, too, further echoes these themes. In the Final Draft, the presence of Alice helps break Alan out of the spiral he finds himself in and he is able to ascend out.

His characterisation contrasts with Saga. She has a loving family and a support network. When she is trapped in the Dark Place at the end of the game, she shows her resilience by putting the self-doubt and negative self-talk on hold. Instead, she is able to focus on the positives in her life and in the evidence she has around her that proves she is more than what the critical inner-voice would have her believe. Saga, too, quickly realises that it is her own anxiety and fear preventing her from leaving. By tackling it head-on, she is able to find her way to the exit.

Something which Alan struggles with as his only way of finding an escape is to use his art as a means to rationalise the negative emotions he feels.

It is these elements that make Alan Wake 2 stand out as a piece of media. Yes, it has its own absurd Finnish deadpan humour too (especially in the Night Springs DLC) but the primary story being told here is one mans' struggle with mental illness and navigating his way out. Focused solely on his own determined path out, Alan fails to acknowledge the other ways he can escape (as an aside, he does write the Lake House DLC addendum, but it feels like an attempt to use features in Bright Falls to better add to the worldbuilding of the world he has created in Return). Nor does he ponder the factors that brought him to the Dark Place in the first place.

The ending, too, even during the Final Draft also felt open enough for further entries. Especially with Alice's status still unknown. And while Alan does seem to be in a better headspace at the end (like when he was finally freed of the Dark Presence at the end of Chapter Seven of Return), it's anyone's guess if he might still fall back onto old patterns.

Let's just hope it doesn't take Alan another thirteen years to push out the ending he deserves. Perhaps he needs a little of the Brandon Sanderson magic to pull him out of his slump?

On a completely unrelated note, is it me or does Sam Lake seem to be having the time of his life? As both the creative lead and the writer, he sure enjoys inserting himself into his own games. Even playing the role of Alex Casey and doing the 'Max Payne' scrunch face. Not to mention the short film Yoton Yo!

By the way, Mr Sam Lake, it's okay if you want to set the game in Finland. I'd still play it. America is too saturated a setting!

Also, if you want to pursue other artistic forms, I'm also down.

[sekritjay]

Been the bad kind of busy for me, the kind that keeps me away from tumblr, one of the few ways I get something resembling social contact in my life for a couple of reasons

First is BG3 (thanks Moose!) - starting an honour mode playthrough but because I'd been playing with the more companions mod (for that juicy, juicy banter) it completely breaks the difficulty in half. A full party, even without Wither's Jaegering a dead body is capable of taking out bosses within a couple of rounds but honestly I feel like I'm only getting half a game if I'm only hanging around with three other degenerates.

At least with Honour Mode I do have to put in a token amount of thinking before I twin-Haste Lae'Zel and Karlach in to alphastrike Denver Gortex before he can summon Daddy in to give him a hand

Second reason I can't really be around is because on the 1st of January I took the decision to completely shut down the restaurant

It's taking me more than a month to disentangle all the legalities and administration of winding down a 40 year old business while trying to bat away all the creditors asking for money on top of doing things like redundancy payments. Only just untangled my electricity bill and I'm actully glad that's over because they wanted me to drop £8,000 to settle arrears instead of the 10% we eventually agreed upon. And somehow my gas company just shrugged and let the bill lapse instead of chasing me for it

Ironically and bafflingly, the most persistent debt chasers have been the music licence people and my credit control leasers - My bills for energy, water and redundancy payments came to just over 20k, of which I'm only really paying in full for the redundancies

For the music licence and CC lease? £300. They're sending the bailiffs over £300. I'm inclined to let them come since they'll be sending collectors to force me to hand over all the nothing that company is left with. They're certainly not legally able to come after my money and even if they were I can claim that taxes and the 'property lease' take legal precedence

My main concern however is personal. The money is... painful but ultimately all these people are after the company's money. There's a certain degree of apathy and clarity in knowing that the money men can't get me to sink any lower. No, in my case it's that fact that I've been involved in the family business in some capacity since I was 14 years old. 20-odd years, 12 in management, and six years doing 60 hours 7 days a week... and it ends with a whimper

How do I move on not knowing anything else other than this life? I don't know what I'm good at, nor where I could go. Don't know who to talk to, or what I could do next. I don't even know what weekends are for, or indeed really what else to do with all the time on my hands beause historically my time off.... wasn't

I really oughtn't put all my eggs in the Canada thing, but at the same time it's the only thing I've truly wanted in... over a decade I guess. Despite knowing it's a miniscule crumb of a chance. And I dread what would happen if it doesn't work out. Or indeed, if it does

FIrst steps is getting my unemployment benefit sorted. That'll be difficult since I was self-employed. Next would be to decide between getting a job, a career or scrape together some cash from... somewhere and go study... only I don't know what I'd like to do

Ffffffffssspspsppssss. At least tumblr is a sympathetic but disinterested ear to vent to. I honestly am clueless what to do

[thessalian]

Thess vs the Bank Holiday Blues

Currently doing the mental health evaluation and ... well, sometimes you just do everything you possibly can and you're still fucking struggling. Which fucking blows, thank you very much.

I've gone through the checklist. I've eaten. I've hydrated. I slept recently. Technically my "meds for neuropathic pain" are an antidepressant so I can't even say I need meds. As for therapy ... well, been there, done that, developed the coping mechanisms. But mental health-wise? I am struggling to cope at this point.

To be fair, this is largely external factors. This is the realisation that I was very much right about literally nothing changing in this country when we got a Labour government, because now they're saying, "Well, the Tories lied about the massive financial hole they left so we have to scrap all our infrastructure promises, cut the winter fuel allowance, and let the energy companies jack up their prices right at the start of autumn" and it's getting to a point where I wonder if they're just trying to kill the old people so they don't have to pay their state pension.

This is seeing some of the short-sighted bullshit going on in the US in the run-up to their own election. Because I know a whole lot about populist garbage and people making protest votes without thinking about what they're doing, okay? Our general elections here aren't the best example of it, but I have a better one - Brexit. We ended up leaving the EU for a few very simple reasons: a) populist wankers like Johnson and Farage lied through their teeth to win the racist vote; b) some people didn't really want to leave the EU but didn't like how the EU was going about things so voted leave in protest; or c) figured that Leave couldn't actually win and so didn't bother voting. Now, does any of that sound familiar?!? All you have to do is add d) third options that will never win but take the vote away from the sensible choice and you've basically got the US right now. And this country destroyed itself at least partly based on that one stupid badly-planned referendum. The US can't survive another Trump term, I can't actually do anything about the stupids that might allow Trump to take the election, and I have too many people I love in that country to be anything less than terrified. I know that my feelings are valid, I know I can't spend too much emotional energy on something I can't change, but still.

My situation is still not great. It's never going to be, and I know that, just because of circumstance. I guess it's just harder to keep from being depressed about my disability when so much else is weighing me down. I try to keep counting my blessings, because I have a lot of those. Still, no matter how hard you try, some days everything that's wrong seems so big that you're kind of stuck squished. That and probably the Bank Holiday Blues. I mean, I don't work Mondays anyway, but there's a different vibe to the world on Bank Holiday Mondays.

Right. I just need to take my mind off the blues. One of the blessings I can count is that my last therapist was basically the best. She didn't focus on the diagnosis as handed down from the psychs (which was almost definitely a standard "ADHD is often misdiagnosed as BPD in women" thing) and instead looked at my symptoms and my previous coping methods, and helped me hone them into something healthier. Some people would call what I do "avoidance" and "escapism"; I call it "therapeutic hyperfocus". I've done every healthy thing I can to improve my mood, so if the mood's still there, and hyperfocusing on, like, a video game or something keeps me grounded until it blows over, I do that.

Of course, then I have to pick which video game, but I do have a playthrough of BG3 that I am determined to complete, and nothing says "hyperfocus" like "game you've played a few times before but will still hold a couple of surprises because Dice Be Like That". And I deserve some fun after having had to spend most of Saturday in bed because migraine and exhaustion.

[callioclops]

A short while ago I was prompted to explain why I didn't particularly enjoy Baldur's Gate 3, and it led me down an interesting rabbit hole of thought about RPG progression. Stepping away as much as I can from my personal preference, I want to take a moment to talk about the pros and cons of what I've started referring to as 'Buffet' or 'Menu' progression systems.

So a quick explanation of what I mean by this, say you're eating out and you go to a restaurant that's hosting a buffet. As long as you have room on your plate, you can take anything you want from the buffet in any combination you want. The things you choose may not compliment each other very well, but it's your choice to make.

Now take another restaurant, this one without a buffet, instead you are given a menu. You have a selection of curated dishes, already picked out for you because the ingredients are believed to compliment each other. You may have some customisation, extra bacon on a burger, a choice of condiment, but there are limits to how much you can do.

I'm going to relate these metaphors back using the two games I've played from Larian Studios: Divinity Original Sin 2, and Baldur's Gate 3. Divinity is very much a buffet system. There are presets in character creation, but these can be completely ignored if you wish. Every skill can be upgraded at every level, there is never a moment where you're locked out of improving your rank in Necromancy or Dual-Wielding, etc. The only limitations on your character building are the limited points you have to allocate.

Baldur's Gate 3 on the other hand is (primarily) a menu progression system. You pick a class, and are given a curated list of things you are allowed to do based on this. You can pick your choice of spells, stances, and some other parts, but the overall strategy stays largely similar for most of these changes, you're just changing the seasoning.

Now I say primarily for BG3 because like most things, this is a spectrum and not a dichotomy. I think that BG3 leans towards a menu system, but it doesn't embody it. That prize I think goes to a lot of early JRPGs, where you don't get any customisation at all, you are just given party members that gain the same stats and learn the same abilities at the same levels on every playthrough.

Acknowledging my biases at this point, I think my wording has made menu progression sound entirely negative, so let's go over some of the benefits: It creates a more streamlined play experience, less fussing over the intricacies of a build allows people to experience the story and gameplay at a much more rapid rate. From experience, I have spent 15 minutes deciding on what to do for a level up in Divinity, which can definitely detract from the pacing if the need to allocate points arises at a crucial story beat. Reduced options also makes the game more approachable and enjoyable for casual players, who may not necessarily have the desire to understand the minutia of the mechanics (To be clear, I'm not using casual in a derogatory sense here, play games how you want to play them I'm not here to gatekeep). Finally, reduced choices in a build path is easier to balance from a game design perspective, and can make the utilisation of these mechanics more interesting in combat. If focus is taken away from what you use, much more emphasis is placed on how you use it, which for some people is much more satisfying when done well.

And with that out of the way, my personal list of pros for why I love buffet progression systems: Firstly, it encourages creativity. This is an obvious one, but I feel it deserves to be elaborated on. In Divinity, while I said you could ignore the presets entirely I don't think that's a good idea. Because the presets are very good starting points for a better, more whole build that you could create yourself. Taking Enchanter as an example, it primarily uses air and water skills to dish out AoE damage and stun opponents out of their turns. You could stay entirely in these two skills, but there are other things that could improve this game plan. Polymorph has access to Spider Legs which you can use to web opponents and stop them from moving, maybe allowing for more enemies to group up. Necromancer can give you access to Vacuum Touch or Vacuum Aura when combined with Aerothurge, letting you shred through magic armour so you can apply your status effects earlier. Divinity in particular I think is very good at leading you down a path without forcing you to stay on the trail, but of course any open ended system would encourage experimentation to find an optimisation.

I think buffet systems also allow for a lot of replayability. BG3 obviously has this for all of the different story paths you can go down, but in terms of mechanics, a more open system tends to give me the feeling of "oh what if I did this" or "I could maybe combine these together" which I just didn't feel at all in my time with BG3. Finally, and most importantly to me, buffet progression rewards knowledge of the systems far more than menu progression does. By understanding the interactions that occur in the game, you're able to put together these incredibly powerful combinations that don't necessarily trivialise the game, but feel like a significant boost from using the preset paths prepared for you. A great example of this is my favourite build I've ever made for Divinity that I nicknamed the Firebomb. Feel free to skip the next paragraph if you don't want a brief rundown of the build.

The essence of this build is that I would use Aero skills such as Teleport and Nether Swap to gather up a lot of enemies in one place, then use skills like Supernova, hitting everyone around me and myself. I was mitigating the damage however as I have points in Necromancer which give you lifesteal, and the talent Living Armour which converts a portion of healing into magic armour regeneration. I could then use Fireball on myself after casting Deflective Barrier. DB is a skill that after being hit with a projectile will launch it back at the source. Since I cast Fireball on myself, it gets deflected back at me, effectively doubling the damage as it triggers twice. Once again, hitting everyone around me. This resulted in a huge amount of fire damage in a single turn, and could often solve a minor fight all on its own. There are more details like the fact that I have to compensate for low physical armour and what I do when those abilities are on cooldown, but I don't want to bore you with the minutia.

So am I saying one method is better than the other? No, not at all. I may prefer buffet, but menu has its merits and its audience. The correct method depends on the game that the developers want to make. I think both of these examples with Larian made excellent choices in regards to the game they built for their respective systems, it just happened that one of them wasn't for me.

[bloodydesires-if]

👏👏👏

Wow just wow, immediately after I read your intro I was rushing to check out the demo 😆 I'm already looking forward to its release, just wanted to ask a few things and find out a bit about the lore,

1. Are we affected by the sun? ( nothing at all, burst into flames, drastically weakened, or do we sparkle)

2. Does our age determine how strong we are as a vampire? (Like older is stronger or is it a purity of blood thing)

3. One of the characters is a professor of witchcraft at a University of witchcraft I think (hope I didn't read that wrong), so is the world aware of the existence of supernaturals?

Thats all I can think of for now but if there's anything else I'll be sure to ask 😁👍

Sorry for the no demo yet. It is being worked on and once I've completed chapter 2 of NIL, I will start posting consistent updates for the demo progress for this game! I know exactly how it feels to see the DEMO TBA lol.

1. Are we affected by the sun? ( nothing at all, burst into flames, drastically weakened, or do we sparkle)

Yes, vampires are affected by the sun. But it's nothing too drastic. They are weaker in the sun. This is because sun exposure increases appetite drastically and they need to feed more. So, the sun = is hungrier and weaker. It's not like, a useless level of weak though. But, for example, it would increase time to heal if injured. Hope that makes sense! lol

2. Does our age determine how strong we are as a vampire? (Like older is stronger or is it a purity of blood thing)

Well, the way I have things planned is that vampire strength in general is the same but there are things that can alter one's level. For example, going out in the sun, not drinking enough blood, and getting injured. Those things drop your strength.

All of that said, each backstory has a different perk so I'm more focused on how those will affect the playthrough instead of strength.

3. One of the characters is a professor of witchcraft at a University of witchcraft I think (hope I didn't read that wrong), so is the world aware of the existence of supernaturals?

You are correct - River is the professor. So, it's a bit complicated!

The world at large is not aware of supernaturals - the universities are obscured by magic and hidden from the outside world. Now, there are some humans who are aware of supernaturals for various reasons:

some governments - mostly the Heads of State. The Vampiric Round Table (VRT) has treaties. At times, they can even be allies to each other, used in war or other schemes... Other supernaturals have groups as well. However, the VRT advocates for more than just vampires. Overall, they try to keep peace among supernaturals. Especially since they all have at least one common enemy: hunters.

Heaven's Hunters - the Hunters are a worldwide organization that has been around for 700 or so years. They are humans and their knowledge is passed down through families. In modern times, they also recruit. Usually, they focus recruitment on humans who have suffered at the hands of supernaturals.

Finally, there are other people who know about supernaturals for various reasons. Maybe they were like one of our ROs, Charlotte, and were targeted but survived. Or maybe their family member or friend is/was supernatural and they're aware, like one of the other ROs, Bennett.

Overall, the supernatural element of society is unknown to most.

Sorry for the long answer lol

[mycurrentobsessionis]

Just coming to tell you I've been reading your wayhaven takes and they're 10/10 🫶🏼 are you excited about b3? Which route are you going to play first?

Thank you so much <3

I am extraordinarily excited for B3, but I'm not sure which route I'm doing first. Whichever route I am doing is my favorite in the moment lol.

Morgan is my favorite in a way because I feel like we get to go on this self-discovery journey with her. She is clearly puzzled at her own maintained interest, even if the detective turns her down for sex due to having feelings and wanting the sex to mean something. Watching her attempts to justify this as just being down for the chase is really funny. Especially as she grows more attached to the detective. For example, on this playthrough I just completed, I had my detective outright state "I don't want to have sex with you unless it means something." Given that Morgan accepts with a graceful "no big, one-night-stands aren't everyone's thing," you would expect her to either give up or realize that she might have actual feelings for this person. Buuuut she doesn't. She is at least questioning it, though, and I enjoy seeing the dissonance between what she says she wants and how she actually behaves from her perspective.

As for Nat... Well, I'll put it like this. When I was 8, I saw "The Color Purple" for the first time. If you are unfamiliar with the novel or film, it is a coming-of-age story about a young black woman named Celie living in the American South in the early 20th century. Anyway, there is a scene where Shug, a blues singer, is serenading Celie. She makes her way across the tavern as she sings about how resilient and kind Celie is, until she is kneeling in front of the other woman and gently pulling her hands away from her face to reveal this beautiful smile.

I was transfixed by that scene; it was the romantic ideal to me. Someone kind and patient meeting another person where they were at. I see Nat's route as meeting the same ideal. Hers feels the most like soulmates, even though I'm actually not a fan of that trope typically. It's very romantic, and I would 100% read a traditional novel about Nat.

Then there's Farah. As I mentioned above, whoever I'm romancing on a given route becomes I favorite. When I don't play for a while, I tend to gravitate towards Farah. She's a fun, friends-to-lovers, cozy romance. She's straightforward and honest about her feelings. She's the kind of person I would want to date IRL. I made a post a couple of months ago where I talked about Farah as being one of my top three comfort characters. In context of strictly Wayhaven, what makes Farah my favorite is that even when I'm not on her route, she's my favorite character. Not in a "I have to hold myself back from romancing her" kind of way, but in the way that even in the friend route, I absolutely love her. I have a type, and it's straightforward and chaotic.

Now I don't enjoy Ava's route as much for a few reasons. This disappoints me a bit, because there aren't a lot of a-spec ROs in games (I think William from Changeling is the last one I can remember really liking) and I like Ava as a character so much. She's complex and interesting, and I don't mind not having physicality as part of the romance (trust me, as a sex-averse person, I really don't mind). Nor do I take issue with characters being confused about their feelings. But Ava is aware of her feelings and of the Detective's. I know there are reasons as to why she is hesitant to begin a relationship, but her method of push-and-pull is deeply frustrating to me. In-universe, the Detective has even less insight as to why she does this, and in their place I would both feel extremely hurt and probably have given up pursuing anything with her.

This brings us to the LT. Now, generally, I am not a fan of LTs, as I don't like making choices like this in games. They stress me out XD. However, this tends to feel, to me, as the way Ava's romance works the best. If you weren't aware, TWC was originally intended to be a traditional novel series, with the Detective (who I think was orginally named Lauren) in a LT with Nate and Adam. This is why that is the only LT available -- it was central to the original plot. While I think Mishka has done a good job adapting to a different medium and all romances feel canon when it comes to individual playthroughs, I think A's status as 1/2 of a LT kind of lingers in the background on their individual route.

I am currently replaying everyone to have some saves ready and fresh in my mind for B3. I will most likely be on Farah when B3 becomes available, so she'll probably be the first lol.

Anyway, don't know if you have an account on Tumblr or anything, but I'd love to hear your takes too!

[jessjustplay]

Final Fantasy X-2 Game Review

March 30, 2024

I know this game gets a lot of hate and even when it's not "hate", I still find the comments to be generally harsh. I promise, it's okay to say something nice about X-2. No one is going to hurt you!

Battle System

I love the battle system in this game, it's fun and fast-paced. Final Fantasy X-2 relies on Garment Grids and Dresspheres for battles. Dresspheres are the names of the class jobs (Black Mage, Thief, etc.) and they each have a unique look for each girl. Most of them have the same abilities for all 3 characters, but a few of them (like the Festivalist and Mascot) have unique abilities for each character.

Garment Grids are a game screen with nodes where you equip the dresspheres onto, then you equip each character with a Garment Grid. Whatever dresspheres are on their equipped Garment Grid are the jobs they are able to use and master. Mastering a dressphere means that you learned all of the abilities and skills on that specific dressphere.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine make up your 3-person party. The HD Remaster version has something called "Creature Creator", and from what I understand, you're able to have non-playable characters and fiends in your party. I've never used it though, so I have no idea what it's like. I couldn't imagine playing this game without YRP as my party.

Characters

The Gullwings is a sphere-hunting group comprised of Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Brother, Buddy, and Shinra. They are a silly bunch, each adding their unique flairs to make a well-rounded character group.

We meet many NPCs throughout our journey, many who will be remembered from from Final Fantasy X. The game adds a lot of new characters too, including leaders of groups and factions that have sprung up around Spira.

When played to completion, you are able to see how the threads of each person connect to one another. Even if you don't get 100%, you still see the bonds between them all. Granted, you really need to do a lot more than just the initial Hot Spots! That's the thing about this game, you can miss so much if you don't know where to look.

Gameplay

The game is built with a completion system. While the battle system gives you a lot of freedom, the narration of this game is greatly dependent on doing things in an exact order. This is not the kind of game you play on a whim. You need a strategy guide or at least a 100% completion checklist. It is so easy to miss completion points, and when you are only using Buddy's location list as a guide, you will miss a lot of things!

You are also given a lot of on-screen options which will greatly affect future events, to the point of blocking off complete locations. Nothing is necessarily a wrong choice, but if you want "100% Complete" in one playthrough, there are definitely wrong choices!

While I can see how needing a checklist can make the game feel like a "chore", since you're looking at a to-do list, I think the reward is worth it. (I also just really like lists. *shrug*) My point is, using a guide guarantees you won't miss anything!

And I suppose I'm stressing this so much because I watched a gamer play Final Fantasy X-2 for the first time on Twitch. She did not follow a guide and, not surprisingly, she was unhappy with the game and admitted to not understanding the story.

I used the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster strategy guide by Brady Games and I used this 100% completion guide on GameFAQs as well as this one by KG21.

Graphics/Art

The game looks great and has one of the nicest menus I have ever seen in a video game! I think the menu is clearly defined and organized well. The outfits in this game are top tier and I always love seeing the transformation scenes (but only once, because we have battles to win!). I made a video just talking about the looks of Final Fantasy X-2, you can watch it here: Dresspheres Critique [video].

Music/Sound

One of the best soundtracks in the Final Fantasy series, and hands down the prettiest main menu/title menu theme. Yuna's Ballad is also very beautiful, the battle themes are fun, and I actually prefer the Besaid Island theme in this game than in Final Fantasy X.

There are two vocal songs: Real Emotion (the upbeat intro song) and 1,000 Words (the beautiful, melancholic song played later in the game). I think the movies that play with these songs are some of the prettiest scenes in the game! The music also helps highlight the Songstress dressphere.

Also, at the start and end of each battle, the girls have one-liners either pumping each other up or congratulating their win. They will also say something when a new event happens, such as when they acknowledge their first time wearing a dressphere. Paine in particular is quite funny when she first dons the Tonberry Mascot dressphere. 🤭

Overall

I love this game. I think it's adventurous, sad, mysterious, reflective, and inspiring. Yes, there are silly moments sprinkled in, but it's fine. This is a different time than Final Fantasy X! After all, Sin is gone.

While Sin may no longer attack, in his wake he left behind a haunting in the hearts of Spira. Individuals and communities are no longer connected from the universal fear they once felt, the glue that tied them together as one.

In Final Fantasy X-2, we see the people of Spira dealing with this new freedom from fear, joining groups to find identity and life purpose. From The Gullwings' perspective, specifically playing as Yuna, we witness Spira's grief, hatred, confusion, friendship, and healing, not just from those in the present but from the past, too.

As mentioned above, it's a story that plays out best when as much of the completion points can be achieved.

[natcracken]

Finding the Master Sword in TotK is the closest I've ever seen a big budget game get to the Outer Wilds formula. I won't be mentioning any specific discoveries, just the structure.

Once you complete the first task for Purah, there is nothing stopping you from going directly to the sword other than knowledge of where it is and a stamina requirement. Put a pin in stamina, thats the biggest deviation and its for last.

Most players will of course not have this knowledge so the game has several different paths of different intrusiveness to push you towards this discovery.

The least obtrusive is to just intuit it. If you are just curious about what you see and get lucky, you may arrive at the destination with no prompting from the game.

Or you may have prior knowledge of the games inhabitants and recognize that something is out of place and investigate.

If you arrive either of these ways you will have no context for how this came to be. You may be able to come to the acursed realization from the areas color scheme, but you might not and can't be sure. This is the most subtle Outer Wilds-like element that other game puzzles lack: the process of discovery informs other aspects of the story. The characters, the world, the lore. All get fleshed out during the pursuit of the answer. Luckily TotK has this in spades. (Perhaps even too much with the memory sequences)

If you rush ahead of the "intended path" and pursue Gannon, you have the option to reveal murals that give you a massive clue. These are explicitly brought to your attention in the intro sequence (although you can miss them if you ignore Zelda fangirling over them.) However the realization that the murals should be taken literally and are actionable in the gameworld are left as an excersize for the player. I can forsee a path where a player tries to rush the ending, sees the answer, gets gatekept by the difficult enemies, returns to the intended path, and doesn't realize the mural they saw during this escapade was important. They're in for a massive "augh you IDIOT" moment down the line. Especially if they don't recall the mural when they make the discovery, and see it again at the end of their playthrough; reminding them of it.

And then there are the geoglyphs. Theres lots of nuance within this route. If you follow the recommended path to the Rito Village you are highly likely to come across a character that tutorializes the glyphs and introduces them as a main quest. They are present in many other places on the map in case you miss them. But you are more than capable of finding them early. If you head southeast from your first landing in Hyrule you may be in for a particularly late-timeline sequence. BotW players are at another advantage in this quest. Just recognizing the geoglyphs as something new is an advantage. A first time player aware of the franchises reputation may just assume that "ancient chalk art" is part of the lore. Some of them around the center of the map are especially adeptly placed to feel like they "belong there".

Next is the godess statue. A player doing the intended route, with prior knowledge, who missed the NPC, may simply choose the visit the godess statue as its on the way. They are in for an upsetting surprise on that front, but will also access the geoglyph map. Having most players visit this area early on their quest is an especially adept trick to make some later gut puches land hand.

Aa you gather the geoglyphs you have a slim possibility of intuiting the truth from the name of the game itself. The droplet animation is very deliberate and its not to much to figure out that these are the Tears of the Kingdom (could also refer to the special stones but their shape is just off enough that I think its just a mythic coincidence). How are these Tears, not just droplets, "of" said kingdom? Oh

And last (as far as I'm aware) is the great deku tree. Clearing the lost woods in this game is a whole other discussion and I dont think its handled as elegantly. I imagine returning players might feel especially cheated here. But once you find your way in and complete a fight, the deku tree will straight up tell you where the sword is, even giving you a moving map marker. This is the only path I think was handled poorly. The "reward" of being told exactly where to go may actively rob you of this discovery, one of the strongest moments in the entire game. I can see a mechanically inclined player being satisfied, or path version where you figure out the mystery and just need assistance with the location. But as a standard route it lacks the finesse of the others. It almost feels like a "last resort" option to catch any players who can't figure it out by other means; but a better last resort already exsists in finishing the geoplyphs. When analyzed from a discovery and exploration perspective, this route is a trap. It appears like a grand path in the same way as the geoglyphs, but with none of the narrative or character development that comes with it. So its simmilar to luck or intuition but without the discovery of them. Its all of the downsides of the other routes without the shining moments that offset them.

Eventually you will get enough information to pursue the answer yourself. If you don't figure it out and complete all of the geoglyphs first, you are treated to a more comprehensive sequence that explicitly tells you what happened and where to go. Either way you will come up against the stamina check. This is the greatest difference from the Outer Wilds formula as it gates your progress based on a mechanical stat. You must have completed enough shrines to have started investing in stamina (most players invest in a buffer of health first so this may be quite late in the game.) Or have made enough main quest progress to reveal the trading shrine. Either way you must have completed at least 20 shrines or traded equivalent heart containers. This is completely in line with series tradition, its in fact a subversion as a player may have been collecting health to prepare for this only to get dunked on with stam. But I can't help but feel like this was too much of a hedge. What does this gate actually stop you from doing that the mystery already doesn't. The overwhelming majority of players won't rush the geoplyphs; they will do them as they travel along the main quest or in their own rambling; so it doesn't block them. It only blocks players who either get lucky or intuit the answer themselves. And those groups deserve better. Congratulations on your discovery! Now fuck off untill you grind more levels.

I can only assume this was an act for caution. They looked at metrics for how many people rushed gannon in BotW and decided to hedge against stuff like it, in this case to preserve balance. Except TotK already had a system for that. The mob drop + combining + world scaling system keeps your dps tightly locked to the difficulty of the areas you're in. You can get slight advantages if you push into late game areas and then scamper off with the loot. Having the master sword from the very start of the game would not change this. There was no reason to be as cautious as they were when players can already snag royal guard weapons from the castle, only gated by the same unlock that gates getting to the sword.

With one exception: players who used guides. This player will be rightly gatekept from a reward they did not earn. I hope that this is just a coincidence are game are not being actively developed around gamefaqs and ign. Its a players own responsibility to curate how they engage with 3rd party media and if they want to cheat themselves out of their own video game then let them. And mock them. But don't develop around them.

I don’t really have a way to end this. Lots of naysaying in the back half and thats pretty much just me being a pedant. The overwhelming majority of players (me included) will follow an intended path with slight deviations here and there, and be completely fooled into thinking its a matter of either our own genius or tenacity and not extremely tight design. This is of course the mark of masterful design. This sequence is an acomplishment, a gamble on their own mastry of player psychology that paid off. I just can't help but wish they were just that more confident to let the game handle its own outliers. It can.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

tldr: totk goty. Re4makestans can cope. Get autobuilded on idiot