#tired of every fucking thing being Bat-Boy centric

[drbatsponge]

Gotham War spoilers yet again confirm to me that Zdarsky does not give a shit about the women in Bruce's life other than Selina.

[gushingaboutgames]

Yakuza 0

I’m not going to mince words. I fucking love the Yakuza series. With the exception of Yakuza 3, I have played every game in the series that had made its way to the west (yes, even Dead Souls, I like zombie games, shut up). People like to rag on Sega, saying they’re a shit company because their recent Sonic games are a parade of crap, a sentiment that does have some merit. This is the series I hold up as an example that Sega still has it. I was talking about Yakuza with a good friend of mine, and even though she hasn’t played any of the games, even she recognizes that it’s one of the biggest labors of love in gaming.

(note to self: gotta get TL a Yakuza game sometime in the very near future)

It is thus, with a great deal of joy, that I can say Yakuza 0 is perhaps the best game in the series to date, an exemplar of everything that makes the Yakuza series great.

(A bit of warning beforehand: there may be some minor spoilers for the Yakuza series ahead. I’ll avoid the major spoilers, but nonetheless, proceed with caution.)

The game takes place in late 1988, near the end of a period of Japanese history known as the “Bubble Economy”. After World War II, Japan’s economy was in shambles, but with a bit of help from the US, the Japanese economy made the mother of all economic rebounds and went on to become the second largest industry in the world, overtaking others in engineering and consumer products.

With this economic boom came money. Tons of money. Volumes of money. Japanese citizens had cash to burn as the economic bubble grew to epic proportions. Sadly, the good times would not last: the bubble burst in the 1990′s, and Japan has suffered from a recession that it continues to struggle with to this day.

It is in this time of prosperity that Yakuza 0 begins. Being a prequel, this represents an excellent point for new fans to jump in, as no knowledge of the previous games is necessary (though it enhances the experience, natch).

Yakuza 0 is a tale of two cities, and two gangsters. The first, coming out of the Kamurocho district in Tokyo, is series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, a fresh-faced 20-year-old underling in the Dojima Family, one of the most influential (and infamous) factions in the criminal syndicate known as the Tojo Clan. One cold December night, Kiryu finishes shaking down some poor schmuck in debt to a loan shark, then meets up with his best friend and blood brother Akira Nishikiyama for a night out on the town, drinking and singing karaoke before hitting up a cozy little ramen shop.

The fun times come to an abrupt halt when a news bulletin breaks: there’s been a murder in Kamurocho! What makes this different from the other gang-related violence in the city is the fact that the deceased was the same person Kiryu shook down mere hours earlier! Worse still, the body was found on an empty lot in the center of a redevelopment project that the Tojo Clan has been eyeing for quite a while: a dead body and police investigation keeps them from getting their hands on it, and that makes the leadership in the Tojo Clan very cranky.

Not helping matters is a conspiracy among the top brass in the Tojo Clan to usurp the position of the clan’s captain, held by Kiryu’s sponsor and father-figure Shintaro Kazama. If Kiryu was responsible for the murder, it would reflect poorly on Kazama. As a result, the clan’s lieutenants are gunning to have Kiryu take the fall for the murder he did not commit. It’s a race against time as Kiryu tries desperately to clear his name and keep himself and Kazama out of the Tojo Clan’s crosshairs.

Meanwhile, in Sotenbori, Osaka, we have Goro Majima, a 24-year-old gangster from back before he went off the deep end and became a nutjob. He’s living the dream, managing a successful cabaret and raking in dough like a baker in a neon-lit bakery. It is not his dream that he is living, however, for Sotenbori is actually little more than a gilded cage to Majima.

A few years prior, Majima conspired with his sworn brother Taiga Saejima to take down the leaders of one of the Tojo Clan’s rivals. A Tojo Clan higher-up didn’t take this well, and detained Majima while Saejima took the fall and was sentenced to death row. For his trouble, Majima lost his left eye, was exiled from the Tojo and given over to Osaka’s Omi Alliance, where he was tortured for a year before being released on a heavily-supervised work release program, managing the afformentioned cabaret to make enough money to essentially buy his way back into the Tojo.

Eventually, however, a shortcut presents itself: Majima’s handler is willing to put a good word in for him if he is willing to carry out a little bit of wetwork, an assassination. One life in exchange for a ticket back into the Tojo Clan? How hard can it be?

When he realizes his target is actually a defenseless blind woman, though, he hesitates. Does he have it in him to take her life? Is he prepared to face the consequences for not carrying through with the assassination? Can he find some way out of this quandary with his life, and his sanity?

The stories of the Yakuza series have never been anything less than solid. I can’t really talk about it without spoiling it, but it will tug at your heartstrings and keep you on the edge of your seat.

The visuals of Yakuza 0 are a treat, as well: the cities of Kamurocho and Sotenbori look amazing on the PS4, both of them neon-lit playgrounds with a gritty, dingy feel to them. While the graphics may not always be perfect (some textures are a bit blurry and many NPC models look a bit jagged and antiquated), they are never painful to look at. The sound department is no slouch either, with music that is a joy to listen to and voice acting that is always on point.

Of course, a game that looks and sounds good would not be worth a damn if it wasn’t fun to play. Thankfully, Yakuza 0 exemplifies fun.

Kamurocho and Sotenbori are brimming with things to do and sidequests to complete. These substories, distinct from the game’s main plot, are always a treat to engage in, featuring bizarre stories and characters that contrast with the campaign’s hard-hitting crime drama. To name a few examples:

-Kiryu meets a yanki band (a mix of punk rock and ‘50s greaser fashion) who are much too mild-mannered, and must teach them how to be hardcore to impress their fans.

-Kiryu gets swept up pretending to be a TV producer after the real producer was chased off by an overbearing director.

-Kiryu volunteers to help a young boy buy a dirty magazine from a vending machine.

-Majima volunteers to play a pretend boyfriend for a young woman who is tired of her father trying to arrange her marriage.

-Majima must infiltrate a Scientology-inspired cult to rescue a woman’s brainwashed daughter.

-Majima has to help a high school student retrieve his pants from a bully, who turns out to be Yakuza 2′s Ryuji Goda back when he was in grade school.

There are dozens more, but all of them are fun to partake in.

Those sidequests, as well as simply walking the mean streets, may lead to getting into a brawl with some unsavory characters, and combat has thankfully always been one of Yakuza’s strongest points. This remains true in Yakuza 0, which features challenging battles against gangsters and thugs. Each character has three fighting styles they can switch between on the fly: Kiryu has a balanced “Brawler” style, a fast-paced “Rush” boxing style, and a slow but powerful “Beast” style that weaponizes anything not bolted to the ground. Meanwhile, Majima has the deadly “Thug” style, a baseball bat-centric “Slugger” style, and an insane multi-hitting super-stylish “Breaker” style (my personal favorite). Each style has its own strengths and weaknesses, but all of them are practical and fun to use. All of them also have their own unique “Heat” moves that are absolutely brutal, but satisfying to pull of.

In line with the game’s theme of economic prosperity, enemies practically bleed money when you batter them: it’s not unheard of to rake in at least a cool few hundred Gs in per fight. You’re gonna need that cash, too: there is no experience points or levels in Yakuza 0. Instead, you purchase upgrades for your fighting styles, and they get expensive as you make your way through each skill tree, with the highest upgrades costing hundreds of millions of yen, if not billions.

This, of course, means you’ll need to find ways to make money beyond simply beating it out of street punks. One way is by finding and helping citizens being harassed by bad guys. Helping them out gets you high quality items, some of which you can sell at pawn shops for wads of cash. Another is by challenging Mr. Shakedown, a burly buster who wonders the streets shaking down anyone who crosses him. Losing to him means you will lose all of your cash, but if you can beat him, you’ll earn a metric fuckton of money (including any money you lost to him before).

About halfway through the game, you also get a chance to engage in side businesses to further pad your wallet. Kiryu becomes the leader of a real estate agency, and is tasked with purchasing properties and collecting their profits while hiring managers to maximize their profits and security to ensure business goes smoothly. Majima, meanwhile, becomes the manager of a cabaret club, a mainstay of previous Yakuza games, but not as ubiquitous in the 80s as in later in the series chronology. Here, Majima must train hostesses and keep up with customer demands to make a profit. While Majima’s business venture doesn’t have the raw money output as Kiryu’s, it is more engaging and fun. That’s not to say Kiryu’s real estate business is without merit: there is a fair amount of strategy involved in hiring the right people to maximize profits.

All work and no play makes for dull gangsters, though. Thankfully, this is where another large strength of the Yakuza series comes into play: minigames! There is no shortage of ways to burn your money.

There are arcades in Sotenbori and Kamurocho, and they have classic Sega arcade games on display. My inner 12-year-old reveled at the chance to play Space Harrier again since Shenmue, with OutRun also taking more than its fair share of my money. Completing certain sidequests also unlocks Super Hang-On and Fantasy Zone, so there is variety as far as retro gaming goes.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. One new attraction for Kiryu is the telephone club, a unique dating service in Japan. The game plays out similar to an arcade shooter, where Kiryu must hold the girl’s attention by aiming at and hitting the proper phrases to increase her affection and ultimately ask her out. It’s a lot harder than it sounds: the correct phrases are often hard to hit, and until you get some practice, you’ll often end up accidentally asking girls about their baby ferrets rather than their best features.

Another unique outfit in Kamurocho is an underground women’s wrestling ring, where you can bet money on the outcome of fights between buxom battlers. The battles play out like rock-paper-scissors, and are high-risk high-reward.

There are also disco clubs, which feature a rhythm/puzzle game where you have to move an avatar on a dance floor before moving them over spaces with a face button on it. Again, not as easy as it sounds, but still very fun, and the music is a treat to listen to.

Finally, among the new attractions is “Pocket Circuit”, a slot car racing tournament wherein you can customize your own little race car and race for prizes and fame. There are tons of parts to use, some purchased from stores, others found in the world.

Aside from those, there are many other mainstays of the series that return and are still fun to play: karaoke, gambling, underground fighting tournaments, fishing, darts, pool, and so on. You will never be lacking in ways to amuse yourself.

My love of the Yakuza series, and Yakuza 0 in particular, cannot be overstated. I recommend this game to everyone, series veterans and newcomers alike, action game fans, Japanese game fans, and anyone who enjoys good stories, good gameplay, and fun in general.

[yuzuria]

whatever points u havent done yet, if it's fandom then gntm

heeey nice, thank u bio-chan :*

under the cut because this is gonna be long, i know you want only gntm but i took the liberty to add my dr opinions bc i won’t prob have this opportunity to voice them out prompted (not rly) in the future

a - ships that you currently like a lot. (they don’t have to be otps because not everyone has otps.) friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

the otp atm is obviously komahina, it’s incomparable for me, i’ve been in rare otp fandoms for years so it’s like being enveloped by a fresh sea breeze when i got into it, it’s the most popular ship in dr, has the most fan content where the good ones outweighs the bad ones, and their relationship was fulfilling, it’s also the closest otp of mine that has reached canon.

other ones i love a lot right now are:

dr ships: hinata/servant (it’s komahina but i’m so invested in this dynamic in particular and there’s almost no content for it), kamukura/komaeda, kaede/miu, tenko/mikan, kirigiri/sayaka, touko/komaru, sonia/akane, lowkey shinguuji/amami and pekoyama/koizumi

dr friendships i’m invested and want to see more: komaeda/sonia, komaeda/kirigiri, komaeda/any girls tbh let him have platonic relationships with girls, familial komaeda/monaka, amami/kaede, hinata/natsumi, tsumiki/asahina, sakura/asahina, dr1 girls <3

gintama ships: tae/sacchan, kagura/nobume, takasugi/zura, kyuubei/tsukuyo (guess which ones are your influence)

hnk ships: diamond/bortz, ghost quartz/lapis lazuli, rutile/padparadscha, cairgorm/phos, cinnabar/phos

c - a ship you have never liked and probably never will.

dr: all het ships minus celesgami but i also grew out of it eventually, they’re all mediocre at best and i dislike the popular hetero ones-- namely, naegiri, hinanami, kamunami, kuzupeko, sondam, souda/sonia, akanidai, saimatsu, kaimaki.. also i never saw the appeal of chishimondo and the pairs involving the three. mahiyoko is forced in my opinion and their “moment” which gained them an alternate title “soapies” was distasteful. soudam is simply boring while i dislike hinadam out of spite. nobody asked but my most hated ships are komaegi, komamiki, hinaegi, kamuegi, and komahinaegi (stay those out of my sight)

gintama: shinsengumi centric ships, joui centric ships minus sakagin and takazura (i entertained the idea of the former but never beyond platonic), gintoki/every girls minus tae, sakamutsu, hijimitsu, tsukisachi, mutsumata, bantaka, takahiji, konzura, the gross pedophilic ones, okikagu, kamusoyo, sabunobu, ginshin, etc

d - a pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

i don’t really have pairings i “wish” i liked because i know what i love and what i don’t tho the hnk one is an exception, i think i have the need to say that,, but i guess i feel envious with the content victuuri is getting i wished i i liked it so i have a lot of merch to buy whenever i go to cons but nah... im happy with my own otp

e - have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? if so, what?

i don’t even know if they’re considered hilarious, probably annoying which are a lot in my twitter, this one is my fav wholesome headcanon though

this one is my first dr post which somehow has the most notes i have ever gotten

i don’t think i have one in gntm

f - what’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

i’m not active in atla but it’s basically my first fandom and i still love and enjoy the fandom content so yeeep

g - have you ever had an otp? if so, do you remember your first one? who was in it?

embarrassing but toph/aang

h - what is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., tv shows, movies, books, anime, western animation, etc.)?

anime but most of the time it’s just a way for me to get into a fandom and i usually like the source material (manga, games, etc) more

m - name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

anego

n - name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

gintama: tae fighting and an arc of her own, gags with nobume or takasugi, in general less of that blue pubes and more about girls without their respective dudes’ influences which suck because the girls are amazing yet the arcs they’re centered in still revolves around dudes i am so tired

dr: more focus on asahina :/, kirizono and kaemiu content pleaaase, and komaeda making friends other than his boyfriend??? 

o - choose a song at random. which ship or character does it remind you of?

I got Lucky Stars by Lana Del Rey, yeeep, komahina

p - invent a random au for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

i’ve always wanted spies/mafia au with best gintam girls, guns and aesthetic black or white clothing or military clothing whatev keeps me going 

q - a fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

sports anime fandom, i used to be in multiple sports anime fandom but after getting into gintama i dropped all of them and lost interest,, give me sports anime girls you coward... other than basketball or volleyball idk moe catastrophe or the most “feminist” game of the century that is keijo

r - which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

sasaki/nobume, kagura/tae, and gint*ki/tama in gintama

komaeda/monaka in dr

s - show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

my default headcanon is all my fav girls are lesbians

after sasaki’s death, rather than going with the shinsengumi or military in general i want nobume to stay with the yorozuya

nobume becomes a transfer student in 3Z and wears a black sailor uniform with long skirts, sports a nailed bat, and an honor student. sasaki adopted her from young age and is the most doting father ever during the festivals and always cheering for her, “yes that’s my elite daughter, nobume-san” i teared up. kagura, on the other hand, had a growth spurt in the middle of their third year so she looks like her yorozuya movie design with her glasses up and taller than nobume.

i have a hc how komaeda/hinata/kamukura would look like as girls too

komaeda: has a long messy hair, wears the same clothing as the regular one (pants and not those sexy short shorts with thigh highs and garter belt, regular komaeda would wear that though ;) ), petite and still 180 cm

hinata: same hair, around 165 cm, regular bust size and has strong arms that can carry her tall gf, pretty packed, wears skirts with suspenders

kamukura: same features as hinata but her long hair is tied in a low ponytail, then same clothing

t - do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

kagura never had interests with boys and when she grows up that’s where she realizes she’s a big lesbian and in love with nobutasu ;;

komaeda feels EXTREME distaste towards memes and puns, he doesn’t like them at all, he leans in a poetic side when he speaks, make him a pretentious john green character than a meme fuck (remember when he said if the sunflower is the symbol of hope then he’s the ground where the roots cling on?? and also one of his few hated gifts is a ring with a bad pun??)

w - a trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

girls who only serve as a plot device especially a manpain, bonus point if she’s pining on the said dude but ends up being sacrificed for the dude

MC dude whose dick wants to be sucked by almost everyone, it’s tiring and gross

pedophilic themes

moe slash fantasy slash harem slash romantic comedy slash ecchi

pretentious characters with god complex

y - what are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

v*ltron unfortunately

saiyuuki a bit bc of you and emilia

fire emblem/persona (i played some games but never finished it so i mostly don’t feel too attached with them)

some other video games

kpop