#titan quest 2 trailer

[wolveswarriors]

Titan Quest 2

Return to the classic mythology-inspired setting of Titan Quest and go toe-to-toe with legendary monsters as you journey across a fantastical reimagining of ancient Greece.

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Nemesis, Goddess of Retribution, is out of control. She is corrupting the Threads of Fate and condemning all those who oppose her to eternal punishment - including you. Take up your weapon, fight alongside gods, and change fate itself in order to stop Nemesis, free those she’s punished, and weave your own epic tale.

From the creators of SpellForce 3 comes a handcrafted action RPG for a new generation of mythical heroes.

A World of Myth and Monsters

Set out on an adventure worthy of the myth that takes you from picturesque beaches to serene Greek temples, to places where no mortal has ever ventured, including the mysterious realm of the Moirai themselves. Battle classic creatures from Greek myth and the original Titan Quest, including Ichthians, Centaurs, Satyrs, Harpies, Sirens, Gryphons, and many, many more.

Exploration-Focused Campaign

Pay close attention to your surroundings! The world is full of mysteries and secrets to discover. Legendary monsters lurk in hidden groves, and you never know when you will end up face-to-face with a god. Visit memorable towns full of life and intrigue. The conversations you engage in and the items you find along your journey can lead to surprising discoveries, or they might just hold the key to stopping Nemesis. This is your adventure.

A Challenge Fit for a Hero

Heroic deeds require heroic effort. The enemies you face are far from defenseless - dodge and counter their attacks, then overwhelm them with a well-timed flurry of blows. Powerful rituals allow you to freely control the game’s difficulty, while deep character customization systems ensure that there’s always a good reason to replay.

Key Features

Flexible character system: In Titan Quest 2, you are in control of your own fate. Customize your hero, then form your own class by combining two masteries. Build your character around the strengths and weaknesses of both masteries, exploring different combinations of skill modifiers, attributes, and items to create your own hybrid class and find your favorite playstyle. Grow your powers from those of a young mortal to a hero to rival the gods themselves!

Meaningful loot: Every item serves a function, and every character class has many options when it comes to finding the perfect equipment. Even the most common spear can be upgraded via affix crafting, and with the right ingredients, you may even forge it into a unique item spoken of only in legend!

Challenging action RPG combat: Enemies form factions and work together, combining their unique skills and abilities to keep you on your toes. Use the deep character build system and access every skill at your disposal to vanquish them in this unique action RPG experience.

A beautiful, handcrafted world rooted in Greek myth: Encounter stunning vistas and deep caverns, and traverse the world with your divine mount, Areion. Use the powers of the gods to uncover secret locations and explore lovingly designed levels full of verticality.

Online multiplayer: Join up with friends to take on the Goddess of Retribution. Like Jason and the Argonauts, sometimes you need a group of heroes for your journey.

Rich and immersive sound: An atmospheric soundtrack blends traditional Greek music with modern orchestral elements to create epic, memorable themes, drawing you into Titan Quest 2's unique world.

[kinghomebody]

Dragon Age： The Veilguard ｜ Release Date Trailer

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Release Trailer did a lot for me in different ways and I have a lot of questions and theories.

1.) Lets talk about how there are stark similarities between Inquisition and The Veilgaurd.

The protagonist is found again in the Fade, this time it looks more grey than green and they do not inherit a mark. it also looks like Rook and The Inquisitor share the same physical position that they found within the fade at the start of their stories: Lower than someone thought to be much more important than them :Inquisitor the Divine, Rook, Solas.

With Rook you see more of what's happening within the fade and the statues of the Elven Patheon which what looks like a split amongst them. Three on the left near Rook and four on the right near Solas. Does this symbolize something? We know that the Evanuris did not always get along but does the positioning of the statues foreshadow that more of the elven gods side with him in wiping out everything and bringing back the days where everything is ruled by magic?

2.) The trailer did a wonderful job sprinkling nostalgia here and there and I have a few observed opinions.

The model they used for this Rook makes me think of two things of Dragon Age. Duncan and people from Rivain who have similar skin tones. Rook, in this trailer wears armor that on the shirt collar has wings. Apart from the Antivan Crows the only other faction you could think of that could be represented with wings are the Grey Wardens because of the griffins.

It’s also good to hear Morrigan’s voice again and see her also reminding me of Origins and Inquisition. For me I let her drink from the Well of Sorrows so she might either be completely under the control of Flemeth or have mastered it’s power. Of course Varric and Scout Harding who are still with the Inquisition will be with us. If we align with the Antivan Crows will we see Zevran?

There is an elf that looks like they have been captured by tentacles and you cannot see their left arm. Is that the Inquisitor? Or the Hero of Ferelden? I only speculate this because the Grey Wardens are center stage again and besides Hawke, if you allowed him to go with them for a time, The Hero of Ferelden who is on a quest to defeat the calling could have gotten themselves trapped somehow.

Titan lore will be most likely explored through Lace Harding seeing as she can freeze enemies similar to Solas and Sandal. Her body and eyes glow however it starts to change. In my opinion it might be because she is channeling magic directly through her body and dwarves are supposedly not suppose to have the ability to do magic. Sandal always uses a rune and Solas is an elf.

> In Sandal’s case we know that Bodan found him far in the Deep Roads and being exposed to lyrium for too long could have done something to him to wear he won’t get the negative symptoms of overusing it.

> In Lace’s case, she has no idea what’s going on, her body is changing, we know that when Dagna is face deep in a rune she feels “mountain- tall” and around all her people and they think as one and since we know the Ancient Elven Patheon fought the Titans at one point and separated them from their hearts that the dwarves might have lost their magic in a way – this is something I’m still working out from the Trespasser DLC. Harding might need to find the heart of a Titan if she want’s to survive with her new magic abilities or she might even become one – this is another theory. Also, her being able to create a stone wall. Does that mean the dwarven people could build cities with their bare hands. The “connection” with the “Stone” doesn’t sound too far off when you think about it.

Solas fighting the old gods in his Dreadwolf form was amazing to see. It’s interesting to visually see the difference in size between him and those he his up against even being as powerful as he is. With this and the darkspawn looking blighted along with the dragons that you see at the end of the trailer, there might as well be two blights at once, the veil being destroyed, the elven gods reeking havoc and (personally I didn’t see this but there's no way it won’t be brought up) maybe the Qunari invasion – unless it was settled before the events of The Veilgaurd. From combat finishers looking to be back, Griffins, Morrigan and Varric and everything literally being validated and lore accurate I’m very happy with this trailer.

[isleepatfiveam]

FFXV Playthrough Update

Got pretty long so more under the cut.

But can I ask for like some beginner advice from people who played it before? Like I think I finally figured out some stuff but the more normal button controls are still a bit iffy for me.

Thanks in advance ☺️!

Session Nov 2, 2024:

Did some story quests today. And made it to Chapter 5, where I fought Titan in my longest fight (mostly due to not knowing how I was supposed to destory a giant gods arm with 4 dumbasses), found out Ardyn has a freaking car (presumably stolen from Aldercapt's garage) and followed him in a race, bonded with Gladio (confused as to why they didn't actually name Gladio's dad) got Luna healing people in the weirdest outfit I've ever seen (why does she have a belt in a straight dress) and got my car stolen (Regis is rolling in his grave) leading me to fight a big one eyed monster to get a chocobo riding service.

Did some side quests and had to deal with like 8+ sets of Magitek soldiers when I was just trying to get a stone for a sleezy amateur jewel maker...*sigh* anyone know the spawn rates of Magitek soldiers dropping from the sky?

Had a wonderful heart to heart with Prompto and fucked up the mail choice for Luna's journal. I have a favorite Blond and it certainly not Luna.

Also got this pretty cool picture of Ardyn. Leads me to ask where is his iconic hat because he still doesn't have it.

Session Nov 3, 2024:

Focused more on Main quests today and boy was Chapter 5 a loooong one. Finally got to ride my chocobo all day~ (looking for name suggestions for her BTW)

Did Ramuh's quest and got some adorable li'l Noct cutscenes. Also got attacked by a snake lady which DID NOT GIVE ME XP!!!! I CALL BULL WITH THAT!

(Also small theory that this was originally supposed to be Prom's bio mom when they thought that Evil Science Guy was supposed to be Prom's bio son instead of genetic template).

Finished Ramuh's Quest and got Noct's eyes to glow purple then committed Base Terrorism to get our car back. Also finally feed the guys.

Since they introduced the warp-kill skill in this one I dressed Noct in the Assassin robes. Also I got to play with the turrets in the base. It was real fun.

Ramuh saved our asses when we had to blow up the Generator in the base once again proving he is best Summon/Eikon/Astral in all FF games.

Finished Base Terrorism, meet Revus but more importantly Ardyn got his HAT!!!!!

(Side note I assumed that he was going to put on his hat after telling the Chocobros that he was the Chancellor, with the Hat being his symbolic crown and all. But I digress).

Finished up this chapter by Heading to talk to Iris and finding out that Jarred was dead then seeing the Omen Trailer. Weird but go off I guess.

Next time Iris joins us as a temporary party member and boy am I excited.

See you guys next time!

[thinkkirby2]

Long paragraph of a Dream, again. :)

a mix of Shrek, ben 10, and Knack. Started when I was at Target, seeing a Game trailer Nintendo brought up on the TV Screens, where Knack enters the Paper world (the Super Paper Mario one) to save (idk, but a race and it's world?).

There was a portal for me to go to, leading me into a Movie theater. it was a Movie/game I was being sent to, and it was amazing! the 2 protagonists, A boy and a Girl, that wield their very own Omnitrices (they also have 2 younger cousins that are Shapeshifters) as they go on a quest to save the Universe with some help of a "Titan Sized" Relic Golem (that has Giant Relics on them) oh, the Golem has a Mothership sized ship. (Leo and stitch intensifies)

There were 2 other main characters but it wasn't clear for me to know who they were, but they were like Shrek-related Characters. They were trying to restore the seasons somewhere, but idk where. The Seasons were like Holidays. Spring as Valentine's Day, Winter as Christmas, Fall as Halloween, Summer? we don't talk about that one. the 2 were stopping a Witch that was causing the Season Imbalance.

I was in the POV of Knack, going through a Mall, and had to cook something, idk what but some people were impatient and I had to yell at them to stop them from getting impatient. idk what else happened. :(

[primordial-shade]

Back on my bullshit again because I’ve been playing Hades again.

So Zagreus is Hades 2. My unfortunate suspicion is that Zagreus is going to face the unfortunate fate of his mythological counterpart in pet 2.

PrimordialShade! What do you mean?

I mean big bro is gonna be ripped apart and spread all over Hades.

In traditional Greek Myth Zagreus was the son of Persephone by rape of her Father Zeus. Obviously this is different in the game but hang on there. So Zagreus, when the gods faced their predecessors the Titans, was ripped apart. Now in the older myths he was put back together and was reformed into Dionysus. Now this is the older version of the myths and it changed over time but in some of the only myths referring to Zagreus this is his fate. So obviously he won’t become Dionysus because he’s already in game so it might be Melinoe has to put him back together.

It would also explain why he is not in the trailer because as much as he and his dad had a strained relationship Zagreus wouldn’t just sit aside whilst his father was trapped in Hades. Firstly because he is the only one that can cause his old man trouble and secondly all his loved ones are in hades. It could also explain why a lot of the more powerful members of Hades aren’t fighting with Melinoe.

Here’s another thing. Melinoe, in tradition, is the representation of nightmares and madness. Again Persephone was raped by Zeus, this time isn’t the form of Hades, and she ‘sprung forth from Persephone’s fury.’

So, idea of vengeance there. She also has a strong association with gods that assist with the ferrying of souls to Hades which may explain why she can get in and out so easily. It also explains why Hecate is the one to train her instead of her brother or parents. Hades is chained up, so presumably so it lost of the Hades household, but knowing poor Zagreus he put up a fight which got him torn apart, not killed but torn apart so he could be neutralised. Because that fella is DETERMINED.

Hekate is of course a titan in her own right and ridiculously scary at that. So is Nyx but she is possibly also being kept down by Zagreus being torn apart and essentially held hostage. So are probably her children and the furies.

Zagreus reunited the family but if he was torn apart they probably were as well. So maybe part of our quest is that Melinoe has to put him back together in order to bring the house of Hades back together or something like that?

Just rambling ideas but I kind of like it as much as I hate the idea of poor Zagreus being used as a hostage to keep the House of Hades quiet and put down.

[thetoxicgamer]

All Hades 2 Gods Explained – Kronos, Melinoe, Apollo, and More

Like the first game, the Hades 2 gods will be extensive (and let’s be honest, hot) in number and, while the Hades 2 release date for Early Access is a ways off, we already know about a handful of the deities and themes the Supergiant Games sequel will tackle. From Melinoë to Kronos, Apollo, Hecate, and the titular Hades, you’ll be meeting many Greek mythological figures as you carve your way through the underworld in the roguelike game. So on that note, here’s every god we know about in Hades 2, and how they fit into Greek myth. The below isn’t a complete list of all the Hades 2 gods, as Supergiant Games will more than likely reveal more over time ahead of the Early Access release. It’s also worth noting that none of what we write below is set in stone for Hades 2. Greek myth, including the stories and characters, has always been incredibly fluid after being passed down orally for thousands of years, and Supergiant Games made it their mission in the first game to take the myths and expand the characters in modern and believable ways, so expect some twists on what we know. Melinoë Melinoë is Zagreus’ brother and Hades’ daughter in Hades 2, and the game’s protagonist, and while her history in the ancient world is a little murky, one orphic Hymn from around 2,000 years ago does tell us a little bit about her. With limbs black on one side and white on the other, she was in charge of appeasements offered to ghosts of the dead. The goddess’ dual black and white limbs are seemingly intended to represent her split between the underworld and the heavenly world above. All we really know about Melinoë then is that she’s described as the daughter of Persephone and Hades (sometimes called a variation of Zeus), and she was heavily involved with the ghosts of the dead. It’s also believed by some that Melinoë was the orphic title for Hecate, which does make the next Hades 2 god seem a bit confusing – somewhat similarly to the links between Zagreus and Dionysus in Greek myth, actually. Hecate If we take Hecate as a separate entity from Melinoe, as Supergiant has in Hades 2 as the woman clad in all-black robes, she’s the goddess of magic, spells, the moon, and the night. In Hades 2 it looks like Hecate will assist Melinoë in her quest against Kronos (who we’ll get to), training her in the ways of witchcraft and combat. Shrines to Hecate would be placed at entrances to homes to ward off witchcraft and evil, according to many contemporary plays from the likes of Euripides and Aristophanes. We may also see connections to other gods from the first Hades, as Hecate helped Demeter search for her daughter Persephone in myth after she was abducted by Hades. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter also states that Hecate then acted as Persephone’s companion when she traveled to the underworld to spend a third of every yeast with Hades (Greek myth is a tad confusing, don’t worry about it), with Hecate’s guidance often represented by the iconography of a torch, and she has a bright green one in the trailer. I’d expect this link between Persephone and Hecate to be explored in Hades 2, as Hecate seems to have a close relationship with Melinoë in the trailer. Kronos Kronos appears to be the villain of the Hades 2 gods, imprisoned in chains at the end of the trailer (potentially) and acting as the driving force of the narrative, referred to as “time itself.” The god of time and King of Titans, Kronos devoured his own children, except Zeus, in fear of a prophecy saying he would be overthrown by his own son. Zeus then later saved his siblings and imprisoned Kronos, releasing him even later and making him ruler of the Elysian Islands (which is an inspiration for the third floor of the original Hades, actually), where heroes were sent by the gods after death. A father then to both Zeus and Hades, the god of time is probably just a little pissed that he was imprisoned. While the circumstances may be different for the Hades 2 gods, I’d hazard a guess that Hades’ own imprisonment is a form of revenge, with Kronos’ relationship with time potentially playing into the repeated roguelike element of Hades 2 runs – time travel, perhaps? Moros We also see the Greek god Moros in the trailer, described as “Doom Incarnate.” The god of Doom itself (who knew), Moros would lead fated mortals to their demise. Moros is also the son of Nyx, Zagreus’ sort-of adopted mother in the original Hades, so it isn’t too surprising that Moros looks to help Melinoë, as they’ll likely have a preexisting relationship. Ares helped you inflict the Doom effect in the first game, but it’s unclear if Moros will be tied to that as of yet. Moros is inevitable in greek mythology: he can’t die and mortals attempt to outdo him and their fate in plenty of stories, but he’s likely a side Hades 2 god, so it’s unclear how he’ll fit into the story. Apollo Apollo also makes a brief appearance, described as the “God of Light”. He’s the god of a lot of things (as many gods were), with Hades 2 seemingly going with the sun and light interpretation. A god that’s appeared many times in ancient greek culture, often depicted with a lyre, quiver and bow, and a raven. It looks like Supergiant is combining the bow and lyre for their interpretation, as Apollo is clearly holding a bow that has multiple strings on it, mimicking the look of a lyre somewhat. His power as a Hades 2 god will seemingly be linked to light, although it’s unclear exactly how. Nemesis Nemesis, who I’m sure is already giving Lady Dimitrescu fan artists a run for their money, is described as “Retribution Incarnate” in Hades 2. The goddess of revenge and retribution, Nemesis is basically good old-fashioned comeuppance. While sometimes contested, it is widely believed she is also a child of Nyx, potentially further tying Nemesis together with the first Hades nicely. One of the most famous myths Nemesis is involved with is that of Narcissus, a handsome hunter that was terrible to any of his admirers, so Nemesis lured him to a pool where he fell in love with his own reflection, eventually dying as he couldn’t bear to look away (mood). With multiple ties to Nyx from gods and goddesses in Hades 2, it’s likely like the old consort of gods from the first game will play some sort of role in the sequel, even if they don’t appear directly. These are all the Hades 2 gods we know so far, but more will likely appear as Supergiant Games shares more footage and details of the highly-anticipated roguelike game. Read the full article

[saffalilac]

Saffalilac’s really long list of favorite media 💜

If I would reblog fanart of something, it’s probably going in this list!

Anime 🌸

Digimon Adventures

Fullmetal Alchemist

Houseki no Kuni

Hunter x Hunter

Mob Psycho 100

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Soul Eater

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Season Zero

Blogs 🦙

Bogleech

hedgehog-moss

one-weird-mammal-a-day

Books 🐋

A Dog’s Purpose

Artemis Fowl

The Candymakers

The Heroes of Olympus

How to Train your Dragon

The Kane Chronicles

Little Thieves

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Scholomance

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Six of Crows

Fanfiction ☔️

Being Dead Ain’t Easy (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Blue Sky (Portal)

Fargo (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Luster (The Adventure Zone)

Of Trying and Towers (Sanders Sides)

One Last Theft (Artemis Fowl/Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Live Action Shows 🪨

The Good Place

It’s Me or the Dog

Lucifer

Parks and Recreation

Schitt’s Creek

Movies 🥙

Barbie movies pre-2008

Coco

Coraline

Encanto

Ernest & Celestine

Fiddler on the Roof

The Incredibles

Inside Out

Kung Fu Panda

The Prince of Egypt

Princess Mononoke

Ratatouille

Rise of the Guardians

Spider-Man: Spiderverse Trilogy

Spirited Away

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds

Tangled

Thor: Ragnarok

Toy Story 2

Up

Zootopia

Podcasts & Radio 🍇

The Adventure Zone

Cabin Pressure

My Brother, My Brother and Me

Typin’ Toons

Poetry 🫧

The Orange

Two-Headed Calf

Theater 💐

Bad Jews

Fiddler on the Roof

Hamilton

Wicked

Video games 🦎

Ace Attorney

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Bugsnax

Celeste

Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Deltarune

Fields of Mistria

Ghost Trick

Hades

Hollow Knight

Ib

Kid Icarus: Uprising

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Night in the Woods

One Shot

Pokémon

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon

Pokémon Ranger

Portal

Sara and the Sarcastic Creatures

Sonic Unleashed

Spelunky 2

Spiritfarer

Splatoon

Stardew Valley

Super Mario Picross

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate

To the Moon

Undertale

The Witch’s House

Webcomics 🏕️

Brimstone & Roses

Castle Swimmer

Cucumber Quest

Everything is Fine

Gunnerkrigg Court

Homesick

Homestuck

Lavender Jack

Let’s Speak English

Monster Pulse

Paranatural

Sleepless Domain

Suitor Armor

Yumi’s Cells

Yuna and Kawachan

Western Animation 🪻

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Bee and Puppycat

Bojack Horseman

Codename: Kids Next Door

Danny Phantom

The Dragon Prince

Gravity Falls

Hilda

Infinity Train

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

The Legend of Korra

OK K.O.!: Let’s Be Heroes

Over the Garden Wall

The Owl House

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

The Spectacular Spider-Man

Spongebob Squarepants (pre-season 4)

Steven Universe

Teen Titans

Wander Over Yonder

YouTube 🫐

Brian David Gilbert

Chuggaaconroy

Cranbersher

DanAndPhilGames

DougDoug

Jacksepticeye

Jarvis Johnson

Jenny Nicholson

Lofi Girl

Louie Zong

MelonyPepon

Monster Factory

Pikasprey Yellow

PlayFrame

ProZD

Rachel and Jun’s Adventures

RTGame

ScykohPlays

Skurry

SnapCube

Tasty

Vinesauce

Worthikids

Bonus: Videos I Have Watched A Whole Lot of Times

15 Very Dumb Things in Fantastic Beasts 2

The Adventure Zone: Balance trailer

A Man With No Rhythm Plays Rhythm Heaven Fever

The ACTUAL History of Bloons

Bad Guy — TAZ Animatic

Breaking Stardew Valley by Starting a Drug Farm [series]

Dhar Mann Solves Racism

Diamond Jack

Hollow Knight but Impossible

Hollow Knight but the items are split

I Can’t Decide — TAZ Animatic

I forced an AI to play a kids’ adventure game

I read the terrible Episode IX pitch where Rey is a robot

I Wanna Be The Guy - Cherry Apples! | PART 1 | ScykohPlays [series]

[I’m the Bad Guy]- Wander over Yonder Song

JackSepticEye Animated | The Tender Cut

Mambostuck (Homestuck Animation)

OK, Why is Everything Johnson & Benson? (Scambaiting)

Sherlock Is Garbage, And Here’s Why

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) | Real-Time Fandub Games

thumbnail (ft. brian david gilbert)

Wire

[telodogratis]

Titan Quest 2 torna a mostrarsi con un gameplay trailer presentato da THQ Nordic

Titan Quest 2 torna a mostrarsi con un gameplay trailer presentato da THQ Nordic Titan Quest 2 è tornato a mostrarsi in occasione del THQ Nordic Showcase 2024 con un trailer che ci offre un primo assaggio del gameplay di questo promettente action GDR. Powered by WPeMatico Titan Quest 2 è tornato a mostrarsi in occasione del THQ Nordic Showcase 2024 con un trailer che ci offre un primo assaggio…

[ideahat-universe]

I guess this is as good a time as any to talk about my relationship to the Dragon Age franchise.

It's actually complicated.

Before I played Dragon Age Origins I had never experienced a RPG with serious role play potential.

Pokemon doesn't really have a story or much characters and with the exception of Dragon Warriors 3 there was very little to customize and it was mostly playing out a pre-determined campaign. No moral quandaries, no branching solutions. That changed when I played Dragon Age Origins.

It was literally a spellbinding experience.

I had never played a game where your choices really mattered and you could have a multitude of different origins and that your party was an extension of your choices. Playing it with no knowledge of Bioware's writing tropes made to where I didn't know who was a NPC and who was a future party member.

It was so great that I went on to do a second run that was even better than the first. My female Dwarf who grew up in the slums with nothing but heartache to her name carved a future where the casteless could be equal and she, would the be the ultimate role model that can always lead people to believing they should never settle for unsavory roles they were given to play.

Dragon Age Origins has a lot of love.

But also, some hate.

I never managed to do a playthrough without bending my knee and putting it on easy if only for a boss fight or two.

The Circle tower is completely ruined by The Fade mission. It's so bad there's a mod that just gives you all the buffs you would have gotten from that excursion and drops you back on the other side.

The Dwarven mines is by far my least favorite moment in gaming period.

A horribly boring and titanically long tunnel where you get to learn the one piece of lore no one asked for. Jesus Christ, where is Planned Parenthood when you need it?

The elvish mission starts out strong but then it's back to delving through an abusively long cave to come out the other end. Are you telling me that there can only be one quest hook that can involve the poet tree? What a waste.

There's the Skeleton mission where if you can get over the hump of the defense mission it's only tolerable.

Everything scales with your level so there's no real optimal order beyond who you need in your party to better balance your team out.

The economy is very deflationary. You'll thank god for every potion that's for sale because it's not unlimited for some hideous reason (same with mana).

Oh man, and the Sacred Ashes good start but yet again, another dark and boring looking cave I spend hours trudging through just so I can get the really good character moments at the end.

Dragon Age Origins is not perfect for me.

But I still really loved the role play experience and the closest I ever came to replicating that was Rune Factory 4 and Dragon Warriors 3.

So when Dragon Age 2 came out I was ready to go, until I was given the grave news. You are not importing your character from Origins. Instead you are playing Medieval Shepard. And I already established that I don't like the general world of Dragon Age. Turns out, I don't like grim dark. I can accept it but when it starts being about stories of rape and racism I want to get out of that questline and hope to forget about it.

I'm invested in my character playing off the world, not the world itself. Kind of like how the average DND player doesn't really care about the world until their personal story starts being told.

This mistake was more or less fixed in Dragon Age 3.

But I was gone by then. Yeah, I'm not a particularly loyal consumer, a lot of people like that game too but at this point in my life I don't even like that style of gameplay so it's just not happening.

But now there's a fourth Dragon Age game.

The trailer for it. Is weird. It's like under some weird delusion that the side characters are supposed to be really cool and we should be excited to play them.

The side characters in every Bioware game are fun to play off of. They typically aren't very interesting in and off themselves. Good news though. You can import more or less the character from Dragon Age 3 into 4. I don't know why they didn't lead with that. The pathos of Dragon Age is everything and the weight of your choices is the pathos generator.

Are you telling me the tone of Dragon Age 4 is drastically different? It's not Grim Dark?

Can it even be Dragon Age if it's not Grim Dark?

Maybe that's a really bad trailer. I guess we'll have to see.

[first-impressions-gaming]

Atlas Fallen

Developed by Deck13

Published by Focus Entertainment

Release Date 2023

Tested on PC (16 GB RAM, Ryzen 7 7735, RTX 4060)

MSRP 39,99 USD

I’ll be honest with you, this is not a ‘full’ review, this is only ‘first impressions’ since I played the game for around 2 hours and just could not find the will personally to continue playing the game.

Atlas Fallen was one of the games I really wanted to check out from last year, announcement and launch trailers look just great, this combat and traversal systems look so smooth and and the gameplay looks refined…well, not actually.

First and foremost, when I cannot get the ‘gist’ of a game’s story or opening act I just look up game reviews or game’s wikipedia page to get a deeper sense into it. When the opening act finalized, I was like “wait…what did happen…who are we…who am I supposed to fight? For what reason?” There were so many questions that desire answers, and the game keeps going piling on new questions and plotlines on top of another one and does not explain anything at all. I checked the game’s wikipedia page and game’s page on stores, Wikipedia does not have any story-related info, and Steam page does not mention anything about what this game is ‘about’. I mean, I played games for sake of their pure action with zero plotline or narration, yet, Atlas Fallen has this strange world, characters and NPCs talk about gigantic warfares from ancient times and a decade ago, there is fuck*ng gigantic V-shaped element in the air, and there is zero consistent narration in the game. Who am I here? Where are we? What are these enemies or monsters I am up against?

The fact that the game does not follow any meaningful plot is the reason I could not put up with it more than 2 hours, my criticism will unfold in the next paragraphs with user interface and overall mechanics better. First, the game opens in clouds, we are playing as Avatar-like blue man running away from titans or giants, then we fall from the sky, then we customize our character, and wake up. At this point I thought that we were customizing the Avatar-like man that just fell from the sky, but no, that is a separate character you will meet later. You customize your character and find yourself in this travelling caravan and there are grim looking soldiers, you converse with NPCs here, and you suggest to uprise against the soldiers, who are kidnapping you to someplace else, and they say no, then off you go to fight monsters commanded by the soldiers. Just keep up with me, okay? While you are fighting monsters, you come across this cuff, you wear it, it gives you superpowers, and it turns out that Avatar-like blue man is inside the cuff talking to you, whose name is Nyall. You return to the caravan, you beat up soldiers. To this point, the game has made zero sense because I am not familiar with the story one bit, I mean, there has to be some underlying plot just working its way to some peak moment. There has to be, there should be! The game had better ‘wow’ me at some point before it is too late, but no, the game does not contain any story, it all feels so randomized that I cannot enjoy myself, I don’t know who I am, what I am doing, what I am fighting with and, once again, where are we?

This silly opening act finalizes and we are in hub area, a town. We get to interact with NPCs, travel around, complete fetch quests for people with zero narration-drive. The trailers make sand-travel pretty cool, but the actual experience is nothing like it, it is ‘meh’ at best. Let’s get to user interface and mechanics now:

The game introduces source materials at the very beginning randomly and with zero explanation, this is something I am scared of actually because the game throws at you so many little things but do not give you tutorial, and expect you to fully understand them. For example, as you travel or wander around you collect plants and flower, collectibles, and the game automatically unlocks a new skill for you with zero input, rewards you with unique currencies and lets you unlock a new perk. As I played the game, it felt more and more like a mobile game, one where you play it for half an hour and you unlock so many things but you have no idea what their purpose are, and slowly you cease to progress at all and you are left with nothing substantial.

I have reviewed at least 70 games so far, and this is the first time I felt the need to criticize voiceover quality in a game, there are countless instances and scenes where multiple characters speak and their volume level don’t match, furthermore when it is a scene one characters is yelling or talking loudly, the other person’s voice is strangely calm and don’t fit the conversation and context at all.

Atlas Fallen disappointed me when it comes to user interface and navigation in menus, every menu and screen feels so…unpolished.

As for menus:

You have ‘Gauntlet’, that presents you Essence Stones, which are active and passive skills, these are unlocked by source material that is obtained from killed monsters. You can set your primary and secondary weapons here as well as check out combat moves for weapons.

In ‘Idols’ you will find passive abilities, honestly I don’t understand why there are multiple sections for abilities

In ‘Armour’, you can check out character stats, upgrades and Perks. Perks are different than Idols and Essence Stone skills, these Perks are unlocked through a different and rare currency.

You have your usual Map and Quests menus too.

Under ‘Journey’ menu you can see all the source material (to unlock Essence Stone abilities) in the most tedious way, codex entries for monsters and superficial story logs, and Formulas. Formulas are achieved through progression, once you are rewarded with a Formula, it means that specific Essence Stone ability is available to be unlocked.

Simply taking a look and navigating through these menus is a hassle itself, the reason is that, they are not well organized and there are loopholes here and there. Why are there 3 different skill section which are more or less same or similar? On top of that, they are unlocked with a unique progression but the game never explains how they work, such as the currency needed to unlock a new skill in Perks. How do I earn it? What is it called?

Essence Stones section is the most cluttered one, and this is the main skill menu that you will interact most, as mentioned previously, through progression the game offers you Formulas, and you can unlock new abilities in this section, the major problem here is that there are 3 tiers, and each tier has its own skill-set, yet the game does not categorize skills at all, it shows you all the skills, and you can only see which skill is for what tier as you move your cursor above them, and you cannot organize or customize the order in this screen, resulting in a disoriented skill menu. I wish the game implemented a straightforward skill-tree, one that is actually helpful and useful. 

I’ll show you the actual gameplay, in this clip I exit the hub area, travel around, come across enemies, and battle them. My biggest gripe, that you can see in the clip, is that the game presents itself as if it is offering an immersive world in trailers, but no, this world is far from immersive, it is the opposite of that. It is a bit challenging to put into words: the world we are in fees like are created in parts, such as hub are, empty deserts, hills, mountains, point of interest locations which have objectives and NPCs; it feels all these parts are created separately, then put together, and this is the final product. When I travel, fight enemies, return to hub area, something feels off here. Locations and environment do not match, and you feel this is not a unified world, this is more of a mix-n-match environment. Let’s take Greedfall for example here, which is an almost open-world game and when I travel across locations and fight enemies and get back to mission location, I never felt ‘this world does not vibe with me’ feeling, when you play a game you expect it to make ‘sense’ even if the game is set in most absurd plot with unreal characters. There has to be consistency and integrity of the world I am in should be connected across the world. Atlas Fallen falls short in this case, as I explored the world more, I grew even more stranger to it. It does not feel natural, it does not feel finished.

Adding to my previous paragraph, the level design does not live up to expectation at all, the game points at a location that I have to reach, but the location does not show up on Map, you only get to see direction arrow in-game and the distance between you and the destination. The world has these mountains and hills, and objective locations are located on top of these mountains, or below them, but you cannot make sure which direction you should go. Why is this simple thing is a challenge itself? An average player should be provided with clues and hints for the destination, in this game I cannot grasp where I am going or where I am supposed to go to access the location.

The only positive thing to note about Atlas Fallen is the combat system. The combat is fluid, it is fast, it is a bit challenging in a fun way and the game always pushes you to use your combo attacks, dodge and freeze abilities. Apart from this, Atlas Fallen is a game I would not recommend to anybody with a healthy mind.

[axemantv]

Titan Quest 2 | Official Announcement Trailer | THQ Nordic Digital Showc...

Sehen Sie sich den Ankündigungstrailer zu Titan Quest II an, einem kommenden Spiel für PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S und PC.

#AxemanMovies #AxeProductions #AxemanTV #Axeman #THQ #TheLastDivision #TitanQuest2 #Showcase #THQNordic

[overwritexr]

Title: Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable – Teaser Trailer (Quest 2) YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/mnggg7oRyqA

[ikaroux]

I promised you... Xiao, part 2

Synopsis: Even death could not separate you.

You were now at his side in another form. He had found the happiness of life and a new goal: to make you human again.

Style: Part 2, angts, love, romance

Alert: None.

Characters: Xiao.

Coming soon: Venti, Albedo, Kazuha, Childe, Razor, Ganyu, Scaramouche.

Note: (SPOIL) For Xiao, I went with a theory I had after watching the Genshin Impact trailer again. I am sure that the city we see destroyed in it is not Khaenri'ah but Mondstadt. Moreover, our brother/sister tells us during the archon's quest that she already finished her journey, but whether it's Venti, Zhongli or Baal, none of them seems to know her/him, which is quite surprising...

The continuation of Venti is being written...

Masterlist

I promise you. Part 1

Apocalyptic landscapes flashed before Xiao's eyes.

Teyvat was burning.

Cities all over the world were collapsing in on themselves.

Screams and cries pierced the ears of the stunned Yaksha.

When he looked up at the ash-covered sky, he noticed that someone was floating there.

A woman with long white hair, the one from whom escaped the titanic power that had destroyed the world he so cherished.

Above her, Celestia stood proudly.

Cold and ruthless.

Xiao felt his body tremble and when he raised his hands to his face, he noticed that they were covered in blood.

His blood.

He collapsed to the ground, suddenly drained of all his strength.

He was gradually losing consciousness.

The shadow of death hung over him.

He could barely make out the blonde-haired girl who was running towards him, desperate and afraid.

Strange and familiar at the same time. She looked like him.

Aether.

His last thoughts were of you.

You were dead. Long gone from him now.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he whispered your name.

"y/n... y/n... I hope so... to find you in death..."

An unfamiliar voice interrupted his musings. Was it a woman's? A man perhaps?

"I can help you... Find the god of time... Alatus."

Xia...

Xiao stirred in his nightmarish sleep.

Xiao...

The images of his dream were still vivid in his mind.

Wake up Xiao.

Xiao abruptly opened his eyes. He was sweating and a stabbing pain was shooting through his head. Above him was the worried face of a small kitten that purred as the follower woke up. Xiao raised a trembling hand to the feline, which went to meet his palm with love. Xiao, whose breathing had been jerky just moments earlier, was slowly returning to a normal rhythm.

"Did I wake you up y/n?" - You abandoned his hand to come and rub against his cheek.

"No." - You were deliberately lying, and he knew it by the intonation of your voice. - "You were moaning in your sleep. I was worried. A nightmare?" - Xiao sighed, more exhausted than ever. Had he really slept?

"That was strange... I've never had that dream before. Teyvat was on fire and blood, destroyed by a deity that is completely unknown to me. It looked like... Aether's description of her when he was looking for his sister in Liyue. His sister... I think I saw him in my dream." - Xiao breathed again, his hand coming to cuddle your body gently. "I was dying. I was thinking about you, wanting to join you in death. But then there was this voice that called to me. I don't know who it belonged to, I don't even know if it was a man's or a woman's. She wanted me to find the god of time."

"The god of time?" - Did you repeat, curious.

"An ancient being and forgotten by mortals. There was a time when he stood by the side of... Barbatos."

Xiao took you in his arms and slowly stood up from the roof where he was previously lying.

The city he had seen in his dream was Mondstadt.

His eyes became lost in contemplating the landscape beyond Liyue.

Mondstadt.

The land blessed by the archon anemo.

"Xiao?" - Concerned, you gently dug your claws into the skin of his hand, careful not to hurt him. His eyes returned to you, a glimmer of hope making his gaze shine.

"The god of time... Thanks to him, I could... save you... I need to find Barbatos." - Xiao jumped off the roof to land on the balcony of the Wangshu Inn. He gently placed you on the bed before heading out.

"Wait Xiao!" - He stopped in his tracks and turned sharply, alarmed by the distress in your voice. - "Don't leave me here alone. We promised each other we wouldn't split up again. Please... I won't get in your way." - The Yaksha's heart was beating fast. He didn't know what to do. Taking you away was a real danger for you, but leaving you here, alone and unprotected for perhaps days was just as risky. He clicked his tongue against his palate. He didn't have to think so hard, keeping you close was a no-brainer. He walked over to the bed, crouching down in front of you to get to your level.

"y/n, if I take you, you have to promise me that no matter what happens, no matter what happens, you will do what I ask you to do. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hide, then you hide. Promise me that." - Your ears had lowered, exposing to his eyes the fear that was taking control over you.

"I promise." - Xiao smiled at you, his hand coming to slide down your back before lifting you up by your stomach. He pulled you closer to his lips to place a pleasant kiss on the tip of your muzzle.

"Stay on my shoulder. If any monsters ever attack us on the way, you'll need to get as far away from me as possible, I don't want to hurt you." - You purred against his ear.

"Where are we going?" - Xiao opened the door to his room.

"Mondstadt."

Mondstadt

The streets of the city were empty of its inhabitants, all already comfortably settled in their homes before nightfall. Only a few of them were still wandering the city's alleys, their steps unsteady and their eyes clouded with alcohol.

Xiao walked slowly, looking for the divine presence of the archon anemo. Those he passed stared at him with undisguised curiosity. Xiao stood out in the streets of Mondstadt. His eyes, his looks, his attitude, even his walk commanded the respect of the people still standing to notice him. Anyone could have said that Xiao was not human.

You both ended up in front of a tavern.

Angel's Share.

From outside, you could hear laughter and singing coming through the walls of the building. Xiao breathed in before deciding to push open the wooden doors of the tavern.

The room was full and... incredibly loud. There were civilians, but also knights and bards who were setting the mood over a few glasses of wine. Xiao took a step, examining each face he passed with his eyes.

"If it's for drinking, young man, minors are not allowed to buy alcohol." - Xiao's piercing eyes planted themselves in the bartender's. A dark-haired man with chestnut eyes and a beard was busy cleaning up the dirty glasses he had picked up earlier in the evening.

"Tsk. You don't know who you're talking to, mortal." - The man stopped his movements and raised an eyebrow at Xiao's insolence.

"Xiao... don't look for trouble. The people of Mondstadt, like most humans, don't know who you are!" - You whispered in his ear.

"Charles! This boy is my friend, let him join me." - interposed a young man covered in a beret and an emerald-colored cape.

"You, I'm only tolerating you because the boss asked me to."

"Eeeh~ Come on! I'll thank you with a song."

"Pay your bard bill, if you want to thank me." - The young man laughed before grabbing Xiao's arm to drag him upstairs. Once upstairs, he invited you to sit on the chair of a table ideally placed away from curious eyes.

"Well. I think it's safe to say I've never had the pleasure of welcoming the vigilant Yaksha to my grounds."

"Barbatos..." - The archon anemo's smile was almost childlike.

"What brings you here friend?" - Before you could open your mouth, Xiao unhooked you from his back behind which you were hidden. At the sight of you, the archon jumped out of his chair in fear.

"Iiik! Get that creature away from me!" - Xiao raised an eyebrow, bewildered. Nevertheless, he placed you on his lap, ignoring the god's comment. After a few seconds, during which your gazes remained fixed on each other, Barbatos breathed with relief before sitting back down apprehensively in front of Xiao, who watched him curiously. - "I'm allergic to cats. Except yours apparently... On closer inspection... um~ it's not an ordinary cat, is it?" - Xiao looked down at you.

"No, you're right Barbatos... She - sigh - She was human once." - Leaning on the wooden surface of the table, Barbatos rested his chin in the hollow of his palms, listening carefully to the Yaksha.

"What happened to her?" - Xiao stroked your fur, his eyes darkening at the painful memories that resurfaced.

"y/n loved to explore ancient ruins and observe plants. She was studying the remains of an ancient temple when the ground suddenly opened up beneath her feet. She died instantly. She... didn't have time to suffer..." - Xiao's voice trembled at the growing emotion raging inside him. He didn't dare to look away from you, tears stinging his eyes. Xiao rarely cried, but since your death, his emotions often overflowed against his will. The memories of your damaged and lifeless body had haunted him for a long time. So, to calm him down, you sat up on your hind legs to rub against his face.

"It's all right, Xiao. You're right, I didn't feel anything. It's not your fault. Please don't cry." - Xiao lifted you up to give you a hug.

"We promised to stay together. I guess it was that promise that bound him to me..." - Xiao finally looked up at Barbatos, who was looking at both of you with compassion.

"Fate can sometimes be cruel... If I may correct you my friend, it is not your promise that binds you to each other, it is your feelings. They are powerful and intense." - The archon's words were soft and sincere. - Now that I understand your situation better, I would like to know what brought you to me. Why me and not Morax?" - Xiao closed his eyes briefly, vaguely revisiting images of your smile before his mind was once again plagued with nightmarish visions.

"I had a dream the other night. Mondstadt was being engulfed in flames and darkness. Celestia seemed intent on destroying mortals, archons and the abyss. There was also this young girl who looked like Aether... I had never met him and yet... her face looked familiar. Like now, she had died, but she had not been reincarnated in the body of an animal. And as my dream came to an end with my death, a voice called me by my old name, Alatus. It asked me to find the god of time." - Barbatos straightened up with wide, bemused eyes in his chair.

"The god of time? Impossible, he disappeared since... Since when? It's funny, my memories of him are vague, but I can tell you that he and I were friends. But overnight, it was as if his existence had been wiped off the face of the world... Strangely enough, it is now that you talk to me about him that some memories come back to me. Besides... what a strange dream... Mondstadt destroyed. Celestia at war with the seven and the mortals. A girl you've never met, but who looks familiar... Maybe... Maybe the god of time was forced to use his powers to save us all..."

"What do you mean Barbatos?"

"Rha! Don't call me Barbatos, please. Venti will do. As for the God of Time, I suspect that your dreams are not just dreams, but memories. It could be that everything you saw really happened and, for some reason, the god of time decided to act by going back in time." - Venti leaned heavily against the back of his seat, his face set in concentration. His eyes fixed on Xiao's and then on you. - "Don't look at me like that, I'm just theorizing."

"Why me? I don't understand why I would be the only one to remember a future that hasn't happened yet..."

"Our childhood memories fade with time, yet sometimes all it takes is a smell or an object that reminds us of our past to bring back images, as you did for me a few moments ago. I didn't remember my friend's existence until you told me... As I explained to you, it is as if his existence had been deliberately erased from our memories. Coming back to you two, you are connected by fate, an anomaly in the continuity of time. The death of y/n was undoubtedly the trigger that you needed for the memories to come back little by little. In your dream, y/n was dead, whereas here, she managed to come back to life by some means. If the god of time still has some strength left, it is possible that he used it to contact you through your dream... Maybe... y/n has more to contribute to Teyvat by being alive than dead. Maybe she can save us from the doom that awaits us." - Xiao tightened his embrace around you. The horrified look he gave the archon anemo triggered a shiver down your spine.

"No, I don't want her to have anything to do with this! You don't know what I saw, Barbatos! The world... our world was a pile of ash. What does y/n have to do with this?" - Xiao had risen from his chair, completely tense. Despite his anxious state, his grip on you remained gentle and comforting. Venti studied the yaksha carefully, waiting patiently for him to regain his composure before continuing.

"Sometimes a single breath can change the direction of the wind, Xiao. I don't know what it wants from you two, but what is certain is that the god of time will be able to save your mate." - Venti conjured his lyre in his hands, beginning to play a musical tune. Xiao seemed to relax instantly at the sound of the lyre. His gaze shifted to the window, where the high walls separating Freedom City from the Mondstadt Plains stood. - "Tomorrow I will take you to the Arrachétoiles cliff so you can access the temple of time, or at least what is left of it..."

Starsnatch Cliff

Venti had escorted you to the edge of the cliff, where an island and the remains of a ruined temple could be seen in the distance. Your hair stood up at the frightening distance to the island.

"Xiao, you will never be able to reach the other shore..." - Your trembling voice alerted Xiao, who quickly reached up to scratch the back of your ear, forcing a few purrs from you.

"Don't worry about that. Barbatos is with us." - He reassured you.

"Hm?" - Venti's innocent smile soothed you a little more. - "Oh she's scared? Don't worry, I'll create a corridor of air that will quickly transport us to this island." - With that, Venti conjured his lyre, scraping the strings to make several rings appear over the ocean. Without saying anything more, Venti leapt into the void, making his wings appear from the firmament on his back.

"y/n, I'm going to have to see about putting you in my satchel. I'm going to need my arms to stay balanced." - Xiao was very considerate of you, preferring to explain the situation as it was rather than surprise you. You obviously agreed, easing Xiao's gestures as he placed you in the satchel he'd taken with him when he left Liyue. - "Are you ready? I'm jumping!" - You felt your heart rise as Xiao jumped in. When Xiao took the Venti corridor, the dizzying speed of the journey made you scream. Xiao's very slight chuckle did not escape you.

As soon as Xiao set foot on the beach, he hurriedly pulled you out of his saddlebag, chuckling quietly as he saw your bristling hair and your legs barely able to support your weight. The dark look you gave him made him turn his face away from you. The shaking of his shoulders betrayed his amusement, and though the experience was unpleasant for you, you couldn't help but feel a little joy at seeing Xiao laugh again.

"Well, enough laughing both of you. I spotted a camp when we were in the air. Maybe we can find some clues there." - Xiao lifted you up in his arms, saving you from an exhausting walk in the sand. He followed closely behind the archon anemo as he made his way to the right side of the beach.

Hidden in a corner, a camp had been set up there, but no sign of life seemed to lurk around. By mutual agreement, the three of you looked for clues about the god of time. - Here? What's a shovel doing planted here?" - Venti plucked the shovel from the ground. - The sand has been turned over here, as if someone wanted to dig up a treasure... Strange, it's as if time on this island is frozen. This island has been deserted for centuries, and nothing has moved..." - Venti looked up at the center of the temple, where a large sundial stood. He dropped his shovel and ran towards the stairs leading to the temple, not noticing that he had inadvertently awakened the guardian of the ruins hidden behind some rocks. Xiao followed him.

Silence fell upon you as the three of you looked around. You felt a presence, something invisible to human eyes, yet it was there, watching you from the unseen.

"Xiao, use your elemental vision. I feel that it is there, camouflaged in the cracks of time..."

"I feel it too..." - Xiao confirmed, handing you to Venti for protection while he finished. As soon as Xiao activated his elemental vision, he froze in front of the crack before him.

"Alatus..."

"Are you... the god of time?"

"Yes... and at the same time... no. I am... an echo... a fragment... of his power... The god of time... travels alongside... the star child."

As Xiao chatted with the invisible god, your keen hearing alerted you to the threat approaching you. Climbing onto the archon's shoulders, you could see the ruins' guardian in the distance positioning himself to send his missiles at you.

"XIAO!" - The adept gasped as he heard you yell his name. As he swiveled toward you, he saw the danger in the sky that threatened to kill you all. Xiao conjured up his spear in his hands, but when he tried to step in to protect you, Venti stopped him.

"Xiao! I'll take care of him, focus on the time god!" - Xiao's expression was frozen in horror. Barbatos struggled to keep the guard at bay, with you still hanging on his shoulder.

"y/n..." - You stopped the move he was about to make to retrieve you.

"Do what you need to do Xiao. It'll be okay..." - You knew it deep down... you had to say goodbye to Xiao. Since the god of time intervened in your resurrection, that meant that Xiao would be sent back to the past, to the exact moment when your accident took place. Your existence will be permanently erased...

"Alatus... I just... have enough strength left... to send you... back in time..." - Xiao slowly turned away from you, his eyes glistening with tears. - "Save her... she is a hope... for our future..." - A giant hourglass appeared between Xiao and the time god. The object turned around, allowing the sands inside to flow the other way. Xiao began to disappear... An explosion caught the follower's eye. Venti was lying on the ground, badly injured, with you by his side.

"Xiao... I love you... We'll meet again soon... I promise..." - Although your voice was weak, it still reached the Yaksha's ears.

"y/n..." - Xiao murmured in a trembling voice. - "Forgive me... I love you..." - Xiao didn't know if it was him who had disappeared from this world or if it was the world around him that had faded away... To tell the truth, he didn't care... He had lost you... once again...

Cuijue Slope

In the middle of the giant pillars were hidden ancient ruins that were once sealed. Thanks to the traveler, it was now possible for you to access the hidden knowledge of an ancient world. You were accompanied by some members of the adventurers' guild who wanted to learn more about this place, just like you.

Further into the ruins, there was a hidden room covered with murals. Although the floor and walls of the room looked like they could collapse at any moment, your curiosity pushed you to enter despite the risks.

"This is amazing... Different chapters of Liyue's history are displayed on its walls. The Archon War, the founding of Liyue... and here, isn't this a representation of Celestia?" - Too focused on your findings, you didn't feel the ground crumble under your feet. - "Why is an hourglass represented under the domain of the Gods? Hm?" - A tremor beneath your feet suddenly distracted you from your observations. The ground opened dangerously beneath your feet, and as you began a sudden movement to get away from it, it only hastened your end. You felt yourself falling into the darkness, pieces of rock threatening to crush you. You closed your eyes, waiting for death to take hold of you. But it never came. Instead, it was powerful arms that trapped you in a desperate embrace. When you opened your eyes, you were half lying on the grass, looking up at the blue sky. Xiao was standing over you, his face buried in your neck. You could hear sobs escaping his throat and feel the tremors running through his body.

"Xiao?" - Your hand came to rest on his back, lovingly caressing his tense muscles.

"y/n... y/n... y/n..." - He repeated between each sob. - "I'm sorry it took so long. I'm here now. I won't let anything happen to you again." - You weren't used to seeing Xiao so emotional. He seemed in shock, lost and broken.

"It's okay Xiao, I'm here. I promised you, I'll always stay close to you." - He tightened his embrace around your shoulders, almost smothering you awkwardly. Your hand found one of his cheeks, wiping away the tears that lined his skin. Xiao finally stepped back, looking into your eyes. His gaze broke your heart, so to ease his pain a little, you urged him to kiss you, which he did without any form of resistance.

"And now... may time... pass... with the hope... of a world without gods..."

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

Gjallarhorn

“If there is beauty in destruction, why not also in its delivery?” --Feisel Crux

Type: Rocket Launcher

Slot: Kinetic | Energy | Heavy

Element: Arc | Solar | Void

Perk: Wolfpack Rounds - Rounds fired from this weapon split into tracking cluster missiles upon detonation.

Trait: Pack Hunter - Gain increased handling and reload speed when standing near allies. Firing this weapon also grants Wolfpack Rounds to nearby allies wielding non-Exotic Rocket Launchers.

Masterworked Trait: More Wolves - Increases magazine size. Final blows with Wolfpack Rounds spawn a faster, more powerful missile at the target's location.

Ornaments: GJNKR, Hraesveglur, Gjallarfoam

Origin & Description:

Give me a G!

Give me a J!

Give me a YELLHORN!

What's that spell?

PARTY TIME.

Talk to any D1 vet long enough and the name Gjallarhorn (pronounced like "gallon") - or "Gjally," or "G-horn" - will come up, often with a fond sigh. Gjallarhorn is one of the most cherished weapons in the Destiny franchise and Bungie announced its return in their 30th anniversary celebration with due pomp and circumstance. And who can blame the Destiny community for falling in love with a rocket launcher whose explosions are filled with smaller, angrier explosions? It doesn't hurt that Gjallarhorn was built to be an exquisite object. Its elegant chassis of ivory, gold, and polished wood gleams with sculpted ornamentation of wolves and wings. From the braided leather foregrip to the delicate reliefs of leaves and vines, no detail of Gjallarhorn is too small to be made beautiful. When fired its Wolfpack rounds explode on impact into a symphony of swarming cluster missiles that lift an entire arena's worth of enemies into the air with the sheer force of their detonation. There's a reason its Rise of Iron acquisition quest was named Beauty in Destruction.

Both in- and out-of-game designers intended Gjallarhorn to be a statement piece, a trophy, a weapon that marked out its bearer as a warrior of skill and achievement. Weapon designer Mark Van Haitsma, maker of so many fine Destiny exotics that I had to add extra words in here, famously added one sculpted wolf per day he worked on the Gjallarhorn; as a result it possesses the highest WPG - that's "wolves per gun"* - of any Destiny weapon. Art lead Tom Doyle described G-horn as "Hulk Hogan's belt in weaponized form," and Mark drew inspiration from the parade armor of knights and gladiators. In-universe Gjallarhorn was forged by Feizel Crux of the Crux/Lomar foundry, makers of fine rocket launchers. Crux used the armor of Guardians fallen at the Battle of Twilight Gap to build a weapon meant to be wielded by the survivors of said battle, a functional memorial to those who were lost. Its very existence celebrates the City's victory.

* Sixteen!

Gjallarhorn's long and storied history - which may rightly be termed "epic" as its namesake, the horn Heimdall will sound to call the gods to Ragnarok, appears in the Norse Edda - begins before the launch of Destiny itself. It was featured in August 2013 in one of Bungie's pre-game hype series of "Destiny Drawing Board" posts previewing game weapons that spoke to Destiny's worldbuilding and aesthetic, and a Titan wielded one in the game's live-action trailer. The weapon itself then launched with Destiny 1, but most players could be forgiven for thinking otherwise, because it was near-impossible to come by for most of Year 1. The very low drop rate of exotics combined with a long string of bad luck that had Xûr stock it the second week after launch and then NEVER AGAIN until just before Year 2 kept it out of most Guardians' vaults. When the Nine finally coughed up the goods, anyone interested in high-level content swarmed to buy it since it had by then become de facto necessary for raiding. New players were effectively locked out of endgame activities till they could get one. LFG raids would include the line "Ghorn reqd" and kick players who didn't bring it for boss damage phases, and it dominated the DPS meta much as Whisper did in 2018. Many raid encounters simply weren't interesting anymore - stack 6 Gjallarhorns and nothing could stand against you.

So when Bungie announced that Gjallarhorn was finally returning in D2 as part of the 30th Anniversary event in 2021, many vets turned to wondering what tuning they must have done to keep G-horn from gating off raids to new players. Since Gjallarhorn was specifically part of the 30th Anniversary pack, a paid DLC, the situation could be even worse this time - new players would have to shell out for this specific piece of content. We needn't have worried. Bungie dodged the problem in an elegant way: D2 Gjallarhorn retains the famous Wolfpack Rounds but adds the brilliant trait Pack Hunter*, which turns the Gjallarhorn problem neatly on its head. When one player fires Gjallarhorn, Pack Hunter causes nearby allies carrying non-Exotic rocket launchers to also get Wolfpack Rounds. That one trait changes Gjallarhorn from a barrier to entry for high-level content into one of the best choices for teaching new Guardians to raid, since it's relatively easy for even a new player to acquire a solid Legendary-tier rocket launcher. One experienced Guardian firing a Gjallarhorn in the middle of a pack of new players lets everyone then fire off their own rocket launchers with the same high-damage cluster missiles. Instead of stacking three or six Gjallarhorns for damage it actually becomes more useful in combos, adding Wolfpack Rounds to rocket launchers with other useful perks like Vorpal Weapon or Chain Reaction.

* Whose icon is literally Three Wolf Moon.

Part of the reason Gjallarhorn isn't causing problems anymore might be because they Nerfed it straight out of the box: they're building a Nerf Gjallarhorn. No, seriously. It's amazing. The Nerf blaster is a full-scale G-horn replica more than four feet long, with all the detailing of the original recast in molded plastic, and somehow it has Wolfpack Rounds. Nerf actually developed a new kind of Nerf ammo, the Mega shell, just for their version of Gjallarhorn; you fire the shell and the shell then fires three more darts. Yeah. There was actual innovation put into this piece. It even reloads the same way as the in-game weapon. It's stunning and hilarious and I can't wait to spend way too much money on it.

For your in-game dress-up needs, since Gjally returned as part of Bungie's 30th Anniversary celebration, it came with the ornament GJNKR to make it look like OG Halo's SPNKR rocket launcher. Xûr also brought along the ornament Hraesveglur which changes the wolves to eagles and redoes the detailing appropriately, adding eagle talons grasping the front of the barrel and curling winds replacing leaves and vines. It's almost an aeronautical look, resembling early bare-metal aircraft like the famous DC-3 in both color and aesthetic.

The masterwork trait More Wolves adds, well, more metaphorical wolves (because Three Wolf Moon can only be improved by More Wolves) by putting two rounds in the tube (two rounds!!) and oh yeah even more explosions because now the explosions created by the first explosion can also generate their own, third, explosion. Explosions filled with explosions filled with explosions! The Destiny playerbase tends to get grouchy, especially when anything changes, and it's been asking for Gjallarhorn back pretty much since D2 launched. Now that I've played with it, I get it. It's a marvelous weapon. Some people say that when you dress well, you feel good; for a Guardian, when you bring a stylish weapon, you feel on top of the world. I worked overtime grinding vendor rank to get to the Hraesveglur ornament purely for the look. When you fire Gjallarhorn, you feel like you're making a statement, and anyone nearby had better listen up. And for once even the crotchety old players seem happy with this particular addition: Gjallarhorn's back, it's not causing problems in the meta, and it's just as big, shiny, and wolf-y as before.

Destiny 2 Compendium Armarum Exoticarum

[ Ace of Spades | Ager's Scepter | Anarchy | Arbalest | Bad Juju | Bastion | Black Talon | Borealis | Cerberus+1 | The Chaperone | Cloudstrike | Coldheart | Collective Obligation | The Colony | Crimson | Cryosthesia 77K | DARCI | Dead Man's Tale | Deathbringer | Dead Messenger | Devil's Ruin | Divinity | Duality | Edge of Action/Concurrence/Intent | Eriana’s Vow | Eyes of Tomorrow | Fighting Lion | The Fourth Horseman | Forerunner | Gjallarhorn | Grand Overture | Graviton Lance | Hard Light | Hawkmoon | Heartshadow | Heir Apparent | The Huckleberry | Izanagi’s Burden | The Jade Rabbit | Jötunn | The Lament | The Last Word | Legend of Acrius | Leviathan’s Breath | Lord of Wolves | Lorentz Driver | Lumina | Malfeasance | Merciless | MIDA Multi-Tool | Le Monarque | Monte Carlo | No Time to Explain | One Thousand Voices | Osteo Striga | Outbreak Perfected | Parasite | Polaris Lance | Prometheus Lens | The Prospector | Queenbreaker | Rat King | Riskrunner | Ruinous Effigy | Salvation's Grip | Skyburner’s Oath | Sleeper Simulant | Sturm | Sunshot | SUROS Regime | Sweet Business | Symmetry | Tarrabah | Telesto | Thorn | Thunderlord | Ticuu's Divination | Tommy's Matchbook | Tractor Cannon | Traveler's Chosen | Trespasser | Trinity Ghoul | Truth | Two-Tailed Fox | Vex Mythoclast | Vigilance Wing | The Wardcliff Coil | Wavesplitter | Whisper of the Worm | Wish-Ender | Witherhoard | Worldline Zero | Xenophage ]

[thetoxicgamer]

Diablo meets Greek mythology as beloved classic ARPG returns

The much-loved mythology-focused ARPG from 2006 is brought back in Titan Quest 2, a brand-new sequel for the present. The original Titan Quest is still one of the best Diablo-like games that came out after Diablo 2, bringing the ancient Greek mythology featured in games like Age of Mythology and Assassin's Creed Odyssey to the action-RPG genre with a beautiful world, robust multiplayer options, and of course lots of loot. Now, Titan Quest 2 intends to continue that legacy by providing a different challenger to games like Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2. Revealed at the THQ Digital Nordic showcase on August 11, 2023, Titan Quest 2 tasks players with taking up arms and joining the fight against Nemesis, Goddess of Retribution. The announcement comes alongside a stunning cinematic trailer showing armored warriors marching through the streets of ancient Greece, before fiery spirits descend from the heavens as the sky parts to herald the arrival of Nemesis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY6yb8OoFvw The first Titan Quest, helmed by Age of Empires co-creator Brian Sullivan with a script from Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace, was a great spin on the Diablo formula. While it didn’t do anything truly revolutionary, it gave fans a welcome adventure five years after the release of Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction and another five prior to the eventual arrival of Diablo 3. Titan Quest received a special ten-year anniversary edition in 2016 that combines it with its Immortal Throne expansion alongside improved multiplayer tools, mod support through Steam Workshop, and even some new heroes and bosses along the way. It maintains a 91% positive Steam rating, and even got three additional expansions branching out into other mythological areas in the forms of Titan Quest Ragnarök, Atlantis, and Eternal Embers. Much like its predecessor, Titan Quest 2 promises a versatile character-building kit that lets you combine two masteries of your choice to create a distinct hybrid class and then supplement it with all manner of skill modifiers, attributes, and that sweet, sweet loot. Developer Grimlore Games promises, “Every item serves a function, and every character class has many options when it comes to finding the perfect equipment.” Along with plenty of drops, there’ll also be a robust crafting system to look forward to in Titan Quest 2. “Even the most common spear can be upgraded via affix crafting,” Grimlore Games explains, “and with the right ingredients you may even forge it into a unique item spoken only of legend.” As someone who came to the first Titan Quest late and still found plenty to love in its approach to the format, I’m very excited at the prospect of its return. With the likes of Diablo 4, Path of Exile 2, and Last Epoch, it feels like we’re having a real renaissance of the action-RPG game, and I couldn’t be happier. Now I’m just eager to see Titan Quest 2 gameplay in action, although the screenshots already look fantastic. Titan Quest 2 is listed as “coming soon” on Steam but currently has no release date – for now you can add it to your wishlist to keep track of it. If you’re intrigued enough to try its predecessor, Titan Quest Anniversary Edition is currently 75% off on Steam at just $4.99 / £4.49, down from $19.99 / £17.99. Looking for more great games to play with your friends? We’ve got the best co-op games to keep your squad busy. If you’d rather venture out alone, take a look through the best single-player games instead. Read the full article

[vintage1981]

Dr. Who and the Daleks & Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. | Studiocanal Announce 4K Restorations, Theatrical Screenings and BFI Event

Official Press Release

London– 13th April 2022 – STUDIOCANAL are proud to announce brand new 4K restorations of the two classic Dr. Who feature-length films starring award-winning actor Peter Cushing – DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS and DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D.

Available to order from Amazon:

Doctor Who and the Daleks 4k Collectors Edition

Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. 4K Collectors Edition

Doctor Who and the Daleks 4k steelbook

Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. 4K Steelbook

Dr. Who & The Daleks: The Official Story of the Films

Released initially in 1965 and 1966 respectively and directed by Gordon Flemyng, these two films, shot in glorious Technicolor, have been regenerated in out-of-this-world 4K and are the perfect collector’s item for Doctor Who and sci-fi fans. The films, which are to date the only big-screen outings for the Doctor, also boast a beloved supporting cast including Bernard Cribbins, Roberta Tovey, Roy Castle and Jennie Linden.

STUDIOCANAL will release DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS and DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D. theatrically in the UK from 10th July 2022 following a special double-bill preview at the BFI in London on June 19th. Both films will be released on 4K UHD Collector’s Editions, steelbooks and digital platforms on 20th June (DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS) and 18th July (DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D.).

DR. WHO & THE DALEKS (1965) was the first big screen film adaptation of British TV’s most iconic sci-fi hero, and the first time Doctor Who was ever seen in colour. Having invented the TARDIS, a strange machine capable of travelling into other dimensions, the Dr. Who and his three young accomplices set forth on a quest through time and space.

Their journey takes them into the dark, undiscovered depths of the universe and to the planet of Skaro, a primitive world devastated by nuclear war and populated by two warring species, a peaceful tribe known as Thals and a life form heavily mutated by radiation, encased in protective machines, a merciless force of destruction known as The Daleks!

The second film, DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D. sees Cushing return to the big screen – the future of Planet Earth now belongs to The Daleks, but deep within the London Underground a group of resistance freedom fighters are planning an attack. Can Dr. Who help them succeed in destroying their extra-terrestrial enemies and take back control of Earth?

The preview at BFI Southbank on the 19th June will see both films screened back-to-back with a special guest Q&A including cast members Roberta Tovey and Jill Curzon as well as Anthony Waye (the assistant director of both films) and Jason Flemyng, son of the films’ director, Gordon Flemyng. The Q&A will take place after ‘Dr. Who and the Daleks’ has screened and will cover both films. Tickets will be available to BFI Members from 3 May and to the general public from 5 May at www.bfi.org.uk/whatson

The stunning 4K UHD Collector’s Edition for each film will include:

UHD

BD

42-page booklet with brand new essays

Exclusive 32-page Titan mini-book

Collectable coin

5 artcards

2 Posters – new and original artwork

Plus, an impressive array of extra features:

DR. WHO & THE DALEKS

New featurette The Dalek Legacy: Destination Skaro

New Restoring Dr. Who in 4K

Audio Commentary with critic Kim Newman, screenwriter/writer Robert Shearman, and actor/writer Mark Gatiss

Audio Commentary – actors Jennie Linden (Barbara) and Roberta Tovey (Susan)

Dalekmania documentary

Interview with Gareth Owen

Original Trailer (remastered for 2013 release)

Stills Gallery

DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D.

New featurette The Dalek Legacy: Invasion Earth

New Restoring Dr. Who in 4K

Audio Commentary with critic Kim Newman, screenwriter/writer Robert Shearman, and actor/writer Mark Gatiss

Dalekmania documentary

Interview with Gareth Owen

Interview with Bernard Cribbins

Original Trailer (remastered for 2013 release)

Stills Gallery

Plus two stunning new steelbooks, also designed by Johnny Dombrowski

From the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine -

“The new restorations were prepared by Silver Salt, who completed work on the films in February. “These 4K remasters have utilised the original Techniscope negatives for the first time, so you’re actually seeing the first-generation images that were physically in the cameras when the film was shot,” says Anthony Badger, who’s part of the Silver Salt team. “A tremendous amount of time and effort has gone into the scanning, restoration and HDR colour grading process and the results have definitely been worth it.”

DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS and DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D. will be released as a double bill in cinemas on 10th July and available as 4K UHD Collector’s Editions, steelbooks and digital on June 20th and 18th July respectively.

The special double bill preview will take place on 19th June at the BFI.