#truly this is the pvp campaign

[nellasbookplanet]

I've theorized before who will be the ultimate big bad of c3. The obvious answer is Ludinus, but really Ludinus is to Predathos what Delilah was to Vecna, and Vecna was the final big bad of c1, not Delilah. But whereas Vecna was very much a person, Predathos is more amorphous, a force of nature rather than a character (though that could of course change if/when it’s released). But ever since the need for a vessel was raised, things have begun to slot into place. Ludinus, like Delilah, is the right hand man, and whoever ends up being the vessel, or rather, the body of whoever ends up being the vessel, will likely be the final big bad. It's a continuation and reversal of the final arcs of campaigns 1 and 2: Delilah and Vecna were traditional minion and boss; Lucien and the Somnovum was the minion usurping and taking the boss' place; Predathos will usurp and consume its minion.

Which makes it very scary that Zathuda is pushing Fearne to become powerful enough to become the vessel, and that Liliana noted Imogen's power and that she could likely be the vessel as well. Liliana clearly didn’t want that for her and feared it happening; odds are this is the exact thing she's been urging Imogen to run from from the start.

Liliana does largely seem to think of herself and her actions as self-sacrifical: she wants that peaceful rural life, but will sacrifice it to "free" Exandria from the gods and her daughter from the curse of the red moon. Liliana, as far as we know the most powerful ruidusborn, is very likely to become the vessel (and in that, the bell's hell's final enemy). But she’s also notably starting to sway under Imogen's pleas; if she turns from Predathos, will it seek to inhabit her anyway? Do mortals even have a say in who the vessel will be, or will Predathos just grab whoever is closest/the strongest/it likes best? If it goes for Imogen, I don't doubt Liliana will give herself up in her place (maybe even if it goes for Fearne, to protect her daughter from another loss), even if she has decided she no longer wants this. And if Liliana truly does turn against the Vanguard but gets grabbed anyway, will Imogen be able to fight her?

[haleyusesherwords]

Brennan “I’ve been angling for PvP on this show for 20 seasons” Lee Mulligan really kicked off the campaign he created as a love letter to his wife by assigning another player to murder her

Truly no one is doing it like them

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

INCREDIBLE ADDTION, thank you so much!!!

Names revealed and returned. (context)

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[lowpolynpixelated]

Echo Point Nova: Tribes Ascended

Echo Point Nova may be one of the best cases I've ever seen for people wanting to frag like its 2001. Today's gaming landscape, particularly the independent scene, is thriving with revivals of all sorts of proto-FPS genre shooters. From the singleplayer campaign driven "Boomer Shooter" games like Amid Evil and Zortch to those who long for the multiplayer days of Unreal Tournament with games like Splitgate or the squad tactics of Battlefield 2 with games Battlebit Remastered, these styles are certainly coming back into style. I want to talk about a very particular type of action that was lost long ago in a sea of games and buried revival promises, I want to talk about Tribes.

Releasing originally in 1998 as Starsiege: Tribes the game garnered its own following thanks to its fast paced movement centered approach to Deathmatch and Capture the Flag gameplay. Jetpacks combined with a physics engine bug that let you "ski" around maps a la sliding down slopes and ramping off hills made for incredible fun action packed fights. Three years later in 2001, Tribes 2 debuted making skiing an official form of gameplay, building on the fun of the previous title. The game fell somwhere in between quake arena and unreal tournament, with vehicles, large open maps, a bevy of scifi weaponry, and fast paced action. Though the series would go on all the way to 2012 with the free to play Tribes Ascend by HiRez Studios, the game has since been yet another title in an ever growing pile of "forgotten classics". Until now.

So what IS Echo Point Nova? Stay with me here, EPN (to save some time and typing) is a scifi action shooter where you explore an open world of floating islands with the help of a grappling hook, a hoverboard, and a momentum system that only slows down when you tell it to. EPN is in almost every way, a singleplayer/co-op successor to Tribes. Trading out the scifi weapons for a more modern military arsenal doesn't take away much of the fun. Zipping around and clearing out hordes with a .50 cal sniper rifle is just as fun as a railgun, and blasting mechs with an RPG is just as satisfying as a triple rocket launcher could be. The game WANTS you to feel fast, to feel dangerous, like only the best of the best could stop you. All it's missing is proper PVP, which the developer wants to add support for soon as of the writing of this article. Lets get more specific though.

Level Design:

One half of the puzzle is how EPN's world gives you truly unbridled freedom to explore at breakneck paces. If you thought the vistas and cliffs of breath of the wild being open was impressive, this puts that to shame handily. A massive world of floating island arenas awaits you, all you have to do is get there. As mentioned before the game provides you with a few modes of transit, a grappling hook, your hoverboard, and a set of supplementary equipment like air boost pads and grenades that you can use to gain height very quickly. Movement in the game is nothing short of gorgeous. Fast, fluid, and effortlessly smooth, you can glide and hop your way to just about everywhere.

Let's talk more about the hoverboard, arguably the games most shown off feature. Holding down what would traditionally be a sprint button allows you to speedily glide over any form of terrain the game can throw at you. Grass, snow, sand, lava, all of it. On top of this, touching any flat surface that isn't the ground or a floor with the hoverboard will allow you to grind across and up said surface, gaining you some sweet style points in the process. The game is VERY generous with the grinding, and lets you stay on unless the terrain itself is too uneven to glide over without launching yourself off. Using this you can scale entire mountains and grind circles around the poor enemies of the game, giving them little chance at keeping up with you. Combined with the grappling hook, which allows you to propel yourself in whatever direction you're aiming despite where you grappled on to, you can reach truly dizzying heights and speed with ease. All of this is to say that the game's level design allows for pure freedom of movement. Rarely will you find yourself not jumping or grinding your way around spacious combat arenas laden with half pipe ramps and grind rails. Verticality is KING in Echo Point Nova, and the world knows that. Vast desert expanses, rolling mountaintops, fractured shards of floating rock, its got it all and it is good.

Gameplay:

Though I already went over the gameplay a bit in the last section with the movement and traversal, I'd like to focus a bit more on the core shooting of EPN and just how good it feels to do so. The game gives you access to a decently sized array of pistols, SMGs, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles/DMRs, and explosives to do in the cyborg mercenary armies that oppose you. All of which feel incredible. Perhaps the only negative point I could give is that many weapons can often feel very fast and loose, but the game's projectile system more than makes up for it when allowing you to pepper entire areas with two entire glock magazines. Complimentary to the guns are the perks you earn from doing the game's core combat loop of arriving in an arena and spawning enemies until you've killed the requisite amount for that particular challenge. Perks can range from giving you more ramming speed on your hoverboard (oh yeah you can ram enemies with your hoverboard by the way) to the very first perk you gain, Adrenaline, slowing down time for a few seconds via a refillable meter you gain just for moving at high speeds.

Combat becomes a gravity defying dance of bullets and explosions. Ramping off enemies here, grappling them into them there, throwing out a grenade to pop a shield and riding the explosion shockwave up to the scifi quad-copter that's firing missiles down at you the entire time. Its a beautifully chaotic mess that relies on your mastery of the game's movement to be proficient in. Sure you could just run around Call of Duty style and pop cyborgs in the head, or you could send them into the endless abyss by slapping them with two and a half feet of hoverboard all the while sending a .50 cal round through two of his friends.

It is a joy to experience. The exploration is always rewarding leading you to new challenges that give you either new perks, a new gun, or a fun hat to wear over your character. If you played the dev team's previous game, Severed Steel, you know exactly how high energy and impressive the combat encounters can feel.

Story:

Honestly? It's nothing special. You crash land onto one of the many floating islands, a mysterious voice tells you to get your gear as comrades from whatever scientific group you're a part of tell you to also grab your gear and survey your surroundings. It's VERY loose, and it's perfect that way. The boss fight set pieces don't come bogged down with lengthy cutscenes or anything at all to break the pacing. Voice acting is kept to enemy shoutouts, and everything is told through text logs that you're guided to pretty steadily throughout the game. EPN's story is just what it needs to be and the devs know that. Severed Steel boasted an equally loose but compelling story following the game's protagonist rising up against her scifi imprisoners, and Echo Point Nova is just as short and sweet with its writing. Serviceable, short, and just right.

Soundtrack:

How could I ever talk about this game without mentioning the positively electrifying soundtrack. Composed by artist Floating Door the OST has a range of action driving Drum and Bass tracks that just make you want to go faster. Ethereal synths combined with strong pulsing bass tracks create an otherworldly feel as you grapple and hoverboard your way around the islands, picking up into heavier more chaotic tracks when enemies are found or an encounter is started. It reminds me so much of the more techno/trance inspired soundtracks of later PS1 and PS2 titles that I can't help but grin and nod my head as I zip around blasting things with an RPG. No notes, 10/10, it fits the game beautifully and is a strong set of tracks to listen to on their own. Give it a listen!

Conclusion and comments:

I got away from myself a little bit in this review, but I'd like to close by doubling back to that Tribes comparison. Does Echo Point Nova have EVERYTHING that tribes had? No. It's missing things like vehicles, structured modes of play, hell even proper PVP matchmaking, but that's not the point. The spirit is what lives on in EPN. That 2000s fast paced techno-shooter with weird movement and momentum. The rush of a movement shooter before that phrase was even considered to exist. I don't think this game is Titanfall+DOOM 2016 like a lot of other reviews like to say. What I WILL compare it to if I must, is Halo, Tribes, and just a hint of classic Call of Duty (think COD 4). It's wonderfully made with a clear amount of love and respect for old school shooters. Refined to a razor edge of fluid mobility and rock solid shooting. I really do think its a big step towards keeping the spirit of old games alive without just remaking them or making things that only exist as tributes to them. If I've gotten anything wrong, and the devs never played anything like Tribes before, then that's fine I've been wrong before and I will be again. But playing this game was like playing a love letter written in voxel landscapes and high speed firefights. One that I'd happily reread over and over, or at least listen to the music.

Check out Echo Point Nova here:

[tangent101]

Homeworld 3

25 years ago, I signed up for the beta test of a fascinating sounding game called Homeworld, which promised 3D space fleet combat between two groups, and with the hint of a fascinating storyline. When it came out, I had to buy a new computer to run it... and then I fell in love with the story and with the peoples described within.

While Homeworld 2 fell short of the mark, it was still a fun game and I was curious as to what would happen in the future. But after the falling out between game designer Relic and the IP rights owner Sierra (who then sold the rights elsewhere), it seemed likely that the game would never see a true sequel.

At least... until Gearbox got a hold of the rights and started a Fig crowdsourcing campaign (one of several they would do). And I jumped in early on, buying two keys - one for myself and one for a dear friend I would later marry.

Sadly my spouse didn't live long enough to play Homeworld 3. But I think they would truly love this game. And honestly, Homeworld 3 is a fascinating examination and continuation of the Homeworld Saga. For me, what was truly important about Homeworld wasn't the combat or matching wits with other players - I've never been big on PvP elements. No. I was here for the story. And what I've seen so far... they have gone down an interesting path here.

(In a way this almost feels like elements of the first and maybe third Mass Effect story, with the protagonist (Imogen S'jet) having visions akin to what Commander Shepard would face in their journey. This is a good thing, as it hints at the greater story within Homeworld rather than just giving pieces of the story like the first two Homeworlds did. In fact, I will admit that if Gearbox were to "reimagine" the first and/or second Homeworld games to use a similar mechanic for character examination and storytelling, I'd likely buy these remade games to see how and what was done in the stories.)

Anyway... Homeworld 3 is fun! They included the ability to scale difficulty so that those of us who are older or not as willing to drive ourselves to distraction trying to prevail against the story can still play and watch the story unfold... and also the ability to slow time, which is especially fun as I enjoy watching the enemies burn! Not to mention listening to radio chatter among pilots as they fight some truly horrific odds at times. So I recommend it. You don't even need to have played the older Homeworld games to know what's going on if you don't want to. :)

[utilitycaster]

i am nourished by your hatred; what did you dislike about yu??

Question is academic for now but: essentially, I'm already pretty heavily biased against the "secretly a changeling" trope and always have been; it's always struck me as just kind of a cheap twist and rarely engages with the handful of interesting things about the changeling as a player choice. But I think the bigger part is just that they weren't very good at their job as an assassin, and Erika and Matt both expected the encounter in Imahara Joe's to go to PvP but it didn't, so it led to a scene that dragged on forever in which Yu was just trying to goad people into PvP and they were all like "SHUT UP," which, mood. And then, in a MacGuffin-heavy campaign, during The MacGuffin Arc (Treshi, a man who was really just the bouncing ball to follow through the Apogee Solstice Exposition Sing-along and yet it took 34 episodes to get through) Yu's entire deal was "looking for vaguely related MacGuffin." And now? Ira has the Moontide Crown so going after Bells Hells is a useless choice, so if Yu showed up they'd just be like "where's the Moontide Crown" and Bells Hells would be like "Ira has it, sending is broken, we don't know where the Calloways are either" and Yu...did not really have like, enough of a backstory or personality beyond that mission to make them interesting to me, but also left on hostile enough terms that I don't see the party working with them. There is literally no point to them coming back in this scenario, and I do not give a shit where the Moontide Crown is. Zathuda probably just stuck Yu in a mirror for failure or whatever, and good riddance. As said, anything to do with the Feywild can better be explored imo through Fearne. I mean if Yu shows up at a later date as a guest it will be fine, but I'm truly not interested unless Fearne is there - showing up for this arc specifically is pointless on several levels - and if we never see them again I won't be disappointed at all.

Now here's where the secretly a changeling trope backfires: I'd love for Erika to come back and play another more interesting character, and Aimee's just set a precedent for playing multiple characters as a guest within the same timeline. But if you've played a changeling in the campaign already, people are just going to be like BUT IT'S SECRETLY YU, RIGHT, which will be annoying as hell, hence me saying a new EXU season or the next installment in the Candela Obscura anthology might be better.

[luxlightly]

I talked about it with two different people lately and I really think that Quake as a series has the potential to be a far more popular franchise in today's market than it currently is, but if it is, it has to be from a shift in focus on the story and lore elements. 

Back when Quake came out, multiplayer games were not the norm. A built in arena mode at the scale Quake had was a huge draw. Now, not only is that the norm, it's completely consumed the market. People have tons of other multi-player shooters to choose from, out there. For many players interested in story and lore, it's even a turn off, suggesting that the devs might not care about their single player experience. 

I truly believe that the rich lore of the world of Quake is something that would be extremely appealing to modern audiences. Between the Lovecraftian old gods and the blending of the machine and the flesh with the Strogg, it has elements that are highly popular right now, more than ever. It’s truly “Call of Cthulhu meets Mass Effect”. This should be catnip to half the internet.

But the story and lore of Quake is fractured from a history fraught with leadership disputes, brand confusion, and passing back and forth between developers. It's a series in parts with no clear connection between them. Any benefit having two genres might provide is totally lost due to the fact there’s no attempts to organically blend them. There’s also not a lot of ways to really get at that lore, even in the single player campaigns that do exist. The protagonists are stiff and not fleshed out and focus on characters is largely nonexistent.

Now, obviously, the number of fanfictions something has on AO3 is not indicative of its success, but it is a way to gauge how much audiences are engaging with the story or world of a game. Quake, as a whole, has about 30, only a handful of which are actually centered on Quake itself. (For reference, Undertale has 62k) Despite the fascinating lore, people aren’t engaging with it.

If Quake is going to regain its cultural relevance and popularity, it has to be through a focus on story, characters, and the exploration of the lore and world building. And it has to do so in a space in which new players feel comfortable which, presently, it absolutely is not.

The retro fps/arena shooter genres are EXTREMELY hostile towards new players. All multiplayer games have toxic playerbases, but the retro fps/arena shooter genre is particularly bad. These games have been deified to the point where, for many, “protecting” what they see as the purity of those games is far more important than playing them. 

As much as I adore QC, it could never have achieved the mainstream popularity necessary to save the genre or franchise. A purely multiplayer game just reinforces the idea for prospective players that this isn't something that focuses on its non gameplay elements. Which, in fairness, it largely does not. It’s not meant to. But that’s exactly why it can’t do what the genre desperately needed it to. The depth of worldbuilding is there! A frankly shocking amount of consideration of worldbuilding went into every decision about mechanics and design, but it’s hidden in locked scrolls and character bios that take months of playing to unlock and have no real bearing on the game itself.

From there, the players who carried over from previous games are extremely experienced and aggressive towards people they see as entering “their” space. It can take weeks of playing before a new player is able to really engage in matches enough to fully enjoy them. And that time can be downright miserable.People don't want to put in that work for things they have no existing attachment to and the games continue to give them less and less to get attached to in pursuit of recapturing the feeling of being the one big pvp fps on campus, so to speak . 

This means that, with each iteration, it distills more and more into just the people who have been playing since the beginning and ignore or contribute to the toxicity, which further drives away more players. It's a cycle of decay that can't be broken without a huge refresh in the playerbase. New players need someone besides 30 year vets to play against and that only happens if there’s enough new players all at once. 

Since new players can’t get into the multiplayer aspects unless new players are already getting into the multiplayer, the initial interest has to be sparked from outside those elements. Which mean it has to come from a focus on cleaning up and heavily promoting the story aspects of the games. 

Solidify the timeline. Bridge the fantasy and sci-fi plotlines. Allow your protagonists to have personalities and engage meaningfully with other characters and the world around them. Give people characters and settings they can really care about. 

Give people a reason to believe they can get attached to these things without them being abandoned or discarded for the sake of multiplayer microtransactions. Give them something to think about, to write about, and to make art of, even when they're not playing. 

(And, on a personal note, please maybe not have the Strogg symbols be all literal nazi symbols; it makes it really hard to have a Strogg mug or t-shirt, etc.) 

Add single player content that actually translates to the multiplayer. Add some story objectives to multiplayer modes. Give new players something to do and to fall in love with before asking them to throw themselves into the arena. Make some tweaks to gameplay that allows newer players to not be hopelessly disadvantaged. 

Really, the main issue that the developers of Quake and all similar games face is that many existing fans will VEHEMENTLY oppose any changes to what they see as “their” games. They WILL see it as a betrayal from a game they've supported for 30 years. They no longer see these as artistic works belonging to the artists that created them. They see them as THEIRS. That those artists no longer have the right to make decisions that go against their interpretation of what they game is and they will aggressively protect that interpretation.

But the game they are “protecting” never existed. They are trying to preserve the feeling of being a child experiencing this genre for the first time. A version of the experience that only existed to them at that time because of who and where they were in their lives at that time. Ironically, by preventing kids like they were from doing the same, now.

If you made Quake, now, it would not match this perceived idea of what a Quake game should be, to them. If their childhood self started playing Quake, now, they would believe they did not belong there. In fairness, it wouldn't be Quake. Because part of what made it what it was was the fact it was unique. But setting the standard means that much of what made you unique then makes you run-of-the-mill, now.

Obviously, for true fans of the real experience of the genre and not just the nostalgia or “forum cred” of it, it’s expected and appreciated when things are done to keep the genre around and relevant as time passes. They want to have more people playing and enjoying the games more than they want to preserve their own status within a gatekept elite. But for a large number of these self appointed elites, it is more important to them to preserve that imagined version of the game and the status it grants them than it is for either the game or the genre itself to continue to exist.

As companies, the creators of these games will have to ask themselves if that's what's more important to them, too. And are they willing to risk losing what little fanbase they still have in order keep the franchises alive and to pursue their own artistic vision, as opposed to those of people 30 years ago? 

If not, then this spiral either ends with the total death of the genre, or with someone who is willing to take those risks taking the spot they once held, leaving them behind, and a beautiful part of the history of video games as an art form being lost in the pursuit of preserving it.

[cospinol]

TODAY’S EPISODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Koku you amethyst time!!!!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 And it’s apparently the moment that the show’s staff have been waiting for just as eagerly as I have because it’s the best looking episode not just of this season but maybe… of the entire series since its inception…????!! I genuinely can’t think of another one that has Multiple dedicated cuts of detailed action in a row like the sequence from kyou kai snapping on the mountain road to the encounter between shin and kyou kai + rai do and koku’ou at kan ki’s camp, and certainly not one anywhere near as good looking, it’s such a treat…!!!!!!!

[quick aside, before I forget I want to add that rai do is addressing shin as ‘obocchan’ in the last cap above :DDD truly the gift that keeps on giving]

And anyways that’s without even touching on how good this sequence would be regardless of looks because it’s still Amethyst Plot time 🥰❤️💞❣️💓💍💘 Bi hei giving in to peer pressure in just the kind of moment of weakness that you can’t actually detest him for (of course you would want to believe him when he tells you it wasn’t a civilian village..), kyou kai absolutely fucking snapping, the cool head ten maintains between trying to hold shin back and immediately pivoting the hi shin unit to a defensive formation for the real possibility that shin and kyou kai actually start pvp against the kan ki army , and of course shin and kan ki putting their cards on the table :)))))

^ my favourite panel of him ever now animated!!!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 and my favourite moment in the exchange between them, shin’s is still yet to come (I think all his talk in this week’s episode about kan ki not being equipped to handle sei’s dream of unification *is* sweet and sincere but it’s also dumb and that’s why kan ki is able to refute him so easily; the point that really matters and where his moral stance becomes unassailable, for me, is in the fact that it’s all for hyou’s sake. there’s no counter-argument about what you may or may not be turning a blind eye to there, it’s the mandate made absolute and incorruptible instead…) but this is maybe my favourite line of kan ki’s ever… he’s just following through on the promise he made you; these are the rules you agreed to play by! 🥰🥰🥰 i don’t even need to go into the premium emycore aspect of ever part of this sequence lol, the indulgence of it all…

also I was pleasantly surprised to see that they preserved just about all all of the gore from the scenes covered in this week’s scenes; there are some minor changes (the zhao soldiers kan ki is having the saki clan interrogate early in the episode are shown a little less mutilated than they are in the manga, and there’s no nudity) but they really are minor which bodes pretty well for the saki clan artworks coming up soon :~) I think there’s a chance we might not see that scene until the week after next since next episode’s primary focus will of course be Bi Hei And The Hi Shin Unit as per the ep title, but i’m so curious to see what they do with it since the anime has *always* omitted saki and saki-adjacent activities in the past. but I won’t get ahead of myself when we still have all of bi hei’s crisis to savour first :D

also, in shin’s speech telling kan ki off, we got a little additional visual of ran dou from sanyou campaign! always on the lookout for scenes from s1-2 appearing in flashback in the current art style <3

and i really had forgotten what he looked like lol even though this is another scene I absolutely adore for similar reasons to the one in the camp in this episode - though there’s no mou ten around to step in and defend shin this time, of course… :)

[freaks-and-facades-ravenloft]

Freaks & Facades: The Introduction

Welcome one and all, to the beginning of Freaks & Facades, a 3e/3.5 Ravenloft campaign written recap series!  I am your humble avatar of the Dark Powers, @aboleth-eye!  

My amazing players are my d&d and ttrpg friends from my main blog’s discord, brought together across time zones (and even national borders) every two weeks to face the challenges I am compelled to set before them.

**Warning: this is a d&d horror setting campaign recap, there will be dark subjects touched upon.  Currently we do not wish to delve into any truly adult topics, the horror is expected to be Rated T for Teens as of writing this.  

**Multiple ttrpg safety net tools have been made available to our players, but as we are sharing this to the public we will do our best to tag our content to warn against possible triggers.  

**Please do not hesitate to request additional tags and warnings, this project is run by one person with some friends so we will do our best to keep things updated and safe for a general audience.**

Below the cut, meet the Host, the Player Cast and the Premise!

The Host

A humble worldbuilder and sculptor of adventure, Aboleth Eye has been hosting games of the beloved tabletop roleplaying Dungeons & Dragons for over 10 years.  They started sharing their thoughts and love of fantasy and tabletop roleplaying games through tumblr in 2015.  Ever since, Aboleth-Eye has continued to evolve their ways of sharing their hyperfixations and inspirations.  They are a stalwart believer in crediting artists, writers and all creators for their original work!  They are also obsessed with tagging every post to high heaven, mostly to help creative minds find things they love. :-)

Classic Ravenloft (Sword & Sorcery) is their absolute favorite setting for Dungeons & Dragons.  They are only a mostly-eternal Dungeon Master between multiple overlapping groups of players, and they love to create content for new D&D 3e/3.5 races, classes, etc. to share.  They are extremely privileged to have gathered together fantastic and creative people to be a part of this project.  

Inspired by several S&S Ravenloft modules and sourcebooks (as well as a re-listen to The Magnus Archives), Aboleth-Eye has gathered friends new and old alike to survive the gothic fantasy.  They host the game every two weeks, recaps written by them with the aid of the players.   

Dungeon Master  - @aboleth-eye / @aboleth-workshop; AbolethEye on twitter

The Player Cast

In alphabetical character name order below, from whence their characters started the campaign:

Channa Devir - human duskblade - @aureliagaming 

Fenri Sunwillow - halfling cleric - Redbrown (not on socials, recently a guest on Random Encounter Productions PvP tourneys)

Ludwig Hossler “Schrödinger” - human boneblade - @atlysium

Pryrrish Norfaer - star elf warlock - @moonstruck-vixen

Solange Therese Charron - banshee caliban gravedigger - @owldork1998 (owldork1 on Twitter)

The Premise

In the year 752 BC on the Core of Ravenloft, on an especially misty night, five strangers arrive at a mysterious tavern by unorthodox means.  Each of these strangers, some plucked from realms far beyond the Domains of Dread, experienced great horror before their arrival.  They pursued, fled from and sacrificed themselves to their fears and have all come together for purposes unknown.  All strangers and outsiders in their own right, wearing masks of incompetence, delusion and apathy to hide their innermost selves.  

What do the cards have in store for these strangers?

What to the Dark Powers have in store for these five Freaks?  

Why did they arrive in the mysterious tavern?  How will their adventures, starting in the elegantly bilious realm of Dementlieu, bring them together?  Or will they be torn apart by the pull of the Dark Powers in the land of mad opulence?  

Stay tuned.  We welcome our audience to watch these adventures unfold!  

**thunder crash, lightning flash!**

Love, Aboleth Eye

[transingthoseformers]

So, the Decepticon dnd party. This would be significantly more chaotic as they know Far Less about dnd and their party will have far more allowances. Also, uh we Are going to assume that mecha enter the player party in order to show appearance, and since there is More than the autobots' campaign we're going to often say that not everyone does a thing in a session, Soundwave merely asks that they at least join the server even if they don't talk the entire time. Because it's my au and i say so.

Soundwave is the DM, and he's going to be called the asshole DM, or "Who do you think you are, Primus?" a lot. He's going to let his party stretch the rules far more often, but he's going to run them ragged and he Will have far too much fun writing monster and boss sheets. You can hide NOTHING from his ass and he isn't afraid to pull shit tricks on his players which they were warned of in session zero. Miss a session? No you are not, you're just going to have to do it over the comms like a pandemic kid on a snow day. If you're truly truly unable to come to session, he will fill you in on what happened while you were gone and update your player sheet accordingly but by primus there will be surprises.

Megatron is a warlock. I think you know exactly why, but his explanation in game would be the power and he will try and make a plotline of trying to defeat his patron eventually (yes that's inspired by me playing COTL), which who knows the patron might be the BBEG of the campaign. He will beg for magical weapons, constantly, and will be surprised when they have consequences. He's not going to care much for gold loot, no he's all about the magic damn weapons and maximizing damage potential. He will be the guy who will get surprised by a mimic and trust Nothing.jpeg ever. He's gonna bring dark energon to session, and things will get particularly funky. If anyone's going to make fucky ducky moves, it's him. This is, inevitably, factored into how the campaign is played.

Starscream, predictably, will be a rogue but will tell everyone else he's a different class but he has not decided Which One. Of course he can't hide this from the DM but the DM will let this slide, provided a twist will come about later. The majority of PVP will occur because of her and her player character. I'm betting that she's going to be the only one who cares about currency based loot, and while she's expecting to have to steal it from the other players she's just going to end up the party treasurer. In session they prefer to get up and move, so hearing their pedes clicking in the backround has become part of the ambiance. If anyone's going to threaten the other players it's Starscream just All The Time. He's going to fling himself across any table there is, cause stuff to go flying Everywhere, just to hold his claws against someone's throat. I'd say they're chaotic evil but no with time you can predict them rather easily and get your shit off the table.

Breakdown would be a fighter, and probably end up being in possession of whatever weaponry that Megatron got bored of. He's going to go all out in describing his player character in combat, and Will beg Soundwave to let his player character be married to whoever Knockout is playing. This has lead to the hilarious inside joke that his player character is a widower several times over. He's probably the only one of the group to do his roles openly, which functionally is a little pointless considering the DM is Soundwave but it's part of the ambiance. He drops a lot of dice imo and has to pick them up constantly, leading to his dice being all kinds of chipped and fucked up.

Knockout will be the motherfucker who's characters die constantly. He may protect his paintjob, but his player characters are well fictional and he's definitely not above letting them succumb to anything and everything. This is not helped by him often choosing wizards which are notorious for being fragile as all pit. During session, he's usually working on something small to keep his servos occupied. He's got pretty dice, i can just see it in his optics he's a person who has a little fancy dice roller and more than a few dice sets. He's willing to give a new dice set to anyone who inevitably loses theirs or throws them at each other or breaks them because damn this party is rough on dice imo.

Dreadwing and Skyquake (look i specified that this is a nobody dies au and i fragging meant it lol) would both be paladins with significant themes of duality. Yet again I'm going to mention the eventual attempted destruction of Megatron's patron, and this is like their Paladin Goal™️. They Intensely detest the undead in campaign, and there will be lots of sidequests based on this. Yes, they are going to end up being the healers of the party because of how adamant Knockout was against being it "i have to heal you fraggers as my day job what makes you think I'm going to do it in a game??!?" Which will create some absolutely hilarious in game moments as they know Nothing about healing. If you think it's ironic that Dreadwing and Skyquake would be paladins, ohhh then you might be seeing the same thing i am. In session, they keep their stuff close and often will do twin meetings without the rest of the party (which of course Soundwave knows every aspect if these because he's practically omniscient)

Makeshift will be a druid. Why? Wildshape. Remember how we didn't see much of Makeshift in canon? Well you're fucking gonna now. Makeshift is rarely physically in session, but is always there on the comms. You'll forget he's there usually, but when his player character is relevant Damn does he steal the show for a session. His player character imo would likely be a druid, he's often going to masquerade as the party's pet to unaware NPCs.

I can see the predacons more or less sharing a player character, with Predaking being the main representative for it. If anyone's going to successfully miss a session, it's them, which has lead to an inside joke about their player character being so forgetful that they forget who they are. Let's be real and say I'm not quite sure what dnd class they'd choose, because while Skylynx and Darksteel might want to choose a barbarian, I can see Predaking wanting something a little more whimsical. This kind of arguing is exactly why i chose for them to share a character because that would be hilarious as all hell.

Shockwave would be an artillerist artificer. He's exactly going to try and explain what magic is in dnd because he likes Logic and most people consider magic the opposite of logic but no it's simply a science with different sets of rules. His inventions have caused the most TPKs, hands down, and have caused Several ragequits. He loves how complex he can play this, and Will try and make a trebuchet. This is exactly who you want handling a heavily boobytrap-ed dungeon, because that's what he'd do if he was designing a dungeon. If he's not allowed to do something, then he's going to find the pettiest way to replicate the basic idea of it. He's definitely going to tinker during sessions, and while at first dnd magic will frustrate the hell out of him Shockwave will figure it out and lament that he can't use it in his real technology work. He's going to be the guy who's trying to get a pet dragon and fails consistently because the DM is an asshole. He'll definitely draw diagrams up outside of session for fictional weaponry, and hell he might actually get ideas for real things based on it.

Arachnid is another member who would be playing rather infrequently, but she comes in handy. She would choose ranger, more specifically a hunter ranger. If she's allowed to collect trophies in game, she will. There will be jokes about this, and i think it's Soundwave that would compare this behavior to earth felines. I, personally, would compare how she plays however to a leopard. Her player character would spend a lot of time lurking and laying traps, which is what she usually does in her day job too. 8/10 if someone gets like actually murdered during a session it's her. She pops onto the comms while she's hunting and it's not an uncommon occurrence to hear some poor soul gurgling from her mic. She will be Never physically in session otherwise Starscream and Breakdown (and probably Knockout) ganging up on her.

[donkuri]

extremely rambly post dawntrail thoughts. mega spoilers. I sound like such a hater, but i promise i'm not <3

90-95(ish)

For the most part I enjoyed the beginning half of the expansion, in all honesty there were (many) times that it all felt a bit naive and twee, someone referred to it as feeling a bit like an afterschool special and I couldn't agree more. For an expansion coming of the back of Endwalker and how it engaged with difficult subject matter in (in my opinion) a very thoughtful and meaningful way, Dawntrail felt a bit shallow in comparison. Which would not be a problem, I am in no way saying every expac has to have the same depth and Endwalker (far from it, that would be exhausting), but Dawntrail constantly feels like it's trying so very hard to be deep. A message is all well and good, but please don't expect me to be impressed with "don't hurt others ^_^ ever. ^_^" I realize also that the vibe was very likely exentuated to be 'subverted' (not really) in the second half of the story, but that didn't stop it from feeling patronizing and trite for the first chunk. I realize this sounds soo hatery and I really did enjoy the story, going into it i expected a lighter 'fun-adventure' vibe which we definitely got, However (😖) i thinkk the writing team is coming up against the one piece problem, mainly, there are too many characters and they don't know what to do with them. Frankly, it feels extremely weird to have the scions parsled out piece by piece into the msq, I realize in order to tell more stories other characters need to be introduced, which in turn can make the characters we know redundant. But, having estinien show up for literally what feels like about 5 total minutes of the expansion is baffling. Personally, I think the solution to this is more character moments, we got a couple with wuk lamat and company, but to me some of the best moments in endwalker were when we just get to hang out with our buddies, something like that could have gone a looong way for me to feel like they were actually part of the story. honestly, even having G'raha just be on continent would have been something, just have him bum around the city i don't know.. let me get skewers with estinien, let me go tidepooling with urianger, little character moments go a long way for making a story feel lived in, and i think dawntrail was slightly lacking in that regard. In the final cutscene erenville says the whole city partied for 3 days and 3 nights, let me go! let me get wine-drunk with y'shtola and have a taco eating contest with Alisaie. there was even a perfect break built in before the dawnservant ceremony, let me hang out with my pixelated friendsss orz...

95-100

In terms of the second half of the expansion, I enjoyed it as well, the general consensus seems to be that the second half is the stronger one, and I don't think I disagree. The theming is cool (r.i.p. to the people that hated the recent pvp gear...) and I'm glad soken has started to embrace his gift for making incredible techno music. But on the topic of music... what the hell is that theme man. I love ffxiv music, truly truly I do but, I cannot come up with anything but 'bad' to describe that fucking song. I've heard it described as disney, and like a song from a political ralley, i'll dare to combine the two and say it sounds like disney produced the campaign song for kamala harris 2028. When it first crops up during the coronation ceremony i was like "wow thats not good at all.." but during the train montage it literally made me laugh out loud, and during the ending credits i was just kinda bummed. The expansion theme itself (from the trailer) is fucking awesome though, no notes 👌

gulool ja- I truly truly adore him, i don't care if he's a marketable moeblob, that's my baby nephew, I do however have some thoughts.. First of all, I was honestly hoping for a failed/discarded clone reveal, personally that makes more sense to me considering Alexandria's technology instead of some random Mamool Ja woman also being stuck there deciding to bone down on zoraal ja, unless he can do asexual reproduction, in which case, slay. But I think a clone angle could have been an interesting entry point on a discussion of nature vs nurture, would zoraal ja raised away from the burden of expectation of the miracle son grow into the despot that he did? I do think it was insane that he just, stayed the boy king, literally a terrible idea considering it's heavily implied the burden of his father's legacy is what caused zoraal ja to break bad but okay... AND he shoulda moved to tural and gotten to play with the other mamool ja kids dammit 😣

the issue of Zoraal Ja- For all the knowledge we have he was ostensibly raised with a loving family, gulool ja ja seemed to be a good father on most if not all accounts, so why did Zoraal ja turn out like he did? was it an instance of that slimy advisor dude raising him like namikka did for wuk lamat? I think in general Zoraal ja wasn't afforded a lot of grace as a character, and generally treated as pretty wholly evil until his death-floor speech. I, personally don't find that very compelling, or even that it makes much sense. You never get an insight really as to *Why* he's doing what he's doing, 'he wants to surpass his father' ok, but why is world domination the only way he can think to do so? I had thought for a bit near the beginning of the expac that he'd have a similar character to Koana, on that while he may be outwardly cold towards his siblings, he'd still love and care for them, but those thoughts went out the window after the cook-off. I think he was underdeveloped and could have used a little more consideration when creating his motivation and personality. Or at least more of a backstory, a lot of Koana's personal beliefs were formed by his studying in sharlayan, did zoraal ja have a similar experience that shaped his worldview? give me something... anything...

I have heard a lot of criticism surrounding the villain of the expac (store brand metion) a lot of which I think is fair, but whats kind of funny to me is seemingly she didn't really do anything too heinous in my opinion... Sure, she participated in the initial invasion of tural, but that was absolutely gonna happen anyway, and her grand fusion plan didn't work (as near as I can tell) in the end anyway. I saw someone pissed that she got 'redeemed' but honestly, I don't think she had anything she needed to been redeemed for. In terms of her motivation, I personally found her interesting, But, I also realize that I find her interesting because of how I characterize my wol, instead of how she's actually written, so I don't think that can be used in her favor (sorry sphene, I don't think it should be a requirement to have 30k+ words of oc lore to enjoy a villain) But she really did feel like a knock-off metion, which really only was to her detriment. I think the expac hot of the heels of Endwalker (my favorite expac) should be doing all it can to avoid direct comparison between the two, and Sphene as a whole invites that.

but it was goood, right now I'd rank it at a solid #3

#1 Endwalker

#2 Shadowbringers

#3 Dawntrail

#4 Stormblood

#5 Heavensward

#6 ARR

I think I'm gonna new game plus and replay the other expacs this summer (yippie unemployment ♥️) so my opinion might change in hindsight, currently its pretty damn close with Stormblood imo

I hope everyone had just as much fun with Dawntrail as I did, and I'm excited to see where we go from here!

[thoughtsonargentdawn]

On the matter of "Faction Conflict" in roleplay.

Hello good readers one and all, it has been a bit of time. I have for the most part been simply busy RPing or generally engaging with that strange realm called 'real life'. I was given a drop about the latest weirdposting thread courtesy of Hatescale/Dargeus/Santern regarding his effusive praise, or some may say delusion, for Faction Conflict RP, or WarRP I suppose you could call it.

RP PvP has always been contentious on Argent Dawn, going as far back as the fabled on and off conflicts between the 'North' Rpers and whatever brand of Undead or Blood Elf roleplayers were present. It has been a source of more drama and discourse rather than actual character development and narrative storytelling. Don't let anyone otherwise tell you. It can be a fun distraction and has been the source of many hilarious memes over the long years of Argent Dawn's existence but it cannot seriously be considered on the same level as normal RP.

I noticed that some friends of mine have pointed out that WarRP is no better than other forms of roleplay that don't really fit with the setting. We're talking on the level of Witcher RP, GoT RP, Boardwalk Empire RP. That is certainly the case these days. The lore is an ever evolving and changing - for better or worse- thing. The era of BIG WAR has passed with Legion and BFA.

But there are a handful of groups - you know who I mean - who are adamant on remaining locked into this clown fiesta of an RP mode. Usually I am of the opinion as those who may have read previous posts I've made, that there's a balance to strike between anything goes and grounded in the setting. Lets not kid ourselves that the primary pursuers of RP PvP are after a power trip rather than actual RP interaction, the mechanics behind it entirely gear towards your standard toxic pvp bros who think that the only meaningful interaction is /duel. Why not settle your differences in Counterstrike? A far more balanced game mechanically.

Even that alone isn't truly the issue, strange players can do strange things as long as they're not infringing on anyone else as far as I care. What truly is the problem is that they elevate their - type - of RP as the sole and only true arbiter of RP, the litmus test for self-awareness, to quote Santern himself.

Had this been in Legion or BFA, sure I'd say WarRP has a place but it's time has long passed. It really started during WoD when the lack of actual expansion relevant material that players could engage in forced players to 'write' their own 'lore'. The results being that many lazy roleplayers got hooked on the quick fix of RP PvP campaigns and did no upkeep on their own guilds, only thriving from one campaign to the other and even recruiting non-roleplayers to make sure that they 'won' their fights.

So by all means engage in your WarRP, but you're no better than the 'Darkshire RPers' - whatever that is meant to mean - or any other niche community.

[linuxgamenews]

Men of War II real-time strategy just announced the Release Date

Men of War II WWII real-time strategy game now has a release date for Linux and Windows PC. Thanks thanks to the skilled team at Best Way for making it all happen. Due to makes its way onto both Steam and Humble Store soon. Big news, Men of War II WWII RTS is launching on Linux, May 15, 2024. It's been exactly ten years since the Men of War: Assault Squad 2 release. So this date is a special nod to long-time fans. After getting a lot of input from all of you during last year's playtests, the team at Best Way decided to take a bit more time to make sure everything in the new title works well. Thanks to your feedback, they've made a ton of technical upgrades, fixed bugs, and even enhanced the audio and visuals. They really went the extra mile! So, how does Men of War II highlight the details of WWII? Well, you'll get to play as one of three nations: the Soviets, American's, or the Third Reich. Each one has its own unique story campaign. There’s more, too – such as two historical campaigns, a dynamic Conquest campaign, and a Raid mode that's similar to skirmish. If you like teaming up with friends, you'll be happy to know that all the single-player content can be played in co-op with up to five players. Plus, there are tons of multiplayer options, whether you're into PvP or PvE, and even ranked matches across three different battle setups.

Men of War II | Release Date Reveal

The upcoming Men of War II really steps up its game in providing a deep WWII strategy experience. There’s a massive variety of units to command, all meticulously designed with historical accuracy. You’ll also find that the enemy AI is smarter, making for some truly challenging battles. The visuals and sound are better, which really pulls you into the action. And for those who like to tweak their playing experience, there are loads of customizable options and modes. Whether you’re a hardcore strategist or just looking to have some fun, there's something here for everyone. Men of War II real-time strategy game will launch on Linux and Windows PC on both Steam and Humble Store. It’s priced at $44.99 USD / £37.99 GBP / €44.99. Can't wait to dive in and see how these enhancements really change the way we play. Let me know in the comments what you’re most excited about!

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Who Needs PvP? Five of the Latest and Greatest Singleplayer Adventures

   What’s the most annoying aspect of modern gaming? Is it all the greedy battle passes and microtransactions? The incessant toxicity of online playerbases? Games demanding your endless interaction with constant daily or weekly challenges that guilt you for deciding to play anything else? It’s probably a combination of all of the above, really. Well, if you’re looking for a break from all that games-as-a-service online nonsense, seeking something a bit more casual, why not try these singleplayer adventures?   These are a handful of the latest and greatest solo games, all enjoyable offline with no toxicity or microtransactions in sight. Of course, while they’re increasingly outnumbered by online titles, there’s still far too many of these types of games to list here - so, I decided to gather a small yet diverse variety to show off here: a sprawling fantasy RPG with endless possibilities, an action-packed rhythm platformer, a creepy eldritch fishing game, a pantheon-slaying titan of storytelling, and a game where you play as a cat. Take a look for yourself!

Baldur’s Gate 3    Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’ve definitely at least heard of this game - especially after it won 2023’s Game of the Year. Baldur’s Gate 3 is about as close as it gets to a full Dungeons & Dragons campaign on your PC or console - no need to organise all your friends to show up for a campaign session! In this massive RPG, you can play as a handful of pre-set characters, all with their own expansive stories and countless unique interactions, or make your own from a dozen different races and classes. Want to be a Fighter? A Wizard? Barbarian? Cleric? Bard? Some unholy mashup of everything? Perhaps you’ll play as a human, or an elf, or a gnome, half-orc, or dragonborn - there’s a practically endless list of possibilities, and that’s just in the character select screen!   Everything you do has some kind of impact on the hours of storytelling: who will you help, and who will you fight? Where will you go? What sides will you take in this absolute narrative feat? There’s an overarching plot, but the path you take through it is entirely yours to decide - for better or worse.

Hi-Fi Rush    Bethesda sneakily released this bumping rhythmic platformer early in 2023, and it quickly became a number-one hit. Play as Chai, a bit of a loser with ambitious dreams of becoming a rockstar - and when he accidentally gets his music player implanted into his heart and the whole world around him starts moving to the beat, those dreams start to literally become reality. Suddenly, Chai’s fighting off a dark corporate conspiracy with the power of music, friendship, and blunt force trauma with a sick guitar made of magnetised garbage. In this game, everything - everything - moves, jumps, flashes and swings to the rhythm of the music playing from Chai’s heart, and moving yourself and your attacks in time makes you stronger and earn higher scores.   Hi-Fi Rush is truly an earnest throwback to old-fashioned straightforward action platforming, with a linear level-after-level structure and no side quests or unnecessary padding to get in the way of the story or the rapid-tempo gameplay. It’s got a beautifully colourful and chaotic artstyle, genuinely entertaining characters and hilarious writing, and of course, a banging soundtrack to top it all off.

Dredge    Let’s take things down a notch for those looking for something a little more casual and slower-paced - assuming you can keep your anxiety in check, that is. Dredge is a chilling eldritch cosmic horror story, disguised as a simple little fishing game. Sail out in your little tugboat, pull up any fish you find (don’t worry about the increasingly-creepy and disfigured catches, it’s probably just your imagination) and make absolutely sure you return to port before dark - you’re not alone out there. You might catch glimpses of things much older and much bigger shifting just beneath the waves; how much of it is really there, and how much is just your paranoia getting the better of you? Are you willing to take the risk that there’s nothing really there…or that it didn’t see you?   Once you start collecting some decidedly-unnerving artefacts in the waters, a puzzling storyline begins to take shape, capped off with a stunning twist and a dangerous choice to make…or, you can just mind your own business and keep busy catching and selling all the fish from day to day, upgrading your boat and relaxing on the mostly-calm ocean. Just mind those lights in the fog - pretty sure that isn’t a town in the distance…

God of War: Ragnarök    Now, back to something a bit more blood-pumping with a true linear action titan - God of War: Ragnarök. Kratos, the former god-butchering Ghost of Sparta, is back, and (reluctantly) doing what he does best as he faces off the might of the Norse gods including Thor, Heimdall, and Odin himself, alongside his growing son Atreus. Between all the enemy-slaughtering and gallivanting across the Nine Realms, Ragnarök tells an emotional and engaging narrative of a father not wanting to lose his son, fighting against fate itself to protect his boy just a little longer. The game features graphics and visuals as gorgeous as its’ writing and acting is brilliant - it’s little wonder why Christopher Judge won 2022’s Best Performance as Kratos.   Besides the story is the fast-paced complex combat system God of War fans know and love, with Atreus joining his father as a playable character with his own array of skills and attacks; time to get that hand-eye coordination up! For returning players looking for a good reason to jump back into action, a recent DLC expansion adds a brand-new challenging mode if you’re after a true test of skill in the hallowed battlegrounds of Valhalla.

Stray    This is a game where you play as a cat. Need I say more? Well, if the feline gimmick isn’t enough to interest you, how about a surprisingly fascinating world and endearing characters? Stray pits the cutest protagonist in gaming against a dark, treacherous world that’s much, much bigger from the perspective of our tiny fuzzy hero. In this game, you’ll climb, jump and sneak across a neon-lit city populated entirely by robots, all carrying on with their jobs long after humanity is gone in a tale that explores questions of sentience and societal growth - and collapse.   Come for the adorable little kitty, but stay for the interesting story, beautifully haunting visual style, quirky robotic characters and some thought-provoking puzzles. How far can this cat go to reunite with its lost family? Will this unlikely hero be the key to helping its new mechanical friends find freedom from the massive locked-down city? What happened to humanity in the first place? There’s a lot of questions to answer, and yet you’re just a cat. Additionally, the game also features the best button prompt ever: Press O to Meow!

   Like I said, there’s plenty more solo adventure games to be found beyond these standout examples - which one is your favourite? Are there any more worthy additions to this list you know? Let’s hear it! Feedback, reblogs and likes are all much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[satoshi-mochida]

HARDCORE MECHA coming to Xbox One on December 14

Gematsu Source

Publisher E-Home Entertainment Development and developer RocketPunch Games will release an Xbox One version of side-scrolling action game HARDCORE MECHA via Microsoft Store on December 14 for $24.99, the companies announced. Pre-orders are available now at a discount price of $19.99.

HARDCORE MECHA is currently available for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

HARDCORE MECHA is a 2D platformer action focusing on a better handling. The Campaign mode offers rich gameplay and seamless in-game cut-scenes for an immersive experience. Choose your favorite mecha, experience the fast-paced hardcore competitive battle of steel in Multiplayer!

Story

A.D. 2221 Neo U.N. founded several permanent colonies on mars with the help of the natural wormhole WM-01. The industrial products and resources produced by these colonies have ensured the prosperity of the mankind after the civil war. Tarethur O’Connell is an ACE pilot for Hardcore Defense Corp. The company has undertaken the commission by the U.N.F. to search for the missing intelligence officer “A” in Mars. During the mission, Tarethur and his teammates gradually discovered that this seemingly simple mission has harbored an even greater crisis. The continuous battles and enemy with different goals are all coming at him. In this overwhelming conflicts and warfare, Tarethur starts to re-think about what he is fighting for…

Campaign Mode

Well-Polished Vivid Mecha World – The campaign mode includes eight chapters and 18 levels in total. As the story develops, you will encounter more than 50 types of enemy mechas with various designs and details in all kinds of scenes like mineshaft, underwater, urban, and space. Some levels even allow you to exit the mecha and infiltrate behind enemy line. Of course, you won’t just have one single personal ride, you may develop and customize various new gears and focus accessory in between the missions.

Seamless Story Immersion – The unique animations with the seamless transition between the 2D platform game scenes have a total duration of 40 minutes, the full-length voice acting provides a unique immersive storytelling experience.

Stunning Highly Polished 2D Animations – The detailed skeletal animation with a unique impression of power will fully showcase the characteristics of each mecha. The smooth and natural movements have also laid a good foundation for the fine handling experience. Natural 2D rotating animation, the use of visual deception like dislocation and timely switched elements have brought out a visual effect like 3D artwork.

Survival Simulation

Survive, Breakthrough, Challenge Yourself – Face endless enemies in these everchanging battlefields, acquire simulation points and gear chests.As the enemy waves goes up, there are even bosses coming in! Let them see what you are truly made of!

Develop, Reinforce, Equip Freely – Enhance every attribute of your beloved mechas using simulation points acquired in the battle. Enhance specific attributes to a certain level unlocks new mechas! Equip primary weapons and mods acquired in the battle, push your mechas beyond the enhancement limit. (Some special mechas can only equip mods but not primary weapons)

Research, Unlock, Rich Choices – Unlock and drive in total of 42 mechas with different designs by enhancing prior mechas or reaching certain waves. Try out their unique combat tactics! You ready? ACE pilots, come push yourself and your beloved mechas to the limit!

Multiplayer Mode

Various Mechas – American style, Japanese style, Super style, Realistic style, there are dozens of mechas of all kinds of styles available. Each mecha has its own unique tactical value, only the player who has completely grasped the features of each mecha can fully bring out their maximum combat effectiveness. What type of Mecha is the best? Prove it with your hands in PVP mode!

Challenge Against Mecha with Mortal Flesh – The pilot can be controlled to eject from the mecha and work alone in critical moment with proper strategy, it will absolutely be a force on the battlefield that cannot be underestimated.

Four Times the Fun – Apart from online player-versus-player battles, this game also enables users to play against each other with local split-screen. One purchase, four times the fun!

Watch a new trailer below.

Xbox One Announce Trailer

[william-zeigler]

From character classes to customization: Everything you need to know about Diablo 4

From character classes to customization: Everything you need to know about Diablo 4

Introduction

Diablo 4, also known as "None", is the highly anticipated upcoming game from Blizzard Entertainment. As a game industry expert, I am excited to share with you everything you need to know about this game, from character classes to customization.

Character Classes

Diablo 4 will feature five character classes, each with their own unique playstyle and abilities. These classes include:

Barbarian

Druid

Sorceress

Paladin

Rogue

Each class will have a skill tree that allows players to customize their abilities and playstyle even further.

Gameplay

Diablo 4 will feature an open-world environment, allowing players to explore the world of Sanctuary and encounter various enemies and bosses. The game will also introduce a non-linear campaign, giving players the freedom to choose their own path and make decisions that will affect the story.

Customization

One of the most exciting features of Diablo 4 is the level of customization available to players. From character appearance to skill choices, players will have a wide range of options to make their character truly unique. The game will also introduce a new system called "artifacts", which are powerful items that can be customized and upgraded to fit a player's playstyle.

Multiplayer

Diablo 4 will feature both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Players can team up with friends to take on challenging dungeons and bosses, or compete against each other in PvP arenas.

Conclusion

Diablo 4 is shaping up to be an incredible game, with a wide range of features and customization options. Whether you're a fan of the series or new to the franchise, there's something for everyone in this game. I can't wait to see what Blizzard has in store for us when the game is released.

References:

Diablo 4 Official Website

PC Gamer: Diablo 4 release date, news, and trailers

Article by: None Why don't we learn about the coming diablo 4.