#what if i want to raise the dead square enix.

[wine-dark-soup]

ffxiv lacks a class/job that is purely tailored for evil

[altocat]

Alto, I had a shockingly vivid and super angsty dream about Sephiroth that I’d like to share with you—

My mind was on The First Soldier story and I kept thinking about the trailer shot of young Seph with the blood on his face, and so in the dream, it was a scene after something horrible had happened with young Seph. I believe a decision he had made unintentionally led to the FS trio’s death. (Although Glenn must have survived).

But for the time being, young Seph thought they were all dead and was frozen with guilt…all the while Hojo’s voice was heard praising him for being ruthless, saying that whatever loss he felt would only make him stronger. Then Seph was suddenly hit with a vision very similar to the one Lucrecia had in DOC, a Jenova cell induced hallucination. He was shifted to Nibelheim, surrounded by flames and bodies, and ahead of him was…himself. The older, mad version.

It was nearly identical to this scene we caught a glimpse of from the Square Enix event earlier in the year. I don’t know if this will be the official Rebirth sequence, but it mattered because it wasn’t the usual pose where Sephiroth merely raises his head. Instead he turns around to face the viewer.

Here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ij5E6kuoI-I&pp=ygUSU2VwaGlyb3RoIHRncyAyMDIz

In this case, the viewer was young Sephiroth. He was crying, terrified and grieved to see himself in the future, a monster, eyes lit with madness. He barely recognized himself, the devil smiling back at him. All the while he heard the voice telling him that he was doomed to this fate. There was no choice. He was a monster and always would be, and one day he would accept it.

I got the impression that whatever this scene was, it intended to reveal a great secret about Sephiroth, which was that he came to understand at some point in his youth that one day he would lose his mind. He knew it was going to happen, but he didn’t want it to, and we were meant to understand that every decision he made afterwards was based on the desire to subvert this fate.

His friends, Genesis and Angeal, were likely his greatest hope. He saw them as a way out, but when they defected, his fears came back. He didn’t want to cause their deaths like he had his first team, so he did everything he could to avoid facing them. He wanted to avoid putting himself in a position where he would be a monster. He just loved his friends and wanted to live.

He was safe until Nibelheim, and everything he had tried to avoid or tried to avoid rose up when he went into that reactor.

I couldn’t believe how strong this dream was. I woke up in shock. It was so strange to see the fire scene with Sephiroth where he wasn’t looking at Zack or Cloud, but was turning away to see his younger self. That was, frankly, incredibly painful. I wanted to cry.

You know what? This actually all makes sense enough for it to be legit. Or at least parts of it. I'm debating if that trailer is an actual cutscene or plot point but this integrates it pretty well! And would finally be the final piece of the puzzle of "knowing" Sephiroth.

I don't think Seph will end up killing them directly. At least, not anymore. But an accident or series of chaotic events could very well make him indirectly responsible, boosting his guilt complex and perhaps leading a pathway to him snapping. I would love an actual indicator that Seph is suffering from PTSD beyond fan speculation. We'll see...

[maguro13-2]

The Dark Picture ~ Origins of the Ink Demon : Operation Drawcia Pt. 11 ~

[Square Enix Headquaters - Tokyo, Japan]

Cloud : (playing solitaire) This is doesn't add up to my reputation as world class protag for shounen protag list, I got every Shonen and young Gangan members who got their license, this is just too much paperwork for me and I couldn't even handle schedule for Soul Eater's for budget cut, I just gotta lay me some slack.

Black Star : Where is Cloud Strife? Where is that blonde spiky haired bastard! I need him personally in favor of him getting our show an adaptation in three years!

Tsubaki : [To Black Star] Black Star, just let it go already! I got a problem that we have a situation that the adaptation as I predicted that it's going to fail with a horrible ending in four years, do you realize that?

Black Star : What do you mean realize that, Tsubaki? I want popularity just the way as I wanted for Maka and Kid, This is our time to shine big on TV and you are gonna like! I'm gonna be number one and that's final! Whether you like it or not, you coward! You're my girlfriend!

Tsubaki : [To Black Star] No! I don't wanna do this no more! I'm sick of being your girlfriend, I already loved someone else, he's a very charming person that I kept it in secret for so long and now I'm gonna be single with no one to love me! But Kazuki is the man that I loved and he gave me my first kiss!

Black Star : [To Tsubaki] Ya damn right, you are! Everyone in the real world loved us and we became when we skyrocketed into fame, that's what being hero or a story of three is about efforts, we loved being a story of three heroes together, Maka, Death the Kid, and me, Black Star!

Tsubaki : [To Black Star] No I don't! I hated being a story of three, why can't it be a story for one, each and only one!? I don't know why fans are liking us when it comes to our problems!

Black Star : [To Tsubaki] Can't we agree that we're all just begging for our lives just to make us popular? we've been under the influence of this Shinra guy that created Soul Eater a legacy of his own and I was under it to make me a hero alive!

Tsubaki : [To Black Star] Well, guess what, Black Star? I don't deserved to be like that! But I'm really grew tired of your selfish act or your frigging attitude! if the author would not make you a self-centered arrogant bastard, then I suggested that the school or DWMA did not killed your clan in the real world, they were heartless and you were one of them didn't you!? I knew you were the hiding the truth from me and realized that the one who killed that heartless clan of yours is Kazuki's!

Cloud : Hmm? What is she saying?

Black Star : [To Black Star] Do not call my clan like that, I have absolute power, I am a warrior, a hero that is a star, I have fame, fortune, and I have popularity! I worked my whole life as a hero and you wanted throw it all away for me!?

Tsubaki : [To Black Star] You ungrateful and unbelievable idiot! If you really wanted to act this way, then I suggest that I wanted to be the hero of my own story, and I suggest that I should make you to get yourself out of my face, and my life! I never wanted to see you again, but if we see each other again, that's your problem, you self-centered arrogant jerk!

Black Star : That is it! You are so dead to me Tsubak! Fine! We're through! Cause I'm gonna shut you up once and for all! (the two starts fighting)

Tsubaki : Fine!

Black Star : Fine!

Tsubaki : Double Fine!

Black Star : Triple Fine!

Tsubaki : QUADRUPLE F***ING FINE! I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL, BAKA! *SLAP!*

Everyone : ....?

Yuffie : *gasping*

Tsubaki : (turns and walks off)

Cloud : What was that all about? Why would him argue him to say things like that?

Yuffie : Talk about hardcore. That one's gutter mouth to prove that to him. That was pretty hard on him. You even had to resist yourself and forcing your way of becoming who you are.

Cloud : I'll have a talk with her. (To Tsubaki) Hey, Kid. What's the matter? Why did you raise your voice against him?

Tsubaki : It was a discussion about his problem of being a self-centered person. It makes me wonder why did I ever had to be a tool just to protect a stupid legacy that I should never protect? Maybe I was too hard on him for raising my voice, I just don't know why did that happened.

[Target Practice - Masamichi Amano]

Cloud : Listen, if you really that angry that you were yelling at him and arguing with someone, maybe it's not you or him that is the problem, the world of Soul Eater is. Here me this one, if humans are willing to be arrogant or selfish for sometimes, they only should listen to anyone or listen to their selves with their eyes seeing the truth all of the time. The only way you got angry with him it's because of that legacy you were protecting, Shinra's legacy. Hey, I may have been a Shinra soldier for quite sometime, but Shinra is also the name of the boy who died about 1000 years ago. However, he was resurrected and truth will only discover that whether he's dead or alive. Just make yourself clear fully, that you wanted show how much truth has to hold for the world in it's hands.

Tsubaki : Yeah, I understand that now. Thanks cloud. Well, I must get going now. Could you give me something for a treat to me?

Atsushi Ohkubo : Soul Eater representative Tsubaki! King Bradley of FMA would like to have a word with you. Please, report to his office immediately.

(cuts to King Bradley's office)

King Bradley : Young ma'am, have a seat.

Tsubaki : Soul Eater representative Tsubaki here.

King Bradley : Do you want to me explain what happened back there?

Tsubaki : No, Bradley. I haven't doubt about what happened, we weren't fighting over to see who's best.

King Bradley : Well, now. Have some tea to calm yourself. I heard you were having troubles with the representative Black Star, wasn't he too curious about your problems of being heroes that is something clearly happened to Raising your voice like that? Anyhow, Black Star is dimissed from Square Enix and we had temporarily resigned his role status permanently. (Tsubaki is drinking tea)

Tsubaki : Hai, I was very rude to him and I yelled at him by raising my voice like that, I promise that I'll do the right thing for myself and make it up to it, I will do my best of being a member of Shounen Gangan Comics and nothing badly will ever happen to this

King Bradley : You are a deemed not-so trouble girl after we finding out that you have an opportunity of you being a hero or weapon that wanted meisters to become the heroes. It is no debate whether you concern about your actions against others, Square Enix is a place for video games and mangas work together as a corporate force and corporate means business to you! Do you understand, miss?

Tsubaki : Uh--Hai, I understand!

King Bradley : One more thing, when you say "Hai" in Japanese meaning " Yes", it's "Sir, yes, sir".

Tsubaki : Uhh-Sir, yes, sir!

King Bradley : You decided to use proper English to understand cultural influences, I hardly admitted that a Japanese like you is interested of living in foreign where you decided to live at.

Tsubaki : Well, that's what Maka Albarn had no choice but to move there after she killed four-fifths of Japan's population. It's a shame that living in Japan is too much for her. She deserve to have a place like me all the time.

King Bradley : Yes it's true we all felt that way. Now then, this meeting is adjourned. You are hereby dismissed.

Tsubaki : Sir, yes, sir. (gets up from table and leaves)

[Law of the Shadow Army - Masamichi Amano]

Tsubaki : (walking and looking down) What's wrong with me, did I ever do something bad? What kind of punishment do I attend to?

Yuffie : Oi, Kunoichi girl, where you going? Hey, don't feel bad. Look, I know you think something is missing for your life. It's not how things may not work this way!

Medusa Gorgon (?) : What's the matter, Kunoichi girl? Walking away all sad?

Tsubaki : Leave me alone, I'm not in the mood.

Yuffie : She's right too, you know. She never felt this bad.

Medusa Gorgon (?) : Oh isn't clever of you! How about it!? I'm going to make you suffer and make humanity get destroyed for raping and total chaos! You don't know what it's like to be raped by heartless men that has no hearts!

Cloud : Cut it out! The reason you existed, this is not who you are! This isn't you, you're acting like some kind of heartless monster, a monster Ohkubo created you, a self-centered arrogant heartless to bring nothing but destrcution, do you know what you're dealing with!? I'm sorry to ease the pain, but you are no longer to be here at this company, you incompetent snake.

Medusa Gorgon (?) : (Growls angrily)

(later that night)

Tsubaki : Tadaima. (looks at Hibana in bed) Yeah, How can I even trust someone if no will love me? (gets on the bed and lies down)

"Humans and Witches fighting against each other is not the cause of our hatred, it's the darkness that is driven by arrogance from the influence of Shinra Kusakabe, boy who was scolded by a time-traveling entity for bringining Soul World to the very foundation and then created a Heartless, born from the darkness. Rather, it's them who tries to take away the dignity of others for their own desires for death and destruction, but apparently, I was not a tool. I wouldn't call myself a hero if I was just a pawn to another. How pitiful that we inhabitants of our world becoming so arrogant."

Tsubaki : (grunts angrily)

Hibana : ...? What was that all about? Was she thinking about something else?

"Meanwhile back at the Casino..."

[Casino Park/BINGO Highway]

Marluxia : *panting*

Inky Albarn : *panting*

Larxene : Sh*t! What the f**k just happened? How did that happned fast? Where did all the action go? Oh man, I'm seriously f**ked.

Inky Albarn : I told ya, budget cuts. Alright, you stupid f**ks. I want info about the Dark Picture now.

Marluxia : You have my word, queen of the Ink Demons. The Dark Picture was a portrait or a painting that is about Wrapping the world in black.

Inky Albarn : Wrapping the World in Black?

[Mistery - Seirou Okamoto]

Marluxia : It is about covering the entire planet in darkness when someone is using it for it's sole purpose of covering all the world's light in one's darkness and they say that it has been kept away by a witch who has been researching it.

Inky Albarn : Drawcia, that painted-crazed witch is doing something bad, looks it'll be a chain of memories to get all the info I needed from you and that top hat guy. The real Maka Albarn would never suspect it's real intentions. So, who ordered you and how did you get here.

Marluxia : Look, I cannot a tell a lie, only Organization XIII's leader knows about the Dark Picture.

Inky Albarn : Who is the guy that leads the organization?

Marluxia : It's Xemnas. Please, don't tell Xigbar that I told you this before, or they'll lose my heart after I wouldn't suspect a thing.

Inky Albarn : So, what did you think of Maka Albarn and the mysterious Shinra Kusakabe person? No, I want to know about the Organization XIII, where did they come from?

Marluxia : The World That Never Was World. They are a group of mysterious cloaked beings that created a type of heartless called "Nobodies", they extort Disney Characters and Square Enix representatives. If you meet one of the members you'll have your heart fed off and I discovered that an unknown person is going to recreate the Dark Picture!

Inky Albarn : Why is that, you may ask?

Marluxia : Cause they always harass the new guys at Square Enix! (Inky releases him)

Marluxia : The Dark Picture and the World That Never Was World. An oddly connectiong between the two worlds, if their world and the Dark Picture would make a contract then Real World we'll all be done for! I gotta stop this and shall take the Dark Picture where it belongs! It belongs to the royal family to the Ink Demons and I promise that I'll give it back from once they stole! A person that is willingly to recreate the Dark Picture. Who could that be?

(a mysterious hooded person is shown watching them What appears to be Ado)

Ado : So that's her, the Demon Queen of the Ink Demons. This should be interesting. I gotta report this to Xemnas immediately. Who knows that someone's getting information about the great dark picture. (teleports away)

Inky Albarn : Hmm? Who was that mysterious hooded person? Lucky me perhaps. I gotta get out of here, I just know where to find this hooded member of the organization and I bet this one has some deal with The World That Never Was World, sounds like a creative name for the homeworld of Organization XIII.

(we then show Master Xehanort behind the moon)

Master Xehanort : Excellent discovery of showing your full potential, Queen of Darkness. This is the beginning of your son's tale. Both his and your hearts shall combine forces with Darkness and Light, you'll see the day when this planet shall meet it's end.

~ Mission 10 : Broken Heart of a Hero ~

[blood-orange-juice]

I guess this is multifandom now.

A rant about FF XIV, major spoilers for 5.3. Tl;dr: Square Enix are overdoing the fanservice, a certain character doesn’t seem like himself and this makes me sad.

I feel like authors have done G’raha a disservice by “resurrecting” him the way they did. Ethical arguments aside, the end result feels nothing like the G’raha I love.

Part of his charm as a character was us seeing him grow. How he went from a self-important little brat, full of false bravado, to someone quietly badass, considerate of others and suffering from an impostor syndrome. How it was still unmistakably *him*, just older and wiser and a bit worn down. 

In a foreign dying world he felt like home without me knowing it was him.

It was so believable. It was so natural that he grew to be like this. Working on large projects does that to you, simply because of how much you have to be dependent on other people and sometimes dumb luck, and his “project” was 200 years long.

I expected to see someone just as recognizable back on the Source but whomever we got in 5.3 is not G’raha. He’s nothing like his older or younger versions, not even a mix of them. He feels like bad fanfiction or a cutesy twitter fanart of a generic catboy.

He was also a Le Guin-tier character in terms of depth, a nod to all the old sci-fi lovers. A time lord poking at the very fabric of the universe and technically barely human anymore, but also imperfect, fragile and very humane in how he treated people.

This guy had witnessed unspeakable horrors,  founded a city, raised an amazing daughter, assisted in creating technologies previously unheard of, saved two worlds, and nearly died at least two times (that we know of, probably more). All without losing his lightheartedness and compassion for others. That’s some insane strength of character. And he is now reduced to a blushing fanboy with zero personality. 

Squeenix, really?

One could argue that he now doesn’t care about what others think and can fanboy all he wants, but I’m still not convinced. He always had style, whether he tried to show off or not, and now he doesn’t.

I don’t know if it’s lazy writing or maybe there’s just no way to write him realistically after 5.3.

And don’t get me wrong, I wanted G’raha to live and the “at memory’s end” monologue still gives me goosebumps. But the end result feels... wrong. I wish they had gone a GitS route for him. Made him a spirit able to hack Allagan technology assisting young G’raha (idk, they could merge later, would have been a fun plot). One doesn’t need a human body to be alive.

Right now it feels like my G’raha is dead and replaced by someone else. And I’m supposed to be ok with it because he is cute and SE did good at animating his ear twitch.

Well, I’m not ok. And the game didn’t even give me a chance to mourn properly.

I don’t go into the Crystarium anymore unless a quest requires me to. I can’t stand being there.

Duh.

I like his Endwalker art tho. Maybe there’s still hope.

[sapphire-weapon]

now that my salt is out of the way i gotta talk about my boy, because this is the content y’all are here for. i have some thoughts. now it’s 7:15 in the morning and i haven’t slept literally all night, so my thoughts are scattered as fuck right now. i’m just going to make a bulleted list of things that i liked, didn’t like, or that stood out to me.

spoilers under the cut, all rufus-centric

1. the turks have an actual office and it’s super nice. but it definitely caught my attention that rufus called tseng up way prior to dad getting murdered and summoned the bros. it connects with...

2. mayor domino suddenly being the inside man for avalanche? that was always rufus, per before crisis. now domino could just be an additional inside man, but the fact that the remake confirmed him as one and not rufus made my eyebrow raise. however comma the fact that broader avalanche stormed shinra hq and then rufus called in for the turks could be connected, esp since wedge said that avalanche was there to flush out the president. so instead of rufus getting called in because his dad’s dead, he was orchestrating his dad’s death and was anticipating it all along. THAT’S MY THEORY, THAT’S WHAT I’M GOING WITH.

3. they nixed his “inaugural” speech, which no longer establishes him as a man who wants to rule the world through fear. wondering if they’re going to take a slightly different angle on him moving forward, considering he gets redeemed in the later compilation. like they won’t establish him as a complete and total dickhead during the game’s events so that he’s more easily redeemed later.

4. super asshurt that they took the crew’s introductions to rufus and gave them to heidegger. robbed us of the “what a crew” response, which i always thought was instrumental in establishing rufus’s personality.

5. they also robbed me of the “i see. i guess that means we won’t be friends” line, which was my favorite line in the entire OG, fuck you squenix.

6. EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THING THAT CAME OUT OF THIS MAN’S MOUTH BEFORE AND DURING HIS BOSS BATTLE WAS INHERENTLY AND OVERTLY SEXUAL. SQUARE ENIX OUT HERE TRYNA KILL ME.

7. i was so distracted by the sheer raw sexual energy coming off of this man that he beat my fucking face in during the boss fight, to the point where my roommate asked, “are you sure this is a fight that you’re supposed to win? because sometimes games give you unbeatable boss battles.”

8. seriously i can’t believe his big dick energy. even after he grabs onto the helicopter the thing starts firing at cloud while rufus smirks like the biggest dick g around holy fuck.

9. i’m gonna have to rewatch that whole sequence, is what i’m saying. multiple times, i’ll have to.

10. RUFUS IS THE ONLY CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE GAME WHO CAN SEE THE WHISPERS WITHOUT ONCE BEING TOUCHED BY AERIS OR SEPHIROTH. (of course i’m not counting when the whispers knowingly revealed themselves to avalanche prior to the sector 5 reactor -- they were there to keep the plot on track at that point, since the characters was fuckin it up.) HE SEES THEM WHEN TSENG CANNOT!!!! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN /PULLS AT FACE

seriously though that last one

the whispers revealed themselves to rufus. only to rufus. no one else in shinra could see them.

considering point #3 up there, i think we’re going to see more of protector/guardian of the planet rufus in subsequent games, which makes me very, very happy. as you’ll recall, that was the thing that made me fall in love with his character to begin with.

im going to go to bed now

[brothermouzongaming]

Game Awards highlights

Highlights of the awards are as follows: Roger Clark (Arthur Morgan) won best voice actor, God of War stole Game of the Year from RDR2 as well as best game direction. Fear not, Red Dead did take the award for best narrative, score, and audio design. Celeste won best indie. Deadcells snuck away with best action game. Monster Hunter World took best RPG and...I agree but I also think Nino Kuni, Octopath, Pillars of Eternity and Dragon Quest 11 fans are rightfully mad. Dragon Ball FighterZ takes best fighting game. Fortnite took best multiplayer game, shocker. 

What I wanted to talk about were the announcements and trailers that came between the commercials and cringe-inducing antics of the event. There wasn’t a lot going on but what was announced was very interesting.

Atlas: Pirates and cannons do not excite me, seafaring and swashbuckling just does nothing for me. All that said...wow Atlas really looks impressive. Made by Wildcard and the team consists of many people who put Ark together. This appears to be a full pirate sim mmorpg that plans to hold 40,000 people on one server. Yes. Forty thousand. Is that MAG level hype? Yeah that and then some. This seems to be one of those situations where a game comes out, it flops, and another studio swoops in to capitalize on the disappointment (see Fortnite to PUBG, 2k to Live, FIFA to PES etc). That game I’m referring to is Sea of Thieves and Wildcard appear to be working hard on making the game Sea of Thieves should’ve been. You can watch a trailer here.

MK11: I am so conflicted by this trailer, lemme tell ya. The actual look of the CG trailer was nice, visceral, even cheeky at some points (awful big emphasis on weapons in that trailer). Another obscure and mysterious aspect of this game is time and how that plays into characters and the story potentially. New Scorpion is killed by Evil Raiden, only to be killed by Old Scorpion himself...hmm. Now that makes me think. It was a quintessential Mortal Kombat trailer top to...wait...is that 21 Savage playing in the background?? The song choice did not fit at all, it was like someone at NetherRealms plugged in their phone last minute to compensate for a glitched audio. Literally, anything would’ve been better, Wu-Tang, Freddie Gibbs, Earl Sweatshirt if you had to go the rap route. Yeah, I could be making a big deal out of nothing but I’ve also seen games make unnecessary focus on soundtrack and losing focus on the actual game. All in all, interesting. trailer here

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: Oh boy, oh fucking boy. X-men Legends (stick with me here) was the first of top-down arcade hero brawler type that really got my jimmies jumping. So when Marvel Ultimate Alliance came out it was something of a true actualization of what me and my friends thought up back when Legends came out. Two titles, both of which I owned and played through thoroughly unlocking characters and finding cheats. So imagine my surprise when initially I think this is the Marvel Avengers project by Square Enix. No! Wrong! Bad Chayton! It’s UA3 by...Ninja Theory?! What is going on? We got a little gameplay that unfortunately didn’t look too impressive. I’m still excited and with it being a Switch exclusive...I just have more reason to get one. trailer here. Speaking of reasons to get a Switch...

Joker joins the battle: Hi, huge Persona 5 fan here. Very excited to see our boy join the scuffle. He will be included as a DLC character (meh) but it raises some very interesting questions as to who else could be added. Goku confirmed! really cute trailer here

Far Cry “New Dawn”: This screamed Rage 2 to me. It is a cool idea to play so directly off the last released Far Cry title. I’m sure the games are going to be very different but the trailer seemed to take direct influence down to the shade of pink they used in their cooky-wacky post-apocalyptic looking setting. The game will even have you run into Joseph Seed and this is where I think it will diverge heavily and start to focus more on the Far Cry aspects of the game. Interesting villains as per usual but I’m hesitant. Even if it’s an expansion from FC4. trailer here

Rage 2: Now this is the post-apocalyptic open world I am looking forward to exploring. As I have stated before, Rage was underwhelming but had potential, this new trailer expanded upon what was already explored but didn’t really show off anything new. Regardless of the utter turmoil BGS seems to be in I am still excited to get my hands on this game and rip shit up .trailer here

Psychonauts 2: This is big, many many fans have been dying to see where Rasputin’s adventures take him. The look hasn’t changed much, but the polish of modern tech is doing wonders for the world of Psychonauts. We don’t get much info but just the glimpse is more than enough to get me thinking about the possibilities. trailer here

Dragon Age 4 teaser: this is a teaster trailer for Dragon Age 4... not much more to it. trailer here

The Outer Worlds: This is the big one, Obsidian are coming out the gate hard. In the wake of Fallout76 this was the last thing Bethesda could afford; for another studio to come along and do their games better than them. A space oriented RPG that appears to focus heavily on decision-making and character development. Two staples of Obsidian games that I can’t wait to take part in when this bad boy drops. With Obsidian being acquired by Microsoft I was concered this would be an exclusive but thankfully they can’t deny the PS4 audience, at least this time. Next gen (or title even) we might not be so lucky. trailer here

[kuipernebula]

the-evil-pizza replied to your post “the-evil-pizza replied to your post “Had Blue Mage not been announced...”

Yeah I understand why they feltlike they needed to nerf Blue mages as awall, for balance and what not. But as a mmo they should have tried to find a way around it to make it playable in company. Duty finder is after all a big part of this game (if you wish to or not) it's even in the main quest! Like, it would have been different if it affected only side things but making a job where your players can't play your storyline with IS weird

I'm hoping with you on those changes because honestly the style they gave blue mages is my shit, Ilove the masks and the walking canes to cast and I wanna use them

I would have believed them if they’d said “They will be temporarily unusable in Duty Finder until we finalize our balancing measures” because this is mostly a playable beta test for BLU anyway

And most people are upset for that main reason: we wanted to main it in SH, and we can’t. And given we’ll probably only get level cap raises on major patches, the earliest I’d expect to have us get to 80 for SH content is like, 5.2? Which is two major patches into post-game MSQ content (so raid content has already started, both the 8-man and 24-man variants)

And that’s only if we get 10 levels every .1 update, which I don’t even know is how they’ll do it. We might get 10 every other major update, ending with 5.5 or 5.6, like right before the next expansion. (That’s if they really double down on BLU as a “play this during Dead Patches” job) Or we get 5 every .1 update for a similar effect but ending on awkward gear levels that may or may not require Job Quests hand us casting gear at those levels, to make up for outleveling Tomestone gear but not reaching the next level of Tomestone gear.

I think the earliest we’ll see a major overhaul in the structure is 6.0, though I wouldn’t be shocked if we get a hotfix of some sort to get the Job into Duty Finders and eventually endgame content, if it reaches 80 by the end of the patch cycle.  (The easiest one is to find 24 abilities that are reasonably balanced or balanceable and lock those down as the “Duty Finder Friendly” Active Set, with the others usable in Party Finder, Undersized, and Blue Mage-exclusive content)

Depending on how well those hotfixes work, we might even see a new limited job in 5.5. I can’t speculate to that yet only because how well BLU ends up being received by the time it gets literally any fixes will determine if Square Enix decides to double-down on the Limited Job idea or brush it into the same pile as the 2.0 Relic Atma farming system, the Squadron system, and Diadem. 

[darkspellmaster]

E3 2018 Thoughts on Nintendo

So Nintendo over the years has learned to show only what’s coming out soon rather than bait fans with a teaser for a game that is way out in production (Looking at you Sony and Microsoft). In addition, they used their direct this year to push forward the versatility of the Switch as well as give a huge show of appreciation to the Smash Pro community that pretty much built itself from the ground up.  I will give Nintendo this much, their booth this year, while not as cool as the Mario one last year, did have a lot going on and the game lines for just Smash and Let’s go Pokemon were over 4 hours long. They had to cut them off on all three days and set up areas for people to watch others play on big screens.

Also both of their tournaments did strong numbers this year, showing that Splatoon and Smash are still hitters in the E-sports area. Though now I hope Arms gets in there because that game is fun.

Dameon X Machenia reminded me a hell of a lot of the Super robot Wars games that come out for Gundam and other series. Yet this was very different. Flying robots to fight what looks like monsters/mecha seems like a fun way to pass the time. Also, based on the Tree house showing, there’s a customization element going on not just with the avatar (which you can chose your gender) but also the robot itself and it’s weapons. There’s also an area that looks to allow online play along with a single player campaign. Again, mixed feelings, unless you can invite people into the server that you want playing with you so that you know no jerks will just jump in and ruin the game. Over all I like what I see, but it’s a ways out. Nice of them to start with something exciting.

Super Mario Party looks amazing. So apparently we can have four players to one switch via the tv set up, but also two switches can be made to change up the board, which brings up the question, can you have more than four players playing if you have three or more switches? It’s Mario Party so most people know the drill for this one. I do like that they kept in a lot of things from the older titles and apparently we’re going to have Bowser as an option to play. This should be interesting to see, and probably will be a buy for me once I’m done with my back log of games.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Torna the Golden DLC. This could practically be a game in and of itself given the way that the story is taking shape here. It looks really interesting and is certainly filling in gaps in the story that we had from XC2. What I’m wondering is if Xeno will rival FF, Tales and DQ in the future with the story telling and now the world building. I should note too that the Challenge mode brought back in Shulk and Fiora from the first Xenoblade Chronicles story. Visually the game looks amazing and really got me excited to buy the DLC, and, apparently there is a second edition that let’s you get both the DLC and the original game. Similar to the FF XV Royal edition.

This one is the one that I’ve personally been waiting for. As a Fire Emblem Fan since way back from the Game Boy Advanced Version, it’s exciting to see an new FE show up on the Switch. Fire Emblem Three Houses showed up and wow. Since this is clearly an incomplete game there’s things that need to be worked on, but from what we saw I would say it’s really visually amazing. Reportedly the artist that did the art for the Uta wa no Prince Sama series is providing the art here. Though I don’t know because others are saying it reminds them of the artist from the Persona Series. I will say though that the character’s look amazing, and the fact that it’s not an Avatar in this game means that a lot of the story and depth of the story will rely on the characters interacting with one another. Another cool thing was the system where you can train the characters in different triangle weapons, which can become useful. From what we’ve seen there appears to be an open world aspect of this, and you can run around. Also units now have warriors with them and can create formations based on what you need. Over all this looks fun and the animation for the cut scenes are top notch. I won’t lie I’m a bit biased on this one.

Fortnite was a good move on the switch’s part, and the fact that they showed it in a way that is different than how Sony, Microsoft, or PC shows the game means that they can pull in players that normally may not want to play this. The vibrant color had me going “Wait…is that Fortnite? What the hell? Is it really that goofy?” as most version I’ve seen have had people wearing serious clothing rather than the goofy stuff that you can get. Honestly, if I was good at shooters and liked them, this trailer would have made me pick it up. I hope that people playing on PC and Xbox are having fun with Nintendo players…Sony, I know you were burned in the past by Nintendo, and have issues with Microsoft and for some odd reason hate PCs, but come on…stop locking people out of playing with others. Sheesh!

Hollow Knight, another interesting showing here. Hollow Knight I heard was a good get for the switch, given that it’s a fan favorite. Mix of platforming and fighting will work well on the switch. To be honest while it’s cute and all I’ll have to see if I want to get it.

Killer Queen Black is a surprise for some people, as it was a small arcade game that had a loyal following but was believed to not be able to be put on a console system. Apparently they did it. It seems to be a timed exclusive so it may not stay just on the Switch. Looks like fun, but I’m not a bee fan honestly. But it looks nice and I’m sure that other people will love to play it.

Overcooked 2, I can’t wait to get. It seems like an awesome game and one that I will be playing a lot with friends. Reminds me a bit of dinner dash but with puzzle elements and strategy. Should be a good buy for people that want to have something a bit more relaxing to play in it’s own way.

Octopath Traveler showed up again, and mentioned a new Demo. Square later went on at E3 to say that they’re going to make a division for the Switch so that’s a promising thing. The game’s demonstration at the tree house has made this a day one for me, which is rare outside of again, Fire Emblem. So this has me very excited and I hope to see more games like this and others from Square Enix on the Switch.

Let’s Go Pokemon: Pikachu/Evee. Pretty much seemed like Pokemon Yellow. I mean, you play with Pikachu following you around rather than in the ball, and it combines elements of pokemon go. On top of that you can transfer pokemon from go to the game, and you get a mew in the new pokeball add on...although I wish the price was a bit lower for that pokeball. Sheesh! 

They had a quick run down of games coming out including: Octo Expansion, SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy, Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Ninjala, Paladins: Realm Royale, Roller Coaster Tycoon Switch, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (may have shown this it went fast), sushi Striker. 

Smash Brothers Ultimate, I know some were disappointed that this took up so much time, but there’s something that has to be said. This is really, outside of maybe the bigger tournaments, that Nintendo has shown that they have been paying attention to the pro scene for their fighting game. With all the tweeks that they did to this game, and allowing the characters in there the way that they did, they’re going to be a contender at larger game tournaments like Evo and the like. Back when the switch was first show in 2017 there was the whole E-sports section, and I think that Nintendo is actually looking into that with some of it’s games. The various things, like the one on one fighting being made to be more devastating when you have solo fights means that, for pros, the game will move faster. Having the different stage styles also means it’s better for the competition scene so that the game can be played there.

I’m glad to see Ice Climbers back, all my Fire Emblem characters are still there, Wii Fit is back, the amazing Pit is there still, I love that we now have Daisy –my girl –as a character to play as, and we finally got Ridley –after all this time… Now Sakurai, please put in Takamaru from the Mystery of Muramasa castle as not an assist and I will praise you to the high heavens. Oh yeah and Proto and Base (Bass?) are in Megaman’s smash now. (Proto as an echo fighter please? Or Zero?)

As for the other games that are coming out to Switch, while they didn’t show them all…here’s the list from E3 2018 of the games that are coming:

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

Bomber Crew

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy –Rumors are going around that Spyro may also be coming too

Dead Cells

Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten DX

Dragon Quest XI –apparently yes it is coming for the switch.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends –tired of this being on your phone…use it on the Switch on the go.

Fallout Shelter

Fate Extella Link –Hey what do you know…the Fate series is now on the Switch

FIFA 19

Freedom Planet

Gal Metal –music game that has an interesting story

Galak-Z: Variant S –You like Gundam? You like arcade games? Well this is right up your alley

Harold Halibut

Just Dance 2019

Kingdom: Two Crowns

LEGO DC Supervillains

Little Dragons Café –What if you could raise dragons in the world of Harvest Moon, same creators

Mario + Rabbids DLC

Mario Tennis Aces –This was kind of interesting to see in the Tree house, making me consider getting it.

Mega Man 11

My Friend Pedro –Yeah the gag game that is coming to PC from Digital Revolver, it’s on the Switch.

My Hero Ones Justice –For those of us who want to smash things with Lord Murder Explosion (Bakugo)

NBA Live 19

Planet Alpha

Raji: An Ancient Epic

Shining Resonance Refrain –Kind of wish this one was shown, but Sega does what Sega does…

Spintires: MudRunner –basically you want to play with all terrain vehicles…then here you go.

State of Mind

Super Meat Boy Forever

Team Sonic Racing

Trials Rising –wish they would have shown some of this

Valkyria Chronicles 4 –Sega….you should have had your own direct…seriously

'V-Rally 4

Wargroove

Arcade Donkey Kong

That’s a lot of games coming out for the Switch…most of these would be fun to play…and that’s not even listing the ones that were already out prior to E3.

Over all, for presentation regarding the use of the Direct, I’d say A- to a B mostly because of the variety. Though I do think that they could have elongated their direct to give more showings of the games that weren’t Smash that were coming to the Switch. 

[bascojinn]

I also think that VsXIII!Noctis was much more of a critical thinker as well. What's your interpretation of him, like fully? Especially with the rumors that he was going to be a villain protagonist, with Stella being the antagonist (opposing) but not evil. Honestly, it seemed the Omen trailer was going in that direction for Lunafreya and that would have been a compelling role for her. What do you think and sorry to bother!

Okay, anon, but I wrote my headcanons for early version of FFXV!Noctis (2013 trailer, storyboard), because Versus XIII!Noctis is mostly silent (except meeting with Stella) and there is not so much to discuss about.

I don’t think that Noctis was villain; he had good intentions, but his actions were terrible on bigger picture and he was misguided for some reason. Most likely it was caused by the fact that in Nomura’s game Lucian royalty weren’t ultimate good guys (without bringing into discussion any of these “edgy” leaks, I want to point that Regis and his crew had specific Yakuza design for the purpose of storytelling) and game was free of this ugly FFXV moral dichotomy. 

But Noctis grew up in Insomnia, thinking his family is fine. At certain point of his journey he learned the hurtful truth. Do you remember this scene? 

What’s “truth”? In my headcanon Lucians started the war. I don’t like current version of lore, where all agression came from Niffelheim, because, ya know, everyone from Niffelheim is evil, powerhungry jerk. But I can believe that descendants of Jealous King could abuse the power of Crystal to conquere more territories. Why the hell are there Tombs of Lucian Kings all over the continent? Also, this scenario adds some layers to Ardyn’s motivation and it makes him closer to anti-hero archetype. Man, who wants to end his bloodline of tyrants and opressors, is more interesting than crazy bully, who hates some dumb kid for barely a reason. But it’s just my opinion. 

The “truth” led Noctis to serious identity crisis. He loves his father, but he doesn’t support his legacy. And don’t forget his R&J lovestory with Stella, which makes everything even more complicated. In relationship he has more active role too. If you look at storyboard, you can notice frame, where Noctis gifted flower to Stella. The first Noctis words in 2013 E3 trailer were “my heart won’t let go”. Despite Nomura’s words about teasing bros, he wasn’t so “no big deal” aloof.

I have no idea what “villainous” he could do, but I’m leaning towards concept, where Noctis trials with Astrals bringed major enviromental change. In current game when Empire defeated Shiva it caused climate change, but in my variant it is opposite. When Astral is killed/tamed by Noctis it frees Astrals’ power over place of their habitat (eternal rain after trial with Ramuh, earthshakes after Titan, etc), when it’s down by Empire, well, Astral is just dead. And this is another opportunity to give Noctis proper character development without Deus Ex Crystal.

Sent by Regis to hunt the Astrals>reached Altissia>learned truth>learned from newspapers/radio/Stella about consequences of trials>internal drama (now without fridged woman)

Considering Noctis demeanor and how he is talking about war, political situation, his plans, I can assume that he was raised as proper Prince. I can write another long rant why I’m not in fond of Regis decision to free him of responsibilities in current game, but this post is already longer than I expected. Assuming rumors about trilogy, I can add that may be he actually grew into King of Kings, who can be the leader of man and true ruler, not Sleeping Beauty, who happily napped for 10 years, while others fought and died against daemons.

P.S. Now I understand why Ubisoft made a collaboration with Square Enix. None of scenes from 2013 reveal trailer were added in game. Square Enix surpassed Watch Dogs level of false advertisement.

[theusualspotcafe-blog]

Noctis’s Birthday Festival

Game: Final Fantasy XV

Characters: Noctis Lucis Caelum, Lunafreya Nox Flueret

Pairing: Lunoct

Rating: Everyone

Author: The Usual Spot Cafe

Word Count: 2030 Words

Notes: A quick fic for Noct’s birthday! Hope you all like it!

“Luna? Where the heck are we going?”

Luna giggled and squeezed his hand tighter. “Don’t open your eyes! I promise you’ll enjoy it!”

Noctis sighed, barely a smile on his lips as he let his girlfriend drag him blindly through the city of Daybreak Town. He had just gotten back from visiting his family for his birthday and as soon as he stepped into his apartment Luna had been there to ambush him. She made him get changed into acceptable ‘outdoor’ clothing and then asked him to close his eyes. Thinking he was just going to be led to a park somewhere so they could go on a picnic he let her take the lead. However, they had been walking for a good twenty minutes and he had begun to smell the brine and salt in the air from the sea which meant they were closer to the center of town than the college campus where they usually went. She continued to drag him by the hand as the smell of brine was replaced with an earther, strong scent. Noctis’s brow furrowed, his nostrils flaring uncomfortably as the smell pervaded his senses.

“Am I ever going to find out where you’re taking me for my birthday?”

“Of course! In fact…” She trailed off just as a loud voice sounded by his ear.

“Welcome to the carnival!”

His eyes snapped open in shock, they adjusted to the light and he blinked a few times before focusing on a bouncing excited Luna. She held her arms open, a yellow and pink shirt on, along with a moogle baseball cap. “What do you think!?”

Noctis gasped softly and looked around the entrance of the carnival. There were people dressed as both moogle and chocobos running around and handing out balloons. There was a whole line of Chocobos from Wiz’s chocobo Ranch that people could pet and ride, not to mention several stands selling items of value and a few game stands here and there. “Luna… This is amazing!”

She squealed excitedly, “Really!?”

“Yes, oh my gods I love this!”

The blonde clapped her hands together excitedly. “Awesome! Now come on! We have tons to see and do!”

Noctis laughed, grabbing her hand again and letting her lead them off. “What is there to do?”

“Well lucky for you I had Prom come here earlier and give me the low down of everything. First of all, we can go find the moogle brothers, then we can work on the scavenger hunt, next there’s a few carnival games that you would be amazing at and a few surprises!” she ended her sentence with a sing-song tone making Noctis roll his eyes.

“Whatever you say dear, let’s go.”

“Yay!” Luna tugged him along, intertwining her fingers in with his as they weaved through the crowd. “We really should have gotten you a carnival shirt, you look wholly out of place.”

Noctis looked down at his black Caelum Industries shirt. “I look fine Moony.”

“Honestly, must you wear clothes from your father’s company? You look like a walking advertisement!”

Noctis chuckled, “Okay if it really bothers you then we can go get some carnival clothes, but I’m getting the most embarrassing outfit I first see.”

She chuckled, “deal! Though you’re the dummy who’s wearing it.”

“Deal.” They walked through the large crowd, huge smiles on their faces as they pointed stuff out to each other. They stopped to dance with each moogle and chocobo they saw, Luna even acing a Moogle quiz. They paused at every decorated space to take pictures, channeling their inner Promptos to get the perfect shot. They spent the better part of the morning just walking around, looking for places to stop later in the day so they could win medallions to trade in to the man at the front of the carnival for prizes. Apparently, the best prize was the best seat in the town for the fireworks, however it cost a lot of medallions and Noctis wasn’t too sure they would be able to get it. Not only that, but he wasn’t exactly sure where the best seat would be. The Clock Tower was way too dangerous for fireworks, not to mention it was a part of the college campus. He supposed that there could be a section of roofs somewhere that would let people sit up there, but that seemed odder. The only way to find out was to try and get the fifty medallions needed to get the ultimate prize.

“Noctis look!” Luna was pointing at something on the ground before bending over and picking it up, holding it up to his face with a bright smile. “A medallion! I bet we can find loads on the ground that people have dropped or lost!”

Noctis raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t that kinda cheating Luna?”

She narrowed her eyes at him and stuck the new medallion in her purse. “Absolutely not! At least it isn’t for your birthday.”

Noctis smiled, but rolled his eyes fondly. “You know I would have just been happy with cuddling with you on the couch and binge-watching movies all day today right?”

“Yes, but you deserve a festival so that’s what I’m giving you! Now come on, there’s only two more brothers to find and Prompto texted me and told me one’s at the docks!”

“Geez! The docks? How big is this festival!?”

Luna locked elbows with her boyfriend and looked a map of the town on her phone. “Oh, it’s the whole town, minus the college campus due to classes.”

“and you want to explore all of it?”

“What I want is to get the ultimate prize and I have an ace up my sleeve!”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

Luna giggled and leaned up, nuzzling his cheek to make him blush. “You of course.”

“M-me? How?”

“You’ll see at the docks!” With that she began tugging him along again, waving to a few people she knew from school until stopping dead in her tracks. “Oh my astrals…”

Noctis frowned at her and looked around, trying to find with she was looking for. “What’s up?”

“Noctis if you love me you will not wear that… please!”

Noctis bent down slightly to her level and squinted at the area where she was staring before gasping, a smile lighting up his face. “I did promise….”

“Noctis no!”

“Noctis yes…” He walked over to the stall with Luna grumbling behind him and trying to stare at anything that wasn’t his retreating figure. “Excuse me sir? Do you have more of those outfits?” Noctis pointed to the black suit on the mannequin, the large sombrero angled at him mockingly.

“I believe I still have one left that will fit you.”

Noctis pulled out his wallet quickly and slammed the gil on the counter. “I’ll take it! Also, can I change in your dressing room?” The man nodded with an amused smile before handing Noctis the atrocious outfit.

“Fitting room is right there.” The man pointed to a curtained off area just past the clothes racks. Noctis nodded in thanks before going in the curtained area and quickly changing. When he headed back to Luna she groaned and hid her face behind her hands.

Noctis grinned victoriously. “Well? What do you think of my outfit Moony?”

“I hate it. I hate you. I hate this festival.”

Noctis smirked and bent down, the brim of his hat brushing her hair. “I think you’re lying, I think you love all of this.”

“Then you would be wrong dear Noctis. Now let’s head to the docks! We have more medallions to get!”

Noctis chuckled, “Lead the way my dear.”

She grabbed his hand again, thought this time a little begrudgingly when she saw the embroidered moogles on the jacket front. Noctis just laughed as she glared at his large hat.

“Moony, it’s all part of the festival.”

“It’s silly, but its fine, I think after this next activity we will be able to get something to eat and we might even have enough medallions!”

“Awesome!”

She grinned and led him to the docks quickly, weaving through the crowd. Noctis had a little bit more difficulty getting through the crowd in his new outfit and had to keep apologizing to people whenever his hat bumped into someone.

They reached the docks after a few minutes, all thanks to Luna rushing through the people. There was a man standing at the docks with baskets full of fishing gear making Noctis gasp excitedly. He looked at Luna excitedly before biting his lip and looking down. He knew fishing was boring for other people, Luna especially since for some reason she just couldn’t grasp the concept of it.

The blonde giggled and pushed him towards the man with the equipment. “Go on! It is your birthday after all! What type of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t let you fish during it?”

“Seriously? Moony you are the best!”

She laughed, “I know, now go get more medallions!”

Time passed rather quickly as Luna and Noctis fished before long the sun was beginning to lower on the horizon and their stomachs were rumbling so they went off in search of food. They found the Square Enix pop up café rather quickly and ordered one of the pastries to try. As soon as Noctis received the dish he nearly made Luna shoot lemonade out of her nose as he said in a heavily fake accented voice.

“I’ve come up with a new recipehhh.”

Luna coughed on her drink as he laughed at her misfortune, “If he heard you just now he would be sending you so many death glares!”

Noctis laughed, “They don’t have any hold anymore. I’ve known him for so long he has no effect on me.”

Luna sighed dramatically and shook her head as she got out her coin purse that they had filled to the brim with medallions. “Ah what a shame.”

Noctis nodded in reply sadly and began eating as Luna counted the medallions. It only took her a few moments before she gasped and looked up at him excitedly. “Noctis!”

“What!?”

“We have enough medallions! We can get the best seat!”

Noctis grinned excitedly. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

She nodded, a huge smile on her face before grabbing her fork and hurriedly eating, laughing as Noctis got frosting all over his face.

Noctis cautiously rowed the boat away from the wooden dock. “I can’t believe the best seat that we spent all day trying to win is a wooden canoe in the vast sea.”

Moony blushed, “I feel so embarrassed.”

Noctis smiled lightly at her, “Hey don’t be upset, I’m sure once the fireworks start it will be amazing.”

“Let’s hope.”

Noctis rowed out the edge of the roped off area before putting the oars down as the sky reached its full darkness. “Okay here we go. Let’s see how this looks.”

Noctis reached over and grabbed Luna’s hand making her jump before he squeezed it in comfort. There was a shrieking heard in the distance and before they knew it the sky exploded with color with a loud boom overhead. The couple in the boat gasped as they were lit up by the red explosion. They had the most perfect view that the city could offer. As the fireworks display continued Noctis cheered along with the people on the mainland they could barely hear over the sound of the fireworks. Noctis felt a tap on his shoulder, making him turn towards his girlfriend.

She was smiling softly at him and held a small black box between her hands. “Happy birthday Noctis. I hope you really enjoyed yourself today. I know it wasn’t extravagant, but…” She trailed off with a small blush as Noctis chuckled lightly.

“Moony, this day was fantastic. Thank you so much for everything. I love you.”

Luna’s eyes lit up at the last statement. “I love you too Noctis.”

Noctis leaned forward slightly, meeting her halfway as she leaned forward also. Noctis cupped her cheek lightly and pressed his lips against her plump ones as the fireworks boomed overhead, ending the day perfectly.

[advocatewrites-blog]

Simple/Clean Chapter 10

Simple/Clean: An Original Character’s Story

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (1, with mentions of other installments)

Synopsis: There are many worlds, but they share the same sky. One Sky, one Destiny. And when that destiny is threatened, the universe calls on one hero to save the day. Or, more like, five. When the Earth is consumed into Darkness, Danielle Scott and her friends are given the Keys between light and darkness. If they are going to save the worlds and find her brother, they are going to have to go on a multiverse-wide road trip to find the Door to Light. If only they had a better weapon than keys.

Rated: +K for violence and occasional language

Disclaimer: The Kingdom Hearts series was created by Tetsuya Nomura and owned by Square Enix. The Final Fantasy series was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix. The films depicted were created by the Walt Disney Animation Studios and owned by the Walt Disney Company. Any other work mentioned or homaged are property of their respective owners. This is a non-profit fan-based work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the official releases.

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Chapter 10: Lost and Found

When he was much younger, before his sisters were alive, he asked his mother why they didn't have two grandmas.

He was still young, and most of his information about the outside world came from TV. Still, he was pretty sure that most people had at least two grandmas (some could have as many as four if they were really lucky, but TV generally didn't show that one).

At the time, Mom only smiled more and pinched his cheeks. But he was more stubborn than most children, so he insisted. Eventually, she caved in.

“I haven't seen your grandparents in a long time.” She admitted. “They didn't want to see me anymore, and I never wanted to see them again.”

Looking back on it now, he could see that her smile was stretched too thin and felt too forced. Looking back on it now, he felt terrible for even asking the once.

“But I wouldn't want you around them anyway.” Mom said. “There are better people I want you to learn better things from. But remember this.”

Mom pulled him in closer so he could look into her eyes. He had seen her several times before and several times since, but never once was he able to forget that look. He had never forgotten the fire that was lit behind her eyes, all light and hope and determination.

He had never forgotten that look, but he would see it in other places. Dani, mostly, but sometimes Hanna.

“Your siblings are going to be here soon.” Mom said. “And when they do come, they're going to need a lot of help. I want you to be able to help them. Real family stays together.”

He never found out if Dani or Hanna had a similar speech. He realized much later on that few people would get that lesson, and by the time he was in 6th grade, he learned to hold in his shock whenever someone would complain about their siblings. It didn't matter. No matter how much they cried or how bad they were at playing trains, Dim loved his sisters. They were his best friends. They were his family.

A full rigged ship, the kind you would see on the covers of children's books about pirate ships. Three masts, sails hoisted despite the fact that there is no air in space. 10 cannons, all pointed towards them. It made the Gummi ship look very small.

“But what is a pirate ship doing in the middle of space?” Nadine asked. “There aren’t any jets on that thing, how did it get here?”

“Hey, do you think that thing is chasing Monstro?” Katie asked.

The ship charged.

“I think that thing is chasin' us!” Goofy said.

“Oh! So we're the great white whale?”

“Incoming!” Donald cried.

The Gummi Ship crashed. This was far from the first time it had done so, so none of the occupants were terribly shaken.

Hanna was the first to open the hatch to get out. She was greeted by Heartless, holding a variety of swords. She swallowed hard, and raised her hands in the universal sign of surrender. The rest of the occupants of the ship filed out in a similar matter.

“I didn't think you'd make it this far, Sora.” Riku greeted from the steering wheel. “It's good to see you.”

“I can't say the same.” Sora said.

He glared. It didn't quite look like a glare, so much as it looked like a puppy trying to be intimidating.

“Where's our brother, you creep!” Dani spoke up instead, and took a step forward. The swords aimed towards her, but she didn't flinch back.

“Is he really that important to you? More important than letting old friends reunite?”

Dani and Hanna shared a look.

“Yes!” They exclaimed in unison.

“Fine. Then I won't tell you I found Kairi.”

Riku took a step to the side. Just out of the corner of her eye, Hanna could see a human figure, slumped onto the deck.

Sora's eyes widened. “Kairi!”

“While you were off with your new friends, I decided to go and find her.” Riku explained.

“Bet you got the Heartless to help you with that, didn't you!” Dani shouted back.

The light faded from Sora's eyes. “Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless? You're better than that!”

“My heart's too strong for them. I have nothing to fear.” Riku turned his attention back to Hanna and Dani. “Now you can go visit your brother.”

A trap door on the deck opened.

Nobody was anywhere near it.

Hanna stared at the trap door for a minute. Then back to the Heartless, whose swords were now getting a lot closer.

One by one, in a single file line, they jumped to their doom.

“Ya don't say?”

“Yeah! That was definitely her! I've finally found her!”

“All right! A-hyuck! Now let's go up there and talk to her!”

“Yeah!”

“Sounds great! Okay, but first, how about getting off!”

The six piled off of Donald, who grumbled a thanks.

Nadine glanced around the room. The brig of the ship, though bigger than it ought to be, was virtually empty. The only things in the room were a few barrels and crates, that probably held food and water at one point. Not even rope that could have restrained them. There was only one door that could lead out, but Nadine had no idea where it would lead.

“Lookin' for a way out?”

Nadine's head snapped towards the source. “Yes, Mr. Barrel. If you have something to contribute, please do.”

A blur of green shot towards her. It took Nadine a minute to process it was a boy. Far younger than her, dressed entirely in clothes that looked woven from twigs and leaves, and...floating.

“Who're you?” Goofy asked.

“Me?” The boy asked with a cocky smile. “I'm the answer to your prayers!”

Katie scoffed and folded her arms. “You don't look like a unicorn.”

“Fine then. I won't help you break out.”

“Aren't you trapped in here with us?” Sora asked.

“Nah. I'm just waiting for someone.”

The sound of jingling bells filled the room. A yellow blur shot past Nadine, and towards the boy.

“What took you so long, Tinker Bell?” The boy asked.

More jingles. Nadine had to squint, but she could just make out a humanoid figure in the yellow light.

“Another girl?...I'm just not going to leave Wendy behind, Tink!...Wait, Tink--”

The yellow blur shot past Nadine and out of the room.

The boy pouted.

“So are we working together?” Nadine asked.

“Fine. But only until we find Wendy.” The boy said. “Peter Pan, at your service!”

“Fantastic. How are we getting out of here?”

“We can't go anywhere if that door's locked.” Sora pointed out. “Do you think we can stack enough barrels on top of each other to get to the trap door?”

“Can't you fly?” Peter asked.

“Can't you use the magical weapon that can unlock any door?” Hanna asked.

“Oh. Right.”

“After all that trouble of capturing her, you just want me to let her go?” Captain Hook asked.

“She's not one of the ones Maleficent wants.” Riku said.

Captain Hook put hand and hook on hips. “And what exactly, is Maleficent planning, anyway?”

“Who knows? All I know is that she needs seven maidens, and Wendy isn't one of them. Dispose of them however you want. Make them walk the plank, if you want.”

He did want to make the walk the plank, but he wanted to prove his point more. “And what of the other girls we captured. Are they the chosen ones?”

Captain Hook had seen many a great thing in his day. Not only was he a pirate, but he was a pirate in a magical world. He had kidnapped Indians, fought with mermaids, and flown above the seven seas. His arch-nemeses were a boy who never grew older and never grew wiser, and a crocodile. On any day, he would put up with things that would make another pirate look like a landlubber.

And yet the glare that Riku sent him made the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. “Them, I expect you to throw off the plank.”

“Captain, we're having a bit of a problem!” Smee rushed in, nearly knocking into Captain Hook in the process. “Th—the prisoners have escaped. A—and Peter Pan is with them!”

Captain Hook's blood boiled over. He opened his mouth, ready to shout to his crew, the Heartless, anyone, to get those prisoners back. Riku, however, simply snapped his fingers to conjure a Heartless. The Heartless faded into the ground, moving past Captain Hook's feet and almost tripping him, and vanished through the gap in the door.

“He'll take care of the prisoners. You worry about getting rid of the dead weight.”

Captain Hook stood there, mustache twitching. He deserved more respect than to be pushed around by a mere child like that. On the other hand...someone was wrong with that boy. And not in the usual way Captain Hook had to put up with misbehaving children.

“Peter? Peter Pan!”

“Wendy!” Peter jumped up towards the floorboards and hovered there. “Where are you? Are you alright? Are the Lost Boys with you?”

“We're all alright, but please hurry! The pirates are going to come soon!”

“Alright, I'll be right up there!”

“Wendy?” Sora asked, sounding hesitant. “Is there anyone else up there with you?”

“Well, there is another girl, but she appears to be asleep. She hasn't moved an inch.” Wendy said.

“C'mon help me get up here!” Peter exclaimed, still tugging at the loose floorboards.

“We can't fly!” Nadine snapped.

“Oh, that? Tink, can you take care of it?”

Hanna wasn't sure how bells could sound angry, but Tinkerbell in her strange language made it work.

“Oh come on!” Peter snatched Tinkerbell by the wings and shook her. Golden dust fell from her and onto the seven. Katie sneezed, scattering it.

“There! Now you can fly!” He said.

“No, now we're covered in glitter.” Hanna said. “And I've been needing a proper shower since three worlds back.”

“If you believe in yourself, you can try anything!” Peter said. “Now fly!”

From above, Wendy screamed. Peter jumped out of the way as a Shadow crawled through the floorboards and onto the floor below. Not a Shadow, Hanna realized as it grew. Dim. Or what Dim was supposed to be.

The Heartless rushed towards her. Hanna summoned one keyblade to counter it. Another to attack. The Heartless stumbled backwards, and fell forward as another Keyblade struck him from behind.

“Give me back my brother!” She roared.

The fight started. Out of the corner of her eye, Hanna could see the others scurrying up the floorboards and into where Wendy and the others were, but she didn't care. The hall was narrow, and they would have gotten in the way anyway.

The Heartless was quick, but Hanna was quicker.

The Heartless could attack hard, but not as hard as Dani.

The Heartless could attack one of them thoroughly, but that only gave the other time to strike.

The Heartless wasn't strong enough to take them together. And it knew it. It fell to the ground and crawled back towards the ceiling.

“This is the silliest battle against good and evil ever.” Nadine said.

Still, it wasn't every day you got to see a band of pirates get their beards punched off by a group of kids. The charge was led by Peter Pan, who seemed to be the oldest one in the group. He had challenged Captain Hook in what was probably the only real battle in the group; Peter soared over him and fought hook to dagger, Hook crawled through the masts and crow's nest to keep up. The others…well, the three year old with the teddy bear seemed to be doing the most damage so far, followed by the seven year old in a top hat, who managed to find a way to duel with his umbrella. Occasionally a Heartless would show up, but it was usually defeated by either Donald's or Nadine's magic.

“Hey, do you think we can steal this ship when this is over and use it instead?” Katie asked.

“And abandon the Gummi Ship?” Goofy asked.

“I've been sharing the same mattress with six other people for the last few weeks. I think it's worth it.”

“You've also been using me as a pillow.” Donald grumbled.

“You're fluffy and warm. I have no regrets.”

Nadine's eye drifted. Out from where they had escaped came the Heartless that looked like Dim, followed quickly by his sisters.

“Do you think we should go help them?” Sora asked.

“No,” Katie said, her voice gravely serious. “This is their fight.”

Just faintly, over the roar of the other fights, Nadine could hear “No it's not!”

“Oh. Then yeah, we might want to deal with that.”

Four more Keyblades joined the fight.

Seven pointed towards the Heartless.

The Heartless' head snapped back and forth, as if it were trying to figure out which one of them was less likely to break him. The answer was none of them. It settled for stepping backwards into the Darkness.

“You're stronger than I thought.” Riku spoke from above. “But I wonder how much stronger you would be if you didn't have to rely on them.”

Sora turned to him and scowled. “Riku, you're better than this. I know you are. You don't have to work with them.”

“You don't get it, do you? You're not strong enough to get Kairi's heart back.”

A portal of Darkness appeared behind Riku. Sora rushed towards him, dismissing his Keyblade so he could hold a hand towards him. Riku took a step backward. Sora jumped.

He did not fall down. In fact, he kept rising up, bits of golden dust falling off him as he did.

The portal closed before he could get there.

As it turns out, they could not keep the ship. Both the Lost Boys and the Darling family had to get back to their homeworlds, which were apparently different places. Peter had tried to explain it to her, but he seemed to rely on stars in the sky as addresses, and he was having a hard time following along with the disappearing sky. Nadine did not want to tell him why it was missing. Peter had declared himself captain, and while he looked decidedly foppish in Captain Hook's hat, he didn't look nearly as foppish as Captain Hook himself.

“Alright, James,” Nadine said as she dragged the former captain by his jacket. “Tell me what we want to know, and we won't throw you overboard until we're over Neverland.”

Hook twitched. “Alright, alright, just get me away from that beast!”

As someone who grew up in Florida, Nadine could respect a healthy fear of crocodiles. Hook, on the other hand, took it to another level. He shook like a leaf in a hurricane, and every time he heard so much as a clock tick, he would jump. That, unfortunately, was frequently.

“I thought I was the bad cop.” Katie said.

“I thought forced in-terror-gation was bad.” John Darling said.

“It is, so don't watch.” Nadine answered.

Wendy helped turn her brothers and Katie around.

Hook took a breath to prepare himself. It didn't help all that much, but it got him talking. “They're heading for a world called Hollow Bastion. Maleficent's plan involves bringing together seven maidens of pure hearts. Supposedly that'll give her great power, but I don't know how.”

“She didn't tell you the whole plan?” Nadine asked.

“I don't think she told anyone the whole plan.” Hook said. “The boy seems to think it'll allow him to bring back the girl, but I don't know.”

Nadine took a minute to process that. “And Hollow Bastion?”

“Never been to it. I'll be surprised if it's an actual world or just some rock Maleficent found floating in space.”

“The word you're thinking of is meteor.” Nadine said. “Thanks for the help; we'll be sure to throw you into the Mermaid Lagoon.”

She gestured to the two boys in matching raccoon costumes to take him to the brig.

Sora hadn't moved for a long time. He leaned against the port-bow, watching the clouds underneath drift past.

And Hanna wasn't sure what to do about it.

She, Peter, Donald and Goofy had watched him for some time, not sure what to say to him or if they should try. Hanna had settled for standing next to him, a silent reminder that she was with him no matter what. Donald and Goofy had settled for whispering to themselves in voices that weren't quite whispers.

“I still can't believe it.” He muttered at last.

“Sora, I--”

“I flew. I actually flew!” Sora looked up, and Hanna saw all the lights in his eyes turn on. “I can't wait to tell Kairi! I wonder if she'll believe me...Probably not.”

Hanna let out a breathy laugh in relief. She was not sure she could handle watching Sora break down.

“You can take her to Neverland!” Peter said. “Then, she can try it herself!”

“Sure, we've already broken every other rule about world order.” Donald said.

“There's so much I want to tell her, about flying, about the pirates, about everything that's happened!” Sora continued.

Silence fell between them, for it could not fly. Sora's excitement dimmed a bit.

“If you believe, you can do anything, right?” Sora said. “So do you think...we'll be able to get Kairi's heart back?”

Hanna wasn't quite sure the answer to that. “Yes,” she said, because she did not want to accept no as an answer.

“And your brother?”

“Of course.” Hanna said.

Another pause.

“What about Riku?” She asked.

Sora looked unsure. “I don't know if I can justify Riku's actions anymore. But he's still my friend, and he's just as much a victim of the Heartless as anyone.”

“Well,” Goofy said. “We'll just haveta find a way ta help him too!”

“Alright, everybody, set course!” Katie announced as she joined them.

Peter jumped to the wheel. “Where to?”

“Uh, no, we're heading out.” Nadine clarified, and gestured to the seven of them.

“Where to?” Hanna asked.

“Where Maleficent is hiding out. Hollow Bastion.”

Author's Note: I've always liked the idea of Peter Pan more than the actual work. Not even getting into the racism, it always felt a little too "child logic"-y for me. I like the aesthetics and the worldbuilding fine, just not the content. Although one of my favorite high school theater experiences was when my brother was in a production of Peter Pan (I think he was Smee? Definitely one of the pirates) and the final battle at the end was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen on stage. It was the very definition of high school theater experience. I think that's what Peter Pan excels at: loosely connected shenanigans.

We're in the final stretch for this story now! The next two chapters are the finale! There will still be two sequels that will continue the story. And, you know….probably a little more.

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 6/24/20

SEAN: Look out, folks. The danger of COVID-19 may still be here, but the dam has broken. There are SO MANY BOOKS next week.

ASH: Woo!

SEAN: We’ll start with Dark Horse, who have a 5th volume of Mob Psycho 100.

ASH: I’ll be picking this up.

SEAN: J-Novel Club’s debut is Deathbound Duke’s Daughter, which is another in the ��I’ve been reincarnated as a villainess in an otome game” genre. Really nice artwork for this novel series. It’s from Futabasha’s M Novels.

Also from J-Novel Club: An Archdemon’s Dilemma 10, Ascendance of a Bookworm 7 (which finishes the 2nd arc, the one currently being animated), the 2nd Sorcerous Stabber Orphen manga, and a 4th Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!

Kodansha has a lot. Debuts? We have three. One even is in print: the first volume of The Ghost in the Shell: Human Algorithm, a spinoff of the legendary manga/anime franchise.

ASH: It’s always interesting to see how various creators envision Ghost in the Shell.

SEAN: A new digital-only title is Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! (Abe-kun ni Nerawaretemasu), a shoujo title from the online replacement for Aria, Palcy. A comedy manga about a girl who finds the school’s karate champ confessing to her… and he’s not going to take no for an answer.

Also digital (at least for now) is Sue & Tai-chan, another cat manga from the creator of Chi’s Sweet Home. This one runs in Be Love magazine, so seems more for housewives than kids. But… I mean, it’s still a cute cat manga.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to it!

SEAN: Scheduled (at the moment) for Digital next week and print later, we see Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition 5 (along with 3 and 4, whose print are out already), Fire Force 19, Love and Lies 9, O Maidens in Your Savage Season 7, and Yuri Is My Job! 6.

ASH: As usual, I’ll be waiting for the print release, but O Maidens in Your Savage Season is really good.

SEAN: Digital-only titles out next week? Altair: A Record of Battles 19 (I swear this is now weekly), Asahi-sempai’s Favorite 7 (the final volume), Hotaru’s Way 14, I Fell in Love After School 5, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 15, and Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 7 (which also feels like it’s out every week).

MICHELLE: Of these, I’m only currently reading I Fell in Love After School, but I do enjoy it.

SEAN: KUMA has a digital-first, print later debut: Canis: Dear Mr. Rain. This BL title originally ran in Opera a few years back, but is now in Takeshobo’s Reijin. It’s about picking up a stray on the side of the road, only this is a human, not a dog.

MELINDA: Maybe?

SEAN: One Peace has a 13th Rising of the Shield Hero (manga version).

Seven Seas, in print, has New Game! 9.

Seven Seas, digitally, has a bit more. We have two debuts. Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time (Peter Grill to Kenja no Jikan) runs in Futabasha’s Manga Action, which means it can’t be full-on porn, but it sounds like it. Peter Grill has a lovely fiancee and has just won a tournament pronouncing him the World’s Strongest. Unfortunately, this means all the women in the world – elves, ogres – want to bone him. Poor guy, can he escape his horrible fate?

MELINDA: …wow.

SEAN: The other digital debut is Syrup, another yuri anthology of short stories – this one from Futabasha – and featuring the creators of I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up and Kisses, Sighs and Cherry Blossom Pink.

ASH: Oh! That sounds like it has promise!

MELINDA: This might be good!

SEAN: There’s also the 3rd Arifureta manga, Gal Gohan 3, GIGANT 2, a 2nd Magic User: Reborn in Another World as a Max Level Wizard light novel, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 3, Non Non Biyori 13, the 3rd Reincarnated As a Sword manga, and the 10th and final Toradora! light novel. (Yes, I know there are short story volumes. No, they aren’t. No, it’s unlikely they will be.)

Square Enix has – digital first – the 3nd Hi Score Girl manga and the 2nd Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town manga.

Tokyopop has two new series. Don’t Call Me Daddy (Daddy Darlin’) is a BL manga, sequel to Don’t Call Me Dirty.

The other is No Vampire, No Happy Ending (Ringo to Bara to Kyuuketsuki (Kari)), a goofy Mag Garden comedy about a vampire enthusiast who finally meets one and discovers they’re not up to snuff.

MELINDA: This actually sounds fun, maybe in a What We Do in the Shadows kind of way, but …Tokyopop. Not sure I’m ready.

Vertical has (digitally) Bakemonogatari’s 4th manga, APOSIMZ 5, and Kino’s Journey 6.

MELINDA: I’ve been kind of out of it and have lost touch with the Kino’s Journey manga adaptation. I should try to fix that.

SEAN: That’s it! We’re done! Wait… (giant pile of Yen Press falls on Sean) Riiiiiight. Yen’s back in town.

ASH: Whoa! Hang on for the ride!

SEAN: All of the light novel debuts got moved to July. But there’s still a lot of Yen On. We get The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 7, Last Round Arthurs 2, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 6.5 (yes, the numbering is deliberate), Overlord 12, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 7, A Sister’s All You Need 7, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 8, Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 2, Woof Woof Story 4, and World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 3. Guh. So many books, so many long titles.

ASH: For sure!

SEAN: Manga? Well, there we have a few debuts. Bestia is a fantasy series about magical beasts, looks cute, and runs in Kadokawa’s Shonen Ace.

Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World (Sekai de Ichiban Oppai Ga Suki!) is sort of Knight of the Ice if the knight was a girl and instead of wanting to hear magical girl songs she had to fondle huge breasts in order to do well in competitions. It looks… a bit over the top. This runs in Media Factory’s Comic Cune.

MELINDA: What is happening??

SEAN: Lust Geass is from the creator of Evangelion spinoff The Shinji Ikari Raising Project, runs in Kadokawa’s Young Ace, and seems to be Death Note only with sex instead of death.

MELINDA: Yen Press is really losing me lately.

SEAN: And there’s Restaurant in Another World, the manga version of the light novel. Old-school Crunchyroll manga readers may recall this title.

ASH: Oh, I may need to check this one out.

SEAN: Lastly, Sekiro Side Story: Hanbei the Undying seems to be a side story to something I don’t know (it’s certainly not Sekirei), and I guess is based off a game.

Ongoing titles? Well, Umineko: When They Cry comes to an end with the 3rd and final omnibus of Twilight of the Golden Witch. We’ve figured out by now that most everyone in the cast is really, genuinely dead. But did ANYONE other than Ange survive? Read to find out.

And… Bungo Stray Dogs 15, Chio’s School Road 9, Dead Mount Death Play 4, Divine Raiment Magical Girl Howling Moon 2, Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 3 (manga version), Eclair Bleau (another yuri anthology volume) Goblin Slayer 8 (manga version), KonoSuba Explosion 5 (manga version, technically a final volume but there’s a sequel), Little Miss P: The Second Day, Phantom Tales of the Night 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 10 (manga version), and A Witch’s Printing Office 3.

MICHELLE: So many paragraphs of things I’m not reading, with the probable exception of Eclair Bleue.

ANNA: I’m going to have a hard time doing pick of the week this week, despite this deluge of manga.

ASH: I’m glad to see publishers getting their books out there, but that is certainly a lot all at once!

MELINDA: A lot of… what?

SEAN: Stay masked even though all the manga is back! What are you getting?

By: Sean Gaffney

[kelseyraiyne]

In the last five years, how and why has the representation of female characters changed within the action and adventure genre of video games?

I believe the representation of female characters in video games has been developed in a way to show that the gaming industry is no longer a patriarchal institution and, as a result, the male gaze is not as dominant. This has been done by making the female characters more realistic and less sexualised. Most likely, this is due to the increase of women working in the gaming industry as well as the increase of women playing the games as they are the consumers wanting a genuine depiction of females.

The third wave of feminism began in the mid-1990s, albeit appearing differently to those of the previous generations with “lipstick, high heels and cleavage proudly exposed by low cut necklines that the first phases of the movement identified with male oppression”1.Not only does this generation of feminists look different, the third wave has also become empowered, defining their feminine beauty as their own and not as “objects of a sexist patriarchy”[1].  Female characters are now becoming more strong, athletic and in proportion both in appearance and mentality; they are not as sexualised anymore. However, are these new female characters a positive, realistic representation or are they still a constructed fantasy made just for appeal to hetrosexual males? A female character, for example, like Lara Croft[2].

‘Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst’ gameplay trailer, an upcoming 2016 action-adventure game by publishers EA and developers EA Digital Illusions, can be used as evidence of female characters changing. The female protagonist, Faith Connors, subverts the stereotypes normally found about female video game characters; she is of mixed Asian and Caucasian descent, going against the typical white woman, and wears athletic clothes that may be tight but also cover more skin than female characters such as those from the ‘Mortal Kombat’ series (for example, Katana and Sonya). Connors is clearly not the Princess in this trailer, instead she is the Hero as it is her journey the story follows[3]. Although Angela McRobbie believes most media texts portray women as weak, subservient to men, and play three roles (mother, wife, whore), she also accepts that other media texts display women in more powerful sexual roles, which is generally a positive thing as it empowers them.Connors is empowered in this trailer; there are various shots of her in action, showing her resourcefulness and athleticism[4] but the audience is still able to see her sleek figure and curves. Her character is made to appeal to both men and women in the audience, so it isn’t as niche and doesn’t segment them too much. However, there are ongoing debates about whether games are still being sexist or not, and if there is gender equality within the audience. An online article from the BBC approaches this5 showing how sexist language is being used against females whilst playing online games, for example a male gamer calling a female one a “fat whore” and saying he is going to “rape that bitch”[5]. This is an increasing issue as it means that younger generations are being raised believing it’s acceptable to devalue women in society and online (social media for example).

On the other hand, ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ is an example of a video game that hasn’t changed their portrayal of women. ‘GTAV’ is a 2013 open world, action-adventure game by publishers Rockstar Games and developers Rockstar North.‘GTAV’ is set in San Andreas where the single-player story follows three criminals committing heists, whilst being hunted by a government agency.Itreceived a lot of criticism and negative attention because of its depiction of women, for example prostitution and rape of women. The male gaze is present in this ‘GTAV’ trailer with women wearing tight or skimpy outfits that highlight and show off their body, but also the female gaze as male characters are made to be more appealing to women now (Gammon and Marshment’s theory). This is seen in the trailer at 10 seconds[6]where two female joggers turn around and ‘check out’ a male jogger, giggling to each other. This shows a development of objectification where men are now falling victim to this sexualisation.Following on from this, the ‘GTAV’ trailer is a good example of Dill and Thill’s 2005 study,showing three major stereotypes of women in gaming; sexualised, scantily clad and a vision of beauty – the most significant evidence of this is at 00:56 in the trailer6 showing two women standing outside a liquor store, one leaning against a car but both posing seductively; they are wearing mini skirts, tight vests and high heels. Tessa Perkins states that stereotyping has elements of truth and are based on repeat representations in both society and the media; with this, I am suggesting that maybe how women are portrayed in ‘GTAV’is because it is so commonly represented like this in the media, such as Lynx adverts that show ‘perfect’ women flocking to the male character once he uses their bodyspray[7]. The media plays on these fears and desires in order to gain an audience. Nethertheless, the ‘GTAV’ trailer does disprove my hypothesis where the representation of female video game characters hasn’t necessarily changed in some of the more recent games and it has even begun to objectify men too. This results in the audience becoming voyeurs due to the probing nature that media, specifially social media, implies is acceptable.

The rise of feminism and gender equality are big debates that have taken industries by storm. Craig Duncan, studio head of Rare, said “the more diverse culture we have as a studio the better games we produce for everyone”[8] – in other words, this article proves my hypothesis as it talks about how having a range of gender, age and ethnicity working in the gaming industry would be beneficial. One such reason is that it means the industry can create games (characters and locations for example) that are realistic and accurate representations rather than a stereotype.

This links in with another trailer –the ‘Crossroads’ trailer for ‘Tomb Raider’. This is an action-adventure game by publishers Square Enix and developers Crystal Dynamics. This 2013 game is a reconstruction and reboot of the previous ones, focusing on the origins of Lara Craft as a character. ‘Tomb Raider’ is set on an island called Yamatai, inhabited by a cult, which tests the strengths of the unexperienced and younger Croft as she is not yet “battle-hardened” like she is in other games in the series.Croft must save her friends whilst surviving the harsh environments of the island and the inhabitants within it. The ‘Crossroads’trailer is quite similar to the ‘Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst’ trailer in that it subverts the typical stereotypes of women as Croft is shown to be strong and resourceful in both mentality and physicality –she’s not as sexualised although there are still moments in the trailer that show off her body and her vulnerability, such as at 02:25[9] where the audience witnesses what wasinitially assumed to be a rape scene. The producer of the game stated, after much criticism, that the scene was made to aid Crofit with her character growth by “[turning her] into a cornered animal” so “she's forced to either fight back or die."[10]- this caused a big outroar from the audience, especially women, as it suggested that woman had to be victims in order to become strong. In this game, Croft is instead shown as more feminine unlike previous games where she is an example of masculine violence trapped in a male fantasy figure. Yet, ‘Tomb Raider’ is still said to be “an important milestone”[11] as it shows how much better a game can be when designed by a woman. Regardless of her feminine nature, Croft is a powerful and independent character touching on McRobbie’s opinions on post-feminism.

An argument to disprove my hypothesis is that producers continuously state that female characters are harder to animate than their male counterparts, and take more time and effort to complete. This is an excuse used by Ubisoft (a multinational video game developer and publisher). One member working on an Assassin’s Creed game said they would need “up to 8,000 replacement animations to insert a playable female character”[12]. There still aren’t as many female characters being created because of profit margins, and if there are then they’re not being animated in a positive way. Another Ubisoft worker said “it means they would have to design women who walk, run, and idle normally … the way their male playable characters do”12 – their animations are more sexualised than realistic. In other words, female characters in video games have always been shown having sexualised actions so now, because of that, it will take time to positively animate them. But surely it is better to do that now, so that there can be gender equality in the audience and game? It would also surely be a shortcut to franchising, to appeal to many members of the audience and bring in more money.

Then again, there are some other possibilities as to why the representation of female video game characters has changed, one of these being financial gain for people working in the gaming industry. Dmitri Williams(University of Southern Californiaprofessor) said the gaming industry realised they were "leaving a lot of money on the table by alienating women”[13].Now, more games featuring female protagonists or playable female characters have been released – examples being Dead Island 2 and Evolve. According to this article, 48% of gamers were female in 2014 in America13. This shows how important it is for the gaming industry to produce games aimed at both genders, to address the issue of gender equality within audiences. It is notable that the appearance of these female characters in the Dead Island 2 game still conforms to Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze - they wear tiny shorts and crop tops where the audience is able to see their assets. Even the representation of the male characters is stereotypical as they are muscular and show thisoff with sleeveless tops. They are regarded as the stronger ones out of all the characters. But Mulvey’s theory is quite outdated so there is a modern take; women are now “both the product and representation of the male unconcious, mimicking the pressures women feel in the real world to uphold male standards”[14]

Another possibility is that changing representations are due to third wave feminism effecting all aspects of the media and wider society, not just the gaming industry. Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richard’s publication[15] states feminism is “a way for young women to challenge socio-historical associations of feminity with weakness and subordination” and allows women “to be independent, strong, smart and sexy – all at once”[16]. McRobbie supports this “post-feminist” way of being represented and addresses the issue of gender equality. Emma Watson’s He-For-She movement is an example of how feminism and the representation of women has become an issue effecting the whole world, with it spreading across all platforms possible. Increased news and media coverage found on all three platforms is shared via e-media with social network sites such as Facebook, and Twitter members use the hashtag #heforshe. Watson’s UN speech can be find on various sites, such as YouTube[17], Twitter and Facebook, and was the feature of many newspapers such as The Guardian[18].

In conclusion, I believe this essay shows that female characters in the action-adventure genres of video games have become more diverse, in order to meet the needs of a mainstream audience. This has not just been done for gender, however. In relation to the debate about overall equality within the audience and games, it has also addressed the issue of race and age. A broader range of representations can have a positive impact on both the gaming industry and the audience; it can teach consumers the importance of equality and bring up discussions about worldwide issues such as gun violence and politics. There are also theories that suggest gaming can help with multi-tasking in the elderly. However, will video games ever be proven to have a positive outcome with the controversy that surrounds them?

 [1]The Three Waves of Feminism, Martha Rampton – http://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/three-waves-feminism

[2]Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo, Helen W. Kennedy – http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/kennedy/

[3] Vladimir Propp, Character Theory

[4] Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst Official Gameplay, Mirror’s Edge  –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GBVMGXXFMw

[5]Sexual Harassment in The World of Video Gaming, BBC, James Fletcher – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18280000

[6]Grand Theft Auto V Trailer, Rockstar Games–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkkoHAzjnUs

[7] Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth

[8]Gaming needs to do a 'better job' at recruiting women, BBC, Steffan Powell – http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/33917727/gaming-needs-to-do-a-better-job-at-recruiting-women

[9] Tomb Raider ‘Crossroads’ Trailer, GameSpot - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gHSEU6d9kc

[10] You'll 'Want To Protect’ The New, Less Curvy Lara Croft, Kotaku, Jason Schreier – http://kotaku.com/5917400/youll-want-to-protect-the-new-less-curvy-lara-croft

[11] Why Tomb Raider Is An Important Milestone For Women In Gaming, Crave, Paul Tamburro – http://www.craveonline.co.uk/culture/460517-why-tomb-raider-is-an-important-milestone-for-women-in-gaming

[12]How sexist video game animators keep failing women, Daily Dot, Aja Romano - http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/assassins-creed-gaming-sexism-also-about-animation/

[13]Why does sexism persist in the video games industry?, BBC, Kim Gittleson - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27824701

[14]The Male Gaze Now and Then: False Empowerment in Tarantino’s Films, Stephanie Lane Suttonhttps://firesunderground.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/the-male-gaze-now-then-false-empowerment-in-tarantinos-films/

[15]Feminism and Feminity: Or How We Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Thong, Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards

[16]Angela McRobbie, The Aftermath of Feminism, reviewed by Jess Butler

[17] Emma Watson at the HeForShe Campaign 2014, United Nations – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkjW9PZBRfk&safe=active

[18]Emma Watson’s UN gender equality campaign is an invitation to men too, The Guardian, Emma Herman –  http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/oct/03/emma-watsons-un-gender-equality-campaign-is-an-invitation-to-men-too

[thomasroach]

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs of June 2019 (Bloodstained, Warhammer and More!)

The post Top 5 Upcoming RPGs of June 2019 (Bloodstained, Warhammer and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

Welcome to the Top Upcoming RPGs of June 2019! In this series we highlight the Top 5 RPGs for the upcoming month. In this edition, we’re going to take a look at each of the titles, talk a little about each, and then explain why we think they deserve to be on the list. So join me now and find a mixture of some hidden gems and old favorites given a shiny new coat of paint.

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of June 2019

Last month saw some classic titles make their way onto more platforms as well as a newer title touching down in early access. This month brings some classic titles but with a modern spin, these should keep you busy until we get more gaming new s during E3 2019 which is fast approaching. Enjoy a mix of turn-based, side-scrolling and some fantasy action combat as we dive into the month of June.

For the King arrived last month bringing a dungeon crawler with strategy and rogue-like features.

Honourable Mention: Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr

Release Date: June 4th Platform: PS4/Xbox One Developer: Zenimax Online Studios Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

This month’s honourable mention goes to Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr expansion. Last month was the early access release on PC, this month it joins Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Introducing a new class called Necromancer where players will use the power of the dead to inflict their attacks. With a choice of Gravelord Skills will imbue the dead with Frost, Fire or Lightning, raise hordes of the undead to attack your enemies. Bone Tyrant Skills will bend and break the dead to your will, creating a impenetrable wall and increase your own survivability. Living Death Skills draws powers of life and death, helps to restore your allies and resurrect your fallen comrades to bring them back to the battle.

The chapter introduces the new area of Elsweyr to explore, the birthplace of the Khajiit, where you can learn all about their history and culture. They will need your help to defend their homeland against the merciless dragons.

Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr releases on PS4 and Xbox One on June 4th and is available on PC. If you’re curious to find out major additions coming with this chapter be sure to check our Elder Scrolls Online Elsweyr: 6 Biggest Changes video.

5. Dragon Star Varnir

Release Date: June 11th NA/June 14th EU Platform: PS4 Developer: Compile Heart Publisher: Idea Factory

Dragon Star Varnir is a JRPG that follows a young warrior by the name of Zephy who is part of a group who spends their time hunting down witches. These witches are people afflicted with the curse of giving birth to dragons. Zephy comes close to be being killed on a hunting mission but is saved by two mysterious witches, the very people he is suppose to kill. They bring him back from the brink of death by feeding him dragon blood. Now experiencing new magical abilities, Zephy reluctantly becomes part of this band of witches in fighting against the very Empire he swore to protect.

The unique battle system splits the battle field into three different layers, meaning only physical attacks can hit foes on the same layer. While magical attacks have a wider range of reach, affecting all layers. Use your party of witches and their abilities to best enemies, with dragon forms issuing powerful finishing moves. See special in-game events by charming these witches in order to gain their affections which unlocks their affinity levels.

Dragon Star Varnir will be releasing June 11th for North America and June 14th for Europe. It will be available physically and digitally exclusively for PlayStation 4.

4. Super Neptunia RPG

Release Date: June 20th (PC)/June 25th (PS4/Switch) Platform: PC/Switch/PS4 Developer: Compile Heart Publisher: Idea Factory

Super Neptunia RPG follows the story of Neptune who wakes up in a familiar world but has no memory of who she is or how she got there. With the only knowledge of her name, the help of a strange girl named Chrome and a few familiar faces from the Neptunia series, Neptune will venture on, to piece together her memory. But their world is in peril, being attacked by an enemy that wants to turn their world back into 2D. Will Neptune and her band of companions keep the their world in 3D or will it slip into 2D forever?

The side-scroller, Super Neptunia RPG is a 2D hand-drawn style game that offers interactive dungeons, turn-based battles and elemental attacks. Use your party of four goddesses to unleash a combo of attacks in battle, using different formations consisting of Strike, Magic, Support and Heal. Use their Skills and Abilities to unlock weapons, armor and new accessories.

Super Neptunia RPG releases on PC on June 20th, then on Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch on June 25th.

3. Octopath Traveler

Release Date: June 7th Platform: PC Developer: Square Enix Publisher: Square Enix

Square Enix released their JRPG Octopath Traveler as a Nintendo Switch exclusive upon launch last year. Now its coming to a new platform this June, meaning players can now journey into to the world of Orsterra on PC, in this turn-based RPG. Players will get to choose from eight different characters, each with their own immersive backstory as well as abilities in the fantasy world of Orsterra. The world although is told through the eyes of eight different characters is shared between the cast, which you may bump into later in your adventure.

Those who have played previous Square Enix games especially early Final Fantasy titles will definitely find the gameplay to be quite familiar, however there is a modern twist with the added “boost” mechanic which gives increased power attacks and combos during each turn. The title also lets you summon NPCs to help out in battle for short term, which adds some useful assistance when the fights get tough.

Octopath Traveler is currently available to play on Nintendo Switch and will launch on June 7th for PC.

2. Warhammer Chaosbane

Release Date: June 5th Platform: PS4/Xbox One/PC Developer: BigBen Interactive Publisher: Eko Software

Warhammer Chaosbane takes on the first action-RPG to be set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Players will be able to adventure through several well known places in the Warhammer universe including the cursed city of Praag and Nuln, known as the Empire’s old capital. You will serve Magnus, a soldier who has helped to bring together the warring factions and lead the united front against the Chaos. However, Magnus gets cursed by a sorceress who you will need to track down in order to reverse the effects.

There are four classes to choose from in the form of characters, which will alter the type of combat you will experience but ultimately Warhammer Chaosbane is a hack and slash. If you choose the Imperial Soldier, combat is up close and personal, while a ranged class such as High-Elf Mage or Wood-Elf Scout will create distance between yourself and the enemy. Or choose the Dwarf Slayer to bring fury in the form of spinning axes. But each class has its own unique archetype ability which adds a different feel to your usual RPG gameplay.

Warhammer Chaosbane releases on June 5th on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.

1. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Release Date: June 18th/June 25th (Switch) Platform: PS4/Xbox One/PC/Nintendo Switch Developer: Artplay Publisher: 505 Games

Its been a few years since Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter back in 2015, putting the action side-scrolling RPG into motion under the Castlevania director Koji Igarashi. The title has gone under a major visual overhaul during its development as the developers listened to feedback from the community.

Bloodstained follows the story of protagonist Miriam, an orphan who is afflicted by an alchemist’s curse. This devastating curse is slowly transforming her skin into crystal. In order to reverse the effects of the curse, she must enter a demon infested castle and locate a summoner named Gebel, who is also suffering under the same curse.

Experience exploration, crafting, levelling and even upgrading abilities. Abilities ranging from shooting arrows to summoning a giant tentacle to strike at your foes. Create weapons from materials you loot or items you dismantle. Expect to face larger than life fantastical bosses, a mixture between mythical creatures meets reality, including a giant dog head or even a huge cat-like creature with horns that swipes at you.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is releasing on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on June 18th, while the Switch version is arriving a few days later on June 25th.

That’s a wrap for the Top RPGs of June. Did I miss your favorite June release? What games are you most looking forward to this year? Please let us know in the comments below.

You can also check out the Top RPGs of May 2019.

So, do you want more? If so, you can find more Top RPGs for 2019 here.

The post Top 5 Upcoming RPGs of June 2019 (Bloodstained, Warhammer and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs of June 2019 (Bloodstained, Warhammer and More!) published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

[recentanimenews]

Staff Picks: Our Favorite Video Games of 2019

Welcome to the second part of our annual “Staff Picks,” in which the Ani-Gamers team selects some of our favorite anime, manga, and video games of the past year. This time we’re talking video games!

As usual there are a lot of games to cover, and between our two contributors we weren’t able to play nearly as many of them as we’d like. This year saw two standout first-party Nintendo RPGs, including the first-ever original core-series Pokémon games on a home console, the long-awaited release of Hideo Kojima’s inscrutable Death Stranding, a new AAA Star Wars action game (Jedi: Fallen Order), and both Outer Worlds and Outer Wilds. Meanwhile, last year’s big story of game industry unionization has continued to make headlines, notably at the Game Developer’s Conference in the spring, where major industry figures publically expressed their support for unionization. And that’s not the only area where politics had a big impact on gaming in 2019 — Blizzard’s suspension of Blitzchung over his support for the Hong Kong protests highlighted the contradiction between the values held by game industry workers (including pro players) and their bosses. As uncomfortable as these conversations are, they’re vital for building a more ethical industry.

In terms of the games themselves, many of them didn’t make it out of our piles of shame in time for the Staff Picks, but the ones that made the cut cover a wide range of genres, including complex action games, extremely anime JRPGs, and obtuse puzzlers. Enjoy, and feel free to chime in with your own 2019 picks in the comments.

David Estrella

#3: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

The hardest part about Sekiro was mending my relationship with my podcast co-host after debating the ethical conundrum of difficult video games and being made to look like a prick on tape. I’m completely making up what happened so don’t ban me from the site, Evan. Levity aside, the irony is that I never actually finished Sekiro and gave up at an endgame optional boss. A far departure from both Dark Souls and Bloodborne, From Software’s katana-focused revenge story did a Shinobi Execution to my hundreds of hours of experience and I was forced to learn everything over again. Some people really got on board with the action-focused gameplay whereas I flunked out of samurai school, so Sekiro is only the third-best pick from me on my list. If there had been more lore to pick up off the ground, I probably would have finished it, but I think everyone’s favorite fantasy author, George R.R. Martin, has me covered with Elden Ring, which will definitely be closer to what I expect from Hidetaka Miyazaki than what I got from Sekiro.

#2: Resident Evil 2

I originally wrote in Fire Emblem: Three Houses in here but I never finished that game in 2019. Resident Evil 2 (2019) on the other hand is a game I beat again and again throughout the year when I should have been focusing on other games (like Fire Emblem). First released on PlayStation over 20 years ago, the RE2 remake takes every great bit from that classic and reimagines it in the new engine used for Resident Evil 7. Fighting to survive Raccoon City’s zombie apocalypse again with Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield in a game rebuilt for modern standards is not something I expected to see, but I suppose Capcom didn’t want to be shown up by Square Enix reviving the 32-bit era with the upcoming episodic Final Fantasy VII remakes. Conveniently enough, now that I’ve played RE2 inside out, we’re already getting the Resident Evil 3 remake in April, so now I’ve got one more good reason to put off finishing a single run of Fire Emblem in my lifetime.

#1: Pokémon Sword & Shield

No one should be surprised that I would call Pokémon Sword and Shield my top pick of the year. The only purpose for me doing this is to get it in writing but otherwise, yes, I really loved this iteration of the series. The reasons why I enjoyed it so much have practically nothing to do with the hyped-up gimmicks like Dynamax battles or the shift to console. On the one hand, things like story and environment design could have been much better, and on the other hand, I never want to go back to the old games after experiencing all of the quality-of-life changes made in Sword and Shield. Details that casual players won’t care about or ever become aware of like paying for max EVs with vitamins or using mints to change Natures have completely changed the game for anyone serious about raising Pokémon. If I were asked if these improvements were worth losing over 400 Pokémon from the roster, I would probably cry. Maybe. Maybe it was worth it.

Evan Minto

#3: Katana Zero

I played Superhot on a VR rig once, and it was the closest I ever felt to being a real-life action hero. In that game, “time moves when you do,” allowing you to plan out elaborate, perfectly executed lethal maneuvers in Matrix-esque bullet time. Katana Zero applies a similar concept to the 2-D action-platformer. You play as a samurai assassin in a dystopian cyberpunk future, equipped with a power that allows you to rewind time when you die and slow it down while in combat. The former is mostly experienced as a simple respawn mechanic, but the latter is what turns Katana Zero into a unique hybrid of a puzzle and action game. Each room is filled with bad guys who can one-hit kill you, sometimes so many that defeating them all would be impossible using standard action game timing. Slowing things down, however, turns the game into a sort of puzzle, and allows you to link up dashes, wall jumps, sword slashes, and projectile throws in the span of a second or two. When the game plays the room back in real time, you really do feel like some kind of superhero. It doesn’t hurt that the whole thing is wrapped up in an impeccable audiovisual package, featuring intricately animated pixel art, pulsing electronic music, and a clever dialogue display system that combines animated and colored text. The story is pretty standard stuff for the genre, but the surprisingly funny dialogue does a great job cutting the melodrama. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but Katana Zero is a clever, well-crafted little action game.

#2: Baba Is You

I tried Baba Is You for the first time at a friend’s place, and was instantly sold. After just a few levels, I told him, “this is a game for game designers.” The core mechanic is deceptively, deviously simple: the rules defining how the game world operates are blocks within the world, and you can rearrange them. The early levels are straightforward, if abstract, plays on this concept. Form the sentence “Flag is win” and you’ve got a win condition. Break up the sentence “Wall is stop” and voila: walls are no longer an obstacle. It’s when Baba Is You takes the core mechanic and folds it in on itself repeatedly, however, that this puzzler reaches the realm of obtuse, mind-bending complexity. You can change which sprite represents the player character, or even control multiple players at once. You can separate sprites into layers that prevent them from intersecting with each other. Even the words that form the sentences themselves can be modified! Baba Is You sometimes reaches nearly impossible levels of difficulty, but since you can choose the order in which to try the puzzles, the game will never stop you dead in your tracks. This kind of bizarre, postmodern weirdness is exactly what I come to indie games for.

#1: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I never even finished the easiest half of Fire Emblem: Fates (Birthright), but I was glued to Awakening on the DS, my introduction to the franchise. In Three Houses Nintendo and Intelligent Systems aren’t even pretending that Fire Emblem is anything but a dating sim; you play as a part-time professor, part-time general, and the tactical RPG battles are interlaced with segments where you have to run around your home base talking to all of your students/units (fully voiced this time). At first this cumbersome back-and-forth, combined with a bevy of new combat mechanics, can make Three Houses feel like a game trapped between two conflicting identities, but after a few hours it clicked for me. All of the game’s seemingly mismatched systems, from the battalions to the tea parties, talk to and reinforce each other. Building relationships between your units boosts their stats and opens up opportunities to train them in new skills, all of which make them more effective in battle. Then their battle experience alongside their comrades feeds right back into their relationships. These mechanics have been around in some form since at least Awakening, but here they meld together like never before. Three Houses is a bewildering and sometimes overcomplicated successor to the Fire Emblem legacy, but the whole mess somehow comes together into a spellbinding experience.

Check out our 2019 Manga Staff Picks as well!

Staff Picks: Our Favorite Video Games of 2019 originally appeared on Ani-Gamers on January 8, 2020 at 4:58 PM.

By: David Estrella

[thomasroach]

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs April 2019 (Dragon’s Dogma, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Vambrace Cold Soul and More!)

The post Top 5 Upcoming RPGs April 2019 (Dragon’s Dogma, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Vambrace Cold Soul and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

Welcome to the Top Upcoming RPGs of April 2019! In this series we highlight the Top 5 RPGs for the upcoming month. In this edition, we’re going to take a look at each of the titles, talk a little about each, and then explain why we think they deserve to be on the list. So join me now and find a mixture of some hidden gems and old favorites given a shiny new coat of paint.

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs April 2019

Last month’s top spot was grappled by the shinobi inspired action game, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, bringing new heights to the Sengoku period. This month’s round up of games takes players on a slightly different journey of old and new, with some classic titles making appearances on new platforms. Whether you’re looking to take on a familiar game on another platform or searching for a new challenge, there’s a variation of games to suit different moods. Without further to do, let’s get into the month of April!

Honourable Mention: Darksiders Warmastered Edition

Release Date: April 2nd Platform: Nintendo Switch Developer: Vigil Games Publisher: THQ Nordic

Releasing this month on a new platform of the Nintendo Switch, Darksiders Warmastered Edition brings the first entry in the franchise that focuses on the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. The first game features War, who acts along with his brothers as the enforcers of the Charred Council, maintaining the balance between Heaven and Hell. But War is called to Earth due the chaos raised between fighting Angels and Demons. As he tries to defeat a demon, he realises his powers are being drained, he next wakes up accused by the Council of being the cause of the end of the world. In order to prove his innocence he returns to Earth to clear his name but is tied to Watcher to keep him in check.

Gameplay includes wielding apocalyptic powers, brutal attacks, supernatural abilites as well as an extensive arsenal of weapons to choose from. There are also quests that will take you to the wastelands and dungeons overrun with demons. Evolve your playstyle using a range of relics, upgradeable options for your weapons, unlock new abilities to suit your destruction.

Darksiders: Warmastered Edition comes to the Nintendo Switch on April 2nd.

5. Vaporum

Release Date: April 10th Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch Developer: Fatbot Games Publisher: Fatbot Games

A single-player game with steampunk theme, this dungeon crawler RPG Vaporum is inspired by games such as Dungeon Master I and II, as well as the Eye of the Beholder series. The story takes place stranded on a small islet situated in the middle of ocean. Entering a gigantic mechanical tower you must uncover the mysteries that lie within and well as discover who are you.

While most RPGs favour abilities to level up, Vaporum focuses on improving your exoskelton, because in this game “you are what you wear”. The gadget system allows you to change up your loadout at any time, which gives players a great deal of flexibility for different situations that you may encounter. As you progress, unlock new circuits which will give you a permanent attribute advantage as well as passive skills.

The title offers first person combat in real time, puzzles as well as level-wide objectives and a gadget-based RPG system. As you explore the immersive steampunk world of Vaporum you will be rewarded with loot as well an enigmatic storyline which is accompanied by a fully voiced cast of main characters.

Vaporum releases on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on April 10th.

4. Vambrace: Cold Soul

Release Date: April 25th Platform: PC/Mac Developer: Devespresso Games Publisher: Headup

Vambrace: Cold Soul is a narrative driven rogue-like title that pits players against brutal challenges matched with deep strategy. Players take on the role of Evelia Lyric, the only human able to enter frost covered Icenaire, the cursed city. Now inhabited by it’s former residents that have been raised from the dead, these Wraiths  plague the city. It is down to you to bring hope to this darkened land, as you bear the enchanted vambrace. Plan your missions underground and then head to the surface with your team to combat strange encounters.

Journeying into an epic fantasy adventure, this title spans over 7 chapters, captured in a beautiful hand-drawn artstyle. You can choose to take part in sub-quests to unlock character skins. Battle through perils with your party in turn-based combat, choosing from 5 different races which include humans, elves, foxier, dwarves or drow, and 10 different classes. Items can be crafted as well as armor, use materials gathered from your side-scrolling adventure. It’s down to your decisions, that will make or break your party’s survival.

Vambrace: Cold Soul will release on PC on April 25th.

3. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster

Release Date: April 16th Platform: Xbox One, Switch Developer: Square Enix Publisher: Square Enix

Now joining two new platforms, Final Fantasy X/X-2 will be arriving in April for Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch. In Final Fantasy X, players follow the story of Tidus a blitzball player who journeys with a young summoner named Yuna. Together they set on a quest to save the world of Spira, an advanced universe that relies heavily on machina. But it now suffers from the endless destruction cause by the villainous Sin. In Final Fantasy X-2 you return to the world of Spira, two years after the commencement of the Eternal Calm.

Both titles offer over 100 hours of combined gameplay, with remastered graphics, offering players the choice of listening to the original or new enhanced audio. Final Fantasy X takes on the classic turn-based system but adds a few twists with actions and cooldown times, which can rearrange sequence order or even swap out active characters during battle. The sequel, Final Fantasy X-2 uses a modified ATB system which has been used in other titles in the series, but is more fast paced and allows two actions simultaneously. Explore the the world of Spira, take on quests, minigames and optional side-quests.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remastered releases on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on April 16th.

2. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Release Date: April 30th Platform: Xbox One/Switch Developer: Square Enix Publisher: Square Enix

Another Final Fantasy title making its way to Xbox One and the Switch is Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. In this entry the kingdom of Dalmasca has been infiltrated by the forces of the Archadia, it’s down to a couple of vagabonds, a knight, leader of a resistance, a sky pirate and a rabbit lady to take on the wicked enemies and save the kingdom. There’s an airship, humanoids rabbits and Chocobos, what more could you want from a Final Fantasy game?

This entry in the Final Fantasy universe takes on a different approach when it comes to combat. In this title battles take place out in the open, no teleporting to a battle scenario here. Tailor your party’s actions to behave as you wish using the gambit system between fights. Actions are carried out once cooldowns have completed, swap and switch actions in the list of commands to have them play out when ready. You can gain new commands to customise your squad further from merchants throughout the game.

Combat is fairly flexible when it comes to characters, allowing you to choose any role to cast them in, with a selection of 12 variations of Licences. For example choose “white mage” to gain those much needed heals or “foebreaker” for a more upclose combat build. The remastered version brings an updated feature which allows players to speed up actions if you wish and New Game+ mode.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age releases on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on April 30th.

1. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

Release Date: April 23rd Platform: Switch Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is set in an open-world, where players will be able to embark on an action-combat adventure accompanied by three AI companions also known as Pawns. Together with your crew, you will battle terrifying enemies to reap the rewards.

Wield a sword and shield as a Fighter, protecting your group or take on the role of Mage by using spells to attack or recovery magic to aid your party. There are a number of different jobs to take on to suit your preferred gameplay style which includes Fighter, Strider, Mage, Warrior, Mystic Knight, Ranger, Assassin and Magic Archer. You can even summon other player’s pawns to aid you in battle by visiting a Rift stone.

The game has been adapted for a more Switch friendly gameplay experience, with a “revamped user interface” meaning better screen visibility for both handheld and docked mode. Dragon’s Dogma was first released in 2012 directed by Devil May Cry lead Hideaki Istuno, which was later expanded with Dark Arisen.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen will join the Nintendo Switch on April 23rd and comes with all previously released content and DLCs.

That’s a wrap for the Top RPGs of April. Did I miss your favorite April release? What games are you most looking forward to this year? Please let us know in the comments below.

You can also check out the Top RPGs of March 2019.

So, do you want more? If so, you can find more Top RPGs for 2019 here.

The post Top 5 Upcoming RPGs April 2019 (Dragon’s Dogma, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Vambrace Cold Soul and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

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