#when a AAA game can't even compare

[transgamerthoughts]

Abandon All Delusions Of Control

this is another cross-post. which is funny because I've paid for a domain name redirect to my tumblr since like 2016.. i never know what site is gonna explode these days. less people follow me here than anywhere but this write ups been passed around so...

I've been playing Dragon's Dogma 2 and while I'd love to talk about gameplay or interesting moments, the game's found itself something of a cultural lightning rod. It is a game with many friction points arising in a cultural moment where gamers are, perhaps more than ever, convinced that "consumers" are kings.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is not readily "solvable" and you can't min-max it. You will make mistakes. You will be scraped and bruised and scarred. Pain is sometimes the only bridge that can take us wher ewe need to go. And gaming culture, fed the lie of mastery and player importance, does not understand that scars can be beautiful. I love this game. I think it's a miracle it came out at all.

I also think in spite of the success it's found… that 2024 might be the worst possible year for it to have released.

Let's ramble about it..

It's easy to feel like Hideaki Itsuno and his team miscalculated the amount of friction that players are willing to endure and while I don't think that's true (he didn't miscalculate moreso stick to his particular vision) it certainly appears that we've reached a point in gaming where players, glutted on convenience, don't really know what to do when robbed of it. I've heard folks complain that they can't sprint everywhere or else balk learning that ferrystones required for fast travel cost 10,000 gold as if these shatter DD2 into pieces. I'm vaguely sympathetic to these concerns but at the same time they seem to spring entirely from a lack of understanding of the game's design goals. Much like how folks demanding a traditionally structured RPG narrative from an Octopath game misunderstand what that team is trying to do, players asking to sprint through the world or teleport with ease fundamentally misunderstand what Dragon's Dogma wants. The world is not a wrapper for a story. It is the story. Dragon's Dogma is a story factory whose various textures create unprecedented triumphs and memorable failure.

It is crucial to the experience to allow both of those to occur and live with whatever follows.

I'm always cautious of talking like this because it can come off as smug or superior but I think ultimately that's the truth of the matter here. This was not a well-played franchise before now and even if it's a AAA title, there's a way in which this game is meant to elide most AAA open world trends. You are expected to traverse. If you want relatively cheap and faster travel, you're meant to find an oxcart and pay the (quite modest) fee to move between trade hubs much like you would pay for a silt strider in Morrowind. Even if you do this, you could be ambushed on the road and in the worst case the ox pulling the cart can be killed. Something being "possible" in a game doesn't always mean it is intentional but Dragon's Dogma continually undercuts the player's ability to avoid long treks. Portcrystals, which act as fast travel destinations, are limited and ferry stones (while not prohibitively expensive compared to weapons and armor) are juuust expensive enough that you need to consider if the expense is worthwhile. Once is happenstance. Multiple times is a pattern. And the pattern in Dragon's Dogma is to disincentivize easy travel. It screams of intent.

Something I could not have imagined playing games growing up is the ways in which even a decade (or two) could lead to radically different attitudes on what games should provide. That's an audience issue to an extent but it's also something games have brought upon themselves. The "language" of an open world game has been solidified through years climbable towers, mini-map marked caves, and options to zip around worlds. When a game deviates from that language, the change is more noticeable than ever.

Hell, even Elden Ring (perhaps the closest modern relative to Dragon's Dogma) allows you to warp between bonfires and gives you a steed to ride. But that's also a much larger game! DD2 is not a large game and the story is not long. Yes, you can spend untold hours wandering about into nooks and crannies but a trek from one end of the world to another is still significantly shorter than bounding through most open worlds and a run through the critical path reveals a speedy game. Not as speedy as the first but brisk by genre standards.

exploration is the glue that binds the combat and progression system in place. Upgrading armor and weapons requires seeking out specific materials and fighting certain monsters. Gathering the funds for big purchases in shops mostly comes from selling your excess monster parts. The entire game hinges on the idea of long expeditions where you accrue materials and supplies on the road and then invest that horde one way or another once you return to town. It's not simply a matter of mood and tone for you to trek throughout the world without ease. The gameplay loop is built around it.

There's another complicating factor that I'm less interested in diving into and it's the presence of certain microtransactions at launch. Principally I'm against MTX in single players games, particularly conveniences of which most of DD2's microtransactions are. But I also think there's been a fundamental misunderstanding of what many of these are. Among the biggest things I've heard (repeatedly!) is that you can pay real life money for fast travel but that's not true. You can buy a single portcrystal offering you one more potential location to warp to. It's a one-time purchase and the only travel convenience offered. This has transformed, partly because of people's lack of familiarity with Dragon's Dogma's mechanics, into a claim that you can pay over and over to teleport around. I think that assumption reveals more about the general audience than anything else.

I think it is worth entertaining a question: does the existence of this extra port crystal signify a compromising of the game's goals regarding travel? That's not a discussion that folks seem to be interested in having—instead opting for more emotional and reactionary panicking—but it is the most interesting question. On face the answer is yes and that raises the follow up question of whether or not the developers had knowledge this convenience (though one-off) would be offered to players. If so, did that knowledge affect how they designed the game? Even slightly? It seems rather clear to me that these purchases are a publisher decision; there's nothing in the game's design that suggest the dev team wants players to have access to an extra portcrystal. As we've established it's quite the opposite!

They want you to haul your fucking ass around and get jumped by goblins, buddy.

Which is many words to say that as much as I care about microtransactions from a consumer standpoint, the way in which they undermine Dragon's Dogma 2's goals is a fair reminder of the ways in which they hurt developers. Ultimately, I do think that these purchases are ignorable and in that sense (combined with the misinformation surrounding them) I'm a little burned by the consumer-minded discussion. Doubly so because of the way it feels, at least in part, tied into a certain kind of rhetoric that's been on the rise lately. Instead, I find myself drawn to the question of the damage they do the devs and if more onerous plans actually would force their hands into undercutting portions of their own designs. The shift of many series into live-service chasing suggest so but even as I entertain these thoughts I don't get the sense that Itsuno and his team were forced to reshape their game world to encourage these microtransactions. The world is as they want.

If it wasn't, they wouldn't make it so failing to act quickly in a quest to find a missing kid stolen by wolves could end with you being too late. They wouldn't make it so buying goods from an Elven shop without an interpreter was a hassle. It's present in Every Damn Thing!

More interesting to consider is why this particular game became such a lightning rod of passion when I'm going to assume that most people caught up in the discussion have no particular fealty to the series. The answer is a combination of factors but there's something about the genre that ignites the panic we're seeing as much as the culture moment we're in. When people try to explain that these MTX purchases are not needed, it's confused for approval of their inclusion but that's not something we need to grant. I don't think anyone wants these things here and when they say "you don't need them" they are referring to the more complex thought that the game is better played without them. But this is not heard because the idea that you'd want to opt into friction and discomfort is not something that the general audience is likely to understand. They're wired against it. They crave ease.

not everyone, mind you. DD2's enjoyed a lot of excited reactions (there's tons of folks who like this game as it is and are happily playing it) but it has faced plenty of folks railing against "bad" design choices but the fact remains that those "bad" choices were intentional.

I'm writing about this stuff instead of, say, the wild journey I took solving one of the Sphinx's riddles because the immediately interesting thing about Dragon's Dogma 2 has been what it's become as a cultural object. It is a game suffering from success. Never designed for a general audience or modern standards but thrust into their hands due to Capcom's ongoing renaissance. Dragon's Dogma is a fine game whose cult status is well earned but the reason DD2 garnered this attention (and therefore becomes a hot-topic game) has as much to do with Capcom's ongoing success rate as anything else. In some ways, it actually IS a good time to release a game like Dragon's Dogma 2. There's certainly a curiousity in place. Partly borne of goodwill and also from folks' genuine desire to try something new.

and yet, we're in a odd moment in games. consumer rights lanaguge, having been fundamentally misunderstood and reconfigured by gamers as a rhetoric for justifying their purchase habits (I'm paying the money! why can't the game do exactly as I demand!?) has stifled many people's ability to have imaginative interpretations of gameplay mechanics. they don't ask "what is this thing doing as a storytelling device" (which mechanics are!) and rather default to "what is this thing doing to me and my FUN and my TIME". which are not bad questions but they also misunderstand the possibility space games have to offer. While we can attribute some of the objections that has arisen to players' thoughts about genre itself and the way in which Dragon's Dogma positions friction as a key gameplay pillar, the fact of the matter is that we would not be having such spirited discussion about these things in, say, 2017. not that things were great back then, but I think the audience is worse now in many, many ways. sarcastically? I blame Game Design YouTube.

Even if there were no microtransactions, we'd still be having a degree of Discourse thanks to a key game mechanic: Dragonplague. It is a disease that can afflict your Pawn companions which initially causes them to get mouthy and start to disobey orders. If you notice these signs (alongside ominous glowing eyes) then your Pawn has been infected and you're expected to dismiss them back to the Rift where that infection can spread to another player. The game gives a pop up to the player explaining this the first time they encounter the disease. However, some players have ignored that warning and found a dire consequence: an untreated Pawn can, when the player rests at an inn, go on an overnight rampage that kills the majority of NPCs in whatever settlement they are in. This includes plot-important characters. The reaction's been intense. Reddit always sucks but man… just look…

I understand some of the ire. It's a drastic shift from your pawn being a bit ornery to instantly killing an entire city. On the other hand, the game does warn of potentially dire consequences if a Pawn's sickness is ignored. Players have simply underestimated the scale of that consequence. Surely no major RPG would mass murder important characters and break questlines! We're in post Oblivion/Skyrim world. Important NPCs are essential and cannot be killed, right? Well, wrong and this is another way in which Dragon's Dogma chases after the legacy of a game like Morrowind more than than it adapts current open world trends. This is a world where things can break and the developers have decided that they are okay with it breaking in a very drastic way. It's hard to think of anything comparable in a contemporary game. We don't really do this kind of thing anymore.

The result has been panic and a spread of information both helpful and hopelessly speculative. Is your game ruined? Well, maybe. There is an item you can find which allows for mass resurrection but that's gonna require some questing. But some players also say that you can wait a while and the game will eventually reset back to the pre-murder status quo. What's true? Hard to know. Dragon's Dogma doesn't show all of its cards and won't always explain itself. We know entire cities can be killed. We know that individual characters can be revived in the city morgue or else the settlement restored (mostly) with a special item. Dragonplague is detectable and the worst case scenario is, to some extent or another, something that the player can ameliorate. Those are facts but they don't really matter.

That's because players issue (panick? hysteria?) with dragonplague is as much to do with what it represents as what it does. Players are used to the notion of game worlds being spaces where they get to determine every state of affair. They are, as I've suggested before, eager to play the tyrant. Eager to enact whatever violences or charities that might strike their fancy. They do this with the expectation that they will be rewarded for the latter but face no consequences for the former. Dragonplague argues otherwise. No, it says, this world is also one that belongs to the developers and they are more than fine with heaping dire consequences on players. Before the dragonplague's consequences were known, players were running around the world killing NPCs in cities because it would stabilize the framerate. They're fine with mass murder on their own terms. they love it!

This is made more clear when we look at how Dragon's Dogma handles saving the game. While there are autosaves between battles, players are expected to rest at inns to save their game. This costs some gold, which is a hassle, but the bigger "issue" is that they only have one save slot. Which means that save scumming is not entirely feasible though not impossible with a bit of planning. What it does mean, however, is that the game is saved when a dragonplague attack happens. you have to rest at an inn for this to trigger. which saves the game. They cannot roll back the clock. The tragedy becomes a fact. It's not the only time Dragon's Dogma does this. For instance, players can come into possession of a special arrow that can slay anything. When used, the game saves. Much like how players are given a warning about dragonplague, they're warned before using this arrow: don't miss.

If you do? that's a real shame. The depth of this consequence is uncommon in today's gaming landscape. Games are mostly frivolous and save data is the amber from which players suck crystallized potentialities. Don't like what happened? No worries. Slide into your files and find the frozen world which suits your proclivities. You are God. In Dragon's Dogma, you are not god. The threads of prophecy can be severed and you must persist in the doomed world that's been created. The mere suggestion is an affront. The fact that Dragon's Dogma has the stones to commit to the bit in 2024 is essentially a miracle.

It's easy to boil everything I'm saying down to "Dragon's Dogma is not afraid to be rude to the player" but that doesn't capture the spirit of the design. It invites players to go on a hike. It makes no attempt to hide that the hike is difficult. But that's the extent of it. It offers little guidance on the path, doesn't check if you're a skilled enough hiker. Your decision to go on the hike is taken as proof of your acceptance of the fact that you might fall down.

This is not unique to Dragon's Dogma. In fact, this is part of the appeal (philosophically) of a game like Elden Ring. The difference being that even FromSofts much-lauded gamer gauntlets (excepting perhaps Sekiro, conincidentally their best work) offer more ways to adjust and fix the world state to the player's liking. Even the darling of difficulty will offering you a hand when you fall. Dragon's Dogma is not so eager to do so. In a decade where convenience is king for video games, that represents both a keen understanding of its lineages and a shocking affront to accepted norms and expectations.

The core of Dragon's Dogma, the very defining characteristics that earned it cult status, are the same things that have caused these modern tensions. It is both a franchise utterly consistent in its design priorities and entirely out of touch with the modern audience. Dragon's Dogma 2 has come into prominence during a time where imaginative interpretation of mechanics is at an all time low and calls for "consumer" gratification are taken as truisms. It is a game entirely at odds with the YouTube ecosystem and the very things that give it allure are the tools that have turned it into a debated object.

This flashpoint of discussion is proof of Dragon Dogma 2's design potency. It's also a sign of the damage that modern design trends have done to games as whole and the ongoing fallout that's come from gamers learning design concepts without really understanding what designing a game entails. And, uh… I dunno respond to that or how to end this. That's both very cool but it also bums me out. Dragon's Dogma 2 is a remarkably confident game but games are long beyond the point of admiring a thing for being honest.

[presiding]

What is your favourite thing about Billie Lurk?

(Answers are obvious possibly but i love when people talk about her👍)

thanks for the ask!! YEAH ME TOO I love when people talk about Billie! I can't say I have a favourite thing specifically, but I can explain why she's my fav. apologies for not taking this qn literally, but -

short answer: she’s really cool

& you can stop reading there, or, for the maybe 2 mutuals who might have time to read this my thoughts on her as a character, her meta, and her character as raw potential...

long answer:

i considered making this entire thing a gush so you could read a gush about Billie. but, part of what draws me to her is that she’s not always well written, and in fandom she’s underrated for a literal protagonist.

since you ask...

billie is a cool character

when I played Dh2 (hadn't played Dh1), I was excited to see a black woman with disabilities who was captaining a massive ship by herself. wow.

then I discovered Billie’s backstory with Deirdre, the way she responded to that, then having to survive while living on the run, and her bisexuality. as well as her history with daud & delilah. fascinating!

she’s an outsider who has so much to lose, and knows what it's like to lose everything - having lost everything not once but three times - but nevertheless speaks truth to power. she's so brave! she went and helped Emily & Corvo and she must have known they might kill her! plus, she’s smart, she’s funny, she gets shit done, she’s gorgeous.

but... the meta

mild critique of fandom & arkane incoming.

skip this bit if you want - you've been warned twice now - jump to tired Hayao Miyazaki and read from there if you'd like my thoughts on writing her.

i thought Death of the Outsider was going to be amazing and then... well. *sad trombone* i've written about that before so i won't keep banging on. i figured others must be disappointed too, so I joined a few fandom spaces in hopes of finding camaraderie.

most people with complaints about DotO didn’t like how the Outsider and Daud were handled. which is valid & I agree. but it seemed like most paid no attention to Billie; when people talk about her it’s with respect to Daud, as opposed to in her own right. you could argue for fandom misogyny because people don’t talk about adult Emily Kaldwin that much either, but in Billie's case, it’s misogynoir (compare & contrast with the popularity of thomas, particularly the popularity of thomas portrayed as a white man for no particular reason that i've been able to discern - i keep asking around, is it in the books???).

i think this is a LOT better now than it used to be, which is fantastic. or perhaps i have found the correct echo-chamber? ha.

ultimately, The Fandom is a fraction of the entire picture, and not even the important bit since The Fandom is not who these games are made for. you can't make money relying on only your hardcore fans even if all of them spent a fortune on merch, this is true for any AAA game.

while it's true that Billie is underrated from a fandom perspective - but Billie as an underwritten protagonist is squarely Arkane’s fault.

it was reasonable when she was a side character - the lack of info in Dh2 makes perfect sense (if anything there was more lore in Dh2 which is kind of wild)-

- but as a protagonist in Death of the Outsider?

.... there’s lousy writing, and there’s whatever is going on with Billie Lurk, a black woman who mostly exists as a foil or saviour for light-skinned characters. In her own game there’s barely any of her own lore except where it's relevant to saving two dudes.

lore hints at, but barely touches on what race means in the Dh universe (xenophobia is stronger in Dh1; separate essay i guess), but Arkane has patted themselves on the back for portraying non-white characters, which feels like the same thing as the aesthetic of diversity we're seeing in advertising currently because it’s in marketing trend guides. it's self-congratulatory and it's a missed opportunity for deeper storytelling.

you can see an example of diversity at its most shallow in the way that Billie’s written: there’s little engagement with her as an entire person with history & wants & preferences, and the world she walks through in that game feels like it has nothing to do with her. you could make a case for alienation as a theme, but then, how do you handle the titular premise of 'Dishonored' without ever letting Billie make changes in an environment without a chaos system? it's disappointing from that angle too.

in my opinion, whatever it's worth, it was an accident Arkane created such an awesome character - they needed someone to betray daud. congrats billie.

all this said, it makes her an underdog as far as characters to enjoy & create art & stories for. it's nice to find so many like-minded, switched on people! <3

billie's character potential

she’s got a wealth of unexplored lore, being deeply intertwined with both Karnaca & Dunwall’s fates & criminal underbellies, as well as her connections to the witches & whalers, and three Empresses.

she’s lived a few distinct lifetimes and in the games we get to meet her at two peaks (KoD & DotO) & a low (Dh2 as Meagan).

her voice is very distinct, her dry & often dark humour is entertaining & fun to write. her perspective is really interesting - she’s had the widest variety of void-powers of anyone canonically, and she’s also lived through the highest highs and lowest lows.

she's got everything going for her :) i couldn't really pick a fav thing!

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Since you made the mistake of allowing me to ask you questions, here I am! Who, in your opinion, was the more unlucky between Hurin and Turin?

Oh god who had it worse? I hate comparing suffering but honestly they both had it really bad.

While Turin had the ability to travel among companions and find joy and ultimately had a terrible end, Hurin had to watch the whole thing and then live with the knowledge. We also don't know what Hurin endured alongside all that since he was trapped in Morgoth's castle and that place was compared to Hell on earth but explicitly run by the setting's hateful Lucifer.

But even if it was just imprisonment and suffering, Hurin was still a prisoner in Morgoth's grasp to know no peace or gentle grace. For decades.

Turin's deal was also a heavy mix of curses shoved onto him as well as his own arrogance and pride.

Much like Denethor when he psychically wrestled every time to use the Palantir against whatever poisonous shadow Sauron cast on the scrying tools, Hurin only saw what Morgoth's own powers allowed or maybe even reshaped. A twisted form of Sight that meant that much like someone depressed or cynical, Hurin only saw the worst things or saw things in the worst light. Which is why when he finally saw Thingol, he judged the elf harshly for what happened to their son and his daughter. (I say their son because Thingol may have treated Turin as his own son.)

On the flipside his greatest suffering was watching someone else suffer. His son and surviving daughter, unable to help them, unable to warn them... and in the aftermath forced to live with the knowledge.

Turin had moments of joy and the ability to choose freely what his actions were but everything was always brought to ruin.

I really can't choose who had it worse. Constant misery versus gradual horror. But if forced to, I'd have to go with Turin because he lived it.

For anyone who's like "who the hell are you talking about? Hurin? Turin? Are they dwarves since the Hobbit's dwarves had all those rhyming names?":

By the way trigger warnings for three counts of suicide and two unknowing incest. Everything else is setting typical violence and betrayals. Turin's story is a mix of Sigurd the Volsung, Beowulf, Oedipus, and Kullervo.

Hurin is one of the famous human heroes of the First Age. Hurin is also one of Elrond's great grand uncles through his half-elf father Earendil. Earendil is also the father of Elros who is the first Numenorian king (long story there) and by the way is Aragorn's ancestor (with about 6300 years between the birth of Elros's first son and Aragorn so there's a lot of time there). Half-Elves are able to choose whether they want to live life as an elf or life life as a human. Both choices have their ups and downs but the biggest thing is choosing long life over the unknown of what happens after humans die. As far as I can remember, no one is told what happens to humanity. Not even Mandos (the Valar Archangel God of the Dead), or if he does he keeps silent on the matter. This is part of why Arwen is able to choose to remain with Aragorn and why her choice hits Elrond so hard: because not only is this Luthien all over again but his own brother made the same choice just as Elrond chose like their father to be an elf for other reasons.

Earendil by the way is the "Evening Star's" pilot because of a lot of reasons. The light is from the silmaril on his fancy crown as he drives the enchanted ship. It's THAT bright. How the hell he sees with it on I don't know. It's bright enough to be mistaken for Venus for goodness sake.

Turin is Hurin's son and honestly the person who I would've loved to see a grim edgy AAA action game about instead of the wonderful then mess that the Shadow of Mordor/War games are. Of course, considering his life, it makes sense that he was skipped over for it. Because there were some really nasty bits in it. As hinted in the trigger warning.

Turin's life basically has him picking up cursed objects left and right and being an unlucky SoB. Like the family heirloom helmet? Turns out it's magic and nopes away any attempt to kill its wearer at least through a head-based deathblow. Swords break and arrows deflect. Which admittedly is good, but it won't be the only thing.

His mom sent him off for his safety, he was adopted by Luthien's father Thingol (could do worse than a hidden kingdom's king, honestly)… but one of Thingol's counselors hated him for being an outsider. Maybe also for being a human I'm not sure but the guy was a Grade A prick. Saeros would not let up on Turin and kept provoking him and trying to get him killed, which just caused an escalation in embarrassment and pain on his side… until the elf was forced to run buckass naked through the forest and fell to his death.

Apparently other people hated Turin too because Turin got booted out before Thingol could stop it. I like to think that Thingol was waiting for the right time to bring him back when things calm down but elves hold on to grudges like nobody's business (dwarves do too, as to mortal men, so its not like anyone's automatically in the right here).

By the way I've touched on Thingol and Luthien before here for those just dropping in.

So, like you do, Turin runs across a band of outlaws and tells them his name is something that basically means the Wronged One or the Betrayed. The bandits were quick to follow him because they liked how strong he was and then went along with his leadership after he killed their old boss for trying to do what outlaws often do. So instead of going around robbing people and doing horrible things to people, Turin used the group to hunt orcs.

His best friend Beleg was worried, got permission to go off, and tracked down where the bandits were later and joined them as Turin's subordinate. Although some of the members of the band weren't happy with this fancy ass stranger just making himself home there. One of the people least happy by this was Mim, a "petty dwarf" (not petty as in petty but he is that too but basically it's implied that the petty dwarves are descendants of dwarven exiles so…) because Beleg is an elf and good god there's so much bad blood between the two kinds you don't even know.

Mim barely put up with the outlaws because Turin offered him aid as apology for something. Mim would later sell them all out to Morgoth but in return for a promise that Turin would be spared. Then after Turin's death, Hurin would kill him for is part (however minor) in what happened to Turin but Mim would actually curse his treasure - including or maybe just the fancy necklace that was later combined with the Silmaril Thingol got Beren to get and would later play into Thingol's death so yes these things connect god help us.

But here's one of the fun things: Thingol gave Beleg the black sword Anglachel. This is important because unlike most swords, this one is not only meteoric iron but actually super cursed. It is with that sword that Turin unintentionally kills Beleg. The sword thirsts for blood in a way that no other should. By that metric it is a good sword. But… yeah. The sword had to be reforged as it actually mourned Beleg's death by turning chipped and dull so it became Gurthang.

Turin wielded the sword in battle and slew monsters with it, but it was also used to kill people too. I forget the full details but the dragon Glaurung pulled some Looney Tunes shit by telling Turin that his mother and sister were suffering. Instead of killing the dragon then and there, Turin dropped everything to go back to his original home of Dor-lomin and walked in on an empty house.

Just imagine it. Man runs from a battle field for about 150 miles only to walk in on an empty house.

Turin learns some stranger married a "kinswoman" (cousin? cousin to a sister-in-law to an uncle? I'm not sure) to claim his father's lands. Remember it's been about 25-27 years since Hurin was around so someone must've gone "oooh easy pickings". Turin learns through him that his mother isn't there, then kills the man in a rage like he's Hamlet shanking Claudius. Then runs back. To be fair the murder wasn't exactly of an innocent man since Brodda is said to have forced Aerin to marry him and also intended to have children with her but...

While Turin was running back to find the people he left behind to save his family, Aerin killed herself via fire (not an uncommon occurrence in the setting really), and the kin to Brodda ("Easterlings" who have been under Morgoth and Sauron's banner with the known lands of Middle Earth being one of the large pockets of resistance against them) used it to do even worse things to their people.

Turin believed that all this was what the evil fate would be and yes this is part of why I say he's arrogant and prideful, including the death of Finduilas (Gil-Galad's sister) because of his own foolishness. Considering Gil-Galad was fine with Elrond (at least we think it's the same Gil-Galad), I doubt that he holds his family responsible for his sister's death because I know there's a lot of other people who would. So Turin thinks that's the worst that can happen, that he's now the master of his own destiny.

You can probably hear Morgoth laughing.

But what I want to know is how the dragon - who he fought again years down the line - knew that the wife Turin took later was actually his younger sister (who he never met because his mom sent him away to Thingol) traumatized and possibly cursed into forgetting her past. ... Morgoth, probably Morgoth.

Yeah. Okay time to explain that.

Nienor, the surviving daughter of Hurin (because the other one died when she was 3 to one of Morgoth's attacks), had no memory of her life before meeting the band of orc hunters. She was found shivering in the dark, terrified and half-death from being unable to find any food in the wild. So she was named Ninel and the only peace she was able to find after dark was when pressed against Turin's side. Eventually they married and both found happiness in each other's arms. … But when Turin fought the dragon, it broke through the curse/trauma and made Nienor remember herself. With that horrible truth, Nienor threw herself and their unborn child off a cliff.

So that reveal combined with everything else in his life similarly drove Turin over the edge. He spoke to his sword basically going "in my hand you've killed without care for any but the hand that bears you, so seek my own heart's blood and end me quickly". And the damn sword spoke! Who knows if it's the first time or the last, but it spoke and basically said it wanted to wash out the blood of Beleg and the latest innocent man from its memory. So with that sword Turin killed himself.

As I said, Hurin later threw the fancy dwarven necklace (cursed by Mim) at Thingol's feet and stormed off. The necklace combined with the Silmaril led to the hidden kingdom being attacked and raided and ransacked because you do not send people to get Silmarils (Beren) and then expect to know peace especially not when there's at least one of Feanor's sons in the area who are oathsworn (cursed) to seek them out.

[autumngracy]

About the recent claim by industry professionals that Baldur's Gate 3 is an "anomaly" and shouldn't be used to "apply criticism or a raised standard" to other RPG's

The only reason these other big developers are worried about people comparing them to others is that they know they don't hold a candle to Larian in terms of their behavior and standards of quality (and let's not forget passion). If those same developers were being compared against other games in a way that painted THEM as the favorable, obviously better option that should "raise the bar for the whole genre", they would be delighted and would probably be shoving it in every other developer's face.

But when put in a comparison they know doesn't favor them, but which (at least for large, well funded, studios and AAA developers—y'all KNOW we aren't talking indie games here) they don't have any reasonable excuse for, they cry about how "everyone is a unique special snowflake and it's unfair and mean to compare different products from different companies, boo hoo hoo".

Is it really unfair, my dudes? In your heart of hearts, do you really think no one should be comparing similar things and giving constructive criticism? lmao. These idiots sound like the prideful, insecure kids from my college art classes who couldn't take criticism on critique day without making excuses and playing the victim.

My favorite oft-heard critique excuse was "that's just my STYLE; I did it that way on PURPOSE" about something that was just objectively wrong from a lack of practice, like a wonky perspective, awkward proportions, or half-assed color job, where you could tell they were attempting a style but simply weren't skilled enough to pull it off right yet (which is painfully obvious when the style is just realism, especially). They would proceed to acknowledge no fault or lack or want of their own, dooming themselves to repeatedly making the same mistakes because they couldn't face their own inadequacy.

If they had chosen to accept the constructive criticism, they would have worked on practicing in those areas, and gradually improved their artwork. No one was expecting them to make a perfect piece after the critique, or to magically improve 100% to meet everyone's standards instantaneously. All the critique was about was discovering where you could do better and how that might be accomplished, and then working towards that goal.

Perfection doesn't exist. You might start off making "bad" art, but as long as you listen to feedback and try to improve yourself accordingly, you would have gotten good grades, even your projects weren't "excellent" or even "great" yet. It was about the fact that people could see you were listening, and cared enough to consistently try to improve. THAT'S what made you "a good art student". THAT'S what makes you "a good game developer".

Plugging your ears and shouting "I can't hear you; I make what I want and I don't care if people like it; it's perfect as it is because I said so" is not a good look, and certainly no way to ever improve yourself.

[saruin]

Veilguard anon here. I think the game can be enjoyable! Everything i listed are gripes that are more personal, especially for players who liked DA as being an RPG rather than being quasi-linear.

Honestly save states for me was more of a show of wanting to keep the world consistent across the entire series, and that's extra effort they didn't really have to go through, you know? The changes are small, but it's all extra work that ultimately isn't required. It means more dialogue branching, more models, tons and tons of writing...and it means a lot when a AAA game puts that kind of time, money and energy into something so small. So it being completely removed is in my eyes a show of laziness rather than it being a soft reboot, because EA is worse than it was in 2017 and can't be bothered to spend that money into making the game more detailed.

The best way to put it and how i feel about it is this: i love love love the sims 4. Despite its flaws, it's fun! But it's when you compare it to previous games (and the amount of content they contain) that it's really apparent that it's empty and soulless, and puts on blast how lazy and money-hungry EA has gotten.

So whilst i love and adore ts4, i still wish they had given time and attention to those little details that, even though they don't change much, still show some care and attention put into the game.

yeah EA is the worst .

[doctorjuvenile]

so for starters I'm usually 10 years late to playing AAA games so I'm often a few beats behind pop cultural moments

but anyways, I bought Far Cry 4 at the only video rental store in my town, and I'm loving it. I have never played a Far Cry before. and in many ways I think playing this game (which takes place in 2015) in the year 2024 is really timely

In general I've been pretty nostalgic and wistful about the late 00s~2010s, obviously while we were in it we didn't like it, but it sure seems like simple times compared to now (covid broke something we can't fix)

(also even though i'm canadian, i also often refer to this as the obama-era because his administration overlaps completely with when i was 12~20 years old, so my teen years. again, simpler times)

ANYWAYS getting back to FC4, you play the game and you hear references to "President Obama," Kanye's twitter, Dennis Rodham's visit to North Korea, etc.

The thing about being at the close of 2024 now is that we are halfway through this very-uncertain-and-tense decade, and the 2010s are still obviously modern and recent in our thoughts (unless you happen to be very young rn). I'm like the same age as Ajay as I play this, and I remember the entire decade very well. Technology had gotten pretty advanced -- in-game there are loot items like phablets, cryptocurrency drives, etc and on a technical level the game still looks very good imo. The only thing that dates it, as with any media that came before 2019, is the fact that it came out before covid.

idk why i'm writing this post out i just have like thoughts to put down on paper I guess. i'm very impressed with the game thus far and am excited for the rest (i also have been spoiled about how everyone starts degenerating; i did immediately go for the secret ending when i began, after all). and a little 2010s nostalgia brainrot.

[yuseirra]

Thank you so much for the reply I am in fact very happy in reading your analysis it has been a while since I have read such a good take and well thought argument plus looking more into your blog I am fascinated by your posts you are a new fav of mine looking foward your posts about OnK next chapters, I am once again super happy about your reply I love aquakana ;; you do a very good work I really admire your talent it is refreshing and necessary

Thanks anon :) oh, you're so welcome! I went straight to bed after replying to your message earlier, it was nice seeing your ask first thing as I hop on tumblr!/// Aaa thanks for the compliment! ;v;) I could be biased, but I totally mean what I say.

I'm not worried about Aqukana at all because in terms of the ships in onk, I'm looking at a even more complex one right now with a lot of mess being thrown out.

No worries anon, that ship is just too obvious. Things did get a bit messy and confusing in the middle, but I knew it was going to happen and I was excited to learn I was on the right track when stuff like ch 146 and 150-151 happened. That's how I started reading more intently again~ I was following the series, but I wasn't this invested. The one Aqua has romantic feelings for is Kana. It's just.. stated there at this point.

Speaking of which, I "ship" hikaai right? more like I support what's just there... If we compare them to math problems, Aqukana would be like a linear equation, while Hikaai'd be calculus. I believe.. that Hikaai is sorta the advanced question-version compared to Aqukana. When I'm trying to crack that nut, Aqukana is just.. a much much easier question to solve. That's why I don't worry about the former at all. The former is just too clear as day.

Oh, goodness, and I already stepped in with 90% conviction regarding them(hikaai I mean), I don't play a game I end up losing. But this manga is making it so hard for me, I swear. It's super stressful although I realize they're probably doing it for entertainment value and Hikaru was a character we know literally nothing about through the entirety of the story with him being pinpointed as the "evil mastermind", to make it even worse. They gotta fulfill people's expectations about him by portraying him as menacing at least once or twice when he encounters the protags, I get that, but it's such a rough road I signed myself into. I know I have a high chance of winning though.

Fatal and Mephisto is EXACTLY how Hikaru feels about Ai. I'm serious, I just knew it the moment I heard Fatal like the first few seconds in. It was incredible how it felt, it can't be any other way and I have conviction that the author has them on their mind. but GOD, they make me so nervous. This manga makes me so tense. I was worried that I got anything wrong ever since I picked up this series AGAIN for like the past two-three months? was it? because their situation, if I get it wrong, could be deemed as unhealthy and toxic(NONE OF THE "MESSED UP" THINGS TURNED OUT TO BE TRUE, I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD IT ANY OTHER WAY. I KNEW. I JUST KNEW IT WOULD PLAY OUT TO BE LIKE THIS. HIKARU CAN'T DO SH- I look at the guy and he's just... too mild to the point he is naive. Ai chose her man well!!! I swear this has to be where the story will go!!! this is how it will go!! I JUST KNEW!! Just wait okay?? I'm sure I'll be right in the end),

Oh, I'm so sorry;; I really get carried away when I talk about them lately, this is Aqukana we're talking about. The point is, there's nothing you have to worry about the ship or those two who are involved.

I tell you though, I'm serious about psychology and picking up people's emotions. Let me bring up the fact that I major in Psychology AGAIN!!! I REALLY look at these things intently. If I'm wrong, then okay, I guess, but the author should not depict those characters this way if what I predict are to be false. I haven't had an instance where what I predicted came to be too off. I don't think onk will be an exception.

I like aqukana too~/// I'm looking forward to their date in the anime! ;v;) They're the ones who get entire chapters dedicated to their dates, seriously. why would you do that to a ship that would flop if you're the writer, don't worry about them AT ALL. Really, don't worry. I don't feel my take is particularly unique or special. They're going to happen sooner or later.

Thank you!// You're looking forward to my analysis? It's an honor! I wish I DIDN'T need to put out analyses though ;v;... I love putting my ideas out here but I usually do it in the form of fanworks, not words. I didn't know I could talk on and on about something, but I just could not stay still and I guess that's what's been pushing me! Onk makes me so tense and I get relieved when they go on breaks (This applies even after 160. nervous laughs I can draw in "peace", just.. lately, every chapter they have makes me wrap my head so much and I need time to process, I can't do this anymore, HELP ME, it's pain, would have I liked it better if I didn't like this series and its characters as much and cared less? loving something is PAIN) but I will hold out and do my best! 'v')9 Let's have fun together. If the series makes me want to write out how I feel, then I will do just that. I'm sincerely grateful for those of you who tolerate me and/or even enjoy what I could offer!

If something about Aqukana pops up in the story, I'd love to draw them again too!~//They've been missing for some time and they really do need their moment, the author must know too and it will come and happen. This is something I'm sure of regarding this manga. I don't know HOW it will, but I know that it WILL. Believe me on this! :)

[blueberry-lemon]

You've probably seen this image. I've seen it many times. I have mixed feelings about it.

It's a funny image, and represents a good cause. It's usually posted by people who want to support fairer working conditions for game developers, and want to show support for smaller titles.

It's usually posted in contrast to something like Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs: Legion, The Last of Us: Part II, or God of War: Ragnarok.

There's a part of me that cringes every time I see it, though. I imagine there may be other game developers who feel similarly.

I think the reflexive cringe comes from the phrase "shorter games with worse graphics." People being paid more to work less sounds great, tbh, and barring any sort of production pipeline blocking, I think most devs would be into that.

These are the thoughts that fly through my mind when I hear people say "I want shorter games with worse graphics."

Short compared to what?

Shorter than Elden Ring? Shorter than Hollow Knight? Short like Venba? Short like Celeste? How short could a AAA game be before, even despite posting this phrase, you'd find it unsatisfying or incomplete? How short could an indie game be before you don't consider it a "real game"? Games can be anything from Ulysses to a haiku, but it rarely seems like people are talking about the haiku style of games.

What does "worse graphics" mean?

I just can't imagine a world where "worse graphics" could possibly correlate to Hi-Fi Rush, Undertale, Hollow Knight, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Celeste, Mario Odyssey, Wind Waker, A Short Hike, or Hades. Even though those are the types of games that I often see people use this meme in support of. Those games have incredible art that talented artists worked really really hard on. It feels like a bit of a sting to associate those beautiful games with the term "worse graphics." That phrasing, sadly, implies that photorealism is the bar by which all other games are compared.

Forever Games

Where do replayable games, like roguelikes, tycoons, crafting games, and farming sims land on the realm of "shorter games"? They're not inherently any shorter than a big AAA game, and they're designed to be replayable and to suck your time in. That can be great, but it also might be a treadmill that is not inherently any more honorable than a game trying to tell a linear story.

Are you really "not kidding"?

This meme has a very confident, smug energy and I think that tone invites this question: Do you REALLY want shorter games with worse graphics? I know this is going to depend on the individual lives of each human being who's ever reposted this meme, and it can never be truly answered, but it really begs the question of whether or not people REALLY DO WANT "shorter games with worse graphics." Because let me tell ya, there's a lot of shorter games with worse graphics right now and they ain't selling very well. Check the Steam reviews. Ask devs how many copies they sell on itch. There are many devs out there who make shorter games with worse graphics and no matter how many times people post this phrase, people don't seem to flock over to support those projects. And that sinking feeling of "oh, these folks don't mean the games that my friends and I post regularly on itch, they mean Hi-Fi Rush and Wind Waker" is a little bit demotivating, given the gusto with which this meme is posted. There are people whose whole careers hinge on the hope that there's an audience out there that wants "shorter games with worse graphics" and there doesn't seem to be an actual sea change that's helping those projects out. There is a treasure trove of games out on itch that you can play in between hyped releases, but most people's playing habits don't seem to shift.

Lastly...

...there are thousands of devs out there who work hard, collaborating with other devs and artists, to make their games the best they can be. Devs work hard to bring their artistic vision to God of War: Ragnarok or to Bomb Rush Cyberfunk or to experimental indies with intentionally-ragged art styles. Everyone is putting their heart into their art to make something that will connect with the player. Sometimes, this can be pulled off by 1 or 2 people. Sometimes, this will require hiring more onto the team. It's slightly dissonant to see people say they want to see "worse graphics" when you're trying to get a job in texturing or particle effects and want to deliver something your team is trying to push a boundary on. This is true in both small projects and big projects. Artists are putting their stamp on Horizon Forbidden West just as much as they're putting their stamp on Venba. There are artists looking for work in the indie space who want to make better and more beautiful "graphics."

Anyway, no disrespect to people who post this meme. I understand that it's a show of support and solidarity. I understand that it's just a joke. I know that it's not a big deal.

But I'd be lying if I said that these mixed feelings didn't flash through my mind every time I saw this hedgehog. Figured I would share them.

[atwastage]

Hello! Do you have any directors commentary for "Crowned with Sight"?

I'm so glad you asked!

I'm still very happy with this fic-- it actually came from a direct conversation I had with Xander (Fink's player) concerning the relationship between Fink and the Narrator. He was the one who came up with the idea of Them kissing Fink's forehead and giving him a third eye through that as a part of how the exchange of humanity for power works in the game; and I ended up taking that image and running to it. A good chunk of this fic was written long-hand in my notebook while I was on vacation, leaning against Xander while he was busy playing a ttrpg one-shot with some other people. Thanks Xander, you make a good pillow and I think your characters are Very Neat.

I'm very lucky he was as down with the idea of the weird toxic eldritch relationship thing as I was. I just think it's very fascinating. How does something with no concept of love, love? How does it learn to care? What is it like to be the subject of those terrible affections?

Hence being pinned-- in the sights of a gun, to a board, by circumstance. The Narrator only takes what they are offered, yes-- but how could Fink or any of the other soldiers say no? They can't, not if they want to survive.

I also was pretty particular about when Fink swapped from It to They in terms of referring to the Narrator. When he accepts them and their deals-- when he says he will give them anything they want in return for his survival.

I return to quite a few of these themes and situations in "Scars of Experience" (which is actually canon to Bones in the Dust). Narrator communicating through dreams (and responding directly to thoughts in conversation), loneliness, 'unconditional' love, narrative (hah) ways that the mechanical ideas of the game manifest (re-rolling things so attacks succeed or fail, etc) ((Double aside, I'm actually super-proud of Scars of Experience and wish it wasn't spoilery for recent episodes so more people would read it aaa I am dying))

Fun fact, when I originally published this fic I didn't tag it as / right away because I was a coward and worried people would think it particularly odd? I've (obviously) since rectified this.

"You should know, Private Fink, that I take because it is my nature. Because it is the only thing I can do." Their breath hitched. "I take because I am cold, and I am empty."

^ A raw fucking line that I'm still super happy with. Another reason I wrote this, was so I could use that line that I spit out off the cuff.

The "It was familiar" paragraph towards the end is another that still sticks in my brain. Exploring how people exist in war (and how it changes them so they feel they cannot exist without it) is something also profoundly fascinating to me. Look at Kit, look at the other NGH fics I've written. Even Korellian in Fallen Empires kind of leans into this-- how can you exist in the after when your entire life is violence? How can you live with what you've had to do to survive? How can normal life ever compare?

[remastered-feedback]

A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action: Don't Delay Player Agency

(You can also read this post on my blog/personal site!)

Recently I've been picking games I play not just because they seem like they'll be fun, but also as something to mine for ideas and inspiration. I've been teaching myself Godot, and while I'm a ways off from making any game that's ready for a market release, I'm approaching them more from the perspective I've always approached music with as a musician; not just a work in a medium that I enjoy, but as something to analyze for ideas and inspiration for my own work.

Consequently, I've been playing a lot of older, retro games, as well as a lot of handheld GBA games and indie games. Part of this is for their charm, but part of it is also because those are much closer to what I can accomplish singlehandedly; where modern AAA hits like Baldur's Gate 3 and Elden Ring notch thousands of dev team credits, older NES/SNES games, as well as GBA games and indie titles, rarely have staffs above 50, and typically cap out just past 100 at their absolute largest. Those AAA hits are great games, but if I want something I can use as a reasonable estimation of the targets I can hit solo, they're not where to look.

Two of the games that I've been playing on this old-school kick are two highly touted JRPGs: Golden Sun for the GBA, and Chrono Trigger for the SNES. While both are very good and I'm enjoying both, there's a contrast that's hard not to notice, and it's one where Chrono Trigger is a clear winner. (Yes, I know comparing any JRPG to Chrono Trigger is totally unfair. I'm not using this to take shots at Golden Sun, I'm just using it to explain my point. Again, I'm enjoying both, please do not be unfair to Golden Sun and read "Chrono Trigger did it better" as "This is a bad game" because "Chrono Trigger did it better" applies to 90% of the genre!)

In Chrono Trigger, you almost immediately gain control of Crono. You are somewhat on-rails, the game is clearly directing you to the fairgrounds, but you have the control to decide where you go. Want to run off to the forest before you even know the game's mechanics? You can do that! Even once you go to the fairgrounds, you have control over what you do, where, and when. That's good! Giving the player immediate control is a good thing! Letting them immediately be in control of the player character, and immediately having a say over what happens, gives the player instant agency and engagement. You're not sitting and waiting for the game to start, the game has begun the moment you hit "New game."

Golden Sun, on the other hand, is extremely on-rails for the start of the game. Your home town is flooding, and every time you try to head in a different direction, your previously open pathway is immediately blocked by a falling rock. There's one way for you to go, and all other options are walled off. Even once the flood is over, you're still going down a linear path with no real say in what happens, because there are multiple conversations you need to have, multiple encounters and confrontations you're required to engage with no matter what, and while this is understandable for the very start, it's this way for well over 45 minutes. You're approaching an hour into the game before you can make any kind of meaningful decision, and that kills so much of the draw of RPGs. Story is a staple of the genre, but if I feel like I'm not actually getting any say in the story, I don't feel like I'm playing an RPG. I feel like I'm watching a TV show. And while I like TV shows, that's not what I play a video game to experience.

This isn't to say you can't have a tutorial or an opening cutscene to draw players in, but the sooner the player is making the decisions, the better. People play video games to experience something interactive, whether it's something story-heavy like a visual novel or something gameplay-intensive like a puzzle game. If you're giving the player a full 30-60 minute saga they have to sit and watch before they can make any choices, you've done it wrong. It doesn't need to be any big choice either; "Do you want to fight the combat cat bot or try to hit the bell at the faire?" is enough. "Do you want to go recover Harry's shoes or not?" is enough. "Do you want to check the Mind Flayer nursery for any clues or press onward?" is enough. It's not about immediately being in a position to change the world, it's about having agency and control as soon as possible. Being the active participant driving the events, not just a passive passenger.

You don't have to send the player into immediately engaging with life-or-death without any preparation or preamble. That would be almost as dangerous as giving them a feature film before they get to make any decisions. But as soon as you've established the basic fundamentals, get them engaged and making decisions. The sooner the player has agency and is able to make decisions, no matter how small they may be, the better for both your game and their experience.

[wandringaesthetic]

I wanted to kinda respond to @risingoflights post I reblogged re: FFVII Rebirth feeling shallow but didn't want to do it on the reblog of their post because this is going to be a lot

First of all, if I was grand czar of the universe, Remake/Rebirth/Reunion wouldn't exist. You can't go back, you can't step in the same river twice. I don't like the cash grab, I don't like the idea of replacing the original. Nothing can replace the original. It's not 1997 and we live in a world in which Final Fantasy VII already exists. I would rather they spent the time and money working on FFXVII.

However.

I am also mortal and weak and FFVII had a huge impact on my life and I'm against the concept of denying myself simple pleasures, so ofc I played them, preordered them asap, etc. And with Remake? With the understanding that I don't think that the game should exist, I also think that it is about the best possible version of the concept that could exist. In the words of Tim Rogers, it is more Final Fantasy VII than Final Fantasy VII. It's not flawless, but nothing is. I think of it like I think of the Lord of the Rings movies. Are they *perfect* adaptations of the books? No. But they're about the maximum good it was possible for them to be. And the fact that it is a stealth *sequel* to the original game actually makes me feel better about the whole endeavor. We aren't even really trying to replace the original. The original is a key component to what we're doing here. It's in conversation with the original.

(Adaptation may be an even more apt metaphor than I originally intended, because a video game in 1997 and a AAA video game in 2024 are for all intents and purposes different mediums. It's like comparing silent film to something that came out last week. It has a different toolkit, a different runtime, a different budget, etcetcetc)

(spoilers for all of Rebirth from here)

I enjoyed Rebirth quite a lot but I don't feel as rosy about it as I did about Remake. I spent about 130 hours on Rebirth. One could play the original game in its entirety three times in that time, and there's not that much more going on in Rebirth, plot-wise, than there is in this segment of the original game. There's a lot of *setup*. It looks like there's going to be a lot more going on in Wutai than in the OG in part 3, Rufus is having a really weird time, I love what they did with the Gi and with Cosmo Canyon &etc, but beyond texture there's not a huge amount of meaningful content here. The stuff that is going on with Cloud and Sephiroth is so much more *subtle* in the OG, but also it can be because it's doing it with a fraction of the runtime and the text. Sephiroth has to pop up a lot more here because while you're running around taking photos and making cactuar poses and finding every piece of the genji armor and soaking up the gleefully absurd world and its approximately 3000 minigames you might legitimately forget about him if he didn't pester Cloud repeatedly.

This makes me very interested in what Squeenix might do with a game/story/world that was built for this runtime/structure, and again, I had a really fun time with this game, but it does, I agree, make for a more shallow overall experience than the original did.

AS FOR THE PLOT where it diverges rather than just expands on the original and the multiverse/meta stuff: now that I know that they're going for multiverse shenanigans and not just straight up "we are taking a different path from here" like it looked like they might be at the end of Remake

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm how to put this

The more you increase the scope of a conflict, the more you run the risk of the whole thing collapsing in on itself. Now I know this is Final Fantasy and the stakes being no more or less than the fate of the world is the norm here. An epic scope is a necessity. But when you're dealing with the fate of multiple timelines and every reality, it makes the choices and stakes of the individual human characters and conflicts kind of trivial. Original flavor FFVII is, at least on one level, about holding off the corporate-greed-driven death of the planet we live on. Rebirth makes that kind of a side show to Sephiroth and Aerith's struggle to see who gets to say what reality is and maybe also their struggle for Cloud's soul. By making the stakes even bigger, you kind of make them even smaller. Instead of being about monopolies and energy consumption and breaking out of the matrix, etc, it's kind of just about this one guy (Sephiroth) who sucks. Why are Aerith and Cloud and Zack and Sephiroth determining the fate of every reality again? Why THESE guys?

(This is notably a potential critique of the original game, that Sephiroth kind of sucks all the light and air out of the plot post-Midgar. Wouldn't it be interesting if Shinra were the main baddies the whole way through? Yeah, but that would be a different story, wouldn't it?)

What was I saying?

Well.

Without something to ground these multiple realities-and-planets-and-universes types stakes it gets sort of hard to relate to and hang onto and be touched by the story. Since Aerith is dead in some realities and alive in others and since "dead loved one" is a reality many people face within our universe and "both alive and unalive" loved one is not.... I mean, again, epic fantasy story but it has to hang on to real life emotions in SOME way, right? If there are many universes does what we do even fuckin matter, man?

FFXIV grounds its grand multiple-universes-and-planets stakes by making Endwalker metaphorically about each person's struggle against despair and the knowledge of each of our own inevitable deaths. And, I don't know, maybe Reunion will do something like this eventually but Rebirth pretty much doesn't and so I don't know what to do with it at this time.

[naffeclipse]

Hiiiii~

Let me just scream about fish a little hehe (praying that this actually sends cause my internet is so weird rn aaa)

I've read 3 of the Song Fish chapters and I love how different the story is compared to Deep Dreams and also how it's different. At first I thought that 'oh it's gonna be a complete repeat sort of' but it's been very different so far and I'm really enjoying it!

I love how you're writing y/n this time around with their phobias of deep oceans and large objects/creatures. It's so well painted and described through your beautiful writing. I can very easily put myself in their shoes and really feel their terror, it's fantastic!

I was so giddy when I realized that Deep Dreams and Song Fish are connected, like really connected with them taking place in the same place just some years apart. AAA I LOVE IT!!

I'm a big fan of what you've done with Gregory too, he might be different from what he is in the games but I'm just very happy that y/n has someone nice to lean on. I'm very curious to hear about this mer he's hanging out with hehe~ I'm so used to y/ns being very oblivious to everything, but oh my god if they don't pick up on the clues soon I'll rattle them into tiny bits!!

Oh and the boys, THE BOYS!!! Oh my god I loooove them!! They're so patient and sweet and so AAAA!!! You know how I am with big creatures being gentle and caring, I melt and melt and MELT!! They're so beautiful too aaaa man.. I love them!!! I love the scene where y/n is on Sun's back and he and Moon are looking at y/n waiting for them to calm down, being so patient. And the "now you're wet again" prkfjflfok aawww they worked so hard to get you dry and then you just undo all their work just like that! But ah man also what do you do in that situation really? Do you stay on the terrible monster's back or do you jump into the other monster that is the ocean? Stuck between a rock and a hard place fr..

I've been reading while out sailing and it's just THE BEST EXPERIENCE!! I feel the waves and smell the clean air as I read and it's just PERFECT!! Just wanted to let you know hehe X3

I cannot wait to read the rest of this fic, I'm loving it so far!! Sorry I haven't sent any comments recently, it's been quite a lot going on. Even though I'm quiet I'm still enjoying your work immensely! My gosh I'm enjoying it~❤️❤️❤️

Oh my gosh, I'm so late replying to this, ahhh!!!

I have to say, I was really worried about it being just a repeat of Deep Dreams, which I absolutely didn't want because although there are some plot beats that are hit like in Deep Dreams, I hoped that the new Y/N and character conflicts would be compelling and fresh enough on their own! So I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!!

Thank you, babe! You're making me melt with your kind words ;-; I've been having a lot of fun with Gregory and Freddy and just that human kid + bear fish dad dynamic!

That scene, ahhh! Yeah, not much choice there, especially when panic is involved! But the boys are ready to do everything they can to help their little human ♥

Oh gosh, I can't wait for you to read Chapter 5 with that mention of sailing! Heheh! No need to apologize either, I'm just glad to hear your thoughts on it now! Thank you so much, Meep! *mwah*!

[kidfoundonstreets]

i'm glad to hear you enjoyed the coffin of andy and leyley, as well as no-good noelle! sorry for only just getting back to you on this—it completely slipped my mind until now

i agree that it was definitely a delight to see the improvements in tcoaal compared to earlier games, and yes! it was very much made in rpgmaker. i'm ALWAYS a massive sucker for comic panel-styled cgs

and i think what andrew meant by discarding andy and leyley to die in the coffin was him essentially. swearing to drop the power imbalance he and ashley once had as children and instead have the both of them stand on equal footing? i'm not sure, but that's what it read to me.

as for the parasite thing—who knows? nemlei apparently did go through with making a continuation to this game, so maybe we'll learn more about it there. the fact they're siblings roughly around the same age is also so tastefully fucked up by the way because like… how do i explain it. siblings usually live together ever since childhood so they have more time to affect each other growing up, and there's ALSO this general """agreement""" that family should always be your no. 1 priority when it comes to the people you choose to keep in your life or whatever, so it's like. yeah

(this is NOT meant in a weird way btw i'm a youngest sibling with two older sisters myself)

anyways yule nogoodnoelle is built different and i would drench him in milk until he's sopping wet before slamming him against the wall. real. 💯

DONT WORTRY ABOUT IT!! i apologize for the laytre response as well :3

discussing this with you is v fun i love hearing your thoughts on it,,

the equal footing makes a lot more sense! it literally says in the description of the game "co-dependency" and discarding how it's been for years is just so. well took a couple murders to get to that moment but yk (it was also mentioned i think they've had these types of arguments before and i find that interesting though im sure its never gone this far) anyway it also reminds me of a song called Evelyn Evelyn. don't know how well that works though. i need to stop getting off track

stuck with eachother and moving towards something that doesn't have the other as a doormat or the other as the boss . i don't know how possible that is for them but if there is a continuation id love to see it <3

heyy youngest kids gang. the "agreement" of family being no.1 priority and the same ages.. i didnt even think of thst but aaa. "your priority should be me!" as the rules say aswell its also like andy since the start his personality wasnt stronger than leyleys anyway he ended up as the quick go to (you live with him, it feels like obligation, he's as bendable as a rubber band) and i guess there's a line of friendship and family that is hard to clear unless you get rid of all the formalities and morals- which is also like. not only are your lives centered around your family now it also could be centered around a stranger,, but once that person is gone it'll forever have a gaping hole you can't get rid of unless theyre back. because youve known them so long. adapting to everything especially the tough situations that argumens and misunderstandings make your bond stronger

i dont know what im saying or what that means but i will eat your ideas ok

that's one of the most perfect descriptions of yule you get it you literally do. playing ivys route made me feel dirty after goig throigh all of yules bullshit (i would willingly click play on him again while insulting him)

[xsoldier]

So… time for calling you out on some bullshit false comparisons, inappropriate examples in your argument, and completely missing the actually issue that you're attempting to complain about.

First: You didn't used to buy 4 new DS games at retail price for $70 back in the day.

You'd be able to buy TWO new Nintendo DS games for $70, because new Nintendo DS games retailed for $34.99 in 2004 when the DS was new. $35 in 2004 is the equivalent of $56.20 in 2023.

Now let's talk about a non-handheld console game, which is ACTUALLY what you're talking about since despite the Switch being portable, it's a console system not a handheld. The game development costs for Switch are VASTLY closer to the costs of making a console game than a DS game. (Ignoring for a moment that it's actually even more complex, time-consuming, and costly than making an early-2000s console game because of significant changes in technology in the last 20 years)

New PS3 games retailed for $60 when the PS3 was still new in 2006. $60 in 2006 is the equivalent of $90.30 in 2023.

What does this look like in reverse?

Nintendo DS:

In 2023, $60 is the same as $37.36 in 2004. So, the amount you previously paid for a single modern AAA console game is BARELY more than you paid for a SINGLE new Nintendo DS game at launch.

PlayStation 3:

In 2023, $60 is the same as $39.87 in 2006, which means that for the same cost, modern games were the equivalent of buying ⅔rds of a new PS3 game at launch. When you go for the higher price point of $70 in 2023 that's the equivalent of $46.52 in 2006 — which is still only the cost of ¾ths of a new PS3 game at launch when that console was brand new.

WE ARE TWO GENERATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY AND TWO DECADES PAST THAT POINT.

Let's look at Launch title sizes of games!

Spider-Man 2 was a Nintendo DS launch title in 2004 and was 16 MB in size, or 0.016 GB.

Resistance: Fall of Man was a PS3 AAA launch title in 2006 and was 8 GB.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is slightly over 16 GB in 2023, while other AAA open world games like Elden Ring are nearly 50GB.

Do you think the cost of making those games is at all different? Yes.

Is the overall TAM for games larger and do you get a bigger RoI on making big games now? Yes.

GAME PRICES AREN'T THE ISSUE HERE.

What is?

What you ACTUALLY don't like is the fact that kids can't save up their allowance for a couple of months to buy a new Nintendo video game. That's not Nintendo's fault.

That's because wage stagnation has UTTERLY FUCKED everyone's baseline income for DECADES, and hamstrung the buying power everyone has.

That's because you live in a late-stage capitalist dystopia where you are a human resource and companies in the economy are fighting for ensuring that your cost of compensation is determined by the lowest common denominator of what they can pay, so that they can take all of the profits for themselves.

You're getting mad at an adjacent problem that FEELS like something you can attack directly, and FEELS like they're the same thing because it's a big corporation naming money, and FEELS like it represents the issue you hate… but doesn't and isn't.

The issue isn't the cost of goods.

The issue is you in 2023 not getting paid the equivalent value of that same worth in 2004/2006 — because if you were, you'd be able to see that even $70 games in 2023 are dirt cheap compared to what they cost you in 2004.

ok I got into an argument with someone in my media class yesterday so I’m just gonna say it:

No video game should cost $70.

I’m sure the new Zelda game will be great, but no video game should cost $70. “But if you adjust for inflation, this is actually less than what the Wii games were,” cool. No video game should cost $70.

We no longer live in a world where a kid could save up their allowance for a couple months and then be able to buy a video game. Just buying one has somehow turned into such a grandiose adventure it takes all of the fun out of getting a new game.

The only possible benefit might be that, with games being so expensive, people might be more likely to pick up an indie game because those companies can’t afford to sell those games for a lot.

This is becoming normal. I used to be able to buy four ds games for $70. What the hell.

And you know damn well that Nintendo can afford it.

[icharchivist]

I'm just so happy about Rising

For as fun as Versus was and is, people leveled a lot of criticism at it. The base game, at least initially, was pretty expensive at 60$ with a very limited roster at first. Djeeta wasn't even playable from the beginning, which upset a lot of people (understandable imo). There were like five stages, with four more also being paid DLC

It just seemed very money-grubbing

It got better over time, the game went on sale and they released a version with most DLC characters already included, but still

But Rising seems to rectify all that!

They seemingly fixed rollback and online play, which was a great concern, the base game is 50$ with a larger roster of characters than Versus ever had, there seem to be new stages, more content with more story, not to mention Grand Bruise and the photo studio and then there's even a free version. Or you get the Deluxe Edition which includes the first six DLC characters as soon as they're released and it's only$ 15 more. Now I can't say that's a good deal or not yet, but it is definitely an improvement

So it just feels like they listened to all criticism

The interface is more pleasant, some of the features later patched into Versus are included from the get-go, it just feels more like a complete package, they fixed long-standing issues and included more content at a slightly lowered cost

It's just nice to me

The two betas also tell me they're looking for feedback, which is always a good sign

All in all, it seems like a great improvement compared to its predecessor

It's Versus Rising indeed

YESSS FOR REAL.

it's very on brand for GBF in general tbh. Early Mobage Years also had a lot of problems that they had to work to fix eventually after some feedbacks.

like Granblue IS the reason there's a pity system in gacha and that gacha are forced to announce the odds of their banners. Because someone spent way too much money on the Andira banner then and didn't get her and it was kind of the scandal about gacha odds and while the gov did get involved it's mostly Granblue that took matter into their own hands to try to rework this system, and they created the pity system, that then became strongly recommended into any gacha. I mean ofc it's not specifically out of goodness of their hearts - but ultimately Granblue has a trackrecord of, if they see a problem? they're going to address it.

gbvs (and Relink when it'll come to that) are also some of the first triple AAA of the company if i'm not mistaken? And the mobage team itself has been working very closely on both of them to not delegate too much and still keeping the Granblue Brand intact. (which is why Relink has been in development hell for years, they tried to delegate it to another studio but in the end the results didn't match what they wanted so they took it back in)

So it really gives me the impression that they're learning as they go, and ready to make mistakes along the way as long as they can improve on it later.

everything you mention about Rising really showcases that. GBVS was a clumsy launch with a lot of problems that are obvious to Fighting Games fans, but it learnt what it could from the experience.

and it really makes Rising a better game in general by the end of it because they actually take those things into account.

like i'm not trying to worship a corpo since all the plan is still to get money still lol but it's nice to see a company go "yeah we fumbled, my bad" and improve their work as a result. So many companies dig their heels and talk about how fans are ungrateful or something. it's a nice change.

so happy for the launch!!

[murfeelee]

New Open World Life Simulation Game! (PARALIVES)

This is NOT a drill, people.

Paralives is a brand new indie life simulator game in development that looks like it’s gonna give The Sims monopoly some honest to god competition. 

Paralives comes with innovative tools to create grid-less constructions, curved walls, resizable objects, split level floors, custom shaped stairs, full color/texture customization and much, much more!

Paralives appears to be raising the bar of life simulator games, by incorporating all of things simmers have been clamoring for since The Sims’ inception, all in one base game.

There will also be transportation (cars, bikes, etc), careers, relationships, residential buildings and community centers, and more. As seen in the Youtube video above, there will also be pets,

And they’lll be supporting CC/UGC, too!

Does the game support user created content?

Yes! Players will be able to share their creations through Steam Workshop. Script mods are not planned at the moment.

They’re even taking community ideas - drop a line in on their Discord server!

Can I send you ideas for the game?

Of course! Join our Discord community where we have a special channel for suggestions and ideas: Discord.gg/HfcUJWz

I’m giving my heartfelt best wishes to Paralives, because it looks like a fantastic concept and I PRAY that it succeeds. It’s about daggone time someone stuck it to Electronic Arts and the mess they’re making of The Sims franchise.

The prospect of having a game alternative/competitor with the charm of TS1, gameplay of TS2, in-game customization and open world of TS3, and fluidity of TS4 sounds like a GODSEND, and I cannot WAIT to see what Paralives evolves into. KUDOS.

The hype is REAL, simmers. #PARALIVES

https://twitter.com/ParalivesGame

https://www.instagram.com/paralivesgame/

https://www.facebook.com/Paralives/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHkf1UXJZoHu8fdCUCXabkA