#you can probably tell which levels i love to replay and which make me go 'eh i had enough of you' lol

[anadiasmount]

just friends? or more? - jude bellingham x reader.

quick sum: interviews and late night talks. but it’s always hard to see your best friend leave for his away games. no matter the distance or duration.

wc: 3k | masterlist | jude's masterlist

psa🗣️: happy new year everyone, hope everyone is doing okay! 🤍 mixed a request with my own imagination. this was supposed to be a small blurb but I ended up writing more. best friends to lover trope 🫂 🧟‍♀️ hope you enjoy! 🤍

“it must be an excitement to see him play at this level and talent?” the journalist asked you, to which you nodded and smiled. “it’s quite a pleasure honestly. it’s what he’s always wanted and we couldn’t be more proud,” you replied calmly not knowing where exactly to look at. 

your eyes glanced from her, to the camera and then jude who was walking back from the tunnels. “recalling all his goals from this current season, which one has been your favorite? could there be a sort of muse to inspire and motivate him to this level?” she asked curiously, leaving you thinking. 

“my favorite probably, okay wait actually i don’t know if i wanna say because i don’t want to get dragged, but it was special to see him win his debut here in the bernabeu, even if it was a tap in,” you laugh, “his goal against napoli and barcelona are one for the books as well.” you kept glancing behind her to see jude standing there cockily, arms crossed with a smirk plastered on his face. 

“as for a muse, i’d say himself and the people around him whether it’s friends or family even the fans. with the constant support and wins, seeing how the team reflects, how he can do more. overall i think it’s just him and the healthy mentality he has,” you say shyly, nodding your head as you spoke, jude then decided to intervene. 

“erm excuse me? this is my interview,” you say in a teasing manner, stepping on your tiptoes to reach his hug. “i apologize. just wanted to come over and say hi,” jude says playfully making everyone smile. “we were just asking y/n about if there could be a certain muse to make you perform at this level. is there anything you would like to say about that?” the journalist asks. 

jude scratches his brow and looks down smiling, “well to be honest there is someone…but for privacy reasons or maybe to not jinx it, i’ll keep it hidden… they’re truly wonderful and inspire me to do my best every time,” he says with a huge grin looking down to you where you stand. your eyes connected and for a second maybe he was dedicating this to you? you thought. 

as the journalist wrapped up her interview the two of you teased and joked around, answering her questions politely and respectfully, making sure to wish her the best of luck and a small be careful. the thoughts of him having a ‘muse’ still didn’t go away from your head.  if he was referring to you or if there was someone he had yet to tell you about. 

jude was always private with his life, but around you he couldn’t stop yapping, always with a smile in his face when he spoke about him. but this had you questioning just a bit, if there was more to your close friendship. to his longer and more intense stares towards you, his touch on your waist when out together, always asking to stay longer and cuddle. 

it wasn’t just you who had noticed it, his teammates as well, often teasing both of you especially jude as you would hear it when he called you after training. don't even get started on the media, replays, and many comments on the two of you when together, always asking if you were dating, or saying they lived for your friendship.

there was something different and you couldn’t avoid it any longer, being left confused with your feelings. it began to feel like love. you can’t love your best friend, you couldn’t take a risk like that.  

“you’re awfully quiet? something in your mind? i know something’s up so don’t say it’s anything,” jude remarked, squinting his eyes. you let a soft chuckle out and turned to face him, “i’m just tired… also i was reading some of the comments from our interview,” you lied offering a quick smile and showing him your open instagram page. he raised his brow and got out the car. 

you trailed behind him to where you were greeted to a quiet home. jude quickly slipped on some slides and dropped his bag in the mud room. you took of your shoes and walked into the kitchen to prepare some dinner for the two of you. as you glanced around you felt jude hug you from behind, his face leveled next to yours making you jump. “fridge is full?” he asked.

“oh yeah. i went grocery shopping and brought the necessities! refilled the fridge, got toothpaste, and i also got you those scooby doo cookies you love so much,” your hand interlocked with his that was around your waist as you pointed to the cabinet above you. just then you realized how close the two of you were. 

it felt like you had moved in, and shared a house together. you never ever had shared a bed, but for the past month you had, waking up with jude on top of you or your back next to his chest. having breakfast daily together and him waiting for you to come back from uni or work. hanging out more than usual, cuddling more than usual. the his and hers titles applying to the two of you, when brushing your teeth, your mugs, sharing clothes, having your shoes aligned by the door. 

jude felt you tense asking what was wrong but you shook your head, “after dinner, i might go home,” you tell him watching the smile disappear from his face. “what? why? do you want me to go with you? you should just stay it's already late, i want to you to stay” jude insisted, making up different reasons as to why you should stay the night. 

it’s not that you didn't want to be with jude tonight, you did, to feel him hold you and kiss your head at night. but the thought of acting like a couple, with no label, with your best friend made you freakout, because what if how you felt wasn't how he did? what if you read the cards wrong and it was only you who fell over heels for your best friend? what if he didn't love you like you did? 

“i’ll think about it, i said i might go, still debating, i haven't seen the roomies in a while and we want to have a girls night,” you said trying to calm the panic that overtook his body. “i don’t mind joining, you guys just do spa night, drink wine, and talk, i’ll be like one of the girls…” jude shrugged jokingly, making your eyes roll playfully. 

“okay decide what you want to eat so we can start cooking,” you recalled, grabbing a pan and heating up some oil. jude played his old songs playlist, singing along to the songs you remembered, your arms wrapping around his shoulders as he led you to dance in the middle of the kitchen, his soft brown eyes never leaving yours as he sang happily. would this be what it felt like to be a couple? 

the tv show played softly on the background, jude fast asleep on your chest letting out small snores. he refused to let you leave as the time you had finished eating and talking was super late, leaving with no choice but to stay once again. it felt like home, jude felt like your home, they way you fit perfectly in each other's arms. you turn the tv off, squinting your eyes in confusion as you saw his phone ping. 

jocelyn:

thanks for the other day! hope we can see each other again, had so much fun! 

your heart sank looking back at jude who was still sound asleep on your chest, feeling your eyes burn with tears and your stomach sink further down. you controlled your breathing, feeling stupid and naive for actually believing and falling for him. it wasn't his fault, it was you for letting yourself believe there could be something. you would never be his, there was already someone else in his life to fill your spot. 

you were able to manage to sneak off the next morning without a word or budge from jude, feeling trapped and claustrophobic around him when he hugged you from behind. you couldn't stop thinking about his words from yesterday's interview and his ‘muse’, the way his touch still burned on your skin, the way he hid a girl from you. it felt like you were the other woman even though you had no clue who she was. 

you fiddled with your keys, opening the door to a silent home once again, darting straight to your room where you fell onto your beg with small whimpers and sobs, crying over a boy. you weren't able to sleep last night, so you didn't even feel when you fell asleep, forgetting about reality for the day. 

jude was left confused and curious as to why you weren't there, next to him. he called and called, texting you over and over again, becoming worried when there was no response from you. he was unable to focus during recovery and training session, thinking of how you suddenly left, and how distant and tense you were yesterday. he wondered if you had school, or if you something came up with your roommates. 

jude wanted to hang out before he had to travel away for the weekend. spend as much time with you. his head should be focused on winning and on the team to advance in the ‘copa del rey’ but he couldn't when he hadn't heard from you. 

jude was deep in. as every day went by his love for you grew more and more, knowing it could be risk for your friendship. he had the urge to just yell out how much he loved you, how badly he wanted to call you his, to finally stop playing around and put a label. it was hard to read you and that killed him more. feeling hopeless and desperate, he called again quickly listening to your voicemail. 

you had jude’s head spinning, heart skipping beats at the thought of you, and he was left with no choice but to show up the day before he left at your doorstep. your eyes frantically roamed jude who stood with a serious look on his face, almost shutting the door at him out of nervousness. jude let himself in, turning to you quickly brows drawn in. “is there a reason why you are not answering your phone?” he asked seriously, no taint of playing around. 

“i needed to catch up on some uni work. i have so much to do still, and i wanted to focus on getting the hard part out first,” you say unsure, as his brows draw in with bewilderment. 

“but yet couldn't answer one phone call from me?”

“jude-”

“i’ve been left worried, thinking if you were okay after you randomly left without saying anything? i don't like you shutting me out y/n, i understand you were busy but a text even would’ve taken me out of my misery,” jude huffed letting out a sign of disappointment, walking to the couch and staring at your study layout. books and books, open pages of your notes, and your laptop that sounded louder than usual. 

“i just wanted to give you space and time for yourself. i don't wanna seem clingy or attached because all we've done for the past month is be together at house. i just thought you might’ve wanted to do something else with your teammates or other people,” you say embarrassed, daring to spill the girls name from the other night. 

“well you thought wrong, the only person i want to be with is you. i wanted to see you before i left tomorrow,” jude said with a small frown, hands digging into his hands. ‘the only person i want to be with is you’ should have not stung like it did, the ache in your chest as you heard him say that, bitting your lip to hold back the tears that wanted to build up. though you were stronger than that. 

“what about jocelyn?” you asked carefully being met with a quiet jude, giving you a questioning look. “what about her?” maybe it was the way he had said it or the fact he was upset but you now regretted bringing her up knowing it had triggered something. “didn’t she mention-” you were cut off by jude.

“jocelyn is my stylist when i’m here in madrid. she invited me to have brunch with her and her girlfriend when you were taking a midterm this week. I didnt mention it because it was a fast meal, just food and talking,” jude said. you felt utterly stupid and left more embarrassed than before, wanting to punch yourself for quickly making up assumptions instead of asking for clarification. 

“oh.”

“wait.. how do you know about jocelyn? did you think something else?” jude asked, lifting his head from his hands. you rubbed your shoulder anxiously not knowing how exactly to respond, “you mentioned her the other day, i just assumed,” you lied quickly, “also i saw her message the other night i stayed over.” jude had caught you, and now he wasn't going to let the opportunity to go to waste. “

“so that's what this is about?” 

“i don't know what you're talking about…” you shrugged quickly, dismissing his tone. 

jude ushered you to come over, and like a puppet you quickly followed his request. you stood in the middle on his legs that were spread, shifting your weight from one foot to another, contemplating what to say or where to look. “you thought jocelyn meant something else to me didn't you…” jude asked to which you nodded slowly. 

“would have it bothered you if it did? if she did mean something to me?” he asked softly, watching as your eyes looked around and landed on his, you let out a small “yes” in a quiet tone, jude smirking. 

“well, it’s a good thing you don't have to worry about that. jocelyn doesn't mean anything, and the only person who does to me is you,” jude spoke softly, you shuddered a breath as you felt his fingertips trace from your calves all the way up behind your thighs, making you lose balance and grip his shoulder to regain it. “jude-” you warn again, but quickly gulp as he repeated his actions. 

“the way you smile, the way you hold my hand, the way your eyes glimmer when you let me rant about anything. i love it all. the only person who makes me feel like that is you… all i want is you, y/n. to have and to hold, to love and cherish, to protect and kept by my side forever,” jude gripped your thighs and pulled you onto his lap where you gasped. 

“can’t you see that? hmm? can't you see how much i love you? how badly i want to make you mine and call you my girlfriend officially? they say it's forbidden to fall for your best friend, but who cares about those rules when what we have is real. a genuine love.” 

your lips pursed open, letting out a shaky breath before speaking again. he had that effect, leaving you breathless even if it was a small action. “this whole time i thought i had it wrong, and that it was just me who saw the sudden shift in our friendship. who felt the feelings. i know it was wrong from me to have assumed that when i have no right, but i thought there was someone else,” you reply. 

jude’s hands roamed your thighs, making you relax to his touch, “it drove me crazy two nights ago as i rethought our whole friendship. it felt not weird but it felt like we were living a life with no label placed, acting like a couple because we just felt the need to or we had just gotten that close. not only did it confuse me but also scared me, and it made me distant,” you continued. 

“what you feel here,” you pointed and touched his heart, “is what i feel here,” you then pointed to your heart, which was beating like crazy not only at revealed feelings but also the proximity you two were. “i want you to know that i can't stop thinking about you no matter where i am or if i’m this close to you,” you reassured him and yourself. that this was reality.  

“you have no idea how long i’ve waited to hear you say that… to say that you love me. everyone could see it, everyone teased us for it, but we were scared. but i’m not scared to take this risk, because it means i get to have you here and forever. to love you,” jude said making your eyes go glossy. 

“is this actually happening?” you laughed and sniffled, “because if it's not and i’m dreaming i’m going to be mad,” you say. “it's all real, i could pinch you if you want, to make you believe it? or i could kiss you to seal our relationship?” jude offered with a huge grin, making you raise your eyebrow. “you haven't even asked me to be your girlfriend yet,” you remark. 

“my beautiful y/n… do you want to be my girlfriend?” instead of replying, you sealed your answer with a kiss. a kiss that sealed also promises and your love forever. jude’s lips molded into yours, tugging him closer by his broad shoulders as his hands delicately rubbed along your thighs. he tasted like honey, not having enough by how gentle and passionate he was being with you. “my jude. my jude forever,” you say still kissing his lips as he smiled into it.

“i love you princess.”

[drenched-in-sunlight]

Your genuinely one of my favorite elden ring artists, what would you say is your favorite aspect of elden ring just in general

this might be a big revelation but i think my favourite part about Elden Ring is i... actually don't really like it until the DLC.

the way the base game presented a kinda basic and fragmented story, one i'd even say i were underwhelmed about. because i went in expecting Sekiro-level of character driven writing (they did promise that in an interview) and what i got... ehhhh. that's why my fanarts for the base game is literally just fluff pieces and shipping Malenia with another character altogether that isn't even in the game. meanwhile my AC6, Sekiro and Bloodborne art... i think you can tell i have a very deep emotional connection to those games from the kind of work im putting out for them. (hell, before the DLC i actually was thinking "well i'll probably only draw some general fanarts after the DLC then go back to draw more JJK stuffs lol" famous last words)

but holy mother of God the way the DLC completely blew everything tf up.

sorry Fromsoftware, i were not aware the Sekiro character-driven part is actually about the DLC. im sorry im still not familiar with your game yet 😭

(this turns into a mini rant so imma put it under cut OTL)

before, i were pretty "...." about Elden Ring female cast. i think Melina appears too little, i think NPCs like Fia and Roderika... i can't figure out the significance of them within the narrative at all. and it kinda upset me because it feels like they regress back to the helpless / fanservice maiden trope that was usually seen in DS franchise for no reason. i don't like how Rennala ends up as and i don't like not knowing why Radagon did that to her (which turns to me not liking the way it became a popular fanon that he actually loved her he was just bound by duty etc etc...i mean what?), i actually don't even really like how Malenia's barely-there story turns out (but that's a rant for another day).

as standalone characters, sure, i'd say they all have their own merits, but if they don't play any role within the narrative... what's the point then?

but all of that is because back then, we literally did not know what's Marika's deal either.

and so she became this cardboard that everyone pins all the crimes and bad things in the world on, which is... fine? makes sense. but the following line of reasoning that she did all that because she's just...like that drives me up the wall. if i want another "woman bad" story i'd just replay DS2 😭

and that line of thought also distance her from other characters in the game. those stories are not lining up, so we literally see no point in anything.

but by giving us Marika's story in the DLC they:

shine light on the possible division between two Numen factions (Anna & Jolan story + Sword of Light & Darkness // no one is left in Marika's home (those embraces Light/Gold/ Greater Will and its Stars children) vs the Numens in Eternal City (those embraces Dark/ Black Moon/ opposing GW and its children)

the discontent with the Moon and how there are those who will never accept it as being equal to the Stars

the other half situation

the Marika's eye colour possible reveal (link her to Roderika - Roderika as a reflection of the maiden Marika once was and probably still is deep down)

give Godwyn more agency in his ending (his personal knights are on a quest for Age of Duskborn) -> link Marika to Fia (Fia as a reflection of the mother Marika is)

draw direct parallel between Messmer - the child carrying Marika's vengeance for the past, to Melina - the child carrying Marika's hope for the future

Marika as a God full of human flaws >< Miquella as a God devoid of all human emotions. both are bad in different ways. but share a same gentle origin of a simple wish for a kinder world.

the DLC singlehandedly swipes clean every problem i have with the base game. like im actually in awe they managed to do that so efficiently 😭

all that is to say. my favourite aspect of all is truly how one's perspective of this one character could alter the entire story.

i still dislike the interpretation that Marika is cold and heartless or that's she's cruel for no reason, but at the same time, i can see how ppl viewing her that way affect how they see other events in the game. just like how my view of her changes my entire view of the story itself too. and i just love how the writers pull that off really skillfully. man. and i think that's sth so unique to videogame storytelling. it's amazing!

[scalacaelumxx]

Who are your top 3 favorite KH characters? ✨

I'm going to try not to ramble on this forever but thank you so much for sending this ask in! I apologize in advance for the can of worms you have opened.

Vidar (Spoilers for Dark Road incoming) Probably the least surprising thing, but currently Vidar is my top favorite. I'm fairly new to the mobile games, and full disclosure, I did not like him when I first saw him. Eraqus was so upset by Vor leaving (even though it was her own choice) that I genuinely felt for him, and therefor didn't approve of Vidar "taking" her away. But continuing the story and learning that he and his friends were so close to achieving what they had been training for for years, only for it to end in the death of not one of his friends, but four of them. And he can't bring himself to strike down what caused their deaths, because Baldr is just a kid and he (presuming that one line was about Hoder) can't bear to face her if something happened to him after she died trying to protect him His character is interesting, he's got a killer design, you can tell how much he cared about his friends, and the tragedy of risking everything to save someone for your friend, only to die by that person's hand trying to protect the friends you have left. I could talk about him for 22 hours a day.

Saix/Isa I know I don't post about him a lot, but Saix (or Isa) has been one of my favorite characters since my friend introduced me to Kingdom Hearts when I was a kid. If it wasn't for Vidar, he'd still be in the top spot! There's just something about how ruthless he was in kh2 and Days. How brutally honest and blunt his deliveries were, and how his boss fight involves catching you off guard with mechanics that don't seem to suit what you've seen of him until you really look at it and realize it does. His relationship with Axel is hilarious on surface level and depressing when you go deeper. His relationship of being Xemnas' right-hand man (next to Xigbar) while also plotting to betray him is so intriguing. And then seeing those sharp eyes and the barbed words and the ruthlessness in him and seeing those compared to the kid who made fun of his best friend and wanted to explore places he wasn't supposed to be in and help someone he had just met is heartbreaking. I loved his redemption in kh3, subtle in the background as it was, and I'm hoping to see more of him trying to be a better person and make it up to Roxas and Xion in 4.

Zexion/Ienzo This one caught me so off guard. I had gotten back into the fandom after a long while and was replaying through the old games to get caught up and Zexion blindsided me in Re:CoM. He was secretive and quiet, but really held no animosity towards Sora or Riku. Which, compared to the rest of the Organization in the castle, stood out a lot. Considering this, he really didn't deserve the death he got, which is still pretty brutal for a Kingdom Hearts death. Then he comes back and immediately throws everything he has into helping the heroes. They were more of a means to an end before, rather than true enemies, and despite their reservations about him he has no problems spending all of his time and resources into helping them stop Xehanort. He was just a kid when he helped start the fall of Radiant Garden but he still feels so guilty and wants to atone so badly. Plus you get extra angst in the "didn't have a heart for 10 odd years and now suddenly has one and is feeling" department.

Runner ups include: Baldr, Vali, Xaldin/Dilan, Vexen/Even, and Terra!

[alissonbear-ker]

Virgson ABO Universe Part 4

Ali has never thought of Virg in a romantic way before. Sure, the alpha is very handsome and one of the few alphas who actually makes Ali feel safe when he hugs Ali, which is no mean feat because Ali is taller than most alphas. But football is full of good-looking, charming alphas and Ali would never dream of destroying team dynamics that take years to develop over something as trivial as thinking your teammate is attractive. The kiss changes everything.

Ali doesn’t get much sleep at all that night. He can't stop replaying the kiss in his head and pondering about what to do next. He could just leave everything as status quo and see what Virg does next. But Ali has to admit that the kiss, chaste as it was, definitely had him feeling flustered. And he’s not at all opposed to having a repeat, hopefully this time without him pretending to be asleep. Which probably won’t happen anytime soon if Ali just pretends to not know anything and leaves the ball in Virg’s court.

The next morning, Ali can’t keep himself from blushing furiously when Virg wishes him good morning. Virg’s hair is out of its usually impeccable manbun and he’s wearing a thin singlet and very short shorts. His arms and thighs are big and muscular and his tattoos are on full display. And, ok, Ali’s brain needs to shut up right now.

Fortunately, Virg is himself preoccupied with other thoughts and doesn’t notice Ali’s uncharacteristic stuttering, or his bright red cheeks. Once Virg is gone for skipper duties, Ali immediately summons Mo to his room and gives the other omega the low-down on what happened.

Mo, feeling smug that he had correctly deduced the reason for Virg’s bizarre behaviour, kindly tells Ali that it’s absolutely ok for Ali to prioritise something that isn’t football for once in his life. And that the whole team will have Ali and Virg’s backs if they decide to go into a relationship, whether the two choose to make it public or not.

An extremely touched and emotional Ali envelopes Mo into a bear hug. It is nice for a bit, until Mo has to ask Ali to release him so he can breathe.

Now that the hard part of the conversation is over, Ali asks Mo for advice on how he can encourage Virg to commence his wooing, without actually having to come out and say that to Virg’s face. Ali has never really dated before and he’s definitely way out of his depth when it comes to trying to entice an alpha. The following conversation thus ensues:

“Ali bear,” Mo says, putting a hand on Ali’s shoulder. “First things first. Stop cutting your hair and let it grow back to Newcastle game levels.”

Ali frowns. “Jurgen said my bangs are going to make me miss a save one day.”

“Trust me on this. Just, I don’t know, wear a headband or slick it back on match day. Virg loves you with that hair and he won’t know what to do with himself when you appear in front of him looking all pretty and fluffy.”

“Hmmm…”

“And make sure he stands behind you when you bend down to pick up the ball, or tie your shoelace, or examine the pitch for holes.”

“Why would I need to examine the pitch for –”

“Look, you asked for advice. I’m giving you advice. Are you taking it or not?”

“I guess, but I don’t –”

“And start thinking of an excuse to make Virg move in with you. I know, tell him you have fainting spells that you can’t control. Make sure to look helpless but brave, sad yet strong.”

“I don’t think the doctor will let me move back home if I have fainting spells. What if Virg finds out I’m lying?”

Mo rolls his eyes. “Umm…if he’s anything like Dejan? He’ll be over the moon to know you lied to get him to stay with you.”

“Ok…”

Mo sighs and ruffles Ali’s hair. “You are really just a sweet innocent teddy bear of an omega, aren’t you?”

“Hey,” Ali protests weakly as he lies back onto the bed. He yawns, starting to feel tired again despite it being barely ten in the morning. The incident with the missing heat suppressants had really taken a toll on his body, he thinks. Luckily, Mo quickly picks up on his exhaustion.

“Get some rest Ali. I’ve got to get to training. See you later?”

“See you, Mo.”

[beevean]

I think Frontiers has such low replay value for a few reasons:

While you can traverse the islands non-linearly, there is legit just very little that rewards your curiosity. There's no cool hidden items that you can find if you search for them, at most a few pretty places you probably would have gone to anyway if you want to complete the map for 100% each. So once you've gone and fully completed each map, you've basically seen it all already.

The game can be rather rail-roading: on Chaos Island, for example, there's a few smaller islands you can basically only ever go through in the same one or two ways. Picking the wrong way will bring you to a place where you don't need to go to anymore. Good luck if you can't find the correct paths, though, because it is very difficult to make out just where the heck rails and the like lead you.

Talking about the items: there's like... five, six of them total to be found on the map? You've got the attack and defence fruits, the Koco, the memory tokens, Experience Points, rings... and that is basically the gist of it, even if I feel like I'm forgetting stuff (which is not a good sign at all, since that means it is forgettable). It gets very boring very quickly to have those be the only things you ever find. To bring back BotW, if you went out of your way to go explore the game usually rewards you with a strong weapon or useful item... because it's got hundreds of weapons and items you can collect. Not just a mere six or so on the islands, who eventually become moot anyway if you've fully upgraded Sonic and his skill tree.

The world is just empty. There's legit nobody interesting to talk to, other than perhaps Sage and Sonic's friends, who disappear afterwards from those spots. And furthermore, they have the problem that you can go through their developments completely unhingedly depending on where you find them, so you can easily have Sonic and Sage chat cordially on the final island and then go back to the first and have her be blunt and rude instead. I would have liked a 'good ending' where Sonic helped his friends and Sage through taking the time to talk to them fully on each island before going to the next and a 'bad ending' where he did not do that, but alas...

So yeah, overall the replay value is low because once you've put in some effort on your first run, there is nothing that rewards you for doing more. Everything you get is the same constantly, and if you went and 100% completed the maps and talked to everyone the first time, there's just nothing new to be found on new playthroughs.

Btw I should add that the game has such poor replayability to me that I haven't even picked it up despite the various updates throughout the year already, so maybe things have become better and I just haven't noticed them yet. Maybe😅

As always, huge W for ShTH, King of Replay Value ❤️

I'm starting to think that it's not my issue if I can't watch a playthrough of the game without getting bored lol. But more seriously, it's a shame, because Sonic games have usually high replay value, through their level design with multiple routes or the ranking system, or exceptional cases like Advance 3's gimmick.

Sage was really wasted. Her interactions with Sonic are 99% "you will die" "how?" "go fuck yourself I'm not telling you", until we're supposed to care about her and her NANANANANANA. A sidequest where you have to make the effort to befriend Sage? Teach her what a loving relationship is, making her realize that Eggman doesn't actually care about her like she hoped to? And maybe unlocking her as help during the final boss? It would have been something new and interesting! oh well.

(also yeah I read that part about Khaos Island. It doesn't sound fun. Why rail road part of your open world like that?)

[fireemblems24]

Engage 12 - 14

Spoilers for FE Engage 12+ below the cut.

I'm betting I get Byleth, Ike, Erikia, Corrin, and whoever else I'm forgetting before getting the old rings back? I wish I still had Marth and Sigurd though. They had SSS Tier inheritance.

I love Kagetsu so far. But I'm a sucker for swordmasters in general. The crit animation they have is so fun. If the weapon triangle wasn't such a huge deal in this game, I'd make an entire army of swordmasters lol.

I like how Ivy actually has intel on the enemy and actually tells us. We need more recruited, reformed "villains" who do this.

Fogado is funny so far. If he and Kagetsu had a support, that would be gold. Because it would be non-stop flirting or competing at who can flirt better. I saw Fogado wins so far, because Katetsu is awkward as hell about it lamo.

So if all the NPCs are dark-skinned, they should've made more Solm retainers dark-skinned too (I know from pre-release that images they aren't). FE is getting better a variety, but still some way to go.

Veyle is being a bitch to Marth for no reason. Leave him alone. Still predicting that Mauvier is recruitable. And Griss is . . . eh . . . something. I love a good unhinged villain though.

One thing I DON'T like about this game is that they give you new units way too fast. Like, I just got Ivy and co and now I have Fogado and co. And they seem like a fun bunch, but like, I only have 7 deploy slots . . .

And then you get into a situation where if you want to try out the new units, you can't in a skirmish, because those are the HARDEST battles in this game because it scales with your characters. Which, in some way, I like, because then they're a good challenge but then you can make story levels easier by outclassing enemies, so then you're not "stuck" on a story and can pick and choose your challenging stuff, but it leaves other units behind. Which is typical FE I guess, but all the extra content seems like it encourages you to use new guys. Idk, there's low level Tempest Trials, but those take a long time and rewards are meh for how long it takes, esp for exp, which is why I don't think they really work for it either.

Ugh, Alcryst keeps getting shit level ups, but his supports and character is so interesting. And I just complained about limited deploy slots. I hope my boy can catch up, because he's, unfortunately, next on the benched list. Everyone else either dodges or tanks likes a pro. He's really my only liability on the battlefield right now.

Seforia is pretty cool. Glad to see more moms in this game. Really, almost everyone had a mom instead of a dad this time.

Oh, God, I'm so happy to get Ike. 😭😭😭😭😭 Radiant Dawn was my first Fire Emblem game, and still probably the one I've replayed the most. OMG this makes me so happy 😭😭😭😭

Timerra and co seem fun, but again, I'm sick of new characters. I still have a few open slots (pending you take 12-14 ish in final chapters), but 1 is reserved for the dancer, because, dancer. It's just a bonus he's gorgeous this time.

Ok, also, you have no idea how happy the bosses of these chapters makes me. It's a shoutout to other twin bandits with goofy names that used to show up n all the past GBA games.

Iyv's reaction to hearing that Hortensia has attacked was hilarious. A+ to the voice actress selling that.

I like how the three heirs on this post-level map are all talking to the locals. It's a nice detail. They're being diplomatic.

Also, another small bonus to this game. The bald eagle actually sounds like a bald eagle. All that majestic yelling you hear in movies is fake. That's a different bird. Eagles sound like squeaky toys, lamo.

Ivy teasing Alcryst in their B support is great lol. She tweaked him big time. She's a much more engaging character than she seemed like she would be initially.

So I just saw Alfred and Ivy's C Support, and this is the 2nd time someone told Alfred he's naïve for trusting people and he's just like "yep!" I love him so much, you don't even know.

Kagetsu is a fucking badass. Dude doesn't even have a special ring and makes mincemeat of enemy units. No way I could've beat the skirmish I just did without him. It was fog of war, everyone was separated, and like 99% of the units were fliers, but I really want to adopt a deer, so . . . Thanks, Kagetsu. He's going to get a pebble when I get back to Somniel. There wasn't even any deer. 😭 Why did I suffer? Got an owl and a rabbit at least though.

Case in point about Kagetsu. Turns out, he was the first enemy in the arena and defeated: Merrin, Ivy, Celine, and Chloe before Alfred finally took that menace down.

Lyn mentioned Eliwood and Hector in her paralogue 😭😭

Just saw Alfred and Alear's A Support. I think they're cute together. He's one of the few people who was casual with her right away, which is what Alear really wants. And the first one who offered friendship too. Still picking him as my S Support.

I still can't get over Hortensia's design.

Kind of glad that Hortensia is angry with Ivy. It makes sense she'd feel hurt and betrayed by Ivy, esp since she just lost her father too. Conflict also makes for a better story so . . .

Oh, wow, another cool moment for Alear. Hortensia is holding the Solm queen captive and threatens to kill her if Alear won't hand over the rings. But Alear refuses. So does Timerra, good on her.

Hortensia's VA is really selling her breakdown. Makes me feel bad and realize she's just a little girl. Then thong lady shows up and ruins it.

Is it bad I'm relieved Goldmary and Rosado aren't around? Because I'm tired of getting 3 new units every round. Even though I want Rosado so badly.

Oh, good grief. Hortensia is under some kind of mind control. How original, Fire Emblem. Betting that other little girl is too.

Ivy and Hortensia got pretty cool story arcs. Pretty sure I get Hortensia and Byleth now. Man, it's cool to get Byleth.

And, hey, another parent gets to live!

Solm gave me more money 😭😭😭😭

[whenthechickencry]

Umineko EP4. Replay Part 1

Certainly not her genes, Kryie, also Rudolf sees through Kyrie in that even when she's talking friendly about Asumu she's burning with jealousy. Certainly was never a healthy dynamic in any case.

The talk of miracles here is so interesting and I will probably talk about it in more detail later. Rika's belief in a miracle is what allowed her to break through her dead-end fate. Ange's belief in a miracle is what is slowly destroying her life. I don't think either framing is entirely right or wrong, and unlike others, I don't see Umineko as a sort of response/rebuttal to Higurashi as much as something that expands on its themes, but still... it's really interesting to think about.

You can tell that R07 has been in kind of damage control mode for Beatrice since the end of ep3 lol. He really needs to hammer it isn't as black and white as you might think and she isn't just an evil monster who tricked Battler for fun.

This is a really funny scene too, by the way.

Battler's is, as Beato says, in a lot better state than last time shit like this happened. I think he got the general gist that Beato wasn't acting 100% and that there is more to what is going on than meets the eye.

Ange's right. Battler is starting to try and seriously understand Beatrice's heart but that's opposed to Ange's purposes, which are for him to completely trample on her heart as soon as possible so she can get Battler back.

You can tell Ane's view of others is really warped by now, it's basically a less over-the-top version of Erika. Sure if you never trust anyone you will never get tricked but you will never build genuine relations either...

This is in complete opposition to how Satoko entered the school in GouSotsu, so I guess the schools work differently across... universes or whatever it is you would call this.

Well... considering the events of this chapter where she continuously gets attempted to get murdered by her family I can't really blame her for strongarming Ange's family....

The game is pretty clear the abuse didn't take long to start.... it's easy to take a more sympathetic reading of Eva later but it is clear she bears responsibility for attempting to take care of a child she was in no way emotionally capable of doing at the time.

Ha.... the way Maria got mocked at her school but she didn't get it and saw it as genuine praise really makes me think she has autism... I remember at school laughing along at jokes I didn't get until I finally got that the joke was disparaging me. The game doesn't show this as an entirely negative thing, though... after all she is able to create 1s from 0s. Also, I am not disparaging Ange in any way but it shows the level of her isolation that the closest image to best friend she can conjure in her head is the girl she hung out with once a year on a family conference.

I have never heard of enchilada cheesecakes before and now I want to try them out.

....uh huh Rosa....

It's no surprise Ange latched on to the diary.... she does the same magic Maria does towards Rosa to Rudolf. "He sometimes came home at my birthday so he loved me a lot" aka he couldn't be bothered to even be at my birthday usually.

Haha.... this scene is so sad to read.... Rosa is constantly embarrassed of Maria even in his idealized version of the scene.

Huh... I wonder if this kind of bullying is common for autistic children? This is exactly word for word what was done to me in school.

This is also a common thing for abused people to think, I used to think I had to stay in abusive relationships because if I didn't someone else would get abused. I am sometimes kind of in awe about how R07 can accurately represent many kinds of situations.

It's not really sustainable in the long term for Maria, though. She can pretend she isn't sad and that she's fine all she wants but in the end, she chose the Golden Land over living. You can't exactly blame Maria for her thinking like this, though, she's just a 9-year-old making the best of an awful situation.

In other words, "I am glad I can neglect my daughter now that she has a stuffed toy I bought at a supermarket to keep her company instead of me"

Rosa, you set way too many fucking rules for someone that can't even be bothered to get home.

Maria knows perfectly that her mom considers her an embarrassment, huh.....

Man, Ange is so fucking depressed.... almost every line she says has a hint of extreme sadness behind it....

He uh.... didn't ask that Maria.... you can really tell she's extremely lonely.

Okonogi shows up and immediately wants Ange to do something that would kill her, lmfao.

Okonogi hits the mark right on the head but mixes up "Yasu" and "Eva" which is pretty interesting!

Of course, the one who actually had that ring was Yasu and not Kinzo at the time, so Okonogi's theory came from false assumptions.

I had.... completely forgotten that Okonogi of all people was the one to introduce the concept that without love, it can't be seen... haha I was very shocked here. Okonogi is also pretty much 100% right here, esp wrt Ange being unequipped to find the truth as she is.

An impressive resume would be a shame if you would get beaten and tortured by a nine-year-old girl.

Ange's already making hints about the fact it's really a suicide plan more than anything, Beatrice and Ange parallels are bigger later on but the fact they both had elaborate suicide plans with Rokkenjima is interesting to me...

[ottoslab]

just wanted to say that i adore your art, and you kinda got me into psychonauts. i already knew about it and had been wanting to look into it, but then i saw your tf2 psychonauts crossover art and went CRAZY over the designs and shapes i just had to buy both psychonaut games. i’m actually playing the second one as i type! i’m having a blast and this series is definitely going in my top favorites already, so thank you!!

i don’t know if you’ve talked about this before, but what are your favorite or least favorite levels from the psychonauts games?

anon you have no idea how happy this makes me. My favoritest games of all times it makes me so so happy to know other people are still getting into them and enjoying them! They’re both great games, but psychonauts 2 is really just a good game to play. Absolute blast bc of story and gameplay, I really hope you enjoy it!! Feel free to send me an ask and let me know your thoughts! Id love to hear!

Favorite and least favorites… good question!

Favorite in game one: Meat circus I LOVE you meat circus. I knowww everyone’s always mad about it because of the shitty gameplay and like. YEAJ. I agree. It sucked major ass but I don’t care. I love weird circuses SO much and I love Coach Oleander so it was fun getting to see the merging backgrounds of him and Raz. It just has so many super cool parts to the level that I think get overlooked because of people getting upset at the gameplay.

least favorite: Gloria’s theater :( it’s like the whole reason I haven’t replayed the first game . The setup of the level itself is boring and cramped and the mechanics for the level are confusing and i dont like it!!! Which sucks bc i love Gloria and her story is really sweet but i really dont think her level does her justice in any regard.

Spoilers for game 2 under the cut just in case you want to avoid it for now til you finish!

Favorite in game two: It’s such a tossup every time because like. Psi-King’s sensorium is full of wonderful music and in-your-face art design, Loboto’s Labyrinth is so well designed and a wonderful intro into the game that lets you know exactly what you’re getting into, Bob’s Bottle’s is gorgeous and fucking HEARTBREAKING oh my GOD. But I think Cassie’s Collection is my favorite overall because it has stellar level design, great music, and is the level of one of my favorite characters. Honestly the fact that Cassie is my favorite character is probably the only reason i can make this decision. I lvoe her sm shes so wonderful and her level tells such a good story :) I genuinely think the only downside is how lackluster the final boss is. It feels like its missing something and I completely forget about it until the moment I have to fight her.

Least favorite: Lucretia’s lament… Fun area, but very clearly meant to be a quick exposition level. Not a lot for you to really uncover, unlike a lot of the other levels that are packed with hidden secrets and details and stuff. It’s really pretty, I especially love the quilted area, but you just feel so boxed in when you play through it that it feels like setdressing. Type of railroading feel that is more reminiscent of the first game than the New and Improved psychonauts 2. I feel like if i had more of an opportunity to look around and explore and Experience the different areas I’d have more of an appreciation for it, but you don’t really get that unfortunately!

Close second is Hollis’ Classroom/Hotstreaks PURELY because ive restarted the game and only gotten halfway so many times that I’ve replayed those sections an unGODLY amount and its left a Hollis’-Classroom-shaped-indent in my BRAIN. But then i remember how cool her level is and I get normal.

[letstalkwhump]

Let’s Talk Whump No.2

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump. 

I’m Malice from @whumpers-inc and I’ll be your host. Today I’m talking to an awesome mutual of mine, @whumpy-daydreams also known as Harri! I’ve admired her writing from a distance for a while now so it was so good to be able to interview her today!

Let’s talk about you! Tell us something about yourself :) My name's Harri, I'm 21 and in my last year of uni. I love worldbuilding and have been creating a world for the last 6 years with stories spanning hundreds of years in it. I also love medical related things and have a passion for surgery

What does “whump” mean to you? For me it's a way to process pain and a chance to see characters overcome hard things. It's also just fun though!

You’re a familiar face in the whump community. How did you find it and what made you want to join? I can't remember how I found the whump community, but I've liked whump ever since I can remember. I joined the community because I wanted a place to reach and share whump, which I hadn't found anywhere else

Do you have a favourite(s) whump trope? Defiant whumpees are the love of my life. Its so cathartic to see a character keep fighting even when they're trapped and to try so desperately to keep going. I also love dangerous/morally grey whumpees because it makes the whumper so much scarier. On the topic of whumpers, whumpers who make jokes and are sarcastic/taunting are also great. Also lab whump, mainly for the sterile environment and aesthetic.

Defiant whumpees, my beloved! They’re so good. Speaking of favourite pieces, tell us one that you’ve written? Probably 'smile for the camera' or 'countdown to freedom'  because I think the writing flows nicely and has a more imaginative writing style. Also in countdown to freedom, I really like the use of the cowntdowns in different ways.

“Smile for the Camera” is so good. I love filmed whump, it’s on another level! Is there anything new you’re working on at the moment? I constantly have works in progress, my main whump one (land of liars) is something I update when I have inspiration for it. At the moment I'm trying to work on a fantasy wip that I'd like to publish someday, but it's still mainly in the planning and plotting stage

Sounds like you’re pretty busy! What does your writing routine usually look like? Definitely more of a night writer, but then again I am basically nocturnal. I dont often have food or drinks because I'll forget about them when I'm writing (I have ADHD). Sometimes I'll have a few days where I'll write loads but it's usually just when inspiration strikes and then I'll write a couple of pages in one go.

We could be writing schedule twins, honestly. You really can’t control when the inspiration will strike… Do you find your writing ability varies from piece to piece? Especially with writing whump, I struggle with being too repetitive, and also I use a lot of dialogue. In my head, it's like I'm watching a film and just copying down what happens so it often flows easily but I'll have to replay things in my head or rewrite a part a lot to get it to make sense.

Do you have any words of wisdom or writing advice for us? Read things and find writing techniques you like! Maybe there's a way someone describes smells that you like, and another person mixes dialogue and action. Try out different ways of writing and experiment sometimes. Another tip is to read your writing out loud once you’re done. This helps find places where it's unclear or doesn't make sense (or spelling/grammar errors)

We’re hyping everyone up here. Are there any whump blogs you’d like to shout-out? @whumblr 's writing is just incredible, I remember reading 'home is where the hurt is' in about 2 days because I just had to know what was going to happen next. Also @straight-to-the-pain has excellent whump and is part of the British medical whump gang. Plus all of the amazing whumpy gif makers! They're all incredible and provide such good inspiration.

So good to have you here. Thanks so much for joining us today, @whumpy-daydreams!

To everyone reading, have a whump-derful day!

[sweetpea-sprite]

hiya! i recently felt compelled to replay wrath of the white witch, and i thought id ask if you have any advice/tips to spare? especially abt familiar treats and tricks. either way hope ur having a good day :)

ummm. my advice is have fun :]

no but for actual advice regarding treats and tricks: for treats. um. try to use them? like i'll be real i forget to give treats to my guys a lot of the time but they are actually really good. +1 in any stat you choose for just a few treats. insane. if you really wanna go nuts with it you have to use alchemy which is something not many people do but it's fun! every recipe is in the wizard's companion but you can't make em in bulk... there's this woman in castaway cove either on or next to a boat at the docks who gives you alchemy recipes for basic provisions. i can't remember if she's the one who gives you the treats ones too... if not i'd recommend looking that up (or if you can't find it come back to me and i'll check)

for tricks. again most people just go with their best judgement and i'd say that too... without giving a specific familiar i can't really say. it's like saying i'm playing a pokemon game what moves should i go for you know. but like with treats you can go nuts with it by finding trick gems. DEEPLY sorry to say that the only way to get gems is by enemy drops/steals or from one time only sources (e.g. chests or bounty rewards). i also wish they were craftable. now i would never say to trust the wiki on anything. buuuut they have a list of gems with their sources here and it's PROBABLY fine... also on the wiki if you go to any familiar's page it tells you what gems they're able to use. again. i would not trust this completely. but it serves as a general guide

what other advice do i have. ummm if you wait to metamorphose your familiars for a bit after they become ready to metamorphose they will have higher stats after they do so; entirely up to your judgement as to how long you wait but of course the highest they can be is if you wait until max level (which is lowered for lower tier familiars! don't worry it's not 99). uhh. shining scales are really good on oliver in late game (and honestly mid game once you get arrow of light). um. remember to save after gladiataur. remember to equip mornstar once you get it. um. if you want any more specific advice come say so i love giving advice. HAVE FUN

[kyyhkynlaulu]

Ok so i just played the final main mission of Horizon Forbidden West. And I have to say, I expected a lot more from it. I'm not going to tell any spoilers in this post.

I'm writing this at 4.30am... I must make this confession.

The ending felt bland and rushed.

In a way, the ending wasn't bad, it was just poorly executed. Most of the wonderful and exciting scenes were in cutscenes. Most of the mission was exactly what the whole game is 24/7 - climb, kill a couple of machines and climb some more. Listen to Erend complaining���. Most of the time you don't engage in the actual battle. Sure, maybe it shows that aloy has finally learned to trust others and let others fight for her. But as a player I at least wish I could participate a bit more.

I love the battle with Eric. It was exciting. Something about that man makes me nervous. I guess you could even say he's quite scary. I'm a chill player just looking for a good time, so I played on the easiest possible difficulty level - story difficulty. Being level 50, the boss fight with Eric wasn't hard at all but I was super nervous the whole time. I was quite surprised you could actually hide from him and he'd start to search for you - he actually came after you if he heard or saw something. I spent some time just running away from him, hiding. I'm pretty sure I heard him whistle and saying things like "I can smell your fear". And that dude moved like the flash. Caught me by surprise.

However, the very last bossfight of the game did not please me. It was really stupidly planned, at least in my opinion. Besides, it was over in a minute. A couple of shots, then an explosion and it's game over.

All in all, I didn't feel like I was playing the final, great ending mission that Aloy and her friends prepared for the whole game. I felt like I was watching a video where I sometimes had to fight a little here and there. It wasn't terrible, I just expected more.

What I liked about the ending is how we can see Sylens pretty much changing as a person. I never liked him until the end. Maybe that's kind of the idea. Also, Regalla was such a great character in the end. There's also some lines from Aloy that I found quite interesting. Like "why didn't you just let me choose", she sounded a bit sad and maybe even regretful...

The end game was pretty bad to be honest. I was looking forward to talking to the allies and GAIA, but that was not possible. At least not the way I wanted. Aloy didn't really say much about the zeniths or the final battle. But well, that's just how it is. I'm glad forbidden west has something to call endgame, after all that didn't even exist in Zero Dawn.

I've heard the new dlc Burning Shores will be set after the main story, kinda making it endgame I guess. Unfortunately, I'm a PS4 player, so I can't play that. Well, at least I can think of it as Burning Shores waiting for me when I finally get my ps5. And it's confirmed Horizon will be getting a 3rd game, which is of course nice.

There probably isn't much else to say. I don't know if many people agree with me. But this is just my opinion. Also I just started replaying the whole series, starting from Zero Dawn. Truly amazing games, I love them both. Forbidden west might even be in my top 5 favorite games👀

[everydaydg]

A quick recap on the rest of 2023's played games!

Part 1!

As explained on a post previously, I sadly wont be writting huge reviews for every game left of 2023

I wanna get to writting about 2024 gamessss

I might revisit a few games from this series of posts in a later date for the sake of giving my full thoughts on them.

Alrighty! Lets do this!

54. Trauma Center: Under the Knife

Honestly I sorta played this one because of a mutual I dont speak to too often.

Anyway this was my first foray into Trauma Center so I was a bit exited going into it!

Needless to say it delivered on a fun dramatic time! I am quite surprised by how good this game is honestly.

The best way I can describe it is an arcade style operation simulator with the most dramatic hospital room visual novel you will read on the side.

That sounds fucking ballistic but it works.

You have a story about an epidemic sweeping the nation as a group of medical experts try to handle the disease as best they can, mainly focusing on the rise to fame of Derek Styles as he becomes the doctor of all time

(not the best one or the worst one, hes the doctor of all time. )

but you can suture wounds in an instant, you inject green goop to regain vitals, stop time itself, have to deal with dealing with 5 patients in a row in like 15 minutes and constantly see your patients having bugs in their stomach.

The story is played completely straight while the gameplay is fast paced operations using the DS's touch screen.

I love it so much.

The controls are really well tuned, its fun to get better at the game and the gameplay loop is engaging.

The characters are surprisingly memorable and fun to keep up with, except angie. I hate angie.

I am not forgiving you for being a total ass to derek and also telling a suicidal patient to go kill themselves

Did we forget that? I mean you probably dont know what im talking about to begin with but im not forgetting whatever the fuck that scene was.

Whats wrong with Angie.

I hate that im supposed to like her later on but no. Shes still annoying as the whole game goes on, shes not likeable at all despite the writter's best effords.

... again the rest of the characters are fun. Derek is a sweet guy, Nigel is my favorite asshole in the whole place, Kasal and Hoffman are fun to see every once in a while

Every time those two appear, you know the plot is getting serious Stephen is... kinda there honestly, I barely recall much from him outside of his cool headphones, Leslie is sweet and... I want to hit Tyler with a football (affectionate)

Fun cast, Dramatic but engaging story, fun gameplay that uses the DS's touch screen well and a good OST

Its a fun time! I highly recommend it if you're looking for a good DS game! I enjoyed it alot suturing patients, usin the goop, draining- I didnt go into it alot but the gameplay is REALLY fun. genuinely.

Its fast, its frantic and extremely enjoyable to master

(Small note but I miss the artstyle of this game, the later entries changed artstyle... it looks nice in those games but the art here has some charm despite its issues)

8/10

55. Space Channel 5 (PS2, Replay)

Oh Space Channel 5... god I have mixed feelings on this game

Music? fantastic

Visuals? groovy, the retro future look is unmatched.

The gameplay? ... god damm it input detection

This game is so close to being perfect but the speed of the animations makes certain inputs feel incredibly sluggish which is a huge reason why its so hard to recommend for me.

Took me a whole year to get to grips with the game feel of this game... I didnt get it in 2021 and ultimately felt a bit dissapointed after experiencing Part 2.

By 2022 I actually did get used to it and enjoyed it a whole lot!

I absolutely got it, I fell in love with it! The patterns, the story, the characters, THE EXTRA CONTENT WHEN YOU REPLAY CERTAIN LEVELS WITH 100% VIEW RATING!

It was amazing being able to finally see what alot of DC fans saw in the game after a year of struggle... but I coudnt shake off the feeling of how much of a struggle it was to get used to it...

by 2023 I saw someone else try to get into it, only to run into the same problem I had in 2021 which trully cemented how I feel about the game.

I did also replay it that year because why not and yeah! its still great despite the slight background desyncs every now and again and the sluggish animations... but I cant expect everyone to get used to that

Where im going with this is... Its great... but dont expect it to feel right when you get into it. It takes a second to get used to it.

Its not as snappy as part 2 and I dont fault you if bounce off it because of the gamefeel

I cant completely recommend it. Its great! I love it... you might not enjoy it

If you dont enjoy part 1, check out part 2

Its on steam, its a fantastic ride and one of my favorite rhythm games of all time (even if im still a bit mad over the secret notes for full rating)

8/10

56. Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

(Yknow what maybe its good that I dont have to write a big review on this one. I dont want to talk details about the story asdhajdhask)

Re:Coded fucking rules

This is my second kingdom hearts game aksjdhakjdaskadshdkj

MY FIRST WAS DDD- I AM PLAYING IN THE WORST ORDER IMAGINABLE

But im still having fun!

I uhh the story in this one isnt as hard to follow as DDD but its still a bit wierd in some areas, doesnt stop it from being fun tho.

Id say the main thing that keeps me going back to this game is how insanely good the combat is. This might be... one of the best combat systems on the DS, im not joking.

Fucking TWEWY levels of fun ass combat on the DS.

Pulling off juggles with the command deck is immaculate.

The stat matrix is fun to mess arround with and alows for a great level of difficulty tuning.

You can make the game a living nightmare for the sake of getting more money and better items.

They made a 3D game work... really well on the DS

I will argue it falls a bit flat on some places considering how most of the game takes place in glitch challenges... but honestly... I love those areas

Its a bit repetitive but the combat carries it HARD.

I wont talk a single thing about the story, its best you see it yourself despite its issues as its still... pretty fun ngl.

People are too meaaan to this game man. Its good!

It gets a big recommendation from me

8/10

Alright! next time ill be rambling about astro boy omega factor, gunstar super heroes and yakuza 4 remastered

and a fewwww more if im up to it

If im being honest I would have posted everything in one go but I dont want to leave this in the drafts foreverrrrr.

So I will do it in chunks.

Thanks for reading my disorganized ramblings

[faithisforthetranspeople]

Hex's 2021 Media Thread Archive (2021 Part 2)

SSSS.Dynazenon was a fun watch I decided to pick up because I had some friends who were really about it. I had watched Gridman before and that one had a slow start but I loved the heart put into it during the later half with Anti and other characters getting some big moments. This sequel was a lot better overall, although I must regret I don't really remember much about it at this point in time so it didn't stick with me that hard. Like most trigger works for me it's a good and fun watch but won't leave me thinking about it forever :P.

Kamen Rider Blade was a really great watch! Every now and then I'll just binge a Kamen Rider for the hell of it which is how I've gotten a decent knowledge on the series (my favorite is OOO if you were curious) and this one is real special. It introduces maybe my least favorite rider ever who just sucks shit all the time in Mutsuki, who imo doesn't even get that great a resolution, but it also introduces one of my favorite riders ever with Hajime aka Chalice. It's a real slow burn with a lot of ups and downs but the ending is something really special and I just love the suits and belt gimmick of this one :).

Lobotomy Corporation made me really need to get one after playing it. Because this is Tumblr and my friends are LGBT or allies I don't need to talk too in depth about why I love this game because there's hundreds of other women who will snarl and froth over it. If you're curious my favorite Abnormality is Knight of Despair and my favorite character was either Netzach or Chesed.

Lobotomy Corporation: Wonderlab. Even more proof I'm definitely normal, I read this entire thing in a day after finishing Lobcorp. I love and adore the designs in this comic and it's really tragic they ended it so soon. But I'd definitely recommend it if you loved the game!

Blaster Master Zero 3 is one of my favorite games that Inticreates has made. I picked a wonderful time to get into this series as the third game was only a couple months away after I had finished the previous two and it was so exciting actually playing a game the second it released again and going through it all 100% in one sitting. Everything about it just plays so good and I love how well they mixed mechanics with narrative in this one. Also if you know the source of my icon you can tell a certain scene had a big impact on me.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is a great way to play FF1 if you don't want any of the bonus content from the GBA/PSP releases but still want some quality of life such as a minimap and generally easier battles. I think when I go for my inevitable FF1 replays I'll probably aim for PSP just cause I actually like the extra content but this is definitely one of the better deals for the pixel remasters if you're interested in checking the series out :).

Metroid Prime is one of my favorite games I played growing up, and in 2021 I experienced it again using a specific emulator set up to emulate the trilogy and bind your camera movement to the mouse, turning the game into a Mouse and Keyboard style game. While I think the Prime trilogy actually feels like one of the better FPS series to play with controller it was still a fun and easily accessible way to trek through a game I've played before.

Psychonauts 2 is probably one of the games that's closest to being a perfect sequel that I've ever played. Most the time with these revivals of old IPs you have to temper some expectations after so many years have passed and accept some flaws from the process of making a newer more modern entry but for me this game feels exactly like what I'd want from a Psychonauts sequel and it doesn't lose the heart that made the first game (which is one of my favorite games ever) such a special experience. The narrative was really touching and they really knocked all the different level themes out of the park in such a satisfying way. Please play both of these games if you haven't and can tolerate a 3d platformer with some collectathon elements.

No More Heroes 3 is a game I don't know how to go about describing why it's so cool and fun to anyone who doesn't know the series and already get the appeal. Instead of spending forever explaining all that I'll just say the bosses in this one are probably the best in the series in terms of overall quality with no super aggressive difficulty spikes but some can still get you if you're careless. In particular my favorite is the "RPG" boss fight the dialogue is so goofy in that one.

Touhou Luna Nights doesn't try to hide it's inspirations (like all Touhou fangames really) and instead creates a really unique Castlevania-themed game focused around throwing a megaton of knives in various ways and finding out how to interact with everything using time slowdown/stop mechanics. The game can be pretty tricky trying to learn how to manage all your resources but after enough upgrades and time spent it's extremely easy to shred through enemies (and even bosses) in a very satisfying way. Any game where you can stop time and stand on your own knives as platforms will always be cool.

Warioware Get it Together was a fun timesink and had pretty good systems in place to get you to replay a bunch of microgames with its online elements, but unfortunately I never really spent as much time with it as I wanted to. It was very fun with so many ways to complete every microgame with all these characters who play differently and I hope they keep this series going!

Touhou Puppet Dance Performance - Shard of Dreams (Extended) - is the last game I'm going to put on this archive post and it's a real special one. While I adore pokemon as a series and am probably one of the people who can't bring myself to dislike an entry in the series, this game combines it with one of my biggest interests in such a special way that it's probably my favorite Touhou fangame as well as my favorite Pokemon fangame. Even with official content only there's characters from Every Single Game (and even the books!) from Touhou 1 all the way to 12 (15 with shard of dreams), and there's a very high quality mod in SoD Extended that adds in all the missing characters so you can play with all of them, as well as balancing trainers around all the new content they add for these characters and making the game less of a stomp and sometimes an actual real challenge. The customization of a puppets EVs (and eventually IVs) along with being able to freely switch natures and learn/forget moves as long as you have enough points means that there's a very high chance no two playthroughs will ever feel alike, and the typing chart fits in really well with no types feeling too powerful compared to the other cause no matter what there will always be a trainer that just folds one of your puppets out of nowhere. As a bonus while I sign this post off, for my playthrough I used a gimmick team where I could only have one puppet from every 3 games (ex: if i choose sakuya i can't use any other puppets from 4-6, if i choose nazrin that's 10-12, etc.) and it ended up being both a bit of a challenge but also very fun to try and get good type coverage. See y'all in the next archive which should be the final one for 2021!

[apsupmix]

Rambling about Vagrant Story

After 20+ years I finally recently played all of PS1’s cult classic Vagrant Story. And I wanted to write about it. I was going to pick a singular point and write a well organized text around it, but I don’t want to do that. I just want to take part of that game out of my brain and cast it on a paper. I’m too old for high school essays so this is just for me.

The point I most wanted to make, the thing I most wanted to say, is that Vagrant Story should get a remake. I’m not saying that because it’s the best game of all time that hasn’t gotten the legacy it deserves, I’m saying that because Vagrant Story is kind of ass. So often when people talk about what games should get a remake they talk about evergreen classics that are still good. For example Chrono Trigger; what could a remake give to Chrono Trigger. It’s a good game, it’s still a great game, if someone wants to play Chrono Trigger, they can just do that.

But Vagrant Story, it has a good story, some great characters and excellent atmosphere, put together with garbage gameplay. Some people might say that it just needs a bit of remaster treatment, make menus faster and snappier, maybe rework slightly some of it’s more obtuse mechanics, but keep the core gameplay. That would make it a less painful experience, but less painful is still painful. I want a version of Vagrant Story that would be painless (or at least close to, I don’t need perfection).

I was thinking of doing a long rant about the many ways I hate this game’s mechanics, but I decided to tone it down. I’m not writing this expecting people to read it, but someone might and I might as well keep this somewhat readable. But I will talk about accuracy. I have generally low tolerance for annoying low accuracy on rpgs, nothing frustrates me more than getting my time wanted by seeing text “miss” on screen and Vagrant Story is super bad with it.

The game is very open about your accuracy, and tells on every hit your chances, which is nice. What isn’t nice is too often seeing that the best I could get would be 60%, or in some funny cases even under 50% chance to hit the enemy. And what’s more fun, is that every swing you take, hit or miss, your accuracy goes down. When 30% chance drops down to 20% and even 15% the thoughts about if I really wanted to play the game started crossing my mind. Add in enemies that run away or teleport away every time you try to hit them and fun reaches new levels. And that’s not my only issue with the game, but it’s the one I wanted to highlight, as I needed to rant about something and it was ether that or the fucking final boss.

The story though, the characters though, despite hating most of the game there are elements I do want other people to experience. The story surprised me in the best way possible, by taking something I assumed to be big and revealed it to be fairly small. And I won’t explain what I mean, I won’t recommend the game, but I won’t spoil it either. And I do feel that Sydney Losstarot, the game's villain, would be a certain kind of Internet popular if given the chance. Heck he probably is, but in smaller circles that I don’t see.

I only recently finished the game so it’s not surprising that I’ve been thinking about it. But I see myself thinking about it long in the future. And eventually I’d probably want to re-experience the story, but I don’t see myself ever wanting to replay the game. And that’s a bit sad. It’s also a game I would love to recommend to people, but I couldn’t. But I can dream about a version that I could recommend and I could replay. 

[cobaltaris]

Aris Media 2023 #27: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

to be honest despite putting 100 hours into this I? don't know how to dissect this in my usual short-form reviews on this site? (this aged poorly i wrote like 10 paragraphs on it) guess we'll try because oh my god this was. an experience i wasn't ready for

so THAT was the imprisoning war...

also uh! Spoiler Warning! deep in the Read More for gameplay and story terms! i'm not gonna tell you how everything plays out but there is unrevealed stuff i need to go into, but being we're nearly a month out from release, that's mostly fine, i think

okay so breath of the wild aged kinda weirdly for me? it's a GREAT game but in retrospect it felt lacking compared tro some of my favorite Zelda games, especially in dungeons and storytelling, and i really was worried TotK wouldn't vibe with me cuz BotW looked to be a paradigm shift for the whole Zelda series

and? surprisingly, it all worked out?? i was so enthralled from beginning to end! having the same hyrule didn't end up mattering to me cuz i didnt replay BotW, and there was simply so much MORE to the world despite that. AND SO MANY KOROKS TO TORTURE AND CRUCIFY

not to mention when you can put a slab of iron together and put wheels and a stick on it and have it work as a great way to get around, the fun of traversal kinda overrode the thoughts i had about all that; the Zonai stuff is SO GOOD (that goes for both the devices and the people-okay mainly Mineru but can you blame me she is PERFECT)

SPEAKING OF CHARACTERS TO GET OFF HOT GOAT PEOPLE FOR A SEC; THIS F U C K

the memory stuff is kind of just okay in retrospect, didn't love the plot but the big key moments stuck with me, but GOD ganondorf is so good. they hit all the beats i was hoping for with him and probably made his most outright evil portrayal yet, while STILL making him so calm and in control that it's scary. the way they send him off is so good and please moots finish the game when you can cuz that ending OH MY GOD-

anyway! i just really liked vibing in this game doing shrines and whatnot, which with the new abilities are way more fun and memorable than in BotW. the jenga shrine is? amazing? Ultrahand makes every puzzle a joy to Ignore the Main Solution To, and Ascend and Recall are just outright broken and very fun to use. while I had more issues with durability this time i also love how natural and useful Fuse is; Rocket Shields are so fun and i wish I got more Rockets simply to use them more than I did

the characters are also a lot more fun this time around, and the returning ones got to shine way more! the Tarrey Town quest was SO good in this one, the Champions are a delight, the musical troupe you help out really stuck with me...and Addison. he's. he's a treasure. I'LL SUPPORT YOU

I didn't get too much out of the Sky Islands admittedly; they're still really cool but! generally repetitive after a bit and not super interesting, great atmosphere though. but it's the Depths that really caught me off guard, places in games with a lot of bounty to them but also HIGH levels of danger are some of my favorite things! but the thing i really loved about it is when i realized that it is Tears of the Kingdom's Dark World - its an exact mirror of the original world, Lightroots connecting to Shrines, water aboveground being walls in the Depths, and generally being a way harsher environment. once i realized that, it elevated it SO much, and along with a few things really made it feel like TotK was this hella cool mix of traditional and open-world Zelda

caves! finally back in this one! can i just say that between Vinny's pronunciation of them and their allure here i've gotten obsessed with finding them, every time i see one i just yell "BOOBEL GEM!!" and start firing arrows and hfgjfgjkfg

but no really the caves were such a sour missing part of BotW and their inclusion gives the world so much more needed complexity. i love exploring them, and to repeat this point again, it felt so Classic Zelda to go in one, solve an environmental puzzle, and get a Shrine out of it - and a free one almost always, which feels like the developers also bringing back how caves used to be! i need to say it again THIS GAME WAS SUCH A TREAT

that goes also somewhat for the dungeons, besides like, the Water Temple, which compared to other Water Temples felt extremely lacking, and even in this game it has...no scale? just feels like a regular place? BUT THE OTHERS. DAMN. even if i wish they were even bigger and had more to do, the fact they are real places with lore behind them to explore, different atmospheres - the Fire and Lightning ones EXCEED at this, especially in delivering great boss fights with the Sages' aid. too bad about that same cutscene repeating four times huh

there's even more i could go into it, like how the Gleeok fights are the most HYPE thing and i love them, or how i kinda still wish there was more enemy variety, and ALSO this game got me into the wonder that is house renovation, it's so good actually, but being i'm putting this all in a Tumblr post on a dashboard expected to be scrolled through at high velocity, i'll just cut it here because i loved this one too much. legit too much! it's a Top 3 Zelda, but there's almost too much to do and it can get overwhelming, and still areas left to improve on, but I am more than satisfied with what Tears turned out to be after my skepticism <3

Grade: S

[hamstermastersamster]

I finished Oddworld: Soulstorm without 5 of the very last mudokons saved because of what I will very generously call a game design dick move.

Probably the best way I can describe how I feel about this game is what I said to my dad, who watched me play/helped solved puzzles/provided emotional breakdown support: "I really want to like this game, but it's trying VERY hard to convince me not to"

We both loved the original Abe games on the PS1, and I love Abe and the mudokons and the general aesthetic of Oddworld and the IDEAS in this game, but Soulstorm is a mess of glitches and bad, incredibly tedious game design that has no respect for a player's time or patience.

I'm . . . glad I played it. I guess. For the story, which I enjoyed despite a damp squib of an ending, and those rare parts of the game where the difficulty was pure clever puzzle and solving it was fun and interesting. But the end game level select can go screw itself because there's no way I'm ever playing it again :')

Some of its cardinal sins include:

Constantly mistaking bad game design and the tedium of redoing shit for 'difficult' and 'challenge'

Bad checkpoint placement and mechanics/no manual save, forcing you to repeat tedious shit like crafting and looting over and over again when you die. Would have been easily solved by putting checkpoints AFTER loot containers and before a challenge, or allowing us to manually reactivate a checkpoint ourselves, but noooo. Some areas have checkpoints every 2 seconds, some have 1 either end of 10 potential causes of death. There's no consistency and it sucks

No saves means that if you fuck up a level (or the game fucks it up for you with glitches, which I experienced multiple times on the PS4), you have to restart it from scratch. What fun.

"but the levels are designed to be replayed-" SHUT UP SHUT UP, nobody wants to play cheap, cruel, tedious sections of gameplay over and over again

Sluggish, unresponsive controls paired with challenges that require very rapid, precise actions

Slow, janky animation lock-ins that make everything take soooo long to do. Looting a locker, healing a mudokon, the pauses and delays you have to acccount for when you get up from a ledge or jump onto a ladder or turn a wheel or get up from a crouch because you can't just jump straight from a crouch or URGHHHHHHH everything just takes SO FUCKING LONG. Even all the quirky characters in the cutscenes, while charming in that Oddworld way, talk SO SLOWLY arghhhh

Erratic enemy and mudokon AI. This entire game is an escort mission, and you gave the escorts bad AI. That says it all! At least the Lemmings were predictable. They'd do what I told them to do. Half the time, I’m not sure the mudokons even WANT to live, quite frankly.

Prolific use of bad faith game design dick moves that all but force you to replay the entire level if you want to get 100% - like:  - making secret areas invisible until you've already gone past them and can't go back!  - Hiding sick mudokons behind foreground scenery but the only way to find them is to stand still for a few seconds on the right spot waiting for the 'heal' command to pop up!  - Teaching the player how to play the game through consistent patterns of behaviour and level scenarios, and then breaking those patterns when you feel like being a game dev dick! For example, NOT putting a directional indicator on an elevator to show it can go backwards as well as forwards, when every other elevator before has done this! Or requiring the player to save resources to open a door on the very last section of the very last level to save the last 5 secret mudokons, when this has NEVER BEEN REQUIRED BEFORE IN THE ENTIRETY OF THE GAME - fuck you fuck you fuck you I ALMOST had 100%!

You're telling me that "final battle" was actually playtested by real human beings, and nobody who tested it said "this is really fucking boring"? Seriously?

Who am I kidding lol, nobody playtested this game. It’s just not possible.

Literally zero accessibility options on the controls. You can't even remap them, let alone do basic things like set a sustained action to toggle instead of a button hold. That should be a frickin' crime in this day and age. It left me feeling extra grumpy thanks to the hand pain after some sections of the game where I had to hold stealth down for a long period of time

I can see there are meant to be more games. Nooot honestly sure if I would touch them with a ten-foot bargepole, though. Sorry, Abe :(