#and aloy is such a fucking good protagonist

[starbashir]

horizon forbidden west best videogame ever produced despite the glitches

#makes me feel things #it's so fucking beautiful #all the characters are so Real #and aloy is such a fucking good protagonist #kotallo <333 #horizon forbidden west

[mostmagical]

nicole my love will you rank your top three or top five or top ten video games… whichever number you wish to gush about… i love you…

hi sunny..... oughh I have a tough time picking favorites.... I looked at this question like a homework assignment.. I did a top 10 and I put reasoning even though you did not ask for that but I'm putting it under this read more in case you want it... you don't have to read more though... but you can... i love you...

Top 10

Kingdom Hearts - Obviously of course. I don’t always even rank KH1 as my favorite KH game but basically this was my “oh games can be like that?” game. Until I played this, I mostly played simulator games and movie tie-ins and Barbie games, and I loved those but this one had a STORY I could bury myself in. I forced the friend I played this game with to sit and wait while I read through every journal entry and character file looking for MORE, because I was so immediately hooked on everything.

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories - This one always ranks high not just because of the story, which I love, but because this was the first game I ever beat entirely by myself. A lot of people skip or can’t stand this game so I’m extra proud of myself tbh. But this is the game where one of my favorite characters became one of my favorite characters, so it’ll always have a special place.

Ōkami - I love this game so much… It’s so visually stunning, I love the unique game play, and Amaterasu is such an amazing protagonist despite the fact that she does talk outside of barking and howling and also she is literally a dog. But she’s so good. There’s a dedicated bark button, which is important. AND THERE’S FISHING!

Final Fantasy X - I’ve literally never sobbed more over a piece of media in my entire life. The game wasn’t even over yet. I had to fight a boss with tears in my eyes. This was my first FF game and oh my god. Oh my god. I can say no more.

Horizon Zero Dawn - I got so sucked into this game. It was all I could think about for months. I love the environmental storytelling and the world-building and Aloy is a female protagonist WITHOUT a love interest in this game and it’s so huge to me and ugh. UGH.,

Hades - This game is so fun… I usually don’t like games that make me feel like I’m struggling but they somehow made it such a joy to die over and over again and see what’s up in the house. The sheer amount of unique dialogue makes it impossible to get annoyed. And it’s just FUN. Full of complicated family dynamics and Greek mythology… Collectibles… WOO (also has fishing)

Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life - This is a really sentimental add, but it’s genuinely one of my favorites. I have so many memories of me and my childhood best friend staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing this game, only to go to bed and set an alarm to get up and play it again. AWL has some of the best NPCs of all HM/SOS games, and also the cutest cows. Ever.

Final Fantasy XV - FISHING. And also stories about bonds we build… friendship… ough.. I love sitting in the back of the car and letting Ignis drive and feeling like we’re all on a friendship road trip together. Random stops for pictures and bathroom breaks included. Luna deserved better but the hours I spent fishing made up for that.

Persona 5 Strikers - It probably seems silly to put this here and not Persona 5, but I really loved Strikers so much. It had such satisfying gameplay, completely different from the source material, yet still somehow felt like such an homage to the classic movesets. It was a really good adaptation to a new genre. I loved the story and the new characters, who MADE ME CRY! and I think it’s such a shame, because a lot of Persona players skipped this one!!! Ryuji gets to say fuck. Come on, people.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - I love the characters in this game so much… I miss them… I love the original AA trilogy, but this one was so much fun for me. I love Herlock Sholmes… I love him so much I forgot that his real name is not Herlock Sholmes. All the characters are so dynamic and the cases are so fun… That was a game I wished never had to end.

Special mention to Animal Crossing: Wild World, Barbie Horse Adventures Mystery Ride, Secret Agent Barbie, Ni No Kuni, God of War (2018), Gris... I love video games. Damn.

#ask #noctie #ouughhhhh video games.......

[semperintrepida]

Despite my current creative uncertainty, one thing's for sure: I'll be writing at least one more fanfic before everything's said and done. Perhaps it will be yours?

My Fandom Trumps Hate profile can be found here. Bidding starts March 5th!

Organizations this auction benefits: Winning bidder's choice of any of the listed non-profit groups (See full list.)

Type of fanwork: Written fanwork Subtype(s): fan fiction (new) Fandom(s): Assassin's Creed, Horizon Zero Dawn, A Plague Tale (Videogame Series) Highest rating: E Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Minimum Bid: $5

Especially interested in: I write F/F and gen stories about "Assassin's Creed: Odyssey", but could write for the "Horizon Zero Dawn" and "A Plague Tale" series of games as well. I'm at my best writing stories from the POV of the main protagonists or major NPCs: Kassandra, Kyra, Aloy, and Amicia, but if you've got someone else in mind, let's discuss. I'll write F/F smut if you want; please take a look at my profile for examples. Prompts involving consensual BDSM/power play are welcome if that's your jam. My OTP is kyssandra (Kassandra x Kyra) but if you're my highest bidder, I'll make an exception for you if you're hankering for something else. (That said, please do review my NO list below.) I can write fluff, angst, and pretty much anything in between. Third person, first person, past or present tense are all fine by me.

Things I won't write: male protagonists (sorry, I can't do them justice!), kasspasia (Kassandra x Aspasia), X-reader/reader insert, Omegaverse, genderbent characters, non-con/dub-con, underage, BDSM involving scat/watersports/bloodplay

Other notes: The development of your prompt will be a collaboration between us. You've gotta bring big ideas you're excited about, and I've gotta vibe with your prompt to write something good. I work best from generalities and broad sketches—if you're looking for a very specific scenario with lots of fine details you're expecting me to include, I might not be the writer for you. After we agree on a prompt, I'll write a brief plot treatment and run it by you. Then I'll write the first draft, which you'll be welcome to advance read (AR) and offer feedback. Then I'll edit the work to the best of my ability, and if all goes well, we'll end up with something we're both proud of. My goal as a writer is to make you feel like you're right there in the action, fighting and fucking, laughing and playing. I will make you feel like you're somewhere else, somewhen else, someone else.

[Bidding instructions soon to come...]

#writing for a good cause #i'm excited; hopefully you're excited #i really hope i get more than zero bids 😅 #ac odyssey #kassandra #kyssandra #fth 2024

[cyrilvows]

Wizard Dad AU 101!

it occurred to me recently I should probably explain what's going on here, shouldn't I? this is going to cover approximately where everything is when the manga begins with some extra details here and there! it is, of course, an OC thing, so prepare for mild confusion in case I miss some things (despite there only being a couple OCs to speak of so y'know. I've got one job) but please don't be afraid to ask about anything if you're interested! everything here is subject to change thanks to this AU being very much a work in progress but with a bit of luck I'll remember to update it. now, on with the show!

basics!

the Wizard Dad AU, a.k.a WDAU, is probably the closest Black Butler can come to a "good end" and that's simply because the Kids™ encounter an adult who cares who won't go evil or like. die

to address the elephant in the room, the demons are around... just strictly forbidden from interacting with the kids. by demons, I mean Sebastian and Hannah, known in this AU as Crow and Bluebell. Claude fucked around and found out what happens when you test a mage.

as you could probably tell, the real Ciel is alive here! as such, he and his twin brother are gonna act a little different from what you would expect from canon! in a lot of feel-good ways but also lots of sad ways, we all know what they went through after all.

Mey-Rin, Bard, Finny, Tanaka, gang's all still here! I'm far enough in the manga to know of all the blue cult and revenge stuff but I haven't actually read it yet... I do tend to spoil myself with wikis though, so I like to think I have a decent grasp on how they all came into the picture, barring Tanaka of course.

I think that's all the basics... onto the boys!

Casimir Phantomhive

Casimir, the youngest I suppose, Our Ciel! I gave him my own name because I Wanted To. it was almost Renard or Octavius. *shivers.* might give him his eyepatch back idk

he's still the protagonist, he's just sharing that spot with his brothers now! I'll do my best to divvy up the story between them evenly while keeping them all involved but Casi's still going to get his moments to shine, as always.

Casi's the main operator of Funtom and the most aggressive of the two Watchdogs. having his brother cannot quell his need for revenge alone, especially not when Ciel's bloodlust isn't that different... I say "most aggressive" but they're both pretty brutal little buggers - they may not have a demon butler but by God they'll still mess you up and you can't do SHIT because their dad is over their shoulder at all times when they're on the Watchdog clock.

he still tries to keep a lid on the fact he struggled with asthma as a child (and may still) but it's very difficult to keep secrets from your guardian when you have two protective and nosy brothers.

honest to god he WILL kill you if you come near Ciel with a sharp object. Casi doesn't hesitate.

he's all around average with the magic lent to him and his brothers by their father. he has potential, he just needs to mature and "sit with it" for a bit longer.

when he met Alois he honestly didn't expect to feel such familial affection for him, but they share some trauma they found; they may not be as tight knit as Casimir and Ciel, but that's to be expected. Casimir and Alois could easily fool anyone that they had always been brothers.

he took the longest to acclimate to him and Ciel being home and having a new guardian. however, he puts deep trust in the man he was the last to call "father" - he may still be unlearning a lot of Victorian ideals about family and blood but he's comfortable saying they have a solid father-son bond by now.

Ciel Phantomhive

the real Ciel Phantomhive who managed to dodge the grave thanks to a last minute magical intervention! while he does officially hold the titles "Earl of Phantomhive" and "Queen's Watchdog", he and Casimir split all their work down the middle for the most part, including managing Funtom.

he's probably the most deprogrammed from his Victorian noble upbringing. not to say his father taught him to abide by some variation of "live like you won't see tomorrow", but hey, no matter what time period you're from, if you were to look death in the eye like he did, would it be at all shocking if you developed such a philosophy? that said, he still plays his cards right in front of the other nobles! he saves his more "unsavoury" (by Victorian standards, y'know, like abandoning your manners in the company of others) urges for when he's working as the Watchdog.

he's similarly protective of Casimir as Casi is of him. he may not be a sharpshooter but he's found himself quite gifted with the magic his father lent to them all! basic or not, it's still enough to scar a grown man for life when used right.

I know I said Casimir was the last to call their father "father" but technically it was Ciel. Ciel already thought of their father as such but waited for Casimir to say it first because he didn't want him to think he'd just moved on from their biological parents like that. they did end up talking about it after months of the man's insistence that "communication is key", a little after which Casimir uttered his first "good morning father", which told Ciel he was okay to do the same.

his relationship with his father is similar to Casi's in that he trusts him as much as an ordinary son trusts his loving father, but he finds himself unwilling to rely on him too much because of his upbringing. though, unlike Casimir, he's good at acknowledging when he truly needs help and will allow himself to be looked after when necessary. after all, what good is he to the Queen and his family if he runs himself out of commission? his words, not mine.

oh right and there's no marriage happening. father spooked him and Lizzy out of it with a lesson on the Hapsburgs.

Alois Trancy

Alois. dear sweet Alois. his separation anxiety with their father is something else. he can usually be found hanging off his arm with big eyes that say "if you hurt me papa will GET you". though he was the last of these three to come into the picture, he's attached to their father at the hip most hours like they had been together his whole life.

he has a monthly budget cap on how much he can give to charity. his father and brothers love him very much, but after the incident where he set a foundation for the next year with a single cheque, they decided it best he be limited. he whines about it sometimes but has seen his generosity spread to his brothers; their father always put a bit aside every month for some charity work anyway, so he's happy either way.

he's awful at like... noble-ing. he has to keep it polite for the sake of his family but he hates it. however, he's allowed to let his true colours fly when dealing with criminals and "undesirables" of london! despite being the most blasé with violence and colourful language, he's also the most merciful. if ever there are children involved in a case, he's usually the first out the door when it comes time to move out.

yes, much to the annoyance of the twins, he more often than not accompanies them on their missions - how couldn't he?! he is looking out for his little brothers and they will like it! if they don't want him watching over them then they would do best to keep themselves out of trouble, but they can't do that, now can they? now stop whining Casimir.

his weapon of choice is a sword, something that has inexplicably made him friends with dear Lizzy! it's a true spectacle watching the two of them practice together. he's no whizz with his magic but he makes good use of it to say it's only meant to bring him to the level of the average mage, power-wise. excessive use tends to tire him out quickly because his body isn't built for it, but who is he to ignore an excuse to have their father pay some special attention to him?

he wasn't in his contract with Claude for very long and doesn't exactly know what happened to him, so he tends to just go with what father said. "he was a demon after all, a sated one at that. he was in no desperate struggle for souls and must have seen no use in chasing yours. for the better, really."

a feature of his bedroom is... I won't call it a nightlight, it's a projection of the night sky on the cover/roof bit of his bed. it's not the brightest thing but it does let him see in what would otherwise be complete darkness. for this reason no one but the people who know that his father's a mage are allowed in his room.

he's in charge of teaching the twins how to just be kids and play and have fun without scrutiny. he was shocked when he found out what a noble upbringing was really like, so he's doing his best to wedge the silver spoons out, little by little... this does occasionally get them all in trouble, but what fun is it if you're not being a bit naughty, hm?

The Wizard Dad

the man, the myth, the wizard, this is our Wizard Dad; one Finnegan Haresfoot, a High Nature Mage! you know that trope of someone going back in time and dating some historical figure that they maybe gazed at some portraiture of with some longing intrigue in a museum or something, or perhaps studied as their specialised field of history? that's him except he adopted the historical figure(s) and irreparably screwed up the timeline out of inexplicable paternal instinct. normal gay wizard things.

he about fills in Sebastian's role but also not? like he fills in the blanks where Sebastian's demonic abilities once filled, such as collecting documents or ferrying the boys around by means other than horseback, carriage or boat.

he's running on about 3 hours of sleep and a prayer at all times, please bear with him. he loves his sons very much, more than he ever thought possible for a man who had never desired to have children in his life and with such ferocity that it's... almost concerning. Viscount Druitt will never escape what he did to Casimir and Ciel and Finn takes great pleasure in stopping the clock to slap him in the middle of a function, just to carry on whistling innocently while the Viscount nurses the giant red palm mark on his face, utterly confused as to what just happened.

he's gifted with woodcarving and sculpture and started a figurine business soon after his arrival in the victorian era. his pieces are made from anything from maple and pine to marble and quartz and their price tags are enough to make the average working man gag. they usually only depict a few figures, occasionally in a scene, though he does do the odd private commission for the other nobles because they pay well. he has a few throughout the manor of scenes depicting his sons going about their daily lives - profoundly unremarkable moments to them most of the time but all precious memories to him.

Lizzy's parents aren't very fond of him, specifically Francis. his hair might as well be a bird nest to her, he ended their children's engagement and looks at her like she's the crazy one when it comes up! safe to say neither of them look forward to interacting with each other but Finn maintains a veil of friendliness for the sake of his sons (and for Lizzy, quite frankly). he did take a lot of her criticism to heart towards the start of his time here, after all, he's hardly noble by birth like her or their children, so what better way to learn how to be a proper victorian noble than from a real victorian noble?

she isn't his love interest but he's a bit of a wife guy with Grelle - in his time, Grim Reapers are hardly seen at all! she's a truly rare specimen to him, a beautiful one at that. she may have tried to kill him a few times but that's just water under the bridge to him! his sons are thoroughly fed up with their theatrics when they're let loose together.

on that note, he is married! no, his wife isn't his love interest either and the marriage was very much advantageous, you see Delilah and her girlfriend were getting dangerously close to being found out by Delilah's family, a fact Finn managed to weasel out of her at a party after letting her know as discreetly as possible that he's also a fruit. a few letter exchanges and a visit to her parents to introduce himself and his sons (much to their dismay) later, the church bells rang and Delilah moved into the Phantomhive Manor, safe to continue her relationship in secret. she's not "mother" to the boys, she's more of a cool lesbian aunt who happens to live with them, you feel? she and Finn are excellent at fooling the rest of high society into thinking they're actually in love because of how close they are, they're glad to have found each other in the hell that is victorian high society.

Finn is a man of weak will but great power. he cannot tell his sons "no" if they want some sweets but he can and will turn you inside out if you say something wrong in front of him, especially if it's about his boys.

he is trans AND autistic

finally, he ended up in the victorian era purely by accident, but if he could go back and do it again... he would. he's no ideal parent by the standards of the time, nor will he ever be a perfect dad, but he does his best for his boys and makes a good effort to keep them safe from what perils he can. be it an injury (big or small), struggles with documents or just a nightmare, they all know they can go to him when they need him and he'll be there for them, no matter what they need. there's a lot of love and laughs in the Phantomhive Manor in this AU.

WOOOOO THAT GOT LONG!!! thank you so much for reading that behemoth and reaching the end! uhhhh closing thoughts: I love my sons and though they will face many trials and tribulations they now have a dad. he's really bad at not adopting every disenfranchised child he meets but shh shhh... I'd say Book of Circus is probably one of if not the most important arc in this one? idk maybe I'm biased because the kids get a sister and a second dad (they just won't know it until it descends upon them). I have listened to Whisper by Burn The Ballroom too many times because of this AU. what started as a coping and comfort thing for me has evolved into like. an actual Thing good heavens. originally there was a lot more backstory in this but I've decided to save it for a separate post because it's just long. but anyway, I hope you enjoy my silly little AU and have a nice day <3

#cyrille scribbles #black butler #kuroshitsuji #wizard dad au #alois trancy #ciel phantomhive #casimir phantomhive #real ciel #our ciel #finn haresfoot #this took me like #3 days #*collapses* #whisper is like the anthem of this AU #along with light in the hallway by pentatonix #isabella's lullaby. Finn does actually sing that to them sometimes. #and that one fuckin song from inuyasha fuckinnn #ok i can't find a title but inuyasha's lullaby you know the one #YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART. CELTIC WOMAN. YES #i need to shut up and make a playlist #the actual Kid Tally™ is 6 now. the Phantomhive Manor is very full #Casimir Ciel and Alois all feel very loved and adored #even if they have maybe beaten up a few of their siblings a few times #no word on Sascha bc I'm not that far yet but Freckles we know what happened in BoC #Joanne is the wet towel cringe fail child but he's also the only normal one #snowball fights are like actual wars #my friends have almost universally called Finn a dilf so I'm just running with that #anyway #END POST

[airlock]

I’ve been pretty scarce lately, haven’t I? last week this was because uni was demolishing me, but lately, it’s been more about, ehum, the downside of spending like 50% of your social time in Fire Emblem communities when a new game releases, precisely in the middle of the aforementioned demolishment by uni

I’m still probably going to be ignoring non-direct notifications for the next while or so, but now that I’ve finally gotten my hands on the shiny new toy too, I’m eager to become part of the problem for everyone else!

and on that note, I’m here to post my impressions of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes as of the start of ch4

maybe this should go without saying, but goddamn, the DIFFERENCE that it makes to be back to having a protagonist with their very own dialogue as well as a discrete personality. Shez and Arval’s back-and-forths really get the most out of the “gremlin living rent-free in your brain constantly complaining about your dumb ass decisions” by actually having two participants to it. even the none-too-revelant dialogue pick prompts are a lot nicer now that Shez will actually verbalize the option that you pick, which also means you really get the most out of all the funny and/or mean options-

also, Arval is cute and I want to pinch her cheeks no matter how gross the texture there probably is

plus she forced Shez not to call Alois out on telling dad jokes. she gets it

on a related note, I’ve only had this version of Byleth for like three voiced lines, and I’ve already seen more charisma than anything they’ve done in the entirety of Three Houses. y’know, Jeannie Tirado is a phenomenal voice actress -- actually giving her lines to read brings that out all of a sudden, who woulda thunk? (somewhere between this and Xander Mobus complaining about how few actual lines he had as Persona 5 Joker, I’m arriving at the perhaps bygone conclusion that one should maybe not waste highly talented voice actors on silent protagonists-)

anyway, it’s funny as hell to me that they went to all the bother of setting up the whole “hey, you’re a garreg mach student now!” thing, only to shut the academy down and send everyone home in 2 chapters. also I hope Leonie got a refund-

I’m digging the gameplay so far; I was a bit worried that it seemed to be trying to spin too many unique plates at once -- I will, of course, really see yet how all these interlocking systems hold up throughout an entire game, but in this early juncture, it actually feels like everything has a place and nothing is encroaching too hard on anything else.

on the other hand, though, I think I can see what people mean when they said the original Fire Emblem Warriors was surprisingly headache-inducing for a Warriors game. I enjoy the tactical aspect, but it feels like it comes at the detriment of direct gameplay; you decide what everyone’s going to do, it feels awesome, and then you’re like, wait, what am *I* going to do now-

(”I never quite understand which character I’d rather be playing as at a given time” was also a thing that hassled me in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, though, so I guess this is just how Warriors game are designed now. that, or I had it too good with the original Hyrule Warriors)

also, apropos of nothing, but I’d not realized how fucking sweet Ignatz’s new outfit is back at the character trailers. holy fucking hell the man is oozing drip alongside all that paint

(ETA: and how could I forget to mention Holst??? they had me at “ProZD is doing his voice btw” and what can I say, promised and delivered)

if you’ve been beholding my wretched reactions to things so far, though, you know what the thing I’ve REALLY been looking forward to in this game is. and...

just the ch4 basecamp has already hit me with TWO long documents about little details about the Alliance, including new details about the local economy as well as more lords, territories, and details thereof. even Acheron has a household name and even a full name now! and they went and gave him one of the most badass fucking full names of anyone in this verse-- but I digress; I can see I’m going to be eating out of this game’s hand when it comes to worldbuilding. which is to say, I’m high up in the clouds right now, ready for Claude’s first named murdercousin (brother, apparently?) to fly by with his wyvern and kill me instantly.

#my stupid text posts #Fire Emblem is tagged in this post #Fódlan FE is tagged in this post

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

fire emoji + Black Butler. insert smirking emoji here lmao. also fire emoji + grishaverse ships, fire emoji + grishaverse narrative endings/wrap-ups

Black Butler:

OMG I have so many soapboxes here, where do I even begin?? I will give you a laundry list

- Black Butler occupies this really weird place where the subject matter is incredibly dark and yet the tone is light and feels like it’s initially aimed at younger audiences. It’s something I have a lot of mixed feelings about! Because on the one hand jfc it really should not be shown to younger people. The earlier arcs especially are just really hijinksy (despite the backstory consistently being real grim) and then we get to BoC where it’s like “Ciel gets triggered so bad he decides to immolate a bunch of orphans! anyway!” like ???

But also I did personally get into it back in the day as a baby and latched on pretty hard because there’s fucking nothing out there about CSA survivors. Even now tbh? And idk it’s nice to have something with a survivor protagonist where trauma is intrinsic to the storyline while also not being overpowering/the only aspect of the narrative. It’s still a story about dumb mysteries and idk supernatural bullshit. Idk, I just wish it was more even handed in letting the audience know what kind of content to expect and also less… creepy…

- That paired with how impossible the anime is to get into, and the endless filler have really contributed to the IP just being run into the ground. Like the anime at this point is kind of just catered to existing fans. It’s already demonstrably unlikely for uninvested new people to sit through the really bad early art and weird non canon filler content in the early seasons, and a *series* ending to then jump to an entire new timeline that retcons 90% of what previously happened lmao. Meanwhile manga fans are less active because we’ve been dragged through the same fucking storyline for 5+ years at this point and there’s only just been any real movement. And like Yana is clearly putting in less effort bc of TWST (which fair, Disney’s where the money is) but yeah no fucking wonder it’s all downhill.

- 2CT was terrible writing (the way NO ONE ever mentioned a dead sibling??) but it was hilarious and also Yana Toboso’s best writing choice in this series ahgsjgd

- FUCK Sebastian! Hate that bitch! Also want to see him be more evil ASAP. It’s really funny when fans get like. upset. that he’s doing demon shit. Anyway I can’t believe we see that his true form is gelatinous eldritch eye blob (gee that sounds familiar lmfao) and it came up ONCE and never again! I demand body horror

- I know I’ve already told you this but season two was bad but Alois was good!! He used to be pretty controversial before, but atm the fandom mostly seems to like him? Finally some good taste. Also I’m forever upset that Yana apparently considered writing him into the Weston arc and then didn’t? We were robbed.

- LBR we’re never getting a Weston arc adaptation…

Grishaverse:

- I’ve somehow managed to immediately dislike any ship LB has tried to make endgame. Idk I just do not like how she handles endgame ship conflict— it’s always very Gender Roles ime? Like exhibit A is Malina’s everything.

And then Kanej (rip I know it’s both the fan favorite and your favorite) is very cut and dry goodhearted girl demands cruel dude to change. And like it was. fine I guess? I’m not meaning to insult them by including them with Malina lol but it was just boring and not my thing. And it didn’t help that Inej kept being taken hostage, hurt, or somehow threatened to spur Kaz into action. Like I don’t think it was done in a particularly bad way! It just personally put me off the ship.

Then with Zoyalai it’s like slightly better where Nikolai entire thing is like “I am a wilting flower within a gilded cage! I must marry for politics but I would like to marry for love. Specifically my hot gruff general who doesn’t seem to give a damn about me 🥺” Like that is a FANTASTIC basis tbh? But then you already know how I feel about her throwing his father’s portrait into the fire. And then the bit where Zoya has to be in mortal peril for Nikolai to learn how to control his demon completely killed it for me.

- LOL well I don’t think there’s been a truly good wrap up in this series yet? LB is good at throwing things on the page that feel conclusive/follow face value beats. But I can’t think of a single book, let alone series wrap up, that actually tied things up well.

S&B, literally the first book, comes the closest imo? And that’s partly because it’s definitively not a wrap up, it’s obviously the start of a larger story. Also points taken off for the climactic choices about mercy having fuck all to do with anything the earlier story laid out.

After that, I think it’s a tie between CK and RoW for best wrap ups? And that’s not saying much, I didn’t really like what she did with either of them structurally, thematically, or just like on a content “where are the characters at?” level. Again, I think she only understands tropes and recurring beats in endings without fully getting the function of what makes them work and why. (an example being both the SoC duology and TGT operating on an “ending right where you started” circular arc to varying degrees of um. arguable. success)

I might be slightly crankier about this because I haven’t the read the books in awhile lol. I tend to remember things either with undue generosity or ire 😂 But yeah tldr on grishaverse wrap ups: I don’t like them!

Send me a 🔥 and a topic and I’ll give you an unpopular opinion on it!

#i ramble sometimes #🔥 unpopular opinion meme #black butler #kuroshitsuji #grishaverse #I ramble sometimes #all the bendy punctuations

[randomnameless]

 The CoS, during the 5 years timeskip :

- looked for Rhea

- ran away to avoid being murdilated by Imperial soldiers

- fought in some skirmishes against the Imperial Army

Some asshat :

“Oh you thought Rhea would be here? Well, given the state of the Monastery - the place you were ousted from and is under control of the enemy who want to kill you, the very same enemy who knows it was your former base of operation - I doubt she would have stayed here, since it’s a ruin!”

A clown :

Yeah! This is an important location for the church. To think you've left it in such a state!

The very same character, during the 5 years timsekip :

Good work, Hilda! You didn't do much manual labor, but you managed to rope the knights into helping us restore the monastery.

Thanks, Claude, but all I did was piggyback on your scheme. I saw your eyes telling me to make some magic happen!

Random good guy :

Thank you so much for your help with the restoration.

earlier clown

Oh please, it was nothing! We're just doing our part as former students.

Given what Hilda earlier said to Claude, she’s blatantly lying to Alois here, as she never gave a fuck about the Monastery and they are counting on the Knights to clean up Garreg Mach to use it as a base of operations - pretending to do so to ”inspire the hearts and minds” of the people of Fodlan, when they gave their real reason earlier :

After all, it's right in the middle of Fódlan. It's a critical strategic location.

TFW Golden Shower was right under our noses all along - Clout uses pretty words and sentiments to move the people’s hearts along in whatever direction he wants, when underneath he is much more pragmatic - it’s a nice change from the usual blue lord protagonist, but to him, “allies” are just means to reach a certain end - it’s less important and ultimately has less casualties than his gambit in Golden Shower - where Randolph was fodderized - but helping the Church, despite Billy’s wishes here and there, is just a mean to his ends.

Good thing that after witnessing Flamey and her acolytes, VW’s Claude knows that there are means he will never touch or consider, even if he could reach his ends more easily.

And Good thing #2 that this Claude is still early!VW!Claude, who ultimately changes his mind later on, and who apparently really starts to buy in his own “shonen hero speech” words.

#FE16 #a villain you can't hate uh? #I see the villain stuff like manipulating and lying to allies who are in deep shit and kind of ask for your help #as you have to find a reason to occupy their home without using force #but the can"t hate part? Sorry #I always had difficulties to read his character #and this stuff he pulled isn't helping #granted the Hilda is sensitive thing can be thrown to the wolves now #even if it was to play along saying 'wow how could you leave your home like that in ruins' when they were ousted by the very people who #made ruins of it is ugh

[movedtoferinehuntress]

🎮 — favorite video game(s)? (please talk about hzd + why you love it)

Oh man, everyone beware I'm about to lose my mind because I will not stop talking about this.

So anyone who knows me, absolutely knows how much I love LOVE

L O V E

Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. Like this is THE game of the century that has to be played by everyone. One is just the absolutely ingenious concept of this futuristic world where humans are basically "restarting" and you have these tribes and clans and societies and the absolutely devotion and care that Guriella put into it to make it not just believable but absolutely realistic. I'm telling you, my Anthrpological heart SOARS because they did their research, the dung in deep and hard and did not skimp on ANYTHING. Not just that, but Aloy. FREAKING ALOY! THIS BEAUTIFUL AMAZING FEMALE PROTAGONIST THAT IS UNFORGIVING AND RUTHLESS BUT KIND AND COMPASSIONATE! Like fuck yeah, this woman is tender but she's not soft. She is bold but not arrogant. She knows her shit and she knows it good!

Just omfg, If anything, play the game for Aloy! And look at her!

she has features that I don't often see in Protagonist!! She has a round face, a soft chin, she has sunburnt cheeks and wild hair. She's not tall and she has no hour glass figure. She is literally, not something I've seen in term of female characters and yet SHE'S ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AND AMAZING AND I WILL NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO HURT HER!!!

Okay, but then, THEN! IF THAT ISN'T ENOUGH!!! The features in the game itself. These producors, artist, everyone behind it who created HZD/HFW went into depth to create believable beautiful scenary in the game. I'm sorry, but I am one of those players that love graphics. I LOVE IMMERSING MYSELF IN BEAUTIFUL SCENARY! And let me tell you not only is the scenery beautiful BUT THEY USE REAL LIFE LOCATIONS!

From the Last Vegas Strip to The Golden Gate Bridge. There is Zion Human History Museum and Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. You also revisit places like Sequoia National Park or Los Angeles Aqueduct. And these are locations in California, New Mexico, Nevada, places up in Colorado and Utah. I mean DAMN! I CAN SHOW YOU ALL THE PICTURES!!!

And The characterization! Each character is 3D, complex and in depth. You got villains yes, but these villains are just, so much more then black and white. Their history, reasoning, why tehy are. Like hell, DO NOT GIVE REGALLA A DAMN REDEMPTION ARC! There is no need for it, because Regalla in her right is a hero in her eyes! Like the woman feels absolutely betrayed by her clan and what she went through can you blame her? Like I'm sorry, but I love how unforgiving she is and that she won't say she's sorry because in her eyes, she is right. And I love this complexity in characters! And the Zenith, holy shit! HOLY SHIT! And then Aloy's characterization and her absolute growth form Horizon Zero Dawn to Horizon Forbidden WEst and omfg I can't what for Horizon 3 to see what happens just.

I will stop now, but I literally, this game. THIS GAME! This is the only game that matters to me. I have replayed HZD and HFW at least 10 times each. There is so much in them and it never ends. I love these games and I so suggest playing them <3

#hexcoremagician #[panda speaks] — ooc post. #yeah I do not feel sorry for this #I will scream about it

[fireemblems24]

Post Grondor Field AM Analysis

I'm prefacing this by saying that I'm still not sure I can write a good analysis of this scene for two reasons:

1. I don't know what comes after, and

2. I'm very emotionally involved in what happened.

But I tried my best. One thing is for sure though, what happened in Grondor in AM was an incredibly significant turning point for AM and Dimitri and my thoughts and analysis on it will definitely expand as I keep writing about and playing the game.

Part of me is just so happy I got to see Dimitri's supports, have the inevitable turn around, and get to do things like tea and dinner time again that it's hard to be objective about this scene.

And by "this scene," I don't mean that actual fight at Grondor, but everything from Fleche's attack to Byleth's words in the rain later.

It wasn't all about Byleth . . .

Given how poignant Dimitri's character arc has been so far, I had a deep rooted fear player-pandering would ruin it. Byleth, as a concept, isn't bad, but too often the heaps of praise feel underserved and other things (like Claude's intelligence, Edelgard's relationships with everyone else) get ignored to make more room for player-pandering.

Thankfully this did not happen. Byleth, throughout the early chapters of AM's part 2, failed to reach Dimitri. And, honestly, seeing Byleth actually struggle for once has done wonders for how I view her character. Still, I worried that player-pandering-power, rather than something that felt earned, would cause the inevitable eye-opener for Dimitri.

But it wasn't just Byleth. Fleche's vengeance kicked everything off, what veered Dimitri away from his fate in other routes. He accepted his death at her hands, not bothering to defend himself. Rodrigue stepping in the way and his parting words forced Dimitri to confront things he'd ignored. Throughout AM so far, people have posed questions to Dimitri who refused to answer them because he didn't want to face what they asked. But Rodrigue dying for him, spending his final words telling Dimitri to live for himself - combined with Fleche's attack - forced Dimitri to confront things he avoided. It wasn't until after all of that when Byleth steps in.

And Byleth didn't "fix" him either. Dimitri's supports show a young man who's still very much struggling with his mental health, poor self-image, his previous actions, and wondering if he deserves not only to live for himself - but if he even deserves to live. Byleth didn't hand-wave Dimitri's problems away.

Everything about the scene is stronger because it didn't fall back on player-pandering, but more earned, realistic, and dramatic actions and consequences - including Byleth's involvement which felt far more earned than usual because of prior failure.

But I wish Dimitri's friends played a bigger role.

Not everything was perfect though. I wish we got a little more than we did from Dimitri's house mates - especially his childhood friends Sylvain, Ingrid, and extra special mention to Felix and especially, especially Dedue.

Throughout all of AM, none of the above mentioned characters feel utilized to their full potential. This isn't a problem exclusive to AM, and by all means it's far from the biggest offender, but given how close all the ties are in AM, it's felt when it's not there.

I still don't know what exactly I would've done with them. Maybe I'd need to make the game an actual novel to do it, and you can't forget how perma-death has historically held back games at times, limiting major moments to a select few "retreat" candidates.

Still, though, getting a bit more from Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, and Dedue would've made the scene even more powerful.

I actually really liked the scene in the rain.

I haven't made it a secret that I dislike Byleth. Or maybe disliked is more accurate. Lately I've been rethinking my stance on Byleth, in part because I've heard from people who like her or found ways to make her work and from my own thinking about the game while planning future write ups.

I don't think it's Byleth I really dislike, but the player-pandering. Separating the two isn't easy, but it's easier since I've starting coming around to seeing Byleth as her own character.

There's been a few moments that made me care for Byleth, and this scene in the rain was one of them. Because she didn't just fix everything. She tried and failed for months to reason with Dimitri, and despite everything she never gave up on him or failed to keep offering her hand.

I'm not going to lie. I got all the bubbly, heartwarming, heartbreaking feels the writers wanted me to in this scene. Seeing Byleth reach for something and fail, and then finally, finally get through was rewarding in a way many of Byleth's prior accomplishments aren't because this one felt earned. And by God did she earn it.

Some people will likely disagree with that last point, but I disagree with them. She asked Dimitri hard-hitting questions, forcing him to come to unpleasant conclusions rather than trying to force him into anything. She kept Dimitri from veering to far off course, even at expense to herself when she killed Randolph. She saved Dimitri from Fleche when he refused to save himself. She quietly supported him, coaxing out the good she knew was still there and refused to give up on.

I'd never in a million years say someone in real life should put up with Dimitri's toxic behavior and verbal abuse, even considering his extreme trauma and aggravated mental illness. But seeing someone fuck up so badly still get forgiven, still get supported, still struggle but honestly change for the good, still get loved, start to accept and forgive himself through the power of love and forgiveness from others is very powerful, especially since media so often downplays those "softer" things as weakness in comparison to the "badassery" of ambition and stoicism. Using Byleth, who previously had little experience with feelings, who was encouraged to experience them in healthy ways by Dimitri, return the favor isn't really the worst choice.

It's cliche, but cliches aren't always bad.

The mentor dies. Redemption in the rain. Revenge against the protagonist's actions opens their eyes. Etc . . . This scene was chuck full of cliches, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Tropes serve an important narrative purpose because a writer can rely on them to convey a message to the audience that either saves time or sets them up for something unexpected or even expected. Fire Emblem has always and will always be incredibly cliche and full of tropes. It loves tropes so much there's in-universe ones that make some unit or character discussions sound like a foreign language to people outside of or new to the fandom, talking about "Ests" and calling someone a "Camus."

What matters is if a story pulled something off well, not if it's terribly unique. A mentor dying is powerful because it forces the student to grow. Redemption in the rain is high symbolic of water washing things away + the somber atmosphere rain creates. Someone trying to get revenge against a character provides an eye-opening experience about the ripple effect of their actions. We see these things in fiction all the time because they work.

All the tropes worked like expected in this scene. Using images instead of cut scenes did make less of an impact, but more on that later.

Tl;dr: There's nothing unexpected or terribly unique about what happened. It was honestly painfully predictable, but that doesn't make it bad and is in a series that does this all of the time.

The voice acting carried because those images can't.

A major downside to this scene is that it used vague images instead of a cut scene. I get that budget and time were likely concerns, but many cut scenes from earlier in the game seem rather trivial. Did we really need that dance one? Really? I don't think so.

This was a hugely important, action heavy moment. Using one or two still images to convey everything that's happening and all those emotions, really makes it less than it could've been.

That said, the voice acting saves it. I've raved about how amazing Chris Hackeny is as Dimitri, so nothing new here. Rodrigue's and Fleche's VAs also did a fantastic job. No one oversold or undersold the emotions. Even without the cut scene, you felt what happened thanks to the skill of the actors. This scene would've been so much harder to engage with without them, if this was an older FE game where all you got was text. This is 100% one of the moments highly elevated by the decision to have a fully voiced game and choosing high caliber talent (let's not talk about Radiant Dawn's voice acting).

Questionable support timing.

One issue I had came right after the scene when I viewed Dimitri's supports. The nature of some - like his with Raphael and Alois - didn't quite line up with the character I saw in dialogue right after. I wish they staggered them a bit more or got picker about what you could get in part 1 or 2.

This isn't limited to Dimitri either. In the same support batch, I also got a Marianne B support where she still had no confidence or self-worth. And then like 10 minutes later I talk to her in the monastery and she mentions about how seeing all the death in Grondor made her value her life even more.

In the past, I've also received entirely valid opinions that Dorothea in part 2 is hard to understand because she's cherry and flirty in her supports, and morose and hates the war in her monastery stuff, making her seem inconsistent.

It's a bit jarring. It's not really an issue for characters who don't change much like Edelgard or Raphael, but even for characters with more subtle differences than Dimitri, Marianne, and Dorothea - like, say, Lorenz - you get a lot of weird stuff because of supports. I just think Dimitri's stands out because he's a main character with a really prominent, important turning point for his growth.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #azure moon #fe3h #fe16

[subfunctions]

Since you’re talking narrative themes, do you have any thoughts on games with a straight forward story (HZD, TLOU) versus games that let you make choices and affect the ending of the game (Until Dawn, Detroit Becoming Human)? When do you think one version works over the other? It’s interesting to see people say when they want choices simply because they don’t like the story (like people who wanted to chose whether or not to kill Abby in TLOU2) when choice has never factored into it before. If say HFW suddenly let you have huge choices like whether to reveal the truth of the Faro Plague and the birth of their world to everyone or to hide it and keep them in ignorance m, that would feel out of nowhere.

Sometimes I really enjoy games with choices, but at the same time, I think choice-based RPGs have warped people's perceptions of video games. So people will think that every game needs choices or romance options, or that a game is less without them, when many of them simply don't require those options. I'm very content to just go along for the ride with a fully-formed protagonist, and I think it's insanely jarring to suddenly have to make choices for an established character.

A game where this works is Ghost of Tsushima, which has only one big choice at the end, and it's a good one. I knew what my choice would be pretty quickly, but that's only because I was thinking in terms of one particular theme among many. If I had been thinking from the POV of the protagonist, I would have struggled a lot more, and I could honestly see either choice playing out without going against his characterization, which speaks volumes to the care and nuance put into the game. It's an emotionally devastating moment that is completely earned via characterization and the sweeping themes present in the game, and it's an example of how to factor choice into a narrative-based game. (If you watch reaction videos for the ending, that moment evokes a near-universal "oh god oh fuck oh no, don't make me choose" feeling in the best possible way.)

A game where choice works to make the narrative incredibly strong is Prey (2017). I can't really get into it without huge spoilers, but one of the core themes of the game is agency and the illusion of choice, and the struggle of making difficult choices, and the game is absolutely self-aware of the fact that choices in video games are manufactured and not true choices. It's good as hell, and the presence of choice in the game doesn’t undermine a coherent narrative focused on themes above all else.

Right now, I'd probably put Prey, Ghost of Tsushima, and Horizon Zero Dawn as my top three games, so that should tell you how I feel about them.

Except in special cases, I think every choice introduced into a game does undermine the cohesion, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I love a good choice-based RPG sometimes. Pillars of Eternity is one of my favorites, and I love building player characters from scratch based on the lore. I'm just not going to hold it up as a bastion of excellent writing. Enjoyable, yes, but not always thematically consistent. But games with a lot of choice allow for plenty of creativity and engagement on the part of the player, as well as the enjoyment of exploring different options and endings. These are valuable experiences, especially because video games are one of the few mediums that can create that experience for people.

But getting to experience a narrative-driven story without choice is just as good of an experience, and I kind of wish people would have more nuance when it comes to judging when choice is appropriate vs. when it's not, so that I don't have keep seeing stupid complaints. If Ghost of Tsushima had introduced choice earlier into the narrative, it would have totally undermined the themes of morality-as-control, blind devotion, familial duty, radical action, and breaking with tradition, and it would have done a HUGE disservice to the protagonist's characterization. Sometimes, choices are the worse option, and a narrative-driven story is superior, like experiencing an interactive novel in beautiful 3D color and sound.

And I agree with you, about a big choice like that feeling out of place for Horizon. There's a narrative in which being able to make or reject the same choice as a villainous figure from the past is a good path for a story to take, but that's for a much darker story with a protagonist very different from Aloy.

#asks #mine

[ronnytherandom]

I forgot to watch content all week so i wrote about games ive been playing

9/2/2021: The Truman Show

You should fear your fears but embrace them and use them to guide you into the unknown, to explore and experience what life has to offer. Fear stands between you and the fullest experience of life so you must pass through it to better yourself. Heed not the walls built about you and the chains made to hold you. Though the architects insist it will preserve your life, containment is anathema to life. Do not take in faith the benevolence of powers that be; instead trust those who would support and liberate you, guide you through fear and into life.

As best I can lay it out, I think this is the philosophy of the Truman show but there is so much more to read into it also. There is critique of systems of commodification and celebrity (i.e. capitalism) reducing human beings to a consumable good as well as encouragement to find and pursue your goals despite adversity and even sensibility which is also tied to the illusion of economic responsibility. You can’t put a camera inside a human head, you can never “know” them without being an active and intrinsic part of their life, but also there is need for reciprocation. If one half exists with ulterior motive then the entire relationship is rotten; sincere humanity is what creates real connections. Without such your world is fake. A world built around one person is a world where no one can truly live. All these actors have given up basically their entire lives for the sake of watching Truman have his life built around him by outside forces, have allowed themselves to be commodified and dehumanised for the good of one man, Christoph. The man at the top has delusions of grandeur and thinks only of his own bottom line, he cares not for his subjects but simply wants them to do as he tells them because it benefits him to commodify their lives and interactions. Even then he cannot stand to lose control and in seeking to demonstrate Truman’s “realness” he structures his life so thoroughly that eventually there’s no reality left, only a script and adverts. But the people watching still empathise with Truman because everyone in the working class understands what it is to be trapped because real life is our own Truman show and one day we must all pass through fear, step out of the dome and create a real life for ourselves outside of the system of commodification which consumes everyone’s life and removes all realness and sincerity and emotional catharsis from it.

I unreservedly love this film.

14/2/2021: Assorted Game Reviews

Horizon Zero Dawn (Unfinished due to technical issues, 45 hours inc. parts of Frozen Wilds): This game is really cool and really fun. I think it is defined by its incredible setting which somehow creates a fresh feeling post-apocalyptic environment. Said environment creates intriguing alt-future lore and some very interesting environments to explore. I love the machine designs (especially tallnecks!) and was very sad to hear one of their contributing artists passed away recently but I’m glad their work lives on in this visually stunning game. I’m a sucker for Ubisoft-style open world games simply because it tickles a certain kind of itch and somehow this non-Ubisoft game has outdone Ubisoft on their own formula, which is hilarious, but also good for me as running around this world exploring and clearing map markers is engaging fun. Not least because of the combat. I have a minor criticism here that the combat feels slightly awkward on mouse and keyboard, the arrows never seem to go where I’m aiming, but aside from that the experience of fighting is a grand one. Enemies never lose their threat and I love the weak spot system the game employs which makes every tool useful in niche circumstance and rewards curiosity. It specifically manages this in a way that I feel the Witcher series could learn from if it ever returns; by making head on assault less viable and encouraging tactical hunting. I do feel this system makes hunting robots so fun that by contrast hunting humans becomes a chore however, though I noted this improves in the dlc with the addition of humans with elemental weaknesses limited in number as they are. I cannot speak for the story in entirety but what I encountered was pretty good, though I feel as if it was only just really getting going at the point where I could not continue. I find Aloy to be a compelling and well portrayed protagonist and though I can guess about her origin and the ultimate end of the alt-future apocalypse I still want to see how it plays out on screen, so will return to this as soon as I’ve fixed it.

Rimworld (122 hours. Familiar with but do not own Royalty Expansion):

Rimworld is one of those super special games that I don’t think I have a single problem with. Fair warning it can be brutal and is heavily dependent on RNG but this allows it to create truly unique and interesting scenarios on a constant basis. In the wider perspective it could be described as formulaic, with regular cycles of managing the settlement between raids and random events, but the devils in the details. Colonist traits, health and skills dictate how you play and sometimes you’ll be forced to adapt as some colonists simply refuse to perform some tasks. The depth of health particularly amuses me, in that each little part of someone’s body is modelled in a way. If you’re in a firefight you may take a single bullet which grazes your finger and you’re fine. Alternately it could pierce your human leather cowboy hat, your skull and kill you instantly and the game will tell you exactly what happened. The risk/reward element is addictive enough, and that’s without accounting for just how cool it is to see your colony slowly expand. Establishing more and more options for crafting is fun and shows off the full range of different items in the game which is fucking extensive. Between clothing, weapons, armour, sculpture and drugs to name only a few you have the opportunity to create many varied production lines either for your colonists or to trade for money and there is a lot of fun to be had here as well as it is quite satisfying to see psychoid you have grown personally become the cocaine your colonists snort to help them stay awake on limited sleep. From an archaeologist’s perspective it is especially cool to look back over your base and see the hints of how and why structures were built and remember the history of your limitations and development through structure. I think the lore of the universe is really cool too, a very 40k-esque kind of place except with far less order, somehow. But the universe does an excellent job of feeling alive and moving constantly on both a planetary and interstellar level. You can fully believe that while you build wooden shacks to shield yourself from terrifyingly low temperatures there are simultaneously rich pieces of shit living it up on the glitterworld that’s one system over. The music does an excellent job of creating the wild west frontier atmosphere the game cultivates to great effect. Ultimately, for just being a grid with a series of different numbers attached, this game does a fantastic job of creating a compelling, brutal and very real colony management experience. I dont think I can properly put into words the grandness and scope of this one. I didnt even mention the modding scene, which is expansive and tailors to basically any need you could have. The Rim is a terrifying place but theres so much fun to be had.

Factorio (86 hours, mostly 1.1): Having completed a game of Factorio I can tell you reliably that this is one of the best games ever made, thoroughly addictive and fun. If you like numbers, logistics, TRAINS, its gonna be your thing. Not to mention its probably the only documented case of a game with no bugs (so far as official forums are concerned). Strictly speaking this games combat is not the most engrossing thing but good lord do you feel it when you acquire a flamethrower. The way each aspect of the game (production, research, logistics, combat, upgrades for everything therein) feeds into the next is a really well constructed balancing act such that you must experience the full game in order to complete it and I always appreciate this kind of design. I think its one of the best tenets of factory game design especially as its something present in Satisfactory too. Beyond all of this generalised good the game is also excellent in its intricacies, the architecture necessary to build a maximum efficiency base, the level of planning and organisation that can be employed is mind-blowing. Not to mention the mod community, factorion is already an extensive experience and some mad bastards have seen fit to complicate it further, hats off to them. This really is a great moment in gaming.

 Destiny 2 (198 hours, all expansions, played some post Forsaken release, mostly Season of Arrivals onwards, spent roughly £20 on microtransactions):

This is a very interesting and enjoyable experience, but I must say it can be a bit controversial at times. What its does particularly well is moment to moment gameplay and design in all aspects. The game is stunning; between environments, cosmetics, shaders ships and ghosts there’s a vast range of incredible things to see, all rooted in the “pseudo-magi-science” aesthetic it’s got going on. The class design is excellent and you really do feel like you embody this rampaging madman / agile gunman / space wizard archetype, whichever you choose to play. The abilities, especially supers, are very satisfying. Everything has heft and power behind it which can be felt in all aspects of design; sound and animation is top notch. Movement is cool, you can feel how fast you move both on foot and in vehicles and the navigation has a little fun subtlety depending on your class jump, even if you can bounce unpredictably occasionally. But for the love of god why is the wall kick in there? It has only ever served to push me from a ledge into a bottomless pit. You're looking to remove antiquated content? Start there. Some guns are not so good to shoot but there’s such a great range of guns that are fun its like complaining about one drop in an ocean; and enemies are fun to shoot at, each faction distinct in meaningful ways and presenting an effective challenge. Speaking of oceans, that’s one way to describe the lore. I haven’t dived too deep but it keeps going down forever and everything I’ve read is intriguing. As a former Elder Scrolls lore nut this is something I could definitely sink my teeth into, though its much more of a pulpy sci-fi vibe than a pure nonsense vibe. I do think the game has a bit of a loot problem, primarily in regards to the conflict between high stats and looking good. This should never be a conflict, and yes you can apply ornaments to any purple gear but that’s not enough when I spend the entire time grinding power levels and thus must change armour and weapons on a constant basis to progress. This game needs a true transmog system and if not that, rethink how gear power level works. Perhaps rather than earning new instances of gear you always possess a version of it and the loot you acquire in missions just upgrades your instance to your current overall power level? This would serve to do away with the current upgrade system which I think is a needless additional grind. Perhaps it could be retained in using enhancement cores to empower gear as present but necessitating a whole upgrade module to keep your favourite weapon on hand is kind of painful honestly. There is also at present the issue of sunsetting gear, mildly controversial to say the least. If it’s necessary to streamline the game and make it function moving forward so be it but surely loot pools should be adjusted so you can actually get useful loot from older locations? And why sunset personal instances of gear which can be acquired at the regular power level anyway? I had to throw away my favourite bow and hunt down a new version of the exact same weapon for… what reason? I do think destination navigation leaves a little to be desired also. I get that having a physical hub world is meaningful but Destiny does not have a very extroverted community; I can count the times someone noticed me in the tower on one hand. And its not even like there’s fun activities to be found in the same sense as say Deep Rock Galactic, which really does take advantage of its hub. Perhaps for players who simply want to go about their business all of the vendors could be set into a menu system where just clicking an icon takes you to their menu from anywhere in the system rather than, per se, having to go through an entire loading screen (Which takes you to orbit and back) to reach a location which serves simply as the front for four menus. These are established player problems. As a dedicated PvE player I can say that this game is immensely fun in combat and growing in power does feel really good. It’s something I recommend getting into, there’s just some very large creases that need ironing which the Bungie should really take the time to address rather than pushing out new in game content every three months.

#the truman show #horizon zero dawn #rimworld #factorio #destiny 2 #d2 #film #movies #video games #i dont know what im doing #hzd #opinion

[phantom-kiwi]

Some of my favorite moments/sceneries in the game. (I don’t pretend to be good with in-game photo modes so these are more like “oh fuck this place looks great” moments or really just impactful events for me.)

I just finished the game and I have some Thoughts™ that I’ll put under the cut bc that game was GOOD

(Disclaimer: these are personal and not very constructive thoughts I’m having right after finishing the game, no time to cool down or anything, so this is more of a ramble to myself than anything else, but you’re free to read it of course)

Okay so like, a bit of background info, I’ve wanted to play this game since 2017, but at the time I only owned a Switch and a computer so I couldn’t. I got a second-hand PS4 in the second half of 2018 but found the game at a reasonnable price only in summer of 2019, so last year. Given how hyped I was for the game I didn’t want to rush into it and the second half of 2019 was really busy for me so I just. Waited. Fast forward to July, it’s the summer break, I don’t have anything else to worry about until the end of August so I decide to finally install the game. And honestly, I don’t regret anything, I don’t regret waiting until I could properly enjoy the game, it was all worth it because it met and then exceeded all my expectations like few games have before.

I’m a sucker for: open worlds, story-driven games, sci-fi and action-rpgs that use more traditional weapons like bows/swords; HZD has all of these things, combined. From the start it had everything that would suit me. But just the prologue shows you - and you can feel - how good the game is going to be. All the important aspects are already presented to you as you start to guess how much of an impact the protagonist is going to have, and how much you’ll experience with her. Hell, just the montage after the prologue where you see Aloy all grown up had me tear up, because that’s how attached I already was to her after 20 min of play.

The way the game presents the world to you is maybe what got me the most, because it starts, you’re intrigued, but then you keep learning new things that add sense to the way to world is, and you keep learning new things until almost the very end. Few things in games have impacted me the way the first Cauldron I entered did, or the audiologs leading up to you discovering the truth about the Faro plague, or the Zero Dawn project, or even the bits of info that you find in GAIA Prime, which is almost at the end of the game when you shouldn’t be taken by surprise anymore, gives the story a last little twist that revoltes you.

After you’re confronted with the evidence and consequences of the Faro plague, at the very very end, the game reminds you one last time about its message, the one you’ve guessed by now if you’ve been paying at least a bit of attention, which is that you should care and help when you can, because your abilities are useless if they’re used for death. There’s something about the Zero Dawn project and the Alpha Primes, their will to preserve life as best they could even if/when it cost them everything, that really touches me, to the point of making me tear up at the end of the game. The game wants to remind us of how priceless life is, and it does it so well.

I’m still amazed at how the story made me go through pretty much every possible emotion (but mostly happiness, sadness, anger and amazement) and just how well written it was. I love how it didn’t stop at the robot apocalypse, but added the ZD project, with its message of hope instead. Fuck I love this game.

I’d just like to add a last thing about the worldbuilding; I think the idea of integrating robots into the natural order of things in a world like the one in HZD is absolutely bonkers. That’s it. It gives the game a huge personality too. Also the palettes used for the robots are really nice.

I believe HZD to have many many great things about it, but the story, the worldbuilding and even the storytelling are what made - at least for me - this game go from “great game I enjoyed” to “one of my favorite games of all time”. So yeah, welcome to my video game hall of fame, HZD. I hope the sequel is just as good. Ramble over, my heart is full of love for this game.

#long post #horizon zero dawn #hzd #my heart is full of love and my mind is blown away #idk what to do now #thats how much i enjoyed the game #guess ill just vibe for a few days #aaahh id say its fanart time but im not sure i can do the game justice #its like this everytime a game or piece of media becomes one of my favorite pieces ever #happened with bow #happened with de #didnt happen as much with tow but still a bit #so yeah ill try but id be surprised if i come up with anything

[entropic-introspection]

Since Horizon Zero Dawn is now out for PC:

I’m to the point of being able to leave the Embrace, and I still can’t decide how well I like this game. Like, on the one hand, I adore all the designs, Aloy is a fun protagonist, and I appreciate a combat system that rewards caution and precision. On the other hand: a system that rewards caution and precision is not one that works well in the quest mandated fights sprung suddenly upon you wherein I cannot stealth without pulling straight up shenanigans.Clearing the first Cauldron really comes to mind- I get the chance to set up stealth areas all over when there are only minimal threats except for the final fight against a small horde and a big guy?? What?!

Yes, it encourages me to make and use my traps/tripwires more, but like. Those need setup time and positioning, which is not easy in an active firefight (literally a firefight). It’s also annoying to me that by this point I think I’ll have to buy a slinger, just for the ability to more consistently chuck out status effects, because that’s a chunk of an investment for something I don’t know how to use/how well it works. Give your player the basic tools and then let them decide if they want to upgrade, and if you’re giving the option for different playstyles, give them in as many situations as possible. Do not let someone specialize into stealth and then throw them into a grueling head-on fight; do not let someone specialize in berserker bomb rushes and then tell them they must clear a difficult stealth course without a single detection.

The starting area initially made me very wary of the open world concept as well- it gave VERY little reason to explore, with the most of what you would find being resources available essentially anywhere else. Now that the game has opened up it’s better, but it still feels a little tedious to pop my Focus on and off to try and see if anything’s good around, or just stumble over it randomly. Also annoying is attempting to figure out what is fucking climbable, although the Skyrim method of “I will jump until I get up this goddamn mountain” seems to work relatively well on shallower slopes.

The story so far is fairly good, if a little... not exactly predictable, but uh... prone to stereotypical tropes I guess? Some of which I don’t think are meant in harmful ways but like. Words ending in -ism.

Also I know this is after the end and shit gets passed down but why am I encountering 14th century Christian dogma in my robot dinosaur game. I just wanna see how they’re going to handle some eventual like. Dramatic irony that the audience can piece together everything much faster than Aloy just b/c we are familiar with technology, science, and terminology that hides certain facts and possibilities from her, cause things might get tedious real fast otherwise. (A kid will not be a 99-98% genetic match for their parent. Aloy is 510% a clone, but how this comes up/is handled/etc remains to be seen. Also why the fuck a clone pops up X yrs after the end which I’m sure is some bs about me being the anti-robot Jesus and/or anti-robot anti-Christ.)

[biggaybunny]

Your opinion on Horizon Zero Dawn?

There are so many great things about Horizon Zero Dawn. There’s no “but” following that statement. Even as a fairly early PS4 title it’s still gorgeous. The writing should be taken as the new standard for video games -- I wouldn’t say it was in all aspects perfect, but it was so much above what we get most of the time. I had some minor complaints with the gameplay but they’re forgivable. I felt like too many enemies didn’t have any real sort of unique / exploitable weakness, and some of those that did may as well not have had. So there was a lot of taking pot-shots and then running away to re-stealth. But I suspect a re-play (dang I kinda want to play this now) might have me figuring more out, so don’t take that as too harsh a judgment. I enjoyed the weapon variety and I think they did a great job of creating an array of ranged weaponry to use that felt like they were fulfilling different rolls and giving you an actual toolkit to use. Collecting materials and crafting ammo was generally pretty fun, having to hurriedly stick together more arrows during battle led to some tense moments.

Aloy is my favorite part. She’s just an amazing protagonist. I think the writing team knocked it out of the park with her. When I first started playing, I was surprised somewhat because I expected to get more dialogue options than I did -- not as in, more choices, I expected the choices to come up more often. NPCs would say something that sounded like a lead in to a [Yes] [No] [Punch Someone] dialogue wheel, but instead Aloy would answer on her own. But pretty much every time, she said exactly what I was already thinking anyway. I’m not kidding! She’s a delightfully modern protagonist, sarcastic, cynical, done with the last generation’s bullshit, but at the same time a good person, conscientious, grounded, and doesn’t use the injustices committed against her as an excuse to treat others poorly. Aaaaaaaaand also gay as hell. She really is a millennial protagonist.

The other thing I want to mention specifically is that I find HZD terrifying. The lore, anyway. I’ve played post-apocalypse games, read and heard about more. I know about your nuclear fallouts, your grey goo scenarios, your robot uprisings, all that. But the specific storyline of HZD’s apocalypse just fucking chills me to the bone. I think the pacing has a large part to do with it. The rising hubris, the catalyst, the escalation, the sweeping devastation, the dawning inevitability, the false hope, the desperate final gasp...... it’s terrifying. It’s a horror story. And my god, Ted Faro. I can’t think of the last time I hated a fictional character as much as him. I get so frustrated! But not in a way that I wanna blame the writers. It’s a good story. The writers made a good villain. I just...... argh, hearing it all, via such potent voice acting and such dramatic cutscenes......... it makes me mad! Goddamn. God. Damn.

What a game. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Aloy. Based on the stinger at the ending, they’ve got to have more planned. I’m loving that one of the major themes of HZD is that men’s hubris will endanger or even destroy the world. Not man’s hubris. Men’s. Do not trust these jackasses, Aloy.

#horizon zero dawn #hzd #THANK YOU for this ask!!!! #widdershyn-panda

[ennn]

I’ll just say it. Horizon: Zero Dawn is the game Rise of the Tomb Raider should have been in terms of epic storytelling, fun open world exploration and a protagonist you enjoy spending time with.

#not quite the level of Witcher 3 yet but an extremely impressive and fun debut for a new franchise #Horizon: Zero Dawn #definitely succeeded in making a solid protagonist #Aloy's tough and a survivor #but she's got heart and a sense of humour #she knows that people suck but she doesn't stop helping #and she still manages to enjoy herself exploring the world #as someone mentioned I can definitely see the Emma Swan parallels there #jaded but good and brave #also hunting giant robot dinosaurs is really fun #except those burrowing worm monsters #fuck those things

[squidproquoclarice]

What we expected of Arthur Morgan from the trailers: A cold, ruthless, violent, bloodthirsty killer. What we got: A good man buried underneath a thuggish facade and a deep self loathing. Seriously, when I saw the trailers I never expected Arthur to be who he is in the game.

AsJhdkjfhkasdfhjsdfhksdfhjadskf YEAH JUST ABOUT.Like–I cannot believe it.  Those of us who played RDR1 were all “And how are they going to follow this great and poignantly tragic story about Dad And Husband Of The Year John Marston trying to save his family, and having the sins of his past catch up with him in such a Godawful way?  Rockstar, seriously, having your protagonist die tragically rather than depicting violence as a triumph?  That’s bold.  But you say RDR2 is a prequel?  Man, everyone knows prequels are hard because we all know what’s going to happen, and this Arthur dude wasn’t mentioned in RDR1 at all, so–does he even matter?  Is he going to be the Jar Jar Binks?  Please don’t make him be the Jar Jar.”Then we started seeing the trailers.  And those are action packed and a definite feint, because we get some of Arthur Morgan’s most overtly stone cold-but-dickish moments (several from the debt collection, including what I think is one of his most performatively dickish lines, the notorious “Maybe when your mother’s finished mourning your father, I’ll keep her in black on your behalf.”)  Overall, the trailers are almost a celebration of easily wielded violence, as so many video games are.  Threatening language, gunfights, etc.  And so much of the promo material seemed to supported that.  Arthur’s Dutch’s strong right arm, one of the most senior men in the gang, his most trusted enforcer.  So we all went “Oh shit, this guy’s kind of a coldhearted SOB, can we have John Marston back please.”  Not to mention that playing the gang during the last of its “glory days” didn’t seem like it would play all that well because it’s going to glorify the outlaw life, right?  (And hey, look, it’s another middle aged white dude protagonist who kills people with ease but can’t express himself except through anger and violence, yay.)  Not to mention the numerous delays seemed troubling.Look, I’ll be straight up.  Of the two major games coming out around then, I actually expected to like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey rather more than RDR2, particularly since Ubisoft was giving us our first opportunity there for a full-length major game female protagonist rather than a brief feature (Aya), insisting on giving her half the game at best (Evie) or burying that in a minor DLC (Angelique).  I still sighed a bit that they wouldn’t fully lean into a female protagonist as the default option because dude, didn’t Lara Croft and Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn prove that a female protag can very much carry an A-level game?  And don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed AC: O, because it’s gorgeous, and tells a fun story, and Kassandra’s a great character.  But shit, it didn’t emotionally gut me the way RDR2 did, and that wasn’t only because of Arthur by any means.  So many beautifully written characters throughout the game.

And RDR2 is a slow starter as a game.  The detailed controls are really fucking frustrating to learn, and the char maintenance/cores are A Lot.  The story pace is slow, and Arthur’s a slow burn as a character too.  We see mostly the “snarky ruthless hardass” facade in Chapter 1 and a lot of Chapter 2, and it’s only when we read the journal, and start to see more of him in different situations, that the layers start to become apparent, and we start to see flickers of the awkwardness, the self-doubt, the natural desire to be kind that he lets slip.  By Chapter 6, seriously, what a Glow Up, and it’s something I would never have expected from that the man we first met on the way to Adler Ranch, let alone the man we thought we were expecting from the trailers.So yeah, did we misjudge.  We should have remembered what Rockstar did with RDR1 in deconstructing the glorification of the Western outlaw narrative, and seen those trailers for the deliberate feint that they were.  We should had some GoDdaMN fAiTH.

#arthur morgan #rdr2 #thank you for coming to my red talk #hats off to you rockstar #it's fine there's another hat right there on my horse #Anonymous