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izukuwus · 11 months

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It's fun seeing you talk about hyperfixations, so what are your favorite non-HM / RF farm sims? :3c

*breaks fingers* you've activated my trap card

okay SO! I'm actually still developing a favorite because there's so many in the genre to pick from and they're all so unique! so I'm just going to ramble about non-bokumono and bokumono-adjacent farm sims that I think are good and worth bringing up!

Stardew Valley is the obvious one everyone jumps to. It's a solid harvest moon clone--not in a derogatory way, I mean it was literally created to be a clone of an earlier harvest moon game, and it does that job extremely well and then proceeds to build on the formula in a way that clearly resonated with a lot of people. It is not, however, my favorite. Don't look at my play time on steam. I am slightly burned on it due to how many people slap the label "stardew valley but [core aesthetic]" on every fucking farm sim because they're Guy Who's Only Played Stardew Valley, Playing His Second Farm Sim. BUT it IS really just a great farm sim with solid mechanics.

Graveyard Keeper gets a mention here because, while it doesn't quite match up tonally with the rest of the genre and is only sort of even IN the genre, if you like farm sims as a whole, chances are great that you'll like Graveyard Keeper, as it scratches the same gameplay loop itch that you'll get from any good farm sim. This is a game that was recommended to me by no less than seven people when I was looking for a new farm sim to play, and for good reason! Loosely, you get Issekai'd into another world to be that world's graveyard keeper, and spend the game trying to get back home. Not a farm sim in the truest sense, still worth mentioning here.

Coral Island. Ohhhh my god Coral Island. It's still in the creation stages and being polished, but holy SHIT the vibes are immaculate. Nature and environmentalism-focused farm sim with one of the most diverse casts I've gotten the pleasure of seeing in a farm sim. The characters are beautiful, the concept is gorgeous, and the focus is not just on farming and community, but on cleaning up the environment and taking care of the world we live in. Kind of like another farm sim, I think, but I'm blanking on which one I'm thinking of right now?

PUMPKIN DAYS is absolutely worth mentioning here. It's a super super charming proper farm sim. I wouldn't recommend it to people new to the genre, but rather to genre vets who are already sure they like the core gameplay of farm sims. Much like Coral Island, Pumpkin Days has a MASSIVELY diverse cast. There's three towns you can live in on the island the game is set on, each with their own characters. While it's hard to definitively point to any one character as a specific breed of queer, it's actually the only farm sim I can name where you can be truly poly! Also extremely nice, there's a town on the island called Spoonie Island that's a lovely little community of variously disabled and neurodivergent characters. The reason I wouldn't recommend this as a starter farm sim is one thing: tank controls. This game has tank controls. This is the most interesting decision I've ever seen in a farm sim. Once you settle in with them, it works and I hardly noticed the difference anymore after about 20 hours of gameplay, but if you're a newcomer to the genre? You'll want to start with a game that controls like 74% of other games in the genre. (This is also why I don't recommend Island of Happiness or Sunshine Islands to newcomers to the genre. Touch screen movement is another you get used to but should not start with.)

Another not-technically-a-true-farm-sim game I absolutely fucking NEED to bring up here is Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin. It's developed by XSEED games, which you'll note is an American subsidiary of Marvelous, the company that makes the bokumono games. They're really fucking good at farm sims. Sakuna is not technically a farm sim--there's a set plotline, the game is much more combat-oriented, and there's no dating system, but this game is still very much about community, and one of the main mechanics is farming rice to grow your strength as a harvest goddess. This game is SO fucking technical with the farming aspect, in the best fucking way. In learning more about how to properly grow the rice, I actually ended up looking into actual fucking real life rice disorders and being able to translate that into in-game mechanics to be able to treat them. I still get advertisements for farming equipment and fertilizers from how much research I've done. I only got 100 hours out of this game, but I chalk that more up to the plot and progression having a more definite end than, say, Rune Factory 4 and its endless dungeons in the endgame. If there were more plot to work through and more progression to gain, I would easily get another 300 out of it.

This post is starting to get long (it's like I'm talking about farm sims or something) so this'll be my final mentions here: My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock. Again, not true farm sims in that you're not technically a farmer. Absolutely a farm sim. In these games, you're a Builder who comes to a town (Portia or Sandrock, depending on the game [wow]) and works to build up the community. It took some adjusting to settle in to the art style, but once I did, holy shit these games are fun. These are also more combat-oriented and DEFINITELY less farming-oriented--while you can grow crops and have animals, it's absolutely an afterthought to gathering materials to build things for people. You can get married in these ones, unlike Sakuna or Graveyard Keeper, and it's definitely the closest to true farm sim out of the "kind of but not really but definitely in the genre but also not really" category. My Time at Sandrock sees a full release in September, and I am SOOOO excited. I haven't been playing it as much because I literally have So Much Of Everything to get done while working full time and obsessing over my boys, but any game I've talked about here is well worth it.

OH MY GOD I DIDN'T MENTION ATOMICROPS. Atomicrops counts. It has the farming sim tag on steam so it counts. Okay so like imagine the apocalypse. Now imagine running a farm after the nuclear apocalypse. Much much more combat oriented. This one's a roguelike. You can and should get married in this one. Hands down the best farm sim to recover from dental surgery to. I associate this game with the taste of mashed potatoes.

Okokok I'm pretty sure I'm having an allergic reaction so I'll stop digging through non-bokumono farm sims for now BUT THANK YOU SM FOR ASKING I LITERALLY LOVE TALKING ABOUT FARM SIMS WHEN I WAS A KID MY MOM ALMOST TOOK ME TO THERAPY BECAUSE I PLAYED HARVEST MOON FOR LIKE 18 HOURS STRAIGHT AND FORGOT TO SLEEP

#answered asks #anon #bokumono

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maydaymemer · 3 years

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Hitman 3 - First Impressions w/ Spoilers

I’m posting this just after I’ve beaten Hitman 3, and I wanted to do something productive with my experiences playing it both for when I look back on my first time playing this game and also to do something more than just play video games like a degenerate

If you want my basic yay or nay opinion I think Hitman 3’s great, maybe the best of the trilogy but I might just be burnt out on replaying 2’s levels and am not thinking right, but keep in mind this is after playing thru each level once. Not to say these levels don’t make good or bad first impressions for a reason but I know not to trust myself when I say I enjoy or dislike something especially a Hitman level after only a little time with it. Keep in mind I didn’t like Sapienza and liked Colorado at first, but at the same time my opinion of Whittleton Creek and Marrakesh either haven’t changed much or only gotten more positive with time. So it’s a roll of a dice

Anyway I’ve written down my notes on every level I’ve played right after finishing it, which I’ve put below. There are going to be spoilers of elements like mission stories (which I dabbled a little bit in) and objectives and I’d recommend going in as blind as possible with Hitman. I don’t mind spoilers myself but I think you feel smarter when you stumbled on half the shit you do in these games

Dubai: very strong opener. I think that some of the shortcut design, one of the few new features of 3, kind of limits up front exploration but I still really liked the verticality and how climbing up pipes could take you up like two floors. Targets seem to have the appropriate amount of blind spots, tho I’m not sure how I’d tackle Marcus in that big open area. To me this level reminds me of House of Cards but better, out of the other first levels of the trilogy (Paris, Hawke’s Bay and Dubai) I choose this as my favourite so far. I killed Marcus by snapping his neck after knocking him out in that white room near the elevator, I got caught and killed some witnesses only for Omar to find the bodies. I killed Carl by throwing him off the building, sacrificing his waiter to do so

Dartmoor: Actually managed to SA this one, I didn’t go forward with the murder mystery just yet as I wanted to see 1) if it could be cheesed since it’s a one target mission and b) to see how well it holds up without doing that. To see if it’s just a gimmick or not. Turns out? Pretty darn well. I did encounter some of the stuff I didn’t like about the Hitman 2 AI with Alexa, namely if you have a weapon out and she gets a slight glance at you she goes into lockdown and while trying to cheese her under a chandelier when she goes to meet with you/the detective. However, it was at least consistent this time until in WoA2, she never fell for me trying to cheese it whereas if this was Hitman 2 it’d work 50% of the time and drive you mad. I did manage to get her under a chandelier, because in this game’s case personal bodyguards are easier to get rid of and there’s usually only one if they have one so I was proud of that. I love doing non-laid out kills in Hitman, one of my favourite things. I love the level design here, the mansion is big and brooding and so is Alexa’s route it seems. I loved finding out the secrets like using the cane to open doorways and using the camera to find pieces of the code for the Edwards safe. I got the 9, 7 and 5 ones and was going to brute force the code but turns it the solution was 1975. The level takes atmospheric cues from Beldingford Manor but I got real Paris vibes from the verticality which I loved

Berlin: I thought this mission wouldn’t impress me with its gimmick but it’s my favourite so far. The atmosphere and rave soundtrack gave me chills, and THIS is how you do target AI. There are a total of eleven or twelve potential targets I think, and all of them use guard AI. You have to track down and kill at least five of them, giving a unique and dynamic gimmick for this mission which I’ll love to replay. Target routes seem good too and your first playthrough where you’re winging it is even more fun here when you don’t know where your targets are really coming from. The mission is also really surprisingly massive, it might be the biggest one so far despite only having ten disguises (I don’t think we’re going to top Miami’s 29). I also loved that you could poison some fast food and have a biker take it inside

Chongqing: this is a great example of the knee jerk nature of these first impressions, not that this level will be bad but I feel like I’m speaking a little too soon when I say this might be one of my favourite levels of the trilogy. I was a little disappointed when the level wasn’t Mumbai 2.0, being more vertical than horizontal in scale but I ate my words when I experienced it. This is probably the weirdest level of the trilogy but so cool at the same time. At first I tried getting Hush with his satellite dish, and sniping him from his little area. I died. Then I became a test subject and started messing with his brain, making him take a break and killing him when he’s at his desk. I got caught however and had to make a break for it. Then I infiltrated the ICA data banks by becoming the board member, but then I had to sneak into his apartment since I didn’t know the code, but then I heard the code when I answered his answering machine. I really like the introduction of keypads and hope they stay, they reward map knowledge and let you skip having every door be locked via lockpick. Then I distracted and KO-ed Imogen’s guard and pushed her off the data core railing. What proceeds is a great bit of fan service where it shows almost every target from the trilogy as 47 deletes the info ICA has on him and then one of my favourite moments of the series (in terms of scripted stuff, I’ll always prefer stuff like sniping Rico from the jungle) where you have to escape the burning facility while avoiding the now entirely hostile guards. I’m super glad this and other story beats are confirmed optional on replays, but I’d happily replay this regularly because it was so fun to Splinter Cell the level for the last minute

Mendoza: Another great level. I wasn’t expecting it to be so big but even that big field you can see over the balcony is explorable. Feels more like A Vintage Year throwback than Santa Fortuna was. I quite like the kill opportunities that I saw, sniping Yates from the top of his house and finding wine to serve Vidal was what I went for. Also love that Diana is in the level physically, she even hides behind a box if you caught an alert. Yates’ house is very intimate but very well designed. Wasn’t expecting the tactical wetsuit to be here as a disguise but it was a cool thing I found

The Train: this level is simultaneously an awesome and disappointing end to the trilogy. The idea itself is great and the hallucinations that begin the level are really imaginative, but that nightmare intro gameplay wise is just you walking forward. It’s the exact opposite of the reason why I like Hitman, I like Hitman because it isn’t like those triple A “walk forward while dialogue plays” kind of games. It’d maybe work better if they had you shoot every target you’ve ever killed in this dream and then top it off with the one proper gameplay moment that’s in the real thing where you press the button that kills Diana’s parents. Then the level itself after that intro is way too linear, I know it’s a train but there could’ve been way more options with how to go about it. There is a great final moment with Edwards and I love that it encourages combat for the first time in the trilogy, but it could’ve been a lot better. Ideally this would be the seventh level after a proper sixth but I think it’d be more palatable if it was more replayable than it is. Because at the moment it doesn’t have Contracts mode, probably won’t get escalations and definitely won’t get an ET. Which puts it behind Hawke’s Bay, which is a regular punching bag for its lack of content

The Story: surprisingly, I loved it. I’ve always thought this trilogy had excellent worldbuilding but used some plot contrivances to get from level to level. This time while the worldbuilding isn’t quite as solid the story is actually pretty great and goes in a lot of interesting directions which I think would make great sequel material. 47 essentially kills the ICA and the game ends with him and Diana becoming independent agents. So they’ll be doing the same thing without the immunity a giant organisation like the ICA has, which could lead to interesting conflict in the ninth Hitman game. I also like this game’s portrayal of the ICA, they’re a lot more professional than in Absolution but it goes for a similar take of showing how brutal they are

In Conclusion: For the most part Hitman 3 is excellent and I loved it, probably about as much as the previous Hitman 2 and the Paris level of Hitman 1 in terms of first time experiences with these games. There were some downs with the Carpathian Mountains and elements of the game design but it’s still another solid new Hitman game. I can understand why the reviewers loved this one over Hitman 2, while I loved that game’s levels this game’s levels feel a lot weirder and that’d leave a much stronger first impression. Ofc being the second sequel to 2016 nothing’s really changed much. While there are improvements to the way guns feel and the fluidity of 47’s movement it’s nothing groundbreaking. The new map features, while cool, aren’t selling points IMO. If you love Hitman buy this, if you love stealth buy this, if you love mucking about in a sandbox buy this, but if you’ve never been interested in Hitman or this gameplay style of Hitman it’s best to avoid this. It’s a very good third season of Hitman, whether you like it or not. In terms of my thoughts on the levels my personal ranking rn would probably be Chongqing > Mendoza Berlin> Dubai > Dartmoor > Carpathian Mountains (AKA the Train level)

#hitman 3 #hitman #gaming #hitman 3 spoilers #review #first impressions

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sirbadgerduke · 4 years

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Nioh 2 Review: “Samurai Souls May Cry Gaiden the Game”

Since Dark Souls’ release way back in 2011, the action RPG title has taken gaming by storm and thunder; for better or for worse. Cementing FromSoft as the Dev to watch if you fancy some hard as nails, tense as hell action whilst exploring and slowly self-uncovering both the world and story that you’re engrossing yourself into from the beginning. Needless to say many others saw this boom in popularity and were quick to jump on the Dark Souls-like gravy train and thus the “Souls-Like” was born; a style/subgenre of game that follows some if not most of the namesake’s design philosophies. Despite Nioh being in development hell since the original PS2 Era it finally got released back in 2018, being a sort of weird Souls-like/Ninja Gaiden/Dungeon Crawler. Obviously it’s popularity sold it well and greenlit a second game, which is the focus of this review. So is it good? Bad? Mediocre? Here’s my take/opinion. Nioh 2 is the titular mechanical sequel to Nioh, both Action-RPG/Dungeon Crawlers with a focus on Musou/Ninja Gaiden combat as you pick up loot and Amrita(the Souls Currency), level up your character to either just have fun or for a particular build you wanna experiment with. Published by the guys that brought you Dynasty Warriors(and all titles that follow the “musou” formula), Nioh 2 feels pretty much Nioh 1 but with an actual budget. And boy does it really feel like a proper budget here.It was released way back in march of 2020. The Story this time around serves as a prequel to the first’s events and plot; you play as Hide,a half-yōkai referred to as a "Shiftling" whose journey through the Sengoku Era begins when they befriend Kinoshita Tōkichirō, a merchant seeking to make his mark in history by selling Amrita, and Mumyo, a demon hunter of the Sohaya group. The Story does a very solid job at building these characters up and making you actually feel for them during the adventure, as if they are adventuring friends on this journey with you. Plot points and moments really add drama,some comedic, dramatic and even tragic in varying forms along the way. The main antagonist is also a much needed improvement over Edward Kelley, starting off as this mysterious figure that plays the landscape from behind shadows all up to the epic climactic showdown. There’s some really cool moments for both historical/mythological fans and fans of the previous game that warrant a pick up and play in my honest opinion. Any further and I’ll be heading into spoiler territory. The music and sound in this game is also solid. Some of the boss themes are solid enough largely, there’s a few memorable tracks and some not so memorable, they all work in adding that needed tension during any kind of fight, so there is that. The ambiance is where it shines though, adding that subtle layer of unsettling tension and ease, thinking that any minute some mook might just try to stab you, or worse; a Yokai rampaging.towards you. There’s no denying it that the audio is both equals satisfying, unsettling and even just meh, but mostly the former two though. And now the meat and potatoes of the game: the gameplay. Nioh 2 takes what was essentially established from the previous series like; Low/Mid/High Stance switching, Gear as damage and protection numbers with some special effects rather than the Dark Souls/Bloodborne styled gear, Guardian Spirit selecting for added effects, only with a few additions. Firstly, you can create a fully customizable character(and edit them any time you like too) rather than playing as a premade character. The detail and flexibility of the Creation Tool is also surprisingly deep to boot. Two more interesting additions that really shake things up are Soul Cores and Yokai Shifting. Soul Cores are essentially powerful active(sometimes passive) abilities that you can equip onto your Guardian Spirit to raise stats and effects, they also allow you use Yokai Abilties, whether it’s a Arrow shot from a skeleton or a literal command grab from a Yokai, this really dds another level of depth to the combat.What really grabs your attention is Yokai shifting, in layman's terms it’s a Devi; Trigger that replaces Living Weapons,giving a period of invincibility and higher attack, the surprising tidbit is that you can change your Yokai Shift form too, adding that little personal touch for you make something really to your taste. Whether you’re new or a fan of the previous game you’ll be missing out NOT giving this game a run honestly. Superb solid combat, a rather surprisingly good and sometimes touching story set in the backdrop of the Sengoku period of Japan as you battle powerful spiritual entities called Yokai? That’s enough to get anyone at least intrigued on what it is. Team Ninja have really stepped up their game with this title, easily going over the high bar that was set up by Nioh. You won’t regret getting this title, pick it up now! Biased Score: A Unbiased Score: Between an A and a B+

#Nioh: Complete Edition #Nioh #nioh 2 #nioh 2 review #tecmokoei #koei tecmo #team ninja #yokai #Character Action #fantasy #samurai #soulsborne #souls-like #souls clone #sengoku era

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xanderkaiju · 4 years

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Top 4 Tips For Buying Laptop in 2020

Laptops are compact enough to hold with you, yet versatile enough to run demanding applications. it is the best tool for doing serious work or play whether you're reception , on the road or during a college classroom. For those reasons, we've compiled lists of the simplest business laptops and best laptops, to not mention our greatest laptops rankings for many users.

While standalone tablets and smartphones are always popular, most of the people realize that everything from typing a search paper to crunching video to gaming works better on a laptop. So what sort of laptop do you have to get? We put together a laptop buying guide to assist you out.

There's a big variety of sizes, features and costs , which makes choosing the simplest laptop a challenge. That's why you would like to work out what your needs are.

Quick Tips These are the foremost important things to think about when choosing a replacement laptop. For tons more detail, see the sections below.

12.5 to 14-inch screens offer the simplest balance between usability and portability. Larger screens are fine if you do not travel much and smaller models are great for teenagers . If you're spending over $600, draw a bead on these minimum specs: Core i5 CPU 1920 x 1080 screen 8GB of RAM SSD Storage rather than a tough drive. 8+ hours of battery life is right if you propose to require your laptop anywhere in the least .

Consider a 2-in-1 laptop (either a bendback or detachable) if you would like to use your laptop as a tablet. If not, a typical clamshell notebook could also be a far better choice. Chromebooks are good for teenagers and students and their functionality is expanding rapidly. Windows laptops and MacBooks both offer many functionality; which platform you favor may be a matter of private taste. laptop buying guide rows of laptops

Also Read: Which is the best wireless mouse for gaming?

1. Pick a Platform: Mac, Windows or Chrome OS?

This is not a simple question to answer, especially if you are not conversant in both Macs and PCs. But this quick overview of every platform’s strengths and weaknesses should help.

Most laptops accompany one among three operating systems: Windows, Chrome OS or MacOS (for MacBooks only). Choosing the proper one may be a personal preference, but here's a fast summary of what each offers.

Windows 10

windows 10 home page screenshot The most flexible OS , Windows, runs on more laptop models than Chrome OS or Mac OS X. Windows notebooks home in price from under $150 to many thousand dollars and offer a good array of features from touch screens to fingerprint readers to dual graphics chips. Windows 10, the newest version of Microsoft's flagship OS , provides variety of improvements over Windows 7 and eight , including the power to modify between tablet and desktop modes, a revamped Start menu with live tiles and therefore the powerful Cortana digital assistant.

Since its launch in July 2015, Windows 10 has also added a number of improvements, including the power to use follow-up questions with Cortana, search your email using tongue and use your stylus to scribble almost anywhere. Windows 10 laptops are great for college kids , researchers and business users, and they are the sole machines gamers should consider.

Apple macOS Catalina

All MacBooks accompany Apple's latest desktop OS , macOS Catalina. Overall, the OS offers similar functionality to Windows 10, but with a special combat the interface that substitutes an apps dock at rock bottom of the screen for Microsoft's Start menu and taskbar. rather than the Cortana digital assistant, Mac users get Siri. they will also perform transactions with Apple Pay, take calls or texts from their phones and unlock their laptops with an Apple Watch.

However, macOS isn't made for touch, because no MacBook comes with slightly screen. the newest macOS Catalina OS brings iPad apps over to Mac, also as secondary display support for iPads and new accessibility features.

Chrome OS

google chrome os home screen Found on inexpensive Chromebooks like the Samsung Chromebook 3. Google's OS is straightforward and secure, but more limited than Windows or macOS. The interface looks tons like Windows with an application menu, a desktop and therefore the ability to tug windows around, but the most app you employ is that the Chrome browser. The downside is that a lot of of the "web apps" you employ don't work particularly well offline. However, that's changing as most Chromebooks, including the high-end, Google PixelBook, can now run Android apps.

If you would like a tool to surf the online and check email, navigate social networks and chat online, Chromebooks are highly portable and have a tendency to supply good battery life at low prices. they're also extremely fashionable schools and fogeys , because they're hard for teenagers to infect with malware and more functional than most tablets. If you would like a Chromebook, search for one with a minimum of 4GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. A 1920 x 1080 resolution preferred and 4K is best but very uncommon. Pay extra to urge a 2-in-1 if you propose to use Android apps.

2. Decide If you would like a 2-in-1

Many PC laptops fall under the category of 2-in-1 laptops, hybrid devices which will switch between traditional clamshell mode, tablet mode and other positions in between like tent or stand modes. 2-in-1s generally are available two different styles: detachables with screens that come off the keyboard entirely and versatile laptops with hinges that bend back 360 degrees to vary modes.

Most of those systems are far better at serving one purpose than the opposite , with bend-backs being laptops first and detachables offering a superior tablet experience. However, if you do not see the necessity to use your notebook as a slate, you'll usually get more performance for your money with a standard clamshell laptop.

3. Choose the proper Size

laptop different display sizes 13-inch 15-inch and 17-inch Before you check out specs or pricing, you would like to work out just how portable you would like your laptop to be. Laptops are usually categorized by their display sizes:

11 to 12 inches: The thinnest and lightest systems around have 11- to 12-inch screens and typically weigh 2.5 to 3.5 pounds. 13 to 14 inches: Provides the simplest balance of portability and usefulness , particularly if you get a laptop that weighs under 4 pounds. 15 to 16 inches: the foremost popular size, 15-inch laptops usually weigh 4 to five .5 pounds. Consider this size if you would like a bigger screen and you are not getting to carry your notebook around often. Laptops with 16-inch displays are rare but Apple might get the trend started with its 16-inch MacBook Pro. 17 to 18 inches: If your laptop stays on your desk all day a day , a 17- or 18-inch system could provide you with the type of processing power you would like to play high-end games or do workstation-level productivity.

4. make sure Keyboard and Touchpad

The most impressive specs within the world don't mean diddly if the laptop you're buying doesn't have good ergonomics. If you propose to try to to tons of labor on your computer, confirm the keyboard offers solid tactile feedback, many key travel (the distance the key goes down when pressed, usually 1 to 2mm) and enough space between the keys. If you're buying a Windows laptop, make certain it's Precision touchpad drivers.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Look for an accurate touchpad that does not offer you a jumpy cursor and responds consistently to multitouch gestures like pinch-to-zoom. If you're buying a business laptop, consider getting one with a pointing stick (aka nub) between the G and H keys so you'll navigate round the desktop without lifting your fingers off the keyboard's home row.

#Best Laptops #Best Laptops in 2020 #Tips for buying laptops

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tacticsroom · 5 years

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Brunnya: Devoted General (Unit Review)

Available at 4-5★ (Tempest Trials+ Reward)

Lvl 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

Note: As a Tempest Trials+ reward, Brunnya does not have access to boons/assets and banes/flaws.

HP: 39/42/45

Atk: 32/35/38

Spd: 28/31/34

Def: 18/21/24

Res: 30/33/36

Neutral BST: 162

Max Dragonflowers: 5

Skills

Weapon: Fimbulvetr (400 SP)

Mt: 14. Rng: 2. Grants Res+3. If unit is afflicted with a status effect (Panic, Chill, Ploy, etc) or if unit’s HP > 100%, neutralizes penalties on unit and grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 during combat.

Blue tome. Cannot be inherited. Cannot be refined.

Assist: None

Special: Glacies (200 SP)

Boosts damage dealt by 80% of unit’s Res.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Staff.

A: Death Blow 3 (200 SP)

If unit initiates attack, grants Atk+6 during combat.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Staff.

B: None

C: Res Smoke 3 (240 SP)

After combat, inflicts foes within 2 spaces of target for Res-7 for the duration of their next actions.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Staff.

Analysis

Brunnya makes her debut as the latest Tempest Trials+ unit and our latest blue tome. She faces stiff competition from just her weapon type alone with the vast majority of blue tome units currently in-game possessing a PRF of their own. She doesn’t come unprepared either; her tome, Fimbulvetr, carries with it an effect that helps stand out among the crowded blue tome pool.

Brunnya’s statline is rather min-maxed for a mage. While her Atk sits at an impressive 35 at neutral, her Spd is rather middling starting at 31. She possesses a stellar Res stat starting at 33 and bolstered up to 36 thanks to her tome’s +3 Res effect. Her defense however comes close to being nonexistent starting at 21. Her base kit also carries with it a duality. While Res Smoke is arguable a mixed phase skill, Death Blow is considered a player phase skill. Without the proper skills or buffs from allies Brunnya will find herself doubled often. Her tome does remedy this problem in a sense, effectively granting her Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 in combat if she is inflicted with a penalty or status effect. Say she gets hit with a Panic and Debuffs from Aversa’s Night, a common threat in Aether Raids. Her tome will effectively negate both the Panic status effect and the Debuffs applied to her stats and grant her a spectrum buff in-combat. Note that this buff is only applied if she either is at full HP OR has a penalty/status effect applied to her.

Brunnya’s personal tome is enough to cement herself as her own unit. While she faces incredible competition from other blue tome users, she alone carries with her the ability to negate debuffs on herself without the need of an ally’s special skill. With status debuffs becoming common in both PvE and PvP modes she can prove to be a worthwhile investment if not just a good unit to have laying around.

On her first merge, Brunnya will get HP/Atk+2 and Res+1.

Reasons to Invest in Brunnya

You like Brunnya and intend to use her in a core team, whether it be for Arena, Aether Raids, or an Infantry team

You’re interested in building Brunnya due to her “immunity” to penalties currently in-game (panic, threaten, chill, etc) thanks to her tome.

You have obtained all or most previous copies made available and do not mind the grail cost

Reasons NOT to Invest in Brunnya

You don’t intend on using her as a core on any team or in any PVE game modes such as Rival Domains or Grand Conquest

You don’t play Aether Raids and have no interest in obtaining grails

You consider Brunnya’s playstyle and base kit uninteresting and would rather fodder her skills off to other heroes you use

You already have an invested blue tome infantry that you already use on your core Arena & or Aether Raids team

Similar Units

Note: As a Tempest Trials+ reward Brunnya does not have access to boons/assets or banes/flaws and therefore is not directly comparable to any summonable units.

Mae: Bundle of Energy (35/36/31/16/30)

Brunnya: Devoted General (+7/-1/+0/+5/+3)

Note: Brunnya and Mae have access to uninheritable skills and are thus not directly comparable.

Lute: Prodigy (33/36/32/16/34)

Brunnya: Devoted General (+9/-1/-1/+5/-1)

Note: Brunnya and Lute have access to uninheritable skills and are thus not directly comparable.

Micaiah: Priestess of Dawn (35/35/28/18/35)

Brunnya: Devoted General (+7/+0/+3/+3/-2)

Note: Brunnya and Micaiah have access to uninheritable skills and are thus not directly comparable.

Builds

Note: Currently Brunnya’s tome, Fimbulvetr, is not in the FEH builder. To make up for this shortcoming, a Res refined Thoron+ will be used to mimic her stats with her tome. This will be corrected as soon as Brunnya’s tome is added into the FEH builder.

Budget/Low Investment:

Brunnya can suffice with simple budget setups. Depending on which phase players choose to ultimately build her for she may need to swap out her default A skill.

The first set focuses on her enemy phase as she runs stance skills. Mirror Stance will grant Atk/Res +4 if the wielder is attacked while Darting Stance will grant +6 Spd when attacked. This complements her great Res and Atk/Spd, bulking her out as a formidable enemy phase unit. Res Smoke will allow her to take on multiple opponents and deal a heavy amount of damage to her other foes. Blue Tomebreaker will allow her to have some player phase functionality; she will essentially double and take out any enemy blue tome units and take a minimal amount of damage.

The set on her right focuses on her player phase. Keeping her native Death Blow, she runs Darting Blow in combination to effectively create a budget “Swift Sparrow”. Res Smoke will ploy her opponents with 2 spaces of her target for Res -7 allowing her to deal more damage. While she may reach 59/41 Atk/Spd will her skills in effect without having a status effect inflicted on her she will not gain her in-combat spectrum buff from her tome. Because of this we run Swordbreaker as her B skill. This allows her to serve as a guaranteed counter against sword opponents. With a multitude of swords in-game becoming faster and faster it further proves to be a necessity to have sure counters against these opponents.

Brunnya’s seal options include but aren’t limited to: Atk+3, Spd+3, Res+3, Atk/Res 2, Spd/Res 2, Bond skills, Smoke skills, Stance skills, Blow skills and Ploy skills.

Offensive:

Brunnya can prove to be a powerful player phase unit with the right investment.

The set on the left runs the common Fury/Desperation set with the addition of a Spd seal and Spd Ploy. With Fury, we gain a +3 raw stat boost. This is enough to push Brunnya’s Res up to a solid 39 increasing the range of units she can ploy with Spd Ploy. Spd Ploy will ploy foes for -5 Spd so long as they are within one of her cardinal directions. She can as a result effectively create a Spd gap of 9, allowing her to get doubles she would otherwise miss.

The set on the right runs a rather unorthodox but powerful set. Here we combine the power of both Bond skills and Link skills to make Brunnya both a powerful Res tank and fast enough to deal hefty amounts of damage. Atk/Res Bond and Spd/Res Bond will grant her +5 Atk, +5 Spd and +10 Res when used together. Spd/Res Link will, if a position skill is used by Brunnya or by an ally on Brunnya, grant her and the ally a buff of Spd/Res +6. Throw that in combination with Even Atk Wave and Brunnya can practically buff herself up. With all of her skills and her weapon effect in play, Brunnya will reach 64/46/21/51 Atk/Spd/Def/Res while in combat.

High Investment:

Brunnya, with heavy investment, will prove to be a powerful ally. Being a blue tome, she has access to a multitude of powerful weapons each with a unique effect. The following sets are best intended for players who plan on fully investing in her.

The set on the left runs on the concept of a Special Spiral setup. Vessel of Cheer+ has Swift Sparrow 2 built into it. This means that when combined with Swift Sparrow 3, Brunnya will gain +10/+11 Atk/Spd when initiating combat pushing her offenses to 62/48 Atk/Spd. Heavy Blade will be used to help charge her special faster and to help set up Special Spiral. Once she activates her special in combat Heavy Blade will reduce Growing Wind’s 4 turn cooldown to 2. After combat, Brunnya will be ready to activate Growing Wind again as Special Spiral further decreases her special cooldown by 2. Her native Res Smoke pairs well with a heavy offensive setup so we keep it to increase how much damage we do to foes.

The set on the right meanwhile focuses on cementing her both as a debuffer and player phase threat. Spooky Censer+ has Fury 3 built into it as its effect. Through a Res refine we can push her already stellar Res up to 44 making it nearly impossible to avoid being ployed by her. Atk and Spd Ploy are run for this reason. They allow Brunnya to double and take less damage and to support her allies at the same time. If more damage is desired, either ploy may be swapped for Res Ploy. Atk/Spd Bond 4 will meanwhile grant her Atk/Spd+7 if she finds herself adjacent to an ally. This pushes her offenses to 62/45 Atk/Spd and also allows her to effectively create a max Spd gap of 12 on her opponents. Spooky Censer is not without its penalties. While it does carry Fury’s raw stat boost it also carries its damage recoil. We can negate this damage by using Mystic Boost which will heal for 6 HP after each round of combat that Brunnya fights. This also allows her to attack dragons and to bait Wrathful staff users with no fear as Mystic Boost will negate skills “targeting the lower of a unit’s Def/Res” and “calculate damage from staff like other weapons”.

#feh #fire emblem heroes #fe heroes #Brunnya: Devoted General #Guardians of Peace #unit review #blue tome/infantry #mod asama

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fereldanwench · 6 years

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Some spoilery thoughts on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Not comprehensive at all because there’s so much I could say about any TR game, but this is pretty lengthy.

I’m at 66% right now, and I’ve done a good bit of challenge tombs, side quests, and artifact hunting, but I think the bulk of the progress reflects the story, which I will delve into:

The Visuals In terms of graphics, especially the environments, the game is pure eye candy. I’m so glad I upgraded my GPU in time for this game, because playing it at the ultra settings is just a beautiful, immersive treat. The lighting, the richness of the vegetation, the colors--It’s so nice to see some saturation in a Tomb Raider game again.

The main characters look really good, too. Sometimes the animation for Lara’s worried/stern mouth movement looks a little weird to me, but overall, I think everyone looks solid. Good animations, good textures, long hair--even if it’s not as refined as Lara’s--has a lot of movement and fluidity to it, highly detailed clothing.

My biggest gripe here is the fact that all the village NPCs have like the same 3 faces repeated over and over. Some variations to scarring, injuries, and hair diversify the population a bit, but it’s a pretty glaring visual deficiency compared to how lush and rich the rest of the world feels.

The Audio/Soundtrack I’m generally not much of an auditory person--I can absolutely appreciate a nice soundtrack and quality voice acting, but it’s usually the visual stuff in a game that really draws me in. But the sound effects and soundtrack really stand out to me here, especially in the areas where it’s just Lara. There’s so much rich ambient noise and the music does a lot to add to the atmosphere.

Having just replayed Rise last week and 2013 a few months ago, I don’t recall feeling that same audio engrossment that I have here.

The Gameplay Shadow offers different difficulty settings for its 3 pillars of gameplay: combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving. I’ve kept combat and exploration at the default normal setting, but I bumped puzzle-solving up to hard because of my own personal play style quirk: I like using the survival instinct mode a lot to help me keep my bearings, but Lara’s advice on how to solve puzzles gets repetitive to the point of irritation.

I’ve been saving most of the challenge tombs for my stream tomorrow, so I probably have a comparatively low exposure to them versus everything else, but I have loved solving every single tomb/crypt puzzle I’ve come across. They’re hard enough that they make you think and you feel accomplished after solving them, but not so difficult you get frustrated and want to resort to a walkthrough. They definitely stand out as a vast improvement over the previous two games.

Exploration is very similar to Rise, but with some enhancements. I was a little wary of the wall run because it’s implementation in Anniversary was a glitchy mess that sucks the fun out of a lot of the later levels, but it’s very smooth in Shadow. I’ve had a few jump misses in general that were bullshit, and sometimes it’s unclear how the game wants you to respond to certain platforming areas, but overall, her movement through the world is engaging. Effortless or challenging as appropriate to the task at hand.

My favorite addition to the exploration is definitely the underwater areas. Lara swims a little bit in Rise, but it’s mostly through linear caverns and often just on the surface. We get full underwater areas to explore, complete with treasure hunting, resource gathering, and even piranhas. The controls here took some getting used to for me, but it’s smooth sailing now. Or swimming, as the case may be.

The combat really takes a backseat to the exploration this time around, and I am a big fan of this--I found the seemingly endless shootouts with bullet sponge enemies in TR ‘13 to be a little at odds with the proper exploration-puzzles-combat ratio for a TR game, and I think that was greatly improved in Rise, but the big story advancements were still heavily centered around big gun fights. These are still a part of Shadow, but now the story moves more through exploration and discovering secrets in crypts and tombs. And that is exactly how it should be.

Shadow puts more emphasis on stealth combat as well, which I’m mostly okay with. I typically did prefer going stealth, especially in Rise because it felt like another type of puzzle, but there are a few areas where the game doesn’t really give you a choice. Just on principle, I’m not super keen on that, but overall, I still think the combat here works well as a part of the gameplay. It’s there for some action, but it’s not stealing the show.

So far my least favorite part of the gameplay is all the goddamn villager fetch quests. The rewards for most of the ones I’ve done have been pretty good, and some have some mildly interesting stories, but on the whole, they feel empty and... Well, like fetch quests. I don’t mind back-tracking for things like artifacts or unlocking new secret areas and tombs, but I’m not playing Tomb Raider to interact with people and do their errands for them. I’m playing Tomb Raider to uncover secrets and explore ruins and be alone. (Mostly. I don’t mind another sidekick from time-to-time.)

I think sometimes the fast travel system and map interface made these even worse. If it was easier to get to the locations/people you need for the fetch quests, it might feel less tedious. But when you can only fast travel through camps, and you and your destination aren’t anywhere near one, it starts to feel like a chore running through a crowded town.

The Story Like I mentioned, I’m not done with it yet, but I’m definitely towards the final third or so of the main plot.

I’m... Not feeling quite as sold on this one as I did on the previous two games.

Let me start with the stuff I do really like:

I really like the relationship between Lara and Jonah; I think their conversations are some of my favorite parts of the game. I really like Dominguez as an antagonist. I find him very compelling. I love how the supernatural stuff has been infused into the world, especially with the creatures that were apparently protecting the silver box. I love Unuratu, up until she dies, which really sucked.

I like seeing Lara get unhinged; I really like the idea of a darker Lara, and I loved the scene when she thought Jonah was dead and just went full-fucking Rambo on Trinity. I generally like the way the story uses Maya, Inca, and Christian mythology/symbolism/riddles/etc. The setting alone is one of my absolute favorites, and I’ve been wanting to see Lara return to the region of the world since 2008.

I think ultimately it just doesn’t feel as tightly focused as 2013 and Rise. I’ve never really played Tomb Raider games for the story, so I tend to be pretty forgiving and just kind of roll with the punches, but this just feels like they’re trying to pull too much into one game. Although personality-wise I find Dominguez excellent, his strong ties to both Paititi and the Crofts just make him feel kind of spread thin for some reason. And I kind of had a hard time following the politics of Paititi and the rebels and the Cult of Kulkukan and how they’re related to Trinity and and Dominguez being Amaru and Unuratu being his sister-in-law and family legacies and sons to be kings and then the scary people living in the cenote and the oil company in that other city--It just was... A lot.

I do not dislike it, and I’m totally onboard to see where it goes, but again, having 2013 and Rise so fresh in my mind, something about Shadow has felt a little off comparatively in this respect.

And just as a side note: the longer Jonah is at Lara’s side, the more I expect he’s not going to make it, and I’m not sure I can brace my enough if she does lose him.

Final Thoughts On the whole, I am loving this experience. Minus my grievances with the story and fetch quests, I am completely enthralled with this game. So much of the gameplay evokes the same response I had to Core’s early games--This really feels like what a modern Tomb Raider game should be. The puzzle-combat-exploration ratio is perfect, the environments are so lush and immersive, the tombs are challenging and atmospheric. I just want to explore every inch of this world.

Having played and finished all major TR titles (except AOD), Rise ended up bumping TR2 from my all-time favorite TR game. I was really hoping that Shadow would be able to de-throne Rise, and in some ways it does, but I don’t know that the overall package is better. I’m guessing I’ll probably know by tomorrow or Monday night, though.

#g: tr reboot #s: tomb raider #t: wench.txt #sottr spoilers

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sketchiedetails · 6 years

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Finally got around to finishing Devil May Cry 3. It’s definitely a step up in every conceivable way from the first Devil May Cry and is a real gem. This is gonna be general writeup of the gameplay and I’ll make a separate post for some of the story bits I enjoyed. (Some spoilers ahead, but nothing major)

DMC 3 reminds me a lot of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Both are prequels that set up important plot details for their previous entries, and both games take the core mechanics of their series and expands them exhaustively.

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DMC’s combat is all about mixing up melee and ranged attacks against hordes of enemies, with special emphasis on fighting with style. The game grades your performance based on the damage you deal to enemies, the damage you take from enemies, and most importantly, the variety of your attacks. Some attacks may boost up your style ranking at first but if you repeat them over and over again they bring in diminishing returns and eventually they barely make a dent in the meter. So you have to switch up your attacks by either going back and forth on ranged and melee or by switching out the weapons themselves. This was already established in DMC1 but now in 3 there’s a visible meter under the style that provides direct feedback on whether your combo is going strong or treading water.

The controls have been slightly overhauled from the first game to account for more actions. Each button is assigned to a specific action now (Square and X kinda shared duties as the guns and action buttons in the first game) with Circle as the new Style button. Dante can switch to several styles before each mission and whenever he encounters a divinity statue. There are four in the beginning but you can unlock a few more as the story progresses. Switching between equipment is faster than it’s ever been and it’s incredibly easy to start a combo with one weapon and fluidly switch it up into another weapon. The Styles add some variety to the combat by offering different actions - Trickster lets you dodge attacks and move easily across the arena, Swordmaster gives you more melee attacks for your Devil Arms, Gunslinger is the same but for firearms, and Royal Guard lets you absorb the damage of incoming attacks which you can then unleash afterwards.

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The one thing I don’t personally like about the Style system is that in order to upgrade the styles you need to constantly use them, and it takes a lot of investment. Unfortunately, I became far too reliant on Trickster as a safety net as I hadn’t really thought it was worth it to give up my dodging ability. I’ve heard that Royal Guard is lowkey the powerhouse Style because it’s the source for massive damage output and I’ve seen videos of high level DMC3 play where players just melt bosses in like two or three attack cycles with Swordmaster. I wish it were possible to upgrade the style with souls like the rest of Dante’s equipment, but it’s a feature I honestly need to more thoroughly explore.

The game’s main locale is the demon tower Temen-ni-gru, but DMC3 does a great job providing variety with the environment. The early game starts at Dante’s office and the city streets leading towards the Temen-ni-gru, and the story has tons of ascending and descending the tower from different angles. The interior levels provide a mix of gothic architecture that was iconic of the first game’s manor setting, but the rooms vary up the color range here and there to avoid visual monotony. At some point the tower starts shifting around and you end up returning to areas from past missions but with a change in their structure.

The boss variety has greatly expanded compared to the first game and it’s a welcome improvement. Dante still faces demons and trades verbal barbs with them before having a proper fight, but now some of the fallen demons will transform into Devil Arms which Dante can use in battle. DMC1 only had 2 Devil Arms (not counting Sparda), and 3 has 5 for Dante to use. Each Devil Arm gets their own little spotlight once they’re revealed.

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Speaking of bosses, Devil May Cry 3 definitely has one of the best rival bosses in gaming. All of Vergil’s encounters provide some of the best challenges in the game, and each encounter builds off of previous fights so that you can take the lessons you learned from those past fights and apply them to future encounters. You get to be good friends with the distortion sound effect Vergil makes when he’s about to cleave space.

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As good as Vergil’s fights were, however, I wasn’t too fond of some bosses. Leviathan never felt “good” to fight for me, and I was kinda disappointed that the penultimate boss was an amorphous blob instead of a duel fight.

One of the things I greatly appreciated in DMC3 is that they completely scrapped the swimming mechanics of past games and didn’t have any shmup setpieces - it is purely a 3D hack n slash (shoot n slash?) action game. Also, the sound is mixed so much better in 3 compared to 1 since I can now hear Dante joking at the demons without the background music drowning him out.

The mission designs are pretty straightforward, yet they can still cause some confusion if you’re not paying attention. Progress is either through combat encounters, some really basic light puzzles, or more commonly fetch quests for keys and doors. As long as you’re keeping in mind where you need to go to progress, you’ll be fine. Sometimes I spaced out and wandered around the wrong places because some doors are still accessible on missions even if they’re not the critical path and they might even have some hidden fights that will help you boost your score for the end of the mission (that’s not a fault of the game, I was just glazing over the more quiet moments). The exploration definitely shows the game’s Resident Evil heritage.

Devil May Cry 3 is a solid action game. I remember playing it years back when it was brand new with a friend and getting chumped on by the second mission. I’m no pro at the game now, but I can guarantee A ranks for most missions. There are moments where I’ve felt like I hit a brick wall, but after taking a break and coming at the challenges from a different angle helped me out several times. DMC4 is up next and if I got time to spare before 5′s release, I might get through the other games in the series.

#devil may cry 3 #dmc3 #devil may cry #thinking bout games #long post

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ph1stylequotclearbothquotidquotc · 3 years

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The Pros and Cons of survival products

The Ultimate Guide To How To Put Together The Ultimate Survival Kit?

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Understanding this, what to include on your survival set list as well as carry in your kit can literally imply the difference in between life as well as death in simply a couple of critical minutes or hours. Fortunately is, you can significantly raise your opportunity of survivalif you have the right materials with you (and understand how to utilize them).

In concept, the extra crucial survival products you carry with you, the easier it will be to survive Nevertheless, the flip-side to that is the extra products you include on your survival package listing, the extra bulk/weight you contribute to your person. Certainly, you can not lug every wild survival device you encounter as it would quickly end up being difficult to transport them all.

But that said, there are some core survival basics that you should constantly have offered in your survival set. Right here's my tackle 13 important survival things you require to load (consisting of a pair truly important incentive items to think about): Starting a fire in the wild is among the most vital points you require to be able to do if you're to survive the cold, combat starving predators and cook yourself a meal.

This is where a trusty fire starter comes to be the top essential survival item to carry you whatsoever times. As a matter of fact,. You should not take chances with fire starters. I carry matches, a bic lighter and a striker. Supplement this by loading some tinder and also other illumination aids such as InstaFire Fire Starter, also.

Not known Details About What Is In An Emergency Survival Kit?

Opportunities are, you will certainly need to do a great deal of reducing duties in a real survival circumstance, as well as a good, trusted survival blade will certainly be a perfect fit. Select a high-quality survival blade or a multi-purpose device with a knife. Your survival knife must have the ability to skin your search, reduced strings, and also sharpen sticks among various other uses.

The exact same concept of redundancy applies here too. "Where there's two, there's one where there's one, there's none." Should your knife fail you or you shed it, you'll absolutely want a trusted back-up. Take a look at the Ka-Bar https://www.rawstory.com/2013/08/california-school-district-preps-for-more-lockdowns-with-1800-plastic-classroom-toilets/ Becker BK2 for a fantastic, full tang knife that will last. You ought to not count exclusively on GPS when in a survival situation, yet additionally lug with you a local map as well as compass to assist navigate your way back to security.

These are lightweight and also simple to pack, so there is actually no reason not to carry these with you in your survival package. Having a map and a compass is one point, however, you must likewise take the necessary actions to understand just how to read and also browse maps and make use of a compass.

In instance you don't have a compass, Suunto makes a terrific one. If you think you may require to head into the wilderness at a moment's notification, make certain to have a first-aid kit on your person in all times. An emergency treatment package is a critical product that must come in any way times.

https://www.lamag.com/guide/health-medical/sos-survival-products/ >Some Known Details About These Items Should Be On Your Survival Kit List

General emergency treatment packages can be a great location to start however make certain to supplement them with such products as pressure dressings to quit the bleeding on the occasion that injury might happen. Experience Clinical Packages are a fantastic location to begin. Consist of a initial help pocket manual and acquaint yourself with it, especially if you aren't formally educated or experienced.

Make certain to pick a long lasting, light-weight steel framed saw. A bow saw can help you cut through logs as well as make firewood. It can also help you reduce down large branches to make a sanctuary https://www.hmc.edu/emergency-preparedness/emergency-preparedness/ that your survival knife may have trouble doing alone. If you take care of to shoot a deer or large video game, you will require to https://www.lamag.com/business-category/health-medical/ build a solid fire to roast your meat.

When you head into the wild, also on a hot bright day, you require to plan to dress for the worst. Hypothermia eliminates even more individuals in the wild than any various other reason. The cold of the night must not be responded to with fire alone, yet additionally proper apparel. Always layer your clothing, remembering to use loosened, split clothes with woollen as your under layer.

It keeps dampness that makes it less insulating, tougher to dry out as well as much heavier on the body. This has been recognized to bring about hypothermia, pneumonia, etc. Clothes constructed of synthetic and wool materials are recommended for this really factor. A plastic whistle kept around your neck is extremely advised simply in instance you get lost.

How Making Your Own Emergency Kit can Save You Time, Stress, and Money.

Plastic whistles are recommended as they are lightweight, float and will not corrosion. There are heartbreaking tales where search helicopters have overlooked lost people as well weak to signal. A signal mirror or heliograph ought to be lugged with you. Keeping it in your emergency treatment kit is an excellent way to safeguard it from damages and also find it quickly.

Rope is a typical name made use of to explain everything from a steel cord to a nylon string. Rope is among one of the most vital survival products when you require to climb high areas, drag game you have actually killed, connect packages of fire wood as well as far more. Rope serves many features like an angling line, cloth line, food line as well as much extra.

Titan SurvivorCord is a really special multi-purpose paracord used by Unique Forces and also comes very suggested for its range of uses. Couple of aspects can confuse even one of the most seasoned adventurer quicker than being shrouded in total darkness. If you plan to venture out right into strange area or discover on your own outside after dark, a trustworthy flashlight is a need to have in any kind of survival kit.

For among my favored flashlights, have a look at the Streamlight ProTac Penlight. Remaining in belongings of the above essential survival products is just one action in surviving an emergency scenario. You still require to understand how to utilize them efficiently. You need to be prepared in the very best method feasible to be able to make it through for days.

#survival products

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mizume · 6 years

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Mizme Finished Berseria (Zestiria 2.0?)

Holy hell this game is such an improvement

After Zestiria, which as we’ve mentioned really just serves as a 40 hour advertisement for Berseria and the anime adaptation, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect out of the followup title.

Well, nothing too complicated: Berseria is an incredibly vast improvement over its predecessor with just a handful of small hiccups.

Going straight into a classic breakdown and then finishing with a handful of gripes.

Combat and Gameplay

Berseria made a significant overhaul to the button layouts of the LMBS combat system but there was really just two very simple changes that returns LMBS to its proper fast paced form:

1. We’re not limited to a 4 hit maximum chain

2. The branching pathways for arte inputs are completely customizable.

What does this mean in Tales of terms. It means you can set each individual node of your arte trees to any arte you know and the revamped soul system functions much more similarly to Xillia’s base AP system then Graces or Zestirias AP/SP systems respectively.

What does this mean in laymans terms. It means you have so much more control over your combo construction and combat feels more reminiscent of Xillia, meaning face paced intensely reactive battles in which you have (near) complete control over what you’re doing.

I’d like to take a moment to explain the new LMBS and go into why its such a significant improvement.

In this new system, artes are determined by a maximum count of Souls. Starting with 3 and gaining up to 5 Souls dictate your maximum current arte chain length. Chains can be cancelled using Soul Breaks, the new LMBS battle gimmick for Berseria. With this system, each character has a unique Soul Break arte and the arte chain returns to the 0 position. Souls can be gained in the heat of combat by inflicting stun and other status ailments or by landing a finishing blow on enemies.

What this means is we now have an insane system in which you can use 5 artes, Break Soul cancel, use 4 more artes (assuming you don’t regain the expended soul withing those 4 artes) Break Soul cancel again, perform 3 artes and finish with a Mystic Arte (which restores Soul and expends Blast gauge, a carry over mechanic from Zestiria).

The sheer amount of variability is incredibly reminiscent of the free for all LMBS of Xillia and by extension its predecessors Vesperia and pre Vesperia tales games.

The only clunk in the road is the awkward remapping of attacks. All the face buttons have been rehashed to attack commands in order to allow the player character to be in a constant free run state freeing them from the 2D axis as a default. This necessitates that we maintain the 4 arte node tree from Graces/Zestiria. While the new system is incredibly gratifying, I feel that retaining the directional inputs combined with the 4 attack buttons and removing the node tree entirely would have been incredible. Absolute freedom of arte inputs is the only thing stopping Berseria’s combat system from standing with Vesperia and Xillia2 as the best and cleanest combat in the Tales series.

It’s almost as though what i’m saying is the more we emulate older LMBS systems the better the game works because we know that the system works. How strange. Bring back classic LMBS i’m begging here Bamco.

The Plot

So, this is a bit of a mixed bag for me. The first half and last fourth of Berseria’s plot are carried by solid world building, good character driven story, and Velvet being metal as fuck.

There’s a chunk in the middle where it strays just a bit. Can you guess where that is, yeah its where all of the Zestiria allusions start coming out.

Berseria interestingly has the same weird problem that Zestiria had albeit to a much lesser extent. It, in a strange roundabout way, felt like a Zestiria sequel. There are so many allusions to Zestiria in the back half of the game to the point where I guess its assumed that you’ve played and finished Zestiria. This in it of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it feels odd coming from a game that isn’t meant to be treated as a proper prequel.

For example as Scrubbing and I have discussed: Xillia2 harkens back to Xillia1 constantly, but that’s to be expected. Its in the title, Xillia2 would imply and assume that their core audience has played Xillia1. Berseria isn’t titled Zestiria2. The plot should be proper and function as in independent being without assumption that you’ve played Zestiria.

Now i’m not talking about small easter egg stuff. I love that stuff and it made me incredibly glad to find them. Small things like the town that would later become Lastonbell, Lothringen tower that would later crumble and become the City of Lohgrin. That stuff is great.

What i’m referring to are major callbacks and emotional pulls that only work if you’ve played both games. The Edna reveal, and the Maotelus reveal at the end are the two that come to mind immediately. Those moments really don’t make any sense unless you’re aware of the context from Zestiria.

It’s a very minor gripe, and ultimately it actually retroactively defines Zestiria’s world building much more clearly and makes it stronger as a result.

I few things that deserve mentioning since I bitched about them so much in the last review:

Berseria’s villains were standard fare. They’re an incredibly improvement on Heldalf but Artorius is a villain subtype we’ve seen much better realized in past Tales games and Innominat 100% feels like young Yggdrasil right down to “but sisterrrrrrrr”.

The retcons and explanations of how malevolence works feels like a double edged blade. On the one hand it again retroactively makes Zestiria’s world building so much stronger (which mind you is still ridiculous). But at the same time, having such a basic “good vs. evil” mechanic in the world build feels very very limiting. Its much better explained but still feels clunky. These are things that Zestiria should have simply done properly in the first place.

In the end, Berseria’s plot is solid and driven by a good narrative with the proper twists and plot building that Zestiria so desperately needed.

The Cast

OH BABY HERE WE GO. Berseria’s cast is great. That’s basically all that needs to be said. It finally feels like we’re playing a Tales game. We’ve got a great set of characters here each working under their own motivations with goals and backstories that influence their decisions and free will.

I think I can say that Velvet has shoved Yuri off his pedestal of being the most metal Tales protagonist to date with an absolutely incredible and over the top drive for revenge.

One of the key themes in Berseria is “to choose ones own path” and it shows here. Its incorporated in different ways for every character and it manifests as something that feels organic and smooth. Its a heavy contrast to Zestiria where it always feels like the party is together simply because they have to be.

If I have any complaints at all here it would be Magilou, simply because the incorporation of her backstory feels very jarring. It kind of comes across all at once with little explanation similar to the weird and jarring plot reveals in Zestiria. Aside from that, Eizen’s Creed, Rokurou’s conviction, Eleanor’s search for her own truth, Velvet’s quest for closure, and Laphicet’s growth as a person are all recurrent themes that are incorporated into the main storyline. It feels great. It feels like we’re playing a Tales game.

Conclusion

Berseria is a game that retroactively makes Zestiria better. But is perhaps ultimately made somewhat worse by its connection to Zestiria (jury’s out on that one to be honest)

It’s good that Bamco has finally found an iteration of this combat system that feels like it actually works, and the plot and world building feel like a proper return to form for the Tales series.

Just a handful of things stop this from being within my top tier of Tales games, most of which involve the strange nature of Zestiria and Berseria’s development. They really do feel like they were intended to be a single game, like notes got lost during development and ended up with wrong development teams.

A great beginning entry to the series and a good JRPG all around.

#Mizume Reviews #more unedited rambling #this is going to happen whenever a game makes me think about its development #for better or for worse

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teaandgames · 4 years

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The Tea Times - January 2020

January is usually a fairly dry month for gaming news. Christmas has come and sucked up everyone’s cash like a tinsel covered vacuum cleaner, so no one in their right mind would release a big title now. You might as well just sit on it for a few months and get a bigger return in that crucial release window. But there’s been a few bits of news leaking through. Unfortunately, most of it seems to have been delays. At a Glance

Kentucky Route Zero: Act 5, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Warcraft III: Reforged released.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, Hotel Afterlife announced.

House of the Gundead and Exit The Gungeon coming this year!

Rumour: Possible new 2D Metroid and Paper Mario

Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Dying Light 2 delayed.

Frictional Games sets up an ARG

The Releases

I can tell that I haven’t had time to look over the news in advance this time around because this one came as a bit of a shock to me. I adore Kentucky Route Zero and Act V came out on the 28th. Whoa. That was a shock. I’ll need to replay all four acts and get properly immersed in that surreal, well-written world. I guess that’s a solid weekend plan. If you like a bit of surrealism with your adventure game, you absolutely have to try out Kentucky Route Zero.

Speaking of series that I love, Yakuza! The latest in the series, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, released on the 16th January. It’s a pretty large departure for the series, as the real-time brutal combat is swapped out for a more tactical approach. It’s a turn-based RPG now, which was a pretty surprising move. But after six games in the series, perhaps it's time for a change. It’s only in Japan at the moment but I’m sure it’ll make its way over here in time. I just pray it’s on the PC as well as the PlayStation.

I have fond memories of playing Warcraft III back in the day. Admittedly I was terrible at it - and probably still am - but it was a good game. And it had the best worst mouth animations I’ve ever seen. It was like everyone had a drawbridge instead of a lower jaw. If you have similar memories, then you’ll be pleased to know that, seventeen years later, Warcraft III: Reforged is here to bring those memories back. It’s got retooled graphics, an altered campaign, better modding support, all the bells and whistles. It released on Tuesday 28th January.

The Announcements

Two Pokemon related things were announced this month. The first is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, which is a bloody long name. I’ve only played one Mystery Dungeon game, albeit briefly, but it’s a bright, colourful counterpart to the main series. You play as the Pokemon themselves, with it feeling even more of an adventure game than the usual Catch ‘Em All fare. Looks like it’s bursting with fan favourite Pokemon too. It will release on March 6th.

Less exciting, and more annoying, is the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass. It’s the classic season pass DLC thing, which is already kind of annoying given the price, but more annoying is how it pulls the usual Pokemon split in half move too. If you play Sword, say, then you need to buy the Sword expansion pass. It will not work for Pokemon Shield. So if you, say, have both copies of the game amongst your family, then you’ll be shelling out about £54 for both passes. It’s such a money grubbing thing, not something I really expected to be honest.

For a total change of pace, there’s Hotel Afterlife. Judging by the trailer, it looks like a bit like a Two Point Hospital style management system but set in a hotel for people who’ve had enough of life. It’s an amusing concept and it seems to share a lighthearted sense of humour. Even the expected release window is done in a funny way. It will release ‘soonerish’. I love it. Check out the trailer.

Re-Enter The Gungeon

While this is technically old news, Dodge Roll have come up with two new games for the Enter the Gungeon franchise. The first is a bit of surprise. It’s called House of the Gundead and that should give you a good idea of what to expect. It’s an arcade lightgun shooter set in the Gungeon world! For a retro-styled game to go even more retro with a release, it’s pretty awesome. I can pretty much guarantee that it won't come anywhere near me. Ah well.

More in my wheelhouse is Exit the Gungeon, the dungeon climber! A pretty novel idea, especially when combining the usual shooty-shooty of Gungeon proper. The only thing I can think of that comes close to it is Knightmare Tower, which was sword-based. If it is as fun as that game is, then Exit the Gungeon is gonna knock my socks off. And they were already on the floor from Enter the Gungeon itself.

A Tale of Two Rumours

Got a quick Nintendo rumour for you. It comes from a prolific leaker, who has decent reputation for being correct. The first of the two rumours is about Paper Mario. Nintendo’s papercraft RPG-Turned-Platformer has changed a lot over the years. After the excellent original, Thousand Year Door and the creative - if dull to play - Super Paper Mario. From there it went rather downhill. Sticker Star’s core idea fell flat and I didn’t have the heart to play Color Splash. Supposedly though, this is a return to form. Please, please be true. I want that great sense of humour paired with a great game.

The other rumour relates to Metroid of all things. A series that’s been kept in the background for a while now, following a few controversial games. Apparently, there’s going to be a new 2D game following in the popular gameboy advance title, Metroid Fusion. Time to keep those peepers peeled it seems

Delays, Delays, Delays

Hot on the heels of Doom Eternal being delayed until later this year, it seems that three other games have done the same thing. The hotly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red’s big title after The Witcher, has been pushed back to September this year. It’s a bit of a blow but it’s a game that’s been cooking for some time now. It would be foolish to build so much hype and then deliver a broken product.

The Final Fantasy VII remake has been delayed until April, which is down to needing a bit more polish. Honestly, not too much I can say about this one. Not really a series that I’ve much of a history with.

So let’s move on to Dying Light 2, which I am a lot more interested in. Dying Light was a solid hit for me, save the humdrum ending, and proved that zombie games can be exciting right up until the end. I am stoked for Dying Light 2 and it looks like the delay is for similar reasons. They’re trying to get it right. I can respect that. Hopefully, the era of rushed, broken, day one patch games is over.

AaaaaaaaaaaRG!

Amnesia and SOMA creator have put up the beginnings of an ARG, on a website that’s helpfully titled ‘Next Frictional Game’. It doesn’t really give up many details, just has a video entitled 0129.mp4 at time of writing. It’s a pulsing… something. What exactly we’re looking at is unclear but I’m sure a crack team of ARG lovers will tear it apart shortly.

For me, it looks kind of like a fetus. Yeah, I’ve got nothing else. I’ll leave it to the smart people. That’s all for January, see you in February!

#Dying Light 2 #Kentucky Route Zero #Yakuza: Like A Dragon #Hotel Afterlife #Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX #Paper Mario #Metroid #House of the Gundead #Exit the Gungeon #Gaming #Video Games #Tea And Video Games

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eliaspsuedo · 7 years

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Fire Emblem Warriors thoughts

12-16 hours, DONE! At least with story mode, I still have history mode and all the unlockable characters to get through.

I’m sure the main Dynasty Warriors games are good. They should be if companies keep making spin-offs based on them, but my general thoughts on these Dynasty Warriors spin-offs is that they’re fun diversions but they get repetitive without any decent hook, either in the story or gameplay. I played Dynasty Warriors Gundam 1 back when I was young and Dragon Quest Heroes in preparation for this game. From what I remember of DW Gundam, it’s that I liked it for the first few hours till it got stale, but I’ll always remember the original mode. The interactions (always loved seeing the Zechs, Puru, and Domon), the scenarios, and it was the first time I saw stuff like G Gundam and most early-UC shows. Dragon Quest Heroes is one I really enjoyed for the gameplay and bits and pieces of character interaction. It felt a tower defense game, where you get medals to summon monsters as your sentry, it really livened up the combat. Lastly, because I was more familiar with DQ, I got to understand all the fanservice, references, and the joy seeing my favorite DQ characters interact with each other. So, now that is the context of where I’m coming from in terms of DW games is clear, what did I think of FE Warriors?

First up is the negatives of the game.

Story mode was pretty bare-bones, which I expected but I was hoping for a little more flavoring in what little meat I got. The plot was pretty average: Young Lords, Chaos Dragon, obvious betrayal, etc. all that stuff you’d see in a FE game, but what really made the whole story come out as “meager” for me, was the lack of cross-game interaction and involvement in the main plot. There are brief bits of cross-game interaction, like Lissa talking to Oboro or Camilla praising Robin, but they’re brief and there’s little impact on the plot. This is important because this is a chance to either flesh out the characters out of their element or give us a pair that we’d never thought about, but now we want to see more. I go back to the Zechs, Puru, and Domon group from DW Gundam. They were all from different series, had different alignments, and completely different personalities, but seeing them work together, and even get out of their comfort zone by acting out of character really made them stand-out.

But what about the Supports? That’s a problem, cause by relegating the fun and interesting interactions there the player will miss out and the story will suffer. You have to work to get them, which is harder since maps last longer, rates feels slower, and for all that hard work you get 3 minutes of character portraits talking to each other. It’s ok in regular FE because there’s more opportunities to raise levels, you get more talk, and it mostly helps side characters. Let me put it this way, would you rather see Frederick fix Leo’s collar in a text box and read about it, or fully animated while you’re in the game?

The characters in Warriors are should be an ensemble, meaning their skills, personalities, and talents are equally spread out and given a proper time to shine. This is not helped by what keeps the characters we want to see together, the main characters. My friend who only plays FE Heroes, likes Dynasty Warriors, and doesn’t like Rowan character design, helped me put it into words: “They feel like discount Sharena and Alfonse.” I agree with that, cause there’s not much to Rowan and Lianna. Aside from what they are (twins, royals of the kingdom, etc.), who they are is lost on me. Rowan gets off better, cause he has aspirations and liking to knights, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are pretty much there. Since a large chunk of the plot is about them, we got less time to get a feel out of the Heroes.

Going to DQ Heroes, I got more fun out of Luceus and Aurora, the male and female characters of that game. Now, Luceus thing was he prattled on complicated battle strategies (something I wish Robin did in the game) and took an analytical look, and Aurora was his foil that summed up his plan and just attacked and did what she felt was needed. What made them so fun to watch was how we saw those interactions during a supposedly tense moment, and it lightens up the mood and brings up the energy for hack and slash.

Another thing, voices are repetitive, especially in menus.

I saw a piece of trivia on how Rowan and Lianna were made sword users to help with the tutorials. I can see why they did it, but I have a better idea: how about making them wield all the different weapons? It lessens the oversaturation of sword users, it really make them feel like our avatar, and allows some variety in the animations. Though rigging up 5 different weapon animations seems like a hassle…

The last big negative is how many characters have little to do. This is most apparent with Marth’s group as, aside from some scenes including one with Darios, they really don’t do much in terms of the plot. In fact, now that I think about it, even the other groups don’t much to do either. The most I remember is moral support and speeches, but for active and direct actions? Not much. Takumi disarming Darios, the Shepherds teaching the group, Sakura finding a cure for Rowan, snapping Corrin out, and the Gleamstones, those all are out of the top of my head. I’m glad Celica and Lyn aren’t in Story mode cause they’d have even less to do! I doubt adding more character from the other FE games would help. With a plot this thin, I doubt we’d see more of, say, Ike that we’d see of any other character. I guess if you want to see the older cast, that’s what FE Heroes is for.

There definitely could’ve been more to the story. At best, it’s ok. I think the problem was the story was too serious. In the above DW spinoffs, while it had dramatic moments, there was a lighter or fun tone in all of them. Cause you’re reveling in all the carnage, fanservice, and characters. The story of Warriors didn’t feel like that, it just felt like another cut-out FE story, and that’s sad. If it joked around for more scenes (one or two scenes of Owain and Niles don’t count), maybe the bland story would’ve been more forgivable.

So that means I hated FE Warriors, right? NOPE

It actually surpassed my expectations!

A big part of that is the gameplay. With the added FE elements, it manages to turn the rather repetitive combat into a tactical action RPG. First, the weapon triangle means you have to think who engages what. You defeat enemies faster and easier when you have the advantage, and vice-versa. This means team composition is crucial, giving you some thought in who you pick. Do you add archers cause there are fliers? Do you add mages cause there are dragons? Can I deal with being at a disadvantage? Combine this with the second: Commanding units, and you got something just like a FE game. During gameplay you can command your units to attack certain enemies or defend forts. You cannot ignore this and power through, you have to manage your units to efficiently win. This means you have to constantly go to the map and give orders, lest you have the AI dilly-dally, and pay attention who’s attacking what. For example, Takumi is guarding that fort, so I’ll order Corrin to kill him but not let Camilla go anywhere near him since he’ll shoot her down (Fun Fact: I did defeat Takumi with Camilla). Add to the fact the AI, which can handle themselves competently (though you do have to wrestle with it a lot), takes a while to defeat enemies, then you really have to do a lot of the work with your 4 playable characters to get the job done. This leads to a very engaging and frantic juggling act, and makes the core gameplay really solid.

Next, the pair up system was a really useful feature. You pair up two units and that unit will be your sword and shield. It adds another layer of strategy to your fight since now you can swap between a sword and a lance user to easily adapt to the situation. It comes at a cost though, as it cuts your commandable units. So that’s another thing to consider, losing a possible defender. Plus, the dual guard makes attacks not hit you and it is a life saver when you’re completing Anna missions that require you to not get hit.

The maps were also impressive. Taking advantage of fliers ability to, well, fly as well as using Dragonveins to improve the map for you units. It’s a really nice touch. There weren’t too many spaces without enemies, so there’s always something to do.

Let’s talk technical, because on the Switch it’s amazing. A steady framerate while docked (you can pick between 30 or 60 FPS), and undocked it works just as well. Especially with local co-op. I was impressed on how it ran undocked with two players. A little choppier, but it remains consistent and having a buddy around enhances the tactical edge, since you have to coordinate your actions.

History Mode was another thing I like. I haven’t completed it since I’m underleveled, but I am enjoying it more than Story Mode. On a FE map (complete with sprites), you select enemies like they’re missions and defeating certain enemies expands your area. The challenge here is to get S-Ranks to get Master Seals and other good stuff. It’s missions like defeat 500 enemies, or only use magic users, is varied enough to keep me interested, and there’s some story bits in it that seems interesting. Female Robin makes an appearance in the Awakening map, with Male Robin and Chrom watching in astonishment, it’s an interesting angle to say the least.

Finally, it’s the polish. The stunning animation, how it runs, how good the cutscenes look, and just how it feels like Fire Emblem. I had the same feeling with FE Heroes. Different format, same series, wonderful feel.

So in the end, I wasn’t expecting much, but I got more than what I asked and I definitely recommend it. Now I’ll just wait for my beautiful wife, and hope the next FE game on the Switch comes soon!

Now, let’s do the odyssey~

#elias plays fire emblem warriors #fire emblem warriors #fire emblem warriors spoilers #DONE!

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eldradii · 5 years

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June tournament report

Hey guys! This was the list I brought to my most recent tournament! As usual a bit of a weird list, but I had a fair amount of confidence going in as the couple tournaments before that I had played way more experimental nonsense. So here was a solid list relying on a core of Dark Reapers and psychic phase shenanigans along with some diet Plaguebearers.

Here’s the list: Alaitoc Battalion Winged Autarch; Farseer (Guide, Fortune) 20 Guardians (Shuriken Cannon, Scatter Laser) 20 Guardians (Shuriken Cannon x 2) 5 Rangers 10 Dark Reapers (All Reaper Launchers) Wave Serpent (Scatter lasers, no upgrades) Hemlock (jinx) Ynnari Battalion Yvraine (Word of the Phoenix/Storm of Whispers, Gaze of Ynnead) Winged Autarch, Reaper launcher, Hungering Blade, Walker of Many paths Warlord 2 x 5 Rangers 8 Storm Guardians (Chainswords) Mixed Supreme Command Eldrad (Executioner, Doom, Will of Asuryan), Warlock (Ulthwe, Quicken/Conceal), Spiritseer (Biel Tan, Spirit Stone relic, Protect/Jinx)

The idea of this list is just to just have a ton of stuff screening characters. Guardians can be super buffed and even without buffs are surprisingly tough, with Alaitoc trait, and then I ball up the board to kill their chaff and frontline. I distract people from the reapers while they do Khaine’s work! Finally, in the context of ITC it is relatively difficult to kill this list’s units, since the guardians are very tanky, then they are characters or reapers that have fire and faded to safety. Then, I am always scoring reliable kills with my hemlock, smites and other mortal wound outputs. The list performed well in testing. Ynnari is there mainly because I like Yvraine as a model and I don’t mind overpaying by about 40 points for her to be a mortal wound machine. The Autarch gives the best Farm in the game besides guard Grand Strategist/Kurov’s Aquilla - since his Path of War ability doesn’t change with Ynnari, he can farm command points on a 5+ followed by a 6. Finally, his free reroll to hit or wound once per battle round gives him a sort of pseudo doom to let him chip in with his reaper launcher. The troops are mostly rangers to prevent them from dying on turn 1. Storm guardians were just a test of a chaff unit that can screen while sometimes pitching into combat. As usual I’ll work in headings where I first recount the game, then Takeaways where I talk about what the game taught me, then another section called Moving Forward where I, well, say what I think about the game’s lessons in the context of changing my list or play. At the end I’ll do a recap of the most important things I noticed, then put forward an updated list/stratgey.

Game 1

I arrived quite exhausted as I didn’t get to sleep for a long time the night before. I really enjoyed this tournament because for once nearly all my friends were there, so it was great to catch up with them. Anyway, I was playing Steven with his Imperium Soup first. He had a knight crusader, a guard brigade with a big squad of Ogryn, then a blood angels smash captain + scouts battalion.

Here was the deployment. I deployed basically on the line with all my guardian and character ball. For secondaries I believe I picked Kingslayer on the knight, Reaper, and Butcher’s Bill. There wasn’t much of a good fire and fade place for my reapers. His knight ended up starting just behind the bullgryn. Steven was a great opponent and we became friends. I grabbed first turn and got to superbuff my guardians, then slingshot them forwards with quicken. I quickly picked up a unit of scouts with Eldrad and Yvraine, then picked up scores of guardsmen with my shuriken catapults before fire and fading them back to be out of easy charge range of the bullgryn. My hemlock flew to the bottom left corner that you can see on that photo to immediately pick up those scouts. I threw the reapers into the bullgryn rather than the knight. My reasoning was that it was going to be very difficult to pick up the knight without doom and jinx, and those bullgryn were very threatening to my guardians in combat. I picked up half the unit. I finished my turn with a comfortable lead into kill more.

Here is Steven pondering about what to do for his second turn. As you can see I have pulled fairly back with the fire and fade a lot of his frontline is missing. He pushed forward to get into closer range and shot pretty much everything into the guardians. I think he mistakedly didn’t go for the reapers with the knight but after he had committed so much into the guardians, he wanted to seal the deal there. His smash captain redeployed and with angel’s wing charged my hemlock. I played Lightning Fast Reactions with it, passed a couple spirit stone saves, and he was forced to fight again. He did pick it up scoring him his old school and kill point but he didn’t get kill more.

Turn two I moved a bit closer with characters and reformed the line with the guardians (I only lost about 6 + platforms) and also deep struck in some rangers to provide a bit of extra screen. My second guardian squad went after the smash captain, and my ynnari autarch lept up to get that objective on the hill and charge if the shooting didn’t do well against the smash. My wave serpent surged forward to charge a big mobbed up squad of guardsmen. I don’t remember exactly what happened but I either failed or didn’t doom the knight and couldn’t get in jinx range of it anyway. I randomly fired the reapers into it instead, wasting their shooting as they did maybe 3 wounds total or something. I couldn’t fire and fade them as they would still be exposed. I really should have finished off the ogryns with them instead. Anyway I successfully killed the smash captain, many guardsmen, forcing autopasses, and my screen was still intact. The wave serpent got into combat and tied up the mass of guardsmen and characters too.

Steven’s turn two involved his knight striding into threat range, and tying up my guardians with a sentinel. He killed half the reapers with the knight’s shooting. Another sentinel charged rangers. I got very lucky after he killed my wave serpent with his second smash captain, it exploded and took out a lot of models, giving me the butcher’s bill I had missed out on. My memory is a bit foggy here but basically we ended up looking at this:

I had wrapped up the sentinel and was just playing for points now. I felt a bit bad about this because I felt like I was probably going to lose with a couple more turns, but it’s not 100% clear. If the game had gone on more turns, I would have sprinted my characters up to that corner and screened with guardians, before wittling down what I could while screening out the knight as much as possible. In the end with a list like this you can’t really count it out as any of those characters can just go superman and tank a whole shooting phase or super smite a knight to death! In the end we ran out of time and Steven won by a single point, however I wouldn’t have it any other way, Steven was lovely and the reason we played slow was because we were chatting the whole time.

Takeaways: I wasn’t able to set up a full fire and fade spam on the dark reapers, and also struggled with target priority. The strength of this list is that all the opponent really has to shoot at is Guardians who are -1/-2/-3 and 2+ save with 3++ and fortune possibly. With a new screen spawning on turn two as well even if they get through that first guardian squad. The Hemlock was a bit of a one for one suicide run, as usual for the hemlock. It’s hard to use it without it getting killed by opposing smash captain or dark reapers, etc; Some armies will just fail to kill hit and it does insane work, far more than a Crimson Hunter Exarch or Razorwing, but those other options are much safer and cheaper.

With regards to the Dark Reapers, I should have boosted over to the outlined terrain feature and accepted a bit of a limited fire arc in exchange for proper fire and fade. I just didn’t really think about it much. I was also a bit worried about a turn one redeploy smash captain finding them, however I have the tools to screen that out quite easily, as well as use Forewarned. While he had some scouts there, I would have been able to use the serpent to clear them out, with scatter lasers and serpent shield.

Moving Forward: Mainly have to get better about using reapers in terms of positioning and fire and fade, and making sure they’re picking up good targets. I’m blessed in this list as I don’t have to really worry about the knight’s shooting, only its combat ability against my guardians, and people are obligated to stay back with the knight for fear of Doom + Jinx + Dark reapers, so I might get a lot of time against that sort of thing.

Game 2 Game two was against my very good friend Tim. We both laughed because at least we could take as long as we wanted for lunch. We had joked about coming all the way out to the tournament to end up playing each other anyway the day before so it was pretty amusing that it actually happened. Tim and I playtest a lot and constantly bounce ideas off each other, so it wasn’t a very serious game. Tim’s list had an alaitoc battalion with 40 guardians, farseer, warlock, 6 dire avengers, 8 reapers with tempest launcher, a wave serpent, 2 crimson hunter exarchs with bright lances, 3 war walkers with scatter lasers; then another battalion of alaitoc Farseer, Autarch and Spiritseer, then 3 x 5 rangers. Relatively similar to my army list and we do tend to agree on a few things so that’s not a surprise.

The deployment we rolled was the pointy halves, and there was matching terrain on both sides so it was pretty dumb. Both of us had 20 guardians and characters inside a ruin, a wave serpent with reapers, and plane(s). For secondaries, I picked Recon, Old School and Mark for Death on his guardian blobs and the crimson hunters, I believe, and he mirrored me. As usual Tim deployed his rangers forwards to eat smites (for some reason... I keep doing this to him and he never learns), I mentioned this to him but he insisted it was fine. Anyway I knew this game would come down to a lot of dice being thrown at each other, but one of the important things I needed to do was keep my hemlock (the shadow in the bottom right) out of doom range of his farseer, as without doom, dark reapers actually struggle to 100-0 a craftworlds plane, since it has a 5+ save and 12 wounds, so a 10 man unit only gets maybe 6 wounds through and you can save 2 or 3 and survive, then the hemlock just kills the reapers. Other than that it was important to screen out his flyers a bit so that if they wanted to come within alaitoc range to dodge the -1 on my units, they’d be either unable to, or were vulnerable to my smites. I kept first turn, and measured out his Doom threat range. Unfortunately I forgot about his relic flying buff on his Doomseer... Anyway, my hemlock stayed back in my deployment, I thought I was being very clever. My reapers were just in range of his crimson hunter, so I quickened to get them all in range, ran all the buffs and shot it out of the sky comfortably. Finally I blasted away the rangers with smite and gaze of ynnead. My guardians had nothing to shoot at. I wish I had gone second, but in ITC with the whole deployment missions, you have to go first if you are on first.

Here’s what it looked like after my first turn. I’m holding two objectives with Obsec models. My plane is so cunningly out of doom range (><). Anyway. You see the reapers are out in the open and that’s because there’s no real fire and fade places to go, but also because I am baiting him a little. He cannot hit them with guardians, so the only threats are other dark reapers and the crimson hunter exarch. His exarch cannot easily get within 12 so I am confident I can weather his fire and I would only be losing 4 at most, to be able to shoot it out of the sky and smite it to death too. If the reapers go for my reapers, they have to be a bit exposed to get LOS, so I can safely get my hemlock over there to just pick most of them up no problems. Anyway Tim’s first turn is him moving out, shooting my guardians, with me getting a bit unlucky with my platform saves; His reapers ofc blast away my hemlock. His Crimson hunter I can’t really remember but I don’t think it really did much first turn. It wasn’t looking great for me. My turn two I make a mistake bringing in my second guardian squad and pushing aggressive. I thought I had to bring them down and I was dictated their positioning from his forewarned possible answer to them. My psychic phase pretty much completely whiffs. I shoot up his guardians and fail to make a huge dent in them. My Ynnari autarch swoops in and goes super saiyan and picks up his warlord with his hungering blade. My Alaitoc Autarch moves forwards to go after the last rangers and dire avengers holding his flank. Tims turn sees his war walkers arrive and pick up a lot of guardians, and his reapers use their tempest launcher to kill off a lot of my reapers. His guardians come down into a forewarned and I pick up half of them, in return they pick up my warlord. I was really hoping that would be the last thing he shot so I could cheese a bit with the Ynnari rebirth strategem. Things are bit bleak here as I am starting to lose a lot of units and characters are getting a bit exposed.

My turn three is a disappointment as my psychic phase once again completely whiffs, failing most powers and having the couple that go off get denied. You have to understand that I’m talking +1 to cast on a 5 cast spell and failing it, then +1 on a 7 with a reroll and failing it, followed by 7 with +1 and failing it; etc. By this stage not much threatens reapers so they’re both pretty much just in the open. Our wave serpents go for the opposing reapers after our Marked for Death guardian remnants jump into wave serpents to avoid ceding points. My autarch picks up a unit of rangers with his grenades, then charges the dire avengers and fails to kill any. I believe I did some running and shooting with my fresher squad of guardians to get a lot of wounds on his farseer and other support, but leave them on 1 wound or so. I misplayed and put down some random rangers down. No real plan to be honest. Just mistakes.

Tim’s turn 3 is clean up and fighting, he charges into my ruin which has the objective in it (for bonus point) to fight my storm guardians and spirit seer. It goes relatively well for me, with my storm guardians surviving.

Turn 4 is quick and sees me trying to pick up points where I can. I pick off the farseer, use units in buildings to screen characters. His turn four he also picks up a few units but it’s a pretty close game at that point (I believe close to a tie) but we find an extra turn to play. I think I can win if I get a little bit of luck and pick up my final points. But unfortunately I am too far behind from my mistakes and also those two complete whiffs of psychic phase. We talk out the remaining turns to make sure Tim gets good points out of the win. He ends up on 25-16. At this point I am a little beat because it was a pretty unlucky game in a lot of ways for me, but really I should have been a lot more focused in my game plans.

Takeaways First of all it is as usual the Hemlock is a glass cannon against people with the correct tools. Finally, I gotta work on rolling better against my mate Tim. More seriously though, it’s becoming more and more apparent a single hemlock is not a great option. You really should be playing 2/3 or 0. One is just a big chunk of points that’s hard to take down but still vulnerable. Another take away from this game is that I needed to stop breaking screen and deploying my second guardians squad up the board. What I should have done was cleared out my own building and deep struck in there to avoid Forewarned, then moved them forward to be screen on the next turn. I also need to start planning turns in advance to clear out space for my deep strikes. It’s something I need to do to bring my play to the next level

Moving Forward At this point I am questioning what I should be doing with the Hemlock. I thought about it a lot in the context of the list and I find it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. The strength of the list is there’s no targets for big weapons except the Wave Serpent and Hemlock. The Wave Serpent’s job is basically to protect my Reapers from an alpha strike and tie things up, and it’s 134 points for that, and you can hide it. It’s very hard to hide a hemlock. With that in mind I also noticed as usual I was spending 2-6 CP a game to Autopass units. I desperately needed fearless, from either Will of Asuryan or... an Avatar of Khaine (or Ynnead). I am very tempted to just swap out the Hemlock for an Avatar. It is not the best unit but first of all it looks amazing, but second of all, there are a lot of good parts to it. The first is that it’s fearless bubble is 12 inches and it has a pretty large base, so you can cover a ton of ground with it. Second is that it is a close combat threat that can kill Knights relatively comfortably. Being a character as well, it is very hard to take down without killing all the guardians first (which isn’t going to happen). If you look back on game one, I had to play back from this guardsmen horde because I had to respect the knight’s charge. If I had an avatar ready there, being such a big scary model, they might stay away especially once I tell them what it can do in combat. Finally when they do charge their knight in, the Avatar can avoid death if they go for him with his 3 CP rebirth strategem, where he can fight them too. Then he can carve it up. Ogryns too, looking at a good 3-4 being cut down by Khaine’s Wrath!

Game 3: There’s not a lot to say about this game except that my opponent was also in the 0-2 bracket with his primaris army. He was a lovely opponent and just there for fun. I didn’t really enjoy playing this game but I did enjoy hanging out with him. Shoutout to Hamish. Anyway he played a Raven Guard/Phobos list with 2 Lascannon dreads, an autocannon dread, a thunderfire cannon, assassin, 5 man infiltrators and scouts, the new sniper dudes, and the hammer of his list being 6 inceptors and 3 more inceptors, then 3 of the autocannon jump dudes, along with characters to help them. I took recon, old school and marked for death on his dreadnaughts and the inceptor squad. I took word of the phoenix to heal my characters from sniper hits, which came up a lot, nice utility there. Anyway, the hemlock crushed this game, he kept trying to kill it... Anyway, psychic phase was always great, picking up whole units with smites and equivalents. The nail in the coffin was the forewarned intercept on his unit of 6 inceptors, picking up the whole squad. I had talked to him about it a lot but he felt like he didn’t really have the option to play around it. Rest of the game was just various characters and smites picking up units. I ended up tabling him (which is very hard for this list to do)

Takeaways: Primaris are in a rough spot against Dark Reapers and Hemlocks. Moving forward: I would probably feel better about playing this kind of game if I was playing an Avatar rather than a -3 to hit plane. At least then my opponent would see a cool model! End of Day 1: Finishing 1-2, quite disappointing. It was definitely a learning day in some ways, but in a lot of ways I was frustrated not really learning that much. I liked the list and felt like it worked pretty well. I was definitely thinking about playing yet another screening unit that I could just bring in turn three or so once the opponents lacked as much to be able to kill them with, such as Wraithguard/Grotesques or even an additional wave serpent. I wouldn’t feel good about a 3rd guardian bomb since they’re a bit pricey and... honestly I don’t want to paint and handle another 20 guardians every game. I have some good ideas for some wraithblade honor-guard type conversions, so maybe I’ll try those out. Unfortunately for Day 2, we got home around 9 where a loud party was going. I was able to sleep but my girlfriend wasn’t able to. I got woken up by the party getting even louder around 2 am, at which point I called the police. Of course, as I was on the phone, they closed up and went home. I then couldn’t sleep, instead thinking a lot about an Avatar, and other options. I got very little sleep and nearly overslept. Day 2: Game 4: I played against Jordan and his Custodes. We played a really tight game - his list was a custodes battalion (pure!) with Trajan, a shield captain on bike with all the buffs, 2 squads of 3 guard, a squad of 6 guard, 3 bikes, and two telemons, along with two vexilla magnifica to give a -1 to hit bubble to his units. For secondaries I picked Marked for Death on the Telemons, Captain and Bikes, then Gangbusters and Ground Control. He picked Recon, King of the Hill, and Headhunter. Deployment was pretty standard as I had a magic box to hide everything in and behind. He got turn one which was amazing for me as he came up the board towards me. Jordan punched straight through my Hemlock’s -3 to hit and easily took it out with his Telemon dreads. His forces all advanced up (literally) except his firebase. My turn one I jump out of the box to give screen to my characters. My characters go off with mortal wounds out the wazoo, doom and jinx the bikes, then the reapers pick them up. This game I was very weird about fire and fade and seemed to decide to do it/remember it at random. Anyway a sweet turn one sees me getting an easy kill more and denying his King of the Hill (for pretty much the whole game). Anyway, his turn two his guard squad come down inside that building in the middle of the table using the vexilla teleport homer. He gets a charge into my guardians and starts picking them up. My wave serpent plays the long game and gets to that big piece of terrain on the top right, my thinking being it can’t really hurt anything with its 8 shots hitting on 5s against a 2+ save, so it’s better to try and charge the telemons when he has to inevitably start moving forward with trajan.

Turn 2 for me is my second guardian blob coming in and doing not much to the custodes, my characters picking up a good couple. I had stayed in combat with them too, as I was hoping to go off and pick up the unit in psychic (not that unlikey, as I do about 8d3 mortal wounds not including super smites). I think I correctly ignored telemons and instead shot at custodians in general.

This shot is his charge, as you can see my alaitoc Autarch is exposed, he is hacked down.

Trying to maintain a line against the custodes with characters and protected guardians... My favourite moment from the weekend! My Ynnari autarch was ready to go in super saiyan and start picking up Custodes, but unfortunately he fluffed and was promptly cut down by the combination of failed saves and the avenge the fallen strategem giving each custodes an extra few attacks. The shield captain came in and killed off one character I believe but promptly got firing squaded off the table by smites and the dark reapers. I messed up and forgot to fire and fade reapers, and he was able to get some with moving and firing, even at -3. With limited reapers I really couldn’t stop his final squad of custodes. It was a shame! This game I got back literally 0 of my 11 command points with my farmer autarch, which was very sad. A couple extra command points would have given me a big push later in the game. The game came down to turn 6 where I used my last turn advantage to fly over the wave serpent to contest his home objective, murder trajan with mortal wounds and other nonsense, then try and shoot off the last custodian guard squad for a final hold more. I placed some random rangers again that didn’t do anything, but if they’d gotten lucky I would have had a serious dash for objectives, and Jordan sent units after them, which worked out well for me. The game ended as a loss 21 points to 26.

Takeaways: When will I learn to fire and fade my reapers properly? Also, yet again I deep struck my guardians with no real target or anything. I should keep them for reserves. As it stands I can only protect (in sense of the english word and also the psychic power) one unit of guardians so the second one just gets picked up. Again the hemlock was a liability and provided him with one good target to take down on the first turn, while also being vulnerable to his shield captain, various smash captains and daemon princes, dark reapers and other nonsense. An avatar would have been quite sick in this game too, giving me back CP for fearless and also pitching into combat to really carve up those banana boys. Moving forward: I really have to start planning my deep strikes ahead of time. Start to think about the flow of the game and where I need to direct fire. Finally I also need better secondary selection. Marking the Telemon’s for death when there were much easier and safer targets to pick up with the reapers was a mistake. I should have picked something like Old School as his warlord was always going to be in my face and I have easy linebreaker with either skyleaping an Autarch or using my wave serpent. Listwise, I’m still into the Avatar but I’m also into using bigger units of rangers to secure recon and other uninteractive secondaries. I’m starting to think about stuff like Swooping Hawks just because their Skyleap is actually interesting - more importantly, thinking about Baharroth.

Game 5: Game 5 was a wash, I played against Necrons which I have never done before. Everyone warned me about the bomb and I deployed properly with all my characters spread out. So his list was 3 Doomsday Arks, 3 of the flying bread things with the bombs, some immortals for troops, a few characters, the bike dudes and I believe a cryptek. For secondaries I got Big Game Hunter, Recon (big mistake) and Old School.

All in all this game was actually pretty sick. My opponent used his Doomsday arks to pop the wave serpent, I had no idea it was possible to kill a wave serpent, and promptly wiped out the reapers, and also killed the screen of guardians completely. Losing first turn was devastating against his list, but I really should have tried to hide the wave serpent about where that big wall was on the bottom right. My mistake. Necrons also have this ability to give +1 to hit for their army which negated my Alaitoc and allowed him to go off with Tesla. Without my first turn buff ritual of Protect and Conceal, my guardians had to rely on 3+ save to keep them alive and it was not enough. Fortunately my hemlock went super saiyan this game and took over screen duty. I flamed and smote down a plane quite easily with my last two reapers supporting as best they could. I was thoroughly hemmed in but thanks to the hemlock repeatedly flying in circles, I was able to mostly screen my characters. In one phase I went absolutely off with the characters, completely smiting out a plane in one turn from 100% to 0%. However losing random units of rangers and having 0 board control meant I was just losing points and never achieving recon either. My Ynnari Autarch flew up to smash a flyer, then died, I tried to rez him, failed the 4+ and failed the reroll with my last CP. However, the game ended up pretty close and ended with just a thin layer of rangers and the hemlock between my characters in the literal corner. As I had last turn, I was able to fly over with the hemlock and reland my skyleaped autarch, to secure me linebreaker and if I had been able to pick up the unit of immortals (I killed a good 7), I believe I may have won this game despite everything, which is pretty insane if you think about it. The final score was 29 to 20 points.

Takeaways: Well, wave serpents are not invincible. I really should have respected the doomsday Arks, it was just an extremely long deployment and it was so far away I thought it was pretty much impossible for it to die. Now I know. Characters are great and unlike previous strategies I played with characters, all of these ones are quite good, even if yvraine is a bit overcosted. Hemlock is insane against some armies what with the -2/-3 to shoot at and decent save. I’m torn between dropping it or going to 2/3 of them. However that’s a lot of points and a completely different list. In the end very very few people play necrons with the bomber strat especially, so I’m not too concerned with this.

Moving forward: It would be a shame to warp my perception of how the list goes from this game. Honestly I think it may have been better to take that big section of terrain and just hide straight behind it with my whole army. Deep strike the autarchs, keep the characters a bit apart, and he has to actually hit the characters on a not favourable dice. Just wearing it instead of getting shot at by his whole army on turn one. Maybe even deep strike the guardians, put the wave serpent and hemlock a bit forward and line up my characters at the backline waiting for their turn two screen once the planes are no longer able to bomb. The Avatar would do much worse here but it’s not really the matchup I want to play for. There is an idea with using the Black Heart allies instead, Vect is a great strategem and with 13 or so CP + Walker of Many Paths farm, I have a good amount of CP to use with it.

Wrap up: Overall I went 1-4 which is objectively terrible. Really only was unlucky in one game against my mate Tim, so it’s all in play and list. I truly believe that this list has good legs, and when I was playing it it felt like I was doing something moderately busted. Fire and Fading reapers, unkillable guardians, 10+ mortal wounds a turn. Main thing I need to do is really start thinking turns in advance. Need to follow my own heart too, and stop overthinking. Just commit to the battleball and roll forward using smites and psychic to murder my opponents, consistently score points. It was a fun tournament, mainly because I got to go with friends. Highly recommend that!

My initial update to the list sees me swapping out the spiritseer and the hemlock for an avatar of khaine and a warlock. From there I might downgrade the wings off the Alaitoc Autarch, as he usually footslogs anyway, and the star glaive is a lot more useful than a power sword. There’s a trade off in that wings are useful and give me short charges with a banshee mask. However, with the Avatar, getting a free reroll on the charge makes that loss sting a little less. If I did that I could move to a fourth squad of rangers, or perhaps shift more things around, take a couple more storm guardians, then take a third blob of something or other. But for now the most immediate change is:

Alaitoc Battalion: Avatar of Khaine Autarch with Wings, Banshee mask Farseer (Guide, Fortune) 20 Guardians (Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon) 20 Guardians (2 Shuriken cannons) 5 Rangers 10 Dark Reapers (All reaper launchers) Wave serpent (Scatter lasers, no upgrades) Ynnari Battalion: Autarch with Wings, Reaper Launcher, Hungering Blade, Banshee Mask, Walker of Many Paths Yvraine 2 x 5 Rangers 8 Storm Guardians Mixed Supreme Command: Eldrad (Doom, Executioner, Mind War) Biel Tan Warlock (Protect/Jinx) Ulthwe Warlock (Coneal or Quicken)

It’s actually a bit interesting to think about Will of Asuryan, as its a cheap easy cast for Eldrad, and does a quarter of the job I take the Avatar for. The main problem I see is not getting first turn and not getting it off and then it’s 2 CP. Not really what he wants to be doing either, as he wants to go for executioner for +1, trigger, get Doom with +2, then Smite with +2 for that super smite. I also think a lot about Yncarne to do the same thing but also give 6+++ and take over Yvraine’s role. It would be interesting. I don’t think it’s better because a big bonus of Guardians being Craftworlds is the Alaitoc bonus, Protect, Fortune and Conceal as well as Quicken. Even with Word of the Phoenix returning the weapon Platform and Shield of Ynnead for a 5++, I don’t think it would be as good. But I will give it a go.

My favorite bit again to close out!

And the army for a recap!

Thanks for reading guys! Till next time!

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omnigeekempire · 4 years

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Well, this truly is the last day and blog of the decade huh? Man, I can’t even remember where all the years went to to be honest, but I guess that just means I’m getting old, or maybe I spent most of my time playing video games and didn’t realize. Either way, in the last decade I have played some remarkable games of that period, many of which have left a lasting impact on my psyche. So today, I wanted to commemorate those games in this blog today. My Top 30 games of the last decade!

Now, I know many have done this kind of thing already, some even rounding it up to just ten games, however, when I look back at the times and all the games I’ve played I couldn’t leave certain games behind or out of the list. So what I’ve decided to do is break them down into the ten year period in groups and give a line or two as to why I enjoyed the game. This way the blog won’t be a chore to read. Hopefully!

2010’s

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood & Darksiders

Let me start with Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. I got into the series in AC2 and I was immediately engrossed with the concept of the Creed and the Assassins. So when AC:B came out, I was more than ecstatic to jump back into the world of Ezio and I was not disappointed. The combat and stealth abilities was amazing for it’s time and being able explore 16th-century Rome as a history fan was unreal.

Darksiders was a game based on religious background, mainly the Christian belief that dealt with a post-apocalyptic Earth, where mankind has become extinct and angels and demons battle for the world’s control. Among them are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the last of the Nephilim who are tasked to bring balance to the universe. It’s I’ve always been interested in concept of angel vs demons, so seeing this take was unique. The story was great and the game had the right balance of combat, puzzling and everything in-between.

2011’s

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim & Sonic Generations

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was probably the first proper open world rpg game that I can say I’ve sunk so many hours into. I honestly remember how everyone was hyping this game up, making it seem like the ultimate game that lets you do whatever you wanted. Naturally, I was drawn to that idea and what I got was an amazing adventure that has made me a fan of the Elder Scrolls series.

After Sonic Unleashed (a criminally underrated game imo) I was starting to get excited for the future of Sonic games. I won’t lie that I am a fanboy of the blue blur as he has, and still is, one of my all time favorite video game character of all time. So when I so Sonic Generation, a game that celebrated 20 years of Sonic, I was hyped. I can happily say I was not disappointed. They finally got the gameplay right and every stage was a blast to play. To this day, many still hold this game as a standard for future modern sonic gameplay. If only they’d take inspiration from Unleashed level stages, now that would be a dream.

2012’s

Guild Wars 2, Journey & Gravity Rush

One of the main core reason why I have a PC today was all thanks to Guild Wars 2. After Champion’s Online had gotten boring, I needed another MMO to dive into and I came across this game that talked about all this features such as dynamic events and the likes. At that time, it looked amazing so I knew I needed to build a PC for it. After that, I sunk more that 500 hours into the game and I still play it occasionally from time to time.

Journey was one of those games that I just came across randomly, I had no idea what to expect but that part of why I enjoyed it so such. From its stunningly beautiful graphics to it’s simply gameplay, there was something that made me comeback to the game. The journey was something I still think about to this day, and the way they implemented the multiplayer was genius.

Just like Journey, Gravity Rush was a came I picked up when I first got the PS Vita. It’s a game that in we players take the role of Kat, a young woman who can manipulate how gravity affects her, allowing her to walk on walls and fly through the air. It was a very unique ide at the time and was one of the first PS Vita game that I enjoyed.

2013’s

Tomb Raider & Injustice: Gods Among Us

The reboot of Tomb Raider was one that of those games that I felt has always been criminally underrated considering she came before Nathan Drake’s Uncharted. I was an action-adventure video game that operated as a reboot that reconstructs the origins of Lara Croft. And that it did very well, establishing the character really well, keeping her exposition ground in a plausible world. One of my favorite aspect of the game was was seeing how the world of Yamatai, a fictional lost island in the Dragon’s Triangle off the coast of Japan unfolded as you progress through the story.

Man, Injustice: Gods Among Us gave me exactly the storyline I’d hoped for in DC story. The idea of Superman crossing the line and becoming this overbearing ruler actually made for a more compelling story in a fighting game and a DC story. Combat was great for its time but it was the storyline that captivated me.

2014’s

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor & Dark Souls 2

Shadow of Mordor was I believe the first game that did the nemesis feature right. It was the first game that I genuinely felt a passion of hatred for a NPC that shit talked me after beating me in a fight. Forcing me to post-pone my main mission to hunt that bastard down. I enjoyed every moment of it and the story was very good from what I can remember.

Dark Souls exposes a lot of games when it first came out. And even though I’ve played the first game, the reason why I put this on the list was simply because it improved on a lot of the feature of the previous game and its the one were I played co-op with my brothers that showed no mercy in exposing me and calling me trash for dying a lot. I plan to finish the games on my own some day (i’m actually quite far into it) but it made an impact to me so it’s here.

2015’s

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain personally wasn’t my first exposure to the MGS universe, but it was the first game I became engrossed with. I never thought an open world stealth game could work, but my goodness did it work. From the story, the characters, the visuals, everything was amazing. This was the game that made me actually take the MGS series, more seriously and go back to playing the other games.

Dying light in my humble opinion did the zombie genre right. I’ve never felt scared of a slow moving zombie, but one that can run and climb building. Yep, that will do. Not only that but the traversing and free-running mechanics in the game was amazing, probably the best of it’s time.

When it comes to Until Dawn, it was one of those games that I got from the PlayStation Plus deal. I read the description about an interactive drama survival horror video game where your choices affects the story, got it and didn’t regret a second I spent with the game. The story was compelling and interesting and over time the characters started to grow on me. But man, knowing that your characters can die and you have the abilities to save them really added the tension because I wanted everyone to survive. I managed to only lose one person but shit I never liked that fucker anyones.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse did something I never thought we’d get from a dragon ball game. A brand new story that lets you be the main character. The story was OK if I’m being honest but it was the multiplayer that proved to be the most fun, before hacking became the norm.

2016’s

Final Fantasy XV & The Last Guardian

Now, despite what many will say, Final Fantasy 15 was still a great game to me. It could be that this was my first Final Fantasy game, so I didn’t have much expectations going into it but I really did enjoy my time with the game. The story of Noctics and how it all ended hit me harder than I actually expected. The gameplay was fun too and exploring the world felt rewarding. Yeah, I know they sold pieces of the story in dlc (which I did not buy) but at it’s core, I had fun playing the game.

Last Guardian was another game that I never played the original and jump right in. The game lets you clim structures, carry objects such as barrels, and operate mechanisms such as levers. It was innovative and unique, especially using Trico’s to reach areas that the boy can’t reach alone. It created this unique dynamic in which you couldn’t directly control Trico but had to tell him what to do hand hope he did it. Aside from that I really enjoyed the way the game told the story, making Trico seem almost alive in the process.

2017’s

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Little Nightmares, Nier: Automata, For Honor & Sonic Mania

I was never a fan of Zelda, I tried in the past and couldn’t get into it. So when the Breath of The Wild version for the Switch came out, I figured why not! I’ll give it one last chance and oh boy was I hooked. The amount of freedom this game gave you to solve all the puzzles and how you wanted to approach the world was insane. This is when I learned how open world games should be handled.

For a long ass time, after the Ezio/Desmond had concluded, the Assassin’s Creed story had been all over the place. No other came afterwards was able to capture the vibe I got from playing the game. That was until Assassin’s Creed Origins came out and introduced a strong character by the name of Bayek. The gameplay was solid and actually made me appreciate the changes but there was two reasons why I both this game. The first was that it was telling the origins of the Assassin’s, so that means we would be going back in time where it’s less industrialized and more ancient. Secondly, it was based in Ancient Egypt, an African civilization featuring a black assassin that didn’t start out as a slave but as a Medjay. The did both very well and the game shot up to two spot in my ac list.

Little Nightmare was a simple puzzle-platformer horror adventure game that I found enjoyable. There was something about the atmosphere of the game that kept me coming back, making me want to learn more about the world.

Nier Automata was perhaps one of the best action role-playing hack and slash video game to come in recent memories. It’s best feature was the story hands down, but not only that, the gameplay was challenging and there was a lot or lore to explore that your leisure. And jeez, don’t even get me started on the music, S-tier materials right there.

With For Honor, I’ll keep it real with you guys, I did not play the story mode. All I played was multiplayer and it was glorious. Yeah the game had some issues at the beginning but that was mostly ironed out over time. But man, I’ve never raged in a game so much yet enjoyed every moment of it. The tactical combat system, known as “Art of Battle”, was a very interesting take on a sword-based fighting game and proved successful if you ask me.

Sonic Mania, the most rated game in Sonic’s history. I enjoyed my time with it. Yeah, I’ll admit I’m not a fan of 2D Sonic, simply because I started with the 3D era, but of course I can appreciate a solid game when I play one.

2018’s

Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man PS4, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Detroit: Become Human, God of War PS4, Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Red Dead Redemption 2 was an experience that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Yeah, so will say it was a slow burner but to me, the pacing was perfect. It took its time to tell the story of Arthur Morgan and his crew and how their world around them was changing. Seeing Arthur go through his change was amazing and if you got the good ending, then you’d understand .

Spider-man was the game all spidey fans have always wanted. A game where you feel like Spider-Man. The controls for the swinging mechanics is the best it’s ever been and following a Peter Parker that was all grown up, dealing with adult life stuff while doing the Spidey gig was a fun experience.

There’s not much to say when it comes to Dragon Ball FighterZ. Its hands down THE best looking Dragon Ball game ever. To the point where now everyone in the anime community is begging Arc System works to make a game based on other anime IP’s’.

Detroit: Become Human is another interactive game that I really enjoyed. This time I was anticipating the game after playing Until Dawn. I really liked how the told the story from three different perspective. Yes, the game had a real life narrative but I really liked how it was executed.

God of War was one of those games that will linger in people minds for years to come. The compelling story of how Kratos went from a raging spartan to a man trying to be the best father he could be was touching to say the least. Combat and the boss fights in the game wasn’t as crazy but still it was a great experience nonetheless.

Once again, not much to say about Super Smash Bros Ultimate. It is the ultimate version of the Smash series and one that will probably go down in history as the greatest crossovers in gaming history.

2019’s

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, The Outer Worlds, Astral Chain & Fire Emblem

Sekiro well deserved to win Game of The Year. I was a game that challenged you and made you get better by learning from your failures. Amazing combat and an interesting story, this game was also my game of the year pick.

The Outer Worlds was perhaps the best open rpg to come out in 2019, which was why it got nominated. The world may be small in comparison to other open world games, but what it lacked in size, it more than made up on it with quality. Side quest feel like main quest, companions are actually interesting, dialogue has depth and gameplay was great. Can’t complain really.

Astral Chains lest player take the role of a detective from the “Neuron” special police task force, who are tasked with solving cases and investigating incidents. It had exploring, questioning characters and examining evidence but the main take from the game was the insane combat in which you take control of another character called Legions. Once you had leveled up your legions, there was almost a crazy amount of combos you could pull off in game. It was also the game that got PS4 fans to actually complain to Platinum Games about not brining the game to PS4. Good game.

Last but certainly not least is Fire Emblems: Three Houses. Probably my favorite tactical role-playing game on the Switch. I really enjoyed the Harry Potter like house gimmick of you being the teacher guiding your students and building a bond with them, only to have watch as you mercilessly kill them on the battlefield years later. Aside from the great 80 plus hour story, the tactical aspect of the game as been well refined and would make even the most elite Fire Emblem fans happy.

Well that’s it from me. Man, hope this list ain’t too long for ya. I tried to keep it short and concise for you guys but I didn’t want to leave any game that made an impact on me. Please, do share your list in the comments below.

Top 30 Games Of The Decade (2010 -2019) That Made An Ever-Lasting Impact! Well, this truly is the last day and blog of the decade huh? Man, I can't even remember where all the years went to to be honest, but I guess that just means I'm getting old, or maybe I spent most of my time playing video games and didn't realize.

#decade #Discussion #GAMES #games of the decade #Gaming #News #The 30 best video games of the decade #The best games of the 2010 - 2019 decade #The best video games of the decade #The Decade&039;s Most Influential Video Games #top #Top 10 games #top 30 #Top games of the decade #Top greatest games of the decade

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mmagazinetko · 6 years

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The Devil‘s Inn

Page 1 The Realms Entrance

We have been walking for so many days, sent by the king of Klagorn to retrieve a powerful relic. I personally don’t believe in this old crap, but orders are orders. My legs are aching and the exhaustion made me feel heavy. The cold winter wind whispered through the woods and made all wild animals hide in their warm homes but that was no good for us, there’s barely enough food to feed the half of us. We haven’t even found the entrance to this wretched place. “Artemis!” a voice called from behind, “Your turn for hunting duty.” sir Belemora was one of the royal knights who came along, a first-class snob. One of those stereotypical knights with his golden hair and ocean blue eyes, no respect for anyone under his ranking. “Of course sir, I’ll leave at once.” I responded with a respectful bow, I hate that man’s guts but the slightest disrespect and he would cause too much trouble. I left, just like a few dozen other men who had received the same order. No sane animal was out in these conditions and the snow covered the ground with a thick white cloak, no footprints to be found, no lairs to be seen, no plants other than the winter trees. I followed a river north from where the others were setting up camp, if there is anything wandering about they’d be near the river, or so they would if the river wasn’t frozen solid. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a white rabbit. I snuck closely as silent as a shadow, it didn’t seem to notice me. I pounced like a sabretooth… “CLICK” “What in the seven gods?” I asked myself in astonishment. The rabbit was already dead, frozen by the biting cold and I laid in the snow for a moment. But what really surprised me was the rumbling beneath me, so strong that the men at the encampment must have felt it. I fell and there I was again lying in the snow. The frozen river crackled like thunder as the ground split in two. Stairs… Spiral stairs of stone each as big as a tree is tall and twice the width. “That was close.” I thought to myself. I stared in awe as my upper half hung over the ledge. I carefully brought myself back to my feet. I took another look at the enormous staircase, they went deep into the ground, miles below the surface. I followed the river back to the encampment. The snow storm had quieted down. “Back so soon?” Sometimes I felt like this bastard was following me everywhere I went. “Yes, sir Belemora.” “Empty handed?” He asked. “The animals are hiding in there wholes and caves, there are no berry bushes or fruit trees and the only rabbit I found was already dead for I too long to be good Sir. I have however-” “I don’t need excuses. Everyone here is hungry and you come back empty handed?!” His voice was calm but threatening. “Useless.” He spat the word like a snake, he grabbed me by the upper arm and brought me to commander Clegane. A tall and the most muscular man among us all. Belemora brought me here hoping that he’d accept to send me wandering alone in the white forest knowing that would be the same as killing me on the spot. With respect for the commander he explained what had happened with exaggeration. “You were given an order soldier, and you ignored it. What do you have to say for yourself.” I admire the man, a true hero who had fought in the eternal war. Luckily for us it wasn’t as eternal as everyone thought though it had been going on for many generations. “Commander Clegane, with all do respect sir Belemora hadn’t given me the chance to explain myself. I came back empty handed because I found an entrance with enormous stairs, each bigger and wider than the great hall of the king’s palace.“ Belemora was clearly raging but he kept silent. Clegane’s anger was something that everyone feared to awaken. I showed them the stairs and Clegane made the decision to leave at sunrise. He set some soldiers and Belemora around the stairs to guard it from any eventual explorers. After this long day I went back to my tent where I rested until sunrise.

Page 2 The Inn

We started climbing down the stairs, they were old and whispers were going around saying that they were built for the demon lords and the 7 corrupted gods of sin. There were lots of cracks and gaps to have a good grip… After climbing for several hours everyone was tired we had left most of our equipment behind and many of the soldiers had fallen to their deaths. And I took this opportunity to…dispose of a problem. I had already reached the bottom of a stair whilst Belemora was still climbing down. I stared at him and whispered in an ancient language in such way that no one could hear me “Emantur Ligna Lapis.” The word was used to shape stone at will, a simple spell if you knew the language. Everyone who could turned and stared as the snob knight Belemora fell screaming to his death. No one gave him much attention after that, even the commander didn’t bother with a proper burial for a royal knight. To him everyone present was equal and we had no time to bury every dead man. Especially because there was only stone around us. Like the others who had reached this step I had taken a rest and sat on the ledge and looked down. It was impossible to see the bottom of it. On one of the stairs there were huge red doors. By then only 5 of us including Commander Clegane continued, others feared for theirs lives and stayed behind. The doors reached half the height of the stair and were half as wide as the stairs. They were impossible to open by hand, as approached it though they opened by themselves. The room inside was dark but we went in regardless of that and the strange noises. When we stepped inside, the place lit itself up and I stood in amazement of how big the place was, it was a tavern. Three floors high filled with creatures of all kind, speaking in all kinds of languages, laughing and playing games and making bets and there were imps, spirits, celestial beings and demons alike also some creatures made of pure elemental energy and many more. Surprised we turned back and noticed the doors had disappeared. I felt something tugging on my shirt. I turned around to see an Imp serving what seemed to ale. “From the fella over there.” It said, pointing at a creature that looked like a giant snail who was sitting at the bar drinking its own drink. I took one of the filled tankards hesitantly and so did the others. We walked towards the snail to thank it, it bowed its head a little to say “Your welcome.”. On a pillar hung the rules. At first I couldn’t read it but after staring at it for a few seconds it seemed to have translated itself, a kind of magic was cast on it. There were only four rules. “1. No Fighting, 2. No Conjuring, 3. No Banishing, 4. No Magic” I called a bartender but there seemed to be no one, then all of a sudden another imp appeared in front of me. “What can I getch’ya?” it asked with a crackling old voice. “I-I was just wondering what happened to the doors.” “The doors will open once’ya got enough favours.” “Favours?” I asked curiously. “Favours are the main currency around this place, the entrance fee is 3 per person.” It opened a small door and walked through. “Wait how many favours do I currently have?” Though the imp had already left and went around the place offering filled tankards to other creatures. A panel popped out of the bar table with “-3” written on it, it dived back into the wood after a few seconds. While I was explaining what I had found out to the 4 others some creatures got into an argument and everyone around them took as much distance as they could. The bar split in two and a small group of imps ran towards the two combatants, grabbed on to them and once they were both covered in imps a great big bang and green flames rained around the explosion. There was nothing left of the imps and the two creatures. “Better not break the rules.” Clegane said understanding that the punishment for breaking them is exactly what happened to those creatures. “All of you go do some favours and meet up here once you got the three you need to leave, we can’t waste too much time in here.” He ordered us. I turned to the snail and asked it if I could offer it help in exchange for a favour or two. “My brother. Kill him and I will reward you with 2 favours.” “Where can I find him?” I didn’t care about the lives of others, especially those of these impure creatures and I like a good killing, as long as no one sees me doing the deed I cannot be punished for it.“Room 371, the elevator is in the corner over there.” “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Page 3 Meliodas

When I entered the elevator it automatically went up. I stepped out and there was a sign hanging on the wall for each hallway “300-309”, “310-319”, “320-329”… When I found the door I grabbed a small pot of salt that I saw downstairs at the bar, opened it and prepared my sword. “Knock, knock, knock.” A snail slightly different to the one at the bar opened the door. “What.” He said, clearly annoyed. “A gift from your sibling.” I threw the salt in his eyes and they quickly melt like runny eggs and before he could scream in pain I slashed his head off. The salt wasn’t necessary but even assassins can have a bit of fun time to time. I smiled, closed the door and returned to the other snail to report his brother’s death. “I hope he suffered.” “I’m sure he did, his eyes melted with the salt.” I responded coldly. The snail’s eyes widened. “You’ve earned your favours, now leave me.” He seemed scared when he said that. “Are surprised? I’ve done what you asked of me.” “Salt doesn’t kill my kind, it melts us to our core. The greatest pain we can feel, I hoped he’d suffer but that is a step too far. Now leave.” “You haven’t given me anything.” “It’s not like gold, favours aren’t made of any material. Ask the bar and she will show you.” I checked with the bar a piece of the wood popped out with “-1” carved on it. “Hello there.” A voice whispered behind my ear “Looking for a favour? I’m looking for my 7th wife, she’s tall and blue with 4 arms and 3 breasts, one of a kind. Bring her to me and I’ll give a favour.” It was a demon, dark red and he towered over me with his great horns and his mismatched eyes, one was light blue, one was black and one was bloodred and looked like someone had slapped it randomly on his face, it was moving around his face like a bug. “Any idea where she might be?” “Her friends are usually on the second floor, I’d go myself but I’ve got some other ladies that need my attention down here.” He made me think of Belemora, but that was none of my concern. I quickly found his wife, she was even taller than him and hard to miss. “Hello ma’am.” “What do you want, worm?” “Forgive me. Your husband has requested me to escort you to him.” This demon could easily rip me in half so I tried to show as much respect as I could. “I bet it’s Meliodas, isn’t it? The red one with the wandering eye.” “Yes, ma’am it is.” “I’ll tell you what if you can keep him busy for about two hours I’ll give you four favours. He probably offered you a cheap prize. My freedom is worth way more but unless you keep him busy for days I’ll give you four.” I didn’t need the extra favours but I thought that I could get some useful information with the extra, maybe some food and a bed to sleep in. “Sound like a fair deal to me, I’ll do my best ma’am.” She turned back to her friends after all as weird and unique as the other. I went back to Meliodas. “She wasn’t on the second floor.” “I’ll hold onto this favour than.” I already felt my blood boiling with rage but I didn’t want to end up like those two other creatures. “She’s quite the beauty. Where did you meet her?” He looked at me and lost complete interest in the ladies. “She’s my favourite.” He started, he talked and talked and talked. A good hour past. “Anyways,” he said “I’m going to go look for her myself I haven’t seen her in too long.” It was too early. “Don’t you want to play a game?” I asked as he got up. He turned around and all his eyes stared at me and with a big smirk he asked “What kind of game?” “I was hoping you had one, I’d say a card game but I lost them in the snow.” “Snow? You’re not from here are? No matter, I like you. I got a game. In room 137 there are three chests. One is empty, one contains a wish and the third will rip you apart. Open one and return…if you can.” A wish? Seems worth it. “Sounds fair.” “See you in a bit…or not.” He said as I left for the elevator again, I couldn’t see his face but I could feel his bloodred eye staring in my soul and his smile casting a long shadow past me. The hallways looked the same as the ones on the third floor. I quickly found the room, entered and saw the three chests. One looked old, one was as clean as the room and one was made of stone. I closed the door and whispered “Emantur Ligna Lapis.” I shaped the stone in such way that it that it would show the inside without opening the lid. It was empty. That left the old one and the clean one. My logic was that the one that would shred me to bits wouldn’t be able to be cleaned so I opened the clean one it latched onto my left arm. A mimic. My blood dripped from my armour.

Page 4 Skin

To avoid any attention I ignored the pain and kept my shouts sealed in. And whispered with a shaky voice “Ignis Corporis”, powerful flames ejected from all over my body and the mimic was set on fire but it resisted so I laid my right hand on It and whispered “Ignis Fragor” and the wood turned to ashes as a blast of fire was shot from my hand. My arm was bleeding but the pain did not bother me, I felt worse before. And now at least my armour had a bit of colour. When I looked for the third chest the room was empty except for the ashes. I guess the rules only applied if the imps could see it being done. “I see you chose the mimic.” Meliodas laughed when I returned. “Quite lucky to be alive.” He continued. “If you like I can give you a second chance, but this time there’s a small fee to pay if you want to play.” A big smirk crossed his face sideways as his bloodred eye grew in size. “What’s the price?” “I’m looking for a new skin, and I really like you. I’d take it after you opened a chest. Most painful of operations… but with a wish you could achieve absolute power.” I thought of ways around the fee and thought of several ways around it. “I accept.” His smile grew bigger and he whispered “You know what to do. Room 665.” When I entered that room it was different than all the others I’ve seen. The floor was made of bone and was covered in blood and bodies laid piled up in a corner of the room. Again three chests but this time there was a guard. An armoured humanoid creature, it stood there leaning on its two handed longsword. “Hello there darling. I’m lady Fiora. Meliodas sent you?” “Yes, lady Fiora.” I’m always polite when speaking to someone who could so easily destroy me. “No magic, no second choices, no running away. Choose one and then pay the price.” One chest was made of bone and was as bloody as the room, one was made of plated steel and the third was made of flesh. I’d melt the steel one if Fiora wasn’t there. I knew it wasn’t the bone one that had the same texture as the floor, I learnt from the last room that mimics adapted themselves to match the room. I grabbed my lucky coin, a coin a close friend gave to me, made of mithril. A metal that absorbed magic. I threw it in the air and as I prepared my hand to catch it, it fell by the flesh chest. “I choose the flesh chest.” She told me to open it and so I did. A blinding light came from the chest as I opened it. “Make a wish.” Fiora said. “I-I…” I wasn’t sure what to wish for. “Yes?” she asked. “I to know everything possible of this world.” The light from the chest enveloped me and it felt warm and comforting. I looked at Fiora and knew all there was to now about her, where she got her armour from, what she was, I could think of a million different spells, handy spells, weak spells, forbidden spells, I could tell what species were laying dead in the corner, I knew everything. “Take my hand.” She said. I knew I had to pay the price give up my skin, but I also knew that I could replace it with other, more useful things. Not only that but a deal with a demon must be met otherwise they’d gather a group and murder many people I care for and it would be physically impossible to protect everyone at the same time. So I took her hand and I was teleported to a room and attached to a table. Meliodas was there with his skinning knife and a smile even bigger than earlier. “Congratulations, my friend your wish has been granted. As we agreed on I will now take your skin.” Normally no human like me would survive a full body skinning but these two demons used spells and magic to keep me alive and awake. So I felt every cut of the searing hot blade melting through my body and as much as I screamed they wouldn’t stop until they were done. They’d made sure I wouldn’t move with a paralysis spell and with each scream of agony his smile would grow bigger and bigger, I could hear him giggle sometimes. I know he had casted a spell to keep me awake and conscious at all times. “No worries, we’re half way through.” He said after what felt for like an eternity. Fiora grabbed me and turned me over carefully to not ruin my skin. I could feel splinters from the table sticking to my muscle tissue and making it’s way towards the bone. But the knife made me forget about the splinters. When he was done he teleported me back to the room and let me go.

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barbosaasouza · 6 years

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New Gundam Breaker Review: Falling to Pieces

One would think that a long-running franchise like the Gundam series with so many iterations and so many giant robots would have no trouble cobbling together an enjoyable experience of some sort. Yet, time and again, most games that bear the mark of Gundam have fallen quite short of the mark of real quality. Unfortunately, New Gundam Breaker continues the time-honored tradition of offering up something that sounds like a cool concept from the outside but lacks the proper execution on the inside to be anything more than a mediocre gaming experience at best.

Back to School

New Gundam Breaker’s story is quite odd to say the very least. Players take on the role of a new student at a high school specifically for kids who are adept at building Gundam plastic models (Gunpla for short) and fighting with them in VR combat scenarios. At some point, the original student council was usurped and taken over by a benevolent new group of students. It’s up to the players to help form a resistance, make allies, and help turn the school back into a Gunpla utopia for all.

Players will take on the student council through a number of Gunpla battles in order to restore balance to the school. During combat with other mechs, players will be able to knock parts off of their opponents and augment their own models with the new parts either right there in combat or they can be stored and added to a player’s parts collection for later customization. The combat itself is somewhat akin to Dynasty Warriors titles with a third-person hack-and-slash motif that throws in some booster rockets and laser cannons for good measure.

Action Figures

Battles mostly take place in 3-on-3 matches that pit the player and their two AI companions against an opposing team in a race to garner more mission points than the other side before time runs. Missions can involve things like defeating a certain number of specific Gundam model types that spawn around the area, collecting special parts, opening supply crates, or taking out larger boss-sized enemies. Missions can end when the timer runs out or the main mission is completed. In other matches, it may be necessary to complete enough side missions in order to reach and complete the main mission before time runs out.

While many of New Gundam Breaker’s features sound great in concept, unfortunately, its execution is nowhere near as on point. Control mechanics in combat are lethargic to say the least. Things like trying to jump up short steps can become an arduous task and many attack moves felt like their animations took too long. AI teammates are competent enough, but team commands and tactics are extremely limited. A player could hypothetically lounge around for an entire match and let their AI crew handle all the mess, at least early on in the game.

The challenge level does amp up a bit here, but the only time I really lost matches was due to being disoriented by a new map or not fully understanding the need to complete a Main Mission versus just accruing more points than the other team. There’s not much overall variety to the combat either, it’s pretty much 3-on-3, or not-3-on-3 and the tasks you’re given are invariably the same for both. I also found it odd that missions areas would fluctuate between settings like classrooms where the mechs felt like their miniature Gunpla counterparts and areas that felt like a real combat zone, like an icy tundra or desert plain.

It doesn’t help that there are usually several scenarios for any given battle that revolve around different supporting characters. I felt like instead of adding to the game’s replay value all it did was force completionist players to do the exact same mission two or more times in order to fully progress. While each scenario does have different cutscenes, that’s hardly a bonus as the story is rather bland and not enthralling at all.

Just about every aspect of the story plays out like a very dull dating sim with lots of static images of the characters laid in generic backgrounds with some hard to read dialog in a font that’s much too small even on a large TV. Some players, like myself, will find the plot amusing in its overall quirkiness, while others will just find themselves bored and waiting to get to the action.

Strike a Pose

The one thing that I felt that New Gundam Breaker nailed on the head was the model building aspects. Collecting and redesigning combat mechs was the most enjoyable part of the game for me personally, but I admittedly am all about character customizations. Not only can players make unique Gundams, they have a ton of paint and detail options available to them as well.

Players can give their Gundams things like leopard print or checkered design patterns, make custom color palettes, add gloss or dirt and grime effects, and use the internal base parts to modify their models for their type of gameplay. And once a player is all done building the perfect mech they can choose from a number of poses and backgrounds to take some pics with. It’s just unfortunate that this depth doesn’t seem to carry over to any other aspects in New Gundam Breaker.

Huffing Model Glue

Beyond making models and the story mode there’s not much else going on with the game. There’s an online mode, but I was not able to connect with anyone to try it out. But the multiplayer option was essentially a chance to play 3-on-3 mode with strangers or friends on the internet. I highly doubt there would’ve been anything in those matches that could have changed my mind about the overall quality of the game.

New Gundam Breaker definitely has some great nuanced aspects to its core concept of mix-and-match mech model making, but what it needed was more variety to spice up the gameplay. While last year’s Gundam Vs was nothing mind-blowing it was a much more solid and mixed combat experience. If New Gundam Breaker succeeded in anything, however, it would be making me want another Dynasty Warriors Gundam game. If you’re a hardcore fan of giant robots you may want to pick up a copy to keep your collection complete, but other players may want to wait for Bandai-Namco to build a better Gundam game.

This review is based on a digital copy of the game provided by the publisher, New Gundam Breaker is available now for the PS4 and retails for $59.99

New Gundam Breaker Review: Falling to Pieces published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/

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