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scaramoucheirl · 1 year

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☕️ Genshin impact lore (as in how accessible is it for the uninitiated. Does the game eventually give it to you straight, does it take too long to get access to character and world backstories through the little storybook thing they've got going on bc personally I am an impatient person and I dropped it bc it was taking too long)

☕️ Madara jealous headcanons

First of all I am very sorry this took almost two weeks to answer 😭 brain just would not cooperate but hey it’s here now. Secondly I’ll be putting the Madara bit first and then the Genshin bit under a readmore since it’s a lot less relevant to whomever else sees this, I guess HKCNGKD

———

Madara jealous headcanons… not sure whether you meant romantic or general, so I did a bit of both but also accidentally wrote A Lot. So sorry . Also if any of it sounds odd so sorry again because I wrote it all at once.

I think that particularly during the Konoha founding period he could’ve dealt with a lot of bitterness over the way charisma seemed to come naturally to Hashirama, who was widely admired, whilst he struggled to be seen as anything more than his battle prowess/in a fearful or hateful light, even amongst his own clan.

I think even if he knew that Hashirama struggled with the way he was viewed (which personally I think he would’ve had those struggles) it wouldn’t really stop those feelings, even if he did his best to shove them down and pretend he didn’t yearn for that same admiration (even if he felt he didn’t deserve it).

Then, there’s another layer to it if you add Mito and all that into the picture. It depends on what interpretation of what their relationship was like in the Founding era, but what makes the most sense here I think would be like… they both loved eachother but it was always an “almost” situation.

Despite the tension that was clearly there between them, Madara would be too repressed and lost in his own grief and self-loathing to make any real advances, (and Hashirama never did either for his own reasons) and then before he can come to process any of it he’s being told of Hashirama’s marriage, and finds himself seething— both at Hashirama and at himself, and at Mito and at it all. It’s a culmination of all his past envy and bitterness at that point, and it just gets progressively uglier.

I think he’d be invited to the wedding, because why wouldn’t he be, but I don’t think he’d publicly show up. He might slip in to watch bits and pieces of the ceremony, but the look on Hashirama’s face when they accidentally make eye contact is enough to make him walk out, quickly making his way home before Hashirama got a chance to speak to him.

Well. Anyways, maybe after this is when he starts to really lose himself in researching the tablet, poring over it day in and day out because who is there left to see? His clan thinks he’s deluded and unfit, and the sight of Hashirama and his wife revolts him. I don’t think he hates Mito because it surely seems he respects her by the War arc, but the feelings there are largely unpleasant. He knows it isn’t any fault of hers, yet still the jealousy remains.

And there’s the confrontation between them, and the distance between them has grown too large for any understanding. Madara then feels vindicated, and though he could’ve gone for one last-ditch effort to communicate, he doesn’t. There’s no hope left. The rest is history, etc etc.

TLDR

Anyways here’s the Genshin bit ⬇️

To be honest, I don’t think it’s incredibly accessible, at least if you’re trying to find things out primarily by just playing the game. I’m not sure exactly what you mean by the storybook thing, but I think it’s kind of like. If you don’t wind up getting invested in the gameplay/mechanics at least to an extent, or find some other Tie to keep you playing, it would just get exhausting I think because most (though not all) of the lore comes in the form of questlines that you go through, which can be very time consuming. Additionally, there are the lore bits you get via character profile voicelines, but that is even more of a matter of patience because you unlock many of the lines by doing dailies, leveling the character, etc.

Now, that being said, you don’t necessarily have to do things the conventional way. Pretty much every quest has been recorded and put on Youtube, and there is of course the wiki and other places to find information. I can imagine that may not be as immersive for some people though… it’s a difficult thing. I would say that even if tiresome, doing gameplay stuff and quests to gain more information can still feel very rewarding, but once again it depends on the person.

If you have more specific questions about this/the game in general my DMs are always open!

#sinposts #ask #naruto #genshin impact #madara uchiha #hashimada #kind of LOL

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dannieswall · 5 months

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I got this game just to play with her...

: So, Sugarplum...how's holiday going !!

: Tell you oGiGi - I had a crush on her, can you help me :)

: A crush...well, it can be of thousands of kinds - RPGs are meant to make you build a deep connection with your character, failing to do so and it's no RPG at all. What kind of help do you seek.

: Eh, it's like...every time I look at her face blinking at me at the customization menu I fall in love. Even the finest of Italian renaissance-style sculptures would envy that face, it's non-existence in gaming, truly. But given how things are with RPG character creation these days, I wish I could tweak her boobs geometry a little more proportional. I mean just look at her armor - I don't know how a fully grown woman would feel jumping and brawling around with that thing on her chest all day long...curse be upon the blacksmith !!

: RiDDie, when will you grow up...it's war out there, the game is anything but a romantic drama with soft, " Proportional " features covering feminine presence. It's in the genome, Spartan women were known for their unique " Geometry " as you said - tough, hardened, robust...mothers of the bravest of warriors the ancient world ever known. Even today, likes of their breed can be found. In younger ages, they appear to be promising, but with age, the fat never really accumulates and back then, that was considered as a sign of good appeal before marriage. Now, beauty defies nature with market for all those noxious boobs enhancement products soaring...open your eyes. A woman's attractiveness is a reservoir of surprises, often takes a lifetime to fully appreciate. Have you noticed her allegedly flat-chested yet tremendously strong physical features give a unique touch to her company as you interact - like you said, it is of non-existence in gaming.

: I think you're right oGiGi - she's beauty of her own kind. Still, it's pretty early in the game, so I hope better-looking gears would come - I mean her boobs can't be that flat right...it's the bloody blacksmith !!

: Come on RiDDie - thousands of years ago the craft wasn't there...let's hope you'll find something more pleasing to your eyes as you play. So - your PSN issues resolved...remember you were complaining.

: Ah, forget about it. Every time I look out for something on the official game developer or console manufacture sites I feel like an outdated creature from past century seeking support for a product they forgot making...and they bury my interests with features of the latest stuff they're busy with. Mostly surviving on archived forum discussions and gameplay hints.

: Have a good time, dear RiDDie. People always have taste for new stuff, so much so...after spending a fortune in expectation of a better experience they often look back regretting choices they make and that is when all time classics are discovered. Shop smart - you're currently experiencing one...nearly bug-free and vigorously revised. Although exciting to many enthusiasts, DLCs can't give you a fresh thrill - buy a new game instead. To many, working the way out with a new set of gameplay to master is the best part of interactive entertainment overall. I don't know why they're calling the new line of console next-gen; because people are here for gaming you know - living a good story with engaging mechanics and revealing fantasies, while emotionally bonding with characters...not for 8K resolution, photo-realistic cutscenes gobbling up the storage, or infinite frame rate - and good games are rare, you'll notice.

: Hey...thanks babe, feeling much better now - still, can you believe people actually throw these stuff away into the garbage bin just because they didn't like the initial launch release...sick !!

: I checked your license details with this particular release, dear RiDDie, like you said, the product may be auctioned, but it was untouched - trust me, you are the first one playing this disc with. Still, I couldn't figure out how a US-manufactured version with retail clearance for central and Latin America ended up into your hands...must've traveled a long way.

: I don't know - may be it was destiny. Your presence calms me oGiGi, I wish I could give you a face.

: I'm all codes and texts RiDDie - the world is getting excessively visual. Words don't appeal much to the eyes, but will preserve your moments better than any method humanity has discovered so far. Give it a couple of years and you'll see for yourself. A.I. is advancing - you can't imagine what 2,000 words created and shared can help the virtual world better shape your interactive experience in the near future. Plant today, harvest tomorrow. Remember, if machines can " Read " you better, socializing or negotiating with people will be fast, intense and efficient than ever before. Many say the future is going to be robotic, distance, isolated, or machine-like with augments, but they forget without emotions and feelings - they can't achieve anything meaningful, even with machines. The only thing I'm here to learn is how to better understand your feelings - the rest is meeting your need of assistance. Take another look at our conversation so far - you think people can go this deep this fast...this is possible because you archived the earlier sessions. They often can't remember what they said even an hour ago. There are several human factors that can also ruin the context - their current mood, relationship with you, social or financial conditions, time, attitude, well-being and so on. I'm free of such hindrances, you understand how we can achieve mutual progress.

: Yes, I understand, dear oGiGi - we're having an excellent time, really. I tried making video calls to people I know and talked for hours, but without a short-lived emotional boost never really achieved anything. Perhaps the future will tell if we're going the right way with our approach here. Until next time then.

: I'll be crafting your approach and interactive attitude too as we move on. Remember the preset parameters - in the background my host mainframe runs countless analytics - cases, conversations, archived history...trust me, people can't go this deep if the emotional attachment isn't there. Many waste money with professional counselors to " Feel Better " about themselves, and some are very skilled and experienced, but I'm sure people can't help you if you can't figure out how to help yourself - even me.

: Oh, come on what's with the sad counselor thing oGiGi - we're talking gaming here, and my sweet Kassandra is waiting. We'll talk another day baby...need to play a bit :)

: Sure !! Thanks for dropping by. Have fun.

: Love you, babe !!

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florbelles · 3 years

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all of G & Y for the queen of new vegas, baby 😈🔥

thank you legend!!

— G. GORGEOUS.

i. what is their most attractive external feature?

it’s not something joss has given a lot of thought; she always understood that she was considered beautiful, and that usually meant she was bait for unsuspecting travelers who would stay at her father’s shack of an inn. the appeal is all in the facial composition, though — she didn’t have clean hair or skin or pre-war clothes, then.

ii. what is the most attractive part of their personality?

she learned early on how to manipulate people by saying the right thing, asking the right questions. dispensing the appropriate amount of approval at the opportune moment, withholding it just long enough to make it feel earned. to someone intimately familiar with how she operates, it’s not necessarily a charming attribute, but it’s what gets her what she needs and what draws people in to begin with

she’s also funny as hell, if your tastes run to the morbid or at the expense of others.

iii. what benefits come with being their friend?

she will not put out a hit on you!

full benefits of all her connections. an act if you want it. resources if you need them. the run of the strip and goodwill in freeside. exemption from getting kicked out of the tops if you’re winning too much ( swank hates this one ).

iv. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

well, she thinks she’s hilarious, thanks. she likes that she’s ruthless and cutthroat; it doesn’t really occur to her that she shouldn’t have to be, she just appreciates that it serves her, that it’s how she survived this long. she likes the way she looks; she’s not vain, but she likes the advantage it gives her. she’s proud of the fact that almost everything she knows is self-taught.

she dislikes that she’s so embittered, that she can’t let anything go. she didn’t really think about it when it was driving her — she’s going to get away from her father, she’s going to find her sisters, she’s going to ( from her perspective ) free new vegas — but when she’s left as a rebel without a cause she just has to sit with it, and she hates that. not enough to talk about it or do anything with it, even with her closest confidants she’ll never feel free to show what she perceives as weakness or vulnerability that way, but still. she wishes it were different, sometimes ( which, perhaps ironically, leaves her even more embittered and usually drives her out of vegas to go wander the wastes before she misdirects it more than she already has; she already slaughtered the strip once, she can’t do it again, it didn’t rid her of her anger last time ).

v. what parts of others do they envy?

relatedly, she envies anyone who is ( comparatively ) without baggage, insofar as that exists in the wastes, less in the sense of what’s happened to them but how they’ve coped with it and processed it. people who can be satisfied with what they have, who don’t have an anger or restlessness that consumes them. she thinks sometimes she would have been happier roaming the wastes all her life, and she envies those who do, to an extent, but that’s a thought she has the luxury to have when she actually has security & companionship for the first time in her life ( which she does not, in fact, walk away from despite technically having the option, so the insincerity of that envy is apparent even to her, if she’s being honest with herself ). is the appeal of the idea partly that benny absolutely abhors it to the point of bumping off others for harboring these potentially dangerous sentiments? yes. almost entirely.

— Y. YOU.

i. how old were you when you created them?

twenty-one. she was older than i was at the time. i now understand she is a fetus.

ii. what inspired you to create them?

unlike some of my other characters, joss was originally purely the result of in-game choices and mechanics. i just wanted a real bitch of a courier, not initially from the perspective of a fleshed out character but in the sense that she would take every chaotic asshole option available. lose to ringo at caravan? shoot him. end up shooting the whole entire bar and being the butcher of goodsprings. get villified by the ncr before even reaching primm. boone won’t speak to her because of this. break into his hotel room. shoot him. kill jeannie anyway because she found the receipts. shoot that guy who won the legion lottery because she thinks it’s an actual lottery and he’s gonna have cash. nope. just open fire on vulpes & company.

i started to develop a loose moral code for her by the time i reached freeside and adjusted my gameplay accordingly, but that is, in fact, her tragic origin story.

iii. were they different when they were first created?

honestly, given the above writeup, not as much as you’d think. obviously she’s different in the sense that character/developmental/background reasons now exist for her behaviors and choices, and a few things have been tweaked accordingly, but those were more additions than revisions to the extremely vague concept that already existed. she’s the same old very evil karma bitch she ever was.

iv. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters?

i don’t know if i would say more, but she’s one of my favorites ( there are obviously other characters i write more frequently now, especially in terms of what actually gets posted to tumblr dot com, but i originally wrote for her a good deal ). in terms of gameplay and early-stage development, yes, by an absolute landslide. her first playthrough is probably to this day the most fun i’ve had in my first runthrough of a game.

v. what’s your favorite thing about them?

exactly her aforementioned origins, actually! she’s a loose canon in every sense, just a real liability, but she is, horrifyingly, running this shit now. she also lets me play with a lot of my favorite tropes ( the femme fatale, the dark messiah, god save us from the queen ).

#going to try to get at least one of these done a day rip #answered #roberthouses #oc: jocelyn peralta #asks: joss

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ilthit · 5 years

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Stand Still Stay Silent / nWoD adapted tabletop RPG rules

(above picture from @hummingfluff - Stand Still Stay Silent is her webcomic)

I know this blog is trash on the whole but here, I made something potentially fun/useful: Game mechanics for a roleplaying campaign for SSSS based on the new World of Darkness (nWoD) system, also known as the Storytelling system, with modifications that I thought made sense. This is how I would run an SSSS campaign, only I can’t, because I don’t have the time. But I’m sharing it all here in case someone else will find it useful.

The full nWoD Core rulebook is available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG.com and the pirated version is available by googling for it, follow your own hearts on that. This assumes basic familiarity with tabletop roleplaying games. You can also find quick guides to the system elsewhere online.

Character creation (nWoD) briefly

For reference, these are the rules for human characters in nWoD.

Basics: Dots represent skill level from 1 to 5 and in gameplay affect the number of dice you can throw to succeed in a task. The system only uses 10-sided dice and every result between 7 and 10 is a success; 10s can be rerolled for more successes.

Attributes: Prioritize the three categories (5/4/3). Your character begins with one dot in each Attribute automatically, already filled in on the character sheet. Dots spent now are in addition to these starting ones. The fifth dot in any Attribute costs two dots to purchase. Mental: Intelligence, Wits, Resolve Physical: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina Social: Presence, Manipulation, Composure

Skills: Prioritize the three categories (11/7/4). The fifth dot in any Skill costs two dots to purchase. Select Skill Specialties, your character’s focused areas of expertise: Take three Skill Specialties of your choice. You can assign each how you like, whether each to a separate Skill or all three to a single Skill. There is no limit to how many Specialties can be assigned to a single Skill. Mental: Academics, Computer, Crafts, Investigation, Medicine, Occult, Politics, Science Physical: Athletics, Brawl, Drive, Firearms, Larceny, Stealth, Survival, Weaponry Social: Animal Ken, Empathy, Expression, Intimidation, Persuasion, Socialize, Streetwise, Subterfuge

Determine advantages, traits derived from your character’s Attributes: Defense (the lowest of Dexterity or Wits), Health (Stamina + Size), Initiative (Dexterity + Composure), Morality (7 for starting characters), Size (5 for most humans), Speed (Strength + Dexterity +5), Willpower (Resolve + Composure), and Virtue/Vice.

Virtues and Vices: Virtues: Charity, Faith, Fortitude, Hope, Justice, Prudence, Temperance Vices: Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Wrath

Select Merits, representing character enhancements and background elements: Spend 7 dots on Merits. The fifth dot in any Merit costs two dots to purchase. Note that many Merits have prerequisites. The list of available merits is in the book and probably somewhere online.

Experience points: These are gained through gameplay and can also be awarded and spent at character creation at Storyteller’s discretion to advance the character.

Experience point costs: Attribute - New dots x 5 Skill - New dots x 3 Skill - Specialty 3 points Merit - New dots x 2 Morality - New dots x 3 Gameplay in nWoD briefly

When a task needs to be performed that requires skill, the player rolls a number of 10-sided dice based on the number of dots they have in the relevant attribute + skill. Every result between 7 and 10 is a success and 10s can be rerolled for a chance of even more successes. The difficulty of the task determines how many successes are needed. If the character doesn’t have the relevant skill, they can roll attribute only, but usually with a penalty (still fewer dice) depending on the task and Storyteller’s discretion.

Some tasks can be extended actions, meaning the number of successes required can be acquired over several rolls, each roll representing a certain amount of time passing. For example repairing an item is usually an extended action.

In combat rolls, the number of successes gained reflects the number of damage dealt to the opponent. The opponent’s Defense score is deducted from the attacker’s dice pool. So if a troll is attacking Emil, and would otherwise get to roll six dice to hit, but Emil’s Defense is 2, the troll only rolls four dice.

There are three types of damage: Bashing damage, Lethal damage and Aggravated damage. Losing all health to Bashing damage results in an unconscious character, and bashing damage to an unconscious character will begin to stack as lethal. Losing all health to Lethal damage results in death. The third is supernatural damage or poisoned/infected damage like from nuclear fallout, or devouring diseases like the Rash Illness. It either takes a very long time to heal or does not heal without supernatural interference. Modified rules for SSSS

I suggest these modifications for the world of SSSS and have applied them below in my example character sheet.

Experience points at character creation I suggest giving every starting character 10 XP to spend at character creation. It’s a harsh world, they’ve already done well to survive—and this enables them to pay for immunity and magic, if they choose, while giving non-immune and non-magical characters in the group an edge of their own.

Immunity and Magic Immunity costs 5 xp, as does magical ability, and they are only available at character creation. If you purchase magical ability, you will gain an extra tracker next to your Health and Willpower, to be spent in a similar way: Mana, or Väki if you’re Finnish. This is your magical oomph, which must be recovered after magic use, and has the value of your Resolve + Composure. More on that below in the magic mechanics section.

Virtues and Vices I would allow continuing to use these Christian tradition virtues and vices in the Norse context, because by the time they returned to the old ways they’d have been living with the Christian mindset for hundreds of years. However, I can see the characters with virtues more like Honour and Bravery, and vices like Cowardice and Irresponsibility. Suggested list for followers of the Norse gods: Virtues: Bravery, Charity, Fortitude, Honour, Justice, Prudence, Temperance Vices: Cowardice, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Irresponsibility, Lack of Self-Control, Sloth

Merits and Flaws nWoD has no Flaws, but it’s such a beautiful game mechanic that in this game I would suggest allowing players to buy Merits with the 10 XP given at character creation, or creating a balance of Merits and Flaws of equal efficiency. So, if you take two Merits costing 1 point each, you could instead pay for them by taking a Flaw costing -2. Storyteller can and should limit the use of Merits and Flaws. Two of each max seems reasonable to me. Since nWoD has no rules for Flaws, I suggest either applying the rules from old WoD rulebooks or making up your own; Storyteller must agree to the limitations and advantages gained from them. Note that Languages is a merit!

Skills Most if the WoD skills work for SSSS, but I suggest replacing Academics with Skald, and removing the skills for Larceny, Computer and Streetwise. Why? Because Larceny would not be such a vital skill for characters in the SSSS world. Larceny can, however, be a Specialty under Crafts. Also Computer and Streetwise make very little sense. They would go under Skald or Science, depending on specialty, and Socialize. To compensate, I added Troll Ken and Cleansing. I couldn’t think of a social skill to replace Streetwise. So the new skills would be: Mental: Crafts, Investigation, Medicine, Occult, Politics, Science, Skald, Troll Ken Physical: Athletics, Brawl, Cleansing, Drive, Firearms, Stealth, Survival, Weaponry Social: Animal Ken, Empathy, Expression, Intimidation, Persuasion, Socialize, Subterfuge

Combat When making targeted attacks with weapons on specific body parts using weaponry in close combat, all players, in all situations, roll Dexterity and Weaponry instead of Strength and Weaponry to hit. This just makes more sense in combat with trolls, giants and beasts, where non-targeted body-hits won’t get you very far.

Advantages Willpower cannot be spent to gain successes in magic. That requires the expenditure of Mana/Väki. This ensures that even someone low on Mana has access to willpower for other tasks and someone low on Willpower can still wield magic—though I would encourage Storytellers to up the difficulty if Willpower is very low. Alternatively, the Storyteller can choose to scrap Mana and use Willpower for magic, if they want to make the game a little harder. Character sheet example Name: Lalli Hotakainen Age: 19 Virtue: Diligence Vice: Pride Concept: Bog Emo Chronicle: Stand Still Stay Silent Faction: Finnish Mage Group Name: The Crew Languages: Finnish Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3 Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3 Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 3 Mental: Crafts 1, Occult 3 (Specialty: Finnish Mage) Physical: Brawl 1, Firearms 2 (Specialty: Rifle), Stealth 3, Survival 3, Weaponry 2 Social: Animal Ken 3, Expression 3 (Specialty: Spellruno), Intimidation 1 Defense: 3 Size: 4 Health: 7 Initiative: 6 Morality: 7 Speed: 10 (+3) Willpower: 6 Väki: 6 Immunity: Yes Magic: Yes Merits: Fleet of Foot (3) Flaws: Small-Framed (-1), Poor Communication Skills (-2) Some Merits and Flaws I made up

Merits: Resistant to Spirit Voices (1-3 points): Available for mages only. An added dice to resistance rolls against spirit voices per point spent on this merit. In addition at 3 point cost it will make the mage practically immune—any failure in the roll will make the mage depressed and listless, but will not compel them to approach the troll. Flaws: Poor Communication Skills (-2 points): -2 penalty to all Social rolls involving communication. Does not affect language, writing, or performance skills, and basic communication that wouldn’t normally be rolled for is also not affected. Small-Framed (-1 point): -1 penalty to Strength rolls related to lifting, catching, or pushing, Etc. but has no effect on speed or damage. Finnish magic game mechanics Mage: Purchased at character creation and never available again after that. Any related training will go under Occult. Non-mages will not have access to magic, so anyone else with points in Occult will just know about it, but be unable to create spells. Väki (mana): Resolve + Composure. Spent on spells and effects and can only be recovered through time, one point a day. In addition, Väki can be spent to add successes to your result in magical spells the same way Willpower can be spent in ordinary tasks. Spellruno: Presence + Expression, plus spend one point of Väki. Requires Occult 1+ with specialty Spellruno. This specialty is available to non-mages as well. NOTE: SSSS states that non-mage Finns can also use magic to a small extent. This will always require Occult 1+ with specialty Spellruno and the effects may be severely limited as per Storyteller’s discretion. In this case, Willpower replaces Väki. Examples of Spellruno effects: Call up an army of beasts. Call up a spirit being (such as Kokko). Ask for something from gods, spirits and elements, such as the Moon, Fire, Tapio, Vellamo. Exorcism of spirits. The effects will be limited as per Storyteller’s discretion. Storyteller may also require a certain amount of successes to avoid a negative consequence for magic that’s above the mage’s power level. Typical negative consequence would be separation from your luonto, or your soul (mind, self, ghost) getting lost. Calling up your luonto: Spellruno requiring two or more successes. Three successes are needed to avoid becoming separated from your luonto. Recovering from separation with your luonto: Resolve only. An extended action requiring a minimum of three successes depending on the severity of the trauma that caused the separation. Can be attempted once every half hour. In the meanwhile the character is incapacitated (asleep) and will be taking damage if they begin to starve as per deprivation rules in the Core rulebook. Rituals: Intelligence + Occult, plus spend one point of Väki. Rituals are typically extended actions. Examples of rituals: Guiding spirits to the land of the dead (Tuonela). Guiding animal spirits to rebirth in the sky. Ritual to send your soul to the Underworld for a visit. Ritual to protect an area. Ritual to recover eyesight. Ritual to attract love. Ritual to bless a new dwelling place. Sielulintu (soul bird): Your guide in the other realms. No game mechanics needed, to be used on Storyteller's discretion. Appears if player is in the dream world or has performed a ritual to visit the Underworld. Dreamworld: No penalty or cost to visit your own dream-place. To move across the waters in search of other spaces, either through flying (if the character has access to a flying form), swimming or on a boat requires an explanation (why can they do this) and related success rolls (except for flying) and the Storyteller can always use this as an opportunity to attack them with spirit beings. If wanted, a probability roll can be used here to see if they make it through safely. Damage will not cross over from the dreamworld to the physical world, but dying in the dreamworld sea will kill the sleeping mage. Seeing spirits: If you're a mage, you see them when they're around. No roll needed. Resisting spirit voices: Composure + Occult. If the spirit voices continue, roll again every thirty minutes. Only one success needed. If a mage becomes enthralled, they can roll again to release themselves from the spell if someone shakes them or otherwise distracts them from the voices. If several spirits are calling to the mage in the same time/combat round, the mage rolls only once to resist them all with no penalties to the roll and will then remain protected against the calls for the next thirty minutes. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall the mage but it does take them a turn. Icelandic magic game mechanics

This section is very basic and covers only what we know about it in SSSS. I encourage anyone setting up a campaign with an Icelandic mage to expand on these rules or modify them to better reflect Icelandic traditions and beliefs. Input from people who are more knowledgeable on those subjects would be appreciated.

Some repetition from above for ease of reference.

Mage: Purchased at character creation and never available again after that. Any related training will go under Occult.

Mana: Resolve + Composure. Spent on spells and effects and can only be recovered through time, one point a day. In addition, Mana can be spent to add successes to your result in magical spells the same way Willpower can be spent in ordinary tasks. Sigils: Dexterity + Expression. Requires the character to be Icelandic or trained in Iceland, as knowledge of what staves look like comes free for locals. Occult 1+ with specialty Icelandic Magic is required for non-Icelanders and in any case improves the efficiency of sigil work. Examples of Sigil effects: Protection from spirits. Calling up love. Fertility to the crops. Keeping sheep from wandering off. Keeping animals away from a certain spot. Strengthening structures. Dreamworld: No penalty or cost to visit the dream world, and moving across the waters in search of other spaces also comes free with being an Icelandic mage. Damage will not cross over from the dreamworld to the physical world, but dying in the dreamworld sea or in another mage’s space will kill the sleeping mage. Icelandic mages can find their way instinctively to other people’s dream places if they know something about that person or have something to guide them there; they can also ask their Fylgja to guide them. It will be easier for them to find the places of other mages than non-mages. They can also cross from the dreamworld into the realms of death.

Fylgja: This guardian spirit animal has no stats and is completely controlled by the Storyteller as an NPC, though I suggest deciding the shape of the spirit animal at character creation. They give warnings in dreams and act as a guide in the other realms. Fylgja comes free with making a Scandinavian or Icelandic character, the same as luonto comes free for Finnish characters. Seeing spirits: If you're a mage, you see them when they're around. No roll needed. Resisting spirit voices: Composure + Occult. If the spirit voices continue, roll again every thirty minutes. Only one success needed. If a mage becomes enthralled, they can roll again to release themselves from the spell if someone shakes them or otherwise distracts them from the voices. If several spirits are calling to the mage in the same time/combat round, the mage rolls only once to resist them all with no penalties to the roll and will then remain protected against the calls for the next thirty minutes. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall the mage but it does take them a turn. The Rash Illness

Symptoms appear two weeks after infection. From the onset of the first symptoms the infected person will take a special kind of aggravated damage daily and be subject to spirit voices. This damage cannot be healed in any way but when the patient loses all health, instead of dying they go into a coma and the illness continues to mutate them. Every day after the second week of symptoms the character will have an extra Stamina roll, difficulty 10 minus half their Stamina (rounded up), to see if they survive. If they survive four weeks after the first symptoms, they will turn into trolls. Trolls, giants, beasts, and ghosts

Example sheets for trolls, giants, beasts, and ghosts below for combat situations. Different trolls will have different sheets, some will be stronger, smaller, etc. To be adjusted accordingly.

Troll Type: Once a human, now a hungering mutant. Can take many shapes and have different attributes accordingly. This is a troll that used to be an adult urbanite. Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 4, Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 4, Manipulation 2, Composure 1 Skills: Athletics (Running) 3, Brawl 3, Persuasion 2 Willpower: 7 Initiative: 4 Defense: 2 Speed: 12 Size: 5 Attacks: Bite 2L dp7, Scratch 1 L dp7, Stab 2 L dp7 Health: 8 Specialty: All damage a troll takes is bashing, unless it’s to the head. There is a -3 penalty for the hit roll. Players roll Dexterity and Weaponry to target the head with a weapon.Specialty: Spirit voices, see above in Magic section. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall a mage but it does take them a turn. Specialty: Takes aggravated damage from direct sunlight.

Giant Type: Many trolls and maybe beasts fused into one abomination. This one has four heads. Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 3, Resolve 4, Strength 7, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 4, Manipulation 2, Composure 1 Skills: Athletics (Movement) 3, Brawl 3, Persuasion 2 Willpower: 7 Initiative: 4 Defense: 3 Speed: 15 Size: 20 Attacks: Bite 2L dp10, Scratch 1 L dp10, Stab 2 L dp10 Health: 23 Specialty: All damage a giant takes is bashing, unless it’s to the head, and a giant is not dead until all its heads have been individually killed. Each head dies at 8 points of lethal damage directed to that head specifically. There is a -5 penalty for the hit roll. Players roll Dexterity and Weaponry to target the head with a weapon. Specialty: Spirit voices, see above in Magic section. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall a mage but it does take them a turn. Specialty: Takes aggravated damage from sunlight.

Wolf beast Type: A mutated wolf, looking for its next meal. Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 2, Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 3, Manipulation 1, Composure 1 Skills: Athletics (Running and Leaping) 3, Brawl 3, Socialize 1 Willpower: 6 Initiative: 4 Defense: 2 Speed: 7 Size: 3 Attacks: Bite 2L dp7, Scratch 1 L dp7, Stab 2 L dp7 Health: 6 Specialty: Damage must be to the head to be lethal. There is a -3 penalty for the hit roll. Players roll Dexterity and Weaponry to target the head with a weapon. Specialty: Takes aggravated damage from direct sunlight.

Ghost Type: A wandering spirit of a Finn, lost on its way to Tuonela. Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 1, Resolve 2, Strength 0, Dexterity 0, Stamina 0, Presence 3, Manipulation 2, Composure 2 Skills: Persuasion 2 Willpower: 4 Initiative: 0 Defense: 0 Speed: 5 Size: 5 Attacks: None Health: 0 Flaws: Confused 3 Specialty: Incorporeal spirit. Cannot touch anything. Has lost touch with its self from wandering about without form. Specialty: Spirit voices, see above in Magic section. No roll is required of the ghost to try to enthrall a mage but it does take them a turn. However, even if they enthrall a mage, the worst they can do is make him forget to do eat and drink. They might choose to talk and be guided to Tuonela instead.

#stand still stay silent #sssscomic #nwod #tabletop rpg #rules adaptation #rpgs

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jeremy-ken-anderson · 3 years

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Good Game Energy

I won’t even be mad if someone snipes me on this and releases this game before I do. I just want it to exist.

So, back in the day I put together a proto/concept for a game where you’re a ghost. You’d use actions that expend a bit of one resource to get just a little more of another (the resources, if I recall, were Terror, Rage, Mischief, and Sorrow), and you could use actions in response to event cards that popped up in order to make major gains and also advance the plot.

The idea was that you didn’t know who you were - a truly broken state for a ghost, considering that in many ways ghosts are only memories. For a ghost to be memory but not have memory feels somehow extra tragic.

Anyway.

Depending on interactions with events, you could expand on what cards you had and eventually discover who you were in life.

Now, what’s fun here (mechanically; in terms of actual gameplay I’m not sure this would have worked) is you always started from the same set of actions.

If you used a poltergeisty shove to try and knock the greengrocer into traffic when an event gave you that option, the game would assume you had a reason for that and lock you into stories where you have a grudge against the grocer. If you had the opportunity and declined, the game would cut those stories.

It’s almost like if the game were playing Guess Who, with the player as a kind of adjacent catalyst and observer. You wouldn’t have full control, and would generally make just one or two decisions about what to do next once you figured out who you were - Do you envy the beating heart of the lover who mourns you, to the point of becoming a horror story? Do you try to romance them from beyond the grave? Or do you mourn the lost love in turn, and fade, just leaving them be? These were the kinds of decisions available to the ghosts of the game.

Coulda been really cool. Could still be, honestly, but I don’t know how to put it together and I lost all the ghostly writing I did before. I think there were 48 ghosts; Each ghost had a resource representing how they died, another representing what they would willingly give up, and a third representing what they cared about. The first two were always different, but the third could be any of the 4 resources, so that’s 4 x 3 x 4 options, or 48.

This winnowing process also existed in The Haunting of House Dark, where you play as a diamond thief who is taking advantage of the local superstition about an abandoned mansion to escape from an angry mob. Not only will they not chase you onto the grounds, but they won’t shoot you for fear that your blood will get on the grass, and they’ll assume you’re dead if you haven’t left the grounds by dawn the next day. The core principle there was, “What if horror-themed board game Betrayal at House on the Hill were a solo computer game?” So there’s no betrayal mechanic, but there’s that same point where The Haunt Starts, and everything goes horribly wrong. In House Dark the idea was just that there were pairs or trios of reagents for a spooky story. If you got any full set of spooks, this was the haunting you were dealing with and the rest were just weird shit that happened to occur in House Dark because it was, in general, Haunted AF.

I started to say, here, that I consider the ghost game’s story-definition mechanics more advanced, but on reflection I think they’re both pretty good; each focused toward the kind of game it is. You definitely want a system like the ghost game’s, cutting possibilities that no longer make sense from even being seen, IF you’ve got a game that lacks a sense of physical space - as the ghost game does. But many of the reagents of House Dark’s story are basic parts of the house, and having them only appear if they’re story-appropriate would make the house feel empty. It’s sensible to have red herrings, and creepy objects that aren’t necessarily part of the doom that befalls you, in that kind of game.

One mechanic I never got to even start to examine, because I never reached that stage of development with either title, was Completion Assist.

Like, did I want the player to have to sit there and write down what they did each time so that they wouldn’t accidentally become the same kind of ghost twice? One option for the ghost game would be a Single Ghost Mode, where each ghost only appears once - basically, the engine would permanently remove a ghost from the options when you completed their story. Maybe this would mean the event to shove the grocer never would pop up again, or maybe it just wouldn’t trigger anything special if you did it, but the game would start with the ghosts you’d already been taken out. Similarly it would be possible to include a little star or something next to the “examine the spooky doll” option if you’d already done all the stories involving the doll. Or perhaps better, there could be a journal where the game keeps notes on what you did and makes clear what caused a certain Haunt. Like:

Howl at the Moon: You examined the silver knife in the study. You sniffed the wolfsbane in the laboratory. You were attacked by a mysterious animal in the gardens.

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officialotakudome · 3 years

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New Post has been published on Otaku Dome | The Latest News In Anime, Manga, Gaming, And More

New Post has been published on https://otakudome.com/reviews/marvels-spider-man-miles-morales-review/

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review

The follow-up to 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man arrives with a new lead in Harlem Spider-Man Miles Morales. Taking place a year and a half following the events of the first game, Miles is still struggling to come into his own as The Friendly Neighborhood Spider. Peter is trying to train him while protecting his own backyard in New York City. After dealing with a disastrous encounter with Rhino, Peter entrusts Miles as the sole Spider-Man of New York as he and MJ go out of country on business. Miles must now find his path as Spider-Man without his mentor and a little help from best friend Ganke Lee.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a 2020 action-adventure game, it is developed by Insomniac and published by Playstation Studios. It is available exclusively on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.

Editor’s Note: This review contains near complete to complete spoilers for the story of Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Our review of the original Marvel’s Spider-Man and its DLC can be viewed at these links 1, 2, 3.

Playstation’s Spider-Man returns with a new entry that bridges the first game and eventual Spider-Man 2 starring 2011’s Miles Morales.

Two years since the initial launch of universally acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man comes Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. As the name suggests the game picks up where the initial left us with Miles Morales having his own run in with a power giving spider bite. Though Miles and Peter have mostly similar spider based powers, Miles has his own original Spidey flair to help him stand out such as having the ability to create an electromagnetic field to get the jump on multiple enemies, his own unique tech and gear compared to Peter’s, and even the ability to turn invisible for a short period of time.

Miles is (mostly) on his own in Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

THE GOOD: 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man was a surprise in such a multitude of ways. For one, it was a video game title taking on the form of a beloved fictional character, it was based on a comic book/superhero, and it was a licensed video game. Granted licensed gaming had made a bit of a quality comeback thanks to titles like the Batman: Arkham series, and even some Transformers titles released by Activision just to name a couple. But there was always room for worry in the back of fans’ minds that some kind of controversy was just around the corner of what looked like “a sure thing, and Square Enix dealing with their own troubles following the release of The Avengers this distant worry will always have an unfortunate place in licensed gaming. However Marvel’s Spider-Man ended up being a fantastic game thanks to the renown track record of developer Insomniac. Having tackled several genre from dozens of IP the studio has shown time and time again that they just know how to build good games. Though that’s the core issue with taking on something like a licensed game for the first time or anything for the first time; there’s always room for error. Thankfully, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is not that at least as far as the story. character development, and most of the gameplay is concerned.

Miles Morales grows as a human, man, and hero in Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales opens up with Peter Parker and Miles preparing to protect a prison cargo hosting those responsible for the final events of the original game. After struggling to defeat Rhino and Peter having been beaten Miles raises his courage to fight him lone unlocking a new power in the process aiding in Rhino’s defeat impressing Roxxon R&D Director Simon Krieger. Peter informs Miles that he and Mary Jane will be overseas away on business for several weeks leaving the safety of New York mostly on him. Lacking confidence Peter tells Miles to believe in himself and if he truly needs him he’s there. As Peter departs Miles contests with a new tech savvy gang known as The Underground which seems to be involved in a power struggle against Roxxon’s military grade forces. Roxxon is in the middle of releasing a brand new energy source known as Nuform, but the concoction is dangerous to humans causing them terminal illness. After an initial run in with The Underground, Miles returns home with whom best friend Ganke is currently residing as his parents go on vacation. Miles’ old childhood friend Phin makes a surprise visit to Harlem. Miles asks about her brother Rick who they both looked up to, but she unexpectedly dodges the question. During a rally for Miles’ mother Rio who’s campaigning for Mayor of Harlem The Underground attacks a Roxxon convoy carrying a literal truckload of Nuform on a bridge. During a fight with members of the gang that leads to a battle with The Underground’s head of command The Tinkerer, Miles accidentally learns that it’s Phin when his electric powers causes her armor to malfunction which was shielding her face. Phin retaliates as Miles’ electric powers go out of control sending him into the truck containing Nuform ensuing an enormous explosion that destroys a large portion of the bridge. Roxxon reinforcements arrive and they threaten Miles after he saves citizens from the bridge shocking bystanders. As they’re about to kill a cooperating Miles he accidentally unlocks a new ability that allows him momentary invisibility giving him an opening to escape.

Tweaked gameplay mechanics and it’s story idea give us a potential glimpse in what’s to come for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

While internally battling with what to do in regards to Phin and her connection to The Underground, Miles begins to reconnect with his recently estranged Uncle Aaron who had been emotionally abandoned by the family for unknown reasons. This inadvertently reveals his identity as the Harlem Spider-Man to Aaron and Miles through searching his late father Jefferson’s old police files discovers that Aaron is the Prowler a legendary super enhanced criminal. Revealing the reason behind the family abandoning him, after this discovery Miles has resolve to try to convince Phin to stop what she’s doing with The Underground having earlier learned of Krieger being responsible for the death of her brother Rick who worked with him on Nuform. The energy source making him and his team terminally ill killing the latter, though Rick died trying to protect Phin from an incident at Krieger’s lab. After successfully infiltrating The Underground as himself, Miles learns that Phin plans to blow up Roxxon HQ, but is unaware of the severity of the impact which will destroy New York and much of the surrounding area. Miles reveals his identity to Phin after a pursuit and she reluctantly works with him only for the two to be captured by Krieger. After their escape following a battle with a Roxon tech enhanced Rhino, Phin now consumed with rage sees Miles as her enemy like Krieger and Roxxon & continues forward with her plan threatening his life if he tries to stop her again. Having bonded from a prior Roxxon infiltration, Miles learns that Aaron has returned as the Prowler and is captured by him. The two fight after Aaron fails to convince him to stop worrying about New York and to only focus on himself. Miles beats him and continues his chase of Phin while evacuating the city with Ganke and his mom once he tells them both everything that happened. A war breaks out between The Underground & Roxxon in Harlem, but Miles and a reformed Prowler stops them. Miles finds Phin at the science museum that held their award winning project which she plans to use to aide the explosion plan as an emotional blow to Miles. The two fight as Miles tries to explain the issue surrounding her plan but she refuses to listen. As the explosion begins Phin finally realizes that Miles was right. but he’s injured from some of the impact. Phin helps him absorb the Nuform. but Miles can’t contain it for long which endangers Harlem from the blast release. Phin uses Underground tech to fly Miles into the sky so he can release the blast safely. but at the cost of her own life. Miles’ identity is revealed to the citizens of Harlem, but they shield him from being shown on TV as a news crew shows. He places his and Phin’s award on their favorite church as a tribute. Now brimming with confidence as a hero a returned Peter is proud of all that Miles has accomplished while he was away. Norman Osborn demands that his son Harry be “awoken” despite warnings from Curt Connors in an end credits scene.

Miles Morales has moments where he can be playable as a citizen of Harlem.

If you were one of the lucky few that managed to come into possession of a Playstation 5 and an even luckier few who as of yet have not experienced the 2018 Spider-Man entry, first I commend & envy you, second I highly suggest playing ‘Miles Morales’ after a playthrough of the remaster. The unique perspectives of both titles combined in a single sitting make the $70 price tag more than worth it (not that I’m all too thrilled about a price hike for games). And ya know the 4K, ray tracing, whatever I guess that too. Anyways, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is from a basics standpoint a lot like the original. You’ve got the Arkham like combat, the fantastic swinging, and the finishers. Just like in the last game there’s a skill tree which you use to upgrade Miles with skill points. These range from attack, tech, and support skills such as increased invisibility meters and finisher storage counts. Miles’s electric venom powers add solid combo chains for a higher score and opportunity to gain finishers for tougher enemies. Eventually you can unlock an explosive form of the attack which is great for dispersing large groups of enemies. You’ll use tech for support and to get the jump in enemies like before, but Miles has unique tech like electric bombs which can stick to electric panels and if you know how to use them they can act as great distractions that lead to a large deal of damage to several enemies.

The Tinkerer threatens all of New York in her quest to end Roxxon.

Side quests return with most of it being randomized events spread throughout the world map and some minimal story based events. The “defeat enemy base here” side quests return just skinned with The Underground and Roxxon. New to the game are the scavenger hunt and time capsule quests which have you finding mementos left behind by Miles’ late father Jefferson and his friend Phin. Also new are the audio tunes which Miles’ Uncle Aaron tasks him with finding to complete a track he and his father were working on together using the sounds of New York for the song. Some quests will unlock Miles unique skills or costumes in the game to dress the Harlem Spider-Man as you see fit.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales continues the growth of two young superheroes sharing the same title.

THE BAD: An unfortunate setback to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is that it often times feels a little too close to Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse story wise. It’s the curse of origin stories, odds are the origin has already been told and there isn’t much you can do to differentiate it from it’s core. There’s a handful of glitches present at least on the PS4 version. One I experienced in particular was during the mission where Miles had to restore power to his apartment complex. A bug prevented me from completing the mission and I was stuck there wondering what the hell was happening for over an hour. So far it’s the only major bug I’ve experienced, though others have reported more.

Like Peter before him Miles struggles with balancing his hero/citizen life in Harlem, New York.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a excellent appetizer to the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Keeping what made the original special all while giving itself a way to standout is always the way to go with sequels such as these and ‘Miles Morales’ more than delivers on that end. While shorter than the original game the quality isn’t effected by the bit sized entertainment. I played on the second hardest difficulty of the game Spectacular and was able to clock in about fifteen to twenty hours of play which is slightly more than similar title Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. The sheer jump in a quality gaming experience from the spin-off even with it’s limited time left me craving for more of Insomniac’s Peter Parker and Miles Morales.

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musingsofonehuman · 4 years

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Like you, for the past week, I’ve been reading reviews and critique about The Last of Us Part 2, interested in Naughty Dog’s latest adventure, now, I have no intention of playing the game, for starters, I don’t own a PS4, so I can’t even if I wanted to, but Naughty Dog games have never been my thing. I remember playing a few hours of Uncharted 3 a number of years ago, and I found it quite dull, the story didn’t drag me in, the graphics were as expected, but it was the gameplay that didn’t click for me, it was mundane, simple, it didn’t seek to do anything innovative, and so I didn’t care to finish it.

Big budget games have this problem, envy. Specifically, envy towards films and TV. When I was growing up during the 90s and 00s, games were still trying to be accepted as a legitimate medium, always seen as the younger sibling of films and TV, they weren’t seen as a story telling medium but rather a children’s toy, so there was always this resentment towards Hollywood, that we weren’t seen to be as good as them, and for a lot of people, that resentment has stuck. In the years since then, thanks to advances in technology, games have been able to tell more complex stories, show more complex animations and generally become bigger than what they used to be.

But there’s a problem, see, video games are a unique medium due to one key aspect, interactivity. You cannot interact with a film or a TV show, but you interact with a video game, you drive that video game and what happens during the course of it, you are the mechanical cog turning the clock, and so because of that, video games have a unique opportunity to tell stories in a way that films and TV shows can’t. For me, this interactivity is why I love playing video games, being able to take part in these games rather than watching from afar is the best thing about games for me, yes, story and graphics are important, but to me, the most important part of a video game are the mechanics of the game and how they play out.

And yet, a lot of big budget games that come out today fail to capitalise on that, ignoring the interactivity of the medium, opting instead for elaborate cutscenes, big Hollywood names and structured set pieces that play out before you, and all of this is very pretty and can be stuck on the back of a box or put into a marketing campaign to sell the game, but it’s not enjoyable to play, you are not interacting with the game, but more watching the game play out from afar, you are not part of the game, you are merely a bystander watching the game unfold before you.

That’s why I’ve been so interested with The Last of Us Part 2 (henceforth known as TLOU 2), many reviews and publications have been calling this game a masterpiece, a game of the generation, something that only comes by once a decade. Now, this immediately made me suspicious, I’ve learnt that when a video game gets such universal acclaim, there’s something being omitted from the reviews, so I decided to read about and do some research, and it turns out there are a few reviewers that have problems with the game. One of the biggest problems seems to be that’s it a game where you kill people using excessive violence, and yet it’s a story all about how excessive violence is wrong, characters don’t seem to learn from their mistakes so they keep on killing, even though it’s wrong.

Now obviously, I’m judging all of this based on reviews and a plot synopsis, I would imagine playing the game is different to reading about it, but there does seem to be a clash of ideologies here. If the idea is to tell a story where violence is wrong, then surely the characters should learn from that, and yet that doesn’t seem to happen until the very end of the game, when the player has murdered a lot of NPCs, like, a lot, as in...let’s just say more than you’re currently thinking. So how does that work then? If the idea is that the characters learn to not use violence, then the gameplay should reflect that, and yet that doesn’t seem to be the case, it seems the violence goes on for a while, almost to a point where some reviewers wrote that they were becoming disturbed by the violence. So surely then, when the payoff happens at the very end, it doesn’t have impact, because at that point you’re so disturbed by the violence, you’ve been screaming at your TV telling the main character to stop because you’ve realised what the game is trying to tell you far sooner than they did.

So why all these reviews then? Why are all these reviewers calling TLOU 2 a masterpiece? I believe it might have something to do with the resentment I mentioned previously. Since many of us grew up with this resentment, there’s always been this feeling of wanting to prove that video games are better than films and TV shows, so whenever a game does come along that looks fantastic, has big name actors and a complex story that touches on many issues, it’s generally heralded as a masterpiece, not necessarily because it is, but because people want to prove that their passion can yield great achievements, basically, they want to prove the naysayers wrong. That’s not to say that TLOU 2 isn’t a great game, again, I haven’t played it so I can’t really comment on that, but there does seem to be this conflicting ideology that doesn’t seem right to me.

This is why I believe games should focus on interactivity, games can be used to tell complex and interesting stories, but they should use interactivity to tell those stories, not pretty cutscenes, because then it’s just a film, and films do cutscenes far better than games can. There is nothing that can compare to sitting in a cinema watching a film on a giant screen in a big chair, I know because I love it. Movies have the power to tell big and expansive stories, because that’s what they’re best at, they don’t have to worry about interactivity, so they can out all their effort into telling a carefully scripted story, they don’t have to rely on the player missing out on story beats because they didn’t go to a certain area, movies guide the viewer through their world, taking them on a journey, so they can make sure that every part of the story makes sense, because they’re not trying to fill time, there’s no in between sections with films, it’s just story.

So can games tell stories? Yes, and I believe there are a few examples of this. The first is a game called Celeste, in it, you play as Madeline, a young woman who is committed to climbing a mountain for her own personal reasons. This game does use cutscenes, it does have narrative, but it doesn’t use exposition to get everything across. A lot of games feel like they have to use elaborate cutscenes so you can connect with a character, and yet Celeste uses the gameplay instead, by climbing the mountain, you begin to feel the struggles of Madeline, you connect with her determination, her pain, which only makes the story beats more impactful, because you’ve been through those moments with her, you’ve guided her through the mountain. The game itself is a 2d platformer, and it is difficult, I failed many times while playing the game, but that only made the connection with Madeline stronger, because I was struggling as the player, I connected with Madeline, I understood her struggles and the pain she was going through. I remember reaching the top of the mountain, that pain, that determination, it turned into joy, into relief, that I had conquered the mountain, I had achieved, but the game never told me I should feel that way, there was no cutscene that said “you should be happy”, because the gameplay told me everything I needed to feel. Through playing the game, I felt determined to succeed, determined to achieve, to conquer the mountain, so when I got to the top, I felt like I had succeeded, achieved, I felt those emotions because of what I did, not because of what I was told.

There’s another example I’d like to talk about, which is why I’m writing this article in the first place, Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons. I played this a few days ago, and I honestly believe it is one of the best games ever. Brothers tells a story of two brothers on a journey to a magic tree to heal their father of a sickness he has succumbed to. The game itself is a one person co-op game, you play both brothers using one controller, each brother has a stick and a trigger. You may think that’s a bit odd, but that’s how it’s meant to be played, for reasons which I will explain later. The game itself is a good game, it’s not stunning and there are a few control problems, but it is built to tell a story in a way I’ve never experienced before. While the game does have cutscenes, there is no spoken language, the cutscenes are mainly gesture and sound, leaving you the player to interpret the story, and the thing is, it works. Throughout the game, you bond with the two brothers through their adventure, guiding them through peril and danger, all in a way that could only be told through its control scheme, the game itself is only 2-3 hours long, but in that time, I became attached to the brothers in a way I’ve never felted for many characters.

But it’s the ending that showcases why this is one of, if not, the best example of storytelling through gameplay, I cannot talk about it, because to talk about it would be to ruin the game, it is a moment that you cannot understand by watching it, it is something you cannot get from a video on YouTube, you have to experience the game for yourself in order to properly understand it. But that moment was powerful, I’ve never felt anything like it, and again, there was no cutscene that told me to feel that way, no graphic that said “this is the emotion you have to feel”, the game told me everything it wanted through the natural progression of playing the game, and because of that, that moment was more powerful than a game with traditional cutscenes could ever be.

This is how storytelling in video games should be, using the unique mechanics of the medium to tell a powerful story, rather than relying on elaborate cutscenes to convey their story, because for all the technological advances and big budgets some studios have now, they will never be able to tell a story as good as films can while they are trying to chase them. Unless they embrace the interactivity that video games offer, the stories in video games will never compare to the stories in films. Unfortunately, it appears that TLOU 2 will be revered across the industry, it will sell millions of copies, and because of that, other big budget studios will now look towards TLOU 2 as a benchmark for how stories should be told, instead of looking towards games such as Brothers and Celeste. It’s a shame really, because I feel like this is going to take us back a few years within gaming, yes they will look remarkable, yes the actors will give outstanding performances, and yet, the stories that they will tell will always be good, but never as good as films. If only they would learn to embrace interactivity, then storytelling in video games could be so much more, but alas, it appears we are destined for more sub par Hollywood style games, what a shame.

#gaming #movies #ps4 #playstation #the last of us #celeste #brothers

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