#alien isolation playthrough

[potatocrisp]

#did i make a gifset of heisenberg making contact w ethan who can say really #resident evil #re8 #working on my hardcore playthrough right now and going through it all over again right alongside ethan #gifs #i used to like making atmospheric gifs of alien isolation so if i end up doing this for re8 dont be annoyed w me #they might all be heisenberg tho bc its me we're talking about

[luxxlillian]

It's like an 8 1/2 hour arthaus Alien film TO ME

#Comfort video game playthrough to get me through the horrors #Alien #Alien Isolation #I have no idea who this channel or person is I just know Alien universe + clicky sounds of video game make brain go bbrrrrrrrrr #Youtube

[cystickuru]

https://www.twitch.tv/cystickuru

#first playthrough #self promo #horror #alien isolation #im a noob #twitch streamer #twitch #im a baby back bitch

[crucefix]

what u playing rn

nothing atm really 😔 other than csgo......... ik it's cringe but it's fun and i'm excited for cs2 >:3 (and actually i have been playing a bit of animal crossing on my childhood ds lite before bed recently lol, it helps stave off the anxiety.. v relaxing i recommend it if u have insomnia like meee🌟)

#a few of my friends got baldur's gate 3 and they're enjoying it a lot but #idk doesn't appeal to me that much #i'd probably give it a go if it wasn't so expensive but . . . . #i long for a new game .................. i still dream of an alien isolation sequel and i'LL NEVER STOP #i'll replay legacy again at some point but i already did 2 playthroughs so i'm kinda burnt out for now #anon #thanks for askingggg

[zorceus]

I failed once, but now I am going to finish it. On April 27th, Zorceus presents... Alien Isolation: Nightmare Mode - The Redemption. Watch as me (Zorceus) and Lord Smoke Bomb get killed repeatedly by an angey Xenomorph.

#digital art #art #advertisement #xenomorph #alien isolation #playthrough #twitch #funny

[horrorvisuals]

CANINE

CANINE is a first-person horror game with well-made, PSX-style wobbly visuals.

It tells the story of a boy looking for his dog kidnapped by an evil corporation running experiments on pets. In his search, he has to survive against a horrifying creature and escape.

Canine has stealth-focused gameplay where you survive against a stalker-type enemy. Think of the Xenomorph from Alien: Isolation or Mr. X from Resident Evil 2.

Surviving against this creature isn't the most complicated thing, but it can surely be tense sometimes because it can corner you quite easily.

You can use your trusty tennis ball to distract it, run, and hide in designated hiding places.

It has a B-movie type of narrative that doesn't go too much into detail while still managing to give you a compelling story.

Tomy, the boy's dog, is kidnapped by an evil corporation named Umbral. They conduct experiments on dogs to create the perfect demigod.

Throughout your survival inside this facility, you come across notes and environmental details to learn more about this harrowing story.

The game has PSX style, wibbly-wobbly visuals paired with a pretty good atmosphere. The sound design and the overall color palette really puts dread in your chest even before the game truly begins.

At its essence, the gameplay revolves around surviving against this creature while looking for switches around the facility. It's a place with smaller sub-sections that you go through while searching for these switches and other key items, of course, while also looking for Tomy.

Depending on the things you do in your playthrough, the game has two endings. It also has a scoreboard system that nudges you to try again and maybe speedrun the whole thing.

It has a generous checkpoint system, so it never gets annoying even if you're caught.

CANINE is great. I enjoyed this a lot and I'll probably go back to it to play some more, maybe go for a no-death run.

It's pretty cheap on Steam with Very Positive reviews. Confidently recommended.

Check it out here.

#horror #horror games #horrorvisuals #survival horror #horror game #retro #indie horror game #video games #nostalgia #CANINE #PSX

[complicitsacrilege]

@the-apostates-martyr tagged me in a post for 7 comfort movies! I watch pretty much any kind of non-religious horror, though I also dabble in other genres too, like dark comedies. If it's weird, it's my genre.

1: Dead Ringers (the original ofc. My current watch over and over obsession)

2: IWTV - I mean do I have to explain this one?

3: any of the Alien movies, especially the first two, but also the Alien Isolation game. I count that as a movie tbh. It's phenomenal - even just to watch playthroughs of it.

4: The Lost Boys & Near Dark - I count these as one because honestly I can't watch one without the other.

5: Peter Pan (2006) - my dvd copy is signed by Jason Isaacs and he doodled a little hook on it 🥹 I was the only one in the signing line who wanted that signed and he was thrilled to geek out with me about it for like 20 mins since I was the last in line. He took a picture of my battle jacket bc he liked it so much lmao

6: the original Halloween or the first of the newest trilogy. They're also my dog's favorites too. He'll come running to watch them with me when he hears the theme song lmao

7: Crimson Peak - or any GDT movie honestly. But especially Crimson Peak

honorable mentions: Sleepaway Camp, Chopping Mall, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original trilogy), Balto, The Devil's Rejects trilogy, Hellraiser 1/2, Possession (the weird one with Sam Neill. That one is a core childhood memory lmao), Phantom of the Opera (Royal Albert Hall), Jurassic Park... and many, many more tbh

(no pressure) Tagging: @jurassic-cunt @isabellehemlock @coffeeworldsasaki @platypusprime @anaid-queen @butchybats @0nelittlebirdtoldme @thecactifindahome @translouisdpdl @the-vagabond-angel @ejas-54 & anyone else who wants to do a thing!

#thank youuuuu! #asked and answered

[p3ta]

gotta send Ryoji Mochizuki

Thanks for the ask! Hope your day's going well, fellow Ryoji enjoyer.

Spoilers below for P2, P3, P4, and P5R.

Send me one of these here!

First, I want to give some thoughts on his character as a whole. For the certain type of character he is (doomed, remorseful harbinger), Ryoji Mochizuki is perfect. I don't think there's a better Persona twist than his reveal as the the Appriser/Death, the thirteenth Arcana Shadow. Just because a twist is easy to see coming doesn't make it less impactful, and I particularly enjoy the way Persona 3 distills information to the player in allotments. Even knowing that, Ryoji managed to surprise me with how much more he was. And fittingly, a lot of Ryoji's characterization bounces back to the P3 Hero, and vice versa.

On top of that, Nyx Avatar is my favorite final boss in the entire Persona series and unsettled me out the first time. I'd still say that Nyx Avatar causes me more fear than the Reaper, who I'd comparatively describe as inciting panic rather than fear.

Ryoji is frequently compared to Kaworu from Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE), and, well. Yeah. I believe I read that in a developer interview that the P3 dev team deliberately took inspiration from NGE but I'm unable to find a source at hand, so don't quote me on that. Between the two, I prefer Ryoji. He is the strongest out of the character type for me.

favorite thing about them

His layers! Ryoji is one of those late game characters who comes in and recontextualizes all the information you've learned thus far. It's why I love watching the Dictionary update throughout a playthrough. I understand why people are put off by the way he's introduced as a serial flirt, but Reload made it much more textually clear that this isn't his true personality, nor his intentions. Ryoji is proto-Teddie (Japanese Teddie, anyway); a fully formed individual who sprang into existence seeking connection. However, where Teddie's isolation and lack of identity are his defining characteristics, Ryoji's are moored in how connected he is with P3 Hero.

Ryoji ultimately only exists because of that connection, that little bit of humanity he's been given, but that's also what prevents him from being fully human. He's had a role to play since his inception, and he can't avoid that even with his newfound connections.

Ryoji's present throughout the entire story. You've got Pharos at the very beginning with the contract running errands for the Velvet Room (I like it more and more that I think about it. Picture Elizabeth or Igor having to explain to this terrifying child what he has to say. Or maybe he knew what to say all along! He has been waiting ten years), Thanatos tearing himself out of Orpheus (by far the best Persona awakening in the series and a textual highlight for what an alien force he is), and a crucial lynchpin event for Yukari's backstory, Mitsuru's backstory, as well as the crucial event for Aigis and P3 Hero.

There is no version of Persona 3 without Ryoji and I'm all the happier for it. Genuinely, if something's confusing with P3's story, there's 90% chance the answer is Ryoji or one of his many numerous forms. The remaining 10% is the Kirijo Group. That said, we don't get a lot of time with Ryoji. Ultimately, he's a part of P3 Hero and you're left to extrapolate exactly how much of each other you believe they've influenced.

Sogabe, the P3 & P4 mangaka, chose to highlight how similar Ryoji and P3 Hero look. I consider it an essential element of their relationship together.

least favorite thing about them

It'd be cheating to say nothing, wouldn't it? I'd say that his design is easy to mock and hard to get right in fanart. Between Ryoji's forehead and very Axel Kingdom Hearts approach towards long limbs – and legs in specific – the movies did not help with this. I've read reviews saying how the higher budget allowed for the characters to be more consistently on model, and thus look better, but I fervently disagree. That boy is mostly leg. Late 00s and early 10s anime art Looked Like That, though. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a soft spot for some of it.

But I love how Ryoji looks and wouldn't change it for the world. Silly slick-backed hair boy. It is funny how whenever Persona wants a villain with sympathetic qualities, they slick back the protagonist's hair (Philemon and Maruki come to mind).

Reload fixed ("fixed") this anyway but making him much fluffier in his portraits and giving his skin some color! He's achingly soft in that game.

favorite line

There's many iconic ones I could pick but I'm going to go with a new one from Reload:

It's so small, it's so playful! I like that if you choose to start an exchange he finishes the bit. It says a lot about him in such a succinct way.

Even more so when you consider the reason he came here was for Junpei's sake. Being able to balance joking around while keeping a touch of concern endears me beyond belief. Thank you, Reload.

brOTP

Junpei & Ryoji. It's not even close. This was the one element I was hoping Reload would show more and I was not disappointed! The dynamic is good for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is that despite Junpei's Persona being Magician Arcana, he is not the P3 Hero's Magician Social Link. Junpei is not the male protagonist's best friend. He clearly wants to be, but his frustration is palpable. The P3 Hero is cool, charming, and everything that Junpei plays second fiddle to, but he won't even acknowledge him. But what if there were a more likeable version of the Hero?

Instant friendship. Those two are besties from day one, where Ryoji has all the qualities but none of the knowledge, and so their dynamic is a much more even one. To me, it indicates how well Junpei and the P3 Hero might have gotten along had he not carried Death inside him for ten years. It's a brief window into another world.

There's also the fact that Ryoji, Death, befriends Junpei so close to when Takaya shoots him and he perishes. His character arc is defined by change, this act being what radically transforms his soul, and what's one of the meanings of the Death Tarot? It's like universal foreshadowing. It's funny to me too that the Magician Arcana Shadow is the one Thanatos tore to pieces. Growth for Ryoji too.

As an aside, I miss the dynamic movements from the PS2 cutscenes. Junpei being so quick to drown Ryoji is nowhere comparable to him covering Ryoji's mouth.

OTP

Hmm. This might take a second. I wonder what pairing I might like with Ryoji. Here's an unrelated picture of Messiah:

You know, Messiah is one of those Personas that has only grown on me more as time passes. My favorite of the final protagonist ones, due in part to how you have to fuse him yourself. Orpheus, the starting Persona, combined with the power of Thanatos, the penultimate manifestation of the Death Arcana. They compliment each other beautifully, and regardless of if you the player create him, he is always the true final Persona, the final result of the Judgement Arcana.

They are inevitable.

Of course it's Ryoji and P3 Hero. How could it be anything else? These two make me sick with joy. Death has a clear favorite and in the end, gets to keep him forever.

nOTP

It's funny, because I can't think of any serious pairing with Ryoji that I wouldn't view as a crack ship? I can't see any version of Ryoji with anyone but the P3 Hero nor can I take that relationship seriously. The only other being Ryoji has an established relationship with is Aigis, and that ship comes across as black comedy. I mean, there's also Ryoji and the P3 Heroine, who he is undoubtedly head over heels for, but I see her as heavily preferring Aigis. Oops.

Wait, I did remember one! Ryoji and Junpei! I'll admit, maybe it's the sheer "dudebro" vibe of their relationship, but people pairing these two was not an outcome I expected from Reload. I've seen it enough to know those who like it aren't joking, either.

It's funny, because they're both soul-taken at the tail end of their friendship (Ryoji with P3 Hero and Junpei with Chidori) so I guess I wasn't looking for it? Then again I can't see Junpei Iori kissing a man in general. If there's a Ryoji pairing that isn't my thing, these two are the Most not my thing.

random headcanon

Ryoji memory backfill!

I've seen multiple interpretations for how Ryoji's sudden transfer, housing, and parental situations were never questioned. I like exploring this for myself, especially from Ryoji's perspective. Ryoji fully believes himself to be human until 12/2's Dark Hour. So, how does he reconcile his own situation?

This headcanon states that whenever Ryoji is prompted to answer on where he lives, what he likes, or where he went to school before, he'll often "backfill" what memories he think should be there. If it's something he should reasonably know, it'll be there.

In-game you can see a couple instances of Ryoji being stumped at simple questions, like where his class trip was going to be, but excelling at others, such as when he asks Mitsuru out to a restaurant date. According to the headcanon, he failed the class trip question because it wasn't something he anticipated, but he knew a date location because it was essential to his personality. Ryoji Mochizuki is a hearthrob, it wouldn't make sense if he didn't. So he does.

I like to think Reload Ryoji's phone is another example of this backfill, though this one spills over into material items. Ryoji thinks he should have a phone and knows he should ask for others' numbers, but when he reaches for it on his first day it isn't there.

His inconsistencies are fun.

Rapid fire small ones: his favorite color is blue, he likes sunrises but not sunsets, and he's good with children.

unpopular opinion

This may be the most unpopular opinion I have in general, but I don't believe Ryoji is bisexual. Or rather, I don't necessarily believe he must be bisexual. It's not like I'm trying to shirk representation, but I think there are so many fascinating ways that you can analyze orientation for a character. Same with gender.

Ryoji, through my interpretation, is someone who could only love the protagonist. And it doesn't have to be a sexual kind of love. There's an entire spectrum of identities in our culture that we've labeled for what Ryoji's experiences could be. It brings me joy to be able to think about how – even if Ryoji knew about these identities – he'd define himself. On top of that, would how he define himself be accurate? Would he have misunderstandings about his own identity?

There tends to be a large backlash when someone even suggests a different label for a character with one widely agreed upon, which means my gender and sexuality thoughts stay hidden away. I'm more than aware of those that insist any hint of same-sex attraction is obviously platonic and fans are reading too much into things. I'd never want to take away from an individual identifying with a character for what a fandom settles on calling them.

Though one note: it's interesting to me that from the collective opinion I've seen, people have latched onto bisexual as a label rather than pansexual despite them ostensibly meaning the same thing. Something something changing social climate. Anyway. Play around with character gender and sexuality. It's good for you.

song i associate with them

Auld Lang Syne.

For old acquaintance be forgot

And ne'er brought to mind

Should old acquaintance be forgot

In the days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear

For auld lang syne

We'll drink a cup of kindness yet

For the sake of auld lang syne

-

It's a traditional New Year's celebration song. Auld Lang Syne essentially means "for old time's sake". It originates from a precursor to Scottish, and exists as a fossil word inside this otherwise Standard English prose. I find it sweet how this little, historic piece gets to survive through something that redefines it.

favorite picture of them

Well, that was a lot. If you have a keen eye, you might've already noticed I've been dropping in pictures so I'll keep this part concise.

My favorite pictures of Ryoji are his portraits:

Sweet. Fluffy. Endlessly endeared by the way his hair flairs out. A much clearer heart shape for his face. Perfection. Special mention to his startled expression. His eyes get small and I get happy, simple as that.

Although, I'll never forgive Reload for dropping his Messiah pose:

There's an element to this portrait that's a little more unearthly, but earnest. Visually, his eyes are also a clearer parallel to Aigis's in this version.

Thank you for reading all the way through! And thank you again for the ask. I'm not sure if you were expecting an essay, but I think that about sums it up.

Have a picture of Ryoji nui + charm!

#asks #ryoji mochizuki #🔫 #🌕 #it took me eleven days to answer this that does not bode well for the others #elle-p's nomenclature is spreading #thanks Ver! #happy mochizuki monday #very-lucky

[mirror-to-the-past]

Finished my Birth by Sleep playthrough! Here's a long analysis of the game and KH themes as a whole, my feelings on it, and random other things.

I'm gonna preemptively apologize for negative vibes in my little collection of thoughts here, but please be assured of the fact that while I'm much more critical of this game than previous KH entries I've gone through so far, there's definitely been some things I've appreciated about it.

My biggest issue with this game is its story and the wasted potential therein. I can see the vision had for this game and how important it is as a whole, thematically. First and foremost, this game has demonstrated that the events that took place in KH1 regarding the tension between the main trio were not an unfortunate anomaly in this game's universe, and that instead, the battle between light and darkness was always truly an issue of upholding societal views/expectations across generations versus forgoing all that and finding self acceptance, accordingly, escalating enough to literal War because of how serious the perceived conflict between light and dark can become. I find it additionally interesting and solidifying how the societal views versus self acceptance conflict carried over from KH Days, the previous game, in terms of how the Organization conducted itself and fell apart from the inside. Goes to show that this struggle exists within the series prevalently enough even outside of the so-called "light v. dark" situation.

And seeing how this multi-generational phenomenon has operated at the detriment of the BBS trio is there to tell the audience "hey, this is what happens when people are trained to ostracize that which is seen as bad or different," should be compelling. It's a great set-up on paper: You've got Aqua, the new Keyblade Master who feels especially pulled to meet the expectations set for her, prioritizing her duty to such a degree that she alienates her companions. You've got Terra, who feels disgusted by himself and dangerous for being an outlier of those same expectations. He feels like he'll never be good enough, and he feels angry at himself for that, and angry at the others for having what he doesn't. He does all the right things, is respectful towards all the right people, bending over backwards for them, and even then, they only seek to distrust and manipulate him rather than say he's enough.

Then you've got Ventus, the literal embodiment of being pulled in two directions. He watches all of this tension happen around him like he's inside an insulated jar, feeling helpless and confined by the world that seeks to suffocate and isolate him, and knows he has to do something but is unsure what. He strikes out on his own, gets the "you're too immature/young to know better" treatment from the people supposed to back him up, and gets slapped in the face for his attempts to disrupt the system.

On paper it's great!

In execution, it's often not great.

Like I've said before, the dialogue is majorly clunky, the voice direction questionable (I always give VAs benefit of the doubt, and assume the voice direction might have been lackluster before anything else) for me, to a noticeable degree. And with the dialogue, it's weird, because it's not like the whole game was god awful with it. It was more like there was an entirely different team handling the dialogue for the main trio than everyone else. I acknowledge this may be different on the original Japanese script, but I've no way of knowing how exactly. I thought the Disney characters were done very well- their dialogue flowed naturally, bouncing off of other characters, as well as the voice acting just generally being great for them as always. I thought Braig was great again too, more on him later. Vanitas was an edgy brat, and I thought he was fun, so I've got no real issue with him and thought the amount of contrast from the tone of him and Sora was impressive from the same VA. I'm give or take on Xehanort, bordering slightly more on positive, although I will kill him for insisting on saying "key"-blade instead of "kye"-blade when referring to the x-blade. You suck, old man.

But the main trio? Ahh! Half of their conversations felt like different phrases stitched together that were somehow supposed to make sense- ah yes, a person would definitely say that in response to that other thing! The actual execution of the miscommunication between the trio was confusing, if anything, and not believable. An example off the top of my head was in Aqua's route where she seemingly hears only the tail end of Maleficent's spiel, and rushes in with a "Terra would never do that!" Girlie has no idea what Terra did, from my perspective, which continues with the Radiant Garden argument cutscene where she's like "I've seen what you've done." No?? No, you haven't seen anything at that point?? It's only upon reading the journal for that Enchanted Dominion section that I learn apparently Aqua was implied to have heard more of the conversation between Ventus and Maleficent than the audience is shown. Oh, and more on the "argument" between the three of them in Radiant Garden that I watched three times, and all three times it never got better- Goodness gracious, it was like they were told to pretend to be mad at each other, with no natural buildup of a sense of betrayal on Terra's part (once again, I get what they were going for, but it wasn't written believably). Ventus' "You're awful Aqua," just had me with my head in my hands. This game really piled onto using innumerous trailed off sentences for dramatic effect, and it got to the point where most conversations didn't even follow a logical flow because of it.

And why, oh why, did the writers see it fit to really hammer home the parallels between the Disney Worlds and the main characters they were trying to make, and didn't usually even do a good job making? Previous games made plenty of parallels that weren't even necessarily subtle, but the audience could still go on their own "...and that's how that applies to []." This game saw fit to... hand holding isn't the right phrase... catapult you by the wrist head first into What They Were Trying For in each Disney world. This was often to the point of feeling incredibly unnatural for each character's progression. Especially with Aqua and Terra, it was like they would jump from being very cordial with everyone in the Disney worlds, to suddenly being like "You know, 😊 ✨ you can find the drive for everything that you hurt from in your heart, with your friends. And also Here's The Lesson For the Day." Like, this game was MOSTLY the closest thing to me feeling like, yeah, I am playing a Saturday Morning Cartoon game. I think it would've been fine if Terra and Aqua especially didn't learn many lessons, actually, given that their journeys were supposed to sort of be downward spirals fueled by misunderstanding and obfuscation. It feels a bit silly in retrospect.

And before anyone thinks it, no I don't have a gripe with the "I love my friends" stuff by itself. I love plenty of mushy-gushy "power of friendship" shit, and I'm not gonna stop here (you will rip it from my cold, dead hands), the Final Episode with Aqua demonstrated that aspect in a really loving way. What I DO have a problem with is that because of how excessive it was in the other areas, it actively sabotaged the time it could have taken to expand upon the other, just as prevalent themes I discussed earlier. Instead of Terra talking more with Hercules like "You know... sometimes it's like the world works against me, when I try to be a hero. It's like I'll never be good enough to be someone anyone could rely on." Or instead of Aqua being like "The Lost Boys simply following orders from Peter because they were told to, pushing down their own fear out of necessity... how long have I...?" You get: "FRIENDS! :D"

I will now take the rest of this long post to finish off with some bits and pieces of things that I enjoyed throughout my playthrough. Thank you for your patience and attendence. Before any of the smaller bits though, I gotta talk about the Final Episode and Secret Ending.

RAAA HOW DOES THIS SERIES CONTINUE TO MAKE THE BEST ENDINGS?

Like seriously, I want whatever magic they have with that, because endings are so, so hard to conceptualize and execute in what feels like a meaningful way. But the way they wrapped everything up in the Final Episode and set the stage for the KH1 plot and everything else... damn. My complaints on dialogue mainly fixed themselves during the ending, too. The Land of Departure is now Castle Oblivion and where Ventus' body rests, oh shiiit. I wonder if the Organization found him while they occupied it? 🤔 The scene where Aqua carried out Ventus piggyback was so tender, and it was so sweet how Ventus subconsciously wanted to be safe at home, while he rested. And my theory about Ventus was right! Although, I'm still fuzzy on how Vanitas took on Sora's appearance prior to him and Ventus fusing with Sora's heart. It would make sense if he took on that appearance afterwards, though, as well as why he ALSO happened to have traits of Riku: "Giving up already?" (Which he said multiple times, so I doubt it's coincidental) It's thanks to Riku's advice that Ventus/Vanitas' wandering heart was able to be saved, after all, so... I guess Vanitas absorbed traits of the both of them for that reason? But none of that makes sense if Vanitas unmasked before Ventus connected with Sora. Argh. This is the only time in the series I've been confounded by a plot point. I broke my streak. Please, someone kindly explain it to me, if it's not too much trouble. I'm too afraid to look for forums/wiki out of fear of future game spoilers. If this will be explained in a future game, leave me be, then.

Side note, once again, I find it crazy how baby Riku knew so much, instinctually, about the other worlds. His whole surprisingly accurate explanation as to why Sora was feeling drawn to Ventus' wandering heart to the point of non-realized tears was just... woah. "They say every world is connected by one great big sky. So maybe there's somebody up there's in all those worlds who's really hurting, and they're waiting for you to help them. Maybe you just need to open your heart and listen." With Riku's empathy powers and Sora's heart storage compartment powers, they're unstoppable, for real.

Attack idea: Riku reaches into Sora's heart like a Mary Poppins bag- "Random bullshit, go!" and out pops reinforcements a la Xion, Roxas, Ventus, Vanitas, and Sora goes "Oh sick, forgot where I put those, thanks," before promptly absorbing any other sorry soul in the vicinity while Riku swings him in a circle like a broadsword (Sora yelling "wheee"). (This is incredibly funny in my head, you must understand.)

That whole Secret Ending where Aqua has been in the Realm of Darkness for 10 YEARS and so, so unfortunately missed Riku and Sora's Realm of Darkness getaway at the KH2 Ending is so sad. Apparently Ansem's not dead either. Guess his machine just warped him there, because why not. And guys... guys I got close to crying again with the in-between scenes text ("All the pieces lie where they fell, where they wait for him...") the Dearly Beloved Rendition crescendoing, and all of the lost people calling out for help for the one person who's connected to all of them, even if it's just been a passing meeting (Roxas, Xion, and Axel got me, okay)- because Sora, to them, is familiarity, and it's all they can grip to at this point as an anchor of hope. And Sora's "mind is made up" about something regarding the letter from KH2 ending, and I'm going to assume it's a mission to help find Aqua, given the context, or just generally the other worlds because of the "I am who I am because of them," line from Sora. Looks like he'll be leaving Destiny Islands again. I hope the other two will come with, but I get the feeling Kairi doesn't want to leave, considering how her character has been established and because it seems like Sora is apologizing for breaking the promise he (ever so carelessly clearly, you meanie) made her at the KH2 ending regarding everyone staying together all the time at the Islands. That would suck though, given she's got Destiny's Embrace now. :(

And now, for the more scattered, finishing thoughts of things I liked:

This game has my second favorite gameplay, only falling short of KH2! It's so fun, and the different forms were awesome. Aqua's Blade Charge and Ghost Drive form literally made me squeal with delight, she looked so cool. Blade Charge really fit with those princely vibes she had throughout the game, too.

Speaking of princely vibes, one parallel that I did think was executed well was the Ventus/Snow White parallel. I like how he and Aqua exist as a familial/platonic rendition of Snow White and Prince Florian (think that's his name, I just had a convo about the Prince Charmings' actual names recently, coincidentally enough), and that Ventus is mourned over as a pure soul who was tricked into a death-like slumber while he resides in his glass dome (Castle Oblivion/Sora), waiting to be awoken by love (as stated by Yen Sid).

Although I thank Days for setting the foundation for it, I'm so happy that Neverland became a full-fledged world finally, in this game. I felt so ripped off in KH1, so this was awesome. It's one of my favorite worlds in general. I love how Peter Pan continues to be a lovable bitch. Good for him. I was hoping his boss fight would be a little more scary, especially considering the jump of holy fear I felt when I realized I had to fight him, lol.

I really liked the interaction between Ventus and Scrooge, for some reason! I dunno, I just thought it was really cute and very natural. That whole cutscene where Ventus was chasing the Unversed boss and getting distracted along the way was just so... hah. My little attention deficit kiddo. I appreciate him.

Continuing that last note, I admittedly don't feel too personally invested in the BBS trio, although I probably should. Because of how awkwardly executed everything was with them, it's just difficult to. However, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Ventus. He had just enough small moments for me to find him somewhat endearing.

"Will somebody tell me how I got. so. SMALLLL?!"

Rolling around on balls of yarn in Cinderella's world like wheeee...

Everything with Maleficent. She's my favorite as always, I cheer when she's on screen, for real.

Aqua losing words in anger at the second Vanitas fight on Neverland and just resorting to blurting out "You freak!" was perfect. I always love it when characters just lose it at the antagonists, rather than having a more clever response. It was the "Old hag," of BBS.

The whole scene with Aqua and Kairi... eeee I'm love them. I like how Kairi had the flowers in her hand already, but after Aqua saved her, then, she was like "I picked these for you, 😊" lol, okaaay, Kairi. Whatever you say.

All the Org Members in Radiant Garden before the disaster of '02! It was so good to see them, and I'm curious about what Lea and Isa (I got Isa's name right in my prediction as well as Lea's name, literally throwing a party 🎉 I have more hope for the others, now) were planning on doing at the castle. Even was a shady mf as always, lol, and Ienzo was an orphan? Aw... his little emo bangs and his tiny lab coat were so cute. The fact that Even was his guardian explains so much about how Zexion acts.

Like I've raved before, the Destiny Islands scenes were so good, and once again, makes me wonder if the writers for the BBS trio were separate from the other writers. And if not, what happened, guys? Because the Sora and Riku scenes were so endearing. I forgive Sora for being a less-good cosmically-designated bodyguard for Kairi, because apparently he's also a cosmically-designated bodyguard for Riku as well. Hoo, boy, he's got his work set out for him! And that's kinda a lot of pressure to put on a preschooler Aqua, jeez-louise. She took one look at the two of them and went "frequently bought together," but didn't foresee just how messy that was gonna be for poor Sora.

"In time, the worlds would be saved by these two heroes who stood beneath the same blaze of stars." I love the star/meteor shower motif with these guys, but now it's clearly starting to make me inexplicably emotional. *Watery laugh*

I got a good laugh because of Ventus' VA while he was having his migraine on Destiny Islands. I was on a call with someone while playing, and he started making his... pain... noises... I had the person on the line stop mid sentence and go "what are you watching?" I lol-ed so hard, and explained I was watching a blonde anime boy experience trauma-induced flashbacks. I can only hope they believed me. 😂

Braig was just great all around. I joked where he lost his eye where I was like "he just shoots Xehanort instead of requesting payment for medical bills" and then it cuts to him actually shooting at Xehanort. I love this guy. And assuming Xehanort in Terra's body really did have amnesia, it's likely this mf's fault with all his manipulation and suggestion that we got KH1, damn. Not even surprising. He's just that guy who's been behind the scenes since the very beginning, pulling at the strings- kind of vibe, lol.

I haven't beat him yet, because frankly, I'm pretty garbage at extra bosses in this series, but holy SHIT. Vanitas' Lingering Spirit theme is CRAZY. It's now one of my favorite pieces in this franchise- and I thought Vanitas' base theme was good.

The conversation Ventus had with Sora in the latter's heart was so sweet, guys. "Would you mind if I stayed here with you?" "Sure, if it'll make you feel better." Sora is so sweet, oh my god. I'm wrapping him up in a little blanket and giving him a warm cup o' tea in my mind. I might just put him as my other most favorite along with Roxas and Xion. I cannot decide who I like most between the three of them.

Uh, I don't think there's anything else I really had to put to paper, so I'll finish my little (little, yeah right) entry here. If anyone read this all the way through, your attention span is commendable and you should probably get back to finishing your hard copy volume of the Iliad or whatever people with your attention spans do. Also, thank you for reading!

#kingdom hearts #birth by sleep first playthrough #kh bbs #birth by sleep #kh sora #kh aqua #kh ventus #kh terra #kh kairi #kh riku #kh vanitas #thank you to anyone who answers my Vanitas question

[bathboysblog]

Yk what we don't get enough of? Fucked up Gordon Freeman. Not just from PTSD or being socially awkward, I want his fight or flight to kick in every single time something threatens his newfound family.

And by god, I want him to pick fight.

Rant under the cut

Maybe it's my love for dark romances, or tragic ones, for that matter, but I love the idea of Gordon hoarding his family, even at the expense of the rebellions success.

I remember back in my very first playthrough of Half Life, I wouldn't let ANYTHING touch the surviving scientists/guards. The guards specifically, I didn't even know they were supposed to fight along side you because I always backtracked to take them to safer areas of the map, resetting time and time again when something would jump out and kill them. I didn't even know scientists could heal you because I was THAT paranoid about an alien zapping in front of one of them after seeing so many clones of that pc die.

I'd like to think that Gordon has the same mentality. From physically counting the bullets and memorizing it for each enemy, saving ammo just in case he runs out, even though the case is always full, I'd like to think that extends to the people he's grown to love.

Does anyone remember the garage level in HL2EP1, where Gordon and Alyx were paired together in the dark? Him only having a flashlight while she had all the ammo? Imagine Alyx's horror when the gravity gun pushes something up against an office door, trapping her inside as Gordon forces himself through the onslaught of zombies, his flashlight clicking out while gasoline barrels explode around him. Throwing rocks and old bricks at zombies instead of just letting Alyx take them on with her endless supply of bullets, running out of sight and activating the next horde later on down the map. Alyx can only hear the signs of a struggle as Gordon clears the entire area himself, her anxiety keeping her locked away in the isolated room, blind to the mess beyond the concrete walls.

Even when power is given back to the elevator lift, when it opens and they have enough room to make their grand escape, he still fights. Fights through a pointless battle, wasting valuable time that could get them on that train faster, completely draining the parking lot of any other forms of life. Gordon's suit power is completely dead, his health is a mere fraction of what it was an hour ago, yet his impatient hands pull Alyx by the sleeve of her arm to make sure she's the first on the lift. They take even more time in the old hospital scouting for medical supply just so Gordon can walk straight again. Eating at so much of their limited time, for no sort of gain.

I'd like to think he does it platonically as well. So far, we haven't gotten any fight scenes with Eli, or anything where we work with him in a dangerous level, so that's up for debate. But, remember the level where him and Barney work together to take down a main combine outpost in the city? Taking a small rebel group with them? I love the idea of Gordon using himself as a human shield, running right for the turrets and tackling them before a bullet can graze the people who trust him to lead. How much time is wasted as he drags old bomb mines through the level, going back for each one as if they're diamonds in the rubble. Barney is annoyed, of course, he understands being cautious, but when the paranoid leader won't unplug the forcefield in front of them until each and every medkit in the area is right beside them, it's frustrating.

And the icing on the cake? Gordon's trust issues. He doesn't listen to anyone around him, too stubborn, too prideful to see the easier way. After all that he's lost, all the death he's become numb to, being the one free man is a responsibility he holds with a twisted sense of admiration. And he'll be dammed if anyone else will tell him the path to victory.

#Half Life give more personality to Gordon #but more fucked up #half life #half life 2 #half life 2 episode 1 #hl2 #hl2 ep2 #gordon freeman #alyx vance #freemance #freevance #alyx/Gordon #gordon/alyx #alyx x gordon #gordon x alyx #barney Calhoun #hl #frenrey #if you squint #dont mind grammar or spelling mistakes #just typed this all out on a whim #my little skrunkly

[swan2swan]

Watching another Alien: Isolation playthrough has given me an idea for another videogame, one that could work, and let's just keep it Alien for the sake of clarity:

Alien: Snap.

The premise is, you're locked on a spaceship/space station/colony with a Xenomorph. You are a photographer. The premise is that you need to take enough high-quality, consistent pictures to provide evidence to the Company/Authorities/Public that Something Is Wrong and We Need Help.

NOW HERE'S THE CATCH:

There are options and consequences.

You could make it through the whole game successfully and survive and such, but your photos aren't enough. So you live, but others die. That's an ending. You can turn the photos over to the Company. They make you bury it. You're rich. You win. You can turn them to authorities. They'll purge. Might mean killing everyone on the station. But maybe you photographed a ViP, so they have to be more surgical.

The number of people you keep alive also helps determine the results. If you escape just with yourself and your camera, plenty of people can call foul and forgery. A lower score. You get off there with five witnesses you've all won favor with? Yeah, no one doubts you. Especially because one of the survivors is the CEO's daughter. Or maybe she's in on it, and you left her to die--I mean, tried to save her.

There's a layered game.

Unfortunately, we're not in the era of "Two-hour game with fifty different endings, try to get a perfect and brag about it" anymore.

#alien: isolation #alien #videogames #look I've been saying since Metroid Other M that there need to be games that reward you for keeping everyone alive #and not ''it's easy to keep people alive you feel bad if you don't'' kind of games #I mean games where you end it and you see ''3 out of 17 marines saved'' pop up at the end #Youtube

[pilvimarja]

I'm doing my annual playthrough of Alien Isolation, this time on the easiest difficulty that will allow me to do some sightseeing, and after platinuming the game on nightmare difficulty, this feels like a stroll in the park with my pet xenomorph 😆

#personal post

[vergess]

More Exocolonist discussion (still no twins talk yet alas).

Let's talk about Utopia: the "only child" of the stratospheric.

As is mentioned in early history classes, the colonists do not speak English or any of the text languages used for the player, but instead speak the created language Esperanto. The approximate timeline of the colony ship was to take the first generation of children born within the groups Earth colonies to staff the ship, helping prevent the carriage of old earth cultural ideals to the new colony.

So, your character is part of the second generation of Vertumnans, with your parents being the first.

Here's the catch:

Utopia is also the second generation.

She has a super thick accent that none of the other colonists share, possibly in part due to her being the first human being raised off planet, the first one to learn human language in a total cultural isolation like that. She was the only child on the ship for years and there is literally not a single other human being her age for her entire life... until Lum, anyway. (Aside: imagine spending your whole life surrounded only by adults and toddlers and dreaming of a friend your own age, and then you get FUCKING. LUM. No wonder she's so uniquely nauseated about him.)

But anyway, we all know this, it's obvious from like one or two plays. Utopia is even named that because she's representative of the hope of a new world in a way that even you and the other kids are not.

The point I want to get to is:

I think this is why Sym is so fucking weird about her.

As an alien observer, I don't think he can actually tell if Utopia is a part of the "kid" group that he's supposed to be targetting (you, dys) or part of the "adult" group he's supposed to be avoiding (Rhett, adults on the watch tower).

He doesn't trust Utopia, no, but I think that's very much more an extension of Dys and Sol not trusting her, more than a conclusion of his own making. Symbiosis talks extensively sometimes about how grateful he is that Utopia seemingly shares his hobby of "keep Sol alive" and all that. He mentions frequently that she's very different from the rest of the adults, after all. IIRC Utopia is one of the only people other than you and Dys that Sym even refers to by name rather than by their relationship to either you or Dys.

I think she even probably speaks an over-exagerrated version of the "adult dialect" of vertumnan Esperanto, hence her extremely pronounced accent that is not shared by other characters, even other adults.

I didn't realize the colonists were speaking Esperanto until my most recent playthrough and I was too busy picking all of the worst, most horrible, cruel dialogue options to get them over with o pay attention to the way Utopia speaks compared to, say, Seeq or Rhett. But at the very least a lot of the colony naming structure makes more sense when one realizes they are constructing these names in Esperanto, where name construction is done like that naturally. (Similar to German in that way).

But my next run is going to be "so help me god I WILL fuck both Dys and SYm and if I have to remain a virgin until I'm 20 to do it then by GOD I WILL" so I'll be seeing a lot of Utopia in it.

Hopefully I'll have more to say from there.

But yeah they really captured a lot of the fun aspects of Esperanto in their English writing so again, the writing here is off the fucking hook you should play this game.

#Exocolonist #I was a teenage exocolonist #Utopia Exocolonist

[maranull]

OoooooooooooOooooooooooooooOooooo

you want to continue your playthrough of Alien Isolation

OoooooooooooooOooooooooooooooOoooooooooo

I do want to! No hypnotizing needed :D Don't really know why I'm leaving so many days in between playing it...

Actually, I'm making it a goal: Imma finish it by the end of the year or, I dunno, I'll make the spiciest Asian dish I can find ingredients for and eat it. Or smt. :P

#asks #i will say though #i'm not looking forward to dealing with the bloody robots #I WANT MORE ALIEN #less uncanny valley robot people #(watch me eat my words when the alien takes a more active role) #:P

[eljackinton]

All the video games Jack played in 2023, reviewed.

Since it's a tradition of mine and I like seeing how far I've come vis-a-vis video games, here's another quick-fire round of every game I played this year.

Deathloop

Arkane's actionized spin off to Dishonored is a fine game in its own right, but after years of experimentation and refinement in their field many ImSim heads such as myself expected something more grander and complex, when Deathloop was in many ways the opposite of that.

Hitman 3

Agent 47's swan song goes to the series greatest heights possible, but the formula starts to bristle at the edges a little. About the right time to conclude the series I think. Freelance mode can go fuck itself.

Bioshock 2 and Minerva's Den

Definitely a strange beast. An attempt to simultaneously capture what made the original so iconic while also trying to put a completely different spin on it. I'm not sure it really works, but it's interesting to compare the two. The DLC on the other hand, manages to use it's limited scale to much better effect.

Alien Isolation

Finally finished this masterpiece of the franchise. The plot sort of goes nowhere in it's back second half and the DLC is for completists only. Still, the vibes and visuals look as good today as they did ten years ago.

Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2

A well designed and fun space strategy game that really gets the 40k vibe, but even so the campaign feels just a little too long to warrant multiple playthroughs. After finishing the Imperial campaign I'm in no hurry to go through the whole thing again with the other factions.

Aliens Dark Descent

After Isolation it was such a surprise to see another Alien game that just 'gets it.' While there are certain creative decisions I didn't jive with, the overall experience is a tense and genuine horror romp.

System Shock

That Nightdive managed to preserve the overall experience of the original, and also update it to modern sensibilities is nothing short of a miracle. I have some minor criticisms about the music and the ending, but otherwise an uncompromised update of a trendsetting classic.

Return of the Obra Dinn

One of those games that really tries to tell a story that only video games can. Glad I went into it blind, and I'd love to see it inspire more experimental mystery solving games.

Divinity Original Sin 2

I don't see the masterpiece in this that some do, but an impressive effort nonetheless. Too long and too sprawling, but expertly designed and deftly told.

Zeno Clash and Zeno Clash 2

I love these stupid weird games even if I still can't tell if I was playing it properly or just flailing about. They deserve far more recognition than they got.

The Walking Dead: Michonne, A New Frontier, The Final Season

As ever you can understand that Telltale put a lot of heart into their games, but ultimately they still collapse under the weight of the source materials tropes and conventions. A noble effort, but not without an eye-roll or two.

Neverwinter Nights

So far I've played just the base campaign and I can do nothing but call it a slog. Beyond a few interesting ideas here and there it's a distillation of all the worst parts of the Infinity Engine era with no improvements of it's own. No charm, no atmosphere, no character, physically and literally.

Alright then folks. That's about it. Let's see what the video games of 2024 bring.

#video games #reviews

[distortiondevil]

ALIEN ISOLATION, HARD MODE, BLIND PLAYTHROUGH BUT EVERYTIME I DIE I ADD ANOTHER LAYER OF RANDOM SOUND EFFECTS LIVE NOW

#stream #alien isolation