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#does your favourite game have a fishing minigame?
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Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak has a fishing minigame!
(Wondering if your favourite game has a fishing minigame? Have questions on what counts as a fishing minigame? Asks are open and can now be done anonymously!)
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thevisjex · 2 years
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y'know what fuck it it's the dog island (wii) posting time
barely anyone knows of or remembers this game. the main premise of it is that you are a little dog going on a big adventure to find a cure for your sick little sibling. while yes, it's a little janky at times, and the lack of postgame doesnt do it any favours, it's... quite possibly one of my favourite games ive ever played. see, what keeps me coming back isn't the collectibles journals, nor the fishing minigame, nor the semi-openworld – though those are all excellent and i Love them – it's the story.
the game is almost entirely non-violent in nature. up until near the very end of the game, you do not hurt or kill any enemy, merely stun them for a while. the final boss is a fuckin minecart track! that's as non-violent as it gets! and this does a really good job of helping convey the Big Message of the game; your whole task is to help people, not hurt them.
even from the start of the game, you as the main character are shown to be compassionate and kind, helping the people around you with tasks and letting your sibling have the flowers you worked hard to earn. this is multiplied tenfold when your sibling's condition worsens, and you volunteer to search for the cure alone, even though others have tried and failed and it seems like an impossible task. and you do find it! ...eventually. and along the way you save an entire village, help a little guy earn their way back home, stop a local gang from terrorizing people, help someone overcome her fears AND reunite her with a long-lost friend, help someone begin recovering from grief, and just so so much more.
even though these were never your original task, you do them happily, and you grow as a result. you never get farther from your goal, and you never give up, even when things seem bleak and you just can't get through this fucking temple god DAMMIT. you always keep going, because you are fueled by love for your family and your friends and the world around you.
that's what this game is all about. it revolves around love, and dedication, and growth.
and also the fishing minigame is really good.
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allstartrekgames · 9 months
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Star Trek: Elite Force II
Original Release: 2003
Developer: Ritual
Publisher: Activision
Platform: PC
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The sequel to Elite Force starts off during the Voyager episode “Endgame”, expanding upon Voyager’s journey through the transwarp hub. A Borg sphere has captured Voyager and the Hazard Team needs to free Voyager before the Borg adapt to their new systems. After Voyager gets home, Munro (who is unfortunately only male in this game – it’s a bit odd when the first game I played as a female Munro) gets stuck teaching at the academy until he impresses Picard, getting assigned to the Enterprise E, which swiftly gets involved in a mystery surrounding some insect-like aliens with organic impulse engines.
While this is developed by a different developer, the feel of the gameplay is the same. You have a mixture of alien and federation weapons again (although far more Federation weapons this game, with machine gun and shotgun versions of the compression rifle). My wish about the first game is answered here: I wanted more Tricorder use and puzzles and this has that. The puzzles aren’t great, though, and are just pipe connecting and waveform matching minigame – I would have preferred puzzles that involved more scanning. The tricorder does have more view modes, pointing out weak walls or bioscanners. My favourite thing about the tricorder is that you can scan a lot of things. All the Federation characters have names (both on the Enterprise and at Starfleet Academy) – even the fish do. It’s a nice little touch, and I just love scanning for lifeforms.
The new insect-like aliens are definitely used well for a gameplay perspective, as they have many different forms that get introduced throughout the game, although at times it feels a bit lonely as you often get separated from your crew (to the point where they lampshade it), who really don’t get enough screen-time. Previous characters like Chang and Chell barely do anything (in the final mission, Chell is shot and beamed back to the Enterprise before you even start) and the new Klingon member, Korban, is not utilised much at all. There’s one mission where you are looking for a Ferengi on a pirate Klingon space station and instead of wearing casual clothing and taking the Klingon member of the team…they go in full Starfleet gear.
Picard also feels a bit lonely. This is set a bit after Nemesis, and everyone has left – even Crusher and La Forge – so it makes sense. The only familiar face he has is Chief Engineer Barclay, with Tuvok (on temporary assignment to the Enterpriser to help integrate the Hazard team). being the only other character from the shows. I don’t have any issues with this, but it would be nice if it felt like Picard had a new crew, but the only developed character is a botanist that you can listen to random conversations (she has no involvement in the plot). Just a named first officer would be enough.
That said, Elite Force 2 is still a great game and the gameplay is extremely enjoyable. Some of the plot is predictable – you can tell one of the villains the moment he speaks in his “overly evil” accent, but other moments provide a nice mystery. The weapons are fun to use again, with some great set pieces to keep the action entertaining.
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shootyrefutey · 1 year
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Thoughts on Sonic Frontiers (spoiler heavy)
I put 19 hours into this game so I’m prepared to talk about some things (check the section below)
First of all, here’s the bingo sheet I did. Didn't get bingo but I was close.
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Overall, I thought the game was a huge 7/10. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. The game had tons of good things going for it but was a little rough around the edges. But it was so much fun.
Soundtrack I don’t feel I can comment too hard on. The vocal themes- I’m Here, Vandalize and the titan themes are absolutely stellar. Undefeatable just might be one of my favourite all time Sonic themes. The main world themes never got tiring to me and they accompanied the environments well. Cyberspace themes I didn’t listen to much, but 1-2 and 4-1 stood out to me most. They were pretty short and even though they were absolute bangers, a little indistinct.
I love love love how Roger sounded in this game. He sounded perfect as Sonic. Matched with Sonic’s laidback snark yet caring personality this was the perfect Sonic for me. Sonic’s brotherly relationship with Tails and his friendship with Knuckles were delightful. I also love how Sonic brought up tons of references to other places and characters. Some people saw that as nostalgia pandering but I feel like Sonic, who has been on so many adventures, would bring them up at every moment. And also he mentioned Jet and Babylon Garden so that gets a thumbs up. I have been pandered to.
Plot was pretty good. Certainly the best of the past 10 years. Some excellent character moments. I liked Sage but idk I didn’t connect to her as hard as other sidekicks like Chip, Shahra or Merlina. Her being Eggman’s daughter was very cute though.
The Koco are sweeties and my babies and I love them.
The movement was so smooth in the main world. Jumping felt smooth. Platforming was rapid. It reminded me of the Sonic Unleashed day stages mixed with Adventure style, which is a pretty banger combination. The best feeling platforming in a Sonic game. The drop dash reminded me of the Sonic Adventure spindash in how easy I could gain speed up slopes and I am really thankful they put something like that in the game. Climbing up slopes was challenging yet fun.
The puzzles didn’t overstay their welcome and were pretty fun. Some were a little easy, some were headscratchers. But they were quick (save for the pinball one :/) but very welcome additions for sure. And Big’s fishing minigame was delightful.
The maps were busy enough to feel occupied but sparse enough to match the desolate feel. They were quite pretty too. I can’t comment on graphics because the TV I play on is more than 15 years old and I played on PS4, plus Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) still looks impressive to me. It gets a thumbs up from me bc there was a nice lavender field I walked around in for a bit on the last island. I loved the island themes, but I couldn’t help but feel the fourth was a little too copy paste.
The bosses were the absolute highlight. Mini bosses in the hub world were varied and required a lot of variation to beat, so they never felt stale. And even if they did, I didn’t even need to fight a single one. And the titan bosses were so fucking good. You felt powerful, fast and it required good knowledge of your abilities too. So it wasn’t completely out of left field.
What WAS left field however.... the final boss. As I played on hard mode I got to see The End. And it just felt anticlimactic. After all the badass shit Sonic does in the titan bosses, this just felt like nothing. There wasn’t any buildup, and Sage’s sacrifice happens so suddenly I just didn’t process it. It didn’t carry much weight. And then at the end it’s just back to normal as always. Idk. It didn’t emotionally destroy me or pack the same punch as the Unleashed ending.
Also they did not play Vandalize in the credits smh
Overall, banger game. 
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64bitgamer · 1 year
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kethsi · 4 years
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I've been playing RS for around 15 years. I have no skills at 99. What can I do?
(There’s a TL;DR at the end if you’re in a hurry) One thing before I address the question itself - wow. From the bottom of my heart, WOW. You’re here for longer than most of us, anon. Remember you can put us all to shame by incorporating any old holiday outfits into your fashionscape. If you weren’t into events back then, slap on the 15 years cape you buy from Hans - it’s far more impressive to see than another max or 120 cape. Overall, remember that RuneScape’s a game. It’s here for your entertainment. You don’t need 99s to enjoy your favourite aspects of it or make some money. Now - here’s a few things to keep in mind when deciding on a course of action: Levels of Interest - you have to ask yourself which 99s you want, and which skills you’re willing to put up with. Some people hate dungeoneering, some hate agility, there’s even a weirdo here and there who hates combat (me. I’m that weirdo). Consider which one you’d want as your first 99. This is a moment I wish I could come back to and change myself. Which untrimmed cape is most appealing to you? Attack? Prayer? Slayer? Fishing? Herblore? Agility? Maybe one I haven’t mentioned here that belongs to your favourite skill? Do you intend to keepsake the cape once you get it to keep that memory? Or would a couple of screenies be enough? If that doesn’t matter to you, test some exp rates in different skills and simply work towards the fastest one you find. Try two or three different methods for each skill you know you dislike and ask yourself if you can see yourself wanting to dedicate any time to those methods at all. The biggest/best known ones are on the RuneScape Wiki. It’s always worth a look. Remember you can alternate between them so even if you like something, there’s no shame in training other skills instead of, for example, jumping around on an agility course for too many hours a day in a row. Ask yourself why you want to max a skill - Is it about some specific skill you know you’d be proud of until the other capes are within your grasp? Is one of the skills speaking to you emotionally/represents some dream job you would’ve liked? Is it about the Fashionscape? If it’s any of those, that’s completely fine. Creating your own neat memory of the first skill you chose to master is a lot of fun and is an excellent reason to go for it. But if it’s RuneScape being too well known for the “CAPE” part of its name, that’s an old meme. Some people feel the need to level simply because Jagex is keeping some of its new content behind higher-level doors, which is annoying as it’s Jagex’s own doing but if it does play a role, please remember to take a step back and remember this is an unfair element of the game design that isn’t very friendly to those of us who don’t chase exp at all costs. You don’t have to feel pressured if unbalanced game design is a big part of what pushes you to “fix” something about your character that isn’t broken at all. Prioritize your health - If you have work/classes that you’re tired after, a physical condition (especially with your hands/arms/back) that prolonged sitting and clicking around may worsen, ADHD or any other mental condition that makes long repetitive/boring tasks you hate seriously affect your mental state, or even if it’s “just” annoying/exhausting, these things can build up, so avoid the methods. What people forget about runescape is that there’s always more than one way to gain exp in stuff. “wasting” exp by taking breaks or doing fun stuff is the most fun thing to do in this game. Take it from me, procrastinating hard enough to drop my gainz rate to negligible is one of the only reasons I didn’t feel a burnout with this game. Distractions&Diversions (”activities”) - Several skills offer quicker bursts of exp/bonuses that make gaining exp easier for a short while. Familiarize yourself with them. For Divination, there’s Guthixian Caches. For Dungeoneering, there’s sinkholes. For Hunter, there’s Big Chinchompa. For Agility, there’s the Serenity Posts in the Hefin district in Prif. For Mining and Woodcutting there’s shooting stars and evil trees respectively. For Farming and Prayer (with slight exp in Dungeoneering and Mining too) there’s Nemi Forest. There’s also the Wild Jade vine for slight Farming&Slayer exp. All of the above are dailies, some can even be done twice a day. There’s also the weekly Skeletal Horror for some Slayer&Prayer exp, and God Statues for Construction (and a choice between Prayer and Slayer), if you need it. There’s also the weekly Tears of Guthix that raises your lowest skill, Circus for Magic, Ranging and some Agility (thieving&firemaking depending on what quests you did). Remember you don’t need to do all of these in a day or a week. My goal wasn’t to overwhelm you or make you feel like you need to do everything, I just want you to be aware of your options. YOU choose the skill to get EXP in - Continuing with d&ds/ activities, there are some that let you choose which skill you want your exp to go to. There’s Penguin Hide&Seek, every week, Agoroth which does the same after you fight it, Troll invasion which gives you more exp in a skill of your choice once a month. There’s also the Jack of Trades Aura - the best Aura in the game - that gives you daily exp (more exp the higher your level and the better the aura tier). These (along with Nemi Forest) are the ones I’d recommend if you have limited time and can choose only a few activities. There’s also Stealing Creation, which allows you to use your points to choose from a not unlimited, but wide enough range of skills to give yourself bonus EXP in (unfortunately it DOES take a long time to accumulate points in this minigame, so only do it if you actually find it enjoyable and have time to spare). This brings us to- Bonus EXP - Notoriously given by Jagex daily from Treasure Hunter and usually used to diminish people’s suffering leveling the slowest skills in the game or bankruptcy leveling the most expensive ones, pick the skill or two you know you hate the most and dump all of the prismatic stuff you get into it. Alternatively, you can put it all in the one skill you want to get 99 in first. Proteans and training dummy crates are in the same category. You usually get a choice what you want to use them for. I recommend making it after you’ve seen which skills are easier or more difficult for you. If you’re taking a stance against the whole thing or are playing on an ironman account now, more power to you and feel free to disregard this. Still, Stealing Creation is also a source of bonus EXP as mentioned above. So you can always use that, too. Quests - if you don’t have all of the quests in the game complete yet, check the RS wiki for the Experience Rewards you get from quests. I added a link for your viewing pleasure. Usually Master or Grandmaster quests you haven’t finished yet would either give neat chunks of EXP that can level you up in a skill or two, or a “choose your own gainz” lamp. Some might have an added exp bonus post-quest after you’ve reached a certain level. Sliske’s Endgame (I know, I know, big yikes), The World Wakes and While Guthix Sleeps, Children of Mah and the last of the Myreque quests provide some of the best “choose your own EXP” in the game for their completion. Always worth taking a look, maybe you haven’t done one or two of them yet. Get another opinion - Talk to friends or clanmates. Ask them what methods they’d recommend for any particular skill. Training cooking? maybe they just found the one fish in the game that can be bought raw for relatively cheap today. Training Summoning? maybe your clan follows patch notes and hidden updates and they’ve noticed some monsters drop crimson charms more often. Training Farming? Many wonderful people would lend or give you breeding pairs of animals you can breed and raise at Manor Farm. Hell, I can give you some animals myself if you want them. Chinchompas are the cutest thing since baby geckos and I have breeding pairs to spare!
TL;DR
1. Choose the skills you have the patience, mental and physical health for or the one you want to get 99 in the most 2. Compare training methods for those skills, using the RS wiki and your friends’ advice. Feel free to try some and find out what works best for you. 3. Get to training. Remember to take lots of breaks or alternate between skills or methods when necessary. 4. Distractions and Diversions are your friends. Especially the weekly/monthly ones that give you the direct choice of skill to dump exp in (Penguin Hide&Seek, Agoroth, Troll invasion). Also, Jack of Trades aura. It adds up like you would not believe. 5. Dump your bonus EXP in either the first skill you want to max, or the one/s you know you don’t have the patience for training. 6. If all else fails, check your quest list for any grandmaster quests you haven’t done yet. Maybe training the skills you’re “missing” for these quests will give you some feeling of set goal in the meantime. The rewards will push you a bit closer when you’re done. 7. This is a game. At the end of the day, if anyone tries to shame you or bring you down for not having a 99 in some skill, Buy the most expensive seniority cape Hans will Sell you and let the cape-obsessed noobs know you have unlocked the most important aspect of the game: Having actual fun in it for more time than they have.
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shieldsurf · 4 years
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nobody asked but i feel annoying when i infodump on my irl friends so heres my expert opinion on every single main series pokemon professor :)
professor oak: i dont like him sorry. its the blue stan in me. it also annoys me that pokemon is trying to make him a new mascot or whatever so they keep rolling out generic ass clones of him. i miss when spinoffs/supporting applications would get their own new professors
professor elm: i think hes sweet :) he seems like the nicest of all the professors but in a very subdued way. he's just kinda quiet and nervous but if you're having a rough day he'll invite you to his personal office for tea. he's like your gay english teacher that you stay to talk to after class every day. but i do think it's funny as fuck that he got robbed by a 12-13 year old and his immediate response was to call ANOTHER 12-13 year old
professor birch: big. dad. energy. the khakis the short sleeved t shirt the stubble. it's all there. he's probably the really goofy but surprisingly emotionally aware & insightful type. its also very funny how he got attacked by a wild dog and just ran around screaming for god knows how long until a random preteen showed up. in short i like him and i think he and brendan are sweet :) they probably go fishing together and birch helps him w his math homework at night
professor rowan: underrated!!!! has a very good theme!!!! i like him a lot he gives makes me think of like, a really stern and strict college professor who's actually really nice in his own grouchy, professional way. and like always has your back & goes and gets you fantastic internship opportunities without even telling you. but on the flipside his email responses are probably monosyllabic and he just does whatever the fuck he wants because he's tenured so his university can't do shit about it. like he just fucking gives u & barry rare starter pokemon in platinum because he feels like it! he doesnt even know you??? king
professor juniper: i loooove her 🥺 she also has a good theme song. she just seems like a really chill person. super go with the flow and fun, always trying to be positive and confident. probably listens to classic rock. but she also has big soccer mom energy, but like, a cool soccer mom, the one that brings the BEST team snacks to her 8 year old's saturday games and takes her out every friday like clockwork to get ice cream. and is like the neatest science teacher who schedules cool field trips for her rowdy class of 6th graders. i don't know why her dad is there but he's cool too i guess. he has a good theme song too and Cedric is a cool name. pretty fly for an old guy
professor sycamore: probably my favourite professor LMFAO has one of the best character themes of any pokemon character period. very few fans of him have Taste however. he's not some suave sexey smart guy get real he's like, a huge fucking mess, very book smart but otherwise an idiot, can't dress himself, gay as hell, pays his scientists well but he cant manage finances for shit so he ends up eating ramen every night. a literal trainwreck but every few years he'll publish some crazy research that blows everybodys tits into next tuesday so everyone respects him. chronic child adopter (first dexio and sina, then serena, calem, shauna, tierno, trevor.... jeez dude)
professor kukui: YEAH. YEAH!! he's just good!!!! i like him. outgoing eccentric dudebro who's actually really smart. he's funny, the whole masked royal thing is dumb as hell but i like it, also he and burnet are so CUTE as a gen 5 nut who bought all the weird spinoffs and minigames on my 3ds, it was AWESOME to see burnet back and with a man that treats her like a QUEEN. back to kukui he's the fun uncle type who takes you and your cousins out to do shit that your parents would kill him over but you love him so they can't do anything about it. he's actually crazy responsible though despite the fact that he lets his pets beat him up for funsies he would NEVER do anything that would put someone else in danger. also hes the only professor that's also a unbelievably talented trainer imo
professor magnolia: i thought a cool chill old lady professor would be cool but unfortunately with magnolia there's not a lot there :( she does seem like a cool grandma though. but i still would've liked an unassuming but secretly badass and no-nonsense old lady prof. as for the other magnolia, sonia, i think she's neat also but her arc could've been written better. instead it felt kinda forced :( she has a cute design tho its Unfortunate that a large portion of pokemon fans are weird nerd men in their mid to late 20s. i don't have a lot to say about these two they just got done really dirty compared to how cool and interesting a lot of the other swsh characters are
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schalaasha · 4 years
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Favourite Games of 2019
I don’t like making ranked lists anymore. So here’s a bunch of games old and new I played in 2019 because I was busy catching up due to not playing FFXIV as much as in previous years.
 Ciconia When They Cry Phase 1: For You, The Replaceable Ones
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I think going in, and even starting to play it, I felt like maybe the game would abandon the WTC mystery game conventions. It ended up not doing that, because the game leaves you with far more questions than answers at the end. The A3W World (“after World War III”) is still trying to deal with political issues and social issues that existed prior to World War III. A global stalemate exists due to the military implementation of the Gauntlet weapon. Eventually things happen where different countries need to deal with a shortage of resources, territorial conflicts, etc which sets off a chain reaction to World War IV.  However, the children who grew up in the A3W era, settled into new ideologies and views of how society currently works are at odds with what the older generation wants and requires of them. Along the way, they need to deal with other groups and conspiracies in order to maintain the Walls of Peace.
 So in essence, R07 still crafts a mystery for readers to figure out, but it isn’t a murder mystery. It’s an international conspiracy mystery and I am more than okay with that. I think this chapter required a lot of worldbuilding to set that kind of story up and coming out of Phase 1, I understood why the first chapter wasn’t exactly like Umineko’s. I thought that it was handled well, despite some of the purple prose (but if you’ve played a R07 game before, you’re likely used to it).  I also thought he really tried to introduce and incorporate themes including gender, generational differences, societal tiers, geopolitics disguised as sports events (possibly mirroring the 2020 Olympics in Japan), etc. as well as he could throughout the story through the game’s cast. Even if the game meanders a bit (and it definitely feels that way towards the start), when it actually starts to roll, I felt compelled to keep reading.
 And truly, the game has an incredibly large cast of characters. The TIPS section handles introductions well, and while some cast members don’t have as much time in the spotlight as others, I can see them getting their time eventually in subsequent chapters. Clearly Phase 1 exists to focus more on the children from the Arctic Ocean Union (the “AOU”) as evidenced by the additional stories unlocked at the end of the game so hopefully other chapters have the same amount of character backstory for the other factions.  I also genuinely enjoyed that the big international cast of characters allowed for many different types of designs with characters with different types of hairstyles and hair texture or characters wearing hijabs and still managed to make them retain adorableness or a sense of style. I do not recall seeing it as often in Japanese media and I’m very happy to see it here.
 I think Ciconia Phase 1 is a very good start to this subseries’ planned four episodes and I hope to see more sociopolitical commentary. It feels as though R07 looked at everything happening in Japan and social media/how news is consumed and decided to write a four-part SFF series about it. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next chapter.
  Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
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I backed Bloodstained when it got put on Kickstarter a few years ago.  It was shipped to me at… possibly the worst time since Shadowbringers was coming out very shortly after.  My fiancé and I played ours for a short bit, felt very positive about the game, then dropped it to play Shadowbringers.  We didn’t return to it until maybe September/October?  Both of us ended up getting our Platinum Trophies for it so we both played through everything the game had to offer.
 Bloodstained is a good experience, but not without its issues. I played on PS4 and I’ve had a few outright crashes or some glitching into walls early enough that I couldn’t come out of them again due to not having the required skill to try to get out of it.  I also felt like the game meandered or had a bit of padding in its earlier stages). Later on, you realise you have to put in the farming work to have a better and faster time not unlike its Igavania counterparts, but I did feel like the drop rates prior to actually working towards higher luck stats/drop shards were low enough almost to the point of unfair or deliberately wasting my time.  I also felt as though there were too many weapon types; with adequate shard use and shard grinding eventually you can settle into one weapon type that suits your playstyle or eventually use the gun for everything when you get the special hat quest reward).
 However, I’m speaking about this game as someone who platinumed it which requires a lot of farming and synthesis.  As a player going through the main campaign, I think the maps are adequate. The backgrounds are very lovingly crafted, and the music is absolutely one of the best of the year. Boss design is also fun and rewarding, requiring the player to learn how all the different weapon types work, adequate backstepping and closing in, and boss patterns. If you suck, the game will show you that you suck very quickly and deliberately.  Essentially towards the end, I felt as though Bloodstained tried very hard to cater to fans of the metroidvania style of game, and the classicvania style of game. I personally don’t think it completely succeeded but for a first time experience of trying to combine the two into one, it did its job with preparation for another game.  
 I also feel like some criticism was lobbed towards the game’s narrative for being told in library/book entries, and while I understand that (I actually couldn’t open all of the books for fear of my game crashing), I don’t think elaborate cutscenes and continuous dialogue would work well with this game’s flow. Bloodstained prioritizes gameplay elements and player exploration over anything else, and to be honest, I’d rather it happen that way than with long elaborate cutscenes.  I also felt as though I got more out of the game because I’d played the 8-bit prequel as well.
 Overall, Bloodstained is a passable experience. I’m glad I played it, and I’m glad I put the work in to try to make the game a better experience. I got what I wanted out of the game for as much as I backed it and I hope they try again with a similar formula because this is a very good first step.  
  The Touryst
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Sometimes when I see a game with voxel graphics, I feel pretty compelled to pick it up because it looks so darn lovingly rendered and it usually ends up being fun.  The Touryst does a good job with its graphical style and visiting new islands is a complete delight because of it. It looks like a game with style, and performs super-well on the Switch. It’s also one of the freshest games I’ve played in a while.
 Basically you’re playing a blocky dude with a moustache who just wants to have a good time but when he gets to TOWA Monument, he’s told he has to find monument cores to unlock the world’s secrets. And then you can do whatever you want. The different islands have their own little personalities: there’s an island called Fijy which is volcanic, there’s Ybiza with a bunch of dudes chilling on the beach and passed out on their chairs, there’s Santoryn which is just Greece, and a few other places that are essentially recreations of real-world places.
 As you explore, there’s a lot of stuff to do. A variety of things to do.  There are puzzles and mechanics that don’t necessarily overstay their welcome, you can play footy, you can play spelunker, you can take helicopter rides, you can take pictures, get stuff for a museum, surf, play rhythm games…. It’s your vacation, do what you want. It’s a little like Vegas. Unlike Vegas, you can use your ever-increasing money and diamonds to get new moves for your moustached character to reach new objects.
 As a little game where you can do whatever you want little by little, and makes for a smooth experience, I’m glad I picked up the Touryst after asking another person what they thought of it. It has great puzzles, lots of stuff to do and explore and see, and ton of minigames for whatever mood you feel like you’re in. The game is fairly short, but I’m very glad the holiday doesn’t overstay its welcome.
  A Short Hike
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A Short Hike places you in the shoes of a bird who is utterly determined to walk to the top of Hawk Peak to get signal for her phone.  I totally understand; sometimes you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.  
 But the game allows you to undertake that journey however you want to. You can go right away and finish up and get that darn signal. Or you can take your time and we’ll build that bridge when we get there. There are different types of terrains to explore if you opt to take the scenic route… and it’s rewarding to do so. You can find treasure, you can water a flower, you can talk to the Animal Crossing-esque characters to do some sidequests, you can do whatever you want.
 I’m sorry to say that when the game introduced fishing, I spent a lot of my time doing that. Fishing ruins me. The completionist in me wanted to fish. But the whole thing is that you don’t have to do any of this. If you want to finish the game, you can absolutely positively focus on that and the game doesn’t pressure you for it.  
 And that’s one of the things I like about it. It’s just whatever about the whole ordeal. I don’t feel like I’m completely and utterly missing out if I don’t decide to do something. Even the task of getting Golden Feathers to progress is fine since you only need eight for it, and the game easily gives you enough rewards to get four or five before sidequests or exploration is factored in.
 Sometimes you just need to take a walk and kind of think of nothing just to clear your head. And A Short Hike accomplishes that very well.
  Worldend Syndrome
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In my effort to try to find other games to play in 2019 because I’d fallen a little out of love with FFXIV, I realised that taking baby steps with visual novels and bite-sized games would be the best idea to try to get back into traditional games (particularly since I was, and am, still questioning whether I like games as a hobby or not). On a whim, I decided to download a boatload of visual novel demos one night and tried a bunch of them out. Worldend Syndrome’s demo didn’t exactly grab me until perhaps halfway through the demo when I a) realised that this demo was long af, and b) nothing appeared what it had seemed as I kept going through it and the characters were enjoyable.
 So I decided to get the game and dragged my fiancé along for the ride. It’s one of those standard decision-making/pick which girl you want and go down her route VNs but it didn’t really feel skeezy or ecchi other than one particular point in each girl’s story where you get confessed to.  You go through the VN as an unnamed protagonist who is visiting his cousin over the summer, and you and your friends get dragged into a school club whose focus revolves around folklore. The town the protagonist finds himself in is haunted by the Yomibito, spirits of the undead who look exactly like regular people but are eventually driven mad enough to kill.
 One of the things that drew me to this visual novel was its assortment of animated backgrounds. They colourful and gorgeous. Every CG looks nice and coloured well, and the backgrounds for each area you visit are so beautiful and makes every single location easy to settle into.  The cast is also surprisingly decent, where I expected to hate a few people but I ended up being okay with them because they were written well and weren’t as tropey as I had expected.  I was also very pleased that the character that you were roleplaying as wasn’t skeezy when put into situations where he could have been, and that he treated the girls very well (though I won’t deny that there are some spots where behaviour was questionable but it doesn’t happen as often).  Because the characters were written adequately enough, the game’s true ending route comes together very well and very naturally to a point where I could seriously believe that every character got along with one another to make sure the emotional impact of the mystery was satisfying.
 In order to finish Worldend Syndrome, you have to do each route. A few characters’ routes don’t get unlocked until halfway through the game or even until the very end. The game also remembers everything you’ve done when it autosaves the system data on the world map, so if you need to reload a save to figure out someone’s schedule or if you mess up, it’s relatively easy to come back to something you’ve missed. I’ve played a lot of multiple route VNs before and Worldend Syndrome is easily one of the better VNs that allows the player to skip through to something they’ve missed or skip through previously-viewed text for another route.
 As it is, Worldend Syndrome doesn’t really try to do anything spectacular, nor does it try to stand out like other visual novels of 2019 have (ie: Ciconia, presumably AI but I only tried the demo and I hated parts of the script, sorry). It does its job and tells its story which has a very good payoff in the end.
  Judgement
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I bought my fiancé Judgement earlier this year, as I had retired from playing Ryu ga Gotoku after Dead Souls/Ishin, and he was still playing the series religiously.  I watched him play through part of it and I felt compelled to get my own copy because the combat looked nice, and the characters were compelling enough that I felt comfortable picking it up.
 Judgement follows former lawyer Takayuki Yagami who is now a detective.  His tale is one of redemption and conspiracies, reminiscent of some Phoenix Wright games (which this game gives clever nods to when the protagonist is in the courtroom). Yagami is more serious and down-to-earth than Kiryu is so the tone of the game feels quite different than other RGG games (or at least the ones I’ve played).
 It still feels like a regular RGG game where you’re still wandering through Kamurocho, you’re still getting into fights with randos and Yakuza dudes, you date girls, you go to buy food, you play minigames, etc. But it isn’t as big as a standard RGG game; because you stay only in the one area, the cast is smaller, you get a job board to get your sidequests from, and the story itself is fairly short and sweet.  I actually prefer that as a lapsed RGG player since it’s easier to get back into the games this way.
 Judgement, however, disappointed me just a little in how little you spend in the courtroom.  You’re given opportunities to present evidence, do some suspect tailing, use your smartphone to catch a cheating husband, or use a drone to search for evidence. I felt like when you had to use the drone to search for evidence, it ruined the pacing a little. The tailing missions are also reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed, and no that isn’t a good thing! Due to this, I felt like Judgement was not necessarily a great detective game but it did a decent job of trying to mold the RGG experience to a different main character.
 Yagami can… fight… for some reason so he can beat up whatever randos come up to him on the streets. He’s actually more acrobatic than I remember Kiryu being in previous RGG games. He can kick off objects, he’s hard to back into a corner, he can do wall-flips, etc. It’s also much easier to earn XP where it’s all in one bar so you can do whatever you want to fill it up like play darts and just put stuff into his lockpicking. As a lapsed fan, the streamlining feels okay. The streamlining for combat also feels good because if you fights go on too long, the popo can come for you and you’d get fined, so emphasis is on finishing fights cleanly and quickly.
 Overall, as a lapsed RGG fan, the way Judgement looks and feels and wraps up its twists and turns was really exciting for me. It may not have as many things to do as other RGG games, but honestly I think being a leaner experience was better and thus didn’t make the game overstay its welcome.  I also am eagerly awaiting RGG7 since I enjoyed the demo a lot and I think the new protagonist can carry the series the way Yagami carried Judgement.
  Cadence of Hyrule
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Sometimes, after my fiancé and I bought our Switch, I’d wake up, go brush my teeth, and return to bed just to see my fiancé awake and playing Cadence of Hyrule. I was perplexed as it’s been ages since he’d willingly played a Zelda game, and his hands are super-huge for the joycons so he doesn’t like using them much.
 You can easily say that Cadence of Hyrule is just a Crypt of the Necrodancer reskin with Zelda stuff all over it, but feels pretty clever in that it uses stuff from roguelikes and a rhythm game and makes the A Link to the Past world feel incredibly fresh. Bosses, especially, feel very fresh. Enemies move according to the rhythm and have a unique pattern that’s easily memorized so you can fall into the rhythm and take advantage of. If you’ve played Necrodancer, you’ll probably feel at home in this aspect, especially since the maps are also randomised (which leads different playthroughs feeling fresh).
 The Zelda feels comes from recreating tunes from older Zelda games in puzzles, the magnificent sprite art, the great Zelda remixes, a simple-enough story, and a standard set of things to find in each procedurally generated dungeon. You also find a variety of traditional items like the bow, the bombs, boomerang… and a spear? It’s a nice blend of Zelda and Necrodancer.
 The caveat is that it takes a little getting used to, since you’re not exactly used to not being able to freely move in a Zelda game. But when you do get used to it, it feels good. Everything is pretty expendable and if you die, you don’t feel like you necessarily lose a lot since you can accrue it all easily enough again. It’s unpredictable and that random roguelike nature is something that makes the Zelda experience feel fresh.
  Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
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My fiancé and I were trying to find spooky games to play for Halloween that wouldn’t make me squeamish because despite my profession dealing with analysis of body parts and human body fluids, I can’t see that kind of stuff on TV or in games in a realistic sense. It grosses me out. At least when it’s in front of me, it’s already out and off someone’s body and in a fume hood/biosafety cabinet and I didn’t have to see how it happened. My fiancé picked up Spirit Hunter: Death Mark on a sale we went through it together.
 Death Mark is a tale about horror-themed urban legends and a curse that needs to be broken.  People get marked with a crimson bite mark in the game’s H City and they eventually develop amnesia and die. A group of people live and gather at a spirit medium’s mansion (who is dead upon arrival).  The only hint to break the curse in this mansion is a little talking doll named Mary. The protagonist eventually goes through several mysteries in an effort to break his curse and stop others from dying.
 Death Mark does some surprisingly well-crafted worldbuilding. Each spirit you deal with has a well-told backstory, sometimes especially ghoulish (particularly the bonus post-game episode, the first episode, and the one episode with the telephone booth). The game excels with psychological horror and the enemies involved in each boss battle assist in making the player feel that way as well. The backgrounds also lend well to this as while they are simplistic, the shading and colours used help to execute a sense of dread. One particular chapter harkens back to Japan’s Aokigahara, and the backgrounds used connect very well to that particular location so that it feels super-eerie.
 Regardless, Death Mark relies a lot on its text to establish its atmosphere and as someone who reads stuff like R07 VNs and other regular VNs with a lot of text, I was okay with that. The localization was well-done, albeit with some issues that would have been caught in editing but overall it carried the story very well.
 There are boss battles prior to the end of each chapter, where you must use each item you find in your exploration segments. You need to use specific items in a specific order (even with the correct party setup) in order to achieve a good ending for that particular chapter (and thus eventually the game). I thought this was an interesting mechanic and while it got a little tired depending on the spirit, it showcased how creepy some of them can be on your screen.
 Unfortunately, Death Mark does not have a variety for its soundtrack and it’s almost disappointing that the same piano tunes and boss themes played repeatedly as I felt it detracted from the experience.
 Otherwise, I felt like Death Mark was a short and sweet horror experience that played into urban legends and folklore experiences. I loved the little vignettes that eventually ramped up to a central story point. I hope the sequel is good when we get around to it.
  Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
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So my fiancé and I are doing this thing where we’ve started buying one copy of a game so we’d both own it together and go through it together. Sekiro and Man of Medan were two of those games this year.
 Sekiro isn’t really like Souls. Eventually you’ll come to learn that very quickly when the game throws a boss at you and if you try to play like Souls, you’re not going to get the job done.  It will show you that you never learned how to parry properly and you’re going to have to go back and learn it.  Or if you didn’t grab a prosthetic that will make the job easier, you’re gonna have to do that too.
 The game is interesting in that you aren’t exactly whittling down health bars all the time; you’re striking properly so you can overwhelm their posture bars, find an opening, and go in for the kill. Enemy health bars are essentially secondary to that posture bar. You have your own posture bar so you’ve got to learn how to parry properly. Sometimes you need to parry complete combos in order to deliver posture damage back to an enemy. It’s all about getting into the flow and rhythm of combat. And you must beat bosses in order for you to get a stat boost, so being able to beat a boss lies in your skill, and not necessarily your level/equipment.
 Sekiro is Souls-like in its storytelling and worldbuilding. You can run around rooftops and areas to find secrets off the beaten path. You go back and forth between areas and speak to different NPCs to find out their backstories. The plot is also told via NPC conversations with the main characters. At first it’s a little dry but the story opens up eventually. It also has some great voiced NPCs for quests (one quest in particular had voicework that made me feel so sorry for the character that I was like “we need to get the proper item for this guy please don’t make him suffer”).
 It feels rewarding to put in the work in order to beat the bosses, make it so you don’t resurrect as often to make people sick, and meet whatever standard Sekiro is throwing at you. It lets the player know that they’ve met that standard, and then throws another boss phase at them so you have to get even better.
 Owl I’m looking at you.
  Super Kirby Clash
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My fiancé and I bought a Switch together this year (which, outside of dinner and movies and clothes, etc. was one of our major purchases together).  We downloaded a few demos to try the control scheme out, including Super Kirby Clash.  I am aware that this game is probably old, but hey it’s still going and it’s still being supported and I’m catching up.
 I’m probably putting it here due to bias, but I think It’s really cute and the hats are super-adorable. I love getting new hats and new weapons for my little Kirby.  It’s fairly standard as far as a “mobile experience” is concerned and playing it a little when I have the time to and hacking away at it little by little is rewarding when I get a new hat or new gear. My fiancé and I played it in multiplayer as well, which felt a lot like Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.
 It’s pretty inoffensive and I haven’t paid real-life money for anything in it, and I still feel like I’m progressing. So as a Kirby game with light RPG elements (ie: something I’ve wanted for years and years), it’s nice to finally see realised.
 Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
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An artist I commission very often from convinced me to move this game further up in queue than I originally had it when we were talking about games we were playing after finishing Shadowbringers’ main campaign.  
 Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is the spiritual successor inspired by Wonder Boy III, with the formula being modernized for a new era. It feels fast, and it looks soooooooo pretty. The tracks are bumpin’ too. It’s also a little tough but with every difficult section successfully platformed through, you feel really good about it.
 You play as a plucky boy named Jin whose uncle is an insano who turns everyone in the kingdom into animals. After you experience sweet freedom as a human boy platforming across things easily for like 15 minutes, Jin’s uncle turns him into a pig. Whoops. From there the platforming gets a little harder and you need to learn how to manipulate different forms and different spells in order to get across various sections.
 Different animal forms give you different skills. Pig form allows you to sniff out secrets literally, snake form lets you cling to walls and go through tiny passages, frog has a sticky tongue for swinging, and lion form lets you go through obstacles. You need to use these forms well to platform well enough to get through each area and finish the game. Being successful at platforming in this game feels good and fulfilling and satisfying. As you unlock more, platforming experiences get more and more complex with more obstacles put in your way, so in essence it feels like the opposite of a standard metroidvania.  Playing both Bloodstained and this in one year felt like playing polar opposites. That said, the checkpointing in Monster Boy is really good. Game Atelier knew what they were doing.
 The bosses by contrast were really easy and it’s nice to take the time to look at the art for each boss. All of the effects are also super-nice. Playing Monster Boy on a 4K TV is quite a visual treat for its boss sections, its town section, and its platforming sections. The colours are off-the-charts. Each animal sprite has its own set of unique animations: the piggy farts and looks like >_>, froggy looking at flies, etc. And the music is so good. If this game were a 2019 game I’d definitely put its soundtrack on my list, but it isn’t. It’s a nice blend of new and old stuff and it’s a delight to hear in-context as encouragement to keep going when you fail a platforming section.
 Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a faithful representation and homage of the old Wonder Boy games. It’s filled with references and secrets and awesome art, and I’m glad to have been convinced to move it up my queue for this year.
  Most Disappointing Game: Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
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I love Final Fantasy XIV. It’s brought me closer to so many people in recent years and I’ve met so many more through it. Playing this game means so much to me and I want the best for it for years to come.  It’s one of the reasons why I’m so critical about it. If I hated this game, I would stop playing and honestly, I wouldn’t care about its future.  I will say this before getting started:  I like Shadowbringers’ story so far (we aren’t going to be finished with its story until 5.3).  I don’t think It’s necessarily as consistent as Heavensward, but I think Shadowbringers’ story is the most Final Fantasy story we’ve gotten since perhaps FF10. Truly, it’s the best we’ve seen for the series this decade.  
 I had a lot of hopes and hype for Shadowbringers.  I hated Stormblood, for a myriad of reasons: social reasons, gameplay reasons, and narrative reasons.  The direction Shadowbringers was going and all the trailers made it seem like it was going to be fresh and exciting and new.  My fiancé and I (and a few others) swapped servers+data centers in advance of the expansion for a fresh start, to boot. I watched the Job Actions trailer over and over and tried to decide what I was going to eventually main and gear up because I didn’t really have a main in Stormblood due to the combat changes and how easy things became for certain things.
 During a live letter, they mentioned that they’re changing how things work in battle, and that’s when I became a little cautious. I was hoping for the best leading up to release and then I saw the scholar/healer changes and got very worried.  I changed mains in Stormblood because playing Scholar was freaking horrible at the start of Stormblood.  
 I eventually had to change mains at the start of Shadowbringers because I was not having fun playing Scholar. For people who didn’t bother to level a healer at all, the writing was on the wall for healers during Stormblood. Essentially, it introduced an age of healing where you barely ever used your GCDs to heal. You mostly used OGCDs and preplanned shields. 90% of the time if you wanted to be a good healer, you’d mostly DPS. I don’t think I’ve cast a GCD heal at all in SB and ShB content unless things were going super-wrong.
 The healing changes introduced in Shadowbringers made us think that things were going to change, that things were going to be harder to heal.  I had my doubts, however, because all fights are scripted and if they were to introduce a substantial change to incoming damage, they would have to make it so most people (casual, midcore, hardcore, less experienced newbies, experienced folks) would be used to It and could handle it.  There was no way they were going to introduce more difficulty given that subscription numbers were increasing.
 And so, healers during Shadowbringers got some damage skills taken away, but in their place, they were given more tools to heal with:
-          White Mage came away from this as a very well-rounded healer at launch. It had its damage spells, it had a damage spell with a stun, it finally had long-standing and easily useable mitigation, it has substantial MP recovery, and it has a damage spell that rewards you for using three GCD heals to make up for damage lost. White Mage still making out like a bandit in 5.1.
-          Scholar felt dramatically different and didn’t feel as solid as it used to be. It had most of its damage tools taken away, the usefulness of its fairy was decreased because let’s be honest it was super-overpowered, it got one of its fairies and its AoE esuna taken away, and it was given its PvP move to act as an AoE that doesn’t have another effect. I had to completely unlearn everything I did as scholar in the last 5-6 years in order to play current scholar. Current 5.1 scholar is overpowered as heck and I don’t feel as satisfied to play it in SB/ShB content.
-          AST LOL. All the cards are balance. MP regen is what. Heals are what. Everything is just what. Other fun skills were removed. That said, I really like AST just because it feels like I have to work twice as hard to achieve the same effect the other healers bring to the table.
 So eventually with all of these changes, we had assumed that healing was going to be harder.  It wasn’t. It’s the same experience and all we’re doing is pressing one single button all the time.  I barely have to heal in dungeons.  I barely have to heal in raid unless my party members step in stupid. I just can’t bring myself to play healer every single day anymore, and I love healing in this game. Or I loved it back when it was more dynamic. I just press one button over and over and over and over and over and maybe sometimes another but I just press one button a lot. It’s really sad and it makes me miss old Cleric Stance of all things.
 I like Shadowbringers’ story. I felt rewarded playing through it as someone who’s played the game for years and did everything when it was in-content. So for me, it was like a good reunion.  There were a lot of points where the story dragged or felt rocky. I felt like the start of the 5.0 campaign was utterly boring and poorly paced.  It picked up again, then slowed down again, then picked up again, then got REALLY BAD, then picked up again for a good finish. I don’t think it’s as consistent as Heavensward’s 3.0 campaign, but it was very solid and made up for the 4.0 campaign.
 However, story is only 20% of the experience for me.  The rest of the time, I need to actually play the game. I actually liked the levelling and crafting changes and new skills they brought in during 5.0 because leveling a crafter never felt easier. I felt like I still had to work hard but the payoff came quickly and my macros still worked as well as they did from during Stormblood. I also used my Stormblood melds and Stormblood equipment for the entire levelling experience and had to make concessions for some of my macros as time went on.  I still had to know what my skills did, basically. The 5.1 crafting/gathering changes kind of make me want to craft less since I don’t feel like I have to solve a puzzle anymore and to be honest, everyone crafts now so you make far less money than you previously did.  The desynth changes also made it so that most of my markets tanked since what’s the point of gathering half the materials when desynth makes those materials easily accessible.  I’m not saying to gatekeep at all, but I feel like the experience should have been a little harder (ie: like the Ixali experience where you had to learn what your skills did or desynth shouldn’t be this easy to keep the market fairly balanced). My server is a crafting server so I am more impacted in general from this. That said, I don’t have anything to spend gil on so it doesn’t matter, I guess.  I just feel far less inclined to participate in what was one of my favourite pastimes in XIV.
 I mained Ninja which got killed in 5.0. I was already dealing with the servers moving from East Coast to West Coast, so adding a bunch of stuff to squeeze into your TA window in 10 seconds in Shadowbringers utterly killed the job for me. 5.1 Ninja throws me off as someone who played this game since the time Ninja was introduced, and I can’t make myself play it. The current opener is the Doton opener (which is something I didn’t like in SB at all) and I can’t always rely on my tank to bring the thing to my Doton. That, and making it so you do different things per every other or every third TA just makes the job a little unpalatable for me at 80. I’m one of those people who wants TA to go. I don’t like that Ninja’s become the TA bot in recent years.  I can still do well with it. People still throw buffs at me, but I don’t find enjoyment in the job anymore and I hope we get a proper retool in 6.0.
 I switched back to ranged. Thankfully Bard hasn’t changed as much since SB (though I still prefer HW Bard like a weirdo), and Dancer is one of those “I worked too damn long today and I just wanna do the mindless brainless rotation” jobs.  I miss old Machinist oddly enough.  It felt really good when you played it well and pulled off a decent wildfire. Now it’s a little easier and I don’t feel as fulfilled playing it. That said, it’s probably the best incarnation of the job since it’s sad little introduction in 3.0.
 Even tanking is substantially easier and that’s a mostly good thing. It sucked going into a low level dungeon and having trouble keeping aggro due to the level syncing and your DPS’ stats. Now you can just turn your stance on and go to town without losing any damage potency like you used to. I kind of miss swapping stances after I’ve established aggro though, because you could tell the difference between a good tank and a bad/less practiced tank if they didn’t bother to swap stances in a fight. Tanks came out of this expansion very balanced, though. They might need some work here and there (warrior I’m looking at you), but overall, they came out the best out of the three roles.
 Other than that, you have monks not knowing what they should be, samurai continuously getting buffed and nerfed, black mage staying consistent, red mage being lol, summoner getting changed to the point where now it’s overpowered, among other DPS changes. DPS overall don’t have as much synergy so you can take any job you want to into raid and it’ll get the job done. That said if you want to do as much damage as possible, you’re generally going to take the same few classes into the raid if you’re less educated about them.  And I feel like the lack of synergy or utility between classes or even the loss of something like mana shift makes the whole experience a little boring.  It’s very “f you, I got mine” or the onus is on the player for their own personal burdens and no one’s really helping each other unless you’re a dancer, trick attack bot, dragoon or bard.
 I really hope the other pieces of content are substantial but what I’ve seen aren’t exactly what I had in mind. Boss refights with an alternate version is really neat but I didn’t really want that for this raid tier. I wanted something more original given what we had to deal with in Omega.  I don’t really care for the Nier Automata crossover because, again, I wanted something original to the XIV lore and the First. I think doubling down on Blue Mage is a bad idea and while some folks like its party-based content now, I can’t bring myself to keep doing the content given that it’s clear they don’t know what to do with it (or didn’t know what to do with it). With one dungeon coming per patch I have to question what’s happening internally or what they’re working on. I know SE is weird internally and I really hope that the kind of stuff I’ve read in previous postmortem articles isn’t happening.
 Either way, I’m really disappointed that I want to stop playing XIV so much when it’s the most popular among my friends and followers because it’s so dissatisfying to me and it’s the most accessible that it’s ever been. I hope things get better eventually but going by what I think they have in store and their old reliable formula, I don’t have hope. I’m tired of the formula and I feel like it needs a shakeup. Overall, I’ve been less happy playing FFXIV than I’ve ever been and it makes me feel really sad. 
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lethesomething · 6 years
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The definitely not definitive otome guide
I sincerely doubt the world needs this, but that sort of thing has never stopped me before. Have an extremely biased guide of several dating sim games, organised by some arbitrary metrics.
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Word of warning: this will be long (4k words), because I've played an embarrassingly large amount of otomes.
As a disclaimer: obviously this is a personal opinion. If you (as a lot of people do) enjoy the more forceful bad boy type in your dating sim, I’m not going to judge you. I, however, don’t, so this list is very specifically going to call out games for how they treat the protag.
Featured here: Amnesia: Memories,  Blood in Roses, Cutie Demon Crashers, Destined to Love, Dream Daddy, Hatoful Boyfriend, Hustle Cat,  Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Sengoku, Lost Alice,  Midnight Cinderella,  Monster Prom, Mystic Messenger
A note on play styles.
These games come in a few flavours, which is important to know if you're gonna try them.
The vast majority of the mobile games here follow a basic visual novel structure. You pick a guy and read through the different chapters, and depending on your answers you'll be leaning toward one of two or three endngs. Since these are free to play mobiles, there's a bunch of challenges you will need to log in daily to pass.  
Mystic Messenger is the main outlier, since it's a chat simulator that plays in real time.
The pc games tend to be more complex, with interlocking routes and more endings, generally. You'll need a number of skill points to meet character A for instance, or you'll need to do a series of actions to reach ending B.
  Great games
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Ikemen Sengoku
Hands down one of the best mobile otomes out there right now. I found this when searching for pics of Masamune Date (from a different game) and I've sort of been obsessed with otomes since.
Platform: Android (free to play, pay for premiums) Story: MC gets sucked into a wormhole and finds herself 500 years back in time, in Sengoku era Japan. She drops in on the exact moment where Nobunaga Oda, the Demon King, would be assassinated at Honno-ji. She stops the murder, disrupts the timeline and now there's a bunch of hot warlords vying for her attention. Protagonist’s spine: Reinforced steel. This is one of my favourite protags, because she is Super Sassy and doesn't take shit, unless she's literally being threatened with a sword. The protags where I feel like I understand their actions are few and far between, but this is one of them. Except when she goes far beyond mere bravery to get her man, and decides to forgo tampons and, like, wifi, to live 500 years in the god damn past. Squick factor: Low. This game is made by Cybird, a company that appears very big on consent. The guys generally treat MC with respect, probably more than could be reasonably asked of a Sengoku warlord. The only worrying stuff happens in the Obvious Yandere route, but you kinda know what you're getting yourself into with that one.
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The Good: I friggin love the writing for this game. The guys feel like real characters, there's a ton of interaction between them and I need to give this game extra points for the story events, which are almost invariably gold. This is where the makers stop giving a shit about realism and just go for what they want to write. There's ones where all the guys are suddenly idols, there's a Christmas episode, there's one where they battle through cooking and cleaning. It doesn't take itself serious, is what i mean, and it's Hilarious. The Bad: This is one where the in-game art (aside from the CG's) is actually not that great. Hideyoshi's smile is kinda weird looking and the models feel a little outdated at this point. Best Warlord: This is very difficult, because a lot of them are dreamy, but let's just say that I need a Mitsuhide route so very badly.
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 Ikemen Revolution
The newest Cybird game and my current fave.
Story: MC falls down the rabbit hole when she tries to give a rushed White Rabbit man something he dropped. She ends up in Cradle/Wonderland, where war is about to break out between the Red and Black army, the Hearts and the Spades. Everyone is hot dudes and MC is considered Alice the Second (after the one from Through the Looking Glass). Squick factor: Low. Again: Cybird game. This means there is steamy situations and sex scenes, but they're blatantly consensual. The routes I've played so far keep well within the bounds of what I would consider romantic. Protagonist’s spine: Varnished wood.  In general MC is self-propelling with occasional bouts of bravery. You can tell why she's doing the things she's doing and how she reacts to situations feels sort of logical. She's hard-working and caring and a little naïve, but the fact that she's canonically a woman from early 19th Century London does put a lot of her actions in perspective (like the amount of bullshit she puts up with).
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The Good: The writing is fun. There's a good mix of angst and just… general comedy. The characters interact with each other a lot, and it feels like they're a big loud family, especially in the Black Army, which is more like a frat than anything else. The art is also decent. The backgrounds are utterly gorgeous and most of the guys are very good looking. When I first started the game I was weirded out by the blinking animation, but I have since gotten used to that. The Bad: I found some of the plot rushed. Like you spend so long slow burn growing toward each other, and then suddenly stuff has to happen action movie style because we're running out of chapters. The final chapters of Fenrir's route were just plain dumb. Like could that BE more of an obvious trap. Come on MC, I expected better of you. Also, since this is a very new game, not that many routes are out (four at the time of writing). Best boy: Hooo man. Of the routes that are out, Ray is very… oooof. But my fave chars are probably 'so done' Sirius (the fact that he's voiced by Suwabe has nothing to do with this, surely) and 'also quite done' Kyle, who is both a doctor and an alcoholic wreck of a human being.
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 Mystic Messenger
You know Mystic Messenger, it's like one of the biggest otome's of the past few years.
Platform: Android, iOS (free to play, pay for extra saves and stuff) The Story: MC follows a text message to a weirdly high tech apartment and this somehow puts her in the position of party planner for a secretive group of weird people. It only gets more complicated from there. The game plays out in real time, via chat conversations and the occasional story segment. Squick factor: Um. I personally wasn't weirded out, but I also decided very specifically not to play Jumin's route. This girl did her research. The routes in Another Story are also very over the top and would probably bug me. While I love the Saeran character, I don't think I'd be able to handle that route. So: highly dependent on chosen route. Protagonist’s spine: Adderall. It takes a specific kind of person to download a chat app and follow the instructions given by a random stranger therein. It takes a much stranger person to sit in an apartment with a bomb and just keep inviting people to a party. MC is on a different level from us mortals.
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The Good: I loved the game mechanic, because it felt very real. The player is following a chatroom, just like the character is. Besides that, the story is completely bonkers and I appreciate that. The Bad: Did I mention it plays in real time? Because it plays in real time, meaning you get chat conversations at two in the morning. I was very sleep deprived when I played this. Best boy: 707. Dude is funny and deep and hot and relatable and smart and I want to give him all the hugs.
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 Dream Daddy
One of the few decidedly mlm games I've played so far. You've probably heard of it since it was the subject of much hype and much controversy. Markiplier played it. Friggin Buzzfeed has video's on it.
Platform: PC and Mac (it's on Steam) The Story: MC is a Dad who moves into a neighbourhood with a lot of other single(-ish) dads. Time to work it. Squick factor: Low. This is primarily a humour game: there's a ton of dad jokes and silly mini games, and a distinct lack of kabe don's. The canon routes are all very thoughtful. Protagonist’s spine: Barbecued sausage. Player Dad just goes for it. He’s flexible and caring enough to handle the more sensitive subjects, and self aware enough to deal with random crime and weird drunks.
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The Good: I remember opening this game and, in the character creation screen, telling a trans friend of mine 'omg you can wear binders', and the sheer Glee of his reaction. That's the kinda stuff this game was, partly, made for and it is appreciated. I really liked the tongue-in-cheek writing, most of the jokes landed and the whole thing is just a lot of fun. The Bad: Some of the minigames are annoying. Why the hell are you making me play Bejeweled with fish? I also had a hard time sympathizing with some of the kids. I mean… Lucien straight up tries to murder someone? Ernest is 'rebellious' but he's also an ass. Best dad: Damien has the best route, but have you Seen Mat? Holy moly.
 Not worth it games
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Amnesia: Memories
This game should come with a friggin warning, so I'm giving it here. Its popularity and star rating is a terrible indicator for how much you may enjoy this game. It presents itself as a cute dating sim with gorgeous art, but it devolves into straight up horror, and not in the good way. This feels like a guidebook written in the 1800's to tell young women their place. Not even mortified intrigue could make me finish this. 
Platform: PC (Steam or Google Play) and PlayStation Vita Story: MC wakes up with amnesia. Someone hurt her and she doesn't know who to trust. You'll need to figure out what happened. Squick factor: Super high. Like… so high.  Everyone treats MC like shit and she just lets it happen, even developing all kinds of Stockholm Syndrome as she falls in love with these asshats. MC's childhood friend supposedly loves her but is such a tsun and just… doesn't communicate while also treating her like a small child. One of the other characters is so popular he has a fucking harem but MC is just supposed to wait for him to actually fall in love with her. And don't even get me started on that friggin yandere. *shudders* Even the secret route 'true love' character is a million types of wrong. Protagonist’s spine: Undercooked custard. MC has the self preservation skills of a wet sponge and whoever is playing this is supposed to get turned on by high concept ideas of S&M that are just written out so badly everything feels like an abusive relationship.
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The Good: *sigh* The art. The art is very pretty (I'm upset at the art since it sucked me into the horror). Also, as a visual novel, this one is complex as all hell. There's a ton of endings  (most of them deadly) depending your actions as a player. It's vast, is what I'm saying. Also, I hear the clover route isn't as bad as some of the others, but I was too weirded out to try. The Bad: See rant. This is one of those games that really seems to glorify the whole possessive, abusive boyfriend shtick, but it's ok because he loves you, really. Ugh. Just… ugh. Best boy: Kent? I guess? He doesn't appear to be actively abusing MC at least.
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 Shall we date: Lost Alice
I wondered if I should include this because I literally played like ten chapters  and then deleted it, but that in itself should give some indication.
Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premium purchases) Story: MC wakes up in the forest with amnesia (I see a trend). Turns out she's in Wonderland and everyone thinks she's Alice. Most of Wonderland's characters are, predictably, hot men. Squick  factor: Unavailable. I didn't play far enough to see but some of the men are quite pushy and also it's a Shall we date app, so… tread carefully. Protagonist’s spine: Cement. This is an MC that puts up a fight, which I respect. Sadly she does so in that 'needlessly aggressive' way that anime characters sometimes have. I didn't find her particularly sympathetic.
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The Good: The art. It's always the art that gets me. The Bad: The UI annoyed the shit out of me. This is a free to play, pay for premiums game, so some level of mindless clicking is expected if you try to play for free. This one had just too much. There was friend greeting and picture rating and princess lessons and got knows what else, all taking a ton of time. Trying to get to the home page popped up at least four different 'now on sale' screens every single time. The writing wasn't good enough for me to deal with that. Best boy: Well there’s a cat. So.
 Decent games
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Hustle cat
This game is set in a cat café, that was all the encouragement I needed to buy it.
Platform: PC (Steam) Story: MC is invited to take a job at a cat café. Turns out everyone in the café is cursed, and also they're into you. Squick factor: Almost non-existant. This is a very tumblr friendly game in the sense that your love interests are both male and female, and none of them are particularly pushy. The relationships feel pretty natural and mostly consist of MC helping their love interest with some subquest. Protagonist’s spine: Cucumber. MC is actually pretty cool. The game does that 'modern western game' thing where you get to pick a gender and a skin colour for your protag and the general atmosphere is 'tongue in cheek'. MC doesn't let people walk over them, but they're generally helpful.
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The Good: CATS. The premise of this game is pretty neat. The Bad: According to Steam I played this five months ago, and I pretty much forgot about it. Fun game but not particularly memorable. Best cat: Landry. Tall, gentle giants are a particular weakness.
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 Shall we date: Blood in Roses
This is me giving Shall we Date another shot, because the amount of hot mildly medieval boys was intriguing.
Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premiums) Story: There's two, because this app has been around for a while and now has two 'seasons'. The Witch stumbles upon a supposedly abandoned castle and gets imprisoned there by a bunch of vampires. The Hunter, meanwhile, seeks out the castle because she wants to stop an attack on her village. Both come to realize that the castle is now a hotel for monsters, and that its denizens are both not what they imagined, and also hot. Squick factor: Highly dependent on route. The Witch literally starts in a jail cell, so you can imagine the Stockholm Syndrome shit that goes down. Also, this is a personal preference, but I'm really weirded out by a lot of blood play stuff so most of the vampire routes are gonna be… problematic. Shall we Date games don't shy away from sex scenes and I like that, but coupling them with drinking blood 'to get in the mood' is a rather specific niche. The game does offer a number of other options for you to court, from werewolves to wizards and… grim reapers? It's a mixed batch. If you're not into pushed boundaries I can offer one tip: stay away from the vampires. Protagonist’s spine: Sand cookie. She has one, but it's brittle. I've mostly played Hunter routes and it's like… she tries, and she can take care of herself but she also tolerates more bullshit than necessary, ya know.
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The Good: The art is good, and some of the storylines are intriguing despite my reservations. I'm still playing it (mostly in a quest to find a good ending where MC doesn't die to become a weird immortal creature).  The UI, while annoying, isn't as bad as Lost Alice's, or so it seems. The Bad: The writing is very hit or miss. There's routes where the guy just sort of lowkey stalks MC, until she suddenly decides she's incredibly in love with him. There's others  that make even less sense, and then there's ones that feel more natural. In general, MC's actions don't  seem to have a lot of thought put into them. Best boy: So far: Gordon. He's cute and sensible and tortured and not incredibly antagonistic.
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 Midnight Cinderella
You'll notice a friggin ton of Cybird games on here.
Platform: Android (free to play, premium purchases) Story: MC gets, mostly by accident, chosen to be the Princess of Wysteria. As such she must prepare to govern the country when the king dies, and choose a consort from a number of suitors. Squick factor: Low. Not only are these men respectful of her, they're rather literally treating her like royalty. Having said that, there is a lot of the typical hurtful tsun stuff going in several routes. Protagonist’s spine: Lightly done steak. There's something weird going on with the protag in this game. When it comes to governing, she's tough as nails. She's thrown into a situation she wasn't ready for, and while this stresses her out 24/7, she performs admirably. On the other hand, her main reaction to literally anything when it comes to love is 'Oh'. She cries a lot, at times she feels like a wet rag. There's a bunch of situations she could have just solved by going 'Yeah I'm into you'. She's complex, I guess.
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The Good: The writing, while melodramatic, is nice. The art is good as well. The Bad: This is an old game and it doesn't perform that well on my current-gen smartphone. Expect to push certain buttons several times before the game realizes what you're trying to do. Also the loading takes ages. Best boy: For me, Sid, because he reminds me of Aomine Daiki and I'm weak for that type of personality. As far as routes go, Leo's probably had the most impact on me.
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 Destined to Love
I'll be honest, I started this because of an event in Ikemen Sengoku that would give me cross game storage. Don't judge me.
The Story: MC gets flung back in time (this is also a trend, it seems) to the 1800's, a few weeks before the Ikedaya incident will make the Shinsen-gumi a historic Legend. She meets, and chrams, a whole bunch of historical figures. Protagonist’s spine: Cured leather. As a modern woman sent back in time, MC is probably fairly sassy by the standards of the time, but she remains mostly polite. She's tough, considering the circumstances, but quite pliable in that 'we'll see where this goes and make the best of it' way. Squick factor: Low. There's one character that just screams 'red flag' but I have yet to try his route. Since this is a Cybird game, most of the guys are pretty respectful.
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The Good: I really like the premise? As the title suggests, MC's love is part of a higher destiny, one that transcends time, and it's one of the reasons she has to go to friggin 1800's Japan. She has a hand in making history. This amuses me. Also, the guys are pretty good looking. The Bad: This is a fairly old mobile game and you can kinda tell. On a technical level it's not as bad as Midnight Cinderella, but again the touch buttons aren't always responsive. Besides that, some of the writing is rather clunkily translated and a bunch of the art is low res. Best Boy: I haven't played all the routes here, but Katsura is a god damn sweetheart, and Kyo and Yamazaki seem adorable AF.
 The weird: the special ones
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Hatoful Boyfriend
The reason I know otome's exist. This one shot to meme status a few years back.
Platform: PC (it's on Steam) Story: MC is one of the last remaining humans after sentient birds took over the world. She gets enrolled into an elite school for pigeons. Squick factor: Medium to high. The major thing to understand about Hatoful is that on the surface it looks like a particularly silly dating sim with pigeons, but dig deeper and it is Also a full blown apocalyptic horror story. And it follows the genre where a wrong move gets MC horrifically killed. Having said that, several of the routes, including the god damn serial killer one, didn't bother me as much as something like Amnesia, because they were not sold as romantic. Maybe it's the whole pigeon thing, maybe it's the general weirdness of the plot, or maybe it is because said serial killer actually goes 'Surely you knew this would happen', before he guts you. Protagonist’s spine: Gummy bear. MC is highly forgettable, but therefore also like… not annoying. The main focus here is on uncovering the many layered plot and the player character doesn't really have a scripted personality, she just embodies the player's actions.
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The Good: This whole game is so out there. There's a reason it became so popular. It's an Experience. The plot is over the top and intricate and Weird, and that makes it intriguing. There's a ton of routes and endings, some more secret than others. The 'human' version of some of these birds is kinda hot (sadly that includes the serial killer). The Bad: the plot is so weird and meandering that it's kinda hard to follow at times. I'm fairly certain it takes several guides to unlock all the endings. Best Birb: It's been a while, but I remember liking Yuuya's route quite a lot.
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 Monster Prom
The new hype.
Platform: PC (Steam!) Story: MC is a student at Monster High, and is trying to get a date for Monster Prom with one of the hot people. Squick factor: None. I mean, nothing that happens here is in accordance to health and safety norms, but that's kinda the point. It's a parody game, making fun of all the hoops teenagers are willing to jump through to become popular. Protagonist's spine: Coagulated blood. MC is willing to make deals with demons, wear corpses as a hat, anything really. The question is very openly: what could I do to make them like me.
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The Good: It's a funny game. I like the characters, who embody everything from the Mean Girl to the Hipster Nerd and the Needlessly Aggressive Jock. The art is simple, cartoon style, but pretty neat. The Bad: Everything is very tongue in cheek, which leaves it a little… light for my tastes. I don't feel like any of the routes matter in the grand scheme of things, MC hasn't truly touched anyone's heart. The whole thing is a joke game, so it's funny, but a bit shallow. Best monster: Polly, the permanently stoned party girl.
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 Cute Demon Crashers
Technically a sex game? But a really very special one.
Platform: PC (free! Here!) Story: A portal opens in MC's house and four Incubi/Succubi drop through. To apologize for the inconvenience, while they wait for a portal back, they offer to teach MC about sex. Squick factor: I've written about this game before and the best thing, the very best thing about it is how incredibly consent-minded it is. Like, even if you're already in bed, getting it on, there's always an option to turn back and leave it at that. The demons are really just there to help MC find out what gives her pleasure. Protagonist’s spine: Rock. Obviously, MC is mildly upset about four random demons showing up. As mentioned before, what happens next is mostly up to the player.
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The Good: It's free and the art is pretty and I love the premise. The Bad: Kinda short, but again: free. Cutest Demon Crasher: *cough* Orias *cough*
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kastillia · 7 years
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i have completed the grand trial of melemele!
but first! here’s everything that happened before that
after kurama hatched, i found the customization stores! o:
now i have long hair and a black shirt.
as it should be.
so anyways i spent some time training kurama bc he's staying on my team forever
so once he was about......level 12? around that, i headed to my next destination!
captain ilima's waiting for me by the dock and tEAM SKULL!!!!!
these guys are so over the top ridiculous but i love them????? i love them
"at least pretend to be scared, yo!" gnfhdskjjglfd
so after that little introduction to my favourite team ever, it's time for captain ilima's trial!!
well i mean, i have to make it there first, but that's our next objective.
tauros is kind enough to move out of the way and it's onto route 2!
and this is where i am introduced to the wild pokemon that run up to you in the grass!! O:
i was expecting it to be like, a specific species that did it, but after my first encounter with makuhita, all of the pokemon that charged at me in the grass were yungoos :|
i already have a yungoos his name is cheese and he'll be in the box forever
so we make it out of the first part of route 2 and ?
that's a delibird! ...that's my bag!
that's a berry field!
thAT'S TEAM SKULL!!!
"i'll share these berries with any pokemon for free, but you're not getting even one from me!"
"yo are you saying i'm less than a pokemon!? i already have self esteem issues, man!" gndfkshfdlskjfs
so i save the old man and team skull runs off to mess with ilima again and then i just waltz into, what i assume to be, the old man's house
oh! there are delibirds everywhere!
i will speak to each of them and give them head rubs
the last one i spoke to gave me a revive! o: thank you delibird friend!!!
onwards to adventure!
let me just.....shuffle through this grass real quick CUTIEFLY!!! I NEED TO CATCH IT my pokemon are too strong...........
oh i found hau
"hey kas how's your team holding up?"
.................well i mean in terms of hp, they're fine, but they're running low on moves.........
oh! he was standing in front of a pokecenter! good.
time to buy more pokeballs.
this lady here wants to trade a spearow for a machop! o:
i haven't come across a machop yet but i did just battle a spearow...............it fainted though my pokes are too strong
there's another lady by the cafe that wants to see a 'dex entry on cutiefly................but that also fainted oops
ok well....! maybe later. it's time for ilima's trial!
there are just a bunch of rattatas in here is this really my trial......
the third one keeps running away..........
oH NO THEY'RE HERE! THE BOYS ARE BACK!!!!
i said i didn't recognize them and they just switched places gnfjdgsjhkfjlsdk
aww they came here to mess up my trial but they're actually helping by standing in front of the dens all threateningly omfmgmgmf i love them
thanks guys ily
time for the totem pokE WHAT IS THAT
WHAT IS THAT
WHAT HAPPENED TO IT'S FACE
good god alolan raticates are absolute nightmares why is it like that
...........ok i beat it..........
kurama has a psychic move. it's fine.
i got the z-crystal for normal types................this doesn't help me i don't have any normal types in my team......
well i suppose wingull has some normal type moves but he's getting replaced soon anyway........
ok cool.
hey professor kukui!! he lost lillie again.........
hey lillie!! ........wait where is she
that's on a separate plane i can't
oh it's a cave
hey lillie!! ..........that bag isn't going to work why don't you just get a pokeball nebby will always escape the bag
well i guess it times to traverse this field of yellow to get to that floating ball of blue......and purple and black and cosmos
this place is gonna be riddled with enemies huh ORICORIO!!!
IT'S THE DANCE BIRD!!! i'm gonna catch it and call her maya
i mean it's the electric dance bird but they change form depending on what berries you feed them, right
right. lillie told me after i exited the cave with nebby bUT BEFORE THAT!!!
photo time :^)
this is just like a damn fishing minigame i'm not gonna make any progress in my game so long as there's this camera function
ALSO ELISE EVOLVED!!! BRIONNE IS ADORABLE AND SHE'S LIKE AN ACTUAL SHOW ANIMAL NOW AAAAAAAAAA
so we rescue nebby for lillie again, kukui is no longer blocking the bridge and now i need to head back to iki town to fight the kahuna!!!
but first
i think i missed something
back into the flower cave
A-HA! I KNEW IT! THERE'S A TINIER CAVE HERE!! and it's items galore!
this is a rock cave right why aren't there any rockruffs i want a rock dog where are they
i just keep running into carbinks i don't need a stone spin top
ok i'm done here back to iki town............
NO WAIT I NEED TO GO ON ANOTHER DETOUR I RAN OUT OF POKEBEANS I NEED TO GO TO THE MALASADA SHOP TO FEED MY POKES
ok we're fine, back to--
STITCH EVOLVED TOO!!!!! i was convinced i was gonna have a pichu until i reached the second island, but he evolved!!! my little lightning boy has upgraded to a slightly bigger lightning boy
ok back to iki town for real
hello mr kahuna i am here to battle!!!!
i beat him. nice.
i got a z-crystal for fighting types. nice. i don't have any fighting pokes on my team. un-nice.
TAAAAAAUROS!!!
I CAN WRECK HAVOC ON THE WHOLE TOWN NOW
i hear there's this cave that's like "locals only" but i should be able to get there with tauros but the problem is.............where
i'm running around everywhere and i can't-- oh hey hau.
wait he's going to the second island too? does that mean he beat his grandpa??
but.......hala was all fighting pokes...........hau only has a pikachu and litten........... HMMMMMMM
anyway nice seeing ya hau i'm gonna go about finding that ten carat hill cave thing whatever it is so i can catch my rockruff
after bashing my way through a bunch of rocks, i found it :^)
I FOUND ROCKRUFF I FOUND MY KEATON
ONWARDS TO THE SE--
wait there's still a lady by the cafe who wants to see a drifloom so i'm gonna hang around the cemetery for a bit before i continue to the second island.
misc things!
my pokedex is at 12%! melemele specifically is about 30% done
i have max friendship with kurama, elise and stitch!
my current team is:
keaton, level 13 rockruff stitch, level 22 pikachu kurama, level 23 snowpix elise, level 24 brionne kino, level 18 growlithe maya, level 18 oricorio
i'll be levelling keaton a bit before moving onto the second island!
maybe i'll find one of those berries that turns oricorio into a ghost/flying type so it can actually be maya o:
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woos-sweaterpaws · 4 years
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magenta, turquoise, fuchsia, coral, grey, rose, ebony, emerald, mauve, porcelain, honey, plum, lilac, amethyst, denim, sapphire, pecan (do it again hehe), penny, prussian blue, onyx, burgundy, apricot, and platinum c:
im finally getting around to do this pls be proud of me! :D hope i didnt forget a question
magenta: do you keep your fingernails long or short?
--- on the shorter side
turquoise: favorite sea animal?
--- i love whales and dolphins a lot
fuchsia: favorite land animal?
--- i love everything fluffy but red pandas and koalas are so cute *-*
coral: an animal you wish hadn't gone extinct
--- saber-toothed cats, i mean how cool are they??
grey: how many languages do you speak? do you want to learn any more?
--- i speak english and german. would love to speak more but languages dont come easy for me so its hard :/
rose: favourite scent on a person?
--- fabric softener hehe (there are also some people who have a really nice natural scent but i cant explain how they smell lol)
ebony: would you ever want to play a game on television? (jeopardy, family fued, etc)
--- nope im wayyy too shy for tv
emerald: if you had the option, would you choose to move and live in another country? which one?
--- i really like london and i would also love to experience new york or seoul in daily life; however because im too shy to speak in my own language let alone english i probably wouldnt enjoy the experience
mauve: any unpopular opinions?
--- i dont think so
porcelain: an tv show you used to love
--- glee! (still love the first seasons even tho it in itself and the cast are highkey problematic)
honey: your thoughts on magic- does it exist?
--- yes because otherwise i would cry
plum: a food you've never tried
--- im very picky so theres lots i havent tried :/ i would really like to try authentic high quality Samgyeopsal!
lilac: dogs, cats, or fish?
--- cats!
amethyst: do you collect anything?
--- sea glass!
denim: kill the spider or take it outside?
--- kill it with fire and burn the house down (but for bugs and stuff i try to take them outside)
sapphire: do you think you can sing well?
--- nope
pecan: shuffle your playlist, what's the first song that comes up?
--- click by scrubb
penny: icecream or cake
--- icecream cake
prussian blue: what's your first choice at the vending machine
--- sour candy, twix and coke
onyx: do you still play Minecraft?
--- not really but my friend just build a new server with a minigame he wants me to try lol
burgundy: ever ridden a motorcycle?
--- not a real one at least haha
apricot: opinion on 3 in 1 body wash/hair wash
--- i had one i loved a few years ago but generally its shit lol
platinum: do you follow politics?
--- as much as necessary, as little as possible
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ultimate fishing simulator regrettably does not have a fishing minigame
Ultimate Fishing Simulator does not have a fishing minigame :(
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ULTRAKILL has a fishing minigame!
ULTRAKILL has a fishing minigame!
(Wondering if your favourite game has a fishing minigame? Have questions on what counts as a fishing minigame? Asks are open!)
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Dark cloud has a fishing mini game!
(REPOST) Dark Cloud has a fishing minigame!
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I don't know if it counts, but the Switch version of Miitopia has an outing event where two Miis can bond by fishing.
Miitopia (2021) does not have a fishing minigame :( but it does have a fishing cutscene and (on a technicality, as it does reward you) a fishing mechanic!
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Dredge has a fishing minigame!
(Wondering if your favourite game has a fishing minigame? Have questions on what counts as a fishing minigame? Asks are open and can now be done anonymously!)
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