#hey. op. you have the best art style in the world and this is sick

[johannstutt413]

TOURNAMENT ARC 2: PHANTOM VS PROJEKT RED

“Alright, let’s see...Looks like we’ve got a fight tomorrow, Jessie!” The Doctor unfurled a piece of paper from the machine. “First round for Specialists, it looks like; Phantom vs Red. It’s been awhile since Phantom stopped by the office, hasn’t it?”

“...Phantom?” The Feline shrugged; she’d seen records of that Operator before, but never actually encountered them herself.

He sighed. “Right, stealth specialist with mnemonic Arts. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see what happens, especially since Red- actually, I haven’t seen her recently either. She hasn’t been on a mission, has she?”

“I don’t think so?” Jessica flipped open a tab and scrolled through some of her notes. “No, but she has been on leave for awhile.”

“Really? What kind of leave was it, again? I think you approved that one.”

At that exact moment, Projekt Red walked into the office with a baby in her arms. “Maternity leave.” [not exactly the same universe but hush it’s fine]

“Awww!” The two immediately approached. “What’s their name?”

“Scarlet SilverAsh. I don’t think I can be in the tournament for a while, Doctor; we haven’t moved her to formula yet.” Scarlet fussed a little, which the Lupo solved by licking her forehead.

The Doctor nodded. “That’s alright, Red; I think I know the person to take your spot. Let us know when you’re ready to fight and we’ll put you in the rotation.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll be watching today’s match from home. You can both come over, if you want; Encio’s making burgers.” She watched both of them blink several times. “What?” 

“He can cook?” Jessica asked.

She nodded. “There’s nothing he can’t do. I need to feed her soon. Let us know if you want to come over.”

“Will do!” Once she’d left, the Feline smiled to herself. “I’m looking forward to that someday.”

“Having a kid with me?”

Jessie set her head on his shoulder. “Yeah...We should call Waai Fu now, before too much press goes out.”

“Good plan.”

TOURNAMENT ARC 2: PHANTOM VS PROJEKT RED WAAI FU

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, Operators, Staff, and Esteemed Guests! Welcome one and all to the Top Operator Tourney!!! *crowd cheers*

“Thanks, Hung! Hiiiii everyone! It’s your lovable idol and Penguin Logistics delivery girl Sora here, filling in for Click on account of some rather inflammatory commentary she gave during the last one. Joining me in the booth, filling in for FEater after she punched the person who told them that, is Croissant!”

“That’s right, Sora, and I ain’t goin’ any’re! Now earlya Baws ‘nounced we had a lil’ bituva skejul shift, but looks like we still ‘ave a real good’un on our ‘ands. On the north side, wi’ 14 years of fightin’ ‘sperience, she’s student by day and brawla’ by nite, WAAAAAAAI FUUUUUUUU!” *cheers* “Ye, dat’s wut I wanna hear! Annnnd on the south side- hey, where’d they go?” *confused crowd noises* “Uh...Now I ain’t gonna lie, I never did meet dis Phantom guy? We sure he works ‘ere?”

“I mean, Medical had enough data to evaluate with, so I guess he does? Aaaanyway, looking at the numbers, it looks like Waai Fu has more combat experience and raw strength, but Phantom’s faster and trickier to deal with, so hopefully he shows up long enough for us to watch him work!”

“Ye, let’s ‘ope so! Baws itn’t at the podium today, but Amiya’s down there doin’ the hands, so let’s ‘ear it! 3! 2! 1! LET’S RUUUUUUUUUUUMBLLLLLLLLLEEEEEE!!!”

--------

Down on the ground, as the commentators blathered away, psyching the crowd up, Phantom watched his target from the shadows, blades ready but simply observing. His opponent, an orange Feline he’d never seen before, likewise watched, patient. This wasn’t his usual style...but if it was a show they wanted, then he’d give them a show.

“So you are my opponent.” He took a step forward. “Shall we dance our dance for the masses?”

“The Phantom, in the flesh...I expected to face you later in the bracket, but this works, too.”

His eyes narrowed. “You recognize me?”

“I’ve spent my life clearing the street of scum like you, who skulk in the shadows and take others’ lives for your sick games.” She took a defensive stance. “Your ring of thieves deserved its fate-”

“Do not speak ill of the dead, lest you join them sooner than you expect.” A step backward, and he’d vanished.

Two Phantoms emerged from her shadow, blades drawn to strike as they flanked her, only to find she was ready for both attacks; Waai Fu evaded their swords as knocked both Phantom and his mirror image to the ground. “Repent while you still have time.”

And then everything was a blur.

-------

“It’s like it started out of nowhere! They stared each other down forever, and then BAM! Also, why are there two of him?!”

“I ‘unno, darlin’, but I ‘ope Junior ain’t watch’n this! They’re go’n at it ‘arder ‘n an’thin rite now! I can’t even count ‘ow many blows they’re tradin’, but not a single drop of blood on the ground yet!”

“You can tell Waai Fu’s struggling, though - two on one isn’t a fair fight for anyone, but she’s holding her ground someh- OH, what?!”

“Oh! Oh! That’s the Seven-Styles Kick!! ‘Oly shit, I ain’t ever seen it in person bef’r, but damn that was some’n! And one of ‘em’s gone now!”

“Things have slowed down, and she is absolutely whaling into him! Punch, punch, kick, kick; he’s doing his best to evade them, but I don’t think he can keep up like this for long! Especially since he can’t- never mind, he managed to slash her once, at least, but that just left him open for a solid haymaker! He’s not getting back u/p! 1! 2!! 3!!! SHE’S DONE IT!!!”

“Wowza...Not as bloody as last ‘un, ey darlin’?”

“Waai Fu’s getting medical attention, as is Phantom from the looks...Hey, wait a minute, honey, did you see that?”

“See what?”

--------

Aak was there at Waai Fu’s side, local anesthetic applied and staple gun going to work. “A bit of medi-gel will get this patched up in no time...Hey, who was that guy, anyway? Never seen him around before.”

“The Phantom Behind the Curtain, Treasurer of the Night. He was the leading man for a theatre troupe known for less-than-savory wetwork who traveled the world as a closely-knit ring of assassins, although many didn’t realize their actual business until the day it collapsed.” The Feline sighed. “That one killed a crowded theatre with his voice alone. He didn’t want me dead, not enough to speak to me with his true voice.”

“Truer words, vigilante, have yet to be spoken” a spectral figure whispered in her ear, disappearing before she could identify them.

The other Feline next to her cocked her head. “See something? Mighta gotten some hallucinogens in the anesthetic again.”

“No, it’s...nothing.” She shook her head. “It’ll pass, whatever it was.”

“You’d best win the tournament now, child...For your father’s sake.” From the other ear this time, as if standing in Aak’s place.

On the ground, as Warfarin ensured Gaspard began his recovery, a black cat stepped out of the shadows and, once the Sarkaz was done with the greater part of patching him up, sat on his chest, gently pawing at his face. A slight smile came to his face as he and his Christine were taken to Medical for full evaluation; he might have been defeated in this battle, but the war for himself was far from lost.

#arknights #arknights fic #TOURNAMENT ARC!!! #waai fu (arknights) #phantom (arknights) #projekt red (arknights) #jessica (arknights) #sora (arknights) #croissant (arknights) #i'm not gonna lie #i'm surprised no one's asked about Phantom yet #like i know i have a pretty sizable crowd of folks who like yuri fic #but...i 'unno #we'll get to him one of these days

[terryblount]

Wam’s Top 5 Games of 2018

2018 was quite the year, wasn’t it? Despite the constant soothsaying that “videogames are getting worse”, it seems like every year there’s great games coming out. Of course, that could just be the privilege of not having to play BIG AAA GAMES. But hey, to each their own.

With that in mind, here’s a look at my top games for 2018. If I had to make an observation, 2018 was a pretty good year when it comes to the field of genre improvements. Many games of big genres received tweaks or changes that although may rustle some purist jimmies, ended up for the better. These include things like God of War not blindly chasing the Souls formula and removing its stamina bar, as well as Spider-Man daring to be more than an Arkham brawler.

Seeing as neither of those games made my top five however, let’s get to the list (in no particular order):

5. Blazblue Cross Tag Battle

Fighting games are a weird bunch. I inherently suck at them, I don’t often have friends to play them with and I don’t follow the scene closely enough to be considered a fan.

Blazblue Cross Tag Battle is a 2v2 crossover battle combining Arc System Work’s Blazblue, Under Night In-Birth, Persona 4 Arena as well as debuting RWBY characters. It’s a gorgeous sprite fighter and arcadey as hell. Considering this year also gave us Dragon Ball and Street Fighter, why this fighting game?

It’s accessible.

While not nearly Smash-levels of accessible, Blazblue makes it’s controls certainly still retain the feeling of a classic arcade fighter while also not requiring overly complex inputs. The sprite art is also gorgeous, which is something that’s becoming harder to find as more games move towards 3D graphics.

My only complaint is that early on I tried to escape from crossing fate, but the game informed me that such a feat was simply not possible.

4. Death’s Gambit

It’s no secret I like Dark Souls. You know who else likes Dark Souls? The people who made this game. Death’s Gambit is a metroidvania-souls-like game that borrows heavily from the Dark Souls art style. Thematically, however, that’s where the similarities end. I talk about it more in my review of the game, but basically, this game scratches the itch left when I finished Dark Souls 3, and while not perfect, it’s a pretty good RPG on its own.

You play as Soren, a reincarnated soldier charged by Death to figure out why no one seems capable of dying anymore- and then immediately put an end to that nonsense. You fight plenty of cool bosses, some really annoying ones but all in all, it’s a pretty good standard-setter on fun souls-likes.

3. BattleTech

“You dig giant robots. I dig giant robots. We dig giant robots. Chicks dig giant robots”. -Megas 1:01

BattleTech is a tactics game where you have to manage your own mecha-based mercenary squad as you have adventures across the galaxy. Many times, your mercenaries will die, your mechs will be destroyed or in the shop for repairs, and you will stress about not being able to afford your monthly expenses. There’s a plot about a royal coup or whatever, but let’s be real: this is the meat of the game.

While JRPGs are often lauded for their uniqueness compared to “mainstream” RPGs, I feel not enough praise is given to the CRPG. BattleTech is absolutely dripping in flavors of the genre from all the out-of-combat dialogue choices, resource management and grid based combat.

BattleTech is a nerdy game, let no one tell you otherwise, and that’s where it shines. You get to do things like targeting the back of a mech because it has less armor there, disabling ammo caches on the enemy mech so they can’t reload and even dropping your mech in a lake to help it cool off its overheated guns. Nowadays, too many games try to go the other way and appeal to more mainstream audiences by making things less nerdy. Not BattleTech. And that’s how it earns its spot.

2. Monster Prom

Competitive. Dating. Sim.

I talk about it more in this review but basically, Monster Prom is one of the best executed ideas in an indie game in a while. Play with up to 4 of your fellow dating sim enthusiasts and watch as they try to murder each other IRL over the literal devil while you embrace your inner Guillermo Del Toro and try to romance the mermaid.

It’s got plenty of routes, charming side characters and is a perfectly serviceable plot for single player too. On top of it all, there’s an orgy ending. Instant classic.

1. Monster Hunter: World

Again, my complete thoughts on the game were noted in review form here. Since its release last January, Monster Hunter World has added a plethora of new monsters, including two basically-raids.

Plenty of genre improvements like a quickbar and auto-crafting have made sure this game keeps you focused on the hunting and not superficial busywork.

The game’s ability to do drop-in co-op makes afternoon sessions capable of being as simple as helping newbies with difficult quests (because it doesn’t matter what game you’re playing, it is a Sunbro’s job to engage in jolly co-operation and help other people find glory).

The ability to do that proves Monster Hunter World’s thesis statement: make the gameplay fun enough, and people will keep playing even when there’s no loot to be gained. Despite the fact the game has plenty to grind for (RNG gems, materials for armor sets) that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy occasionally popping in to other monsters. The mix of the game’s varied weapons playing well and the bosses being designed to be fun makes this a genuinely good game.

Honorable Mentions:

Dead Cells- A truly fun dungeon crawler. Didn’t make the list more out of preference than quality, not a big fan of permadeath and restarting without my equipment.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate- Figured I didn’t qualify for adding to this list because I feel like I hadn’t played the whole game since I’ve only played the VS mode with friends at parties.

Deltarune: another victim of good-game-just-not-for-me, Deltarune is a surprise free demo (?) from Undertale creator Toby Fox. While not explicitly Undertale 2, it boasts party-based combat, a sick soundtrack and all the Undertale flavors that people love Undertale for.

So what next? 2019 is already looking to be an interesting year with Devil May Cry 5 coming back from the dead, Daemon Ex Machina carrying the banner of mech games and Love, Esquire also being on the horizon. Happy 2019 everybody!

Wam’s Top 5 Games of 2018 published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[scottsdumbgameshit]

Most anticipated games of 2017

After writing up my Best Games of 2016 I thought “What better to follow up with than what I’m looking forward to this year?” 

So I’m doing that.

Obviously leaving out games that aren’t coming out this year (So no Death Stranding, Last of Us Part 2, God of War or Resident Evil 2 Remake) and also no remakes (So no Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy)

5. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard

So me, the guy who dislikes first person horror games is now very excited for Resident Evil 7.

When the game was announced this past E3 I was not keen on it. I thought to myself that it was going to be another generic First Person Jump-scare laden horror game. 

But everything I’ve seen since then had me more and more intrigued to the point where I’m at now. Seeing more and more concepts about the game be revealed such as the setting, storyline and combat has me at the point where I’m stopping myself buying other games so I can buy this later this month.

Straying away from the Zombies and World spanning catastrophes of past Resident Evil games RE7 is taking a more down to earth approach, pitting you against a family of what appear to be cultists (reminiscent of the first season of True Detective), In the search for your missing wife, not much is known other than that but from the demo they put out there is a strong implication that Umbrella Corp. – The series' staple evil corporation – is involved somehow and I'm eager to see how the story pans out.

4. Scalebound.

Scalebound the new Action RPG from the good folks over at Platinum Games directed by the great Hideki Kamiya looks to be.....

Oh wait its cancelled.... Never mind.

4. NieR Automata

NieR Automata is the new Action game from the good folks over at Platinum Games, a studio with an almost impeccable track record (aside from a couple licensed games but let’s ignore those), which is honestly the main reason I'm excited for this game.

I have never played NieR or any of the Drakengard games so I expect to be a bit lost when it comes to Automata story-wise but I'm nonetheless excited due to the team working on it.

The game is very reminiscent of Metal Gear Rising: Revengence – Another one of Platinum's games and my personal favourite of the bunch. (along with The Wonderful 101) So I'm expecting the same tight action gameplay that Platinum have perfected over the ten years they have been a studio.

3. Cuphead - in Don't Deal with the Devil

This game has been on my Most Anticipated games list for the last 2 years, so hopefully this is the last time it shows up on one of these.

Cuphead is a 2D Run-and-Gun platformer being made by indie studio “Studio MDHR”, which admittedly Is overdone at this point, but Cuphead differentiates its-self from the others with its incredible art-style, drawn in the style of early 1900's cartoons like Disney's Steamboat Willie or Fleischer Studios' “Betty Boop” cartoons.

That visual aesthetic is carried over to the overall style of the game, with the bouncy look of the character designs and the music, Cuphead is looking to be a perfect fit for animation nerds.

The game also looks to be very similar to platforming classics like Mega Man in terms of difficulty and level/boss design, all of this put together makes Cuphead one of the most promising Indie Projects in the last few years.

2. Nintendo Switch

As I write this it is January 13th 2017, the Nintendo Switch Reveal all event is in 3 hours and we don’t know much about it, and I realise its probably cheating to put it on here but otherwise this list would be pretty much all Switch games.

I'm looking forward to the console its-self the gimmick is genuinely interesting from a hardware perspective and I'm anxiously awaiting to see what the line-up of games will be, So here’s a mini List within a list of the things I'm looking forward to from the Switch

3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I've admittedly never been the biggest Zelda fan (Aside from Wind Waker and A Link to the Past) but the new open world aspects of BOTW have me incredibly curious to see how Nintendo do with their first open world outing, I've not watched much gameplay either but what I have seen has me interested

2.Monster Hunter For Nintendo Switch

Nothing has really been announced about this or if it is even happening aside from a few retailer leaks but I cant wait to play Monster Hunter on the big screen. Monster Hunter is a series I enjoy and really want to get into more than I already am but it being generally Hand-held exclusive has hampered that a bit.

So the prospect of a new Monster Hunter game on a home console has me real excited, whether its a port of Monster Hunter Generations or a completely new one built for consoles I don’t mind as-long as I get a new one soon.

1. Whatever that new 3D Mario is called

I could probably wait 3 hours to find this out but the Switch reveal video showed a lady playing a new 3D Mario game before going to a sick roof party like us millenials always do, the prospect of a new Mario game being the biggest piece of news to come from that trailer since everything else either leaked or was Skyrim.

3D Mario games are 6/6 for being fantastic games, so obviously I'm looking forward to this, the trailer also implied that Co-Op which was great in Mario 3D World is coming back so needless to say I can’t wait to get this in my hands and play it on somebody's roof .

1.Persona 5  

I'm kind of breaking my own rules here seeing as this game released in 2016 in Japan but hey I can’t play it yet so I'm counting it.

This game is like Cuphead where it has been anticipated for the last like 4 years, I still remember the reveal of this game, some weird stream that announced Persona: but with Dancing, Persona: but it's Etrian Odyssey and Persona: Fighting game 2.

And at the end of that stream it flashed on screen Persona 5: 2014 on Playstation 3.

It is now 2017 and the game still isn’t out yet here, but flash forward to 2015 when the first big trailer comes out for this game and the hype train just drove past me and dragged me by the collar. That trailer single-handedly got me hyped for this game with its style and amazing music.

So I thought, “I should probably play Persona 4 then.” So I went out and bought a Vita and Persona 4 Golden because of this trailer and I played through that game in under a month sometimes playing it all day and now Persona 4 Golden is my second favourite game of all time.

Persona 5 looks to be just as amazing. As someone who is not fond of turn based combat the rest of the game manages to pull me in that it doesn’t matter to me, the sense of style the Persona series exudes is like no other and Persona 5 looks as if it will take that to the next level, stuff like the menu design to the post battle animations is just a joy to look at.

I never usually pre-order games, or spend more than £35 on them, but not only have I pre-ordered Persona 5, I've gone and ordered the £80 Special Edition because I feel so strongly about this game, also big props to Deep Silver for getting the game to European regions the same day as the states, instead of the usual 8 month wait we have for Atlus games. 

So looking on to 2017 and all of the amazing games lined up, Persona 5 – to me – stands tall in-front of them all to be my most anticipated game of 2017.