#quenthel special

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shit durge says

bonus some generic lines:

#quenthel special #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #dark urge #the dark urge #dark urge spoilers #a little bit of gale also lol

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every now and again i just think about how good disco elysium's game design is. like you can pick from 3 archetypes and if its your first pt and you are intimidated by the skills to make your own build its a quick onboarding point to have those 3 archetypes but ALSO each of them have one of the more "esoteric" skills. like brawns harry has SHIVERS, where the most profound dialouge of the game comes from most of the time. Brains Harry has conceptualization but also encyclopedia and even visual calculus so you get incredibly punchy moments right off the bat (encylopedia recognizing the kineema's sound that wakes harry up, viscal having that one moment of "what am i doing? -something you have before many times") and the feelings harry has both inland empire yes which also explores harry's mental state but ALSO espirit de corps introduction to kim legit blew my mind when i first heard it. what a way to introduce the most important side character in the game. like there are no wrong choices what you are going for bc even these starter builds are made so you get to see at least a chunk of the coolest shit the game has to offer

#quenthel special #disco elysium #i will never not be thinking abt disco....

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gog agog fashion week

#quenthel special #k6bd #kill 6 billion demons #gog agog

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characters who are a swarm of worms or bugs pretending to be people rule so hard...

#quenthel special #got to be one of my fav types out there... #swarm that walks you will always be famous #this post is also abt gog agog k6bd

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My experience with Dragon's Dogma 2 and my thoughts about the true ending (spoilers!)

So first of all I never finished the first game. It just did not captivate me, and I got annoyed by the respawning low level enemies and lack of fast travel. I loved the monster designs and the pawns a lot tho.

Then the second game got announced n I vacillated between getting it and not getting it, while like 90% of my friends were hyping me up. I ended up pre-ordering. I made my pawn after my beloved kittycat Lara.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is very similar to the first game but it feels more polished. The vocations are more fun, the pawns are chattier and cuter, the vibe of the world is a bit more whimsical and sillier than it was. I ended up not minding the low level enemies at all because the combat is just that fun. The npcs are also more charming this time around but the more I played the more I just fell in love with the pawns. The rest of the npcs colored the world, and the game's big quest (aside from continuing the cycle n killing the dragon) is specifically to learn about this world. The pathfinder specifically tells you this the game itself grapes you by the shoulder and invites you to have fun in this light hearted theme park. Kill cool monsters! Meet lovely people! It's very comfy.

BUT THEN the game occasionally has moments that made me feel emotional. And many times these moments were connected to my pawn. When my dear Lara was in danger or dying or in pain in a cutscene it felt meaningful because she is my main pawn. My main traveling companion, my little heal bot. I even presented her to the Sphinx when she asked who I love the most because she is the one always by my side chatting in my ear.

Then I got to the end. And the victory over the dragon felt hollow. Like ok great I did it I saved the world but it's just the same shit right? And where is my pawn? So I triggered the true ending or the beginning of the true ending that breaks the cycle. At first I found this very cool bc I love when games about grand cycles allow you to just upset the order of things... (It was very dark souls like) After I found my pawn sweet Lara again I started taking on the rest of the post game, which was preparing the denizens of the world that it is ending. Lara said she always felt my Arisen's presence like a heartbeat, even while separated.

And as I was facing down the last thing available for me (aside from another quest that glitched out) something very cool happened. The last challenge was killing another of these weird brine dragons, by powering the Gigantus you fight earlier. And it was LARA doing it not my Arisen. And SHE killed the dragon. Like pawns in this game have no free will at all, it's acknowledged many times by the setting. They are mysterious and they exist to help you. They have emotions, and they chitter cutely, but you make them. They are even more doll like than your own player character or all npcs and yet by the end my own pawn was the character I cared for the most. And she started acting without me prompting.

And then it was the end of my journey and I summoned a new proper dragon. And Lara turned into one too (like when pawns get the disease n turn into dragons) but this time she remained aware. And she helped me kill the new dragon. Like the last moment with your poor struggling pawn deciding to help you not because it's their role in this world but because it WANTS to help out of it's free will? That moment will stuck with me for a long time.

And it's such a smart decision too bc your Arisen steps out of the cycle and your pawn your precious companion does too. While the spirit of the game talks about pawns being hollow nothings, your own pawn replies to that that it's not true and it became something because of the player. And this is a game where pawns learn things from you all the time.

Like it just made me think about a lot of things. Fantasy stories and the people in these stories are there to serve a purpose usually (the pathfinder says this exact same thing too). Dragon's Dogma 2 analyzes what it means to exist in one such a story on a level I think. Like it presents you with a beautiful world and with lovely people you can escape to. It's idillyc and you are a hero and you can kill monsters and dragons and you can be so cool. And at first wanting to see the true ending feels like a punishment. Like oh really? You wanted to see this world unravel? Well it's all shit now. All those lovely people are in danger the world is no longer beautiful and everyone is DOOMED. Do you care to struggle? Why do you care to struggle? Do you care for this little doll you made so many hours ago to aid you? Why does it feel meaningful when it gains free will?

I think it's very impactful on a level because I did end up caring a lot. Especially about my pawn transforming into something new. The two of us together remaking the lovely world in which neither of us have a place in...

#quenthel special #dragon's dogma 2 #dragon's dogma 2 spoilers #this is my emotional review.... #also im gonna beat 1 now bc i want to see lol #ill do a proper analysis later maybe #anyway its 2am n i cant sleep... #dragon's dogma

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hmmm... saw a bad post like ok yes fictional characters are objects and you can do whatever w them but ALSO objects can be used to hurt real people so you should approach some subjects with grace and understanding and an underlying sense of love otherwise your story is going to hurt real people like come onnn its not hard to grasp

#quenthel special #like jerk it to whatever you want but putting it out there will hurt a lot of people if its faux*est or rape fantasies or whatever... #like that shit is something you should keep to yourself or discuss w a small group of ppl privately lol

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gortash invents a gun just so him and durge can play russian roulette w it... is this anything

#quenthel special #i have such a clear vision of their relationship you see

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Was thinking abt Bhaalist family dynamics...

#quenthel special #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #dark urge #sarevok anchev #orin the red #sceleritas fel

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also... this might not be my place to make this criticism and i bet a lot of gaming fans of color made similar points but this tendency in rpgs lately to include black companions without actually like... giving them the same amount of love/attention from the writing team is so shit lol. Like Wyll is a good example but also Idira from rouge trader... both of them have interesting personalities and the setup of their characters/character arcs is very good but then around the midway point of the game they get dropped or the resolution feels very tacked on like the writers themselves lost interest. and like on one hand ok rpg writing is a group effort but also many times a single writer is forced to make stories for multiple companions/party of the story etc so its a very large workload my main issue is that it seems to always always be the black characters who get the short end of the stick while (usually white men in the story) get a lot more attention bc the ppl working on them clearly had more fun and felt more inspiration. and again for any creative work inspiration and what ideas stick in your head are very important and can be fickle but like once again.. why is it ALWAYS like this. like are rpg writers just less confident about writing black characters? do they simply lose interest faster? like we cant ignore racist bias here and like ok there is an attempt but imo its not much of an attempt lol. like the other excuse i can think of is these (mostly white) writers being scared to write flawed characters of color bc they are afraid of being called racist for accidentally stepping into some stereotypes but like that just feels a bit... idk cowardly. like on some level i get it but if its your job at least do research and treat these characters the same you would treat white ones... like black characters not allowed moral complexity either is connected to this problem lol... like perhaps this reflects upon some greater social structural issues... and how most white people cant empathize or connect w black characters as much...

#quenthel special #bg3 #rouge trader #once again pillars of eternity gets a crown #eventho pallegina's characterisation is not quite as strong in deadfire... #but that can be said of all returning cast...

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Honestly what really did it for me w Pillars when I first played was the very intense personal pressure on the player character to solve the damn main story. Like in so many RPGs the stakes are so weird bc the world is ending but your character technically has time to solve political bs that has 0 impact on the actual threat etc. But in pillars 1 it's like. Ok. This is a bad situation but not world ending. But also YOU are personally invested to solve this because you are literally losing your sanity bc of your awakened soul and you have to solve it NOW. Like there is no timer but the story is strong enough to press you alone without any quest being timed (some can fail tho if you advance events but that's a moot point).

Like it's not a personal story at all but that little personal investment on the part of the watcher is just so good. Also IG the watcher is just a very good main character bc they are not all powerful but can be. They are special but that's not always a good thing and they do suffer for that. It's good...

#quenthel special #pillars of eternity #wheres that one post abt how nice it is that the watcher is being supported by friends at their lowest point... #bc that too is just very good n hopeful for me... #esp bc its like.. your party does not know you super well but everyone tries to help a little in their own way some moreso than others... #pillars of eternity one you will always be a star for me

[quenthel]

ok but i really dislike when ppl like a thing like a video game or anything like that and they want to justify it morally... saying shit like "SEE this is what happens if the devs have no crunch!! see this is what happens if voice actors get paid enough" and then inevitably news come out that the paychecks got shafted or that there WAS crunch like fucking clockwork.. like for the love of god PLEASE educate yourself abt capitalist production and why these things happen in the first place (not bc individual cruel people but bc the systems and structures of these industries contain inherent cruelty in the name of profit maximalisation) that being said its always funny to be mad at publishers and ceos lol

#quenthel special #its a systematic issue !!! SYSTEMATIC

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amazing line delivery

#quenthel special

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Also honestly back to the topic of bg3 a LOT of companion romance scenes are animated with a specific gendered PC in mind n with little regard to like potential trans bodies also... Also IG some of the romances have these weird heteronormative elements to them that make me just super uninterested in some romances even tho I usually love exploring them in games like this

#quenthel special #esp wyll n minthara... and its such a shame

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Roadwarden is such a good game. Like I just love struggler protagonists and I love that you are just a cog within larger processes and structures and internal politicings... You don't have enough time and energy to save everyone and help everyone and many people don't even want your help. But also the game's larger themes are so good... Do you want to preserve these small isolated communities as they are to protect their unique ways of life or do you open a connection. Either choice is good for some and bad for others. Some communities and people thrive in isolation while others stagnate and wither away. And I love the weight of each decision too. Like do you follow your morals or will you do that in the long run will benefit a town or a village even if it leads to a horrible injustice to go unpunished for example... It's good. Also the writing is just so vibrant like even without seeing any person even once you get to know them so intimately... I love the focus on the small details and gestures because through these you get to know these people so deeply... And if you do your mission and report back rich people will only view them as numbers and by the services they provide and won't even remember their name... Man...

#roadwarden #quenthel special

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Dwarf fortress moods for you

#dwarf fortress #df #quenthel special

[quenthel]

thinking abt this... btw...

#quenthel special #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #gale and durge is making me explode forever...