#multiplayer’s still savage then

[intrepid-fictioneer-7]

"Historical Civilization Cohabitation", for lack of a better term, has always been an obsession of mine.

I don't mean fantasies where the cultures and realms are inspired by historical ones, like in Warhammer Fantasy. I mean a story where a strange (frequently artificial or supernatural) event forces different "great"™ civilizations that rarely or never interacted, as they were separated by great distances or stretches of time, to be stuck together in a new environment where they are neighbors, and the clashes that ensue.

An example of this is For Honor. After a Cataclysm in the 10th-11th centuries that drastically altered the planet's geography and destroyed countless civilizations, three nations consisting of knights, Vikings, and samurai arrived at a new land and compete for its resources by warring against each other, up until what would be present-day for us. It explicitly takes place on our Earth after a point-of-divergence, so these are actual European knights, Norse raiders, and Japanese samurai (who came west after Japan sunk). Although For Honor, being a live-service multiplayer game, has somewhat of an inconsistent lore subject to retcons that is more beholden to what will be interesting for the game than what makes sense. For example, it went from somewhat grounded to magic being real now. Other factions from historical culture have since arrived in the setting, some of which make some sense (a group from ancient China, Scottish highlanders, Arabian warriors, Aztec jaguar warriors who sailed east, Asian pirates similar to wokou and with firearms, etc.) and others that are just straight up impossible (apparently, both the Roman Empire and Ancient Egypt were still alive before the Cataclysm hit them). Another example of Historical Civilization Cohabitation is Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, whose map I posted months ago. The gist is that a science fantasy posthuman civilization (basically elves, dragons, magic, etc. but with added scifi nonsense) recreates world history like a giant historical reenactment experiment, hoping that by retracing their steps they rediscover space/dimensional flight and return to the heavens/space (it is deliberately unclear if actual outer space or actual heaven is meant) they fell down from. They are stuck on the Japanese islands to do it, as the Earth had become mostly uninhabitable at this point, so the archipelago is treated like the "world" in miniature. It's a gonzo series, though it has a lot of, um, sus element in both the plot and the worldbuilding.

The tabletop role-playing game Banestorm is somewhat close to what I mean, but a bit of a different example. It's a setting in which Christians and Muslims from around the First Crusade were transported to a fantasy planet by a botched spell, and now in what would be our modern-day, humans are the dominant species over native elves, dwarves, and orcs as well as fellow transposed races such as hobbits and goblins, and many of these species have converted to either Christianity and Islam. It's really peculiar, but the civilizations there are mostly the medieval Christian and Islamic worlds. There is a land of pagan tribes and a realm created by transported Asian populations, but the pagan savage land is boring and nonsensical, while the Asian realm (named "Sahud") is has aged so poorly it's embarrassing.

But my fascination with this trope started with an old book from my childhood:

For some reason, world history has actually operated in successive cycles, with the same civilizations rising and falling again, in the same process, from the dinosaurs to mankind nuking itself while fighting its robots. While this was happening, the continents continued to drift until they rejoined once again into a super-continent, the Atoll of Zoombira. And the third time history repeated, the civilization found themselves next to each other.

It was not high literature, if you couldn't tell by the title and the goofy map. And not just that, but revisiting it showed really amateurish writing, especially compared to other YA books at the time.

But the setting, of multiple civilizations on a new Pangea separated by walls to stop a literal world war, always stayed stuck in my mind like mold, because of the basic concept but also because of the numerous things it didn't do. The original series never explain why history repeated 3 times, leave much of the history of the nations of Zoombira (just the worse names) blank save for specific plot relevant thing, nevermind the state of the place before they raised their walls. You would think this cyclic history would be something important or a cycle to break or something when it always ends with human extinction. And there is also a fair number of "great"™ civilizations present, but not others for some reason: why no ancient China? Persia? Arabs? Mongols? Incas? Sub-Saharan Africa? North America? And the mechanics of "Jurassium" are outright bizarre, like who built the walls keeping the dinosaurs in and why haven't some of the species spread across the continents instead? Jurassium also has cavemen cohabiting with dinosaurs, and the idea of Paleolithic or Neolithic humans living among dinosaurs is not explored at all. There is the "modern" world in the "contrée oubliée (forgotten country)" that is basically post-apocalyptic and radioactive, which raises even further questions like why didn't they curbstomp the others, why is it still radiated if it's a new cycle (did they nuke themselves again?), and where are the robots who war start the whole end of the world.

All this wasted potential has severely rotten my brain and hasn't left me, making me desire to see more of the same or similar concepts elsewhere as seen in the examples I mention above.

And Historical Civilization Cohabitation, while a cool concept to me, is rarely executed the way I would personally want it to.

[theoutlasttrials24]

Inside The Outlast Trials: A Deep Dive

It’s easy to draw comparisons to Saw or Hostel, but The Outlast Trials carves out its own unique yet familiar atmosphere, and it looks beautifully gruesome, enticing gamers looking to buy Xbox games. Whether you’re playing with friends or solo, the game delivers on what Outlast does best, and Red Barrels nailed the game balancing perfectly for both styles of play. It’s just a pity there’s not much drawing me back once I’ve seen it all. Still, if they add more maps to explore and scream in later on, count me in for another visit to the Murkoff Facility.

Character Roles in The Outlast Trials

Each session follows a similar pattern: sneak into the building, stay low-key, complete the task, and get out. The specific objectives change, but the core gameplay stays consistent, making it a compelling choice for those interested in buying PS5 games. Going solo is totally doable and probably the purest way to play Outlast, keeping that lone wolf vibe where your success depends solely on you. It ramps up the tension, though it does stretch out the missions by like three times. Playing with friends tones down some of the scare factor. One person can distract the creepy stalkers while the other handles the objective, and they can switch roles easily if needed. It makes everything more efficient, which is key since your performance gets graded each session. Being faster, using fewer resources, and taking less damage means a better grade and more XP. As you level up, you earn currency to upgrade your character at vendors in the main hub. The Pharmacist boosts your personal skills, like stamina or inventory size. The Engineer gives you powerful abilities, like healing everyone nearby, seeing enemies through walls, or throwing stun grenades. You can only pick one at a time, so having a diverse team makes a big impact. At level 10, you also unlock The Shadowy Dame who provides perks, sort of like power-ups to enhance your gameplay.

Unpredictable Thrills in Multiplayer Chaos

There’s a group finder feature, though, which is where things really kick off. Finding instant games or forming groups for specific trials—it’s like the game hits its stride here. Playing with randoms is wild and unpredictable. Lobbies light up with chaos—players getting chased, trying to survive while you either dodge the mayhem or jump in to save someone’s skin. But nothing beats rolling with your crew. The Outlast Trials is all about bringing your squad into the madness, where it becomes a savage, scary party. Sure, teamwork makes things smoother, but seeing your friends getting wrecked by horrors—it’s a mix of fun and fear like nothing else. One moment I’m decoding some signal, next thing I know, my teammate’s running past, and suddenly I’m the main course for some psycho killer. That unpredictability amps up the excitement—you never know what your buddies are gonna do next, just hope it doesn’t end with you as monster chow.

Challenging Modes and Team Triumph

The devs are dropping hints about what’s next for The Outlast Trials now that it’s out of early access. New zones and weekly challenges are on the horizon, keeping the hype alive beyond the current content. One thing bugging me though: there's this pricey Reagent Starter Pack with 4 legendary skins and other cool stuff, all just for looks. No in-game store yet, but dropping nearly $30 AUD just to glam up your character feels a bit much. They might rethink this down the line depending on how long the game sticks around. I hope they keep the freebie cosmetics interesting for us non-premium players! After smashing the trials multiple times, you unlock tougher modes like "Advanced Therapy" and "Extreme Therapy". It’s all about ramping up the challenge for bigger rewards, especially if you're brave enough to keep coming back. Collecting new gear after surviving the bloody trials is cool, but surviving with your crew is the real win!

[cerastes]

Did you stop playing FF14 for any particular reason? Did something make you not like it anymore?

Nope, I still highly recommend the game, with the caveat that the game aspect of it begins in the Stormblood postgame (Tsukoyomi specifically), and before that, it's not at all a video game because there's no gameplay beyond having a functioning brain and being able to press buttons, and the other caveat that the storyline really starts in Heavensward, because the writing before then is a powerful anesthetic. This may sound like I'm backhanding the game something fierce but this is my honest, good faith opinion of a game I legitimately enjoyed and do not at all regret spending both time and money on. If you go in with those warnings in mind (in my opinion) it's an amazing experience overall.

I stopped playing simply because I accomplished all I set out to do on it. I am not an MMO guy. I started FF14 with these objectives:

Find out if the narrative was as good as people claimed it was -> It was!

Play through current Savage content through Party Finder -> I did that! It was fun.

Join a static and play Savage content with them -> I did that! I loved my static, the voice chat was always fun.

Then, I found my favorite content in the game: Bozja. That gave me an extra objective:

Beat all 6 of the superboss duels in Bozja, collect all Pages, become Emblazoned (10/10/10) and basically, clear Bozja 100%.

And I did all of it! Technically, I'm at 99% because I am only missing the Delubrum Reginae Savage clear, but I need 47 other players willing to play that if I want to be able to attempt it. It's already old content, so not a lot of people try it anymore. Hell, even getting a queue for regular DR is an ordeal. But otherwise? I busted my ass learning all 6 duels, beat them, and got all Pages.

And when I finally beat the final duel, Lyon's 2nd duel, and finished all that Bozja had for me... I sort of didn't want to play anymore. I would log in for a few more days but I would just sort of meander around Coerthas, decorate my house, or play the market, but... I wasn't really playing anymore. I would just yawn a lot and find myself with nothing to do. After around a week of that, I realized I was done with the game. I 'beat' FF14. I accomplished all I set out to do. I had fun.

So I cancelled my subscription and uninstalled. The game did its job, and it did it amazingly well. I had fun. I did not want to play it anymore, because I was satisfied and had nothing left to do in it.

It also helps it happened around the time Elden Ring was about to release, haha. A friend of mine said "well, it makes sense you love Bozja so much, it's practically solo content with other people instead of multiplayer content" and, it made a lot of sense: I prefer doing my thing, by myself, instead of necessarily needing people for content, and having to go along (forgive how this will sound) with their fuck ups holding me back, when I'm doing perfectly well by myself. That was the appeal of the Bozja duels, really: It's super difficult content, but it's 1 on 1, if you lose in a duel, it's because YOU fucked up, not because one of the other seven people fucked up and took you all down with them. Every time I lost a duel, it was a learning experience, and the solution was simple: I need to get better. I simply need to play better and learn the fight better, that's it. I can't get better for one or more other people in a group of eight. I can get better for myself. Ergo, I like solo content. I mean, I pretty much played through FF14 as a single player game, anyways (I'm so sorry, everyone that made a Coeurl character or transferred to Coeurl because I was there, I'm a hermit in essence, at the end of the day).

But, again, I loved my time with the game and I seriously think it's a wonderful game. I didn't stop playing because I dislike it. I love FF14, it's just, it did its job, and smashingly well at that.

[tunnaa-unnaa]

Pokemon Scarlet&Violet 2nd trailer: Compliments and concerns

New pokemon look awesome! Let others theorize about lore, I’m here for the game mechanics and graphics. Let’s dive in to the trailer for a deeper look!

^ Confirms what we saw in the announcement trailer: Pokemon centers in the field are like rest stops. Notice the beam of light on the roof, so they are presumably easy to find when you’re out there. I like the palm trees here heh.

^ Game crests. The designs imply Scarlet = modern, Violet = traditional. Art deco vs art noveau kind of thing.

^ Professors Sada and Turo however have the opposite theming, and theirs matches the legendaries. Though instead of “traditional” I’d describe Sada “primal”, with the loin cloth style outfit, claw jewellery and ACTUAL FANGS. While I otherwise don’t mind her design, it’s a bit offputting to make your “savage feral lady” darker skinned, though the 3D render is much lighter. Racial stereotypes and whitewashing in the same character, ah. Generic-white-man Turo over there is just forgettable and boring. So overall not a fan of these two. Maybe they’ll have character to make up for the designs.

^ While I enjoy seeing the starters rendered, I can’t say the art direction is very pleasing. SwSh had a lot to improve when it came to graphics, but its art direction knew what they were doing. These guys just look kinda blurry and their shading is messy and lifeless. There’s hope it’ll improve before release, like it did with Let’s Go and BDSP.

^ This rival battle scene looks incredibly rough. The trainers are insanely far apart, small pokemon are barely visible in the middle, scenery is completely uninteresting and that building(?) on the left is the ugliest block of graphics we’ve seen in any game so far. Some red and yellow stuff poking through under the “doors” and just overall a wth experience looking at it.

^ Science guy is here! I just wanted to highlight the contrast in detail between clothing and the backpack, as well as the player character and the npc. A bit jarring tbh. BUT. I do like the speech bubble design. It matters a lot to me - we have to look at these bubbles constantly when we play so them looking neat is a must.

^ Multiplayer in the same world sounds super fun, a big push forward from SwSh. It also looks like you’ll have your pokemon following you so YES, FINALLY THEY GET IT. The world here looks a bit empty though, so I hope it’s not as shallow as it was in PLA and we have actually interesting things to find out there.

^ I like the backgrounds here, implying very diverse scenery, but I can’t say the same for the player customization. If it wasn’t for gen7 and gen8 with their sports uniform nonsense I wouldn’t have to worry, but the fact that all of these characters are simply wearing color-coded school uniforms is very concerning. If they lock us into wearing this kind of outfits for the whole game I might as well die.

^ This is terrifying.

^ ^ Smoliv sneaking and catching scene shows us it’s not PLA mechanics and instead we’re back to classic pokemon style battles and catching. Honestly glad, it wasn’t a concept I wanted for all upcoming games. I want to highlight the hideous background though. The completely flat, blurry ground and untextured tree trunks are... well, yikes.

^ Battle UI is super simplified! I’m conflicted, because although it is nice and sleek, it’s also a bit unpolished almost. Having the opponent status over its head PLA style kinda makes me think you can have battles against multiple wild mons at the same time. If not, the UI choice is a bit odd since it could just use the traditional diagonal corners style.

^ ^ Prepare yourselves to people complaining about attack animations, because we’re back to pokemon standing still and performing motions instead of actually moving. Although I did enjoy the PLA mobile battle arena style a whole lot, I can deal with this coming back for now. It’s a stylistic choice at this point, and saves a lot of dev time that they can spend on more important things.

^ Pokemart, healing, and? I wonder what the third kiosk is for. Also fun to see that it really is a rest stop, with a couch and some tables. Why they felt the need to keep the “corporations and advertisement are just part of the pokemon world now” from SwSh I’ll never know.

^ The two most important pseudo-legendaries are in. We can rest easy.

^ The venonat looked huge so I was excited for pokemon sizes to be back from PLA, but maybe it’s just close to the camera. Gosh please keep the size variations, it was the most fun thing to come out of that game.

^ That’s one ugly cave, though at least it’s not a path disguised as a cave like Crown Tundra in SwSh. What I’m saying is it’s alright but it lacks atmosphere completely.

^ Are these gyms? Activities? Some hints towards a new gimmick? Hard to say yet. At least they look more interesting than SwSh gyms.

^ Koraidon and Miraidon look absolutely fantastic! The trailer-exclusive render of course makes them look even better, but just overall their designs ooze coolness! Nice to have some lizard-inspired legendaries!

^ If Riddler is correct, they’ll be Dragon/Fighting and Dragon/Electric and have multiple forms that the player can ride on in the overworld. Heck, just look at them! - Miraidon already looks like a vehicle, with jets and all. - Koraidon has literal reins on its head. - Both of them have “wheels” on their chests. Not literally, but you can’t deny the look. - Both of them have handle-looking extensions on their shoulders and backrest shaped extensions on their backs.

So it’s not hard to believe. Personally I wish they just gave me a bike and a surfboard and let the legendaries have more dignity than to be reduced to a school kid’s taxi service.

Closing thoughts:

Overall I’m very excited for the games, but it keeps disappointing me how lackluster the visual design of the pokemon games seem to be consistently. What Scarlet&Violet might lack in the visual department I hope it makes up for with new pokemon designs, a fun playthrough experience and a competitive meta without goddamn dynamax.

[kessielrg]

[Kingdom Hearts] Of Memes and Regrets

Summary: In which Lea has a guest star for his YouTube's next Let's Play, and she perfectly steals the show from him.... again. [oneshot][platonic LeaxOC (AxelxOC)]

Rating: K+

Word Count: 2,412 words

If you liked this story, please reblog!

---

Lea glanced at the timer placed by his monitors and nearly tisked at the time.

She was late.

With a rather tired sigh, Lea started to work on making sure his software was still working right. Maybe while he was fiddling around with stuff, Sabrina would join the video chat so they could get a session done. He knew he should have asked Roxas to join again. Xion would be great to bring in too, if she wasn’t too busy working on her next article for her school’s paper. But alas, his subscribers had spoken, and they wanted Miss Priss and her insatiable need to annoy everyone. Especially him, apparently.

Not that he could blame them, she was great on camera.

Lea hummed as he booted up the game they were going to play. It was a review copy he had gotten a few days back, and he was actually looking forward to bumping it. He would be the first to admit to not being a big fan of the original franchise, but the graphics were crisp and the controls were smoother than butter. He knew Sabrina would have an appreciation for it too; as far as he could tell, the female characters were dressed sensibly- not at all designed just for the male gaze. They could have some fun talks about it when she got here. If she got here.

With the game running as expected, Lea started screen recording. He got a few minutes down before turning on his webcam as well. His face appeared on the screen to his left, with the game and recording software on the right. It was a good time to adjust lights while he was at it. Once that was settled, he began recording from the webcam as well. Lea admired himself in the webcam feedback for a moment. It was always better to overshoot, even if you weren’t really doing anything more than vocal warmups and adjusting your lighting.

Lea cleared his throat a bit before going through with his intro. He kept his tone bright and energetic. It was bad form to go in this early at full blast, but if Sabrina wasn’t going to remember their agreement, then he’d have to make due.

“Hey everybody, welcome back to AxelotlGaming! I’m Axel, and we were going to have a guest. Turns out she’s not coming, because at this point, we are well past being fashionably late.” Lea moved a bit away from the mic before grumbling, “It would’ve been nice if she actually bothered to tell me when she wasn’t coming. Could’ve been halfway through a recording by now.” He grimaced before remembering that he was still recording, so he turned back to the camera with a wide grin. He realized he was going to cut out a lot of his annoyance in editing later if he kept this up. The show always goes on, and whatnot.

“With or without our guest,” he went on to say to the webcam, “We’ve been sponsored to play the new-”

He hated to admit that he jumped when the ping for someone joining the video chat chimed. Lea quickly ended his recording softwares and accepted the newcomer. A new face appeared on the same monitor he kept his webcam feedback on, and he grimaced at seeing them.

“You’re late.” he huffed. He swiveled his car a bit just to glare at her feedback directly. Lea then almost proceeded to get knocked out of his seat looking at her.

Sabrina was a natural beauty and knew it. She was always light on her makeup regimen unless she was going to be seen on video or photograph. Today she did not plan on disappointing; her lips were painted a deep red, her cheeks the faintest of pinks to give the illusion of being an absolute sweetheart, and even the color around her eyes make them look more expressive. It was rather impressive- she must have worked on that for a good hour just to make sure she didn’t look like a raccoon.

“And now you realize why I’m late.” Sabrina smoothly told him, folding her arms with a smirk on her face. Even through the webcam, she looked so in control of everything. Lea didn’t know if it infuriated him, or was genuinely impressed.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said with a wave of his hand. “But know this, princess; just because I have an arguably easy job on paper, it doesn’t mean I don’t keep a schedule too. Got it memorized?”

“Just hire an editor.” she told him in the least of caring tones.

“No way!” he argued back. “I’ve got a certain method to my madness, and I’m not going to have someone else get their fingerprints all over it.”

“What a funny way of saying that no one else is as deranged as you.”

“Enough talk,” Lea then said to her with a clap of his hands, “We should be halfway through a session by now. Start up the game and make it snappy.”

Sabrina gave him a little wave of her hand before doing as she was told. She must have known how late she was- usually when someone told her to do something, her instinct was to react with the opposite. As she did that, Lea also went over his recording equipment and made sure he was recording as well.

“I’m ready when you are,” he decided. “Are you recording everything on your end?”

“Looks like it.” she agreed. Her eyes looked elsewhere for a moment- likely to check if everything was running smooth enough. When her eyes went back to the webcam, she settled back a bit in preparation for the next hour or so of recording.

“Are you doing the intro today?” she asked, gently placing a hand under her chin.

“My show, isn’t it?” Lea smirked. Knowing that she was ready meant it was time to start recording again. About time, too.

“Alright princess, put on your video face.” he warned her. “We’re getting serious in three… two…”

Both of them shifted in their spots slightly to appear more presentable. Lea gave them a few more moments of getting comfortable before going through his intro.

“Hey everybody, welcome back to AxelotlGaming! I’m Axel, and today I’ve got a very special guest. Special guest, why don’t you introduce yourself. Not that you need it, of course.”

“Of course.” Sabrina smoothly agreed, even twisting a piece of her hair. She looked at the webcam before giving a double wave to it. Her voice carried a perkiness never seen before as she said, “Hey guys! You asked for me, so here I am! Your favorite Lady Sabi here to show up, ah, I mean, play with Axel today.”

“So humble.” Lea playfully retorted. Sabrina only gave a wide -rather smug- smile in return.

“What are we playing today, Axel?” she cheerfully chirped. For a moment, Lea wondered if he was friends with a bubbly airhead instead of a pessimistic downer.

“We’ve been sponsored to play the new Blue Bomber MMO called ‘Renegade Chaser.’” he said, gesturing his hands to the side. He’ll edit in the box art during post. “Designed with old and new fans alike, Renegade Chaser can be played online and off with both multiplayer and single player modes.”

“Sell out.” Sabrina coughed into her hand.

“Yeah, well,” Lea mused, “Not all of us get free stuff just by looking pretty on Instagram. Of course, with almost a million followers at PrincessSabiAes2012, you’ve almost got enough influence to carry this channel on your own.”

“Nice plug.”

“Why thank you.”

“Bad rep for you though.”

“Why thank you.”

Sabrina let out a genuine laugh at his misfortune. But this was the kind of repertoire his subscribers enjoyed between them. Just hearing her laugh gave him a vision of a future comment along the lines of ‘hearing Sabi laugh at Axel adds 9,999 years to my life.’ Too bad the actual object of Sabrina’s -disguised- affection wasn’t on YouTube much, let alone have an account. Which was all for the best- he didn’t want to admit it, but Ventus got jealous real easy. Embarrassingly easy, depending on who you asked.

“Now that you’ve harassed me and we’re not even a minute in, how about we pop into game and see what we’ve got?”

“Let’s.” Sabrina agreed with a sweet little nod. 

Lea stole a look at her as she adjusted some things on her end to make sure her game footage was being recorded. Lea chastised himself for being so focused on her. He needed to stop getting distracted by her Clark Kent-ing her onscreen persona. But the switch was just so… uncanny, to put it in the nicest terms possible. There’s no wonder that despite her near million followers, Sabrina had yet to be recognized by any of them in person.

Lea shivered before continuing with his show. Two minutes of recording down, another 58 to go.

. . .

You could tell Sabrina was having a hard time getting used to the game because for ten straight minutes she did nothing but harass Lea instead. Not that it wasn’t to be expected- she was a puzzle girl, not a shoot-em-up girl. That being said, once she figured out the controls, she was nigh unstoppable. She even managed to figure out the special weapons before Lea could. Of course he called her a cheater for it. As long as it was in good fun, who really cared- right?

Another disorienting thing about Sabrina; she kept going from her usual snark to bubbly sunshine in mere seconds. The true (or as true as she wanted to be) part of her came through when she was at her most frustrated. It was yet another thing that his regular viewers came to appreciate of her. A lot of viewers really hated her bubbly self, even though it was arguably when she dished the most one-liners. Lea knew she was actually having a good time when she let the side of her he usually saw come through. That little lady knew how to be a savage and thrived in it.

One such occasion happened during this session. While the two were playing around with the various modes the game had, Lea had found a one-on-one free-for-all that the two took to immediately. Sabrina got so into beating him that he had to talk directly to her or else all commentary would have gone flat. Every word that came out of Sabrina’s mouth was straight from her mind, with no conscious censoring in the slightest. Lea feared so much for her that he intentionally threw the match. He did put up a fight- but it was definitely one of their shorter matches. Sabrina didn’t seem to notice as the victory screen appeared for her.

“Yes!” Sabrina gleefully declared, slamming her hands into her desk before giving her chair a spin. As the chair slowly came to a halt, she threw one of her hands over her head and gave an absolutely satisfied expression.

Lea knew right away that the moment his viewers saw that reaction, there were going to be memes of it. He could practically see them now- a really poor screenshot of that slightly worrying pose she was making, Impact font saying stuff like 'when bae buys you tacos without asking' or 'when Lea's such a moron and makes winning easy.' He'd have to ask her for her footage. He could emphasize the moment to help make some of those insufferable jpegs look slightly better.

It wouldn't have been so bad, but Sabrina was already the source of one of his channel's memes. 'Scrub my feet, peasant' was a line uttered during one Monopoly match that did not go in Lea's favor. Sabrina had also made a rather memorable pose in her chair, coupled with a rather smug face. It became so popular that Lea had to get her permission to make it into a t-shirt. Both Sabrina and his viewers had yet to live it down; Sabrina wearing the shirt anytime she knew the two of them would be in the same room together, and his viewers still made comments that referenced the line.

Good thing she was more of an Instagram queen and not a YouTuber. Lea would probably lose half his subscribers the moment she actually posted videos of her own.

“Heh, I let you win, my lady.” Lea boasted. This realization came to Sabrina with a slow grimace.

“You did.” she said in disappointment. She then smirked at him (not at the camera, but him directly on the screen), before spitting, “There are other ways to flirt with me than making me look superior to you.”

“Oh yeah?” Lea snorted. “Like what?”

Sabrina then smirked like she was taking on a challenge.

“Oh Axel,” she purred into her microphone. Almost immediately, Lea could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “If you wanted a mistress to teach you how bad of a boy you are, you could have just asked. This doesn’t have to be hard.” She paused for a moment, just to make it dramatic. “Unless you want to be…”

Lea was dead certain that his soul left his body for a hot second. His face absolutely betrayed him, though. He looked away just to hide how red it was.

“Oh well, just look at the time.” Lea decided, already reaching for the keyboard key to finish the recording. “We’re all gamed out for the day. Thank you for watching!”

“But Axel, we still have ten-”

“Thanks for watching!” he loudly declared before smacking the keyboard key. Not long after, his head hit the desk in both relief and frustration.

“Are you alright?” Sabrina questioned, a teasing smirk still on her lips.

“God I hate you.”

“You gonna be alright with that nosebleed?”

“Shut up.” Lea whined.

Sabrina just laughed at him. To rub salt into the wound, she ended the video chat mid-laugh. It was far too effective in leaving a phantom image of her on his mind. Lea let out another groan as he thought about his viewers’ reaction. This was going to be an episode to remember, he had no doubt about it. It was likely going to fuel even more rumors that the two had the hots for each other- which was the last thing he wanted.

He really needed to stop inviting her back.

[zet-sway]

@the-wip-project day 24:

Have you ever read a thing in a book or seen in a show/movie where you thought: "Oh, this is good, I'm gonna steal that!" What was it?

Well recently the only media I've consumed outside of video games has been documentaries and podcasts. I did one audiobook in the science fiction genre but it was generally pretty boring (and a lot of UST, what a waste :c ). But when I'm reading other people's fics I really do want to steal shit all the time. I just don't do it.

I'm hyperfixated on wordplay.

Every time I read someone else's fic there's always some line that jumps out at me and I feel like - damn I'm jealous I didn't think of that.

It's not a mean kind of jealousy. I love and enjoy the differences between writers. I am just so damn hyperfocused on finding new and exciting ways to string words together. I take a long time to edit my fics because I'm lost on tiny details like "did I start too many sentences with pronouns" and "did I use the same sentence formula twice in a row" and "wow here I go again throwing unnecessary adjectives where they don't need to be" (please tell me I'm not the only one who does this omg).

One time I read someone's profile on FF.net (literally back in like 2011) that said one of their pet peeves was adverbs. They hated adverbs, called them lazy writer shortcuts. Now I'm anxious about using adverbs. I still use them because I think they're lovely (hahahahahahaha I did that) but I do try to cut back, re-arrange words, eliminate them when they become overused.

I think I focus too much on how the words flow together and when I see someone write a bunch of words I've never seen in the same sentence together, I get all excited and I wanna "borrow" them.

But I don't do it because here in the shrios community we're a pretty small group and it would be very obvious if I did that. I will admit to stealing some wordplay from authors I read a long long time ago, but at what point does it become just fuzzy memory? I truthfully can't remember where I read "feeling his jaw work as he ate her." I know for sure I read it somewhere, but fuck I really can't remember where or when. That's why I decided to borrow it (with my luck that person is probably reading this post lol I'M SORRY Jfjslfsdjf).

I enjoy reading other people's fic even outside my OTP because people are so clever and it's very exciting. When I write, I try to think of a new mechanism I want to try, instead of stealing other people's words. I still hyperfixate on wordplay but I try to curtail this urge by re-reading others' work, trying to understand the storytelling rather than saying like "pretty words look gud me likey."

And since we're here - I AM ABOUT TO GO OFF ON A TANGENT - I saw this great post about how every artist thinks "wow when I can draw like that I'll know I finally made it" and how that mentality prevents them from enjoying what their viewers love about their work - their own unique style. I am trying to tell myself I have my own unique style.

But even if I don't, the fact is, the fanfic writing community has actually - truthfully - literally (lol adverbs again) - never EVER treated me bad. YOU PEOPLE ARE SO KIND WHAT THE FUCK???? I just came out of a 2+ year WoW gaming binge in which I tore myself apart DAILY because I could not measure up to the community's expectations. People are fucking savages on multiplayer games. I'm not traumatized but I'm also not willing to accept that kind of environment for myself anymore. The kindness of writers has been earthshattering for me. Yes I am going to continue on my tangent yup yes I am

I'm starting to see why for years, I lost the drive to be kind. It's exhausting and lonely to put positivity out into the world only to have it returned with vitriol. That's what my WoW experience has been like over the last 12+ months. It's become so dog-eat-dog over there. I'm not saying I'll never play wow again, but holy shit I needed some distance to get my fucking priorities straight.

Being on tumblr has been a sobering reminder that there are spaces where people exchange kindness. I'm not trying to say that every wow player is a piece of shit, because they aren't. But the loudest and most hurtful ones really left a mark on me. I'd just like to give a big heartfelt mushy thank you to tumblr and my followers and anyone who's ever offered a helping hand instead of verbally eviscerating a stranger.

[okradreamworl]

Among Us Fandom Notes + Undertale Spinoff

I found the game everyone’s talking about and I can just say I love jackbox TV as much as this. Party multiplayer games are fun I downloaded the app. Haven’t played it yet so I’m watching Dream Team play it.

It’s possible there will be roleplaying for this game because it’s a group of crewmates and Imposter(s) (only one unless customized by host) in space. It’s from the same creator of Henry Stickmin, so we just got Among Distractus. 

Another is crossovers. Undertale is most likely to fuse with this game as a genocide route spin-off. A group of Monsters, One Human. Monsters get to host aggressive royal guard meetings to Discuss who is the Human. Human has to stab Monsters behind their back for LV to sabotage puzzles and traps you’ve recently completed. UnderNet is used to openly share information who could be controlling as Human. The game on the Surface then gets taken down due to racial offense against Humans, from Monsters thinking they are still savages after the Human saved everyone, but that’s only if they take that seriously. This is a game that can start another war between these two races.

[o-w-quinlan]

Game Journal: Tag Tamers - Entry #02

Previously on the journey: Ken and Ryo got separated into two mirror worlds due to Milleniummon space-time shenanigans.

Now: Ken takes a detour through some tropical islands to beat up a dinosaur except various babies try to ambush him for some reason (or maybe Ken is ambushing them), then Gennai bends the laws of space-time to tell Ryo to do the same. Ryo then climbs up a mountain and faces the same dinosar (now extra shiny), who’s taking this oddly personal.

After the events of the prologue, two portals have opened in the village. One leads me to the prologue forest, while the other one leads me to a small archipielago. Each island has a dungeon in them, and the way to the next one is blocked until we beat it. For this area, all three dungeon is only populated by Baby I and Baby II level digimon, with the exception of the boss fight.

Digimon of the same level have the same health, and each member of my team has different abilities. Patamon here (who evolved from Tokomon after beating the first dungeon) also has an additional “Pegasusmon” ability, by virtue of having the Digimental of Hope equipped. Enemies can inflict status effects, nerf my digimon or buff themselves. I can also buff my offense or defense by pressing the A button before an attack connects.

Following each fight, there’s a small rest area where various things can be located. So far I’ve found random items (including several Digimental parts), a HolyAngemon that heals me, a Tyranomon that ambushes me into a fight, the shop and the foundry for digimentals, and two paths instead of one, where I think the wrong one makes you fight more battles. This helps make the gameplay somewhat less monotonous than in Anode/Cathode Tamer. On the way, Ken collects parts of the Courage and Love Digimentals.

Clearing each dungeon sends me back to Gennai’s home, healing me. Then, a strong tremor is felt and a new structure appears in one of the areas. All of them so far seem to be aimed for multiplayer or conectivity with the V-Pets/Digivice, though, so I can’t use them.

Anyway, we soon arrive at the third and final dungeon of the islands, the Dark Ship. This one is slightly longer than the previous two, having a Betamon appear after a fight and telling us that there’s a savage digimon up ahead. The Betamon is a liar, though.

It’s 3 savage Adult digimon, when previously I’ve only ever fought Baby digimon. Fortunately, Patamon’s “Pegasusmon” ability is healing, which is better balanced this time around but still a huge advantage. Coupled with how much more powerful my digimon seem from normal ones, I quite easily defeat them.

Of course, not before the Greymon, apparently the leader of the gang, makes a menacing promise to appear later on.

Back with Gennai, the old man has been hard at work and managed to create a “Reload Machine”, a device which allows him to merge the worlds back. Ken is excited to finally be over this adventure, but Gennai tells him it’s just for a moment. When Wormmon questions how this is of any use, Gennai answers that we can now send a message, items and digimon to Ryo. He also complains about the young generation, bringing forth his inner grumpy old man.

Anyway, Ryo has been with Piccolomon in his noticeably less modern house. Gennai and Ken appear, throw a letter and disappear. They learn what the Reload Machine is, and that they must clear a dungeon in both worlds... for some reason. I go through every dungeon again, this time with only Veemon by my side (who is admittedly much more powerful than Wormmon).

Remember how I said the enemy could buff themselves? I wasted time defeating the other two, more powerful enemies during this battle and let this Zurumon bufff its defenses to insane degrees. I was doing a single point of damage per turn, and since V-mon also automatically buffs his defense after being hurt, Zurumon was also only doing 1 point of damage. This battle lasted 43 turns, nearly 40 of which was just slowly taking out a Baby 1 level enemy.

Anyway I get to Greymon here (who, according to a Tanemon right before the boss room, is somehow capable of travelling between worlds). He warns me that the old tricks won’t work on him. Given I’m not using the old digimon, it’s a moot warning, but his team of 3 Adults still overwhelm me with numbers. Time to see if I unlocked more digimon.

I get Poromon and Upamon, who I promptly name after their partners in 02 (I hadn’t thought of doing that before, so my Patamon is just called Tom). They are not quite as useful as Patamon (even after evolving), but it’s more than enough to utterly defeat Greymon. As a consequence, a new portal opens in the village, which leads me to a different continent, a mountain area.

Here, the “normal” enemies go up to Child-level. It’s not particularly harder in individual battles, but over time the damage adds up to be worrisome. Otherwise, the level is pretty much the same thing as the ocean level, with two minor dungeons and a major one. Ryo collects parts of the “Sincerity” and “Purity” Digimentals here.

In the end, I come face to face with a MetalGreymon, the evolved form of the past enemy. As before, it takes me two tries to defeat him. Once I do, he threatens me again, revealing himself as an agent of Millenniummon. Piccolomon comes to the conclusion that he may be setting up a trap for Ken in the mirror world, so we contact him through the Reload Machine. Now in control of the blue-haired boy, I set out to clear the Mountain Area and face MetalGreymon once again.

This is it for today’s entry. Quite a lot happened, though mostly I wanted to make clear how this game plays, so I don’t have to explain this in future entries. It’s interesting that they’re trying to built up another enemy before facing Millenniummon. Before the closest thing to a recurring one was PicoDevimon, but this Greymon is a much more active fighter. See you next time!

[aion-rsa]

The Best Games of 2020

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Despite how almost every other aspect of the year went, 2020 was a landmark year for video games. Not only did it see the release of highly-anticipated titles like The Last of Us Part II, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ghost of Tsushima, and Cyberpunk 2077, but 2020 also marked the beginning of a new generation of console and PC gaming with the release of the Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and new GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD. We even got a new Half-Life game this year!

What would’ve made the gaming year ever better? Big-name video game companies could have done more to eliminate development crunch and be more transparent about their business practices with customers and the press. And we definitely could have all been nicer to each other.

But video games also helped keep us connected when we couldn’t see our friends and loved ones in person. They helped us travel to new and interesting places when we couldn’t leave our homes. Most importantly, all 20 games on our best-of-the-year list made us feel excited about this medium at a time when it was so difficult to enjoy anything else.

To that affect, Den of Geek is celebrating 20 video games our contributors and critics, as well as our community of readers, voted as the very best of 2020.

20. Star Wars: Squadrons

For the last decade or so, most Star Wars games have focused on the power fantasy of being a lightsaber-swinging, Force-wielding Jedi. That’s all well and good, but for a long time it seemed like everyone forgot that some of the most beloved Star Wars games of all time were actually space shooters like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and Rogue Squadron. In many ways, Star Wars: Squadrons is a throwback to those games, both in terms of gameplay and design. Controls are a pitch perfect mix of arcade simplicity and strategy, requiring quick thinking about whether to focus your ship’s power on attacking or defending.

Squadrons is also much more tightly focused than other recent games from large publishers, with a breezy yet enjoyable single-player campaign, and a multiplayer mode that, while light on modes, eschews the more annoying modern conventions of the online PvP like invasive microtransactions. But Squadrons is not stuck in its old school ways.

If you have the hardware for it on PC or PS4, you can jump into the cockpit of any of the playable ships for one one of the most immersive VR modes around. Similar to how The Mandalorian has rejuvenated the live-action side of the Star Wars media empire, Squadrons is a perfect mix of all of the best things we’ve always loved about Star Wars video games, and everything we want them to be going forward.  – CF

19. Journey to the Savage Planet

Science fiction writers have long held on to this idea that, if and when humankind eventually colonizes the universe, it will do so as some sort of united, utopian entity, like Starfleet. But that future seems less and less likely every day. If and when humanity spreads across the stars, it will likely be messy, absurd, and profit-motivated. Journey to the Savage Planet wallows in that type of future. As an unnamed human (or dog, if you choose), you’re dropped onto the planet AR-Y26 by Kindred, the fourth biggest intergalactic exploration company with the simple goal of collecting as many resources as possible and leaving.

The Metroidvania gameplay loop of crafting equipment to access new areas is compelling, a rarity for 3D games in the genre. And it offers plenty of surprises too. You’ll start off with the typical blaster and scanner before eventually unlocking a grappling hook that lets you swing around levels like Spider-Man. But it’s style that ultimately lifts Journey to the Savage Planet above so many other games released in 2020. For one thing, the world and the fauna you’ll encounter are incredibly unique, and well, alien. And the regular live-action updates from Kindred beamed directly to your ship are among some of the funniest and most bizarre cinematics out this year in any game, providing plenty of motivation to see this journey through to its end. – CF

18. Half-Life: Alyx

As VR gaming continues to evolve, it’s becoming clear that the technology is more than just one truly great game away from widespread adoption. If that were all it took, then Half-Life: Alyx would have put a VR set under a lot of Christmas trees. 

It’s truly wild to think that we got a new Half-Life game this year and that it sometimes feels like the game’s release was barely a blip on the cultural radar. While its somewhat muted debut can be attributed to its VR exclusivity (and the fact it launched at the onset of a global health crisis), Half-Life: Alyx surpassed all possible hype by offering a truly incredibly narrative-driven adventure bolstered by some of the cleverest uses of VR technology that we’ve ever seen.

Half-Life: Alyx isn’t the first great VR game, but Valve’s glorious return to form does shows how VR can advance fundamental elements of gameplay and storytelling rather than just show familiar games from a new perspective. – MB

17. Carrion

The indie game space is where you typically see the most experimentation, and this year proved no different when the gruesome and morbid Carrion released back in July. Highly inspired by the likes of John Carpenter’s The Thing, Alien, and other cult classic horror films known for their excellent use of practical SFX, this platformer cleverly flips the script, putting you in the role of the monster to dispatch helpless scientists in the claustrophobic depths of an underground lab as an ever-growing amorphous blob creature. What follows is a brief but effective 2D platformer that is fast paced and delectably gory.

The controls could have made controlling the creature a real pain, but Phobia Game Studio recognized that the key here was letting you move swiftly through the levels. As such, gliding through vents to take down scientists from above or underneath quickly becomes second nature. Encounters still pose a good degree of challenge, however, thanks to the heavily armed soldiers that show up later in the game, but this never stops Carrion from fulfilling every horror aficionado’s devilish fantasy of being the bloodthirsty monster. – AP

16. Kentucky Route Zero

Calling Kentucky Route Zero an homage to classic point-and-click adventure games is technically correct, but it doesn’t come close to doing the experience justice. Kentucky Route Zero is more like a poem or fable in video game form. It’s a feeling, a distillation of what it’s like to come of age in the Great Recession and its fallout over the last decade. Kentucky Route Zero is an epithet for rural America told through a fever dream, an examination of a version of rural Appalachia where talking skeletons and robotic musicians live alongside gas station attendants and truck drivers.

Nothing about Kentucky Route Zero fits the typical confines of what we expect from a video game, and that includes its release. Developed by a team of only three, the first episode of the five-episode experience was released in 2013, but the final product was only realized in early 2020. That lengthy development cycle meant that the game’s scope and story could grow to only better encapsulate this moment in time, and the final product stands out as one of best games of the year. To say more is to spoil its excellent story. – CF

15. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Though it’s been a hot minute since skateboarding games dominated the console space, Vicarious Visions’ excellent remake collection of the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater titles was a reminder of how the entire series captured a whole generation of players in the late ’90s and early ’00s. Whether it’s grinding down rails, performing kickflips, or landing the gravity-defying 1080 on a vert ramp, everything in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 feels and looks exactly as you remember it but touched up with modern flare. That’s the mark of any great remake, and why this game in particular was the best example of the practice this year.

Classic skating locations like Warehouse, School and Downtown have all been faithfully remade from the ground up for a 21st century audience, effortlessly delivering the same thrills and balanced challenge as they did before. The fact that select mechanical features like reverts, which wouldn’t arrive until later entries, have been retroactively added is also a nice touch, instantly making Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 the definitive way to experience these skateboarding classics. – AP

14. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

The fact that Ori and the Will of the Wisps managed to usurp the critically acclaimed 2015 original in most design aspects speaks to just how well Moon Studios has mastered the art of the Metroidvania. Whisking players off on another tight 10-hour journey set within a mystical forest full of secrets to discover, this 2D adventure gives off a fantastical vibe in a way few others do. It’s an expert blend between smart combat mechanics, highly polished platforming, and emotional storytelling. That it runs at a silky 60 fps both on Nintendo Switch and Xbox is the cherry on top.

The major improvements Will of the Wisps makes over Blind Forest relate to saving and combat. Whereas previously it was the responsibility of players to lay down specific checkpoints, progress is now more in line with other 2D platformers and less punishing. Combat, meanwhile, has been completely revamped with the inclusion of special charms and upgradeable skills, most of which result in more flexible enemy encounters. These tweaks are implemented without ever compromising on Ori’s core hook of magical exploration and challenging platforming, instantly making it one of the best Metroidvanias out there. – AP

13. Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone was a natural and perhaps even necessary evolution for the long-running shooter franchise, carving out a space for it in the ever-crowding battle royale genre. While it’s largely derivative of battle royale titles that came before, the staggering 150-player count, always excellent CoD controls, top-notch presentation, and flexible cash system have made it eminently popular and fun for casual players and series vets alike. The CoD fan base feels vibrant again after years of stagnation in the shadow of breakout titles like PUBG and Fortnite, and that’s without going into how Warzone has revitalized the franchise’s presence in the streaming space.

One of the best facets of the game’s design is that the large player count all but ensures that, even if a player is new to the genre or series, the chances of them being the absolute worst player in the field is very low. Better still, the “Gulag” respawn mechanic opens up the possibility for ultimate revenge should you earn your way back into the match, which is a nice way to up engagement for those who suffer disappointing deaths.

The game doesn’t feel quite as dynamic or high-stakes as some of its competitors on the market, but it’s definitely one of the easiest to pick up and play. It’s no wonder Warzone has expanded CoD’s already enormous audience over the course of 2020. – BB

12. Astro’s Playroom

With launch lineups mostly filled with graphically enhanced releases of last-gen games, the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X has been more than a little underwhelming. The one bright spot is Astro’s Playroom, a little first-party Sony game that received virtually no pre-release hype and comes pre-installed on every PS5.

While at first glance a typical 3D platformer, Astro’s Playroom soon reveals itself to be a fantastic showcase of what’s possible with the new DualSense controller. In one level, you’re feeling the resistance from the controller’s adaptive triggers as you spring jump through obstacles dressed as a frog. In another, you’re expertly moving the controller back and forth to climb walls in a robotic monkey suit. Even just standing in the rain causes the controller to pulse ever so slightly with each drop. And all of this takes place across worlds celebrating the entire history of PlayStation, where you collect classic consoles and accessories, culminating in an unexpected boss battle throwback to an original PSX tech demo.

Astro’s Playroom may be short, but it’s an oh so sweet and exciting taste of what’s possible with the power of next-gen consoles. – CF

11. Doom Eternal

It would have been easy for Doom Eternal to be more of the same. After all, 2016’s Doom became the surprising gold-standard for single-player FPS games by virtue of its clever writing and gameplay that blended the best of classic and modern design concepts. Yet, Doom Eternal proved to be something much more than “the same but bigger.”

With its arena-like levels and resource management mechanics, Doom Eternal sometimes feels like a puzzle game set in the Doom universe. While the transition to this new style can be jarring, you soon find that Doom Eternal is speaking the same language in a different dialect. The brutal brilliance of a classic Doom game remains but it’s presented in the form of a kind of FPS dance that puts you in a state of pure zen once you figure out how to make that perfect run through a room full of demonic baddies. 

Four years after Doom showed this old franchise could pull off new tricks, Doom Eternal proves that this series is at the forefront of FPS innovation once more. – MB

10. Demon’s Souls

Although initially released in 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Demon’s Souls would help define the next generation of gaming by establishing the Soulslike genre, which has influenced everything from recent Star Wars games to The Legend of Zelda. The “problem” is that the legacy of Demon’s Souls has been sort of eclipsed by the accomplishments of its successors.

That’s the beauty of the remake for the PS5. Aided by the power of the console’s next-gen hardware, developer Bluepoint Games pays homage to one of the most historically significant games of the last 15 years while wisely updating it in ways that show that the foundation of FromSoftware’s breakthrough hit remains arguably the best entry in a genre that isn’t exactly lacking in modern classics. 

In a year where finding a next-gen console proved to be more difficult than any Soulslike game, Demon’s Souls remains the best reason to battle the bots at online stores in the hopes of joining gaming’s next generation as soon as possible. – MB

9. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

There were multiple times this year where couped-up players relied heavily on “bean” games to help maintain a human connection. Before Among Us dominated the Twitch streams, it was Mediatonic’s intentionally clumsy and hilarious Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout that had us competitively raging with our friends. It did so by merging the wildly popular battle royale genre with the inflatable-fueled antics of early ’90s game shows, where dodging swinging hammers and battling giant fruit against 59 others became the norm for a few weeks – all in the pursuit of winning a highly coveted crown.

Needless to say, making Fall Guys free to PS Plus subscribers for a month turned out to be a genius marketing move, urging everyone to hop into the game’s inventive gamut of levels and make a fool of themselves. Much of what sets it apart from other battle royale attempts is its low-skill barrier to entry, and thanks to frequent seasonal updates, new unlockable outfits and fresh mini-games always being added, bumbling to the top of the pack as a colorful bean remains consistent fun. – AP

8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Animal Crossing: New Horizons should be included in history books about the Covid-19 pandemic. Releasing just as lockdowns were being instituted across the globe, New Horizons provided the escapism we so desperately needed while quarantining, attracting not just the usual Nintendo fanbase, but even those who had never played games in the past but were now looking for something to occupy their time at home. Whether we played it with friends or alone, New Horizons provided the routine and distraction that so many of us needed in a world suddenly thrown into chaos.

Of course, it helped that New Horizons is the best Animal Crossing game to date, with tons of new ways to customize your island (and yourself). And as Covid-19 restrictions have stretched much longer than many of us anticipated, New Horizons has kept pace, with Nintendo releasing a steady stream of new fish to catch, fruits to harvest, and events to participate in throughout the year. It may not be the game that everyone wanted, but New Horizons is the game that 2020 needed. – CF

7. Cyberpunk 2077

When Cyberpunk 2077’s legacy is written, there’s no doubt that the opening chapter is going to focus on the bugs, technical shortcomings, and empty promises that have turned what looked to be one of 2020’s guaranteed hits into one of modern gaming’s most debated debuts. 

Yet, the reason that this game’s initial issues will likely not ultimately define it is that Cyberpunk 2077 reveals itself to be a special experience whenever you’re able to play it without crashes or bugs ruining your experience. From its stunning side quests that revive one of The Witcher 3’s best elements to its shockingly human narrative, Cyberpunk 2077 regularly showcases the undeniable talent of the individuals who battled internal and external factors to deliver their vision. 

Cyberpunk 2077’s technical problems wouldn’t hurt as much as they do if there wasn’t a truly great game at the heart of them that people are begging to be able to play as intended. – MB

6. Final Fantasy VII Remake

The pressure was on for Square Enix from the moment it announced Final Fantasy VII Remake back in 2015. For those who obsessed over the original back in 1997, the prospect of a remake was the stuff dreams were made of, and this year we finally got to relive Cloud, Aerith, Barret, and Tifa’s grand adventure (the first act of it, at least) with fully updated, well, everything. Astonishingly, the remake actually lived up to expectations and delivered not just a faithful update to the original game but a modern RPG that stands as one of its generation’s best regardless of nostalgia.

The key to Square Enix’s success was its approach, which aimed not to duplicate the experience of the original game, but to capture the essence and spirit of it while using modern game design to deliver the story in a way that doesn’t feel retro or rehashed at all. The game looks dazzling by 2020 standards (Midgar never looked better) but doesn’t compromise the integrity of the original designs, and the real-time combat—arguably the biggest departure from the original—is a blast to play.

Time will tell how exactly Square Enix will follow through with the rest of the remake as we enter a new console generation, but in the meantime, they studio has left us with a terrific reimagining of the most celebrated title in the studio’s expansive oeuvre. – BB

5. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Ubisoft deserves credit for keeping a franchise like Assassin’s Creed, which is 13 years old at this point, thriving in an industry that is flooded with more open world games now than it ever has been. The series is always competitive in the genre, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla proves why: it’s as refined as any of its predecessors and delivers a balanced experience with a rich world to explore, tons of strange stories to uncover, and a mash-up milieu that combines the eerie atmosphere of 5th-century England with the otherworldly spectacle of Norse mythology.

No open world game is perfect, and Valhalla certainly has a handful of shortcomings. But it’s a bloody good time to play, and there’s so much to do that there’s no question that you get your money’s worth. Eivor’s quest for glory and domination is also arguably the most cinematic story in the entire AC catalog, with some truly breathtaking cutscenes that rival those found in more linear games that can’t sniff Valhalla’s scope. Some of the more otherworldly moments in the back half of the game are pure, unadulterated, nonsensical fun, and overall, this is one of the best entries in the series. – BB

4. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Insomniac is one of those studios that you can always rely on to deliver fun, polished games that shine in every category, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales only adds to the team’s sterling reputation. Building on the already brilliant formula the studio created with the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, Miles’s story is one of loss, friendship, identity, and the strength of the Black and Hispanic communities of Harlem.

The side-quel is also one of the best launch titles arguably ever. While it is a cross-gen game, the PS5 version is currently the best showcase of what next-gen gaming is capable of from a visual and performance standpoint. You won’t find a better-looking New York City in any other video game, period, and Insomniac’s outstanding animation work looks insanely good when bolstered by the PS5’s considerable horsepower. Miles plays differently than Peter Parker did in the original game as well, with his Venom Powers giving enemy encounters a new feel and rhythm.

Insomniac outdid itself with an excellent follow-up that would’ve been a forgettable DLC expansion in the hands of a less ambitious studio. But Miles Morales is one of the best modern-day superhero characters ever created, and it’s only right that he get a game that lives up to his greatness. – BB

3. Hades

The popularity of roguelikes has been calmly bubbling up for years now, yet only in 2020 did it truly become mainstream thanks to an ideal balance between gameplay and story as demonstrated by Hades. Players who previously took umbrage with the genre’s nature to wipe out all progress at each run’s end suddenly had a reason to jump back in, now inspired by Zagreus’ various tries to escape hell and overthrow his eponymous father. This alone sees Hades tower over most of its peers in terms of balance, further backed up by rewarding gameplay and a gorgeous comic book art style that makes the well-worn mythological Greek milieu feel fresh.

Developer Supergiant Games proved its penchant for creating flexible mechanical loops in prior titles, and in many ways, Hades feels like a culmination of all those ideas distilled in one neat package. It’s a great example of semi-randomized systems layering perfectly on top of other systems, until players eventually find themselves completing runs using distinct weapons, upgrading persistent abilities and slowly discovering which of the god’s many boons gel best with one another. Hades is always a hellishly good time. – AP

2. Ghost of Tsushima

The concept of honor has never been explored in a game as lyrically and philosophically as it is in Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch’s story-driven samurai epic. Jin Sakai’s grand adventure is both brutal and beautiful, stretching across the grasslands and snowy peaks of the titular island, as he pushes the oppressive Mongol army out of his homeland, all the while wrestling internally with the kind of man, warrior, and leader he ultimately wants to be.

This game is outstanding on so many fronts that it’s difficult to list them all here. Visually, it looks so stunning that anyone who walks past your TV as you play is all but guaranteed to stop and stare for a while. The combat is fast and challenging, the stealth mechanic is on-point, the score is sweeping and sentimental, the character models are incredibly realistic, the online multiplayer mode “Legends” is actually a blast to play…and the list goes on. This poetic, pitch-perfect modern masterpiece is emblematic of the soulful, cinematic storytelling PlayStation Studios is known for, and it’s a wonderful way to send the PS4 off into the sunset. – BB

1. The Last of Us Part II (Also Reader’s Choice)

You can’t even say the name of our 2020 game of the year without sparking numerous debates that often make it nearly impossible to have a productive conversation about the game itself. That makes it that much more tempting to somehow find a kind of middle-ground that will “justify” the game’s lofty position to everyone regardless of where they stand. 

The thing about The Last of Us Part 2,though, is that its divisiveness is very much part of the experience. Naughty Dog’s follow-up to arguably its greatest game is a bold attempt to live up to the franchise’s legacy by furthering what came before while trying to find its own way. Much like Ellie herself, The Last of Us Part 2 doesn’t always make the right decisions. Yet, at a time when bigger budgets are seen as an excuse to play it safe, The Last of Us Part 2 impresses through its willingness to present a big, bold, and personal adventure that is often anything but what was expected. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Anyone can generate a little controversy by saying something stupid, offensive, or hurtful. The beauty of The Last of Us Part 2’s controversy is that it stems from a heartfelt attempt to advance the conversation through indie-like passion and big budget production. – MB

The post The Best Games of 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2KKY9QG

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

For the BotW asks: How many hours do you have logged? Favorite mechanic? Did you get a house in Hateno Village? Enemy that scares you the most? Most annoying enemy? Funniest death? Most frustrating part of the game? Something you want in botw 2? A go to recipe? Did you ever shield surf? If so how much? Do you consider yourself having a Linksona now that you've played BotW? (tumblr is being stupid and logged me out... hence anon)

Okay, so I’ve answered some of these already, but I will answer the new ones!

2. How many hours have you logged? 

I’m not really sure because my Nintendo Account is weird and doesn’t tell me, but I think it’s between 300 and 400 hours.

20. Did you get a house in Hateno Village?

Yes! It was one of my favorite side quests! I keep all of the Champions’ weapons in there because I don’t want to break them!

23. Enemy that scares you the most?

Lynels. They’re the only ones that routinely and consistently kick my ass, not to mention how after I beat Ganon they all turned to Savage Lynels. However, I will not deny that the initial piano riff of the Guardian still gives me heart palpatations.

24. Most annoying enemy?

Mounted bokoblins and keese. Mounted bokoblins are terrible and I wish they all would just go away and leave me and my horse alone, but keese just…make all matters worse. You’ll be fighting a hoarde of enemies and suddenly a goddamn KEESE comes in and I’m like? Really??? Honey???? This is none of your business??????? Not to mention that they’re EVERYWHERE and just come at the worst times.

28. Funniest death?

The death itself isn’t really funny, but I have Hero’s Path Mode because I got the DLC, which basically shows where you’ve been and how you’ve died, and I died approximately 30 times in the same area on the Great Plateau because I tried to fight those bokoblins by the skull near the bridge. For some reason I just…could not beat them, and it’s really funny to just watch my little cursor die so many times before moving on to the next place I’d been. 

36. Most frustrating part of the game?

You’d think it would be rain, but I actually HATE how snow and sand slow you down! It’s a PAIN to lose all that defense and perks by equipping the snow and sand boots, and I wish that the Desert Voe and Snowquill outfits just did that on their own. 

42. Something you want in Breath of the Wild 2?

A bigger supporting cast that plays more of a role in the story! And playable Zelda! (Maybe multiplayer gaming?????)

43. A go-to recipe?

Anything hearty. I had my sheikah sensor set to target big hearty radishes for the longest time, so now my meals consist of EXCLUSIVELY Hearty Fried Wild Greens.

50. Ask Anything!

Do you consider youself having a Linksona now that you’ve played Breath of the Wild?

I don’t think so. I’m not really sure what a Linksona is, but I’d like to find out!

Send me a Breath of the Wild Ask!

[polishedforsurvival]

◈

Mun questions | Accepting | @sincerely-petra

◈  ━ share some headcanons that you have for a muse of your choosing

I’ll stick to Levi since this is his blog haha, and I guess I’ll share headcanons for his modern verse? Since the page I have set up for it now is completely outdated and incorrect and I still haven’t updated it.

Levi worked for ten years as a police officer (very original, I know), the latter half of those being spent as a k9 officer. He’s since then quit – though still volunteers as an auxiliary officer from time to time – and now teaches self-defense and kickboxing. The latter is something he’s participated and competed in since his teens.

He has a German Shepherd named Gunner; this is the same German Shepherd that he raised, trained, and work alongside in the police force. The two of them are inseparable.

He has a pair of wing tattoos that span his back/shoulder blades and down his arms, nearly reaching the elbows. This fan art gives a good idea of what they look like.

Levi’s dad left him and his mom when he was fairly young (around 7-9 years.) His mother never remarried and passed away from illness when Levi was in his mid-teens. He then moved in with his uncle (Kenny) until he was old enough to live on his own. The two of them get along better in this verse than they do in canon – considering how much Kenny’s personality seems to have rubbed off on him and how absent his actual father was, they’re often mistaken as father and son – but they still butt heads sometimes. 

He gives the impression that he’d be terrible at video games and that he thinks they’re “stupid,” but is actually surprisingly good at certain types (namely old arcade games and first-person shooters.) May or may not own an Xbox. 

Still likes things clean but doesn’t mind getting dirty. He’s an outdoorsy guy, it comes with the territory.

Still really into poop jokes.

[brothermouzongaming]

Game Awards highlights

Highlights of the awards are as follows: Roger Clark (Arthur Morgan) won best voice actor, God of War stole Game of the Year from RDR2 as well as best game direction. Fear not, Red Dead did take the award for best narrative, score, and audio design. Celeste won best indie. Deadcells snuck away with best action game. Monster Hunter World took best RPG and...I agree but I also think Nino Kuni, Octopath, Pillars of Eternity and Dragon Quest 11 fans are rightfully mad. Dragon Ball FighterZ takes best fighting game. Fortnite took best multiplayer game, shocker. 

What I wanted to talk about were the announcements and trailers that came between the commercials and cringe-inducing antics of the event. There wasn’t a lot going on but what was announced was very interesting.

Atlas: Pirates and cannons do not excite me, seafaring and swashbuckling just does nothing for me. All that said...wow Atlas really looks impressive. Made by Wildcard and the team consists of many people who put Ark together. This appears to be a full pirate sim mmorpg that plans to hold 40,000 people on one server. Yes. Forty thousand. Is that MAG level hype? Yeah that and then some. This seems to be one of those situations where a game comes out, it flops, and another studio swoops in to capitalize on the disappointment (see Fortnite to PUBG, 2k to Live, FIFA to PES etc). That game I’m referring to is Sea of Thieves and Wildcard appear to be working hard on making the game Sea of Thieves should’ve been. You can watch a trailer here.

MK11: I am so conflicted by this trailer, lemme tell ya. The actual look of the CG trailer was nice, visceral, even cheeky at some points (awful big emphasis on weapons in that trailer). Another obscure and mysterious aspect of this game is time and how that plays into characters and the story potentially. New Scorpion is killed by Evil Raiden, only to be killed by Old Scorpion himself...hmm. Now that makes me think. It was a quintessential Mortal Kombat trailer top to...wait...is that 21 Savage playing in the background?? The song choice did not fit at all, it was like someone at NetherRealms plugged in their phone last minute to compensate for a glitched audio. Literally, anything would’ve been better, Wu-Tang, Freddie Gibbs, Earl Sweatshirt if you had to go the rap route. Yeah, I could be making a big deal out of nothing but I’ve also seen games make unnecessary focus on soundtrack and losing focus on the actual game. All in all, interesting. trailer here

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: Oh boy, oh fucking boy. X-men Legends (stick with me here) was the first of top-down arcade hero brawler type that really got my jimmies jumping. So when Marvel Ultimate Alliance came out it was something of a true actualization of what me and my friends thought up back when Legends came out. Two titles, both of which I owned and played through thoroughly unlocking characters and finding cheats. So imagine my surprise when initially I think this is the Marvel Avengers project by Square Enix. No! Wrong! Bad Chayton! It’s UA3 by...Ninja Theory?! What is going on? We got a little gameplay that unfortunately didn’t look too impressive. I’m still excited and with it being a Switch exclusive...I just have more reason to get one. trailer here. Speaking of reasons to get a Switch...

Joker joins the battle: Hi, huge Persona 5 fan here. Very excited to see our boy join the scuffle. He will be included as a DLC character (meh) but it raises some very interesting questions as to who else could be added. Goku confirmed! really cute trailer here

Far Cry “New Dawn”: This screamed Rage 2 to me. It is a cool idea to play so directly off the last released Far Cry title. I’m sure the games are going to be very different but the trailer seemed to take direct influence down to the shade of pink they used in their cooky-wacky post-apocalyptic looking setting. The game will even have you run into Joseph Seed and this is where I think it will diverge heavily and start to focus more on the Far Cry aspects of the game. Interesting villains as per usual but I’m hesitant. Even if it’s an expansion from FC4. trailer here

Rage 2: Now this is the post-apocalyptic open world I am looking forward to exploring. As I have stated before, Rage was underwhelming but had potential, this new trailer expanded upon what was already explored but didn’t really show off anything new. Regardless of the utter turmoil BGS seems to be in I am still excited to get my hands on this game and rip shit up .trailer here

Psychonauts 2: This is big, many many fans have been dying to see where Rasputin’s adventures take him. The look hasn’t changed much, but the polish of modern tech is doing wonders for the world of Psychonauts. We don’t get much info but just the glimpse is more than enough to get me thinking about the possibilities. trailer here

Dragon Age 4 teaser: this is a teaster trailer for Dragon Age 4... not much more to it. trailer here

The Outer Worlds: This is the big one, Obsidian are coming out the gate hard. In the wake of Fallout76 this was the last thing Bethesda could afford; for another studio to come along and do their games better than them. A space oriented RPG that appears to focus heavily on decision-making and character development. Two staples of Obsidian games that I can’t wait to take part in when this bad boy drops. With Obsidian being acquired by Microsoft I was concered this would be an exclusive but thankfully they can’t deny the PS4 audience, at least this time. Next gen (or title even) we might not be so lucky. trailer here

[tinytanksgame-blog]

Our little story about Tiny Tanks!

What's Tiny Tanks?

Tiny Tanks is a fun multiplayer party game with colorful tanks, an endless flood of game modes and total destruction mayhem. As a nice side effect, the game world tries to be physically correct and is completely destructible.

How did Tiny Tanks come about?

In the middle of 2016 I started working on a small physics prototype. The result was a small box with 6 wheels that could drive. Then I had the idea to build a small tank out of the box. The first major inspiration from Tiny Tank was the Tanks! game from the Wii Play collection.

I presented the small prototype to my friends and mentors at university and got good feedback, after which I expanded the project further. The next step was to build a simple environment out of blocks, which are still used in Tiny Tanks with the exception that the environment was not yet destructible. At that time, you could drive around on a small test map for two people. Then the destructibility was added and everyone who tested the game immediately enjoyed blowing everything up.

From student project to real game

After about a quarter of a year Jannik, who had watched the project from the start, joined in and so we both got together and worked together on Tiny Tanks. Right after that we set ourselves structured goals and tried to create a vision for the project, because until now development was all about adding a new feature, without really reflecting whether it would make sense to include it. Over the next few weeks we worked on a real gameplay loop. It also allowed us to go to the first expo to gather input and opinions from outsiders. From the first fair we were able to take a lot of good, but at the same time sometimes hard feedback along - and let it flow into the game straightaway. We also got to know many other developers at the events, with whom we have very good relations today. Slowly a real game began to emerge and so we decided to submit Tiny Tanks on Steam Greenlight in March 2017, which was a fantastic experience for us, as Greenlight gave us a lot of attention in the social medias for the first time.  

Steam Greenlight Link

How the game was created from a prototype!

Our motivation was pushed by the Greenlight and we worked like savages. We revised the game concept a bit and added some real game modes to offer more variety to the players. The first modes were e.g. mine rain, in which the whole map is flooded with mines or a mode, in which everything is dark and only the tanks have a small light. That was all well and good, but the gameplay didn't have any real variance yet, so we decided to adjust the gameplay loop again. Now the modifiers came into play. To make each mode feel a bit different, we added modifiers to the game and you can combine 0 - 3 modifiers with a game mode. A modifier is there to change the game a bit throughout all modes. For example, as a modifier you can get a very strong recoil or gravity like on the moon.  You can also combine the modifiers freely to get even more crazy variations. For example, you can play a match of Tiny Tanks in which you are chased by a UFO in the dark while trying to blow other players off the map with explosive projectiles. After we implemented those ideas, we had our first real gameplay loop and we could start producing content.  But what else was there?  

During the development we had made several attempts at an online multiplayer and had always failed. Nevertheless, our desire to integrate an online multiplayer was so great that we didn't give up and kept trying new approaches. The first tests for the Online Multiplayer were made in mid-2017. Due to events and private reasons among others, the further development of the Online Multiplayer was delayed and only progressed falteringly. Since December 2017 we are working on the online multiplayer of Tiny Tanks and it is the last real hurdle before the launch.

The online multiplayer of Tiny Tanks - A love-hate relationship

The implementation of the online multiplayer of Tiny Tanks turned out to be far more difficult than first assumed. The very first attempt was an implementation within the scope of a study project. With this you could drive around on a map with two people and destroy blocks. This approach worked well in the local network. At that time, however, we were not yet aware of how much we had not considered.

As we continued with this approach, we soon realized that our implementation would quickly reach its limits. As soon as you wanted to play a game outside your local network, the game kept crashing. We later discovered that the Internet connection was probably reaching its limits because so much data needed to be transferred.

Later on we looked at several solutions and decided to continue working with one of them. In the beginning we didn't know anything about Online Multiplayer, which is why we developed the project almost two times at the same time. There were many setbacks because we tried out many approaches that often led to nothing. There were moments when we doubted our abilities and thought we had reached our limits. But over time the multiplayer evolved and is now quite stable. You can play with up to eight players. There is only one big technical hurdle left, after which the online multiplayer can be regarded as finished.

[genuinely-euphie]

Dragonflight Launch Plans(For Stream)

Dragonflight's launch is just around the corner and I'd like to try something a little different with stream.

This stream will be a bit different than normal form my usual shorter streams but I will still be interacting with chat and responding to redeems/follows/subs!

The plan is to stream most of my reactions to the expansion/zones/stories and to explore the world as I do. This will not be a race to max level like a lot of players will be going for but a journey through the new story/zones that are being released. And I'm bringing along some friends.

QBM or Questionable Battle Methods is a small group of casual players who initially banded together at the start of Shadowlands to get AoTC at a lax pace. We've grown beyond that to be a small little family in our own little corner of the internet and even moved onto Savage raiding in Final Fantasy 14 together as well as a few other multiplayer games on the side. The plan is to be in discord with these lovely people while I stream, all sharing experiences and running dungeons together when we can which means it might get a bit chaotic at some times and at others it might just be chill. Either way I'm hyped to be with them while going through this and even more excited to have them on stream with me! I will be putting new rules down specifically for launch streams:

No backseating of any kind or 'help'

No requesting to join groups or dungeons

No spoilers in chat

No demanding I do a specific thing

My moderators will be asked to enforce these rules and violating one will result in a timeout and a warning. If you do it a second time you will be banned until launch streams have concluded.

I am preparing for longer streams which means lots of breaks throughout the stream. I will be making sure to stretch, eat, get water, and take walks to keep myself healthy. If streams end suddenly it is either due to weariness or an oncoming attack that I need to take time to manage away from the PC. Please be patient with me and look forward to the streams of Dragonflight, I'm excited to share the experience with all of you!

[justleaders]

Savage xr mac

#SAVAGE XR MAC FULL#

Offer is not valid on guns, ammunition, gift cards, special orders, donations, sale items, labor, personalization, Sitka waders, and other select items may be excluded from promotional offers. Mack's is not responsible for typographical errors in pricing or product specification inaccuracies on our website.

#SAVAGE XR MAC FULL#

Refunded value for any item(s) returned will be reduced to reflect the value of any discounts or free items applied to the order. AR Full Metal Panic RK-92 Savage Moderoid Plastic Model Kit Gray, AR Full Metal Panic RK-92 Savage Moderoid. Prices are subject to change without notice. Offer only valid while supplies last (sorry, NO backorders). Sale prices and discounts are for a limited time only and cannot be used on previous or future purchases. Slim fit, does not make your phone look bulky Protects your. **Offer Details: MPW is not responsible for delays in deliveries due to extreme weather or other acts of nature. 21 Savage ISSA iPhone Xs Max Case Storevolio Specially designed for Apple iPhone XS Max. Click here for more detailed Shipping Information Tlcharges-les gratuitement et sans virus. Gift cards and other exclusions may apply.įree Premium Ground Shipping Over $99.00. Dcouvre les derniers jeux de mmorpg pour Windows: San Andreas Multiplayer, Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas, Imvu. It's an action and strategy game, set in a fantasy, post-apocalyptic, real-time, sci-fi / futuristic and shooter themes. Here is the video game Savage: The Battle for Newerth Released in 2003 on Windows, it's still available and playable with some tinkering. Devastating weapons help them fight a violent battle for their very existence, against a monstruous enemy, the Beast Horde. Description of Savage: The Battle for Newerth. Offer applies on premium ground shipping, excluding Alaska. Eons after the human civilization has crumbled upon itself, its nomadic descendants, known as the Legion of Man, are uncovering long-forgotten knowledge and technology.

[nubblenubs-blog]

Adventure Into – Eorzea - Final Fantasy XIV

Although I’m not a full, hardcore Final Fantasy lover and lore nerd I fully appreciate each of the games in the series (Especially Final Fantasy X, who doesn’t love the almighty Tidus laugh and Blitzball?!). The one game I have completely fallen head of heals for however, is Final Fantasy XIV. I’ve tried so many MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games before but this one, somehow, just keeps pulling me back being somewhat of a staple in my steam library. History Today we’re going to be talking about Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn and the brief history of the series. The Final Fantasy series has been around since 1987 in Japan, where it stated as a turn-based RPG (Role Playing Game) it grew in popularity and a few years later, in 1990, the English version was released to the public where still it grew! The turn-based formula has been a solid staple for a lot of the series, the first deviation from the formula, (as well as genre of game) Square’s first of two Final Fantasy MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) created in 2002, Final Fantasy XI. Final Fantasy XI dropped the turn-based system for a more active system and allowed players from all over the world to connect and explore the world in parties and enjoy the story that the Final Fantasy series was known for. But this wasn’t going to be their first rodeo with an MMORPG, as in 2010 Final Fantasy XIV was released and was a vast graphical and performance improvement on its predecessor with all new systems and jobs, people loved it. This however was short lived and didn’t do too well, and the game took a drastic turn in terms of story line by literally plummeting a moon down on the world that, in story terms, destroyed a lot of the land whilst concluding the story of Final Fantasy XIV (Known as version 1.0) in November 2012. But this wasn’t the end of FFXIV at all! With so many stories to be told, a world to still be used and a dedicated team leader Naoki Yoshida we get fast forwarded 5 years in game time and the game was revived into Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn (Or version 2.0) in August of 2013, once again with more graphical and performance improvements and a huge story overhaul that was truly needed. The Game When you launch you’re greeted with a simple main menu and very Final Fantasy-esk music chiming in the background, (and will actually change depending on the expansions you have!) you will then be thrusted into the character creation, one of my favourite parts even if it isn’t as detailed as other MMOs. Once your character is suitably looking, you will have the choice of the standard base game classes 2 Tanks, 1 Healer and 6 DPS’ each based in their respective starting zones.

·         Limsa Lominsa, the city of pirates, beaches – Marauder, Arcanist

·         Ul’dah the rich and merchants, desert – Gladiator, Pugilist, Thaumaturge

·         Gridania very …down to earth people, forests – Conjurer, Archer, Lancer

Once you’re situated into a world one of the MANY cutscenes this game has to offer will start giving you the general gist of the current situation and once completed, you’ll arrive in your starting town ready to get going! Now that we’re finally into the game itself we get the choice to play with either a controller or keyboard and mouse, this is because the game is also on PS4 and has extremely good controller support for an MMO, however, for this I will be using the standard KB+M. Since this is the tutorial I will rush through and allow you yourself, to learn and I will jump past this section. Once tutorial is over you’ll then be put into the world with other people and can properly start your adventure, getting quests, items, fightin’ critters and following the story of The Warrior of Light. The main part of the gameplay is simple and easy to pick up especially as you level up, getting more intricate as you reach the higher levels of 60-70. However, Final Fantasy XIV is still slower than other MMOs with a global cooldown of 2.5 seconds on standard skills and longer for other skills, which can feel particularly sluggish if you’ve come from WoW with a lot of procs (programmed random occurrence) and movement. Aside from the global cooldown though, the skills are all pretty unique with some beautiful animations that fit your level. I also absolutely love running boss fights, from the hard modes to the extreme and savage, it’s a great challenge with friends and randos! But it’s not only that, there are so many other activities you can do in this game that aren’t all about fighting and defeating creatures; you can actually take up a more tame job such as a crafter or gatherer, race Chocobos, play cards, buy and decorate a house, transmogrify your outfit into something adorable or even take a break during your big adventure to play an RTS (Real Time Strategy) instead! There is so much more this game offers you than just questing and fighting and it’s all so well incorporated into the world and lore that you can get absolutely lost in it and experience/enjoy it all! The Ups and Downs The biggest downside of the game is the monthly subscription system. Although personally I feel like I get my money’s worth every month with the amount of playtime I put in and will continue to put in, I know that’s not the case for everyone and can be a huge put off. Other than the price when it originally re-launched on the PS3 there were many limitations though recently they’ve started streamlining it a lot more (Since they had also stopped support of the PS3 in 2017) whilst keeping phenomenal console support which is very impressive. To give the subscription credit, it is cheaper than a fair few subscription games and comes with a couple of options, one being cheaper than the other, 1 character per world or 8 characters per world. The newest expansions are also bundled in the previous ones, so you don’t need to pay for them individually which is pretty awesome. But before even getting the game and the expansion you can play a free trial that allows you to level up all the way to 35 with every vanilla class giving you a small insight into it each one as well as saving you money since it’s an unlimited time trial, however some features are taken out so bots cannot make use of it such as creating parties, trading and mailing. But the biggest thing for me personally is that it’s not pay to win at all, there is pay for convenience but it’s purely optional other, than that it’s just lots of very cute and aesthetic looking things! The Mog Station (as the shop is called) has lots of cosmetic only items such as clothes, mounts, housing so if you want that cute mount ‘just cuz’? You get it! You want that boost because you don’t like that class at early levels? You get it! All in all Final Fantasy XIV has been an amazing experience and probably my favourite MMO out there. It’s is a staple in my library, and I will hopefully be playing it long into the future with the way it’s ever evolving! Thanks to the amazing team behind Final Fantasy XIV and of course, the players that make the experience as special as it is!