xanthis14

[xanthis14]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (enemies) ((Spoilers for main story))

Yes, I'm including Solas as an enemy, even when he was helping, it's just easier that way.

There were so many dragons! I shouldn't be surprised, it's literally in the name, but I felt like there weren't this many dragons in Inquisition. I didn't mind though.

I was honestly concerned about the combat, because I struggle with action-based combat where you have to time your different moves AND worry about aiming AND dodge/parry/block AND AND AND... I get overwhelmed pretty easy. But, although I missed Inquisition's ability to pause combat and sort of walk it through a turn-based-esque mode, I eventually managed to get the hang of Veilguard's combat system, and by the latter half of the game I wasn't struggling nearly as much. I played a rogue (of course), and I honestly think that might have been the most difficult class to start with this time. I've heard that mages are always OP in DA games, and I can definitely see that's true, but I think Warrior would have been easier too. Maybe that means that my next playthrough will be easier, since I'll be playing a Mage next.

[xanthis14]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Allies)

(Also pictured, some group shots of the companions, and some random scenery shots.)

I don't have much to say about the allies, other than the fact that Vorgoth is going on my "hear me out" cake, and Antoine and Evka are adorable. And I almost cried during the dinner scene with Taash's mom. Personal experiences, and all.

But the scenery! I said before that I love the artstyle on this game, and that goes for the characters as well as the world. I took more screenshots of this game than I did of my 2.5 runthroughs of BG3, and the only game I took more landscape shots of was Tsushima, because... obviously. The "limited" artsyle allowed them to really play with colors and lighting, and also allowed for a much smoother style of animation. Everything moved so fluidly and realistically, it almost felt like watching a CG movie at times. While I will be the first to admit I wish EA would have butted out and let their developers make the game they WANTED to, there was no sacrifice made (in my mind at least) in graphics in this game. I wish more games would use a style like this.

[xanthis14]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Emmrich & Davrin)

((Spoilers for Emmrich's storyline))

The two I suspected I'd like the least, but even these two got me hooked, and not just because of their adorable sons. They're just two fathers trying their best. Emmrich is so charming with a surprising amount of vulnerability, and Davrin is trying to be more than "just" a Grey Warden. I know these sort of games tend to fall into a weird trap of everyone around you relying on you(r character) to help them with life-changing decisions, and this game is absolutely one of those, but it really did feel more like friends asking for advice than just "you're the hero, you decide". At least, that's how I interpreted it.

[xanthis14]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Bellara, Harding & Neve)

((Spoilers for Neve and Harding's storylines))

Honestly, I loved every single companion. I couldn't even tell you a least favorite, I genuinely liked them all, and that never happens with games like this. (I did say I didn't hate Gale in BG3 but he was still definitively my least favorite)

Bellara was cute and nerdy and relatable (and SO photogenic omg), Neve was beautiful and intriguing (and somehow managed to forgive me for choosing her to be the fall guy three separate times I'msosorryNeveyoudeservedbetter), and Harding is sweet and charming and plump. I do love to see a plus-sized character, especially a female, where it isn't made part of her personality (lookin' at you Genshin) or ever even commented on, really. Of course, it's because she's a dwarf, which isn't the most ideal rep, but it still counts.

[xanthis14]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Lucanis and Taash)

I told y'all I had a type (see Astarion). It doesn't usually include men with facial hair, but apparently that's what Dragon Age does to me (see Dorian). Just like with Astarion, I suspected even before playing that Lucanis would be my favorite, and I was right.

BUT just like with Karlach, Taash quickly became my second favorite, and not just because they're nonbinary (and probably autistic) like me. I really enjoyed their story, watching them grow, sharing in their pain, and ohyeah, they're a badass firebreathing warrior to boot? I'm definitely romancing them in my second playthrough.

(While it is technically a spoiler that they're enby and start using 'they/them' part-way through the game, the internet at large seems to think it's more important to respect their identity than to allow people to misgender them without knowing if they're doing it maliciously or not, and I personally agree with that assessment.)

[xanthis14]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Rook)

This may not be a perfect game, by any means, but it absolutely does not deserve all the hate it's been getting. I have my own complaints about the mechanics and scope of the game, but none of that stopped me from thoroughly enjoying it, and from planning to play it at least once more, if not twice.

It took me a while to get the hang of the face builder, and I still struggle with it every time I use it, but I love the freedom it gives. I always prefer this Sims-style character creator to those like BG3 (which I also love for different reasons) where you just choose a preset face. I ended up changing my character's hair (and giving them a nose job lol) after a little bit and was so happy with it. In fact, while I've always loved my personalized player characters, I think my Rook is my favorite out of all of them. More than my Inquisitor, my Tav's, or any other game, I was obsessed with my Rook. I do think that has somewhat to do with the graphics, too, though. Many people hate on the simpler art style compared to Inquisition and other similar games, but I would much rather have a game with a pretty artstyle than hyper-realistic graphics, and DAV was gorgeous. FIGHT ME.

[xanthis14]

Baldur's Gate 3: NPC's

I was going to do an "allies" and "enemies" post, but it's hard to classify some of these characters when they could end up on either side depending on how you play. lol

The first bunch are my 3 different Dream Guardians. That one was certainly an interesting character, it felt like every time we spoke there was another "plot twist!"; but I don't want to post any spoilers here, so there isn't much I can say about them.

I wish we got a bit more of Alfira and Dammon, I loved both of them. In my headcanon, Karlach could have easily ended up with Dammon, even though I also kind of headcanon her as a lesbian. lmao

Overall there were so many great characters; allies, villains and everything in between. There's a lot more I could say about this game. Its replayability alone means I'll be returning to it probably for years to come.

[xanthis14]

Baldur's Gate 3: Companions (Part 2)

I enjoyed aspects of every companion's story. Astarion and Karlach (who I covered in my last post, along with Halsin) are definitely my favorites, but Shadowheart and Laezel really grew on me, I loved Wyll as a character even if I didn't use him in combat much, and even though Gale got on my nerves, I could still see in him the same level of victimization as the others, and respected his story. I found it interesting that all the Origin companions were grappling with their own version of the same story; escaping from an abuser. Yet it never felt like their stories were all the same. I don't know if I'll ever do an Origin playthrough, since I love the character creator so much, but if I do, I think several of them would be interesting to experience. I do wish we'd gotten Jaheira and Minsk a little earlier in the game. Maybe I would have used them more. As for Minthara, I have yet to attempt the "knock her out" method, so I haven't recruited her in any playthrough thus far. Maybe next time.

[xanthis14]

Baldur's Gate 3: Companions (and romance)

I knew from the previews alone that Astarion was going to be my favorite. I have a type, what can I say? I did NOT expect the level of emotional impact his story would have. Neil Newbon deserved every bit of praise he's gotten for that voice work.

I also did not expect, but was not too surprised, how much I liked Karlach. I don't usually enjoy the barbarians but she's somehow an adorable golden retriever and a hot badass at the same time, so how could I resist? (I almost included a particularly racy shot from the end of that date scene, but I didn't want to mark the whole post as Mature for one picture. XD)

The one that DID surprise me was Halsin. He's both too muscular and too hairy for my tastes (sorry, I'm not into literal OR figurative bears) but somehow his sweetness and thirst combined won me over. I like to say that HE romanced ME instead of the other way around.

[xanthis14]

Baldur's Gate 3: Tav(s)

Now we're getting into the heavy hitters of my posting backlog, and lemme tell you I'm SO glad I can post more than 10 shots at a time.

I absolutely LOVE BG3, it shares an honor with Ghost of Tsushima as becoming an instant favorite before I even finished it. In fact, I've played it through 2.5 times, and have already built my 3rd (and maybe 4th) character.

(Worth noting that my .5 playthrough is a multiplayer run I'm doing with my partner so it's extremely slow-going. We've only just reached the Shadow lands despite starting it partway through my first run. lol)

Anyway, here's my 3 Tav's that I've played thus far. I will admit that some of these screenshots are entirely self-indulgent.

Shinta, Elven wizard, they/them. Romanced Astarion, was romanced by Halsin. Was meant to be my typical player character with a wizard-twist (I usually play rogues first).

Half-elf Rogue (who's just now dipped his toe into Ranger), would be he/they if it was an option, conveniently also named Shinta for REASONS (this is my mp run with my partner, she wanted me to play my typical rogue character so she could pretend to romance him lol).

Tanz, Tiefling monk (with a bit of rogue tacked on at the end), he/him. Romanced Karlach, had a bit of a fling with Halsin. His monk/rogue combo was so op by the end that I took out the Elder Brain in ONE ROUND despite raising the difficulty from my first pt.

[xanthis14]

Honkai: Star Rail

I'm actually surprised I haven't taken more screenshots of HSR, but I think it's partially because the image quality is often pretty low in screen captures. The graphics are obviously not as good as in Genshin, nor is the world as developed, but that seems intentional, as it's not meant to be on the same scale. For what it is, I've been really enjoying the game so far (I've only started playing in October of last year, and I just reached Penacony), and I always prefer turn-based combat to action combat, so that's a big win for me. There will probably be more HSR to come eventually.

There might be some slight spoilers in these pictures, but without context they won't make much sense.

(Also I just realized you can put more than 10 pics in a post now, I don't know when that happened but it will make things SO much easier when I get to later games... where was this when I was posting KH screencaps??)

[xanthis14]

Starting with the easiest (and oldest) game to post, the very first game I played on the PS5: Astro's Playroom.

Despite being a free game that came pre-installed on the system, I enjoyed it enough to 100% it within a week. It's an adorable 3D platformer at its core, but it's also a love-letter to Playstation, and its fans, that really shouldn't be overlooked as "just a demo". The attention to detail was stunning, the gameplay was enjoyable without being TOO challenging (I struggled in a few places but I'm also not great at platformers) and the dozens of easter eggs hidden all over the place were such a delight. Chief among them, these little "scenes" that represented PS-exclusive games from all different genres (and decades) were so fun to find. These were just a few of my favorite easter eggs (even though some of them are from games I haven't played lol).

[xanthis14]

I've Awoken From the Dead

Oh hello! Not only have I remembered Tumblr exists, but I've finally transferred some screenshots from my PS5 to my computer - and in so doing, realized I haven't posted any new screenshots in THREE YEARS. What is time, anyway? So I'll be working through several games' worth of pictures and narrowing down what to post, so get ready for a slew of new content soon. If... anyone's even still here. lol

[xanthis14]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Sothis, and "Those Who Slither in the Dark"

Two unrelated (sets of) characters, but they round out the last of my Fire Emblem posts... at least until I get around to finishing the Golden Deer run. And I'll probably save my screencaps from the DLC for then, too.

[xanthis14]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Rhea, Seiros, & Nemesis

I had mixed feelings about Rhea. Mostly because I didn't trust her right from the start, but she was voiced by Cherami Leigh, whom I love, so I liked her anyway. lol

[xanthis14]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Some shots of the leaders together, plus Catherine and Flayn since they don't have a class alignment. I love Catherine, but I love Shamir more, and I'm upset she didn't get a single cutscene. XD

[xanthis14]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Golden Deer

Although Claude was my favourite leader, he had the most boring students overall. I was the most interested in his storyline, but since I saved it for last because I knew you find out some big secrets, I got burned out and haven't finished it yet. ^^; Oops. I'll get back to it some day.