#XCOM 2 GAMEPLAY

[makymakvrchat]

XCOM 2 on Mobile Phone Android

[amandab821]

despite my best efforts I was not able to beat mario + rabbids sparks of hope before the trial ended 😔

[hath-e]

I come bearing questions.

What Mecha games are you familiar with and would recommend?

So to get the obvious out of the way:

Armored Core 6, the one most people (including myself) started with and probably the easiest to get into.

Gundam Breaker 4, personally the story is a miss for me but the gameplay and the building aspect is really fun

Titanfall 2, peak FPS probably heard of it before.

Now onto the stuff I love (I still love all 3 of these above but these ones below are so niche they deserve the extra love) :

Gearbits, it's so cheap and simple but God damn is it fun, if you have a pc that connects to a socket or a laptop that uses a battery you should definitely get it, steam exclusive unfortunately.

SD Gundam Battle Alliance, my jam before I got into GB4, it is a bit grindy but it's story is enjoyable enough and the gameplay is fire, definitely get it even if you're not sold on the SD ascetic (also first PC game to feature the Xi Gundam I'm pretty sure, tho it is dlc locked)

Into the Breach, the best turn based mecha roguelike ever made, definite classic that is both challenging and fair.

Phantom Brigade, the best turn based mecha Xcom like, although not featuring a grid system it's mechanics are fun, I haven't beaten it yet but it's probably my top 3 game (poly graphics indie games save me)

Airmech, my favorite RTS ever ever made. You get to play as a transforming robot that either sends out troops all around the map in plane mode or joins the action directly in robot mode. Absolutely love it.

Lightyear Frontier, a farming sim but you get to pilot a mecha, it is a brilliant chill game and I absolutely love it, I only played the demo but I'm getting it sometime soon.

Now onto the game I haven't played but is really good from what I've heard:

Battletech, a slow strategic Xcom like that I've wanted to get into for a while, still on the list, tons of dlc and pretty expensive.

That's all I got, there's a ton more tho, oh and:

Mecha break, a coming soon fast action PvP mecha fighter, fully customizable machines with absolutely ridiculous speeds from the looks of things.

[raymantogether]

Rayman Together Community Spotlight #2 - Rabbid Edge!

Foreword:

If you haven't already played Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle or Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, the game was published by Ubisoft exclusively for Nintendo Switch and is an action-adventure turn-based strategy game developed by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris. Prior to the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle reveal at E3 2017, the game surfaced online and was met with criticism and skepticism from the wider gaming community. The artwork leaked online depicted Mario and friends alongside their Rabbid counterparts with large blasters. The prospect of Mario with the Rabbids was a nightmare for a lot of people. Following the success of Rayman Raving Rabbids, the Rabbids had slowly declined in popularity. The Rabbids were annoying and boring and had lost their humor. Nintendo, who have strongly held their licenses for Mario, has rarely ever collaborated with other videogame companies. Furthermore, Nintendo has always encouraged a family-friendly and positive environment. The prospect of Mario with weapons was alien to a lot of people. Ubisoft finally revealed Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle at E3 2017; the game went on to become a huge success. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was released on August 29th, 2017 and went on to sell over 10 million copies in over six years. A sequel, Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope, was revealed at E3 2021 and released on October 20th, 2022. Despite the game initially not exceeding Ubisoft sales expectations, the game went on to sell over three million as of January 2024. This was another remarkable success for the teams at Ubisoft Milan and Paris. Both games were well received and were critically acclaimed. 

If you haven't already, I implore you to pick up both games. The Mario + Rabbids series is personally one of the most refreshing titles from Ubisoft in a generation. The game oozes personality and charm thanks to its charismatic and energetic character design and animations. The soundtracks for both games are composed by the amazing Grant Kirkhope, who is responsible for some of the most creative music in the industry. Needn't I say more? The world design is intricate, creative, and a real pleasure to explore. I thoroughly enjoyed the heartfelt, exciting, and fun story, which gripped me from beginning to end in both stories. The development teams did a remarkable job of capturing both the look and personality from the worlds of both the Rabbids and Mario and bringing it to life. The game is gorgeous thanks to the Snowdrop Engine, which has been executed brilliantly on the Nintendo Switch. Ubisoft has somehow managed to compliment Mario with the Rabbids extraordinarily well. This is something I never imagined possible. Both games are very similar to those of the XCOM and Fire Emblem series. I love strategy games, and I have sunk hours into both titles. I found the gameplay rewarding, clever, and at times a real challenge for tacticians. There are plenty of creative options with gameplay thanks to various choices of weapons, skills, and characters. The gameplay possibilities are endless. My favorite game in the series is definitely Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope, as it offers so much more opportunities for world-building and exploration. The game allows for more creative gameplay choices through movement and freedom of choice, including the addition of the Sparks. However, the most important reason Sparks of Hope is my favorite game in the series is because Ubisoft Milan brought back Rayman. 

At Ubisoft Forward in 2022 Ubisoft Milan Creative Director Davide Soliani revealed to the World their plan to bring back Rayman as part of the season pass for Mario Rabbids Sparks Of Hope. The third story expansion called Rayman In The Phantom Show released on August 30th 2023. The DLC stars Rayman alongside Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach as they are invited to the mysterious Space Opera Network by the fan favourite villain the Phantom. The Phantom who has renounced his villainy for fame needs help from Rayman and the Rabbids to help restore the poor ratings and viewings to his TV Space Station.  Rayman, Rabbid Peach And Rabbid Mario adventure across Western, Pirate and Medieval sets as part of the Phantoms ambitious plan for revenge. The team at Ubisoft did an extraordinary job of bring back Rayman to life. Rayman has never looked and felt so alive. You get a real sense that Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris love Rayman from this short but jam packed adventure. Rayman In The Phantom Show pays tribute to the Rayman series through acknowledgement of his almost 30 Year history. In every stage you can find card board references from various Rayman Games. The combat fatigues  from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc make a spectacular return with Rayman offering plenty of gameplay variety on the battlefield. Both the vortex and rocket costumes look better then ever and are brilliant both in design and how you can use them. The weapons are crafted with plenty of attention to detail with references in design to Ly The Fairy, Teensies, Rayman Raving Rabbids and more. I particularly am fond of the plum turrets. If Nintendo ever work collaborate with Ubisoft again I would love to see Rayman in Super Smash Bros with the Plum Turrets. The soundtrack for the DLC Is composed by Grant Kirkhope and Christopher Heral. The genius Christopher Heral responsible for both soundtracks for Rayman Origins and Legends returns for Rayman In The Phantom Show. If you listen closely you can hear brilliant renditions from various games. David Gasman also reprises his role in Rayman In The Phantom Show. If you have played the earlier Rayman games you will be familiar of his work. I thoroughly enjoyed this DLC and it has left me with wanting so much more. I would love to see Ubisoft Milan work on Rayman again in the future. If you're new to the series or a Rayman fan and have liked everything you have read so far I strongly encourage you to pick up Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Sparks Of Hope including the season pass. 

Interview:

To celebrate both Rayman's 29th anniversary this weekend and the anniversary of Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope DLC Rayman In The Phantom Show, I am delighted to feature Anna as part of this special community spotlight.

You may know Anna as RabbidEdge from both the Rayman and the Mario Rabbids community. Anna is an extremely passionate, kind, and caring individual with a yearning to help create a positive environment in the community. Anna is renowned for her creative cosplays of Rabbid Edge, Rayman, and more. Anna enjoys creating artwork and has a passion for telling stories. I am delighted to feature and show you more about Anna in this brilliant and really insightful spotlight.

Anna has been extremely open and honest about some very serious and sensitive subjects in this spotlight about her personal health and wellbeing. I encourage you all to be polite and respectful. 

Please introduce yourself:

"Hi everyone, My name's Anna. I am 37 years old (but I've never lost my inner child) and living with my husband, our four kids, three cats, and nine chickens in a village in Austria. I am working as a pharmacist, enjoying helping people every day. Last year I started two new hobbies: cosplaying and drawing digitally. Since that, I am also sharing my creations on social media like Instagram, X, or Tumblr."

Tell us something funny or interesting about yourself?

"I have always been a very creative, extroverted, and energetic person. Even as a child, I loved to draw, invent stories or songs, and to tape-record them together with friends or to play little theater sketches for our families. Many times we dressed up as our favorite anime- or video game characters, singers, or just some elves or Vikings. I wouldn´t call it cosplay, and most costumes were just a mix of old fancy dresses and things we found in the wardrobe of our grandparents, but we always had a lot of fun, and my heart is warming with joy when I think about these times... However, things change, life happens, and so having babies, a house, and animals had kept me quite busy (but happy!) for almost 9 years. I had lost my former self somewhere between household, work, and trying the best to be a good mom. Then came Edge.."

How do you like to spend your free time?

"Free time—what's that? Haha! I don't know this, for I always have a lot on my plate! But I think, you mean the time when I am not at work or busy with mom-duties. I am spending most of these hours crafting and sewing new cosplays or improving old ones, shooting them in various sceneries, editing the photos and videos I took for my social media, doodling and drawing Rabbids-stuff, posting my finished work and stories on Instagram, X and co, replying to dms and comments or supporting other artists.

Furthermore, I am a very active person, feeling the need to exercise every day or to at least go for a walk or ride my bike. Music is also a very important part of my life! I enjoy listening to it while I am doing a workout or working on a drawing.

Music inspires me! When I look at my art or cosplay- pictures, I immediately remember the song that brought me into the mood for its creation, that I listened to during the process, or that I used in my Instagram stories for its posting. I am also singing in a choir, by the way.

There is much more I would love to do, like playing video games or reading. The only problem is that my days only have 24 hours. I used to say that I am living two lives with the time of just one."

What made you fall in love with the Mario Rabbid Series?

"To be honest, it was my oldest daughter! She has never been interested in TV shows for kids like Paw Patrol, etc. Instead, she likes to watch game streams on YouTube, and there she discovered Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. She enjoyed watching these streams so much that she wanted to play the game herself, so she got it as a gift on St. Nicholas Day in 2022. However, it was quite challenging for her, and so my husband started to play it with our kids and me watching him. I can remember that I always did my workout on a fitness mat on the floor while he was playing, and it was quite entertaining to watch him! I was surprised by the cute designs of the characters and levels and by its unique gameplay, which is totally different from other games I had played before—and really addictive! So we often ended up playing till late at night, saying “Just one more battle!” again and again. Even if I hadn't played the game myself at the beginning, I already loved it! Oh, and then came Edge...and made my love for this game and Mario+Rabbids in general go through the roof! I couldn´t think about anything else than Edge and Rabbids the whole day long! I started to play myself, always having Edge as the leader of my team, searched for fan art and fan fiction, and slowly stumbled into the fandom. Oh, and I still play Sparks of Hope when I find time for it! I consider this game a real masterpiece! Ubisoft poured so much love into every detail! I love everything about it, from the backstory to the funny voice-lines or to the amazing soundtrack! And I enjoy the “found-family" dynamics of the hero team so much, OMG!!! With this game, Ubisoft managed to make me fall in love with Rabbids, not only with Edge but with Rabbids in general."

What is your favorite Mario Rabbids game, and who is your favorite character?

"That's quite a simple question to answer. Of course, to be honest, I haven't played Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle yet. Shame on me! I already have the game at home, but all the time I thought about starting it, I ended up playing Sparks of Hope instead. Of course I wanted to see my beloved Edge.

Furthermore, Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope will always have a special meaning for me, as it distracted me from health problems that were bothering me a lot at this time. At the beginning of December 2022, I had to wait for a medical appointment in order to check if I would suffer from cancer. I tried to not let the possibility of receiving a bad diagnosis overwhelm me—something easier said than done. So watching and playing Sparks of Hope with my family made me forget this sorrow for a moment. It cheered me up in a difficult time of my life. As I one evening found myself thinking about what I would want to do before death, if I would have just some months left to live, I realized that I wouldn't want to go on a big journey or party hard or so. Instead, I would want to spend the last moments with my family, doing what we already did every evening—sitting and playing together. This thought made me feel calm and peaceful, blessed and grateful. So Sparks of Hope became for me what its name promises: a spark of hope. With that, it will always be my favorite Mario+Rabbids game!

However, I am sure that Kingdom Battle is a great game as well! I have only heard good things about it, and I am familiar with its characters and plot. I finally need to get into it myself...

Oh, and my favorite character is- surprise, surprise—Edge! But to be honest, I like them all! No matter if it's Rabbid Peach, Bwario, Kanya, or Rayman. I couldn't pick a single character of the series that I totally couldn't stand."

What made you fall in love so much with Rabbid Edge, and what is your inspiration behind your artwork and comic series?

"I have to laugh at this question; of course I could fill a whole book with this answer! Haha! I will try to be brief. I can remember the first time I saw Edge. It was in December 2022 as I watched my husband play Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope—the well-known cutscene of her first appearance. God, just thinking about it makes me shiver in excitement! This epic scene instantly made me fall in love with her! It was as if Ubisoft had poured all the characteristics that make my heart flutter into this little rabbit! To explain this further: I am a sucker for mysterious characters, which hide a kind heart behind their badass attitude. I love mighty swords, spiky hair, sharp teeth, gothic clothes, the colors green and purple, and deep, striking voices. On top of all, give that character a dark backstory, and I am hooked! The combination of these attributes made me fall for Edge. I couldn't help it! Neither have I chosen to feel this way nor have I ever thought that it would be possible to develop true love for a fictional character! However, I thought the best thing would be to welcome these beautiful feelings and to make full use of this newfound energy. So I started to work on the art of Edge and different scenes of the game, including a comic about her tragic past and the battle against Cursa.

I also wanted to dress up as Edge for the carnival  but found out that there isn't any costume of her or Rabbids in general. This was when I decided to sew one myself. With that, my cosplay journey began. I thought that if no one has ever made a cosplay of Edge before, I had to be the one to bring her to life, even if I had no idea what I was doing. Looking at the first photos I took of her makes me smile. Some look really funny and weird, but I can remember how strong, confident, and sexy I felt in these moments. And hey, every journey has to start with a first step! Since then, I have learned a lot. I have improved my skills, bought more tools and materials, worked over my cosplay again and again, altered and exchanged parts, and developed this alter ego of Rabbid Edge for me and my social media. Still, I am quite a newbie, and there is always room for improvement!

I am so grateful that I got to know Edge; of course she made me find myself again and, at the same time, discover another me. She made me feel like more than just a mom again. She made me feel attractive and love my body again. She made me get creative and go wild and crazy. She made me play again; she made me dream again and go far beyond my imagination! And she made me get to know so many new amazing people! I owe her so much. I owe Ubisoft so much! I feel so grateful and full of love that I would want to hug everyone of my followers and of the great people that worked on Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope!

The main inspiration for my work comes from the game itself, for it provides a quite mature and exciting backstory and interesting characters but leaves room for further assumptions and interpretation. But of course official concept art, headcanons, and drawings of other fans inspire me a lot too! And sometimes a new idea comes to my mind while I am on a walk or listening to music."

If you could live in any world from the Mario Rabbids Series, where would you live?

"I would choose Melodic Gardens! I love its biome with the tropical forest, exotic flowers, and the flooded ruins. Everything looks so beautiful and mystical. Furthermore, I like the cute and peaceful Rabbids, that live here and the symphonies that fill the air of this planet. And I would love to meet Allegra! She is so cute and majestic."

Who would be at your dream Mario Rabbids Party?

"Wow, it's really hard to select three out of all the great characters, but I think I would take Edge, Rayman, and Rabbid Peach. Edge, course she's Edge, hey! Rayman, course he is my childhood hero, who—together with Super Mario—made me start to play video games, and Rabbid Peach, course she is sassy and crazy, and course I always need a healer in my party!"

What made you fall in love with the Rayman series?

"You have to know that I grew up loving Rayman! He was my childhood hero! For my ten-year-old me, Rayman was cool, Rayman was fun, and Rayman was Ubisoft.

As I was a little kid, my family had no computer or game console. My brother and I knew video games just from our cousins or neighbors. I can remember how we often bought gaming magazines and looked at them, wishing that we were able to play these games ourselves. And when there was something of Rayman in it, we went, Ah, look, Rayman, so cool!!! He somehow fascinated us. At the age of 9, we got a Game Boy for Christmas; at the age of 12, a Dreamcast. This was a dream come true for us! There was a demo disc coming with it that also had a demo of Rayman 2 on it. We immediately played and loved it! I don't know how many times we played this demo! It must have been a few hundred times or so! One day we received the full version of the game, and from this time on, Rayman accompanied us nearly every day. We played it again and again! I can remember that I even had a crush on Rayman! I loved his cool attitude, his crazy hair, and his voice. I drew him a lot, wrote songs about him, and even dressed up as him—just for fun. Later we also played the Rayman Game Boy Color Game and Rayman 3, as an adult also Rayman M, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Rayman Origins, and Rayman Legends. 

But Rayman also has a deeper meaning for my brother and me. Our childhood wasn't easy. We have experienced things that no kid, no one should ever witness. Rayman, and playing games in general, helped us to escape from reality, when there was only fear and violence waiting for us. I can remember that we had so much fun and laughed a lot despite the difficult circumstances we were raised under. Rayman and Ubisoft distracted us, were there for us, when there was no light in real life...Last year I thanked the people of Ubisoft Milan for this. I thanked them for having always been there for me for nearly all my life.

Today I am a happy and positive person. I have reached everything I ever wanted. I have learned to make the best of every situation, no matter how bad it may seem. I have learned that everything happens for a reason, even if we cannot understand it in a certain moment. This is why I am not sad or angry about the things that happened to me as a child. I am grateful; of course, all these things made me become the person I am today.

However, when I think about my tragic past, I realize that I may have more in common with Edge than I'd like. I feel connected with her. I understand her. I feel her."

What is your favorite cosplay you have designed?

"This is a difficult question. Of course, every cosplay I have made so far has aspects I like but also something I dislike, and there are various ways to rate them. I would say that the cosplays I enjoy to wear the most—or I “am feeling” the most—are definitely Edge and Kanya. When I dress up as them, I am really becoming the character! I look into the mirror and think,Yeah, baby!” But considering my craftsmanship skills, I think Barbara from Rayman Legends is my best cosplay so far. As a cosplay newbie, I am still learning and improving. Therefore, I am also working over my older cosplays again and again. I have changed Edge's wig so many times, I have stopped counting. And soon I want to do the fourth sword for her. Edge will always be my number one!

I am also happy that I managed to do a Rayman (and Ramon) cosplay! It´s for sure not perfect, and I have to work over the photos with Photoshop to remove my limbs, but dressing up as him makes my inner child scream with joy!

Furthermore, the “play" factor in “cosplay” is very important for me! I don´t just buy cosplays, put them on, take a photo, and toss them away again. I love to bring my characters to life, to think about how they would act and talk, and to cosplay them in alternative outfits and different situations, like the wedding of Edge and Midnite or my Christmas- or Easter-shooting."

What cosplays are you planning on in the future?

"I am currently working on a new project: I am creating my own protogen and therefore sewing a fursuit. It's not really cosplay; of course it won't be a certain character. I'd rather call it a fursona or OC. But I am excited to work on it; of course it is something totally different from what I have done so far, and I think it will look really cool in the end!

Despite that, I want to make a cosplay of Hiiragi Utena from the anime “Gushing over Magical Girls." I have already bought the fabric for it.

Furthermore, the idea of making a Cursa-cosplay (Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope) won't go out of my mind! I would love to create a sensual version of her true form, wearing a long cloak and her white mask, but maybe also showing some skin... Yeah, I think I will have to get this one started next...

And of course I will always work on further Edge content! I will improve parts of her cosplay, and I will think of new outfits and shootings. I already have a special scenery in mind; I want to shoot in autumn."

Tell us about your time at Ubisoft Milan.

"Last year in September I was granted to meet my beloved Edge—or better—the amazing artists and creators of Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope at Ubisoft Milan. It was a dream come true for me! After enjoying their games and admiring their work for so long, I was finally able to hug them and thank them for everything they have gifted us players so far. I still can't believe how lucky I was! My visit there was a blast in every way! I was able to take a look at the “holy halls," to shake hands with all these kind people I had known only from social media or the credits of their games, and to get to know more about Edge's creation and her backstory. Furthermore, we had lunch together, took a lot of cool and funny photos, and talked about the hard work in the gaming industry, my cosplay work, but also private things. And as if this hadn´t been enough, I received many gifts, like the art book or Spark-plushies for my kids and special drawings that were made for me during my visit.

I have to admit that before my visit I had been very excited! But everyone was so nice, polite, and cute! I felt like meeting and talking to long-known friends. The fear was gone, and laughter and joy filled the air. They welcomed me so heartily, and I immediately felt comfortable among these amazing people. I am so grateful that for this unique moment I was granted to be part of their "family." I will keep the memories of my visit as an eternal treasure in my heart."

Thank you so much, Anna, for being a part of the Rayman Together community spotlight. It was amazing to read about yourself and discover more about you. If you are interested in finding out more about Anna, I have included links to her social media account below. Please follow and support her.

[anaveragedisaster]

Some lore for the reimagined non-XCOM Resistance factions in my Nine Sols/Xcom 2 crossover thing I'm calling the Solcom AU

(By the way, I'm not sure how much the fandoms for these games overlap. I'll try my best to keep things understandable to non-xcom players.)

The Reapers: Similarly to their XCOM version, they're a loose group of guerrilla fighters that live in the wilderness, away from Sol-controlled cities. I don't think it's confirmed anywhere in the OG game's lore, but in this version, they definitely formed out of old-world prepper groups. Instead of using guns, they've elected to go especially primal and use combat bows.

Their leader, so to speak, is Shennong. He's still one of the humans who was abducted and brought to New Kunlun's Apeman Facility to be experimented on. Over the years, the others were successfully brainwashed and genetically modified to be loyal to the Sols, people who could be presented to the public as ideal citizens of the Solarian-ruled Earth (instead of being a disguised alien, the Propaganda Speaker from XCOM 2 would be one of these humans). Shennong, despite being subjected to the same treatments, remains the paranoid, anti-social guy we know. Luckily, either Eigong or Goumang chose to keep him around as a (probably) harmless anomaly they could observe. However, one day he got fed up enough to break out of the livestock pen and, through sheer luck, made it off New Kunlun and into Earth's wilderness, where he was discovered by the Reapers. They were obviously sceptical of him at first, but his conspiracy theorist personality and his ability to create booze out of random stuff he eats wins them over.

Some of the more devoted fighters have even begun to follow his example and eat poisonous animals and plants they find or grow (in small amounts, obviously), which in gameplay would give them immunity against poison and/or other negative status effects.

Once XCOM has made proper contact with the Reapers, Yi and Shennong hit it off over their shared drinking habit. From then on, XCOM can find and pick up both exotic poisons to trade to him, as well as different types of booze from all over the world that he and Yi can enjoy together.

The Skirmishers (will probably change the name, but haven't thought of one yet): In XCOM 2, they were part of ADVENT's genetically altered army that broke free of their mind control. Similarly, here they're soldiers from the biomechanical army, primarily the Red Tiger Legion, that somehow gained sentience and went rogue. I'm not quite set on how they would be in combat compared to game Skirmishers, though they definitely have their grappling hooks.

Their leader is obviously Chiyou. He made it off New Kunlun soon after it landed and began wandering the Earth, marvelling at its beauty and cultures. Once he encountered other self-aware robots, he happily joined up with them, helping them comprehend their newfound state of freedom with his philosophies. Their primary goal now is to keep their freedom, while helping any other Solarian weapons find theirs. Their storyline would involve XCOM having to destroy Xingtian (probably multiple times, like in the actual game) to put him out of his mindless misery.

There's also a group of geno-soldier scholars that has grown to share Chiyou's appreciation for art and belief in nonviolence. Yi's XCOM can find and give their little circle various artistic works to safeguard and contemplate over (though they've promised to return them once peace and freedom have been restored)

The Neo-Fangshi (aka solcom!Templars): Once the Fusang's roots had spread throughout the world, it didn't take long for humans to start developing or even getting born with a connection to it, much like Heng. Some have even accessed the Limitless Realm and witnessed the great Tao. This has led to a revival of Taoist beliefs in places across the Earth, something the Sols haven't been too happy about due to their science-centric worldview.

Geist (I might change his name as well), in this AU, developed a particularly strong connection to the Limitless Realm, catching glimpses of Lear and his younger warrior form. From records the Sols had made public to humans, he learned about Lear's accomplishments as a scientist and fighter and was inspired to follow in his footsteps. Geist and like-minded 'gifted' humans decided that the power the original Fangshi gained from the Limitless Realm isn't to be ignored like the Sols are seemingly doing. Their New Fangshi guild is dedicated to both using advanced technology and cultivating their qi abilities to become more powerful, so that they may one day bring down the Sols' regime and bring humanity into a new era themselves.

Geist's ambitions are challenged somewhat towards the end of the story (which I've been able to develop somewhat), when XCOM raids Kunlun's Grotto of Scriptures and retrieves the holorecording of his dear Lear's Declaration of Inaction, which Yi gives to him. Soon after, both of them are summoned to the Limitless Realm, where Geist gets to properly meet Lear for the first time. The old master lectures them on what being a Taoist actually means, including telling his story about the Demon Dog. This is even more sobering to Geist, who begins to realize that, with how power hungry most of them are, he, like Lear long ago, may have to put down his fellow Fangshi if there is to be lasting peace after the Sols are defeated.

In terms of fighting style, the Fangshi are like XCOM 2 Templars, whose style in turn is incidentally a lot like Yi's style in his game (which is what inspired me to make them Fangshi like him here). Both use basically magic (psionic energy and qi/rhizomatic energy, respectively) to conjure blades for attacking and to avoid damage through parrying. So yeah.

[ale10ander]

XCOM and the perils of adaptations

Many video games have been adapted into board games: Slay the Spire, XCOM, and This War of Mine are three of the most prominent. But there's a challenge to making a good adaptation.

The Faithful

This War of Mine is extremely faithful; it feels exactly like one playthrough of the game. While the video game is single-player, the board game plays up to six, a concession for the medium. Even with six players, the players take turns reading emotional prompts, and act as one. The best way to play the game is with as few people as possible, in an intimate setting.

The Vibes

Compare that to the XCOM board game. This isn't an attempt to port the video game to tabletop space (that's been done with games like Level 7: Omega Protocol, which is an N-Vs-1 combat game in the same vein as the board games DOOM (2016), Imperial Assault, or Descent). Invariably, these games end up with a lot of dice rolling and complex line-of-sight rules, things often labeled as hallmarks of the "Ameritrash" genre of board games.

No, the XCOM board game takes a different approach. Instead of adapting the gameplay, it emulates the FEEL of an XCOM game: not having enough resources, having a time crunch to make difficult decisions, and choosing whether its better to lose one country over another. In some respects, it's not a very faithful adaptation, as it's a completely different experience to the video game. In other respects, it succeeds at its goal, and gives an experience of the stress and genre of the modern XCOM games.

What about RPGs?

Tabletop roleplaying games (a la Dungeons and Dragons) are an a similarly weird bind to XCOM. Some people play them as romance simulators, while others play them as combat simulators. There are those who argue that the 4th edition of D&D is the best version, because it lays bare what the game is "really" about (beating up monsters and taking their stuff) and makes that core loop fun. Others argue that it's the worst edition, because it only has rules for combat and eschews the "roleplaying" part of roleplaying games.

So what would an XCOM adaptation look like? Just like with board games, there are multiple possible approaches you could take. You could flesh out the combat system and have a slow-moving, tense game of tactics, where the chance to roll is determined entirely by swingy dice, or you could let the combat take a back seat and focus on the resource management side of things.

My take, or The part of this post that's closest to being an ad

Two years ago, I released an RPG called Cyberrats. Mechanically, it was inspired most heavily by the modern XCOM games, as well as Shadowrun (an RPG famous for being incredibly "crunchy"). Here's how I chose to handle various aspects of the adaptation. In my mind, the six most important aspects of an XCOM adaptation are:

Combat

Basebuilding

Resource Management

Specializations

Lethality

and a campaign.

I want to be clear: my goal was not to adapt XCOM, but to create a tabletop experience that feels similar to XCOM, while being its own thing. Here's how I tackled these elements.

Combat

I wanted combat to be tactical, but quick and fun. Many RPGs with heavy combat systems end up spending hours in a single encounter. I didn't want that. I used a modified version of the LUMEN system, which means that players get a number (usually 1-3) of six-sided dice (d6), roll them, and keep the highest. A 5-6 is a full success, a 3-4 is a success with consequences, and a 1-2 is a failure with consequences.

Additionally, enemies are simple (having attacks and non-combat 'moves', like inflicting status effects or activating their allies) and drop loot when defeated. Range bands are abstract (close, near, far), and missions have objectives (hack this computer, defuse a bomb, capture the VIP, and so on).

Basebuilding

My favorite part of XCOM is investing in the base to unlock new powers and abilities. In the base game of Cyberrats, there are 17 total rooms that can be built. These rooms improve healing (the clinic), offer new psychic powers or weapons (Auguary, Detonatorium, Engineering Lab), improve player characters ("Operatives") (Gym, Training Grounds), or otherwise affect gameplay. Players can choose which builds are important to them, and build them as a team in whatever order they'd like.

Excavation

The base is a 4x4 grid of rooms. The first two rooms are clear, the next tow cost 1 to clear. The second row costs 2 each to clear, and so on. In addition to clearing a space, rooms cost money to build.

Campaign and Resource Management

As fun as the missions in XCOM are, it's not a game I would play indefinitely. I play to win, with a strong probability of losing. Similarly, I know a lot of RPGs are designed to be played indefinitely, as a forever campaign. With Cyberrats, I wanted a short campaign, one that can be beat in ~10 sessions.

And I did that by tying it into resource management. The premise of Cyberrats is simple: the world is being invaded by aliens. You are interns at a megacorp, and a rival megacorp has the situation under control. Unacceptable!.

You have to sabotage the rival megacorp, fend off the alien invasion, and make sure your boss gets all the credit.

Mechanically, it looks like this: there are two "Victory Meters". One for the Interlopers (the aliens), one for Valdivian, your rival Megacorp. If either of those Victory meters reaches 10, you lose. In the first case, the aliens win. In the second case, someone else fended them off.

Players are presented with 3 missions. They choose one to fail, one to settle with dice rolls, and one to play out. Failing a mission targeting a specific faction increases that faction's victory meter. Succeeding against a faction lowers it.

There's also a third faction, the military. They don't have a victory meter, but do have some of the best loot in the game, making them a lucrative target.

In order to win the campaign, players must win a mission against each faction 3 times, and then go on a special story mission to fight the big boss form each faction. The final story mission is blowing up the mothership and saving the day.

Specializations

In XCOM, you start as raw recruits. After your first mission, you are assigned a specialization based on actions you took. After that, as you gain experience, you choose between two powerful abilities corresponding to your specialization.

In Cyberrats, you start as interns. You have very little health, and only one power. After your first mission, if you live, you choose a Career. As you gain experience, you choose between 3 abilities for specializations of that career. The careers are Vector (hacker), Trenchy (weapons specialist), Mindjob (psychic), and Ratter (mutated freak).

Lethality

In Cyberrats, you create two Operatives to send on missions. Partially, this is so you can send one on the backup mission (resolved with dice rolls based on the prowess of the assigned Operatives), and partially this is because there's a good chance your Operatives will get Injured.

Hit points are small (even the brawniest Career only starts with 9), and nothing is guaranteed. But, it's very hard to die in Cyberrats: it just becomes increasingly expensive to recover.

Conclusion

There's no wrong way to adapt a game to a new medium. I once read an article about 6 different ways to adapt a book into a movie, and these thoughts have been stewing in my mind ever since. I made some choices in bringing an XCOM-like experience to table, but I can easily imagine several other, equally valid approaches. It's all about what you want to emulate, baby.

[quenthel]

ive been playing a lot of xcom 2. my review is that the story sucks ass and i hate it and the setting is a bit boring BUT the gameplay loop is addictive as fuck and the gameplay is very fun....

[goodvein]

Othercide

Most tactical RPG's use the exact same terrible combat system Final Fantasy Tactics introduced decades ago. Yes, it helped created the Tactics game genre, but that doesn't mean the gameplay holds up in the slightest. XCOM is the best overall, at least with hindsight. Fallout Tactics used the Fallout gameplay system, for better or worse, (mostly better).

But, the question is always, how do you treat diagonals? Are they 1 square or 2? Fallout dodges the question with the hex grid, which is not the right answer.

Most tactical RPGs, the ones that use the FF Tactics system, treat diagonals as 2, which means you can't melee your corners. 40k: Deathwatch: Tyranid Invasion treats it as 1, which is much, much, much better.

Othercide uses AP. Moving diagonally uses more AP than moving straight, and less AP then moving in a zigzag. The game also has a Burst system. When you go past a certain AP threshold, you take more time. And the game represents this with FFX's Timeline system, which so many more games should use. This is great, because in most RPG's, if you don't have the AP, you don't have the AP.

Deathwatch: Tyranid Invasion gives some characters and wargear the power to generate or borrow AP, but other than that, you have the option of stopping before the space, in the space, but not after the space. This means that next turn, you will have to make a quick move to get across, because if you stand in the space, you'll get shot.

Burst gives you the option of making the long run and attack, because if you do it right, you can kill the target, and not be left vulnerable.

Storywise, you start as a supremely powerful maiden, fightings the Others from beyond the veil of reality into unreality. She is powerful, and can do it physically, but it turns out her enemy was tortured as a child. He's too far gone, now, and too powerful to stop. So, she sends her power back in time to You, the non-entity general. You can use her power to birth Daughters, that do the fighting for you.

Each of the Daughters has a name, and in regular gameplay, they can never be healed. The damage they build up over the game never goes away. The only way to heal them, (outside of Easy mode), is to sacrifice another Daughter of equal or greater level.

Once they die, the memory of them remains, and these memories last through playthroughs. At any time, you can revert time, and try again. Throughout each campaign, you can get a few items that allow you to resurrect a Daughter, and this allows them to be persistent, through playthroughs. You also can gain buffs that are also persistent. This means that every time you play the game, you CAN get more and more powerful. And you will have so many Daughters in your memory, that you have to do the heartbreaking action of Forgetting them.

Because of the persistent health per life, ANY mistake can destroy your playthrough. In order to do this, the game has to be perfect enough to allow you to not make mistakes, and it is.

[eri-blogs-life]

Today officially marks my 5-year anniversary of starting gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy! It's been a real good five years, overall. A mixed bag at times, for sure, with my old shitty job and then me losing my job and getting into extreme debt, but on the bright side I'm in a great relationship, I've got some fantastic friends, and I feel like I am my own person now and all that good stuff's got a lot to do with my transition.

Anyway, to celebrate I decided to take a whole day off work and play a bunch of video games! Quick impressions on like the half-dozen games I played at least an hour or so of today, in no particular order other than the order I played them in today:

Lego: Lord of the Rings

I'll be real, I was not the biggest fan from my first impression. I grew up with Lego Star Wars, and still love that game to this day, but a new Lego game for me...? The gameplay is pretty simple, which is fine but not necessarily the most engaging.

Worst of all though is adding voice acting. One of the best aspects of the Lego Star Wars games was that they had to get creative with how they told the story, focus only on the really important details, and come up with unique ways for characters to express themselves. By ripping the dialogue straight out of the Lord of the Rings movies instead, it cuts a lot of the Lego charm that I loved so much in those games growing up.

Probably not going to play much more of this one

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

RIP AND TEAR

Holy shit, this game slaps. Like, I'd heard lots of good things, but now that I've played it I can really feel just how good it is. The pixel art intro is amazing (though a little long-winded for my taste I feel), the graphics of the core gameplay are absolutely beautiful, the music and sound feels so good to the ears, the shooting feels so clunky and satisfying... All around, an absolutely awesome experience.

I am definitely going to be beating this one at LEAST once through.

Lethal Company

Far from my first time playing Lethal Company, but yeah, this is a real fun game. The mix of horror and goofing off with friends just makes for a real fun experience. Once you start learning the creatures' behaviors and they stop being so scary, it really does become just a fun, goofy, silly time with friends in which you ocassionally get extremely freaked out by something suddenly killing you when you don't expect it.

Absolutely playing more, of course.

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin Edition

I've written about this game before on my blog, it is one of my favorite games of all time and I absolutely adore it. I didn't play for a whole lot today, mostly just booted it up and played until I died, but that made for a satisfying little taste of the game again. Without the social aspect of me playing this game with my friend Jon back in college, though, it definitely doesn't have quite the same appeal.

I don't know if I'm going to play more DS2 anytime soon. I played so, so many hours of this game and explored nearly all its secrets, I don't know how much more playtime I've got in me.

XCOM 2

I've been playing this game for the past few weeks, actually, and fucking loving it. I adored the original reboot XCOM and played it tons, and I picked up XCOM 2 shortly after its release, but I didn't actually give it a real good playing until recently. It's fantastic, but man is it rough to play. You lose a couple of good soldiers on one mision and it feels like everything starts chain-reacting til you've lost the whole run.

Definitely going to be playing more. I want to see this game's ending at least once.

Slay the Spire

Quite possibly my favorite game of all time, I love Slay the Spire's everything. Its game loop, its art, its music, the whole package is absolutely fantastic.

Absolutely I'm playing this game more. I also cannot wait for StS 2.

Cube Escape Collection

Alright, so my first exposure to this series was my neice playing a Cube Escape game on her ipad in, like, 2014, and then I didn't think about it again for a really long time. It was just some weird little puzzle game for mobile apps for kids or whatever. But then I saw this game on steam one time on sale, thought the name sounded familiar, and decided to pick it up. So far in first little experience, it's chill. I do enjoy me a good little escape room puzzle, for sure.

Probably going to play more, but it might be a while before I pick it up again

Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp

I loved Monster Prom - its fun characters and silly setting make for a really entertaining time. I finally got around to trying out the sequel. It's good, though mechanically it felt like largely the same core loop. It's not a bad loop by any means, and of course the real appeal is in the new romanceable characters, but I didn't find myself really falling too hard for any of them on an initial runthrough like I did with Polly in Monster Prom.

I might play more. Might try at least one run to date Aaravi cause they seemed fun.

Highschool Romance

Holy shit this made me feel things. The premise of a boy has to crossdress to fit in at an all-girls school feels kinda silly at first blush, but it really feels like the game takes it seriously. I dunno, when the game put me in a situation where I had to make a decision between revealing my identity to the girl I was interested in or keeping it a secret, I had to just pause the game and step away for a few minutes. The game really got me in to feeling like I was there in the character's shoes, caught in the headlights of a near impossible decision between trying to keep my secret a little longer or coming out when I didn't know how she'd take it. I tried keeping it a secret, but it didn't exactly end up working out, and she found out. But she was cool about it. And she even wanted to kiss me, which was pretty hot.

I'm absolutely about to play the fuck out of this game.

Ocean's Heart

Didn't play this game for long, but I got just enough of a taste to say it seems really promising. Got a lot of the 2D Zelda genes in it and from my short time with it, it feels pretty fun to play.

Definitely going to play more of it, but I think it's going to go back onto the backlog for now while I focus on other games.

[lasersquad]

random xcom 2 gameplay

[questfriendspodcast]

What's the ideal XCOM TTRPG?

We got a question from @mistermustachiogmc, but for some reason Tumblr deleted it

The XCOM TTRPG discussion in the recent newsletter really interested me because the tactical gameplay is one thing that I would actually want from the XCOM experience. A little magicpunk TTRPG called Zafir does exactly that, and in fact, it's pretty Damn hard to actually die in that game. I think part of the reason for that is that it's really hard to create and get attached to characters that are gonna die very quickly. Even in something like Call of Cthulu, the death of the player characters is the end of the story, a climactic moment that sells the danger of what they're up against, while in something like XCOM, you're expected to keep burgeoning on, making new characters to throw at the enemy. People are more of a resource, and the most interesting thing a character could do in a system that almost guarantees their death is just not to die immediately.

I feel like my main response is to 👀 at the TTRPG they mentioned and maybe plug Hellpiercers by Sandy Pug Games? It’s extremely XCOM vibes except you are liberating hell and also communists. It also does not exist yet but I’m going to be obsessed when it does release. -Tom

I'm not surprised tactical gameplay is something you'd want in an XCOM TTRPG - it's a big selling point of the game, and I imagine it's something most players would want in any adaptation! The reason I'd cut it from my own TTRPG adaption is two-fold:

Like you said, it's tough to deal the relentless onslaught of death in a TTRPG setting. In XCOM, the way they avoid that is by having the player character and all other major characters stay safe in the command center. Unsurprisingly, the first XCOM game (to my knowledge) that has major characters as playable units is also the first one without permadeath.

Tactical combat in TTRPGs is very tough for me personally, in large part because I enjoy tactics video games. In XCOM, I'm getting to dictate the strategy of the entire squad, but in a TTPRG, I get to make my one decision and then have to wait 30 minutes for my next turn (NOTE: my opinion here is heavily skewed by my personal experiences playing TTRPGs). This is why the one tactical TTRPG experience I really want to try is playing a 1v1 Lancer Match against Tom, where each of us controls an entire squad.

For me, the solution to both of these problems is to make "the commander" the player character. The main issues with this solution are (1) keeping the personal connection to the units, and (2) making an experience that isn't just "XCOM with paper." For me, that means taking out the tactics to focus on unit creation, attachment, and death, but I know that's heavily skewed by my personal preferences. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! -Kyle

[pikespendragon67]

And Now, The Long Awaited "Pikes Check-up" Fall 2023 Edition!!

Decided to make it a habit to type out my current interests/progress in life in case I find it difficult to jump into conversations with friends

Let's begin, shall we?

Current Life Events

It's been over a month and I still haven't had my annual review at work so if I don't get it by the end of December I may go nuts. Need to either get a better position in this firm, get better payment, or probably find a job somewhere else because wow working 8 hours (which is essentially 10 due to traveling & 1 hour lunch break) is not worth $20 an hour [i'm in CA so that's like barely above minimum wage & i gotta keep other expenses in mind].

On that note, I do have an interview for a state job next Friday (though I hope my coworkers/supervisor don't find it odd that I dress as usual on casual Fridays) and I keep getting calls from legal recruiters, so that's a good sign. Might try a probate firm since I enjoyed being a loan signing agent.

Brother and sister-in-law are hosting Thanksgiving this year! This will be the first time in decades where my parents don't host (and even then, it's mainly just a few family friends instead of actual blood relatives when they host. Think the last time I've been to a family Thanksgiving was when I was 7?) I get to properly meet my niece-in-law instead of just seeing her at the wedding. Sadly no nephews-in-law, so I might need to cut back on the gaming talk

Next party event for me is White Elephant with IRL friends, then for Chrimbus my parents & I are gonna go see my godparents for a week. Finally a week vacation (I need better hours too OTL)

With every passing day I think of gender being wonky so hopefully one day (when I'm financially stable to be on my own comfortably and without the fear of losing things) I can figure it out. Right now I'm thinking of using Bishop as a secondary online name but we'll see if that sticks.

Possibly maybe could go to Japan in April? Mom said she's organizing an event with my brother's old high school and she might be able to get my dad & me to join. Though I'd be a complete weeb, so I feel like I'd be rude to folks in Japan, I'd still love to go.

What I'm Playing

As much as I love Sea of Stars, I was getting antsy to play something else. (Especially when I heard the requirements for the true ending). SO, I decided to swap over to Digimon Survive since my brother got it for me for Chrimbus last year. I would've played it at launch but of course Xenoblade 3 came out at the same time and then I got lost playing Pokemon Scarlet then Hi-Fi Rush then Octopath 2 then replaying 999 then Ghost Trick then Sea of Stars-

But yeah I'm loving the character writing so far in Survive (I'm on part 3 most likely going to end with the moral ending) and the Digivolutions keep me on my toes. I don't think there's a branching system like in the Zero Escape franchise/AI The Somnium Files, so I'm not sure if I'll do a repeat playthrough. Gameplay itself has an isometric camera like FF Tactics so it can be a bit wonky placing your units to attack enemies. Plus I like how this game actually tells me what path I'm taking (hint hint Triangle Strategy before New Game+)

I also just got Super Mario RPG but the timing for action commands feels off? I press when the exclamation point appears but apparently I have to wait for the attack to actually connect. Weird

Then for games I'm watching through LPs because of time/funds/my wrists being god awful so it's hard to play games, I just finished watching Judgment and I think Yakuza Like a Dragon still holds the award for the game that made me cry the most but damn this also had good moments.

I'm also now watching P5 Tacticia (might get it if I can get used to Xcom gameplay) and man I can really make a babygirl meter based on the older dudes in P5 (going from Kasukabe to Sojiro probably)

New PFP that I've named Hattagan c:

Finally, man I might want to sell my PS5 despite it being my graduation gift from 2021. It's uncomfortable to play it with my current chair (as I like to usually play games lying down to help my back), and with me working full-time now, it's difficult to find motivation to play when I get back home. I'd need to connect to my work's Wi-Fi to take advantage of remote play, unfortunately. And while I could get a longer USB cord to keep the controller charged or get a bean bag or something, my room's way too small for that configuring & I'd have to keep unplugging the console when we clean every other week. Most of the games I want to play are already on Steam and are playable on the Deck, so I might use that instead. (Though I pray Ghost of Tsushima and Gravity Rush 2 get ported, then Yakuzas 4-6 are made playable for Deck).

Current Collection Wants So Far

Ever since I've garnered my own funds, I've made a habit of collecting fan things. It usually boils down to plushies (mostly Pokemon, but now favorite characters as well), games to collect (currently Switch, GBA, DS, 3DS, and Vita since I'm not really playing my PS5 for PS4 games anymore), Fire Emblem Cipher cards, and now DVDs for series/movies I like because I can't trust streaming services these days. Don't know if I'll be able to do Pokemon cards because I just collect for art & characters I like. Plus with how the Paul brothers ruined that market, I'd prefer to not dip my toes in that. When I get my own place, hopefully I can get other consoles to collect for. (Also I'm not planning on getting everything; mainly just games that pique my interest).

What I'm Watching

Last week, I saw the new Digimon 02 movie dubbed. Glad that Davis, Veemon/Ken, and Hawkmon reprised their roles. The only real issue I had was Armadillomon having the Stitch voice instead of the usual Texan accent. Other than that, Digimon's movies has this weird air of trying to market to nostalgic fans by telling them to move on from Digimon. I get folks didn't like the ending of the original 02 for shipping reasons, but the DigiDestined still had their Digimon as adults so I think it's a bit mean to say adults can't have Digimon or that they should stop having them. On that note, I felt like the "villain" could've been more terrifying if they actually showed how messed it up it was. (Like you're expecting me to believe it created Diaboromon just by it saying it watched the events on TV?)

So along with me nearly finishing Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (just have 2 episodes left since I decided to binge last night), here's what I'm watching in the fall 2023 anime season

needless to say i am going insane so i'll at least give some highlights

Paradox Live: I got into the series for Saimon back before the anime came out (I think it was a few months before Buraikan were officially revealed?) and wow the songs are great. You might've noticed me posting some of the groups like TCW, AKYR, etc. So far the animation for the series is self is pretty good, though they're changing a few story beats from the audio dramas. Like man we're getting starved on AKYR content. In terms of my favs, they're Saimon, Haruomi, Hokusai, and Shiki with Anne getting an honorable mention as well

Undead Unluck: I love the fast-paced humor and animation. I think the director for the Monogatari series is working on this and it's paying off in spades.

I'm dreading next week's episode of Jujutsu Kaisen and I'm praying that when Hiromi's in the anime that he'll get a good casting for both sub and dub (my hopes are Akio Otsuka and Joe J. Thomas, but that's personal bias talking). If he ends up dying I might drop the series.

Black Jack appeared in episode 1 of Pluto and that got me so stoked. Like I know Black Jack and Astro Boy are both Tezuka, but still.

Everything else is great, mind you, but my mind can only process so much. I'm also hoping to see Boy & The Heron when it comes out because Robert Pattinson actually voice acts in it, so here's hoping he gets other opportunities like that.

I'll most likely edit this post to add some other things, but yeah, that's my current status atm!

[lunarlagomorph]

actually what am i saying there is exactly one game i play almost purely for gameplay and its not xcom 2 its touhou. touhou all of them my most reccomended game

[lustfulmechanics]

Okay now that I've gotten the pained shrieking out of my system, currently working on a potential mechanical framework for an XCOM Quest, and torn between three options

Option 1, the Vibes System. Players propose a plan, I consider the risk reward ratio, roll a d100 and higher numbers work out better, lower numbers work out worse. This is the easiest system to implement, but makes it very hard for the audience to actually predict the result of their vote cause they have very little to base their choices off of beyond Vibes.

Option 2, the Existing System. In this route, I lift a system wholesale from some skirmish game to use for mechanical resolution. Currently I'm looking at F28: War Always Changes as a base to work with, since it's reasonably flexible and can even accommodate player actions outside of normal gameplay considerations (being designed with the possibility of Game Master run Narrative play). However, some of the base math doesn't line up great with situations expected of XCOM. I won't go into the full math right now cause sleepy but the odds are off in ways that people who are used to what works in XCOM will notice, "Hey, this feels weird."

Option 3, the Modified System. I'd still use some existing system as a base because I'm not fucking insane but I'd look at overhauling the underlying random numbers to more line up with the XCOM experience. As an example, I could switch F28 from a d6 system to a d10 and replacing toughness rolls with variable damage and everyone having multiple hitpoints. This would require more initial setup on my part ripping some of the guts out of the system and stuffing new ones back in, but would also mean I could lift a bit more math straight from XCOM itself and that people more familiar with the series would be able to more readily jump right in and make educated decisions.

So yeah, a question of how much effort I want to out in and how close I want to run to source material. It's taking up a surprising amount of brain space right now, so wish me luck!

[dentwy]

number 6: persona 5 tactica

i got this game a week before it came out because atlus in their infinite wisdom just so happened to release it a week before it was supposed to be out. genius! finished the game yesterday, so that's like, a month and 12 days for 30 hours of videogame. probably not too horrible considering i've been a bit busy, the thing is that it also felt like i've been playing this game for years. i did not feel like writing anything for this game originally, but since it ended up taking so long and kinda wanted to post one more thing before the year is over, guess this is it.

persona 5 tactica feels mostly feels like a nothing game. i wasn't expecting a lot before the game came out, i went in fully expecting it to be mediocre at best and i suppose my expectations were met. the unfortunate part is that a side of me feels disappointed this is what we're getting after scramble already set a good standard. if you're making a spin off it should at least add something to the original material (in my opinion). we already got a full-blown sequel with a different gameplay style that did all it had to do, and pulled it off right. tactica on the other hand is a game i honestly couldn't play for more than an hour straight at a time.

i love persona 5 so i can't complain too much about getting more out of it, but it obviously does increasingly feel like they're milking it as much as it can. joke's on me i guess since i'm still buying whatever they release and joke's on me when i play the phantom x if it ever does get translated. such is life.

tactica starts right after the events of royal, meaning the metaverse is supposed to be gone, joker is going back home in a couple of months and everyone's shit has already been dealt with. from the very start there is essentially, nothing to add to what we already know or to the characters we've already spent countless of hours with. i don't want to make this a constant comparison with scramble, but considering that game happened a bit further into the future, we got to see what was going on with their lives, how they're doing after a while of not seeing each other, how things have been treating them and how it feels to reconnect with those you care about (even if it's not like they've lost contact or anything). meeting with friends you haven't seen in a while is already nice as it is. what tactica has to offer is 2 new characters and like, xcom gameplay.

erina (or "elle" i guess but the localization team just picked a better name) is really fun. i like her design, she's a rebel, she's always been fighting for her freedom and you can tell. fiery spirit and forever confident attitude. even if she can get a bit too rash at times, she never means wrong and tries her hardest to help others, even at the cost of her own safety. toshiro while an entertaining character, he doesn't really leave a big impression on me. more often than not he feels like he's a plot device rather than an actual character. damn! it seems like he lost his memories, just like morgana. his rich fiancée is an asshole? haru can surely relate. his father is corrupt and strict; yeah, futaba and yusuke get that. ryuji too while we're at it. this is something i've noticed tactica loves to do. initially it seemed logical to have the phantom thieves share their past grievances with the characters going through the same as they once did. they understand what it's like and they are able to help them out, but as it keeps going it just underestimates what those moments actually mean to them and it mostly starts to seem forced.

however, if we're gonna talk characters, seeing futaba at the peak of her character arc might be one of the stand out points of the game. she gets along with toshiro really well and it's kinda just nice to see. also, lavenza, because since she only shows up nearing the end of p5 always getting to see more of her is cool.

the gameplay itself is fine? i think overall it's not that interesting. the enemies aren't challenging, you have way more options to do things to them than they do to you which always ends up balancing it towards your favor i believe. having 8 characters at your disposal from the start of the game while only being able to select 3 at a time is not something i'm fond of. in the end, i ended up using the same 3 guys throughout the entire game. joker is kinda the dude i'm used to always having so i like having him, erina seems appropriate to have on since she's the new one and most relevant to the plot, and then i just like yusuke so he stays on. the game does reward swapping out characters with extra hp and sp bonuses for the characters you haven't used, but it was never something that would make me feel i should change anyone. maybe if hp and sp were more limited level after level i'd have more of a reason to swap them out? but with the skills you have it's a bit hard to get low on either, and it just resets anyway after the level is over. i'm also not particularly into this kind of games so there's that too, take it as you will.

every character has a gun you can buy or create, every character has a persona you can assign to them and should probably fuse (even though fusion in this game is way less interesting as they can only have 2 skills at a time), every character has their own skill tree to upgrade and unlock stuff. added to the fact the ui feels cluttered and unintuitive, it doesn't really make the experience that much fun. you have a "prep" menu that has an option to select party members, another to change weapons, another to upgrade skills and another to change personas. it also has "quests" which is to view quests, not start them. the "hideout" menu you can replay missions, view a report of your stats or whatever, buy weapons, and, of course, a second quest button for actually starting quests. there also a "v. room" button because velvet room wouldn't fit. inside the v. room you can disassemble weapons and make new ones which you can't do in the same place and you also have to press the button at the top instead of the one at the bottom to disassemble because otherwise you're just gonna equip the weapon. obviously selling the weapons from the shop button wasn't logical, so instead you need to go into the v. room and do it from here every time you buy a weapon.

to add salt to the wound the quests aren't even good. there are really only 3 types of quests which imply killing everyone in one turn, getting to the end of the stage in one turn, or moving an object to the end of the stage. the one turn missions are specially bad because it's a bunch of trial and error until you figure out what the hell they were expecting you to do. some of them are fine to be fair, they need a bit of thinking but it usually takes so long for you to do and you only have one chance anyway that you simply have to think 12 steps ahead. first ever quest was specially bad because i just so happened to buy a skill that made my eiha stronger, thus, more expensive, which meant i simply didn't have enough sp to keep going. i had to leave the quest, go to the skills menu and remove it to then go back into the quest. delightful.

another thing that completely irks me off is the "memo" which you can open at any time just in case you forgot who the characters are. it is blatantly obvious that this is exclusively for the people that have never played persona 5 already so they wouldn't know who these people even are or what they're talking about. i am fully on board with accessibility, but, to me, it feels like they're spitting on my face. more often than not it gives you the sense that they're targeting first timers, rather than people that actually want to experience the story and want something extra from the game they already enjoyed. i'm not that naive i know they rather get more people to buy the game than limit it only to already established fans, but still.

something i must mention is that i do really enjoy the style of the game. the art and character designs are cute and work well in their own right. they don't particularly stand against the full body sprites and models of the regular game, but they manage with what they have. the places, backgrounds and cutscenes look good. the special event art that you get is really nice and i wasn't even expecting to see the animated segments so that's awesome. to my surprise, there's seemingly more blood in this game than in regular p5! i will always love seeing these little guys talk to each other, even if maybe not for long in the case of this game. the scene where joker has to imagine who he would marry is a bliss, and the same goes for later on when they have to disguise themselves as samurai and geisha. if there is something atlus will prove themselves to do well, is to fill these games with a unique style that stands in its own right.

here is where i start getting into spoilers for tactica (and some persona 5 royal later on!). if you haven't played either for whatever reason and happen to read this, no idea what you're doing here so whatever, i have to talk about the plot.

the "kingdoms" in this game happen to be inside of toshiro's head. i suppose everything in p5 always takes place inside someone's head, so not much surprise there. we get to learn that, wow, this guy's life sure sucks, but i don't particularly have a lot to say about the first two. his fiancée is bad, his dad is bad. it was nice getting the backstory with his mom, and again, seeing futaba connect with toshiro over it, getting him back on his feet and getting him out of the toxic mindset he's starting to develop, just how she once did.

the third kingdom is where things actually get going. mind you, this is 80% into the game already. so toshiro used to have a friend in high school, eri natsuhara. with her help, they tried to take down the shady vice principal of their school, way before the phantom thieves were even a thing. it ties well into the same scenario that presented itself into joker, ann and ryuji less than a year ago. however, it didn't turn out as well for them. they exposed his crimes, but then everyone's lives just turned for the worse. eri almost died and everyone blamed toshiro for it. now the thing that gets me about this is 1. she almost died because she got pushed into a moving train by the vice principal, toshiro didn't really have anything to do with it and 2. she didn't even die. i get that they insinuate that the students just latched the blame onto him for how the situation inside the school turned out as his actions did technically lead to it, but it wasn't even just him. he may have led the students to expose the guy, but never really forced anyone did he? in fact they came to them first to talk about it. besides, eri almost dying is surely traumatic, a life changing moment for her; yet she doesn't really regret their actions. all of this added up to him probably just blaming himself for everything more than everyone else did. you know, the mind plays tricks with us and he surely feels like it's his fault more than anything else. she still didn't even die though which like makes it less impactful? she proceeded to tell him he should not regret it and to stay strong. i suppose the fact his memories being hazy in this world means he doesn't recall her words until a bit later, but the fact they present it as such a turning point in his life to only show that she's fine and that nothing really happened after that puts a bitter taste in my mouth.

it would be fine if toshiro himself simply felt bad for it himself, and it meant so much that it changed him as a person. while some of this is true, the issue stems from this entire world being created by a god that really just felt like fucking with him. salmael, the god of stagnation, who was bored on a sunday afternoon and targeted toshiro of all people. i quote "he envisions a world of tranquility and peace for all mankind, but its utter disregard for agency threatens to amputate the possibilities of the human will." why toshiro? if it's supposed to be peace and tranquility for all mankind why is he doing it for this guy alone? even if persona always just needs to make the final boss a god, i like the idea of a god trying to break their will of rebellion, but he just made an entire world to fuck with his mind alone. why are the phantom thieves even here if that's the case? never explained.

as it turns out, erina is the memory that eri natsuhara left in his head all those years ago. which is nice. she also turns into toshiro's persona and now you have an extra party member for the remaining 12 levels of the game. which are really boring, and reuse the 3 bosses you've already fought. having a persona that is also a conscious being is a really neat idea, i dig it. it also does make it sad when she has to go once the battle is over, only leaving her will of rebellion behind. that is cool, i can't hate that.

i don't think there's much else i care about to talk in the main story, so i'm moving into the dlc. those motherfuckers at atlus knew that they could put the two most popular characters behind paid content and people would still buy it, and so i did. however, to be completely honest, the dlc was probably my favorite part of the game. besides the fact the royal trio will always be my favorite thing, it seemed a lot more put together at least.

to get stuff out of the way, i, again, do not enjoy the focus they put into making it as spoiler free as they can. i understand some people still haven't played p5r, but in the year 2023 i think persona fans can just get a game where kasumi is called sumire and akechi is his real self. akechi is a bit more complicated, i'll give them that, considering his ass is dead (duh). sumire i don't find much excuse. i suppose having to fit both them in the dlc asked for a moment in the story where they were both present and could actually fight alongside you, so before sae's palace it is. so pretty much, we have an akechi playing the role of the detective before he betrays you, and a kasumi without any memories of who she is, with her persona already awakened, while having turned down the invitation to join the phantom thieves. a bit of this creates huge plot holes in the story since neither of them knew the other one had a persona and was in the know of what the other one had to do with phantom thieves, but worry not, this is solved by amnesia, as once the dlc ends they simply forget everything. convenient!

another aspect of this that gets really weird is sumire talking about her sister while in this world, because as i mentioned, tactica loves to make the new characters relate to the ones we already know in one way or another. i believe you would know she used to have a sister by this point in the story? but not the details about it and having her reflect over it like that gets iffy within the timeline of the game, but i digress.

either way, the plot here isn't anything that exciting. you get transported into a different world; you need to help this girl fix her sister. what's fun about this is how there's actually some tactics involved into the stages (no way!). they apparently saw splatoon has been doing well and decided that's what should go for this mode as well, but it works surprisingly well. you shoot enemies and cover the zone in paint, if they're in your color you can hit them and get an extra turn, if they do it to you, they get an extra turn. there's no more covering here, just focus on where you stand and how you get the enemies in your paint. the fact you also can't even do anything while you're on enemy paint also adds an interesting factor to it. it's a lot more challenging and positioning actually matters here, so props to them for that. at the same time, you only have 3 characters to use which now makes complete sense, you don't need to buy to make any weapons as they simply give them to you, you only change personas you get from battles and you level up faster and can unlock skills much faster. the dlc is considerably shorter so it makes sense, but it at least makes everything way more straightforward and enjoyable.

the boss sucked though; it was not fun. as i was getting close to the end i thought to myself, "watch how they're gonna reveal this parrot is actually an evil god" and akechi says "don't tell me you're some kind of god?" and it was really funny. i also want to note that fairouz ai doing both sisters in the dlc is really fun, good for her.

let it be known #akechibouldering

in the end, persona 5 tactica is less than i expected it to be. not a cash grab, although it is $80 with the dlc you're simply gonna have to buy if you like these guys. i hope this marks the end of persona 5 spin offs, as much as i love the characters and i would play anything else they release (looking at you the phantom x), things have to stop at some point. even if this may not be the best ending, it may just be better than nothing. that, or just play persona 5 scramble for an actually fun experience.

[anaveragedisaster]

I've been thinking of how a Nine Sols story set on a modern Earth would play out, as one does.

So far I've had two ideas. One's a follow up to the Shooting Star ending that involves the Solarian ship used by Kuafu and the Apemen getting unearthed that I might post separately about if I can actually get my thoughts in order. The other is basically 'what if New Kunlun showed up in the Solar system in our time.'

The thing is, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the Solarians/Sols and the Ethereals from the Xcom games. Both are technologically advanced civilizations being driven to extinction by a disease and have invaded Earh to harvest humans in their efforts to find a cure, all the while presenting themselves as benevolent gods to those humans.

So now I've spent a considerable amount of time brainstorming how a Nine Sols and Xcom crossover au / total conversion mod would look like lore- and gameplay-wise. Here's the setup:

After realizing that the sapients on the Pale Blue planet are more advanced and numerous than initial images from the Haotian Sphere suggested (though still primitive by Solarian standards), the Tiandao council decides that instead of abducting a few hundred (or however many Apemen there were on Kunlun in canon) and leaving the rest of the species to fend for themselves in an ice age caused by the Fusang blocking sunlight, they'd colonize the planet proper. Not only would this make it easier for them to access their precious livestock. In their minds, it would also only be fair, even noble of them to uplift the remainder of the species with their science (or at least it's how the Sols that aren't Jiequan cope with the abject atrocities their plan involves).

For their invasion, they bring along a larger number of the biomechanical soldiers we see in the game, a fleet of Yuanbao ships (which do kind of look like flying saucers and by extension the xcom UFOs), as well as unseen warmachines from the Turbulent Era.

Right before Kunlun launches, like in canon, Yi discovers the secret behind Tianhuo and is murdered by Eigong.

After warping to the Solar system, the Sols spend maybe a few years preparing for the invasion, during which they abduct some humans to more thoroughly study what they're like. The actual invasion goes the way it does in XCOM 2 canon, with the Sols defeating any resistance and creating their worldwide regime (I haven't thought what it would be called yet, but it wouldn't be something as western as ADVENT). The date New Kunlun makes landfall on Earth is celebrated like Unification Day at the start of XCOM 2. Though I haven't decided whether it should be situated in the middle of the Pacific like the Etherals' facility or somewhere closer to land.

Instead of XCOM 2's Psionic network, there's a Rhizomatic/Fusang network created by the spread of Fusang roots from Kunlun throughout the Earth, generating clean energy and allowing for communication and maybe even teleportation due to their connection with the Limitless Realm.

The Gene therapy clinics are still a thing in this version of the story. We know Solarians in canon did gene modding. The Apemen were modified and the reason Tianhuo even exists is because Eigong tried to make Solarians genetically immortal. Like in XCOM 2, the clinics are also used to disappear an increasing number of humans, to be harvested for their brains, as well as biomass for Jiequan's transmutation factories and after a certain point, for Eigong's experiments with Tianhuo and the Tianhuo mutation.

As for Tianhuo itself, it is obviously kept secret from the humans. The official narrative as to why most Solarians are still in cryosleep is that humanity still needs to be 'raised' some more before they are ready to mingle with such an advanced species. The few non-Sols that have been woken up to help administer the planet are ones Eigong's made sure are loyal to her and even then, still closely monitored so they don't reveal anything.

Again, like in XCOM canon, at a certain point, survivors of the invasion led by Bradford get together to reform XCOM to start a guerrilla war against the Sols, steal an alien ship to use as a mobile base etc, etc. But no matter what they do, they can't seem to find the Commander. It's at this point that Yi wakes up.

Because Yi becomes the Commander in this au.

Instead of getting revived on New Kunlun, the Fusang roots, which stretch across the Earth now, spit him out in rural China. He's found and nursed back to health by Shuanshuan, whose parents left to get gene therapy in a city center some time ago but haven't been heard of since (the local representative insisted that they decided to stay, since the Sols make sure life is so much better there and as soon as there's an available spot, Shuanshuan will be able to join them).

At this point, I'm split on some key details. An idea I have is that initially, the roots revive Yi in a human disguise, specifically as a dead ringer for the missing Commander. This would make it easier for the rest of XCOM to trust him at the start, but would cause interesting conflict later (plus it would be so wonderfully karmic for him to have to be one of the humans he condemned into the role of cattle, and also I like me some TF in my fanfic). However, I'm worried about the effect this would have on Yi's and Shuanshuan's relationship. We know he's older than he looks in Solarian form, but still not that much older, so them as brothers still works. The Commander would have to be an older human, so if he looked like that, it'd start feeling less like a brotherhood and more like a father-son thing, which I'm not sure I want.

Otherwise, he'd claim he's a random defecting Solarian, demonstrating his hatred for the Sols in some way that convinces the humans to let him join them (though his getting the Commander's role is harder to justify in this case).

Either way, Shuanshuan refuses to part from Yi and is begrudgingly let on board the Avenger (which Yi realizes is his former personal transport and research ship, even being partly modelled after his Pavilion back on Kunlun). Either way, Yi gets to witness the devastation caused by the colonization that he masterminded and to work to dismantle it.

I haven't fully thought up how the rest of the story would play out, what the missions would be like and whatnot.

One thing I want there to be is XCOM being the one to discover an actual cure for Tianhuo, preferably through a method that combines science and the supernatural power of the Limitless realm. I like the sci-fi trope where humanity is the key element in figuring out something important, even when more advanced civilisations are involved. And I know that accepting the inevitability of the Solarians' extinction is a main theme in 9s, but it would also be fitting and nice if genuine help from humans (instead of them as cattle) proved to be the salvation not only for Yi, but for all remaining Solarians, giving them some hope.

Though Yi still gets to die heroically at the end and reunite with Heng within the infinite Tao, as a treat.

I''ve got more ideas about this that I want to share, but am too tired to rn. As a final note for now: Advent Burgers (or a differently named equivalent) are also very much a thing in this au and are enjoyed by both humans and awoken Solarians.