#and like they ALREADY came up with a way to justify some sort of cutscene rewatching thing !!

[loveletterworm]

the really annoying thing with splatoon games is  compared to other games  it is consistently MASSIVELY inconvenient to replay any story mode from the beginning, like they will just literally never let you see the opening cutscenes again in any way (octo expansion even has an entire first level that you can never see again after completing it), and of course because it’s splatoon you can’t just reset the save data without losing all evidence of ever playing the online parts of the game, so i guess the only option is to literally just make an entire new user on the console just for the sake of Being Allowed To See The First Cutscene Of Something Again, Once

[goldom]

AFoLiS author commentary Part 3-2

Alright, moving on...

After that point is when entries started to really fall into the norm of what I intended the story to be: me writing about whatever events I played that day, as if Stelle were writing about them. So a lot of stuff out of canon chronological order. But let's be honest, canon chronological order is a hot mess anyway.

I'm still proud of "Stellfie." Yes, I do this word-merging all the time irl, often aloud, and near-constantly mentally, which I have learned is associated with Tourette syndrome. After mentioning this to my mom a few years ago, she revealed that I was actually diagnosed with TS as a kid. Welp. And so sometimes I'm just sitting here thinking about Firefly (as you do) and suddenly burst out with "Blupils" (blue pupils) at my spouse, who has no fuckin clue what I'm on about, so then Stelle got to think it too.

Okay, Interlude 3, let's see how badly I wrote the SH... Okay this is actually fine. Yeah they're all making quiet threats, but I think it still comes across as caring. Yes, Firefly is harsh to Kafka in her thoughts, which is not canon, but in my story, we know she watched Kafka erase her girlfriend before her eyes.

On SW's joke about picking Stelle's name, I realized later that I got canon backwards about Stelle's old vs new name. Rewatching the opening cutscene, it's trying to say "her name WAS Stelle, but her new name is the one the player picks." But we're way past that now. In here, Stelle is her new name. Her old name... Well, we've heard it of course. It's ███. :)

" “A Station ornament inscribed with defense? Really?” “I meet a lot of people, okay, maybe someone will need it. "

Look. Look. Genshin has characters with attack that scales on DEF. YOU NEVER KNOW what relics you're gonna need some day! And that's why I'm always hitting the inventory cap...

" “Why would you keep a journal on paper?” Herta sneers, sounding insulted by the idea. " <- Me not noticing that Herta's avatar in SU is literally writing on paper. Oh well.

I try not to use too much cursing of any sort, if only because the game doesn't, so it would be out of character. But once in a while, Stelle just needs to bust out a "fuck off, Herta." Meanwhile, I liked getting to make up at least one silly sci-fi curse, with Herta's "Droidhead's wires."

Here's the most mundane behind the scenes detail. After I changed pens because Herta broke Stelle's, I discovered the color of the new one came out really light in the scans. So after a couple entries I went back to the original, having Stelle note on the side of a page that she replaced it. Well. Actually I accidentally picked a different one without realizing it. If you compare, the pen color isn't quite the same before and after the light-green pen section. Wow. Such lore.

Dumb headcanon: The way Screwllum talks isn't cause he's a robot, it's cause he thinks it's funny to sound robotic to the silly organics.

Okay, we're up to the creation of the seal on the journal. Oh boy that thing gave me so much aggravation. I came up with the trick clue very early, and got really attached to it. I needed the password to be "me" for Firefly. But then, "me" makes no sense for Stelle to say as the answer. Plus, "me" is a terrible password because it would so easily be said accidentally. So I ended up with that whole mess of exposition with Stelle being making up a reasoning for how it works, like "I guess the journal is being pedantic" and ugh yeah I'm still not happy with it. But I couldn't change the wording at that point, because I'd already SHOWN the thing way back in the first entry, and there it was written in the cover of the real journal. I think this probably should have been a "kill your darlings" moment, because the payoff really wasn't worth how awkward it was to justify.

Still, the moment Firefly figures it out and whispers "me" is so cute.

Alright, one more third to go in this part.

[silvermuffins]

Okay so. Here we go! God I am. So checking hyped. Oh man. I can barely make myself get started. Little bit nervous since the person whose liveblogs made me want to do the same follows me now (hi!) but eeeeeeeeeeee

Y'all gotta understand p3 made me who I am. It has been personality-defining in several ways for ten years. I have rarely felt quite as loved as the day the announcement leaked and like four different people independently came to me like Letty did you see

In the true spirit of Akihiko Sanada, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

Okay let's dive in,,,,,

New theme song! I'm gonna miss the toast but i will give this a chance.

New visuals, stellar ones, really driving in that shit's fucked

Idk how that poll is gonna end so I'll start with just Some Thoughts at a time and then we'll see where we're going

Oh shit difficulty... Let's do normal to start. Fuck no I am not doing merciless. But I want some challenge.

Oh the opening movie is a little different....and they're letting me play already!

They are doing my boy right so far,,,, but yukari may take some getting used to. Also they pronounce iwatodai different and that will DEFINITEly take getting used to. Definitely some iykyk in there.

I am examining EVERYTHING. My guy walks fast tho goddamn. Can no longer run with hands in pockets. RIP hand/pockets.

If y'all could hear the noises I am making,,,,

THERE HE IS! THE BOY!

Shit do I have to enter the name in eastern order or is western fine? /Google/ Reddit says western! Minato Arisato walks again.

They did that contract-with-spooky-child scene pretty well despite it not still being an anime cutscene. I can accept it.

Oh she didn't point the gun at me this time. Which is less dramatic but DOES make more sense overall. I can accept it.

Once again the Noises I am making. Y'all. I am living. Checked in on that poll, so far one big post later on is winning so I'll keep at it for now!

How does this rewind thing work exactly...? Is it for like, if I fuck up a social link?

Menu looks like diving into water. All my water associations for Minato have been justified. Got he's so beautiful I'm gonna cry. "My reflection looks tired" yeah I bet it does you depresso espresso you.

Apparently there is or will be dlc of some sort! I will almost certainly obtain it.

Starting school! Wow they expanded that cutscene. Eeeeeeee. Yes I like this. It feels like home got a fresh coat of paint. It's gonna take me forever to get anything done. God. I'm. Okay give me a little while to just run around doing nonsense.

VOICED SOCIAL LINKS CONFIRMED it already was but I'm thrilled anyway

My boy is already curious about sewing. Don't worry, Minty, we will be spending so much time with a certain someone. Ooh, seems he has a decent sense of smell... Aha, there a certain someone is! So very French...

Okay, game, you win, I'll make progress. Hi, Toriumi, yes I have a tragic backstory.

Minato just `why are people keep talking to me`. Suck it up boy we're gonna meet EVERYBODY.

New VA for Junpei is great so far. I'm so glad. The previous one was a case of how truly unfortunate it is that garbage people can be good at things. But so far, the characters are sounding great!

Yukari you are not subtle. Here I am trying to cover for you and you just give Junpei the wrong idea.

"No one takes rumors seriously, anyway." Stares directly into the camera. Stares in P2 familiarity. Stares. I do not remember if this line was in the original but S T A R E S.

Getting junpei's two cents on everything and. God it makes me so happy every time a familiar song kicks in.

Doodedoo, 'splorin.

Mmkay back to the dorm. We can actually explore the kitchen? Fridge space? Can't use the kitchen yet? DO I GET TO MAKE COOKING MINTY A REALITY?

I don't have tons of commentary right now that isn't best expressed as a bunch of vague satisfied noises and squeals in a higher range than the human ear can detect. Or by wiggling furiously, which doesn't come across well in text. Know that I am wiggling furiously. Everyone looks so good. Everyone sounds so good. I'm so happy.

Okay so it's not fully fully voiced. But still! So happy.

I know it's just Like This but the game just railroading me slightly feels like AGH STOP TAKING AN HOUR TO DO ANYTHING well stop having do much to examine them (please don't stop)

Ikutsuki is here! And oh his voice,,,,,

Weeps in playing as IC as possible demanding skipping a question. Ah well. I know how I interpret my boy and that brings me joy.

Time for stuff to get creepy! Eeeeeeee. Guys I cannot wait for how they're going to show some of the freakier things. ...oh well. This cutscene with the guy going all gloopy and collapsing definitely loses a little something by being in-game rather than fully animated. Damn the way they showed it in the original was so much scarier. Ah well, can't win 'em all, I guess.

Aaaaaa is that Yukino being referenced on TV? Was she on Who's Who before? Yukino <3

It's tiiiiime for the first full moon. Come on, Reload, you can't drop the ball on this one...! Come on, wow me! Blow me away!

Oh hey justification that sleep is probably less effective during the dark hour to go along with the standard stamina drain. Neat! Love getting my head canons confirmed. That said, also enough room for other interpretations. You love to see it.

Really like this just collapsing on the bed thing. Shaking it up! Ftr it's like super creepy that they have a camera and what looks like fucking heart monitor on Minato. But I am here for the creepy. And there goes the attack and Akihiko getting hurt and Yukari sent to escape with me.

Ohhhh please let me swap weapons around. Don't lock me into just swords. I want hammer.

I know it's all panic and scary RN but that kind of just makes it hilarious that I can still examine everything. Poor Yukari just dealing with Minato not being freaked at all.

HNNNNNN THEY DID NOT FUMBLE. I didn't think they would because like, out of everything, they've gotta get the Awakening right! But still! Hoodamn!

BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY

Oooh so the tutorial mara DID split off as scraps of the Magician! Huh so this is the battle interface...ngl I kinda miss the revolver menu, that was good shit. And now we go splat.

Igor: STOP BEING A BAG OF SOGGY POTATO CHIPS AND MAKE FRIENDS

One week later,

Backstory storytime with Yukari! I am a protagonist and thus a designated therapist. I am absolutely the person to pay your parental issues on. Never mind that Persona 2 firmly established the existence of actual therapists in this universe.

God. I'm gonna cry. My beautiful boy,,,,, I missed this so much. I'm a goddamn broken record. I said numerous times that I'm completely incapable of being normal about this. Fuck I'm tearing up.

Yes, Junpei. An upset stomach. That's definitely what kept me out of school for a week.

Mr. Ono just wants to talk about his special interest and he is so valid. Please tell me everything about samurai.

Real talk there had to be so many rumors and gossip about Minato. New transfer student - already a hot topic. Walks to school with Yukari on his first day, to stir the pot. After like three days he's suddenly absent for a week. Like, there's no way people didn't talk, right?

??? THAT's new. "Twilight Shard" on my bed making me feel like Legend of Zelda came to visit. Unless that's what we're calling plumes of dusk now.

I think they've given Ikutsuki even more puns. I join the team with very little convincing because supernatural danger isn't something to be leery of at all.

Nor are spooky little boys no one else can see who appear to me in the middle of the night bearing cryptic warnings of impending doom. I give him a good ol' doudemoii and go back to sleep.

Junpei joins the team! We support a guy willing to admit he was crying on the ground.

Trying to remember to report what's actually happening in the game, too. Don't wanna assume everybody is already familiar. I do wanna convince anyone who isn't to become familiar though. Anyway yes Junpei this is a thing we don't talk about. Except when we do, out in public.

Ooooh please don't fumble this bit! Tartar sauce! I am almost through the intro! ...wait I don't think THIS happened before? What's going on? Why are we delayed? ...oh. Oh that's, uh, bad. So for those who don't know, death and suicide are major topics of discussion in this game. You have been warned.

People jumping onto the tracks is not something I recall though... Maybe they're just driving in Apathy Syndrome as a major problem? Or I just plain forgot since, y'know, ten years. But I have reviewed since then... Junpei I would love to secret late night menu with you but we have an intro to get through.

Okay! Tartarus! ...they could have made that weirder. Less euclidean. But I can accept it. Wheeee dungeon crawling time! Oh fuck the menu is so stylish. I love it. Okay, time to kill things. Oooh, Tartarus looks good! Hate-love how it almost looks like it's breathing or something, real uncanny. Love the falling black feathers.

I wonder if they're keeping the condition system... I guess I'll find out! Oh, All Our Attacks are so nice.... We get finishing touches! Done and dusted! ....shuffle time doesn't do any shuffling anymore? Ohhh I guess Twilight Fragments are basically keys...

Doodedoo more tutorials. Someday I'll be free. I am getting kinda tired though...

Drags Junpei all over town to examine everything. Meanwhile the bgm sings "my life will turn out to be so cruel"...yeah because Junpei stops me from going to every restaurant. Hm, based on these police station offerings, I think I might be stuck with just swords, which is a little bit bullshit. Unless versatility is something I unlock later?

Come to think of it, Kurosawa probably has a heck of a story, if he knows shit's fucky but not what's going on... What are these personal connections of his? And how did the kirijo group get in touch with him?

....wait what's this about only the track and field team accepting new members? I know it makes the most sense, but I wanna swim! Are they going to force-track me?

Hm... I thiiiink I'm gonna just study in the library. I have no money to put toward anything else, and if things are the same academics is a bitch to max out.

It is now 3 am and my head hurts, so I'm gonna wrap it up here for tonight!

[fabdante]

The Vergil and Kat Post

So um. This like idk essay, analysis, rant thing took took like five attempts to write because I would not stop rambling and it’s still like just barely five pages long. And that’s after I cut it down from like 11 pages.

The short version is: Kat and Vergil are really interesting and complex as we view their relationship usually from an outside perspective which leaves much up to interpretation. If you’ve been on my blog for a while you probably know the interpretation I have of them because I eat up tragedy like candy, but that’s not the only one. 

The (very) long version is beneath the cut. And unfortunately this time there are no pictures. There’s some analysis but also just a lot of rambling. If Kat and Vergil, in any form, are not your cup of tea, this is probably not a post for you which is chill!

I’m going to start with the end. Vergil’s Downfall.

Recap, when Vergil encounters Hollow Vergil in his personal trip to his personal hell and all, Hollow Vergil eventually asks ‘but what would you do if you had another chance’. Vergil doesn’t answer. But since he’s the player character, we get access to his thoughts. And we get a montage of Kat. At first one might think this is about how the plan went wrong. Vergil’s regretting the plan. Then it becomes increasingly more apparent the thread that ties all the scenes together isn’t the plan, isn’t the plans failings. It’s Kat. Not Dante and Kat. Not the plan. Just Kat. The scene ends with a scene from mission 2, a moment from the end of the only cutscene Vergil and the real Kat share alone. There’s this little moment that seems to exist to show how pretty Kat is.

This is his last thought. Not the plan. Not how Kat relates to the plan. Not how he mistreated Kat in service to the plan. It’s just Kat.

Act one of Vergil’s Downfall is all about Vergil and Kat. The whole things a reenactment, just somewhat twisted, of how they met. Kat in Limbo, in danger from a demon, and Vergil doing what he can to help. He doesn’t hesitate either. He hears Kat call for him, call for help, and he runs. Except in Downfall the threat is with them, something he can fight and slay head on. So he does. But everything is wrong now. ‘Kat’ berates him. She tells him what Vergil must think she’s thinking. That she feels used, that she thinks Dante’s better, and all that. And Vergil tries to explain, he tries to justify himself, even if this ‘Kat’ is not his Kat. He wants her to understand, though. Because she’s Kat after all.

He needs to hurt her to proceed, of course. But he can’t. He can’t until she turns into a physical monster. Not until this fake Kat becomes something entirely unKat can he actually hurt her and proceed.

The Hollows represent aspects of Vergil that he needs to kill to gain power, as well as his insecurities and the people he cares about and more. Kat represents his humanity. So I suppose, in a way, it’s not surprising that she’s the hardest for him to kill and the one who receives the least of his cruelty that we see later in the game. But, the point still remains. He faces Hollow Kat first. And he begs her to understand him, longs for things to go back in what way they can.

(Also, an aside, it’s interesting to think about how Kat is not only humanity, but Vergil’s humanity. The implication being that Kat in a sense grounds him. A foil to how inhuman Vergil is.)

Downfall takes the scraps that the game gives and gives them a revamped, strengthened context for Kat and Vergil and their true feelings and intentions. The first game doesn’t give us much and why should it? They are built in a show don’t tell philosophy because, well, Dante can’t tell us about Vergil and Kat. He can only see. So we only see. But Downfall, we are explicitly told that yes, Vergil cared for Kat. She is important. And she is his one regret.

So, Downfall proposes that Vergil genuinely cared for Kat. And the base game proposes that Kat genuinely cared for Vergil. And it’s hard for me not to talk ramble when I talk about them because there’s…a lot of little moments between them that I love, little things that I find interesting to pick apart and wonder about (and have over the past 8 years). I’m going to try not to do that, though. Try being the operative word (I have failed all five write ups preceding this one).

Kat is often described as naïve because of her relationship with Vergil. But I think this is an inaccurate description. We never see her blindly trust anyone in the game. She doesn’t trust Dante because she just believes in him. We know this because she’s immensely skeptical of him and if he’s going to be helpful up until after the succubus boss fight. And we know she’s skeptical of him because she questions Vergil about it and she remains skeptical, keeping Dante an arm’s length away. She is not naïve. She trusts Vergil because he’s earned that trust.

It’s hard not to see how he managed to do that. He helped her kill her foster father and escape a bad situation, but it’s what happened after that solidifies this deep connection between the two. Kat tells Dante how Vergil helped her afterwards while she coped with the trauma and it’s something she mentions more then once. Kat’s trust and loyalty to Vergil is because he’s earned it. Because he has seen her at her worst and did not run. He stayed. He helped her through it. And still he stays now. It’s easy to imagine this going both ways, that seeing Kat ‘raw’ as he says makes Vergil vulnerable right back.

Plus, Vergil compares Kat when he first met her to Dante (‘He’s raw. Just like you were when I found you.’).  I think one would be hard pressed to refer to reboot Dante, the one with self proclaimed trust issues, as naïve.

So, we have a relationship of deep trust between the two over what is implied to be a long time. The sort of trust and intimacy you get when someone sees all of you and knows all of you. At least, I think that’s Kat’s end. When it comes to Vergil…well, opinions are complicated.

There are the three options of how Vergil feels about Kat if we simplify it down. One, he was using her and this was all to use her and get the plan finished. Two, he was using her but grew to care for her over time. Three, he was never using her and this was all real. I’m three all the way but one and two aren’t really contradicted anymore than three is. Which is an issue when talking about Kat and Vergil and trying to be all inclusive but also concise. There’s no one answer. There are just different opinions on what the answer is.

For me, it’s hard to reconcile the idea that he did not care for her with what we see in Vergil’s Downfall. Or when we have moments like his genuine joy that she’s alive in the server room. It’s hard for me to reconcile the idea of Vergil using her this whole time when it feels like a lot of work to keep her at his side when she can’t even control her powers. It’s hard for me to reconcile the deep connection I see between them.

For other people, the opposite is hard. Seeing what happened in the server room, seeing Vergil write off Kat entirely, seeing him call her useful and referring to humans as subjects, cannot be reconciled with the idea that he genuinely cared for and about her. Or how one could get a very loyal side kick the way he goes about this, saving her and giving her a home and purpose and everything. It’s an easy way into getting a loyal assistant.

All that I can tell you is how I see it. And what I see is two people with a deep intimacy with each other. The relationship may be messy and complicated and not perfect, but that’s what I see. That’s not what everyone sees, and that’s ok. That’s just what I see and that’s what this post is about.

I think its notable to about how important this relationship is because Vergil actually gets like, jealous about it. I get side tracked for too long when I go on about this so, in keeping things short, we see Vergil in the background get frustrated with things Dante says to Kat (namely the ‘I like it rough’) and we see him get kind of jealous in the game. But we really see it in Downfall. And sure, there are things he’s jealous about that pertain to Dante that aren’t Kat related. But there are things that do relate to that. We mostly see this, again, with Hollow Kat. She pisses him off when she mentions Dante being a real man. There’s of course stoking at Vergil’s insecurities since he’s lost to his twin and he already seems to feel envious about how easy things are for Dante and everything. But there’s also the fact it’s Kat saying it. It’s Kat who’s telling him she prefers Dante. That stings Vergil, this idea Kat cares about Dante more than him.

Part of this I think is from the fear that Kat will run off to Dante because of their similar backgrounds. They both have similar childhoods, something Vergil didn’t experience. Which, going back to what I said, a person who must pride himself on how well he knows Kat (and how well she knows him) must find that kind of threatening. 

There’s this scene added in the Definitive Edition. Before that we were left to assume Kat wandered the tower and that’s how she mapped it for the twins, but the Definitive Edition makes it clear canon. This makes the scene where Mundus records himself with Kat as a threat to the twins the only time we see Kat out of body in the game. During this experience, she assumedly betrays Vergil’s name to Mundus. Before the Definitive Edition scene, I always just kind of wrote off that moment. Kat’s under extreme duress, she’s just saying whatever at this point. I thought this for years after, to.

But then one day, after replaying the game for the umpteenth time, a thought came into my head. She’s out of body, in Limbo, surrounded by demons. She says his name because Kat is looking for him. She say’s his name because despite what happened in the server room, she still trusts Vergil. She doesn’t say Dante’s name, she doesn’t call for anyone else. She calls for Vergil. Because who else would she call for if not Vergil, the person she’s closest to and the person who saved her before?

It’s this sort of thing that makes the betrayal hurt as badly as it does for well, everyone. Us, Kat, Vergil, Dante. But focusing on Kat and Vergil, it’s the trust. It’s this deep bond between the two of them that’s suddenly shattered. What do you do when this person you think you know so well doesn’t do what you expect? When they do the exact opposite, actually? When they suddenly don’t understand you at all? It’s such a foundational relationship for the two of them to, it’s earth shattering to go from knowing a person so truly and deeply to looking at a stranger. This is all kinda true for Vergil who must have expected Kat to understand even if he may have thought she’d get upset. But this is all extremely true for Kat

It’s kind of a double sided betrayal. While I’m not really going to say Kat betrayed Vergil, because she didn’t she stayed true to her word and what she thought they were fighting for and everything, Vergil feels betrayed to, just like Kat and Dante. And oh does Kat feel betrayed. One of my favorite like, animation, character moments is like the pure disbelief, anguish and betrayal on Kat’s face at the betrayal it’s so well done. Like even the little look she does out over the city then back to Vergil like it’s just its good but not important back to topic. Kat thought they were fighting to free humanity. And Vergil seems to truly think this is for the best, if humanity is under his rule.

While one can argue Vergil’s goal was power, I feel like Vergil’s goal was the same he had from the start. Vergil wanted to free humans. He’s not even wrong, really. If Dante and Vergil do not put someone on the throne to replace Mundus, a new demon will take his place. Without someone controlling the demons, the demons will wreck havoc uncontrolled. However his wording could use some work. That said do I think Vergil is susceptible to power corrupting him. Absolute power corrupts absolutely sort of deal. I feel like him and Dante are similar in this regard, neither I think is quite equipped to rule with the amount of power that Vergil proposes they get. I also think Vergil didn’t think he’d get to this part, I don’t think he really thought about what happens after Mundus. Not the specifics. He ended up with this conclusion later in the game, and as a result never floated it by anyone. And to be fair, no one asked.

Kat always seems so full of hope at the end, right after she get’s Dante to stop killing Vergil and everything. She’s got these big Kat eyes, like she expects now things will go back. Vergil will say this was a joke and he’ll come back and things will be normal and she will have her best friend and the world will be safe. But that’s not what happens. Vergil leaves, of course (not after him and Kat have a long extended stare where they must be wondering mutually if the other will change their mind, if she will follow or he will stay). The whole ending in general from start to finish we get a lot with Kat and Vergil subtext. How she manages to get him to listen for a moment, even if Dante ends up getting him too angry to listen by the end. How Kat goes out on a limb to save Vergil, even if she didn’t have to.

She must be wondering, to, how real it all was. Dante’s answer I think is that it wasn’t. From what he saw, from his limited scope, it wasn’t. He cannot reconcile it, and why should he? He was thrown into their lives and resistance group with no context and he ends with little more. But Kat’s left wondering, and Vergil’s left regretting, and I’m left lamenting about the very large lack of post game Vergil/Kat content. 

I don’t know. I could keep going. At just over four Microsoft Word pages, this is the shortest attempt I’ve made at this. And I will surely write up some more analysis on them, I didn’t even get to talk about fun stuff like Kat’s theme (or the comics but I left those out on purpose I have…complicated opinions on the comic), or like more about the whole divine/human angle here. I could keep going on and on and on like analyze every little microsecond and sound like this:

Which, to clarify, I will 100 percent do if prompted lmao. But I guess the short of it is, in my biased opinion, I think Kat and Vergil are in love. I think it was real. I think Vergil found her and he helped her because she needed help. I think they know each other better than anyone else. I think some things may have gotten muddled in the mists of being in a rebellion and saving the world and that rebellion was their priority. I think going into the DmC: Devil May Cry post game must be complicated for them, unable to let go of the other but unable to come back. It’s the sort of complicated relationship and tragedy I find fun to write and to read. That’s how I see it, anyway.

Also I mean idk if we are to believe Vergil’s bigger dick comment as truth, who else saw both Dante and Vergil’s dicks? Who except Kat? Who else had this info? Who else would Vergil believe? Just saying. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.  

(edit: also I spelled hollow wrong like multiple times in this essay forgive me it should be fixed now lmao)

[collinnmckinley]

TLOU2 review. *SPOILERS DUH*

DISCLAIMER: These are my opinions and do not have to cross with anyone's. Everyone with their own and I respect them, I hope you do with mine. I will try to keep it short even though the thoughts will be all over the place and I might go off tangents sometimes. Also SPOILERS!!

This game had me go through a lot mentally, I cried, I laughed, I was angry, but mostly I was upset a lot of the time. And I will explain why later on. 

The Last of Us part II was one of the most, if not THE most, anticipated game for me. And I was over the moon when my best friend got it for me. I was happy that I would get to see and play as my favorite characters. But that happiness didn’t last long as the story progressed. But before I delve into the story and talk about the cons I want to talk about the goods and pros of the game.

I wanna start with the graphics, and the visuals of the game. This game has one of the most beautiful visuals and environment details I've seen in a current gen console. Also me having PS4 slim and saying this doesn’t do justice, imagine the game in PS4 Pro with maximum settings. The character models were amazingly crafted, I can’t say this enough but just look how amazing Joel looks here;

Also Maria, Tommy, Ellie, they all looked amazing! God help me because I still can’t get over how beautiful and amazing they all look. And I will keep saying amazing because it is true.

The mocap and voice acting; it is only fair to say that the actors did a perfect job to bring these characters to life and I respect them so much for it, and the animation that came with it was just fantastic. I applaud the animation team for the amount of work they’ve put into this game and I will never get over the fact that it was all made in a computer. It didn’t feel like mo capped at all, it felt legit and real, it felt like I was watching a movie not playing a video game. 

That brings me to the point; this game felt more like an interactive movie than a video game. 60% of the time I was just sitting there bored out of my mind, either because of this reason or that the game gets dragged too long because of the unnecessary gameplay or encounters. Yes it might be a bit too easy to just let the player walk into what they’re supposed to walk to but an encounter every 5-7 minutes? It just gets repetitive and annoying at one point. 

It really felt like an interactive movie with so many cutscenes and unnecessary story telling, it was just plain bad. Sometimes I would be tempted to just skip the cutscenes because of how bored I was getting but then again it was my first play through and I don’t like missing anything (although in this game I would’ve like to miss a lot). I think they forgot what made the first game so good.

The game play was exactly the same as the previous one, plus you are able to crawl, swim and dodge. To think these were innovative is a bit dumb on their part. Before the game came out, or when the gameplay trailer released they were boasting how much better the game play is from the first one, showing off the new workbench. Which btw was very annoying to use, unlike the first game this game took most of the time because of the damn animation. “Oh we want to make the game better, how do we do that? I know let’s add sick animation on the workbench to drag the gameplay time.” I know they were trying to make it realistic but it’s just another one of the unnecessary elements.

I think we’ve started with the Cons already so might as well continue. The game tries and forces you to see each character’s perspective that you end up playing, which are Ellie and Gabby. I still don’t understand why they were trying to force us to like Krabby Patty. She killed Joel and so she’s the bad guy for me, end of the story. NOTHING she did had changed my mind about her, literally nothing. 

The game was supposed to be Joel and Ellie’s story, about Joel’s redemption, about how fractured their relationship gets after the truth was out, and about how they bond all over again when Ellie starts forgiving him. But all of that was sent out of the window when Debby and her gang were brought into the picture. Ever since they were introduced, nothing made me care about a single one of them, on the contrary every character died made me a little happy inside. They wanted to introduce a new character but they introduced ONE TOO MANY The only characters I cared about besides Ellie and Joel were, Tommy, Jesse and Dina. Jesse didn’t have that much screen time but I liked his character because he wasn’t a bullshit one like Debby gang and wasn’t forced for me to like him. 

The fucking sex scene didn’t have to be there, noone wanted or needed to see it and I feel so bad for the actors who had to participate in it all.

The whole Gebb arc was so forced. It made me angrier the more I played as her. Her arc was supposed to be some sort of redemption road for her because of her actions, but it made me hate her more and more. I swear I tried to understand her, like her, see what she saw and why she did what she did but no, nothing could change my mind about her. She couldn’t let go of her anger because she didn’t grieve, she dragged her friends across the country to take her revenge. Not all of her friends agreed with her, because they knew deep down she was wrong, even one of her friends later on said something similar to Gabey at the end of her arc. 

The ending: It was so bad. At first I thought of it as a bittersweet ending, because they gave us that scene where Ellie talks to Joel and she says she wants to try and forgive him. They  almost made us think the game was good and the ending was justified, but it wasn’t one bit. Ellie didn’t get her revenge, Gebby didn’t die, and Ellie just lost everything and everyone while Abby didn’t. And in the end, Geb didn’t even matter in the story. What was the point of inserting her in the story if she didn’t matter anymore, they just ended her arc there (and I hope for their fucking sake they keep it that way). The more I go through the ending the more I hate it. It wasn’t justified at all for Joel sake, but then again it was Ellie who had to come to terms with his death and grieve on her own. In conclusion it sucked.

The game advertisement was so bad. They made us think that Joel was alive the whole game, they made us think that Joel will be our companion the whole game. And the whole time Neil Druckmann was laughing at us in the background. Its false advertisement for the players to buy the game because they know if they exposed even a little bit of the story people will boycott ND and not gonna buy TLOU2, and honestly can you fucking blame anyone?. A scummy move them ND tbh and I will never forgive them for it.

I wonder what the writers were on to write this shitty narrative story killing off one of the most beloved characters in the game like that. They wanted to make an example out of Joel with death. I get it, but this wasn't the way to do it. the more I think about it the more I think it’s so stupid and the shittiest narrative any game has had so far. And for the sake of the fans I just hope to god they don’t make another game or a dlc for the series after how they ended it. 

My conclusion: I was upset most of the time playing this game and didn’t have a good experience for more than 18 hours of it because of what I stated above. it was a grindy experience for me, and my head hurt most of the time because I felt the game like a chore rather than a game, because of how much they kept on stretching it from unnecessary encounters with the enemy to unnecessary amount of cut scenes. Also playing as Dabby made everything 300 times worse for me and I hate her. :)

My rating is 3.5/5, would not recommend buying it full price. 

[edelvonhresvelg]

Mmh. Random. I'm bad with prompt but I always thought as a lot of people already said, Bayleth confronting Edelgard about Jeralt, maybe after the war, maybe after the timeskip, or maybe after giving her the ring. Like, Edelgard I want to marry you, the ring was my father's.. do you miss him?/I do/ And Bayleth still adjusting to the beating heart, trying to sort out her feeling and asking Edelgard about it. (Because Monica did speak a lot with Edl). ...This is not a prompt, neither a light thing*

*to write, but I’d like to see how you imagine it went..! (If you want to write it..!)

okay! okay okay okay. this is something I have thought about a lot. pre-timeskip. post-timeskip. sooo many different possibilities of how, where, and when this unfolded. so what follows is just one of those possibilities.

this is pre-timeskip, as I recently played through this cutscene in my replay of CF and, with this prompt idea already in my head, it just clicked. 

potentially may eventually write out other alternate scenarios, and/or a post-timeskip around Byleth presenting El with the ring as you also suggested (which is another thing I think about a lot) but in the meantime, enjoy!

oh also this one turned out kiiinda long so a chunk of it is below a cut. turns out I just can’t help myself sometimes. ^^;

- - - - - - - - - -

Byleth stood, unmoving, staring at the wall in the little private space she had found in the provisional camp. In truth, she didn’t even see the wall – too lost in her own thoughts, replaying over and over in her mind the recent events that had led her and the Black Eagles to the Imperial camp. 

Footsteps approached from behind, which she heard faintly; though it wasn’t until words broke through the silence that the Professor was pulled from her thoughts.

“Professor, may I speak with you?” 

Byleth turned to see Edelgard, a concerned frown on the young woman’s features, and gave a slight nod. “Of course.” It was only inevitable they would need to talk, and they had yet to do so since their arrival at the camp — and what would be said had of course played out in the Professor’s mind.

The emperor’s gaze lowered. “I appreciate it. I…”

A short silence followed. In those pretend conversations which had played out in her mind, Byleth had imagined herself speaking fiercely, sharply, as she sought answers for the questions plaguing her thoughts – though quickly, any such feelings evaporated at seeing just how concerned the young woman was, and she nudged gently: “What’s wrong?”

Edelgard, gaze still averted, let out a small sign. “I’m just…anxious. It feels like the weight of this burden is crushing me. At this very moment, on my orders, I’m starting a war. An army far larger than the one that attacked the Holy Tomb last month will soon be locked in battle. Long-devised strategies are unfolding across Fódlan. Leaders are deciding their loyalties and preparing to fight…” The emperor shifted on her feet, still not quite meeting Byleth’s gaze – yet it was clear the words were a weight on Edelgard’s mind, and Byleth found herself happy to take some of that weight simply by listening. “So many generals and soldiers will die. It’s inevitable that civilians will get caught up in the chaos as well. There will be countless casualties. With a single command, the flames of war will rage across all corners of this realm. And I am the one who is giving the order.”

The emperor’s words hung in the air. In the silence that followed, her words from the Holy Tomb echoed in Byleth’s mind: “I’m sorry, my teacher. I cut this path, and now I must follow it.” 

“This is the path you chose, isn’t it?”

The words escaped the Professor a little more abruptly than she had intended, and she noticed when a slight hardness entered Edelgard’s eyes in response.

“Yes, it is.” Edelgard had straightened, and was then meeting Byleth’s gaze. “There is no turning back. No matter how much blood flows at my feet, I will not relent. We must break the bonds that the depraved church has placed on Fódlan. These sacrifices will allow us to create a future where we never need sacrifice again. It may seem contradictory, but it’s the only way.”

A nervous laugh escaped Edelgard, then; the hardness fading from her eyes, as she lifted a gloved hand to brush a strand of hair to the side. “Listen to me. I made up my mind long ago. Yet here I am, seeking your approval. Tell me the truth, my teacher. Are you happy with your decision to stay by my side?” She paused, then; as though afraid to continue with the words already on the tip of her tongue. Yet not afraid of the words themselves; only of the possible response. “Unlike me, you can still walk away from all this. This path leads to the death of the archbishop and the servants of the church. Can you live with that?”

It was a question Byleth had, in part, been contemplating – if not trying to justify to herself. It all came back to Edelgard. Byleth had been fond of the young woman from the start, there was no denying; equally, she had been suspicious of Rhea and the church.

Despite all the greyness in-between, when the archbishop had given the order for Edelgard’s execution, Byleth had felt no hesitation. It was impossible for her to imagine standing against Edelgard – let alone killing her – and a part of her had already decided that Edelgard’s path would be her own.

“I chose this path too.” It was an abrupt truth, even if there were still questions that Byleth needed to have answers to.

Surprised at the Professor’s words, Edelgard faltered. “I never thought… I’m sorry. It was a foolish question. I—” 

“But before I continue walking this path,” Byleth, on some level, felt bad for interrupting the young woman – who had went from surprise to dread, the colour in her face faded, “I have to ask you something, and I need you to answer.”

There was fear in Edelgard’s gaze, and it took a moment before she was able to give a trembling nod. “Of course, Professor.” In the seconds that followed, it became harder for her to hold her teacher’s gaze.

“Jeralt.” Byleth felt as though her throat tightened as she spoke the name, voice barely more than a whisper. Of all the imaginary conversations she’d had with Edelgard in her head, she never imagined it being quite so difficult; nor had she imagined Edelgard suddenly looking so sad. “You and Monica…Kronya…whoever she was… I saw you. A lot. You were always together, talking, and…”

Goddess, it was a lot harder than she had ever imagined. No matter how hard she tried to summon it, the sharpness she had heard in her mind’s voice never materialised – and it couldn’t so long as she looked into those lilac eyes, sadness and fear swimming within.

So Byleth looked away.

“Did you know what she was planning?” There it was: an edge. Not a question, a demand. It could be nothing less, because she needed to know. “Did you know she was going to kill Jeralt?”

“Of course not,” Edelgard rushed, voice slightly more raised than normal, brows pulled together. “Professor, I swear, I—”

“Would you have stopped her?” Turning her head, Byleth looked back at Edelgard. “If you had known, would you have stopped her?”

“I would’ve done all I could.” Another abrupt response, as it was Edelgard’s turn to avert her gaze, her left hand balled into a fist as she tried to keep control of her composure. “I never wanted any harm to come to you or the rest of the Black Eagles, and I did everything I could to keep you out of harm’s way. Please, my teacher…” The emperor’s voice faltered, her thoughts getting in the way – she knew this moment would decide whether her Professor continued on her path, or did indeed walk away, and Edelgard feared she had already lost her dearest ally.

“As for Kronya… I knew what they had planned so far as the experiments with the students and the Crest Stones, but I wanted no part in such things and I would have tried to stop them if I could have.” Against her better judgement, Edelgard lifted her gaze to meet Byleth’s once more. “You have my word.” 

Byleth swallowed, feeling any fight leave her at the sight of those lilac eyes glossed over with unshed tears. Tears that she doubted would ever be shed, if only because she’d never seen the young woman cry before and simply couldn’t imagine the sight.

Edelgard continued without prompt, even after she had seen the softening of her teacher’s gaze. “I never knew she would hurt Jeralt. It was never a certainty he would be there, and I thought once we prevailed against the beasts…it would be over… I swear…” The emperor’s gaze dropped again, and Byleth made a move to step forward, only halted as the words continued – Edelgard’s voice suddenly quieter. “I may not have known him that well, personally, but he was your father. If I’d have known… If I could’ve done anything…” Words failed her, and she looked down at the ground; she knew she could speak no more without losing her composure.

What else was there she could say, anyway? It was true she had associated with Kronya. Schemed, some would even call it. Byleth had seen them. It was only natural for the Professor to draw her own conclusions, her own opinions. 

Suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder; firm, but not too firm as to not also be gentle in a way. Looking up to see Byleth so close was unexpected, though not as much as the faint smile that seemed to be on the Professor’s lips. So faint that Edelgard blinked twice to ensure it wasn’t a trick of her eyes, and was sure the Professor was only attempting a smile for her own benefit. Or to say farewell.

“I believe you.”

Lips parted, but no words escaped the emperor as she simply stared at the Professor. Byleth lifted her other hand and placed it on Edelgard’s other shoulder, for a moment contemplating whether anything more – a hug perhaps? – would be appropriate or even accepted. Quickly, she settled just on holding the young woman’s shoulders.

“I believe you,” she said again, not only on seeing how dumbfounded Edelgard looked but also on still seeing traces of her earlier fear and sorrow. “I’m sorry. I just… I needed to know before I walked any further down this path with you. There was never a good time to ask.” She squeezed the young woman’s shoulders. “I never meant to frighten or upset you, really. Please, forgive me.”

At that, Edelgard actually laughed – lightly, weakly; but laughed all the same. A gloved hand lifted to her forehead, partially covering her eyes as she shook her head. “You have nothing to apologise for, my teacher. At least…it’s done now.” 

Moments passed, and they simply stood together: Edelgard’s hand eventually falling back down to her side, while Byleth’s remained on the young woman’s shoulders. Eventually, they fell away, too. Some sense of normality returned to the air between them.

“So, Professor,” Edelgard broke the silence hesitantly, and continued with a quiet voice, “do you still choose this path?”

Byleth really did offer a small smile at those words and, without hesitation, nodded. “I chose this path,” she said again. “I chose you, Edelgard. From this moment on, your path is my path.”

A tinge of pink entered the emperor’s cheeks then, and it took her a moment before she was able to return the nod. As she spoke again, her voice had returned – and she was unable to hide her revived happiness from her tone. “I believe in you, Professor. And you believed in me. With that knowledge, I have the strength to keep fighting.” With that, Edelgard managed a smile of her own, and was content to let the moment linger on before, finally, remembering the rest of their current and impending situation. “Let’s go… There’s something I need to say to Hubert.” 

[megashadowdragon]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Perspective, Tragedy, and the Value of Connection

comment by a

Pinned by Aleczandxr)Table of Contents: Introduction: 0:00 Rhea and the Church of Seiros: 4:22 Claude and the Golden Deer: 15:35 Edelgard and the Black Eagles: 29:10 Dimitri and the Blue Lions: 37:57 Conclusion: 58:11 Please note that a decent portion of this video involves summarizing certain lore, backstory, character and plot elements in order to provide a foundation for my arguments about the themes and ideas presented. This game has an extensive and quite complex setting and story, and it is told piece-meal across four routes, so I felt the need to summarize them for the sections in which they were relevant. Also, the main point of this video is now to have four all-encompassing character analyses for Rhea, Claude, Edelgard and Dimitri, but to go over their backgrounds, mindsets, philosophies and how they are integrative with the game's main themes of perspective and the importance of a connection and "light" like Byleth. This isn't intended to discuss every little nuance of each character, and there are undoubtedly some things I left out about each of them, simply because they wouldn't contribute to the intent of the video. So simply put: don't expect me to talk about every aspect of these characters, because that isn't the point. HAVING SAID THAT - I now realize that the main problem with this video is that I didn’t really delve into Rhea to the fullest extent. In the process of writing her part I got a bit too caught up in leaning on summarizing the lore of the game and talking about how you can be her “light”  and didn’t give her quite as much sympathy as she deserved with regards to her motivations. My phrasing should’ve been more fair and elaborate to help justify her perspective. ALSO: Note that I said that Rhea created the Empire, but it’s more accurate to say that she fostered the founding of the Empire, which is what she said in the scene I provided.Show less

comments I saw on the channel

I think it’s interesting to characterize Byleth as a light for Dimitri and Edelgard but not for Claude. There’s some nice visual storytelling in the fact that in the reunion cutscene with Claude, he’s already in the light while Byleth has to walk out of the darkness to meet him (which is the exact opposite for Dimitri’s cutscene). It reinforces the fact that what Claude needs isn’t “a light” or someone to pull him up, but a partner and companion with the power to help bring his dreams to fruition.

Edelgarld isn't in need of a light either,  she also just needs someone who she can trust to break the stalemate situation,  because if byleth didn't come she would have still won the war with the help of cornelia and house Gloucester in the alliance,  this is made proof in the amount of chapters you have to beat.

yes she can win, but  the " with the help of Cornelia" caveat to that statement is the big problem there. Yes if Byleth didn't exist she likely would have been able to win the war, but in order to do so she would have had to sell her soul completely to the devil (TWSITD) and compromise her morals for the sake of victory. Once you start down that slippery slope, it's difficult to pull yourself back. We see this in the Azure moon route where Edelgard becomes so committed to attaining absolute victory, that she's barely even tries to reach an understanding with Dimitri to avoid greater bloodshed. She becomes convinced of the fact that only she knows what is right for Fodlan and is prepared to do anything to win, including using her own people as meat shields and trap bait if need be. She's even willing to quite literally surrender her own humanity in order to increase the odds of her success. Edelgard and Dimitri are both good people who find themselves surrounded by darkness in different forms. They both need Byleth to act as a guiding light of sorts to lead them out of that darkness and into the brighter future that they hope for.

I feel like in that cutscene Claude is in a way serving as Byleth’s light which is why they have to walk out to meet Claude in the light. Claude focuses mostly in comforting Byleth, offering food and companionship first and foremost and throughout the story serves more in a guiding or advisor role letting Byleth be the leader/figurehead. This is all the more clear in the final battle where Claude sets up Byleth for victory even at risk of his own well being.

The tragedy of the game really hit me when the new difficulty mode came out and I had to pick a route again. I realized that no matter what house leader I chose to support, it meant i would have to watch the lives of others end in tragedy because my choice deprived them of the support they would desperately need

@kamden madan  that’s why I feel like a dick in silver snow I canonically upheld a system that harmed my students was the  cause of multiple wars lead to death innocents and then put people  for responsible  said system on top with no reforms no matter how much I like the church characters I can’t side with them it makes me sick to the core .

if Byleth doesn't join any faction, Edelgard probably would have won eventually, but at that point she probably would've compromised so many of her moral stances that I'd see it more as TWSITD's victory and not Edelgard's

What I love about Edelgard is just how much the butterfly effect is conveyed with this one character. If you opt not to help her, she closes off her heart completely. She becomes a ruthless empress intent to conquer all and absolutely destroy anyone in her path with no qualms or empathy. But the one action you choose in the crypt changes everything. Edelgard did not expect Byleth to side with her. In every single situation, Byleth should try to kill her. They have absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose by siding with her. The Church turns on them, they become one of the biggest enemies there. But in that instant, Byleth's choice to believe in Edelgard purely because they care about her shakes her to the core. When you next see her, she cries tears of joy over Byleth's reappearance. Her moves are less brutal and cruel, and she has opened up more to her fellow classmates. The Agarthans do not dominate every choice that Adrestia makes, and as such she tries to win the war while minimizing casualties. The Agarthans do not seize Faerghus, and Dimitri is not driven out. He does not lose himself with madness, and instead goes down as a noble king who harbored the Archbishop and tried his best to fend off Adrestia. Claude can be spared, which will ultimately lead to peace between Fodlan and Almyra as he is the next in line. Edelgard's willingness to show empathy pays off in the end, as she mentions that she wanted to create a treaty with the nation. Who better to help create ties than Claude? All because Byleth reached for her hand.Show less

I always wondered why there wasn't such a heavy emphasis on Edelgard's and Dimitri's relationship in BE but if you recall the conversation that Edelgard, Dimitri, Byleth and Hubert have right before the attack on the Empire in the BL route, it's revealed that Edelgard forgot that Dimitri was the boy that she stayed with for all those years which makes sense if you realise Edelgard was tortured shortly after her time in FaerghusShow less It is apparently a realistic symptom of trauma like Edelgard endured that huge chunks of her life surrounding the trauma would fade from memory. One of the things I liked a lot about 3H was that all four of the leads Byleth can side with are carrying around a lot of trauma but it manifests in very different ways for all of them. Of course, it's a major knife in the heart to realize that if things are consistent between Azure Moon and Crimson Flower, Edelgard's memories of who Dimitri was to her come back into focus when he calls her "El." Which in Azure Moon happens moments after they realize neither of them can back down and they're going to fight to the death for their principles, and in Crimson Flower happens as Dimitri's bleeding out at her feet.Show less

[glowyjellyfish]

Some more thoughts from mid-chapter 13 to mid-chapter 16 I think, a bit before the board meeting. Spoilers for ff7r through that point, spoilers for the entire OG:

-how is wedge still alive. I’m happy but baffled. He’s a good boy and I don’t want to be hurt again as I don’t expect him to survive the game. Right now I think that as soon as he wakes up or opens his mouth the watchers will realize he’s there and go kill him. I have also considered a far more hurty option that cannot happen, that he lives up until Elmyra and Marlene get kidnapped and dies trying to protect them, which would make Reeve’s entire plan way more shitty than it already is, and would be very hurtful to me personally. Reeve and Wedge are both good boys who like cats! I don’t want this to happen but I can’t ignore it now that I’ve thought of it! (I first wrote this before going to the Shinra Building annnnnnd now I’m really concerned that my fears are justified.)

-my favorites are still the parts where you control Aerith, especially in Wall Market where she was put in control purely so Cloud could have a moment to himself to react to something, but I severely underestimated just how great controlling Barret outside battles could be, mowing down crates and barriers in a Shinra facility. He was having the time of his life and so was I. It also has me really psyched that every character will have their controllable moments over the course of however many games, each with their own interaction with the environment. Will Vincent do huge floaty jumps and get up to platforms even Cloud can’t reach? Will Yuffie do ninja parkour? Will Cait Sith dismount his moogle and go through tight spaces? I can’t even think of a thing for Red but just imagine controlling him, think of how he moves, it’ll be amazing

-cloud having flashbacks in the lab was perfection. I also cheerfully decided that the cut from inside the lab just after that with Barret picking up Wedge to outside the hole wasn’t just due to technical limitations of not wanting to animate Barret carrying Wedge and backtracking through the whole damn place and coming up with a way out, but was in fact because we were in control of Cloud again and to protect himself from those flashbacks he disassociated hard.

-I find it really interesting to consider what cloud believes his backstory to be right now, and what Tifa thinks it is. Cloud thinks he left home at 14, joined soldier, made first class, went back to nibelheim for a mission with Sephiroth who was his buddy, watched Sephiroth completely melt down and go insane and destroy the town, confronted Sephiroth and then hrmph mmm uhhh he survived and Sephiroth didn’t so obviously he killed Sephiroth, and then maybe he was in a tube briefly in the aftermath but he escaped somehow and he’s been a merc ever since! While Tifa thinks he left home and joined soldier, made first class but never came back to nibelheim, and quit Shinra for reasons he hasn’t told her yet but she probably suspects it was when he learned what happened to Nibelheim, and then became a merc.

-oddly, I liked Leslie more before his tragic backstory was revealed. He’s still pretty cool for a new character, I just liked it better when he was enigmatically vaguely opposed to the pervy horribleness that went on behind the doors, rather than having a reason for it.

after entering the Shinra building:

-playing as tifa was also magical

-I found the Shinra museum hilarious and was half expecting there to be some sort of Sephiroth shrine in there. Reeve is the only one who took it seriously!

-also NEW REEVE SCENE! He’s overworked and he has an assistant. Both of which where obvious but were cool to see!

-speaking of which… okay, for the longest time I thought maybe Reeve was coerced or forced into spying. Then his first appearance in a trailer came along, and I leapt to the conclusion that he thought up with the spying plan all on his own because he’s just trying to prove that avalanche can be dealt with without throwing a city at them and killing thousands of innocents. Now, between the Cait Sith scene and this little bitty new scene, I’m kind of wondering if he just… sends Cait Sith to join avalanche on purpose and completely straight. With little more spying planned than “maybe keep an eye on them”. And perhaps then we bring in Tseng and a little blackmail/coercion—like, the Turks find out what he’s doing and are like “great, you can give us updates on what they’re doing. or we can tell the president that you’re a traitor.” I’m really excited to keep seeing more of him, and cannot wait for his whole arc!

-Hojo is horrifying. Omg so gross, don’t talk to Aerith about harvesting her mother’s body for science! WTF man. How is he immediately worse than old “these animals are on the brink of extinction” OG Hojo? I mean, I haven’t gotten up to that part yet, he will probably keep piling the vileness on. Man, I feel sorry for Sephiroth.

-I am really bad at using the stagger mechanic. That and mastering all the magic Materia is all I have left to do for Chadley.

-it’s interesting that they already have Sephiroth gliding through the building. I assume this is more for a bit of a confrontation with cloud when they see Jenova, as seen in the trailer, than for “Sephiroth is gonna kill President Shinra ASAP”, but who even knows at this point.

-I like how they made Mayor domino more serious while still maintaining his ridiculousness!

-OH and sneaking up the emergency stairs was GOLD. I’m not sure if there were mechanics to it that I missed, but I just ran Cloud up the stairs like normal and he gradually got slower and slower and by the end he was just trudging up the stairs it was amazing.

-and I’m slightly bummed that Barret didn’t say anything about a golden shiny wire of hope, but whatever.

-not sure yet what to make of the huge flash-forward in the video but dang that was a pretty cutscene

[mimeparadox]

My Big Damn Irina Derevko Post

(Note: Spoilers for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and The Americans ahead. And for Alias, obviously.)

I’ve never understood why Irina Derevko is so beloved.

No, scratch that. I do understand why she’s beloved. What I don’t understand is the belief that the character on-screen actually had anything but the most superficial likeness to the character than exists in the better-than-the-actual-show fandom headcanons.  Like, season 2 is overwhelmingly considered the best season of the series, and Irina is often credited as one of the main reasons, and…I can’t see it? [*1] 

Similarly, I don’t understand the hate for Irina’s final story. Yes, the missiles and mass murder specifically were stupid, and the final fight with Sydney is seriously lacking in “oomph”, but these are execution problems, and most of the complaints appear to be about the concept—as in, fans believe Irina wouldn’t put her ambitions above Sydney, especially after season 4. To which I say…really? 

Sure, I can buy that Irina loves Sydney, and Jack, and Nadia, in her own, destructive way; what I can’t believe is she cares for them more than she does her agenda, whatever that is at any given moment .  Like, I don’t believe anything she does in season 2 actually works, if the idea is that she’s somehow doing it for a greater good. Maybe if she were operating from a position of weakness, but that’s not the case—she remains the strongest piece in the game throughout the season. [*2] Why, exactly, is all this convolution and emotional manipulation of the people she allegedly loves needed, if her goal is a sympathetic one?  Furthermore, the series glosses over, if not outright ignores, the various details which indicate that Irina was not on the level—first and foremost: why go to the C.I.A., i.e. the United States, in the first place, unless she wants something only they can provide?  She’s not American!  Her work as the Man was global!

(Speaking of agendas, I know that it’s taken as gospel by at least part of the fandom that everything Irina did in season two was in order to be able to find Nadia again. Fair enough: even if it’s not quite canon—I don’t think they ever explicitly say this was actually the case—there’s enough actual in-show evidence (a rare thing, in some respects) to make it plausible [*3]. That, said, I’m not sure “trying to find my daughter” justifies much of anything she does—not enough to make her more sympathetic than, say, Sloane.)

I also don’t think Irina’s presence does a whole lot for the series’ larger narrative, as evidenced by the fact that, for all her importance, she doesn’t actually change a whole lot. It feels like she should, but between the SD-6 take-down being way emptier than it should have been, and the fact that neither Sydney nor Jack end the season any different than they started it, she ends up feeling largely inconsequential. [*4] It is also equally hard, if not impossible, to say how the events of the season have changed Irina, given how opaque everything about her is designed to be.  Later, Irina ends up being largely incidental to Nadia’s discovery, and Nadia’s story is arguably better with Irina as the unsolvable dead mystery, in part because it helps differentiate her from the possibly evil possibly repentant figure that already exists in SpySkipper’s life.

And that’s one of my other issues with Irina as a character: while there is in theory a lot to distinguish her from the rest of the cast—her upbringing alone!—the way the show uses her de-emphasizes those differences and emphasizes the similarities to such a degree that she often ends up feeling redundant.  The “whose side is she on” beat, in particular, had arguably already become overused when it came time to play it with her, and by the time SD-6 was done and she explicitly joined Sloane, there were too many similarities between the two to make the dynamic between them compelling, particularly since the show made it verboten for either of them to speak about their motivations.  Furthermore, if one believes that Irina did it all for her family, then what is there to distinguish her from Jack, who’s already ready to torture as many people as necessary for that very thing?  

To be clear, there were ways Irina could have realized her potential to be Alias’ version of Metal Gear Solid’s The Man The Boss or The Americans’ Elizabeth Jennings—or rather, a version of those characters that actually works as well as they do.  That’s certainly what her fans seem to want. Unfortunately, those ways rely on Alias being…not like itself.

I am not the first person to note the similarities between Irina (a.k.a. Laura Bristow) and Elizabeth Jennings (a.k.a. Nadezhda): they’re hard not to notice, given that they’re both KGB spies and assassins embedded in the United States and operating under cover during the Cold War, and forced to select between loyalty to their country and the family they’d made (although it’s worth noting that Elizabeth’s husband, unlike Jack, is in on the scheme and also a KGB spy/assassin) [*5]. The Boss, meanwhile, parallels season 2 Irina: at the beginning of Snake Eater, where she appears, she betrays the C.I.A. without explanation and defects to Russia, and she spends most of the story running rings around everyone, including her protégé Snake (the game’s protagonist, who’s been assigned to kill her and stop her sponsor, a Russian colonel named Volgin) until her actual motives are revealed. She also exists in a universe which combines semi-realistic espionage with frequent batshittery, including psychics, hornets as a weapon of choice, impossibly old snipers with the power of photosynthesis, and a ridiculous amount of reversals and double-crosses.

That said, despite the similarities, there is one chief difference between either work and Alias, which is crucial to making their stories work: neither is naive about the world they’re presenting, both understand, in a way Alias does, that one can’t be a spy and keep one’s hands clean. Being a spy, for the Boss, meant betraying her old friends and everyone she ever loved, allowing herself to become an international pariah, and ultimately dying, because that’s what the mission required.  Elizabeth Jennings killed innocent people, ruined friends’ lives, blackmailed countless people, manipulated her daughter into following her footsteps, and ran herself ragged for years, all because she believed in the cause.  It’s not a great life, being a spy. 

MSG 3 images obtained from Metal Gear Solid 3: The Movie, a re-edit of the game’s cutscenes by KefkaProduction. It can be seen here.

(Sydney, meanwhile, often just has to lie a lot.) [*6]

The thing about this sort of work is that it breaks down one’s ability to claim the moral high ground. Once you’re doing terrible things on the regular, it’s easy to see enemy spies are just other people who are also doing terrible things for their mission—potential comrades who just happen to be on the other side. Snake, The Boss’ protégé in Snake Eater, develops a relationship with Ocelot, a Sark-like soldier working for the Russians.  Elizabeth and Philip Jennings develop a friendship with Stan Beeman, an F.B.I. counter-intelligence agent living right next door, which turns out to be every bit as genuine as it is an effort to cultivate a source. 

Alias, however, spends much of the series unable and unwilling to strip Sydney of her moral high ground, once she obtains it by working for the C.I.A.  What should have been the beginning of her moral journey—after all, how different is SD-6 from the C.I.A., if the people working for the former can’t tell they aren’t working for the latter, and their missions largely work out the same way?—is instead treated as the end. As terrible as U.S. intelligence proves to be, it never actually makes Sydney question her loyalties, or even her feelings about it all. This, in turn, utterly undermines Irina’s potential as a storytelling element.  What good is a temptress if there’s no potential for the person being tempted to change? 

(Similarly, if we’re not allowed to know what Irina Derevko wants—a key element of character-building, as many people will tell you—how are we meant to know how she herself is being changed?)  

Given what we got, it’s no surprise that Irina’s season 4 return is so uninspired, consisting largely of fan service moments, and very little in terms of character progression, or sense that the Sydney’s relationship has moved forward in any way that feels natural—what else was there to do? [*6] It’s inoffensive to the point of being really annoying. 

While Irina’s season 5 appearances are in a way a step backwards, Irina was always more interesting the closer she got to villainy. Her appearance in “Maternal Instinct” is a hoot, and allows her and Sydney to play roles only they could play.  Their final battle, while not really satisfying—in part because it’s the fourth ladyfight in as many finales, and none had come even close to matching the original—feels necessary for Sydney’s story, which had finally begun progressing again after seasons of stalling: there is catharsis to “I am through being disappointed in you” that feels utterly necessary. Could it have been better?  Sure, but then, so could 80% of everything having to do with Irina. 

Footnote footnote revolution!

[*1] I remain convinced that season 2 is actually the worst season, is the one that irrevocably ruined Alias, and that Irina actually had a fair amount to do with that. But that’s a different TED Talk, and I’m willing to fight about it, if anyone wants.

[*2] Well, it depends: the status of Irina’s organization following her “defection” is…unclear. If we accept the idea that the organization is in shambles, as the season suggests, then there’s really no reason why, exactly, the C.I.A. actually needs her cooperation, given that they…uh… didn’t need it in order to actually grievously ruin it in the first place.  And yet, here we are.  

[*3] To a degree, anyway. The Nadia story gets us as far as explaining why Irina would need The Telling, but doesn’t tell us why she’d need The Circumference, even if we ignore its eventual canon purpose.  

[*4] No, their season 3 belief that Irina can be worked with doesn’t count, as it is spun out of whole cloth, and can’t be directly tied into anything that occurred the previous season.  

[*5] The Americans also features an enviable wig game, which should feel very comforting to Alias fans.

[*6] I’m being mostly glib here, but also accurate: while they were a million reasons why Sydney could justifiably consider her double agent status to be  hellish, having to lie to everyone was consistently treated as the absolute worst part of it all.  Fair enough, in a series ultimately about identity, except Alias never really made the attempt to explore that element, either. The closest it got was Julia Thorne, and that was aborted before it could really get anywhere interesting. 

[*7] Although to be fair, that’s partly because, again, the series isn’t really concerned with having Sydney evolve as a person since season 1.

[it-will-not-last-the-night]

Persona 5 - 3 (4) things

I think I should perhaps stop attaching a heading to everything I write. Hmm.

I think, overall, Persona 5 is a good game and very fun. I did enjoy much of it. However, I do have some major problems with it (3 as I stated above with a fourth which is a lesser concern). These keep it from being a Great Game to me. Now I’ve never played Persona games until Persona 5 so, I hope, the trend is towards fixing these instead of making them worse, but I cannot be sure.

1) The Cheating/Female Agency in general: Does Persona 5 have some great female characters? Yes, yes it does. I mean Ann, Makoto, Haru and Futaba (to name the most important) are truly enjoyable. They are interesting and actually are for the most part strong characters. Which is why the ability of the protagonist to essentially cheat on them (and more) with little to no repercussion hurts so much. It makes it almost impossible for me to respect them as much when I know that, according to the game, even if my character is blatantly caught cheating on them with no remorse he can still pursue a relationship with them and suffers a comedic scene as his only punishment, with no lasting harm to the trust between parties. This does three things which truly upsets me; firstly it portrays that, apparently, cheating on your significant other is not a substantial breach of trust (instead your comedic punishment almost seems to imply it is ‘cool’). Secondly it reduces the likeability and agency of the female characters by portraying them as, apparently, gullible enough to somehow believe no cheating is going on even when it is blatantly happening in front of them. Thirdly it feels horrible that the game seems to still, despite its hard work, at the end of the day take the position that the girls are effectively all into the protagonist at the expense of their dignity. I am not a fan of many ‘harems’, they are difficult to do well, and when I see them in Persona I fear they are there to appeal to base interests, not to make any kind of statement about the fact that genuine polyamory is as valid as any other relationship so long as all parties are consenting. Honestly, Persona 5 could simply of excised the capacity for cheating or, rather, made it that cheating always results in the extreme destruction of your relationships. Not just with the involved parties, but with all your friends. When I was watching the cutscene (on youtube since I’d never be willing to stomach doing it in my playthrough) my first thought was “In a setting in which Ryuji knows the protagonist has cheated on Ann and treated her like trash, how would they possibly go on as friends?”. The protagonist cheating, being willing to lie like that, should have MAJOR negative repercussions for all his close relationships. Sae, for example, should be pretty furious at someone who treats her little sister like trash.

2) The protagonist as Gary-Stu: This can be averted by a player intentionally choosing to sabotage themselves at points, which is fine, but at the same time the game can sometimes become infuriating to me with how I, the protagonist, am some sort  of perfect entity who never makes mistakes and always solves everyone else’s mistakes. I honestly would have enjoyed a game where the different Phantom Thieves help each other through their issues more than a game in which I, the protagonist, am seemingly just the appointed perfect being who knows all. To be honest I think I would have prefered a more scripted protagonist, with set narrative and personality, than an avater self-insert who at times bordered on too perfect for my tastes. A Fire Emblem-esque system by which I could rank up the relationships of my fellow Phantom Thieves also would have been enjoyable, helping to create the idea that the Phantom Thieves are a group and not simple a collection of individuals who all care about the protagonist.

3) Abuse is okay if its a ‘loser’ male: Imagine Futaba being physically beat up for doing something stupid. Imagine Shiho came back as a wet-blanket-ish female character and virtually 90% of all dialogue directed at her was just ‘pssh, what a loser’ to some or other effect. None of this happens, thank goodness, but the game does think its a-okay for it to happen to Ryuji and Mishima, even though BOTH HAVE BEEN PHYSICALLY BEATEN AS CHILDREN. The game’s seemingly cruel delight in torturing Ryuji and Mishima baffles me. Particularly since neither of them are as bad as the game wants us to believe. This part confuses me; if the game wanted me to enjoy Mishima and Ryuji’s near constant suffering why did it go out of its way to make them so pitiable and good-hearted? If their purpose was for me to laugh at their pain then I’d need them to be pretty horrible people to justify it but, instead, most of the time the two are surprisingly good-hearted and kind, particularly Ryuji who is willing to sacrifice himself for us within minutes of our first meeting. I found the game’s treatment of these two characters deeply unsettling. Worst, though, was perhaps how the game kept seeming to give some indication it could do better...but then just didn’t. Now for myself a thing which is good...but then lets me down is always much worse than a thing which is just plain bad (worse here  meaning my experience of it, not objectively, its still better than a plain bad thing objectively). This happened a lot with Ryuji. A small example to demonstrate; after our first journey into a Palace with Ann she texts the protagonist a thank you, I of course responded with ‘you should thank Ryuji too’ since I am accustomed to games like this making it that the ‘idiot’ character never recieves any gratitutde for anything. BUT to my immense surprise Ann shoots back with an immediate “I already did”. I was so impressed and happy. Not only did the game subvert my normal expectations of anime tropes by having Ann thank Ryuji, but the game also recognized that seeing as Ann and Ryuji new each other at that point better than either knew my protagonist character it would make sense for her to thank him first. That was good, gave me hope that the Ann/Ryuji friendship would be the first ‘Girl scolds idiot boy a lot but I am meant to think they are friends’ relationship I’ve ever seen in media I like. But then...then...as if determined to destroy this good will Persona 5 proceeded to muck things up. So after we finally destroy Kamoshida’s Palace and everything we are texted again by Ann to thank us. This time though, when we remind her to thank Ryuji, her honest answer is “I forgot”, as if us remininding her is the only reason she’s going to do it. It is particularly hard to swallow if, like me, you had Ryuji as the one to knock of Kamoshida’s Treasure. The fact that Ryuji tripped and almost died also makes it hard to imagine Ann can somehow forget to thank him. And this applies for Morganna too, she never thanks him either. And it really just gets worse from there. Abuse is not okay. Beating Ryuji up physically is horrible.

4) This is the obvious one which many people have said better than me but I still would like it enough to put it down here; why no relationships other than male/female are possible?

That being said it was still a fun and good game. I only hope that if the series continues these issues are not present in later versions. I’d enjoy a redone version of P5 which removes them as well, but I do not think that is a realistic expectation at all.

[entergamingxp]

DualShockers’ Favorite Games of 2019 — Chris’ Top 10

December 28, 2019 10:00 AM EST

This Top 10 list of 2019 games from curmudgeon contributor Chris Compendio is full of oddities, with both indie titles and blockbuster hits.

As 2019 comes to a close, DualShockers and our staff are reflecting on this year’s batch of games and what were their personal highlights within the last year. Unlike the official Game of the Year 2019 awards for DualShockers, there are little-to-no-rules on our individual Top 10 posts. For instance, any game — not just 2019 releases — can be considered.

There is a particular attitude that comes with end-of-the-year discourse. Much like how there is an “Oscar movie,” we have “GOTY games,” triple-A titles so hotly anticipated that many in the gaming community are sure that it will already be their favorite. Look no further than any social media feed, where people are already arguing about what will be Game of the Year 2020. But when I look at my favorite games of 2019, I am surprised by how many of them are sleeper hits, quality titles that snuck up on me.

I still believe that there is value to having group and outlet-wide Game of the Year lists, and it is fascinating to see where everyone ends up. Still, I’d much prefer to sift through personal end-of-the-year lists, as they are a better indicator of the personal gaming journeys that individuals went through during the year. There you’ll find obscure little nuggets, or perhaps contrarian and eye-opening angles to games that you may have missed out on or didn’t give a chance.

With my personal top 10 list for 2019, I find that the uniting factor between most of these games is that they are weird. They are incongruous, non-traditional, unusual, and so on. And most of them are games I hadn’t even heard of a year ago, making the value they provided all the more surprising.

First off, some Honorable Mentions that didn’t quite make the cut, including Untitled Goose Game, Gears 5, Tetris 99, Baba Is You, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, CROSSNIQ+, Pokemon Sword & Pokemon Shield, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Mini Motorways, all of which could have formed their own top 10 list. Then there’s the stuff that I didn’t finish or get to, but will absolutely do so starting in January, including Luigi’s Mansion 3, Kind Words, Arcade Spirits, Knife Sisters, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Outer Wilds, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Life is Strange 2, Disco Elysium, and Neo Cab.

Man, I wish we had room for more than ten entries.

10. Ring Fit Adventure

I have fond memories of playing Wii Fit back in the day; while it obviously wasn’t a proper substitute for more intense workouts, it was a nice way for Nintendo to encourage health and regular exercise into one’s daily routine. That’s why I was so surprised by how freaking hard Ring Fit Adventure went. For the first time playing an “exergame,” I was left sore and sweaty, so much so that I had to lower the intensity at times.

What Ring Fit Adventure succeeds in doing is actually turning exercise into a video game. It took Nintendo maybe like, over a decade to get there, but it’s great to see nonetheless. All Ring Fit Adventure comes down to is a turn-based RPG where the moves and attacks and defense are achieved through exercise. The Ring-Con is durable and versatile, and as the game encourages, I find myself turning it on by itself and doing some mindless exercise while doing other activities or watching television. It is obviously far from the most impressive video game of the year, but Ring Fit Adventure is the one that I came back to the most often in 2019.

And fun fact: the model in that lifestyle photo that serves as this list’s featured images is my friend from college. You’re damn right that I had to use it for this.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Ring Fit Adventure.

9. Kingdom Hearts III

The Kingdom Hearts series is like a specter that will never stop following me. I don’t even have to go over how much these games mean to me and how wild the pre-release period has been since Kingdom Hearts III was announced what must have been a century ago at this point. And I’m not even going to bother to talk about how stuffed and contrived the lore is—at this point, Kingdom Hearts practically speaks for itself. Even if you aren’t into the franchise, hearing all of the fervor around it should at least give you a feeling of what it’s about.

And once Kingdom Hearts III finally released a lot of people, ranging from newcomers to devoted fans, were quick to scrutinize and tear it apart, and a lot of the criticisms were fairly justified. Perhaps I was in my own world, but none of that stopped me from enjoying the hell out of III. It may have just been the novelty of playing a brand-new, high-definition Kingdom Hearts game, or all of the obvious fan service and emotional scenes of closure, but whatever it was, the feeling of playing Kingdom Hearts III could not be recreated by anything else I played in 2019.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Kingdom Hearts III.

8. What The Golf?

Most of the games on this list were surprises to me, but What The Golf? was a strange game that contained a number of different surprises within it. The facade of this being any sort of ordinary golf video game quickly wears off, as you find yourself hitting more than just golf balls into the hole: maybe it’s a golf club, the golfer themselves, or even another damn hole that you have to get into the hole. And that’s just the beginning—you’ll be going through city streets, parodies of other video games, and space, with some gravity-defying shots.

What The Golf? is an excellent example of how to create comedy that is unique to the medium of video games. It isn’t writing or cutscenes, but rather the actions that the player does themselves that creates hilarity. Each level plays with your expectations in a different way, and there is enough variety to prevent the game from just turning into the same punchline replayed multiple times. Other than that, the game has excellent sound design, and there’s a neat feature that lets you showcase a short, curated level selection to friends. What The Golf? is perfect for short bursts of play, and at some point in the near future, I’ll probably find myself going through each hole yet again.

Check out DualShockers‘ PAX East preview for What The Golf?

7. Ape Out

With such a bold art style and a distinct percussion-based soundtrack, Ape Out is impossible to ignore. The core gameplay is quite easy to wrap your head around, but I appreciate all of the strategic considerations that go into playing the game. As a massive ape trying to make your great escape, your main tools are a basic attack and a grab; enemies die easily, but so do you, with only three hits. The decision I always faced was between brute-forcing myself through gunmen or taking a slow and deliberate pace using an enemy as a human shield. Better yet, breeze through the randomly-generated maze and avoid conflict altogether.

The trial-and-error nature of Ape Out might naturally draw comparisons to Hotline Miami or Celeste, and as magnificent as those games are, putting this game only in those terms would do it a disservice. There was something so intriguing about the total lack of context given regarding this ape, but as you continue your rampage and leave a trail of death and destruction behind, aided by some brash and flashy visuals, what has led to these events is irrelevant—the scene and tone and the feelings that they invoke are already enough.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Ape Out.

6. Wilmot’s Warehouse

This is a last-minute entry in my 2019 list, but Wilmot’s Warehouse instantly won me over by getting all of the gears in my head to click into place. It is a game all about organization, but the hook of this game is that players can organize everything in any way they want to. As such, the game essentially becomes a Rorschach test for whoever tries to play it—what does the way you organize your warehouse tell about how you live your life? Perhaps by color, by category, or some other wild methodology of your own invention?

Wilmot’s Warehouse is almost like a single-player Overcooked, but with a lot more versatility and room to work with. It has a charming minimalist art style, with some lovely motivational posters to come with it. It is challenging, less so because of everything the game throws at you and more so because your own methods and styles will begin to crack and fall apart. It also makes you wonder about the infrastructures we have in real-life, and why giant corporations at Amazon can’t seem to come up with proper organizational strategies that don’t exploit and abuse their warehouse workers. I guess it’s just a fantasy at this point!

5. Death Stranding

Honestly, I’m surprised that I bought Death Stranding in the first place. I was anything but a Hideo Kojima stan, and much of the previews and the pre-release discussions over the game were quick to turn me off for a variety of reasons. Once Kojima and company began to actually show gameplay, however, something resonated with me. Yes, you can derogatorily call this game a “walking simulator,” but I am all about games where traversal itself is a puzzle. There’s that whole cliched pitch of “You see that mountain? You can go there!” but what if that phrase was just the premise of an entire video game?

There’s more to it, of course, but the story is absolute crap with a total lack of subtlety, nuance, and sensitivity. Even as I rolled my eyes at pretty much every single cutscene in the game, I spent endless nights on Death Stranding, optimizing the amount of weight I was carrying and carefully planning out routes, not to mention becoming obsessive over building projects. And once the chiral network aspect of the game comes into play, it becomes more of a unique massively-multiplayer co-operative game of sorts, with other players’ buildings and structures coming as assistance in the most harrowing of scenarios. Awful story but addicting gameplay was enough to put Death Stranding smack dab in the middle of my favorite games from 2019.

Check out DualShockers’ review for Death Stranding.

4. Apex Legends

If we’re going to talk about surprises, then I am required by law to write about Apex Legends, because just the existence of that game alone was a surprise. Announced right before its release, Apex Legends appears to be the end-all-be-all battle royale only by looking at its feature set, but it absolutely earns the title once you pick up the game and play it—I don’t think anyone can possibly deny that games from Respawn Entertainment feel good. It’s fast, responsive, but most importantly, it’s just fun.

I’m not an expert on multiplayer balance, but I’ve personally found every character in Apex Legends to be viable. The game’s design is full of so many smart decisions, from the concept of the Jumpmaster, to how inventory is handled, the diverse hero abilities, the respawning, and especially, especially the Ping system. This game has so many quality-of-life features that I never even knew I needed, and they make any session, whether it’s with a close group of friends or with complete strangers without microphones, feel like a breeze. After playing Apex, why even bother with any other battle royale shooter in 2019?

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Apex Legends.

3. Control

Man, this game is cool. I can’t think of any other video game in 2019 where I would actually read through all of the pick-ups and collectibles and logs, but Control had me going through every piece of lore the game threw at me like a drug. This game, more than almost any other game, inspired curiosity in me. It is esoteric without being pretentious, it is bizarre without being off-putting, and there is rarely any sort of disconnect between the narrative and the actual gameplay.

It may take a bit of time to get into the combat flow of Control, but the trials and tribulations leading up to that are worth it. Eventually, you’ll have a number of psychic powers and weapon forms to utilize as tools of destruction, and as you get used to the enemies and their behavior, each encounter will feel like a fast-paced game of chess. The latest from Remedy Entertainment was enough evidence that I needed to get into their previous stuff, so I spent some time with Alan Wake and Quantum Break as well. No one quite does such an excellent blend of surrealism, world-building, and combat like that studio.

Check out DualShockers’ review for Control.

2. Katana Zero

I’ve been becoming more and more tolerant of difficult fast-paced trial-and-error games (see: Hotline Miami, Super Meat Boy), but Katana Zero may perhaps be the first one of these games that I barreled through with few breaks in between. The premise of this side-scrolling action game with its drug-induced time-manipulation and the fast and twitchy gameplay demanded my attention and time, and boy did I give this game just that. There were too many deaths to count on the way to the end, but all was worth it.

Katana Zero is infused with a neon art style and rousing electronic music, which further enhanced the compelling gameplay. It all comes down to planning, looking at the scenario at hand and taking into account reaction times and all of the environmental pieces around you to brutally dispatch your enemies while also avoiding their own attacks. And your katana-wielding character is thinking about all of this too, as your failed attempts are actually (at least, the way I interpreted it) the scenarios in his head that just didn’t work out. It is perhaps the smartest game I’ve played in 2019 in merging story and gameplay together, and out of all of the titles on this list, this is the one that I want a narrative sequel to the most.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Katana Zero.

1. Sayonara Wild Hearts

After writing a review of over 1,500 words for Sayonara Wild Hearts, I’m not even sure what else I can say about it. But in the context of my personal life, I should say that it came at exactly the right time in my life. Underneath all of the colors and the fanciful style is a story about overcoming depression and getting outside of your comfort zone to lead a truly happy life. All of the other games on the list I probably could have played at any point in my life and enjoyed it all the same, but Sayonara Wild Hearts feels like the definitive 2019 game for how my year went.

Even months after the game came out, I still came back to Sayonara, one reason being to finally achieve some of those Gold Ranks, but mostly just to try to live the euphoria of the emotional experiences that this game provided me; somehow, the entire “Begin Again” sequence is still enough to get me near tears, producing the same powerful reaction each time ever since I first played a demo of this at PAX East. I still listen to the soundtrack on a regular basis, letting myself get lost in the soundscapes—eventually, I would actually seek out the lyrics to these songs, and I would find the written words to be just as touching.

I was used to my safety and peace I mistook all this tedium with being at ease But then you came around, said “it’s time to let go” And you took me to a place I don’t know

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Sayonara Wild Hearts, from yours truly.

Check out the rest of the DualShockers staff Top 10 lists and our official Game of the Year Awards:

December 23: DualShockers Game of the Year Awards 2019 December 25: Lou Contaldi, Editor-in-Chief // Logan Moore, Managing Editor December 26: Tomas Franzese, News Editor // Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor  December 27: Mike Long, Community Manager // Scott White, Staff Writer December 28: Chris Compendio, Contributor // Mario Rivera, Video Manager // Kris Cornelisse, Staff Writer December 29: Scott Meaney, Community Director // Allisa James, Senior Staff Writer // Ben Bayliss, Senior Staff Writer December 30: Cameron Hawkins, Staff Writer // David Gill, Senior Staff Writer // Portia Lightfoot, Contributor December 31: Iyane Agossah, Senior Staff Writer // Michael Ruiz, Senior Staff Writer // Rachael Fiddis, Contributor January 1: Ricky Frech, Senior Staff Writer // Tanner Pierce, Staff Writer

December 28, 2019 10:00 AM EST

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