#but first. ITS TIME FOR THE DLC !!!!!!!!!!!!!! and also i need to check something out first

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Could you do a scenario about Nemona, Penny and Arven with a real who has type null please? Maybe something about it transforming in Silvally?

YES NULL/SILVALLY TIME

I have one in Sword who I call "Bestie", and it's carried me through the Crown Tundra DLC. I want it in Violet so badly aaaa

Also this just reminded me of my fic that I wrote prior to Sun/Moon's release. Ya'll can give it a read if you so desire <3

That being said, this scenario will be like a sequel of sorts

........

Revealing Type: Null--or "Nully" as you've affectionately called it--to your friends was something you were initially nervous about...

But today was finally the day.

Moving away from Alola to attend school here in Paldea was quite the stressful journey, especially for your masked companion who had never know any place besides stark white labs and sandy beaches.

People kept warning you about how dangerous it was, but you never listened...and now your bond with the mysterious normal type has never been stronger.

Ever since you rescued it from an Aether Foundation facility that exploded due to its rampage, it put its trust in you and loved you unconditionally.

Learning the truth behind that supposedly "good" organization and its leader broke your heart. Although nothing devastated you more than realizing Nully had been held captive there as both experiment and prisoner.

You've tried researching its species, checking for notes and hacking into secret files the foundation kept under lock and key--and you discovered that Type: Nulls were basically created as "tamer" versions of Arceus, even having memory discs similar to the plates manufactured. They were meant to kill the Ultra Beasts should they invade Alola.

Instead, they went on a rampage (of course, that's what happens when humans try replicating a god's powers) and were confined to masks and put into cryogenic stasis. The whole project was deemed a failure.

As tragic as it was...you were relieved to have found Nully when you did and get it away from that horrible place.

Even so the mask still made it feel absolutely miserable, but unfortunately you couldn't find any further information on how to remove it without causing your precious Pokémon serious injury. There were no visible clamps to unlock, pulling it off would only cause it great pain, and cutting seemed too risky.

The only benefit was that it made Nully immune to critical hits, but the cons definitely outweighed the pros.

Maybe one of your friends knew more about the Type: Null species, and so you decided to call them all over for a picnic if they had free time.

All you could do was pray that they didn't lose their cool and scare your companion.

That's the last thing either of you needed.

Arven was the first to arrive, with Mabosstiff at his heels as usual, but he stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the bizarre-looking Pokémon standing by your side. You could tell he was trying not to look too worried, considering the poor thing was hiding behind you now.

Still, it's obvious that he didn't have the slightest clue what he was looking at, so you explained everything to him: where you found Nully, why it looked like a rejected Arceus, and the memory discs you kept in a small folder.

So far, you haven't figured out how to utilize them in-battle. But despite the space they took up in your bag, you refused to throw them away.

"Are you sure there isn't a slot for these somewhere on its mask?" He stared at one of the floppy discs, before glancing back up at Nully, squinting. "It looks like there should be one."

"We've been pals for nearly three years, Arven..I'm pretty sure I would've found the slot by now if there was one." Shaking your head, you took it from him, sighing. "My only option is to get that thing off. The slot's probably on its body somewhere."

"Right...maybe there's a stomach hatch or-"

"¡Mira! You were right, Penny! They do exist!!"

"Nemona, slow down!! They're not going anywhere!!"

Hearing the shouts of two certain ladies from afar, you and Arven looked to see both Nemona and Penny coming over the horizon. The student council president was dragging the poor girl by the arm, with her stumbling to keep up and not lose her glasses.

When they arrived, Penny was dazed and annoyed as she scowled at Nemona, tearing her arm free of her iron grasp. But her attention was quickly set on the peculiar Pokémon who was cowering behind you yet again.

"Wow...I..never thought I'd see one up close before.." Adjusting her glasses, she gazed at Nully with interest.

"You've heard about them before?" You asked.

"Back in Galar, I found some top-secret stuff about Macro Cosmos trying to make their own instances. They literally stole the blueprints from the Aether Foundation."

"...yikes." Nemona remarked, tilting her head as she tried getting a better look at Nully herself. "It seems shy. Maybe a battle will help it-!"

"No battles, at least not right now." You smiled apologetically, patting it on the head as you looked at each other. "I know you're nervous, Nully..but it's okay. They're nothing like the jerks back in Alola who used to pick on us. They're my friends. You can trust them, I promise."

Nodding its head, it relaxed its haunches as it cautiously stepped away from your side, gazing at the trio and seeing their smiles, too.

They weren't looks of pity.

They seemed genuinely thrilled to meet it.

It stood there for some time, taking in everything you've said to it and thinking about how far it's come since you rescued it that fateful day.

Somehow, it knew it was always meant to be your companion--from the very moment you held it as it cried in the Pokémon Center, reassuring it that it's not a monster, but a sweet creature worthy of love and care.

Ever since then, your friendship has grew...and now it feels stronger, willing to put its life on the line for you if need be. Even though most of its powers have been concealed, it didn't feel like some weak and helpless lab experiment.

Oh no.

It was far from that now.

Thanks to your bond, it felt unbelievably strong.

So much so that....the normal-type realized an extraordinary change was imminent.

And you were about to witness it.

"Look! Nully's glowing, [y/n]!" Nemona pointed, her eyes widening as your companion was basked in a familiar light. "Is it evolving???"

"Oh my god...I think so." You gasped, never realizing the possibility of it evolving, but you're now certain that friendship is what triggered it at last.

The most noticeable thing were the cracks that started appearing all over its helmet, pieces of what you assumed was indestructible alien material falling apart. Nully shook its head vigorously, trying to get rid of it as much as possible.

Then it turned its attention to a nearby boulder, letting out a cry before performing a move similar to a Headbutt, ramming into it and letting the rock shatter the helmet completely.

At last, it was free.

When the glow faded, you and your friends gazed in awe as Nully looked back at all of you.

With its mask finally gone, what lied underneath it was a beautiful creature made of both nature and machine, with a beaklike mouth that smiled proudly.

"Nully...?" You murmured, stepping closer.

"Ally." It chirped, walking up to greet you.

Tears began forming in your eyes as your grin widened. "I can't believe it...friendship was all it took to-"

Suddenly, your rotomphone decided to ruin the sweet moment by flying out of your pocket.

It displayed a new entry in your Pokedex, and you grabbed it to read what it had to say, while Arven, Penny, and Nemona checked their own phones.

"I see, you're Silvally now." You gazed back up at Null--Silvally, watching it bow its head respectfully. With a small laugh, you mimicked the gesture, before petting it lovingly as you sighed. "Wow..."

You noticed one of the metal bolts on its face open up like a CD player, indicating that something had to go in there-

"Wait.." Remembering the memory discs, you took one out and held it up. "Do you want me to use this?"

Silvally nodded, although before you could do anything, Arven interjected.

"Hold on, which memory is that?"

"The Dark Memory. It probably just changes its type, but I believe this represents all the pain Silvally had to endure while being trapped in that mask, not knowing what it did wrong or why people shunned it for simply existing." You placed a gentle hand under your companion's jaw. "But now I think it's ready to turn that painful memory into power. So let's see what happens.."

"Silllllv!"

Carefully inserting the disc into the open slot, you watched as it closed up. Then you stepped back, seeing the colors and spikes on its body turn smoky black.

Even its eyes changed, and when they opened they looked even more menacing than ever.

And they stared directly at you.

With a low growl, it crept closer to you, while your friends held back..tense and worried that the pokedex entries were correct: this wasn't something you could so easily control.

There was probably a very good reason for the mask-

Yet any hostility Silvally seemingly expressed disappeared, as it smiled and licked your cheek affectionately, causing you to laugh once more. "Hey, that tickles! C'mere you!"

Hugging its neck, you grinned as you received even more kisses, hearing it purr with happiness. You petted its feathery crest, relieved that it completely trusted you now.

"Wow..it's way cooler than Arceus!" Nemona laughed. "Do you think I can battle it-??"

Silvally just shot her a wary look, and she immediately fell silent, a nervous smile on her face. "Haha, you're right. Not yet. But I swear we're gonna have an epic battle one day!"

"Yeah, one day. But for now, I have something special for this big guy."

"Sill?"

You managed to regain its full attention with a simple yet supereffective move of your very own:

It's called "chin scritches", something that none of your other Pokémon could resist receiving.

The mask obviously made it difficult for Silvally to receive proper affection back then...and you vowed to find a way to break it so you can do just that.

Now it was free of that awful and heavy thing, having a brand new life to look forward to: battles, friendships with other Pokémon, and more.

Even better?

Your three closest friends in all of Paldea were here to witness its evolution--a sign that despite all the odds...your bond was unbreakable.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 5 MATCH 4

Derek propaganda:

“Extreme hot take but Derek is the best OL1 love interest. He has the best and sweetest confession in the game. You play video games together. He seems reserved until you actually start dating and find out that he's actually just a gentleman who didn't want to be overly forward with someone he's not in a relationship with. He's a family man. You get to blatantly abuse your 'dating' privileges in front of his brothers. He's just so insanely sweet and caring and makes me wanna cry whenever I play his DLC.”

“- Impossible to dislike

- No, like, literally impossible. OL1 will allow you to be indifferent to it's two other LIs, Cove and Baxter but you actually can't pick that option for Derek. Game decided that You Will Be (at least) Friends With Derek

- This boy is so good!!!! He's a sweetheart and has your back in the best way and he's constantly doing his best to make sure the people around him (especially you) are happy

- This is also a complex flaw of his because he feels like he needs to be the best that he can be and to be worth something

- This both manifests in how he treats others (he's exceedingly well-mannered and does everything for others because he secretly hopes that someday someone will do the same for him) and his career prospects (he takes on excessive practice to get good at football/soccer so that he can potentially get a scholarship and become famous all so he can potenially feel like he's worth something. This is actually a major conflict in his Step 4)

- His DLC also has some of the best moments in the game

- He also has a family and they're also really good and you get to see a lot of them

- His dad is hilarious, his mom is gorgeous and their relationship is very cute

- Meanwhile, Derek's brothers are great. I wanna gush about them because I love them but also play Derek's DLC yourself!!! See how good they are for yourself!!!!

- I will say that these three have a really good relationship dynamic and the development it takes in the 10 years between when you first meet Jorge and Nico as little kids to Step 4 where they're adults (and a teenager, Nico is 16 in Step 4) is genuinely very well written

- If you're into the steamy stuff, Derek also has the best make-out session out of all of the boys

- He's also just. Very funny. This boy will invite you to a waterpark and then ask you if its a date so he knows whether or not it's ok to check you out in your swimsuit

- Or, if you aren't dating by that point (but you do want to to date him), the narration will note how he's trying so so hard not to check you out, he's just trying so so so hard

- Puppy dog face. Look at it. Tell me you can look at that face and not want to smooch him

- His confession is also the best, did I mention it's the best? Because it's absolutely the best one in the entire game

- He has a whole thing about having to confess to you on a ferris wheel and he's so committed to it that he actually avoided ferris wheels for a long time before this confession because he promised himself he'd do it the next time he went on one

- And then he went on one...and he literally doesn't confess when he does it because he lost track of time and he had to get off

- so he asks you to go on the ferris wheel with him again so he can actually confess this time

Just. Just vote for him!!!!”

“He's sweet, polite, and out-going and is always willing to put you first (sometimes too willing).”

“polite responsible jock u r NOT immune to this”

Asra propaganda:

“He GIVES AWAY HALF HIS HEART TO REVIVE YOU okay but like. He's the MCs roommate and they were together for a few years before the MC caught a plague and died and he obsesses over a way to bring them back before succeeding by making a deal with a god to trade half his heart for MC and betraying the emperor. And then when MC comes back but without any of their memories, he takes care of them and teaches them how to live all over again and he never asks for anything in return. On all the routes where you don't choose him he's really supportive and helps you out despite your history and overall he's just really nice and supportive of the MC and is their rock no matter what route you go down. Also he has a pet snake named Faust and I love her she's so <33 

Idk I just appreciate him so much”

"He gave you half his HEART!! He would literally go to hell and back for you!! He wants to take you on adventures all around the world—doesn’t matter where, as long as he’s by your side!! AND he’s nonbinary!!!"

[drkineildwicks]

Okay so let’s talk about Palworld

Because I really do gotta talk about it this thing blew up

Apparently the guys who made it were expecting to sell like 300K the first week and ended up selling two million

They’re having to run damage control on the servers because the servers legit cannot handle the traffic

Last time I saw a game look like this it was Temtem on its first days

Because literally everybody underestimated how much game freak ticked off its fanbase

Which brings us to the Donphan in the room

Pokémon VS Palworld

Look we all knew going in that this was going to be a meme factory, whenever we talked about it the game is Pokémon: Gun

But it was also one of those games that popped up when GF started its stunts with dexit, reused assets, releasing half-baked games, etc.

People made fun of it and it’s stayed off the radar until this year, when it released

And yes caution should be exercised because this developer’s other game is still in early access so people are on the lookout for a scam

Not to mention the whole thing about using Pokémon assets, apparently aping Legends’ UI, the AI stuff, NFTs, a ton of other stuff

There’s apparently a whole thread on Twitter comparing and contrasting Pokémon designs with Pal designs and you can easily pick apart where assets were, if not outright stolen, were closely copied

So going in there’s a lot of weighing of pros and cons and some actual moral dilemmas as opposed to the whole fabricated BS of Hogwarts Legacy

Yes it was terrible that Rowling said *checks notes* that biological women exist and that victimized women should be allowed to dictate who is allowed in their safe spaces, these are obviously reasons to cancel somebody please don’t slip on the sarcasm there

But I’ve been watching streams of Palworld and…I want to play it???

You can look at it and 100% name that Pokémon and go okay they got THAT idea from THIS game (watching it I can list BotW, Sunkenland, and a couple others) apparently it’s the Pokémon ripoff version of Once Human

Which also ticks me off because after watching videos of that one I want to play that one too

And originally the big reason for looking more seriously at Palworld is…game freak needs to suffer

They’ve been releasing trash games for years now, the only good Pokémon game as of late is Legends Arceus and do not get me STARTED on the state that ScarVi released in

And then them having the gall to charge the price of a full game for DLC

So in order to play the ‘full game,’ you have to pay for BotW, TotK, and possibly a Mario game on top of it

Ain’t nobody got funds for that

Also the shills

I was telling Mom about all this earlier and when it came to discussing Pokémon games, even comparing them to previous Pokémon games, discussions online go like this anymore: “Well it’s not MADE for you!  It’s for kids!  Go find something else to do and quit picking on the poor multibillion dollar franchise! uwu”

And thus the people who grew up with Pokémon move on to other games, like Nexomon, Temtem, Cassette Beasts, Kindred Fates, Coromon, Palworld, etc.

Shills: “Wait no that’s illegal”

Honestly it’s like the YouTube vs Rumble or Twitter/Tumblr vs Conservative/right-wing websites thing—if you chase them off, what did you think they were going to do?

And then the design thing…a big fat part of me does not feel sorry about that

Because every single other game I listed?  The shills will look at those designs and go “what ripoffs they’re obviously Pokémon but not friend-shaped so ugly!”

So basically anything’s a ripoff, you might as well go full ripoff because the ‘fans’ are going to hate on it anyway

Also if anything even remotely shaped like a Pokémon is a ripoff, then Flamigo angers me even more because that is such a lazy design yes I’m still mad

Most of Gen IX legit looks like they asked an AI to spit out some Pokémon-shaped stuff and called it a day maybe a quarter of the ‘dex is salvageable and that’s being generous

And having spent the past year or so designing ‘mons for the DA group I help mod…three people doing designs have no problem filling a ‘dex out, the most time-consuming part of creating new Pokémon ought to be modeling the thing and once that’s down you’re good

Which means that Pokémon…has honestly asked for Palworld

Because let me tell you something—when I look at this ripoff of a game, this scam game that comes from people who think that NFTs and AI scraping and plagiarism is a good thing, that claims that every Pal that escapes from a ball had parents that never married, and I STILL want to play it over Pokémon?  When the scam game released in a better state than ScarVi?????

Pokémon drove every single customer to Palworld and because of it Palworld deserves every single one of those two million purchases

[annakie]

Never Fade Away

THIS IS A VERY LONG POST with big spoilers in both words and pictures for Cyberpunk 2077!

But it's also all my feels about a playthrough that's taken me many months and almost 300 hours to complete.

----

I played Cyberpunk 2077 on release. As I said in this "Games I played in 2021" post, which is a thing I wish I'd remembered to do every year, I loved it. That said, it probably wouldn't have cracked my top 10 or maybe even 20 favorite games ever, but I thought it was amazing, right out of the box. I ran into a couple of bugs, like couldn't complete the Delamain questline, and definitely agreed with some popular opinions about the game that parts of it didn't seem quite done, I had a couple of crashes and times I had to reload from something weird happening, but playing on PC I didn't have a lot of the problems console players did apparently.

It very much felt to me like another Andromeda situation -- another game that needed another couple of months to finish ironing a couple of bugs out but was mostly a victim of its own over-anticipaiton and overhyped-edness by the fanboys (and girls.)

That said, when I finished it I set it aside to wait for major updates before I'd pick it up again.

So last fall when it's one and only DLC, Phantom Liberty finally released, it was right around when the BG3 hype was happening so BG3 came first. But I kept having to wait for mods to update after patches dropped, so during one of these breaks I went and started playthrough #2 of Cyberpunk 2077.

My first time through I was a Nomad, so to mix it up this time I went Corpo. I really enjoyed Corpo a lot more and thought it had some much cooler interactions than Nomad ever gave me. Although, I thought the introduction and subsequent friendship with Jackie felt more natural with Nomad.

There were several goals I had going in to this playthrough.

Different origin - check.

Send Jackie's body to Mama Welles -- with no spoilers from my first run, I thought sending the body to Vik to work on first would be the most logical choice and either he could help Jackie or at least get him interred properly so Jackie's mom WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE TRAUMATIZED by her son's body just showing up. Guess that was the wrong choice and it was way too late to change once I found that out. So yeah, start things off right with Mama.

Complete the Delamain quest now that the showstopper bug a LOT of people ran into was fixed. (Didn't mention it later, but check!)

Find all the Hidden Gems

Pick a different ending.

Install cool mods to enhance things without breaking the game.

Generally, just do everything. Except maybe the Sinnerman questline. (I aborted halfway through and didn't regret it.)

Understand the main storyline in ways that had confused the hell out of me the first time around.

High quality Screenshots screenshots screenshots screenshots screenshots.

So with 1 checked off, I decided before advancing the main storyline much, I'd try to raise my fame level a bit and also just let Jackie live for awhile.

I did some research and landed on installing the Welcome to Night City mod collection. It's well researched, well maintained, the creator is really responsive, and has a Discord with a well supported community. Importantly for me, it also didn't have any "sexy" mods, just great gameplay tweaks, fixes, customizable on how much harder/easier it made the game, and added a lot of flavor and experience but felt like everything just worked in the background. Also since I have a Premium Nexus Mods experience, the install and upgrades were very, very easy. I didn't do the upgraded CyberpunkTHING experience, since it makes the game harder. I was here for a good time.

(And yes, I endorsed every mod in the collection!)

Honestly it added so many things that I'm sure there was a ton of stuff I just experienced thinking that that's just how the game was now, but it was a part of a seamlessly integrated mod collection.

I'll definitely use this mod pack again the next time I play. But also I didn't install ANY other mods really for a very long time, and I now really wish that I had. But we'll get to that.

I also installed several other graphics mods on my own, like a high-res skin for River (and the... shall we say... anti-Kendoll mod for him lol) and like, this mod (and several others from that author) that tones down the hypersexuality of the ads in the game. I realized early on that they don't bother me in-game -- it totally fits the aesthetic and tone of the game! But also I didn't want all that in screenshots that I will have rotating on my desktop for years (shoutout to DisplayFusion) and would have the possibility of like, my AC guy or my neighbors kids having to see as my Office is my living room (and my living room is the smallest bedroom of my house).

I did a lot of the gigs in Watson before advancing the main storyline so I'd have an OK character for storming stuff this time. I recently found a list of places Johnny talks in early Watson jobs to avoid doing early next time:

Side Job: Losing My Religion (where you have to free the monk from Maelstrom)

Fixer Gig: Backs Against the Wall (recover stolen medicine from veteran)

Fixer Gig: Scrolls before Swine (get the CCTV footage for the cop, only if you watch before downloading)

So you can do all NCPD hustles, the first 10 Fixer gigs and and all side jobs except Losing My Religion without losing out on any of the Johnny experience.

Leaving that there for next time. Anyway, it feels like it makes more sense to get this chance at the big gig when you have some experience, and can pretend you and Jackie were living life together a little while longer. Next playthrough -- use AMM to take some hanging out with Jackie screenshots early on.

---

Eventually I advanced the main storyline enough and finished the Heist, and was able to check #2 off my list. Loved not getting yelled at by Mama Welles this time. And felt with the added time that I had a right to be doing this -- still extremely stupid in retrospect -- gig. But it was more fun have tools to deal with the hotel guards this time.

Knowing who Takemora was and meeting Johnny again were really enhanced by knowing what the fuck was going on the second time around. Keanu really knocks it out of the park when you finally really understand the character.

Though I hate the early adversarial feeling between him and V, I get it a lot more now. Watching the relationship grow is really worth it.

---

I wasn't invited to Jackie's memorial the first time. So getting to go the second time and help repair Misty and Mama Wells' relationship was great, and I really loved getting to know Jackie better by picking out something for the funeral at his garage, and the added time with Misty.

---

I told myself I'd do a different spec than stealth-hacker. I was wrong. I still did that. I love using Contagion and Overheat to take enemies out non-lethally while crouched behind something nearby. The ones that really deserve it get a shot from Skippy later.

Yeah, as soon as lockdown was over I hightailed it down to Valentino's territory and then headed back to Watson / Japantown. I gave Skippy up as late as possible, when he was outliving his usefulness. I got him back as fast as I could, but I miss his voice. I miss his quips.

After that when I needed a weapon I mostly used the Arasaka experimental smart SMG. IDK, I just liked the feeling of stealing shit from Arasaka and using it to fuck up their own people whenever possible. But again, I didn't shoot weapons much anyway.

---

I spent so, so much time just driving around taking pictures of my cars and the amazing ways the light looked while driving through the city. I absolutely fell in love with the aesthetics of the city, every part of it, over and over again. I posted a few photosets. There are more in the queue. There are so many screenshots I didn't use.

Like, honestly out of everything I love about this game just... looking at it is maybe my favorite thing. There's so much to see, all of the time, everywhere. Your eyes can never take it all in. I'll be in a place I've been a dozen times and still find new awesome things to look at. I just can't describe how much I enjoy just... looking at this game.

I never fast travel anywhere -- except out of the Megabuilding 10 apartment. I took the metro a few times just to sit back and relax watching the scenery go by but normally I just drive everywhere.

Jackie's Arch and the Porche 911 (and its variant in the bottom screenshot) are my favorite vehicles. Bikes for maneuverability, but also likewise the Porche has better handling than a bike while still being really easy to weave through traffic in.

Night City is one of the few locations in any video game I've ever played that TRULY feels like it could be a real place. Every neighborhood is distinct. Though there are some familiar things, one Captain Caliente doesn't look like every other one. You'll see a few of the same signs around, there are some generic small building structures but where it makes sense. Yeah there's a few monolithic Arasaka buildings but of course they would be. How efficient. The megabuildings are similar, but different enough. It feels like every detail of the world was crafted so carefully. There's so much beauty even in the ugly bits.

I never want to stop looking at it, or screenshotting it. I just love the city so much.

I'm going to run out of screenshot space on this post.

---

I romanced River again. Look, I'm a basic primarily het romancer in video games. I love Judy, she's amazing, but River ticks my boxes -- the Paladin archetype who gives it all up to do the right thing even when it costs him.

I hate that he's the most undercooked of all the companions plot and time-wise. But there were some huge improvements this time. All the companions had gotten extra text message interactions. A fun little quest that added a bit more content in PL. They Really Want To Stay at Your House! And along with that, amazing mods are now available to make those things even better. (River Romanced Enhanced, the Really Want To Stay At Your House and Romance Interactions Enhanced mods)

Around the mid-point in game after seeing some amazing photosets on my desktop, I got brave and installed Appearance Mod Menu and a bunch of other pose and photomode mods that go along with it. Also some outfit mods for River. And then things really got cooking screenshot wise.

Even though it took a lot of effort to set this stuff up and to get poses to work right sometimes, I got to feel like River and my V went out and had real dates on the town.

Also sometimes... we just uh... stayed in.

There's so many photos that won't ever make it to tumblr. And so many more sets I want to take.

Well, that's what reloading old saves is for.

You'll see some of these screenshots again, or have before. I have a lot of things queued that will pop up... sometime. I like to surprise myself with my own photosets. :D

---

I finally installed the Virtual Atleir and started modding in outfits a little while after doing AMM, was trying to install things in waves as to not break too much. I got a few crashes here and there, but not as many as I was worried about, after installing stuff on top of Welcome to Night City.

I kind of regret waiting so long to do Virtual Atlier and clothing mods but also not. I think I manually collected like 95% or more of all the ingame clothing. I still stop by clothing stores but they usually have nothing new for me, or just things like... masks that I never use. There's such a huge variety of clothes already in the game that I didn't get to build a lot of outfits around pieces that I love. I made a whole post of ingame-outfits I made and love!

And there's one in the queue somewhere of modded-in outfits, too. Not even all of them.

Cyberpunk 2077 is the ultimate Dress-up my dolls and make them kiss game, and I may never stop playing that aspect of it.

---

Hey speaking of Kerry Eurodyne, I love him. And Panam. And Judy. And Vik. and Claire. And Misty. And Rogue. And the rest of Samurai (Well, I chose Denny and always will.) The only thing I don't love is how it feels like you still don't get enough time with any of them, except MAYBE Panam.

I would love to be able to space out all of their missions even more. I try to put as much space in between the companion missions as possible, but this time it backfired on me a little because i crammed Judy's stuff in way later in the game than I should have, around when I was doing Kerry's stuff. When all of the main quest and most of the side quest stuff was done. And we all know that we don't get Kerry until way too late anyway. But doing Panam's stuff happened so long ago that sometimes I'd just drive out to see the Aldecados and hang out for a day because I missed them. (And, as you can see in the River screenshot above, I "brought him along" to introduce him tot he family once or twice.)

I have a great photoset in the queue of all the main characters hanging out at the Corpo apartment together I can't wait to come up someday. Not posting a preview screenshot here.

Except I forgot Claire. It took me like an hour to set that scene up and now I'm thinking about doing it all again to include Claire.

Anyway, mostly I just want to say that aside from just loving River, I love them all and don't want to leave them behind either.

Or the Fixers. Or Reed. But we'll get to Phantom Liberty.

---

Just one more quick stop here to talk about the music.

I installed the Improved Radio Continued mod and wow it really enhanced the music experience for me.

I am a 98.7 Body Heat gal, with a flip to Pacific Dreams when Ponpon Shit or History would play, but loved about half the new music on Growl FM. It took some finagling, but Improved Radio let me make my own custom radio station with JUST the songs I wanted. So it's a mash of those three stations, without the songs I disliked. (There's one on Pacific Dreams, the REALLY long one that has the interlude of someone saying the same word over and over really slowly? That one... ughghgh) and that was amazing. There's a handful of songs from other stations I liked too, that got added in. And, I'm sorry, no Us Cracks allowed. I love them as characters, still hate their music.

What I didn't expect was to really fall in love with the music of Samurai this time around. Like, I knew I should have the first time but I didn't put effort into listening to them since metal isn't my usual vibe. But it IS my brother's, at least when we were in High School and College, so I listened to it a lot back then and there are still metal songs I do like.

So this time I put all the Samaurai songs in my playlist and holy shit I fell in love with them.

A couple of weeks ago I was driving to visit my parents IRL and the entire way up there I just listened to the Samurai songs on repeat. I'm a big fan now, thanks second playthrough.

----

So, Phantom Liberty was the big reason for the new playthrough. Let's talk about it.

I absolutely LOVE Dogtown. oh, Pacifica, but worse? Amazing. So much new stuff to see, and do. I loved exploring every nook and cranny.

It added SO MUCH to the game, I can't imagine playing the game without it. I didn't even go to there until I was like 2/3rds of the way through the rest of the content and I wish I'd spread it out EVEN MORE.

I will say that I thought some of the main quests were a bit long. I felt myself itching to get out and go do something else throughout some of the long sessions like basically having to do most of the stuff with the President in one big long chain, though it made sense. I loved those quests, though! And I think I'll like them even more on a subsequent playthrough some day.

The only part I really did not like at all in Phantom Liberty was -- ok look I made the choice to side with Reed the entire way. It's Idris fucking Elba okay, I have loved him since The Wire. And I absolutely understand why Songbird did what she did, and what she would have done if I'd have sided with her. And maybe I will next time. But this time, I was all in on Reed -- though I didn't become an Agent for the NUSA, fuck that. And I gave Songbird her final wish. Because again, fuck the NUSA.

But oh man, that last quest? With that FUCKING ROBOT following you around the base at the end, that is an instakill if it finds you? FUUUUUUCK that. It was so frustrating that I stopped playing for over a month because every time I thought about going back into the game to finish that my head wanted to explode.

Eventually I watched a couple of Youtube videos and read a couple of articles about exactly where to go and how to hide from it.

Look, I love exploring, I love taking my time, I love making sure I explore everything and miss nothing. That fucking robot harshed my gaming style so much. No regrets about cheating my way through that part. Zero. I made it through with only dying to it one more time and got the fuck out of there. I was also glad to see in the comments of the video I watched and articles I read that I was very much not alone in that opinion. I might side with Songbird at least most of the way to the end in future playthroughs JUST to never have to do that base again.

Otherwise, though, Phantom Liberty was a triumph. I want a mod that makes the Dogtown apartment not shit but also not luxury, and then I want to just stay there a long time.

----

So, I'm almost done with the game.

I installed two Hidden Gems mods that turn the easy-to-miss stuff into Fixer (and Ronald in Dogtown) quests and LOVED THEM. I wanted to see and do it all. And I did. I'm done with that. It took me many more hours of gameplay to get through all of that. Worth it.

In my playthrogh, River is waiting for me at my Megabuilding apartment to spend one more night together.

And then I'm calling Panam and having the Aldecados come help me storm Arasaka.

Last time I had Rogue help, and to be honest, I feel like that's still the right choice. Rogue helped start this. She should help end it.

But one of my goals was to do more things different. And to be honest, I hate the endings, so much.

It's not that I necessarily think there should be a happy ending for V. But I think that the game should let us help make sure other people have happier endings.

So here's the thing. V is richer than like 95% of Night City by the end of the game. She's got like six apartments, at least a dozen cars even if you don't buy many at the car store, My V still has like 8 million eddies.

I don't care what the game says.

In my game, V went to a financial lawyer.

V set up trusts with each of the Fixers, or maybe one for all of them, where they can access funds to hire mercs to help people who couldn't afford a Fixer but needs one. I'd trust most of them to use this wisely, or maybe Regina, or Rogue, or Dakota or Padre would help oversee it. At least a million eddies out there, to help those who get fucked by the system most.

V sets up a trust for Judy, so she's always got enough to get by. She sends her the best tech she's gotten her hands on to ply her trade with. Maybe a new van. Set aside some to help the Dolls.

V sends her heavy duty vehicles and Scorpion's bike to the Aldecados, along with a huge stash of weaponry and half a million or so eddies to help them stay solvent.

Misty's and Vik's rents paid up for at least a year. A vehicle each. Another 250k or so for each of them. They have room to breathe. Whatever Cyberware is laying around goes to Vik -- but if River wants a couple of pieces installed, he gets them (within reason. No cyberpsychosis for my man.)

Same for Claire. Set her up with her shop's rent paid up, and a trust, give her The Beast back, and another car of her choosing.

Kerry doesn't need much, but she gives him Johnny's outfit to remember him by. Or maybe to Rogue. What do these two giants want? Whatever it is, they can have. Split the memorabilia.

And then River.

First of all, a trust for Joss and the kids. 250k each, the kids get theirs in small chunks as they age. If there's a note on either of the trailers, it's paid off. If Joss wants to move into the city, done. Set the kids up with scholarships to the best schools they want to go to. A decent, reliable car for each of the four of them. Maybe Randy wants the Megabuilding apartment for when he's ready to live on his own again.

River gets most of what's left after all that. The Glen apartment specifically, that's where they made their best memories. There's still going to be like 4 million and a bunch of cars and property left. If V dies, it's his.

This is the closest thing to happily ever after that they can get, and in my mind it absolutely happens, at some point.

Honestly, if it were me, if I didn't know the "two years later" of it, then V would have taken the President's offer and gotten Johnny out of her head surgically and lived. The will probably would have triggered. Or knowing that the surgery could be risky she'd at least have put in a provision that a percent of it triggered so Joss, the kids, River, Judy, Claire and Panam would be taken care of.

She'd never have left River destitute and desperate to take care of the family. I can't accept it.

V would wake up maybe with less money, but her assets protected enough that even without being a Merc she'd be OK. The people she loved would be OK. River would have taken care of things, and would love her without her implants.

It'll never be happily ever after in Night City, but the people that matter most will be OK.

---

But I'm going to finish today, maybe tomorrow. I planned on it today but then I spent 4 hours writing this post and have a PF2E game tonight to DM that I need to prep for.

I installed the River's Epilogue Enhanced - Nomad Star Ending mod and.... so I'm bringing the Aldecados to Arasaka, and am going to have the happiest ending possible modded into the game. With my headcanon that a trust is waiting for him and the family. They'll be fine.

I love this game. I loved it before, I love it so much more now.

I can't wait to play it again someday.

[glassmarcus]

The Rogue Lite Mexican Stand Off

*All games played in January 2023, Written in November 2023

I've had a backlog of Rogue Lites I planned on checking out for years now. This list keeps growing and I've accepted that I'll never reach the bottom. So I decided to knock out the three I felt were at the top of the genre at the very least. First I played Hades, a title I wasn't super psyched to try because I'm not a huge fan of isometric angles in games. But word of mouth overcame that doubt and I gave it a shot anyway. And yea, the game is aces. I was not led astray. Second on the docket was Rogue Legacy 2. I knew I was going to love this game because of how much I loved the first. To zero shock, I loved Rogue Legacy 2. Last was Dead Cells. A game I was interested in because I heard it be compared to Dark Souls at one point. What got me to finally buy it was the Castlevania DLC which I had to purchase because I'm a huge shill. By the way this game is also pretty good.

I see why this gallery of Rogue Likes are praised so highly and I enjoyed my time with them immensely... But which one is the best? I tried to place them all on the same level in my mind, but that's not how I operate. There needs to be a clear pecking order. A hierarchy must be established and that's exactly what I will do here. I'm going to pit these three Rouge Lites against each other and see who comes out on top. And no, I will not stop using the terms Rogue Lite and Rogue Like interchangeably. I know they are technically different things, but they sound far too similar for me to care. All games that expect you to complete their procedurally generated adventure in a single run are Rogue Likes/ Rogue Lites. That's the definition I'm using here.

In one corner of this Rogue Like Mexican stand off is Hades. Hades is a mechanically efficient masterwork of roguish progression. Not a single aspect is wasted and unpolished. You look at the weapons you get and might think "oh, there's only six of them" only to realize that they only made six because you only need six. Every weapon is completely fleshed out and has its own advantages over others. Swords deal high damage and take out a lot of enemies at once, but require putting yourself in risky situations. The Bow is weaker but safer as you can attack from anywhere in the screen. The Spear is somewhat of a jack of all trades, not as much range as a bow, not as much power as a sword, but enough of both to be worth using. Shields take a different approach in being a middle man by having its normal attack be melee and it's special long range. Fist and Guns act as the gambling man's version of the sword and bow. With Fist, you can get a lot of damage in when you're close, but it's harder to gauge when you should retreat. With Guns you can get way more hits than with the Bow, but you also have to manage your ammo and if you lose count you'll be shit out of luck.

I gotta say, there is no clear best weapon to use. I like the fist the best because obviously I'm gonna gravitate towards the punchy one the most, but I can't say it's strictly better than the others. And I came to this conclusion by naturally trying out every weapon. Hades attributes a point bonus for a random weapon in each run. These points can be used to permanently upgrade yourself between runs. So you have to decide if you want consistency with the weapons you are used to, or invest in the future by trying something new and getting potentially more points. Its a great way to incentivize variety and exploration of the mechanics of the game. The weapon options don't even end there as you get the ability to permanently upgrade your weapons after you've probably found a favorite. And these upgrades can substantially change the way you play as they aren't merely damage increases, but diverse effects that you can take advantage of to great result.

This game could just have these weapons and be perfectly great, but what takes it to the next level are the mid run upgrades you'd expect from any rogue like. Boons, the power gifted from the gods, are what really counts in getting you strong enough to claw your way out of hell. When you understand the advantages of your weapon, the permanent abilities you've acquired, and the effects boons can have, you can figure out which boons cynergize with you the best. As I stated prior, I was a Fist Aficionado. A weapon that hits fast and requires you to get in and out of enemy range. So when I picked boons that worked well with that, I got outstanding results. Abilities that decreased enemy attacks were my go to, because I knew I was going to get hit so I thought I might as well make it hurt less. And figuring out that build myself was when I really started to mesh with Hades. At first I wasn't getting any of the mechanics, flailing around with my standard attack until I dodged. But as I progressed it only kept feeling better to me. They introduce new combat options and improve the old ones. I think the game went from decent to incredible once I got a second Cast.

Cast are such a beautiful mechanic. Somehow both great for single target damage and Area of Effect depending on what boon you choose. But no matter which you choose, it changes the flow of combat due to the fact you have to pick that shit up. Keeping your rhythm despite cast not recharging automatically is the heart of why combat feels so good to me. Calls and Specials are great, but the real heroes are Cast, Attacks, and Dashes. In my experience, that’s actually the order I prioritize these moves. Your cast always have some effect that influences how you attack so that comes first. Then you attack to take advantage of what the cast does. While attacking you are dodging to stay alive. And then the cast wears off and they are left on the ground. And now you must use your attack and dash to navigate through enemies and pick up your cast so you can start the whole thing over again. Once you get into that flow state and start incorporating specials and calls into the equation, the combat of Hades becomes something truly special.

On a gameplay level this is brilliant. And you know what? The story ain't too bad either. Most Rogue Lite stories aren't something to write home about as far as I've experienced. After all, they are kind of the junk food of video games. Short and sweet experiences that don't have time to make an interesting story. Hades is built a bit different. Every run you do progresses the story and everything you do is canon. Games have been explaining away respawning for decades now, but I think this is on a different level. Characters acknowledge the things you did in prior runs. Story lines are moved through both success and failure so there's a palpable sense of progressing delivered in multiple ways. There's dating sim elements. And every character is hot. The story of Hades doesn't just work well, it works in a uniquely video game way. The setting of Hades is roguish in both thematics and mechanics. It's all about taking failure on the chin and accepting any help you can. It drove me to play it even more than I normally would have and made each run unique. It drove me to play it even after I beat it. This game’s story doesn't conclude until you beat it 10 times and I’m not upset about it one bit. You can customized each run's difficulty in a variety of ways after you beat it to add new rewards and content.

It really is a near perfectly crafted game in its genre. The only thing it drops the ball in is music which is a bit underwhelming. Don't remember a damn thing from it. And I've heard praise for the OST too, but it appears to not be my bag. It worked for what the game was going for and it matched the environments well, but it didn't stick with me the way I'd prefer an OST to stick with me. That's really is the only issue about the game I can conjure...but if it was clearly the best one of the three, I wouldn't be writing this.

In the second corner we have Rogue Legacy 2. Rogue Legacy is the inverse of Hades. Its narrative foil in a way. They are both games about overcoming impossible odds with the help from your family and end up being equally powerful despite going separate routes with this premise. Hades is based around Nepotism. You get to know your uncles and cousins throughout the game and your bonds with them push you forward. As such Hades is a more character driven narrative due to how large and important the supporting cast is. The cast in Rogue Legacy 2 is potentially bigger, but they're mostly all the same character. The Premise of Rogue Legacy 2 is that each run follows the latest heir of a family sworn to conquer an evil castle. When you die, you play as your offspring in the next push through the castle. It's a different character technically, with a different class and unique attributes. But one thing is maintained between the end of your last journey and the beginning of your new one: Your Bank Account.

If Hades is about Nepotism, Rogue Legacy is about Inheritance. Your character is given every advantage their predecessors were given and then some, assuring the next generation grows up stronger. Rather than death being equated to a minor setback, it's given real narrative consequence in a way. Every failed run is an echo of your past self. And it's cool that their efforts aren't going to waste. You are carrying the weight of your entire bloodline on your shoulders and it makes it all the more gratifying when you get to your points of respite. It's not as interesting as the standard well written game story, but it's just as powerful as one. When I beat the game and saw 100+ ancestors given their due credit, I felt that shit.

None of this is authentic by the way. Every bit of this was executed in Rogue Legacy 1 prior. The thing is, the sequel is better than that game in every conceivable way that it overwrites its very existence. I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say that there is zero reason to play the first game anymore. I get that it would be embarrassing for a game about improving over generations to not be way better than it's predecessor, but Junior didn't have to go this hard. I'd go as far to say that the first area of Rogue Legacy 2 completely encapsulates the experience of the first game. Everything beyond that point feels fresh and new. So for the remainder of this essay, Rogue Legacy only refers to the second game. It's such a large improvement to an already good game.

Rogue Legacy works because it's unabashedly brutal. Your hit boxes are so small and the enemy hit boxes are so big. Damage values are obscene. Enemies are around every corner and are relentless. Conquering this game is supposed to be difficult so it is designed around failure. It's not fair, but doesn't pretend to be. Your goal is rarely about accomplishing shit on your own and is more about fostering a new generation. Sewing seeds for the future. This game has six areas you need to conquer before gaining access to the final boss. Areas that you can access in a non linear way. It's essentially six separate Rogue Likes glued together. After you beat one area, you can still revisit that area in future runs, only the boss is permanently dead now. Once you've built an heir capable enough, you have the freedom to make short runs where you B-line to the boss or long runs where you scrape each prior area before the showdown. The draw of Rogue Legacy lies in how unlikely it is that you beat it in under a few dozen runs, but because every single run you failed in built towards your eventual victory, it is all the more satisfying.

Rogue Legacy is a game with an insane number of mechanics. Classes, armor, seals, equipment load, bank interest, skill trees, artifacts, upgrades and the list keeps going. Rogue Legacy takes Search Action gameplay and implements systems with the breadth and complexity of a 60 hours long RPG. And it functions perfectly because this is going to be a very looooong game, so the player has time to understand how the systems interact. Unlocking a class you can vibe with and figuring out which abilities and equipment optimize well with it is one of the many joys of Rogue Legacy 2.

Classes define your initial weapons, skills, and spells and additional stats. Class skills and stats basically determine how you're going to play. Weapons are important too, but the skills and stats can't be swapped out the same way weapons and spells can. And much like any craft, they can be improved. You can level up classes by playing them and defeating enemies. This incentivizes focusing on a single class that you've grown fond of so that their base stats will improve. But the random character generation limits your choice in the matter. It forces you to choose different classes. You're always making the best with the hands you are dealt, similar actual genetics. Classes aren't the only thing randomly generated in character creation. Each heir has a genetic trait that has a benefit and drawback. You can be born as a dwarf with shorter weapon range, but makes more money per chest. You can start off with a character who falls slowly, making some sections easier and some a nightmare. Every aspect of build creation of this game has a push and pull.

The armor you buy in this game increases your defense but the set bonus combination for said armors can give you extra stat or ability modifications. Seals are exclusively ability modifications guaranteed to make the game more fun to play with reliable effects. Artifacts fulfill the same purpose a lot of the time, but they are objects you find within the castle runs themselves. Having the right class, armor set, artifacts, and seals can make for a devastating build that will get you far in your adventure. But it's never that simple. Everything in this game has a cost. Armor cost money and ore to make and their weight fills up your maximum armor equip limit. Seals cost money and blood stones and have their own equip limit as well. Artifacts cost resolve and maybe re-rolls to get the best ones, and your resolve lowers if you have too much armor. The lower your resolve gets, the lower your Hit Point Maximum gets, making the character’s stats themselves a form of currency. Nothing in this game is simply handed to you and you have to do everything yourself with the small loan of 1 million gold your dead father gave you.

These systems and how they interact push this to being a phenomenal game, but they wouldn't mean anything without fun gameplay and that is something Rogue Legacy has in spades. Movement is the best part of this game I feel. It really leaned into the Metroidvania aspect. You get powers throughout the game that make world traversal delightful, and become even more fun when you have seals to build off of. Not many games let you do a quintuple jump into a triple air dash, but Rogue Legacy is one of those games. No mechanic you are given is that complicated as they are simply extensions of what you can already do. Attack, Magic, Skill, Dash, and Jump are basically the whole of the gameplay. Just fine tuning those things makes it satisfying to master. But there is one aspect added in this sequel that felt so natural I forgot to list it.

The Spin Kick. The spin kick is essentially a Duck Tales pogo. But you don't get that much height from it. But what it loses in height, it makes up for in surface area. You can spin kick basically any thing in this game so long as long as it's physical or electrical matter. Enemies, projectiles, weird candelabras, are all spin kick approved. Think Cup Head parry, but exclusively down ward, which doesn't seem that great, but it's a platformer essentially. You are jumping a lot. It's really not that different from attacks coming from the side when you are in mid air so much of the time any way. This platformer parry is utilized throughout the whole game to making interesting level obstacles and boss patterns. It is the unsung hero of this game and 3 playthroughs later, I'm still finding joy in executing it.

It's very hard for things in Rogue Legacy to overstay their welcome. Even the procedural level design remains fresh. Lots of variety in the rooms. It's not only a series of corridors where you have to kill enemies in a generated mini level. Some rooms are puzzles. Some are platforming challenges. Some are gauntlets and mini bosses. Some are purely story related. Also the 6 level motifs are distinct both visually and how they are designed. Level 2 almost entirely horizontal while the last area feels like a true dungeon crawler due to how dark and dangerous it is. I wasn't kidding before. Rogue Legacy 2 is 6 Rogue Legacy sequels stuffed into 1 game. And the post game adds another layer to that variety. One of the best parts about a long dev cycle is that entire trends go by in the middle of it. And because of that the creators can be given new ideas. Rogue Legacy blatantly takes the same post game ideas displayed in Dark Souls and Hades and injects it into itself. Rogue Legacy waited until the last moment to turn in its homework and then unabashedly copied off its classmates for an easy A. And god bless it for doing so. With the scaling and customizable difficulty, expansion of rewards and enemies, and completely unique bonus challenges, I'm gonna be playing this one for a long time.

So clearly I enjoy these two games a lot. But what about Dead Cells? What does it bring to the table? What can it do to stand up to these titans. Well. Honestly not much. If Hades is Angel Eyes, and Rogue Legacy is Blondie, then Dead Cells is Tuco stuck in the stand off with an unloaded gun.

Dead Cells is a good game. It looks better than Rogue Legacy. I might enjoy the gameplay more than Hades. But that's where the advantages end. And I'll be honest I haven't spent enough time with this game to truly have scholars opinion on it, thus I can’t write paragraph about its design. But that's kind of the problem. I beat this game in 4 runs. I'm no god at gaming. I'm slightly above average on a good day. The fact that I stumbled upon the ending of this game so early is disappointing. Rogue Legacy, I died a hundred deaths before reaching credits. Hades took me around 14 to beat the first time. Dead Cells gave it away and it was so deflating. I didn't work towards anything. I just sort of won. I never even died to a single boss. Once I upgraded how many estus I could hold, the only thing that mattered was the pick ups I got during the run. I'm sure if I go back there is way more to the game, but after seeing the credits I kind lost all motivation to play it. It's not fair to the game that I did that, but that's how I feel and I got other things to do with my time. It’s too bad I had the idea of comparing these three games before playing all of them.

So it all comes down to Rogue Legacy 2 and Hades. Hades has untouchable presentation and succeeds in everything it attempts with grace in a way that Rogue Legacy 2 doesn't. I can't really break down why, there's an air about it that makes it feel more thought out and seamless. But...I value what Rogue Legacy 2 is more as a game and more over, as a Rogue Like. Sure I like 2D games more than isometric games, but even beyond that, Rogue Legacy has a layer of exploration that pushes it over for me. I find it far more replayable. Hades likely has more condensed quality, but the quantity of Rogue Legacy makes up for it, and quantity is a bit more important for the genre honestly. The depth in content for Hades lies more in the story after you've beaten it, while Rogue Legacy is more in the gameplay. There are more things to do and experience, so it has more value to me. It was likely obvious what my preference was due to how I wrote more about it and made that spot on Dollars Trilogy Reference, but I couldn't really hide it. It's just that damn good.

[terraxcloud]

All 'Bout Yuffie~

Took quite some time to figure this stuff out. I decided to check out a streamer who just played FF7, CC, and FF7R for the first time to make it easier. No one's going to talk about this, and it makes sense that I do.

When you see something that looks "similar", do you start asking why?

They even both have turtlenecks...wait, "turtle"...huh.

Isn't this exactly like that one time I showed Dissidia NT renders noting that Cloud and Terra's looked almost exactly similar while the other characters were different?

Well, that post is right here.

It's been a long time since then, and now we look and see what Yuffie's gonna be all about in FF7R. This won't take long.

To start, Square-Enix likes showing this scene:

I don't know the context of this dance number, but we do have Intergrade at least. Terra Branford's main symbol is moogles (anyone who's played any Dissidia would kinda know this). The female characters in FF7 were made after her. So, why did they show Yuffie wearing a moogle costume? Well...she loves saying why:

Yuffie will be (already is) the main heroine of FF7R for these reasons:

She already one of the two MAIN characters thanks to the DLC.

She's always been the most similar character to Cloud (look at the first image). This is more noticeable after Cloud regains his memories in OG FF7. Cloud can't say "I know how you feel" to Tifa and Aerith as much as he can with Yuffie (he does actually say that to her in the Highwind). Also, she blocks bullets with her shuriken in Intergrade...who else does that?

She is underdeveloped (a great trait to have in a remake). This is big considering what they did with the Avalanche crew and random characters they added because they felt like it.

Wutai will be far more important and have its own military. It'll only get more important in part 3, so Yuffie's importance won't just vanish.

She clearly wants to be the heroine...do the others want that? We don't know if Aerith is going to save the world as " simply" as last time, and you can well assume that they'll do what they want in FF7R to surprise you.

She wears the moogle costume for a reason. Cloud is compared to chocobos whenever possible. Put 2 and 2 together.

While Tifa's character is more based on the past and Aerith's character is more based on the future, Yuffie's character is more based on the present. I.E. she wants to be a hero just like Cloud, but she's flawed and needs support (image below)...and we can make fun of her and no people on Social Media will care.

Sonon died right in front of her and she witnessed Sector 7 fall...right in front of her. She already has the trauma to go along with it.

Artificial respiration...

There are likely more, but I have stuff to do.

Yes, I know, Aerith saves the world and Tifa helps Cloud regain his memories...but will those things be as important as they were in OG FF7? They'll do what they did in the OG, but FF7R is leading to a different end. Things aren't going to be the same. The "prize" at the end is different. I just have to say the word "Jessie" and you'll prob understand. Jessie...Yuffie, heh, similar looking names.

I'm not going to dedicate this post to say why it's different (already dedicated a whole blog on that), let's just go back to Yuffie. To be honest with you, I think an image works better than words.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm making up things, but oddly enough I don't see it that way here. The "rock golem" thing that comes out here is Gilgamesh, who appears to be related to Wutai. This isn't the first time Yuffie is shown doing "this". The whole "reliance on Cloud" part is shown here.

FF7R likes showing Tifa and Aerith behind Cloud.

Another time it was shown like this was the train graveyard, and in both times Cloud "leaves" them behind. The Rebirth trailer shows a scene with this "pattern", except Yuffie is in it this time.

Of course, I don't know if this is always the case, but it's a pattern that you can notice. With Yuffie at the front it suddenly takes on a different "meaning". Sure, it's just trailer stuff, but how many times should it happen in just a trailer?

Yuffie is also at the front chair of the buggy that Cloud drives. It's a small detail, but it's her.

Likely she finds her motion sickness better at the front than the back, but even so...Cloud also has motion sickness. He's probably not going to notice it for a while.

After stealing the submarine in OG FF7, while Cloud and Yuffie (if you take her) are doing their motion sickness "dance", Cloud remembers that driving calms him down - "Hey, you're right...I DO feel a little better driving."

Here is something a bit different...

Yuffie and Aerith's synergy attack has Aerith make two puppets of Yuffie and an energy ball that Yuffie kicks just like Tidus. Why did they show this?

Tidus was made after Yuffie, specifically her hatred for her dad, and the early prototype version of FF7 Cloud (which became Zack, but Zack was not that much of a character at this point). I thought this kick was a reference to Rikku since I believe Priscilla and Yuffie were combined to make her (and that's all I knew)...but I can now say it's actually about Tidus.

So, they combined Yuffie and proto-Cloud to make Tidus (his strange appearance is their combined appearance). Zack in CC shares some poses that Tidus does despite Zack's story coming out much later. Not un-precented at all since they combined Terra and Cloud to make Lightning after that (back as a prototype in Before Crisis, which is why Lightning's hair is always draped over her left shoulder and why she has a gunblade as her original weapon was the shotgun.)

I think I've said enough. Have a good day. Were you expecting me to talk about romance? OK. Clearly Yuffie's scenes in the OG are the most romantic, I sometimes still hear the loud "slap" in my head and everyone chooses Yuffie at the end of disk 1.

What, do you want to know what was going on in my mind when making this? Well, this video may help. No, just messing with you...how 'bout one of my favorite video game songs?

No, I'm not about to say "Team <insert character name>". There's no "team" here. Don't make everything a competition, GAWD.

I don't know why this synergy attack reminds me of Rikku.

Y'know, one of the things people notice about Cloud and Terra is that they're similar. Also, Terra's prototype has almost the same hairstyle as Elena, who appears right before Yuffie and Priscilla. If Cloud really was cut from FF6, this is the Terra he would remember...I assume this is why the Loveless girl also has short hair.

I think Elena is named after Lenna (FFV), which is funny since that Aerith sprite from FF5 was from a place called the "Phoenix Tower" where Lenna's drake dies and you get Phoenix, and Fort Condor is a tower close to the characters I've just mentioned where you get Phoenix after the condor dies.

And Zack in CC gets Phoenix from the Nibelheim water tower. Also, early Terra looked like Lenna.

[kakusboyfriend]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for some of the last people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals, followers and all the wonderful people on here! happy new year and all the best :)

Ily

Hm, right! This isn't my main so I'll keep it contained to my favorite little fictional characters off the top of my head. All familial bc i feel very attached to my little siblings/children rn ^_^

(6 instead of 5 bc i couldn't decide)

Not numbered because if I had to try and Rate my children and siblings I would never forgive myself...

Gas Heeter (DBS)

Brother

This little guy isn't... Written too well, is he. He's got a cool concept pushing him forward, but ultimately we don't spend nearly enough time building the relationship between him and Elec to see it as something lecherous.

However, I can't help but feel for the poor thing. He's so tiny and cute... And he really was just trying his best out of blind loyalty. He felt like he owed his brother the pain and suffering he was putting himself through, because he wouldn't be here without him

I'm sad we don't see much of him and his other siblings, too - they seemed genuinely nice and caring, unlike Elec. I am quite glad they survived the whole shitshow.

Now, this guy is also the catalyst for Viola becoming a better person, overall. Sure, he already had a sibling figure in Saike (Psyche Demon - you know, the one Janemba grows off of like mold), but Gas arrived into his care in such deplorable conditions, Viola's heart shattered despite the fact it's no longer beating.

Seeing a soul arrive at the suspended world immediately after dying so brutally was a much needed reality check to make Viola care about other people. I'm glad they have each other - though, I really need to expand on their relationship some more ^_^

Allister and Kieran (Pokemon SV/SWSH)

Brothers

These guys share a spot bc they're very similar, personality and design wise! They even share some verbal quirks here and there, which I find really cute ^^

Kieran has the upper hand when it comes to backstory, because he's a Main Character and has his own arc throughout the DLC. But Allister is such a little darling in his own way - he's so shy and sweet, but still a strong gym leader - outclassing a handful of adults, even! He chooses to raise pokemon most people consider frightening and scary, and he does so wonderfully!

They're both near and dear to my heart. Kieran I feel especially bad for, however - it's not that I Hated carmine. Really, I think her personality is fun and even cool at times - but she would've been better Not put into contrast with a socially awkward, kindhearted little brother she's always shouting at. I'm not saying Kieran can't be annoying - in fact I'd Like him to be, it's more fun! - but the way she treats him has me on edge from the start.

I really love them both, and think they'd be good friends if they met - I feel like they'd love to sit in a room together doing their own things in silence ^^

Tetsuo Shima (Akira, 1987 - Movie)

Son

Oh this little kid... I know he's meant to be sympathetic by default, since despite everything he's still 15 - but I genuinely just want to give him a hug and talk to him one to one.

He's in so much pain throughout the movie, and put on the spot for things out of his control - it's not the lashing out that makes him dangerous, per se, since (at first) he's doing it out of self defense, at the very least. It's how far he takes his rampage, until it culminates into his own destruction.

Tetsuo never really had a chance. It's not like I think every kid put on his situation would choose to behave like that, but in the end - he'd always felt alone, inferior and pathetic. Pushing his limits into inhuman levels of stress and fueling it with deranged power was never going to help him deal with anything healthily. There's always hope, and I always choose to believe in the possibility of a happy ending - but he really was a ticking time bomb from the very beginning.

Roy Ulthoon/Ruby Hurricane (BTBATB/OC)

Son

Oh I know for a fact there is a hell. You know why? Because I feel its flames licking my skin whenever I think about this poor tormented soul.

He was never meant to be a real child. Roy was a moral, a lesson, a plot device from the very beginning - about how finicky the human spirit can be, especially when you don't treat it perfectly well from the start. Or maybe I'm just being optimistic, and the writers wanted to make a 'humans are monsters' character to drive the plot forward and serve as a foil to Red's blind faith in humanity.

Either way, god, I hate his ep with an inhuman passion. I know for a fact he could've been saved - I KNOW Batman was not the right choice when dealing with this freshly made human soul that's lashing out against abuse. Or, at the very least, he wouldn't have acted the way he did - he electrocuted my son. I want him as far away from us as possible.

In Citrus' story, he's the catalyst to the alien finding his purpose in life, realizing just how much he enjoys children. He didn't, ever, need to die or be put down - he needed someone that would listen. Instead, they wrote Red's thinking to be that of a parent that tells you 'it is what it is because I said so, now suck it up'. It's not... Terribly out of character, but it could've been framed better, at the very least. I could go on and on about this one, since I basically Made It All Up - but that's for later «3

Kid Buu (DBZ)

Son

HOUGH. God I love this kid. I love this little shit just SO MUCH, he brings me inhuman amounts of joy I can barely contain it.

First off - he's so cute. He's meant to be a demonic entity of pure evil, with 0 thoughts in his brain aside from Killing and Destroying. And yet... He's so endearing. He really is, to be blunt, like a cat in that way.

He's so so tiny, too... And the pinks aren't helping. He just looks like something I'd want to hug and squeeze to death (very likely my own). I know I'm not meant to love him As Much as I do, but come on... It's not like it's my fault.

My reasoning as to why he can coexist with Super Buu, Good Buu and even Uub is kind of muddy. I think Pluto just straight messed with reality for that little guy to live with him - and who could blame him? Just let him waste away in hell for god knows how long? Come on now...

And I know I don't talk about Uub much - mainly, honestly, I don't trust the decision to reincarnate a being of pure evil into a dark skinned child, considering dragon ball's history with antiblackness - but I do find him really cute too ^^ he's just not... Son material? I guess? I'm not mad he exists in Kid Buu's place, iykwim - I just prefer crazy evil kids is all.

Oh by the way - if I ever get to developing my AUs this year, he's very important in the reforming of another amoral bastard he happens to live with atm. It's the only person he's in contact with that feels Pain nowadays - which makes the whole thing even funnier.

Baby (DBGT)

Son

Ok I know I said I wasn't rating these in any way. But. Jesus Christ

I LOVE BABY SO MUCH! I LOVE HIM SO SO SO SO MUCH ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY!!!!

He's got such a cool concept, backstory, voice, design... God, he's got it all! He's really unique because of how and When he was created, and it really breaks my heart they'll never write him in a way that makes Me personally happy.

Granolah is usually considered very similar to Baby in concept - but oh brother, the things that set them apart makes the gap so obvious it hurts. Baby is one of a kind, you can't ever try and make another one like him.

And I know, I know. Someone like him is very unlikely to accept being raised and treated as an actual child - a human one, no less, but we'll get to that - but also, isn't that perfect? He's the perfect brood parasite - he gets food, shelter and love from an unsuspecting parent who tends to his every need until he's strong enough to get rid of them and fulfill his purpose. Its genius.

However, he didn't take into consideration the soul that still burns inside of him - no matter how weak, it's still there. He can't help but get attached to Coralia, who treats him so well, and is willing to put his own life on the line to make sure he's safe. God, he doesn't even look human - why is this one so hell-bent on treating him as such?

It's maddening. He's not meant to be nurtured, he's meant to take over people's bodies when they least expect it to end a war that's ended more than half a century ago. And yet... Here he is. A monster in an infant's skin, being treated in the exact same way that made an alternate version of him to murder Dr. Myuu in cold blood. What's happening to him....?

Anyways. These r my delightful little guys!!!!!

[fierykitten2]

I feel like making a post about the Blaziken raids so here it is

Electric and Rock seem to be my main options for a defender (Ice and Steel are also options but Ice doesn’t resist Flying and Steel isn’t Supereffective against Flying. Also both would fall immediately to the first Fire-type move thrown my way). Great news for Lavender, my player character in Violet, who can use Lucifer and call it a day. Bad news for Rose, my player character in Scarlet, who’s gonna need to train up a Pokémon from scratch. Nothing saying an Electric Tera type Sandy Shocks won’t cut it, it’s just I assume there’s a reason I don’t ever remember seeing it suggested for raids (other than the fact I previously wasn’t interested in Scarlet-exclusive defender options because until Christmas, I only had Violet). I’ll look up ideal defenders closer to the time because of course I’d love a Blaziken with the Mightiest Mark. Hang on, I checked, Sandy Shocks and Miraidon are good choices for defenders. I just need to double check Punk’s Tera type (I think it might be Ground) and then do some training. Thinking about it, an Iron Thorns might not be a bad idea - it’s got both the types I said are the main options it’s just I saw Iron Hands (which I’m not trusting as a defender after how the Iron Bundle raids went) suggested and not it so there’s probably something preventing its species from being raid-viable. Anyway, after how the Hisuian Samurott raids went, I trust Lucifer as a defender and will use it as my defender in Violet

I wanna try and update when I’ve caught it in both versions just because. If I achieve that on separate days or give up in one version (probably Scarlet) I’ll update separately

As ever, I plan on putting it through the ESP afterwards. If my plan works out, I think it only makes sense to celebrate Blaziken the Unrivaled being my first 7-Star victory in Scarlet by putting it through the ESP in Scarlet. From now on, I’m going to have to make decisions on which game to put each Unrivaled Pokémon through the ESP in. My plan for the DLC starters is Hoenn + starters weak to the base game starter in Kanto, Johto, Unova and Alola in Scarlet and Sinnoh (yeah I know, I don’t like that trio but it’ll annoy me if I don’t do it) + starters strong against the base game starter in Kanto, Johto, Unova and Alola in Violet

Name-wise, earlier I said I would call my Scarlet Blaziken Chicken and my Violet Blaziken Blaze (I still prefer Violet so my Violet Blaziken gets the cooler name) but then I decided (because even though I believe Falcon’s overall starter would be Quaquaval, Blaziken definitely fits him. Well, it fits his Smash counterpart, which doesn’t count. But then again, especially if it’s got its hidden ability, Speed Boost… maybe not so Smash!Falcon-coded after all, maybe a bit Falcon-coded (you don’t get the F-Zero! prefix on that because that’s his canon version)) I want to call the Violet (F-Zero takes place in the future therefore I only allow myself to use names based on it in Violet) Blaziken Captain and my Scarlet Blaziken Blaze (I’m not letting the cooler name (between Chicken and Blaze) go to waste)

Oh yeah and I already headcanon that (because of how unpopular they are compared to the rest of their trios) Blaziken the Unrivaled is in a relationship with a theoretical Meganium the Unrivaled (what do you reckon? Bug Tera type? Fairy Tera type? Psychic okay probably not Psychic when Bug and Fairy are options. Speaking of, there are 17 starters (if my maths is correct) and 19 Tera types. They’re probably not gonna give any starters the Stellar Tera type and it seems unlikely that the Paldean starters are coming to raids. Plus, I’m willing to reckon they wouldn’t use the starter trio types. As much as I’d love to rule out the Normal Tera type (can’t believe you’d disappoint the one Rillaboom fan by giving it the most boring Tera type and you’re probably gonna do it to Primarina as well) I think the other Tera type likely to go unused this group is Dragon, because that was Charizard’s Tera type and it doesn’t fit into a nice little trio in the base game starters) and they met in a karaoke bar in Johto right at the end of Blaziken’s world tour (Blaziken the Unrivaled loves karaoke bars and met the Lucario from Smash at a karaoke bar in Kalos where Blaziken stayed for a lot longer than it did in any other region on its world tour which occurred about the same time as Lucario’s world tour and Lucario was devastated when he discovered Blaziken had left for another region (likely either Paldea or Galar) and they never saw each other again I swear the karaoke bar headcanon has nothing to do with me thinking Blaziken and Skeledirge should swap trios)

Oh yeah adding to that point when will I make the next 7-Star headcanon post? I’ll wait until all starters have been done and the same number of Past and Future Paradox Pokémon have been done (please Scream Tail event? Or Flutter Mane? Or Sandy Shocks?)

[lilycutesmith]

Top 25 Formative Games/Series For Lily Cutesmith, Dipshit Game DevTM here's a long ass post about these and my thoughts if that's something you're interested in

anyways I made a long ass thread about my choices here so I'm formatting it better here under a readmore (games are done in no particular order really)

7th Dragon Code VFD is a fun game that's probably the weakest in the series but it is the only one that came out over here and while the others have fan-translations i havent gotten too far in any of them. They're good games imo! VFD just sorta came out and was there when I needed it. It's not good once you play the other games and find out the developmental history of VFD is "the company making it went under and SEGA basically finished it for them and its a fucking miracle it even came out this side of the pond." The 2020 games (there's two) for the PSP have Hatsune Miku in them and you can unlock the Miku version of the OSTs by saving her in a side mission in those games and they have some REALLY cool environmental art direction/design so I think they're worth checking out. The series was started/directed by the director of the first EO game and you can very easily see the shared DNA in the series, despite the different design direction it took. VFD is VERY easy to break once you reach a certain point in the game so its by far the easiest, and in all of the games the random encounters are only really threatening for the first few levels, but the real meat of the combat is in the Dragon and Boss encounters. The party size is a more standard 4-members in 1, with a row system too and it plays largely like what one may consider a standard rpg combat system with the React Turns being kinda there. 2020 takes the React Turns and turns it into a genuine part of the game's action economy once you get access to the buffs that grant them upon fulfilling the conditions. This is vital due to the game's 3 Member party size! Its cool. I like it a lot and would love to explore the design space of that further, because i think its a much more interesting system then SMT's Press Turn System. It's something that's really got my brain juicing.

It was a bloody battle between Link to the Past and Link's Awakening but I think the randomizer specifically pushes LTTP to the finish line for me. I really like both and other zelda games though so tough choice. I like a lot of zelda games to be fair and am a known Zelda 2 enjoyer (ill beat it one day…) but like, Link's Awakening sticks to me because a) played it a lot as a kid, and b) man it's story is pretty good and I read someone's take on it as being a farewell to the like, more simple stories of a hero vs the dark lord that most adventure stories had at the time as they shifted to being much more in-depth and grown-up in a sense? And I think that's neat. However, Link to the Past won over it for me here because like, man, I did 100% the GBA version including the four swords content/bonus dungeon, and also like, I spend a lot of time with the randomizer and I've really come to appreciate the like, toolset and layout of the game. It's cool as hell. I don't really have strong opinions on the 3D games frankly. I like the setting of the series though, its a p huge influence on me, and I would be loathe to not include a representive on this list.

I'd probably put Pokemon Scarlet here instead but i didnt see it in the fucking thing and apparently Pokemon Ruby wasn't there either (was not into the remake) so Red version it is (i played yellow but lol) realistically this just represents the entire series for me tho. So you might go "lily why the fuck Scarlet?" and like, man, its probably the most fun I've had in a mainline game and the story was a lot of fun to go through. I havent played the DLC and tbh I'm probably not going to but I like what I've heard of it. The ost also fucks but that's pretty much the standard for pokemon, there's always bangers in there. ANYWAYS, the point here is that pokemon is hugely influential on me and that's why it's on the list baby!!!!!!! I have a million thoughts on the design of pokemon games but that's something for an Ask and another time.

Kirby Super Star is also here bc I played it a SHITTON as a kid and the cart we had was faulty so we often had to do the entire game in one go typically but the nature of the game made that mostly fine and it was fun so like!! Like, I would probably rank Planet Robobot or Forgotten Lands or even Star Allies higher then KSS, but I think in terms of like, once again, influencing my Entire Identity And Existence, KSS takes the cake!! I don't think I have much more to add to this point tbh, I just really like Kirby games!

Fairune Collection is here partially bc I did really like it and it kinda made me think about what a game IS. Also i really like the games by the dev and the worlds they've built so it goes here. This point also includes Kamiko and Transiruby by the same dev as well. I really like how their pixel art looks and the overall visual direction of their works. Also cute girls. That's vital here. I think if you like, puzzle adventure games, the Fairune Collection is a good pick up. They're funny lil games.

you dont play Fall Guys to win, you play it to be the Biggest Clown in the show, and sometimes that gets you the win. I play with a friend only though so the clowning IS twofold. But also like, honestly, the game controls in a very specific way that sucks but Purposefully So? It feels good to play. It's a very interesting game design-wise in that way, and the level creator really lets you explore that and that's cool. The like, """kaizo""" level potential is honestly really high and we've seen some cool stuff in that regard too. Obviously I am obligated to say that it is a F2P game with microtransactions for funny outfits and animations, so obviously if that's bad for you then don't play it. I DID drop money on it for the miku outfit and concert emote myself bc like, miku. We also discovered that you can grab-cancel emotes and if they make a sound at the start you can beep very aggressively and its VERY funny. It fucking rules to beep around someone and then they figure out how to do it and join us and like, the game really stands out when you do the classic "jump and emote at someone to communicate in an mmorpg" activity.

"Why no souls games?" I enjoy souls games but they weren't ever particularly like, influences to me? Code Vein however is where I got my current sona/vtuber design idea from and its a fucking unhinged 6-7/10 game ever it rules. Like where do I even start with this game really? It's a mid to bad story with pretty fun combat and systems and a very funny character creator and its impossible to take seriously with most of the level design being Whatever with the exception of the Cathedrel of Sacred Blood which is a huge fucking part of the game that actually tests your observational skills outside of the enemy encounters, and the game is fucking FUN as hell! incredible game changed me as a person, made me feel like I was starting to really understand video games as a medium when i finished it.

Shadowbringers is specifically the expansion and not like the entire FFXIV game; its an incredibly strong story about fighting for a future you may not even see and that's extremely resonate to me. makes me want to make an rpg. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda soured on FFXIV after Endwalker for a variety of reasons (shoutouts to the raid series though, Scream is a banger song), so I dont really play it anymore. Shadowbringers is still in my heart though, and like, man, its hard to describe. Ardbert is fantastic, the conclusion with Elidibus is incredible, going through whats left of the First really drives home the despair of the situation while showing the resilience of the people still remaining, emet squelch is there. And like, really, I think the story as a whole just very much resonates with me especially with gestures at the world as a whole going on so like, idk maybe I'm saying the wrong words then what I mean too. I'm into it. Shoutouts to Eden 8's pre-final phase with Gaia being Gay As Hell. That part in conjunction with the song live rent-free in my head, esp as inspiration for one of my pairs of OCs.

Zero 2 is here bc its a fucking good game that greatly influenced my tastes in gameplay and aesthetic. why arent people making MMZ-style games where are you people. Anyways I don't know how much I could add or explain this because really the "MMZ-Style Games" bit doesnt make sense unless you're familiar with how the games feel to play lmao. There's a niche for incredibly tight movement + combat in a 2d Platformer with levels that you can play for Rank to test yourself and i am just not seeing them tbh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iji is the first game to make me cry as a teen. one of the strongest standouts from the early western indie game scene by far. I dont think I particularly cared for the gameplay thinking on it, but I also think that's like fine because its a very unique game and it plays well enough for exactly the kind of game it needs to be. The fact this is one of the first games to go "hey, you don't actually need to kill anyone, and in fact, you probably really don't want to anymore once you get the fuller picture of what's going on because god DAMN the situation is bad" is really important to me and like, man, maaaaaaan, the game's good. Shoutouts to Asha, worst funniest cockiest dipshit ever 10/10.

An Untitled Story is just a solid game from celeste dev who is responsible for the game maker platformer engine I eventually adapted into my own form. I think the game itself is like fine and I really like that one of the MAIN upgrades you get for progression is straight up hatching from an egg. Ultimately, the game is on here because it greatly affected my game dev trajectory. "Why not Celeste tho?" i havent played it and really just havent felt like playing it, its not the time yet.

I picked Double Dealing Character as the touhou representative because while Ten Desires is the first touhou game I truly got into and beat repeatedly, DDC is like, the one that REALLY got me into the series and made friends during. I think if you're looking to try playing any of the mainline touhou shmups this is a good starting point; there aren't any like, game specific mechanics you need to worry about and there's some really fun/funny spellcards that'll trip you up, the challenge is just in the right spot I think. Touhou as a SERIES is a huge inspiration for me (I literally made several fangames at this point) so it resides in a special place in my heart.

tetris attack is a game that i wish i could play against other people like i straight up plan on implementing online into touhou panel date pon for this explicit reason i crave violence that only swapping panels can sate. i really dont need to add more to this, but I also enjoy Dr Mario and Tetris. I don't think I'm MASTERFUL at them but I fall into a weird spot of "Not Pro but Super Not Casual" for them so its hard to play Versus in these games (not that there's easy ways to play falling block match 3 versus games that aren't Tetris or Puyo but i mean…)

the probably big ???? here for most people who are familiar with it is Mystic Quest and a) dude that game's soundtrack FUCKS b) I played it a lot as a kid whenever my family stayed at my aunt's house and it was so much fun. S/o to Shining in the Darkness for the same reason (and is probably why i latched onto EO in the first place tbh). Listen, FFMQ is the most baby shit rpg ever but it is a vital piece of my soul as a game designer/developer/person. You have to respect it, if nothing else for the OST.

La-Mulana, Baba is You, and Ittle Dew get the same entry on here as they are more or less on here for the same reasons. They're all puzzle games on wildly different axis and really made me think about what challenge means for a video game. La-Mulana (this includes 2 for the record) because the game asks you "ok dipshit, how good are you at taking and using notes and remembering what verbs you have? Also here's some slapstick jokes for your enrichment lol". Its great. You have to respect the game because it WILL throw a banana peel in front of you and you WILL slip if you aren't paying attention. Baba Is You is just a phenomal take on sokoban. Rules are fake actually as it turns out. Ittle Dew I struggle to remember any actual puzzles from (granted its been a Hot Minute since I played it) but I DISTINCTLY remember that both 1 and 2 do the funny joke of "hey if you know how to do weird shit with your tools you can get into Places You Shouldn't Be In" and that owns. It's similar to Baba Is You in that regard but it feels like a very different angle, imo. These games helped me sort of like, come to terms with and grasp the idea of games challenging you from different angles? Its not ALL about execution, after all!

shoutouts to crocomire jumpscare, got me good when i was like, 8-9. Super Metroid really sticks in my mind as a result of playing it a lot as a kid, but especially because of that part. I picked Super Metroid specifically bc its the game I probably played the most of when I was younger, though realistically that title might actually belong to Zero Mission bc I did nearly everything in that game except for the Low% Runs bc jesus christ those are hard as hell. Anyways I really like Metroid Primes 1 and 2 (didnt particularly care for 3? wii-mote aiming doesnt do it for me either) and most of the games and like, I've talked about how the gamefeel of the 2D ones is very unique and I dislike the term metroidvania bc there's usually way more emphesis on the -vania part then anything like Metroid lmao. But yeah, samus cool and gay. Would love to see people make metroid-style games with a slower n more methodical gameplay style tbh. I should also make that at some point.

Etrian Odyssey V is my pick for EO because imo its probably the most solid one in terms of the team figuring out how to design the games and just has REALLY fun class and encounter design. I get why ppl might shy from it bc its different aesthetic from the others but its good. Each class has a Base Set of Skills that sort of gives you an idea of how they'll play but then you unlock the Master Sets and you have to pick one for each class (each class gets two) and that allows you to really focus your characters and the teambuilding aspect really pops off at this point. The FOE puzzles and dungeon layouts are fun and the random encounters will explode you for fucking up, its great. Just a really strong and focused entry to the series, and I feel like the one that really delivers on the EO experience. I don't really wanna talk about the other games otherwise we'd be here all night but I do want to make a note that if you're looking to play the first 3 games, the HD Remasters are probably your best bet as the QoL shit (+ slight balance changes to how some skills work/they behave properly now; Beast notably still works the same but is better now due to the Provoke changes; "but Loyalty still sucks?" welllllllll there's quirks to how you can use that to your advantage actually; remember these are team building games!) really helps make them easier to play and get through. Anyways big fan of EOV, its decidedly my favorite after getting thru most of my second replay (i need to get back to it lol). Recommend if you're itching for an RPG with teeth that's not overwhelming you with a bajillion numbers and has a lot of depth to how you can build your team.

Order of Ecclesia is here bc gender. also bc its my second castlevania game (i started with Dawn of Sorrow) and i managed to 100% somehow. idk its a fun game and i think it might've been one of the first games where I REALLY started to understand the concept of game mechanics, because idiot baby me finally realized that "oh enemies have RESISTANCES and WEAKNESSES and my weapons can HIT those weaknesses for MASSIVE DAMAGE" after trying to genuinely master the game for the hitless medal rewards (unhinged btw, but i mean you also got the Death Ring bc well if you're using that you HAVE to do hitless lol). Anyways I dont care much for Castlevania as a series tbh, but OoE (and by extension DoS) were formative games for me so they go on here. Shanoa is also Gender so like, lol lmao

I dont actually have much to say for Knytt Stories. I cant remember as much as I would like but I feel fondness recalling it and I think it definitely influenced how I think about games. This goes for Knytt too, the first one. I think if nothing else, these games were probably the first games I played where the primary focus was simply area atmosphere and VibesTM and they were cute and fun to play.

dragon's dogma is on here bc i think its one of the first games where I actually thought about my character's gender and tried out the name Robin for a bit there. also its a fun fucking game and I liked how wild it gets past a point. Really just, primarily hoping that 2 has a much larger enemy variety pool. Clambering around on shit and stabbing it was hella fun. But yeah this is really just on here for the gender reasons lmao.

Wonder Girl 3 The Dragon's Trap (the remaster/make/whatever) is the game to bring up whenever "does animation affect game feel" as a topic comes up because its THE shining example of it doing that imo. its also just a good fucking game I think about a lot. good ost to boot. Like, I think about the game itself and its like just a really solid fun action platformer with exploratory elements and minor ""rpg"" elements? but it really vibes with me aesthetically. It's an inspiration for me, because frankly I love making these sorta games? I wish there were more like it.

ok last game. Potato Flowers in Full Bloom is such a good fucking game. its cute. its good. I would kill for Chief, love her. she just wants to feed the world dude. 10/10. its kind of like a puzzle rpg in a sense? I really like it. DRPGs are a niche genre, and I think PFiFB is a very unique take on it, and like, I really recommend it if you're juicing for something that's a bit different. Last I checked you can cheese a lot of it by building an evasion character turbo hard but like I think that's fine, there's plenty of variety in terms of how you can build characters and its fun. It's cute. It made me rethink how I approach game design? I think? Idk. It's just a game i really enjoyed and I think you should try out if you like RPGs.

I forgot to talk about the X Series since the thing didnt have X1 on there for some reason so the Collection is there (for the PS2). The series quality is all over the place but damn if it aint a formative series for me, in much of the same vein as the Zero series.

In conclusion you need to have played at least 75% of this list if you want to stand even a chance of dating/fighting me.

EDIT: actually I have a couple of notes I want to talk further about to.

a. "Why no Mario games? Sonic games?" So While I Do Enjoy Mario Games, none of them are what I would call necessarily formative for me? They're all more like, games I take inspiration from rather then affecting my brain on the level the other games did. As for Sonic, I just have not play the games LOL.

b. "Undertale?" Man, I like Undertale a lot, its just not on the list for a similar reason to the above.

c. I did try to stick to one game per series/developer but that sorta fell apart as I racked my brain for games lmao. shit's hard when you have a lot of thoughts and poorly processed words.

[ariapmdeol]

8:11 anon here again. Wow. W o w. Brain empty but just. Wow.

Went through all the endings and then had to go back to Arrival Point S to cope with all the other ones. And, as expected, the first ending and S destroyed me. Cried at least two times. My god. It's been a while since media made me cry, and I certainly didn't expect to get so emotionally invested in CoE.

However! I have questions!! Spoiler-y ones? If you don't mind, of course. Sorry if it's a lot?? I'm definitely going to re-watch everything again to connect whatever is left.

First off: is there a "canon" ending? Surely S is what everyone wishes to be canon (although E is pretty good too, in its own way, definitely wouldn't want it to be canon, though) but is there a defined one by the developers? Actually, what even is the first ending gotten before S?

Second: what triggers change the endings? I figure that for deaths it's mostly a matter of wasting time, which is really neat and genuinely puts urgency into the situation.

Connected to that, what's the blue-colored person speaking at the end of most endings? The one who "guides" the player on what they missed to try again?

Third: honestly what (and who) the hell is Kanou. Man shows up as quickly as he dies, reappears in like two endings, commits suicide in both. Is he just the local cryptid? A doll? There's something going on with him, between the Told You So death, the text about murdering coworkers at a previous lab, and his corpse disappearing (and, in specific endings, showing up as...human? Dialogue specifies that)

Fourth: you mention the DLC, but also Hermits Room and Interlude, however I don't see them in the playlist? Do they have to be played specifically as there's no uploads?

Fifth: wow Utsugi is so incredibly fruity. My god that guy is gay, good for him, good for him. That's not a question just need to state it. Also Sanemitsu being emotionally not there ever and Atou threatening him every five seconds. Peak dynamic, love them all so much. Shinano being happy. S ending my beloved

Sixth: I heard something about a...cipher? An art book cipher? Or an ARG? Idk but if you're willing to explain.

That's...it? Surely I have more questions but these are the main ones I can think of now. Again, sorry if this is a lot???

And!! Enjoy 8:11 whenever you get the time for it!! It was so fun to play and mind-boggling.

CONGRATS ON FINISHING AAAA!! i'll answer all these in order!! let me know if you need clarification on anything <3

Yes, there is a 'Canon' Ending'. S+ is considered the canonical ending! This actually answers the other part of this question: the Ch 8 Arrival point S goes through S (Future), which directly leads into S+ (Empyrean Point). The two endings are connected, and S needs to happen in order to achieve S+! OH ALSO. THERE ARE POST-S CHANGES, which i will put under the cut bc I have collected them <3 These technically happen in S+, but we don't see them bc we only check back in when Atou is in ch 8 already. The DLC (Records of Sanemitsu Isoi) takes place almost exactly 3 years after S+. (These are shown in the playlist after the Ch 4, 6, and 7 extras <3).

ENDING FLAGS: Fun bonus fact: the purple text will tell you what you missed, and this changes based on what you did wrong! S Root: get all the info, don't let anyone die. A Root: keep everyone alive but don't get all the info. Ensure that you have charged Shinano's Phone B Root: everyone alive but Shinano's phone was not charged or unlocked. C Root: Succeed in saving Yanagi. Fail in Saving Karen D Root: Succeed in Saving Karen. Fail in saving Yanagi E Root: EVERYONE DIES!! YIPPEEE Mx. Purple Text is something that you'll learn about in the DLC, so I'll RAFO you for now (Read and find out). It is purple specifically! (though i also made that interpeted it as blue at first sdajkldsjkal)

Kanou Flag: in Chapter Four, you can read Yuusuke Aiba's Journal without Kanou (this is shown in the extras for chapter 4). This starts the kanou flag. This is what triggers a couple of small changes surrounding Kanou (the quick flash of him in ch 6 comes to mind) and grants access to the kanou elevator scene. TLDR Kanou was infected with cells, which let him live a little longer, but not enough to grant abilities. They talk about dying as a 'human' because if he lives longer, his cells will morb and he'll become a doll or a creature. He also gives us a Note that says something like 'live for me'. This note gives us a buff during the origin beta boss fight (his "curse" protects atou <3)

The first Five records of the DLC (+ the intro) are in the playlist! for anything beyond that point, contact me here, on discord (@ ariapmdeol), or on twitter (@ AriaPMDEoL ) and I'll help you!

UTSUGI FOREVERRR HE'S SO. he makes me so emotional i love you noriyuki utsugi. Sanemitsu my darling my beloved he is trying but he also sucks so much <333 i love him. The Reiji-Sanemitsu-Haruki family means so much to me. they make me emotional UEEEE. S and S+ make me explode,,

YES there are ciphers!! there's an official artbook for COE (which unfortunately isn't being sold right now orz orz) Which has a few ciphers in it! The one that i was looking at is HORRIFICALLY warped (i genuinely don't think we were actually meant to solve it LMAO) but I solved it and a friend was kind enough to translate it for us! There is also a Cipher in DLC, and a few others in the DLC 2020 credits! I have solutions to all of those as well. It's less 'ARG' and more "here's some information hidden behind a cipher." They're not REQUIRED reading but they help a lot with theorizing, and I've been finding it to be a lot of fun :D

I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY 8:11 I AM VERY EXCITED HEHEHE

OK POST S CHANGES ( you'll have seen one of these before). These are sorted by chapter. DON'T WORRY IF THESE DON'T MAKE SENSE TO YOU YET.

CHAPTER 1.

"You want to forget the rat without a head" has been changed from Red to Purple.

CHAPTER 4.

There is an Item on the floor in chapter 4 (the room that you have to walk through in order to get to Aiba's journal) which reads "Zero Does not Exist".

Chapter 6:

This document has been replaced, the first time you look at it, by a document by CODE:DANTE. This one is a little long so you can DM me and I'll grab it for you!

Chapter 7:

ok so. this is shown in A root but it's not an A root thing, it's a Post S root thing (it's because of how the YT translator got their endings, dw abt it). All mentions of Seodore Riddle have been removed

This text has changed (both in normal vision and in Vision shift. it reads:[normal vision text] 'This is not the start of a nightmare but the end of a peaceful dream' and 'but what will you see when you wake' is added post S. [purple text] 'Aare you enjoying this divine comedy?' with 'i'm glad, you've enjoyed the love of god' added post S.

^this section was translated by tumblr user hermitroom!

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 4 MATCH 8

Derek propaganda:

“Extreme hot take but Derek is the best OL1 love interest. He has the best and sweetest confession in the game. You play video games together. He seems reserved until you actually start dating and find out that he's actually just a gentleman who didn't want to be overly forward with someone he's not in a relationship with. He's a family man. You get to blatantly abuse your 'dating' privileges in front of his brothers. He's just so insanely sweet and caring and makes me wanna cry whenever I play his DLC.”

“- Impossible to dislike

- No, like, literally impossible. OL1 will allow you to be indifferent to it's two other LIs, Cove and Baxter but you actually can't pick that option for Derek. Game decided that You Will Be (at least) Friends With Derek

- This boy is so good!!!! He's a sweetheart and has your back in the best way and he's constantly doing his best to make sure the people around him (especially you) are happy

- This is also a complex flaw of his because he feels like he needs to be the best that he can be and to be worth something

- This both manifests in how he treats others (he's exceedingly well-mannered and does everything for others because he secretly hopes that someday someone will do the same for him) and his career prospects (he takes on excessive practice to get good at football/soccer so that he can potentially get a scholarship and become famous all so he can potenially feel like he's worth something. This is actually a major conflict in his Step 4)

- His DLC also has some of the best moments in the game

- He also has a family and they're also really good and you get to see a lot of them

- His dad is hilarious, his mom is gorgeous and their relationship is very cute

- Meanwhile, Derek's brothers are great. I wanna gush about them because I love them but also play Derek's DLC yourself!!! See how good they are for yourself!!!!

- I will say that these three have a really good relationship dynamic and the development it takes in the 10 years between when you first meet Jorge and Nico as little kids to Step 4 where they're adults (and a teenager, Nico is 16 in Step 4) is genuinely very well written

- If you're into the steamy stuff, Derek also has the best make-out session out of all of the boys

- He's also just. Very funny. This boy will invite you to a waterpark and then ask you if its a date so he knows whether or not it's ok to check you out in your swimsuit

- Or, if you aren't dating by that point (but you do want to to date him), the narration will note how he's trying so so hard not to check you out, he's just trying so so so hard

- Puppy dog face. Look at it. Tell me you can look at that face and not want to smooch him

- His confession is also the best, did I mention it's the best? Because it's absolutely the best one in the entire game

- He has a whole thing about having to confess to you on a ferris wheel and he's so committed to it that he actually avoided ferris wheels for a long time before this confession because he promised himself he'd do it the next time he went on one

- And then he went on one...and he literally doesn't confess when he does it because he lost track of time and he had to get off

- so he asks you to go on the ferris wheel with him again so he can actually confess this time

Just. Just vote for him!!!!”

“He's sweet, polite, and out-going and is always willing to put you first (sometimes too willing).”

“polite responsible jock u r NOT immune to this”

Zen propaganda:

"Extremely handsome, HES A MUSICAL ACTOR FKFNKSNSJ, deep and relatable family trauma, He's genuinely a good person behind the vainness <3"

[mariaurore]

Hello and G'morning o/

(OOC) I ended off yesterday with my restaurant post, so let's pick back up today with another restaurant post 😄

As suggested via a tutorial I watched, I opened my restaurant from home a couple minutes prior to travelling to it first. When I got there, it already had a couple tables seated.

Keep in mind this is Day #1. Numero Uno. Shonichi. (You get the point)

I'm sorry this will get to me every time- I love seeing my friend's Senju clan in my game 🥰 and it's even more amazing now that Mari has a restaurant because it's more opportunity to interact with all of the sim households I've specifically placed into my worlds/game. Imo, if you're looking to get your sim out and meet people- to be extroverted at least a little bit- this is a good way to go.

I believe it was after I "welcome"d her table that this bubble popped up over her head. There's another type as well:

And that'd be this one here 👆🏻. Pops up after they place an order, or sit at a table? I forget which, but I think it's placing an order.

I had all intents and purposes to be home before Takashi got home from school but there was this one couple where things kind of went wrong and I'm starting to wonder if that's why people don't like this DLC much.

So what happened was 1 of 3 things:

They ordered food, ate, and continued to stay till the restaurant closed.

The restaurant bugged out and they just sat there indefinitely and I thought they never got their food. (Or maybe they did and it didn't register? because it bugged?)

They never ordered anything to begin with, and I thought they did, so I waited indefinitely until their order came out- until I finally gave up waiting.

This being my first day, I wasn't sure what would happen if I "close"d the restaurant with people inside. But time was escaping me quick. Takashi was home from school, Hitsu was home from work... my chef and host were starting to get insanely bored... (he just busts out with a Rubik's cube 😂)

I said screw it and hit the button. Consequences be damned at this point, lol. Mari- me, I, have a son and husband at home. Need to leave~

The people remaining in the restaurant simply left. No harm, no foul. I don't know if anything negative would have come from it if they had placed an order or were midway eating though.

At the end of the work day, you get a "report" of sorts. My first day wasn't a total train wreck. If I were to look at my Business Funds as a whole, yeah I lost Simoleons. But if I were to look at the day on its own, we made a narrow Net Profit. It came down to that one problematic couple I couldn't make heads or tails of. This was a learning curve and I will be more mindful of that in the future.

In comes Day #2, and sure enough...

Just keep welcoming tables... checking on tables. If things get overwhelming, disallow customers at the host stand. I've been helping out my waiter with dishes here and there because if I don't- Mari goes straight to the bar and it's like Woman! 💢 You don't need to be making drinks and dipping into the restaurant funds *sigh*

I also make her "view" pieces of art everywhere that I can but I swear she has ADHD like I do- and that doesn't preoccupy her long.

Oh look! Another special guest! 😄

It was around this point that she goes home and gets a Want Bubble to research recipes on the computer to make the menu better 🤔

I had her complete the Want, but I never went back and checked the menu.

I'm curious if anything did change to the menu. That's something I should check *nod*

Day #3:

These stars went much faster! I got 2 food critics in one-day. Pay them extra attention if possible. It was on this day I was also able to afford the Patient Patrons Perk. That helps a lot~

I know I have a lot more Perk Points to buy something else. Like Increased Quality or an Additional Waiter but I'm undecided which to grab first. Probably the quality 🤷🏻‍♀️

From here it's just- keep doing what I do, slowly tack on Perks and more staff. I need to train my staff, give them promotions. Upgrade my menu items when my chefs are more skilled. But I think I have the general gist of it *nod* 😄

Oh, and I'm noticing my restaurant can handle a "morning rush" of customers before Takashi gets home from school, almost perfectly. I get a wave of 3-6 tables and then I disallow new customers. (That's where it's been the first 3 days at 1-3 stars, it may increase now that I'm at 4 stars 🙃)

Guess that makes my restaurant kind of like a breakfast and lunch bistro (aka Brunch), 8am-3pm.

[skeptical-bear]

September 2023 Shiny Pokemon Log

I got back into shiny hunting this month. I have caught 9 shinies this month and 1 more at the end of last month. That's a new record for me :)

I got mostly bug types which was unplanned lol.

I only played Legends Arceus (LA) and Violet this month. I'm going to go over it all in order found. Open if you want to read more!

First, I'm going to answer the question

Which Pokemon Should I Use?

In LA, I just chuck pokeballs at the little guys until they are caught, so there is no strategy there LOL.

My trusty partner for Violet has been Breloom. Named after Sister Minnie, the internet cat that will unsubscribe you. Breloom will destroy all of your pokemon. With false swipe and spore, she can easily get anything to its highest catch rate. Max EVs in HP and Attack (+ 6 in Speed) allow her to be bulky and much more powerful than most wild pokemon. She is holding a poison orb to activated her ability poison heal. The constant healing keeps her alive almost indefinitely with no effort on my part. She is the only pokemon in my party 90% of the time.

Also I love Breloom in general. Look at that hat! So cute!

Gallade 8/27/23

I was stuck at home and sick in august so I started casually looking for shinies in LA to have something to do. I didn't have a target for this and I wandered around all the maps aimlessly. After a while I Ended up in Alabaster Icelands during a Massive Mass Outbreak. This guy spawned after a Kirlia outbreak ended. Despite not being the full 1/4096 odds, It was my first hunted shiny in this game so I like Moose a lot!

At that point, I had not done any research on how to shiny hunt full odds in this game. Now that I know more about the game, I think that on my save file it is impossible to get full odds on every pokemon at this point. I don't think that I will start a new save to make it full odds huntable, just because it sounds like too much of a hassle for such a casual game. If you want to make your file of LA full odds compatible, check out this video from Absolblogspokemon:

Applin 9/10/23

So A few days before this, I started a hunt for Rellor. I then had the idea from a youtube short to catch a shiny applin before the Teal Mask DLC launched so I can immediately have a shiny Dipplin. I dropped everything to go to Tagtree Thicket. I made a sandwich with level 2 Dragon encounter and would just reset after 30 minutes when the sandwich ran out. After a day, I found Candy! When the DLC dropped, the first thing I did was find the Syrupy Apple item and evolved her. I was so happy with this Dipplin shiny, so worth it!

Buneary & Kricketot 9/11/23

After doing some research on hunting in LA, I went back to play before the Teal Mask DLC released. I wanted to catch an alpha shiny of some kind.

After only a few laps around the Obsidian Fieldlands, I see Buneary. satisfied with finding a shiny so fast, I finished up my lap around the map and get Kricketot too! I was amazed that I got 2 in a single run. I still wanted a shiny alpha, so that concluded phases 1 and 2.

I also saw this cat stuck in a tree

Combee & Shinx 9/11/23

After wandering around all day, I figured out that I wanted to target Alpha Heracross. I stopped searching the entire map and only ran over to the Heracross and then would leave the map to respawn the pokemon. I only realized I should do this near the end of my third phase, where after 2 trips, I get a female shiny Combee!! So cool! 2 trips after that find, I get Shinx as the first pokemon seen on that trip! It was an exciting 20 minutes lol

and yes, this is what my Shinx is named after

Munchlax 9/14/23

Yes, this is the gift Munchlax from beating the hard mode of Ogre Oustin. Yes, I am counting it to show off I beat the hard mode of Ogre Outing. It was so annoying until I learned that there are people online that also wanted to play LOL. Then it was pretty easy to win, I think it was my second or third match. I do not like that minigame, but I guess I need to play it more if I want the mochis.

Heracross 9/17/23

After getting the Kitakami national dex to get the tera shard charm, I was bored with the DLC, which sucked because I wanted it to be interesting. While looking for something to do, I saw a Heracross outbreak on the edge of the town in Kitakami. I knew that would be a super fast hunt and jumped at it. And it was! It was full odds too, so I didn't KO any pokemon in the outbreak, I just entered and exited the town to despawn and respawn the pokemon. While I still don't have an alpha shiny Heracross, Pepto Bismal here is pretty cool too.

Spidops 9/23/23

Paintball was completely random lol. I realized that despite having done everything else in the main game, I forgot about the sealed pokemon. While running around the map pullling stakes, I spotted this guy and was like, "That's a weird Spidops...OH!" It's pretty interesting looking so I can't complain lol.

Rellor 9/24/23

After starting and forgetting about this hunt, I returned to the desert and found shiny Rellor. I also learned that I'm terrible at making sandwiches. Trying to make a bug Encounter Level 3 sandwich is the worst! The cherry tomatoes are not your friend!

The ingredients are:

6 cherry tomato

3 Potato Salad

3 Curry Powder

1 Bitter Herba Mystica

This makes a sandwich with bug encounter level 3, Title power Bug Level 3, Item Drop Steel Level 3.

To test out sandwiches, I used this simulator!

I started off by using level 2 encounter sandwiches, but then changed my mind. It took an hour to get the level 3 sandwich right. I was about to give up and stick to the level 2 sandwiches until my partner said they wanted to try making the sandwich. They made it 2nd try! I was so jealous lol. Then I found the Rellor 5 minutes into the sandwich so that was lucky. I looked for Larvesta until the sandwich was over, but didn't get any other shinies, booo.

Conclusion

This was a good shiny month for me! It was really fun hunting in Violet, despite the horrible lag. The lag was almost unplayable at times and kinda made me sick at some points. That makes the game hard to play, but the fast phases make it worth it. I think I will start a hunt in the older games next month. I am going to buy a charger for my DS Lite so I might start a dream team quest in Emerald or Black 2. We will see! I still need to get alpha Heracross too. Rumble Weekend is next week, so I will post about that when It happens! I have never participated in that before so it should be fun!

Thanks for reading! I don't think anyone will ever see this post, but I wanted to start making blog posts like a diary for my games and other media like books. I want to treat the media I interact with as more than something I'll forget about in 2 weeks. I feel like I'm stuck in a cycle of sleep, work, eat, repeat. These posts will be a reminder that I am having at least a little fun every now and then. So yeah, hi future me, enjoy yourself!

Bye for now!

[desuper]

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The game references many movies like Heat and Lethal Weapon so they have upgraded their graphics to 4K resolution. This feature was added by the developers to help players be fully engaged in the mission, especially if they’re a fan of action films. Compared to a third-person view, you’re able to see the shootouts, robberies, and police chases as you would in real life. The most notable one is being able to play from a first-person perspective. Grand Theft Auto for PC has features that its console versions do not have. While GTA V for Windows is a good game for PC gamers, it's important to know that it takes up 8GB of RAM and 72 GB of hard disk space. This allows you to interact with the establishments of the city or freely roam the countryside of Los Santos. While the mission is the main objective of the game, you can venture off into the game’s open-world environment. You must complete this mission without getting caught by the authorities or rival gang leaders. The action-adventure game follows three criminals as they plan a major heist. Grand Theft Auto V is the fifth installment of the Grand Theft Auto series developed by Rockstar North.

[annakie]

Mass Effect Trailer Thoughts

*EDIT* -- there are now TWO UPDATES to this post with additional screenshots, thoughts and theories, please check that one out! :) 

I wrote an unhinged disorganized post before... now I’ll attempt breaking things down in a much more logical way. :D

1) It’s basically confirmed that this is both the Milky Way and Andromeda in the same shot.

2) The audio is some actual and I think some fictional mix of communications -- 

“We know now that in the early years of the 20th century, this world was being watched” is from War of the Worlds

“Eagle Houston, you are go for landing, over” is from the moon landing.

“Arcturus Station, uknown vessel approaching, we need first contact protocols” would probably be new dialog from the First Contact War.

“Humanity now stands as partners in the galaxy” is likely new dialog from after the end of the FC war when humanity was accepted as a Citadel species.

“Ark Six is away, godspeed” is new dialog, likely a reference to the Andromeda Initiative.  There were six arks in the initiative.

3) This system isn’t in any of the first three games as far as I can tell -- and I logged into ME3 with the EGM mod wherein literally every system in all three games is used as extra content and looked at them all.  Anyone recognize it?

4) This is anyone’s guess but... possibly... what’s through the Omega relay?  the rings seem... very densely packed.

5)Two moons and a gas giant looking planet.  I don’t even want to hazard a guess.  The planet itself could look like Jupiter, but Jupiter has a lot more moons.

6) Then of course, we have the destroyed mass relay.

This comes with the dialog about taking down a dreadnaught, and (sensors?) are going crazy, and abandoning the ship, and then the REAPER SOUND.

Then “Is anyone receiving this?  We’ve lost contact.”

So all of this felt like traveling through time, and here we finish Mass Effect 3.

7) Then comes this image... which again, does not really look like any system recognizable in any of the games.

An indistinguishable female voice says something about Humanity (something like “Humanity is all the problems its faced”?  Maybe?) and a male voice... which sounds a little like Clancy Brown (Alec Ryder) to me, but... maybe I need to play through the Andromeda prologue again. 

The slight break in the action there may be accounting for the 600 years passing before Andromeda.

The break in the action could also mean it’s something in the future of what we’ve seen, something new.

8) Now, we come to this planet.

There are THREE MOONS...  and Alchera has three moons.  Maybe this is a coincidence.  Or maybe this is Alchera.  It seems oddly specific for them to show the three moons in sequence if there wasn’t a reason for it.

9) It’s confirmed that Liara is walking up a reaper here.  There ALSO appears to be a SECOND reaper in the background (look just above the sun, you can see reaper-like wires and follow that outline to see the other reaper’s legs.)

10) There appears to be more stuff, maybe N7 striped stuff, than just the fragment Liara picks up buried in the snow here.

11) This may be a part of an N7 helmet, but it can’t be Shepard’s N7 helmet.

You get the helmet as a reward for finishing the Alchera DLC in ME2 (so basically, Shepard brings it along after planting the monument), and although the part is similar on the side here, it’s definitely not the same.  This is Shepard’s helmet on the SR-2 in ME2, loaded it up and took the pics with flycam just to confirm.

14) That’s definitely a Salarian on the left and probably a Krogan on the right. Guesses for the center person... Human?  Turian?  Angaran? (Comedy answer: Javik?  Though we don’t know how long Protheans lifespans are so... hey!  Anything’s possible!)

13) Liara has crow’s feet and laugh lines -- she’s most likely much older in this trailer than we saw her last in ME3.  Perhaps... 600 - 700 years older?  Grunt would likely be the only other ME/2/3 companion still alive. (Wrex was alive to fight in the end of the Krogan Rebellion in 700 CE, if this is post-Andromeda that would place him at over 2000 years old, I don’t think Krogan lifespans are that long.  Drack is considered an old man at 1400.  But it could be possible.)

So my best theory right now aligns with what I’ve seen other people guess -- this game will take place sometime after Andromeda and serve to bridge the two galaxies, but how that happens and why Liara is retrieving a piece of broken N7 armor is anyone’s guess.  I have a few wildly unhinged theories myself. :D

[fireemblems24]

DLC Ch 2

Playing Ch 2 of the DLC now. I want to finish this before Three Hopes drops. Also, weird formatting again for the same reasons as the first chapter.

Oh, cool, a new place to wander around! Lol there's an Abysskeeper. I know Gatekeeper is controversial, but I think it's funny.

Wow, the church has alters to other gods in its basement and let's people worship there? I wish a single one of the current major religions was that open minded.

Hilda sounds so proud of Balthus being a nuisance lol.

Dimitri wants to join the Abyss lamo. I bet he's wishing for a place he could just hide. Does anyone headcannon he hid here during the timeskip? 

Ok, I hope I can format normal now?

We're good, ok, now I need to just check everyone's weapons and then go back to the story.

STORY

Hapi or Balthus is my favorite so far, they're both funny. I'm still deciding if Constance is annoying or not and if I buy into Yuri's character or not yet. I can't help but remember how I felt about Dimitri at the start vs now though, lamo.

It's funny how Edelgard is saying almost nothing. I wonder if she's like - oh, god, what if it's TWSITD or Jeritza or Hubert?

God, Dimitri and Ashe are both like - someone in danger!!! must protect!!! Precious, both of them.

Byleth can say "we have no choice." It's really amusing to me how many "I don't wanna!!!!!s Byleth is getting. I'm picking them all.

So there's something up with Hapi's sighs? Oh - that's why the monster showed up. What a random power. I must sigh like every 10 minutes when I'm at work. That would SUCK.

Side note, it's so funny when there's a group of people standing around in this game and they just . . . don't really move.

GAMEPLAY

Oh, wow, I got all 4 of them way earlier than I thought.

Damn, Ashe is just . . . killing everything with criticals.

How many reinforcements keep showing up?? Like, good grief. Glad people warned me and I picked normal lol. There's nothing particularly hard at the moment, but it's like - again?!?!

They really just love pulling out the Death Knight, don't they? I wonder if these people are working with TWSITD then? Or does he just join any rando group of baddies that let him kill stuff.

Didn't manage to engage the Death Knight. He just sort of stayed on the second level, and I couldn't really get to him. Next time.

Byleth MVP. Honestly, everyone pulled their weight here, tbh.

New guy has a nice voice. Aelfric.

STORY

So Aelfric is like the church leader of the Abyss?

Aelfric mentioning Almyrans - Claude just chillin'

I'm betting Dimitri really wishes he could just disappear here, but his duty to vengeance, Duscur, and Faerghus says no.

I mean, if it's foreigners and the ill, that's pretty shitty they'd want it gone. But if it's tax evaders and gangs, then I'd want it gone too.

Oh, good grief, now another person is begging the experienceless teacher to be a teacher. But the Ashen Wolves don't want me lamo. I actually like that.

Aelfric calling them flock is weird.

Dimitri's shoulders are just . . . so big lol, and that tiny waist.

WAIT - I GET TO LEARN ABOUT A MOM!!!! In THIS game!!! 100% picking that. And she has a name. 😭

Balthus abs are just . . . a lot lamo. Not that I mind.

Linhardt talked! I swear he's gotten more lines than Edelgard.

So Rhea used that rite to try and bring back Sothis. So who are they going to try to bring back here, because there's no way they spend this much time on it if it has nothing to do with the story.

Oh, God, Dimitri 😭😭😭 I just realized, he's hearing about a rite that brings people back from the dead. He must be so tempted 😭😭😭 Saying he understands why so many people want it. 😭😭

Man it would be awesome if it was Dimitri who tried to do the rite at the end of this, but there's just no way - it'll be one of the new characters or some un-introduced yet villain.