#caligula effect 2 spoilers

[reaperkaneki]

ok here are my Thoughts on gin noto

under cut bc it got long lol

first off, he is very strong representation. as in, i think this might be the platonic ideal of a transmasc character. which has its good points and bad.

sweet-p’s arc was rooted in some obviously transphobic jokes/points/etc but at its core, her arc felt well-intentioned and overall she was definitely portrayed as one of the most sympathetic of the musicians (who are antagonists but certainly not outright villains, which the musician route makes abundantly clear). she also is not, like, described as trans per se, mostly as a crossdresser who loves cute things and wishes she were a cute girl (so like, she’s trans) and honestly her arc is about self-image and body dysmorphia in general (weight and age and outside perception are all major factors). and that’s what sets her apart from gin, gin is very much about Gender Dysphoria And Conforming To Societal Gender Roles first and foremost.

unlike sweet-p’s writing, gin’s doesn’t have any overt flaws to point to, which is why i had to mull it over for a while to figure out what was missing, and i think it’s because it is very much aimed at a cis audience. the narrative itself is perfectly fine, it’s the meta-narrative that bothers me.

when gin confesses that irl, he was assigned female at birth and presents as female in his day-to-day life, and asks the player, does this change anything, there is a right answer and a wrong answer. the wrong answer is to tell him that you don’t care what gender he is, it doesn’t change anything at all; gin perceives this as a half-assed, dismissive response said without thinking and becomes upset and it locks you out of the rest of his character episodes. the correct answer is to tell him that you don’t know, you’re not sure. maybe it does change things between the two of you. gin feels that this is a understandable position to take, like, of course it might be a big deal, it certainly feels like a big deal to him!

and yes, to someone who hasn’t encountered a trans person before, that’s probably a reasonable response. to me, specifically, a fellow transmasc person, i think i sorta laughed at this part because, like, the only thing that would change if a coworker or friend or whatever told me that they were actually stealth trans this whole time (and that’s being generous bc gin is Not Slick lmfao the foreshadowing for him being trans is super obvious to anyone who knows) i’d be like cool! love that for you. etc etc. bc transgenderism is Normal to me.

but the game assumes You Are A Cis Person Who Isn’t Sure How To React To Trans People. the game doesn’t let you be trans. there’s not a nonbinary option, despite having a cyborg for an antagonist and, more egregiously, a canonically nonbinary character in your party. (i’d say pronouns, but that’s not quite the same in japanese.) not that i was expecting that to be possible, but it is a clear separation of gameplay and story that hinders roleplay (in an rpg where your character’s backstory is almost completely undefined)!

this is not to say that gin is poorly written. like i said, he’s like the platonic ideal of representation. he’s easy to clock specifically because his experiences ring true; he’s always, always, always overcompensating and posturing “as a man”, he’s trying to conform to his own personal image of “what men do”, “how guy friendships work”, “what guys are interested in”. when asked why he gets along with women so well, he lies and says it’s because he has an, uh, older sister! so he’s spent a lot of time around women! he dresses trendy, but not too fashionably (because that’s feminine, he’s function over form allegedly), and the cut of his clothes is soooo. well. the silhouette is masculinizing, or at least androgynous, let’s say. he even wishes he were taller.

i’m pretty sure i’ve done most of those things. this is writing that either speaks from experience or understands the prompt and has done the goddamn research.

it is, however, very, VERY cool that he actually turns out to Not Be A Man, at least in the sense he’s always wanted to be. REALLY good nonbinary arc that i wish wasn’t constrained to, like, the last two character episodes. it’s the one interesting ‘twist’, and i love that it explains a lot of things about him! when he talks about working as a woman irl and busting his ass in heels, he sounds proud, even as he admits that presenting female always made him uncomfortable. and lo and behold, his catharsis effect sports a pair of gold heels! if he was just a hypermasculine trans man, that would be super uncomfortable, as if it were some sort of transphobic indicator of his ‘true self’ being feminine. but no, it’s because he’s hiding that aspect of himself. he repressed his masculine tendencies to conform to social norms, and then inadvertently did the same to his feminine side, but both are important. he likes the heels.

i also like that he’s bi and acknowledges that his relationships never worked out bc he hadn’t figured out his shit yet. it do be like that sometimes.

unfortunately, i think he’s also kind of boring? like, besides her wanting to be a cute girl, sweet-p had other stuff going on, she had that boke/tsukkomi routine with stork, she had a genuine love for yume-kawaii (whereas while gin has many interests, a not-insignificant part of those interests is male posturing), she was even a musician! i understand that gin’s blandness is On Purpose because he dislikes rocking the boat (but he hates posers, which was a genuinely interesting reaction from him that didn’t feature as strongly in his arc as i wanted. even kiriko comments on it), but doesn’t change the fact that he ain’t weird enough! can’t even be an only sane man bc he goes along with everyone’s bs lol

anyway gin is cool and well-written as a trans character but missing a bit otherwise. i’d still definitely love to hang out and get beef bowls and boba with him :)

[doctorbunny]

On one hand I'd love for most of the milgram cast to be canon lgbt (although Canon cis Muu is really funny in its own way)

But on the other, it's worth remembering the last Canon trans character Yamanaka wrote, whilst beloved also had his identity foreshadowed with non binary flag coloured shoes....

Like that's not a bad thing, but idk if any of the prisoners are on Gin Noto's level

[daily-rayless]

Our third birthday character for January 1 is Marie Mizuguchi from The Caligula Effect, the infamous Wicked of the Ostinato Musicians.

Fun fact: Marie Mizuguchi's birthday is 1/1, but her alter-ego Marie Amabuki's is 4/15. Even though Wicked's used to taking what she wants, even she doesn't get two birthdays, so we'll be celebrating her just today.

[shevi-creates]

there’s no flower in this world more beautiful than an artificial one. 🥀

commissions are open! check my pinned post for more information! please don’t use, edit, or repost without permission; thanks!

[rayless-reblogs]

Writing Patterns Tag Game

RULES: List the first line of your last 10 posted fics and see if there's a pattern!

Saw this (thank you @boobaloof!) and decided to give it a whirl.

All fics can be found on my AO3.

A Dream So Like Waking (Tales of the Abyss):

Natalia woke still dressed in a strange bed with the scent of selenias in her hair.

Welcome Home Discarded Faith (Tales of the Abyss):

It had otherwise been been a dull afternoon – gray, humid, excessively long.

And So All Yours (Tales of the Abyss):

Princess Susanne might lament the fact that neither of her sons chose to live in Fabre Manor, but she surely couldn't be surprised.

With Your Hands Your Hearts (Tales of the Abyss):

Natalia proposed to Asch on the night of his twenty-second birthday, and they announced it to Ingobert the next morning at nine-thirty, after his breakfast.

We Could Be Friends (The Caligula Effect):

Daisy never had enough time on her lunch breaks, but that day she knew she wouldn't even have time to sit and eat.

Jumping Off Cliffs (Fate/Extra):

When we cross into Alice's realm – and just now it feels more like Alice's realm than it does the SE.RA.PH's Arena – I remind myself that I have to keep hold of who I am.

The Muse of Last Songs (Transistor):

The thing is, with our hair, there wasn't anyone in my family who wasn't called Red at some point in our lives, as a casual nickname, or a love name, or whatever.

Constant As the Southern Star (Tales of the Abyss):

Natalia and her consort almost spent their wedding night in separate rooms.

Repaid With Life (Fate/Extra):

Archer regarded the enormous digital hamster ball around his Master (Tamamo disparagingly called it a fishbowl, and Nero more fancifully called it a snowglobe, but even in metaphor Archer would take durable plastic over glass any day) and gave himself a little nod.

The Muse of Songs Unfinished (Transistor):

It's risky, but it's not impossible.

Patterns?

I've heard my style described as "punchy", and I think I see it here. I tend not to ease into things with atmosphere or setting (which could work against me, in some cases) and instead lead with something declarative. I'm pretty quick to establish which character's pov we're working with.

Some of these examples vary in tone, but I think my voice is consistent. (But then, I would. That's really more for the reader to decide.)

Please go ahead and do this meme if you'd like to!

[taffy-glitch]

tbh the fact that Gin and Mu-kun are each other's parallels (and therefore that Swap Out is both of their themes) makes a lot of sense but it is kinda funny to me to interpret the lyrics based on both their characters and it's. like.

Mu-kun: Oh, if only I'd had the courage to pursue my passions at a younger age... and not succumbed to a life of mediocrity... maybe, in this other life, I can be the person I was always meant to be...

Gin: god i fucking wish i transitioned

[jailofabyss]

she’s been everybody else’s girl , maybe one day she’ll be her own

based off this bandori card bc its PEAK. i love kiriko sm man.. here are some alts if ur into that sort of thing :p

[che-seri]

ce2 dump

[taffyglitch-art]

I have found an unexpected amount of affection for this #Girl. I just think she's neat :)

[aokozaki]

So both Caligula games take place in virtual worlds where, with slightly different nuances between each, everyone's wishes from their painful real world lives are granted.

One character (Marie) recurs between games, but to avoid spoilers for newcomers, in 2 she doesn't remember her real world memories despite awakening to her Catharsis Effect. Implicitly, she's suppressing them herself.

So anyway, idle background party chatter during one dungeon, set at school, Kiriko mentions her mum should actually be there for the school festival that day... or, well, her fake mum, technically (not everyone in the virtual world is real, some are constructs meant to fill out the space), but she still hopes her virtual mother will be okay.

The conversation thus turns to families, with Marie mentioning she's adopted. Kiriko apologizes for bringing up a tough subject, but Marie says she doesn't mind at all - her adoptive parents are really kind and she couldn't imagine herself being happy with anyone else.

[screaming into pillow]

[obscuredilfoff]

Propaganda below the cut! (Note: there are "massive" spoilers for the Caligula Effect 2!)

Bluffman

He is an actual single Father who is doing everything he does out of love for his beautiful daughter, who he refuses to have a proper conversation with. He is canonically autistic. He is an Epic Divorce Man. He commits plagiarism in order to catfish his twink coworker. There is something so wrong with him (affectionate) and his theme music goes so hard.

Where do I start with him. He’s an (accidentally) absentee dad trying to make it up to his daughter. He learns that she likes Vocaloid and comes up with the grand idea to hijack a virtual reality to make her a “Vocaloid” goddess. This plan involves him breaking into a composer’s house to steal their work and impersonate them btw. He sees nothing wrong with this because it’s in the name of familial love. As for his daughter, she initially goes along with it but gets overwhelmed by her followers. He does not compute her worries because this stunt should guarantee her happiness, right? (They don’t know how to communicate.) Finally, a coworker is led on by Bluffman’s impersonation of his favorite artist, making heart-eyes at him while the dilf is oblivious. This ends up backfiring massively as Bluffman gets stabbed to death by the coworker when realizing he’s been lied to. Love wins 💖 (Ultimately the appeal is of Bluffman is him having good intents but going about it in the most ridiculous and single-minded way without fathoming how this will affect other people.)

The Foe/Duffoure

Leader of an occult mob that trades in stolen lifespans. He's hunting down his kid because they stole 77 years from him. You (playing as his kid) can ascend to immortality by being so pissed at him that you fight forever.

[genderqueer-miharu]

Hello, so this was supposed to be a reblog of this post by @archivalofsins but since tumblr mobile sucks its not letting me reblog to add anything. So i decided to write what i wanted to add in a seperate post. Please go read the og post first since this will be discussing something she mentioned at the end about the similarities between Caligula Effect and Milgram and the possible connections with how the locations in both series operate. It's really interesting especially if you're a fan of both series. Spoiler warning for both Caligula Effect games as well

First off, your observations were fantastic i was blown away when i read that last part. But you mentioning how similar milgram and mobius and redo work made me realize something. So you already mentioned the weird passage of time, the connections with Miku and the songs the prisoners cover, the doors, they're all are great catches, but there is something else that would just give this connections even more credibility, something that's a big part of both the Caligula games and Milgram: the songs.

Right at the start of the musician route in Overdose after the protagonist gains the form of Lucid, they tell Thorn and Mu that they'll need a song of their own, to which Thorn and Mu show them a mixing console to compose their song and after they're done composing Mu says this

[Image description: A screenshot from The Caligula Effect Overdose. Thorn, Lucid and Mu stand in front of a mixing console as Mu says: "Now, release your emotions! I'll see the lyrics in your heart and sing them for you!". /End description]

Specifically mentioning that she'll sing the lyrics in their heart. Her saying this might just mean she does this with all the other musicians. Unlike Thorn and the Obbligatto musicians in Redo the rest of the musicians were not actual composers in the real world and they might have just started when they got to Mobius. But they didn't actually have to write any lyrics, as Mu did here she could just look into their hearts and get the lyrics, not too different for how Milgram extracts the songs. The Obbligatto musicians in Redo on the other hand, were all actual Virtuadoll producers in reality as stated in their profiles (with the exceptions of Regret and Bluffman). So the songs there were all most likely all written and composed by them, with Regret simply singing the songs.

However, there's something else that give the connections with Milgram even more credibility, and that's the fact that music videos for these songs exist in-universe as well

MVs for 1 (except love scope and onboro)

MVs for 2

None of the musicians in both games mention having made these videos themselves, so it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that Mobius and Redo are able to do just do this. And since Mu and Regret had control over their respective worlds they could've created these videos to broadcast to a wider audience to drag more people in, and create more digiheads.

I know that it's not just like how Milgram extracts videos but all the individual details can be combined to make the system Milgram uses make more sense. As you stated Mu is able look into people's hearts and see what they were like in reality, along with her stating that she can look into the musicians' hearts to extract the lyrics for their songs and the possibility of her creating music videos for these songs it starts to sound more and more like how Milgram works, if anyone has access to the code of Mobius then they could use all these things to create the videos we see.

That's pretty much all i wanted to mention. And i really like the idea that Milgram might just work similar to Mobius and Redo cause it really explains many of the unexplained things in the series, like the weird passage of time in the prison, why the prisoners cover Miku's songs, why Es can't be attacked by the prisoners or why they can't attack each other during specific periods of time, hell it might also explain where the items the prisoners ask for come from since someone could just program these things to appear. And them being in comas in reality would really explain Yuno's comment on wether she's alive or not. It's all really interesting to me and i'm glad you brought this up. We'll see if Milgram actually explains this and if it really is as similar as we think.

[daily-rayless]

When I say I really like the Caligula characters, that includes the silent protagonists. I wish they had more dialogue options (and how about options where you can answer questions in texts?), because as I play, I do end up forming personalities around them based on their limited responses.

Lucid I've always seen as a fairly cold person, someone who could quite easily be a villain but who grows to love her team very much in spite of herself.

But Prez here (I wish she had an official name), despite her darker design, I quickly saw as a warmer, even a little goofy person. She goes into that haunted house fully knowing she's a weenie (and she does pick a party member who is equally terrified, so no one gets to be the brave one), she eats her monkfish crepe unironically, she becomes resigned to χ pushing her little white head out of her stomach in public, just giving a little sigh and calmly pushing her back in.

But despite her emotional softness, Prez learns how to be there for her team, becomes that support they need as their problems finally overwhelm them (or, to look at it more positively, they force themselves to confront their problems). Prez admits to Gin she can't make his decisions for him, refuses to be cruel to Shota, shows Sasara that sometimes someone's love is difficult to bear when it causes pain.

And when circumstances force her to consider a practical but terrible choice, she looks at her friends and she makes the choice. The wrong choice at first, but then I think it's more in character that she pulls back, reconsiders, and even though it's going to endanger her friends, decides to keep heading along the more uncertain path.

Also, seriously, look at her character design. That's a great design.

[archivalofsins]

I have a lot of reasons for not believing that any of the prisoner's murders are indirect.

One of them is because I've read Yamanaka's other works and am not taking a light novel written by a different author as gospel. Ya know, since the novels are based off the concept by Deco and Yamanaka but authored by Namitsumi. At least according to the book, it is.

So, let's talk about the murderers Yamanaka is on record writing for before Milgram-

Spoilers for Caligula Effect Overdose below the cut. I am just beginning 2. So, I can't speak on that.

The murderers that Yamanaka has written for previously have-

First Murderer

A. Used their position as a lawyer to extort money from the elderly and disabled.

B. -Implied but not confirmed by the narrative- That when they were found out by their father whose law firm they were working under they killed him and took over the firm.

C. Extorted a client they'd gotten an innocent verdict for into killing one of their other clients that had proof of their embezzlement. Stating that since the client got off due to a plea of insanity it was incredibly easy to have the verdict overturned. The client proceeded to burn down the home of the embezzlement victim, leading to the death of the client who had said evidence, his wife, and later his eldest daughter.

The kicker, the evidence of their embezzlement, had already gone to court. They literally had the guy do this to be petty and send a message.

Like this is what happens if you snitch and there's not a thing you can do about it.

D. While they knowingly had someone going to kill this client, they went and flippantly displayed their ill-gotten money buying drinks and chatting up people to create an alibi for themselves when it came to the murder.

E. They are only in the game to escape their prison sentence since the thing they hate most is being locked up and kill the client they pressured into committing murder. Because their prison release date is coming up and they don't want to risk this person talking causing them to be incarcerated again or using this information as blackmail.

F. The least of what they did but literally lied under oath. Plus, it is stated that they bluntly mocked the only surviving relative of the family. They did this by smiling and chuckling as she attempted to give testimony through tears. Since her sister had just passed away in the hospital, succumbing to her severe burns. The surviving relative tells you this in game.

The player can literally choose to cover up and blatantly ignore their crime by not finishing their social link and minding their business when asked to. This leads to them committing murder within Metaverse Es and going back to reality and being released from prison having served most if not all their sentence while in a coma, or a different character dying depending on the route.

Second Murderer

A. Abducted people. They abduct another character and pretend to be them through their phone to make them seem like a traitor.

B. Threats of violence.

C. Psychological manipulation. Has manipulated people usually friends or friend groups into turning on each other for kicks. Because they believe all human relationships are inherently fake and that once the relationship no longer benefits the parties involved people will turn on each other.

D. Their social link is literally them committing crimes and trying to see when the player will be like hey that's bad- if the player chooses that sort of option, the social link could be destroyed.

E. At a point, they assault what is implied to be an elderly couple in an attempt to murder them. Because their displays of love towards each other is making them sick.

F. Aides the protagonist and antagonist in destroying the world through cyber terrorism. Leading to multiple places being nuked within one of the endings of the game and the deaths of millions including themselves.

Yamanaka knows what the fuck murder and crime is very clearly. So, if the prisoners are being called murderers, they are all that. The only thing changing that definition is our individual interpretations and the justifications we come up with for them.

Hence Undercovers line of,

"“UNDER” If you say INNOCENT, you’re complicit and weak I’m so lonesome, please love me."

And the previous line that some like more of,

"“UNDER” If you forgive this sin you’re as good as an accomplice I’m alone and lonely."

These guys could be as good or as bad as we want them to be.

Yet, there's no doubt in my mind that they all are murderers by the basest definition of the word. They killed someone with their bare fucking hands even Futa's admitting it now.

Trial 2

Q.06 Do you remember the name of the person you killed?

Futa: I'm pretty sure I do. I saw it often after all.

Vs.

Trial 1

Q.09 Do you want to apologize to the person you killed?

Futa: I didn’t kill anyone! Listen to me! Aren’t you supposed to be a guard.

Also please play Caligula Effect- the combat system is incredibly fun, and the music is nice. Though some of the characters can seem cartoonishly evil at times.

[sekhithefops]

Sekhi's Big Boopin' "Games I Played in 2023" List.

So, since my buddy @moxpunk did one of these I figured I'd join in on the fun. As with her list...

There's gonna be spoilers.

There's gonna be a lot of games.

This will be limited to games I didn't play until 2023. Either because they came out this year, or because I didn't get around to them. I got into some, like Elden Ring, good and hard... but I got that one in 2022 for example.

Ready? Here we go!

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader:

So this is one I started just recently, but its a hell of a lot of fun so far. Owlcat is the same company that made the Pathfinder CRPG games (Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous,) and they brought the same level of love and detail to the 40k universe. Its still a bit buggy, but unlike Bethesda they have an excuse of actually being a smaller indie studio and, unlike Bethesda again, they actually patch their games so give it a month or two if bugginess is a deal breaker, but I heartily recommend this one!

Steamworld Build:

A city management sim set in the cutesy cartoony robot-wild-west world of Steamworld. Its... okay. Its not horrible, but its not something I really feel like I'm going to get too huge into. If you're into city management games then go nuts, but in my case I've already got a lot of games that do what its doing already so it just feels like one more to the pile for me. Sadly that happens a lot these days with how many indie games come out every week anymore.

The Caligula Effect 2:

I got the original a while back but wound up returning it as it didn't grab me, but the sequel always had my eye so when it went on sale during the Steam Autumn Sale I wound up nabbing it. The sequel, happily, is far better than the original one. A great soundtrack (if you like Japanese music, which I do) and some fun as heck characters with an interesting presence of an evil Vocaloid whose music pulls anyone with regrets into a very anime Matrix essentially. Its weird, but most good RPGs, especially modern ones, are gonna be weird. Its part of their charm.

Bonus points for my fellow LGBTQA+ peoples, one of the main characters is cannon non-binary. Try to guess which one. :D

Dredge:

A fishing sim with a Lovecraftian twist. Fish up your catch to make money, but don't be shocked if some of the stuff you fish up has multiple eyes, or whispers dark secrets, or just wants to slap you with a tentacle. It can be fun, but also a bit frustrating at times too. Solid B+.

Undernauts: Labrynth of Yomi:

Hm. Its... hm... its... something. Its certainly something. A first person dungeon crawler with turn based combat along the lines of the old Wizardry games, but... well... very surreal dark urban fantasy set in Japan... sorta... except its evil parallel not-Japan.

Its... something. But it sure as hell isn't worth $60. Do what I did and wait for a Steam sale if you're gonna give this one a go.

Dungeons 4:

I was a big fan of Dungeons 3 so I fully admit to bias here, but I'm having a blast with this one. A ton of over the top cheesy tongue in cheek parody of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more in a game that basically does very well with the formula of the old Dungeon Keeper games that EA completely fucked up. The humor might not be your thing, but this is a good one for my collection.

Flipwitch: Forbidden Sex Hex:

Go ahead and mark my blog NSFW like every other queer person Tumblr, I'm including this one! I swear I felt like I was having a bit of a stroke when I first played it. I found the one good adult video game on Steam! A retro style 2-D metroidvania game where you play a witch that can swap sexes at will. You use it for sex of course, but also some really interesting puzzle mechanics that can involve swapping between male and female in mid-jump to bypass barriers and other obstacles as well as dodge enemy attacks. They took kinky sex stuff and made a good game! I didn't think that actually happened on Steam!

My Time at Sandrock:

I really don't know what to say here, I just don't care for this game at all. Its just... eh. I think its because I tend to favor Survival/Crafting games which have a lot more creative freedom than this one does, but... well yeah. Its not a bad game, but its bad for me. Moving on.

9 Years of Shadows:

You are a knightly woman who is backed up by a magical plushie who you recharge by hugging it and singing to it in a world where color has been consumed by a ravenous shadow. Dear gods its a Care Bears special.

Blacktail:

A really unique take on the old Slavic legend of Baba Yaga, set in a fairytale world where you play as Yaga (or is it Baba?) Its quite the trip, though I didn't play it for very long. Its one of those games I keep saying I'll finish one day and then OOO! SOMETHING SHINY!

Coral Island:

Its... alright. Its Stardew Valley but on a tropical island... but thats kind of the problem. Its Stardew Valley but. It runs into the same problem that the aforementioned Steamworld Build did where I already have other games I like that do the same thing. So yeah... decent enough, but don't be shocked if it's just another for the pile.

Dragon Quest Treasures:

A spinoff of the recent Dragon Quest installment (number eleven if you're keeping track) where you play as the thief character Erik and his sister when they were kids as they go on an adventure to become treasure hunters. Its... well... its alright, but it just didn't click for me. I feel like some of these Dragon Quest spinoffs are coasting on name recognition sometimes and this is definitely one of them that gives that vibe. I haven't tried the new Dragon Quest Monsters title yet though so maybe that'll be good.

Gunbrella:

Boy Devolver Digital does some weird shit don't they? Its a decent enough metroidvania style game where you play as a man on a quest for revenge with an umbrella that is also a gun. You uncover occult mysteries and it all has this 1920s Noir-ish vibe to it. Its a fun enough game... but I only played it for an hour and a half and I'll be damned if I could tell you why.

Persona 5 Tactica:

Look. I loved Persona 5, I even had fun with Strikers... but for crying out loud Atlus the bottom of the barrel has been reached. This one is a perfectly fine entry if you really like tactical RPGs a-la Disgaea and the like, but I think we're all ready for Persona 6 now! Don't even get me started on the damn mobile game.

Remnant 2:

The dimension hopping adventures of a heroine with an acid-flamethrower, a cursed rifle that shoots fingerbones, and her companion Captain Sparky McBorkbork the Wonder Dog. What more need be said? Its fun as hell, give it a go.

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew:

A pirate stealth 'em up where you command a ghost crew of undead swashbucklers fighting the not-inquisition with a sentient pirate ship that has the power to reverse time in a way that allows you to use the stealth game 'that didn't happen' mechanic in a way that fits into the story itself. I've been hearing people say that it seems weird this didn't do better... but I think I might know why it didn't.

Shadow Gambit's release date: August 17th 2023.

Baldur's Gate 3 release date: August 3rd 2023

To quote Messir Robin Williams: "AHA! A CLUE, SHERLOCK!"

Two games that, at a glance, are very similar (top down, mouseclick to move, RPG elements, etc) but one of them was a LOT bigger hyped than the other. Yeah... Shadow Gambit got overshadowed it seems.

Survival: Fountain of Youth:

A survival game where you're part of an expedition in the Age of Exploration from Spain to find the mythical Fountain of Youth. Its quite the title and very involved. You need to worry not just about food and water but things like sunstroke and sunburn, exhaustion, and the like. That being said it's still early access so maybe give this one some more time in the oven. Its neat so far, but they're planning a lot more for it.

Wildmender:

A cozy game with a twist. Your world was reduced to lifeless desert by someone fucking around with shadow magic and now you need to help restore it. Go from a tiny spring next to one of the few remaining trees into a massive garden by reawakening other springs, connecting them via digging rivers, and growing plants along the bank to bring life back to the desert... and occasionally fight shadow demons with a magic mirror. Good times.

Aces & Adventures:

I'm normally not one for card based games, but this one grabbed me and I wound up really enjoying it. A sort of combination of five card poker and Dungeons & Dragons where you pick one of five classes and adventure through the world and history to save it from an evil god. I stuck with mage and found that as long as I played it right there was very little that could touch me, but there's four others who seem neat too.

Evil West:

This came out in 2022, but I didn't play it until February 2023 so I'm counting it! A spaghetti western meets Van Helsing where you play a vampire hunter who literally punches the undead to death using steampunk weaponry and a shitload of guns. Its a heck of a fun ride that evokes the better action games from the 360 era. Think Warhammer 40k: Space Marine but set in the Wild West and using vampires instead of orks. There ya go.

Marvel Midnight Suns:

It is such a damn shame they screwed up the marketing for this so bad because my god this was fun as hell. Make your own character, then hang out with Spiderman, Captain America, Blade, and Deadpool of all people while saving the world from H.Y.D.R.A and Cithon. I had an absolute blast playing it and it genuinely saddens me that we might never see a sequel because they dropped the ball so hard on getting word out there.

Octopath Traveller 2:

An amazing follow up to the original game with much improved gameplay, some of the most endearing characters I've seen in a JRPG in a long time (I actually commissioned myself cosplaying Agnea because I liked her so much,) and some absolutely incredible music. Its really astounding what Square Enix can pull off when they remember why we loved them in the first damn place.

Also Ochette. She is a precious bean.

Lies of P:

Forgot to add a few of these as I played them on PC Games Pass and they weren't on my Steam list, but yeah one of those I played there was Lies of P which actually is the reason I got back into Elden RIng. Lies of P is a superb Souls-like that, while difficult, is never too difficult to stop me entirely (except for Laxasia I mean jesusfuckingchrist how am I supposed to dodge that?) I hear that either the DLC or the sequel will be their take on the Wizard of Oz which, given what I know of the works of L Frank Baum is going to be freaking nuts. Hell they'd barely need to change the Wheelers at all to make them into souls-like monsters, and I'm pretty sure I actually did fight flying monkeys in Elden RIng.

Hi-Fi Rush:

I didn't wind up finishing this as I'm just really not that great at rythm games, but ye gods did Bethesda get it right with this one. Really Yahtzee said it all back in his review before the Escapist collapsed and he and his cohorts fled to form Second Wind: "Hi-Fi Rush was simultaneously announced and released on the day of the Xbox showcase, which is something you only do if you’re really fucking confident in your game’s instant appeal and high quality. And by all the locally sourced meatless lasagnas in Hell do I hate to admit they were probably right to be." I didn't finish it, but what I did play was damned amazing.

Guardians of the Galaxy:

I forgot I even played this one until my Games Pass account reminded me this morning, but in hindsight it was pretty dang neat. I got to hang out with some of my favorite Marvel characters, I got to meet Adam Warlock who was one I'd never heard of but I wound up looking up on the wiki after the fact, and I got to meet Cosmo who is the goodest comrade. It was funtimes. Yahtzee, formerly of Zero Punctuation and now Fully Ramblomatic, calls these sorts of games a 'Ghost Train Ride' but, well, sometimes its fun to go on those if they've got some nice visuals and good voice acting.

Sea of Stars:

This one is one of those "I should really go back and finish this one day" games that I know, deep down, I probably never will get around to. A lovely throwback to classic SNES/Early PS1 era RPGs with lovely sprite-based visuals and some really fun enemies (I especially enjoyed the ghost pirate captain.) Definitely worth a try and I really will go back and finish it at some point no really pinkie swear.

Warhammer 40k: Boltgun:

Funny how this list begins and ends with a Warhammer game. I swear that wasn't intentional, I was just going through my Steam library and saying 'oh right, that one.'

Boltgun is a lovingly done boomer shooter set up in the Warhammer 40k Universe and is actually a direct spinoff of W40k: Space Marine from the 360 with a fragment of Inquisitor Drogan's power source serving as the principal macguffin you're after through the whole of the game, meant to bridge the gap between that fun ork-stomping simulator from a few generations back and the upcoming sequel this September (Imma 'cited. :3)

Its fun, its cheap, its short and sweet. Go blow up some heretics.

And yeah, thats the last of them. There were others, but none really worth mentioning. These are the ones I still remembered for whatever reason. Happy Holidays everyone. Here's hoping we get some more memorable titles in 2024.

[loopingpyre]

top 5 Obbligato Musicians

Here have some Caligula 2 rambles

5. Mu-Kun

He sucks. Doesn't have a creative bone in his body, but is so desperate to been as valuable, but even with Redo he ends up second place in the one thing he thinks he can do, composing- to the propaganda writer of all people. You see Mu-kun's all the time online, even his producer name isnt creative it's effectively Miku-kun. Insane. Gin tells him to get fucked in such a fun way yknow.

4. Kranke

OH MAN. How do you justify someone having a wheelchair in a digital world where everyone can fix themselves? Jesus Christ, she's so fucked up I love her. But it's like, sure she's fucked up but I totally get her. Kranke.....

3. #QP

Has a whole "I didn't think I swung this way" moment with the FeMC, straight up says she'll hang on the winning team to your face, desperate to find love and affection that will give her life some sort of purpose

2. Bluffman

I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING FOR A BRAHMAN REFERENCE WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S THAT PATHETIC. Incredible major antagonist, [redacted song lore], some amount of bias exists because he shares his VA with Satoru Yukidoh, a favourite VN protagonist of mind

1. Kudan

Writer, self concious about a stutter, has read Dies Irae and watches Gundam, her song Miss Conductor is amazing, incredibly loyal to a fault in such that it induces obvious oversight, her charisma in Redo is godtier, auggggh, half of her is just like me fr.

Regret is an honourary 0th place becsuse holy shit I love her so much but I can't elaborate because I don't want to rereramble about spoilers.