#dlc sequel enemy design

[drwernicke]

[cerastes]

so Drimo for those of us who do not know what is the Armored Core series about [leaves out convenient soapbox for no reason]

If you asked a room of 100 people nowadays, "do you guys know FromSoftware?", the majority of them would stand up and answer, "oh, yeah! The guys that made Dark Souls, right?" You would hear about people wondering when Bloodborne will be ported to PC, or when it will get a sequel. You would hear lamentation for the lack of Sekiro DLC. You would hear praise and anticipation for Elden Ring DLC.

If you were in 2008 and asked a room of 100 people, "do you guys know FromSoftware?", maybe 4 would stand up and say "Oh, the guys that make Armored Core, right? My cousin had it, it looked ok."

The truth of the matter is, FromSoft was a niche studio before Demon's Souls planted a seed and it grew into the massive tree we know as Dark Souls, and its countless branches lush with beautiful flowers, like Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. It even inspired nearby trees, all beautiful in their own right! Trees like Code Vein, Nioh, and others.

But I'm not here to talk about fucking trees and their god damn branches.

I'm here to talk about the sterile wasteland, the wilderness of fallen angels, where the ocean meets the sand. I'm here to talk about pre-Soulsborne FromSoft, when FromSoftware was an unknown, niche, small video game developer barely hanging on to relevancy. They had games like King's Field. They had games like Shadow Tower. They had games like Armored Core. Hell, all of these games still live on in Soulsborne! Did you know? The notorious Mushroom enemies that punch your entire lifebar out from Dark Souls are originally from 1999's Shadow Tower:

Iconic boss fight, Seath the Scaleless from Dark Souls? He's originally from King's Field 2!

The well-loved bald rascal with a penchant for annoying fighting styles and kicking, Patches? Originally from Armored Core! Lucky Patches AKA Patch the Good Luck:

The Moonlight Greatsword? That's originally from King's Field:

Knight Commander Dragonslayer Ornstein? The Bloodborne Reiterpallasch? Armored Core originals, baby:

The truth is, Soulsborne is as dear to old school FromSoft fans such as myself as it is because it carries the past of FromSoft, it carries part of all the old games. The old, niche, unknown FromSoft that we fell in love with lives on in this new, successful, popular FromSoft of nowadays, all without selling out. FromSoft's design philosophy and mission statement has always been to make things that are out there, that aren't generic, that have that slab of esotericism to it, that are inspired and raw and difficult and challenging and oh so rewarding. Soulsborne wasn't a surprise hit. Soulsborne exists built on a foundation of trial and error that carries in its DNA years upon years upon years of difficult, niche titles. I've not even mentioned all the Tenchu references that Sekiro has! How the Powderkeg weapons from Bloodborne are mostly Armored Core weapons scaled down to human size, such as the iconic Stake Driver being the mighty Kiku from Armored Core!

Armored Core was the biggest franchise FromSoft had prior to Soulsborne. The biggest. And it wasn't too big, to be honest. A rather niche, unknown game franchise with numerous titles that did just well enough to justify sequels, with strong cult followings, Armored Core is all about that mecha high octane action, right? Well, it's 50% about that mecha high octane action! Your average Armored Core is a high intensity, breakneck fast game full of machine guns, laser swords and huge explosions when you're in the field, but in order to be able to do that, you must construct your machine, your Armored Core, piece by piece. Not just the chest core or the head piece or the arms, we're taking about generator, radiator, targeting system, thrusters, subsystems, all of that! And each given piece has a stat screen that looks like this:

This is a single laser rifle's stat screen. Every piece has about this many numbers to it. As you can imagine, it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but for those that took the time to understand it? That familiarized themselves with the game well enough to just be able to look at a piece and understand what it did and roughly how well it performed? Oh, this was to die for. The amount of unique builds, of mechs that were your very own, unique creation, catering to your own specific tastes, was basically infinite. You could make your own dream gameplay machine, that operated in exactly the way you wanted it to. 50% of the time, you were in your garage, tinkering, mixing and matching different parts to improve your Armored Core more and more, to make it better, comfier, stronger, cooler.

Do you know what was influential in Dark Souls' success? And I say this with all the love in my heart, as a massive Dark Souls fan: It was simplification. Dark Souls is a different beast in many regards, of course, compared to Armored Core, but what Dark Souls did was simplify the Armored Core formula, in both comparative gameplay execution and building, and focused on other aspects, like making incredibly cool unique enemies, polished combat, great enemy placement, the works. But end of the day, Dark Souls is a simplified Armored Core. You're not boosting around and firing laser weapons in Dark Souls, but the fundamentals are all there: Tempo based fighting, with intensifying speed, lots of numbers to play with in order to optimize your character to your preference and needs, and the flexibility to switch around builds to certain degrees, more so in the mid game and late game. Hell, the ever-present "little plain white number above the enemy that shows you how much damage you did recently" and how Poise works in Dark Souls are both originally Armored Core things. Most every Armored Core veteran that I know, myself included, that played Dark Souls just felt it click naturally after a bit. Because it's an extension of Armored Core (and King's Field/Shadow Tower).

Armored Core, since its inception, has been about being a mercenary in a callous world where companies that are as powerful as countries, plural, wage in economic war with each other. Rarely has there ever been a good guy in Armored Core, it's the pristine FromSoft absolutely horrid and doomed world narrative that they love so much. You can even go into debt! Your rewards at the end of any mission are affected by how much ammo you consumed and how banged up your AC got, you have to foot the bill for repairs and ammo (unless your client specifically states that they'll cover it for you), and if you don't perform too well and end up going into sufficiently big debt? Why, you forcibly get put into the Human-PLUS program to offset your debt, which actually makes your stronger, since it gives you the ability to ignore Total Weight restrictions and gives you infinite energy! At the cost of, you know, your humanity. At that point, you're literally just a corporate drone with more machine than brain in the nogging. It's a fancy Easy Mode toggle, so to speak, that comes with lore. This game is from 1997. Even from back then, they were making stuff like this. The setting of Armored Core is ruthless, cruel, and brutal... And yet, beautiful, the little things, they are there. But I won't tell you about them. You have to find them yourself. The beautiful things only have value if you find them in a horrid world by your own merit.

This is true for Armored Core, and this is true for Dark Souls.

Armored Core, on a personal level, is what I grew up with, what inspired me as a child, the kind of storytelling that gives you a few explicit morsels, and the rest, figure it out yourself. Armored Core is basically what came before Dark Souls. I consider Soulsborne sequels to Armored Core. They are so very alike.

Brutal gameplay, challenging management, ruthless storytelling... It's heaven.

Armored Core is a series of a gaming era long gone. Armored Core is the opposite of "cinematic experience" games. Armored Core is brutal, it wants to test you, it grants you no quarter, but it wants you to succeed. Armored Core wants you to master its management systems and its high speed combat. Armored Core wants you to be a sharper, better you.

Armored Core is a video game series about giant robots blowing each other to bits.

Armored Core is both a test and teacher, and it wants you to win. It wants you to become the you that can beat it.

Armored Core loves you. Armored Core will do all in its power to prevent you from winning. Armored Core knows you can win, which is why it tries so hard.

Armored Core is a good video game.

[adachimoe]

P4U2 / Arena Ultimax Design Works - About Episode Adachi

I think the anecdote is known, but this is the part of the interview where Atlus and Arcsys talk about Episode Adachi.

Interviewer: Now then, why did you make Episode Adachi? And how did fans react to it? Kazuhisa Wada (Atlus): First of all, figuring out how to handle Adachi's character is very tricky. But this time, we had a P4G scenario writer who is a huge Adachi stan on staff, so we left the scenario up to him. But I didn't want him to fanboy too hard, so I had to rein him in. Takumi Ichigaya (Arcsys): There was some talk about whether Adachi needed a story since he was a DLC character. Wada: Right, right. But Adachi wasn't "just" DLC; he was also involved in the main story, so I wasn't sure what to do. But before I knew it, the aforementioned staff member had written Adachi's story…… (laughs). Ichigaya: Wada-san asked us, "Can we add more story through DLC?" We didn't have any issues with that, so we told him, "Yeah, do you want to?" (laughs) Mysterious Maskman (Arcsys): I thought it was nice that Episode Adachi gave us info about the enemies in P4AU. It gave insight into Adachi, and we got a deeper understanding towards Sho as well. Wada: In the main story, we couldn't depict Adachi's stance, but I think we were able to clearly depict it here. I was nervous about how the fans would receive it. Iguchiya: I think the fans loved it. It may have been for the best that when we created the P4A series, we made it clear that, "This is a canon sequel".

"Stan" and "Fanboy" are my word choices lol. Something more literal would be "obsessed with Adachi" and "letting the fan mentality take over".

[maythearo]

Ahem ahem, If I may rant a bit about Little Nightmares 3 with my thoughts on the trailer announcement + my predictions on how the game will go... cause I'm still freaking out and I'm so excited for this

Kind of a deserted, post apocalyptic theme, possibly associated with dangers of radiation or toxic waste of some sorts? I assumed because of Alone's gas mask design especially + Low's design is very post apocalyptic-like, and also from some of the enemies in the trailer. (Specifically about the obviously unnaturally big doll monster, and the bunch of human hands that crawled out of the sewer kinda resembling a humanoid spider creature for all we can see, maybe some of the enemies have been affected by whatever bigger danger this story may try to convey. I mean, characters from previous games were also unnatural looking, but for what I remember their designs and stories were fit of that very dark supernatural theme, as for this one in contrast seems to be going on a different kind of territory IN the means of supernatural, mixing a bit of more ""realistic"" tones to it)

The official podcast "the sounds of nightmares" seem to be going on a scientific/psychological evaluation and or experiments route, which I think grounds the story a little more, but at the same time I have NO idea how its narrative is going to relate to the game's itself lol something about dreams... hmmm

There is mirror travelling ig, that's super cool, but so far, I got no idea what it means 👍

I thought it would be a risky decision to leave the primary claustrophobic environment of the previous games and chose to go for a brighter, more "open world"(?) look for the main characters to adventure on, but at the same time, this setting can still be well explored on a horror perspective, despite me not seeing much of this theme being executed at all in any media I've consumed so far lol. I imagine it could be a great opportunity to contrast jumps between the game's levels, as in one stage you're out on the open desert and the other you fall into a darker area to explore through

Although I have my criticisms on some of Supermassive games' stuff, I'm still very fond of their work and takes on horror videogames in general, so I trust little nightmares 3 is in very good hands 👍

The ost is going to be awesome, the song in the trailer gave me goosebumps ngl

I believe we're not going to/are barely going to see Mono or Six in this story. Their arc was pretty well constructed beggining to end, but the lack of appearances of the two, at least for me, is not a negative thing at all! I think Low and Alone's story is going to focus on the world building through different lenses rather than exploring further what we already knew before. Mono and Six may be vaguely mentioned but not crucial to the sequel ig

Just a side note I'm a terrible game theorist, so if I said stuff that clearly contradicts something in the trailer or franchise, I am very sorry, I can't help I'm very inattentive most of the time, this is embarrassingenfjenfjebrk😫

I watched a full gameplay of the first and second game like, years ago- and only now I got the opportunity to play LN by myself. I finished the first game, went half of the dlc (I'm taking a break from it bcs it's so difficult for me and the switch version takes almost a full minute to reload after I die..) and I'm currently mid way through the second, although I still remember most of the stuff that will happen in its story. I'm following the episodes of the recent podcast, and I'm going to seach for the webcomic for me to read, yahooooo!!!

NOBODY asked for this post but I DO NOT CARE, little nightmares fascinates me from story, to gameplay, to visuals. It's one of a kind on its storytelling and art. Just my thing and I care about it very much. But that's it thanks for listening to my insanity arc

[croik]

I FINISHED LIES OF P!!!!!!!

Omg that was a brutal final battle. Took me about 4 hours of tries over two nights but I got the best ending. (Wildly, the boss before him I beat on my first try?? Only boss in the game I managed that??)

Really enjoyed the game, even if there were some rough parts. I heard they're planning DLC and a sequel that I'll be happy to play. The only part of the game that was an honest let down was the late game level design. Extremely dull, I think they ran out of money or something. Here's hoping they have a larger budget for the next one.

Soulslike fans gotta try it. I was intimidated hearing about how hard it is and delayed getting it, but with the patches it's really not as unfair as it first seemed. I raged a lot worse at Sekiro. In fact, I think this game is better than Sekiro. Don't get me wrong, the fight mechanics are not nearly as slick, and it level design is nothing to write home about. But the story really interesting, there's really good enemy variety, it's not crawling in repeat mini bosses, and even got me emotional a few times.

Now all that's left is to prepare my body for Elden Ring DLC >:3

[pixelgrotto]

Top-down Planes Galore

Over the last few years, thanks to my wife's English side of the family, I've visited a fair share of interesting British museums. One of these is the Shuttleworth Collection, a neat place that features an array of planes from the early half of the 20th century. If you're ever in Bedfordshire and have a hankering to see biplanes from the 1920s, I really can't recommend a visit enough. I wouldn't call myself an aviation geek, but there's something about seeing a World War II aircraft in person that stirred my imagination, and one of the souvenirs I bought from my visit was a cool pair of socks that had pixelated biplanes on them.

I specifically bought the socks because they reminded me of Capcom's 1942, the first entry in the 19XX series of shoot 'em ups, AKA shmups. Honestly, I hadn't played much of 1942 at the time, but I've always known enough about shmups to think of the game when I see pixelated biplanes. It probably stands out in my head as an interesting example of a Japanese company making a product where the whole goal is to blow up the Japanese. Yep, 1942 puts the player in the role of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning pilot maneuvering his aircraft through the skies of the Pacific Theater, on a mission to reach Tokyo and blast the heck out of everything. Apparently the game was made with Western audiences in mind, so I suppose we have capitalism to thank for a game that is both historically accurate and not historically accurate at all. (Yes, Japan lost the war, but I don't think any of the Lockheeds in the Battle of Midway had spray guns capable of shooting a billion bullets at once.)

I recently dove into 1942 and almost all of the other games in the 19XX series, mostly because I was inspired by my British nephew, who's recently been going on about planes for hours on end. You can play almost all of them via the Capcom Arcade Stadium compilations on Steam, which repackage classic arcade games and make them easily playable without the hassle of needing to fiddle with MAME emulation. (The decision to make each game DLC that you have to buy is probably questionable, but putting that aside, these packages are pretty okay.)

Anyway, I soon discovered that the original 1942 is the epitome of a 1980s arcade quarter gobbler, with a staggering 32 levels of monotony and some of the most annoyingly tinny background music known to man. It's fun to do loops around Japanese bombers for the first ten minutes, and I've always loved the power-up that gives you two flanking planes that help soak up extra damage, which would go on to be a series staple. Beyond that, 1942 grates at the soul and has not aged well.

1943: The Battle of Midway, and its slightly remixed semi-sequel 1943 Kai, are much better. Here, we bear witness to screen-filling tsunami attacks that can instantly wreck all enemies, a more forgiving difficulty level, and varied stages that don't consist of simply flying over the ocean and rice paddies. Everything's faster and a good deal more fun, and instead of solely taking down planes, now you've got boss battles against Imperial Japanese naval fleets, ending in a fight against the battleship Yamato. And thankfully, the tinny music is gone and replaced by battle-ready tracks that are nicely catchy.

This formula is refined even further in the later games, all of which loosen up on the feeling of "one American plane versus Japan" for a progressively zanier feel. 1941: Counter Attack ditches the Pacific Theater for firefights over European skies, and despite taking place in the earlier years of WWII, your pilot goes up against enemy crafts that are so extreme in size and flavor that they border on science fiction. You'll fire away at German rockets that look like they're designed to fly to the moon and tanks that take up a quarter of the screen. The end boss is a Horten Ho 229, the German prototype bomber that never went into mass production, yet is a formidable foe in this game that is sleek and almost alien-like in its movements.

19XX: The War Against Destiny takes that science fiction appeal to the maximum and says, "To hell with a historical shmup, let's go to the future with two X's, baby!" In an amusing move that would later be replicated by the Call of Duty series two decades later (when they jumped from WWII to the arena of Modern Warfare - and later Advanced Warfare), 19XX sees you taking on the Outer Limits, a terrorist organization that somehow has a futuristic army with hundreds of expendable fighter pilots. For the first time, you can choose between three different planes: the old school Lockheed P-38 Lightning (the well-balanced one), the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito (the heavy firepower one), and the Kyushu J7W Shinden (the speedy one). All of these planes are worthy options against enemies that scale in a ludicrous fashion, and one of the bosses in the later levels is basically a mech. It's great. And because the game runs on Capcom's CPS-2 arcade board, which also powered the Street Fighter Alpha/Zero series, the action is fast and clean to a degree that's very reminiscent of the company's fighting game output.

1944: The Loop Master is the last 19XX game I played, because it's the last one available in the Capcom Arcade Stadium. It takes the action back to WWII, but the gusto and fury of all the futuristic stuff exhibited in 19XX: The War Against Destiny is present and accounted for. Hello, my biplane can shoot lasers? Sure, why not! Technically, this one was developed by Eighting and not by Capcom, and all I know about Eighting is that they made the Bloody Roar games and Battle Garegga, another shmup with a cool soundtrack that samples the techno track "Jupiter Jazz," by Underground Resistance. They did a good job, and while 1943 and 19XX: The War Against Destiny stick out in my memory more than The Loop Master, I can safely say that this one features a little dude who parachutes out of your plane when you die. About time I finally saw my pilot!

Honestly, I'm not a great shmup player. I played all of these casually on my Steam Deck, and I never would've made a dent in them in the arcades. But there's something about the 19XX series that's appealing to me, at the very least on an aesthetic level. It's probably the highly detailed 2D pixelated artistry that goes into the top-down depiction of these warplanes, which are given the same slavish fanboyism that you see in Japanese mecha franchises. I think back to the several times I've visited Japan and been to antiwar exhibits like the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Minus a few groups of nationalist nutjobs, Japan's by far and large a deeply antiwar country - but there do exist otaku who nerd out over WWII-era tech, usually not in a "the Imperial Japanese Army was right" sort of way, but in a way that basically says, "the Yamato was one of the biggest battleships ever constructed at 70,000+ tons, I shall now proceed to write an essay about why that was cool." And you know, I can appreciate that attention to technical detail, just like how I can respect the planes on exhibit in the Shuttleworth Collection. So give the 19XX games a whirl if you like planes or simply dig fine artistry - and go visit the Shuttleworth and buy those socks while you're at it.

[sparkie96]

“Heat: Part Two”

It’s been months since Chris’s death at the hands of an enemy long thought to be dead. Although he’s had some help and given birth, Leon’s pretty much alone when raising Ollie. Mourning with him, Claire, Jill and the others help Leon cope as best as they can.

At the same time, someone has leaked documents about Leon and how he came to be the Agent he is today to the public, putting him and Ollie in harm’s way, as well as anyone close to him.

The potential perpetrator approaches him, revealing himself to be Chris and offering to protect him and Ollie. Though, the man looks and acts nothing like the Chris Redfield they all knew and loved. Others are kind of convinced, but Leon sure as hell isn’t. Who is this man? And what does he really want?

Where is the real Chris Redfield?

Rated for Language, Canon-Typical Violence, Triggering Themes and Sexual Situations.

Sequel to this fic: Heat

(A/N: The “Chris” seen in this fic is based off of Chris’s Design and whatever the hell they were going for in Resident Evil 7, “Not a Hero” DLC.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 🎄)

[miloscat]

[Review] Antonball Deluxe (NS)

Wario meets Arkanoid meets Punch Ball Mario Bros.!

Having wrapped up my Wario Land fest, I picked this out of my backlog due to it taking some inspiration from the big goof. Summitsphere had previously published Annalynn, which models itself on arcade classics of the early 80s, and this likewise remixes ideas from retro games both popular and niche. Their next game is actually a direct Wario Land homage, but it's not out yet!

Antonball started as a pair of Game Boy homebrews made in just a few days: one a mashup of brick breaking platforming, and the other an expansion on Hudson's Punch Ball Mario Bros., which is itself a neat little remix of Mario Bros. but with a ball projectile. Antonball Deluxe fleshes both of these out, and adds a head-to-head brick-breaking Pong-esque multiplayer mode reminiscent of one of the faux-retro games in the underrated Game Center CX 3. All in all it's a nice package.

The Wario inspiration comes in the design of the main character Anton and the general tone, as well as a shoulder-barge attack that can be used in mid-air. You can also do a high-jump that looks a bit like the backflip in Donkey Kong 94 (you see, this game is very citational!). In the primary game mode, you use your moves to platform around the single-screen stages in order to body block the bouncing ball and break all the bricks. Sometimes there are enemies or hazards to avoid, and powerups to claim. There are 30 stages but I wasn't able to finish them all, as it gets super hard and it's all too easy to let balls slip past you.

I had a better time with the Punch Ball mode, whose story focuses on Anton's coworker Annie. Annie was specifically added as an equal but feminine counterpart to Anton's Wario-like depravity and goblin charisma, something the Wario series itself has always lacked. There are actually a bunch of unlockable characters, by the way, that you can freely use in any mode including the Waluigi-esque Danton, versions of Anton in different art styles, Anton's dog and Annie's cat, guests from other indie games, and—my favourite—the punny "Ant on Ball". It's an ant on a ball.

Punch Ball by its nature is less twitchy and more about carefully manoeuvring and stunning enemies with the ball so you can knock them out, with a variety of foes with different behaviours, some even interacting with the ball in interesting ways. Some clever level design gives you another 30 stages of fun in a quite different format, even though it uses the same movement engine and controls. The Switch version I played also comes bundled with what was DLC on PC, with two extra joke characters and level packs based on the original Game Boy homebrews.

Silly designs and jokey art permeate this collection, and the interstitial cutscenes add a lot of character to this wacky little world and its denizens. Full disclosure, the illustration and some cutscene art was done by my friend Cameron Reigle (hire him! commission him!), but even if I didn't know him I would be in love with the art in this game, from the goofy cutscenes to the moody backgrounds to the chunky pixel art. It's actually a shame for me that the sequel is going in a slightly different direction artistically, because the look of Antonball is so much fun (there's a grid filter on by default, but it looked better to me when I turned it off)!

I'm impressed by how Antonball was able to hone in on specific mechanics from retro games and remix them in such fun ways. It comes together really well in this package, even if I think the progression in the Antonball mode could have been a bit more merciful. I couldn't engage much with Vs. mode on my own, but I have no complaints for Punch Ball mode, it's great. Actually speaking of multiplayer, both of the solo modes can be tackled in simultaneous co-op with up to four players, which is nice. What else can I say? Check it out!

[journalsouppe]

My Breath of the Wild Spread!! Only one week until Tears of the Kingdom!! I had such a fun time playing it last year but I would change my rating on the game after playing more of the Zelda games and watching the Tears of the Kingdom trailers. It's a gorgeous game but it definitely lacks elements that Tears of the Kingdom promises to provide. It's still a great game nonetheless!

I'm currently playing through the DLCs and will post that spread later on! The official BOTW stickers can be found here on amazon and the dragon stickers were a limited run by KellCarr!

Writing typed below!

Rating: 9.7 Played: Spr 2022 Port: Switch + DLC

Comments:

Encountering the dragons is so beautiful

I beat all 120 shrines!

The architecture is so well thought out I hope to study it more

I hope to tame the Lord of the Mountain -> I did!

The paraglider is so fun :)

The music is so incredibly beautiful

Exploring the new land was a unique experience that I am excited for in TOTK/BOTW 2

I wish there were more varied enemies

FUCK the colosseum

Ganon was so hard, once again I wanted to cry (my friend told me it was so easy that she beat phase 1 without clothes and that messed me up so bad lol)

One of my favorite memories is encountering Kass for the first time outside of Zora's Domain

I can't believe the fairy clothes are TINGLE AHHHHH

I really love the new zora designs

I like how the gorons are genderless

I don't love Zelda's design because her hair is so solid. I love it when she cuts it [in TOTK]

<3 you Sidon

I hope he's in BOTW 2...

Summary:

An unbelievably beautiful game and story. I think it is a game that illustrates the weight of duty and the harm that can put one under. Both Link and Zelda faced different symptom of depression after Fate and the world dictated who they should be. I am so glad in the end Link and Zelda try to become their own people in these roles and rely on each other as friends. The exploration aspect was truly magical. The music, the art, the architecture, the memories, all of it cultivated in to such a special game and I am so excited for its sequel.

I also want to say I played this game when I was going through the some of the worst experiences I've ever had and the summary reflects that. To this day I still view this as a very tragic but hopeful game. I have very strong interpretations of this game that contrasts a lot with how others view the game as a result of what I went through, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I'm very grateful I decided to play Zelda when I did because it really helped me understand what I was going through and led me to start journaling. Although I still have opinions on how this game could've been better, I do appreciate what it's done for me. (And don't worry I'm doing a lot better now ^_^)

[heloflor]

Ranking the 10 Showtime transformations because why not

Note that this is based on gameplay. If it was based on design, this list would be widely different. Mild spoilers as I mention the number of levels + a few elements in some of them.

(1.5k words below)

10. Swordfighter Peach: The more trailers I saw the more I expected this one to be rather dull and repetitive, and yeah it was. All you do is run and press a button, sometimes having to wait before pressing it. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not into beat 'em ups. The design and aesthetic are really cool, but the gameplay really gets dull.

9. Mermaid Peach: Ok so while I absolutely adore this game and would buy a sequel/DLC in a heartbeat if Nintendo released one tomorrow, there are two big issues I have with it. You can’t skip the in-level cutscenes and dialogues (which makes going back to collect everything very tedious) and the game is way too short.

Tbh I would’ve loved to have at least eight levels per transformations, but regardless I do think we should have had at least five, that way not only would the game be longer but we could also have had more game mechanics for each transformation, as there was a lot of potential here and it feels like the game only scratched the surface of what could be done with them (ngl I’m very curious about the scrapped content of this game).

The way I see it, the first and second levels stay the same, third you start in the transformation and it introduces a new mechanic, fourth is the Sparklas rescue level, and fifth is a play done fully with the Sparkla by your side, as I feel like having one long/full level with each Sparkla would have made one specific cutscene more effective since we would’ve seen more of them as a result.

Going back to the topic of Mermaid Peach, thing is, while each transformation had more potential, I’m still very satisfied with what we ended up having for all of them, including Swordfighter. Mermaid is the exception tho, as unlike the others it feels like an actual waste of potential, not helped by the first level being a complete slug in its first half and the Sparkla level being ridiculously short.

Like that transformation is just a whole lot of nothing. You either move some fishes or do a not-actually-a-rhythm-game concert, both of which aren’t the most interesting thing. Tbh I should probably put it below Swordfighter but I do like controlling the fishes, especially in the second level, so it gets some points for that. But it’s still a very “nothing” transformation.

I think the issue is that they didn’t fully commit to their ideas for it. Like we get a few puzzles but they’re way too short and easy, same with the concert that isn’t much of a minigame. I feel like had they pushed for longer or more complex puzzles and done something different for the concert, it would have been a better transformation. Or at least make the puzzles of the first level better, as I do like the way they handled the second level’s fight-oriented section.

And unrelated but huge props to whoever did the opera singing bc some of the notes they hit are high!

8. Mighty Peach: It’s basically the same issue as Swordfighter. You run around and attack, rinse and repeat. But this time it’s more satisfying and there’s more gameplay variety. Also the boss of the second stage had so much effort put into them and I can’t help but love it for it. Still all about running and punching, but it’s more fun.

7. Kung-Fu Peach: Same deal as Swordfighter and Mighty. Now I’m putting it above the other two bc they do try to give you different ways of fighting on top of some platforming, and going down the polls is very satisfying when there are tons of enemies. I also find the bosses to be better than Swordfighter, even if in both cases it’s just “press the attack button at the right time”. I think it’s the animations, it’s just more fun. The boss for the Sparkla rescue is especially enjoyable. But yeah ultimately it’s still a lot of running and punching.

6. Figure Skater Peach: This one was weird to rank bc I do really like the gameplay, they did a really good job at mixing up minigame with fighting, plus the boss is fun. But at the same time the levels themselves aren’t all that good imo.

I think this transformation might suffer the most from only having three levels. Like I wish we had more exploring/"platforming" the likes of the first level (the section after the performance but before the boss), but at the same time I like the parade float idea of the second level. The first level also has a fairly long “tutorial” (the performance section) but at the same time I get why it’s there. So yeah, I guess the issue is moreso how little levels they are, making the flaws of what we have stand out more.

On that note, I found the controls to be a bit janky at times, especially when it comes to turning around, but I’m willing to forgive some of it since it’s ice physics + gives some more difficulty (even though I’m not the biggest fan of when the difficulty comes from jankiness rather than lack of skill)

The sparkla level is amazing tho!

5. Patissiere Peach: The transformation I expected the least of and ended up genuinely surprised by how enjoyable it is. You don’t even do that much, there’s only two minigames that are played out three times, but for some reason I still love it. And I like how tight the timing on the cookies is on the second level, in general they don’t leave you much room to mess it up which I like.

4. Cowgirl Peach: It’s basically the opposite of Figure Skater. I don’t find the gameplay itself all that interesting but the levels are so good and manage to use said gameplay very well, which really makes up for it! The second and Sparkla level in particular are really good, I really enjoyed them!

3. Dashing Thief Peach: Look I grew up playing Mario games, of course I’m going to enjoy the 2D platforming levels. But yeah those are really fun! Love the vibes, cool levels, and I especially like the Sparkla one as it really feels like they’re testing you on every ability with the four different rooms + the escape. Really enjoyable transformation!

2. Detective Peach: I had no idea what to expect of this one and am still surprised by how much I love it. I don’t know if this is the mystery angle, the fact you can skip dialogues and even go straight to the answer if you want to without needing any clue (which makes replaying the levels way less tedious), the Junior detective that I can’t help but love, the fact you can check on everything which makes my monkey brain happy, Peach’s “I’m smarter than everyone else” face when getting the answer that I find hilarious, or level 2 as a whole (especially the very beginning and “cutscene” at the end), but yeah I adore this one!

The only negative I can say is that there’s little replayability once you know the answer, which I’m assuming is an issue with the genre in general so it’s not like the game could have done this differently, and the Sparkla level which is way too short and easy. Other than that, love it!

1. Ninja Peach: Like I said for Dashing Thief, I’m a big fan of platforming. And this level is all platforming on top of really fun infiltration. They also somehow managed to make auto-scrolling sections fun, which I really like (I think it’s the speed that makes them enjoyable).

Speaking of infiltration I’m also a big fan of all the silly animations Peach has when sneaking around (the two branches clearly not made of grass, the wall disguise that doesn’t hide her hair, the bamboo, the shoes when walking on water, the log with hair when spotted, trying to walk sneakily in that one section from the second level), you can tell the people working on the game had fun with those!

Also the “scroll usage” sections are incredibly satisfying, especially the one from the second level. The Sparkla level is also very fun, tho not my favorite. But yeah, it’s just a very fun and satisfying transformation!

(Note that I’m aware of how dumb it is to complain about some transformations “not having much going on gameplay wise” or “only being two buttons to push” when literally every single one of them is just pushing two buttons, but the difference lies in how much variety they were able to get out of each transformation on top of the genre for each, both of which make for a more or less enjoyable experience depending on the transformation.

For example, both Swordfighter and Dashing Thief only have two buttons you can push, but Swordfighter ends up being exclusively about fighting enemies, while Dashing Thief has a few puzzles, some quick action moments, a gliding section and some “rail sliding” (no idea what else to call it). It’s still just pushing two buttons, but they got more variety out of it, hence being more interesting.)

[hezuart]

Heya! Just wanna say I can't wait for more about your au and also what is your favourite L. Game from concept art to design?

Hi! <3 L Game? as in Little Nightmares?

I'll go least fav to fav 3. Very Little Nightmares. Tiny mobile app screen where you tap to control. The screen cannot recognize my meaty fingers's input!!!!! UGH I'm just annoyed with the controls. The story was fine I suppose but felt like it lacked something. Lacked some oomph. Lacked true moments of horror. Not made by the original developers. Was the first LN game to introduce the fact that there are other children out there with scary supernatural powers. This LN game was a side story for the explanation behind the hanging man from LN 1. (At least... kind of.... the hanging man is a weird situation thanks to the comics...) It's an odd Six cop-out. We're led to believe this character we are playing is Six, only to reveal at the end she's a whole different character and then just... immediately killing her off. We can't even figure out who she is as a person. We don't really have any interactions with other characters enough to solidify her personality. I did adore the hidden easter eggs in the game. Nome with a bow was cute. I was curious about the other enemies and their circumstances, like why the butler is handcuffed. Where the girl's mother was. How so many kids end up at the Nest. Really only lead to more questions than answers.

2. LN1 is really good. Heavy Ghibli inspiration. A great introduction to a dark world, a unique dollhouse camera angle perspective style. A slight rocking to the screen to indicate you're on a boat. The amazing lighting. The finale; Six walking off sucking out souls of the guests that chased her to eat her, when she's now eating them. Perfect revenge power trip. Knowing she no longer has to physically consume things anymore. The nome she killed, but all the nomes she hugged still coming over to watch her leave (?) great scenes... The DLC introduced tough water mechanics that glitched out the physics engine but still were interesting enough for the DLC character. Showcasing a true addition to the Maw to peak the interest of viewers. The horrific and terribly sad ending and plot twist that took everyone by shock. Despite its glitches and perspective-deaths, its still overall a solid game. 1. LN2. I'll admit LN 1 is more put together than the second game. The sequel (or prequel rather) seemed messy in development, like they weren't sure where to really go with it. They had a lot of rough concepts and a lot of it seemed to get scrapped mid-production. Seems like they even intended for heavy DLC exploration with other children too. With how it turned out, its a pretty decent game. But knowing the scrapped DLC content and alt. directions the story was gonna take, it feels like a bit of a confused narrative. We got confirmation that the children really do turn into grotesque adults. That there are other children with creepy powers. We know of Shadow Six's origins. We know why people flee to the Maw or other places away from the mainland. The concepts are frankly more fascinating than the finished story, (children plugged into tvs, Mono feeding Six or Six feeding Mono, giant ???? meat baby???? you can't top THAT) tho the finished story is probably cleaner than the latter. Six dropping Mono at the end was so shocking to everyone and after thinking hard about it, I can't find any real logistical or emotional reason for her to do so. I think it was just genuinely a forced in betrayal for shock value. And hey, it certainly was shock value. Despite this game ending in completion, or really, a loop... and despite it being a PREQUEL... I can't help but feel like this game ends on a cliffhanger to me. Like there's more to the story. There's stuff untold about this universe. So LN 2 and LN1 are really close in favoritism. LN2 had the most fascinating concept art ...without Ghibli Bath Houses to take inspiration from like in LN1, so they really took it in risky directions. But I still acknowledge LN1 is more solid of the two. I think I just enjoy the LN2 mechanics a bit more. I like working together with Six, though frankly I was really disappointed learning that LN2 was in fact, not a multiplayer game. That Six gets separated from Mono several times throughout. I have plenty more to say about these games but this is probably the simplest assessment to give right now!

[justal0wk3yg4mer]

Things I've Said: Ghostrunner (Spoilers)

Me: *Player/My actions* Character Dialogue

My man...bot, woke up a chose violence.

Sweet free running. *Immediately misses a jump and dies.* Ooohhh...I'm gonna lose sleep over this.

Air zoomies?

MATRIX bitch!

He does a lil' sword twirl, that's adorable.

Bro first mission took me fifteen minutes...I'm really gonna lose sleep.

You're bossy for someone who's asking for help to get out of prison. And you're very rude 😠

Mmmh, that gravelly voice.

Ninja slaves?

Is he lowkey calling him fucked up?

SUPER MURDER ZOOMIES

I feel like I am staring at the virtual eye of Saron.

Why can't Zoe be the voice in our head? She's such a nice rebel.

I've already died so many times, I don't need competence.

Bitch, there is no trust; spill the tea Zoe.

Jack's gone deviant.

No, no, no, no, please don't jump at me. I'm delicate, please. *Screams as enemies proceed to do just that.*

Good, stay on your side of the barrier and I'll stay on mine. Respect the boundary.

I completely forgot that I had throwing stars.

So I'm an airbender now?

Stop with the compliments, they are beginning to sound vaguely perverted.

I'm sorry, you prepared for an uprising? Then you knew that a multitude of people don't fucking like you.

I'm not a criminal. Just your friendly neighborhood Ghostrunner 😄

Bootleg Ghostrunner.

Can Jack have a gun now? No one cares about your (Architect) weapon preferences, Jack need a fucking gun.

I would like to correct my previous statement. This, this is the bootleg Ghostrunner.

Never have I met a character where I knew off the rip that they were going to betray the main character and every time they say something it just solidifies my opinion. Maybe I'm not playing enough games, but this dude is pretty obvious.

Zoe no! Don't leave me alone with the talking headache!

What the fuck was that!? It makes sounds and--I can't. Nope.

This is the first time you (Architect) have said something that I completely agree with.

Dammit now I agree with the crazy lady. Both of you are fucked.

This is beginning to sound like ex's going at it with their kid in the cross-fire.

Edgy Doc Ock?

WHAT DID I SAY!

That is called a dictatorship with delusions of self preservation.

Go off Jack. *A little later* GO OFF JACK!

You (Adam) look like a lil bitch.

Sequel baiting? *Checks* Yes, yes it is.

So let one thing straight...I am not the best gamer out there. My type of games are the open world story driven kind where I can spend hours fucking around. When I started playing Ghostrunner, I was flabbergasted at the control system and died soooooooooooo many times. But, I really liked the world design and the story so I powered through and honestly, I ended up enjoying it. It is such and underrated game and I was excited when the DLC came out. You best believe I'm gonna play sequel (there is one in development), and find out what they did to my bot Jack. Anyway, I figured y'all would what to see how badly I struggled. For your viewing pleasure (and comedy) my death count for Ghostrunner! (Feel free to let me know y'alls count and any tips and tricks)

Death Count: 3,076

[aromancy]

Midnight Suns Wish List

I've been playing Marvel's Midnight Suns for the last few weeks (no spoilers, still haven't finished it yet), and I'm super enjoying the game. I know we're probably not going to get any more characters after the current batch of DLC is out, but I have some characters I'd LOVE to meet/play as, and I want to put them somewhere, so here they are.

Dane Whitman - the Black Knight

Mostly because the color palette would fit right in, but Whitman's connection to Arthurian Legend (most notably, his sword, forged by Merlin himself) would make him a perfect thematic fit with the more mystical aspects of Midnight Suns. Plus, the man's struggle with his Ebony Blade gives him a lot of narrative significance in the story. Maybe Midnight Suns could see him finally overcome his old arch-nemesis, the Bloodwraith.

Lorna Dane - Polaris

Yeah, two Danes. Weird, I know. But Polaris is so much more; as the secret third child of Magneto, she has a similar magnet-themed powerset, giving her a unique toolkit we don't see elsewhere in the game. Polaris' status as Wanda's half-sister and occasional X-Men ally would make her a natural fit (although I could also see her in a more antagonistic role, a la Johnny Blaze).

Pietro Maximoff - Quicksilver

And while we're on the subject of Wanda's siblings, I'm not sure if Pietro's still alive in Midnight Suns canon, but if he is, it's really strange to me how we never actually see him. Pietro and Wanda are really close, and I think a super-speedster like him has a lot of room for creative design. I'm envisioning a suite of Quick cards that let him perform crazy combos every turn.

Jean Grey - Phoenix

Midnight Suns deals a lot with characters struggling with their dark side. Dane Whitman up above has a lot of that, but there's no way we can't discuss the queen of "struggling with your evil impulses" herself, Jean Grey! The Phoenix can be a powerful ally and an even more powerful enemy, her psychic powers an imposing threat even to master telepaths like Charles Xavier.

Viktor Von Doom - Dr. Doom

Screw it, let's get ALL the green people in here! Dr. Doom is a natural fit for the melding of science and magic prevalent in Midnight Suns; his dynamic with Dr. Strange and Tony Stark would doubtless be hilarious as three brilliant and egotistical men butt heads, and he's already gotten a few name drops in the game, like a book authored by him and a mention in Deadpool's side story! Plus, I just really like him, okay?

Emma Frost - the White Queen

And as long as we're talking villains, who better than the matriarch of the Hellfire Club herself, the White Queen? Emma Frost might have a little too much overlap with Jean Grey for both of them to make it in, but I couldn't not put the living manifestation of "gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss" on this list now, could I? And anyway, it's not like there's no overlap in power sets elsewhere in Midnight Suns, what with all the magic-users around. Emma Frost has a lot to offer from a narrative standpoint, too much to be overlooked in my opinion.

And that's about it! Feel free to join in with your own hopes for inclusion in the game (or perhaps a potential sequel)! Or else just yell at me for the sexist pics. I swear, I tried to find the ones that framed the women in the best light, they're just all Like That.

[chronicas]

Okay, FINALLY getting around to the games played 2022 top ten ranking!!

10. Hollow Knight

VERY fun although I unfortunately didn’t spend much time on it. It definitely presents a pretty significant learning curve because it’s not very much like many other games I’ve played. I hope to revisit it soon!

9. Astro’s Playroom

This cute little platformer comes with the PS5 and demonstrates many of the consoles new functionality! It’s a great way to see what the console is capable of and is also just VERY cute and enjoyable!! Definitely don’t skip this game if you get the chance to play it!

8. Pokémon White

The second oldest game I played this year and also the first non-Pokémon GO Pokémon game I’ve played. Was a lot more simple than I thought it’d be and it’s super fun. I may not know much about Pokémon, but it was really easy to grasp. Really enjoyed it and loved it as an introduction to the franchise. I hope to play more Pokémon games in the future!

7. Bloodborne

My first Fromsoft game hopefully of many! I love the gameplay and design. It’s a really fun game for when I want a challenge! I absolutely adore the boss design in it and would love to you know.. actually beat it someday.

6. Ratchet & Clank (2016)

Despite my many criticisms for this game, it was VERY enjoyable. I still argue it doesn’t quite live up to the original, but the level design being overall the same certainly made it enjoyable! It’s definitely lower on my list than other R&C games, but again! I had a great time with it.

5. Oxenfree

I’m not usually a fan of these kind of point and click games, but the narrative of this game was so so fascinating that it’s actually one of my favorite games I played this year. Only outranked by some of my favorite games in general. I highly recommend giving this game a shot and I’m VERY much looking forward to the sequel.

4. Final Fantasy VII Remake: EPISODE INTERmission

A lot of debating back and forth if this DLC really counted as a “game played” this year, but I decided it did because of how much I enjoyed it. I definitely had my issues with it, mainly all stemming from DOC being my least favorite part of the FFVII Compilation. However with Yuffie being one of my very favorite characters, I think her getting her own dedicated DLC was well deserved! It makes me incredibly excited to use her move set more come Rebirth. While I wasn’t a fan of the narrative of this DLC, the gameplay more than made up for it!!

3. Destiny 2: The Witch Queen

I was EXTREMELY excited about this expansion and I tell you it did NOT disappoint! The story of this expansion was one of my favorites since The Taken King and is in my top five Destiny storylines. The Lucent Hive are among my favorite enemies right after my all time faves, the SIVA corrupted Iron Lords. Something I have wanted since TTK was a storyline about fighting against enemy guardians (not in the Crucible) and this is probably one of the BEST ways they could’ve done that. Oryx, Xivu Arath, and Savathûn are in my opinion the most interesting characters in Destiny, and getting to see Savathûn in action was EVERYTHING I hoped it would be. She unfortunately didn’t live up to the hype of her brother Oryx, but there’s only so much you can do to live up with that without turning into a goddamn kaiju. Still, EXCELLENT expansion and a GREAT place to start if you’re looking to get into Destiny right now!!

2. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

ONE OF THE GAMES OF ALL TIME!!!! Rift Apart ABSOLUTELY lived up to the hype and is in my opinion the best game for next-gen consoles to be released so far. The story is INCREDIBLY enjoyable, the new characters are WONDERFUL additions to the franchise, and the gameplay is hours and hours of pure enjoyment. It was a wonderful use of the new features of the PS5 and absolutely didn’t hold back on using the console to its full potential. If you happen to own a PS5, this game is an absolute MUST!!

1. Sonic Frontiers

SONIC FRANCHISE SAVED!!!! I had a lot of hopes riding on this game and this game blew my expectations out of the water. Ian Flynn’s writing was exceptional and truly captured everything that I love about Sonic games. The open world design was SOOOO much fun and I REALLY hope to see more of it in the future! The boss fights are probably my favorite in any Sonic game I’ve ever played. The MOVESET was SICK AS HELL, I loved the use of combo attacks in this game, not a single battle ever felt boring. The enemy design was EXTREMELY fun, every miniboss was extremely fun and creative. And SAGE?? Everything to me, I hope she appears in every single new game from here on out. The game isn’t without it’s issues, the Cyber Space levels have many of the same issues I had with the level design in Sonic Forces, but that’s pretty much my main complaint. This game makes me EXTREMELY excited about the future of Sonic games. If you haven’t played it yet… do it immediately. There is no game I’ve played in the last five years I would recommend higher than Frontiers.

[dumbfinntales]

After a month of playing I finally rolled the credits in Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Despite playing this game almost daily for a month I never really got bored. Well, at least for the most part. I could still easily squeeze a lot more playing hours out of this game, but I’m not really feeling it. Playing any game non stop for a month can get tiring, no matter how good it is. This review thingamajig will contain spoilers, so read below at your own risk.

Totk is an interesting sequel. It does a lot of good and improves in some ways, but at the same time stays pretty much the same. The enemies are mostly the same, the locations are the same, the weapons, npc��s etc... But it has a lot of added new things that spice things up. The existence of Totk pretty much invalidates Breath of the wild. It’s practically the same game, but has tons of new content and mechanics on top. It’s like a massive DLC, and I know some people use that as insult, but that’s not the case here. I think Totk does a lot of new things that justify it being a new title, but it can’t shake the “this feels just like botw” feeling. And I’ll dive deeper into that thought later on.

So the game is essentially botw, but bigger. What’s new? There are new enemies, locations and mechanics to play around with. The main mechanic is sticking things together and potentially building cool things, but I was never too excited about this system. I did build some hot air balloons, cars and boats, but I never built a working mecha because honestly I didn’t care. I love watching peoples creations online though. Fuse mechanic was also somewhat interesting and I loved that you could put materials to use by fusing them into arrows. There are no elemental weapons or wands in this game because you can just glue an electric horn to a stick and you got a lightning sword.

I enjoyed the story quite a bit, honestly it was my favorite part. It wasn’t mind blowing, but Ganondorf was a fun villain and there were some story twists that really shocked me like Zelda turning into a dragon so she could survive to the modern era after having been sent back to the past. The main dungeons were neat too and I liked the bosses as they felt very traditional Zelda like. The sage companions that you slowly collected on your journey added a neat flair to the combat, although I hated chasing after them to activate their abilities.

Talking about bosses the final boss this time around was on point. I always found Calamity Ganon disappointing despite all the build up, but Ganondorf felt like he was worthy of the hype. Three phases with some neat gameplay bending surprises in the second phase, plus a really cool design. I cooked a lot of food for the fight and realized it was useless because of course he used gloom damage instead of damaging your normally. What made the fight somewhat easy was that he only did one heart worth of damage which allowed me to make a lot of mistakes.

I did enjoy my overall time with Totk, I wouldn’t have played it for a month straight if I didn’t like it. But I decided to put the game down after rolling credits, despite there being ton that I haven’t explored yet and maybe 70% of the depths are still unexplored for me. What gives? Because I genuinely feel like I’ve already played this game before. And I have, in Botw. Botw blew my mind back in 2017 and I loved the game to bits and thought it had one of the best open worlds ever. It’s still a fun world, but I’m essentially running through it all again. Of course things have changed a bit, but like I said it can’t shake the feeling.

Instead of the “ooh what’s over there?” feeling I got a “oh it’s this place” when I kept exploring. This demotivated me a bit, but I kept going because I wanted to see what had changed. I just wish there had been a new region or something to explore. There were the sky islands and the depths, and I did like the sky islands nothing against them. But the depths I didn’t like. There are even fewer things to see down there and I fundamentally hate it being dark and having to throw those bloom flowers around. You just run after lights the whole way and when you light the place up you realize there’s nothing to see. Just the same enemies as up above, some mines and a couple new enemies. Maybe there’s some big secret I haven’t discovered (which is very likely), but I can’t be bothered.

I’ve also got some other minor annoyances, like the enemies. There are some new ones, but the game still feels like I’m just fighting the same Bokoblins and Lizalfos everywhere I go. Even before the final boss you fight a horde of those guys. Side quests haven’t felt as interesting either and the rewards suck ass. You go through a big chain of quests only to be rewarded with a diamond or a damn zonai charge. The most memorable side quest chains were the Hateno village mayor elections and working as a journalist with the pelican Rito. Also I kinda digged the orchestra one where you unlock the great fairies. But most other quests have been very uninteresting.

In short, it’s a fun game if you were into Botw and you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of this one. I hope the next Zelda game does something truly new. A new setting, a new world and new mechanics. I’m pretty sure that the franchise is going to stick to the open world formula and I don’t mind that, I just want to see some truly new places and adventures. Tears of the kingdom gets a OH I REMEMBER THIS FROM THE PREVIOUS GAME out of HIYAAH!

[siofra-river]

I don't know the dark souls words but uh, your fav boss/place/weapon?

Oh my god. I had a whole thing typed and tumblr destroyed it. Crying. ANYWAYS ILL START IT OVER. I’m going to go by each game for all of these questions! I have a lot to say ok!

Starting with dark souls 1

My favorite area in the game is ash lake!! It’s a super out of the way area , halfway thru the bottom of the second worst area of the game, past TWO hidden walls, and down the interior of a really tall tree, where you’re likey to fall or get petrified. But god. It’s SO ATMOSPHERIC! It’s one of the few areas in the game w ambient music and it’s loud, intimidating and ominous, it’s so pretty as well. It’s a really optional area too which makes this incredibly amazing atmosphere even better, if you don’t accidentally find the hidden walls or already know about it, you miss the presentation but also the dragon covenant! Which is really the only reason to go there.

I can’t really say much about a favorite weapon tbh? Since like all my play through feature similar builds (boring ik) but black knight straight sword my beloved. In terms of presentation tho I really enjoy quelaag’s furysword, it’s a neat and scary cursed sword which when you swing it, it lights up with flames. Super dope. I also really like the Channeler’s tridents, they let you do a funny dance ^_^

Also favorite boss? I really can’t say I have one like in gameplay? Like I won’t deny these bosses have been revolutionary in some way. Helping cement dark souls and the souls-like formula but. They’re just so..annoying? Like a lot of them are just plain annoying. Or have really annoying mechanics. Like knocking you off into an instant death pit, or powering up to insane damage if you don’t cheese with an animation cancel. In lore though my favorite has to be Gwyndolin, I find them a really tragic figure who has a lot going for them (if they weren’t written so poorly) w a really great design.

Now dark souls 2!

My favorite area has to be Frozen Eleum Loyce, but really on a very specific version of it. The version of it when you first get there, where a lot of the enemies aren’t active, but also a majority of the map is closed off as a result. While it’s like this, I find Loyce to be absolutely breathtaking, it’s got a gorgeous view from just about anywhere you can see off into the distance. And then it becomes a sequel to Shrine of Amana once you wake the city up, giving you the classic dark souls 2 scenario of: 7 melee enemies with 3 ranged ladies with absolute insane homing magic while you’re impaired in some way(can’t see well, can’t move well, poison, bleeding, etc)

Eleum Loyce also has one of my favorite bosses in the game there, the Burnt Ivory King, the build-up to his fight is nigh insufferable (I HATE FINDING THE KNIGHTS) but once you get there, and kill his minions. It’s worth it, you feel like you’re fighting against an actual king, and once you come out on top you feel like you’ve improved. Also the lore for the king is badass as fuck, one of the few guys in that game who is a genuinely good guy who did what he could to stop a threat.

Also as an honorable mention, my second favorite fight in dark souls 2. Velstadt. He’s cool as hell, he’s big, he’s intimidating, he’s tough but fair, and he’s unique. Like BIK, he’s at the end of a very annoying area/sequence. I HATE THOSE ENEMY SUMMONING BELLS, but once you fight him and win you feel god tier. He’s really fun to fight, he’s got pretty clearly telegraphed moves you can dodge but still does high damage and has a really interesting weapon, his hammer also is a bell, which he uses as a Catalyst to summon Hexes/Miracles. I also just think his armor is sexy as fuck, they really went nuts w it.

Also my favorite weapon in dark souls 2 is probably the staff of wisdom. Used it thru like all of my first ds2 playthrough so it has a special place in my heart ❤️ got me through like all the dlc and all the bullshit

Ok dark souls 3!!

Ok I have so so so much to say about dark souls 3 but I will restrain myself to talk about only 2 areas in the game. But honestly like every area of ds3 is good, like they really just put so much detail and love in to like every area. I can’t overstate how pretty and detail oriented this game is.

Anyways..first area is the Ringed City. This area was introduced as the last dlc for the game and as the way to wrap up the entire franchise. Effectively finishing it and ending the story in a way THATS slightly hopeful! The whole area is amazing, from the poison swamps to the temples. I adore it all. The whole ringed city dlc is amazing. I love the architecture and sense of style the city has, it’s ancient and decrepit in ways but still so full of life and action. I also love it overall for what it represents, a city lost to the rest of the world filled with reminders of the failure of Gwyn, the whole dlc is honestly a big fuck you to Gwyn, showing once again how terrible he was.

It also has my favorite fight in the entire game series, and one of my favorite boss fights of all time, Slave Knight Gael. Gael has a lot of lore around him that really contextualizes what he’s doing and how long he’s been doing it. This man has been around for thousands of years and is trying to fix things, at the cost of his own sanity, knowing that you the player are going to kill him and finish his job. The fight is full of so many details that frankly still astonishes me. When you run away from him, he uses a summon sign to get closer, during phase 2 Gael goes hollow (by completing his task of reforming the dark soul) which makes him take more damage from the hollowslayer greatsword, he uses a miracle from thousands of years ago. AUGH..I CARE HIM...

Ok now that I’m done crying abt Gael I’ll talk abt my next favorite area which is the demon ruins! The demon ruins isn’t a very combat intensive area, while there certainly is a lot of enemies they aren’t very hard, which really helps highlight the tragedy of the area. The demon ruins is the long forgotten ruins of lost izaleth from dark souls 1, the home of the race of demons. But in dark souls 3, they’re a dying breed, throughout the demon ruins you see countless corpses of demons such as capra and taurus demons, and even see the body of the fair lady, one of the daughters of the Witch of Izaleth, who was the leader of the Chaos Servants covenant from dark souls 1. It’s nice to see the game gave small acknowledgements and closure on characters. The demon ruins is another optional area you kind of have to go out of your way to get to, but the game subtle pushes you to explore it because at the end there’s a route to stopping the ballista that has been shooting you the entire time you’ve been at smoldering lake, which is an area necessary for the hidden ending.

(I can’t find a good pic sry)

Anyways! The last of my last rambling, favorite dark souls 3 weapon..in the ways of practicality..good ol reliable flamberge, used it my first playthrough and it was so nice. It’s also the weapon used by the scariest npc invader, holy knight hodrick. But in terms of visuals, both of pontiff sulyvahn’s weapons, their really distinct color glows are so fucking pretty and can make you feel god tier even if you aren’t. The ringed knight straight sword is also up there with the weapon art creating this beautiful effect of flames covering the whole blade...

Aughh dark souls..