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fountainpenguin · 18 days

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"We could have ourselves quite a fling... Tail to tail, feather to feather- don't you think we oughta flock together~?" (x)

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New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 30 - “Scintillate (Bdubs)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

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After a long debate, the Jungle Duo agree to restructure their archaeologist roleplay into romance. Bdubs can roll with anything- it's fine! He's not feeling lonely and worthless after passing his phantom flock captain title to Martyn.

Grian, who just took a slap in the face from Scar rejecting his QPR proposal, opts to throw caution to the wind like the chaos-chasing bird he is. Let's plan a little roleplay...

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

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BdoubleO100

Status: Taking the lead

Captain of New Star Station’s phantom hybrid flock

💙 🧡 💚

Grian’s idea of a skin change, apparently, was pulling his goggles down over his eyes and switching out his red sweater for a green one. When Bdubs gives him a pointed look, Grian whips his Sherlock Grian hat out from behind him and situates it carefully on his curls. They’re extra fluffy today… Bdubs wonders drearily if that’s just part of the costume change or if Grian’s trying to get a reaction out of him. Oh, he’ll get a reaction…

Bdubs crosses his arms. There are several farm servers and they keep the portals in a hallway-shaped building of the same name. One’s for sheer optimization- Testing, fiddling, and demonstrating farms at max efficiency. Several are for mobs. One of the food servers is a little tamer and you get a lot of recipe theorists practicing their culinary crafting in there. One server’s packed with restaurants. Kinda defeats the purpose when it won’t leave you saturated in Between, but Scott likes to review the required resources (read: taste-test) before he approves them into New Star.

Then, well… There are the carrot servers. Several of ‘em, actually, just to give people elbow room. Nice way to minimize running into an ex. There are some servers with nice ballrooms or gardens to walk through, but Grian specifically asked for beds. So, cabins and beds is what he’s gonna get. Bdubs waits near the portal entrance (away from the line) and starts tapping his foot as Grian jogs up to join him. “I thought I said you don’t wanna attract attention in there.”

“Honestly, you know what I’m like. This is as good as it gets with me, mate.” Grian looks him up and down. “Don’t look at me that way when you barely changed either. Bdubs! Turn around for me.”

Bdubs gives a grunt. He picked a skin with a dark blue shirt for this, plus gray checkerboard pants. Very soft. Perfect snugglewear. He’s still got his mossy shawl on, but it’s not a big deal if he’s recognized. He pops by the carrot server all the time. Not always ‘cuz he’s here to see someone… Far too many people steal away in their low-energy moments and forget the server will kick them out when they’re in the last few minutes of phantom hour. This place is a feeding frenzy for phantom hybrids ten minutes before the clock tower chimes.

This is where the lower-ranked members of the flock hunt, actually, ‘cuz it’s so easy it doesn’t take any skill. Bdubs can see two of them perched high in the alcoves, chatting and licking code strings from between their fingers. They’re both splattered in blue. Well-fed. It’s way too easy here.

Maybe it’s time I let you two roam the streets.

They’re not the only ones, either. The Fox Dragon’s phantoms are loitering here too. Easy pickings, they must’ve figured out. Bdubs itches to nip at them, tell ‘em to go do some real hunting in the city, but this isn’t his circus and those aren’t his monkeys. Martyn’s the one who’d have to shoo ‘em off, and he’s back at the clock tower like a good boy. He better be.

At least the rival captain’s not here. She’s got smaller wings, but Bdubs isn’t her biggest fan. She’s fine. But introducing two captains into one hunting ground without a lot of buildup is always gonna be trouble. She and Martyn prickled around each other when Bdubs set him up on a “blind playdate” Monday night. When he and Scott went back for pick-up, they were building with Lego at the same table and talking about whatever, but the ruffled hair and many scratch marks told a story that didn’t need questions asked.

Still… New Star’s a tempting hunting ground. If Martyn can’t hold his own, Charlotte’s captain might try to throw him out.

Welp. Good lesson to learn if it come to it. Not his problem tonight. While Grian smirks, tugging at the end of his mossy shawl, Bdubs turns his head towards the portal mouth. The line’s been moving at a decent speed. Grian moves towards it, but Bdubs hesitates before plodding over to join him.

“What’s up?” Grian asks, folding arms behind his head.

“… You’re gonna get scoped out as a new kid. It’s your first time on the server. We’re dropping in at spawn. That’s where they try to get you.”

“Who was this?”

“Code sellers. Don’t look at ‘em.”

“Oh.” Grian goes quiet then. People ahead of them disappear inside the portal. After a moment, Grian asks, “Did you log out at spawn?”

“Near there, yeah. At least, I think I did… But just to be safe, give me ten seconds before you step in after me. Oh, and… We’re gonna be around sparked villagers, so try not to show your hands too much. Scares ‘em.”

Grian nods. They step into a fenced-off little area of space. The white blocks and pink mist of the portal yawn in front of them. HALO Copper’s watching, splitting groups and asking people one at a time if they’re consenting to step inside. One of New Star’s phantom hybrids drapes atop the portal blocks in silent reminder that she’ll lunge if requested. Grian moves to the side while HALO Copper shoots Bdubs a skeptical look.

“Business or pleasure?”

“Oh, he better not give me any trouble.” Bdubs hooks a thumb at Grian, who waves back. “I’m here with G. No funny business and no hunting. Cross my middle heart.”

Couple more questions. The usual. Then Bdubs pops through the pink mist. He mentally grabs hold and swishes downwards, landing with a shimmer when he’s on-server and the mist is gone.

BdoubleO100 joined the game

Everything looks to be in order. He’s near the “town square,” in a partitioned-off spot surrounded by fence posts. There’s a bed a few blocks away. You’re s’posed to set spawn at the bed upfront before you leave, or at the very least they want you to break the bed you were using. You can probably imagine how awkward it’d be to die and respawn in a room someone else rented for the evening.

The spawn area’s got an open sky. It’s pretty much a town, complete with a market. The usual solicitors try and get his attention, but Bdubs flips up his hood and ignores them. He struts back and waits around the square ‘til Grian shimmers in at spawn in front of him.

Grian joined the game

Grian shows up stretching high, wings fanned out around him. Show-off. Bdubs grunts in memory of what he lost, but doesn’t comment. Since Grian changed skins, his feathers have lost their high-saturation shimmer, but there’s no denying he still looks good. Mossy green’s a pretty color on him.

Can’t wait to help with that.

“Whoo, what a rush,” Grian muses, and starts parsing the feathers in his wings as though examining them for the first time in his life. “It’s not vanilla here, then.”

“‘Cuz your wings didn’t shrink?” Baby wings are the default if you haven’t touched an elytra yet. Dog’s Life is one of the exceptions to that rule since they’ve got trait mods going on. “Yeah, the admin knows people like to flaunt ‘em. It’s why they don’t make you scrub client-side mods off before you join. C’mon- gotta put our names in the book and tell the staff when to check up on us.”

“Runs like a wheel,” Grian remarks, trotting after him.

[Full chapter on AO3 - Link at top]

#trafficfic #BdoubleO100 #Grian #Dog's Life #Dog's Life art #fic announcement #ridwriting #apparently art #trafficshipping #hermitshipping #??? it's complicated #Hilariously I still see this as platonic because. have you met them? but.#mcyt #trafficblr

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tarot-junkie · 3 months

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Tonight’s dinner was pure sex on a plate.

#recipes #cream sauce

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foodffs · 1 year

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This vegan beef & broccoli stir-fry is better than takeout and almost as easy! Made with stir-fried soy curls and broccoli in a mouthwatering sesame sauce, this dinner can be on the table in under 30 minutes. Recipe: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegan-beef-broccoli/

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mustlovegarlic · 2 years

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EASY CHEESE STUFFED GARLIC-BUTTER CRESCENT ROLLS

#food #food photography #recipe #recipes #easy recipes #cooking #photography #foodporn #garlic #dinner #easy recipe in under 30 minutes #crescent rolls #dinner rolls #cheese lovers #cheesy #garlic butter

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hogwarts-in-beaconhills · 2 years

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Neil Josten Approved Smoothie

- 3 tbs oats

- giant spoonful of nut butter (thick is best, I use peanut butter)

- big scoop of frozen berries (I use strawberries, blueberries, black berries, and raspberries. 1/2 to 3/4 of your cup or bowl)

- sprinkle of cinnamon

- sprinkle of chocolate milk powder (optional)

- water to texture (important for blending, but add a little to start and more if needed. Or milk)

- tiny squirt of peach jelly (very strong in my experience, but very good. We all know Neil likes peaches.)

Blend until smooth, add nuts and honey to garnish. Comes out a rich, warm purple. Substitute as you like.

#hogwarts.in.beaconhills #aftg #all for the game #irl things #aftg neil #easy recipe #quick recipe #fruit smoothie #smoothie #easy recipe in under 30 minutes #easy #simple recipe #yummy #recipe #recipes

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recimeapp · 2 years

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Yakitori

By kristinesubagiyo

#homecooking #recime #easy recipes #easy recipe in under 30 minutes #delicious #yakitori #bbqporn

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suchananewsblog · 1 year

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Watch: Quick And Easy Matar Recipe. This Stir-Fry Matar Sabzi Can be Made In Just 10 Minutes

There are times when we want a simple, light meal that doesn’t require much effort to make. Here is a dish that doesn’t require chopping vegetables and long cooking process. Matar (peas), as you all know, is one of the easiest vegetables to cook with. We are going to make a unique matar recipe that is simple yet tastes delicious. It turns out crispy and absolutely lip-smacking. This stir-fry…

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#indian sabzi recipes #matar recipe #quick and easy #stir fry #stir fry matar recipe #under 30 minutes recipes

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mistergandalf · 8 months

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Hollandaise is not just for chefs! You can make it too!

For @theweathermellon and also the rest of you. Beware though. Once you know how to do this, you're gonna want to make eggs benedict at home ALL the time.

These instructions are VERY detailed so that you understand the process! You'll the get hang of it if you practice. Recipe under the cut!

OKAY so first: your basic measurements. The numbers below are to make enough hollandaise to cover ONE serving of eggs benedict. If you're making this for two people, double it. Three people? You might be able to get away with two egg yolks still, depends on how much hollandaise people like. I like to drown my eggs benny soo that's me.

READ THE DIRECTIONS IN FULL BEFORE YOU START MAKING THIS OR YOU'RE GONNA WASTE EGGS

INGREDIENTS

1 egg yolk from a large egg (if you're using an extra large egg, you might need a little more of the other liquid ingredients. I don't recommend using smaller than a large egg)

1/2 tablespoon milk (I use half & half a lot of the time bc I have that more often)

lemon juice to taste (start with a very light teaspoon and work your way up or you're going to have a VERY lemony hollandaise. I recommend squeezing a real lemon, because bottled lemon juice has lemon oil added to it and it changes the taste a bit.)

salt & pepper to taste (go easy on the salt. you can always add more, but you can't take it out)

1/2 cup SALTED butter (you can sub unsalted if you must, but you'll have to add more salt anyway, and it's just not the same. trust me)

AND NOW HOW TO MAKE IT. I'm going to give you TWO ways to make it. The first is the way I do it when I'm just making it for myself, because the measurements are so small, and it's just easier with less cleanup. The second is the way I do it when I'm making enough for several people, as it feels more worth it. Here we go.

THE MICROWAVE WAY

Melt your butter in a measuring cup you can pour from. Don't let it pop or overheat! Just enough so that there's nothing solid left in the cup. If your butter is too hot, it'll cook your egg yolk, and you'll have to start over.

Whisk together the egg yolk, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small microwaveable bowl. Don't do the milk and the lemon juice at the same time, or your milk will curdle.

Whisk in the milk. Stirring is not an alternative. Whisk it.

SLOWLY pour a thin stream of butter into your egg yolk mixture as you continue to whisk it. Don't pour it all in at once! You're making an emulsion, which is when you combine two ingredients that don't usually want to combine. You have to do it slowly so that they actually mix!

Pop that baby in the microwave at 50% power (or power level 5) for 1-3 minutes, taking it out to re-whisk every 15-30 seconds. This is where it gets tricky! The less you're making, the less time it needs, and the more often you need to whisk it. This is not the time to multitask. Watch your sauce.

Your hollandaise is done when it's shiny and JUST thick enough where you can see lines from where you've whisked it. Any thinner and it'll just be slop on your plate. Any thicker, and - well, it'll become thin again. Because it'll be too hot and it'll break. You'll know you've broken your sauce when you just have a yellow oil with tiny, whispy egg bits floating in it. If this happens, well - we'll talk about that in a minute.

Taste your sauce. Add in extra salt, pepper, or lemon juice as you need until it tastes the way you want!

THE FANCY WAY (ON THE STOVE)

Do steps 1-4 above, but instead of whisking the egg yolks in a bowl, you're gonna do it in a double boiler. That's the pot that has another pot that fits right on top of it. If you don't have one, you can put a glass or metal bowl over a pot of water - you'll want one big enough to sit on top without touching the water at all. You only need about an inch of water in the bottom pot. THE STOVE SHOULD BE OFF TO START.

Put your double boiler on the stove and turn on the burner to medium-high or high heat. How high the heat needs to be depends on what kind of stove you have. I have a gas stove, so I don't need it on full blast. If you have an electric stove, crank that baby all the way up. Your goal is to boil the water in your bottom pot.

As soon as the water starts to heat up, start whisking your sauce and do not stop. What you're doing now is emulsifying your sauce over heat without applying the heat directly to the sauce. If you stop, your sauce may start to boil and break on the sides, so keep going.

Your hollandaise is done when it's shiny and JUST thick enough where you can see lines from where you've whisked it. This is the same as #6 above. If you catch yourself thinking, "Oh, I just want it a LITTLE bit thicker," and it's already starting to stick to the whisk, stop yourself. Repent for your hubris before the food gods break your hollandaise.

Taste your sauce. Add in extra salt, pepper, or lemon juice as you need until it tastes the way you want!

OH NO! I BROKE MY HOLLANDAISE :(

It happens! Even I still do it sometimes, and I make it all the time. SOMETIMES, you can save it! What you'll want to do is take a small spoonful of HOT water, nearly boiling (if you're poaching eggs at the same time, the water from that pot is perfect) and drop it into your sauce. Then whisk for your life and pray for mercy. If it forms back together into a nice, smooth, shiny yellow sauce, the food gods have answered your prayer.

If you try that and it doesn't work, then you'll have to start over. Sorry :(

AND THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE HOLLANDAISE. And an additional tip for poaching eggs: Add a little bit of vinegar to your water - just like a teaspoon or so. Your water should be a nice, rolling boil - not boiling out of control. And stir your water into a lazy whirlpool and drop your egg into the middle of it, from as close to the water as you can manage without burning your fingers. You're welcome.

#recipe #hollandaise

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thatsmytrunks · 4 months

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Fred's Games of the Year 2023 List

This year I kept a list of every game I played

Games I finished in 2024

Super Mario 64

This was the year I got back into speedrunning Super Mario 64. I went to a local brewery with some friends and saw they had a Nintendo 64 hooked up with a copy of Super Mario 64, so I told my friends I could beat it in under 30 minutes. With some beer in me, it took around 35. I decided to take some time this year to get that under 30, and I succeeded. It was fun to get back to playing on original hardware, and I even set up a whole streaming station using an old PVM.

Super Mario 64 CoOp

sm64ex-coop is a branched modification of the Super Mario 64 decompilation project that allows you to use online netplay to play Super Mario 64 with friends, cooperatively. It’s a blast, and every time I played it with a different group of friends, we’d play until we got to 16 stars, and then I’d inevitably try to beat the game there. Totally worth looking into as it’s real easy to get up and running.

Destiny 2: Lightfall

Lightfall’s campaign is a wild low point for the franchise. After last year’s Witch Queen campaign knocked it completely out of the park, and where Season of the Seraph left the world narratively, hopes and expectations for Lightfall were in the stratsophere.

Lightfall was fun but the narrative was a trash fire. I’ve spent 8 years up to this point playing Destiny, getting invested in the characters and world, and Destiny’s world is coming to a fever pitch in the opening of Lightfall, with the biggest bad knocking on our door. But Lightfall treats this situation, which has earned the severity of its weight and the right to be taken seriously over these last 8 years, as an 80’s action comedy with montages and quips all throughout. Couple this with the introduction of The Veil without any explanation of what it is or why it’s important with the ending that we have failed, and you get a recipe that makes your playerbase so soured that it’s no wonder they missed 45% of their projections.

All of this is sad to see, but at the same time, Destiny’s in the best state it’s ever been. The core loop is still a blast, grinding has been minimized, and they’ve streamlined a little more of the onboarding process for new players by bringing back some of the previously vaulted campaign missions with some slight tweaks to make them fresh.

All told, I’m still excited for The Final Shape next year. The future of Destiny has yet to be written.

Chaos;Head NoaH

Chaos;Head NoaH is another entry in the Science Adventure series, which I have a lot of love for since playing Steins;Gate. I wish I’d played Chaos;Head NoaH before playing Chaos;Child, but that’s not how they released in the west. I think that really soured my time with the game since I knew a lot of what was going on behind the scenes. I don’t have a lot to say about NoaH, but it was pretty alright.

myhouse.wad

I can’t say too much about myhouse.wad without spoiling myhouse.wad. It’s a small experience built off of Doom II that does some really creative things in that engine. If you haven’t heard about it, grab gzDoom and Doom II and go download the game from this forum thread.

There’s so many videos of the game and about the game out there, but I would really encourage you to play it for yourself first. I think the absolute best way to play myhouse.wad is over a Discord call while some friends who have already played it watch you experience it. It’s a really wonderful communal experience.

Vampire Survivors (100%)

Vampire Survivors kicks ass, y’all. I 100%’d it early in the year, and was excited to do so again when it released on Nintendo Switch. Not a lot more to say about the game than what has been said by many before, but it’s a wonderful way to make time disappear while the numbers get bigger.

Mother 3

I’ve talked a lot about Mother 3 this year, but more importantly, I finally finished it. It’s a very difficult game that has a story that is warm and sad, and is absolutely inspirational. Here’s my thoughts from when I finished it:

I finally finished my years-in-the-making playthrough of MOTHER 3 last night. I usually gush about the games that I love and have tons to say, but I don't really have much to talk about after having finished this one.

The game's a masterpiece, tells a great story, has so many wonderful moments, is wildly huge and varied, and has a hell of a surprise at the 11th hour. I'd recommend it to most anyone, though with the caveat that I think the game's incredibly challenging. Maybe throw on a cheat or two for a couple of the very hard encounters.

I started this attempted (and successful!) playthrough in the beginning of 2022, after finally having finished EarthBound. I got to the end of Chapter 3 and set it down. A few months later, I lost my mom to lung cancer. I'm still messed up from it, which I think is pretty normal. When I started up Chapter 4 earlier this month, I got hit like a sack of bricks. The game had a time skip between the chapters, where I'd taken a break. The main character for the chapter, Lucas, is reminded of his mother constantly, with occasional flashbacks to the times when she was alive. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I almost put the game back down, but ultimately I'm really glad I didn't.

One last, unexpected thing. Finishing MOTHER 3 has given me a different context for other works I've enjoyed, almost like learning a new language for appreciating them. For example, Undertale and Deltarune have some references that completely flew over my head before, and now I fully get them, and get to appreciate them all over again.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Tears of the Kingdom might be the perfect adventure game. I’ve never had a game that has made me want to explore it so thoroughly, creating small quests for myself to go and climb this thing, go map that thing, go craft this ridiculous machine, etc etc. It is without question the best Zelda game ever made, and I loved it in its entirety. That story was so affecting, and the ending was incredibly satisfying. I only wish it ran at a smooth framerate at a higher resolution. Maybe on the next release of Nintendo Hardware.

OFF

Toby Fox asked me, “did you ever play OFF?”

I said “No, should I?”

He said “Yeah probably.”

So over the course of the week, sketches scribbled across sticky notes and scratch paper, I played the 2008 French RPG Maker horror game, OFF. It was an incredibly satisfying experience to beat the game without guides. I’ve had the horrifying soundtrack on my phone ever since and listen to it any time I want to be put in a very weird mood. I’d recommend playing it, and there’s a free English translation, so grab that.

Final Fantasy XVI

Final Fantasy XVI is the only game in memory that I’ve played a demo, then went to the store and immediately picked up the game. I was so blown away by the game’s bombastic visuals and presentation that I just wanted to see more and more of it. The combat was so much fun, Ben Starr’s voice for Clive was so sonically soothing, and the story had just enough curiosity to it to drive me to buy my first $70 video game at retail price.

The joy of that game continued for the first 2/3rds, then the sheen fell all the way off. The fetch quests became boring, the story became convoluted, and at some point I just wished it would be over. And when it was, I was so throroughly unsatisfied with its conclusion that it soured the previous 60 hours.

I’ll revisit FFXVI some day if they put out some satisfying story DLC with a PC port, but for now I’m going to look at it as the game that almost had something to say.

If you have played the game, I’d really recommend listing to this episode of Abnormal Mapping with Austin Walker, as he put into words all the feelings I had and so much more.

Sonic Origins Plus

For years I’ve asked for Sonic 1/2/3K/CD on modern platforms in the Retro Engine, and finally we have that. After the Plus expansion and the last round of bug fixes, I think Sonic Origins Plus is now the best Official way to play these games. I played through all four games 100% while on my trip to Japan in July this year, halfway through picking up a 6-Button Sega Mega Drive controller from the Nintendo Store (weird times we live in). I’d never gotten all the time stones in Sonic CD, but thanks to the retry function they added and the removal of lives, that game became a delight to wander and explore. It’s a shame they don’t give you an option to disable the timer, which is the only problem left with Sonic CD’s focus on discovery.

If you can pick up Sonic Origins Plus for less than $30, I can’t recommend it enough. If you’re on PC or have modified hardware, maybe check out the decompilation projects of Sonic 1 & 2, and Sonic CD, and download Sonic 3 AIR.

Super Mario RPG

Weirdly enough, I’ve never finished Super Mario RPG. I’ve been trying to take more time to fill out my video game lexicon and play games that I’d never gotten around to, and this was the year for Super Mario RPG for the Super Nintendo.

I love how much this game did to tell a warm story with such expressive characters with the hardware of the era. It’s amazing just how many sprites they used and the way they made them act. Keeping Mario as a silent protagonist who has to tell stories to people through miming it out is so charming.

The battle system is fun and satisfying, the characters are hilarious, the music is wonderful, and best of all, it’s short. I’m excited to give the Nintendo Switch version a run through next year.

Anonymous;Code

Anonymous;Code is, as the semicolon gives it away, another game in the SciAdv series, this one being the latest at the time of publication. It follows a hacker who discovers they have the ability to literally save and load the world, enabling an incredibly fascinating method of time travel. There’s not a ton I can say about the game without giving too much away, but it’s a real 10/10 and the shortest visual novel I think I’ve ever played, clocking in my 100% playthrough at about 17 hours. It’s also a visual treat with their implementation of Live2D. If you’ve never played a SciAdv game I’d certainly recommend the original Steins;Gate first, but this game stands on its own beautifully.

The Police Mystery

The Police Mystery is a thinly veiled fetish game about giant women. It’s not good but it sure was fun to play with Xalavier Nelson Jr on stream. Wouldn’t recommend playing it or watching it. I probably shouldn’t even bring it up.

Also there’s no mystery.

Muv-Luv Extra, Muv-Luv Unlimited, & Muv-Luv Alternative

I started playing Muv-Luv on a whim and fell down a rabbit hole and I think I want out.

Muv-Luv Extra is a pretty rout Dating Sim about a jerk of a main character who has a bunch of girls fawning over him for some reason. I got multiple endings at the recommendation of various forums before continuing, and at the time I was confused as to why anyone would ever recommend this game.

Muv-Luv Unlimited starts on the same day that Extra starts, but when the player leaves their bedroom, they discover the world has been ravaged by Aliens that invaded the Earth 28 years prior, while retaining all memories of their previous life. Almost all of the same characters are there, but now they’re soldiers at a UN base that was formerly the school Extra took place. It’s a hell of a twist and I liked it. I have to spoil it to talk about Unlimited, so suffice to say that at the end of the game, Humanity loses.

Muv-Luv Alternative starts on the same day in the same war torn world, but the player character remembers most of what took place in both Extra and Unlimited. While events all start the same, things start to go very differently. It’s a pretty good twist with some really great moments but there are two unforgiveable things the game does to characters that make it impossible to recommend to anyone.

I’m now watching the Anime Adaptation of Alternative and I hate this ride and I want off. But also to detox, I’m playing Muv-Luv Photon Melodies, which is a happy ending to all of it. Again, can’t recommend it. Don’t go down this rabbit hole.

Sonic Superstars

Sonic Superstars is the game I’ve wanted forever by the people who I wanted to make it, but half baked. It’s a classic style 2D Sonic game with absolutely phenomenal 3D graphics, treating the original Sonic designs with love and respect, and the gameplay feels almost exactly like the Sega Genesis games I grew up with. Unfortunately, half of the music is atrocious, some of the levels are frustrating and boring, some have mechanics that make them terribly unfun, and some of the bosses are infuriating. The final boss of the main game sapped away almost all good will I had for the game. Some day I’ll finish it and see the true ending, but I might wait for more fan mods to fix some of the odds and ends to make it more enjoyable.

I think that if Naoto Oshima and his team at Arzest got a chance to make another game in this vein, it could be a huge success. This really felt like it was most of the way there.

Risk of Rain Returns

The Bancast’s game of the year all years returns with a gorgeous coat of new paint, all sorts of lessons learned from Risk of Rain 2, and functional netcode. Risk of Rain is my favorite roguelike in which you defeat enemies, get gold and xp, find chests to get augmenting items, and then loop the game over and over again while it gets more and more challening.

Lethal Company

Lethal Company has become the new favorite game to play with all sorts of friend groups, taking the spot that something like Among Us was in 2020/2021. It’s a simple scavenging and resource management game that you play with friends, but the fun lies in proximity voice chat for communications, and the horrible realization that you’re not alone. The hilarity and fear that comes out of this game every session is some of the most fun I’ve had with video games.

Like a Dragon Gaiden

Like a Dragon Gaiden is Yakuza 7b. While I technically didn’t finish the game until January 3rd of 2024, I’m including it on this list.

Yakuza 6 ended with (spoilers) Kazuma Kiryu sacrificing himself for his loved ones. But of course, he didn’t die, because no one in Yakuza games are ever truly dead. Instead, Kiryu has gone into hiding, working for a big mysterious government organization to keep their secret safe, and to keep his loved ones safer. I initially thought it was time to give Kiryu the rest he deserved and let Ichiban and other new characters carry this series forward, but after finishing Gaiden I am relieved and surprised with how much I agree with the move to bring Kiryu back. Upon finishing the game I very excitedly started trying to figure out where to pre-order Like a Dragon 8: Infinite Wealth.

Games I Played in 2023

Bujingai The Forsaken City

A weird and enjoyable 3D Action game for the PlayStation 2 featuring Gackt. It’s worth emulating.

Crab Champions

It’s risk of rain with crabs and really fast movement. I’ll come back to it sometime.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

I wish I finished this game, but them deciding to make a murder mystery game about Sonic the Hedgehog and giving it to a team with a lot of love and respect for the genre was such a cool move.

Like a Dragon: Ishin

I can’t believe they gave Yakuza Ishin, a 2014 PS3 Yakuza spin-off game about feudal Japan, a full remake in 2023. I have not finished the game solely because other things grabbed my attention, but everything about the game was great and I look forward to going back to it.

Lost Judgment

The Judgment series got PC ports last year, and I finally got around to finishing Judgment and had an unsurprisingly fantastic time with it. Lost Judgment’s story dragged a bit too much, and I put it down for a bit. I’ve heard that it gets to be pretty amazing, so I’ll pick it back up very soon.

Picross E9

Picross E9 is a Picross game for the 3DS that never got released in the west, and thank goodness someone made a fan translation. I love Picross.

Celeste

I only touched Celeste on a live stream for a bit, but it was an incredibly valuable experience. That game has such great fluidity to it, and I learned that it wasn’t just a single screen platformer like I thought it was. I’ll probably go back to it sometime.

Lies of P

Lies of P, or Piss Fibs as one of my friends called it, is too fucking hard and I’m never going back. I’m a fake gamer and I don’t care what anyone says about me.

Titanfall 2 Northstar

I only played a few nights of Titanfall 2 Northstar with some friends, but man, Titanfall 2 is good as hell. They should make another one of those.

Super Mario Wonder

Super Mario Wonder came out the same week as Sonic Superstars, and I seem to have maybe focused on the wrong game that week. Wonder is a hell of a game filled with creativity and originality. I’ll go back to it at some point.

Cocoon

Cocoon is good as hell and is probably a game of the year contender, but I didn’t have the time for it when it droppped. I will go back this year. Jeppe Carlsen made THOTH. Dude doesn’t know how to make a bad video game.

Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 is easily one of the most impressive video games ever made. I put about 18 hours into the game and enjoyed getting to know other characters, do some particularly ridiculous Tabletop RPG shenanigans, and had a pretty good time. But the world didn’t grab me and I just wasn’t that into the story. Maybe I’ll try again sometime.

Logiart Grimoire

Logiart Grimoire is an early access Picross game from Jupiter, the folks who have made all of the good Picross games. There’s an overarching storyline that is mostly uninteresting and a little bit of light puzzle work before you get to do a Picross puzzle, but it’s a Steam release of Picross from the folks who made Picross. You can’t go wrong with it.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (Steam)

The kind folks at Activision Blizard King Xbox sent me a review code for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 on Steam, and I’m delighted to share that 2020’s game of the year is still just as good in 2023 on a platform that everyone uses.

Call of Duty MW3 2023

The kind folks at Activision Blizard King Xbox sent me a review code for 2023’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 on PC and it wasn’t very fun. I really liked the part of the game that everyone else hated where you’re in big open area places taken from Warzone where you do a couple of nonsense missions. The game looks as expensive as always.

Street Fighter VI

I excitedly purchased Street Fighter VI the same way I pick up every hot new fighting game: with the knowledge that I’m not gonna spend that much time with it. I really enjoyed creating a character and the World Warrior mode as it was the right amount of silly for me. I never got around to playing any multiplayer, but maybe when a character pack goes on sale I’ll grab that and play with some friends.

Armored Core VI

Armored Core VI sure is good, huh? I had a real good time customizing the hell out of a gorgeous looking mech. I played a bunch of levels, beat a few bosses, and had a blast. Not enough to finish the game, but enough to say “Yeah this game sure is good, huh.”

Live Service Games of 2023

Halo MCC

2023 was the year that Halo The Master Chief Collection was finally completed. Only took 9 years, but now there’s a masterpiece collection of Halo games available on XBox and PC with a huge collection of improvements and mod tools for a thriving community to build new and exciting experiences to be played over Steam.

Halo Infinite

I played a lot of Halo Infinite in 2023. Forge really saved this game in a big way, from new levels for matchmaking, new mini games for custom games, and into Forgeable AI allowing for unique Firefight experiences and fully custom campaign style levels. The seasonal model finally works, and the mini seasons they started doing at the end of the year have been super fun too. I find that it’s never hard to get into a game, and I frequently see my friends still playing. Halo’s back, baby.

Fortnite

I’m still so surprised by how much fun I’ve been having with Fortnite. I’ve been buying and completing most of the season passes, buying characters like John Cena and dances like Gangnam Style, and playing both incredibly sweatily and equally ridiculously. Fornite’s become a great space to jump in, find a thing to do for a bit, either alone or with some of my friends, and just have a good time.

Lego Fortnite

Lego Fortnite kinda came out of nowhere, but I’ve really enjoyed this very pretty free to play Valheim knock off. It’s still pretty early days, but I’m having fun with it.

Team Fortress 2

I played Team Fortress 2 with a bunch of friends when Valve put out the surprise update, and I was really struck by how good TF2 still is in 2023. There’s some rough edges, but that game has aged like wine.

Counter-Strike 2

Speaking of surprise Valve updates, Counter-Strike 2 has been a delight. I’ve had a small group of friends who like to play a few matches a week, and having to take my gameplay seriously in CS2 has actually demonstrably made me better at other First Person Shooters. Sure half of the games we play are ruined by an absolute idiot of a rando or devastated by cheaters on the other team, but the half of games that aren’t feel fantastic. It’s wild how good CS2 is.

And now, my ranking of 2024's games:

10.) Sonic Superstars

9.) Final Fantasy XVI

8.) Sonic Origins Plus

7.) Anonymous;Code

6.) Like a Dragon Gaiden

5.) Lethal Company

4.) Counter-Strike 2

3.) myhouse.wad

2.) Risk of Rain Returns

1.) Tears of the Kingdom

#gameoftheyear

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