#i actually enjoy when its grind time like this bc it makes me creative and engaged

[solemntitty]

me @ myself: if you can somehow grind to 50 pity without wrio i give you permission to whale to guaranteed

[ganondoodle]

( totk rant?)

i have talked alot about my problems with totk in detail, as most of you probably know by now- but there really is a vibe of big ambitions but then not committing to it throughout the game

they want to have that building mechanic in it no matter what in a world that isnt in any way build around it, mister "freedom = good, linear = bad" guy wanting to give you ultimate freedom in the game (which imo leads to it being nothing again) but not committing to it and it creates a really toxic loop of things being more punishing than rewarding

you can build a fuckton of weird vehicles, but big parts, ESPECIALLY the glider, is on limited time so you cant actually go anywhere you want; they know giving you absolut freedom will remove any possible challenge- so they limit it by making the glider part timed, but then they cant do that for every single part bc it would be almost impossible to create anything that works well when every part is on a timer and you dont know how much of its lifespan is left bc you accidentally hit a fan once so now its uneven with the other one AND the more parts you have the more it uses battery, it makes sense, so you cant build soemthign super overpowered right at the start and its just kinda logical, but it leads to you being incentivised to build something with the fewest parts that dont have a timer-

then theres the battery power, which they try to limit by putting its upgrades behind multiple different currency exchanges, which is frustrating and leads to alot of grinding and gets overpowered really fast (it works against itself too that said currencies are all placed in the most undeveleoped and repetetive area of the game and are all never involved in anything interesting, its reused old enemy camps and the same mines everywhere, theres not a single reward in the underground that actually feels rewarding imo)

then you get the autobuild thing, so you can skip the building part of the building mechanic that is the main selling point of tha darn game, bc they know it can get frustrating to rebuild your things over and over so they give you a skip button for that if you are one of those players that doesnt like it BUT THEN they cant jsut let you do it for free so they give it a price, either spend the same currency you need for the exchange for the one you need for battery upgrades or spend parts you collected- both of which are things players generally save up and refuse to use (like the -never use any health potions bc what if i need it more at some point- thing is a problem for a reason)

then theres the added thing of the building stuff despawning incredibly quickly, im gonna guess its otherwise a performance problem (that the game is already struggling hard with) but it makes the entire already bad loop of trying to fix a problem with bandaids over and over even worse, you dont want to go too far away from your vehicles bc it will despawn and waste all that you used to build it, its like a leash to you stopping you from actually using it for more freedom- and potentially adds another annyoance bc you might try to bring it with you as far as you can, a monster truck in the depths you spend all your parts on gets stuck on the first bits of terrain you run into and you desperately try to get it out without destroying it, and if you cant you need to spend a ton of resources to build it again, even with autobuild

which is how you get the hoverbike, stupidly overpowered and boring but doing anything else is just less efficient in every way, it uses the least amount of battery, never breaks, is only 3 parts to rebuild

(i know me in particular doesnt enjoy the building in totk at all, for all those reasons and more ...... shiekah ........ and i know you CAN still choose to doing it more creatively, but you never need to, its entirely based around YOU making it fun for yourself, and i dont think its that controverisal to say a game should be fun and challenging without you having to create all the fun yourself and set yourself limit it all yourself)

similar goes for the dungeons, they heard you want the dungeons of old times back, but their strict adherance to freedom (which they themsleves contradict) leads to them being more breakable and less dungeony than even the titans in botw, they cant make it linear, thats BAD, so you can do any puzzle in any order, it cant build on any of the others bc you need to be able to do it when you want (the only one going slightly against that is the lightning one? maybe?), totks dungeons dont even limit that you cant climb them (even the titans in botw recognized that makign it easy to break so they are made of the same unclimbable material like the shrines and other shiekah tech) and the new abilities make them laughably easy to break ( .. im not even gonna mention the water temple one bc ... you dont even need to do anything there to break it to make it easier)

they wanted to cater to people wanting old dungeons, but didnt commit to it, making them WORSE dungeons than the titans with the only bonus being they got different designs and a longer build up to it (that often feels more like artificial filler than actually part of it ... like the missing lore tablet at the zoras and the missing part is a few steps away from it at best)

(ALL THE WHILE they DO limit you in SHRINES, you cant climb the walls again, for some reason, you can climb any other sonau structure though, why not that? idk, but dont limit it enough either bc you can break it all in really cheap and unsatisfying ways with ultrahand and time reversal alone- and they CANT limit those bc those abilities are the main ways to solve the 'puzzles'- botws abilities were .. well, limited in what they could do making them much more balanced, but moving sth with ultrahand and then stepping on it and time reversing it can be the boring solution to any 'puzzle', the best and only really good shrines are the ones that take all you shit bc it wactually forces you to be creative BC ITS LIMITING YOU)

(funnily enough a big possible reason why they removed the bombs from botw is bc of the glitches with it ...... like the new stuff isnt even worse and you dont even have to try lol)

people speculated on there being underground exploration due to the first trailer? people are worried about reusing the surface? ok they put the entirety of the surface map into the game again, but dont commit to it being a full thing, its horribly underdeveloped and filled with either nothing or reused filler material, while also neglecting changing anything substantial about the surface, and then the sky isalnds they even reduced and really there isnt anything of substance on there either besides the tutorial (hey, seriously, if one of botws most defining feature is its wide and empty sky why the hell would you decide to use that same map to put in your sky islands idea in), not commiting to one idea but doing all of them badly

ganondorf? well, they sure put him in there, but really what does he do? fuck all, the entire actual game hes jsut marinating in his own miasma juice for no reason, he doesnt have any presecne in the game, all he gets its a few scenes in the "story" that are told through memory cutscenes in a stupidly mega distant past i dont give a fuck about and all he does is go through the most stereotypical villain checklist of both actions and speech, they want ganondorf in there but dont commit to him ACTUALLY being there (listen i love ganondorf but really calamtiy ganon was more interesting than totk ganondorf ok im SORRY they did him so dirty)

they want dragon zelda and link 'losing' his arm be a big epic sacrifice but then .. again, dont commit to it, they tell you its oooh so irreversible and whatever and then at the end just fukcing reverse it, with no build up at all, and NONE of your own input, it just happens, and its not JUST zelda but also links arm, reversing it BOTH even and you dont even need to have all shrines (that are supposedly to cleanse your arm of miasma, i guess thats a non problem if you just stab the source of it to death instead)

they want it to be a sequel but also its own game, not committing to either and leaving us with this weird .... more alternative universe thing, vague references to botw but also acting like it never happened, slight changes, like zeldas hair, to make her seem different when shes exactly the same (you cant imply waifu zelda would ever age and not look like a little doll) and ignoring anything about her character from botw (no im serious, ooh shes nerdy for 3 minutes at the start and one time in a written thing from some servant of da royals in the past and thats it, interest in the shiekah? whos shiekah?- if anything her character is reversed, really having even less agency than in botw, that one decision to dragon is like, it really doesnt matter and not really her decision bc she didnt have a choice and it gets reversed anyway without her even remembering)

even retreading all of botws points (but doing it worse imo), but then attempting to differentiate itself from it by removing a big thing that made it what it is (shiekah) without giving it any or any sensible explanation among more, not committing to either sequel or AU and so doing both incredibly badly

(not quite the point but what i have been questioning for a while ... they way raurus abilities work ... so do all sonau have those? was it just a normal thing to have? could all sonau just glue shit together and jump through ceilings? he never uses anything of that when we see him? why is it just in the shrines at the start and its like .. he just gives it to you ...?? huh??is it part of his arm .. jewelry??)

(anyway, tin foil hat moment but it just feels like either there was a huge internal fight about everything or they neglected it in favor for something else, like say, a movie that earns them billions and is faster and cheaper to make than a game... or just dont care anymore i guess, idk which is worse tbh)

[moogghost]

okay i recently finished side order and i felt like compiling my thoughts here since honestly it's easier to write them out on here/get my point across than a list on discord. not gonna tag this one mainly bc i don't really post splatoon stuff now + i just don't feel like tagging it tbh. warning that i will be discussing heavy spoilers for side order even if i'm mostly talking about gameplay stuff

i Do really like how the gameplay is structured with side order actually the roguelike style is done pretty well and it's enjoyable to replay through and whatnot. it's not for everyone obviously but even with pmd as my only technical roguelike that i've played i still do enjoy this gameplay style as a nice break from the typical splatoon story mode structure tbh

the music is absolutely banger i Have listened to the boss themes outside of the game bc i simply like them

i'm kinda happy to see replica weapons again but at the same time i really wish some of them could've been alternate kits or smth bc. honestly i'd try luna blaster for real if i didn't hate both kits and i still think stamper nouveau should've gotten fizzy and crab. like i get why it wouldn't work but still

i will say that although i really wish there were at least four bosses to encounter on 10F and 20F for more variety the ones we do have are very cool and fun to fight (except like . parallel canon is a bit bland to me when ignoring the whole agent 4 thing sorry it's just charger practice for me if anything). personally pinball circle is my favourite i think it's just silly. and while the screaming noise tower is my enemy (light-heartedly it just freaks me out in a not good way in terms of anxiety. the slightly darker stage than usual for the spotlight and the noises freaked me out sorry). like it's a very well designed boss and i like the creativity in how it's fought i will say that outright! like it's boss theme is actually my favourite besides the final boss theme it's just that it unsettles me in an unfortunate way but otherwise? my personal grievances aside it's a very good boss it does its job well

i like the weapon upgrades for the most part? keep in mind i've only beaten the game with brella, roller, and charger atm but i do enjoy them a lot honestly and it makes levels really fun sometimes. like my charger run was really fun by the end with the portal stages bc of how much range, quick charge, and power up you can get if not really stressful bc of well. charger (and also bc i went out of my way to get killer wail sorry it's my baby and also i needed Not triple inkstrike for the final boss). and i like the option of choosing whether to go for them or not bc personally i didn't wanna get the undercover update for my brella simply bc i liked being able to push the enemies away further with my shield launch. which arguably i should've just gone for no shield launch anyways but

can i just say that brella's splatoon 2 kit was just really good to play in this dlc? like. ignoring the fact that i regularly play brellas for a moment sprinkler genuinely is really good in side order. the enemies struggle to destroy it from what i've seen and it chips away at their health which is Really good when combo'd with poison ink and/or hindrance ink. the same also applies with ink storm you just get it less than sprinkler. like no joke i actually beat order with fucking sprinkler chip damage the first time around. like i was so appalled at the kit choice at first but honestly i have so much respect for it now it hard carried me during my first successful run of the game. sprinkler mvp

and splitting up some of my more negative thoughts/my criticisms bc Yeah i do enjoy the dlc a lot but also i have Issues with it still

i know it's like a roguelike and your expected to go through it multiple times it's part of the gameplay loop etc etc. but also i just don't really like how much of a grind it feels like to get hacks/stuff at the store in postgame. like side order is DEFINITELY more generous than salmon run is with scales don't get me wrong but it still feels like a definite grind each time? then again i'm just not as much of a fan of grinding for stuff in splatoon than i would be grinding for things in rpgs by default sooo take that as you will. it doesn't feel enough that i wouldn't go out of my way to grind for certain things since there is some stuff i'd want to get both in terms of hacks and store stuff bc it isn't salmon run but Yeah

on that note i need like. a 'bad at game' kind of easy mode bc while yes i do enjoy the challenge some times and true, i can get through the spire with a few weapons. hear me out i really hate getting like three fucking rigorous floors as options and then i reset and then get even worse ones. that are like impossible for me to do whether it be a skill issue or literally bc my weapon is at least somewhat shit at it (cough cough SPLAT ZONES LEVELS cough). like i really wish they gave you more of an option with choosing difficulty overall bc like. sorry but some of these levels i simply cannot 'get gud' at them

also this dlc made me despise splat zones i think (i'm only half joking bc i just think zones is kinda boring if you aren't playing with people you know but also bc this dlc made some of the most hellish splat zones levels)

and another thing. those sniper enemies can fuck off actually they have such a good design but i really really hate how many of them spawn in some of the later levels like it doesn't even feel fair at a certain point

i'm sorry but there was such a lack of story to me and i was not that much of a fan despite not really being here for the lore or story as much now. like the characters are very good yeah but i feel like there should've been more of a plot? like yeah there's a straightforward plot true but it feels very bare bones and just a way to explain the gameplay structure/loop idk if i'm explaining this right bc i'm not saying it has to be anything grand but i am saying there was room for more story to be present and it just doesn't really feel there (and the dev logs do not count to me bc you have to kinda grind to get all of those and that's kinda. hmm. if it's story related). like i get that some of it is in part of the fact that they Expect you to know these characters but ghh. it could've been done so much better i feel

going further on the story stuff sorry i enjoy the main villain a decent amount after a few times clearing the spire again i think order/smollusk is silly and as i got more used to the plot given but also i will say i wasn't all too much of a fan of the AI goes rogue against its creator and is evil thing at first. like i got over it eventually but like it still kinda bugged me. partially bc yeah system moment there's definitely a robot headmate up in my brain that i know wasn't the biggest fan but also bc like. idk it just either could've been written like. more interesting (which is mostly an issue on with the story just being a lack thereof). or like something else idk it's just not the most interesting antagonist plot for me and while there's nothing inherently wrong with it i just feel they either could've done more with it in a more interesting way bc there's like Potential there or just done something else. idk that's just my own personal thoughts though

also i get that it's kinda explained in the dev logs with the stuff about sanitized octarians and whatnot but why is acht just. there. and just doesn't do all too much outside of being in the tutorial kind of. like i do enjoy them as a character i just don't get why they're just there without elaborating that much on it but also this leans into the story stuff. also kinda not a fan of the lore changes/retcons which yeah they can do that if they want but like. it feels like it was changed to specifically fit in with the loose plot given and idk that kind of bugs me bc then it just feels like the only reason they really grabbed acht for side order was bc they're the only real character that was fully sanitized. idk i could be wrong bc i certainly haven't gotten all of the dev logs yet or missed some stuff but that's just what it feels like to me personally

i said it earlier kind of but also i really really wish some of the order replicas were replicas of some of the alt kits already in the game instead of the base kit <3 sorry order brella ily but in multiplayer i don't think i'll have the patience i wish you were a sorella kit palette swap instead (the same Would go to the splatana but like. sorry i don't like toxic mist on stamper specifically can you tell /lh). it also makes me wish you could swap kits between like the base and alt kits bc now this just makes me wish i had sprinkler killer wail tri-stringer in the base game

also on the topic of weapons. can i just say i'm so tired of them fucking over inkjet these days. like why the hell was the splatoon 2 special carried over to splatoon 3 not an available special in the splatoon 2 themed dlc. why. why are the devs so allergic to putting inkjet on weapons nowadays (context the newest inkjet weapon was in sizzle season 2023). like this isn't even my favourite special to use or just in general at most i just think it's a cool special that's one of the better specials i can get in salmon run. but either way i'm utterly baffled why it isn't in this dlc. like they really did implement so much sting ray in the boss attacks but couldn't find a way to include inkjet despite it being in the splatoon 3 story mode too like Okay (sorry the way inkjet is shafted just bugs me A Lot)

again i mentioned this a bit earlier but i really wish there were more than the three bosses we got. like ik it's splatoon three but also it just doesn't feel like enough variety for me especially in a roguelike style game. like yes you can fix the predictability by just never having the reveal bosses on 10F or 20F on or just never buying it so it always feels random but also even then it still feels kinda stale in a gameplay sense bc you know its one of those three specific bosses if that means anything (since three isn't really. a high number). and also bc it means i'd experience the screaming tower less if there were more bosses and that's personally a win for me

my last kind of complaint is honestly more of a criticism of not just the side order part of the dlc but just in general but like. idk entirely how i feel about how much splatsville got sidelined in its own debut game in favour of dlc. which was primarily for the dlc campaign yes but also for the nostalgia factor of having inkopolis square and inkopolis plaza as world hubs. like idk there was a more coherent thought with this that just goes into my criticisms about how the game is handled itself so i won't go into detail here since this is about side order specifically but idk i just find it kind of frustrating in a sense i guess

[ahkaahshi]

their animal crossing: wild world playing style [hcs]

characters: bokuto koutarou, sakusa kiyoomi, akaashi keiji

genre: humor and crack. what’s new

warning(s): I repeat, this is crack; also swearing

notes: y'all I'm talking specifically about animal crossing: wild world here. for the nintendo ds. that shit hit!! take me back. also, please bear with me; the chaotic energy here is just off the charts for absolutely no reason. when I finished this, it was suddenly midnight and I was listening to k.k. slider music on youtube. what a trip that was. enjoyed it tho.

CHAOTIC

dude the inside of his house has so many different vibes happening

the floors and the wallpapers in every room don't match??

he calls it creative freedom. no, he’s just a cheapskate since y'all know he’s only using that free stuff that he shot out the damn sky or found in the ground.

thinks it’s fun to chase the roaches that are always in his house

boy loves donating his fish, bugs, and fossils to the museum

just so he can go through and admire his work, like yes I caught that!! aren’t I the best??

keeps some of his catches tho and displays them at home. also names them.

once he found out that you could hit rocks and get bells, he was running around town hitting every. single. rock.

is really, really bad at catching bugs bc he just RUNS everywhere and scares them off

loves shaking trees to collect fruit

has been stung by many, many wasps because of this. poor boy can never make it inside in time lmao

talks to all the villagers like they’re actually his friends. also knows where they live by heart. visits their houses. vibes most with nibbles.

girl, don’t even get me started with his villager

y’all KNOW he’s at able sisters making his own clothing patterns with that tiny stylus in his fingers. the concentration is UNMATCHED

same goes for the town flag.

it’s raining. this boy says umbrella? there’s umbrellas in this game?? and proceeds to run around in the rain without one

villager’s hairstyle? permanent bedhead. if kuroo does it, so can he.

NEVER REMEMBERS TO SAVE

resetti’s always on his ass about it every time he opens his ds and turns on the game. poor guy. but he needs to save.

his town’s full of weeds. he don’t give a fuck. he’s just tryna have fun.

drinks way too much coffee at the roost. brewster is concerned for him.

visits omi’s town against his will. akaashi actually lets him come over. 

let him visit you! he’ll plant his fruit for you and send you a love letter

okay, y’all. omi shits on this game at first but ends up secretly loving it

I mean, it’s so easy for him to form a routine and maintain task focus

he thrives off that!! the only thing he hates tho is that it never actually ends. that’ll keep him up at night

his routine: wake up, pick weeds, catch fish/bugs, dig for treasure, make bank

there’s not a single weed in his town. he picks them ALL.

his house is all one, cohesive theme. low key boring.

literal minimalist with like no furniture

he don’t need it, he’s always out grinding and only comes home when it’s time to sleep bc he’s just that hardcore

makes an event out of going to the roost every saturday night to listen to young k.k. slider play his groovy jams so he can collect ALL the cds

wants to catch every. single. creature. y’all know it makes him heated that those plaques in the museum are empty n that there are gaps in his lil handbook

has hella bells in the bank. pelly + phyllis want to be his sugar babies.

his character is probs dressed in the most basic ass outfit but with a ~ mask ~ since that’s on brand for him. picks one look and sells the rest of his fits. truly focused on the coin.

he’s just tryna pay off his mortgage, get a big ass house, and upgrade nook’s store to its fullest potential

is constantly trying to find ways to kick all the villagers out of his town. won’t accept the fact that he’ll always have neighbors. 

will run for the fucking hills if any of them get that lil expression like they have something to say to him. he ain’t doin a damn thing for them.

got his hair done. came out lookin a fool. was too annoyed to go back and get it fixed. has worn a hat ever since.

always outruns the wasps. this bitch ain’t getting stung. 

the way his villager looked after he got stung the first time made him gag so he vowed to escape the wasps like his life depended on it after that.

you wanna invite him to your town? he's taking your fruit, planting it back home, and selling it to turn a profit. your trees will be empty.

special town events? he’s never heard of em. fuck em. unless there’s money involved. then he’s there. wins the fishing tourney every time.

similar to sakusa in that he enjoys task focus, but will put way more effort into the experience

for example, his house is most definitely themed

like every floor has its own, cohesive vibe, complete with matching furniture placed in a very exact manner

visits tom nook’s store like everyday to see if he has the last item to complete his furniture sets

has a different k.k. slider song playing on every floor on his golden stereos. only the bangers tho.

roaches? he doesn’t know them.

his town is completely free of weeds. he hates them.

will help the villagers if they need it but will not enjoy it.

just let him fish, damn

speaking of, yall know how hard he’s smashing that button when the fish bites? hard. that bitch aint getting away. will catch them on the first try!

is a professional bug hunter. the bugs literally never see this man coming!! he is stealth.

spends a lot of time in the observatory and the aquarium sections of the museum bc they have nice vibes

grabs a cuppa at the roost every now n then. will come for the k.k. slider concerts and listen to the entire song. bless his lil cotton socks.

his villager is stuntin. like fully accessorized, new day new outfit type of deal. wardrobe is thriving. we love him for that.

if it’s rainin, he’s poppin his umbrella. he came prepared.

sends the most basic letters but on the ~ fancy ~ paper

will write thx 4 having me over on the firework paper or some shit lmao I can't.

will spend the bells on his haircut until he’s happy with his look. remembers the combo so he doesn’t have to mess around every time his villager wakes up with bedhead.

town event? he’s there. he’s all in for the experience. savors the special moments

is that villager with the sparkler on the 4th of july. also, gets all the love letters from other villagers on valentines day bc he helps literally everyone n remembers their birthdays. he deserves the best.

is 100% that bitch who plays at night just so he can listen to the 10/11pm rainy day music on repeat whilst strolling around the village by himself, twirling his umbrella n getting in his feelings low key (that was also me haha I just called myself out)

invite him to your town! he’ll fish with you and y’all can go to a k.k. slider concert together <3

[courtney-deserved-better]

I think you might have answered a question like this before (and if so, sorry for asking again lol) but where do you recommend getting started with writing? I eventually want to start publishing fanfics, but im not sure if i should practice with writing in private first or if i should just write and publish publicly to practice. Aside from school papers ive never really done much writing. I seriously adore your writing style though, and was wondering if you had any tips on how to get started? I would even appreciate just knowing how you got started or how long it took after starting to post your first work. Thanks in advance!

answer under the cut bc its a long one!

when it comes to writing, i would suggest finding an idea you're passionate about, coming up with enough of a starting point (this could be a sentence or a whole outline, its different for everyone), and just writing and seeing where that takes you. sometimes the words will flow easily and its like youre just transcribing what the characters are saying because they have a mind of their own. and sometimes its a grind and you'll sit yourself in front of a blank scene and painstakingly force out word after word. either way, the most important thing is to just write. the works i have posted are just the tip of the iceberg of all the ideas i have for fics. the difference between them and my wips is that i sat down and wrote them. and sometimes you finish something in a day, and sometimes you write something and abandon it for months or years before getting back to it (i have a gwourtney fic that ive been envisioning since i was twelve that i still haven't brought to fruition). the best advice i can give you is to just sit down and write. even if you feel like what you're writing is rough, or stupid, or doesn't flow well, it's progress that can always be edited and revised.

as for whether to publish fics or not, i would suggest getting comfortable with your writing first. i personally only post works that im proud of, or at least content with. publishing fics is weird, because your real name isn't attached, its just stories about cartoon characters, but at the same time, you can pour a lot of time, effort, and creativity into your works and emotionally impact people. its an odd balance, and while i definitely take myself too seriously when it comes to publishing my own works, i do think only posting what you feel okay with other people reading is important.

its kind of hard to know when i got started, because i've sort of been a writer my whole life. one suggestion i would make is to read a lot of books, especially fiction if that's what you want to get better at writing. i quite literally read hundreds of books every year for most of my childhood and that's definitely given me a honed grip on language. ive been writing short stories since i was young, which turned into musical theatre fanfiction in middle school (which i cringe at now) and playwriting in high school (which im now in college for). while i had wips for various fandoms (such as ace attorney) I never had the motivation to write or finish them. i actually started writing and posting cobra kai fics after i watched the ending of an episode that infuriated me enough to rewrite the rest of that season.

sort of to sum things up, find an idea you're passionate about and start writing. don't worry about publishing it until it's finished. sometimes writing comes easily and get completed quickly, sometimes it's hard and takes ages to finish. but the most important thing is to just sit yourself down and write. you can figure out the rest from there.

i hope this helped! i really enjoy talking about writing so i hope this didn't go on for too long lol

(and feel free to private message me if you ever have questions or want me to look over something! id be happy to)

[pocket-infinity]

My personal top games of all time

Honestly this is just gonna be me talking about games and why I like them. There’s no particular order.

Minecraft by Mojang - This was the first video game I ever knew about. Not the first I played (if we count stuff on wii, but do we count that?), but I certainly knew about it before other things. Beyond that, it was also the first game I ever played seriously. I’ve spent hours upon hours in this game on servers with friends, alone just building stuff, and this game is probably a big part of the reason that I have any creativity at all. Even if I could know how many hours I’ve played this game, I wouldn’t want to. Gotta be in the multiple thousands, now, if not tens.

Heartbound by Pirate Software - This game is a... unique experience. A lot of folks would probably say that this is some sort of “undertale clone” or “new undertale” but honestly? They’re only similar in speaking terms, and this game is in early access and it does the whole “All of your choices matter” thing better than Undertale ever did, but here’s the neat part: it never announces it. Nothing is going to tell you that you can not put on your sweatshirt and/or not take the axe at the start of the game and make all fights harder. Nothing tells you that having the jacket vs not having it will give you different dialogue for characters. Nothing tells you about the achievements in the game; they’re all secrets, and some are incredibly well-hidden to the point where I (not being a super completionist) would never have had a chance to find them if I didn’t regularly attend the development streams. Oh yeah, by the way, they stream development on the game on weekdays & play video games on weekends at twitch.tv/gopiratesoftware. And, lastly, the music for this game fucking SLAPS.

Undertale by Toby Fox - Okay we all get the deal, it’s a good game, choices and lore and story and stuff, I’m gonna move on bc nobody wants to hear that and I don’t wanna have to write it again.

Team Fortress 2 by Valve - The first FPS I ever played! I have 894 hours on this game oh god when did that happen. But yeah this game invented a whole genre that nobody even tried to replicate until 2016. The music is great, it’s a weird game, and if you don’t take it too seriously, it’s fun.

The Stanley Parable by Galactic Cafe - This game is so much more than it lets on. It’s an insane, surreal, bizarre, comedic game about a dude who walks out of his office. Similar to Heartbound, there are innumerable choices to make, and the developers seem to have thought of more than everything a player could want to do. It’s also got some very meta storytelling, and it’s the game that first got me into that sort of thing.

OneShot by Future Cat LLC - Honestly, it’s just an interesting story. I’m not really sure what makes this one so fun, but I think it might be stuff like the characters being kind and adorable, the oddness and diversity of the adventure, the general setup and intro for the story and the absolute insanity of everything that happens during the Solstice playthrough.

Hollow Knight by Team Cherry - 100% the game that made me enjoy the difficulty of games. It’s a very, very long adventure packed to the brim with lore and hidden storytelling (which I love), and the gameplay is remarkably tight and engaging. The customization via the charm system is also incredibly and allows for an insane number of gameplay styles.

Hyper Light Drifter by Heart Machine - This game is just so damn wild to me. It’s not the craziest or most visually stunning or most difficult game in existence, but it’s got a charmingly simple art style, a metric ton of stuff to do, and engaging gameplay. The story, as well, is great, especially if you can figure out what’s actually going on in its entirety due to all the enigma surround the events. If you can’t, then the end is still an incredible experience. Panacea by Disasterpeace (a song from the ost) is absolute perfection.

Portal 2 by Valve - This game got me thinking with Portals.

Pathologic 2 by Ice-Pick Lodge & tinyBuild - Not gonna lie, I can’t finish this game. I know I just threw out all of my credentials there, but this game is just brutally punishing before you know what you’re doing, and I never knew what I was doing. However, it’s very atmospheric, and the story is rather engaging. I couldn’t get past Day 3, but I was super damn interested by then.

Destiny 2 by Bungie - I have more than 1k hours on this game if we include the time it was on Battle.net. The gunplay in the game, the moment-to-moment, is so god damn good. Every gun is satisfying, and it’s just a good experience there. The visuals are certainly beautiful at times, and the lore goes so many miles deep. So many. I find the grinding in this game to be acceptable to great, depending on the circumstance, so it’s a pretty neat experience. A decent chunk of the game is free to play, too, if you’re uncertain.

Ori and the Blind Forest by Moon Studios - First and foremost, this game is beautiful. Every single god damn frame is a piece of art unto itself, and putting them together makes an unimaginably magnificent experience as you jump, bash, and glide your way through Nibel. Unrelated thing, but Ori is so damn adorable. I love the little glowy baby. But the platforming is sublime, as well, and the combat isn’t terrible. The story, though... oh, the story. The characters aren’t that deep, and the narrative isn’t complex, but damn does it make you feel things. It is in no capacity weak in any area, especially not the visuals and music.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps by Moon Studios - Fun fact before we begin: this game came out on my birthday! Anyways, moving on, take everything that Ori and the Blind Forest was, and just make it better. That’s this game. The story packs even more of a punch. The visuals are even more incredible (assuming your computer/xbox can handle them). The music is even more beautiful. The platforming is even more engaging and enjoyable. And the combat is a drastic improvement over the previous game’s already acceptable stuff. This game... its story... again, not some deep, philosophical narrative, but that mother fucking story... I am not joking when I said I cried for a week about this game. It is a transcendent experience, and quite probably my favorite game of all time. I can’t imagine something better.

Real quick, let’s just do a rapid-fire round of games that made me cry:

Heartbound

Undertale

To The Moon (not on the list)

Minecraft

OneShot

Hyper Light Drifter

Ori and the Blind Forest (a lot)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps (profusely, for multiple days)