#i have city gardens. i need the DLC LOL

[marsbotz]

hes a bruise fan 💖

[preemshots]

the definitive post of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JOHNNY SILVERHAND’S BODY?

AKA the post of HERE’S WHY I WANT TO BELIEVE WE ARE GONNA GET JOHNNY’S BODY BACK IN DLC. 

buckle up, gamers. it's time for some lore. this is a very long post. 

warning: this will contain a million spoilers. both for details of multiple game endings, a wee bit of the “where’s johnny” comic, and the cyberpunk RED book. if you want a sparknotes version this is the post for you. my main source here is the cyberpunk RED book as well as as some references to the cyberpunk 2077 world book to cross examine the lore. 

i have no idea if someone has made this post before or what anybody else has been finding in their own lore diving. this is just me documenting my own findings from the sources i’ve been using.

it would be disingenuous not to preface this with the ways in which cyberpunk 2077's telling of the arasaka assault differ from the version told in the TTRPG books. the books =/= the game. pondsmith acknowledges in the intro of RED that this is a bridge between the old cyberpunk world and the new world of cyberpunk 2077. 

we also know that johnny's an unreliable narrator and his memories presented to V are often different than real events. but on top of that we don't know if the reason why many elements are changed is simply CDPR editing/adjusting/condensing the storyline for their own canon, or if it's due to johnny's construct being manipulated by outside influences such as arasaka.

some of the main differences you need to know from cyberpunk RED canon:

in 2023 johnny doesn't bring the nukes to arasaka tower. he's solely there to free alt.

johnny and rogue and their team from the atlantis/the aldecaldos are actually hired by morgan blackhand. 

morgan blackhand is the one who plants the nuke, unbeknownst to many members of the team. 

morgan blackhand promptly disappears after this event and no one knows if he's alive or dead. (claire confirms this fact to jackie and v before the heist in 2077 canon)

johnny's silver cybernetic arm is its own character, separate from himself. it seems to have a mind of its own and johnny interacts with it and/or is influenced by it.

when he, spider murphy, rogue, thompson, shaitan, and a team of los lobos from the aldecaldos (who are there in place of santiago, as he’s busy as the leader of the aldecaldos at this point) are attacked by adam smasher, johnny and his arm actively choose to draw smasher's fire in a deliberately suicidal move. smasher downs him instantly, but the distraction is enough to also save his friends.

spider murphy shoves a mysterious chip in johnny's dying head as they escape that alt had downloaded to her a long time ago.

johnny's body is later "rumoured" to have been retrieved from the rubble by a full-body borg groupie that was a first responder to the ground zero of AHQ and then hidden away in a nearby garage.

here comes the political lore that makes my eyes cross, so hopefully this accurately summarizes it: the 4th corporate war begins to end. arasaka is ultimately blamed by the NUSA government to have nuked themselves in a political move to protect their secrets and promptly banished from the USA. arasaka denies this all the way back to japan, then eventually returns to “liberate” night city in the unification wars.

but what the public doesn't know is that kei, saburo's oldest son, had actually hidden an EVEN BIGGER MORE DEVASTATING NUKE at the bottom of the tower to, well, do exactly what they were being accused of doing, even though blackhand was the one who actually dropped the smaller nuke on them. and luckily the bigger one didn’t go off.

arasaka tries to find their nuke in the rubble so they don't get in even bigger trouble, only to discover that it was moved and hidden away to... surprise! a nearby garage.

to compare with 2077:

in RED: we have no johnny loading the nukes into the elevator. no johnny being carried off the premises. no meeting saburo. no johnny getting soulkilled.

in 2077: there's a parallel moment to RED's version of events right after johnny uploads "liberator" from alt's old cyberdeck with spider's help into the arasaka mainframe in saburo's office. adam smasher comes for him as he's trying to escape, knocking him off the second floor of the atrium into the rock garden below.

visually this is the same atrium we always meet alt in in cyberspace and also where V meets johnny for the first time. hmmm. meaningful, perhaps.

not unlike what happens in RED, johnny unloads a clip into smasher at that point, but from there the scene instantly cuts to him running to the roof attempting to board the AV with rogue, where smasher shoots him down again. it’s possible johnny actually died to smasher in the atrium and we have some fabricated memories going on. 

either way, in 2077, we lose the character beat of johnny dying for his friends, and the current-day general consensus from rogue and others is that he’s perpetually a selfish asshole with ulterior motives. 

and, just to wrap up the politics of it all: morgan blackhand is rumoured to have been secretly hired by the militech-backed NUSA government to help end the 4th corporate war by... you guessed it! nuking arasaka.

HERE'S WHERE JOHNNY'S BODY ENDS UP IN CYBERPUNK RED (SPARKNOTES VERSION):

RED ends with a story called "black dog" set in 2045. black dog is the last song johnny recorded right before the assault on arasaka tower, but the final copy is a bootleg copy of the song and only a fraction.

we're introduced to a fun group of cybernetic-enhanced characters that represent the classes in the TTRPG and based on/designed by real people in collaboration with CDPR.

this group includes trace santiago, santiago's son, who is a media that is curious about the mystery surrounding the circumstances around his father and the arasaka bombing. 

just connecting lore here: if you talk to saul at the aldecaldo camp in 2077, he confirms that santiago was killed for his involvement with johnny and the bombing, something that rogue and johnny reference when they talk about their now-dead crew from the afterlife, and in chippin in, santiago is a friend that johnny lists as someone he had disappointed.

the group sets off to find any info about black dog, and meet up with a full conversion chrome woman named samantha in a garage who is blatantly a johnny silverhand fangirl. trace discovers she has a history with johnny, having rescued him from a studio fire at some point in 2015 and speculates she could have been a groupie also.

she mysteriously has a more complete recording of black dog, though not perfect, and offers to trade it for a service: she wants the group to transport a large crate to a facility in new mexico, asking them not to open it.

shit goes down. evidently everyone in night city wants to kill them for this package once it starts moving. eventually they open it. it's the arasaka nuke that had been hidden and never went off, emblazoned with warnings.

trace inquires about the circumstances surrounding the arasaka assault with an older member of the lobos who had been present with rogue and johnny. the man mentions that it was weird, because morgan blackhand organized the whole thing and then ran off immediately with a mysterious bag that we now know contained the nuke. 

michiko arasaka intercepts the gang, explaining the situation around the bigger nuke, that other factions in arasaka want to utilize it for their own goals (presumably hanako and yorinobu) and her father's legacy, that she feels responsible for. she escorts them to new mexico so that the nuke can be dismantled once and for all.

they meet up with a woman named angel in new mexico that takes the crate from them, at a facility that specializes in nuclear material. she gives the group the full recording of "black dog". the group leaves successful.

this woman is also a johnny silverhand stan. once alone, she calls up samantha, who says, "i promised i would get him to you in the end" and reveals that she had already gutted/dismantled the original nuke and discarded the material into the bay.

angel opens the "nuke" to reveal a hidden cryochamber, and greets the face of the person inside with, "hello, my love."

i mean, holy shit. okay! so that’s DEFINITELY johnny’s body. cool!

now let’s go into all the references to this story in the actual game of cyberpunk 2077 that SUGGEST we are going to pursue this story AND johnny's body since it’s such a HOT FUCKING TOPIC. 

and i know many of the following can just be considered easter eggs. but my personal interpretation of this game is that it has a really delightful way of intentionally glossing over important story details—and not by ONLY putting them in shards (which people tend to dislike because lol reading) but by also hiding them in plain sight, constantly deferring to V's own ignorance, distracting us with shallower, shinier things, encouraging us to actually play as the fool hero of this story. 

so here's the fun list of “””evidence”””:

this one’s a reach, but fun. in the initial arasaka assault flashback in 2023: we can interact with the groupies at kerry's show as johnny. samantha doesn't appear to be present, but the first person and groupie you can encounter in the flashback has a passing resemblance to angel in that she has a cybernetic arm.

in chippin' in, where we go to johnny's "grave" in the oil fields: if we are to take the 2077 retelling of events as truth, the story could instead be pretty easily be changed that samantha procured his body from there.

mike pondsmith, who wrote these stories and created the TTRPG can be heard on the radio narrating various conspiracy theories. and sure, these can just be easter eggs, intended to reference the differences between the TTRPG lore and the game, so take it with a grain of salt:

johnny. bro. tell him it was morgan blackhand

to top it all off, mike also directly references the actual WORSE nuke arasaka had hid in another arasaka conspiracy: 

SPOILERS FOR GAME ENDINGS AHEAD.

in the rogue ending of the game we discover rogue has a son. it's possible her son is trace (edit: nvm NOT LIKELY, since in RED’s black dog story rogue is listed separately from santiago’s mom in conversation) OR possibly one of the other characters. she tells her son to "pull over and look at the stars" or something along those lines. maybe just details, so that screams nomad to me.

rogue also has a photo of herself and johnny with mike pondsmith in her apartment/office in the afterlife. i initially read this as a delightful cameo but it also can mean mike the CHARACTER knew johnny and rogue, and rogue therefore has some kind of relationship to him and these conspiracies on the radio. and why the fuck not make him a full on character? we have a smattering of streamers and personalities already integrated into quests in the game. the creator of all this should be no exception. fuck it! 

rogue and johnny constantly dance around this accusation of her “selling out”. it’s repeated over and over that she and adam smasher worked for "the same people". i'm beginning to wonder if this wasn't meant to imply only arasaka since smasher mysteriously disappeared after the AHQ assault in 2023 and returned to SOMETIMES take jobs from arasaka... but possibly morgan blackhand and/or by extension, the NUSA or any other greater influences. (like nightcorp? we still don’t know where all this shit with nightcorp/the peralezes/sandra dorsett’s discovery about their research into mind control is gonna go) this also doesn’t account for the multiple factions inside arasaka with VERY different motives. 

morgan blackhand and adam smasher are rivals in the TTRPG, a role that appears to be at least partially filled by johnny instead in 2077. in relation to the arasaka factions, it’s worth nothing that smasher specifically works for yorinobu as his bodyguard at the beginning of the game, in part i assume because yorinobu is avoiding working with arasaka security details as he stole the relic and is plotting against his father. he is then promoted to head of security by yorinobu when yorinobu assumes power. 

in the ending as you work your way through arasaka tower with rogue and shaitan and johnny, rogue remarks:

michiko at this point in 2077 is the leader of the more “liberal” faction within arasaka, so it’s possible we’re seeing that while rogue and smasher work for the same people/family, they couldn’t be more different. 

you can also encounter rogue more than once on the phone fighting with wakako, who has apparently crossed her. wakako also seems to have her own ulterior motives and works mainly with the arasaka-backed tyger claws. she notably gives v/takemura the parade security info for “play it safe” without asking for anything in return, enabling hanako’s kidnapping. my theory is that yorinobu intentionally leaked the parade info to her to give away to put hanako in danger or at least continue to destabilize arasaka. 

in the takemura/devil ending of the game, there is a point where violence breaks out at the arasaka board room meeting when yorinobu-allied security open fire on them. one of the only people that survives along with hanako is michiko arasaka, who was at odds with hanako’s decisions, but  very involved in the preceding discussion.

and now for is my favorite detail! in the afterlife AT ALL POINTS IN THE GAME (but it can only really be inspected in the rogue ending when we are allowed behind the bar), we can find a photo of the squad that transported johnny's body from samantha to angel on the shelf below johnny's tequila, of them hanging out in front of the afterlife sign:  

this implies rogue has some relationship with them, and sentimentality, if we're to judge by the placement. she maybe even took the picture. i don't know, it's charming, it could be all easter eggs. who fucking knows.

either way, rogue and these kids both have in common that they worked with or at least interacted with michiko arasaka. 

and you know what my final evidence is? more wishful thinking! black dog plays on the radio in game. we got a full recorded version of it by refused. if not an oversight, i go ahead and take it to mean the final version was finally released to the public by those kids that were looking for it. 

i haven’t the slightest idea how this is gonna wrap up in future DLC. who has johnny’s body now in 2077, decades after it was dropped off in mexico? what is the truth?? where the fuck is morgan blackhand?? from the devil ending, we know that arasaka stole jackie’s body and put his soul into mikoshi, so the idea that they would just toss johnny’s corpse has always been laughable. the “where’s johnny?” promotional comic was even about thompson unsuccessfully trying to find johnny’s body. i know i am biased here but i cannot fathom all this talk about johnny’s body ending off with us NOT finding it, whether it’s just to bury it, shove johnny’s engram back in it, make out with it, or WHATEVER.

if you made it through this slog, congrats. thanks for reading! 

[daggerfall]

Hey, I'm back with more Family Dungeon comments. Okay, so last weekend, we did our first ever dungeon ever--Elden Hollow 1--and it was so easy that we did Elder Hollow 2 right after. And that was easy too. Then we did Fungal Grotto 1 (in under 10 minutes, cause we're doing things on normal, not vet), and THAT was simple too, so we blazed right into Fungal Grotto 2, died a lot to one of the bosses in the middle, realized we'd have to actually Strategize, and then we finished that one, too.

We rode that high for a week and this weekend, on saturday, we were like "let's actually do the undaunted pledges of the day," except it was Crypt of Hearts 2, Fungal Grotto 2, and Unhallowed Grave. We didnt want to do FG2 again, and we figured CoH2 was similarly annoying, and we knew NOTHING about Unhallowed Grave, so off we went.

It was super fun and we had to figure out weird ways to get around certain problems (at one point during the keeper of the kiln fight, I was up on a ledge throwing daggers at her because I was too afraid to go down on the floor and res my mom and sister). We died a bunch, but we did it! We beat all the bosses (minus voria and her crew of semi-hidden bosses)

So, sunday. I respec'd from pure dual weild dps to a staff-using healer, and things started going much smoother. The pledges were City of Ash 1, Spindleclutch 1, and Stone Garden. After Saturday's debacle with things being harder than expected, we thought the daily pledges were chosen to be groups of similar difficulty dungeons per day. CoA1 was laughably easy, SpCl1 was super fun and simple, and off we jaunt to Stone Garden, unsuspecting.

We spent an hour on the middle boss--the stone colossus--and then bailed out because we kept dying without getting it under 50% health. Absolutely terrible, much harder than expected, and we couldnt adapt, even with a mid 300cp stam-plar tank, a mid 500cp self-healing dragonknight tank, and a mid 500cp nightblade healer.

We were well and truly daunted.

We needed an easy win, so we did Wayrest Sewers 1, killed the enemies by barely having to look at them, and then did Wayrest Sewers 2 with similar ease.

So, I guess my question is: Have you beaten Stone Garden, and if so, How? I can provide exact specs for my teammates and their respective gear, but you're not going to like it lol (we have a literal bow/bow templar who mains the grace of gloom set, it's...unconventional)

i do appreciate the stories :D theyre fun to read, honestly seeing others have fun getting into group content is really nice to see. also i’ve done every dungeon on vet and their respective hardmodes lol. 

stone garden as a whole is one of the harder dungeons with not exactly forgiving mechanics (i mostly associate it with being the hardest hardmode ive ever tanked and every time i bring it up with people who have done it with me, we cry a little) a lot of dlc dungeons are going to require people be fully specced out as their respective role according to “the meta” rather than as hybrid roles. in general eso is not super forgiving to hybrids, as you cannot fully dedicate yourself to either role if youre playing a hybrid because of limitations of skill, attribute, and champion point allocation. which is to say, going off your descriptions, a stamplar tank isn’t technically a thing in “the meta” (a tankY stamplar can be a thing, and a templar tank can be a thing, but a damage dealing tank is two roles put into one, and is gonna be less effective at both roles than someone dedicated to only one), and a self healing dk tank is overly descriptive bc a tank needs to be able to partly heal themselves with their own class abilities (as in not resto staves. tanks have to put up a fight themselves to stay alive on their own. unless self healing dk tank means something different than what i am assuming...). a tank is the implied person who is doing taunts (either puncture from sword and shield, or inner fire from Undaunted, or the destructive reach with an ice staff. all other methods of taunting are not real taunts) and you only need one tank to do taunts in dungeons. the person(s) doing damage is allowed to and encouraged to be a bit squishier, because if the tank is taunting the boss and the healer is healing them, they shouldnt have to worry as much about staying alive. a healer invests in magicka and mag recovery, a tank invests in health.

the worst part about that particular fight would be the stone husks on the left side of the room with the aoes that follow someone and drain their resources. what you ideally do is hold the main boss next to the middle stone husk, and as soon as any stone husk activates, pull the boss closer to that husk and focus down the husk. you can catch the main boss in your aoes/cleave damage while getting down the threat quick. your healer keeps you alive with all the fire lightning and ice, you get out of the big fire aoe, you try to keep the resource draining aoe away from you, and you take the fight slow enough to only have one stone husk up at a time. I will say that the fight with arkasis is also kinda rough and i’d probably recommend watching a guide video for that just to get a sneak peak if youre worried. though if you dont want spoilers, you can totally go in guns blazing.

i cant fully give advice without knowing whats killing you in particular, but my general advice is to go a bit more all out in your respective role, though i know i have a slight case of meta-brainrot that makes me forget 1) how easy normal stuff is compared to vet and that they dont really require the same amount of investment to simply Complete compared to vet, and 2) where a lot of people are starting from when they first get into group content and how far i’ve come myself. in general, the standard dungeon team is a tank, a healer, and two damage dealers, and each person invests strongly in their one role rather than 4 people all trying to do every role. there’s Tons of guides out there for each respective class/role combo, and even if they dont really suit your fancy or you cant get those skills right away, they can give you an idea of where to start. i usually just go with googling “*class* *role* eso guide” and just checking several guides for an idea of what common skills they all share.

i do wish you the best gamer!

[latin-dr-robotnik]

What about the best game soundtracks of the 2010s?

So, I’ve been on and off thinking about and drafting this post for most of the year, and it’s finally time for me to unveil it to the world: we are now very close to the end of the year and the end of the 2010s, and while Sonic soundtracks have mostly kept their god-like status, I for sure played and listened to a lot more games than just Sonic. Because of that, I’m kinda in the mood to remember and revisit some of the games with the best soundtracks out there. 

Disclaimer: remember this is merely a personal list, where I take into consideration the game soundtracks that influenced me the most due to overall quality or hype surrounding them. I’m aware of the limitations of the giant task of listing 10 years of VGM, so this post is also an open invitation to all sorts of discussions for the myriad of games I’m surely gonna miss, and maybe even a door into other fandoms I used to take part or still am. If you have a game or a particular track you think it deserves the spotlight, then keep the discussion going!

Also: I’m only listing games with fully original soundtracks, but at the same making an exception for commercial songs created with a particular game in mind, released and then featured in said game (for example, A7X’s stuff for the Black Ops series).

I’m going to include Sonic games just for the sake of highlighting specific tracks. So, what are your favorite soundtracks of the 2010s? Here are some of the best for me:

Non Sonic games (in no particular order):

PAYDAY 2 (2013) - Highlights:

Hot Pursuit;

Backstab;

Break the Rules.

Mega Man 11 (2018) - Highlights:

Fuse Man;

Block Man;

Dr. Wily’s Gear Fortress.

Sunset Overdrive (2014) - Highlights: 

Total Annihilation;

I’m On The Run; 

I Don’t Want Your Company.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Zero (Yakuza 0) (2015) - Highlights: 

Judgement; 

Heart Break Mermaid; 

Pledge of Demon; 

Queen of the Passion; 

I’m Gonna Make Her Mine; 

Koi No Disco Queen. (sorry i got carried away for a while ‘cause this game and its ost are both so great)

Furi (2016) - Highlights: 

My Only Chance; 

6:24; 

Wisdom of Rage.

Super Mario Odyssey (2017) - Highlights: 

Steam Gardens; 

Jump Up, Super Star!; 

Break Free (Lead the Way). (I mean, Mario finally has not one but TWO proper vocal tracks, one of them being Sonic-esque as fuck, and in a mainline game no less? WHAT TIMELINE ARE WE EVEN LIVING IN?)

Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) - Highlights: 

115; 

Abracadavre (Ascension DLC 1 was such a biiig hyyype back in 2011, I clearly remember those days); 

Not Ready to Die. (featured in DLC 2, Call of the Dead, using the classic ‘Damned’ Zombies menu melody)

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013) - Highlights: 

I’m My Own Master Now; 

It Has To Be This Way; 

The Stains Of Time. (also the first two tracks were featured in LakeFeperd’s fangame Sonic Chrono Adventure, lol)

Undertale (2015) - Highlights: 

This game needs no highlights, we all know it. But if you insist... 

Well, here’s where I put the most influential song of the entire decade; 

Ruins; 

It’s Raining Somewhere Else.

Freedom Planet (2014) - Highlights:

Main Theme;

Relic Maze 2;

Thermal Base 1;

Final Boss 2.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) - Highlights: 

Hyrule Castle (I’d say both versions, but the marching steps playing outside are badasssss); 

Breath of the Wild (greatest main theme of all decade, no doubts); 

Kass’ Theme (man, I hate that Nintendo blocked the full version of that song on YouTube).

Shovel Knight (2014) - Highlights: 

In the Halls of the Usurper (Pridemoor Keep); 

Tango of the Troupple King (what a fun highlight from Plague of Shadows); 

A Cargo of Fineries (Flying Machine); 

Hitting Close to Home.

Celeste (2018) - Highlights: 

Resurrections; 

Confronting Myself; 

Mirror Temple (Mirror Magic Mix); 

Golden Ridge (Golden Feather Mix); 

Farewell.

Katana ZERO (2019) - Highlights: 

You Will Never Know; 

Sneaky Driver; 

Monster.

Cuphead (2017) - Highlights: 

Floral Fury; 

Dramatic Fanatic; 

Railroad Wrath; 

High Sea Hi-Jinx.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) - Highlights: 

The Wolven Storm; 

Hunt or be Hunted; 

Land of a Thousand Fables.

Spark the Electric Jester (2017) - Highlights: 

Lunar Bass (Stage 10); 

Flower Mountain Canyon (Stage 2); 

Sunset Heights (Stage 6) (no, not the one from Sonic Forces); 

Megaraph Fortress (Stage 16); 

Special Boss (a.k.a. the obvious Crush 40-esque song for a Sonic-esque game)

The Messenger (2018) - Highlights: 

A Melody To Break the Curse; 

Civilization in the Sky; 

Hills of Destiny.

Spark the Electric Jester 2 (2019) - Highlights: 

Floresta Blanca; 

Castela Blanca (a.k.a. Sunset Hang Castle); 

Technoria City; 

Titanic Tower. (no, not the one from Sonic BTS, same composer tho)

Sonic games (in chronological order):

Sonic Colors (2010) - Highlights: 

Planet Wisp Act 2; 

Aquarium Park Act 1; 

Vs. Orcan & Skullian; 

Nega Wisp Armor (Phase 2); 

Speak With Your Heart.

Sonic Generations (2011) - Highlights: 

Crisis City (Modern); 

Stardust Speedway Bad Future US; 

Mission (3D Blast Saturn Theme); 

City Escape (Classic).

Sonic 4: Episode 2 (2012) - Highlights: 

Metal Sonic Theme; 

Sylvania Castle Act 3; 

Sky Fortress Act 2.

Sonic Lost World (2013) - Highlights: 

Midnight Owl; 

Snowball Waltz; 

Dragon Dance; 

Juice Archipelago. (a.k.a. Delfino Plaza 2013)

Sonic Runners (2015) - Highlights: 

The entire game OST---I mean, 

Fly Away; 

Magical Snow Day (perfect timing, huh?); 

End of the Summer.

Sonic Mania (2017) - Highlights: 

Stardust Speedway Act 1; 

Egg Reverie; 

Mirage Saloon Act 2; 

Press Garden Act 2.

Sonic Forces (2017) - Highlights: 

Infinite; 

Moonlight Battlefield (Aqua Road); 

Red Gate Bridge; 

Network Terminal (Interior); 

Virtual Reality (Supporting Me Remix); 

Fading World (Imperial Tower).

Team Sonic Racing (2019) - Highlights: 

Ice Mountain; 

Green Light Ride (Tyler Smyth Remix); 

Bingo Party; 

Haunted Castle; 

Sky Road.

Honorable mentions:

Sonic Before the Sequel (2011/12) - Highlights: 

Hilltop Heights Act 1; 

Titanic Tower Act 2; 

Metro Madness Act 1; 

Butt Funk (Rocky Ride Act 2).

Sonic After the Sequel (2013) - Highlights: 

The Adventure Continues (Horizon Heights Act 1); 

Smokey Bear Says (Foliage Furnace Act 2); 

Stellar Lights (Technology Tree Act 2); 

Wolf Rayet (Technology Tree Boss); 

Ghosts With Guitars (Moon Mansion Act 2); 

Serious Influence (Redhot Ride Act 1); 

Neon Paradise (ATS Version) (Parhelion Peak Act 2); 

Red Moon (Storm Station Act 3); 

Mach Σ (Dream Dance Act 1).

[princesscas]

hey mandy! i know you play the sims and since there's a sale going on for all the packs, I was wondering which ones you would recommend out of the the expansion packs and the game packs.

Ooh yeah! I’m actually on a Sims binge currently lol. (Still working on my SPN themed world, which is taking forever)  

I’d totally recommend getting a bundle! You can choose one expansion, gamepack and stuff pack for about $50 or so bucks. I’m not sure what the discount is for bundles but when I got one last year it was like $50 (and the sale wasn’t as discounted as it is now so it might be lower idk)  I’m gonna write em all down since I’m not sure which ones you have. I’ve crossed out what I don’t have and bolded my favorites. 

EXPANSIONS

Get to Work - There’s only 3 jobs in this pack and they’re a rather...lacking. Once you do the doctor/police/science career its just repetitive. One thing I love about this pack is being able to own a retail store similar to the Sims 2 Open for Business. 

Get Together - The best part about this pack is the large world and able to create clubs which is really neat. 

City Living - APARTMENTS! ROOFTOP APARTMENTS! Do I need to say more? 

Cats & Dogs - The dog & cat CAS is the best we’ve seen so far IMO. I occasionally use this pack but caring for a dog/cat with a full family gets crazy sometimes lol. 

Seasons - The very best pack all Sims games have. 10/10 

Get Famous - I love playing a celebrity Sim but the downside to this pack is the world is pretty small. 

GAMEPACKS

These are the lowest discount I’ve seen, $11.99 for a gamepack is a steal especially for a few of them. 

Outdoor Retreat - Vacation! I sometimes take my Sims here. I use the build mode objects a lot. 

Spa Day - If you like spas, or just another lot type for variety then this is the pack for you!

Dine Out - I love restaurants. Being able to build them and run them is fun. What’s not so fun is the chaos that happens when actually dining out. 

Vampires - I’ve never played with vampires in the Sims before but I bought this pack on sale just to make Benny and the Alpha Vamp actual vampires LMAO. 

Parenthood - Its impossible to not have this pack if you play with families. 

Jungle Adventure - I don’t have this pack yet but I keep thinking of buying it just for the plants lol.  

StrangerVille - I just bought this pack so I haven’t played it yet but I love the desert world! Also a throwback to TS2 Strangetown 

Above all else, LGR on Youtube has the best review videos for packs. I’ve used his reviews since the Sims 3 to determine to get a pack or not.

I also went ahead and ranked Stuffpacks, under the cut!

STUFFPACKS 

Luxury Party Stuff - Probably the most lacking stuff pack in terms of build mode objects. Never bought it because of that

Perfect Patio Stuff - More build mode objects! That’s the entire reason I buy stuff packs lol 

Cool Kitchen Stuff - This is a good combo with Dine Out

Spooky Stuff - Halloween stuff. Never bought it but it would go with Seasons

Movie Hangout Stuff - I got this in a bundle one time but having a huge movie theater is pretty cool 

Romantic Garden Stuff - Plants for build mode!

Kids Room Stuff - Never bought this because the build mode objects don’t interest me 

Backyard Stuff - I just bought this pack but I’ve been wanting it for a while. I mainly buy stuff packs for build mode objects since I build a lot 

Vintage Glamour Stuff - Also got this one from a bundle. 

Bowling Night Stuff

Fitness Stuff - I bought this when it was on sale for $5 and the best thing about is the earbuds, so your Sim (and you!) can listen to music wherever they go. The only downside to that is you have to wait to get them via a random opportunity 

Toddler Stuff - Toddler in TS4 are the best out of the other games but IMO, I’d rather download toddler CC. Oh and you get 5 minute in a low quality ball pit that it comes with it too. (Didja get the oldschool tumblr reference? lol) 

Laundry Day Stuff - This was actually a community chosen pack! And its the best one IMO. Yep, make your Sims do boring chores like Laundry. But it adds realism to the game! And I love the build mode objects. 

My First Pet Stuff - Go donate $6 to a charity instead honestly. This is literal DLC for (Cats&Dogs) DLC. -100 / 10