#i haven't even played odyssey yet because i didn't have the time

[ivalice-tifalucis]

Blue World

Guys, since TT3 is coming back and we're packing up our hype for the next album, I think let's make another post about Barlliams/Creamcakes aka my favorite ship in Take That crumbs.

I don't know why any of you haven't talked about this yet. Maybe you have but I didn't see it or know but haven't talked about this yet or maybe I've seen you talked about it but I forget for some reason.

In 2018, in one of his now deleted youtube live streaming which I actually watched when it was live (which is rare because I can count on one hand how many times I watch any live stream that he did), he showed this unreleased Take That song likely from Progress era based on the tune that sounds like Eight Letters, the beat that is Progress-like, and even "in requiem" words which become a whole song by Gary in his solo album. If you listen closely, this is clearly a duet between Rob and Gaz.

Edit: Can I just say I was internally screaming in 2018 when I first hear Blue World. We are so parched of CC crumbs that this got me gasping like OMG THAT'S GARY'S VOICE!!!!! (starts from 1:56)

Another time where he played this song again in Coronaoke series on instagram live back in 2020 during early pandemic. In this year, he said the title to this song is "Blue World" and played the song from start to finish. Trying to make this blog entry make me realize he actually played a different version of the song in 2018 and in 2020. I think they are reworking this song, hmmm interesting isn't it?

I tried to write the lyrics based on what I heard and try to tell which part is Robbie and which is Gary. It is hard and I might be wrong because Robbie's higher register and Gary's higher/middle register actually sounds similar which is something that I realized when Gary fill in Robbie's part in Everything Changes (Odyssey Version) in the last part of the song "thinking thinking about you". It took me like couple of listening to finally realize wait a minute, that's Gary's voice not young Robbie's. The only difference is that Gary has that soft edges on his voice while Robbie doesn't have that.

Plus, Robbie was karaoke-ing over this song and being Robbie he doesn't even know the right words of his own songs and sing the wrong words and sometimes just mumbles so I have to pay close attention to the song in the background. There are small parts that I still can't catch what the lyric is. I hope they released this song at some point. Have been waiting since 2018 and still wait patiently.

Edit 2: thanks @beautyofred for the notice. It is “You know how young we were” 😭, "You might be living but we're holding hands", "Can't stand the frequency here". After this, it makes even more sense this song is about them. So in the 2018 version, Blue World is basically like this:

(Gary) Blue world, your fate is calling Blue world, at last control A new world of final curtain calls Look how we've come together Just when we've reached the end In requiem

(Robbie) You know how young we were And feel how much it hurts We might be loving but we're holding hands We might be leaving but we're making plans Below our bleeding sky watching our mother's die It seems forever wasn't long enough Why must we always lose the ones we love?

(Gary) Will moment share it musters? But this fragile blue world With the cruel sunlight burning in our eyes ... And in 2020 it is like this:

(Robbie) Blue world, your fate is calling Blue world, at last control A new world of final curtain calls (Gary) Look how we've come together Just when we've reached the end In requiem

(Both) You know how young you were And feel how much it hurts You might be leaving but we're holding hands We might be dying but we're making plans Below our bleeding sky watching our mother's cry It seems forever wasn't long enough Why must we always lose the ones we love? (Robbie) Will moment share it musters? But this fragile blue world With the cruel sunlight burning in our eyes (Gary) You said, I don't know if I could love you for the rest of your life But I’ll love you for the rest of mine That we're led around your silent heart (Robbie) A blue balloon on a barbwire The weather on the ground is catching fire now And when you hear that sound (Both) You know how young we were And feel how much it hurts You might be leaving but we're holding hands We might be dying but we're making plans Below our bleeding sky watching our mother's die It seems forever wasn't long enough Why must we always lose the ones we love? (I'm sure this part changes at this 3rd reff but I can't catch what it is)

(Both) Because can't stand the frequency here Call my name and I'll appear I'm traveling at the speed of light When nothing matters but the life that seep your eyes (Gary) Hold us together Hold us together Hold us together Hold us together I know a secret about you

(Both) You know how young we were And feel how much it hurts You might be leaving but we're holding hands We might be dying but we're making plans Below our bleeding sky watching our mother's cry You know forever wasn't long enough Why must we always lose the ones we love?

You know how young we were (Hold us together) And feel how much it hurts (Hold us together) You might be leaving but we're holding hands (Hold us together) ....

[dootznbootz]

i'm the anon who sent you about the odyssey elements in hades 2! and...

about scylla i can only tell you what i've played so far: at one point after fighting her a few times i told ody about her and he told melinoe about how he lost men to her and ody clearly didn't have a good impression. the next time i fought scylla mel teased her about how scylla acted like no one could escape her but ody and most of his men did. she replied ody would just take longer because he's a big fish but that his moment would come. as for circe she didn't mention her name but she mentioned her! basically scylla mentioned how her was turned into a monster by someone else. i haven't met circe enough times yet to have a line from her about scylla so i owe you that one

as for circe and ody...circe hasn't mentioned him so far, perhaps because she's actually more interested in hecate and melinoe (she's hecate's ally and she and mel already knew each other. circe offers magical improvements to us) so i also owe you that. after i visited circe a few times mel finally mentioned her to ody. he didn't have any strong reaction and when mel asked if he wanted her to give a message he replied that it wasn't necessary. i listened to this part with the sound on and his voice didn't really have any strong emotion. no longer to do with circe but still in the passing a message thing, in certain point he also asked mel to avoid mentioning him to the olympians because he doesn't want to reignite problems with poseidon

as for the bath scene i feel like it lacks context. i had invited nemesis and moros before ody and none of them had any strange reaction to the bath, on the other hand ody did because mel is a woman and he's a man. he wants to know if she doesn't feel uncomfortable with this because, in his culture, it wasn't common for men and women who aren't a couple to take baths like this. mel explains to him that as a goddess she never cared about that (and really, moros is a male character and he didn't show that he cared about him being a man and mel being a woman. it's a ody thing because he's mortal) and even assures ody that she didn't want to make him uncomfortable and she just hadn't realized that there is this cultural difference between them, but he assures her that he's okay with that.

it wasn't a creepy "hey little goddess, don't worry haha I'll keep my hands to myself" scene, it was more of a "don't you mind? (because a mortal woman would)" and "no, I don't mind" and "ah, but still know that nothing will happen" scene. when he mentions other goddesses, it's because mel was worried about making him uncomfortable so ody says he's already bathed with other goddesses in a "hey don't think you invaded my space" vibe. they were simply being respectful and ensuring that cultural differences wouldn't cause uncomfortable situations! this makes sense because mel is actually the kind of character who would feel bad about making someone who hasn't done anything to her uncomfortable. she and ody don't seem close like achilles and zagreus in hades 1, but he clearly cares about her since nemesis complains to mel that ody kind of reproved her atitude because of the way she antagonized mel. it makes sense they cared about each other's comfort

as for ody's afterlife... unfortunately all he has told me so far is that at a certain point in his death he felt lost, until the moment when hecate appeared to him and asked for his help. that's been a while since in mel's flashback as a child ody is already there. and i didn't mention it in the other ask but there are lotuses in the water phase too! it isn't specified that they're the same hallucinogenic lotuses but this is probably the inspiration!

Holy shit, I love that you're informing me! Thank you! It's really sweet! You're my Anon on the Inside!

At least it's for them both to be comfy :'D

I still hope it all ends up okay :') I mean, I don't know for sure and I would like to have hope even WITH a slightly bad feeling. I would love it if you kept me updated but I can understand if you don't wanna. <3

[solidandsound]

*checks watch* oh my! it's time for my annual video game retrospective!!

My backlog goal for the year was to beat every game on my backlog that released pre-2004. That's mostly PS2 stuff with just a splash of Gamecube, and also includes some even older stuff that I added in to the backlog and played right away. PS2 and Gamecube will continue to be the backlog focus going into 2023. I tried to get a head start on those games this year as well, but I also moved house this year, and the retro stuff still has yet to be properly unpacked, so I'll have to tackle that in January. I will definitely be completing all my 2004-released games, but may not be able to squeeze in 2005 as well, as there are a lot of games I have to play for that year, and a lot of them are big JRPGs. We'll see what ends up getting done!

All in all, I completed 33 games this year, exactly the amount I beat last year! Most of the recent stuff was received for Christmas last year (a trend that will continue going forward, as that's about all I ever ask for), but there were also a handful of new acquisitions. Some were cheap indie games, two (new Kirby and new Splatoon) were purchases my bf made that I also enjoyed, one (Xenoblade Chronicles 3) was an actual new game purchased day one by me, and some were 3DS eShop purchases that I wanted to make before the eShop closes forever. As a result, I went on a bit of a Shin Megami Tensei kick this year! My favourite of those was Soul Hackers. I loved the writing, and the way it expressed the its demons' personalities. SMTIV was also great, and Strange Journey was good but wore thin after a while.

Here's some more of the stuff I really liked this year:

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Probably the best game I played this year and I beat it January 3rd! A lushly illustrated, gripping, touching adventure from Vanillaware. If you love sci-fi in any capacity, I am begging you to play this game.

Persona 5 Royal. I was honestly skeptical that I would find the new story content to be worth it over the original game, but it definitely was. It really deepened my appreciation for Akechi as a character.

Onimusha. Classic Resident Evil but with a katana! It rules!

Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings. If you have a high tolerance for old JRPG bullshit, Beginnings is great, and a much more solemn, melancholy experience than its better known sequel, which was not overhyped!

Etrian Odyssey Untold. Another happy 3DS eShop acquisition, there's nothing like mapping out a dungeon yourself as you explore it. If you haven't, you've gotta try one of these games before it's too late. I don't think the concept would work as well anywhere else but the 3DS.

Wild Arms 3. What a great cast of characters, and how refreshing to play a game that makes you pay attention to where you're going! If you crave relief from AAA map markers and waypoints, this is your game.

Dicey Dungeons. Everything I love about RPGs distilled into a very focused and charming experience. Great for that 'just one more run' feeling!

Honorable mentions: Paratopic, the horror game that feels the most like playing a horror film; Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, which I commend for daring to be different even if it didn't quite work for me; Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which weirdly felt like crossing classic Kirby with Kingdom Hearts; Xenoblade Chronicles 3, another great Xeno entry which I'm still processing, and still have some quests and DLC to do; and Yakuza Kiwami, more Yakuza goodness. If I keep beating one Yakuza game a year... I'll probably still be way behind because they announced two new ones this year lol.

Splatoon 3 can't be counted as completed, but I'm having loads of fun with it, way more than I expected! I wasn't sure if I would be into more Splatoon, as I thought it would just be more of the same, but there's enough variety to keep it feeling fresh, and some new systems for extrinsic motivation to persuade me to have fun, which is maybe all I needed.

Tears of the Kingdom comes out in 2023, and I might go on a bit of a Zelda kick to prepare (including Minish Cap, which I meant to play this year but didn't quite get to). I'm also stoked for Hades, Soul Hackers 2, Tales of Symphonia, Butterfly Soup 2, Persona 5 Strikers, and maybe I'll grab some more 3DS stuff, too, like SMTIV Apocalypse.

It's been a while since the PS5 came out, and it feels like it's finally getting some games worth considering the console for. Probably not this year, but maybe in 2024? Stay tuned to find out!

[gaykarstaagforever]

I've never played Super Mario Galaxy before, because I didn't have a Wii until recently, because I was an edgelord who thought the Wii was a gay console for homo-babies and not real men, like me.

Now that I'm 41 and the only joy I have left is making fun of people like that, I got a Wii and Super Mario Galaxy. Literally the only game I have for it. It came in a bundle. From a local game store that went out of business 3 months after I bought it.

That said, the console and Wiimote / nunchuck work fine so I didn't get entirely ripped off!

The thing I am intrigued about with this game is that the ONLY challenge is a result of the controls being kind of ass. I beat Super Mario Odyssey before my Switch died, and I was okay at BotW. I get the modern Nintendo difficulty curve, which is usually "it is only hard because they don't tell you what you can do and you just have to do it 4 times until you figure it out." Galaxy has that. But then on top of that is the Wiimote, which has a perpetual 2/3rds second delay that I just haven't gotten used to yet.

And Nintendo knows I haven't. So they design these puzzle levels specifically to punish me for it. (And yes, this is the second gen Wiimote whatever that has the improved thing.)

What's weird is that this translates into me sucking at this children's game when I try to play it well, and succeeding easily when I'm barely paying attention and just wiggling around. So either I am secretly brilliant at games on an organic level, or Nintendo based everything in this game on rhythm and timing with the Wiimote, and you can only be good at that when you relax and flow with it.

Which sounds like a very Nintendo thing to do. And sounds like what they kind of did way back with Super Mario Bros., where you'd reach some point of zen with it after 47 attempts and just react your way to victory.

And like back when I was 8, this is equal parts infuriating and satisfying.

Good on them, I suppose, for being consistent, at least. I can understand why people love Super Mario Galaxy. Once you get the "feel" for it, it is soothing and pretty and fun.

...I mean the camera is still god-awful bullshit that constantly ruins everything. But if I can be racist for a moment, complaining about a Japanese game having a shit camera is like complaining about an American game having a grizzled dad protagonist who brutally murders people, but it is okay, because he is really mad...?

...I'm not even sure who I was just racist to.

Also I am playing this on a big CRT, so as I play it, my entire apartment is being heated!

[rnf-central]

Super Mario Wonder Direct Thoughts

I woke up a little late and missed the live stream, lol. But I finally saw it, and oh my god I am so excited for this game. Honestly I was from the moment I first saw it. The art style is so cute and expressive, and the levels looked amazing. A very distinct new step for the 2D Mario games without straying too hard from what makes them so good to begin with. I didn't even need this Direct honestly, but it was a nice surprise. Though, to be honest, I kinda wish I didn't watch it. Not because it killed my hype. If anything it made me more excited, but I think is showed off a little too much. Stuff I'd like to of been surprised about. Like there's a whole section about the world themes that I think would've been better to just leave as something the players should find them self. Though I still do believe there's lots we haven't seen yet in that regard. But yeah this game looks so good. I found it gorgeous looking before, but I swear it gets more beautiful every time I see it. The levels too look varied and unique. It really seems they took the criticisms of the recent New Super Mario games to heart. This game is just exploding with personality, colors, and liveliness. But not to the point it's too much. It's all very nice. We saw some new characters as well, though who cares I'm just happy Daisy is here. I'm still in disbelief she's finally in a main series game. On top of Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Daisy we saw Toadette, Nabbit, Blue and Yellow Toad, and 4 different colors of Yoshi. Toadette is no longer the easy mode like she was in U Deluxe. That honor now goes to Yoshi and Nabbit. It's also been confirmed Yoshi will play just like how you'd expect. With him being able to flutter and eat everything in his path. And you can ride on him in multiplayer. Now when you jump off Yoshi for an extra boost, thus killing him, it'll be even more personal. You can even ride him as an elephant. My god...poor Yoshi. Speaking of Elephant it's been confirmed it's a power up for all characters. I saw a lot of speculation that each character would have a different animal power up for them, which I was hoping was true, but sadly no. And let me tell you, Elephant Peach and Daisy are just as horrifying as you'd imagine. But we got some new ones too. Drill and Bubble. Wow. Listen Mario, I know Kirby Squeak Squad is one of the more forgotten games in that series, but that doesn't mean you can go and steal it's Bubble power. I'm kidding of course. I mean it is similar in that you can tap and kill enemies with it. But they add the twist of being able to use the bubble as platforms. Which is neat. I bet there's a lot of creative usages for it. Drill seems...whatever. Pretty much the drill item from Galaxy 2, but as a costume. Speaking of creative ways to platform we also see Badges. Badges are like little extra powers that you can equip during a level. One badge per level. These badges seem fun from what we've seen. There's some that make pits less deadly, some that let you do super jumps or improve your wall jump ability, and some seem to give you powers that you can use for some fun platforming. Like the Vine Grapple one that allows you to create a Vine that can grab onto walls and other platforms and get brought to them near instantly. Think Spider-Man sorta. It really seems like this is the 2D game's version of Odyssey. I said that from the start, but now I'm just more convinced. They seem dead set on giving you so many ways to explore and playthrough the levels despite the game being linear and it's a nice touch. It'll definitely add some replay value. Even if I got all of the collectibles on a level I may go back to them just to experiment with different badges or powers. Anyway, shit it seems there's a text limit here. So uh...I'll have to make another post cause damn there is just too much to say.