#i've just been watching a playthrough instead to get the story and lore

[starblazes]

wanting to be active on lisa's blog vs my disdain for genshin's game mechanics

[astrxealis]

me rn having the biggest hots for leon kennedy and astarion sorry LMFAOOO <3

[doks-aux]

I started reading Five Nights at Freddy's: The Week Before, and as you can see, I'm being very normal about it.

I've avoided as many spoilers as possible so I can experience the lore hunting on my own for once. Never been as deep into the fandom during a book release before. The pages on the right are my notes while reading, whatever I think might be important to the worldbuilding or mysteries or just interesting minutia like how the restaurant is run. These were the notes after getting through Night 2. I've finished Night 3 by now (so please no spoilers beyond that), so there's a bit more.

The page on the left is where I'm recording my "official" playthrough. It's an "interactive novel" (because Choose Your Own Adventure is off-limits), and the way I'm reading it is by committing to one route each night and playing it to the end or until I die and have to get back to the last branching decision. And then when the night is over, I go back and read the branches I didn't take. (Except for the Bonus Item route. I've heard it's best to leave that until the very end.) The inventory is only items I pick up in the official playthrough (I probably didn't have to cross out screwdriver and paperclip after I used them, whoops), and I'm only recording Game Overs I reach organically (there are more of those now, too).

It's a lot of fun. This was a smart way to present new information and provide some different gameplay experience. I've never been able to play the video games when they actually come out, so it's nice to have a way to discover things firsthand and not have to rely on watching other people's videos. And since there are so many diverging points, there's still the question of which version of the story actually happened (if this is indeed canon to the games' timeline instead of it's own slightly-to-the-left continuity) and what information we can actually trust. Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome talking at this point, but a straight answer wouldn't be quite as much fun.

There are some WILD implications if it's even adjacent to the games' timeline though. Like, at this point it really seems like a night guard's actual purpose is to keep the animatronics in the building than to keep anyone out. The idea that they would just up and fucking leave if they had a means to honestly never occurred to me (or at least it would have died off quickly after the earliest games), but apparently they will do exactly that. And it's largely been accepted that at least the original Fazbear four weren't malicious toward children (The Silver Eyes said as much and I think one of the games did, too), but in this story they're straight-up obliterating kids if given the chance.

Good shit. Excited to read the second half.

[mansion1of7]

Wooden Ocean & games as entities

For the last 41 days I've been obsessed with Wooden Ocean, cause this project speaks to me on so many levels and is an extremely interesting, ever evolving piece of art that I think should be studied and paid attention to, so, here's a rant that'll probably end up way too long w/ heavy autistic overtones!!

Warning: There will be light spoilers, but this post will not be about lore. I will make reference to story elements at times, but I will be examining more the creation of it, the magic of it, or maybe more accurately what it makes me feel and some mentally ill ramblings about how games are complex and beautiful art

Part 1: A Wocean of Content

Wooden Ocean takes place in, well, a sprawling "ocean" of forests (as well as some actual ocean too). This Wooden Ocean is ridiculously densely packed with content. It's an extremely big game to the point I doubt anyone will ever see everything in it with a single playthrough. That's cause this game has been getting constant work and updates almost every month for the last 9yrs, and is designed in a very open "find your own path" kinda way, making it easy to just stuff and expand every corner of the map with new things and introduce new sets of enemies, loot, quests, stories, dungeons, etc.

I was introduced to this game, like most of the recent fans, when a small YouTuber, Worm Girl, dropped an almost two hour long video covering it. I watched about 5min and decided to stop watching and delve into it myself, and I don't regret that for a second (though I highly recommend the video too, it's amazing)

I'm an indie nerd for sure, and I love unique takes and invention in the (J)RPG genre specifically. Probably cause my brain got infected by Undertale as a kid, but there's always something so special about the stories these solo/small team devs tell. I'm a massive Indivisible defender despite the fact ik these kinda projects ain't for everyone, but there's a very unique kinda passion and soul you can find in these type games, so obviously when this absolute gem and constantly evolving work of love and dedication was just handed to me on my feed I felt genuinely blessed

Cracking open and exploring this game is a fucking experience. It's definitely overwhelming, but despite how much stuff there is and how many systems and mechanics there are, the game is still very simple. It's a JRPG. You walk around, you talk, you fight, you loot, you get stronger, you probably fight some deities at some points, and you get attached to the characters you're traveling with. Sure, the text on your starting skill might be something like:

[Magic x 1.5 + Luck x 3 - Enemy Luck x 5]

But that just means "if you have more luck and magic, skill do more damage", so it's one of those things that can look intimidating, but is actually very simple and even helpful. A lot of the game at a glance might seem difficult to get into, but through different difficulties and a big variety of play styles, you can kinda choose if you wanna push yourself to the absolute limits, or if you wanna make damn near every fight end after 2 button presses and fully focus on the exploration and story instead. It's a game you can approach in so many ways, so let me get into that, cause this will be important to the overall point of this chaos

Part 1.1: Variety in Wocean, Elements, Expression

15 elements

8 weapon types + shields

Armours and other equippables with effects ranging from giving you access to new elements, buffing certain stats, trading stats for others, resistances, etc, etc

You choose two elements for the main character (Violet) when starting a new game, and you get to choose one element for each party member (2 by default after the prologue, 2 optional unlockable ones). All these elements are surprisingly distinct and unique. While they follow a formula of "x amount of attack spells, x amount of buffs, x amount of healing spells, x amount of debuffs" that are unlockable, they still all serve different purposes (which is helped a lot by the fact different elements are tied to different stats) and are good at different things with very distinct themes, like "Carbon" which is themed around using flesh and blood magic to make your body stronger or give your enemies an aneurysm, or "Gravity" which is themed around using the defense stats of both you and your target offensively against them

The weapons are all distinct as well, all serving different roles and with different upgrade paths you can go for with it's own synergies and gimmicks. Like great swords that have a lot of attacks that hit multiple enemies, some with different elemental damages (like fire or lightning) attached to them, and self-buffs to make those hit harder, or bows which reduce your chance of being targeted, are great at debuffing single targets in various ways and can spend a turn taking aim for higher damage and critical chances

So combining these things, especially when taking into consideration that you can find weapons and equipment that give you access to extra elements when worn and weapons that got the skill sets of multiple different weapon types + accessories that can have a massive impact on your build, suddenly you have crazy amounts of customisation and options for super personalised builds

Due to the ever changing nature of the games combat with the constant balance patches and updates adding new content and the dev taking player feedback very seriously and acting based on it sometimes the very same day the feedback is given, and the extreme variation, the builds you end up with are an expression of your personal journey through the game, your adaptation to this ever changing and never fully knowable meta, and probably also just something you made cause it's just what spoke to you the most

Despite the game being like an exploration of this one passionate artists mind across years and years, it's still a game where you can heavily express yourself through how you approach it and interact with this world and it's simple at a surface level but complex mechanics, OR you could just buy some very big, infinitely reusable bombs and play the game how the proffesionals do it

Part 1.2: Murda Mentality

So that brings us to Amelia "Murda" Baker and the concept of murda as a lifestyle, spiritual practice and political identity

Amelia is one of those 2 initial party members, the other one being her brother, Alex. They make for an interesting and engaging dynamic with Violet, cause while Violet, a highly skilled witch, is very powerful in her own right, she knows very little about the true nature of the world she exists within, most likely less than the player. But these siblings in contrast have knowledge way beyond what the player does, but not necessarily the desire to sit the player or Violet down and lore dump all at once. This leads to storytelling that kinda naturally lets the player in on things about the world through dialogue, slowly peeling back layers of the mysteries and hinting at new aspects as you explore the game, talk to NPCs, play through quest lines, etc

The writing is also just genuinely hilarious. Dialogue is often written in a way that feels very authentic and natural, despite how absolutely unhinged some of the shit said in this game is, and I think based on having spent time in the community that most players would agree the funniest character in this game, if there was a vote had, would be: Amelia "Murda" Baker

She's a character who treats the game like, well, the game that it is. While she has genuine and emotional moments, a lot of the time she just responds to most situations with the word "murda" with varying tone and facial expressions, and sometimes also with the action of "murda"

You could call her just a comedy character, but I think that'd be unfair as this character and characterisation perfectly represents the kinda attitude you should have towards this experience. Don't take it overly serious, have fun with it, fuck around and find out, kill shit, get loot, explore, murder symbols of authority for being shitty people representing and upholding shitty systems

Now, I'm not saying Amelia "Murda" Baker is The Anarchist Messiah, she can't exactly be said to care too much about the good of the people, in the sense that she eats people, and her catch phrase is "murda", cause she does that to people. A lot. But what I am saying is that she's like a constant reminder to not be taking this world too seriously and have fun first and foremost, without diving fully into a nihilistic "nothing matters" mentality as there are genuine stakes, things and people to be cared about, interesting topics explored and working classes to protect (or alternatively fascist police states to be established if you're a fucking weirdo ig, personally I have nobody working at my town's pig pen and I'm keeping it that way)

Taking things not too seriously, fucking around, experimenting, having fun, enjoying this vast, layered world however you feel like in the moment, is core to keep in mind for:

Part 1.3: Layers Beneath a Vast Wocean

The Wooden Ocean, as I've mentioned, is massive. It's the kind of thing where even going into it expecting it to be big, you'll still be shocked at the size of it. Even if I tell you that the game starts you off on a huge landmass stretching every direction, with multiple layers of interconnected dungeons, caves and sewers all forming a sprawling underground network, and multiple islands and other places to travel I haven't even talked about yet (and I probably haven't found all of myself yet), I would still confidently bet the amount of areas in this game would surprise you if you played it

So far, the only real detailed maps of this game that are available are the ones showcased in the Poetry of Exploration series of guides by the incredible Inky (aka. The Crime Boy), which covers the overworld of the game and is being actively worked on by them with the help of other community members to have more area covered and more detailed information for those areas

In addition to everything I said already, this dev shortly after the recent boost has implemented and will be actively working on a mega dungeon, the most difficult area in the game, that he will develop on a one floor per year schedule, adding to, refining and expanding that one floor throughout the year until it's time for the next one. A dungeon so high level and challenging that it's set to not reset upon entering New Game+ so you can work your way through it over multiple playthroughs

Oh, and that's not even mentioning the couple places you can go in the world where there very clearly will be a lot of stuff, but gives you the message "future content" when interacting, so, as you can see, this game is constantly expanding in every direction at an honestly concerning rate (please take care of yourself too man goddamn)

Now this might again sound overwhelming, but if you apply some Murda Mentality you'll find an experience in some regards reminiscent of Yume Nikki or LSD: Dream Emulator. While this does in some ways have a more coherent world as well as progression systems, clear goals and all that, it's still a very dreamlike, entrancing, free form exploration that's easy to get lost in, with plenty of weird and beautiful visuals to admire and different concepts and ideas explored in a variety of different ways

Now though we're starting to get into the topic of

Part 2: Magic is Real; Art as Spellcrafting

It's not just witches and warlocks!! You too could be eligible for magic!! Find out today, or at your own pace I guess, whatever, idc..

You've probably noticed by now that I might fall within some people's definition of "pretentious", but if I had a great sense of self importance I wouldn't be writing an entire essay on Tumblr about an RPG Maker game at 4am or admit within it that after years of being nameless after coming out, this game is what introduced me to the name that's now me

So, clearly this game has left a very big impression on me and resonates with me on a deeper level than most things. These qualities can be found in all art though, and that's part of the broader point I'm making with this. Emotion is magic, art is made with, inflicts and inspires emotion, you have magic in your veins!! The beautiful chaos at display in The Greatest Expression will force you to face these truths!!

Okay nevermind! Not at your own pace! Not at any sane humans pace! Calm tf down man...

Part 2.1: The Basics of Spellcrafting

Expression is a form of magic that's to an extent innate in humans. While every craft takes practice, even a toddler will have ways in which it expresses itself. Expression is emotions channeled into something that can affect other people, and the most common way humans express emotions, aside from basic communication, is through art

From placing words in specific ways to draw out emotion in text or verbal form, translating the (inherently abstract) images, concepts and ideas in your head into real life using lines on paper, combinations of sounds, movements, personas, working of fabrics or materials, using tools or machines in specific ways, personal fashion, all of this is art, all of this is expression, you all do magic to some degree in your life (even if you're not classified as a witch, warlock, wizard or other similar entity!!)

And now its stealing my lines too... I'm done, I'm leaving, I don't need this rn...

Not all expression is art, but all art is expression, and whether it's corporate copy-paste shit or boundary pushing, inventive indie shit, the creation of art is a form of spellcrafting

There's an endless variety of ways people choose to craft their spells, often combining several of the forms of expression I mentioned (among plenty other ones!!) and often honing their skills at and learning new things about the art(s) involved in crafting that spell during the process. A painter will have a deeper understanding of a brush than anyone without that experience can fathom, the language of it integrates and becomes part of their instincts, the minute movements of it registering in their subconscious which acts accordingly, as extensions of themselves

Now of course that don't mean every painter can use, wants to use or even likes every brush, but just the fact that they can often tell those things just by holding (or even just looking at) a brush shows how this spellcrafting process has become natural to them. Their preferences in tools and the ways they use their tools might change over time, or they might stick to something super specific, but regardless it will become more and more a part of them. Their craft, understanding of it and methods for it will evolve and change as long as they continue to express themselves

Part 2.2: Vessel of the Gods

One of the most important tools in the process of crafting a game, is the engine it's made in. Different engines have different languages, quirks, strengths and weaknesses, so what engine is used and how you modify and alter it is something that will affect the entire work. The engine and how it's used determines what boundaries and restrictions you're working within during the process of turning these smaller pieces of art into a cohesive, interactable realm

It's the vessel through which you get to be the creator of this interactable art piece, so obviously we need to talk about this developers game engine of choice, the legendary:

RPG Maker VX Ace

RPG Maker is a series of game engines designed for making JRPG style games, and are designed specifically to be easily accessible, with little to no programming needed to make a JRPG. They're both beloved and infamous at the same time. On one hand they're the easiest way to make a JRPG thanks to having all the basics already in place for you, and plenty of hit games (at least within gaming spheres) have been made using these engines, proving they can produce great results and that there'd be an audience for the result. On the other hand though, due to being so specialised for that specific purpose, they got a lot of limitations on what's possible to do within them, and due to the engines having such a "low skill floor" so to speak some people have an inherent bias towards games made with them, in some way putting a limitation on the size of the audience too

RPG Maker VX Ace, the 33rd engine in the "RPGツクール" franchise, is the engine this man has been spending so many years of his life learning, working with and using as his main spellcrafting tool while creating The Wooden Ocean. I won't pretend to have a deep understanding of it, cause I really don't. I've played around a little with RPG Maker MV before, but just my knowledge on that one is extremely basic, I couldn't even tell you a single one of the differences between them

While I might be ignorant, after a conversation with Errantstar, an active community member who's been delving into and documenting the inner workings of Wocean (as well as showcasing a whole bunch of obscure games on Twitch), I've become somewhat educated, and the knowledge it provided me during our talk will be woven into things moving forward

The same way an artist shapes their work with their tools, the tools shape the work just as much. While a spell cannot exist without a caster, a caster cannot cast without it's spellcrafting tools. It's a symbiotic, or maybe more accurately a codependent, relationship. Spellcrafting requires metaphysics of a mind merging with the physics of a tool, coming together and forming

Part 2.3: The Shape of Expression

An author writing a novel for publication is restricted in their craft to placing letters within the confines of pages. Those restrictions contribute heavily to the shape of that work. Those restrictions are what make it a novel. An author can use those letters however they want though, and the pages can have variations and alterations to them, like the controlled chaos of the formatting in House of Leaves

So, you remember how big, open, dense and interconnected Wooden Ocean is, yh? And the varied and unique combat system? Well, that combat and the game as a whole has a bunch of complex systems and mechanics I haven't even mentioned, and as we know, RPG Maker VX Ace isn't exactly made for all that

In order to create Wooden Ocean, this developer has had to modify the engine, push and expand it's limits, work within the restrictions while challenging them. In order to follow his vision he had to create makeshift solutions for increasingly more problems, but the further the engine gets from it's inteded purpose, the more volatile it becomes, and suddenly every change he makes or thing he adds could have uninteded consequences affecting other aspects of it

There's been plenty of things he's had to solve, things he's had to just roll with, and there's several upcoming challenges on the horizon. One of those being that he's nearing the maximum amount of things (everything from items to rooms to enemies, etc) the engine allows you to put into a game. Everything he adds comes with something the engine added in a sense, his actions cause both predictable and unpredictable reactions from it, which he in turn has to respond to

This back and forth between this caster and his tools is what gives Wooden Ocean it's shape

Magic is real, art is spellcrafting, and the story of a spells creation can be felt within it

With everything from the beginning to now in mind, let's enter the final stages of this chaos

Part 3: The Greatest Expression

The Wooden Ocean is sometimes referred to by the inhabitants within as The Greatest Expression

How couldn't it be if it's all you know?

But this piece of expression being great wouldn't be incorrect. Despite the chaotic process projects like this go through it's a (mostly) very smooth and engaging experience that clearly has something to say and is one of the most unique and refreshing things I've played in recent memory. The passion on display revealing itself more and more for every step of every cycle across such a vast and intricate journey is an amazing thing to witness and why I love this expression

Something core to every spell is the caster, something core to every world is the creator, so it's time we talk about the deity of this realm

Part 3.1: God

Leif Ian Anderson is the mad god behind this beautiful chaos known as Wocean. A being that can be spotted in places like the Steam forums talking about "murdas" and "blood altars", who shows no semblance of sanity in the inhuman speeds he works at and how he fills the game with characters like this

Fr though, this man deserves his flowers. His dedication is more than paying off. Call it recency bias if you want, but after over a month of playing it almost every day, after having beaten it, I'm still just as excited and filled with wonder jumping back in. Thank you for this expression, thank you for this experience, and thank you for my name Sincerely

Now, I won't pretend to know much about the guy. He got a Scandinavian name and lives in Florida, he makes Wooden Ocean, he probably still works a regular job and that's about all I'm aware of. His presence is very heavily felt throughout all of this game though, naturally, as it's his expression. A display of concepts, ideas and views in the form of a digital museum with an addictive gameplay loop

Despite the heavy use of altered free assets his creativity is on constant display in every corner of the world, in every line of text, in every mechanic. In fact the altered free assets and how he uses them is a big part of what gives it such a unique aesthetic, and even ties into and heightens the narrative and concepts at the core of the experience

This is a god who cares a lot about his world and the people who interact with it. He will respond to (and if possible fix) any problem or bug reported. Almost to a fault as he's known for sometimes over correcting too much, like when a complaint about gravity attack spells being too strong resulted in gravity now being one of the weakest elements in the game. To me though, this is a big part of the charm of this game. It's unpredictable, and everything in it has a story behind it

Despite being the god of this world, his work has a lot of humanity in it. A lot of soul. He might joyfully make some sadistic design decisions from time to time, but simultaneously he will do anything in his power to make this experience accessible to as many people as possible

A merciless and mysterious god

A merciful and transparent god

Part 3.2: Mezra

Mezra is a lot of things in the Wooden Ocean

Mezra is a religion, and also a chara- or, well, several characters. We got Mezra (the witch), Mezra (the architect), Mezra (the angel), Mezra (the artist), and then there's some Mezras not explicitly named Mezra but their names are definitely Mezra, you got an Ezra in there as well for good measure, oh and then there's also Mezra (the author) and, shit, even my name is Mezra!!

Now I won't get into the lore on any of these characters, but I want you to note the hilariously excessive amount of Mezra there is in this game. The game is very self aware of this ofc, with some characters in the game drawing attention to it and finding it just as confusing as anyone would. While it's a good bit, it's also a lot more than that in several ways. The most relevant one to this topic being the theme of self-observation

While these may be different characters, there's always a Mezra observing a Mezra. Deity Mezra is always watching down upon the mortal Mezras, the mortal Mezras are ofc aware of the religion of Mezra, a Mezra might interact with a Mezra, you get the picture. Mezras on every layer, with different viewpoints, observing eachother

If we were to view the different Mezras as one, if we were to think of them as a collective, then the idea of "Mezra" is a perfect representation of Leifs role in this world. He is a deity, a creator, but also an observer to this game. In many aspects he has knowledge way beyond anyone else about his artwork, but in some regards he might know less than a player would about something within it

The unpredictable nature of the spellcrafting process and vast amount of content with so many ways of interacting with it leaves him in a space where he's both a deity and mortal within

Part 3.3: The Entity Known as Wocean

Expansive, ever changing, unpredictable, filled with magic, expression, never fully knowable even to the artist, caster, creator, god of this realm, The Greatest Expression, Wooden Ocean is an entity more than it is a static interactable artwork

Expression is done through it, both by the player and the developer, but it also expresses itself back in a sense. Not to say it's alive or has a mind, but conceptualising it as it's own entity gives a clearer picture of what this work feels like to interact with

It's got a personality that goes beyond what deities and mortals intentionally imbue it with. It's a creation participating in it's own creation. Forever changing itself for as long as the process continues, forever having left an impact on itself whenever it comes time for the process to end

Wooden Ocean isn't the only game with these characteristics, but it's a perfect example, no?

Never before have I seen a game that exists as an entity to this degree, never before have I seen a game that exists as an entity where that fact ties so beautifully into the intended expression

This has been my first love letter to and one of many reasons why I'm so obsessed with

Final Words (Process & Credits)

That number you see in the very first sentence of this post was originally 26. Partially due to being a slow writer, but also due to feeling it would be in the spirit of this expression, I been taking my time with this. 15 days to be exact. Which, like, this shit's extremely excessive ngl lol, but spending my spare time the last two weeks exploring the game further and interacting with and learning from the community while occasionally opening this up in the drafts and putting down some words has honestly been super fun!! I hadn't even beaten the game or watched any Wocean content yet during the writing of anything before Part 2.2, while now I'm fucking around in NG+ and on higher difficulties, still constantly discovering new things, places, quirks, mechanics, etc

Cause of this, in some parts, there might be some small inaccuracies or things left out (like the talent system I never mentioned) and in the latter half some lore nerds might feel a bit peeved with parts of 3.2 for example, but I have it like this intentionally. I've gone over this whole thing and made little edits here and there throughout the entire process, but this ain't a review or a lore discussion, so I decided against being neurotic or adding new info and am embracing the chaos and quirks left over from the process instead of making it just a knowledge dumping post

I wouldn't have nearly as much knowledge of this game as I do if it wasn't for the incredible and welcoming community it has though. Talking about and shitposting about this game with the people over on the Discord has definitely deepened my obsession with and heightened my enjoyment of this experience. Y'all are great, and I'll continue delving into the Wocean with y'all at the very least for the foreseeable future. So, while I'd like to put a spotlight on each individual person I've been interacting with, for my own health and the health of the community I'll stick to just crediting and linking to the people who's contributions I've linked/referenced throughout this somewhat controlled chaos:

Worm Girl as I mentioned is an amazing YouTuber and the one who started this current Wocean wave. Very much recommend her videos on Fear & Hunger and various LISA fangames too

YouTube

Rilks wrote the weapon and element overviews/guides I linked, and has a good little YouTube channel dedicated to Wocean content!! Its also the owner of the current Discord and shows a lot of genuine care for the people in the community. He's almost at 400 subscribers, so go check her out and subscribe pussy!!

YouTube

Deesppumb tbh idk much about, haven't seen em around a lot, but seems very chill and has made some very good funnies (like the one displaying how the proffesionals do it) and got a couple more funnies on this YouTube channel, so, check it out!!

YouTube

Inko, again, is the legend who's been (and still is) putting in work mapping out this chaotic realm, and they been really sweet and helpful in my experience, so go further the Woceanisation of Tumblr by following them on here pls 🙏🙏

Tumblr

Ster was very kind for taking the time to answer several questions (most requiring long answers) just to indulge this bullshit, and does so much to help out the community by dissecting the game and being the closest thing to a Wocean wiki. They also stream very regularly, both Wocean and a bunch of other interesting and barely known RPGs, so go watch and follow you fuck!!

Twitch

Then, of course, Leif Ian Anderson. I've already said a lot there, but fr, like, show this guy some love. He's made something extremely special with this project and it's impossible not to respect his unrelenting dedication to this entity, so, obviously, play the game or at the very least check him out Wooden Ocean is on -25% sale rn until July 19th, so, perfect time to be getting into it now!!

Wooden Ocean | Twitch | SoundCloud | Patreon

Ty for reading!!

[nerendus]

Signalis is finished! All of the endings have been brutally experienced! And oh my God! What the fuck!

I went into this game knowing it got a little weird, but I honestly thought it was going to be just your standard Anime Horror Weirdness. But of course, within the first twenty minutes of the game that is immediately discarded with that cutscene after picking up the King in Yellow and ending up in the bathroom at Sierpinski.

I love the nods it gives to so many classics. Silent Hill. King in Yellow. Stanley Kubrick. Isle of the Dead. Apparently also even Evangelion, but I never watched that. And probably so many more that I didn't catch. And I especially love that it isn't just your typical nods, but it actually incorporates it into the story and helps set the mood with the story being told in the way that it is.

The Memory and Promise endings are definitely the ones to make me cry the most, especially with witnessing them in that order. Elster collapsing to the ground when Ariane didn't remember her and instead went to sleep, not fulfilling the promise that she does fulfill in the second ending when Ariane does remember her. It hurts so much.

I can't imagine how it must feel for players who got the Leave ending first, because that one really truly felt like a bad ending. Yeah, sure, you're saving reality and the people within, but c'mon. See your girlfriend. Forget about everyone else.

And from what I've seen the effort that's gone in tracking how to get these endings are insane. The maths is way too much for me to ever understand. I can't even begin to figure out how people managed to unlock the Artifact ending. Literally what the hell. I love it. It somehow makes even less sense than the guides to Silent Hill's endings.

I'm having...a lot of trouble talking about the story itself and organising my thoughts into words. Perhaps with time as my interpretation of the story molds to be something more concrete, I'll have more to say. I'm definitely viewing the story from all angles all at once and trying to rationalise a way to bring them altogether—the trauma, politics, and love specifically.

But I doubt whatever I decide to view it as will ever be the case for long, since I believe Signalis, like many stories of its kind, is meant to be a very personal experience for the player, and that others are naturally going to lean towards different angles based on what grabs them the most. For me, definitely, it is the trauma Ariane has gone through and her seeming struggle with mental illness on top of her physical illness, whatever that may have been.

I really enjoyed this game! It was extremely beautiful. The art style just really grabs you and pulls you in. And I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about this game for quite awhile.

I literally cannot recommend this game enough. It's amazing. It's beautiful. If you can't play it yourself like I couldn't, I recommend Welonz's playthrough as she's very thorough with the lore and has a grasp on the asian languages used, which was significantly helpful in a lot of parts.

Okay. I'm going to go cry now. Goodbye.

[msviolacea]

Random Baldur's Gate 3 Tips

I've been watching/revisiting a bunch of YouTube videos about BG3 this week, as I'm neck-deep in my second full playthrough, and decided to compile some of my favorite random tips I've gleaned from them.

Don't sleep on hirelings. When you get to the point where you can spare the money to hire and possibly respec them, you can hire one at the start of your day to cast all the random buffs you want to have on your party, including things like Heroes Feast at higher levels. That way you don't have to waste any of your actual party's spell slots.

Related - Longstrider, Speak With Animals, and Speak With Dead can all be cast as rituals out of combat, so you won't lose spell slots casting them.

Also, always use Speak With Animals and Speak With Dead whenever possible, especially if you're a nerd who likes story and lore context. Or you just like to pet cats.

Traders restock their restockable items (potions, alchemy ingredients, etc) after you level up a character, so if you buy someone out and want to restock immediately, go back to camp and grab a companion you haven't leveled, or hire a hireling and level them. If you have someone who needs multiple levels, you can go buy the trader out in between each level!

Minor Illusion is a higher tier spell than you think, because you can cast it and it will draw the attention of all the people in the area, so you can either a) attack a bunch of enemies with an AOE at once or b) steal everything that isn't nailed down while they're distracted.

For those in the first act: don't start murdering at the Goblin Camp until you've either talked to or pickpocketed from both of the available traders! There's one in the courtyard by Volo, and a halfling Zhentarim trader up by the priestess's room. They both have some really good unique equipment you won't be able to get if you kill them. Same goes for Moonrise Towers in Act 2, though I was dumb enough to miss all of those in the last playthrough, so I don't have the neat list of everyone.

You do NOT have to keep your camp supply food in your bag! Send it all back to camp, and ignore the warning you get when you go for a long rest that says you don't have enough. When you actually go to do the long rest, it will show you everything in your camp chest to choose from.

You get more out of poison and other weapon coatings if you throw them on the ground than if you just coat them on your weapon directly. On the ground, your whole party can dip, and it will persist so you can re-dip if necessary. I saw a tip that said you can even throw one at camp and it will last overnight, but I don't know how long the puddle will last overall, or if it depends based on where your camp is.

If you use a ranged weapon, switch your weapon set so your character is holding their melee weapon before you end your turn. That's the only way they'll get an opportunity attack if an enemy passes by!

Mage Hand counts as an ally for abilities like Sneak Attack!

If you have a cleric high enough level to get divine intervention, it might be worth using the version that gives you a weapon, that one will heal everyone in your party for 1-4 hit points every turn.

Even if you decide to tell the racist lady in the mountain pass to fuck off - or give her an owlbear egg instead - definitely grab the Githyanki egg in the monastery and keep it until the end of the game. It'll result in a very nice addition to the epilogues.

If you have any more, feel free to reblog and add your own!

[hawkepockets]

Hello I am secretly Zelda Lore Nerd and I must know your thoughts on like. The story progression and plot beats and how it's all put together in Twilight Princess because I've only ever watched playthroughs I haven't played it myself and I'm invested in your liveblogging of this now.

omg hi yaaaaaan

^ u n me rn

ok so im ONLY on the death mountain dungeon right but so far in terms of story structure & level design i love this game. i feel like it hits a real sweet spot of being a little perplexing but never punishing yk like u get to use your noggin but it’s easy to progress.

like i mentioned already i LOVED the tutorial ramping you up for a horseback adventure to hyrule castle as a human guy with a sword & slingshot and the power of speech only to take it all away with the wolf transformation and hurl you directly to the twilit castle so the journey you were promised is instantly fulfilled, and stolen, and given back much harder, darker, more complicated.

you haven’t spent much time with/as link atp but it HITS like. his screentime as a guy has been so well spent in establishing his relationship with ordon village, both animals & people, and hyping you up for him to prove himself and see the world in a way that he then isn’t allowed to. the transformation feels authentically violating—it’s fun to play as the wolf, but the first time you try to talk to a familiar npc and they scream, or to open a door and find it’s an unnavigable barrier to you in this form, the realization that just as link doesn’t know how to move through the world in this body, you don’t know how to move through the game without most of the mechanics you just learned… like it hits it hits!

the spirit cleanse 🐺 -> dungeon 🧍 -> spirit cleanse 🐺 -> dungeon 🧍 pattern works really nicely. keeps things fresh, means you didn’t really waste your time in the tutorial, and also alternates the dimly lit, easier but utterly lonely wolf phases with the brighter, more social and challenging human phases in a way that characterizes the twilight itself as a threat imo? it’s melancholy, it’s peaceful, it consumes without killing, it’s vast and feels like a natural disaster… but it’s also easier to reverse than more mundane instances of greed, corruption, and violence. the motif of link with and without a community is repeated over and over. it’s yummy!!

i like that the dungeons seem to have their own characters beyond just the set dressings too. the forest temple felt a bit like a memory pair matching game with a lot of backtracking to previously explored rooms with new context for what you found in there. the goron mines seem to be a lot more timing based, with a lot of speed checks and, so far, more linear forward progress. so the elemental character of each region goes into like. what’s the most challenging quality of each dungeon, instead of just everything getting harder across the board. wood & air for flow, growth, renewal, return. metal & fire for enthusiasm, impulse, persistence, and rhythm. YUM!

midna of course is a nonstop delight. it’s not always clear when she’s available to help mechanically, like it took me forever to realize she’ll only warp during twilight phases, but that’s ok—i’ve never regretted hitting the button to talk to her extra times. (ㅅ´ ˘ `)♡ to me, she’s the perfect fusion of TP’s dark and silly elements. it was love from the first time she yanked on link’s ears and told him to be a good boy. um. mm. hhehe.

literally my only game design complaints are that the day/night cycle isn’t explained in game and isn’t very intuitive (time doesn’t pass in every map), and since it does determine enemy activity & merchant availability i feel like that shouldn’t be smth you have to ask reddit for… and on the wii soooo many things are bound to the A button, and the console is NOT good at interpreting which function makes the most sense for a given situation. it makes some tasks a lot harder than they should be. ah well. forgiveable!

#1 best feature without contest or dispute:

that’s my 2 cents up to this point!

[delightfuldevin]

I've been meaning to ask for a while now about your Splatoon self insert!! I love the Splatoon lore/world building and would LOVE to hear your takes on it and your S/Is roles in it??

Oh! Haha, well I don’t actually have much of a role in Splatoon’s main story. In fact, it’s quite the opposite!

I first got into Splatoon a little over half way through Splat 2’s lifetime. I didn’t have the game yet, and I didn’t really know much about the lore either aside from the absolute basics. I watched someone’s playthrough of Splatoon 1’s story mode (but not 2 since I did want to get it). And I watched the idols’ live performances on YouTube! I finally did get Splat 2 a couple months after the Final Fest (and I will never get over not being able to be a part of that, truly a one of a kind experience that I will never have ;^;).

So for my self insert, he first appears in the world in his late teens (like 17-ish) and he arrives in a very small town out in the middle of nowhere. The inhabitants of the town aren’t Inklings and don’t know much about Inkling culture so he has no one to teach him about what he is. Not that long after he settles in there, he gets a radio, which can tune in all the way to Inkopolis. From that radio, he learns about the culture of Inkopolis. He becomes invested in the story about the disappearance and return of the Great Zapfish, and even Callie. He listens to songs by the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook every day.

One day, there’s an announcement on the radio that the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook will be having a concert soon and he is determined to see it. So, he goes on the long journey to Inkopolis. He arrives the day of the concert and is so overwhelmed by everything, but still very excited. He has a chance encounter with Callie and she immediately takes a liking to him after he makes an absolute fool of himself in front of her gfhhfgfhgghv. After the concert, he gets to meet all the idols backstage. He bonds with Callie the easiest since he met her first, but he gets closer to the others over time as well. Marina actually made a custom Splat Roller for him so he could finally participate in Turf Wars!

…Aaaand that’s where my story stops, at least for now! I have yet to properly tie myself into Splat 3. I was thinking I’d like to somehow tie myself into Frye’s clan for kin reasons hdncjsbdcsj but I’m not sure how yet. For the most part though, my sona is quite mundane in the world of Splatoon. He isn’t part of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, so he doesn’t play any role in the actual story.

I have an Octoling version of myself as well who actually does play a major role on Octavio’s side, but he’s more of a secondary sona who I don’t normally present with. He’s sorta my “angsty” sona, however angsty my happy go lucky self can be lol

He’s basically a high ranking soldier in Octavio’s army who (accidentally) aided in kidnapping Callie. His story has two different endings. One: Agent 4 saves Callie as usual and Octo!Dorian defects from Octavio and joins Callie on the surface. Two: Callie is never found and Octo!Dorian overthrows Octavio, taking over the Octarian Army and ruling it with Callie by his side. He doesn’t free her because he’s afraid she’ll hate him for what he’s done so he lives a happy lie with her hypnotized by the hypnoshades instead of facing the heartbreaking reality. Yeaahhh, it’s clear why I call him my angsty sona hcnjdbkchshjcs

So yeah! Thank you for your interest!! I don’t have much thoughts on the world of Splatoon, so I’m more content just living my mundane yet ink-covered life with my faves!

[lividria]

i swear every time i get into a game that has an actual community it'll feel like i just woke up on mars because i usually dig really deep into a game's lore, history, trivia, unused content, etc. and THEN i'll find stuff from the community and i don't even mean for that to happen it just works that way and it always plays out the exact same way without fail besides for when there is no community

like, a week or two ago i remembered OFF exists, watched a whole playthrough of it, have been listening to it's OST an unhealthy amount (I'm doing it right now, Unreasonable Behavior is so good), i go onto tumblr, first OFF post i see once i add it's tag to my feed is someone's art for an AU where all the characters all like hang out at a cafe together or something and everything is chill, which is like the antithesis of everything i had just experienced related to the game and i couldn't help but laugh in confusion once i realized what i was looking at

i go in the discord server for iconoclasts after obsessing over the game for like a year and annoying the fuck out of my friends about it, literally the only fanmade character i have seen is a chemico contra member who's also a phlebotomist, i had to google what a phlebotomist is and like... i didn't look into their lore by ctrl-f-ing or whatever so i'm probably missing something, but how do you come to this conclusion (actually i think i know, they mentioned they actually became one at some point after making this character which is really funny actually)

i start watching videos about pikmin after finally beginning to slowly come off one of the most intense hyperfixations i've had in my entire life to the point i had played through all 5 games in the series and dedicated weeks and entire days to trying to figure out the lore before giving up because it's nintendo lol and spending a roughly equal amount of time trying to come up with intentionally terrible ideas for more games in the series only to accidentally get WAY too into it (see my alph wraith post lol), i am greeted with Fiddlebert, and a later a dub of an AU where the player character is actually a wraith and is hiding it from the rest of the rescue corps (this post is still probably one of the funniest jokes i've ever seen) and the entire thing scarily resembles the type of shit i'd write if i was given this premise to work with down to the mention of an innocent child being consumed that's first brought up with a doodle of them saying "Oh boy I sure do hope being alive!" while holding The Goo THAT'S EXACTLY HOW I TREAT HORRIBLE EVENTS IN MY STORIES WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT THEM

i look at the tag for ultrakill on tumblr and feel like i just got sent to hell myself with the punishment of being stuck in a permanent state of confusion due to the sheer contrast to the source material all the fanart has, same goes for most of the posts about it in general actually, i go in expecting like blood & violence and instead i'm greeted with gabriel & v1 making out. drawn by 50 different users. (i don't even need to link anything here just check #ultrakill you'll see)

and this isn't even touching on all of the ships i've seen that are utterly incomprehensible to me because. like. why magolor and the snowman enemy? why kingsly and puddle??? i thought alph didn't like louie? wait also what do you mean at least two people's headcanon is that louie is trans? (ok i couldn't re-find some of the things in this paragraph and i'm too tired to conduct an in-depth search but you could probably find it if you looked)

i'm not hating on anything i brought up here it's just a bunch of funny examples i think about a lot now that i've seen them, you guys go do whatever you want even if i don't get it go have fun lol, i just love the feeling of pure confusion when i walk into the room and get punched in the face with a complete subversion of my expectations because it feels like i'm missing SO MUCH CONTEXT and i never get used to it i love it i love the internet

[pqrachel]

Games I Played in November

I never really plan these out but I always like talking about what I've been playing.

So I already talked about Trackmania, but I really hope to stay top 100 in my state for this season. I've got 18/25 author medals and that's better than I've ever done, but there's still time to maybe get a couple more. (I'm super close on some of them.)

Marvel Snap's been fun too, I've been playing a bit more casually. Like not buying anything with actual money, skipping dailys if I don't feel like playing, stuff like that. And I don't care what anyone says Martyr's so fucking fun and cool. I haven't hit infinite yet, been stuck in high rank 80s playing all sort of different decks. But that's okay it's been fun and that's the whole point of gaming.

As far as new games I finally bought Arkham Knight. That was amazing to play at my own pace instead of having to wait to play it whenever I visited my uncle's house as a teen. I got through basically everything, I'm tracking down the last few Riddler trophies on my own. I probably won't bother with NG+ but there are a lot of post-game stories I want to play which I never got to. I've also been watching a bunch of Arkham series lore vids on YT and that's really put me back in the headspace of playing the Arkham series like I did originally.

Handshakes was a fun free indie speed-game. I got top 100 on the steam leaderboards and that was fun.

Chillquarium is great, the demo was fun and cute but somewhere along the way it turned into a card pack opening simulator but in the best possible way. Like if you've ever wanted to open 1000 pokémon booster packs for no reason other to hunt for a super rare or something that's a super fun game to emulate that feeling.

And also Colostle. Obviously I've been posting my journals for that game on here for two years now so y'all know I love it! But it's been great playing it more frequently again I've got basically two chapters finished in one month, which I haven't done in a while. Really trying to get to the Tundrooms and Kyodaina content. The Colostle Patreon's already getting even more content in the Dungeons and maybe more (I've been off it since I'm not utilizing the new content immediately and I'm gonna buy the books when they come out anyways) and I feel like for as much I like the game I haven't experienced all it has too offer which is weird for me as someone who normally goes for completion, or achievement hunting, etc.

---

Daryl Takes Games on YouTube made a video about tackling his backlog and at one point he talks about the importance of writing about games as you finish them to preserve them as a memory for later and that hits home with what I'm doing here with these monthly summaries. That video was beautiful to me as a longtime gamer. I'm gonna take this time to also add games I plan to play in the future. Even if I don't get to them next month, I want to think about games and see how that changes between months.

So yeah, very recent addition to the backlog is Signalis. I've been seeing amazing fanart and it even featured in that video, so once that next goes on sale I'm gonna pick it up.

Rivals 2 looks amazing and I've backed the kickstarter so I hope I get to experience that in some manner once it comes out. Fighting games have dwindled from genres I play since I don't have as active of gamer friends and grinding with someone is the best part, but maybe with rollback and the good online it promises I'll still enjoy that on my own or maybe even find some new gamers to play with.

That video mentioned Sayonara Wild Hearts with a comment that seemed like the ultimate praise: "Every part was my favorite part." Since it's only an hour long I'm just gonna watch a playthrough, but that's totally valid. My fondest memories with Undertale was watching Dodger Leigh (PressHeartToContinue)'s full playthrough of that game, way more than my own playthrough. Even though the grind of beating Sans myself was worth it. Perhaps after watching Sayonara Wild Hearts I'll pick it up but I'm not gonna pressure myself to do that if I don't want to.

Some other games I tried recently but refunded include Dave the Diver (it looks good and was fun but ultimately didn't seem worth it to play the whole thing), Oxenfree 2 (I played the first and love it but this one just didn't hook me and there's no shame in giving a game), Shadows of Doubt (a couple months ago I tried it since it looked like I'd enjoy it after watch GMTK's vid on detective games but ultimately it was too involved and seemed like a chore to play, when I was looking for something else, the figure it out, red string on a cork board yes, the rest of the gameplay no not really), and Word Factori (I think I was just looking for a fun optimization game like Opus Magnum but Word Factori just fell short). In future ones of these I'll make sure to mentioned games I tried as well as played because those can be important when looking back on as well.

And finally, holy crap this post is long, good thing this blog is for me and I'm not trying to impress anyone with my thoughts on these games.

[iaintyourbro]

The Unknown Journey Continues

Part 1

I know it's been a while... but I've been going down a rabbit hole with @starlight-samurai regarding time loops, Jenova, Minerva, and more fun. So I figured I'd try to put it into one post to get the insanity out of my head. Everything in here is based on things we've found by either going through more obscure Ultimanias, learning more about Dirge of Cerberus and trying to decipher what the hell Jenova is by putting together various sources - including other Square Enix games - and how they handled freakishly similar scenarios.

Did you know there is a companion mobile game for it that was out on the good old flip phones? Did you know there was an online mode in Dirge of Cerberus only available in Japan, but had story elements that were not in the main game?

The sad part is, there's still so much to go through...

(I've also had various discussions with @ourfinalheaven, Manu, who doesn't have Tumblr, so here is her Twitter. and Somebody's Nightmare (here is her Twitter). So I wanted to tag them here, as it's much more fun to discuss these ideas as a group, since it'll only help you build on and strengthen your own ideas.)

Please be aware, there will be Spoilers for FFVII - Almost all Compilation titles, Xenogears, and NieR Automata throughout this.

So let's go on a journey where we explore what actually already exists in the compilation - including the idea of the whispers and timeloops - how Minerva may play into everything, and what exactly Jenova is capable of doing.

I asked Sesi if he'd ever played any of the NieR games, because he'd said something that made me wonder if they were going to take a similar approach. As a very, very quick high level summary: NieR Automata deals with a time loop type of idea. The androids will be rebooted and repeat the same things over and over again. This is broken when 2B is killed by A2 because she becomes infected with a virus. That being said, you have the option after Ending E to either erase all of your data and end the cycle OR you can try again. The Pods have a discussion, and one asks, "But won't they just do the same thing again?" and the other replies with "Maybe. But it could also be different this time."

Here's Sesi's message back to me when I asked him about this (cleaned up a bit since we were having a casual conversation over Discord):

Maybe I could just guess based comparatively on the Dirge storyline, because that was sort of SE's first flirtation with “robots and androids” since they’re all programmed and locked behind like task managers and shit that can shut them down. The story of the online mode for DoC that came out in Japan, we never got to see it, you’re basically an Android OC and you have to get to “the end of the level” and then essentially die, and a new one takes its place. This keeps happening until Weiss is essentially freed from being able to be task managed by the guys who are suppose to be able to control them and I know from tons of years with Square games that they’re verrrrry bad at differentiating their narratives they tend to just keep “ripping themselves off” so is it anything close to that?

Cuz if so I think I kinda know what you’re saying and yeah, I agree, I think with CC bringing in its poetic symbolism and LOVELESS, and DoC bringing back the cyclic nature of the lore, whispers, premonitions and future visions, proto-Materia and the perversion of this next cycle since the planet can no longer cleanse and protect itself and its will is weakening lesser and lesser to the point where it’s fate is “in a true sense of jeopardy This time essentially it’s all tied in together and sort of played as though it's a fated track; a cycle of events and something has hitched it, thus the whispers manifesting and Sephiroth's higher implied control over his destiny. Of course, even all that is just their new red herring game, but it’s definitely a part of the lore they want to play with, in order to go back and reMAKE the OG with the comp inserted from inception. Also gut punch a lot.

Time Loops

I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept is NOT new to FFVII's universe. It's discussed in Dirge of Cerberus... probably one of the least played and least understood of the compilation. (Trying to sell a third person shooter with terrible controls to a market of mostly people used to turn-based combat wasn't going to go well.)

On top of it, we didn't even get all of it, since online mode was never released outside of Japan, and the Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode was on Amp'd Mobile and Verizon flip phones back in 2006. Were you around for the cell phones in 2006? I had the ones on the list, and how somebody could play a game on those blows my mind.

Square has a tendency to reuse themes from their other titles. Probably one of the most blatant is the similarities between Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII. They were both being developed at the same time and a lot of ideas that didn't make it into FFVII ended up in Xenogears.

NieR

So how does this work? In NieR (both Replicant and Automata), you play the same path multiple times. Each time, it's slightly different depending on what side quests you did your first and second playthrough, but there's also other subtle differences throughout the story. In Automata, you get to play as 2B your first playthrough and 9S for your second. They follow the same path, but you get it from his perspective the second time and it reveals a bit more of what is going on. However, even with some slight differences, the main plot points stay the same and the ending result it also the same.

Then on your third playthrough, you wake up in the Bunker, and you're getting ready to go on a new mission. This time, though, 2B is killed and shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, you play as a new character: A2. In the end, pretty much everyone "dies", but you can choose to "reboot" and try again. You also can say you are done and let them all rest and delete your save data (the game gives you the option for both Automata and Replicant, and with Replicant, it actually leads to a new ending).

The striking thing for me is... There are certain events that will always happen, no matter what.

Fixed Points in Time

It's been years since I've watched Doctor Who, but there was something that stuck with me, and that was the fixed points in time. You can read about all of them here, but here's the basics:

Now, of course Doctor Who goes into this with much more detail and it's a recurring theme. However, as you read through that page, you'll probably find many aspects that have been used in various JRPGs that you've played. And Doctor Who most likely pulled some of the idea from classic Science Fiction novels. Each story puts its own spin on it.

How does this relate to FFVII Remake? Well, when they say that the major plot points will stay the same, it reminds me of this. No matter what, Cloud must fall into the Sector 5 Church, the Sector 7 Plate must be dropped, Aerith and Zack both must die, and Meteor has to be summoned, to name a few. So, with a time loop, those things would still have to take place in order to prevent a complete collapse of reality (at least in how Doctor Who uses it).

Therefore, the Whispers are ensuring that the Will of the Planet is followed.

One of the major themes in FFVII is that of loss. People die and they do not come back. Yes, other FF games do allow this to happen (FFX, FFXIII, FFXV), but VII is not those games. It was written with that idea in mind, that once a person dies, they, just like in real life, are dead and cannot be brought back.

I've previously written that I think they'll make us believe we are able to change fate, but we will eventually be slammed with the reality that we can't. That is because the planet has determined that certain events are fixed points.

Xenogears

Xenogears takes a bit of a different approach to the loop idea. Instead of repeating the same time period over and over, it has the characters reincarnated, and the same outcome happens each time: Elly dies. However, each time it's different. After all, they're in various time periods, in some cases thousands of years apart.

In all of the lives of Fei (who will have a different name in each time period) and Elly (who is always Elly/Elhaym), Elly will end up dying trying to protect Fei and the others. In one life, she is a religious figure at a totally not Catholic church, in another she's the wife of a scientist who was working to create children from nanomachines due to mass infertility issues. But she is ALWAYS with Fei, even if his name changes.

In her Mother Elhaym time, this is when Lacan (Fei) finally snaps. Though he's not fully aware of his past lives, he becomes aware, the anger consumes him, and he becomes Grahf. Fei is then reborn into the time period you play the game in.

There's a lot to unpack with this, so I won't go into it. Grahf wants to destroy God (Deus) because he thinks if he does, then it'll stop the suffering (his suffering).

If you do want to read more about Grahf, you can do so here, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've played Xenogears up to that point... Since it's much later in the game that this is all explained.

Lacan's desire was to stop the cycle of Elly always sacrificing herself for his sake. Though Grahf is not a perfect existence - he's not fully "The Contact", he sacrifices himself in order to let Fei move forward, and hopefully stop the cycle, by destroying the Deus system. (Elly also tries to sacrifice herself here, but Fei goes after her and stops her.)

Now, some people may think I'm saying that Cloud or somebody is going to do this in order to save Aerith or Zack (or his village or mom), but in FFVII if they do the loop method, I don't think Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others are aware of it. Most likely, it's only 'Sephiroth' and Aerith who are aware of it.

How this Could Be used for Final Fantasy VII

I'm stressing could because there's so many different possibilities on how they use this (if they are using this), so please, don't take this as fact. This is based on speculation based on what we know.

A time loop is a great way to explain away the differences in the story that we've seen: Biggs being alive, Wedge living for longer than he should have, etc. Since these are not major plot changes, they can simply say that this time it'll be slightly different... but your fixed points (major plot points) will remain the same.

It's a way to pull in some of the more obscure themes from Dirge of Cerberus and also play with the LOVELESS lore.

It could all simply be a big red herring and it's really just a remake of OG, but with the compilation tied together nicely... since it works much better when it's combined and not in 50 different games, books, movies, etc.

I don't think it's a "sequel" per say, not in the way I generally perceive a sequel. It's more of a loop of the same thing. The question is, when is the loop started and what will cause it to end? When will the planet (if it even is the planet) determine that it's good enough to begin moving forward?

JENOVA, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Minerva - Oh My!

Let's be real... Genesis isn't exactly the most popular character in the FFVII Compilation... but what if they make him one of the most important to the story? //Ducks as various fruits and vegetable are thrown in my direction//

I think what Genesis is probably most known for is his love of LOVELESS. He has the entire thing memorized and randomly says lines from it throughout Crisis Core. LOVELESS lore is still something I'm trying to grasp, so I am not going to comment much on it. Once I understand it more, I'll update this.

...And then this happens. The secret ending for Dirge of Cerberus, where Genesis picks up Weiss. Weiss, who has now been introduced along with Nero in FFVII INTERmission and is an optional ridiculously hard boss in the Shinra battle simulator in chapter 17 of the main story. There is some lore associated with the battle sim - so if you don't plan on beating it or you just can't, you can look up the pre-battle and post-battle cut scenes on YouTube. They're very short, but interesting. (I beat this asshole last night - it's a hell of a fight.)

....To Be Continued because apparently Tumblr won't allow more than 10 images per post now.... Next will be more on JENOVA and Sephiroth along with Minerva.

[bugthegremlin]

ALRIGHT KIDS HERE WE GO ( Also, to clarify - I've not played most of these (have watched though) and haven't finished them all nor know about the Afton Lore, so bare with me.)

S TIER : FNAF 1 : Honestly a Classic, deserves it's spot on this list. It's pretty fun, but again, what really redeems it is the game just being a classic overall. FNAF 2 : If there was any correct way to do a sequel, this would probably be it. Gets an S-Tier because it's a good sequel and because I just think it's one of the better games A TIER : FNAF 4 : It goes in A-Tier because it's scary as fuck but doesn't hit as hard as FNAF 1 and 2 for some reason. Still a good game though. B TIER : Sister Location : The only reason Sister Location gets a B is because I think FNAF 4 is better than Sister Location. I like the change of the free roam, but y'know the scene where we're kinda back in FNAF 1 with having to check the cameras/shut doors and stuff? I know they're trying to relate it to the old FNAF games, but I just didn't like it all that much, maybe it just felt forced? I don't know. Still a decent game though. C TIER : FNAF 3 : Imo, this game is boring. I know we got Springtrap and the Phantom Hoes but it's just boring. D TIER : FNAF : SECURITY BREACH : I decided to put it in D Tier for the overall quality of the game itself. Yeah, I love Freddy and the aesthetic is really cool, but there's so many bugs and glitches, and keep in mind I haven't finished watching playthroughs of it yet but I'm almost finished, but the story is confusing. Also, why are some of the images (like, the advertisements for things in the establishment) so low quality? The game looks good, I don't know Scott Cawthon's budget for this game, maybe he just didn't have the money for it, I dunno. It also feels like a highly dedicated fangame instead of an official game. Not that there's anything wrong with that at all. I'm also not too sure about the free roam.. so far, literally the only thing actually FNAF is Chica and Freddy (without a minor-ish spoiler). I'm just conflicted, but the game quality is enough for me to give it a D-Tier. Stan Sunrise/Moondrop, though. [ SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON FOR SECURITY BREACH!! PLEASE SKIP IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE SPOILERS ] Also... isn't the main objective to leave? Why is Freddy delighted when we choose to stay? Why is there an option to fight Vanny so early when we barely know anything about them? Also, how in the merry fuck do you expect people to be able to beat the ending without saving? I'd understand if it was the very end, like the final boss battle, but there's more than that. Also, didn't it say in the very beginning that the establishment was going to be shutting down for a few days for maintenance on the Animatronics? Why does Freddy say to never come back and that it's not safe? [ SPOILER END ] Yeah, that's my tier list. Maybe your own tier list, or thoughts?

ive never been super into fnaf nor have i really watched anything on the game but its cool to see what people think abt them!!! but from what i have collected abt the games id probably say i agree!!