#idk if this is going to be a character or just a neat mechanical idea

[thedragonagelesbian]

hmmmm harbinger aasimar + moon druid leveraging the fact that exanimate's glory still triggers in wildshape................

[flowersandbigteeth]

Meeting your minotaur mechanic boyfriend

General Plot: Your car breaks down and a minotaur mechanic is working on it for you, but he gets other ideas.

This was just a little fragment of an idea that I thought was funny, idk why

Minotaur (Kodan) x female reader

Work Count: 800

W: yandere fluff, monster fluff, kidnapping, minor character injury

“How’d you get so good at cars?” you asked, sucking on a lolipop and leaning against your beat up blue Bronco as the Minotaur mechanic worked on it. He lifted his head bumping his horns on your hood for the fifth time. His shop was in the middle of nowhere, but it was cheap, so you didn’t have anything to do while you waited but bug him. 

“I…uh…got drafted and learned it in the army,” he murmured, wiping his greasy hands on a rag and looking at you from under his fluffy brown hair. 

“Wow, you were in the war?” you asked, “you ever kill anybody?” 

It was a dumb question, but you asked it anyway. 

His eyes narrowed on you, but you couldn’t see it under his hair and he chuckled. 

“No, never killed anybody…I was a mechanic…” he said, “you’re awfully small to be so blood thirsty.” 

You glanced over his nearly eight foot form. 

“Just curious,” you pouted, “should probably know who I’m dealin’ with out here. Why’d you pick such a far out place anyway? I only chose you because you were the only shop without any wait. Do you even get customers?” 

He looked out of his garage at the green grass and rolling hill going for miles until they touched the forest. 

“Just seemed right,” he said. 

You shrugged following his eyes. 

“Seems kinda bad for business if you ask me,” you said. 

He laughed again and got another tool. 

“It’s not all about money, you know,” he said, “there are enough farmers out here who need tractors worked on to keep the lights on. It’s peaceful, no one to bother you or get into your business.” 

You looked at him and winked. 

“Like you have any shady business you need to hide in the countryside,” you teased, “you look like one of those all American types. I bet you eat apple pie for lunch.” 

He was literally wearing a t-shirt with an american flag with an eagle in the center stretched across his broad chest, though it was streaked with motor oil. His cheeks darkened and he looked at you thoughtfully, his eyes grazing the jean shorts you were wearing cut up to your hips. 

“Maybe I should start,” he murmured, his gaze slipping up to the t-shirt you were wearing with a big red cherry on the front, then settling on your mouth as you popped the candy in and out. 

“Hey, what’s that?” he asked, pointing behind you and you spun around to see what he was pointing at. 

That was the last thing you remembered before you woke up with a big headache. 

“Mmmmm?” you moaned, your hand immediately going to the back of your head.  

There was a big painful lump there, but when you pulled your hand in front of your face there was no blood. You looked around to find yourself in a pretty spare room with neat wooden furniture. There was the bed you were in, a chest of drawers, and a rocking chair in the corner. There was a cup of water on the table next to the bed with a pill next to it, but you didn’t think you were going to touch that. 

The door opened and you scrambled back against the headboard, unsure what to expect. What had been behind you? You blinked as it dawned on you that nothing had been behind you when Kodan walked in the door. 

“You’re awake,” he said smiling. 

He was clean and wearing a button up flannel shirt, rolled up at the elbows. 

“Kodan…” you murmured, your head still a little spinny, “what’s going on? Where am I?” 

“I took you home sweetheart,” he said, his warm smile never dropping. 

“Took me…what do you mean by that?” 

He sat down on the bed next to you and brushed your cheek with his much larger hand. It was a little infuriating that you couldn’t properly see his eyes behind his hair. 

“All I’ve been missing is a sweet little wife to keep my home warm,” he said, cheerfully, “you’re perfect.” 

You shifted and there was a clinking noise. Your eyes drifted down to the chain around your ankle and your face dropped to horror. 

“You can’t do this!” you cried, your gaze frantically flickering to his face, “you can’t be serious!” 

He smirked. 

“Sure I can, no one is going to find you or your car out here,” he said. 

“I’ll never stop trying to escape,” you warned him. 

He looked you over with amusement. 

“I think I can convince you,” he assured you, tossing his hair to the side and the look he gave you made you shiver with the heat in it. His fluffy hair slid back in his face and you blinked, unsure you had the same reticence as before. 

Tags: @southernbluebellereader another minotaur story, lol

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Why do you like Skyward Sword? What do you love about it? (I just came back to it after a long time and am obsessed.)

AH there are SO many reasons I like Skyward Sword!

The aesthetic! This is such a cute game, and the pastels are so pleasant to the eye. It makes the world so magical too, like botw is breathtakingly beautiful but skyward sword is like going to a real fantasy land. Kind of adds to the whole idea that this game is so far in the past it's in mythology era too, which makes it extra fun!

Speaking of which, the lore! Like, I know some people might not like the Hylia addition but let's be real, Nintendo destroys their own lore with every new game, so I just really liked this one lol. The idea that this game is so far back in the past that it's the original Hero, the original Zelda, it's such a fascinating and fun thing! This isn't just another iteration of the pair, this is the pair. It makes it fitting that they're the Zelink couple that I adore too haha.

With it being so far back in the past, it makes the magic feel so much more alive! The goddess is within reach, the dragons talk, everything feels so alive. You know how in stories it's always like "time passes and people grow distant from the magic and can no longer hear it/experience it" and that kind of feels like the rest of the Zelda games - like there's obviously still magic and beauty in all the games, but it never quite feels as... idk, fantastical as Skyward Sword's world does. Part of that is probably also because it's from Link's POV and this is all new to him

Which is another fun thing! All the other Zelda games, Link lives in an established world. Here, Link's exploring one that's been untouched since the entire world was nearly destroyed in a devastating war and nearly everyone had died. Like it's kind of akin to botw (I remember reading somewhere that botw was designed to be like a really improved skyward sword, like sksw paved the way for it) in that regard, but Link's in a foreign land and knows nothing about it. Rather like OoT Link, but there's very little established here, you know? There's no kingdom, you run into one (1) settlement with the mogmas and that's it. The rest is ruins and wilderness.

The characters! My gosh, they're so fun! Link is the most expressive here, he's absolutely delightful and I adore his personality (the only Link who comes close to being my favorite aside from Sky is Twilight). Groose is fantastic and rightfully a fan favorite. Zelda's a freaking knight! And she has her own journey! And she's got a fantastic personality, and her story is so interesting! Ghirahim is hilarious and a fun recurring villain! Even Impa is fairly interesting as a character. Fi certainly isn't my favorite companion but she isn't terrible, and it's quite fun learning about her lore and watching her develop.

LOFTWINGS. That is all.

LIVING IN THE SKY. Their settlement is so different from anything else in any other game and I love it. Also a nice little thing because like so many Zelda games herald an ancient race coming from the skies, and it differs between the games but the fact that this time it was the Hylians is really neat and solidifies the whole "this takes place before literally everything else" idea.

The music! I love the music so much, they're all bangers. Fi's theme, especially Follow Fi, is absolutely magical, Groose's them is bombastic and fun, freaking Koloktos theme, the Ancient Cistern!! The Sand Sea!!!

SILENT REALMS MY BELOVED. Everybody else hates them, I freaking adore them, they're my favorite part of the game. I love the challenge of them and the music for them absolutely took my breath away.

The sword mechanics! I know with bad programming/buggy controllers it can be a pain, but it's so fun being able to swing Link's sword around with such control, whether it's motion control or joystick. Like, it's not just hitting a button, you gotta wait and watch and observe to figure out how you're going to attack, and it makes it pretty fun!

[sir-subpar]

BanBan Reimagined!

I had a couple ideas with BanBan. Below the cut

For the record: I'm not doing this to bully the Developers. Especially since I genuinely think they have some cool ideas for this game series. I'm just writing down what I probably would have done differently with the characters

I wanted to give him more of a fun Kondergarten look, and I foind this suit online and figured it was perfect. So I just kind of gave it a few tears and messiness to show that it's been a while since he's actually interacted with kidsm

I imagine that he is kind of like a companion that would follow you around. At first it would start off the same as in the game, being a voice over the intercom, telling you he's locked somewhere and needs a key card.

But unlike the game, he's actually telling the truth, locked up in the office.

If needed/wanted, he could still punch the player when they arrive. Most likely feeling startled/not expecting you to arrive so fast, I possibly reacting by punching you had a fear that you were someone else (possibly jumbo Josh or something, Idk)

He seems like a physically strong character, and he's pretty tall, so maybe when he's around you don't need to use the drone to reach buttons that are high up for example. Maybe there could be a gag in the game where you're struggling to unlock a door and he punches it down or something by accident.

I still think he'd still be drawn to the smell of organs (specifically pancreas is since he seems to be drawn to those in the game) and his monster instincts get yhe better of him if the player is injured/bleeding. I don't know, could be a cool mechanic or something

I think BanBan would want to help the player find their kid(s) due to the fact that he cares about children. I mean, if he was specifically designed to educate/protect/entertain kids, I feel like that would still be a bid priority for him, even if everything's gone to s***

I think it could be a neat mechanic that you have to keep an eye on him, watching for "tells" for when he's about to lose control. Maybe he could start drooling from hunger, or growling, maybe he has retractible teeth, maybe his demeanor would change. Some subtle hints to help the player know when to run without shoving it in their face obnoxiously, y'know?

Looking for your point in the games where they decide it's too dangerous to have BanBan nearby, and so he goes back to being a voice on the intercom, ready to help if necessary.

You could have some good comedy moments with him too. Or just other immersive things. I've noticed the game doesn't really have music most of the time.

Maybe there could be moments where you could call BanBan and tell him to turn on some music over the intercom. He doesn't seem to like silence. You could have a funny moment similar to Ick from The Upturned where the music becomes a funny hindrance.

Yeah, I feel like if they're going to make him a companion for the player that has some caveats they should really lean into it! I think it would really help the game stand out from other mascot Horrors by having a more present companion. Besides, it would actually let you get to know his character so when Stinger Flynn captures him it would mean more. Because it's Not my just some sunburned lookong guy getting captured, it's a friend and guide.

Similar to how chapter 4 of BATIM had Alice capture Boris

[triphimi]

❗️(quite) HEAVY INTO THE PIT SPOILERS❗️

So the minigames in ITP are neat additions. But besides the ones from arcades, there are more that you need to find and like

One is about "To be beautiful" and we play as Eleanor giving Sarah new body parts. Eventually after switching all of Sarah's body we can take the necklace and Sara turns into a pile of trash.

Easy, that's pretty much exactly what happened in the story (just simplified).

To get to it you need to call mom while in the Freddy's pizzeria on final night (or at least that's how I got to it).

Second one is about Millie from "Count the ways". At first I thought it was Charlie bc of gray sprite and green eyes but it makes sense to be Millie since CTW is also in the first book. Anyways we collect 5 items from the next room 5 times. First we collect 5 drinks, then 5 cupcakes, then 5 snowflakes are what these things are I think? Then 5 hearts each pierced by an arrow, and then 5 cauldrons. When we enter the room for the 6th time there's some Bonnie looking thing, for me it definitely looks like Bonbon. Also I'm pretty sure that the items we collect are referencing ways to die Funtime Freddy presented to Millie (dehydration, starvation, freezing to death, getting impaled, boiling alive if I'm not mistaken)

Again oversimplified and we only get to the part where Millie's already getting her death sentence (and we don't see Funtime Freddy but she's technically in his stomach so fair enough) but with context it's definitely easily connectable to CTW

To get it you need to spam the candy machine A LOT of times and I think it has to be on the final night too (I did it like that).

But there's one more you can get by inserting a voucher into a prize machine at Freddy's. When you do it it takes you to a minigame where you play as some black haired dude? a kid? Idk hard to tell from the sprites.

Golden Freddy is laying on the floor in the staring room (can't interact with him and touching him doesn't do anything either). We're in a pizzeria judging by the party rooms and the office (I can't tell if it's the same layout as the itp one bc my spacial awareness is laughable so I'll have to wait till someone makes a map of it).

We need to collect balloons, there's a counter I'm the top left corner of how many we have, after collecting 6th the number changes from white to purple and we can go to the room that had been previously blocked. Inside there's a white dog (mechanical one maybe) and some white box saying "prize" if I remember correctly.

After getting into the room we put the balloons on the floor and our character runs out of the room however the dog catches us in the next room and mauls our character I guess??

After that there are letters "C U" appearing at the top of the screen, then the minigame ends.

So uh, what the fuck does any of that mean I have no idea. First I tried to connect it to "Fetch" bc dog but it doesn't make much sense? Why is the protagonist getting attacked by a dog when in "Fetch" only Greg's uncle got attacked (who didn't have black hair) and Kimberly who's a girl.

Also why is there Golden Freddy in the location??? Like these aren't events of "Fetch". And I honestly have no idea what to make of it as of now.

It doesn't have to be done on the final night either bc I did it in earlier night so idk if you need that one for the special ending (bc after getting these minigames done you get a different cutscene and dialogue at the end)

Additionally I want to talk about one arcade minigame which is the balloon boy collecting hats one but I'll make separate post about it I think

[captainmera]

Woe, 💕 be upon ye

I’ve been following ur Golden Brother fic for about… half the time it’s been up? I was already baffled by how u posted such long chapters of such GOOD SHIT, but recently I was like “oh yeah better check out their Tumblr!!” and… Who did you sell your soul to write that much, often post multiple drawings a day, AND have a webcomic (I still need to read it tbh) going??? LMAO

Whenever I open a new chapter and remember how long they tend to be, I go insane (affectionate, in awe, thankful).

That being said, if you overwork yourself with fanfic, fanart, or asks I will smack you with a large tree branch. So don’t u dare feel obligated to make a reply for this HHFJSBSNS

About the fic tho,,, your writing is so good. I came for the arc between Hunter and Vee (which I ADORE btw), but everyone’s characterization is just top tier imo. You even think through canonical strengths so well that you find new ways to turn them into FLAWS and I like it a very not normal amount.

Like… Luz genuinely fucking up a bit? Without being tricked like she was with Philip? You created such neat depth around her coping mechanism of distracting herself by helping others heheheee!!

Willow and how she got so set on being “the reliable one” that others find it hard to open up to her since the vulnerability feels one-sided is really interesting cuz it makes sense! It’s counterproductive, but I can see why she does it.

“The true mom-friend was Gus” is BASED, I’m absolutely here for it!!! He’s one of my favs, so I sometimes think he’s overlooked as far as character depth, but I love how you write himmm!!

Amity having to re-recognize that her and Hunter do indeed have a lot in common, but becoming very relaxed and understanding towards him once she does? Yissss always appreciate the (platonic) rosegold hostility->solidarity pipeline!

Hunter’s lingering child soldier mentality stuff is mmmmmmmmm!! And seeing him start to overcome it as he trusts others more IS SO!!!! AAAA!!!!! Plus his skill in understanding others and being a mediator from having a leadership role in the coven is super cool and fitting!! Also the grimwalker shenanigans are a blast ofc. Hhhnnggggg you’re really fueling my brainrot here >:[ /POS

Salty Vee fuels me. After being so mistreated for most of her life, she deserves to be a lil angry. As a treat. Directing it at Hunter may have been misplaced, but it’s understandable enough that Hunter himself recognized what she needed and encouraged her do her thing (when he does it out of guilt, I wanna hit him upside the head with therapy, but it’s still nice of him). And then her sudden, genuine “I forgive you” makes me wanna SOB, it’s so gooodddd!!

Even Jacob is super neat???? I never thought of Masha being like family sorta with him (and ngl I was actually :/ about the idea for a hot sec) but you worked it SO WELL!! I’m interested in his arc now lmaoooo

I can probably go on, but EEEE can’t wait to see more!!!!!

Anyways, THANK YOU FOR CONTENT!!!!! I wish you motivation, energy, health, happiness, and breaks if u need them XD

Thank you so much for this letter, its been so lovely to re-read it and it's been very encouraging. 💝💝💝🙇

Idk where to start. Just thank you very much for saying all that. 😭🙇💙💙💙

[dunkledog]

Introductory Post !

I fear something of this nature is long overdue. So here it is.

I go by Lucifer and my pronouns are he/him. I'm an artist, I enjoy writing, and most of all I enjoy frolicking in anything TF2-related. Most of my art is somehow TF2-related these days. I'm back in the trenches of my biggest obsession hehee... I do have non-tf2 content that I may upload more of.

Unfortunately I don't post often. I'm more active on my main blog, @lucifer-the-fetus-eater, but I don't really post art over there, just general hijinks, rambling, and reblogging. I do dabble in SFM... So I might start posting stuff like that sometime. Who knows

For general warnings, I'm liable to post artistic depictions of blood and gore, possibly body horror, suggestive content, drug use, crude humor, and foul language. I will do my best to tag posts with the appropriate trigger warnings. Discretion is advised.

Now is a better time to mention than never that due to the general nature of my content, this blog is NOT intended for users under the age of 18. I apologize for not clarifying this sooner.

REGARDING ASKS:

I definitely should've been clear about whether or not I'm accepting requests. As of currently, I am not, since I have a bunch that are still sitting in my ask inbox and have been for months that I wanna try and fulfil before accepting any more.

I will, however, answer questions! I will answer questions about... like... anything, I guess. I'm afraid I might open pandora's box with that one, but to hell with it. Why not?

I don't want to make this too long, but below the cut I have described some blog-specific tags you'll start seeing on some of my posts.

!this post might change and update as time goes on!

Blog-specific Tags

#the magic renaissance - This is my main OC world. It's full of random fantasy crap I've cobbled together over the past like... 7-ish years. It's technically an urban fantasy since it features an alternate history Earth with magic and non-human sapient species and other neat stuff. The (segmented across time periods) story takes place surrounding six main characters. Heinz and Franz (Infernal Emperors), Adrik (Harbringer of Winter) Ritter and Winnifred (Twin Seraphim), and Connor (Son of Creation). There's a lot more, but idk how to condense it more than that just for this post.

#coarse gravel - The basic idea behind this one is "what if The Gravel Wars actually happened, and Valve was hired by the US Government to create a silly 'documentary' video game so no one would take it seriously?" It's like a version of the TF2 universe, but significantly less cartoonish with alternate, more disturbing lore. (With respawn mechanics inspired by Emesis Blue.) It takes place deep in the Rocky Mountains and focuses on the conflict between D.A.C.S, (aka Defense Area Control Squadron, a division or RED), and S.H.A.U, (aka Specialized Heavy Assault Unit, a division of BLU.)

#salem: supernatural reckoning - I haven't posted or mentioned this one at all as of writing this. Mainly because it's very new. It's way more of an elaborate shitpost than anything else... It's a TF2-based universe where these angel and demon teams run around trying to foil each other. I really let myself go crazy with this one. The conflict is between two angels of death-- one fallen, and the other still in reputable standing. One is in part responsible for the respawn machine, the other is trying to find a way to free the souls in its belly. You know how it is.

[sketching-shark]

idk how much you game but do you think the pilgrimage could be reimagined effectively in a video game without going too gimicky or changing too much of the core beats of the story? cuz tbh i have a hard time imagining how a "true" jttw video game would play out in any way thats not Incredibly Linear and just not worth being a game in the first place yknow

Hmmmm so while I am aware that most JTTW-inspired video games are beat-em-ups in various forms (make sense what with this work being an important progenitor of the 'monster of the week' story formula), maybe you could effectively replicate the feel of the work and play with its core ideas in a video game by starting out as a beat-em-up and gradually switching primary mechanics to a stealth/mystery and then even strategy with an emphasis on diplomacy game? Like say you begin playing Sun Wukong, where the first part of the game is you getting used to the mechanics of moving around and also to combat. And why do you do this? Because after being exiled from Puti Zushi's school you find the Demon King of Havoc kidnapping your monkey children, so of course you want to body him! And then things keep escalating along that scale for awhile until you're going full mortal combat against a bunch of heavenly soldiers. So you feel powerful! On top of the world! Aaaaaand then the sealing under the mountain happens. AND THEN your primary character becomes Tang Sanzang, and you have your new helplessness driven home by the fact that your one option is using diplomacy to achieve your goals, but even if you do the plot keeps making your actions that advance the story seem futile; you rescue your mom only for her to commit suicide, you get to go on Buddha-ordained journey only for your two companions to be immediately eaten. So now you're left in a position of relying on stealth to get past yaoguai and bandits, and on diplomacy if you're caught and/or want to try and get another character to help you. So you go along like that for awhile, learning how to achieve your goals in nonviolent ways, AND THEN you encounter and free Sun Wukong. So now this hypothetical game lets to switch between Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang, and let's you emphasize either combat and violence or stealth and diplomacy to advance through the story. But cool twist on the game mechanics! You can also play as a peaceful Sun Wukong and/or as a violent Tang Sanzang, but the emphasis is always on the choices you're making and their consequences as you turn the journey into either a genuine if sometimes sneaky attempt at redemption or a blood-soaked path. There'd be multiple endings available of course, and while I'd have to think a little more about what they all might be I could see one of them being a Sun Wukong who was played as peaceful having a boss battle with a Tang Sanzang who was played as so vicious that his past life as Golden Cicada, here reimagined as Buddha's second disciple who decided to become a yaoguai warlord, bursts out of the thoroughly corrupted monk.

Just some ideas off the top of my head, but it would be neat to see how people might play around with Xiyouji in video game format outside of the usual rock 'em sock 'em monkey method!

[waywardsalt]

Hi! I hope you’re doing good in life.

What do you think of a phantom hourglass remake? Tbh I don’t know how they could remake it without basically remaking it from the ground-up. It would probably play more like windwaker, which I see as a both a good and bad thing. On the one hand, if it was more like windwaker a lot more people would probably play and it would be more popular since I know the touch controls were a turn off for most people for both Spirit Tracks and Phantom hourglass. But on the other hand, remaking it to be more like windwaker would make the game lose some of it’s previous identity. Like, Phantom hourglass was so unique because of the touch controls and the puzzles you can make and solve by having two screens and touch controls. And it was so nifty and handy to be able to write notes on your map. Idk, I still would like it to be remade in general even if it ends up a basically different game, but I wouldn’t change the story or the characters, especially Linebeck. The only other change I would make is the music. Phantom hourglass had rather weak themes, mainly because they re-used the same theme for the islands and the dungeons. The only songs that were really good were the few orginal tracks made for the game, so Linebeck’s theme, Oshus’s theme, both Bellum boss battle themes and the and that music that plays when you first follow the Ghost Ship. But what would you want out of a phantom hourglass remake?

Hey, I’m doing good, and I hope you are too!

I’ve thought a bit about a possible Phantom Hourglass remake, but not too much recently. I don’t really know if I’d want one, since you’d lose a lot of what really makes it special, and you can still play it through other means. I’m personally fond of the graphics and the music- yes, even the dungeon theme has grown on me- so I don’t really want a remake too badly, especially since I fear any additions/changes they might make with story or characters in a remake. The touch controls make it, and playing it on pc recreates that feeling decently well, but I don't think it'll be just the same if you had to control it with joysticks or anything.

Not to mention, there's so much emphasis on having the two screens, too, not just for map stuff, but almost every single boss had a mechanic related to the top screen! I have no fucking clue how you'd replicate that very well on something like the switch without just fucking with the mechanics altogether.

I would kill to hear some of Phantom Hourglasses tracks be orchestrated or otherwise rearranged in a higher quality. I wouldn't want any of the more notable themes altered in any way, no adding or removing of melodies and only very very small changes to the instrumentation, but I think it'd be neat to see what could be done with dungeon themes. I think a while back I had a fleeting desire to write some short tracks for each dungeon, with some ideas like mostly using instruments heard in Bellum's themes for the dungeons while each individual one gets a leading instrument unique to and reflective of the dungeon, while the Ghost Ship maybe gets a song that's a bit of a expanded version of the fog theme, while the Temple of the Ocean King could have slightly different themes the further in you got, starting with instruments more common to Oshus's theme or the great sea theme, while the further in you got the more instruments from Bellum's theme would be heard, plus some harpsichord thrown in for the hell of it.

Leave the original dungeon theme for stuff like the minor pyramids and some larger cave areas, idk. It's grown on me.

I think the only story rearranging I'd want is mayyyyybe unfridging Tetra? You could very easily shuffle some things around with her and just not damsel her for the whole game and honestly it'd still go off perfectly without a hitch. But you'd still have to deal with the World of the Ocean King being a whole other world, so either bring her and her crew in and have them as wandering ship npcs (the better idea) or just leave them out (not a good idea) but either way it's better than what they actually did. I just don't think I'd want it to switch to Tetra being a major reoccurring character tbh, the main character dynamics in PH are good as they are.

I think I like Phantom Hourglass too much as it is to really want a remake at all. I'd rather we get something like an anime adaptation. That's what I think about more. Give me animated Phantom Hourglass with some fun takes on the dungeons and fights and some fun slice of life stuff with the group between the islands what I want is a Phantom Hourglass anime

[jones-friend]

Gencon Thots

Now that I’ve mostly recovered from the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour I wanted to post some thots I had regarding games I discovered at gencon!

So I used to collect pokemon cards. Im a longtime mtg player. When I heard Disney was asking Ravensburger to make a tcg I was curious. To do the equivalent of sticking my head around the corner I entered a Lorcana learn to play.

Good god was this game popping off at gencon. Every game was full and every morning the booth sold out. There’s a ton of speculative hype surrounding the game right now.

In Lorcana we are illumineers painting Characters with Ink who will generate Lore. The first player to generate 20 Lore wins. Characters have a power, health, and amount of lore they generate as stats with an Ink cost, whether or not the card can be played as Ink, and any abilities the card may have.

On your turn you may reveal a card with that gold swirl around the cost and play face down as Ink (lands). There is no colors, Ink is Ink, and a deck can contain no more than 2 colors of Ink at a time.

Characters cannot Exert (tap) the turn you play them, “the paint has to dry”. Once the paint dries you can Exert your Character. They can Exert to generate Lore equal to the pen pips on the right of the text box (Tinkerbell here makes 1 lore). You can also Exert a Character to Challenge an Exerted Character (you cannot Challenge an unExerted Character). Challenge is fighting, each Character deals damage equal to their power. Damage does not wear off, meaning you can’t unendingly use one beater to stomp thru your opponent’s deck.

There are also Songs. Songs are special Actions that can be played using our already played Characters. So timing my plays right I could play a Character with a cost of 5. On my next turn I could Exert them to play Let it Go for free, play an Ink, and play a 6 cost Character playing 11 Ink worth of stuff for 6. Its a really neat idea.

I feel Lorcana has a lot of good ideas and takes away a lot of what feels bad about mtg. In doing so I think it also takes away some of what people like.

The ink system is great. Manascrew isnt really a thing in this game. That your cards (and not all of them) can be played as Ink or for its cost is fascinating. I bounced my opponent’s smaller Character and he played it as Ink to play his larger cost Character. You end up making more decisions about who to use as Ink and who to play, and it opens up deckbuilding to more fun options.

Not being able to touch your opponent’s stuff (for the most part) is also a polarizing thing. I like that I know I can use my dudes before they get picked. Some people might hate that they have to wait.

I like that its a race to generate Lore rather than having another slugfest. It makes the game feel unique and Lore generation as a stat adds more dimension to what cards can do.

One of the biggest, most polarizing points of the game for players will be that there are no Instants. There is no play-response system in this game. The only time you interact with your opponent’s turn is if they trigger your ability during their turn. Otherwise you do not interact with your opponent’s turn.

I did not enjoy the starter decks. I steamrolled my opponent every game. My buddy got steamrolled every game. Thats 4 decks with 4 games and 2 were clearly stronger than the other 2. I don’t feel the starter decks did a good job balancing the different colors and showcasing what they do. My opponent had gray and yellow, idk what they do bc I dunked on every dude he tossed out. Then what I played he couldn’t touch. It was a hot mess and I think they did a poor job constructing entry level lists meant to be played against each other in a paid event.

Otherwise I felt the game was fine enough. Unique enough not to just be a mtg clone, has some mechanics that make my brain go brrr, but I feel its a tcg with bumpers on it. Its very safe in the experience it delivers and bc of this you can often forecast the next 2-3 turns and you can tell you’ve lost and just have to wait for the loss to take place. Its not a game I’m interested in buying myself but if my bud wanted to go to an event or play with decks they made I’d def be down as a friend activity.

[hazelcephalopod]

So I like Buddie. I think it’s neat. I think it makes sense. I think the show should actually just do it. However, I have to say, at this point I also think it’s just going to be queerbaiting -as far as show canon goes plz continue to ship and fanfic away- but I’ve seen this so many times before. I know, the show has queer characters, the spin off has several, but that does not make it immune from queerbaiting. It’s one of the most watched shows on the network, many people watch this but don’t really interact with the fandom and sadly most of them are probably straight and can just… not see it. Idk how, but they exist. So, personally I think it’s just queerbaiting —b/c I don’t think they are going to do it and even potentially risk their audience dipping because people suck and they are cowards.

That said I’m bored so plz continue if you want to read my various contradictory musing hc on this ship. B/c when you recognize the show probably won’t do it you can really just go wherever with it*.

Disclaimer: uh, kinda only partly organizing this and just spitting out thoughts tbh.

However, within fandom I’ve got more to say, mainly “what are the various ways we can interpret this relationship and what it is?” So, let’s get out of the box! The box being the standard mlm ship, b/c the allosexual/romantic monogamous ship is great, I like it just fine and go for it! However, I think equally valid is reading it as ace/aro could also be interesting. (You could also go poly but I don’t really get much into that here?)

Because tbh, they are characters anything goes, s/x it takes people a long time to figure this stuff out. Sometimes they repress it for years, and so on. Sometimes they don’t have the language to express these things until they do. Which, I mean just look at them, either could totally be like “hey wait that’s what sexual attraction is? Huh. I need to go learn some things” or even “romance is what now? Hmm I need to go learn some things.” I could easily read Buck as ace, because even tho he’s had a lot of sex it’s easily read as he is just chasing pleasure and something to do, he’s just like “yea sure I guess that’s fun” and when he’s asked so you like them he’s like “well we had sex so I have to right?” Or how both are just trying to fill the role society expects of them as men. Aromantic? Both of them seem uninterested in the relationships they enter, it’s more the mechanics of “well that person was there and everyone seemed to think it made sense so I guess?” At least not much more interested than friendships. There are so many options those are just some examples. However this does not answer the shipping portion, which isn’t necessary but I did set up the expectation and I shall endeavor to meet it.

Now of course ace/aro people can just date (or not, but again we aren’t here for that, plz explore if you wish) -there are spectrums and also, people are complex. They can be in non traditional relationships like QPR’s, or even not really formalizing that. People can get married because they are just like “you’re great and marriage has benefits”, or even just move in together b/c it is cheaper -and they like the company. With this ships there is the child angle, which can set up all sorts of stories. So plz, go wild with that too.

*I say this because, it decreases the attachment to a singular idea or way things should play out when you just give up on that.

Ps. tbh makes me a little sad that the wider population isn’t aware of aro/ace people b/c it would open up so many interesting stories. Buddie (or even though this isn’t the topic them alone!) could be a great example of this b/c look at them!

[oh-meow-swirls]

things that make 3 the best game:

lots of cool features added. the crank-a-kai system in 3 is better than in 1 and 2 (though also the darts suck), the new yo-kai searching minigame thingie is neat, the yo-kai vacuum cleaner is nice and the yo-kai drill and yo-kai blaster add unique mechanics (the drill leads to neat secrets), i could probably go on.

all of the new characters are great. as is to be expected nate's bbq classmates/friends n hailey's classmates are pretty underdeveloped but they seem neat from what we see of them. and of course, hailey n buck are the stars of the show here. they're both great n make both stories equally fun. usapyon's also great, i KNOW he debuted in blasters but his personality is extremely different there- the weakest of the new characters are probably blunder n folly since they basically don't do anything for the whole game except inexplicably act like they're plot important when they're not but even they can be neat n there's funni comedy with them at least.

blasters t is fun. it's hell but it's fun.

the story's great too. there being two different stories for most of the game is a really interesting idea, though it can also be annoying if you want to progress one story but can't because you need some fancy that! issue you get in hailey's story as nate or something dumb like that. why's all the story linking hailey doing things n then getting stuff done as nate i only just realized that what the fuck. anyways.

there's soooooo much content. both in the main game and the post-game. the main game alone took me like, a week to complete, whereas my playthroughs of 1 and 2 take like, four days at most (2 has added time from grinding for dame dedtime so ignoring that). and i'm STILL going through the post-game. there's so many post-game quests and other fun things you can do, like going to bbq as hailey (which is useless. she can't go on the raft or do zombie night or anything. she's limited in things she can do in bbq but nate can do everything in springdale) n also just the stuff you'd expect from yo-kai watch's post-game.

did i mention that hailey n buck are amazing n that i love them. best yo-kai watch characters apart from jibanyan.

oh also nate, hailey n buck being besties is amazing. nate getting friends who can also see yo-kai n who aren't his dead grandpa is great good for him he deserves it.

i can't decide if the length is good or bad. i guess i already mentioned how long it is. i have like 100 hours of playtime and i've only finished two blasters t dungeons what will my playtime be like once i finish blasters t and the post-game and everything-

nate, hailey n buck being besties is so great that it gets to be a bullet point twice over. they're so fucking stupid together i love them. there is a single braincell n nate n buck share it n hailey never gets it.

oh also hailey high-key has adhd n autism i made a whole essay about that. the points were like. 1. her interests are v intense (like hyperfixations/special interests). 2. she's v hyper seemingly both physically n mentally (the h in adhd stands for hyperactivity so). n 3. she is seemingly not very great at socializing but also idk how much of that's actually canon n how much of it is me projecting sdklfjklfsdjfds-

i mean i feel like you could make some sort of argument for most yo-kai watch characters being neurodivergent in some shape, way or form. though i'm saying this as a neurodivergent person who ends up headcanoning like every character i like as neurodivergent n has no idea how neurotypicals work so- i high-key accidentally made katie neurodivergent in my rewrite ngl i've just accepted it at this point.

[thedreamparadox]

What would you like to see in a new NiGHTS game?

Postgame ability to free roam ALL LEVELS without dealing with Awakers/Alarm Eggs/a potentially new wake you up "enemy." JoD doesn't let you free roam super far from my recollection, and NiD has a larger capacity to free roam by base since you can stun the Alarm Egg but it doesn't last forever. Plus the levels in NiD are small, I have tried to explore zones but straight up the areas in Mare 4 do not exist until they're called in by completing the relevant laps. You can do unlimited freeroam via a Game Shark on the Saturn version (which I have done, but I don't have a capture card to show it off), which is very neat, but I'd want that to be a basic feature.

New outfits for NiGHTS and Reala because I love seeing them in new costumes.

A Jackle cameo if it wouldn't break the plot. I like the idea of getting new Second Levels every single game, but Jackle is a fan favorite. Maybe have them as a bonus unlockable skin in the vein of Reala being playable in Christmas NiGHTS on April 1st (Reala Day) sort of like Claris and Elliot were unlockable in JoD if you got all the Dream Drops. (I did, in fact, go out of my way to get all of the Dream Drops in JoD. It was a nice little addition to the game even if some of them were fiddly as HELL to get.)

I've warmed up to the light puzzle platforming as the kids thing from JoD, so I'd want to keep that in to some degree. There NEEDS to be better control over Blue Chips though, those controls felt so fiddly.

Fix the My Dream system or remove it entirely. A-Life was the reason we later got Chao, so there's no reason we can't have a Chao-adjacent system. I love the idea of which levels you play the most influences the space, but in practice the changes are so minimal it's really annoying. Maybe let some features of the level be unlockable based on X number of replays or Y score.

I don't really have any particular wants for the story. I guess "less clunky" from JoD. The original NiD is a masterpiece, even if most of the plot is hidden in the manual. I was able to enjoy its story not having the manual as a kid and having zero concept of what was really going on. Owl can stay, but they NEED to not use his voice clips to the point of annoyance.

I've floated the idea of reversing the sporty and artsy thing, ie having an artsy inclined boy and a sporty girl, before, and I still think that could be nice. I've toyed with this concept for my own fics, but ultimately after writing Journey into the Dream Within I don't think I could do anything that interesting in this concept in a way that wouldn't be retreading what I'd already written with my JoD fic. Piano boy is my vote if we gotta pick an instrument, I don't sports so idk on the girl front. (In theory you could get away with a customizable Dreamer character but given how entrenched in symbolism and how much the series leans into Jungarian ideas, this could make the levels wholeass make no sense. I'd be down for doing the Pokemon or Balan Wonderworld thing of "you have a set protagonist but can pick their appearance" though.)

Soundtrack just needs to keep consistent quality. For all the flaws of both games, the OSTs always slap. Bring back the Nightopian mood mechanic from NiD though that's awesome. Love those remixes. I'm a sucker for variations on a theme.

MAKE PARALOOPS INCENTIVIZED! Having Nightmaren eat half my Nightopians after paralooping them because it throws them into the My Dream area was annoying as hell and I hated that.

Remove Personas unless it's for cosmetics. Honestly remove Personas entirely. NiGHTS fluidly changing form in NiD made much more sense than in JoD. (Attempting to justify their existing in my fic was suffering honestly.)

I'd really like it if the game leaned more into NiGHTS' origins. Not their backstory, but the fact they're a Nightmaren. They're not all sugar and rainbows they were made to torment humans. Lean into that. More gremlin former Nightmaren energy in my protagonist please. (It wouldn't even effect their characterization much. NiD NiGHTS can be sassy too, if you make them bonk their head on the Ideya Palace enough times they'll refuse to Dualize with you.)

[wkilofficial]

@wkilofficial I know *nothing* about the mechanisms or In The Green but I love a good analysis/comparison of music and especially when there’s concept albums involved!! Your tags were very informative but please can you tell us more about the Mechanisms and In the Green Vs MCR and Danger Days

YEAHHHHHHH okay okay okay let's fucking do thisss

the mechanisms feature less in this Analysis post bc they're just. band that makes me go batshit insane. but to explain what they are briefly!! they were a. steampunk cabaret?? that's probably the genre. band that ran for about ten years that made story albums that were like. reduxes of famous mythologies and folk tales, often re-scoring and rewriting prior folk songs to do so. their main four albums are, in turn, a grimm's fairytales sci-fi epic, a sort of jazzy steampunk retelling of the odyssey, a western redux of arthurian legend, and a rock opera style album of norse mythology leading up to ragnarok. and i Love folk songs and modern interpretations and the genders of the band are truly so soothing to experience (loki being a she/her character played by a he/him gnc man being in a lesbian relationship with sigyn, a she/her character played by a they/them fat person of color, is still so important to me). and i can't rlly sum them up in one post?? but i recommend their music to any literature nerds shjshjs

BUT ANYWAY ONTO WHAT I'M HERE FOR

in the green, in a brief summary, is an experimental musical about hildegard von bingen that deals a Lot with trauma and abuse and recovery as it relates to a religious and misogynistic society (12th century catholic europe!). and its cast is five people playing two characters: hildegard's Eye, Hand, and Mouth, representing how trauma at a young age fractured her and made her feel broken and disconnected from herself (her aspects can fight and bicker and have wills of their own and never really sing in harmony), and jutta's Main Persona and her Shadow, the representation of her abuse and trauma that she's kept buried far underground. the music of the show is really stripped back? it's drums, electric bass, cello, dulcimer, and a looper pedal that allows jutta to layer her voice and harmonize with herself in Really Neat Ways. BUT AS IT RELATES TO MCR. it's kind of a couple different ways?

thematically, itg shares a Lot of ideas about perpetuating the cycles of abuse and also does a lot with Catholicism? i made a web-weaving post about this awhile back (linked here) but it's like. jutta gets to be free of the consequences of her abuse of hildegard because she dies. she gets to cling to that virtue while hildegard has to shoulder the burden of her teachings of "repress and work and the trauma will go away". so i think a lot about "from the razor to the rosary" and "i'm taking back the life you stole" and just like. catholicism themes and living your life in spite of what you've faced?? idk it's hildegard experiencing this life changing event at such a young age and then being taught In Isolation that the best way to deal with it is to ignore it because acknowledging it will destroy her. and then discovering that she Can acknowledge it and that's the best way to recover but the woman who taught her the opposite Dies before she can share what she's learned. jutta gets to die before the cycle of abuse she perpetuated can catch her. she dies just when she learns how she could've fixed herself. he (jutta) gets to die a saint but she (hildegard) will always be the whore y'know?

and then the OTHER similarity is just. lyrics? i'm just straight up gonna post itg lyrics that sound like they could be mcr lyrics right here:

plucked from the harvest, before you start to rot / thrust in the darkness, where everything is not / you were not born to live, you were born to be forgive / you were not born to live, you were born to be forgiven - death ceremony

isn't she lucky? she is the lucky one / she will be the seed that grows without the sun / hallelujah and amen, amen / hallelujah for the dead, amen / isn't she lucky? she is the lucky one / she will know of death before her life is done / hallelujah, amen, amen / hallelujah for the dead, amen - death ceremony

i will never go back / there's nothing out there for me / i'm here to find the truth, and the truth will set me free / because if i can teach you how to be whole / i will see the light / that is my goal / when i see the light, i will be free / when i see the light, i will erase my history / for good, and i will be made new / and i will be among the few / and i will be of virtue - the rule

[JUTTA] it isn't easy work. you have to get down in the dirt. [HILDEGARD] i can do that! [JUTTA] can you? [HILDEGARD] i will / i will work until I die, if I have to. [JUTTA] that's the right attitude. - the rule

i feel a bubbling in my blood / and if it boils will i drown in the flood? / i feel an overwhelming need / to put my own flesh between my teeth / i am hungry / on what can i feed? - i am hungry

i'm scared of what i feel / maybe it isn't real, but / i'm scared of who i am / a monster masquerading as a lamb - i am hungry

you have to learn how to hold your breath / you have to learn how to feel some death / this flesh is a thicket / so weed out all that's wicked / the feeling that you feel's an unwelcome guest - eve

keep the beast in a cage / on a leash / keep her locked in the cage / don't let her speak / she will scream in the cage / she will shout / let her die in the cage / don't let her out - eve

[HILDEGARD] but why dig a grave? i'm not dead! [JUTTA] are you sure that you're alive instead? [HILDEGARD] i don't know what you mean. [JUTTA] might you be somewhere in between? / outwardly living, but broken inside? / working and working while trying to hide / the feeling that you've done something wrong? / this is where you belong! / i understand what you're going through / no one out there wanted you. - little life

but when you sacrifice / give up giving in to want / you have nothing to lose if everything's gone / when life is darkness / death is dawn / life is better in death - little life

i’m not going back / i’ll run until i die / and when i can no longer run / i’ll teach myself to fly - in the green (sidenote. favorite lyric in the show, possibly ever)

my heart is a stone / my body is not my own / my heart is a stone / my body is not my own - in the green

you must be / just like me / i do not fit anywhere up there / i carry a memory / it makes me hideous / hazardous, insidious, but / underground i’m at ease - underground

you must be / just like me / tired of holding back all your widening cracks / if you carry a memory / it’s too much to bear / broke you beyond repair, then / underground in the dark / you don’t have to try anymore - underground

underground, you can be / a creature without a name / underground, you can stay with me / with your memory - underground

but you came to the underground / and walked right through your shadows / somehow in the underground / you took something obscure / made uncertainty secure / in the poison found the cure / a spark - light undercover (sidenote sidenote. this is just an ft willz poem line)

where, oh where has my mind gone? / are my feet on the ground or six feet down? / where, oh where has the time gone? / every day is a year / is a night and round and round - the ripening

haven't i done all the things I'm supposed to? / i know what i'm meant to be / and i'm grateful for the blessing / of this body that is rotting / all i've ever wanted is to be free - the ripening

wow that's. a lot of lyrics about guilt and catholicism and category 10 woman moments. ONTO THE DD SIMILARITIES

in the green and danger days are both about. people stuck in a hostile society doing what little they can to assert control over their lives?? in dd, batt city and the desert are literally deadly and the way to rebel against the scorching sun and the enforced Sameness and Separation is to be Bright and Loud and Love As Fiercely As Possible. it's basically a death wish, to refuse to conform in a world that sees vibrancy as a crime, but the killjoys refuse to be a part of that great machine that makes up their world. in the same way, jutta is a character given a horrible hand: arranged marriage (that she runs away from) and an assault that she can tell no one about. so her only way to assert control over her life is to say No to participating in the world at all. she forcibly shuts herself away from Everyone because that was the one thing she could Do Of Her Own Will. she finds power in isolating herself because it was a decision She Could Make. the world was not meant to be kind to her and so she took the only true choice available and refused it entirely. both of these courses of actions are direct contrast to the societies the stories are set in and both of these courses are deadly but also Freeing because They Made Their Choice. no one else made it for them. the killjoys rebel by being as loud as possible, forcing the world to look at them. jutta rebels by removing herself from the world as totally as possible, forcing the world to forget her until she forgot herself. she found freedom in the cell because it was a choice she got to make.

SORRY THAT WAS RLLY LONG BUT WAAAAUGH I LOVE THESE BANDS AND THIS MUSIC

[autumnslance]

So one thing I tend to do with my WoL’s story is decide, usually late in the patches, when side content happens and who handles it; sometimes I determine a story happens all at once, sometimes spaced out. Like in Stormblood, WoL handles all of Omega while still in Gyr Abania before heading back to the Far East for 4.2 and 4.3, which is then when Ivalice, Four Lords, and Hildibrand happens while waiting on the MSQ between those patches. In Shadowbringers, Eden happened more or less as released, Bozja started in an early patch but got lumped together later on, same with Weapons.

I’m debating what to do about Pandaemonium and Aglaia now (and whatever our trials and relic content are), and some of it will ultimately depend on where those stories go and how we get there for the “when” but I was struck by an idea late at night and it sort of hinges on how I see gameplay versus story.

There are definitely some story elements that are given game mechanics; teleportation is one. The aetheric net is a thing in story, teleportation is a magic field of study and figures in to troop logistics, character travel, who can and cannot go places. It’s given space in the story as integral to the setting, as well as handy mechanically.

Then there are game mechanics that are given a story lampshade, a bandage to cover up a shaky transition or element that doesn’t really have a story reason, but there are other stories attached to it. The Ragnarok being “two places at once” post-Endwalker feels like this as it’s briefly mentioned then handwaved away and the point is really “we can’t cut off or stop using an entire endgame zone even though logically the characters would only be able to get there once so we’ll say ‘dynamis did it’ and have leveling and endgame content there.”

Same thing with a lot of Fates, dungeons, daily quests, side quests. It’s blatantly there as game content, sometimes has neat lore or ideas, but a lot of it is also just pretending to have story to excuse that gameplay element in the actual setting and story.

And Ultima Thule gets a better travel explanation than Elpis; there’s really no reason the WoL should be able to keep traveling there, either, except again, the devs aren’t going to cutoff an entire zone. But there’s really no mention of it, in the fishing quests, in the clan hunts, in the Panda quests—it’s just taken for granted WoL can go to this one very specific place and time still, whenever they want.

I love those zones and their content, but from a story angle, that bothers me. Not in a major way, but just enough to leave me dissatisfied and wondering how to handle it with my WoL. Hunts I can ignore; Fishing I can say she happened to grab a sample while there and brought it back or something if I really gotta, but Panda? I’m just not sure.

Then I remembered the scene with Cid’s goggles in ARR, and before that the back-and-forth in the 1.0 city intros, and the whole thing in Bozja’s opening where they solidified that as the Echo interacting with and affecting memories. The Panda quests are triggered by finding one of the Ancient memory crystals, sending a warning about a disaster that must be averted, in Pandaemonium. So what if, to study this crystal, the WoL is there to interact with it as someone who can understand those Ancient memories and the Echo lets her relive that person’s experiences? The disaster was handled in the past, by people already there—maybe even Azem and their allies, IDK. Elidibus’ memory of WoL in Elpis is easily sorted out as he was also there at the time, visiting or working on his own projects while shenanigans occurred, before he got into the mess at Pandaemonium. And in the present, WoL is trying to use the crystal and the Echo to learn what happened, reliving it in memory, rather than physically going back again by an undefined method. Maybe even learning something about Azem, Elidibus, and Lahabrea in the process.

I dunno. It’s a random 2am thought that won’t leave me alone. We’ll see where the raid story leads by the time the 6.4 patch rolls around sometime next year and how I feel about this then.

[h-worksrambles]

Overdue thoughts on Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

I’ve been meaning to talk about my reaction to the latest Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes trailer, and now I’m finally gonna do it. This isn’t some super in depth theory crafting. Much like my Kingdom Hearts IV post this is just some early reflections.

I’ll start with what I’ve noticed in terms of gameplay because this’ll be the shorter part. Also, I’ll just quickly point out that most of my Musou knowledge comes from the two Hyrule Warriors games. So if I sound ignorant about specifics of Dynasty Warriors gameplay, it’s because I am. Just a heads up. 

One thing I’ve been consistently impressed by in Koei Tecmo’s latest Musou spin-offs is how committed they are to trying to make them feel like part of the series that spawned them. Persona 5 Strikers and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity both perfectly match the graphical style of the games they’re based off. They also both pull a ton of aspects from the gameplay of their source material and blend them with Warriors gameplay. Sure enough, we have already seen Combat Arts, Gambits, Adjutants and the class system in these trailers. Combat Arts are particularly neat, since OP special moves are a Warriors tradition, but letting you choose from multiple ones is a neat bit of customisation (or maybe it’s already been done idk). Teaming up with allies on the battle field for group attacks is also cool as is more control over AI allies, but I hope this doesn’t replace actually swapping characters which I think is a great mechanic for these games both to keep variety, and bolster their light strategy elements. Three Houses’ training is also back, and hopefully will be used to cut down on the typical Musou grind rather than increase it.

Ok, that’s all I can observe from the gameplay as far as I can make out and it all looks great. Here’s hoping there’s not any egregious performance issues.

Anyway, onto the story. So far I’m getting major vibes of Age of Calamity. This very much appears to be an alternate timeline, much of which revolves around our new protagonist, Shez. The idea seems to be that Shez’s absence was the main reason Three Houses played out the way it did, and now that they’re here, things may go differently. 

Incidentally I’m glad Shez isn’t a silent protagonist. Byleth had more characterisation than your average silent protag, but they really couldn’t carry a story without the three lords (see Silver Snow for proof). I’ve already praised the new redesigns, and yes they are all chef’s kiss. But I wanna talk chronology. Anime ages are hazy at the best of times, but from what I see, there is definitely a timeskip here and they do look older, but the changes are way less pronounced than they were in Three Houses. The war has not been going on for five whole years it seems.

The game also seems to be going out of its way to tap into some unexplored ideas from the original. For instance, we see a pink haired warrior in the trailer who could very possibly be Holst, Hilda’s previously unseen brother, as well as a new character who resembles Claude (another member of the Almryan nobility?). Even Monica seems to be here, though the jury’s still out on whether this the real or Monica or simply a disguised Kronya. 

Shez also has a companion figure much like Sothis named Arval, but this guy’s whole colour scheme resembles the Agarthans. I know that, as such, some people are expecting a twist villain but I actually hope not. The Agarthans were probably the weakest part of Three Houses’ story as they hindered the game’s gray morality by being obvious villains who masterminded many of Fódlan’s worst aspects. Giving them a sympathetic god figure similar to Sothis, or at least having one Agarthan who isn’t cartoonishly evil could provide them depth, much like the Nabateans.

And of course, we gotta talk about Byleth. 

I think posing Byleth as an antagonist is a great reversal. It takes their silent, borderline Gary-Stu/Mary-Sue nature and turns it into something threatening by turning it against us. Nice to see them living up to the Ashen Demon name. And supposedly, they nearly killed Shez at some point in the past and the story is hyping up a rematch of sorts. However, I highly doubt they are a true villain. We see that their name and gender is still decided by the player, which implies they’re playable. So I’m expecting a dual perspective story simillar to Gaiden and its remake Shadows of Valentia. This would mean switching between Byleth and Shez at story intervals much like Alm and Celica, leading up to their second confrontation. Then again, this game apparently has three routes, so I don’t know how this could logistically work in that context. Interestingly, Sothis’ narration in the first trailer makes some comment about revenge and given how, normally, only Byleth can hear her, that implies to me that maybe Jeralt’s death plays out differently in this timeline. Could Shez themselves be involved? We’ll see I guess...

Lastly, there’s the question of whether this game will have any kind of ‘everyone lives’ golden ending. On the one hand, Three Houses is supposed to be a tragedy. It has no completely happy ending and I think it’s a better game for it. That being said, the Warriors crossovers have often been kind of fanfic-y. They’re bombastic fan-pleasing spectacles that run on hype, and Age of Calamity specifically set itself apart as an AU so it could run wild without contradicting Breath of the Wild. I see no reason Three Hopes couldn’t do the same. Though the fact that it still has multiple routes means that unless there’s some Fates/Sonic Adventure 2 ‘last story’, it probably won’t have a fully happy ending. So maybe bring tissues to be safe.

There’s still a lot we don’t know, but I’m still really excited. I loved Age of Calamity (though I suspect some people would shoot me for saying that because something, something ‘false advertising’) and this looks to bring a lot of the same buckwild AU energy to one of my favourite Switch titles. Plus I’m just looking forward to seeing these characters again, AND using them to curbstomp entire armies. I just hope the playable roster is up to par, considering how much I love Three Houses cast. 

But yeah, long story short, I’m incredibly excited.