#it would be so fun!! (and more cost effective 🥲)

[toiletpotato]

going to try to make samoosas today because I want to eat them but don't want to pay $7 for two

[tatarella]

Eugavus Angst AU - Gavus „The Mourning Mage“ Re-Awakening / SSP

Putting the pictures behind the cut due to potentially triggering content, please mind the tags if you are uncomfortable with mild(ish) body horror.

This is based on some light lore theorycrafting spun up by users on the GaGene Nation Discord server after discussing what the new hero Adrian might have done or not have done with his partner, Elyse. How would the dads react in a similar situation?

For some reason I wanted to do a fun little concept for a corrupted Gavus based on this and got way too into it. 🙈

Scenario: Eugene passes away and leaves a mentally broken Gavus and his cube behind. Knowing that the cube offers endless possibilities in the hands of a capable holder, Gavus tries to use it to bring Eugene back from the dead. Due to his incompatibility with the cube‘s power however, his already fragile mind and body get corrupted, turning Gavus into a Hypogean abomination with just one goal in mind: finding a way to return his love to him.

Initial sketch:

„After having no tears left to cry, he sought to become one with what remained of his love. Maybe with this newfound power, he could bring him back?“

The idea was that Gavus body struggled to contain the power of the cube, hence his skin slowly cracking like porcelain. Behind it is a black void with the red markings of the cube swirling within.

Costume/Weapon concept (including a full version without the noisy background):

The red scarf is Eugene‘s cape which Gavus took with him after Eugene died.

He embedded the Trickster‘s Cube into his chest where his heart is, hence the corruption spreading.

His Celestial body and clothes are incompatible with the magic of the cube, this is why it corrupts his limbs and burns his clothes. Eugene‘s cape is not affected because it still has Eugene‘s compatibility. (I found out that the program I‘m using for digital art actually has a very neat brush for a cloud/stain effect AFTER painstakingly painting the burn marks on his clothes by hand. 😂 )

SSP Gavus‘ weapon is a merged version of Eugene‘s Weapon and his own, broken SP ring. Including more cube corruption, OF COURSE.

Gavus actually succeeds in bringing Eugene back from the dead, but at the cost of his sanity and becoming a Hypogean himself.

Eugene is NOT happy about what Gavus did and somehow finds a way to wake Dura (and in the progress ascending as a Celestial himself), just to ask her to return his husband to the status as Celestial.

Bonus picture: Celestial Eugene (whom I accidentally outlined on the sketch layer because I‘m very slow of brain, so you gotta live with my red sketchy lines 🥲).

I took the chance and gave him a cute little low ponytail!

Now I need some fluff.

[kazumasougi]

so what’s your verdict on ragnarok? i saw some people say that it was good but not as good as the first game so i’m curious to know what you think. going to play it this summer 😎

okok this might get long so here’s the non-spoilery short of it: i really loved playing through ragnarok but i do agree that i liked 2018 more! I’ll put the significantly longer portion under the cut and ill do my best not to spoil any main story portions while talking about it lol

ragnarok definitely lets you explore far far more. i think theres a couple of places where you can tell they didnt want to drag the story out so they cut stuff for time but i personally feel like the game could’ve very well used that. and i think the fact that 2018 is like a good number of hours longer than ragnarok makes it a little bit surprising when you get to the endpoint.

also unlike 2018— though this matters less to me— there are parts of the game that you can only actually finish once youre done with the main story. it has a few epilogue pieces which are definitely a nice send-off for the game and you can explore just a little bit more, but if im honest it feels a bit empty..? though im not done with postgame so when i get there ill probably post abt it more 😼

storywise i feel like there’s some things that could definitely have improved or been changed in some way… i absolutely loved the new dynamics between old characters and getting to see how theyve grown with each other since 2018. its super heartwarming to me. but some parts really did feel rushed and while the ending was good some parts just felt kind of… abrupt??? i’d love to know how they would have refined the story with just a bit more time because personally it feels like theres still a loose end or two that hasnt been addressed. that said its by no means a BAD story— i really liked going through it! the best way i can think to put it is that it’s an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.

in terms of MECHANICS… i’ll be completely honest some of them were so incredibly frustrating that id considered giving up on some of the fun side stuff they encourage you to do (like nornir chests and whatever else may have you). even some parts of the main quest were a little bit confusing to me…?? at some points there are puzzles that aren’t super straightforward and it got a little tiring to play guess and check. that said there aren’t a lot of them, but it definitely left me a little bit annoyed during gameplay. i should mention though for some of the mechanics in question they DO have a crazy good range of accessibility settings that help you more clearly see things like interact-able objects and targets etc. so making use of those definitely lessened the annoyance for me personally lol. that said it does not work for all of them and if you Want to go collecting extras then you might have to sit there frustrated a few times before it works out 🥲

one more thing i should probably mention in regards to game mechanics is the skill trees… i’ll keep this explanation light as to avoid heavy spoilers but essentially they give you a LOT of skills to upgrade with XP. and i mean a lot. i have not used even half of them they do nothing for me 💀 i would guess this is their way of letting you do more with XP since in 2018 you rack it up faster than you can spend it but there are so many in ragnarok. and if im honest it feels like a lot of them are kind of … useless in combat. or at least very very situational. they do give you the chance to upgrade skills you use the most which i really like but i find it kind of weird how many of them are reliant on hyperspecific situations while also costing a significant amount when you unlock them.

OH. and also. i kind of wish the companion armor had some sort of effect…???? like in 2018 i loved atreus’ healthstone effect because it suited my playstyle. but all companion armor is purely cosmetic. they seem to have replaced that with accessories you can equip them with that have different effects but i also didnt really feel much of a difference with them until postgame 😿 an edge ragnarok has on 2018 though is definitely that you can customize what your armor looks like while taking the stats of another. which is awesome because im tired of making him look like hes wearing a sweater vest at a holiday gathering. ill admit though the menuing is a little bit more confusing lol

ANYWAY. to finish this off i feel like i loved a lot about ragnarok but after having seen what they did in 2018 i feel like they probably couldve pushed it a bit more. that said the story is absolutely crazy and i loooove certain routes they went with it so it definitelys worth playing imo. i just wouldnt expect it to be just like the first game 👍 there are some major changes i havent listed because i think seeing them for yourself will be awesome