#it's free. good game. pretty. graphics and music. the story is absolutely amazing

[astrxealis]

i think nier reincarnation's story is the best out of any mobile game i know so far (please please please play it)

[femboycatofmystery]

So my post about how you should draw (YOU SHOULD DRAW!) blew up beyond any precedent since my return to tumblr and someone in the FRANKLY KIND OF TERRIFYING NUMBER OF REBLOGS mentioned downloading a free DAW to make music and that got me thinking,

HOBBY SOFTWARE MEGAPOST GO

All of the below software is free to use, and most of it is Open Source (which is its own thing I recommend learning about, its entire existence and success gives me hope for humanity) so GO GET SOME TOOLS! Make things like nobody's watching and then SHOW IT TO THEM ANYWAY! Or don't! Even if you hide your work from the world (lord knows I do!!!) you will have created something! And it feels amazing to create something!

VISUAL ARTS:

Inkscape: Adobe Illustrator replacement, pretty solid if a bit quirky.

Krita: Painting software, if anything slightly overpowered and sometimes more complicated than you want, but can do bloody anything including advanced color management. A wonderful tool.

Blender: You have probably heard it is super hard to use. This is CONDITIONALLY true. Because the developers are working day and night to improve everything about it it's always getting better and now like, 80% of the hardness is just because 3D is hard. Aside: Blender Grease Pencil - A subsystem in Blender is concerned with 2D animation and it is. Surprisingly good. Some annoying conventions but totally possible to literally make professional traditional 2D animation.

MUSIC:

LMMS: A free and open source DAW that can do a lot, except use most modern VST plugins. The practical upshot of this is that if you are just starting out with music it is totally serviceable but over time you might start to long for something with the ability to load hella plugins. (I'm currently trying out Reaper which has a long free trial and is technically nagware after that point...)

PlugData: You GOTTA TRY THIS, it's not mentally for everyone (not HARD exactly, just WEIRD) but if your brain works well with this kind of flow graph stuff it's a magical playground of music. (If you have heard of PureData, PlugData is based on it but has a lot of nice graphical upgrades and can work as a VST if you have a proper DAW)

Surge XT: A big ol' synthesizer plugin that also can run standalone and take midi input so you can technically use it to make music even if you don't have a DAW. If planning notes ahead of time sounds intimidating, but you can get your hands on a midi piano controller, this might actually be a great way to start out playing with music on your computer!

Bespoke Synth: Another open source DAW, but this one is... sort of exploded? Like PlugData you patch things together with cables but it has a wild electrified aesthetic and it can do piano rolls. Fun though!

GAME DEV:

Yeah that's right, game dev. You ABSOLUTELY can make video games with no experience or ability to code. I actually recommend video games as a way to learn how to code because the dopamine hits from making a character bumble around on a screen are enormously bigger than like. Calculating pi or something boring like that. ANYWAY:

Twine: Twine is what I might describe as sort of a zero-barrier game dev tool because you're literally writing a story except you can make it branch. It has programming features but you can sort of pick them up as you go. Lowest possible barrier to entry, especially if you write!

Godot: I use this engine all the time! It's got great tutorials all over the internet and is 100% FREE AND ALWAYS WILL BE. Technically there are more Unity tutorials out there, but Godot has plenty enough to learn how to do things. It's also SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT so you won't spend your precious hobby time waiting for the engine to load. There are absolutely successful games made with this but I think the best thing about it is that the shallow end of the learning curve is PRETTY OK ACTUALLY.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: January 28th, 2021 (Part 2)

Here we’ve got asks that aren’t to ask a question but are just really nice messages. Thank you all for sending us such kind comments ;v;. It’s seriously heartwarming to see so many people having good experiences with the game. I don’t even know what to say to such sweet responses.

We’ll keep doing our best and thank you again to each and every one of you for giving Our Life a chance ❤!

Hello! I've been following this account and have been following the development of 'Our Life' for a few months now, and I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and dedication you have put into the game. It astonishes me how much choice you have during the sequence of Our Life and am excited to play the full version now, I am downloading it as I write this message. I've had a great time seeing the demo transition into to the full game and just wanted to write two words. Thank you.

Anhhhhffbgdfbhujk!!! Congratulations on the release, I’m playing the game right now! Thank you all for your hard work and I can’t wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out, I’ll probably wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out to experience everything, but until then, I still have a lot to play. Thank you once again!

finished my first playthrough just now. it just felt so wholesome ??? 100/10 would do it again. i laughed. i cried. i got angry. i felt second-hand embrassment— i got so into it i was left in literal tears after getting my first ending. the art, the storyline, the music, and COVE HOLDEN– UGH IT WAS LITERAL PERFECTION ❤ THE WAIT WAS WORTH IT. THANK YOU FOR MAKING SUCH AN AMAZING GAME 🥺😭 this made my 2020 better, i can't wait for step 4 in 2021 ❤❤

So I was following you guys on itchio for years and uhh did I stay up til 6 am on a school night to finish the game? Yes. Did I sob my eyes out during step 3 as a 20 year old having doubts about life and adulthood? Absolutely. I can't form proper sentences right now due to lack of sleep but just wanted to say thank you for making it. I honestly feel lighter and I feel like it changed my views on future to be more optimistic... I can't wait to replay it! Thanks again!

I love how Our Life turned out!! I keep replaying it and can't stop squeaking and giggling!! Thank You for creating it ♥

okay i have actually fallen in love with cove and cannot WAIT to marry him 😭

Hi! I played through 'Our Life' yesterday and  I just wanna say how refreshing it was to be able to have Cove be 'high initiative' and also have so many opportunities to initiate affection from the player character! As a pretty flirtatious/affectionate person myself, I notice that a lot of VNs don't give players that agency, and affection can be kinda 'carrot on a stick' if that makes sense. You guys did an awesome job! I look forward to seeing if there are more of those moments in Step 3 & 4 :)

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the option to choose Cove's level of initiative in step 3! As much I love the option to choose I personally enjoy have the romanced character take the lead without my input so when I got to step 3 and had to option to make it so that Cove initiated affection without as much input from me I was really happy! You guys seriously added so much freedom in terms of choices, it's almost baffling that the only thing you have to pay for is optional DLC!

I absolutely loved everything about the game and I really want congratulate the team for making the game such a satisfying experience.

I look forward to step 4

❤️❤️❤️❤️

* and sorry for my bad English

Just finished my first play through and I loved it! I've been looking forward to the game and it definitely was worth the wait. Thank you all for your hard work and can't wait for the extra dlc!

Till then, hope you guys gets some well deserved rest🤗

Love you guys, thank you so much for your hard work. :)

Ok, so I just finished Our Life and, wow. I have never cried at a video game before, ever. Thank you so, so much! Its one of my favorites.

this isn't a question, but i just wanted to say how much i enjoyed our life 🥺 i've been patiently looking forward to the full game for a few months now, and i couldn't be happier with it! i've only played through it once so far but the outcomes of the choices i made were all so soft and wholesome 💗 i can tell that everyone who was involved really worked hard and you all did an incredible job! i can't wait to see what else is in store 👍

i’d just like to say how addictive our life is!!! i constantly played it during quarantine and now playing the full release is so amazing to me!! i love that i’m still discovering dialogue bits with different personalities and actions!!! i have to admit that i’ve been wishing the day to pass faster all day during school so i could go home and play again. mentally i’m not the healthiest and our life being released has boosted it up so much, thank you for creating such an amazing game!!!!!

Hey, I just wanna say I played our life two times and it still give me the same feelings. I was really looking forward to this game before it came out and I kept on replaying the demo. This game is such an amazing experience and I feel so happy playing it. I am not really a person good with words unfortunately but I do honestly love this more than anything in the world. Thank you for making it and I hope that you will continue to make more games like our life. This game really makes me happy and I can't thank you enough

Just wanted to say that Our Life really made me feel seen as an 18 year old trans man who's been struggling with change as of late and I can't thank you guys enough for it. I just finished the main story and currently released DLC's and gosh, I can really only say... woah. Just, woah. The messages are somehow exactly what I needed to hear right now, and they brought me a lot of comfort in this really weird and confusing time in my life. Can't wait to see what comes next in this lovely story <3

I am honestly in love with Our Life. The graphics, the soundtrack its just *chef's kiss* It was so worth the wait for it. I can't wait for step 4. Keep up the good work GB Patch!

good people i have just finished Our Life and let me say, it was beautiful. rarely have such non-fantastical moments (and even some fantastical moments) brought me to tears like this game has, and i don't even have the dlc (yet). i don't know how you did it but it felt like i was playing a slice of life anime. i had waited with baited breath to play this since i played the demo and my expectations were not just met but surpassed. from the bottom of my heart thank you for this game

I found the game by chance and I am so so glad I did. It’s so inclusive and made me feel so incredibly seen. Seeing that my gender identity and sexuality were possible just meant the absolute world to me. I’ve never seen something like this and it just made me so incredibly happy. Thank you for the absolutely amazing game and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Hello! I downloaded Our life earlier this week and I'm only now getting the chance to play it (Very busy and stressful week) I'm so excited to play and I wanna say thank you for making this adorable game!

I just finished my first playthrough of Our Life and I can't even express how much I love it. Cove is absolutely precious and has killed me several times, and the art and soundtrack is beautiful. I love all the small different choices. I'm very interested in the Derek and Baxter DLCs and the rest, can't wait!!!!!!

thank you for "Our Life Beginnings & Always" it has to be one of the best visual novels i ever have played and i just dont want it to end (i know it will, but damn it! i want to have a wedding night, have children and die of old age with cole! XD) when i play it it always makes me tear up (in a good way) and i am most definetly going to buy all the dlc that you make! thank you for this lovely game and all the work that went into it! (ps: i also loved "lake of voices" )

You guys are incredibly talented and im very proud of you all! You've really outdone yourselves w/ OL and i cant wait to see whats next to come for you all :)

i really love that you can be trans in Our Life! not a lot of games do that so i just wanted to say thank you!

Guuyyss!! I just wanna say! Thank you sm for the headscarf option in the MC creator! I especially loved that little detail where MC quickly slips the headscarf on before greeting Cove, I've never felt so immersed :'D Not that the rest of the game wasn't immersive btw, but since I wear my hijab most of the time that little addition really felt like something I would do! So thank you for that <3

I've been watching "Our Life: Beginnings & Always" development for quite some time, and I gotta say its wild to see it finally release. Its so unique in the way relationships work- even character creation. I've cried multiple times over this game while playing. I can't thank y'all enough for a game with these kind of mechanics, and representation. its rare I get to feel im really playing as myself in games like these. Everyones outdone themselves. this'll certainly be one I keep coming back to.

I've been following the development of Our Life from way back when the first demo dropped and it still blows my mind how many choices and customizations there are (love that update for the MC's bedroom btw!) and the fact that the game remembers them - it really feels like your very own coming of age story! I was so immersed I cried at the end :') Can't believe I experienced this game for free lol. I can't wait for future DLCs and Step 4! Good luck with all your upcoming projects dev team!!

Just wanted to say I love Our Life and I'm thankful it exists. Thank you so much! I love the little world you created and all the people in it. Especially Cove! This game makes me so happy!

Just poping in to say hi and that ilu guys ^^, remember to take care of yourselves!

Hi!! I just wanna thank you for creating such an amazing game. Our Life is one of the few dating sims I’ve found that let’s me be a male mc, it’s really hard to find dating sims that let me be gay. Our Life is my new favorite dating sim to just sit down and playthrough whenever I’m having a bad day so I just wanted to let y’all know how much I appreciate all you’ve done. 🤍

Fan from australia here

Just wanted to reach out and let you know how important this game has been to me. I came across it at a really rough time ( that I’m still going through ) and it’s been one of the things that’s driven me to get up and out of bed sometimes.

This game and cove both hold a very special place in my heart and I can’t wait to see more of him in the DLC and Step 4

Much love ♥️

I know this isnt exactly the main focus of the game, but i really love how we can customise the mc personality wise! This is the first time i've played a game like this where the mc actually does and says exactly what I would do and say in certain situations and its such a breath of fresh air!! It's also so cool how the other characters can pick up on it!!

Cove Holden saved 2020 (my 2020 anyways) I would die for him

Sorry for this being out of the blue, but after playing through Our Life I wanted to thank you for the experience. I don’t know if I’ve ever played a game that has made me cry happy tears TWICE lol. It’s beautiful, scenic, inclusive, and absolutely amazing..have a great rest of 2020 and I honestly cannot wait for the rest of it :,) (ps. The ending song is stuck in my head)

I think you guys might've ruined visual novels for me forever. I'm not sure I'll be able to play another without comparing it to Our Life and I know if I do that I'll be disappointed every time because of how amazing it is. I bought the DLCs before playing the base game it's one of the best impulsive purchases I've ever made

Thank you so much for making our life! It's my favorite visual novel ever and I just can't articulate how much being able to just be honest with my responses instead of going for whatever would make the love interest happy means to me? I reccomended it to evry friend I have that plays visual novels because this is the best one I've ever played!

Just wanted to say that I absolutely adore this game! The childhood friends tropes is my favorite thing and this game delivers! Cove is the sweetest thing, infact all the boys are good boys. Super excited for all upcoming dlcs!

Hi, I just want to thank you for making such an amazing game like Our Life. Tbh, I was following the game’s development for a while, but me and my family moved away from my childhood town just a few days before release, so I really connected to this game. You all did amazing!

hey just wanted to know that i completely loved ol: b&a and it was so good and love cove more than i’ve liked any fictional character, it’s now my comfort media. thank you so much

hi i just wanna say i really enjoyed all of the representation in our life b&a! there were characters with a lot of different body shapes, pic characters, lgbtq+ characters, and you get to choose your own pronouns and sexuality!!! so tysm!!

This isn't a question, I just wanted to say that Our Life is incredible. Ever since I finished it, I've been looking for other visual novels to play so I don't play OL so often that I start memorizing the lines before all the DLC comes out, but I keep coming back to it. It's really one of a kind, I think you all ruined other visual novels for me because I haven't enjoyed another VN like I have this one since I read it ❤.

i think our life b&a is the first game where i felt like cove loved me, not the character i play as which is really nice for someone with kinda low self esteem so THANK YOU

I’ve been playing Our Life practically nonstop since yesterday. I just want everyone who worked on it to know how much the LGBTQ inclusivity means to me. As a closeted trans ace guy in an unsupportive household, I can’t emphasize how much of a comfort this game has been to me. Everything about it is so wholesome and heartfelt. I’m excited to see what other games you make in the future 💙

- A demibiromantic ace transgender man who may or may not have cried over the option to be myself in a game for the first time ever

Csn i just say i really appreciate how you handled MC deciding to use they/them at different stages. Mainly because alot of games don't pay much attention to the body the mc was assigned at birth if they player chooses nonbinary like it does with male/female. And it was just nice to be able to play an mc who just thought gender was kinda 'meh' for them but still felt good about the body they were born with (like myself). I guesd it boils down I'm really appreciative of the hard work it must've taken for you to make all those options possible & still have them matter.

I just wanted to thank you all for Our Life. My mental health hasn't been in a good place recently and it has become my favorite form of escapism/way to cheer up. It's idyllic setting and fantastic characters are such a good way to wind down, I love it. Also, I've been dreading 2021 due to classes starting and general stress, but the DLC and your next project have given me something to actually look forward to :). I'm so excited for them and now I actually have a reason to be happy that it's 2021. Sorry if this message is a bit weird, I just wanted to thank the team for their hard work and for creating something so incredible <3

I've gotta say this is one of the most repayable games I've ever played, if not the most. Usually after i do a playthrough or two of a game i have to wait awhile before playing again otherwise it feels stale. But i haven't had that problem with our life because of the sheer ammount of player agency. Everyone who works on tbe game should feel incredibly proud of themselves because you've created something amazing.

I just wanted to say thank you for Our Life. I'm sure you get this a lot, but it really pulled me out of a mentally tough spot in my life. So thank you.

who needs therapy when you have our life: beginnings and always? haha no but seriously this game is my comfort game, and even though i can’t join your patreon at the moment please know i am always supporting you and i am so excited to see everything you have in store! everyone who works on the games is so so talented

All DLCs have nice content. 😡😡

And I love them all!!💗💗💗💖💖💖💕💕💕

[genshin-djinn]

Genshin Impact Chapter 1 Act 3: A Reaction.

Chapter 1 Act 3 is what took my experience with this game from “good game” to “masterpiece”.

THIS POST CONTAINS MANY, MANY SPOILERS FOR GENSHIN IMPACT CHAPTER 1: ACT 3

Genshin Impact has some problems— actually, it has a shit ton of problems. But during the fight against hordes of Fatui, with the Adepti channeling their abilities through my gang, flying through them as Oz, decimating them with Diluc— I just thought, this is the best time I’ve had in a mobile game in my life.

This game might not be perfect now— it’s only a quarter of the way done if we’re counting Karenri’ah. But it will be a fucking masterpiece once it’s all out. If this is the level of quality we’re getting for our archon quests, this game is going to be an amazing time on story alone.

KEQING

I love Keqing with all my heart. If she were alive today she would be a socialist here to topple the ruling 1%. When ningguang asked Aether who they trusted more, her or Keqing, I hit the Keqing button as fast as possible.

I think one of my favorite things about Keqing is that she’s so completely honest, which is unusual for a Liyue politician. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll speak out against it. If she thinks something else should be happening, she’ll make it happen. She can probably be deceitful at times, but in general she’s straightforwards in that she wants a government for the people and by the people.

I can’t wait for her story quest!

NINGGUANG

pretty.... voice pretty....

Ningguang is cool. Her JP voice is very pretty, like she could do ASMR videos online or smth. One thing I decidedly did not like about Ningguang is how her personality just ???? flips? In the middle of the quest, for no reason other than “because plot”.

It’s established that Ningguang cares about two things more than anything— the Jade palace and Mora. Why, then, would she destroy the Jade palace for the sake of Liyue? I get that she’s a good person at heart at all, but I want to see more of her indecision, her brain saying “mora” and her heart saying “Liyue”. The way she just flips on a dime isn’t really strange but it does contradict with her preexisting characterization.

Childe’s Boss Fight!

The section of this quest from Childe’s fight to the Adepti + Qixing battle is just nonstop adrenaline.

Childe is IMO a lot more fun than Dvalin (sorry Dvalin). I’m at WL5 and have a tendency to play fast and loose with important mechanics like.... dodging, for example.... and Childe’s Mask Electro form ended up destroying my team. I killed him with Guoba because everyone else besides Xiangling was dead. I

Another thing I really enjoy about Childe’s boss fight is that in the irrationalities of Childe as a character, it actually makes sense. Genshin is decent at making weekly bosses logical excursions— Andrius wants you to get stronger, Dvalin’s weekly fight is ~~all a dream~~; but tbh sometimes the weekly bosses don’t make sense. Andrius wants to train us, not murder us! How does dvalin, a dream slash memory that doesn’t exist, manage to knock someone out?

Childe as a weekly boss actually makes perfect sense. He’s an adrenaline junkie addicted to the thrill of fighting people— to put this in modern AU terms, he’s the guy who’s first in line to ride the rollercoaster that failed all of its health and safety checks. Childe wants to befriend the Traveler entirely because they’re stronger than him, so that he can fight them over and over again until he’s the strongest. Of course, this will never happen, because the Traveler is the MC and therefore is stronger than all others. However, in this way Childe being a repeatable boss makes 100% perfect sense— he actually wants to fight the Traveler again and again and again.

The one question I have about Childe is how in the living feck are the Fatui letting him join the Traveler and fight for them *against the Fatui*??? I think this might be touched on in Childe’s Story quest, which I’ll do in a bit, but like????? They let him keep his delusion and just walk over to Aether like “aight fam I’m on your team now”? How?

Jade Chamber/ Guizhong Ballista vs Sea Monster Fight!!

Basically, all my charged adrenaline from nearly dying to Childe just came to a head in this one huge fantastic fight.

And Xiao :)

I absolutely loved seeing the Adepti and the Qixing work together. This fight was probably my favorite fight in the whole game— the music was amazing (soundtrack where), the graphics were so nice, the adepti were so feckin cool, using everyone’s abilities was n I ce. My adrenaline was reaching its highest point at this fight and it was just perfect. It was just so fecking fun after days of WL5 pain, having to pop like five ultimates to kill one hillichurl, to be able to just demolish swathes of enemies with Fischl and Diluc, run around like a madman thanks to Xiao, have infinite health idr who did that for me but bless them, just absolutely destroy.

Ever since I hit WL5 I haven’t been able to really just go insane during a fight and stop caring about HP/ when to use skills/ dodging and this have me that opportunity.

Zhongli’s Deal

*punches Zhongli across the room with the power of being the player character* I love this man so much.

Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli. I AM VERY ANGRY AT HOW THE PLOT RESOLVED HIS STORYLINE. But it also makes a lot of sense. And I think, for once, Zhongli should be allowed to be selfish.

Because choosing to leave Liyue was a bit selfish. He’s leaving the country that adores him, loves him, gives him shit for free; to its own devices and then to a completely unknown fate once the new Geo Archon becomes god and takes over. But he made a frankly fantastic plan and can now leave the country, for now, in peace.

I was absolutely delighted to see Zhongli in Morax form. Making deals with La Signora, being a complete and utter puppet master who set this entire situation up and played Childe like a kazoo; but just like his dear friend Venti, I think Zhongli is happier when he’s just Zhongli, the eccentric mortal. He seems so much happier and so much more relaxed when he’s forgetting about mora and eating dinner with Aether and Paimon. Rex Lapis might have just put Liyue through the wringer, but he can now put down his 3000- year long reign and just be the happy, eccentric Zhongli.

Zhongli’s little bit of insecurity over being a “bourgeois parasite” makes perfect sense now— he doesn’t want to be seen as Morax, a superfluous god who’s using his name to get whatever he wants from the humans he watches over.

But also the part of my brain that feeds off lore nEEDS to KNOW what Zhongli got from Tsaritsa. What could be worth a gnosis? His own happiness isn’t enough— Tsaritsa is likely going to use his gnosis to try and destroy Liyue. What could be worth that?

My main thought would be either “someone’s protection” or “another gnosis”, but I don’t think the latter is possible. The former could be possible but doesn’t really make sense either— a) whose protection is worth putting an entire country, much less the world, in danger and b) the Fatui are out to kill everyone who isn’t Fatui, so they won’t agree to spare a major player in the war to come like that. Brain go brrr.

I’m very hyped for Zhongli’s story quest, which I think is coming with his banner on Dec 1, when Childe’s banner ends. I really hope that Zhongli visits Mondstadt and chills with Venti for a while, but anything with this guy would be fine lol.

LORE

We got a lot of lore this update and I am delighted by it.

Firstly, we get a tiny hint of how Visions are bestowed— “if a person shows true strength of will at a desperate and fateful moment in their life, the gods will look upon them with favor.” Vague but more than we had before.

Next we got some neat lore about Inazuma— firstly, that it’s led by a god named Baal and secondly that it steals everyone’s visions. I’m very hyped to visit because guess what fam aether doesn’t have a vision.

Final Thoughts

In case you can’t tell from my insane ramblings, I loved Chapter 1 Act 3 and I absolutely cannot wait to play through Childe’s story quest and Chapter 2 and beyond.

The Prologue in Mondstadt set the stage for Genshin. We started out in a fantasy environment with a fantasy tale of an immortal bard and a dragon. Mondstadt was an excellent introduction to the world of Genshin.

And now? We’re starting to build on that. Chapter 1 brings us another story of another god and their relationship with the country they watch over. Liyue is much less of a traditional fantasy setting and takes the darkness we saw in Mondstadt— a friendship ruined by manipulation and suffering— and build on it. Now we don’t just see the Fatui more often but we also see more of the Treasure Hoarders and the way both groups kidnap and experiment on humans.

Mond started to introduce us to the Fatui, but Liyue is where they really start bringing continuous plot relevance. Inversely, we saw much more of the Abyss Order in Mondstadt than we did in Liyue. I’m extremely disappointed we didn’t see any more of the Princess this chapter, but it makes sense given that Chapter 1 was really more about the Fatui than the Abyss Order.

All I’m trying to say is the Liyue arc was an excellent continuation to the stage Mondstadt’s arc set. Now, we’re on to the world of the Eternal Shogun, Baal! I’m really excited to meet new characters and experience new stories of Inazuma, but I hope we’ll continue to see Mondstadt and Liyue in the future. Mondstadt is likely going to be the most “boring” of the countries we experience, cuz it’s just so classically fantasy- themed, but it will always be the first country we explored in this world.

After Inazuma (if I had to take a shot in the dark, inazuma’s arc will take from December 23 to maybe March or April) we’ll go to Sumeru, which I am really extremely hyped for because it sounds extremely different from Mond and Liyue and we’ll meet Cyno and possibly even Collei! (just me extrapolating lol). I can’t wait to see where Genshin Impact goes story- wise, because its first major update has brought so much to the table.

.

[eunique]

☕️+Genshin Impact :)

Bro where do I begin?

First off, this game is F R E E. Like how is a game with amazing yet loveable character designs and STUNNING graphics free!?

The world building, lore and story is so good. Each little bit tells a story from the novels you collect to the artifacts you farm. Its so well developed and references other aspects of lore around Teyvat unlike other games (that being our good old brave frontier where they just don't know how to connect their fucking lore or cross reference it Jesus christ). The characters are so lovable and endearing. I really like that some dialogues and story are restricted until you level up their friendship so you gradually get to know them the more you play them.

Soundtrack is a fucking 11/10. Bless Yu Peng Chen for creating such good osts for Genshin. Highly recommend people listen to the soundtrack. I cannot praise the music enough as a music student!

Also major bonus points that some of the Haikyuu!! JP VAs voice some of the characters in Genshin. Man I miss Haikyuu!! so much-

You've mentioned a lot of the pros to Genshin and I absolutely agree with a lot you said about it. Though with pros, there are cons to Genshin.

As you mentioned Genshin being unsuited for mobile gaming, while i don't 100% agree to the statement, Genshin is admittedly really awkward to play on mobile. I play Genshin on mobile and yes it is playable, it's just sometimes verycumbersome. Especially when you play bow characters (says the person here that has both Ganyu and Venti in one team). Trying to collect crystalflies and butterflies is a nightmare. The only time mobile players had the high ground was the rhythm minigame during the windblume festival lmao. The lag is pretty bad too and my phone does heat up quite a bit when I play-

Another con isn't with the game but more with the growing fandom. Things like people who already had Venti upon Genshin's release sending death threats towards those who got Venti on the rerun banner because it didn't make them "special enough". The fetishisation of characters who are canonically minors. Not to mention people in co op trashing on other people's mains (esp if you main the starter 3) and stats.

The micragression (though idk if it does count as micragression but imma count it anyways) towards what honorific Childe should use to address Zhongli and claiming that just because they play the game with the JP dub, that sensei is the correct term. As well as the fact that people who say that JP is the sub and CN is the dub. Some going as far as to make some racist remarks towards Chinese as a culture, and language which I've seen on Instagram. Trust me, I've seen 2 comment threads and as someone who is ethnically Chinese, it was really upsetting and uncomfortable to read.

Of course, I'm not calling out everyone who wasn't entirely aware. If they didn't know, that's okay. As long as they've learned their mistake. I'm just calling out the minor few who for one, ain't Mihoyo and two, clearly didn't do their research.

To clear things up. Mihoyo is a game company based in Shanghai, China. Genshin Impact is a Chinese game, making the Chinese voices the sub and Japanese voices the dub alongside the Korean and English voices. It's fine if you have a preference to which voices you prefer but just because JP is the preferred version, it doesn't make it the sub.

As for what honorific to use when people want Childe to address Zhongli in fanart or fanfic, I wrote an explanation here which explains which honorific to use for who and what situation.

I honestly hope that Genshin doesn't become a suffocating and toxic fandom. The game is so fun and I've had so much fun playing Genshin and Co oping with people over the past maybe half a year and it's given me joy (after haikyuu!!) People really need to do better and not be pricks or racist. Full stop.

[demivampirew]

Keep Calm and go to London chapter 18

The story is about Henry, not Geralt (only using this gif because it fits perfectly for this chapter)

Synopsis: This is the story of (y/n), a successful actress,  musician, musical producer and songwriter. After battling depression and  breaking up a long relationship, she seeks for a change of air,  escaping LA for a while going to visit some friends in London and there  she meets Henry. -Disclaimer: some chapters are mostly smut.

Previous Chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5 (smut)

Chapter 6

Chapter 7 (smut)

Chapter 8 (smut/roleplay)

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12 (smut)

Chapter 13

Chapter 14 (smut)

Chapter 15

Chapter 16 (smut/ s&m) Chapter 17

Triggers:   Smut (I know, too much smut chapters 😁 😂 🤣 , but this chapter needed to have smut, you’ll see why 😜 ); mention of rape, sex trafficking and panic attacks (while talking about a movie; only mention those words, not describing anything them in any way)

Tag list:  Here’s the incredible people who showed me support (thank  you    so  much for that) and people who asked me to tag them too  ☺️   (I    think  I will write a few chapters of this story, if you want me to  tag     you, tell me ☺️   ) @cavillanche @mary-ann84 @henry-owns-these-tatas @yespolkadotkitty @dancingwendigo   constip8merm8     penwieldingdreamer iloveyouyen  littlefreya  wondersofdreaming    alyxkbrl solariumss  sweetybuzz25 @thethirstyarchive @agniavateira   @honeyloverogers @hell1129-blog   @lunedelorient​  @michelle-1185​  

During quarantine, Henry spend lots of time cooking delicious meals, bread and desserts for the two of you. He pretended not to be good, but low key you knew that he wanted compliments because his food was freaking fantastic and you were sure he knew that already. He was in the kitchen preparing cookies for you an afternoon snack. Meanwhile, you entertained him dancing around, there were some real dance moves there, but mostly silly things that you did intend to make him laugh. Lizzo's "Juice", Nicky Minaj's "Anaconda", Rihanna's "Bitch better have my money", Bruno Mars's "24K Magic" were some of the songs you choose to perform for him. You closed your little show with N*Sync's "Bye bye bye" which make him laughed so hard that Kal barked at him. He mentioned that in his youth he made a movie with Joey Fatone and you were green with envy because you used to be a N*Sync fangirl when you were little. - What was he like? - you asked - Oh, he's great! Cool guy. If I ever cross paths with him again, I'll invite him to hang out so you can meet him too. - he replied - Oh yeah, baby. That'd be a childhood dream come true. - Have you ever meet one of your idols? - he questioned curiously - Hmm... yeah, I met Slash, he's now a friend of mine. He gave me guitar lessons. - You learned to play the guitar with Slash from Guns n' Roses? - he repeated your words as a question due to the surprise revelation - No. I was already pretty good. He gave me lessons on how to improve my guitar solos. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I've learnt so much with him and improved drastically my habilities. - you explained - I've also met Duff and he is cool too. I met Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from Game of Thrones, he's one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I met my now friend Annie (Hathaway), which you must already know because we worked together in my first acting role and she is a mentor, she truly helped me a lot to become a good actress. - you paused, thinking and after a few moments continued.- I've met Robert De Niro, he played my dad in the movie that you didn't see - previously you have had a conversation in which he confessed to having seen three on the four movies that you made in your short but successful career as an actress. You advised him not to watch the movie, because you played a woman caught in sex trafficking and there were a lot of rape scenes and you thought he may be affected to see you like that, even you had panic attacks after filming that movie and never watched again after the premiere. You couldn't even see Cillian Murphy anymore, another co-star in that movie, because he was the villain and there was a much graphic scene in which his character raped yours. "Only the twisted mind of Darren Aronofsky could come with a story dark as that one," you told Henry laughing because you liked the director, he was a good man, but with a weird taste for disaster and dark psychology-.  You talked about meeting people that you admire and he mentioned Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise and Guy Ritchie, among others. As you predicted, the cookies were delicious. Your boyfriend was, definitely, the perfect man. Not only he was the sweetest, you two never fought, but he was also an amazing lover - he even made out a rule that you that to tell him if you didn't have an orgasm (or wanted more) so he could take care of that because those moments were made so both of you could have a great time and not just him. And, on top of all of that, he cooked for you amazing dishes and desserts. He was the definition of perfection. - Someday you're going to get tired of cooking for me and that'd be my doom. - you pointed out as you ate the tasteful cookies. - Not at all. I'll never get tired of cooking for the woman I love. - he assured you smiling. You chocked with the cooking you were eating and recover a few seconds later and starred at his face with an expression of full shock in yours. - What did you say? - you demanded him to repeat his words - What? I've said that I love cooking for the woman I love.- he repeated without understanding what was wrong with his words. - "The woman you love"? Do you love me? -you asked astonished - Absolutely.- he admitted with a smile on his face- I've been in love with you practically since the time I asked you to be my girlfriend, I just thought that you were going to think I was crazy and was too soon for saying the L word. - I felt the same way. I wanted you to be the first to say it. -you confessed him. - So, we are in love with eachother.- he confirmed with happiness written on his face; the kind of happiness that a child would experience on Christmas day if he/she received exactly what was expecting. You stood up from the table and run into his arms, as he embraced you for your first kiss after knowing that you were in love. Hours later, Henry was back again in the kitchen. This time he was planning to prepare dinner for him since you told him the cookies made you feel full and you didn't want to eat anything else for the day. He was preparing everything that he needed, when you showed up in the kitchen wearing nothing but translucid bran with pastel green colour and white flowers on it. The bra was delicate and made your breasts look amazing. You also wear a white thong and white stockings and stiletto heels pumps. You left Henry speechless. You got closer to him, put your arms around his neck a started to kiss him. You could feel his hands sliding through your back reaching your ass and grabbing it. That made you laughed and he joined you. You looked at his eyes and suggested him to take things to bed. You indicated that you couldn't wait anymore to properly celebrate the fact that you loved each other. He picked you up, holding you by your thighs and walked to the bedroom. He left you on the bed as he turned to close the door and took his clothes off. He got on the bed and then slowly slid your thong and then throw it away. Grabbing you by your thighs, he began to pleasure you with his mouth. He loved to stroke your clit with his tongue, grabbing it and sucking it as well. He could do that for long periods. You were used to him putting his fingers inside your underwear and make you cum over and over. He'd do that at least three or four times per week -without counting that you had sex every single night and some mornings as well. He always wanted to take you and satisfy his desires but also wanted to make you happy. He couldn't get enough of you, and the feeling was mutual. You could feel him tasting you, after several orgasms, you were dripping wet. He climbed on top of you and kissed you, grabbing your lips with his. He grabbed a condom from the nightstand and after putting it on, he put his member inside of you, making you burned inside. It felt so good. He would go from slow movements to really fast pound. He had both of his hands on the mattress and your's were on his neck. He would separate his mouth from yours from time to time only to be able to kiss your neck and breasts. He knew how much you needed the touch of his sweet lips on yours; to feel his tongue dancing inside your mouth. You put your arms on his back and dug your fingers on his back, followed by your nails scratching his back. That made him insane. He had shaved two days before that moment, but his beard started to grow again. He also left he moustache to grow. It was still on its early stages, but still made you tingle and it felt so amazing, especially when he was with his head between your legs. He made you stood up from the bed and then grabbed you by your thighs once more, as you entwined your arms around his neck and he started to thrust you. Your body was on flames. The fact that he was strong enough to fuck you while holding you amazed you. For moments, you would free one of your hands just to stroke his arm, as his muscles tense. He sat on the edge of the bed and continued to pound you, buried himself inside of you deeper and deeper each time. You pushed his back against the mattress, kissed him with burning passion and then started to ride him, placing your hands on his majestic hairy chest. Then, you enlaced your hands with his while you continue to move up and down his cock. He pulled your hands into his lips, kissing both of them, one at the time. You put your chest against his and whispered on his ear "You're mine, baby. You're mine and I'm yours", he looked into your eyes. Just as he thought he couldn't want you more, you told him everything he wanted to hear, that you were his. He remembered at that moment that if he wasn't for your ex, he'd been the only man you have been with. That thought made him feel both jealous and lucky at the same time. Another man had you before him, but he intended to be the only man you'll be with for the rest of his life. You were his. He wasn't the kind of man that would treat you as an object, as something that could belong to him, but you were his woman, he loved you and would make sure that you'll want him forever over anybody else because he could not stand the idea of losing you. You were his angel and he would love you and protect you and hopefully make you as happy as you made him. Life with you was a paradise. You woke up due to the need to drink some water. You had your head pressed against Henry's chest. You had sex until the sunrise. You felt so tired after that amazing night. You checked your phone to see the time and to your surprise, it was midday. You got up and decided to prepare lunch for the two of you. You starred at him for a moment before leaving the bedroom. Seeing him sleep so peaceful felt like a warm hug. You were so lucky. He was amazing and he loved you as much as you loved him.

[bookscapadesblog]

What to Read While Stuck in Quarantine

Right now, many people (myself included) are stuck inside and social distancing due to the Hell that is considered our world because of Corona.  As a fun activity for myself and in the hopes of maybe helping a few people through this weird/uncomfortable/stressful/whatever other negative phrase you want to use time, I thought I’d compose a list of books that may occupy your time. I’m going to try and stick with completed series or stand-alones so that in addition to everything else you’re not miserable you have to wait for a new book.

Similiar to my Non-Horror October reads post, I’ll add the Goodreads link so you can check out ratings and such!

So...here is my list of books that might help get you through the dumpster fire that is our current situation!

(I am aware some of these are very popular but I’m adding them anyway in case someone hasn't read them)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas 

After serving a year in a slave camp, Celaena Sardothien is granted the chance at freedom when the crown prince chooses her to be his champion in a competition to find the new royal assassin.

If you haven't read this series yet and love YA fantasy please do yourself a favor and get it. Katie and I love it so much

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

A loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast; Feyre is dragged off as a prisoner to a magical kingdom after killing a faerie while hunting in the woods.  She comes to learn that maybe her captor, a beautiful Fae trapped in a mask, might not be as terrible as she thought.

I’m not even going to lie this was difficult to give a two sentence summary of. The first book is great but 2 and 3 are exponentially better and Feyre is just the badass woman we all need.

The Iskari Trilogy by Kristen Ceccarelli 

Asha is the Iskari, responsible for hunting dragons in her kingdom. Engaged to a man she will never love, she is given the opportunity to prevent her marriage by killing the most ancient of all dragons.

All three of these books are interconnected but each one follows a different main character.  They were all AMAZING, but book two (The Caged Queen) was my favorite

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

In the country of Ravaka, cut in half by a darkness called The Shadow Fold, Grisha are an elite magical group.  After learning of her own abilities during an attack on the fold, Alina Starkov is taken away to learn to harness her power while under supervision of their leader, The Darkling.

I put off reading these like an idiot and finished them a few months ago and absolutely loved them. King of Scars is a continuation but maybe wait until the second one comes out to read it because I’ve been struggling getting over it and anxiously waiting for any news about it.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Kaz Brekker is one of the most notorious criminals in Ketterdam. When offered a job that will make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, he gathers a crew that can help him pull off a deadly heist.

This book has an array of diverse characters and a lot of excitement and hijinks. Takes place in the same universe as Shadow and Bone, so I would recommend reading it after them, but it can be done on its own.

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

The small town of Sparrow is located on the coast of Washington and has a troubling history.  Every summer witches possess three mortal girls and use their bodies to lure boys into the ocean and drown them.  When a new boy arrives Penny doesn't know if she will be able to protect him from her sinister home.

I read this one in a day and absolutely loved it. Easy and entertaining read.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Alessandra is tried of being in the shadow of her older sister so she devises a plan: make the Shadow King fall in love with her, marry him, and then kill him and take his kingdom.

This book was described as a ‘slytherin love story’ and I was all about it. It was an easy read and definitely kept me intrigued in the story.

Gone by Michael Grant

All adults disappear, along with cell phones, internet, and any other way to get help. Teens are left to pick up the pieces in this sic-fi story.

I read this series a pretty long time ago but it was SO GOOD. Grant did such a great job sucking you in, to this day I will still recommend it to people.

The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning (Book #1 is Darkfever)

When her sister is murdered, MacKayla travels to Ireland in search of answers. While there she learns she is able to see beyond the human realm, into the real of the Fae.

Honestly this series was so wild and I remember there being some unnecessary erotic stuff but it was still SO DAMN ENTERTAINING. A good way to escape the humdrum of quarantine life.

Anything by Gillian Flynn

If you need a thriller, murder mystery, etc just honestly pick Gone Girl, Sharp Objects, or Dark Places. They're all so good.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber 

Scarlett has always wanted to participate in the fantastical performance that is Caraval. She gets her wish when an invitation arrives, but then regrets it when she learns the performance centers around her sister Tella, who has been kidnapped by Caravel Master Legend.

I love these books. Scarlett and Tella are both amazing in their own way and the mystery and not knowing what is real and whats part of the game makes it so fun to read.

These Rebel Waves (Stream Raiders) by Sara Raasch

Adeluna is a soldier that helped free her home island of Grace Loray from its oppressors, the kingdom of Argrid. Devereux is a pirate, sailing the waters of Grace Loray and collecting its magic plants and selling them on the black market.  Benet is the Crown Prince of Argrid, unsure of his father’s beliefs and methods after watching his uncle and cousin burned to death after practicing magic. Their fates are intertwined as they all search for peace between Grace Loray and Argrid.

Katie and I both just read this and they were so good. The beginning is a little slow but the history you get on all the characters is great.

Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days) by Susan Ee

Angels of the Apocalypse have fallen to Earth.  Streets are ravaged and life as we know it is over. When Penryn’s little sister is taken by Warrior Angels, she's willing to do anything to get her back, even make a deal with an enemy angel.

I looked for a hard copy of this trilogy everywhere and couldn't find it, so finally gave up and got the kindle books.  I loved it, the end of world sci-fi and enemies-to-lovers tropes were wonderful.

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking) by Patrick Ness

Todd Hewitt lives in a town of only men, where everyone can hear each other’s thoughts.  He stumbles across a girl in the swamp, the only one he’s ever seen and it sets off a chain of events that can't be stopped. On the run and hunted by the only people he's ever known, Todd tries to discover the dark truth of his world.

This series was so well written and just sucked you in. Even if it seemed like nothing was happening or was going to happen soon, I couldn't put it down.  The books are all long too so thats a plus for quarantine reading.

And if you need something to bring you back to a time when things were simpler, may I recommend rereading some old favorites, two of mine are:

Harry Potter by J.K Rowling and Percy Jackson and the Olympians (also The Heroes of Olympus) by Rick Riordan 

These don't need links, but they were two series that I loved when I was younger. The Goblet of Fire was the first big chapter book I ever read on my own and PJO just was so fun. I just read all the PJO graphic novels because I found them when I redid my bookshelves and it was a nice little escape.

Honestly, I have more recommendations but I feel like this is a long post already so I’m going to stop here and maybe I’ll do another one.

Anyway...happy reading, I hope this helps someone. It definitely improved my mood. Just remember High School Musical and hopefully we’ll get through this soon.

[introvertguide]

Movies and the Tracking Shot

In the language of film, there are many ways to place actors, props, or cameras in a way that conveys a message to the audience. The tracking shot is a specific way to include the audience into a situation on film and it really intensifies the experience. Some of the most anxiety inducing horror shots as well as introductions to a new world have happened with the tracking shot. Technically, any shot with camera movement could be described as tracking, but the really good ones tend to follow a character or group through a situation or world that is realistic but in some way other worldly because of the circumstances. Our current film under review for the AFI top 100, Goodfellas, has one of the most famous tracking shots, so I wanted to highlight it along with some other great tracking shots in film history:

THIS IS PRETTY SPOILER FREE, BUT SOME OF THE CLIPS ARE VERY VIOLENT AND INTENSE SO DON’T FOLLOW THE LINK IF YOU THINK IT WILL TRIGGER ANXIETY!!!

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Paths of Glory (1957)

This is one of the first real tracking shots and the camera is literally on a track. You can actually see the track along the ground as you are lead through a trench in WWI along with Kirk Douglas. It is horrifying in that it really displays the British idea of keeping a “stiff upper lip” as hundreds of men who are obviously terrified, as they are surely about to get slaughtered, make way for their commanding officer to lead them over the trench wall. This film was a favorite of Winston Churchill how complemented the realistic depiction of officers in trench warfare. The film was directed by Stanley Kubrick, who later showed his affinity for this type of shot. Here is a link to the clip which also shows the raiding run after the trench tracking shot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gyyGHHXfck

The Shining (1980)

The initial lack of sound and the steady cam shot by operator Garret Brown that follows Danny Torrance through the halls of the empty hotel is haunting. As the boy pedals his tricycle, creepy music slowly builds until he finally runs into the infamous twins. It establishes the loneliness and the inability to escape. There is nothing for this child to do but explore alone, an activity which will only lead to danger. It is not an intense scene per se, but there are few better ways to establish the world of the Overlook Hotel. Here is a clip that shows the scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy7ztJ3NUMI

Goodfellas (1990)

I love this scene because it goes from a dirty alley back through the kitchen/ backroom and into a fancy club. It shows the lead character progressing from the streets and through the life of a working stiff (paying off people as he goes) and ending at a table prepared just for him at the front. He basically walked his new girlfriend through his life in a single 2 minute shot through the club. An absolute masterpiece of cinematography by Martin Scorsese. Here is a link to the clip as well as a link to the deep dive discussion with the steady cam operator:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCYwcObxl78

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVDC95rprFs

The Russian Ark (2002)

I have seen this film a couple of times and it is more of a technical accomplishment than a great story. The film is made up of a single study cam shot with almost 1000 actors and 3 orchestras all filmed in a single museum in Russia. It is the story of a French aristocrat dreaming about 200 years of Russian history and the constant movement does make it all feel dreamlike. The producers could only manage one day to use the museum and they could not damage anything or add structures to set up cameras so the entire 96 minutes was done with a single shot in a single take. The amount of rehearsals and planning that were needed for this is mind boggling and it is worth a watch to give respect to the effort along. Here is a link to the trailer if you want to get an idea of what the film is like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV1kphEEXn8

Children of Men (2006)

This is the most constantly intense movie that I have ever experience and I do not rewatch it because even individual scenes cause me great anxiety. I have seen it once all the way through without pausing and that was enough for me. There are actually many tracking shot scenes throughout this film that last from 5-10 minutes at a time, and this is including my personal most panicky shot that I remember experiencing in the theater. There is a car ambush scene that has the camera in the place of someone in the car swiveling around to try and keep up with what is coming. It is active in that you feel like you are being attacked, yet it is passive in the way that there is nothing the audience can do to help or protect themselves. Straight out of a nightmare. I kind of a hate the scene for how bad I felt afterwards, but I love it because I recognize how good the cinematography was to affect me so strongly. I have a link for the clip below and, although it does not affect me the same since I have watched it many times, I want to give a quick warning to watch at your own risk because it is violent and intense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVg66ndzfpU

Birdman (2014)

This film won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Cinematography as the entire film is made up tracking shots. The lead character is suffering through a mid life crisis as the character he played as a young man has almost become his identity and haunts him as he tries to re-establish himself as a serious actor director and not “the guy the used to be Birdman.” There are many great tracking scenes, but I think my favorite is one in which he gets trapped outside the theater and he has to run through time square in his underwear to get back around to his dressing room. Here is a link to that scene, but I recommend checking out the movie and try to count how many cuts you can actually see. There aren’t many:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O8wiwu0elA

The Revenant (2015)

I also saw this film in the theater and it is extremely intense, but I was ready for it because a friend of mine compared the opening to Children of Men. That put me on guard and I am glad because it is brutal and unforgiving like the situation. DiCaprio plays maybe the toughest character ever based on a real person and the man suffers greatly all in the name of vengeance. He is with a group of fur traders and they are attacked by Arikara warriors. Walking along as a bystander as the horrors unfold for six minutes is an amazing way to introduce the savagery and pain of a fur trader’s life in the new world. These men did not belong there and those tribes who did belong were not welcoming to outsiders destroying the food source. There is also a bear attack sequence in this film, but the computer graphic additions kind of ruined it for me. Here is a link to the opening attack scene and, again, it very violent and intense so watch at your own risk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x0oa0zyC4A

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There are many other films that utilize this kind of tracking cam and often the effect makes it end up like a first person shooter video game. This is a perfectly viable way to have a tracking shot, but I don’t feel like it gives the same intensity as the above examples. I movie that was done completely in first person was Hardcore Henry (2015) and it is fun to watch; Doom (2005) has an extended first person scene as well. Chase scenes in horror films will have this first person view as well, although a with a prime example being Halloween (2018) does a fantastic job of this during the trick or treating home invasion scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy2kMtJa2q8 (warning! very violent)

The tracking shot is a great tool to bring the audience into the director’s world and it can be used to great effect. Are there other examples not listed that exemplify the technique?

[cardandpixel]

RocketBook Flip - a rare review and it’s not a game!

Before I go any further, I feel I must point out that I don’t have any financial connection to RocketBook whatsoever – this isn’t a piece that was requested or courted by RocketBook or affiliates and I’m not receiving any reward or sponsorship either in product or direct payment for this article. I just like the damn thing and love it when an innovative piece of tech (in this case quite low key) just works. Hi I’m Paul, and I have a bit of a problem with notebooks – A4 lined, sketch, reporters, Black & Reds (ohhhh the sheer number of B&Rs), goofy ones, serious work ones, battered ones, pristine ‘for best only’ ones – and they all fill at an alarming rate. I make notes on everything. Working as a sound engineer and designer, there’s always mix notes, soundscape plots, ideas, VO notes and scripts, SFX ideas etc etc. At home it’s a very different story – it’s much worse. Game notes; blog notes; hurriedly scribbled quiz questions spurred by watching another episode of Mental Floss’ 500 facts about cheese; RPG notes and story ideas; my own script writing; world building; sketches; other creative ideas; song/music notes and ideas; and that’s before we get to to-do lists; and the dreaded ‘things I must remember’. So my journal life is many, varied and plenty. The usual issue is… ‘what frakking journal did I put that amazing idea in????’, and that’s way before we get to the utter horror that is possibly losing a whole journal or forgetting to bring one home from work. I’m 53, I forget more than I recall, and journals help bring some semblance of order to a massively chaotic and fertile brain. What I’ve needed for a long time is some way of organising all this info or centralising it in some way. Sure I’ve looked at apps – I used Things, Evernote, Notes, and One Note for years, and they are really, really good, but they relied on either having a charged device exactly when I need it (yeah – me too) or net access, which for a new-ish theatre, is surprisingly a bit of an issue at work. And the most important part – I actually enjoy the physical act of handwriting long-hand. I still write actual physical letters to people, it’s adorable and a bit creepy in this age, but I call it charming and leave it at that. Handwriting, for me, allows me time to think and process in a way that typing just doesn’t. Handwriting is slower, I rarely cross anything out, and so I always have the whole of the thought. So what I’ve ideally wanted for years, was a reliable way of organising all my notes and storing them electronically so I have access even without the actual journal, with OCR so they’re editable, and still being a tactile handwritten experience. I’m naturally a sceptic (I actually subscribe to Fortean Times – yeah – I card carry!) and so online ads and particularly FaceAche ads are a field day for critical thinking triggers. I don’t think I’ve ever received from Wish, exactly what I ordered from Wish. And so when an ad from RocketBook constantly kept popping up on my timeline a few weeks ago, I was naturally “it’ll never work” But their website looked legit enough – they had a dedicated UK shop, it was relatively steep to buy in but not so wild that if it didn’t work I wouldn’t be crying too much about the money wasted, and at the end of the day it was a 10th the price of a ReMarkable 2 which is actually what I thought would solve my problem. I’m furloughed at the mo and though I could argue the case for £300+ notebook (test me, I could), I just couldn’t justify it now. And RocketBook had a good summer intro offer. I ordered on the Wednesday, and the impressively glitzy and graphic-design-playbook poly package was dropped on my doorstep just 2 days later by my cheery postie who yelled up the drive “Package for ya, looks very exciting!!!!” I like that our postal service is still invested in the hopes and dreams of their customers. It was exciting. All the instructions for getting started with my new Teal RocketBook A4 Flip were right there before you even open it. The main body houses the pad and a cleaning cloth, and a clever little side pocket houses the supplied Pilot Frixion pen.

RocketBooks come in several models, all configured slightly differently. I have the Flip which is a top spiral-bound softback pad with 21 double sided ‘pages’ giving 42 pages in total. The Flip has lined paper one side, and dot paper on the reverse (great for D&D maps, impromptu tables, mixer channel plots etc)

DELIVERY & FIRST IMPRESSIONS The pads are nicely made, with sturdy covers (available in some really nice colours too) and a solid, thick plastic ring binding. Initially, The RocketBook does feel a bit odd. Its ‘pages’ are actually a synthetic polyester blend and feel quite shiny to the touch. The sort of surface you just instantly feel is not going to be great for ink! Each page is edge-to-edge lined or dotted with a heavy black border. At the bottom is a prominent QR code used for scanning and some very feint icons. These 7 icons are the key to the ease of use of the RocketBook series. But more later.

THE APP

The pads work with a companion app, that is absolutely free and available for Apple & Android. In fact, RB even do downloadable printable pages so you can try the whole system absolutely free before you buy – I didn’t, I just bought one, y’know. The app allows you to set up your destination locations, your preferences and does the actual scanning. Just one quick note, I have the app on both my phone and iPad and had to set-up the app the same for both, there appears to be no way of swapping preference settings between devices, though I can see why this may be intentional.

Currently, the RocketBook allows you to choose from the following locations to send files to: GoogleDrive, box, EverNote, DropBox, slack, OneNote, iCloud, OneDrive as well as simply to an email (or multiple) addresses and iMessage. Impressively, these are not fixed either, so you could choose your 7 destinations to be 7 email addresses of team members. These 7 locations are the icons at the bottom of each page. To select a destination for your file, you just make a mark in that icon box (tick, circle, something unsavoury) and that page will be sent to whichever you select. This makes the system very flexible indeed as not every page is necessarily sent to every destination. You always decide every time you fill a page. Change your mind on a second revision? No problem, add or change icons at any time and re-upload.

There’s a really handy table on the inside front cover for you to note what icon sends what where. This is also wipeable, so can be changed anytime.

I have mine set by default to:

Rocket > main email address (either as PDF, JPG, OCR embedded or as separate txt file)

Diamond > GoogleDrive (you can specify exactly what folder too)

Apple > iMessage

Bell > OneNote

That actually still leaves me 3 spare: shamrock; star; and horseshoe.

The app took me maybe 20mins to set-up, that included decision time for destinations and setting up a few target folders. It also included a few ‘test firings’. I didn’t get everything right first time and a few things didn’t send, but crucially, a tiny bit of digging revealed very simple troubleshooting (including the aforementioned issue with no sync’ing of phone and iPad), and all in I was finding the files in all the right destinations within about 30 mins. The website, FAQs and community are immensely helpful with any other issues as well. I had a tiny issue with OneNote seeming to take ages to sync, but I think that’s an issue with my OneNote settings, everything else was almost instantaneous. You can also handily set the app to auto-send as soon as it scans, or allow for manual review.

CLEAN UP ON AISLE ROCKETPAD The main reason I wanted to look at the RocketBook was the issue of reusability. My journal shenanigans are by no means the biggest ecological disaster on the planet, but if we are to believe Tesco (who probably issue as many receipts at our local Tesco Express in a day as journals I’ve ever used), every little helps. If I could find an ecologically better solution, I should at least take a look. The RocketPads work by partnering with Pilot pens called Frixion. The really clever bit is RB’s paper technology and how it works with the Frixion ink. At present, the pads only work with the Frixion pens – except the RB Colour which works with Crayola’s dry-erase crayons. When you write on the ‘paper’ with a Frixion pen, it remains wet for a few seconds and then dries pretty quickly. There’s no smudging whatsoever in transit, which is pretty cool. From then on, it may as well be permanent, until you have transmitted your page and decide you don’t want the text anymore.  To wipe the page clean, you can dampen the supplied cloth and just wipe the surface clean, it’s weird but it works! But then damp cloth in your bag? So I use kitchen roll to dampen, then wipe dry with theirs. Others even have an adorably kitsch spray bottle in their kit. RB reckon if you are not going to use the pad for a few months, to clean the pages as the ink can get trickier to shift after a long time, but for day-to-day use, I’ve tried writing and wiping well over 20x and the page hasn’t become discoloured or tarnished at all. The only pad different in the range is the Wave which cleans by microwaving! Do NOT do this with any of the others, bad things will happen. The ink doesn’t take scrubbing or any time to come up, I clean my pages in about 10-15s. The page can feel a little tacky when it’s damp, but leave a minute or so and the page will be back to normal. RB do say that odd things can happen if the book is left near a heatsource or in a hot car, vis-à-vis, the ink can completely disappear horrifyingly enough. They say that putting the pen or the pad in the freezer for a little while will actually restore the ink, but I’ve not tried it yet so can’t confirm or deny how that goes. Handy for spies in hot countries though, so there’s another target market. If you are always going to send your pages to the same places, then don’t erase the marked icons, and the page is ready for new notes straight away, otherwise, scrub them too.

I CAN’T READ YOUR WRITING – ARE YOU A DOCTOR? Initially, the RB pads send their files as scans of the pages in high contrast monochrome (colour is available) when you snap the page in the app (which auto-frames for you and takes maybe 10s to capture). The formats are either as images or PDF. If that had been it, I would have been quite happy, but the RB pads have another trick up their sleeve. Firstly, they have a function called ‘Smart Titles’ which allows you to name your files directly from the page by writing a filename between double hashtags ie ## this is my scrawl 24/8/20 ## and the file will pop up in your destinations with the filename “this is my scrawl 24/08/20” – this is insanely handy – there’s no protocol except your own and the hashtags, and it makes your files super easy to search. You can even send groups of pages as a single PDF. But the notebooks go even further. They actually offer full searchable OCR which the app can be set to send embedded in the PDF or image, or more usefully, as a companion separate .txt file. Now, my handwriting isn’t the neatest, but it’s not bad so I was prepared for some editing to be necessary, but impressively again, the OCR was about 90-95% accurate. In a page of text it missed maybe 3 or 4 words and even those not badly. This is all considering their full OCR is still only in beta! It gets confused with diagrams on the page, but that’s to be expected.

Text Generated by OCR: ## Blog post och test Aug 2020 ## This is a little demonstration of the OCR capabilities of the Rocket Book pads and app. I've told the lovely people that the hit rate is about 90-95% so please dant let me down here flip pad. Hopefully the file name will also prove another point further up in the section and not make me look like some charlatan or snake-oil salesman.Hope you enjoyed this demonstrahen, now go away and leave me to write the next great novella.Bye!

HOW MUCH? On average, I pay anywhere from £4-8 for a decent A4 notebook/journal, so at £30-37 (dependent on model), the RocketBook pads are not a whim purchase. That said, I get through a lot of journals in a year, and given that I would expect to easily get 2-3 years out of a RocketBook pad, then I’ve saved money. Will it replace all my notebooks? No. You need to be thinking of carrying this round as a kit: pad, Frixion pen (at least 2), and cloth.  RB do a series of portfolio sleeves for the pads but it does push the price up a bit still, but for a rep, engineer or salesperson, this still makes sense. They’re less bulky than a normal A4 pad too. What I would say is Tesco and Sainsbury’s currently stock Frixion pens and at much better prices than buying them from RB directly, I just paid £3 for 3 pens on offer at Tesco compared to £10 from RB. You get one pen with the pad, but you’re going to want more soon, so stock up next time you’re shopping for truffle oil crisps. If you use whiteboards a lot, RB also have you covered. Instead of the pad, £16 will get you a 4 pack of ‘beacons’ – little self-adhesive triangles that effectively do the same thing as the QR code in the pad. You don’t have the icon options obviously, but if you’re looking to distribute quick meeting or group notes, this would be a boon. CONCLUSION Considering this was a fairly speculative purchase on my part, my early experiences with the RocketBook Flip have been really impressive. The flexibility, the ability to store every page in a different location if you really wanted to make it fantastic for organising my notes, which can save me hours of finding the right ^^$&^$&$ notebook in the first place, then scouring that for the one paragraph I was looking for etc etc. The searchable text facility, in-app history for re-sending etc and last but no way least, functional handwriting OCR, makes the RocketBook not only novel, but actually useable! Would I buy another? As a second notebook – yes. I look forward to seeing what the actual longevity of the product is once I come off furlough and start cramming my day bag with all my junk and a notepad again, but yes, I’d probably just have one at home, and one for work, but make the last 5 mins of each day, scanning and sending work notes so I have them with me wherever. Impressively, the RocketBook Flip just works and it works well. ‘Er Across The Table has already sold several folk at her work on the idea and she doesn’t even have one herself yet! I love it. It’s taking a little adjusting to, but it’s all good. The most important thing though is the writing experience, and I have to say, the combination of the Frixion pen/ink and the polymer technology of the Flip, again, just works. It’s smooth, doesn’t skip or smudge for me (I know some right to left users and left handers have reported some issues) and feels great to write on. If anything I have to slow down a bit as the contact is so smooth that your writing can get a bit ahead of you! RocketBook have produced a cracker of a product. It might not seem like much, but if practical working journals are your thing (ie not create and keep things) then I can highly recommend the RocketBook series.

[silverstrangequark]

A spoiler-free review of SwSh

I don't talk much, but there are things that need to be said, especially for the people out there who are still considering whether or not they want to invest on the new Switch titles. Here's what I've noticed of the several aspects of the game while playing it. Most of these impressions were already evident as early as before the first badge, and didn't change throughout the game. I'm still not done, but I've put a good 12+ hours in and I think that's enough to have an informed opinion of it. If anything changes, I'll update this journal. I fully realise that the following are entirely personal opinions and that some people may differ in their thoughts and impressions of the game. That's fine and understandable. I have written this journal respectfully and with no intention to attack those who are enjoying the games. I ask that you reserve me the same politeness and courtesy. 1. Story It's not a mystery that Pokémon doesn't have the best storytelling, with few notable exceptions like BW. SwSh doesn't really deliver anything exceptional in this sense. The story isn't terrible, just thoroughly uninteresting and hard to get into. The characters feel more like tropes and caricatures than actual people, though this is also a problem in a good portion of the mainline games, so I'll just count it as a point of neutrality rather than a full negative. [/] 2. Mechanics Up to personal opinion, but I find the new battle mechanics absolutely unnecessary. The Pokémon Company has stated previously in official conferences that they want to bring the franchise "back to the roots", and Dynamax is not the way to do it. I can deal with Mega Evolution and Z-moves being removed, but what was introduced in their stead is basically a combination of both with a different flavour (increasing different stats and changing the effect of special moves), at which point I'm really questioning why they didn't maintain the original mechanics in the first place, or just wipe them out altogether. I personally liked battling the way it was before. I don't find that new battle gimmicks make a game more interesting - they make it more annoying, if anything, as they basically force you into a specific battle style to keep up with your opponents. [-] 3. Gameplay What in the world is pacing?!? The game takes you through several hours of early-game tutorials (bits of which are skippable, so at least that's a good thing, I don't want to be shown how to catch Pokémon for the 20th time) which give the player the impression that the game will be long and rich. Once you get to the first gym, that very impression is crushed and you start steamrolling leader by leader in rapid succession. There are moments in the game in which you travel through literally ONE ROUTE and then the next gym is one town over. Kalos has sparked some complaints for awkward pacing after the third gym, but this is just a whole another level of bad game flow management. [-] 4. Designs This is likely the most personal point of all, but I find the new Pokémon okay. Some of them look weird, but overall the designs are true to the series and more or less what I'd expect from Pokémon. I don't have as many favourites in this generation as I do for the others, which means in general terms it didn't really impress me, but if Galar is your thing then go for it. I can at least give them credit for introducing regional evolutions, that's likely one of the most interesting things they've done in this game - one which I hope they keep into the future, as I'd like to see more regional variants and evolved forms thereof. [+] 5. Graphics The one selling point of this game according to its very developers! Graphics have got to be good, right? Nope. 5.a. The overworld is really well done. Cities and towns blend into each other seamlessly and there is a very three-dimensional sense of perspective throughout the region. Lighting is more realistic than ever before (for how realistic a Pokémon game can be, that is), and there is better texturing work than in the previous installments of the series. [+] 5.b. ...Unfortunately, that's about all I can say. The Wild Area, advertised as the game's major attraction, fails to deliver - at least compared to my expectations. While the overworld itself is well done graphically, the WA showcases several odd graphical choices and the shapes, colours and textures are all weirdly unnatural and simplistic. The character keeps glitching in and out of the screen (not sure if this was intended, but I didn't like it; please provide a consistent camera view). The area itself is not even that big and can be completely explored in maybe 30 minutes total. Considering that this game has half the average amount of routes because of the Wild Area, I don't think this is quite enough to make up for what was cut. [-] 5.c. Pokémon models and attack animations are all 100% reused from previous generations. They don't feel any more interesting or realistic and we still have Pokémon shooting Flamethrower and Ice Beam out of something other than their mouths in an average case, or a completely alien corner point of the screen in particularly bad cases. You would think in 2019 they would at least care enough to fix this, but they didn't. [-] 5.d. Battle backgrounds are completely awful and a huge step down from the Sun and Moon generation. If you fight indoors, you will have NO BACKGROUND. There will just be a flat gradient. Even outdoors backgrounds are not perfect, as there are several areas near the sea in which you will just get a weird grassy terrain background (usually recycled from the previous route or some other nearby location). Sun and Moon had individual backgrounds even for battles in the Trainer School, for crying out loud! Who thought this was a good idea? [-] 5.e. Characters look, move, and feel much in the same ways as they did in the 3DS games and I've seen some hilarious gifs comparing the new friendly rival to Hau. They use the exact same movements. I would give this a neutral point if they had at least made an effort. [-] 6. Variety Dexit is obviously an issue, but one that I had coming eventually. With the sheer amount of Pokémon ever invented, there was bound to be a cut somewhere along the line. The selection of around 400 is overall not too small but also not great, and leaves a certain amount to be desired. [/] 7. Music Likely my first time playing a Pokémon game and being thoroughly uninterested in the soundtrack. Several themes are reused throughout, not just in routes (which is average for Pokémon) but also in places like caves, and the city themes feel like an odd mashup of old generations in which the originals definitely did it better. Apart from a couple battle themes of "relevant" characters, I find it really hard to get invested in the music. [-] Appendix: Overall At 2 positives, 2 neutrals, and a whopping 7 negatives, I have to say this is the most disappointing Pokémon game I've ever played, and I've played every single main series release. I enjoyed Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee much more, because at least I knew what to expect and the game was exactly what I expected it to be. Sword and Shield were marketed as some mind-blowing innovative titles with amazing graphics and a whole new gameplay experience, and I can honestly say they don't meet that promise at all. The Dexit rage and #GameFreakLied hashtag have more than a reason to exist. 3/10 If you're a long-term fan, skipping these won't harm you at all. In fact, as a long-term fan myself, I can say it's pretty likely these games will leave a bitter taste in your mouth for how unfinished they obviously are. Some people are enjoying them as-is, and that's fine, I can respect that, but I don't believe they're anywhere near worth their current price tag. If you're not a long-term fan but just looking to get into Pokémon, please please start with a different generation. There are so many good games to play out there, that deserve your time and money more than SwSh do.

[noirwomaninred]

Grunts, gasps and moans of Final Fantasy 7 Remake review

My absolutely spoiler free review / thoughts about the game followed with under the cut spoiler “review” where I give my thoughts on the story which I absolutely forbid you from reading before you are done with the game.

Do realize that the under the cut spoiler section will have full spoilers not just for the remake but for the original Final Fantasy 7.

However the initial spoiler free review will go in depth to the game systems, so if you want to learn those on your own you would better skip the whole post.

Meat of the game (Combat system)

The game has an active battle system similar to Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Hearts games but feels much more refined. You can play the game as hack and slash on easier difficulties, but the normal difficulty (with hard being unlocked ones you finish the game) tests your knowledge of the system at times.

By landing hits on enemies or just by waiting you fill your ATB (Active time battle) gauge and once you have enough of it you can do special attacks and use spells or items. This makes some moments quite tense when you are on low health and need to fill ATB by rushing in and lands bunch of hits in quick succession to be able to heal your character before they get killed.

You can also skip the active time battle by setting the difficulty to “classic” when the AI takes over your characters who automatically attack, dodge and guard against attacks while you can focus on just giving commands on what abilities, spells or items they should use when ATB meter is up. If you think your the AI isn’t doing good enough job you can take control at anytime and the overall difficulty of “classic” mode is same as easy.

You can equip skills, spells and active buffs by equipping materia, which are items that grant these skills. The characters aren’t able to use those skills if materia is unequipped, so you have to choose what works best for you.

On top of the materia system you have different weapons that give your characters different abilities. Using the said abilities they can learn them and can then use them even when the weapon is changed.

You take control of multiple characters and you are able to switch between them on the fly whenever you wish in combat. Each character feels different to play and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Only negative I would have is that targeting system can be at times a bit fickle and camera occasionally can be fighting against you when trying to hit enemies who are above ground level. This is more of a nitpick than a real problem.

The combat system is great and has enough depth to carry a full game.

Grunts, gasps and moans (Audio)

This game suffers the same problem as most of the console games. There isn’t really a sweet spot for audio to be perfect. Music can swallow the dialogue or the other way around, the side dialogue can swallow the main dialogue etc.

If you haven’t guessed the title of my review comes from the audio problems the game has. The grunts, gasps and moans can at times be way too loud and just distracting. For example when character is clearly far in the background you can hear them grunt as if they were doing it right agaisnt your ear.

From let’s plays (and my own experience) the side dialogue heard by random characters on the streets are a bit too loud and distracting. None of these things isn’t anything that ruins the experience but it is a bit annoying.

What did you expect (Music)

Music is done by Nobuo Uematsu, along with Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki. It is amazing and among one of my favorite video game soundtracks.

Everyone is so pretty and hot (Graphics / visuals)

Graphics of this game are unreal, every character is so pretty, lighting is on point and the art direction is great. They made trash look interesting in HD and that is saying much.. Though there are few times when you see low textures or even the infamous doors that are impossible to miss and look like they didn’t load correctly or just miss proper textures. This again is more of a nitpick and not a real problem.

Everyone is so nice and wholesome (Characters)

All the characters are likable and charming on their own way. The banter between the cast members is done really well and no one feels under utilized. Some side characters may be way over the top and anime if you don’t like that kind of thing but that again is down to your own taste. At first I had a bit of a trouble accepting some but I grew to like all them in the end.

Good guys are good and villains are villains. I like them all.

Final thoughts

The game is quite amazing on all fronts but at times it can feel a bit bloated and drag on during some sections though this is mostly down to your own opinion. Personally I didn’t feel the sections drag on in more than two points of the game when I felt the pacing was a bit too slow for what was going on (The other case being just feeling that area was stretched out and other a pacing issue for what was going on with the story).

I overall recommend the game if you are s fan of JRPGs, but as a remake of FF7 it is quite different and can be good or bad depending on how you like it. Though I will say that if you expected the marketed remake of the original story with expanded bits.. It simply isn’t it.

With that out of the way under the cut is the spoiler review and my thoughts on the story of the game. Do not read it unless you have played the game or just don’t give a f*** about full spoilers.

Here I will put up my thoughts on the full story and go deeper into certain scenes that has been added or altered from the original. Please know that these are my personal opinions and if you disliked something that I liked or that I disliked something you liked is fine, no hate coming from me so don’t toss it my way! Feel free to hit me up in instant messages if you want to discuss stuff.

The Avalanche gang

The side characters from the Avalanche have been greatly expanded upon and all of it is good, while Jessie got the most of it and I honestly don’t mind that.

We get a whole new side adventure with the gang which makes sense as part of the bigger plot and gives the characters time to shine. This also makes the emotional punch later on feel much more effective.

Train graveyard and spooky ghosts

This part that is added with Aerith’s backstory being expanded by just a small glimpse and having the characters run around with spooky ghosts is good.. But it is placed in the worst place when considering the full narrative.

At this time the characters are running towards Sector 7 to prevent the plate from falling on +50 000 people and to have a prolonged part with ghosts makes takes away from the build up and the agency of the moment. If this spooky ghost part would have been done in any other point of the story it would have been fine but now it drags on the part of the game that should feel intense.

Use of Sephiroth

PTSD / ghost appearances

I was all aboard for Sephiroth being a haunting ghost for Cloud with the worst case of PTSD. The only scene I would have cut from him would have been the first meeting with Aerith where he feels really out of place for me and the “you can’t save anyone” taunt talk would have been better used right before the plate fall instead of being used as a “hey, you remember Aerith is gonna die” moment that is just eh.

I especially loved the moment right after the plate fall when Cloud freaks out as Sephiroth taunts how he just let all those people die and all the others see is him freaking out because of nothing.

Final moments

To have him as a final boss of the game is just... Please, can’t you save anything at all for the end of the story? We already had our final boss of the whole remake story I guess. Overall in the end when they stopped using Sephiroth as a haunting ghost and turned him into a random big bad of the story, where he literally has no place in even with the changed narrative, is just quite lame for me personally and it felt like he was overused.

Shinra board of directors

All the villains are great. None of them is toned down and they clearly love what they do just as they did in the original game. Scarlett was a bit over the top but to be fair I always got the insane dominatrix vibes from her so it works. Hojo is absolutely delight on how creepy and off putting he is.

The changed story with them using the reactor bombings and the plate fall not to just turn the people against Avalanche but to sell a war to their civilians against Wutai is really well done and I’m excited to see where it goes.

The TURKS

The TURKS are all portrayed as they have always been. Great stuff.

Roche

Roche is a bit too over the top but he is way too fabulous not to like as a frenemy. It took a bit for me to warm up to him but I think he is a great addition. Though I think it is a missed opportunity not to have him have a second appearance at the very end during the motorcycle escape.

The Honey Bee inn

The Honey Bee inn might very well be one of my favorite gaming moments of my life. It is whimsical, way over the top and fabulous not to like. What I like the most of it is the fact they didn’t turn it into a harmful scene or a joke that might hurt the people who crossdress or fight with their gender identity.

I love the fact that they go as far as have the character in game state that one should always be who they are without fear and the beauty is something that the gender does not apply to.

However the cat calling on the streets for Aerith and Cloud was a bit too much and uncomfortable and the follow up sleeping gass scene, that was added instead of having the charcters just lead to the basement, was too real.

The plate fall and the aftermath

The plate fall event was quite spectacular and great overall. However I do think that Square has lost their touch on what the tone of certain scenes should be with the random appearance of Cait Sith (that will be just wtf moment for new comers who have no context for a cat with a crown) when everything goes down. It is really short glimpse but it was more than enough to take me out of the emotional impact and just make me groan.

It also took me a great attempt on suspension of disbelief to have Wedge survive the ordeal, but I managed it and accepted it. However as much as I wished for Biggs to survive I can’t suspend my disbelief so much. They had him die in front of the gang and if he somehow just passed out and they were silly enough to leave him behind (which I doubt they would have done) they had him be on the pillar that was destroyed beyond any recognition.. So yeah.. It truly does a disservice for the whole emotional impact of the plate fall and overall experience when the plot armor is so damn thick.

I mean right now I’m at the point of thinking that Jessie is alive because she “died” just like Biggs and if he survived so should she, right?

I really wish they would have had the guts to pull the trigger on the characters like they did in the original or at least write sensible ways to have some of the characters survive.

Jenova

I think they downplayed the horror aspect of Jenova and revealed too much too soon. There is no more a nightmare fuel scene in the game where you get to go through the eerie quiet Shinra building with bodies here and there with a blood trail and claw marks on the walls. Now it is simply reduced to following a spooky juice that might be purple glowing blood.

As fun as the boss battle against the Jenova was it felt out of place and confusing. I generally feel that the creators thought that they just had to cram Jenova fight in there and couldn’t wait for it to happen later or have Jenova get their proper introduction later on.

Rufus

Rufus, while he looks absolutely stunning, is downplayed. Now he is simply reduced to a random boss battle that is sudden and he has no real character introduction like he did in the original. Even his lines were given to Heidegger who had at this point been well established so this choice just feels bizarre. I realize he wouldn’t have much of a role here anyway but now Rufus didn’t even get a proper introduction for going forward.

Last bosses and Zack

The whole section that starts from the moment the gang stops on the highway and have Aerith give random speech how Sephiroth is bad and they should stop him and all, even without establishing why he is bad or who he is in the remake or how Aerith knows about him at all. Going forward it becomes a confused mess and the boss feels so out of place by being something that should have been in Kingdom Hearts instead of FF7 which is (or was) grounded on reality rather well up until the ending parts of the game.

They also give rather confusing scenes of Zack at the end with no context to anything that is happening until the very last scene of the whole game which I don’t mind.. But have Zack appear out of nowhere and not explaining it at all feels like a chep try for nostalgia and not much else.

However have him appear and walk past Cloud and Aerith as they head out of Midgar was great and could have worked if there wasn’t any additional scenes of him. To have this mystery character with Cloud to head towards Midgar at the end of the game would have been a great hook for the new comers but now it is just... It is what it is, I guess.

Constant spoilers

The game is littered with scenes of Cloud seeing to the “future” (who know how that will go now). Some of these are more subtle than others but some scenes are flat out spoilers that aren’t difficult to figure out by new comers.

I just don’t agree with this spoiler culture and it took me out of the experience at times, though I think that new comers have less of a problem with that if they won’t figure out what certain things mean..?

What absolutely felt too much was flat out showing Aerith dead in a flash forward, the meteor and destruction of Midgar of all things. Just stop.

The whispers

I absolutely hate this addition and before anyone loses their mind let me explain. The floating cloak people make some scenes cringe worthy (like them kidnapping Cloud and Aerith to have them fly away from Reno in comical manner) and they add absolutely nothing to the flow of the story.

For example the whispers prevent the characters from stopping Rude and Reno from making the plate fall... There was no need for them. They could have just had them fail without some “propfetic ghosts who make sure people die because that is how the story must go”. All the moments they “forced the story” to go certain way could have literally happened without them and without them it would have flowed much better.

They have Barret die for a moment just to bring him back by the whispers because his part in the story isn’t done yet. This is a cheap attempt for a tear jerker and takes away all the worry if he will be okay or not going forward for the new comers to FF7 since they wouldn’t raise him from the dead just to kill him off later.

They save the gang during the motorcycle scene multiple times just to make sure to dissolve whatever tension there is left by reassuring us that “hey our gang is safe because that is how the story goes”. They could have had them survive on their own.

Overall every time the whispers were on the screen they took me out of the experience first by just having me react by going “wtf are you doing here” and just made intense moments feel less so.. And now that I know what they were supposed to do I just think “all that would have gone down anyway” and “You literally gave plot armor a living form”? Not to mention that how they were included, would I agree or not (which I don’t) on their inclusion, they are written in the most cringy and poor fanfiction-y kind of way.

They apparently are the arbiters of fate which protect the original story of FF7 and by defeating them we can propably now have Aerith live and change everything. They are just used to give Square a permission to not just remake the game with modern gameplay, graphics and expand the original story but to flat out remake the whole story to something else. I can’t get over the fact they added time travel of all things to FF7.

I can't stand the fact that the whispers don't add anything to the narrative since without their involment everything would have happened naturally anyway. On top of that because of their "involment" to the story the narrative of FF7 Remake doesn't stand on its own by for example showing Zack with absolutely no context to anything, that even ruins his most iconic scenes that are used in the remake and Sephiroth ends up being "this bad guy who killed Cloud's mom and wants to destroy the planet for reasons that aren't explained at all and he apparently knows everything about the timeline" so even him being the big bad of the remake is just nonsensical when he isn't given proper context for anything that is going on. We simply have Aerith go "Sephiroth is bad and should be stopped" and we don't even get reasons why Aerith knows about him at all. The newcomers to the series have a remake of a game that doesn't stand as its own story without them knowing everything about the original game. They are just an excuse to have a justification for Square Enix to change the story going forward to whatever they want and after seeing how cringe worthy the whispers were I'm legit afraid the follow ups will be bad case of fanfiction.

I really, really hate that after playing through a long and arguably an amazing remake I’m left with bad taste in my mouth which stains all the great moments I had with it as all I will remember is how bad the ending turned out to be.

...I really hate to say this but the whispers act like a marketing scam. The game that was sold to us was a remake of a classic with expanded story but now what we have is retcon / reboot to turn it to who knows what going forward. Maybe what we will have in the future is amazing but I’m a bit sore after this.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a game that I loved 90% through but unfortunately I loathe the last 10% which is enough to take me out of the experience. Not to mention that 10% is more imporant to the mess of a story we now have than what happened in the rest of the game and it has such great implications on what will happen to the future parts of the remake.. So yeah.

...I just don’t agree and I legit have a fear this will turn into bad fanfiction going forward. I hope this will turn out not to be that way but the fear of it is real.

[thanagariansnarebeast]

Top 15 favorite video games: part 2.

7. Bioshock

I remember first reading about this game in the pages of Game Informer and being fascinated by the story and the environment of what was described. I had no idea how good it was until I launched up the game and finally took that first decent into Rapture. The claustrophobic environment, visual aesthetic of a dilapidated dystopia and the enemies being remnants of once good people were all an amazing experience. The story and characters were amazing, and the idea of an underwater city built to try and be free of any ideology or morality was fascinating, and finding out exactly how the city fell apart and collapsed under its own “greatness” was a very unique experience.

6. God of War (PS2)

This game was a birthday present when I was 15 and I loved it, I love Greek mythology and I love action games, so this was an amazing gift. The opening of the game is one of the best I’ve ever played, and the boss fights are some of my all time favorites. The music in this game is incredible, and I love the accurate representation of the Greek gods being complete fucking assholes and ruining lives because they just don’t care. Kratos is a great anti-hero (or villain, ether one is fair) and the Blades of Chaos are a really unique video game weapon. The sequels are amazing but this one holds a special place in my heart.

5.   Devil May Cry 3

Another birthday present, this one from the year before, this game was a very interesting experience for me; I’d never seen such a difficult game, or one so anime inspired. This game oozes goofy, over the top fun and demon slaying is always fun. The combos and weapons in the game are fantastic, and the story might be a big generic; but the game never takes itself seriously enough for that to be an issue. The characters in the game are great and Dante and Virgil being brothers who are enemies is a fun dynamic. This game also has some fantastic boss fights they really make you have to master your timings and attacks.

4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

I fucking love Star Wars, I fucking love RPGs, and I fucking love good stories and characters; and this game has all of that. The story of this game is one of my favorites in anything, not just video games but all media, and the Revan twist is something that I didn’t see coming and really blew me away the first time I played this game. I’ve probably played through the story 7 or so times and I still love it, Bioware is at its best here and the character interactions and your decisions effecting everything in the game and you being able to ruin entire planets with your decisions really makes you feel like what you are doing is important to the galaxy. HK 47 calling everyone a “meatbag” is endlessly hilarious, and might be the first sassy Star Wars robot. I was at a con recently and got an autograph of Jennifer Hale (Bastila Shan) and its something very special to me in large part because of this game.

3. Mortal Kombat (2009)

Mortal Kombat 9 was such an amazing experience when it first came out. The past 5 Mortal Kombat games had been 3D, and had really suffered in quality because of it. The stories and characters had become terrible and the franchise was dying. Then came Mortal Kombat 9, or just Mortal Kombat as its actually called. The first 2D game in the franchise since the good old days of UMK3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, it was a reboot of the franchise that still used everything that had come before to set up the story. Knowing the old games was a benefit to the twists and turns of the story and altered timeline, but not essential to it. This was also the re-invigoration of the tournament scene for the MK games, which was a very welcome return. The roster of this game is damn near perfect, with the dlc adding an old favorite, the only good character from Deadly Alliance, Freddy motherfucking Kreuger, a new character that was a lot of fun, and I had the PS3 version so I also had Kratos which was awesome. Everything in this game represented a return to form and a new beginning for a franchise that desperately needed it. Mortal Kombat X and 11 have both been fantastic as well, but I chose 9 because of not just it being a fantastic game, but what it did for the series.

2. Dark Souls

I love dark fantasy and I love armor and weapons in video games, and this game has that as well as fantastic combat, and some amazing gothic horror as well. The bosses in this game are some of the best in any game and the game may be punishingly difficult, but the feeling of accomplishment when you finally get over some massive hurdle you were stuck on or finally slay a powerful boss that had been using your body as a punching bag is so incredibly satisfying. The sad state of the world in this game is also refreshing, instead of being some amazing savior sent to kill the big bad fucking up the world; your goal is ether to prolong the dying world for a little while longer, or end it and start something new. Killing gods that have been corrupted and used to be heroic adds a tragic twist to fighting bosses and makes killing them bitter sweet. I absolutely adore how you can make different characters and create builds around certain spells and weapons and I really wish more games would incorporate systems like that, even if they aren’t exactly balanced in any Dark Souls game. I also love how when you get past the opening area you can pretty much go where ever you want, the level design is almost perfect, with every location being somewhat connected to the next, often times looping in on each other.

2. (tie) Dragon Age: Origins

The second Bioware game on this list, it has all the roleplaying and great character writing of KotOR and more, a deep universe that they created; this game was in development for a long time to create a rich lore and new twist on fantasy tropes. The world really feels fleshed out and the characters feel like real people, with issues and hang ups and oddities that make them not just archetypes like most games have. Making decisions that effect characters and your companions can often be tough because you really care about what happens to them and how they feel, and how the world sees you. The gameplay isn’t perfect, its an odd mix of turn based and real time, but it still works pretty well. I put Dark Souls and Dragon Age in the same spot because I love them both for the same yet opposite reasons, if someone could take the roleplaying and world building of Dragon Age and combine it with the stats and combat and boss fights of Dark Souls it would create the perfect game for me.

1. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

I absolutely loved playing this game when it first came out, and I really wish I could get it to work on my PC so I could relive the glory that is this game. Skyrim is probably the more obvious pick for most people, but Oblivion was my first Elder Scrolls and first Bethesda game; and Oblivion has better rpg mechanics and a better story in my humble opinion. I love the Dark Brotherhood questline in this game more than any other questline in any game ever, its so fucking good. The game looks like shit graphically now, but back when it came out it was gorgeous, and I remember the first time I played it on an HD tv I was blown away. The rich world and the big name actors being in it was a real treat, and having Sir Patrick Stewart play the king really gave that character the gravitas and importance that was needed to establish a character quickly. Sean Bean being his son was also fantastic, and brings this list pretty much full circle because of him being in Goldeneye. The armor and weapon designs are really good for the most part, and I love collecting all the Daedric artifacts and creating havoc with them. I still get excited when I hear the music from this game, and its orchestral quality really adds to the epic feeling of the game. There’s no one stealing sweet rolls or arrows to the knee in this one ether.

There are a lot of other games that I love and that were hard to leave off this list, but its pretty long as it is; and I’m sure eventually new games will take the place of some of these.

[firstpuffin]

American McGee’s Alice, (primarily Madness Returns): the aesthetic of madness

I am aware that my way of thinking is very straight-forward, that my thoughts travel on rails and that I subsequently miss a lot. I need help to push myself off of the rails and that's why I like to talk. Heck, even talking to myself can help, hence this blog, but typically I need people who see things differently to me to discuss with.

  That's one reason why I've considered YouTube or Twitch, so that I can show people the games that I've come to love and discuss things with them. So what's got me going this time?

  Alice in Wonderland.

  Technically.

  Who's heard of American McGee's Alice?

  How about American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns? I do believe that one is better known.

 Ahem! This intro’s dragging. Sorry.

  Both games take place after the books, which wasn’t especially clear when I dove into the game especially as it became increasingly clear that there was a first game. Basically, the intro cutscene to American McGee's Alice is her house being burned down and only her surviving, which is pretty dark considering the source material, and she ends up in a comatose state for almost a decade. Like, holy Cheshire that’s a long time.

  A lot of information is given with the game in a booklet besides the manual and provides notes from the man treating her (which was a fantastic means of exposition) so we know that her burns healed well (don’t want to disfigure the heroine after all). I can’t tell you much else because this article is meant to encourage people to play the game, not to explain it. Plus I haven’t actually played it yet.

  I think that most versions of Madness Returns provides American McGee’s Alice as free DLC, which is damn cool.

 The second game is quite different and is set after the asylum when Alice is in a “home for troubled children” and the player keeps switching between a Wonderland torn up by some rogue train (which I don’t fully understand) and the real world. I’m not quite clear on the details, probably because I finished the game a year and a half after starting it, having been distracted by University, but she is trying to find answers about the true cause of the fire that killed her family.

  Again, I don’t want to go into spoilers and I still haven’t gotten to the main point.

 Maybe it was the long break but I think story is the game’s weak point (as is the lock-on system) but that’s fine because everything else is so damn good.

  Yes, the graphics are from 2011 and not quite as good as other games from the time, but I don’t actually like “realistic” graphics so much as I do those with character and by Cheshire does Madness Returns have it. In heaps. The entire game is based around Alice’s emotional state, all of which is clearly being supressed behind a collected facade. In fact, let’s start with Alice’s design.

  She is a stark contrast from the archetypal Alice we think of: her blonde bouncy mane has been replaced by flat black hair and those bright blue eyes are replaced by some (totally unnatural and thus all-the-more) stunning green eyes. She still wears a blue dress very similar to that in the Disney film, but often blood-stained and it may change to represent the current level and there are some fantastic designs.

  As I said, she retains a collected façade, she rarely complains or whines and always jumps straight into the task at hand, and I already love this type of character but I think that I especially appreciate this in Alice because it’s clearly a part of her damage. It’s how she deals with the trauma that is shown to us through the bizarre level designs. There are literal statues of her crying in the first level, and later on there is a level with statues of a women in loose Japanese style clothing weeping blood, but I suspect that the woman is either Alice herself or (for reasons I won’t go into) her sister, Elizabeth. Regardless, those statues get replaced by sexy ant women and I absolutely love it. Like seriously, who gave you permission to give me a new kink? I don’t even like bugs!

 I almost regret starting this article because as I write I become more and more aware of how little justice I can do the game, especially in a mere 1000 words.

 The music in Returns is amazing. It’s nothing special in-and-of-itself and listening to the soundtrack it doesn’t really have me engaged, but it’s fantastic at setting the mood. Each song only appears to be a minute or two long and constantly looped, but when you are in the missions you don’t really notice while it sets the mood.

 The story itself isn’t particularly special and I predicted a few things ahead of time. This isn’t necessarily bad; the clues were there, but mostly I think I guessed right simply because it’s a game to play for the experience.

  But at one point there is a subversion of the action genre. Technically this is a spoiler and I shouldn’t really say it (about an eight year-old game), but they set up this huge mecha-boss battle in a collapsing building, something we see time and again, only for a piece of rubble to take it out pre-emptively. I know some didn’t like that, seeing it as a disappointment, but I loved it!

  Yeah, I hate that type of boss battle. I hate standing on a platform, waiting for the enemy to attack and then using my tiny knife on a massive metal hand. It’s overdone, it’s dull and it’s kinda dumb.

 I’ve heard rumour about a third game in development which would be fantastic! I may be eight years too late, but Madness Returns is absolutely my personal game of the year.

  I’m slow, so sue me.

  Actually, please don’t.

[wispythreads]

Game Recommendations

I’m not really sure why I want to do this, as I don’t really have that big or extensive of a game library, but I’ve been feeling this weird mood where I want to make a list of games that aren’t made by big companies like Blizzard, Nintendo, Bethesda, Rockstar, Telltale Games, etc., or games that aren’t new, big titles, but are definitely games that I would recommend other people play or even watch someone else play. It might be stupid, but this is my blog, so I’m just gonna do it and have fun with it! And, hey, feel free to reblog and add your own game recommendations! If I haven’t played them, I might even check them out myself!

So, starting off in no particular order, with potential drawbacks for certain people upfront and reasons why I recommend the games (while doing my best not to spoil anything about it): 

- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Type of Game: It’s a mystery-horror game set in the first person perspective, with some Lovecraft-esque tones and supernatural elements. Its listed as an ‘adventure’ game, which I suppose is accurate, but I would classify it more as an exploration than an adventure.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s a horror game that investigates some rather grisly murders, so if you’re uncomfortable with either of those things, or just don’t enjoy them, you might not like this game. I guess it could be argued that the game isn’t very interactive, as a lot of it is spent walking around and absorbing the rather beautiful scenery. I would just say that it isn’t an action-oriented game, and it won’t hold your hand or tell you what you’re supposed to do.

Why I recommend it: It was just... a really cool game to play! My favorite thing about it, hands-down, is the environments you explore while investigating the mystery! Everything looks so amazing and pretty and just filled me with awe as I walked around the beautiful scenery. Because of this, and the wonderful music that goes with it, a lot of the game play felt very serene and peaceful, even with all the spooky supernatural elements going on and the gruesome murders you would encounter and investigate. Speaking of, I really loved and enjoyed those components of the game too! I’m just a supernatural fan in general, but the whole mechanic of reconstructing crime scenes to how they were before the horrible events took place were really fun, and watching how everything had played out as you slowly pieced together the mystery was really gratifying! I actively wanted to figure out just what the heck was going on, and everything added up to a really enjoyable experience by the time I finished the game! I still listen to the soundtrack too, randomly playing it whenever I feel in the mood, whether it be while I’m writing, drawing, working on school assignments, whatever, it’s just a really good soundtrack!

- Oxenfree

Type of Game: It’s a type of side scrolling game, of the supernatural mystery genre. In it, you play the character Alex, but who Alex is and their relationships to the other characters is influenced by your decisions. So, kind of a graphic adventure with some horror elements.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): This is another horror-genre game, so, might not appeal to some people. I can also see this lacking appeal to people who prefer action-y games, as there is limited mobility for the player character.

Why I recommend it: It’s another really good game! Like, really, really good! I absolutely love the background lore, the characters, the art style, the environment, the story, the music, everything is just really, really good! I know I keep saying that but it’s true! It does a really good job of being eerie and scary even though it has such a simplistic, pretty design. In fact, while I was playing it I had a background worry that it was going to end up generating nightmare fuel, the visuals and events were just that frightening. Still, even though it was frightening, it wasn’t really because of most horror games with sudden jumpscares and the like. It was more atmospherically creepy, I guess I’d say. And I really loved playing it! I really enjoyed the character interactions, the supernatural elements, the game mechanic of using your player character’s little radio to tune into the right frequencies and progress through the game, all of that was really fun! 10/10 would play again, and actually did, and would recommend doing, as it’s one of those neat games that changes up based on the fact that you’ve already played through the events before.

- Little Nightmares & Little Nightmares II

Type of Game: Another side-scroller styled horror game. It is also classified as an adventure game, with puzzle-platforming in the mix.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It is a horror game and it is meant to be terrifying, a lesson I learned pretty well in the second game, when a certain collection of enemies happened to play into a phobia of mine and caused me to shriek and have a panic attack as I tried to maneuver away from them, so terrified just from their existence that it nearly got to a point where it was unplayable for me. (However, I am apparently very determined when it comes to games, so I pushed through it anyway. The respite I got from managing to get through that section was short-lived, however, since my younger siblings, much to my despair, decided that I was the person to go to in order to help them get through it. And they would not take no for an answer.)

Why I recommend it: It's a pretty terrifying horror game, but it’s also really fun! Whether you’re trying to get past a physical obstacle or are trying to avoid the grotesque, horrifying enemies that want to snatch you up and eat you, I loved crawling around, climbing things, picking up objects and carrying them with me as I explored the area and figured out what I was supposed to do to move on. The story is also a rather intriguing element of the game, as you’re not really told anything about the lore or the characters, you have to sleuth it out from your observations of the environment and how the enemies interact with you. And, though they’re unsettling, I think the character designs of the enemies are really cool! There are some aspects of the game that I enjoyed specifically because they weren’t spooky, though, and just made the game more enjoyable. Such as both of the main characters of the game. I loved playing as little Six, she just seemed like an adorable protagonist that was so small and needed your help to be safe and survive. Mono felt a little less fragile, but still is a cute little button I loved being able to help, both him and his friend. Who you could hold hands with!!! So cute. Then there were the little gnome-looking guys, and how you could pick them up and it’d look like you were hugging them. Their absence from the second game is the only downside to it, but everything else felt like such as huge upgrade from the original game. The controls felt a bit smoother, the added mechanics with a companion and the ability to fight back against certain enemies was really cool, the environments were even more amazing while the enemies were even more terrifying, and there was so much more mystery and intrigue as to what events could’ve occurred to have led up to this point in the world. As usual, I also really enjoyed the music in the game!

- Night in the Woods

Type of Game: Another side scroller style game that also includes some platforming. The character you play as, Mae, is also developed and influenced by your choices, but to a lesser extent than in Oxenfree. There’s a greater focus on story and characters, and it includes some horror elements.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Once again, this game has some horror-elements. Compared to the others, though, I’d say this one is a lot more relaxed in those aspects. It’s spooky and maybe a bit upsetting at times, but not to a point where I worried about nightmares or had to stop playing. A lot of the game comes from interacting with the other characters. Some of the mini-games might not be that enjoyable for some people, but those are mini-games and obviously can be avoided without negatively impacting the story.

Why I recommend it: Its! A! Good! Game! All the characters you meet and interact with are so cool and lovable, and a great many of them are really relatable. I actually related a lot more to Mae than I expected to when I first saw her character up on the internet, and I really enjoyed playing as her. The environments are really nice, especially the ones in her dream sequences, and I just really loved the art style and the glow of the colors in all the different lighting. It all just felt really homey and nice, and even if it didn’t have the supernatural elements that had a much bigger presence in the second chapter of the game, I still would’ve enjoyed playing it and just talking to everyone in the town, slowly progressing the story as I unraveled everyone’s characters. Speaking of the supernatural elements, I love how they turned up, with everything feeling normal, chill, and happy, until boom! Spooky stuff. It’s really great! And, once again, A+ music! I have actually just been chilling out with the entire soundtrack every day immediately after first playing the game, its so lovely! Though I was terrible at them, I also really enjoyed the bass mini-games, to the point where I was slightly saddened that I could only play two songs everyday, and that there really aren’t that many band practice sessions throughout the course of the game. Still, it was really fun, and there’s so much in the game to be discovered that could easily be missed that it has some good replay-ability. I actually want to play it all over again right now, in fact.

- Hollow Knight

Type of Game: A two-dimensional side-scrolling, platforming action adventure type game with hand-drawn graphics that has been described as a Metroidvania.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It has not only been described as a Metroidvania, but kind of like a Dark Souls. I thought it was really fun and only had a few sections that were truly, ridiculously difficult and I was being a stubborn idiot putting myself through unnecessary pain trying to get through, considering they were optional. However, because I loved this game so much, I gave it a glowing recommendation to my siblings, and even though they thought everything about it was really cool, they eventually stopped playing because the boss fights stressed them out too much. They only made it to the first two bosses.

Why I recommend it: It is probably my favorite game? It and Undertale just hit a very specific niche in my brain that just makes the entire experience of having played this game ridiculously pleasant. First of all do you see that art are you looking at it holy moley it is already so pretty just visually speaking and then you add the sound design. Not just the music (which is probably my favorite soundtrack I’ve ever listened to holy wow regardless of whether it’s calm environmental music or hyped up battle music it is just absolutely wonderful), every little noise in this game, every noise just adds so much to the lovely experience I had walking around taking everything in. The mechanics were a blast, the character designs and the actual characters themselves were amazing, and so were the environments you’d find them in, and the boss fights and even just standard enemy fights and the background lore and the STORY!!! Hollow Knight has a very show, not tell approach to its storytelling, both for the characters and for the overarching plot behind why everything is the way that it is once you play the game. It’s like a fun little puzzle, one you have to solve by putting together small, inconspicuous pieces hidden in the environments, the sparse information that you can manage to gather from the other characters, and the enemies you encounter and how they behave. And it’s very flexible in how you can explore the world. There are certain points where you have to do things in a certain order, finding a certain item or power-up that let’s you unlock a section that had been previously blocked, for example, but even then there is so much freedom to when you get to these areas and what you want to take care of first. It’s just... it’s a really wonderful game and I’m glad I played it. Everything about it just feels so nice... Even before getting my siblings to play, they’d pass by me playing it, chuckle to themselves and mention how it looked like a game that was made for me. 

- Omori

Type of Game: A pixelated psychological horror game with multiple endings, and turn-based combat that gets influenced by the changing emotions either your party or the enemies themselves can induce and take advantage of.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Again, it is a  psychological horror game, and it has a pretty heavy, dark driving force throughout the story. There’s a mature warning asking that viewer discretion beware, as it depicts topics such as depression, anxiety, and suicide, while also having flashing imagery that could be a problem if you have photosensitive epilepsy. Less important but could still be considered a drawback; there’s also the fact that, like some of the new releases of Undertale, there is pretty interesting content that, sadly, is only available through console editions of the game.

Why I recommend it: This is definitely another one of my favorite games. It has one of my favorite soundtracks, right alongside Toby Fox’s work for his games Undertale and Deltarune and Christopher Larkin’s compositions for Hollow Knight. Regardless of whether I was playing in the more whimsical, surreal landscape of Headspace or the overworld for the real world, I really liked the design of the world and how it felt to explore all of it. And, when the psychological horror elements kicked in, it did a really good job at making me feel at first unnerved and then legitimately scared to the point where I was reluctant to keep playing. I really love the art for the game, too, the cute style that I’d encounter through the photographs, or battles, or other important moments in the game, and how, in those battles and important moments, the music would pair well alongside it, heightening whatever it was I was meant to be feeling in that moment. I also think the emotions battle mechanic is pretty cool! It was a little confusing, at first, but I really think its an interesting idea to structure fights with, and would love to see it get explored some more. And then, of course, there’s the story, and the characters we meet through it. I don’t really know how to talk about them without giving away spoilers, but know this: I love and care them. Their interactions can be so goofy, so heartwarming, and yet at some points so heartbreaking that they spurred me on to keep doing whatever I could for that group, hoping they could all have some sort of happy ending, regardless of what secrets might end up getting revealed at the end of it all. It’s made me nostalgic of my childhood, and ended up motivating me to try and get out there more, in the real world. Try doing things that I’ve been too scared to do, too swept up in my own head to do. I still have a lot of work to do, on that, but, at the very least,

its made me really want to try learning the violin again.

- Year Walk

Type of Game: I suppose this is first person perspective...? It’s hard to describe the style of the game. It’s an adventure game, though, with supernatural/horror elements and progression based on puzzle-solving.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Okay, yeah, I’ve actually played and enjoyed a lot more horror-games than I had realized. Surprising. So, once again, horror-genre. Its described as an adventure game, which is kind of true, but I found the map rather small and confined while playing, at least compared to other games I’ve played. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you prefer more open-world type games that you walk around in this would be something to consider. The style of ‘walking around’ is rather different, too, as you swap between the areas you’re currently in by using your keyboard arrows in a kind of slide-show way.

Why I recommend it: I really loved the art style! Look at those trees, that goat man, that house! So cozy. Another aspect I enjoy is that all the creatures you interact with are based upon real supernatural mythology, which is particularly cool to me because those are my favorite aspects of any mythology! I find that the game does a really good job of being unsettling and scary without relying on jump scares, and I say this because I played the game in the middle of the day, with bright lights, no jump scares, but was still scared out of my gourd because I was alone and the game just kind of became too unsettling for me to keep playing without taking a small break from it. Even when everything’s peaceful and you’re just trying to solve a puzzle, there’s this prevalent disquieting feeling to it all. Speaking of puzzles, though, they were really fun, too! Aside from one point in the game where I got stuck, which was based more on me not being able to figure out mechanically how to do something, it was really smooth playing, and really enjoyable to solve! And, like most of the games on this list, I really enjoyed the soundtrack! The music would give off both a pleasant and unnerving feeling at times.

- Don’t Starve

Type of Game: 2.5D open-world survival game with multiple unlockable player characters. Much of it is spent in a sandbox mode, but there is a story mode too! Lots of creepy supernatural stuff going on throughout the game, as well!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s a survival game. A rather brutal one, in my opinion, but take that opinion with a grain of salt, as I normally don’t really play survival games. It’s also in sandbox mode by default; in order to activate the story mode you kind of have to be lucky enough to randomly stumble into it in the sandbox mode. As I’m inexperienced in Survival games, I’m not sure if that’s just a thing, but if it isn’t, now you’re informed about Don’t Starve’s way of doing things.

Why I recommend it: It has a very quirky and interesting art style that I really enjoy, and each of the playable characters are really neat! I love all the little things that make them stand out individually, be it through game mechanics, flavor text, or what musical instrument takes the place of their voice and represents their personality. All the worlds that you explore are really interesting, too, and each world is randomly generated, making it new and exciting each time you start a new game! There also are a lot of unique craftable items that are pretty neat, especially once you get to the magic-related ones! Though I wasn’t skilled enough to progress through the main story when I was still playing, I really enjoyed the lore elements and all the background information of the game, and I really do want to finish the main story at some point. Finally, the music is really good too! Really whimsical and nice. All in all, it’s just a really good game, and I enjoyed playing it, even though I’m not really good at nor am a fan of survival games.

- Sunless Sea

Type of Game: A resource-management exploration RPG with Lovecraftian themes in a top-down style view and some elements of combat.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Any progress to be made in this game is very, very slow. Participating in the story often requires that you have something, whether it is an item, a skill-check, or a certain number of favors with a particular NPC, and building yourself up to have what you need often takes a lot of time, especially when what you need costs a lot of echoes (money). There’s also a lot to juggle in this game; your fuel, your supplies, your cargo hold, your crew members, your echoes, your fear, etc. Also, its a bit punishing, it expects and anticipates that your captain will die multiple times, as that is part of the mechanics of the game, so it is not so easy to recover from mistakes as it is in Kingdoms: New Lands.

Why I recommend it: It’s a really interesting game. You play as a captain in a Lovecraftian style subterranean world, with all types of weird, ranging from slightly to highly unnerving situations and encounters. For awhile, most of what unnerved me would just be in the dialogue and story, though not really enough to warrant, in my opinion, a rise in my captain’s fear level, especially when it just seems to be the norm of this world. But then I encountered a landmark that consisted of floating shapes that looked like skulls with writhing jaws, just beneath the surface of the water, and I found the island of Saviour’s Rocks. I like spiders, I really do, but the animation of all those tiny spiders moving across the dense webbing of the island actually made me feel that skin crawling sensation. The islands and their art design are all intriguing, the characters are interesting (and I’ve noticed that so far all of them merely have titles, no names) and sometimes just as unnerving as the environments, and I really enjoy what bits of the story and lore I have uncovered so far, though I wish that I could uncover it all much more quickly. It’s interesting in that it gives you the option of selecting your own win-conditions, even if it is an option between three choices (excluding one locked off choice), and the option to end the game in a ‘draw’ as it calls it once you reach a certain point in advancing your captain’s prospects. Also there were times where I read the narration and dialogue in my head with the voice of Cecil Palmer from Welcome to Night Vale, and that just... added to the very cool vibes the game gave me.

- Hades

Type of Game: An isometrically designed dungeon crawler that has randomly generated rooms and encounters that shift around with each death, but each death also helps to progress the story and unlocking new equipment/abilities.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It is not exactly an easy game and the style can be frustrating for some people, though I’ve heard that it is much easier to get into this style of gameplay with Hades than it is with others that follow a similar format. Also, it does its best to be accessible to people who are interested in the story, even if the gameplay itself is difficult for them.

Why I recommend it: First off, I would like to mention that what initially drew my interest was the fact that it was based of ancient Greek mythology. This is what also drew my attention to the God of War series, but I lost interest when it became apparent that you were meant to kill the gods from that pantheon, and I wasn’t a fan of how they were portrayed in that game. In Hades, however, the gods and goddesses, and even the heroes of old that also are present in the game, feel much more fairly portrayed and really seem to fit with how they are in their myths, neither good nor bad but just... beings with flaws and strengths like the rest of us. And they’re just as petty as in their myths, too. Throwing that out there first in case someone under similar circumstances should see this. There’s still some creative liberties taken with how things are portrayed in the Underworld, specifically with the environments and some of the enemies, but it still manages to feel really fun and entertaining regardless. The game has such great mechanics and combat, especially once you find the style of fighting that really fits for you, and the music and all of the environments you roll through are incredibly beautiful. And like. Man. All of the designs. I mentioned the environments already but the character designs, the designs for the weaponry, for the flourishes surrounding attacks and abilities as you fight, for little collectibles and items, even for something like the menu are so detailed and pretty and wonderful to look at. And there’s also the awesome dialogue, and the wonderful story! Truly just a joy of a game and definitely worth checking out, in my opinion

- Ico and/or Shadow of the Colossus

Type of Game: They’re both third-person perspective action-adventure games! The first includes environmental puzzle solving, the second one I would classify as an open-world!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): The biggest drawback, I think, is that they are both Playstation exclusive. Another drawback is that these games are really old. Ico was released in 2001, while Shadow of the Colossus was initially released in 2005. Shadow of the Colossus recently had a remake, I think, but that still requires you to have a Playstation 4 in order to play it. On a personal note, I experienced a bit of annoyance while playing Ico because of the camera, as I felt that some parts of the game would be easier to do if I could just rotate the camera a little bit, but it was static.

Why I recommend it: I absolutely LOVED playing these games!!! They were so much fun! They seemed so awesome and alive, and I loved moving about them, even when there were points where I wasn’t sure where I was going or what I was supposed to be doing next. It’s got an intriguing and mysterious lore, cool story, creepy yet awesome monsters, and really neat characters. I loved the environmental puzzles from Ico, and just the environment in general with Shadow of the Colossus. The combat is also very fun and interesting, at least to me, as I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that does combat quite like it. I’ve briefly mentioned this in another post, but there’s a game I want to make myself, and whenever I picture the combat I always see it as something similar to Ico. If you’ve played The Last Guardian, that game was made by the same developers as these two! I’d also recommend The Last Guardian, but I haven’t played it myself, as I lack a Playstation 4 (the drawback of this series of games), but, from what I’ve seen of it, it seems just as wonderful!

- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Type of Game: It’s an action role-playing game, with its setting, characters, and mechanics based on the tabletop game sharing its name, Vampire: The Masquerade. You can switch between first person and third person perspective.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Another really old game! This one was initially released in 2004. The combat is rather clunky, at least to me, and, surprisingly, the game wasn’t actually finished when it was released. There is a patch out there that can be downloaded, though, that includes stuff that was never fully developed or was cut from the game. It’s not necessary to have the patch to play the game, it just adds more to it and provides a bit of stability to the otherwise buggy potential the original game has. The game is limited to being able to be played on Microsoft Windows. Finally, this is a vampire game that has an 18+ rating for a reason. It’s a lot more explicitly ‘mature’ than most games I like to play.

Why I recommend it: It’s a really fun vampire game! The graphics are outdated but they still hold up pretty well and the environments are still really fun to move around in, the multiple side quests are ridiculously fun, and its just a really cool game. I love all the rpg elements; from choosing your clan, to the faction you side with, to how you interact with the other characters, to the ending you work towards, to the statistics you choose for your player, it’s all really neat! I also love the lore and the backstories all the other characters have, even though the latter isn’t really spelled out, it’s still really cool! Its soundtrack is pretty good too, my favorite in it being the music that plays during your final mission. Seriously, that song made the experience of completing the final mission, which I was doing in a way that already made me feel like a cool badass, 100 times better. Also!!! Even though the combat is super clunky, the melee weapons are really fun to play around with! There’s a lot of variety to be had with them, and each one has a special animation that plays during their stealth take-downs. I’m honestly not sure which one is my favorite? Even just plain-old-fists is really fun.

- Drakan: Order of the Flame

Type of Game: A rather old action adventure game, set in a fantasy setting with magical weapons, unrealistic but extremely cool jumping, and flying dragons. If I remember correctly, I think that it may have been possible to switch between first person perspective and third person, but all my memories of it are in third person so maybe I’m wrong.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Okay, you know how Ico is a really old game? This game is older by 2 more years, initially being released in 1999. So... yeah. I can understand if that immediately turns people away, I don’t blame them, this is more on the list for nostalgia purposes, even though I earnestly would recommend playing it and find it to be a good game. It’s also only available on PC. There’s also the problem of inventory management, which is done kind of similarly to the original Diablo game, if you’ve played it you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. One final drawback I can foresee is that, unfortunately, this game is pretty buggy.

Why I recommend it: Like I mentioned before, this is kind of a nostalgia game for me. I’d always play it when I was younger, me and my sister (Sen) would actually like to pretend that we were playing together at times, interacting with each other across different saves. Even without that nostalgia factor, though, it’s a really cool game! You see that dragon? He’s named Arokh, and not only do you get to ride him, but you’re also fully in control of when you get on, off, where you’re going, and what you’re doing. Also, aerial combat! There are other enemy dragons that you can often engage with while riding Arokh, and defeating them unlocks a new breath attack! You start out with fire, but can unlock poison, electricity, and frost, if I remember correctly. The only downside with the whole dragon thing is that there are a lot of points in the game specifically designed so that you can’t just fly in on Arokh and roast everyone, relying on your own skills as a jumping, slashing hero, but those bits are still really fun! The story’s really intriguing, the lore is dark and interesting, and it just is a really fun game. I’m listening to the soundtrack for the first time in years right as I’m writing this, and it’s just... so nice. Brings back old memories. And old fears of spider mines. Ahhh... I miss you, Arokh.

- Mystic Messenger

(my own in-game screenshots)

Type of Game: A phone app dating sim from Korea that sticks to its bit very well, it mimics a messaging application pretty closely with chatrooms, private texts, and even phonecalls from the characters. It also has some visual novel elements in addition to all that, in order to progress the story outside of the messenger.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): First off, it does require you to have a phone in order to play it. And it is a pretty big file, a significant chunk of my phone storage is taken up by this game and I had very small storage already to begin with. The game also progresses in real-time and it is possible to miss parts of the story and a chance to influence it if you don’t enter a chatroom before the next one appears, which can have a negative effect on the overall story if you miss a majority of it. The good news is that, if you miss a chatroom, you can spend in-game currency in the form of hourglasses to unlock it at a pretty low cost, and the hourglasses are pretty easy to build up without much effort. The final thing I can think of that might dissuade anyone from playing is that this game can get dark. Not even just with the bad endings, which are bad for a reason. Two of the final routes go out of their way to warn you about all the potentially triggering content found within before you even attempt them, and there is a lot.

Why I recommend it: Gosh I love this game. I wasn’t expecting to get this invested when I started playing it but the story and characters are so gosh darn intriguing that it kind of spiraled into me being heavily invested in all of it. It’s just got such a good set-up. And there’s the mystery surrounding the bigger picture beyond the events of each individual run, the way they would reveal small pieces of just a bit more information as to what that bigger picture was in each route, the tension that grew heavier and heavier as the game progressed, the characters and their individual stories as well as how they all intersect and interact in each others lives, gosh it was just... so cool. Honestly? I’m really sad that the characters don’t actually exist. They all feel so... real. They all have so much heart to them, it really felt like I was interacting with people on the other end of the screen, for both the good and the bad. Especially with one of the characters, 707. There were several scenes where he was the focus and the scenario just. Felt real? Like it could actually happen in real life, with the same kind of back-and-forth exchanges? I don’t know how else to describe it, it was odd. The voice actors did such a great job making the characters feel even more alive. There’s some really nice art in the game, too, in all the different styles that it uses, and I really, really love the music! It’s all so, so, so good and has such a wide range of moods that it evokes from me, lots of smiles and lots of tears (and some fears...). This game honestly means a lot to me, and it’s actually inspired me, in some instances. From the very start, one of the characters motivated me to actually cook a meal for myself instead of just having something previously frozen for breakfast, and others have made me want to write either some short stories or poetry, draw happy little doodles of flowers and other things, crochet different types of clothing, and just... yeah. I really like this game. I just wish everyone in it could have a happy ending...

- Monster Prom

Type of Game: It’s a multiplayer dating sim set in a monster high school appropriately titled Monster High.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Ehhh, I mean it’s a dating sim with some violent imagery through the narration, crude humor, and coarse language. It’s not as fun to play by yourself, at least in my experience.

Why I recommend it: Normally I don’t really enjoy this level of crude humor, but I really enjoy playing this game with friends (or, well, in my case, sisters). Also, I don’t generally like dating sims, I mainly like them when they’ve got some kind of twist to them, like Hatoful Boyfriend’s weird depth in lore that ends up with you crying over a bunch of virtual birds, or Doki Doki Literature Club’s psychological horror elements, stuff like that. In this game, the twist is the fact that its a multiplayer dating sim, with stats that determine whether you’ll actually be successful in the path that you’re trying to follow. Also, all the various different random events and secret endings that you can unlock. The scenarios are hilarious in their wacky outlandish shenanigans, and though the characters can seem one-dimensional, some of their randomly generated events or secret endings lends more interesting weight and characterization to them, like Polly’s interests in chess and Russian literature in addition to her crazy party personality. It’s just really fun to play with company, and fun in its own right by yourself, with some pretty cool characters to interact with as you go about the goal’s objective of acquiring a date for Monster Prom.

- Harebrained Schemes’ Shadowrun Series

Type of Game: These games are described as tactical role-playing games, the game is isometrically styled and combat is turn-based.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Most of the enjoyment for myself was drawn from the text-based elements; dialogue, story, lore, etc. Also, in my opinion, the Matrix sections in Hong Kong lost the fun and appeal that it had in the previous two games, but other people might like it better, and the good news for those who don’t is that, for the most part, those sections are not mandatory to play the game. Still, if you want, there are cheats that can be used to make those sections more bearable.

Why I recommend it:  The stories are so good, man. It’s a cyber-punk world with elements of fantasy! Every fall-moving-into-winter I get in the mood to play them over again, as the cold chill in the air and that wintery scent reminds me of the first time I played these games and just how cool the settings were. Though the combat is a bit strange to get used to if you’ve never played the games before, I’d say it’s a lot easier to get used to than the original Fallout  games, and it does get a lot more enjoyable once you’ve got a handle on what you’re doing. Like, by the end of Dragonfall, enemies HAD to target my mage character first, because if they made the mistake of attacking other members of my party instead, I would absolutely WRECK them, utterly destroying their defenses before incinerating them with my massive fireballs. It was brilliant. Aside from that, I just really love the dialogue with other characters? There are a lot of comedic moments that gave me a good laugh, and more serious conversations that just drew me further and further into the story as I became attached to these characters. The music and scenery, in my opinion, isn’t as endearing as these other games, but its still really good, and the artwork elements (like the character portraits and cutscenes) are really awesome!

- Fallout 1 & 2

Type of Game: Like the Harebrained Schemes’ Shadowrun series, the game is isometrically designed and combat is turn based. Its an open world tactical RPG.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): This is mainly a recommendation for people who enjoy the Fallout series, but haven’t played the original games. So I guess this is kind of related to a big game company, but, shh! Both the combat and inventory systems feel really clunky at first and are kind of hard to get used to. It is not a very easy game, although, thankfully, you can change difficulty settings at any time. The second game (and maybe the first, though I don’t remember anything risque in that one) is another game that is a lot more ‘mature’ than I normally like. Both games are only available to play on PC, and, to top it all off, both games are really old.

Why I recommend it: Even if you don’t play the other Fallout games, I still think this would be a good game to play if you can look past the possible drawbacks listed! The characters you meet are really cool individuals, especially the companions you can gather from both games, and the lore and world-building are really cool! Plus, the second game had a lot of random comedic moments that made this really old, really fiddly game feel a lot more enjoyable. It may or may not have broken the fourth wall too much, but it was still loads of fun whenever it did!

- Undertale & Deltarune

Type of Game: It’s a pixelated top-down type RPG. There are some decent puzzles, and the combat is a turn-based bullet-hell style. In Deltarune, the combat is a little bit different, more like a traditional RPG game with a party system.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Look at the type of game it is. Also, the game remembers what you do, and (understandably, given its premise) won’t like it very much if you take the 'killing’ path, regardless of if you go full Genocide or not. Both games seem to be featured on a lot of consoles, but currently Deltarune (when I wrote this) is not available on the Xbox, I’m pretty sure. Also, Deltarune is still not finished, only two of the total seven planned chapters are available.

Why I recommend it: I know Undertale is a popular game and that loads of people have already played it and knows about it but there’s no way I’m not going to recommend it. Just... The story! The characters!! The Music!!! I love this little game to death, even if I’m missing out on tons of story because I refuse to do the genocide path. I care too much about each and everyone of these characters, even the ones that don’t do much or contribute to the story at all, like the Froggits. It’s just... it’s such a lovely game. I loved going through the puzzles, reading the dialogue that was just full of laughs and tears, walking through the environments of each section, engaging in the combat system with the unique bullet-patterns of each monster, just going through the whole story and interacting with everyone was the most wonderful game experience. The soundtrack still can just reduce me to tears as I listen to it, conjuring all the emotions and everything I felt while playing it the first time around. So, yeah, I’m gonna recommend it even though it’s already popular enough without me doing so. It’s a good game, and if you haven’t tried it yet, I’d say give it a try, because you just might like it, too.

Deltarune has its own vibe and story separate from Undertale, but it is already showing similarities in what made Undertale feel so wonderful, and has the potential to be even better as the story continues. The puzzles, character dialogue, story, music, environments, and combat were all really fun and enjoyable to play through and experience, the character sprites and the concepts behind them really cool! Even if this game wasn’t tied to Undertale, with the recurring characters and references to the first game, I would still really, really love Deltarune. The Dark World and all the characters, lore, and story associated with it are all really interesting on their own, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more from it. It’s just... a nice game. I like it. And, the first two chapters are free to download and play, so there’s not much of a gamble to be had when trying to figure out if you’d enjoy it, too. If you don’t like it, it didn’t cost you anything to give it a try, so its worth seeing for yourself and giving it a shot.

- OFF

Type of Game: Top-down pixelated style RPG with puzzles!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s a PC only game. The combat felt kind of weird to me, but that might just be me. Though I wouldn’t classify it as a horror-game, it does have some imagery that might be considered disturbing.

Why I recommend it: It’s pretty neat! I loved each individual character design I saw, and the characters that you can interact with were pretty cool! I really liked the art style, especially for the battle sprites; its strange and a bit unsettling, depending on the character, but just really appealing for some reason. I also enjoyed the music of the game, and the puzzles were really fun to solve! Speaking of puzzles, just enough lore is given to have your mind turning and wondering about the events of the game, but not enough for the dots to really connect easily. I feel like there’s a lot of potential ways to interpret it all. Also, it’s a free to download game! So, there’s no loss if you end up getting the game but decide that you don’t like it.

- To the Moon

Type of Game: This is another top-down style pixelated, story-driven adventure RPG.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person):  It’s mainly story-driven; there’s no combat, no inventory systems, just puzzles and story that unravels the more you play the game.

Why I recommend it: Unlike the other games on this list, I haven’t actually played To the Moon myself yet. I’ve only watched another person play it, a long time ago. But, I’m including it on this list, because I remember enough of it that I really do want to recommend playing it, and play it myself, at some point. The story it tells is just, really emotional and sad but with some heartwarming moments and comical events in the mix as well. Bittersweet, I guess. I don’t want to talk more about it and give anything important away, but its really good.

- Stardew Valley

Type of Game: A pixelated, top-down farming simulator RPG

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): You can’t save whenever you like, only after you’ve gone to bed and finished the current day. After you’ve finished the main storyline, it can feel a little bit repetitive, though maybe for other people it could end up feeling repetitive before then.

Why I recommend it: It’s a cute game! It’s labeled as a farming simulator, which it is, but farming isn’t the only thing you end up doing! You’ll find yourself fishing, foraging, cooking, chopping down wood and mining, crafting either an arcane artifact or a new wooden fence, finding lost artifacts, defeating monsters that threaten your new home, socializing with your fellow townspeople, falling in love, starting a family, etc. Like I said, its a cute, fun game! I love all the characters that you interact with, from the reserved supernatural characters living in locked off sections, to absolutely adorable characters like Penny and Maru, and I enjoy feeling like a member of their community thanks to how productive and active my little player character is. It’s just a nice peaceful game with a nice peaceful art style that I’ll end up spending way more time on then I anticipated and whoops it’s three in the morning how did that happen...? Like many of the entries on this list, I also really enjoy the music! Regardless of whether it’s the happy, twangy country feeling music of the valley, or the more mysterious and echoed feeling music of the caves and supernatural elements, its just very nice and relaxing to listen to. I especially love all the flute bits.

- Kingdom: New Lands

Type of Game: It’s a 2-D pixelated side scroller styled game. It is also both an adventure game, a strategy game, and a kingdom building simulator!

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): You’re given very little direction from the game. You’re told how to set up your base, how to hire people, give them jobs, and assign workers to do certain tasks, but there’s a lot of information that would have been good to know from the start. Like, I knew about this already because of my Dad talking about it before, but blood moons coming every 5 days and summoning new, stronger monsters to defend against, or the fact that the long-term objective is to build a boat so that the crown remains safe and you can move on to the next island, certain things like that. So, if you do intend to play it, I highly recommend perusing through a game guide to figure out what everything means and what does what and stuff like that before jumping into it.

Why I recommend it: It’s really fun! And, though it’s a strategy game, it’s not too punishing if you make a mistake and things go wrong. Really, there have been too many times for comfort where I’ve thought: ‘Welp that was a good run guess I’ll die.” But somehow or other, I don’t actually die, manage to recover my losses, and keep on playing. I wouldn’t classify it an easy game, at least not once you’ve gotten to Island 3 and onwards, but it’s also not so hard that you have to work to be able to enjoy it, and you don’t suffer too much if you make minor mistakes. Sometimes even major mistakes are totally recoverable! It’s also another game, like Stardew Valley, where I’ll accidentally spend much more time on it than I had intended when sitting down to play it. It’s just, well, really calm and relaxing to play most of the time. And I say most of the time because the only time I’m not relaxed is when I’ve successfully destroyed one of the monster portals, because, let me tell you now, the sound that happens immediately afterwards is absolutely dread-inducing, even before I knew what it meant, and with good reason. Aside from that, even though it’s a pixelated art style, I really like it because it kind of gives me this Princess Mononoke feeling? I’ll just be wondering around in the forest on my mount, with deer running off and light barely managing to break through the heavy foliage of the trees, that peaceful, lovely music playing in the background, and I’ll be expecting to see a little tree spirit crouched in the corner of my screen, wobbling its head. It’s a pretty great game, and I think there are two other variations of it available currently, but I don’t know what those are like comparatively so I’m just recommending this one for now.

- Primordia

Type of Game: A pixelated point-and-click adventure game with the usual puzzle mechanics such a game entails, set in a post-apocalypse environment.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): Some puzzle solutions may seem a bit obtuse, and I did see someone complain that the ending feels a bit rushed. I can see where they’re coming from, even if I thought the build-up to the ending was fine. Finally, much of what I appreciated from the game came from the dialogue and reading optional text that required you to find and read yourself in order to get the kind of information you wanted, and there was a lot of that kind of text, though most of it was found all in one place, so that might not be favorable to some people. You can discover generally the same information by just playing the story line of the game, but I’m unsure if the impact of doing it that way will be the same.

Why I recommend it: Compared to previous point-and-click adventure games I’ve played, such as Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island or Grim Fandango, the puzzle solutions are way less obtuse and actually made understandable sense as to why that is the solution. Also, the puzzles aren’t just limited to finding the right combination of objects in your inventory and using it on your environment! There are also code puzzles: ciphers, binary, literal numeric codes to either unlock other sections of the environment or for some other purpose! It was loads of fun! Then there are the characters, which entirely consist of robots, and the lore behind the game. I enjoyed helping the wise-cracking, glorified lamp Crispin and his exasperated creator, Horatio Nullbuilt, go about their mission objectives as they navigated the world left behind by Man. I enjoyed collecting the little tidbits of lore that eventually collected into the larger picture behind the world they roam, paying attention to the little details that foreshadowed later events in the game. I loved the art style and design for the robots, the grittiness of the world just barely getting by on the skin of its teeth, it was a really fun experience, and a really cool game!

- Soul Void

Type of Game: It’s a pixelated, top-down, story driven game.

Potential upfront drawbacks (depending on the person): It’s PC only, and explores the darker parts of people’s minds pretty realistically. Which I think is really interesting, and part of why I like it, but I understand that some people would rather just... not interact with that in the types of video games they want to play. Also body horror. Which, I guess I either have become desensitized to or don’t really categorize as horror anymore, as I literally forgot until just now that this might be an issue.

Why I recommend it: hoo boy I’ve been scared to actually write anything because I’ve seen that the creator is actually on tumblr and they seem really cool please don’t see this I’m embarrassing and weird It’s a really, really cool game. The art style, the character designs, the environments, the actual characters of the kinds of people you meet, the story it has to tell... It’s just all really, really good, and feels really impactful, which is especially impressive to me considering just how short the game actually is. I related a lot to the insecurities that were expressed through the characters, and it’s just... really the kind of game that I like. Where there is darkness, because that’s a reality a lot of people face, but... with just a little effort, and a little kindness, you can actually make a difference, make things just a little bit better for the people you interact with. It doesn’t have to be big, or grand, but it still matters. And even if you’re struggling with things yourself, and find yourself in a bad place, you’re not weak for struggling. You’re not alone. I’m not really expressing myself properly here, it’s hard to get down everything I feel about this game, but... really, it was really nice playing through it to the end. It’s a game that I enjoyed playing, but also just feels... important. I’m glad that it exists, and that I got to experience it.

And that’s it for now. I think I read somewhere that the content under the read more changes throughout everyone’s reblogs after an edit is made, so I’ll probably edit it in the future when I think of more games I’d recommend, and reblog it again myself at that point so you guys know that I’ve added more games. Again, feel free to reblog and add your own recommendations!

EDIT: I’ve played some more games, so here’s some more recommendations!

- Added Primordia

- Added Sunless Sea

- Added Monster Prom

- Added Soul Void

- Added Hollow Knight

- Added Hades

- Added Little Nightmares II

- Added Mystic Messenger

[matthew-niverse]

I HAVE FINALLY BEATEN KINGDOM HEARTS 3! *(Non Spoiler Blog)*

Wow, just wow. What an amazing game. After 13 years since Kingdom Hearts 2 (thanks Nomura) this game was definitely worth the wait. I won’t talk about spoilers in this blog, that’s saved for next blog. Therefore, I won’t include any pictures in this blog and, if you’re not done with the game or you’re not one of the teachers grading this written assignment, then you better steer clear of my future blogs! Anyways, Kingdom Hearts 3 is a dang good game. Once again, the Square Enix and Disney character interactions are spot on. It’s clear that the writing has improved greatly since the past games. Sora, Donald, and Goofy are such loveable characters to adventure with, and they really *light* up the worlds they visit. I’d say out of all the Disney worlds featured in Kingdom hearts, San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6) has got to be my favorite. The big city and new original storyline would’ve made for a great… how should I say… Big Hero 6-2! The graphics in this game are incredible! The Disney characters look just like from their respective movies! It’s incredible the level of detail put into the worlds that you travel to. Little things that really make the worlds feel more alive compared to past Kingdom Hearts games. Like in the Toy Story world, at the Toy Store you can find helium tanks, and if you strike them, you, Donald, Goofy, Buzz, and Woody will get high pitched voices for a while. Or in the Tangled, Pirates, and other worlds, you can find barrels that Sora can perform dance moves on. Now the worlds have NPC’s walking around, finally! These random civilians will throw money at you when you perform dance tricks for them. You can grab a couple Potions while you’re at it! There’s a lot of love put into everything in this game, the characters, the writing, the graphics, THE DIDDLY DARN MUSIC. The music in this series has always been beautiful. The gameplay always has been fun in the past games, but this game is INCREDIBLY FUN. The Situation Command system worked very well here. They made each battle, whether boss or horde of enemies, a treat to play and a treat to look at. This has got to be my favorite Kingdom Hearts game in the series, for pretty much every aspect! I can’t wait to see how they expand it in the upcoming FREE DLC! The ending of the game really killed me however, (no spoilers) and if you haven’t made it to the end yet, prepare to absolutely shi- …show emotion. I’m so, so happy that Kingdom Hearts 3 is finally here, the wait was well worth it. I’ll be talking about my experiences playing it in my future blogs.

[dramaticviolincrescendo]

Spoiler-Free KH3 Review

This review will not contain any spoilers for the story content of Kingdom Hearts III; the only mechanics I will mention with regards to gameplay are the ones that we have seen in the trailers. As this may get a little long, the rest is under the cut.

First of all, let me preface this by saying that I am exceedingly biased. I am one of the originals; I am one of the ancients who remembers when the first game came out and what it felt like to see the groundbreaking technology it used in 2002 when I was twelve years old. I’ve had every game at launch and been fortunate enough to keep up with the various handhelds and consoles that the series has spanned. Kingdom Hearts has become an ingrained part of who I am, and I find it difficult to remember a time when it didn’t exist. After all, it’s been around for far more than half of my life now, so it’s as if it’s always been there. That isn’t to say that I don’t recognize that it has shortcomings, but that’s the same with any game or other media. It’s made by humans, and as such, there will always be room to improve. Nevertheless, I am a hardcore Kingdom Hearts fan and love this series more than this post will ever intimate. That said, I am going to attempt to keep this review as impartial as possible. Let’s see how well I do, shall we?

Gameplay:

Honestly, this was the part I was most nervous about. As I watched all the trailers, it felt like an overload to see just how much you could do in this game compared with the prior installments. Adding that to the upgraded technology we saw them using, like a smartphone, and I began to wonder... Was this going to feel like a Kingdom Hearts game? Would it be as magical as the others? Don’t get me wrong: all the new mechanics looked exciting and spectacular. I simply felt that it would be hard to keep it all straight and that updating the technology would mean leaving behind everything that made the series so special to me. 

It turned out that my concerns were unwarranted. KH3 has my favorite gameplay system yet. Running up walls is still a little disorienting, but the rest is magnificent. Summons are fun and interactive in a way that previous entries weren’t, offering the player more opportunities to interact with the environment rather than merely wait for the summon to do their thing while mashing X or triangle. Attraction flow was phenomenal and extremely useful, and alongside older additions like flowmotion and shotlocks, they created a much more diverse experience. Even the standard combos were more artistic and gave you options for what to do next. As someone who has always been more of a melee person than a magic-user, I had a blast with the magic in this game. (Pun intended.) There were a lot of instances where I used that more than my physical attacks. And all that new technology Sora uses? It turns out that it was just as magical as ever. A different type of magic, sure, but magical all the same. There was nothing about the gameplay that was less than stellar to me.

Graphics:

Good Lord, do you have time? I’ve never been a snob when it comes to graphics. As long as the story is captivating, I’m good with just about any art style. Even so, I’m being entirely real when I say that some of those cutscenes made me cry purely because everyone looked so beautiful. The team really brought the thunder and showed us that the extra time they needed to get used to this engine was not in vain. On the contrary, it’s easy to see that these talented artists are experts in their field when you get a load of what they managed to accomplish. The style shifted with the theme of the world; many of them upped the ante and had full, opening-quality CGI cutscenes at the end or at various other points. If you ever felt like you were pulled out of the experience because of the more cartoonish elements of the previous games, then fear not. You’ll forget there’s a real world as you traverse some of these.

Music:

Another triumph. Everything is perfectly balanced between new tracks and the familiar ones we recognize from as far back as the first game. That’s something I personally appreciate a lot, even though it may be nostalgia talking. As someone who is very attuned to emotion as it is conveyed through music, I felt that they used the songs we revere at just the right times to evoke an emotional response in anyone who played the other games. And the new tunes? Oh, man. Every time I think there’s no topping what they’ve already done, Yoko Shimomura and the other composers that have contributed to the series prove me wrong. I can’t wait to buy the soundtrack when they make it.

Easter Eggs:

If you’re an old hand like me, then you’re going to love all the little surprises hidden in the dialogue, the worlds, and the situations. If you’re not… Well, I hope that they make you want to go back and see what the references mean!

Story:

Yup, I saved this one for last as I think it is the most important. Kingdom Hearts is a series built on its extensive storyline. (Notice that I said extensive and not convoluted. Sorry, but I’ve never seen it as being hard to understand, although I recognize and respect that not everyone agrees.)

Let���s start with the Disney worlds. I already mentioned that they are stylistically gorgeous. There are many instances where you can’t tell that you aren’t really playing inside that particular movie. The only exception is in the Caribbean, but that’s pretty understandable; even so, the animation is spectacular and makes it look real without the uncanny valley sensation. There is a typical balance of worlds that rehash what happened in their movies as well as ones that have original storylines designed to act as sequels of a sort. Both are done phenomenally well. I think the only thing that gave me pause was the length of some of the cutscenes. Again, that’s understandable given how much content they had to pack into this game in order to provide closure, and since I am always a big fan of story over gameplay, it didn’t bother me. Just be aware that if you prefer to have short cutscenes or none at all, there will be a lot of them.

Speaking of cutscenes, they did a fantastic job with pacing this game. Rather than traveling to a set number of worlds before advancing the main plot, you see what is going on with our collective heroes every time you complete a world. As such, you end up with a more solid flow that shows there is progress on all fronts and connects what Sora learns in each world to the larger plot, especially when Organization members come into play in the worlds he visits. I know some people have said that the “relevant” plot is only in the last few hours, but I honestly felt that there was a lot of very important information and development between world visits that was absolutely necessary. It also served as a nice break since each world was significantly longer than any of the others in the series thus far.

Now, about the original, non-Disney storyline. As I said, I’ve been in this fandom for seventeen years—I am very well aware of the various criticisms that the series has received. Some, I understand even if I don’t agree; others, I’m afraid I just can’t wrap my head around. Needless to say, my mind was boggled when I finally logged back into all my social media to see that there are actually people claiming the game is incomplete. It seems like every game is “incomplete” these days if it didn’t have every single thing that people wanted. That being said…

This game is complete. Period.

Once again, I think perhaps you have to have lived with the series for a long time to understand that this is how it works: you tie up a major plot point and then get punched in the gut with a new mystery to look forward to deciphering in the next game. Admittedly, that sucker-punch was more of a sucker-here-let-me-throw-you-off-a-cliff-and-send-your-heart-into-eternal-torment this time, but still. We’re accustomed to this formula. It’s something specific to the Kingdom Hearts series, whereas many other games tend to tie up everything as a single experience and then create a brand new storyline if they make a sequel. That’s just not how Kingdom Hearts works, which is fine by me. As promised, the Xehanort Saga has indeed come to an end. Kingdom Hearts, however, is still going to continue, and they clearly built the game with that concept in mind. That’s all I will say about that to avoid spoilers.

…Actually, no it’s not. A word of advice: have tissues handy.

Okay, that is all I will say about that to avoid spoilers.

Overall Rating:

A+++++++++++++

This game won’t please everyone. No game or anything else ever does. Regardless, this was worth every second of the years I’ve waited to play it, and I finished the game pumped to hype up the next one. I tried to go in with no expectations to avoid disappointment, but I shouldn’t have bothered. This is a phenomenal conclusion to the Xehanort Saga, and I am so grateful to Nomura and his team for the time, energy, and love they put into this game.

If you’re a KH fan, I don’t have to tell you how amazing this is. If you’re not, then this is still a super fun gaming experience that will keep you interested if for no other reason than the gameplay and Disney elements. Either way, I wrote this review because I had to get it off my chest before the stuff I reblog (all marked #kh3 spoilers, of course) hits my dash. I hope you enjoyed my take, and may your heart be your guiding key!

Whew. There. Totally unbiased opinion.

Totally.